Steve Jobs was influential in presenting information in a clear, concise style that focused on simplicity, imagery, and the number three. When creating a brand, it's important to identify what makes it special and how people can relate to and incorporate the product into their lives. Storytelling helps connect brands and information to people on a personal level. Transmedia experiences utilize multiple forms of media to engage audiences around novels and fictional worlds. Logos should represent the brand's characteristics simply and clearly without unnecessary updates. Print design demands more focused attention while web design must capture attention briefly.

1. The subject of Forbes.comʼs article about Steve Jobs and his keynote
presentations is something that many people probably donʼt know they are influenced
by. I had never watched any of his speeches, but in reading this article, I realized how
much I have been influenced by this clear, concise style of presenting information,
because it is the basis for the design of all Apple products. Simplicity, the number three,
and imagery are key.
When creating a brand, it is important to identify what makes the brand special.
That can be done in a few steps according to Fastcodesign.com. If you are passionate
about something, it is easier to convince others. How might your audience relate to this
product or make it their own? Localize the product: How can people incorporate this into
their everyday life or the identity of their community? Focus on key elements and
characteristics of the product. The article goes on to illustrate real life examples of
people (both companies and consumers) who find their niche market either from online
communities or companies with common bonds to their interested audiences. The main
point: How can people relate, and how can everyone find each other and connect.
Storytelling is the best connection. This is increasingly true in the realm of social media,
where people are represented by profiles, blogs, and 140-character updates. In order to
represent who you are on a screen, the brands and information that you share with
others must connect to you on a personal level and illustrate who you are, or who you
want to be.
The Transmedia Experience Tumblr describes how to utilize many forms of
media to engage your audience. One of the posts talks about a new young adult novel
about to emerge on the market that utilizes multi-media aspects to gain attention and
engage potential readers. Books might not be just books, but stories and alternate
worlds that people buy into and incorporate into their daily lives. The Twilight franchise
is a good example of this. One could argue that it is much more than a book and a
movie, but a whole lifestyle and vested interest for some.
Paul Rand made bold designs that got the point across. His work was colorful,
yet plain, and always exciting. The exercises we did to create the logos for our projects
are very similar to the process that Rand went through. Some key points that I learned

2. from this article and this course are that logos should represent a characteristic of the
brand, be simple, not by design, but by statement, and should be clear. Updating a logo
can be a good thing, but can also ruin a brand. A fresh update is sometimes
appreciated, but not always necessary. When Gapʼs new logo design was presented, I
believe two years ago, there was uproar that the new graphic was ugly, and completely
unnecessary. I remember reading a few weeks later, that whoever was in charge of that
decision was fired shortly afterward. The article by Paul Rand states that, “what [a logo]
means is more important than what it looks like.” For Gap, the logo didnʼt need to be
changed, and has since reverted back to the classic one. People identified with the
long-standing dark-blue square and white font, and it wasnʼt the aspect of the company
that needed to be updated. It meant classic and basic, yet innovative, American style,
and the logo represented that just fine.
NNNgroup writes an interesting article on print versus web design. I have always
enjoyed print design more, because as the article says, it is “in your face” and your
attention is more present on the graphics. On the Internet, we can flip between pages
and sites with a click, but with print, our attention is more focused. This means that for
web design, you have to create visuals that can keep, but not overwhelm, someoneʼs
attention, because they are not a captive audience. As readers, our tendency to lean
towards the left half of the page, derived from our western way of reading a print page.
Always put something eye catching in the upper left corner.