Chris K Designs

The Updated Today plugin for WordPress has been updated to version 2.1.1. I was fighting with the SVN so I’m sorry if you got a bad version during the process. It should all be updated and good to go. You can download it directly from WordPress if need be!

Thanks for the support.

It’s official. With Photoshop CS5, Adobe has single-handedly made my degree (and many more out there) worth absolutely nothing. Ok, so maybe not NOTHING but at least worth the cost of Photoshop CS5. You no longer need to have any skill to remove objects from an image, know what the tools actually do and how to alter them, or even the actual reason you are doing anything in the program. You only need to select an area, use a single check-box…”Content Aware”, and hit delete. It’s like magic.

Apart from the image manipulator, you no longer need a good photographer either who has the ability to see the issues that may arrise in the shot before they even take it. Oh well, I guess the new wave of Art Majors studying fields that use Photoshop will have an easier time with their projects. Maybe that’s just it, I’m bitter I didn’t have this option available to me. Enjoy your easier image manipulations kids, now maybe you’ll have to think more conceptually.

All through design school it’s drilled into your brain to have a target audience for each project you create. It’s a simple rule that should be step one in every design project, however it falls to the wayside as deadlines loom closer and executives push harder. As a designer you cannot falter from the path of your target audience.

There are three things you should keep in mind for every bit of work you do:

1. Never use Papyrus as a font (hehe)
2. “Doing X made it look better/pop/just work.” is not an acceptable reasoning for a decision
3. Define and don’t change our target audience.

In this example we’ll just assume that the work you are doing is for an advertising campaign, to keep things simple. You can break down your target audience into any combination of things like age, sex, education, income, or political views (just to name a few). These are examples demographics and your bosses are always worried about the demographics. Can I tell you a secret though? These don’t always fulfill the target audience quota.

The problem you run into with demographics is that they are based on statistics. You may have to search deeper than the numbers to hit your target audience. A great example of this is Charles Schwab’s “Talk to Chuck” advertising campaign. I’m pretty sure you all know this campaign but you can find an example of one of the commercials here. (sorry for the link. the embed was disabled)

Did you go watch the video? Good. Notice anything besides a tight animation sequence and a guy with a somewhat odd voice? It’s simple and you probably won’t even realize the effect of it. They changed one thing, Charles -> Chuck. Yeah, big deal, cute, I know. This simple word change is the entire basis of the campaign. The idea is to bring investments down to people who don’t invest because it’s thought of as a product for people named Charles or have 2 previous relatives with the same name, causing them to be ‘The 3rd”.

Choosing your target audience and tailoring to them isn’t about numbers, it’s about people. Next time you go to start a project don’t narrow down your target to ‘Males ages 23-30 with a college degree’. Think beyond the standard demographics and into who the product, company, or event you are working with can affect people who typically wouldn’t be considered the target audience. After all, the more people who find the product accessible, the better the return on investment will be. There’s a number to give to the execs.

Visit the Charles Schwab website
View the Charles Schwab YouTube Channel