Entertainment Design: Week 3
17 January 2017
Assignments
New assignment brief: Assignment 2A
Event microsite
As a group, students have to decide one of the events from Assignment 1 to be used as the main event or come up with an entirely new fictional event and make a microsite out of it. Good microsite references are available on Webby. Students have to analyze different types of microsites and compile a moodboard to show the look and feel of their microsite.
To build a microsite, there's a certain process that is generally followed by designers. Create a logo if the group does not have a logo yet. Next, a moodboard has to be created. After the moodboard, the group has to create a site map containing all the pages and information that is going to be present in the final microsite.
After the site map has been established, a wireframe is then made. Wireframes are some sort of a blueprint for each page that has been established in the site map that serves as a visual representation of the website framework. An online tool to help students to create wireframes is available at Wirify, a bookmarklet that converts websites into their skin and bones.
Working in a project requires a level of understanding and collaboration between each member, however different their working style may be, which is why there are certain guidelines that are usually followed when working in a group. Photoshop Etiquette.com provide these guidelines for members passing along Photoshop files—name the layers, put them in groups, simplify the use of blending modes, compress your files, etc.
Another thing that needs to be learnt when working as a team is the Gantt chart. Below is a simple example of said chart:
A Gantt chart is a task-tracking tool, where a project manager (someone that is responsible of keeping the team on schedule and checking each member's task) can monitor the progress of the project. Different people (in legend: Market Team, Planning Team, Development Team) are assigned to different tasks (Market Team doing 'market research' and 'define specifications', etc.), and in order to have a smooth-running project, a project manager can take a look at the Gantt chart to see if the task is/can be completed on time. Should a task go past its deadline (e.g. Market research's deadline is August 30th), the next task cannot be begun, which delays the next task, and the next task, and the next task...
Reflections
Working on this assignment made me realize how diverse the subject graphic design can be, unlike how the public perceives graphic designers as just artsy people. Assignment 2A and 2B requires us to think like event managers, and our work has to support whatever we think is best for the chosen event through convincing visuals.
For these two assignments, our group members have unanimously agreed to work on The Rebelz, an underground music concert. Its secretive, mysterious nature gives us room to break away from the mainstream, whether it be marketing or the execution of the event itself. I observe that everyone is challenged to think out of the box, away from how event marketing is usually done (in newspapers, billboard, etc.) into something more exciting and new.
Our lecturer introduced us to Alternate Reality Game (ARG). The ARG for Batman: The Dark Knight and Nine Inch Nails' album release are some of the most highly regarded ARG in the marketing/advertising industry. However, due to the complications, we were strongly recommended to not create an ARG, which is understandable considering the scale and intricacy to it. Despite that, my group members and I feel that we can apply some elements of ARG into our event to make it more exciting.
Lecture
None
None
Assignments
New assignment brief: Assignment 2A
Event microsite
As a group, students have to decide one of the events from Assignment 1 to be used as the main event or come up with an entirely new fictional event and make a microsite out of it. Good microsite references are available on Webby. Students have to analyze different types of microsites and compile a moodboard to show the look and feel of their microsite.
To build a microsite, there's a certain process that is generally followed by designers. Create a logo if the group does not have a logo yet. Next, a moodboard has to be created. After the moodboard, the group has to create a site map containing all the pages and information that is going to be present in the final microsite.
 |
| Example of a site map (image credit) |
After the site map has been established, a wireframe is then made. Wireframes are some sort of a blueprint for each page that has been established in the site map that serves as a visual representation of the website framework. An online tool to help students to create wireframes is available at Wirify, a bookmarklet that converts websites into their skin and bones.
Working in a project requires a level of understanding and collaboration between each member, however different their working style may be, which is why there are certain guidelines that are usually followed when working in a group. Photoshop Etiquette.com provide these guidelines for members passing along Photoshop files—name the layers, put them in groups, simplify the use of blending modes, compress your files, etc.
Another thing that needs to be learnt when working as a team is the Gantt chart. Below is a simple example of said chart:
 |
| Gantt chart example (image source) |
A Gantt chart is a task-tracking tool, where a project manager (someone that is responsible of keeping the team on schedule and checking each member's task) can monitor the progress of the project. Different people (in legend: Market Team, Planning Team, Development Team) are assigned to different tasks (Market Team doing 'market research' and 'define specifications', etc.), and in order to have a smooth-running project, a project manager can take a look at the Gantt chart to see if the task is/can be completed on time. Should a task go past its deadline (e.g. Market research's deadline is August 30th), the next task cannot be begun, which delays the next task, and the next task, and the next task...
Reflections
Working on this assignment made me realize how diverse the subject graphic design can be, unlike how the public perceives graphic designers as just artsy people. Assignment 2A and 2B requires us to think like event managers, and our work has to support whatever we think is best for the chosen event through convincing visuals.
For these two assignments, our group members have unanimously agreed to work on The Rebelz, an underground music concert. Its secretive, mysterious nature gives us room to break away from the mainstream, whether it be marketing or the execution of the event itself. I observe that everyone is challenged to think out of the box, away from how event marketing is usually done (in newspapers, billboard, etc.) into something more exciting and new.
Our lecturer introduced us to Alternate Reality Game (ARG). The ARG for Batman: The Dark Knight and Nine Inch Nails' album release are some of the most highly regarded ARG in the marketing/advertising industry. However, due to the complications, we were strongly recommended to not create an ARG, which is understandable considering the scale and intricacy to it. Despite that, my group members and I feel that we can apply some elements of ARG into our event to make it more exciting.