Note: If you are just beginning to read this, please scroll down and proceed to my first post, entitled: The End Is Only The Beginning. Thank you, and enjoy!
"I'm on the plane home now, and I'm going to try and get some shut eye before I touch down in the US. This trip has made me realize that perhaps my true calling is not what I thought it was. In advertising, you get to be an artist, a consumer, a vendor, and an architect all as part of the same job. I might have to reconsider my plans for the future. It's probably time for me to doze off, but I have one more thing to say. Today as I was about to head through security and as I said goodbye to my cousin, he told me: "The best advertisements are the ones that sell a product without drawing attention to themself." And I almost have to disagree. Of course you want the product to be center stage, but first you have to get the attention of the consumer. Then you can get them hook, line, and sinker. He reminded me that I have been equipped with everything I need to know to advertise successfully. Then he told me I'd also been equipped with one more thing: a global experience. And I think he was right. If I do decide to go in the way of advertising, maybe I will have to make tourism posters. Or something interactive like the couches in Paris! Maybe rent-able shoes that change from tennis shoes to hiking shoes automatically. If you like them, buy them! Or maybe not. Either way, I've learned a lot. I guess there's only one thing left to say. Goodbye Europe, Hello America!"
Now that my journey has ended, it's important that I discuss a few things. First of all, why did I decide to showcase my trip as a blog?
I decided on a blog for two reasons. One reason is that I wanted to incorporate technology and be able to post high quality photos. Since my entire project is about graphic advertising, why not advertise my story by using a blog, and thereby, technology? Secondly, I wanted my final product to be interactive, and to keep the reader interested. In my case, instead of using bright colors and local art, I created a fictional storyline that paralleled my own experiences in Europe. Then I explained the context and importance of each fictional journal entry. By showcasing this all in blog format, I hope to keep the reader entertained while at the same time teaching them something.
Also, just to review my three included content areas:
1. Art - As I talked about in the Wengen section, local art can really enhance the power of an advertisement, and I had a great time learning about Purism in Switzerland!
2. Science - The more subtle subject area I covered. I talked about Science a lot, but specifically referenced it when I was discussing Paris and the interactive IKEA ad. On a basic level, what do people like? What about an ad stimulates our brain and creates the necessary interest?
3. Math - The entire Chamonix section focused on how to calculate the success of an advertisement, whether it be through the number of skiers in Chamonix, or the number of teenagers who eat ice cream at their local ice cream parlor. Either way, there is a calculation to be made.
All in all, creating this project ended up being a really fun process for me. I got to be extremely creative using the blog format, and I am glad that I decided to make a fictional story to go along with it. I think that story really helps to make it seem more personable, like the experiences I write about here could've really happened. Which in some capacity, they did. The three goals I set at the beginning of this process were: 1)educate the viewer about what I learned in Europe, 2) present that information in a fun, digital format, and 3) successfully convey what I was feeling in Europe into my journal in note form and then onto the blog in a polished, organized manner. I think that in hindsight, this blog accomplished all of those goals. I think my work here is high quality, and I'm proud of the time and effort I put into it. I covered all the content areas, but didn't learn just things about art, math, and science. I also learned a lot about the world outside of Boise, Idaho and about myself. How could I not be proud of that?
I hope you have enjoyed the final version of my Transcending Borders Project, and hopefully someday you will get to see the same beauty I saw just across the pond. Thanks for checking it out!
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