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ACQUIRING COMPETENCIES

Competencies

Full List of Competencies

  • Setting Goals

  • Modifying Settings in Illustrator

  • Research-Based Design

  • Defining Client Needs

  • Understanding Brand Benefits & Features

  • Anchor Point Manipulation (Image Tracing)

  • Using Anchor Point Smoothening

  • Understanding the Purpose of Branding

  • Defining a Brand

  • Brand Strategy

  • Adjusting Strategy for Audiences

  • Developing a Psychographic/Persona

  • Copywriting

  • Establishing Brand Voice and Tone

  • Brand Trust

  • Writing Taglines

  • Writing Radio/Commercial Scripts

  • Creating Differentiation

  • Font Families

  • How to Choose Multiple Fonts

  • Meaning of Art/Meaning of Design

  • Elements and Principles of Visual Design​

  • Storytelling in Design

  • Combining Text and Images

  • Difference Between Animation and Motion Graphics

  • Establishing Effective Visual Hierarchy

  • Communicating Design Solutions

  • Establishing an Onlyness Statement

  • Establishing Look & Feel

  • Selecting Appropriate Imagery

  • Establishing a Theme

  • Brand Vision Boards

  • Sonic Branding

  • Rhythm vs Pacing

  • The Ideation Vs Refinement Processes

  • Creating a Production Schedule

  • Creating Motion Graphics in After Effects

  • Understanding the Types of Media

  • Applying Brand to Media Types

  • Brand Style Guides

  • Creating a Brand Playbook

  • UX/UI Testing Strategies

  • A/B Testing

  • Self-Evaluation

  • Implementing Peer/Outside Feedback

Most Relevant Competences

  1. Anchor Point Manipulation (Image Tracing)

  2. Research-Based Design

  3. Developing a Psychographic/Persona

  4. Elements/Principles of Design

  5. Writing Radio/Commercial Scripts

  6. How to Choose Multiple Fonts​

  7. Establishing an Onlyness Statement

  8. Establishing Look & Feel

  9. Brand Vision Boards

  10. Sonic Branding

  11. Creating a Production Schedule

Competencies Descriptions

Anchor Point Manipulation

One of the earliest competencies I developed was a different way to look at tracing images, and overall using the anchor point tool. I normally used the curvature tool, sometimes facing difficulty due to its natural behavior, or other shortcut tools for cutting out images and creating shapes. However, spending time using the pen tool for tracing accuracy and manipulating the anchor points to perfectly shop out an image led to a great appreciation for the tool, as well as the professional graphic artists in current practice. I also understand how to properly line up the tracing lines depending on the backgrounds in which they will be used. While a simple competency, I consider it a critical piece of knowledge that can easily take a project from amateur work to professional.

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Research-Based Design

Prior to Full Sail University, I had no concept of driving my designs like there was a library of outsider knowledge behind it; I only went on my gut instincts and prior knowledge and experience. Furthermore, I really only understood the general set of skills to do the work of a graphic designer. Throughout this program, however, I learned how to use research as the backbone of all design decisions. Every step of building a brand had some sort of basis in research, whether that supported or differed from my preconceived notions. This included understanding target audiences, local culture, history, competitors, and more. In fact, I would have made completely different decisions building the Flying Aces brand had I not completed any research. Because of the level at which I want to pursue design, having research to back up designs for a client will bring me more credibility, and it will ensure the success of my future clients.

Developing a Psychographic/Persona

The strategy of developing a persona when forming design decisions is based on research and analysis, comparing the goals of the client with the most likely connected audience. A persona may be created to ensure design decisions throughout development remain relevant to those client goals and appeal to this ideal audience. The persona is based on psychographics, traits and behaviors of an audience that would ultimately lead them to your client. By studying the potential audiences and goal of the created brand, I could focus on what kind of person would need and want this brand, and how it would be done. Using the persona can be key to ensuring the design development remains most effective, and remains relevant to the goals of my future clients. 

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Elements and Principles of Design

Once again, the elements and principles of design are not unfamiliar face for me in my continuing education of design. While they have provided a basis for every design, these ideas of using line, shape, balance, color, and many more, have been taught to me through a different lens. By studying a wide variety and large amount of design case studies, I learned how the use of these design qualities is strategic and on purpose. For the Flying Aces logo, for instance, I utilized a curved triangle behind the jet to create movement and energy, reflecting the expected experience of the brand. Each design element and principle creates suggestive meaning because of the design’s purpose of communication, and therefore is evaluated and chosen before being released for real-world use. I now understand that these tools are there for strategic use in my future designs and can help drive the success of my work when used correctly.

Writing Radio and
Commercial Scripts

Prior to studying effective advertising scriptwriting, I had a very minimal understanding of why some advertisements were immediate bothers, interesting, or remained in the back of my mind for years. By delving into the structure of effective scripts, I discovered the key elements that bring the audience's ears closer and ultimately create an association with the brand. While the script ultimately remains within the voice and tone of a brand, its hook and call to action are some of the elements that can make or break its success (along with sonic branding). I practiced writing scripts for a radio PSA, print ad, and TV commercial, using the researched strategies. I refined my work and utilized these skills in my final project as well. These capabilities can be key to ensuring a client’s brand stays versatile to all media while maintaining the same voice and tone.

How to Choose
Multiple Fonts

Font usage has been the biggest struggle for me as a designer because I truly did not understand how or why brands choose their font libraries and decide to apply them. While I could recognize fonts were inherent to brand expressions and were effective, I questioned why other fonts could not do the job as well. Mostly through a course guided by Ina Saltz, I finally could see the strategies of selecting differing fonts, including maintaining brand expression and text readability, and creating a sense of hierarchy. I was able to practice this within my own brand, guided by research and brand goals. Using Saltz’s strategies for selecting fonts will remain in my back pocket, and will be helpful in guiding font selections for my future projects.

Establishing an
“Onlyness” Statement

While I was gaining my competence in research-based design, I also gained an appreciation for the relevance of creating a brand “onlyness” statement. Because my future clients will need assurance that their businesses remain relevant in the market, the “Onlyness” statement defines the differentiation the brand has amongst its competitors. It is crucial to use this Onlyness statement, based on strong research, to develop the rest of the brand and make strong design decisions. By studying audience behavior and marketplace generalities, I could determine how my developed brand would create differentiation for the audience and client. While it is a back-piece to making design decisions, it creates a promise and reassurance for the client’s long-term success.

Establishing Look & Feel

While developing a brand in its early stages, I was eager to get to the physical graphic work. However, the key to that process was the establishment of the desired look & feel for the brand. Guided by research up to that point about brand intentions, every element of look & feel must refer back to the brand goals and its personality. The Look & Feel board serves as a basis for further design development and is a crucial point to refer back to, a piece of media I have never made before. With deep analysis and research of my brand, I created this Look & Feel, which would be the basis of the brand vision board. This point in development will be critical to ensuring a focused idea is established before jumping the gun on media development and wasting (possibly critical) man-hours.

Brand Vision Boards

The brand vision board is a first-glance look of what designers intend to make a brand look like in real practice based on the client’s goals. Incorporating each piece of the brand personality, it shows the colors, imagery, voice, and complete expression of the brand in a flash. By utilizing a created voice & tone and look & feel, I strategically placed images, graphics, and text on one page to get an accurate snapshot of the brand's future. I had never before created a vision board, so I utilized a lot of feedback to get an accurate idea of how it should turn out. Further refinements minimized the number of elements crammed into the page to ensure it completely represents the feeling associated with the brand while communicating the basic “need-to-know” about it. This piece will be a necessary step in brand development for future clients to ensure the designs match their intended goals and development stays on track.

Sonic Branding

While I’ve been a musician almost my entire life and had a love for soundtrack music, the deeper study of sonic branding has transformed my perspective on all sound forever. Sonic branding refers to the strategic use of sound (and music) to reinforce the subconscious experience and associations with a brand and create a stronger emotional connection to it. This can all be achieved without the use of human voice, though that is similarly effective. By studying its history, various methods, and case studies, I was able to put it into practice with trial runs, and ultimately my developed brand project. The sounds all reflect the brand experience's mental image and can be a subtle but crucial tool to create brand differentiation and connection.

Creating a Production Schedule

A production schedule is one of my least favorite things to think about, particularly because I am a procrastinator. However, the pressure and time needed to develop design projects is critical for clients, not to mention the bank accounts of designers. Creating a schedule with intended goals allowed me to have pressure to work and a point of reference for progress. It also helps set aside design work time when a personal schedule appears busy. The schedule creates a sense of self-expectation and understanding, which is needed when communicating with clients about their needs. I created a schedule for myself when making brand media assets, which was beneficial to ensure they were completed at a high level, with time for revisions.

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