Taxi

Stephen Coomber, Interactive Designer from TAXI came in on 

March 25th, 2011.

About Taxi:

-All began of 4 individuals at a cab.

-Creative minded , different, work you to the bone, 

cutting edge and award-winning designs.

-Current clients: 

1. Canadian Tire: spring launch, new campaign direction.

2.Boston Pizza

3. West Jet

4. Telus: touch concepts, ideas are always changed

Address: 495 Wellington Street West, 

Suite 102Toronto, On M5V 1E9

Tel.: 416 342 8294 

About Stephen Coomber:

-Began at Organic as a Junior Designer

-After, at Taxi

-Both are two different environments with different approaches and styles. 

-Did flash animation, transitioned to conceptual concepts and photoshop (design

before it gets animated. 

Contact Info.: 

email: stephen.cioomber@taxi.ca

tel.: 416 342 8294 x424

cell: 416 979 7626

He gave us a very informative lecture:

-Social: Know your guest speakers and companies, narrows down your fit. 

eg.: Y & R: business driven, less creative versus other agencies 

that are creative.

Advice:

-Find a mentor that can help you by guiding your path hrough training

and suggestions.

-Speak up, jump at opportunities by asking if you can handle a 

particular project of interest. The art directors usually 

think you're happy with what you do at work when

you don't ask.

-Always sit on the drivers seat, take control by stating your 

views on things and much more. 

Tweets:

@mashable (social), @CanonOBrien (funny), @jtoeman (tech), @taxiCanada

Links:

http://www.inspiration.com/

http://mashable.com/

http://www.thefwa.com/

http://creativity-online.com/

http://www.engadget.com/

http://www.noupe.com/ 

http://www.bannerblog.com.au/

Nurun

On March 11th, 2011, Nurun came in for a presentation.
The presenters were Hilary Jackson (Project Coordinator), Dondy Razon (Associate Creative Director), and Nadeem Visanji (Digital Strategist) from Nurun.

Address:

96 Spadina Avenue, 9th Floor

Toronto (Ontario) M5V 2J6

Canada

Tel: (416) 591-6000

Fax: (416) 591-6100

Email: toronto@nurun.com

 

 


Then, Now, The Future:

Then:
During WWII, everyone believed everything that was stated on Radios and Television because consumers weren't educated.
Now: 
Social environment, feedback, you gather your own information about products. Because of this, products always change because they listen to the feedback they are receiving in the online community.
Future:
We read minds, we anticipate what customers want. You won't be bombarded with banner ads, instead, appropriate information.

How will we do the Future?
-By asking appropriate questions: What do you need? & What do you want?
-Connect consumers and brands by saying that you need that particular product
-Think beyond sexy commercial

-Mac is a great example:
1. Customers are shocked how much customer service they get with their products; eg. Mac employees personally call their recent new customers asking how their product is treating them.
2. Their how to videos for their products make you want  a product of theirs, just because...without an actual clear push statement.
3. They put little bits of information out into the public, making people curious, which causes people to talk (interest rate goes high even before the product gets released).

When in an Interview:
-When going into an interview you should know what makes you different than any one else.
-Always ask about the companies environment and culture.

Investors Group

On February 25th, 2011, Rachelle Allen, Financial Consultant, and Adam Plaxton, Consultant, of the Investors Group.

Contact Info.:

Adam Plaxton
416-695-8600
295 The West Mall Suite 700, Etobicoke, ON M9C 4Z4
adam.plaxton@investorsgroup.com

Rachelle Allen
416-860-1668 ext. 227
145 King Street West, Suite 2800, Toronto, ON M5H 1J8
rachelle.allen@investorsgroup.com

What was interesting was hearing that because we are living longer, we need to save money for retirement or we will out-live our money.

Usually, peoples retirement money interest lacks due to lack of plan, taxes, procrastination and investor behavior.

It was interesting to learn about a investing on a regular basis. This will really help you in the long run.

When speaking of education,  RSP loans is a good option. If you earn 50,000 and contribute 10,000 then you only claim 40,000 on your tax refund.

We touched base on three types of Insurance:
1. Life Altering Illness:
-Covers 22 illness
-One time tax free lump sum of $50, 000
-Premiums are paid back to you if you don't get sick ($40-$50 a month)
-Highest claims are from 20-30 year old women with breast cancer

2. Mortgage Insurance:
-Protection

3. Term Life Insurance:
-Protection
-Cheaper, same premium, coverage stays the same
-Will receive money

Dashboard

On February 18th, 2011, dashboard came to present.

Our guest speaker this week was Catherine Baird, Associate Creative Director from Dashboard. She is a Sheridan Web Design graduate and has currently worked with a graduate from the program every year since graduating here from 2001.

About Catherin Baird:
-Ecentricarts,  Senior Designer
-Henderson Bas, Senior Designer
-Henderson Bas, Associate Creative Director
-5emegauche, Paris France, Senior Art Director
-Draft FCB, Senior Art Director

 









Address:
355 Adelaide St. W. Suite 100
Toronto, ON M5V 1S2
P. 416.504.4422
F. 416.504.6644
TF. 1.866.503.6354

About Dashboard:
-They are a Digital, Engagement Agency. They are about engaging people online.
-Creative team is 6 to 8 people, and there are around 30 employees in the shop.

Some Clients include:
-Santa Claus parade (whole brand)
-Joe
-Kraft peanut butter
-Capital One
-Wagner
-Hellmann’s
-Ing Direct

5 Steps to getting a Job:
1. Gather your best work only with a pdf and links, linking your portfolio website.
2. Do something unusual: brand yourself not only through emailing the agency but perhaps sending a business card,  video of you etc.
3. Follow up with not long emails.
4. Show diversity: if your a painter, musician etc, show it, not only design.
5. Network: Build communication with people who respect your work.

Hint: If you are not asked for an interview, then ask for a portfolio interview. This will higher your chances in getting in due to your personality instead.

Leo Burnett

On February 11th, 2011, Leo Burnett came for a visit; guest speaker was Brendan Good, Associate Creative Director from Leo Burnett.

Address:

175 Bloor Street East
North Tower
Toronto, Ontario M

4W 3R9
http://www.leoburnett.ca
p.416. 925. 5997
f. 416. 926. 3343

Brendan Good Contact Info.:

LinkedIn

 About Leo Burnett:
    •    Leo Burnett is the 4th most awarded design agency - the only Canadian Company
    •    Creatives run the shop
    •    Clients include: Kellogg's, Healthy Choice, Bell, TVO, P&G, Blackberry, and more

About Brendan Good:

- Worked at D3, Organic and at  Jam3Media.

Brendan not only came with a presentation, but he also came with interesting books, "The Internet Case Study" and "Guidelines for Online Success." These books are both by Rob Ford and Julius Wiedemann.

He gave very interesting resource links for guidance in the design world:

Typodermic: Free online fonts by designer Tobias Frere Jones.
Salary Guide: Keeps you up-to-date with the current design salaries depending on occupation.
Creative Group is also a great resource as well.
FITC is worth the investment.

He emphasized on:

-Having passion for design to succeed
-You have to be a fit for their environment

Good Places to work at:

-Red Interactive Agency
-Camp Organic at Organic: Learn how to get out of your comfort zone by dealing with people within the public in crazy ways.

Type of Shops:

    •    Futurists
    •    Brand Leads (ideas & clients)
    •    Independent (mom and pop or BFF shop)
    •    Vendor / Specialists (a skill: research, Papervision 3D, Wordpress)
    •    Social Crews (digital guerrilla)
    •    Freelance (join Behance - can work from anywhere)
    •    Co-operatives (get freelancers together with different skill sets)

One Method: Steve Miller

In January 28h, Steve Miller, from OneMethod came to our class.

About Steve Miller:

Position: Creative Director
Contact: steve@onemethod.com
              delicious.com/thatstevemiller
              416 649 0191(tel.) 416 816 7077(cell)

His Creative Director Role:

-Creative thinker.
-Strategic thinker.
-Presenter.
-Communicator.
-Client relater.
-Marketeer.

Worked in:

1. Retail for 10 years as a sales guy:
This experience taught him a lot about the advertising industry, especially in performance and sales.
2. SUIT in Vancouver
3. BBDO: Copywriter

About OneMethod:

Their Do's:

-Websites                 -Branding

-Advertising            -Print Design

-Mobile Media        -Interior Design

-Social Media          -Strategy

-Digital Content      -Curriculum

-Motion Design

-There biggest client is Nokia, majority is outside Canada. 

-They look for employees who have skills in everything. Knowledge in everything is an asset and bonus in order to get a position. Because this is a small studio, roughly of about 25, they need employees who know everything.

-They like to create majority of work in house.

-They do motion graphics and after effects allot.

Successful Interviews:

-Brief/Rationale.

-Mobile.

-Social.

-Ideas.

-Work 50%.

-You 50%.

-First 5 minutes is important.

-Speak Intelligently.

-Take comments.

How to be Successful?

-Take a marketing course.

-Practice presenting.

-Read allot.

-Experience.

-Practice allot.

 

Ecentric Arts

Ecentric Arts

contactus@ecentricarts.com

http://www.ecentricarts.com/

416.644.5000 x.221

317 Adelaide St. West., Suite 300

Toronto ON M5V 1P9

About the Guest Speakers:

Keith Durrant and Leslie Horan came in on January 21st/2011.

Keith: Has over 2 years of interactive experience. He graduated from York University,

receiving a BA degree. He is in charge of the business side of things at Ecentric Arts

Leslie: Studied Fine  Art at Queens University, receiving a BA degree as well. She now

is the Creative Director at Ecentric Arts. 

What is Ecentric Arts

There are 3 main owners of the company, one being Keith, who is in charge of Business.

The other two owners are in charge of Technology and Creativity. 

The company began in 2000 and now carries 25 employees.

List of their Previous Clients

 *Majority of their projects are built in a particular way so that clients can update content by themselves. They also provide training before hand. 

1: http://www.kidshelpphone.ca/teens/home/splash.aspx

This project took over a year to create. It is for kids and teens to find out important

information they do not like asking individuals in person. Games are also included in this

website, where the user reaches various obstacles to learns new intriguing information

about particular topics.

2: http://www.osler.com/

3: http://www.nbs-enb.ca/

I was really intrigued in looking at their flash video on the home page. This is because the

animation slowly spreads to cover the whole page. It was also nice to hear that a previous

student taking Web Design created their new logo.  

4: http://www.textilemuseum.ca/

They created the gallery using zoomify. The zoomify tool in their gallery is very effective 

in revealing texture details. 

5: http://www.munkdebates.com/home.aspx

The whole purpose of this website is a debate, a blog. The feel of a blog is very present in the

whole design due to scattered text and images. The scribbles on the far right remind me of

Nuite Blanche branding. 

6. http://www.toronto.ca/tmp/

I really enjoyed looking at the colour scheme for the Toronto Museum Project website. What

I found really interesting was people profiles at the bottom, which you are able to access. 

7. http://groupofseven.ca/

I enjoyed viewing the gallery because it shows the painting and the photograph 

of the actual landscape side by side with interactivity for the user to move the painting and

photograph around at the same time. 

8.http://bbnc.cciorg.ca/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=276

I enjoyed looking at the graphics created for images, plus, the colours are gorgeous.

*Note, these were just a few companies they showed and spoke about for a period

of time. 

Future Web Design Issue:

We always have to be up-to-date with all legislation's/rules and so on. This is because it can

affect our website of being accessible to the wide public due to the accessibility Ontario act

that is being taken place. All websites will need to be updated for all individuals to have the 

ability to hear and see clearly online.

In Conlusion:

All in all said, they both are very nice people to talk to and appreciate art very much. They hire many individuals who have a Fine Art background, which shows their appreciation and value for art. I later approached Leslie; she is a very nice and approachable lady to speak to.

John Alabazowski of Maclaren McCann

Maclaren McCann is known to still be one of the best and longest 

striving agencies in Canada to this day. They work with many 
other agencies in orderto create great ads (ads are their focus). 

They are located in three Canadiancities; Toronto, Calgary and 

Vancouver - Toronto being the largest.

http://www.maclaren.com/

John spoke very highly of his company, which showed his strong 

commitment at Maclaren McCann. He stressed that we have to be 

creativewhen speaking of our portfolios. This means, that we 

should not be shy showing our independent (non-school work) to 

them as portfolio pieces because they usually are the most effective 

and interesting pieces they enjoy looking at.

He also stressed on collaboration is everything and anything. 

Without collaboration,you are no successful, by not accomplishing 

deadlines.

What I found very risky was when he spoke of Apple not accepting 

their Chevy Application for its iPhone at first. What I think is 

wrong, is that iPhone has to see the final finished product before 

its final approval for their iPhone application.Thankfully, Maclaren

McCann did not give up and convinced Apple that it should be an

iPhone application. I enjoyed listening to their non-charity work 

they do, free of charge. Maclaren McCann takes great pride in charity

work. Charity organizations are their top favourite people they like 

working with since it is for a good cause.Out of all the pieces he has 

shown in class, I really enjoyed listening and seeing ads done for Buick, 

Chevy Cruze and the charity organization camp up north in Canada. 

Pamela Divinsky and Alden Hadwen

The Divinsky Group

Contact: 

416.562.6414
pamela@divinskygroup.com
 

About Pamela Divinsky:

Founder of The Divinsky Group. Has over 20 years of experience 

in corporate strategy, social change research, management consulting 

and corporate responsibility strategy development and implementation.

About Alden Hadwen:

Manager of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) at Aeroplan Canada, 

and at Groupe Aeroplan, a global leader in loyalty management. She has 

overall responsibility for the development and management of all 

aspects of Aeroplan’s CSR program including Community Investment, 

Environmental Stewardship, Employee Engagement and Art Partnerships. 

I unfortunately did not attend this particular day. I did however 

visit their website. I enjoyed reading,"The objective is to manage 

the full impact your business has on the world and do this in ways 

that improve the world, and your business. The outcome is sustainable 

social change and enduring business success. I personally believe, 

that when companies stand up for what they believe in are more 

successful than anything else. Yes, it indeed does take a lot of work 

for particular acts to be affective, but that is the whole excitement 

behind it, in expressing your beliefs. This company is definitely 

strong and powerful in its development of clear Social Missions and 

Social Capital Strategies that earn the pride of employees, the trust

of consumers, respect of investors and watchers, and ensures 

that the result is true impact. Key to this is measurement. 

ROM

 

The ROM experience was quite interesting. I was very fascinated with the stone exhibit. This is because this exhibit is carrying many various stones from across the world that you tend to forget about. The interesting part was the large stones before its cutting; the original stone from the ground. When it came to the interactivity part of this exhibit; it was less updated than the technology we have today. This is because they had a + and – for zoom in and zoom out. In today’s society we tend to use our fingers to expand an image to view closer and zoom out, therefore the image was restricted in doing this. I personally do not mind this though because non-technology users would not understand how to zoom in and zoom out without the + and – signs.  I personally think the + and – is a good design because you click and hold however long you like. What I did not like was that the information for every stone because it was very brief and straightforward ie. name of stone and its country origin. There was no in-depth information ie. meaning behind the stone, its healing aspect, how it was first found, etc.  Over, all the remaining exhibits did not carry very advanced technology. Some people like that while others would like to see some more advanced technology. I personally do not mind when you are restricted to technology because you focus more on the artwork itself then. I feel that technology can prevent you from learning about a particular artifact when you start doodling with technology in the same exhibit room.

Sapient

Sapient Representatives came in today:

Kim Welch - Studio Manager

David Han - Senior Art Director and Sheridan graduate

Sonia Janovjak - Director of Human Resources (sjanov@sapient.com)

About Sapient:

-It is a global agency, located in the US, Canada, UK, Germany and India. It is the world’s first customer experience company (Sapient Nitro). They also work with the global markets and government services. This defines it having end-to-end capabilities; wide range of design opportunities from banner ads to technology.

-It has over 60,00 employees globally; Toronto itself has 195-200 individuals.

-They were really impressed with their interactive Coke machine as one of their many successful finished projects.

Because of my background education, I really enjoyed listening about the user experience process they do with several of their projects; everything related to user research, personas and information architecture.

Resume/Portfolio Input

Moreover, they gave thorough information related to portfolio expectations. They require good typography skills (proximity, leading etc.) Express your interests as well as problem solving skills, the process you went through that brought you to your final executions.

Meanwhile, your resume should be a simple clean one page with white space and perhaps your logo. David strongly stressed on typography fundamentals and bullets-- having 60% intensity and larger than your type.

Good job search engines they introduced were:

www.procom.ca

www.hire.ca

Creative Niche Inc.

Creative Niche Inc.

http://www.creativeniche.ca/

110 Spadina Avenue, Suite 604

Toronto, ON M5V 2K4

T | 416.360.3893 x237

F | 416. 360.0137

Stephen Hodges, President
x226

Adele Wootton, Client Services Director
x223

Adele Wootton (Director, Client Service) and Stephen Modges (President) have came in today to speak about how to find a good paying job after graduation in the art/design industry today.

They both have over 20 years of design industry experience, causing great feedback as to what they expect from future resumes, portfolios and employees, in general.

Statistics:

Salary has not changed for over 25 years:

-Intermediate Designers: 55, 000 approx.

-Senior Designers: 75, 000 approx.

* Note: This wage has not changed for over 25 years. They are in the process of posting statistics about this and questions related to when will this change and how.

Job Recommendations:

Obvious jobs:

-Production artist

-Graphic designer

-Art Director

Less obvious:

-Content manager

-Project manager

-Studio manager

-Production manager

Not obvious:

-SEO/SEM

-U/X Designer Specialist

-Online community manager

*Note: Keep an eye on the latest job occupations and descriptions because they are the next big trends. Plus, applying for these less obvious and not obvious jobs creates a higher advantage of receiving an occupation within that specific field.

*Note:  Both Adele and Stephen recommend recent graduates to apply for freelance job opportunities. This is because it is very competitive for recent graduates to receive a job in the agency world. When having freelance work experience, there is a higher chance of receiving a future agency job opportunity because you have accomplished a good business-minded portfolio and experience doing freelance.

Resume Feedback:

1. When applying for a job, carefully read the job description and ask yourself whether you fit the jobs needs and qualifications; if not, then there is no need of you applying. 

2. Always keep your resume up to date with all recent job occupations, skills, needs and goals. However, do not focus on ie. 2 day jobs; it is irrelevant to put on your resume.

3. PAR: Stress on problem, action and result to identify you being a problem solver.

4. Be specific with your past positions: ie. Updated 5 websites on daily bases for the client’s needs – instead of – ie. Updated websites.

5. Design of your Resume: Should be 81/2 by 11 for easy printing access.  Some companies prefer a .doc in contrast to a pdf, therefore, it shows whether the company is conservative/traditional or creative. Pdf resumes should be more creative and represent you as an artist, in contrast to a .doc.

6. Be more commercial/business minded than creative. Speak about the marketing/business strategy behind it, the process as to how you came about your final design(s) and decision(s).

As an Individual:

1. Keep yourself updated with the most recent trends. If you write a proposal to your company about an event that you consider participating in, they might even pay for your attendance. Participating in events is also good when you get fired or laid off from a job you have been working in for over 10 years. This is because you are still updated with current trends, causing a higher advantage in finding a job again.

2. Interview yourself. Some individuals write amazing resumes and have great portfolios but are not successful at their interview. Having all three successful assets (great portfolio, resume and interview) will cause a better advantage of receiving a job.

Did not participate for Nicole DiFilippo's visit!

Nicole DiFilippo attended as a guest speaker who works at 

Sheridan College. Nicole is involved with Sheridan's

Athletic Therapy Program and Clinic. 

Carpal tunnel, back stress, posture, eye strain, are all 

problems we suffer in many job occupation, but most of all, 

within the media industry.

Sheridan College offers a health care coverage. To find out more 

information about the health coverage, go to www.ihaveaplan.ca

There are various health packages you can chose from, 

which are all beneficial.

Interactive Studios 2009

Day 1 Presenters:

1. Amoeba Corporation: www.amoebacorp.com/

2. Blast Radius: www.blastradius.com/

3. Grip Limited: www.griplimited.com/

4. Idea Couture: www.ideacouture.com/

5. Henderson Bas: www.theniceagency.com/

6. John Street: www.johnst.com/

7. Mighty: www.mighty.ca/

8. NFB: www.nfb.ca/

9. NuRun: www.nurun.com/

10. Oddly Studios: www.oddlystudios.com/

11. Organic: www.organic.com/

12. Sapient: www.sapient.com/

13. Taxi: www.taxi.ca/

14. MacLaren McCann: www.maclaren.com/

15. Lamin Martin: www.laminmartin.com/

16. Pixel Gallery: www.pixelgallery.org/

Day 2 Presenters:

1. WIDEawake Liberty Studios: www.wideawakeliberty.com/

2. Digital Cement: www.digitalcement.com/

3. Espresso: www.brandinfiltration.com/

4. Jam3 Media: www.jam3media.com/

5. One Method: www.onemethod.com/

6. Teehan+Lax: www.onemethod.com/

7. The Marketing Store: www.themarketingstore.com/

8. Soci Media: www.socimedia.com/

9. Ubisoft: www.ubi.com/

10. Trapeze: www.trapeze.com/

11. TBWAI: www.tbwa.com/

Lamin Martin:

I really enjoyed listening to one of the speakers called, Lamin Martin (day 1).

He provided us with good links as a good start in promoting yourself as a freelancer.

1. www.guerillaprinting.ca/

2. www.deviantart.com/

3. www.conceptart.org/

4. www.behance.net/

5. www.imaginefx.com/

6. www.cgsociety.org/

7. www.zazzle.com/

8. www.mailchimp.com/

9. www.wufoo.com/

Trapeze’s Presentation was interesting as well. The presenter stressed on 10 factors in how to be a successful media employee who will make customers care for brands:

1. Cultural Latency: speed, response, resistance draped because you have to respond quickly, not only push strategy.

2. Social media is everywhere

3. Chips are cheaper than ever, therefore, more advanced and powerful technology we can use to get our job done

4. Ubiquity of bandwidth: wireless

5. Clouds: clusters of servers/computers connected to data

6.Context is king: experiences within genre, nothing unrelated to a specific topic

7. Be relevant/useful

8. Everybody is a producer of content

9. NUI: hand interaction, eye tracking

10. We will all have jobs if we are engaged users

Other links:

http://foundationstudio.ca/

Tehan+Lax’s extra webpage they created: www.imgspark.com/

http://www.indiemoviesonline.com//

All in all, I believe you can not separate marking from art/media/design if you want to be a successful media individual. They both intertwine together now.

Furthermore, media is becoming more of a developing field than before, due to many codes and scripts, creating technical masterpieces.

Week 5

About Ryan O’Brien

Ryan O’Brian, creative director at CTV came in during our week 5. He went to an art high school in Niagara. During his last year, he interned at Optex for stage building. Their current company website can be found at http://www.optexstaging.com/. After that, he worked at a piercing/tattoo studio. After that, he pursued a clothing company in the United States. After two years, he came back to Canada and was approached by a person from Chum FM (www.chumfm.com). For a short period of time, he worked at Chum, designing their website. Later on, the Chum executive director introduced him to a Much Music opportunity as a web designer.

Email: ryan.obrien@ctv.ca
work#: 416.384.2247
cell#: 416.371.4706

About CTV

CTV is focused on efficiency, communication and teamwork. Their groups of teams are in the development, content, business and sales. These groups manage independently but work together. CTV is constantly growing with over 50 online destinations focusing on online videos/shows and radios. Its major top #1websites are CTV for online show viewing and TSN for sports viewing.

The reason why CTV is successful is because of its analytics and research department team. They focus on issues related to networks etc. They decide whether a design created is being successful related to online usability. This causes a rearranging in designs constantly to make it better for frustrating online users.

The Future?

At CTV, Ryan speaks allot about the future, usually 2 to 4 years from now. Being up to date with technology and the future is really important to a successful career in this industry. One of the future technologies coming out will be html5. Rumors are spreading saying it will be a fantastic feature added to the Internet, however, his feedback is negative. It wont be as important in the digital world because many cell phone platforms and browsers will still not support it due to technology adaptation. This example truly shows technology barriers. There is so much you want to do with technology, so many ways to approach creativity, but at times you are restricted because it is not adapted everywhere.

He also mentioned how there will be a rise in 4G, tabloids, Google Operating System, cell phones (doing many things at once), mobile tablets, Wi-Fi and 3-d video viewing.

Moreover, the difficulties they are having now is accessibility. This will be a future Canadian issue considering since there is a major increase with 40 to 65 years of age Internet users. The question now is how may they increase font size for better readability without ruining the whole web page design?

What is Important in this working environment?

-Intimate knowledge of how the Internet works
-Fundamentals of coding on notepad by not depending on web design software’s,
-Functional spec docs. for how things work and the reasons behind it, is it the shortest way of getting to a destination?

What is Important?

Keep yourself up to date with technology and critique it whether it will be successful or not (ignoring rumors of it being good and successful).

Week 4

Stephen Bennett came in during our week 4 class. He currently is working at Jupiter Park as a creative director in the digital area. He previously worked at Mod it, Blast Radius, Henderson Bas, Grip Limited and Blue Zone.

What is Juniper Park?

http://www.juniperpark.com/

2 Bloor St W, 6fl
Toronto, ON.
CANADA
M4W 3R6

It was established 3 years ago, currently having 75 employees. They integrate Advertising, Strategy and Design into one, creating them more unique than other agencies. They create work for broadcasting, print, OOH and digital statements. They use a vendor model: they don’t handle production, they instead hand it over to other companies. This agency also, once in a while, hires freelancers for 2 months or so. Moreover, their current clients are within the United States. Historically speaking, it all began with their Pepsico assignment, which lead to many other American companies becoming Juniper Park’s clients.

Stephen highly stressed on emotional connection with brands. Juniper Park’s goal is to accomplish this by creating a brand narrative. This is because ideas need to be embraced and talked about. Without emotional brand attachments from consumers, people would not be purchasing the way they are today. They would not purchase a specific product in contrast to another product line that is pretty much “the same thing.”

He also stressed on being curious. Without art curiosity, you won’t be creative and successful in the art world. This is because technology keeps changing, which causes people to adopt and be different. Things are moving to quickly. He stated that the Internet is not catching up. However, this is not true. Web 2.0 will be Web 3.0 soon.  The question is, when? It is under debate.

What is Web 3.0?

http://webtrends.about.com/od/web20/a/what-is-web-30.htm

I personally believe that because technology is constantly being updated causing digital media agencies to adapt and be up to date, might not be a good thing after all. Anyone can receive an acrobat package with photoshop, illustrator, etc. for extremely cheap. The easier public access we receive, they less stronger and powerful art agencies become because you can be a professional designer from home for cheap. How are art agencies different? The only reason I believe they are still successful is through the trust they build with clients who are willing to pay loads of money for a short clip or a small design project.

WEEK 3

During week 3, we were introduced to a current employee at Mosaic, Meg Kerr. Her job occupation title is a "Social Media Integration Manager." Her job includes many meetings, especially with the Mosaic creative team. Her meetings mostly focus on event planning's for various companies/clients, including Stella Artois. She tries promoting companies by attending their events abroad and by updating her followers online through social media networks accounts. Her social media accounts include, Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, YouTube, Foursquare, Gowalla, Yelp.

What is Mosaic?

"Mosaic is an industry leader in Experiential Marketing and Selling & Merchandising. We bring some of North America’s top brands to life through sampling, merchandising, special events, and promotions in retail and bar environments."

You can visit them at: http://www.mosaicjobs.com/

 Meg Kerr made me question where social media is headed. Will it stop or will it be stronger than ever? The question is still hard to answer. 1st and second generations were open to experiencing new social media, very open to the world. However, third generation is slowly closing it down creating invitation websites only. Facebook, for example, statistically speaking is dropping down because 5 out of 7 countries are stopping usage. Plus, websites such as www.suicidemachine.org allows the individual to cancel all social media accounts by a click of a bottom.

In today’s world, people turn to online websites more than news on the television itself. Why is this? It is because; the Internet is a fast growing and relying source of information that is frequently updated. Journalism/reporters before were always first to tell the story, however, they now are delaying because of the fast paced environment of the Internet. What is bad about it? Speed versus accuracy is important as well, therefore, you should always analyze whether what you see online is falsely stated or not.

What I found interesting was http://foursquare.com/. This can provide you with good immediate feedback when needed. Eg. You ask everyone on the website, where you can find a good restaurant in a specific location, people will give you immediate information. You can even receive free coffee when stating you are at a specific coffee shop location.

When it comes to social media websites like twitter, Facebook, etc. we want privacy settings. Although, twitter does not contain this, which means, we should be very alert as to what we write on the wall, who knows, someone can rob you if you state on your status, “Away from home for the weekend.”

I personally believe social media is good but to a certain extent. Individuals these days are ambiguous when seating at the same table, not knowing how to chat with one another face to face. They instead turn to technology, by playing/browsing on their phones. In addition, it may cause you to become more self-conscious in the real world when being face to face. Avatar is a good example of this, creating your own personal avatar and communicating with other online avatars is not healthy. Some people become obsessed with the game. It becomes their only world where they feel important digitally.

Week 2

During our week 2 class, we were introduced to a senior interactive designer at Henderson Bas, Jay Shacher. His job occupation mainly focuses on web experiences, online ads and other interactive designs related to various media projects.



Because he is a senior designer, when beginning his new assigned project, he first brainstorms, then creates concept(s), then designs it, then oversees it while still meeting a deadline for his final project.

When he finishes his assignment, he then immediately introduces it to his creative director, then it gets transferred to the account manager. After both improve it, the client then states its input, which commonly causes a redesign or design adjustments. When all this is finished, it creates one satisfied client.


His current portfolio website is:
www.jayshack.com




What is Henderson Bas?

Henderson Bas is located at 479 Wellington St. W, Toronto, ON, M5V 1E7.

It is Canada's most awarded digital agency. They combine remarkable creativity and strategies for exceptional results.

This studio currently has 80 talented people working  who share ideas and then create successful projects.
                                                                             
                                                                               Their current website is www.theniceagency.com


I was very impressed with his portfolio at this company because he deals with many recognizable companies around the world. LG Shine Plus website (lgshineplus.com) was one of his main projects, containing google maps as the companies website feature for interactivity.

What amazed me with this project was his step by step designs he took on a simple header. He made me learn that being a designer is not important, instead, the client is. Even if you disagree with their ideas and suggestions for a particular design, you have to fulfill it for the client(s). In other words, because clients like being powerful and important they take charge by approving designs. Because a non-designer likes taking charge, also explains the reason as to why there are bad designs being exposed publicly at big companies in today's world.

Moreover, he stated the LG website being fairly slow because of the google maps. They still are in the process of it trying to make it run faster. This made me realize that, even when you are really creative, you still can't achieve a 100% successful project due to technology barriers (data taking up too much space, causing the website to run slower than usual).

Finally, he stressed on becoming friends with your class mates. This is because, there is a high chance of them helping you out in finding a job position. This is very true because the majority of online job postings are only a third of what really is out there. The reason for this is because companies first ask their current employees before they publicly post it due to trust and less training.

Week 1

Today, many students exposed their portfolio artwork to the class for the first time. It was exciting to see peoples unique and personal artwork styles that we all can build upon and learn from.

I also learned about a new company. Sheila personally introduced me to a company called Ecentricarts Inc. You can find them at http://www.ecentricarts.com/

As for the Web Design orientation week...we were introduced to our course outlines. After reading through and being introduced to our instructors, I now am very excited, yet stressful for this coming school year.