Monday, October 18, 2010

Brendan Murphy

Brendan Murphy Symposium

"When you’re trying to get established in your career, the craft that you learn is essential," said Brendan Murphy, Pittsburg State University alumni. Every day students at Pittsburg State University are given challenges to develop skills that are essential to learning the craft of their professions. While in Pittsburg receiving the Outstanding Alumni for all of his accomplishments Brendan took time to speak to students, his words were inspiring to all that attended.

Like Brendan I am using the skills I am learning from my graphics minor as a safety net for a future career. I think it’s great that he went to school on a track scholarship and ended up in the graphic communications field and that someone going to school in a small town in Kansas ended up in New York. I also never realized how much writing really went into graphic communication jobs; Brendan said he spends seventy-five percent of his time writing and only five to ten percent of his time drawing. After learning this I will definitely have a better appreciation for writing to learn courses in this field. Another good point that he brought up is to, ""Never fall in love with technology, because technology will change."—Work on your design skills and ideas, not just technological skills, because the technology will change. Hearing from a professional in this industry and learning from their mistakes and experiences was very awarding.

After learning what Brendan has accomplished it really inspired me to push myself farther and not to settle for ordinary. To often I find myself thinking that moving to New York and being successful is not in my reach, but seeing someone who was once in my shoes being that successful makes me hopeful. I learned that I need to take my writing skills more seriously and focus more on my design skills, since technology is constantly changing. 


Image cited: http://www.pittstate.edu/press-media/detail.dot?id=248849

Gap Logo Fiasco


Gap Logo Fiasco
 
The Gap logo fiasco started when sales in Gap when down by 4%. In order to raise sales the advertisement teams proposed a change in logos. The new logo first appeared on their website, and received a lot of criticism. The logo was typed in what looks like Helvetica type and had a dark blue square above the ‘e.’ Change in logo made the company look cheap, the exact opposite of the former logo, which presented the company as being regal and rich. The change in logos angered loyal customers and did not help with sales. The change in logos did not go over well because they had to re-establish the company. In the long run the change of logo ended up hurting Gap because they had to change all signage and promotional materials used to promote Gap. The cost of the change in logo ended up costing the company far more than investing additional money in advertising. Personally I think Gap should have taken a better look at the economy and other factors that could have been affecting the decrease in sales. I think the problem with decreasing sales was more to do with the economy than their logo. Also I feel that the new logo is very cheap looking and not what Gap clothing is all about, while their old logo presents their company as being exclusive and rich. I don’t think that the change in logos would have brought in more customers; I think that has more to do with the cost and value of the clothing. They learned that you have to take in to consideration what loyal customers like and also that there is a lot more work that goes in to a logo change than just making some adjustments. In order to have a successful logo change there needs to be support of the company
because you have to make sure that customers still feel a connection with the company. Ultimately changing the brand of your company cost more than losing 4% in sales.

GIT Recruitment Note Pad