I graduated from the University of the Arts on May 19, 2011 with my BFA in Graphic Design. Interestingly, it was the same day my mom graduated from Camden County College with her associates in Accounting, only ten years later. During the ceremony, I looked around and noticed a lot of my peers had decorated their caps. I did not. I felt kind of odd possibly “ruining” a piece of my wardrobe I will 100% never wear again. So at home, in a Ziplock, I have my plain black cap and tassel, just existing and taking up space. My mom also did not decorate her cap for her ceremony, nor was it something she kept, so it’s not like I was urged to do such a thing, nor did I have direct inspiration. In fact, I don’t remember anyone in my family having their caps decorated for their ceremonies.
Read moreData Visualization: It's Not Purely Math
When I applied to the MS Strategic Advertising and Marketing program at Temple University, I remember reading the list of courses in the curriculum and being intrigued. Listed were a few marketing courses, a few advertising courses, a design theory course (which really excited me), a media planning course, a user experience design course (also very exciting), the marketing capstone and something that originally terrified me: a statistics course. My brain immediately placed the latter one in the math bucket and the first word out of my mouth was NOPE.
Read moreGood Seasons: The Fresh & Convenient Alternative to Traditional Salad Dressing
By changing the core messaging and positioning of Good Seasons from being a delicious dressing mix for your family to excite their dinner salads, we turned it to it being a delicious all-purpose seasoning mix here for your convenience. We played on the low cost and ease of use of the product to pitch our ideas. Although we understood nostalgia played a big part in the percentage of the target audience who was already hooked, we needed to leverage that to give the brand edge—not your mom’s good seasons! We harped on the fact Good Seasons’ packaging and logo was in dire need of an upgrade and its overall presence needed to broadcast much further than just on the store shelves.
Read moreField Trip to The Viaduct
Before the semester even started, an email appeared in our TU inboxes from our Visual Communication and Branding professor: “I’m planning an in-person meeting.”
I was a bit (very) skeptical about meeting in person for class, especially since there was a very strong reason why our classes are online this semester. Originally, my response was "NO, NO WAY. NOT IN THIS PANDEMIC! WHAT IN THE WORLD." (See: “WHA THIT HEO?!”) After I heard it wasn't going to be 2.5 hours of ice breakers and awkwardness on the first day of class, but rather a chance to see each other (for the first time in, what, six months?) in a beautiful outdoor space with a chance to network with other designers from a local firm called Cohere, I was immediately in. The only thing that got in my way was my mode of transportation. (I decided to drive in…it was faster to do that anyway.)
I am so glad I decided to go. We met two of the nicest ladies who are designers by day and botanists by night (okay, maybe not botanists, but definitely urban gardeners!), who took time out of their busy schedules to tell us all about how The Viaduct came to be, a little bit about Cohere and what they do, and gave us some insight on a branding project they’re working on for a local hotel.
What made this trip even better was being able to meet our professor in person. I already know everyone else who showed up Thursday night (except for the one guy, Branden), so it was almost like a (much needed) reunion. We all masked up and took a “class photo” and throughout the night, Kathy (our prof) snapped shots that she later shared with us on our free-for-all discussion board (thank you!).
And even better - I expected to go back to my car to see a ticket from PPA on there, but was disappointed (in a positive way) to see that they showed me no love. ;P
The space is beautiful, and it’s open for other plein-air -type events they host. Plus! They have chickens running around! There are also harvests and flowers for sale, and it’s in an area where you can take a few short steps to grab a drink after whatever event you’re attending in the man-made space.
Thank you, Kathy, for arranging this for us and thank you to Dylan and Victoria for hosting a fun evening full of interesting discussions and an awesome networking opportunity. It was worth the trip!