Graphic Communication

The Magazine Industry is Becoming Mobile

Alex Maxwell — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 10:02:23 PDT

Are magazine publications seeing an increase in profits since the rise of the mobile magazine application? My investigation focused on magazine publications that feel that producing their product for use on a tablet is worth the increase in resources. These applications allow the consumer to read their purchase on an array of electronic tablets, which are arguably beneficial for magazine publications in the future.

This study helped me discover that “developing a digital replica of a magazine is extremely cost effective because postage and material costs are no longer required.” (H. Glassie, Senior Project - Alex Maxwell, January 14, 2013) While this establishes the potential for a magazine corporation to increase their income, solely converting a magazine to a digital format does not guarantee success. My study will benefit publishing companies because they will gain knowledge on the advantages and disadvantages of converting to a mobile application, and how they can make the transition without affecting the quality of their product.

Effect of Sustainability Package Advertising on Consumer Purchases

Ronald Ringler — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 08:36:59 PST

This research project focused on factors influencing consumers’ purchasing behavior. Specifically, the project focused on sustainability of packaging and attempted to find if sustainability of a package (represented by post-consumer content) affected a consumer’s decision to buy that product. The specific question asked was: “Are consumers willing to purchase a product based on the environmental friendliness of its package even if it goes against the consumer’s brand preference, or if it has a higher price point than competing products?” Research data was gathered through a multi-page survey comprised of seven questions of varying complexity. Participants were primarily aged 18-25 and the majority female, but the ages of participants range from 19 to 60 years. It was found that participants choose products based on price, quality and brand rather than sustainability. The results of this study suggest that it would not be profitable for a company to spend money marketing or advertising sustainability of a product’s package, especially if it affects the quality or look of the package or the retail price of the product.

The True Value of Value-Added Services in Digital Print

Noemi Garcia — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 10:11:45 PST

This study compares the success of five digital printers in California’s central coast based on whether they choose to charge for value-added services. It questions past research that shows digital printers who implement an additional fee for such services are more successful than digital printers who do not always bill the customer for the extra services. It focuses on determining the reasons behind each printer’s strategy through a questionnaire. The study concludes printers not charging are not necessarily losing money because they have found ways to eliminate non-value-adding steps in their value chain. Therefore success must be redefined other than building a competitive advantage by boosting sales and profit.

Design and Production Aspects of an Electroluminescent Segment Display

Veronica Kopp et al. — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 11:56:27 PDT

The purpose of this study was to get a better understanding of the different ways printed circuits could be constructed and then implemented into creative, visual designs for printed electroluminescent displays. A variety of circuit design variables, such as area and length, were tested that will help create solutions for printed electronics.

This study tested different variables of circuit design, such as length of silver traces and the size of the image area, to help optimize ways to build a printed circuit. Then, findings were implemented into a segmented graphic display in order to analyze innovative ways to utilize multiple displays in a small area. Results found that there are a variety of recommendations that can be considered when designing an electroluminescent segment display. However, future testing can be done to develop wiring the power supply to the design.

Photo Manipulation in the Media

Stephanie Coffaney — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 15:41:10 PDT

In today’s society there are photos everywhere; they are in magazines, advertisements, newspapers, and books because photos make the text or the story stand out. Some may not know it, but most of these photos have been edited and retouched. This research paper attempted to determine the majority opinion of what types of photo editing was above the tolerable limit, as well as the public awareness of media manipulation. The different levels of photo editing included changing the contrast, removal of blemishes and dust, addition/removal of objects, and addition/removal of main subjects. The results revealed that most people are aware of photoshopping in the media and they suspected there was more photo editing in magazines and advertisements than newspapers.

Marketing Trends of a Clothing Line

Travis Carr — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 15:10:31 PDT

This study compares the success of traditional print marketing with that of new-age digital methods. It focuses on determining which advertising strategies are most effective for a clothing company by implementing different marketing collateral into an existing company’s marketing plan and then gathering results of how much traffic each method drives in to the company’s website. It concludes that while printed advertising still holds a slight advantage over its digital counterpart, the two methods have been successfully implemented in combination, allowing a more diverse marketing plan and capturing consumers from multiple sources.

Accurately Reproducing Pantone Colors on Digital Presses

Anne Howard — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 17:45:09 PDT

The Role of HTML5 and Flash in Web Design

Kaela SooHoo — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 17:45:07 PDT

The purpose of this study was to determine whether HTML5 will replace Flash in the web design industry. Using the information taken from the study, the researcher made a prediction to answer the former question.

The researcher looked further into these programs and find information to determine what it is that makes each of these programs unique and possibly replaceable. The researcher also interviewed and surveyed those who used these programs to design or view online websites to gain insight on practicality and current trends in the web design industry.

Through research and experimentation, the researcher decided that HTML5 may replace Flash in the web design industry because of the found trends in today’s society. HTML5 surely has much more work to go before being completely developed as a useable program, but once it is Flash will slowly disappear from the web. Adobe Flash may have lost its relevance in web design, but it is surely not disappearing completely any time soon due to the several other purposes it serves outside of the web.

Current Trends in the Marketing and Promotion of Movies Using Social Media

Bonnie Wilcox — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 17:45:04 PDT

The purpose of this study is to provide further insight into how social media is used to most effectively market new movies.

Typographic Trends in American Sports Brands

Alan Jacobson — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 17:45:01 PDT

Understanding & Benchmarking the Mobile Web Experience

Stuart Grffiths — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 17:44:57 PDT

The purpose of this study was to identify best practices in design for mobile web browsing user experiences, analyzing the newest strategies for optimizing efficient and pleasurable interfaces in a mobile device context. This involved understanding the history of mobile device communications, basic web design principles, and modeling how businesses project their mobile web experiences to end users. The research includes current design trends, thought processes to consider, and expert advice from industry professionals. In addition, user experience survey’s supplement the analysis, scoring industry leaders on how they present their mobile web experiences (viewed from iPad2 & iPhone 4). The test results and advice pooled from this study can be used to better strategize, prepare, and execute rewarding user experiences and interaction designs for a mobile device context. In its simplest form, the process of delivering rewarding mobile web experiences means focusing on speed, mobile constraints, and understanding behaviors of the user. Making sure to continually check back into these three categories as a mobile strategy evolves from prototype to product is fundamental to ensuring all aspects of a mobile web user are addressed. The best way to validate the planning of this interaction is to incorporate multiple different angles and backgrounds of thought from a business, not just that of the designers. Sure designers are responsible for understanding color theory fundamentals, typography implementation, and spatial layouts, but this shouldn’t qualify them in holding the sole decision process for what capabilities to provide or prevent users. Counter to traditional thought, the best way of transmitting a satisfactory and unique mobile web user experience is to expand the original brainstorming of mobile strategies to a wider sum of individuals, incorporating people who understand the company and business from a different perspective than that of the designers. This report digs into unraveling the big picture of mobile web user experiences and leads into deciphering which pieces of the interaction are most vital to ensuring pleasurable usability and encounters between all parties involved.

Hazards of Aluminum Packaging

Alyssa Habian — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 17:44:54 PDT

Package Design vs. Customer Reviews: A Comparative Study on Influences in Fragrance Buying Decisions

Sarah Willis — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 17:44:52 PDT

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of customer reviews, compared to package design, on the fragrance buying decisions of women aged eighteen to twenty-five. The researcher conducted two surveys: the first asked thirty-five random women to choose between two equally priced, but differently designed, perfumes (Perfume X and Perfume Z). This first group’s preference was Perfume X, with 57.14% of participants choosing this product. The second survey asked a different group of thirty-five random women to choose between the same two perfumes, but with the addition of unequally favorable customer reviews. Group 2 participants preferred the product with better customer reviews (Perfume Z), with 68.57% of participants choosing this product. Because overall product preference changed with the presence of customer reviews, this study determined that customer reviews had a greater influence than package design on the fragrance buying decisions of eighteen to twenty-five year-old women.

The Impact of HTML5/CSS3 on Mobile Devices

Joel Shaw — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 10:22:44 PDT

The purpose of this study is to investigate the new features of HTML5 and CSS3. More specifically, how transitions, animations and embedding video are being incorporated into the design process for mobile devices. As well as how CSS3 and HTML5 are helping to reduce the amount of images needed to produce websites. The study asks the question “How HTML5 and CSS3 are impacting web development for mobile devices?”

With the recent release of the latest draft of HTML5 and CSS3 released in February of 2010 there are several new features of HTML5 and CSS3 that designers now have at their disposal. Features like transitions and animations, audio and video elements, and a group of properties that are reducing the amount of images, are helping to make HTML5 and CSS3 the coding language of choice when designing for mobile devices. Elite and Specialized Interviewing and Descriptive Research methods of research were used to discover the pros and cons of HTML5 and CSS3.

The Impact of the Internet on Wedding Invitation Ordering

Danielle DiMercurio — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 10:22:39 PDT

The purpose of study was to analyze and determine the current trends of wedding invitation ordering based on the priorities of marrying couples and the advancement of technology. Traditionally, wedding invitations were ordered in-person from local, artisan stationers. With the advancement of technology and the Internet Revolution in the last 20 years, modern methods have been introduced, including ordering from online retailers and sending electronic invitations, through e-mail.

This study began by interviewing three professionals in different segments of the wedding industry – a wedding planner, stationer, and online marketing manager. Each provided their expert opinion based on their experience in the industry and client feedback. The experts’ answers were assimilated and analyzed through content analysis. A ranking method was developed to quantitatively measure the responses.

The results of the interviews showed that the current trend is ordering wedding invitations from online companies. There are many benefits to this method, including: a variety of designs available, customizable features, affordability, ease of use, convenience, and customer service.

The Effectiveness of Drupal’s User Interface in Aiding Users During Website Development

Kristina Colelli — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 16:01:13 PDT

The purpose of this study was to determine, based on the code knowledge of users, the effectiveness of Drupal’s graphical user interface in aiding developers during website creation. It includes research on current website developer trends, with a heavy emphasis on Drupal’s content management system, its usage, and the pros and cons of its graphical user interface. An online survey querying website developer knowledge of content management systems and preferences was distributed. Additionally, an in person case study that allowed users from two controlled groups, individuals with code knowledge and individuals with limited code knowledge, to physically interact with Drupal’s graphical user interface in order to complete the same series of instructions. The participants were timed in order to gauge the intuitiveness of Drupal’s interface in aiding various levels of experience in developers. The results of this study can be used to map the past and future trends in web development.

Wine Tasting Through Typography

Dayna Goldman — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 16:01:08 PDT

The purpose of this study is to find the connection, if any, between the design and typography of wine labels with the flavor attributes of the wine itself. If there is a lacking connection, wineries can use this information to better market their wines so that consumers know more about the wines they are purchasing and can make a more informed decision. This allows these wineries to better market themselves and differentiate from their competitors.

The research focuses mainly on smaller, local wineries because these are the businesses that need more assistance or direction in creating and marketing their brand. Results from a sample size of seventy-one individuals that were surveyed show that it is very difficult for the average consumer to agree on a few specific descriptive words about a wine based solely on its label. This means that the packaging is not doing its job in marketing the product. The researcher also interviewed a number of local winery owners who attested to this fact that it is very difficult to maintain a brand image consistently while still giving each wine the unique design it deserves.

A solution to this disconnect would be to begin to look at the wine packaging industry in an entirely new light. If local wineries started to rebrand themselves by focusing on the taste of the wines they produce, they would not only differentiate themselves and thus garner consumer interest, but they would also help consumers in making their purchasing decisions

Wasteful Food Consumption: Consumer Trends in Food and Packaging Waste

Alexis Jade Levy — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 16:01:03 PDT

Effects of Optical Brightening Agents on Color Reproduction in Digital Printing

Sandra Chaikovsky et al. — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 16:00:58 PDT

In this study the effects of optical brightening agents (OBAs) on color reproduction in digital toner-based printing are explored. Through the comparison of two distinct substrates with different levels of OBAs, notable differences in the reflectance of blue light in the visible light spectrum are analyzed among light sources Illuminant A, D50, and D65. Fluorescence occurs in OBA paper under light with a UV component; between D65 and Illuminant A light sources there is a distinct difference in fluorescing effect of the sample substrates. Color discrepancy as a result of OBAs is analyzed between D50 and Illuminant A light sources, which are common to pressroom viewing conditions and customer environments. For toner-based digital printing, greater difference in color occurs between light sources when there is a lower percent coverage of ink on the paper. Though most color discrepancy is notable, color-matching issues in the digital environment as a result of OBAs in paper may not be a chief concern unless a press is not calibrated or if substrates are drastically different in OBA levels.

Going Mobile: A Guide to Mobile Website and Application User Preferences

Kevin M. Weeks — Mon, 14 May 2012 14:31:47 PDT

Mobile devices are rapidly gaining popularity. There is an increasing demand for individuals who can develop quality mobile websites and applications. In the world of mobile, the most important consideration is the end user. Who is the application or mobile website trying to target and what do they want? This study was designed to determine what users value and whether current developers are accurately reflecting these values. Determining this was accomplished through surveys of mobile users, interviews with mobile web developers, and analysis of successful websites and apps through case studies. The survey included questions to determine what qualities mobile users find valuable. The interviews with mobile developers determined what qualities web developers value when designing, and whether the end user is a significant determinant for design. Lastly, an analysis of top mobile websites and apps searched for trends in successful site and app design based on user responses. The study found that users rarely utilize their web browser, preferring native applications to a mobile web site. Simple, intuitive, and clear navigation and layouts are preferred by users. Web developers seem to recognize the importance of the end user and often place themselves in the shoes of the user to determine design. Speed and responsiveness are important considerations for developers. Often, the client inhibits efficient design, but can be swayed when the benefits of a more usable app are explained. The most important consideration for a developer is following the current standards of design.