I had no idea what to expect from this class and when I was developing my learning goals they were very general and based on what had been discussed in the first class and the syllabus. But now looking back at the last ten weeks I can see how much I have learned and what I would like to continue expanding my knowledge on.
My first learning goal was to gain a better understanding about the process for developing a brand/logo that is then deemed “successful”. While there is no way to predict if a brand/logo will be successful because it’s difficult to quantify success and how to best represent that, but I did learn and now have a better understanding of the different elements that need to be considered when branding. There are so many things to consider, like if the logo will be just an image, an image and some text or just text, determining the balance and alignment, what type of font and/or colors to use, how it will look when incorporated onto different pieces of collateral, etc. Creating a logo isn’t as simple as drawing a neat image; it has to represent the organization in some way.
My second learning goal was to understand concepts and practices of organization branding. This ties in with my previous learning goal, but I do have a better understanding of how to brand an organization. I imagine this is something that will be discussed at length during the next term but I know that it does take a lot of work on the part of the organization to get their name out there. You can’t just depend on word of mouth; it the organization doesn’t have a lot of money that can be spent on advertising then they have to get strategic about it. What free or low cost resources are out there that they can utilize? If they were to spend a little on placing an ad, when would it be best to do so, what size should the ad be and what type of design and information should be within the ad itself?
My third learning goal was to gain a better understanding of how to properly utilize different software and where this software can be useful. This learning goal was met and I couldn’t be happier; knowing how to properly use a new piece of software and to actually understand makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something, even though that could be tied into my graphic standards. I feel like I have very few truly useful skills for creating. I’m not an artist by any means and I have a difficult time getting the image in my head on paper (or computer screen) but being able to now use Illustrator and InDesign, to a lesser extent, I just feel like I have a better grasp on things and can really use these different software to my advantage.
My final learning goal was to work on expressing myself in a more creative way. I know I’m not a skilled artists and that I don’t take chances with being very creative or adventurous because I just don’t know how to. But what really worked for me with this course was that my inability to think far outside of the box didn’t hinder me from learning, participating or creating. I know that this goal still needs to be worked on, but I was able to accomplish a lot in this class and on the assignment which I found to be helpful in working on expressing myself creatively.
All in all, I think I was able to work on my learning goals for this course; some were given more focus than others but that just leaves more room for improvement on my part.