Project Research Summary CONTENTS Executive Summary

Approved Proposal

Thesis Contract

Research Summary

Visual Briefs

“Whatever it is your seeking won’t come in the Design Management form you’re expecting.”

Haruki Murakami EXECUTIVE is Canada’s largest festival destination

With over 70 film festivals, several of which are world renowned, SUMMARY there is potentially a to attend every week of the year in Ontario. Find Your Film Fest can find a festival that’s right for every person wanting to come and explore Ontario.

Film festivals are a great return on investment

As a tourism draw to Ontario, film festivals do very well. For example, big-name non-profit film festivals like TIFF, make back 5 times their operating costs each and every film festival year, bringing in millions to Ontario’s capital city simultaneously. While “searching is an smaller festivals return less than TIFF, they contribute just as much by bringing together the people who live in the host cities. act of discovery, and If you Film festivals have a perception problem have to know the name of the Based on research we conducted, the perception, of film fests thing you’re searching for, especially by our target audience, is that they are confusing, complex and costly. We get that many of the big festivals sprawl are you really discovering over the city, and we understand that to those without regular use of a car, the smaller festivals outside of city centers can something new?” be hard to get to.

Allison Cake While we can’t change the cost of a ticket, or give people cars to make the northernly journey easier. We can make the smaller, less costly festivals more accessible on-line. We can also provide an easier way to pay for film festival tickets rather than standing in long and dubious lines for hours.

Learning about smaller film festivals on-line is hard

After our study about perceptions of film festivals, when we tried to search for new film festivals online ourselves, we too were confused. We learned pretty quickly that there wasn’t a place online where we could learn about new and smaller film festivals, instead we were at the mercy of the words we put into the search box. This is a problem for us, as the internet has always been a place of discovery. Our purpose We are all about you

Our purpose is to promote Ontario as a diverse and culturally rich We are film festival nerds and we want everyone to join in on our place for film festival goers to visit. Find Your Film Fest supports excitement. We primarily target international and domestic visitors and entices prospective visitors to come to Ontario at any time of travelling to Ontario. As a pilot project, we have narrowed our focus the year, exploring places they wouldn’t normally think to visit. designing for our visitors between the ages of 22 and 37, with plans to include all generations further down the road. Why do we focus on millennials? Please go to the Research summary for more info about The difference is in our thinking the research we did on our millennial target market.

We use analytics, a value driven audience matrix and user supported forms to tailor the information on our site so that We want to make a connection you’re finding the festivals and we think you’ll really like. We also make it easier for you to purchase tickets to festivals, Our biggest value is you. Making information about film festivals making block-long ticket lines a thing of the past. specific to you is our biggest priority. We honour accessibility and inclusivity at a very close second. A close third is respecting the craft and exhibition of good film making and good design.

If you’re passionate, serious about discovery and want to see films not found on a streaming service, it is our joy to help you Find Your Film Fest this year. Approved Proposal | Project: Research + Summary Allison Cake

The Thesis Topic Checklist has been used in the crafting of this proposal. The topic presented here meets the criteria serving as APPROVED a strong foundation for a design thesis project.

To learn more about the problem and potential PROPOSAL solutions, more research is needed regarding: 1. How each festival promotes itself currently: in print,media, My client is Cineplex Entertainment whose is in the online, and to whom. motion picture, video promotion, distribution and exhibition industries. They also sponsor several Canadian film festivals. 2. Trends related to festivals, travel destinations and Cineplex Entertainment’s problem in recent years has also been entertainment media companies that young adults one of lower attendance in their 165 theatres across Canada, currently love and enjoy. resulting in lower box office ticket sales. The Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC), operating as Destination Canada (DC) is a 3. How do young adults like to be communicated with? crown corporation, operating in both the tourism industry and marketing industry. DC has several roles but their main concerns The main research question(s) addressed during the are in promoting Canada to key countries to attract international research phase of the project will be: visitors into Canada. 4. Why aren’t young adults going out to watch movies at The problem I being focused on with respect to DC, is in theatres as a generational group? helping them to attract more millennial travellers to Canada. The creation of a guide to include all Canadian film festivals will 5. Why isn’t there a film guide to Canada’s film festivals be in a partnership between Cineplex and Destination Canada. available to Canadians right now? This guide will serve two important functions: to draw millennial tourists to Canada, and to increase attendance numbers to Canada’s film festivals, of which many are both sponsored by and housed in Cineplex theatres Canada‑wide,which will assist in increasing both movie ticket revenue for Cineplex Entertainment “Accept that and visitors to Canada. everything is a draft. It helps to get it done.” ­ Cult of Done Manifesto Problem

The Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership Corporation (OTMPC) needs to showcase Ontario as a four-season must-see travel hub both at home and internationally to people aged 20 to 35 years of age. As millennials represent the most ethnically diverse age demographic in Canada, who also take the longest trips, OTMPC needs to find new ways to promote Ontario as a culturally diverse place to visit as their competition is outperforming them roughly 3 to 5 times over.

Instead, OTMPC needs to find a way to promote Ontario as the abundant and diverse place with lot’s to do and see all year round. THESIS This can be achieved by promoting Ontario’s abundant and already popular film festivals that happen almost every week. CONTRACT Goal OTMPC communicated effectively to millennial-aged visitors highlighting how sophisticated, beautiful, and a truly diverse Ontario is to visit.

Business Need

OTMPC’s need is to position Ontario as a global preferred destination all year round. To do this it needs to appeal on an emotional level to value-conscious travellers who are taking fewer, shorter trips with less spending, but who are willing to pay for unique and authentic experiences.

Research Insights

Communicating through social media and advertising to millennials in a corporatized and generic method hurts a corporation’s bottom line. This is because millennials distrust big government, the media, and big business the least out of all ten Canadian institutions listed. Instead, to communicate effectively corporations need to communicate in an informal and personalized way. Thesis Contract | Project: Research + Summary Allison Cake

The mainstream film market in Canada has been seeing a gen- with and being secondary domestic competitors. Fur- eral decline in box office attendance for well over a year, citing thermore, Brand USA’s website features articles about film festivals, cost as the main reason why Canadians aren’t seeing movies in both big and small happening throughout the U.S. on their website. theaters. Yet, last year 20 million Canadians country-wide saw They also leverage their Hollywood movie industry in much of their films in theatres in 2017. So, the underlying reasons why box promotional advertising, and even fund films recognizing that their office revenue is down is not purely because of cost, but rather it film and the entertainment industry is very attractive to tourists. is because moviegoers need for more variety than what is currently being offered through mainstream channels. Design Solution and Application

Target Audience Creation of a web-based information system that is targeted to “Show up. each of the six value groups within the millennial age demographic. Demographics Communicating in an informal and human-centred way to both Be kind. domestic and international visitors to Ontario attracting them to Both research conducted about movie the many film festivals offered year-round. audiences and about tourists suggests that learn. the group with the most disposable income Video and digital design deliverables will be complemented by print and that value both contemporary culture repeat.” offerings. The desired result of this thesis is to better communicate to and travel is the millennial age bracket. ­ and thus attract millennial-aged tourists to Ontario. Millennials as of 2017 are people aged 22 to Frida Kahlo 37, and this thesis will concentrate on this age range. Design Deliverables Psychographics Primary According to research conducted by The Environics Institute A mobile-first website for Ontario’s film festivals where information in their, ‘Canada Millennial Social Values Study’, millennials is categorized based on different user’s needs. are a mixture of six smaller value groups, who largely have very different and expanded views of family. Millennials grew up in a Secondary time of economic uncertainty so money and job security are of ‘Find Your Film Fest’ motion graphics shorts to help promote, the highest importance to them. Despite the stereotype about explain and brand the thesis project. millennials being tech-obsessed, friends and relationships are their highest value, and they view their image and reputation as ‘Find Your Film Fest’ brand guide that rolls out the identity and gives integral to their views of success. According to research done by examples of how best to use this system in each design format. both Ontario and in Europe, millennial tourists primarily enjoy au- thentic and local cultural experiences when traveling as opposed Tertiary to traditional historical tourist sites. A social media campaign for Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, and Twitter, including guidelines and example content.

Competition Special promotional posters and postcards, highlighting each type of film festival goer that directs them to the website. Ontario’s competition is largely the U.S. under Brand USA which outperforms Canada under Destination Canada several times over, “Design should be human-centered and accessible. It’s a simple statement to make and a tough act to follow, which takes a lot of research.”

Allison Cake RESEARCH SUMMARY Research Summary | Project: Research + Summary Allison Cake Introduction Canada’s Film

The beginning of the year started with research but certainly Industry didn’t stop when I went into production. A lot of the beginning of the research stage were really about figuring out what it was that I felt passionate enough about that I was willing to test it in a As originally my client was Cineplex, I focused a lot in the research thesis project. The answer to this of course quite quickly became stage in learning all that I can about what’s going on in Canada’s ‘film’ and independent local film promotion. film industry. Here are some key data points I discovered:

The second question my research had to answer was, “How does my passion for film help a business’s bottom line, and which business do I want to help in my thesis?”. A much tougher question. At first, I was aware of the issue of a declining audience attendance at the box office and I felt my passion would directly benefit Cineplex, Canada’s largest film distributor, and exhibitor. Yet, once I dug deeper, including being lucky enough to have an informational interview with a representative from Cineplex, I discovered a better fit with Ontario’s marketing corporation OTMPC.

OTMPC being a crown company that was also in partnership with the larger federal tourism commission Destination Canada, as well as provincial and federal crown companies associated with promoting Canadian films. For scalability of the project, these People aged 18-24 went to the movies in 2017 61% higher than were good partnerships, should the project go forward and any other age demographic. People aged 25-34 saw films the expand to include all provinces and territories within Canada in least at 31.5%. This marks a change in attitude. the promotion of Canada’s many film festivals. Also, OTMPC’s corporate image to me clearly presented a communication chal- lenge a design thesis could aim to address.

My next challenge was to really delve in and understand my target audience. This quest to really design for my target audience was been the driving force behind the design and design thinking of this project. Along with this, and recent exposure to accessible design, made me strive to make the project as inclusive and accessible with each iteration, version, and trial. The highlight of my value-driven research into my target audience can be found in the following pages.

Moviegoers in Canada last year saw an average 5 movies. Research Summary | Project: Research + Summary Allison Cake Information Motion Important findings The most surprising finding was the trend in migration patterns by millennials from large city centers to rural areas. Another key finding was how highly millennials Graphics Project value financial security, being second to relationships as their topmost value­. Technology was mistrusted by this age group far more than older age groups. This is why generalizations about millenials being tech-happy is really reductive and catastrophic to big business, as it fertilizes the seeds of mistrust because having a natural acuity to something doesn’t necessarily mean a deep love for it. Demographics

Animated video that sums up many key data points about Canada’s Film Industry. To view the full video visit: https://vimeo.com/259256311

There’s a lot more research that’s not listed here about the Canadian film and entertainment industry. Yet, overall the biggest lesson I learned about Canada’s film and entertainment industry is that it’s currently in a fundamental state of change Top ten areas with the highest concentration of millennial populations in residence. due to a significant shift in how Canadians consume screen-based content. When I crunched the numbers about the concentration of millennial aged populations here I defined as towns with populations of 10,000 or less, whereas large urban centers were defined as places with populations of over 100,000. Here Target Market Research I learned that this migration is happening the most in Western Canada in B.C. and Alberta. Whistler, B.C. being the smallest center with the largest population of Millennials Millennials of any area in Canada at 49% of the population. This meant that there is a growing trend by millennials to live in small towns where they make up a large I used stats from 2016 census reports based on insight I gleamed from studying population of the town. This research would later give me clues as to how, who the report by The Environics Institute, “Canadian Millennial Social Values Study. and where I would focus my marketing toward domestic travel. Examining it allowed me to really understand my target audience. Calculating an- swers to questions like: “What years between 1980 and 1995 had the highest birth- rates?”, and ‘Where are the greatest concentration of millennials living in Canada?’ helped me to better understand the people I strive to serve in the project. Research Summary | Project: Research + Summary Allison Cake Persona’s Good Timers Diverse Strivers 32% 20%

JACOB HOANG Male 25 Male 22 Montréal, Québec , Web Developer, Air Canada Student, University of British Columbia, Waiter, Luci Restaurant Jacob is an avid traveller, adventurer and thrill-seeker, which is why he is a Front-end Web Developer for Hoang is the first generation in his family to be born in Canada Air Canada. This is because his job provides Jacob with the and to go to university. As a result, Hoang puts a lot of pressure cash to travel the world, to meet existing people, and to explore on himself to succeed in his path to becoming a world-famous new places. He calls home and Parc Lafontaine his architect. Currently, Hoang lives with his parents so that he neighbourhood when he feels at home and generally loves the can save money and help to pay for his degree at UBC. In the worldly and sophisticated vibe of this city. off hours, he is either at work as a waiter in Luci Restaurant or training to enter his first marathon next summer. Motivation Jacob is a pretty happy guy and he is driven to stay that way. He Motivation loves what his job allows him to do and see. He enjoys the diversity Hoang is driven to be among the top in his class. To do so, he of people in the city, yet he lives for the outdoors pursuing his keeps a strict schedule that he keeps to six days a week all year lifelong hobbies of climbing, biking and canoing. These hobbies long. He has experienced both first and through the memories and along with his newest interest in base-jumping keep him on his stories of his Vietnamese parents, the harsh realities of living life toes, and his city life and work life in check. on the bottom and having to crawl to a better place in life. He is keen to not let their sacrifice be for nothing. Goals: Jacob would love to have acquired enough savings and financial Goals stability to retire in about 10 year’s time. He also wants to find an He wants to win an international architectural competition. He unconventional outdoor nut and a long-term travel partner as wants to hear from his father that he is proud of Hoang. He wants open to and excited about the world as he is. to have a good, secure job upon graduating.

Primary needs Primary needs I need new things to do in the city. I need more time off to go I need to get good grades. I need to find ways like through style climbing. I need to stay up-to-date on trends online. and fashion to separate me from the competition. I need to work hard

Favourite Movies The Bourne Series + Marvel’s Dead Pool Favourite movies Rogue One + Memento Communication Style DM + text Communication style DM + text Brands owned/used Google + Mr. Porter Brands owned/used Muji, 87MM Research Summary | Project: Research + Summary Allison Cake Engaged Idealists Lone Wolves 17% 16%

JESSICA LENA Female 24 Female 28 Grand Prairie, Alberta Québec City, Quebec Women Support Service Worker, Part-time cashier, Metro Plus Grand Prairie Healthcare Centre What Lena wants, ultimately, is to be left alone. Jessica has just graduated with a As a part-time cashier at the Metro Plus in Québec BSW and feels incredibly lucky to have landed City she has lots of time to peer into the lives of others. a job straight out as a Women Support Service Worker, What she’s discovered is not all that impressive. Lena in Grand Prairie. She is both keen and excited to help her works to live and not the other way around. Right now, she patients and to give back to her community. Jessica is also a dog feels that she’s in a state of flux, but she isn’t quite sure what her lover and volunteers at her local shelter. When she’s not giving next steps are in life, but a little peace and quiet might be just back to her community she spends time with her friends and what she needs to figure it all out. her boyfriend of two years who she just moved in with in the last month, yet she is in no rush at this moment to marry. Motivation Ultimately, what makes Lena tick is simplicity. She lives within Motivation her means on her own (just barely), and tries to find others like Working as a Women Support Service Worker will never make her that aren’t so caught up with themselves and the whole rat-race Jessica rich, yet her heart beats to a rhythm of caring and helping on a wheel scenario. She doesn’t know where’s she going, but other women who really need her. She is also a nurturer and thrives isn’t too concerned. Other than the day to day stuff, both on caring for animals who have not seen loving kindness for a long supporting her parents, herself, and growing her support time, if ever. Lastly, Jessica is a lifelong learner and takes on more circle is most important to Lena. than she can handle as she wants to learn who she is and how far she can go. Goals Lena just wants to keep on keeping on. Other than that, she Goals thinks that setting goals might be over rated. She wants to help those who need her. She wants to feel like she’s making a difference. She wants to find balance between Primary needs her personal life and her working life, although she knows this I need cheap ways to past the time. I need enough money to pay can take a lot of time to learn. my bills each month. I need to be free from worries and trappings.

Primary needs Favourite movies American Horror Story + Black Mirror I need to learn at least one new thing every day. I need to help Communication style SMS Text + (some) Social Media others. I need to move my body every day. Brands owned/used Manic Panic + Netflix

Favourite movies Human Flow + Born into Brothels Communication style In-person + social media Brands owned/used Penguin Publishing + L’Oréal Research Summary | Project: Research + Summary Allison Cake Homesteaders Counterculturalists 11% 4%

GUADALUPE FEN Female 37 Genderfluid 37 Halifax, Victoria, British Columbia Stay at home mother Ph.D. Candidate, University of Victoria Entrepreneur and freelance writer Guadalupe is a hard-working mother who works as a stay at home mother to provide a Fen is both passionate and on the go. As a Ph.D. caring and supportive home for her growing candidate at the University of Victoria’s Indigenous family. New to Halifax, originally from a small town in Language Revitalization program by day, and a writer and northern Alberta, sometimes she feels strange in her new entrepreneur by night (and weekends). Everyday Fen writes big city surroundings as her husband works hard and long to and teaches others about his passion: the complexity and inner support her and their two-year-old daughter Kayla. Yet despite of workings of Indigenous people. Fen seeks clarity and distrusts this, she feels lifted and guided by her husband, her faith in god any simplistic answers he is given when interviewing people. He and the many supportive friends she’s made at her local church. takes nothing in life, from his personal life to his professional life, as a given and seeks wisdom and truth. Motivation Along with taking care of her daughter, practicing her faith is Motivation a strong part of Guadalupe’s daily life. She wants to provide Fen doesn’t need any prodding from others and is often a home that will be a secure, solid, and a faith-filled place for motivated to a fault. He is looking for answers to difficult questions, her daughter to grow up. She also hopes that she and her such as how can he get white, cis-gendered Canadians to show husband can have two more children in the coming years. Also, empathy, concern and understanding for those who aren’t like Guadalupe volunteers at two places: one an organization to help them? How can we get rich people and big industry to care about raise awareness about climate change, and the other is at her their planet? Simultaneously, Fen is also looking to find that calm church helping newly landed refugee victims find faith and and tranquil spot in his mind as his career and studies heat up. community in the greater Halifax area. Goals Goals He wants to complete his PhD. He wants to make an impact on She wants to grow her family in the next few years. She wants tough issues. He wants to be a part of an intrepid, hard driving to nurture a supportive and faith-filled home. She wants to help non-profit organization that pressures the federal government to support her larger community. honour its reconciliation commitments.

Primary needs Primary needs I need to focus on raising my kids right. I need to make sure my I need to get at the truth of what’s really going on and be an husband and I spend quality time together. agitator for change. I need to find stillness in my mind to see it.

Favourite movies Hidden Figures + Renewal Favourite movies Virunga + Lo and Behold Communication style In person + talks on the phone Communication style Talks on the phone + in-person Brands owned/used Christian Omeshun + The Bay Brands owned/used I have no idea + I don’t care Visual Briefs | Project: Research + Summary Allison Cake

VISUAL BRIEFS

The first direction shown above, aimed to communicate in a contemporary, minimalistic way, uses soft colours contrasted with a rich black used throughout to convey to the audience a brand of sleek sophistication. Visual Briefs | Project: Research + Summary Allison Cake

Overall, it was hard to choose which direction to go with. As when I asked both The second visual brief aimed to communicated a youthful and vibrant spirit, using designers and non-designers, as well as people in industry and people working in washes and vibrant hand illustrations to a millennial target audience. The tone of other industries, they all gave me quite positive feedback about all three directions. voice here is off-beat, expressionate and playful. Visual Briefs | Project: Research + Summary Allison Cake

The third and final visual brief was completely different from the first two. It used After much debate, I went with the third visual direction. The larger consensus a mostly monochromatic red colour palette with warm neutrals. The imagery was about this direction was that overall this visual brief said, ‘film’ and ‘Canada’, cinematic and used cognitive dissonance to draw the viewer in to a story. which are both central to this project. DESIGN MANAGEMENT Design Management | Project: Research + Summary Allison Cake Project Phases “Done is the

September engine of more.” ­ Cult of Done Manifesto

October

November

December

January

February

March

April

May

Research Exploration First Drafts Prototypes Revisions Output Feedback Design Management | Project: Research + Summary Allison Cake Timesheet Semester 1 Semester 2 Task Name 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Primary Research

Secondary Research

Research Writing

Project Presentations

Mentor Meetings

Design Process Guide

Production Writing

Mobile First Website

Motion Graphics Deliverables

Branding Deliverables

Social Media Deliverables

Promotional Deliverables

Strategy and Development

Poster Design

Exhibition Display

Hours spent per week: 4 5.5 6 6 9 10.5 9 11 9.25 5 11 3 13 21 11 22 9 17 13 16 28 34 48 18

Total Thesis Project Hours: 339 hours 25 minutes Section Header | Deliverables: Design Process Guide Allison Cake Budget What didn’t work There are two main things that didn’t work. The first was choosing my initial clients Cineplex and Destination Canada. Expenses Amount Really, I wasted a lot of precious research time on them when I should have moved on quicker. Also, my focus and attention Design Process Booklets $280.00 to making this project as well thought out and researched as Process Book Holder $40.00 possible could have been adjusted. I think more emphasis could Poster Postcards $50.00 have been spent on prototyping and testing deliverables earlier Branding Guide $40.00 on in the project as from a production standpoint I learned a Display Poster $20.00 lot about what was possible when I did this. This part of the Website Promotional Cards $40.00 learning could have happened sooner. Display mats $20.00 Prototype printing $10.00 What I would have changed Project printing $15.00 The largest part that didn’t work that I would have changed is the Sub total $515.00 way I balanced my time. As a lover of printed material, I spent Tax $66.95 admittedly too much time on the print aspect of my deliverables. Total $581.95 This would be the thing I would change the most, is being firm on and pushing back more about the reasoning behind print deliverables in a digital design project. This is because print production took precious time away digital design deliverables in order to fulfill certain exhibition requirements that would not Project Evaluation have otherwise been required outside of a thesis project. What worked Further development

Something that was proven in this thesis and will continue in my Several times I have been asked the question of whether or work in the future is taking the time to research and understand not I would pursue both developing the Find Your Film Fest the target market that I am designing for. This is because I feel project after thesis, as a real and fully formed site. The short that my project was enriched by this effort and it allowed me to answer is that I would. However, I would want to do testing be confident in my creative direction for the project as I had a before I move further into development and get feedback from better idea of how to differentiate and communicate my project my target audience. This is because even though the strategy to my target audience. and design thinking is based on research and actual numbers and cents, it still needs to be substantiated. I would also like to Another part project that I feel worked well was using a restricted seek a mentorship with a travel and tourism organization, as well colour palette and rich black and white photography only in my art as to seek input from film festivals to learn more about their direction, as I feel it made my project different as the art direc- challenges and experiences in attracting millennial audiences tion speaks the language of classic film. In the beginning I was to their festivals. More knowledge from the outside in the future worried that I was placed too many limitations on but I’m really would help solidify the project into something robust. glad I went with my gut on this. © 2018, Allison Cake , Ontario, Canada Deliverables Research Summary CONTENTS Website

Motion Graphics

Branding

Social Media

Promotion

Thank you

“Failure counts as done. So do mistakes.”

The Cult of Done Manifesto WEBSITE Inspiration

“When i get to this page i get hipster millennial? ­ Great. *Sigh*”

Alex Wittholz

When I set out to design the website for Find Your Film Fest, I know I wanted the landing page to be quiz based. I think as sophisticated as the internet has become, it still serves primarily as an engine of self-discovery. Quizzes by their nature very serve to help the user uncover more about themselves. So naturally, having filled out many BuzzFeed quizzes I did research into how they were created (immediate right).

What I found was that the editorial effort behind Buzzfeed Quizzes was created by Summer Anne Burton where she was freelancing part-time and waitressing to pay the bills. Six years later she is now the Head of Buzzfeed Originals. Other sources I found inspiring were Airbnb did their travel quiz (top) and the general direction and web design of the National Film Board of Canada (far right). Website | Deliverables: Research Summary Allison Cake Target Audience Matrix

Desires Challenge 4% Counterculturalists 17% Engaged Idealists

32% Good Timers Priorities of Others Your Priorities

20% Diverse Strivers

11% Homesteaders 16% Lone Wolves

Desires Comfort

To aid with creating both the quiz content and the category content for the website, See Book 1’s Persona’s in the Research Summary section for I found it helpful to create a four quadrant audience matrix. This helped me to make more details about the six target audience segments: Good Timers, sure what was asking in the development of my quiz questions addressed the core Diverse Strivers, Engaged Idealists, Lone Wolves, Homesteaders values of my target audience. and Counterculturalists. Website | Deliverables: Research Summary Allison Cake Site Map

Overall, the website I originally imagined creating (42 pages) is much smaller than the one I created of 39 individual pages. Yet, I choose to focus on quality rather than quantity as I felt what I had created got the design across and all the site’s features were articulated. Website | Deliverables: Research Summary Allison Cake Wire-frames Lesson’s Learned

One of the biggest lessons to this part of the project had to do with learning how to use development apps like Invision and Sketch for the first time in order to wire-frame and prototype my designs properly. I hadn’t taken an interaction course so the learning curve was daunting. Luckily I had help in the testing of my ideas and how to approach in crafting it. Here I had to learn to think from a users’ perspective, as I needed to honor why they were on the site, to begin with when creating the design. What I found was that users would be on my site to help make their travel decisions easier so I needed to limit their options to only the few film festivals that immediately satisfied them. Also, I needed to design for my users biggest reward, for example, when they completed the quiz questions the users biggest need would be to see a complete based on their quiz-generated profile result. This lead me into making sure I got this aspect of the design right above all else. Problem Solving

The biggest obstacles I’ve had to overcome is the question of how to present the features and benefits of a large website as clearly and as quickly as possible. As this site was designed as a beta site and would be viewed by people quickly, I had to really focus on these constraints. Focusing on strategy and quality of pages over the quantity of them was how I overcame this challenge. This was a stretch for me as up until this point I preferred to make fully completed designs spending as much time as is needed to get it all done. Admitting to myself that it wasn’t possible did, however, help me save some sanity.

Other problems had to do with adjusting to the quirks of the Sketch app’s software and designing unique icons. The former of which drove me nuts in the beginning as the Sketch app kept losing my type style sheets. The later of which, pushed me to create a hi-res icon set out of dots, as I wanted to embed the branding right even in the icon set. What I found through testing was that the amount of dots I used, first The site I designed is a mobile first site design, based on the dimensions of an 3 by 3 then 5 by 5, really impacted the users readability of icons like iPhone 5. I chose this device because the bottom end of my target market has “play” and “down”. limited income and so their device would be several updates behind. Section Header | Deliverables: Design Process Guide Allison Cake

MOTION GRAPHICS Inspiration

Allure Pre-Drink

“Everybody’s a mad scientist, and life is their lab.”

David Cronenberg

My inspiration for making the bumper, the promotional spot and the explainer videos came from watching many ground-breaking Canadian films. I watched a lot of different kinds of films Water during the project that I normally wouldn’t but members of my target audience would have. The films I drew the most inspiration from were: Carlos and Jason Sanchez’s Allure staring Evan Rachel Wood, Marc-Antoine Lemire’s short Pre-Drink, Deepa Metha’s Element Trilogy, Sadaf Fouraghi’s Ava and last but not least Kathleen Hepburn’s, Never Steady, Never Still. All fantastic works.

Ava Never Steady, Never Still Motion Graphics | Deliverables: Research Summary Allison Cake Storyboards Video 1 Video 1 20 Seconds 30 Seconds Brand Bumper Promotional Spot

1 1 5 9

2 2 6 10

3 3 7 11

4 4 8 12 Motion Graphics | Deliverables: Research Summary Allison Cake Storyboards Lessons Learned Video 3 I have a huge passion for film and motion graphics. So it killed 20 seconds me to scale back this part of the project. Yet it was necessary Explainer Video given how much time the website and print deliverable took. So the largest lesson was a lesson in economy. Up until this project I was used to spending a good deal of my time on making motion graphics so crafting them quickly was a challenge. Ultimately I what I value most as a motion graphics designer is storytelling and weaving narratives. In this project, I still feel I told a story but my method of delivery was much simpler and used: classic film-inspired black and white images, and simple movements.

1 5 Problem Solving

This project had several technical considerations to factor. As these motion graphics are being displayed during my thesis judging and exhibition, I had to create motion graphics that didn’t depend on sound (as sound may not be heard over 2 6 multiple people were surrounding the monitors at any given time with several other projects surround them). The sound of a motion piece is so important to my motion graphic designs so this decision crippled me for a time. Yet, when I got over it, I was careful to select expressive photographs for my promotional and explainer videos. I spent time thinking about the words and how they would appear and disappear on screen. In the end, I produced three very short motion graphics that helped promote my brand and informed the viewer about 3 7 my site in a way that didn’t feel at all like a “Try to have complete compromise. confidence in yourself. Don’t depend so much on what others say about you or want you to be.” 4 8 Deepa Mehta BRANDING Inspiration Branding | Deliverables: Research Summary Allison Cake

I had to make was what to call the project. I struggled with Signature Sketches titles like “Find Your Film Fest 2018,” “Flik”, “Fest” and just “F”. Ultimately both my target audience liked the “F” identity that Abridged echoed old LED mono-type screen displays and the descriptive title, “Find Your Film Fest 2018”, because it told my audience in the clearest way what my thesis was all about. Signature Revisions

After taking in all of the feedback, I decided to make the brand mutable by making six different versions of the “F’ and “Find Your Film Fest 2018” identity. I made this decision to tie it back to my target audience’s six segmentation groups as their Feedback preferences were very distinct and thus I felt that the branding should be as different as they were. In the end, I decided to keep The creation of the identity for Find Your Film Fest received a lot of testing. my identity to one version “F.” and “Find Your Film Fest,” but for a I tested my designs with both the target audience and UX and branding designers. time I explored branding from a mutable design approach. The feedback I received certainly gave me a lot to think about, but the biggest decision Branding | Deliverables: Research Summary Allison Cake Colour Explorations Lesson’s Learned

The primary lesson for branding my thesis was again in learning how to scale back. After the revisions were complete, and when I was able to step back I realized that the mutable identity strategy I had employed, while thoughtful was just to complex. I decided then that what was really needed was a simple and recognizable branding strategy. This strategy can be found the brand guide created for the project accessible both on the website and as a kit.

Problem’s Solved

The primary issue I had to solve had to do with colour. After exploring colours a lot in the three visual briefs I created, I quickly landed on a primarily monochromatic red palette, complimented by neutral secondary hues. I went with this direction after I received feedback that the black and white photography really spoke to the language of classic cinema, and that further promoted Canada’s brand which Ontario film festivals help promote.

Type Explorations However, the difficulty came when I had to make the palette AODA compliant as the red I used initially was too vibrant. More concerns came up when rolling out the colour palette on motion graphics and on top of full width black and white photographs as using the red too often has a tendency to exhaust to the eye when I used it more than twice in any one section of a design. In the end, I learned the importance of a solid secondary palette to help solve these issues. This led to changes and the expansion of the palette, as well as breaking some rules. As a designer I can be fairly dogmatic with the design rules I set, and so breaking these rules pains me every time I have to did it, but this time the ends do really justify the means. “What’s broken on Instagram is broken in your business.”

Hilary Rushford

SOCIAL MEDIA Existing Inspiration Social Media | Deliverables: Research Summary Allison Cake

As the Dean Street Society lessons are more of business 101, I Research was able to then apply similar strategies to Facebook, and Twitter. In the end, I left out YouTube from my social media strategy as I would have needed to create half a dozen short films to really flesh out this social media platform and time just didn’t allow for it. Lesson’s Learned

The biggest lessons learned on creating a social media strategy was in admitting that I didn’t really know what I was doing on social media. As I had only in the past used social media for personal use, I had to learn to forget these experiences and start over. Once I admitted this and got some help this part of the project became easier. First slide of a presentation deck of research about using Instagram for Business. Also, a big challenge was figuring out the tone of voice for Before the start of this school term, I had been using a flip my campaign. What I learned that helped me get away from phone, having retreated from social media due to a serious the landscape-heavy formulas that travel marketing seems to questioning of its purpose in my life. Yet, my perspective on the employ is the fact that people really want to see themselves in validity of social media really changed when I stopped using the landscape more than they want to see the landscape. When social media as a personal development tool and started using it marketing on social media it’s about them, and not the scenery. as a business development tool. One big issue I had coming back to social media was that I had no idea how to use social media tools like Instagram as a business development tools. Thus, enter Hilary Rushford from Dean Street Society who Problem’s Solved taught me the basic of business planning and marketing strategy through her on-line videos about Instagram. Getting the right tone of voice through imagery and captions was undeniably difficult, especially with tight character limits. Using Thus, Instagram became my social media platform to develop imagery that was one of either nature, snow, and or architecture, Find Your Film Fest’s social media strategy. Through the support as OTMPC’s and Destination Canada’s extensively used, forced of on-line learning, I developed a business plan for Find Your me to really stretch to find examples to learn from that were way Film Fest. I also figured out what I was trying to sell to an outside the norms of used by Canadian tourism. My search for Instagram audience. I then found how to tell my brand’s story examples helped me figure out aspects like poses, colours, facial primary through community building and inspirational posts— expressions and writing that I would need to capture in order to two of the four ways that stories are told on Instagram. reflect an offbeat, quirky yet serious tone of voice that connected to the Find Your Film Fest target audience. PROMOTIONAL Inspiration Promotional | Deliverables: Research Summary Allison Cake Prototypes Lesson’s Learned

Early on I had what I thought was a clever idea that combined a brochure, poster, and postcard together that could potentially be sent through the mail. It was a great idea, in theory, but since I had never designed a broadsheet binder-less booklet before, I had no idea what I was doing so it wasn’t easy. Yet, the power of the prototype was on my side and I used several prototypes to figure out how the design worked. Again this reinforced the importance of testing and prototyping my idea early and often, especially when doing something new. Revised version, front of postcard (folded up). Problem’s Solved

An issue with how to apply the colour of the identity in the reverse form of the “F.” word-mark against a high contrast black and white photography was a big design challenge that effected a lot of the other deliverables like my poster and this process booklet. Being at a Revised version, back of postcard (folded up). loss at what to do I just started colouring the seats in the image to the left, and something clicked. After that, I stopped being so dogmatic about my colour palette and introduced some secondary colours I had only been loosely playing it started to work. The introduction of a looser secondary colour palette also allowed the red to be used more sparingly for maximum attention and impact.

Revised design assembled.

Early version of the inside poster design when unfolded..

Revised design prototypes THANK YOU I couldn’t have made this without your support!

If you’re reading this I likely owe you a big thank you. Yet, there’s some people who I need to specifically take this time to thank:

First of all, a big thank you goes out to my biggest lifetime supporters, my parents. Thank you for your support, my thesis quite literally would not have been made without your help. Your unrelenting faith in me keeps me going.

Also thank you to my thesis professor Ian Gregory, your gentle wisdom and tremendous eye for detail was such a big help. Thank you to Lorraine Wright, Lori Endes, and Jennifer Masters, your many conversations while working on the projects with you throughout the year has prepared me for the work done here. Also, thank you to my thesis mentor Alex Wittholz who gave such poignant feedback.

Lastly, but not least, thank you to: Charles Cuela,, Cody Marshall, Darren DeHaas, Fernando Pendás Fernández, Lie Nie, Marissa Ponn, Rachelle Grillanda, Tasha Cadence, and Yusuke Yamaski. Your kindness, and your support helps me through good times and difficult times, and your wicked design skills kicked my ass and pushes me forward.

So there’s a lot of people that aren’t listed as I’m running short on room. Yet if you were my teacher in the last three years, thank you. I have will not forgot the lessons you have taught me.

Most sincerely,

Allison Cake