Graphic Design and Advertising

Today I spent the morning at Lesniewicz Associates mainly following President Rod Frysinger around. He gave me a lot of information today and I hope I can remember it all. One major thing I learned today was that nearly all  of the issues that come up on a day to day basis in an advertising firm are because of communication issues with the client. It’s important that the agency gets a clear understanding of what the client wants the product to look like and sound like and what reaction they want out of the consumer. The firm needs to know what is the main focus of the product. If the client doesn’t give good input, then the agency has to assume. They may assume incorrectly, so the client is unsatisfied and the project must be adjusted accordingly. It saves a lottttt of time if the client knows and can explain what they want…but that doesn’t happen very often, so much of the stress of the business is caused by the client. This all makes perfect sense, I just hadn’t thought about it before. Most of the morning was spent looking at products and figuring out how to fix them to please the client. I gave input on a fact sheet layout. I met more of the staff, including Mr. Lesniewicz and looked through the company’s portfolio which included brand identities, advertising and promotions, new media design, corporate literature, annual reports, packaging, and some special projects.

At about 12:30 I went to lunch and then headed over to school to meet with Meren. I was there for about twenty minutes. We talked about what I’d done that morning and discussed potential project ideas for my final winterim presentation. She then gave me an article and a worksheet and sent me on my way. I read about the basics of graphic design and learned about image vs type design. I drove around town looking for examples of each and filled out the worksheet with what I’d found. I also looked for designs that communicated effectively and logos that created a strong brand such as target, monster, and nike. I was glad to be out of an office and it was interesting to really study the things I see everyday.