Color Schemes

I could have told you starting about 10 years ago that my favorite color scheme was lime green and bright pink. There was something about the combination of colors together that I found interesting and their vibrancy and brightness was an extra bonus. Come to find out lime green and bright pink are actually opposite each other on the color wheel, meaning they are complimentary colors. One real life example I found was the packaging on a Bed Head Hair Product called EGO BOOST. The bottle is bright pink, with a light green cap/pump. If I saw this product sitting on a self, my eye would immediately be drawn to it. Not only are the colors my favorite, but the vibrancy of the colors demand attention. This is an excellent marketing idea because consumers would be more drawn to this bottle than say a black and white bottle on the same shelf.

The color combination also adds to the overall perception of the product and brand. I would not look at the packaging and think "wow this is a pretty standard, boring brand of hair care products". The bottle makes it scream to the consumer that the brand is fun, funky and a brand for the more youthful at heart. Before learning about how much color impacts our thoughts on a brand and product, I would have never believed the color combination of pink and green could really change a consumer's perception of a product. However, now I see a color scheme can actually make or break the success of a product and a brand. MARKETERS BEWARE!

The Elements of Design

Have you ever wondered what makes a composition, work of art, advertisement, or even a piece of graphic design harmonious? I can honestly say I have never taken the time to ponder this question until this week. Various design elements including balance, weight, scale, direction, positive and negative space, and repetition can all play a major part in making any piece of design pleasing to the eye in an interesting and unique way.

I found this week that I am a very symmetrical person. Not in my appearance or demeanor, but in the way I look at and create compositions. I found it increasingly difficult to create an asymmetrical. Every time I tried, it either turned out symmetrical or just a mumbled, jumbled bunch of shapes on a page; no balance at all. In order to rid me of my asymmetrical lacking, I looked up inspiration on the internet. One example of asymmetrical design and explanation really struck me. It explained and viewed how to create asymmetrical balance in a way that made sense to me. If you are having asymmetrical woes, follow the link above and you will steadily move toward recovery.

What is Graphic Design?!

Do you know what graphic design actually consists of? On my search of this question, I did what any normal college student would: looked it up on Google. I, therefore, came up with this definition from aigi.org: "Graphic design is a creative process that combines art and technology to communicate ideas".

This definition is nice, but I wanted to dig deeper. What does graphic design really entail?! One thing is for certain: Graphic Design is around humanity almost 24/7. Think about it: From the wrapper around the Sobe Lifewater Juice I am currently drinking to the SELF magazine cover sitting on my desk, each was created by a graphic designer with a specific look, feeling, and vibe in mind. Each was made uniquely to communicate a specific message to its consumers and its audience. With this in mind, it is my opinion that graphic design is a thoughtful, creative process used to communicate a unique and pleasing message to consumers or a specific market. If graphic designers failed to complete the process, daily items we consume would be ordinary and bland. Therefore, next time you pick up any household item, such as a piece of gum or a box of band aids, think about the specific and unique graphic design of that product and what message and feel it is trying to communicate to you the consumer.

Google Enhances Its Social Media Ties

Google will now have, what it calls, a real time search page. Google's new real-time display will be more interactive than the usual static search engine results page we have seen previously. The display will feature a scroll along bar with a pause button that will allow people to stop and start results pages and the paid advertising on the side. With this new infrastructure, google will be partnering with Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace to get help with their real-time results. This will also give the most up-to-date trends for people to be able research.

My first reaction when reading this news story was, what difference will this really make with search results and why did Google think it necessary to take this step? I soon found out! Google's partnering with Twitter comes from the ever-growing competition and pressure Bing is putting on Google's search engine. Google hopes that this new partnership and real time search display for the most updated trends and search results will help leave Bing in the dust. Is this effort by Google enough to keep Bing away? Only time will tell.

The Impact of Social Media On Sports

Sporting events are not just games anymore, they are businesses. Professional athletes are not just players, they are brands.  One of the major contributors to this shift has been the use of social media in sports. Fans can now instantly connect with players and teams through Twitter and Facebook, creating a more personal relationship and an insider perspective for the fans.  Shaquille O'Neal is on Twitter with over 21,000 followers; followers who day in and day out can know what he is doing at any given moment. Not only is this beneficial for the fans, but it is also a way for players to build and promote themselves as a brand. Tweeting about their new shoe lines or making an update on their Facebook pages about where they'll be the next day to sign autographs, has allowed more room for the promotion of teams and players alike without the cost of expensive media campaigns. Social Media has made a major impact on how sports teams and players market themselves, their events, and their brands. Social Media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and Blog sites have forever changed the way communication streams between fans and the players they love. It is now easier than ever to promote a team, a game, or a player. Our favorite pastimes have turned into a ring of global communication that no one predicted.

Check out this social media video slideshow for interesting information on Social Media in Sports

A Look at the Instantaneous World We Have Created

First it was myspace, then it was Facebook, then Twitter and LinkedIn popped up. These social media sites have given way to an aspect of communication that has become second nature to us. This aspect is the instantaneous way society now receives information. The world heard of the deaths of Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett on Twitter before any news medium could report on it, and when those news stations did report the story, the video of the coverage was instantly available on YouTube. And vice versa, ordinary citizens who have the ability to upload personal videos on YouTube become overnight sensations and end up on Good Morning America because of people like Ashton Kutcher tweeting about it. Remember "Jill and Kevin's Big Day" video? If you don't, here's a refresher :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8DCt3Lmi28

The biggest question I am left with is what does this mean for our news stations, journalist, and more importantly how our generation and generations after us will gather information? Will journalists be replaced with celebrity's publicist texting Kim Kardashian a news story who will in turn tweet about it where it will be picked up by hundreds of thousands of people in a matter of seconds? Will TV news stations cease to exist and become one person behind a computer updating a Facebook page with the top news stories of the day? Moreover, how will this affect the sources we use to get our news to gather information for reports, papers, secondary research and our personal knowledge consumption?

The social media tendencies our generation has now will greatly affect how information is produced and gathered for generations to come.

http://twitter.com/GMA

http://twitter.com/CNN

http://twitter.com/nytimes

Twitter Experience

I have had a twitter account since March of 2009, but never really saw the "amazingness" of it or used it regularly. This class assignment forced me to go onto the site and actually comment/reply on others and update my tweets regularly, which was actually really fun and allowed me to learn a lot about different people and industries who I was following. I thought this experience was very helpful for me and was a great tool to learn about various happenings in society. I think that even after the assignment I will continue going onto Twitter and tweeting a lot more than I had before this assignment, because I am actually excited about sharing my experiences but also learning things happening at Marquette, in Wisconsin, in the United States and even the world. I think I will primarily continue to use Twitter as a news tool to help enlighten me about things going on in society. Overall, this helped me see Twitter in a new light as a great news tool and also helped me share experiences and stories that I found worthwhile.