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Good Creative Aim

Every successful design, no matter how small or how large, shares one element in common. Effectiveness depends on one thing: getting the message to the people. When you know who should be told about an event, product or (insert just about any noun here) then you can find a way to reach them.

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Elizabeth Arostegui
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73 views

Good Creative Aim

Every successful design, no matter how small or how large, shares one element in common. Effectiveness depends on one thing: getting the message to the people. When you know who should be told about an event, product or (insert just about any noun here) then you can find a way to reach them.

Uploaded by

Elizabeth Arostegui
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Pawluh writes about the aim of graphic design.

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GOOD CREATIVE AIM Creative Solutions Are Effective Only If The Audience Pays Attention by Pawluh 10 June 2001 Every successful design, no matter how small or how large, shares one element in common. Promoting the new 80-ounce caffeinated confection, pumping out florescent orange flyers for a late night rave, creating an e-commerce site that will make or break a company...Each is the same at its core. No matter how small or how large the project, effectiveness depends on one thing: Getting the message to the people. Coffee sales increase, the rave is a success, the shopping site sells product, or these names become familiar to an audience even if sales don't increase. All this, simply because there is an audience that is paying attention. Okay, but how does that happen? By getting to know the audience. When you know who should be told about an event, product or (insert just about any noun here) then you can find a way to reach them. Creating a six-color, three-varnish annual report for the Eggcited Egg Farm, no matter how beautiful, might just lead their stockholders to wonder if all their profits went into the making of the report. You could argue that you're reaching the stockholders, but certainly not in any intended way. FIND THE TARGET Increase the potency of good design by trying to speak directly to that customer, consumer, client, person. An audience is much more inclined to pay attention to a message directed at them. We all are. And the fact that your client knows you're building the creative solution on this solid foundation only increases her or his confidence in both you and your work. Here are some general ways to learn about the audience:

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1. Know and use market data. The folks at Eggcited Egg Farm opened a store in a new town and want you to get the word out. Ask plenty of questions about their existing customers. Educate yourself. If you're lucky, you'll find that the Eggcited marketing team will have mined loads of data. They'll tell you that their usual customer is over 60, doing well financially, is Hispanic or Caucasian, and is a grandparent. Armed with these facts you can tailor the creative to this segment of people in the new town by doing such things as using font sizes large enough for older eyeballs.

2. Learn about the history of the business. Even without clear market analysis the folks at Eggcited could tell you a lot. After all, every company is an expert on its own business. They just want you to help them get the word out! So ask questions. "What has been your most effective design solution? Why? What promotions (discounts, incentive programs) have been used and which worked best?" These sorts of things. Even these few questions can bring you closer to getting to know the audience. For instance, if the Eggcited client had a high 5% return mailing "junk mail" then this is definitely an important segment to look at. Zip codes give lots of general data, such as urban versus rural, affluence levels and such. Look at the design and content of these mailings. If their best promo was giving away free t-shirts at the local health food store, ask for information including why health food stores and related outlets might be a good market for their product. You already know that these customers like free stuff, which is good to know.

3. Focus on the subject to understand it. You can infer a lot from the project itself. Think about the event, the product, the company being promoted. If you're designing a shopping site for a client called Clotheshorse, Inc., look at what they're selling. If it's horse paraphernalia then you're pretty close to finding the audience already. It could include the parents of pre-teen and teen girls (the girls cannot legally make purchases online) as well as up-scale folks with considerable financial resources. And their

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prospective customers are definitely online.

4. Study the competition. A really simple, effective way to get a handle on the audience is to check out the competition. Are Clotheshorse's competitors trying to reach a particular audience? Look at their creative. Do they use messages and design solutions that are trendy, classical, or minimal? If you know what the competition is doing you can decide to either beat them at their own game by doing the same thing more effectively or to reach their audience in a different way.

5. Plan for the future. Keep in mind that whatever you create will be seen by others besides the select audience on which you've focused. Try not to alienate what could have been a potential client or consumer. Even better, always look for opportunities of bringing in new people. HIT THE MARK Think analytically to build solid creative that works. After all, the creative process isn't about making something look pretty. It's about communicating, making a huge world into a familiar neighborhood, changing an unfamiliar idea into a household term. Fifty percent of the process of creating good design seems to be research. Twenty-five percent, psychology and knowing how our fellow humans think. The last quarter is where creativeness finally comes into play. To make a short story long, once you know the audience, half the work is done. Author Bio: Paula is a creative art director for pixel and print who's crafted effective e-commerce since 1995. Settled in the Boston area, her freelance studio is shared with a bald cat and an allergic terrier. http://www.pawluh.com (this link will open a new window).
Copyright 2001, Paula Frederick. All rights reserved.

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