With the National Trust brief falling under the category of advertising I felt this was a good brief in which to explore a new field that was unfamiliar to me. The brief itself involved reintroducing the National Trust as the powerful connector between people and places. There aim was to get across the importance of nature and beauty within our daily lives with the added challenge of changing the current perception of the Trust as being a haven just for the elderly. Unlike previous projects, the National Trust was a well-established, nation wide organization with an already loyal fan base; therefore it would be a big challenge to undertake. Therefore I found myself collaborating with a group in order to undertake this brief
The first stage of the project was the research phase. This consisted of the initial background research into the National Trust in order to build a profile on the current target market and to find out the facilities and experiences that they had to offer. A large part of this research involved online resources such as their website and social media platforms (eg. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram). Whilst these databases provided valuable information we knew that in order to effectively brainstorm ideas we would have to experience National Trust for ourselves. This vital experience enabled us to meet face to face with the target market and ask them questions relating to the brief.
With the background of the National Trust established the next stage of the research involved examining other similar advertisements and campaigns, as well as viewing the previous years winners of D&AD. This research allowed us to see the standards required for submitting an advertisement.
The second stage of the project was the development of ideas. As a group, we struggled to come up with a solid idea in which to kick-start a campaign from. This was largely due to the difficulty of the brief due to the fact we had to ensure that we were connecting with our target audience. When finally came to it we were able to produce an idea allowed us to explore a range of mediums.
With the final outcome we produced ‘Escape the City’ campaign, which included a mixture of both print and digital work. Taking into consideration the knowledge gained from the research we created an app design, billboard, poster, and mobile advertisement.
One of the main challenges faced when taking on this project involved working with a new area of design. Advertisement required us to actively experience what we were going to sell in order for an idea to work successfully. The research provided me with information needed to recognize good advertisement.
Another benefit to this brief was working in a team. This allowed me to develop skills that would be essential to future work. It gave me the chance to explore where my strengths lie in and the areas I need to improve on.
My weaknesses when it came to this brief have to include my time keeping. I found myself repeating a similar situation as the Instant Print brief. With the struggle to find a concrete idea in which to pursue, I found myself falling behind. Consequently this lead to areas in which I could have spent more time in, being cut short.
Another weakness was my execution of the ideas. When it came to using digital software to present the idea in situ, I struggled to create a professionally looking visual. I think this may have been as a result of my time management as I did not allow myself any contingency time.
If I were to redo this project I would make sure to allocate myself enough time to cope with any set backs. With the final ideas we produced it would be interesting to explore more avenues of advertisement.
