First Watch Grand Opening

First Watch, the breakfast, brunch, and lunch restaurant, has opened a new location off University Boulevard just a mile away from UCF. On Monday, August 24, starting at 6 am, there will be music, prizes, free coffee and food, and a chance to win free breakfast for a year!

My summer internship is just about over, finishing with a grand finale (or grand opening) at First Watch on Monday morning. As a public relations intern, I have regularly updated the First Watch at UCF Twitter, used Facebook to promote, and recruited and motivated UCF students as brand ambassadors to help promote the event on UCF grounds, student-affiliated housing, bookstores, downtown, and through Facebook and word of mouth.

I hope to see lots of breakfast lovers at First Watch tomorrow morning!

First Watch

First 50 in line get buy one, get one breakfast vouchers
First 100 in line get 2 chances in the free breakfast drawing

First Watch Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/First-Watch/55421692151

First Watch at UCF Twitter: http://twitter.com/FirstWatchatUCF

First Watch YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2otYxX9aOw

http://dailyfranchisenews.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/08/another-reason-to-wake-up-for-breakfast-it-could-be-free.html

Graduation Thank You Cards

After my May 2009 graduation, I sat down to write thank you cards to everyone who gave me a gift. I made almost every thank you match with a congratulation, and sent the thank yous out. My roommate said she doesn’t believe people will remember what card they gave me and won’t notice that my card matches with theirs. Well, at least they’ll think I have good taste in cards. Here they are, and I’ll be making more:

Thank you cards

Each is painted in acrylic

The last one isn't based off a recieved card, unlike the others.

Chicken Soup for the UCF Soul

Chicken Soup flyer

This project, a public relations campaign for a publication coming out soon, was done in the Summer of 2007 in Public Relations Writing class. The book is real and is coming out soon, so look for it! Our class was divided into four groups to create campaigns for this project, then our ideas were given to the UCF Alumni Association so that they could apply their favorites to use in their own campaign. I was in a group with three other people and together we made a campaign outline, a news release, a fact sheet, and a media release. As an extra, we made a “flyer,” shown above, a soup can explaining how to send in stories for publication in Chicken Soup for the UCF soul.

Here’s the press release:

Press Release page 1

Press Release page 2

Type and Design

Type and Design class is all about incorporating design with lettering.

Project #1

My name written in its own definition

Can you see the word? This was created with Conte crayon and a little bit of colored pencil.

Next project:

Labels for cocaine

I looked up nicknames for cocaine and included high class sounding ones in this painting. The calligraphy was done with a brush and paint resist. The contrasting, but realistic perception of a life with cocaine is portrayed with the “dirty” wash and spatter surrounding the words.

Next project:

Revision of an advertisement

The top ad is my project. The bottom ad is the original. I wanted to take The Pita Pit back to it’s Mediterranean roots instead of looking like Greek food college style. Poor college kid’s prices and authentic food sounds a lot more appetizing. Done in Adobe Illustrator CS.

It’s a dare

Here’s a paper I wrote while in the class Sociology of Pop Culture. I analyze an advertisement for Altoids dark chocolate dipped mints, explaining the target market, aim, mode, and appeal. Unfortunately, I no longer have the magazine that the ads were in, but when I find a way, I’ll include images of the ads in this post, rather than just the product. Until then, browse through this long examination of Altoids and other mint advertisements.

Dark chocolate dipped mints

“CHOCOLATE BALLS,” the half page ad reads. There is an image of an Altoids tin of dark chocolate dipped mints. Underneath is the slogan “The Curiously Chocolate Altoids.” In small red lettering on the lower right corner, it informs you of the website: “curious? altoids.com”. Turn the page. A second half-page ad reads: “DON’T EAT THE BROWN ONES.” All other elements of this ad are the same.

This two-part advertisement was found in Spin, a magazine about music, entertainment, and fashion. The March 2007 issue with this Altoids ad includes articles such as “The Emo Heroes Grow Up in Public: Fall Out Boy,” “Nas Live! Hip-Hop Not So Dead,” and “Surf’n’Turf Fashion Special.” Its readers are young, trendy people who enjoy music, mainly of the rock genre. Looking at the VALS, the acronym for Values and Lifestyles, a psychographic market research program, readers of Spin fall under the VALS category of I-am-me’s. They are typically individualistic, young, and confused (Rice, 4). Under the I-am-me category, many are also non-conformists and rebels. They aim to be different, to have a culture of their own. According to Frank in “Buy Hip,” “the commercialization of deviance is fast becoming the universal motif of our age” (10). Rebellion once meant resisting mass society. Today, however, rebels are the main concept of many ads.

In this issue of Spin, the desire to be different is shown through the printed results of the 2006 Readers Poll, a survey by Spin. In rating bands, albums, songs, and other popular things, many ratings had the same item for the best and worst. This shows that readers of Spin are aware of the same things, but as many hate these things as love them. Those who rated Panic! At the Disco as the worst band may dislike it because it is so popular that it is overrated, or because they simply don’t like the music. Those who rated it as the best may think of the band as having a unique, addicting sound, or they may pick it because they have been influenced by pop culture to think of the band as great. Either way, the Altoids advertisement is appropriately placed in Spin magazine because it appeals to these young, pop culture-aware readers of Spin.

The advertisement first attracted my attention through its simplicity. In order, I paid attention to the copy first, then to the picture of the mint tin and the slogan. Lastly, I noticed the website in the bottom right. The headlines are in bold, dark brown capitals while the background is light green. It reflects the product in the ad, with the pastel green a mint might have and chocolate color layered on top. The copy and slogan explain the image, and the question “curious?” before the web address tells the reader to visit the website in order to satisfy his or her curiosity.

At first, I thought the page that read “Chocolate balls” was the entire ad. I found the headline to be useless at first glace, but it does make me, as a reader, visualize the product. Don’t eat the brown ones? They’re… chocolate. After seeing the second part of the advertisement, my reaction was confusion. I suppose this is the reaction that Callard and Bowser, the makers of Altoids, want. The statement leaves readers bewildered, trying to understand the statement and then wondering whether there is anything to understand. The main appeal in this advertisement is the need to satisfy curiosity. Not only are Altoids described as “curiously strong,” but also the ad leads the reader to want to make sense of the illogical sentence. There are two ways to satisfy the curiosity this advertisement arouses. After pondering the statement, the reader could visit altoids.com, as the ad recommends, or purchase some chocolate-dipped Altoids at the supermarket.
I went to altoids.com, and there I viewed a gallery of other Altoids advertisements. All of them position Altoids products as having a strong flavor. Many tease or dare the reader to try the strong product. The chocolate-dipped mints ad follows this pattern, daring the readers to try the mints by telling them not to. To clarify, the makers of Altoids would not approve of an advertisement that advises potential customers to avoid their product. The statement “Don’t eat the brown ones” is not a serious command, but meant to arouse curiosity. The odd statement makes the product memorable, and perhaps the unconventional style of the ad attracts people who also aim to be unconventional, such as those young rebel readers of Spin.

According to Root in his book “The Rhetorics of Popular Culture,” there are five elements of all discourse, and they are aim, mode, and appeals to ethos, pathos, and logos (21). The aim of the two Altoids pages is to advertise, and the mode through which it advertises is a magazine ad. Aristotle defines ethos as the ethics and attractive personality of the speaker. Pathos is emotion, and logos is logic. All three are used in advertising, but each ad plays more on one appeal than the others.

It is difficult to identify any one approach as stronger than the others in the Altoids ad. There is ethos because this element is the main way to tell similar products apart. For example, of the light beers, Bud Light’s target market is the working class while Michelob Light ads are upscale (Solomon, 5). Altoids appeals to a younger, fun-loving generation. According to Aristotle, ads appeal to pathos, or emotions, by showing the product as a way of alleviating guilt or fear, or as a way of achieving a goal or getting approval and admiration (Root). Of these, the ad makes no claims. Maybe eating Altoids will help you achieve a goal: Trying the chocolate-covered mints will prove the command “Don’t eat the brown ones” wrong. As to the appeal to logos, or logic, the ad plays tremendously on this. The first line, “Chocolate balls,” describes the appearance of chocolate-covered mints accurately. The second page has no logic. The statement to not eat the product seems absurd and illogical for an advertiser to claim about their product. The lack of logic in that statement reveals it as appealing more to emotion, although how it does this is unclear. In summary, ethos is the main appeal. The definite character of the Altoids ad separates the product from similar products.

To define the Altoids image as unique, compare its ethos to those of other mint brands. Take Ice Breakers and Tic Tacs as examples. Both of these brands also have ads in the same issue of Spin as the Altoids ad. The Ice Breakers ad is for its line of gum. The image is the most important part, for it cannot be understood unless the image is explained. First, the headline: “Warning: Be careful where you chew Ice Breakers gum.” Two men are standing in front of urinals. One has a speech bubble that says “Whoa!” The other man is looking at the first man with a look of surprise, disgust, or both. Underneath, it says, “Three mouth-watering fruit flavors so surprising, beware of the spontaneous whoa!” Ice Breakers are described as having a taste so strong that it’s shocking. It can cause the person eating them to have a surprising reaction, which under certain circumstances will confuse those around the person.
Tic Tacs today have the slogan “Fresh entertainment for your mouth.” In the ad in Spin, the headline reads, “Thrill your mouth.” Underneath the image, it says, “Take refreshment to new heights with intensely enjoyable Tic Tac Bold!” Tic Tacs have the image of bringing happiness and enjoyment to one’s taste buds. The previous slogan of the 80s and 90s, “The incredible 1-1/2 calorie mint,” appealed to people who were watching their figures. Tic Tacs had the identity of being a small indulgence, one that dieters could afford to eat.

Each of these products has a current emphasis on taste. Ice Breakers are strong enough to cause a spontaneous reaction. Tic Tacs are a pleasantly minty experience for your mouth. Altoids are so strong, they dare you to try one.

Previously, it was mentioned that the main appeal of the Altoids ad is for the need to satisfy curiosity. This need is one of the fifteen appeals used in advertising as described by Fowles. It also appeals to the physiological need to eat, as it makes the reader want to eat a chocolate-covered mint. The need for aesthetic sensations is met because the ad is visually pleasing, particularly to those who enjoy the colors of mints and chocolate, and to those who enjoy the classic design of an Altoids mint box.

Stylistic features of the ad include the way the emotional appeal is made, the use of humor, and the view of the object. The emotional appeal is mainly in the unusual text, which catches the reader’s attention, but also in the nostalgia of the Altoids tin. Although the tin pictured is for a newer product, it has the same design elements as the classic Altoids tin. It is viewed from directly above, but it is smaller than the actual size of a tin as it would appear while placed on your table. The humor is subtle, not laugh-out-loud. It comes from stating the obvious in the first page and making an absurd statement in the second page.

An ad that says, “Chocolate balls. Don’t eat the brown ones” is simple to read, but there is much to be said about advertisements. They all appeal through the use of rhetoric, or communication, whether visually or through words. They use symbols of desire, guilt, or fear, and they have emotional appeals. Each ad appeals to a certain VALS category. Advertising is important in this society where the amount of goods exceed the people’s demand. We recognize only a small percent of the ads we see and hear every day. Altoids ads speak to rebellious I-am-me’s, inviting them to test the curiously strong mints and other Altoids products. Altoids have prevailed for some time, partly due to their unique ads challenging people to test the intensity of their products.  Altoids mints are likely to continue to stay popular and hold a place along with teeth whiteners, toothpaste, and chewing gum as today’s society stays preoccupied with having a clean mouth, or at least one that smells clean. And with the addition of chocolate, who could resist such a mint?

Illustration

Illustration class, which I am currently taking, is about creating artwork for reproduction. So far, I have used pen and ink, scratchboard, linoleum cutting for making stamps, gouache paint and acrylic paint. Here is some of my artwork.

Pen and ink

Above is a drawing of J.R.R. Tolkien, author of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, and various other stories of middle earth.

Scratchboard

Scratchboard is the reverse of pen and ink, where pigment is removed rather than added.

Linoleum stamp

The first time I carved a linoleum stamp was in ninth grade and I’ve made several since then, but this one is the most detailed. That little creature is a meerkat. Remember Timon from The Lion King? That’s him.

Gouache

This horse and scenery are painted on a piece of black mat board.

Cliffs Notes Project

This was my first group project within the Ad/PR (Advertising/Public Relations) major, done in copywriting class. There were three people in my group, and together we made advertisements, direct mail, and a script for a TV ad.

Here’s the direct mail piece, for which I wrote the letter, made a simple mail-in form (not shown), and an envelope. I did it all in Microsoft Word.

Envelope

3-D Conceptual Art

After the representational, non-representational, and abstract pieces, I had one more project to make based on eyeshadow, the conceptual piece. Here it is:

Conceptual

Eyeshadow has a purpose- to enhance the appearance of one’s eyes. People, particularly women, might put it on when they’re getting ready to go out, whether they’re going to work, school, the movies, a party, the mall, a wedding- all places where they will be seen and are likely to socialize.

When doesn’t a person put on make-up?
There are two places where you most likely won’t find a person wearing make-up:

1. In her house, maybe on a lazy Sunday when she’s sitting in her living room, watching television and snacking on Cheez-Its, or
2. After she’s dead. True, if the dead body will be seen one last time as it rests in a casket, the face will be treated with make-up to give a pleasing, relaxed appearance for all those gathering to mourn. It’s the last time that face will be out in public.

Eyeshadow is meant to make one’s appearance more beautiful, fun, or elegant. It’s about being social and being seen. The use of it, and make-up in general, would be purposeless if no one could see the face it’s on. For this reason, places out of the public eye, most commonly a person’s own house or grave, are places where eyeshadow is not necessary.

To present this point, I combined a living room with a grave, the two places where make-up is unnecessary.
Look carefully at the sofa. There’s more to it after your first glance.

Conceptual open

The couch doubles as a coffin, complete with a skeleton inside. This project coincided with the month of October, so I purchased a few Halloween items. The skeleton “confetti”, as it was labeled, is plastic miniature skeleton parts, and the tombstone is also from a store. The sofa is made from Crayola Model Magic, a lightweight Play-Doh-like substance, and the furniture is made of printed images, paper and acrylic paint.

I moved last summer and kept the most important part of the project, the sofa-coffin. It’s made some small history since then. One of my apartment-mates has a plaque which reads:

Footprints in history are not made sitting down.

She put that on the coffee table in front of the TV, which makes the three girls she lives with, including me, feel guilty every time we sit in front of the TV. Another of my apartment-mates has a boyfriend who wrote this on a piece of paper, which he put next to the plaque:

Except Freud, Descartes, Bill Gates, Rosa Parks, Michaelangelo, Bobby Fisher, Gransci, Disney, and probably the guy who invented pogs…

As we were putting up polyester spider webs and hanging homemade paper bats around the apartment in October, I also put the sofa coffin next to the plaque, where a tombstone decoration was not only appropriate for the month. It was an appropriate accompaniment to that quote on the plaque. Rosa Parks made history sitting down, but she had to get out of her house and into the public eye before anyone noticed. And Michaelangelo was laying down when he painted the Sistene Chapel ceiling, not sitting.

3-D Paper Projects

Fall 2007

These three projects are made out of paper, including illustration board, regular printer paper, and straw wrappers. They are gessoed, or sealed with a layer of white paint. All projects have working hinges, created by dipping straw wrappers in glue diluted with water and twisting the paper, then leaving it to dry. The first one is a representational work that has the same size and dimensions of an eyeshadow box, with the side facing you at 1 1/2 inches wide. The matchstick-looking item is the eyeshadow applicator.

Representational- Eyeshadow box

Notice the rough surface of the bottom section of the box. This eyeshadow texture is also in the representational piece, although it is difficult to see. I created that texture by filing illustration board against sandpaper and gluing the resulting powder onto another piece of illustration board.

Non-representational

The last one, below, has a dome-shaped top, which was difficult to make smooth. Sanding and a few layers of gesso helped to smooth.

Abstract

When I was first given these assignments, I thought it would be impossible to create something entirely out of paper. The first project took the longest because I was figuring out how to use a common medium in a very different way.

Two-fer

In my copywriting class, my teacher asked us to bring in different types of ads throughout the semester. I had a difficult time finding a good two-fer, an ad that takes place over two or three pages and doesn’t show the brand or product until the last page. The summer after taking copywriting, I was taking care of my neighbor’s cat while she was on vacation. Here’s Oreo the cat:

Isn't she cute?

While Oreo was munching on her newly poured food in her dish, I found this amazing two-fer in a travel magazine on the coffee table:

Ah, what's wrong with my camera?

Oh, that wasn't my camera.

The first page is simply the second page’s image out of focus. The second part of the ad, found in the same page location just one sheet of paper later, reads:

Refocus. This is how it should feel. Westin Hotels and Resorts.

Magazine images are glossy and crisp, so the first page caught my focus because it was completely out of focus. “Why is there a blurry image with no explanation?” I wondered until I turned the page. I felt like I’d found a problem and the solution was immediately afterward. That makes this advertisement memorable, although it doesn’t necessarily make the brand memorable. The idea of refocusing could be applied to any product, such as a fad diet, a camera, or an effective studying techniques class.