Through my studies at the Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University, some time at the Advanced Media Division at ABC/Disney in Burbank, California, and additional training I’ve received from the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), I’ve tried to develop skills in what I think are the most persuasive and influential communication technologies of the day: DVD authoring, website design, video production, and graphic design.
My hope is to use this training and education to create new communications products that can help advance the important causes that I studied while receiving a Master’s of Public Affairs and Policy from Rockefeller College, University at Albany. I am currently employed as the Director of Communications for the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER) where I am using creative communications to help educate the public about important economic and personal finance issues.
DVD Authoring
My design principle when making DVDs is that a DVD is more than just menus linked to videos. A DVD should tell a story just as the videos themselves tell a story. In the promotional DVD I created for John Dau, one of the Lost Boys of Sudan, I thought it was completely appropriate to tell his story through text before even watching the first video. Nothing about his remarkable story is affected by telling it through text first; in fact, the story seems even more remarkable when one finally sees his journey.
In a piece I did for the Syracuse University Study Abroad Program, I took pictures of my London apartment and manipulated them for the menus–picture frames, kitchen cabinets, laptop computers, windows, and everything else in the apartment became click-able buttons. Each room of the apartment had different videos and photos that shared a specific story about the people who stayed there.
Website Design
Thanks to the wonders of content management systems (CMS), the days when you needed extensive HTML knowledge or an in-depth understanding of programs like Macromedia’s Dreamweaver are over. CMS lets you design a website using web templates and databases. Wordpress, a CMS, is what drives this site. While web design has become far easier, that also means that far more is expected from web designers. After all, if it’s so easy, then there should be more time to spend on design elements.
My creative communications principle when designing websites is to keep websites easy-to-navigate, “quiet,” and informative. Nothing is worse than visiting a website where you can’t find what you’re looking for because you a) have no idea where to look, b) are getting annoyed at flash movies and sounds, and/or c) discover that the website never had what you were looking for in the first place. A good website should mainly use text, always inform the visitor of where they are located, have a clear navigation structure, and offer the visitor the most important information upfront. By creating websites with these principles in mind, I try to offer a better user experience and help with search engine optimization (SEO) at the same time. To view these principles in action, please visit the websites I created for American Institute for Economic Research and Rockefeller College’s Public Affairs Student Association.
Video Production
For a list of the videos I’ve produced, please visit my videos page.
Graphic Design
In addition to the graphics I’ve created and manipulated for website templates, I have also created images for daily content updates at www.aier.org. With a daily update, it’s important to draw attention to the most recent story. The AIER website is designed to scroll through the seven most recent stories–if an image isn’t interesting enough, visitors won’t click to read the story and it will pass them by. However, there is a delicate line to walk between trying to draw attention and becoming too attention-grabbing. Given the importance of the stories we publish, it means a lot to us that visitors click to read more about our latest analysis of the economy or our most recent advice on managing personal finances.
In addition, I will be sending out almost 4 million pieces of mail in 2008 for AIER (for samples, please see my library). These circulars highlight our latest publications, covering issues from Social Security’s upcoming crisis to the current state of scientific knowledge on Global Climate Change. Key principles at play in these circulars are compelling copy, easy-to-read offers, and coupon codes that provide recipients the discounted price when shopping online, but also an efficient way of tracking response rates.
Please contact me if you have any questions.
