case study

rebranding senate elections

Overview

ASCSI Student Senate elections have had low turnout rates from students, both on voting and campaigning. There is a lack of consistency in advertising for the elections, so a new marketing strategy had been created for the process. The brochure will be an intermediately informational advertisement that gives the audience a general idea of expectations and responsibilities while running for an ASCSI Student Senate position.

Goals

  1. Transparency in job description: Having a position on ASCSI Student Senate is a rewarding experience if effort and perseverance are present. To have passionate individuals in the organization, expectations must be clearly outlined, such as: staying involved, communication skills, and attending meetings.
  2. It’s more than an office job: Designating that although there are meetings and paperwork involved in the position, there is also the opportunity for students to build their network, resume, and skillset.

Direction of Layout

  1. Outside of brochure:  Introduction, contact information, purpose and benefits.
  2. Inside of brochure: Path layout for becoming an ASCSI Student Senate senator or executive and the responsibilities of each.

Solution

Intermediate level of information advertised through brochure campaign. The outside of the brochures have simple and encouraging copywriting to lower any possibility for making the position appear intimidating. The inside of the brochures are content-heavy in order to answer commonly asked  questions to create opportunities for more contextual conversations between the advertiser and audience.

Application of Research

My design process has evolved as I have built my portfolio and had real-world experience. As I pursue my Bachelor’s of Science in Gaming, Interactive Media, and Mobile, my desire to understand the logical aspects of design has grown. Biased Cognitive Process During Design was a scholarly article written by one of my bachelor program’s faculty, Amod Damle, and I felt it necessary to apply my future professor’s research to my work.

The goal of the study was to compare the impact of color and perspective on cognitive processes. While rebranding the elections campaign for ASCSI Student Senate, I decided to challenge myself by beginning my design using only greyscale shading, no images (only placeholders), and maintaining a birds-eye view of the layout. 

“Focusing on the details of each part of an object during the early stages of a design task is believed to impede creative thinking.” Practicing this research allowed me to reap the benefits of not becoming entrapped in details of my work. Instead, I had the opportunity to focus on the experience of the user when engaging with the design based on layout and hierarchy of elements. 

Wireframes

outside of brochure
inside of brochure

Conclusion

As I finalized my wireframes, it was time to insert color scheme and images. It was surprising as of to how much less time it took me to plan it out due to already having the layout complete. The study mentioned earlier also states that “the designers using the multi-color tool were likely to spend more time refining the details of individual components” and that statistic was apparent while I began on more subjective components of layout. 

There is value in efficiency just as there is in aesthetic. The collaboration between the left and right side of a designer’s brain can be an effective tool when used correctly. It is easy to begin grouping objects based on color, creating a bias of value too early in the process. Focusing on essential components works in direct collaboration with taking the user into consideration. A myopic lens could never reach a panoramic perspective. This research rings true that a strong foundation within design has the ability to uphold complex concepts. 

outside of brochure
inside of brochure