Creating Your Own Brand Personality as a Designer -

Since the beginning of class we have been dealing with some form of branding or another.

Project 1 featured using an established brand and adjusting that style to implement an auxiliary brand.

Project 2 we took an established artist/performer/sports figure..., who at one time had an established personna, or an reputation that developed into a "unseen" brand or style (well, it may have been branded after the fact) and implemented it with a 21st century appeal.

and
Project 3 we are now also looking to find an similar variable between a well-renouned director and his work(s), implanting a brand to his or her style in poster form.

(BTW: I found this site around creating a brand identity and some very straight forward approaches when you do... https://codemyviews.com/blog/how-to-find-or-create-your-brand-personality )


These have all been a challenge but what I think can even be more challenging is branding ourselves as designers. Who are you? What do you say through your work? What is the goal of your work? What separates you from the rest?

I think that finding your own voice, or your own brand can be one of the hardest things that we have to do, and I have found it to be revolving door.

Since we as humans constantly change in many aspects of our lives, our experiences, beliefs, relationships, work, it may be hard to even grasp what this could be.
But at the end of the day we are striving to contribute and tell our story through our work and we want that to be heard but how to start this process?

This links to a site that gives very informative information on thinking about your own Brand Personality -

What is a Personal Brand?
Even in the creative services industry, the meaning of the word “Brand” or the concept of “Branding,” can differ from person to person. The simplest and most common definition is this: “Your brand is what people think and say about you. It is the values that are associated with you and what you do or provide.”

Think of the first three words that come to mind when you think of Apple. Those three words are the impression that you have of their brand. That impression has been reinforced by the content they have created and presented to you, as well as your personal experiences with their products.

• Identify three words that you want associated with you and the work that you produce. 
• Identify three words that you would like people to associate with your visual style.
• Finally, identify three words that you want people to associate with the experience of working with you.

These words are your brand values. These values frame the story of you and your brand.

Telling a Story That Matters to People
Developing your brand as a graphic designer is about the story that you want to tell about you, the work you produce, and how you deliver for your clients. In truth, it’s not about simply building a presence on social media and other public platforms, but about how you leverage them to tell your story.

Don’t forget to cater your story to your target audience. Consider what audience you’re trying to reach. Are you trying to reach other creative professionals? Or are you trying to reach potential clients within a specific industry?

Keep this in mind as a point of reference when deciding how to market and promote yourself. When crafting a marketing strategy, many individuals—and even companies—often do what “they would like” instead of identifying and meeting the needs of their target audience.

These considerations and strategies are all part of your interaction with the Content-Driven Economy. We are no longer simply consumers of physical products; we are consumers of media. We consume media for both entertainment or education. We either want to enjoy an experience, or we want to learn how to solve problems and build new skills.

Quick Tips for Developing Your Brand (more in the article)

• Create a design blog showcasing your work and your thoughts on the industry
• Submit your personal design work and art to magazines, blogs and online galleries
• Participate in graphic design forums, and design sub-reddits

Finding a Niche

Finding or studying something that you passionately enjoy or love to produce and running with that is a good start into the process of establishing yourself and your brand.


Does anyone else have any ideas or questions supporting these ideas?

Thanks!

Netflix & Project 3 Feedback

Netflix

What I like most about Netflix's new branding is it's more sophisticated and reflects their status as a global brand, market leader and innovator versus strictly an entertainment company. It's like Netflix matured. Before the brand was saying "Hey! Check out our cool stuff." Now, it's, "We're the leader in entertainment."

Project 3

After this week's class, I kept thinking about what Don said about the nachos in Death Proof and then thought about the iconic "tasty burger" scene in Pulp Fiction. I kept wondering how is it the food in his movies is soooo mouthwatering? I found a really fascinating blog post/short video about the Power of Food in Tarantino films that includes an interview with Tarantino and a critic talking about how food is used to establish/transfer power among characters. I also made the connection that his films are so indulgent, visceral and cathartic (true story, when I saw Inglorious Bastards in theaters, the audience literally clapped and cheered when Hitler and all those nazis get burned alive.) just like eating an indulgent meal.

Here's the nacho scene :)

So anyway, I decided to explore the food theme with important and recurring food items from the respective films.

But I'm afraid it may be too cryptic, particularly for people who aren't familiar with the films....What do you guys think?

Re: Netflix

This is yet another example of Netflix being ahead of the competition. It’s also interesting to note that with Netflix, the platform is driving the content, with a majority of people who (binge)watch Netflix as opposed to a specific show. Hulu could use a creative rebranding along with a solution about ads.

it doesn't hurt that Netflix strongly suggest that you continue on to the next episode in a series

Hulu is only good for recent shows, and I didn't know about Amazon Instant Video until I read it somewhere in the menu for Amazon Prime. 

from the comment section:

"Streaming services do not sell content per se. There is nothing on any of those services that cannot be had for free, via piracy, for more effort and risk. The streaming services sell safety, reliability, a good user experience. Compare them on that basis and you see why they are ranked as they are. Netflix's user experience is clearly superior. Amazon's is all right, Hulu's is ruined by advertising."

"Anyone who wants to try to compete with Netflix needs to think in terms of good user experience and think global. Much easier said than done. Maybe Google or Apple could do it."

Sidenote: It's interesting that Hulu and Amazon uses green while Netflix sticks with black and red.

Re: Netflix

In undergrad (I studied marketing) we did an analysis on Netflix and their brand. We read multiple articles saying Netflix wouldn't last because their business plan wasn't adaptable and they were struggling to get new releases. That was about 4-5 years ago, before they had their Original Series and now Original Movies.

I looked up Netflix's brand strategy, and their long term goals are summarized by Internet TV apps, Content people love, Netflix focus, competition, and relationships. I pulled this from their site, as it's the most relevant to branding:

Netflix Focus

Netflix is a global Internet TV network offering movies and TV series commercial-free, with unlimited viewing on any Internet-connected screen for an affordable, no-commitment monthly fee. Netflix is a focused passion brand, not a do-everything brand: Starbucks, not 7-Eleven; Southwest, not United; HBO, not Dish.

We don't offer pay-per-view or free ad-supported content. Those are fine business models that other firms do well. We are about flat-fee unlimited viewing commercial-free.

We are not a generic "video" company that streams all types of video such as news, user-generated, sports, porn, music video, gaming, and reality. We are a movie and TV series entertainment network.

We are a relief from the complexity and frustration that embody most MVPD relationships with their customers. We strive to be extremely straightforward. There is no better example of this than our no-hassle online cancellation. Members can leave when they want and come back when they want.

We are about the freedom of on-demand and the fun of binge viewing. We are about the flexibility of any screen at any time. We are about a personal experience that finds for each person the most pleasing titles from around the world. To deliver this experience to our members, we expect to spend over $700 million on technology & development in 2016.

This goes hand in hand with why they focused their branding campaign even more. Interesting to tie the two together.

I also found an article in the Wall Street Journal from April 2015 about their strategy, which highlights how they focused their resources and marketing on online and mobile:

While it makes sense to highlight its original programs and ramp up spending abroad where Netflix is less of a household name, the idea that the company would cut U.S. marketing spending right now might seem counterintuitive. In recent months, HBO Now, SlingTV and Sony have all entered the streaming market.

It’s the kind of environment that would typically fuel a marketing and advertising arms race. But according to the company’s shareholder letter, Netflix executives don’t view the new entrants as competitive threats. In fact, Netflix sees the new streaming services as just more encouragement for consumers to cut the cord on traditional pay TV.

Netflix has, in recent years, decreased the amount of money it is spending on paid advertising in the U.S. across media like television, radio and Internet display ads. The company spent about $121 million on advertising last year, down from $143 million in 2013 and $218 million in 2012, according to Kantar Media.

Netflix said Wednesday that it’s moving more marketing dollars online where it can better target audiences, particularly on mobile devices.

“We have migrated over the last two to three years to be more content forward in our marketing, more digital in our marketing, we’re getting smarter and more efficient about how we put those dollars to use,” Mr. Wells said on the earnings call, in response to a question about the decision to cut back on U.S. marketing spending.

Netflix's best friend: Chromecast

When I use Netflix, I use it with Chromecast. For anyone not in the know, Chromecast is an HDMI stick the size of a thumb drive that inserts into the back of your tv, and has a cord connecting it to a power source. It has to be connected to WiFi, but once you have it set up, you can “cast” from your phone to the tv. I’m a big fan of things you can purchase once and not have to pay a monthly subscription, and Chromecast is a steal at $30 to own. Not everything that you can pull up on your phone can be cast to your tv, but so far I’ve used it for Pandora, other radio station apps, YouTube, and most importantly: Netflix.

Yes, Netflix! It gets even more beautiful when I don’t have to pay the Netflix subscription (thanks roommate’s sister!). They're so diesel in their market domination that they undoubtedly have worked this freeloading clause into the subscription price.

(Forgive the atrocious spelling)

I rarely use Netflix on anything other than my phone, so I didn’t interact with their web interface. The mobile controls are fairly simple though, to the point where I don’t even think about them. I think that’s what constitutes a good design: when something just works intuitively to the point where you don’t even notice it.

They still have a few bugs to work out with the Chromecast and the mobile controls, for example, sometimes when you hit pause on your phone, the tv will keep going, and sometimes when you close the app, it continues to run on the tv. My roommate accidentally turned on the tv in the living room and blasted Jason Aldean Pandora all night without ever leaving his room. Oops!

I think it’s just one more step closer to the future. Everything will be controlled by our phones, until the phones are replaced by Google Glass, or whatever the next medium is. While our phones are nice, we still like to see stuff on big screens so the Chromecast is really hot right now.

I am sorry folks -

When I last checked the V2 pdf on blog submissions, I was supposed to submit a blog for this week (11/4) and I just haven't been able to do so. Unless there is something I overlooked. So if Erin you filled in for me, thank you and I will be happy to fill in for an upcoming week if need so be.

So sorry about that guys if I did.

Re: Netflix and The Stack

I've always noticed that Netflix's software/interface was very different from other providers. For instance, it is very noticeable that the Hulu and Amazon Prime apps both use the same interface, at least that's how they appear on my Xbox 360.

But Netflix has always been distinctively different. I think that Netflix has gone beyond establishing a brand by having a naming convention of just how things move and are displayed. But then again, Netflix is an interactive space on all platforms, so maybe it is just taking our 2D idea of a brand guideline to a new level.