This week was all about finishing strong. Our class was asked to complete section three which focused on picking a target audience and crafting a message directly for them. We designed matrices that outlined preferences and turned in two rough drafts for review.
For some reason, these direct mailers gave me a little trouble in the revision phase. I really think having a target audience, but no true information about the target audience made this assignment really difficult. I also really struggle about not being double checked prior to turning in assignments. The first round of critiques was really helpful in guiding the second creation, but a part of me still feels anxious when submitting this assignment. This anxiety doesn’t come from the lack of knowledge of the Adobe products; rather, the anxiety comes from holding myself to a higher expectation than I did at the beginning of the semester.
After completing the two direct mailers, I still felt a little anxious to turn in the final product. I believe I created something to be proud of, and no matter how long I tediously reworked the design, I believe I would still suffer from some amounts of anxiety.
If I were to start over, I would probably do a small amount of market research. Find out what specific types of symbols and design relate to the audience I’m sending my message to and utilize those symbols and design styles more often. I think this is what separates a well-crafted message from a great one because it shows not just the skills to design something but the logical thinking process to analyze and research beforehand as well.
After working in Photoshop and InDesign, I am a huge advocate for InDesign. I enjoy the minute adjustments able to be made in Photoshop; however, the expansive qualities in InDesign and the much more friendly non-layered user interface are much more gracious on rookies.
