My latest project (for Study Period 1) - Part 1

Some of you may well know that I am working on my 3rd assignment for Study Period 1, Diploma of Graphic Design.

The assignment (Assessment Task) is to be based on a Communication Piece, where I decided to do a Web Banner for my sister's blog, One Foot in Front of the Other.  This is based on her interest in running and fitness.  The purpose of this blog is to connect with other people who are interested in both fitness/running and blogging - particularly mothers who see the need to be fit and lose weight after the birth of their children.

So, anyway, here is some background information that I have for my assignment.

Part A – Communication Piece (Web Banner)

My sister, Ingrid McCarthy, is the author of this blog. 

Lately, however, she had been busy juggling her job, homeschooling the children and fitting in time for exercise. Consequently, the exercise fell by the wayside and so did the blog (hence, she decided to combine that blog with another blog called Defying Gravity).

After switching jobs (from working fulltime in a travel agency to working part time at the CSIRO), and the kids had returned to high school, she made a decision to recommence exercising (i.e. running) and maybe even starting up the blog again.

The original intention was to make a web banner and/or website mockup for Kathy Johnsun. She is my friend, and Personal Trainer at the gym I go to, Kathy. She had a bright bubbly personality, and her love of fitness and sport definitely shows in how she trained people and led group fitness programs including the latest crazes like Zumba and Filex (another exercise technique). Often, she attends conferences and courses to update her skills and techniques in fitness instruction.

Kathy is also a mother of two (younger kids) and a fitness enthusiast herself. But unlike my sister, she works in the fitness industry full time (in Fitness First), so it is easy to combine the love of exercising with her career/job. Hence, she managed to keep her weight off despite having to juggle kids and career. She also has a fitness blog for her business called 'Enjoy Life Fitness' (also the name of her business) and like my sister's blog, it has many 'facts and figures' about fitness, weight loss and health; as well as pictures of various events like the Mother's Day classic and City to Surf.

Kathy had declined my offer of a 'rebranding' so my sister had decided to be the topic of this project instead. In an effort to lose weight, she had tried various methods and diets, including the Michelle Bridges 12-week program and the Couch to 5k running plan. She is the mother of two teenage kids and had been trying to manage her weight since their birth. She had been documenting (blogging) this journey towards health, fitness and weight loss.

Nevertheless, the target market for fitness blogging is people (especially women) who want to get fit (and mothers in particular). It is for people who want to get healthy, so share their stories about fitness and health, and especially weight loss. As my sister is also a mother, you could call it 'mommy blogging' (though it most definitely goes beyond the world of young mothers and their little children and all the crafty flowery things that go with it, that my own mother was most definitely into), but there is definitely a niche market for it.

I became aware of my own need to get fit when I visited the doctor and she told me I had high blood pressure and needed to lose weight. Hypertension (high blood pressure), obesity and diabetes runs in my family, and I didn't want to end up like my father or my grandmother (who died of a stroke back in 1985).

I also was inspired to lose weight when I watched the 2007 season of The Biggest Loser, when I saw a candidate/contestant who I actually met back in 2002 (Marty Barret). At the time, he was a coach driver for a tour company, and I was taking a trip up to Queensland at the time. And yes, he was overweight back in the day too. However, he was the runner up in that season of the show, and though I haven't heard anything much about him since, I was still very happy for him.

It was not long after the start of that season that I joined Fitness First, and met Kathy Johnsun (who became my trainer in 2008), and also Shannon Ponton (who was also one of the trainers in The Biggest Loser).

Though I am not as fit as what I could be, it brings home the importance of fitness and weight loss, especially when someone you have known (even if it is just for a few weeks) is on the show, and their issues are aired on national TV. It also reminded me how much I needed to get my own act together so I don't end up with any of the problems these people may have, and what I can achieve if I am prepared to work hard at what I set out to do.

Having been asked to decide which two pitch techniques to use in regards to this banner, I have decided upon the course forum and to do a multimedia presentation. The purpose is to raise community awareness of the need to keep fit and lose weight.

Appendix C, D and E show the various websites, logos and images as sources of inspiration.

Appendixes F, G and H, show the fonts, colour schemes, and textures/gradients used.

Appendixes I, J and K show the thumbnail sketches, digital images and final mockups.

Questions I would ask my potential clients would be:

• What do you like about the graphics, text and colours?
• What don't you like about them?
• If you were interested in running, would you read the blog - with my graphics? Or without?  
• What would you change about the graphics, text and colours, if you felt something needed changing?

I asked these on the course forum, and the answers to these would be in my reflection piece.