The final year.

Well, I have fallen behind with journals so I’m going to try and catch up.

Observe and Unpack a brand that you find interesting.

I am pretty sure that even though I grew up around The Magic House and have worked there for roughly 6 years… I still do not know that much about the brand. (I even did some freelance design for them and hate to admit that I was not extremely knowledgeable of their mission statement, values, etc. So, here it goes:

The Magic House, St. Louis Children’s Museum

Mission:
The Magic House will engage all children in hands-on learning experiences that encourage experimentation, creativity and the development of problem solving skills within a place of beauty, wonder, joy and magic.

Vision:
The Magic House will be a leader in providing and advocating hands-on learning for children of all ages and abilities. As the premier children’s museum, it will be a unique, welcoming venue where childhood is protected, nurtured and celebrated.

History:
The Magic House, a 501 (c)(3) not-for-profit organization, was founded by two St. Louis women, Jody Newman and Barbie Freund, who volunteered three years of their time to create a cultural institution that would be both educational and fun.

To house the region’s first interactive children’s museum, they chose a vacant Victorian mansion in suburban Kirkwood, located in the demographic center of the St. Louis metropolitan area. The house was originally built in 1901 as a private home for the George Lane Edwards family. Mr. Edwards was a managing partner in his family’s brokerage firm, A.G. Edwards & Sons, as well as the first president of the St. Louis Stock Exchange and a director of the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. Thanks to the efforts of the founders and the contributions of many St. Louis-area individuals, corporations and foundations, The Magic House opened to the public on October 16, 1979.

Target Demographic:
Throughout our history, The Magic House has sparked the imaginations of more than 10 million visitors. We welcome over 500,000 children, parents, grandparents and caregivers to the museum each year. More than 47,000 students visit The Magic House annually on school field trips. For those unable to come to the museum, The Magic House comes to them, reaching more than 30,000 children every year through outreach programs delivered to schools, libraries, community centers, child-care facilities and hospitals.

The Magic House is not just for kids! The museum also offers programming for grown-ups including staff development workshops for educators, parent-child classes and special events for grandparents.

Aesthetic Elements:
The Magic House uses bright and friendly colors to draw attention to the fact that they are a non-profit organization that is geared towards children. Instead of using primary colors The Magic House decided to use a secondary color palette. The organization also uses very basic typefaces such as Univers and a “Magic House” typeface on occasion. The typography is large, simple and clear to the viewer but designed in a fairly professional manor.

Minimal/Ornamental: Right in the middle of the two
Realism/Abstraction: Abstraction because the museum works to teach children to explore and imagine, to be creative and try new things.
Dynamic/Static: Dynamic with all of the programs and events that they have to offer the community, along with the way they teach and educate children.
Loud/Soft: Very loud with bold colors because they want to stand out and have an impact on the community.
Traditional/Contemporary: Contemporary and continuously leaning more in this direnction… they are a one of a kind museum.
Retro/Avant-Garde: Right in the middle, I believe.
City/County: They are located in the county of St. Louis but with all of their outreach programs and events, the City of St. Louis is just as much apart, especially with the numerous field trips the museum provides.
Machine/Hand Crafted: It’s a mix because the museum is becoming so modern and up-to-date but at the same time it comes from a rich history and works around children figuring out and exploring ideas on their own.
Cheap/Luxurious: It depends if its a 500 person field trip of summer campers or a wedding ceremony. The Magic House does a very good job, especially after a 16 Million dollar renovation of looking modern,sleek and fresh but able to handle over 2000+ visitors a day and then a few hours later able to host a beautiful and timeless wedding ceremony.
Grand/Small Scale: GRAND. The Magic House is known as the #1 Children’s Museum in the nation according to ZAGOT… and that is a pretty big deal. People from all over the nation and even the world come to visit the museum each and every day! It is a hot attraction for those who are visiting St. Louis and it is also a partner to many other children’s museums around the nation!

Pretty cool place I think! Check it out: The Magic House

A brand that is part of my life…

[APPLE] but this is a given if you knew I was a graphic design major… So I think I will skip out on this brand for now.

I began by thinking of brands that I have used frequently/commonly throughout my life such as the dancewear brands Capezio, Bloch and then I began thinking of apparel lines that I commonly wear such as American Eagle and TOMS. All of these brands seemed somewhat limited so I came up with a brand that was more universal and fit me better.

Target.

I found that Target is a place where I frequently go and purchase many different items from. Granted, these items are of a variety of brands but overall, shopping at Target is convenient and a way for me to get a variety of things that I need such as food, clothes, shoes, toiletries, bedding, furniture and many other things. I find that Target is a quality brand and they provide plenty of their “brand line” of items in the store that are less expensive and have the same purpose as other brands the store sells.

I created a Brand, Mind, Space for the company as I utilize it.

Functional: Target provides me with a large variety of products to choose from depending on what I am shopping for or need at the time

Mental: Target allows me to enjoy knowing that the products are quality products and are just as good as other brands that are sold in the store.

Spiritual: Target allows me to feel good about shopping at their store because I know that they are committed to quality customer service along with a providing their customers with a more positive atmosphere.

Social: I enjoy being able to walk into Target and know that the employees are happy to help and direct me if I have any questions, especially when I am at the check out lane. I also love have the ability to speak with people who care about their job and want me, the customer, to know that they are happy with their job and want what is best for their customer.

This is all that I have come up with and I am sure there are many other brand, mind, spaces that would work for Target.

Reflect on your Creative Problem Solving Profile. Let us know if you agree and how will you use this information this semester.

After filling out and completing the activity given to us in class I am not surprised where I fit into the Creative Problem Solving Profile. I tend to fall into the fourth quadrant more than any other, and seem to spend the least amount of my time in the second quadrant. Therefore, I am a combination of Experiencing and Evaluation. I am someone who is an implementor and gets things done. Within this section of the profile I am defined as a person who takes action and does the steps in the action plan. I feel that I relate to the fact that implementors are those who revise and adapt plans to make sure that they are successful implemented. I do see myself as someone who wants to constantly sees that there can be improvement and revisions made to the final result.

I also fall under step seven which states that I gain acceptance and understanding that event he best ideas and plans can be scuttled by resistance to change. I am said to create ways to show people how a particular solution benefits them, and how possible problems with the solution can be minimized.

This semester I plan on using this information to help me strategize and organize my thoughts and ideas. I hope to also be able to learn how to incorporate other profiles into my work, knowing that “getting it done” is not always the best approach. I believe that my profile is a solid foundation to work off of when it comes to designing although I would like to push myself to explore and generate new ideas before coming to a solution and “getting it done.” I definitely feel that as a problem solver I fit well within this category and it clearly defines who I am as a designer.

Classes begin tomorrow… I just read over the Portfolio schedule. This is going to be one intense year! BRING IT ON GRAPHICS.