The audience is an essential component of design because it encompasses the group of people who will be viewing your creative designs. Having a knowledge of the emotions and demographic that will be viewing the work is crucial to having a successful career in design. The audience is the final voice that determines whether or not the designer has reached the goal of the specific project.
For example, MTV has an extremely specific demographic that they must reach with each and every aspect of their corporation. In order to reach their demographic, which according to Kevin Downey falls between young teens and mid-twenty year olds, MTV must keep up with current trends and styles. This includes everything from specific programming on the channels, as well as the designs that are used on and off the air. Interning at VH1, I have realized that there is a constant conversation about how to reinvent their brand in order to keep up with the times.
Similar to a corporation’s identity, one’s own individual design identity has to speak to a specific audience. When preparing for a job interview, it is important to know the audience that the company speaks to and how your work can be applied.
Cynthia Baron, author of Designing a Digital Portfolio, said that one should “Plan wisely, and you can quickly roll out a series of portfolios, each tailored to a single market, culture, or geographical area. However, you need to know a lot about each audience to speak effectively to it. Knowledge is key to changing the right work, media, and approach.”
It is simply not enough to hope that the work inside of your portfolio is worthwhile. Instead, take the next step and learn more about how the company will be impressed with the work and how you worked to make sure that it spoke to their overall audience.
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