- Makers: Monique Cole, Adam DeRoss, Anthony Laboriel, and Aidan Rivas
- Level: Graduate
- Program: Composition, Rhetoric, and Digital Media
- Course: WRIT 5800: Editing, Layout, and Design
- Instructor: Dr. Eric Mason
- Semester Created: Winter 2020
Description:
For Project #4, we created a podcast that would analyze the design components that make a brand memorable. The first half of the podcast is aimed at breaking down the definition of a “brand” and looks at how companies sustain one through the development of a style guide. The second half is dedicated to analyzing the color wheel and breaking down the meanings behind certain colors. The last part of the podcast features our guest speaker, Adam DeRoss, who talks about audio and jingles.
We chose our topic because everyone on the podcast has an educational background in communication. Additionally, we each have experience working in the field where we apply the skill sets that we have learned in the classroom. Monique Cole works heavily with the NSU Writing and Communication Center (WCC) creating and sustaining the center’s marketing plan and social media presence. Adam DeRoss has experience with audio by being a DJ at Radio X and also helps Monique with the social media team at the WCC. Anthony Laboriel has experience working with Digressions and the WCC with sustaining their social media presence. Aidan Rivas has taken various graphic design courses and currently works on campus designing various documents for the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS).
Materials and Design Process:
To record the podcast, we used a program called CleanFeed. The program allowed us to record ourselves remotely on multi-layered tracks. Anthony was responsible for editing the final version of the podcast via Adobe Audition. We used royalty-free music from YouTube. The use of audio helps us transition between ideas and assists in cleaning up the audio by removing any additional background noise. One of the issues that Anthony ran into was the different levels of volume from each participant. Since we recorded remotely, we each had a different audio setup. As a result, Anthony and Monique’s sound was too loud, Adam’s sound was too low, and Aidan’s sound just right. To help fix the issue, Anthony played around with the sound levels to help balance all our voices. Another problem that Anthony ran into was trying to fix certain audio that overlapped with each other since there are some instances where we talked over one another. While some areas were not fixable, the effect does add to the authenticity of the conversation.
Reflection:
The podcast was a really fun and great collaborative opportunity for us all to talk about our interests in the field of communication. Compared to the other projects, we did not apply the design thinking process as much because the content within the conversation came naturally. While we did plan talking points, we did end up going on tangents that were not originally included in the final script.
Writing talking points for a podcast and delivering the lines are two different things. You never realize how writing differs from speech until you’re tasked with trying to read it aloud, and the rigidity of what you’ve written becomes obvious. It happened with each of us at least once. We began posing the question for our conversation, and we changed it in minor ways to sound more natural. It’s something to take into account when planning in the future for sure, we might have been able to end up writing less! There are areas in the podcast where we talk over each other, get cut off, stutter, or maybe forget a word at the moment. However, if we kept re-recording to fix the issue, it would have made the conversation dull and not authentic. Overall, we are happy with the outcome of the project.
References
- Room Color and Aggression in A Criminal Detention Holding Cell: A Test of the “Tranquilizing Pink” Hypothesis
- Color and emotions: Preferences and Combinations
- Baker Miller Pink | 100 Wonders | Atlas Obscura
- Working consumers: Co-creation of brand identity, consumer identity and brand community identity
- Why A Brand Matters
- NSU Style Guide
- McDonald’s and other brands are making ‘social distancing’ logos
