Week 4 Origination

This week began with a Quiz on Chapter 3 of the John Maeda book, Simplicity. We then had a quick look at Branding, what it is and how to recognise it.

Task 1: Quiz Chapter 3, The Laws of Simplicity by John Maeda

• What is the major benefit of saving time?

Saving time gives you more time to do other things and provides the feeling of simplicity.

• How do designers integrate time into their products?

Designers can shrink the time it takes for a product to function, for you to reach your desired goal.
An example given was Bar Codes and the iPod, for example the iPod shuffle saves you the selection process, you don’t have to think about what you are going to listen to. The progress bar on a computer or toaster.
Behind the simplicity is the complexity.

• Explain the relationship between making waiting shorter with making waiting more tolerable

Making a wait shorter is a quantitative measurement, i.e., how many minutes did it take. Making waiting more tolerable is a qualitative measurement, i.e. how much you have enjoyed the experience.
If the experience is more tolerable the waiting time seems shorter.

• How can you use your timeline to increase your own efficiency as a designer?

Set goals in a time frame and work to achieve these. This also helps a plan to come together, again saving time by being organized and thinking through the process. You have a record of time spent; this can help organize your time in the future.

• Briefly outline an event or activity in which you are adept at time saving?

Multi-tasking - getting ready in the morning, cleaning, 

• What part of your design/multimedia process do you need to improve at, in terms of saving time?

When the semester started I need to improve my blogging time and journal time, I achieved this by working on these in class and completing it as soon as possible so it was still fresh in my mind. This saves a lot of time later on trying to remember what we did, also gives me more time to work on other concepts.

Saving time is something that fascinates me, I think from my days of being a Psychology/ Sociology university student. We would study how to change behaviour and study how recording behaviour is a catalyst for change. In life, when there is a task to do I will generally look for any patterns to simplify the process and reduce the time it takes.
Featured in this video is one way I save time, it starts when I go shopping.

Task 2: Thinking Game- Analysing Patterns / Branding

What is a Brand?
We began this session with viewing multiple brand icons and guessing the Brand, the only Brand not recognised by the class in the selection was the Nestle Brand.

We then discussed, what is Brand and how do identify it.

Ideas included .....

Branding gives something an identity.

Branding gives you association, e.g. quality, cheap

It is recognised by being iconic and frequently viewed/ used.

In a day a person will look at about 3000 brands a day.

A Brand is a symbol, a logo, an identification, it is an image, service, a reputation. For example, Nike is the brand, shoes is the product.

Class notes provided the following explanation:

"What is Brand?

Collection of images

Name
Logo / symbol Slogan / claim Design scheme (Corporate Identity)

Collection of ideas

Product Philosophy Lifestyle Service"

Recognition and loyalty comes with a  Brand.

"Recognition is created with direct experiences with a product and advertising, design and media commentary. A brand serves to create associations and expectations among products."

Branding is what a company stands for, it includes logo, what they sell,advertising, in-store collateral, signage and uniforms.

A Brand is "positioning, packaging, promotion, persistence, persuasion and performance"

The biggest impact on Branding in the recent years has been the internet and social media, suddenly everyone can have a say on your Brand, good and bad.

The top 20 brands are easy to find and recognise:

http://brandirectory.com/league_tables/table/global-500-2012/

It's interesting how over time even people have Brands, for example Dave Beckham, not only does he have Brands that he promotes but he is a Brand in himself.