Week 7 - Prepare to write content

NOTE:  I will be absent from class today.  Please complete all exercises listed below before next weeks lesson.  Liam.

Last week you posted an image of an item on your blog that was related to our brand name and slogan exercise.  Market research, such as looking at product competitors and similar ideas are an important elements in the creation of a strong brand.  During last week's group exercise, most of you used brainstorming techniques to generate ideas for names and slogans.

Familiarise yourself with the thinking techniques listed below:

Thinking Techniques

• daydreaming
• mental wandering
• wishful thinking
• use of metaphors and analogies
• trigger words
• brainstorming visualisation
• mind mapping
• lateral thinking games
• Edward de Bono's six thinking hats
• making associations
• storytelling

Creative Blockers

Exercise #1: Answer the following questions on your blog:

• What time of day are you most creative?  (eg In the morning/evening?)
• What activity are you doing when you get these ideas?  (eg On the way to school?  In the shower?  Before going to sleep? Exercising?  Doodling?)  
• Note: Creative ideas can come at any time of the day.  Often creative individuals will carry pen and paper with them so they can jot down any ideas that pop in their head.  It's also a good idea to have pen and paper handy beside your bed, as many of your ideas will be forgotten by the time you wake up in the morning!

Solutions to Creative Blocks

Exercise #2: Read the following article and answer the following questions on your blog:

• Resource: 7 Solutions to Creative Blocks 
• What solutions to creative blocks have you used when trying to generate ideas for something?

Exercise #3: Create a Marketing Strategy

• Think of an item that you think is not currently popular with Gen Y
• List the name of this item, existing brands/businesses that produce this item, and at least two images of the item on your blog
• Research your item online and list why you think it is not currently popular
• Research your item and create an online mind map using www.bubbl.us that describes your understanding of the current branding and market status of your item.  Export the mind map as a JPEG image and upload to your blog.
• Think of a marketing strategy that could make this item 'cool' again (popular with Gen Y audience).  Post at least 3 ideas on how it could increase in popularity.

• Give the item a brand name and slogan/tagline.  For ideas on creating an effective tagline, read the following article - Who Needs Headlines 

Resource: Creating Quality Headlines 

• http://www.alistapart.com/articles/whoneedsheadlines/

Creative Writing

Plagiarism - "Plagiarism is using the words or ideas of others and presenting them as your own. Plagiarism is a type of intellectual theft. It can take many forms, from deliberate cheating to accidentally copying from a source without acknowledgement." (source: UNSW Website)

Do you really understand plagiarism?  Complete the Plagiarism Quiz

Writing content for the web
Read the following article: The Seven Qualities of Highly Successful Web Writing

Exercise #4: Write a website article that encourages visitors to sign up for a weight loss program.  The tone used should be encouraging, sensitive and attractive the target audience.

Minimum of 150 words.  Post your response on your blog.

Example of poor copy - “If you want to stop wasting your life and being a wuss letting people walk all over you, you need help. You’re not going to make it on your own and you need someone to help you do it. Of course, if you’re happy where you are being a loser, that’s your choice. I’m not going to try to convince you. My time is valuable.”

Example of good copy - http://biggestloserclub.com.au/go/the-club/promise-emma.html?9gtype=search&9gkw=australian%20biggest%20loser&9gad=6359290828.1&gclid=CObmjt2q2agCFc2DpAodwClJfw

Add an irresistible offer to your copy.

Examples:

• Dominos - 30 minutes or less… or it’s free.
• Fed Express - When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight.

Further Reading: http://www.copyblogger.com/kids-eat-free/

Add a client testimonial.

Example: “Just completed my first week and lost 2.3kg! Totally over the moon ... So excited with my start. If I can keep this up, next week I will be under the 100kg mark.”

Week 6 - Groups for Creative Exercises

Group 1:

• Chris
• Matt
• Rebecca (working on animation)

 Group 2:

• Emma
• Thalia

Group 3:

• Aimee 
• Penny
• Brett

Absent:
Adam
Kane
Georgia
Maise

Week 6 - Creative Thinking - Product Slogans

Creative Branding

Discussion:  What is the purpose of a product slogan?


Exercise #1: Complete the Timeless Slogan Quiz on Moodle


Exercise #2: Post your three favourite slogans to your blog and answer the following questions for each:

• What do you like about the slogan?
• Is it easy to remember? If so, why?
• Is there something clever about it? If so, what?
• Does it highlight something positive about the product/company?  If so, what?

Group Exercise: Create a brand name and slogan for the following products:

1. Luxurious Car
2. Children's Tennis Racquet
3. Baby Pram

Discussion: What information do you need to know to create an effective brand?

Choose one of the three products from the group exercise and research the following:

• List the name of 3 competitor's products
• List who your target audience is and what are their characteristics (age, gender, likes, dislikes etc)

Is your slogan timeless?

Resource: Ted Curtin: 3 Key Steps to a Successful Slogan

"Here are the three things that you need to ask yourself to assess the value and strength of your slogan:

1. Is Your Slogan Simple? To be effective it must be easy to remember. It's even better if you can achieve clever and catchy, but direct and succinct can be just as effective as long as it is memorable.

2. Is Your Slogan Thoughtful? Does it have an underlying meaning that evokes an emotion through a clever play on words or literary symbolism? Does it go beyond mere redundancy of the actual brand or company name? Simple gets them the attention, but thoughtfully clever can hold them there.

3. Is Your Slogan Powerful? In the end, unless your slogan can impact consumers, you’ve missed the point. It needs to highlight the benefit of your product or service with a timeless message."

Week 5 - Animation Assessment

 Today is our last day studying 2D Animation.  We will then begin studying 'Creative Thinking' and 'Writing Content for a Range of Media'.

1. Hand in all of your saved animations from previous weeks.  These animations will contribute to your 'Observation' assessment marks for the 2D Animation unit.
2. ASSESSMENT UPDATE: Begin your animation assessment - Create a Bouncing Ball.  Please make note of changes to the assessment event - you no longer need to animate the ball using 'Frame By Frame' animation.  Use any method you like, except for 'Animation Presets'.
3. Today you will also have a quiz on the Principles of Animation.  This is your last assessment event for 2D animation.

Handy Tips for your assignment:

Week 4 - Movie Clips, Custom Motion Tweens, & Principles of Animation

Exercise #1 - Open up your animation from last week.  Make your car come to a stop and when it does stop the wheels should also stop.  Apply easing to the car to make it brake before stopping and accelerate before hitting top speed.

Exercise #2 - Apply custom motion tweening to a motioned tweened rectangle.  Make the rectangle enter the screen, stop and take off with custom easing applied to a single motion tween.

Exercise #3 - Read the following article on the 12 Principles of Animation.  Once you have read the article, write a short explanation (in your own words) of the following animation terms.  Post your response on your Blog.

Principles of Animation

1. Squash and Stretch
2. Anticipation
3. Staging
4. Straight Ahead Action and Pose to Pose
5. Follow Through and Overlapping Action
6. Slow In and Slow Out
7. Arcs
8. Secondary Action
9. Timing
10. Exaggeration
11. Solid Drawing
12. Appeal

Exercise #4 - Begin Assignment number 1 - Bouncing Ball

Week 3 - Movie Clips and Drawing Objects

• Create an animation of a car driving in to the scene and stopping, then driving out of the scene.
• You need to draw your own car
• The wheels on the car must spin, then stop when the car stops
• apply easing to your animation