Blog Commentary: Week 3

Seth Godin: In search of value

Indeed, the stock market is in quite of a slump this week, with Wall Street seeing a sharp drop, AIG Auto Insurance in need of $40 billion to survive, and the government takeover of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. However, one thing that my Global Studies professor mentioned on the topic is that this sort of activity can actually turn out to be a good thing, in a way, for particular groups of people. Houses will be much more affordable for buyers and ironically enough will lead to a great deal of jobs for Finance majors who will be needed to oversee the mass amount of financial activity in suffering companies.

Seth Godin: But you're not saying anything

In my personal opinion, the fact of having something like interchangeable logos (or interchangeable anything) is ultimately no excuse for relying on another factor that will make you "different" among your competition.  Of course, you will want a logo that is "welcoming" to consumers, but having several aspects of your company relatively original can never go wrong.

Seth Godin: The small-minded vision of the technology elite

It's interesting to see in retrospect the very limited outlook of someone once so prominent in the computer industry like Ken Olsen, and how reaching beyond that outlook can greatly expand the prosperity of such an industry.  I'm sure nobody really foresaw a company like Apple becoming such a dominant force in the industry as it is.

Nussbaum: Did Innovation Cause The Crisis on Wall Street?

I wouldn't necessarily say that innovation caused the crisis on Wall Street, but rather theinadequate testing of the new "innovative" practices by those businesses that caused it, as Nussbaum mentioned.  This is the biggest keypoint of trying anything new, especially from a technological standpoint; to actually test it and evaluate it before actually putting it to practice and releasing it to the public.  It's like if McDonald's shelled out frozen beef on their hamburgers...they have to be properly prepared for consumption.

Blog Commentary: Week 2

Seth Godin: How often should you publish?

My answer is "just enough". This is highly subjective. Something like the New York Times needs to have out a new publication of news reports everyday. The most popular musician of the day? Not so much. Their music runs the risk of losing value. If you put out a new publication or product too rarely, people may tend to forget about you and will lose interest. Although if you're comeback is strong enough, that interest can certainly flock back in droves (i.e. Apple & the iPod). If you put out something new too often, you might also cause your fanbase to lose interest.

John McCain and Barack Obama--What Is Your Innovation Policy?
Obama's whole campaign seems to run off the idea of innovation. His own catchphrase has been that of "change", or running the country under a moderately different set of rules in opposition to what I assume is just the past eight years under the Bush administration. So far, he is doing a much better job of convincing people that he will bring about change than John McCain recently has been. In the realm of design, this is half the battle when picking up clients and jobs, simply convincing people that you truly have something to offer them as a designer.

Sound Project Part 1

Objective:
Become acquainted with the aesthetics of sound design as applied toa branding problem acquire an introductory working capability with digital sound editing and manipulation software. This is to be accomplished by creating a soundbite to be used for a podcast radio station.
Notes:
Cloud computing: computer works with its files stored on an internet server instead of an internal hard drive or other storage system. Allows for work to be done easily and (relatively) safely at any location.

Ethnographics: study of a particular community or several communities.
Ethnographics plays a major part in the sound design project, which again is meant to create a sound clip that will appeal to the listeners of a fictional podcast station designed for a very specific group of people.  In my case, this podcast station is podcast Radio Crate Diggers, a station dedicated to vinyl record collectors. 

In research of this particular community of people, according to The Record Collector's Guild, a great majority of these people reside throughout the United States, primarily across the east and west coasts. Another great segment of this population is located in and around the United Kingdom, which certainly does show a great appreciation for vinyl and all music in general.

As a vinyl record collector myself, I can say the main objective and appeal of a podcast station such as this is simply for the sake of music appreciation, as well as expressing the sentimental value of owning vinyl, as it is a form of media that has spanned across generations and even still makes an effort of resurgence to this day.

As for the 6-8 second sound ID that will be created for this podcast, I would like it to capture the essence of your typical vinyl record: music and spoken word that is scratchy, dusty, pops & clicks, occasional skipping and even shifts in the pitch to emulate the results of a "warped" (or distorted) record. Examples and my own personal test runs of this will be included in the next entry of this project.

Blog Commentary: Week 1

Seth Godin: "Learning from a summer intern program"
In my personal opinion, Seth's tactic of using Facebook as a method of evaluating the personalities and capabilities of possible employees was a very intelligent move as part of his role as an employer. Moreover, his description of each group of these interns was even more interesting:

• The game-show contestants, quick on the trigger, who were searching for a quick yes or no. Most of them left.
• The lurkers. They were there, but we couldn't tell.
• The followers. They waited for someone to tell them what to do.
• The leaders. A few started conversations, directed initiatives and got to work.

It was interesting to evaluate these interns by their natural interactions with others as opposed to a basic interview, where an employer is more likely to become situated with each intern's "representative".

Seth Godin: Time

Time is a very important factor in any field, graphic design included. Specifically, meeting deadlines and simply getting things done in an organized fashion go a long way and will certainly be a deciding factor in how well your career fares as a designer.