IN THIS 5-WEEK CAMPAIGN, WE WERE EACH ASSIGNED A TARGET DEMOGRAPHIC OF STUDENTS INTERESTED IN OUR DEPARTMENT, AND CREATED A SYSTEM BASED ON THEIR DESIGN INTERESTS AND FUTURE CAREER PATHS. THANK YOU TO MY TEAM MEMBERS <3

KATE DEMBOWSKI, SIERRA CHISENHALL, WILLIAM DARBY

FIRST WAVE OF RESEARCH:

TO BEGIN THE DIVE INTO OUR DEPARTMENT, WE WERE SPLIT INTO GROUPS OF 4, EACH ASSIGNED A TARGET DEMOGRAPHIC THAT WOULD BE INTERESTED IN US FOR DIFFERENT REASONS. EACH OF US THEN DID A MORE SPECIFIC SUBSECTION OF THAT DEMOGRAPHIC.

OUR DEMOGRAPHIC SUBCATEGORIES WERE ALL KINDS OF STUDENTS, FROM OLDER POSTGRADUATES TO COMMUNITY COLLEGE TO TRANSFER STUDENTS, TO THOSE STILL IN HIGH SCHOOL TAKING DESIGN CLASSES. WE DECIDED TO FOCUS ON HIGH SCHOOL DESIGNERS.

SECOND WAVE OF RESEARCH:
AUDIENCE AND DEMOGRAPHIC

ONCE WE DECIDED TO FOCUS ON HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS, WE LOOKED AT WHAT KINDS OF INFORMATION THEY WOULD FIND IF THEY WENT LOOKING FOR INFORMATION ABOUT THE DEPARTMENT, AND WHAT IT IS. 

WHAT’S GOOD ABOUT THIS SCHOOL IS THAT TRANSFERRING IS ACTUALLY EASIER THAN MOST PLACES, AS YOU GET AN ASSIGNED COUNSELOR THAT HELPS YOU WITH THE PROCESS. HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS ALSO HAVE ACCESS TO WEEK-LONG SUMMER CAMPS PUT ON BY CCS, AND EVEN LONGER ART AND DESIGN BOOTCAMPS FOR THOSE LOOKING TO GET A HEAD START ON CERTAIN FIELDS LIKE ILLUSTRATION AND TRANSPORTATION DESIGN.

INTERVIEWING OUR CCS ADMISSIONS COUNSELORS

DID YOU KNOW I WORKED AS A STUDENT AMBASSADOR IN ADMISSIONS?

ADMISSIONS COUNSELORS HAVE SOME OF THE MOST INTERACTION WITH HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS. GIVEN LAUREN’S JOB AS A STUDENT AMBASSADOR, THEY HAVE ACCESS TO ASK THE COUNSELORS QUESTIONS ABOUT OUR DEMOGRAPHIC ONLY THEY WOULD KNOW. 

ONCE WE UNDERSTOOD OUR AUDIENCE, AND HAD AN IDEA OF WHAT THEY’RE EXPECTING, WE BEGAN TO START THE VISUAL PROCESS OF GATHERING INSPIRATION AND GENERATING LANGUAGE TO GET OUR MESSAGE ACROSS.

THIS PROCESS BREAKS DOWN HOW WE GOT OUR COLORS, GRIDS, AND GRAPHIC LANGUAGE, AS WELL AS HOW WE SPEAK TO OUR AUDIENCE AND THEIR TASTES. 

OUR COLOR SYSTEM PULLS FROM RGB LIGHTS, WIRES, AND NEON SIGNS ASSOCIATED WITH TECHNOLOGY THEN TYING IN WITH OUR SCHOOL’S COLORS WITH YELLOW AND DARK PURPLE. MOST IMAGE ELEMENTS USE WHITE AND BLUE GREYSCALE, AND OTHER GRAPHIC ELEMENTS ARE MAGENTA, YELLOW, AND NEON GREEN.

OUR DEPARTMENT IS BUILT UPON A CORE ELEMENT OF DESIGN: TYPOGRAPHY. SO, WE TREATED OUR IMAGES WITH AN ASCII ART GENERATOR WHICH CAN BE ACCESSED HERE.

ASCII ART WAS ORIGINALLY THE WAY PEOPLE CONVEYED IMAGES OVER THE INTERNET BEFORE THEY HAD THE ABILITY TO LOAD IMAGES. THEY’RE IMAGES TO CONVEY BITS AND PIECES OF INFORMATION, JUST LIKE OUR DEPARTMENT’S MESSAGE TO MAKE COMMUNICATION MORE ACCESSIBLE ACROSS ALL KINDS OF NEW CHANNELS IN THE MODERN AGE.