I just wrapped up TPOP today. Like I stated in a previous Blog, TPOP could have been explored infinitely, but I need to move on to a new Logo Design. I will certainly follow the new design with a similar exploration of layouts as TPOP. However, I will most likely try to keep it to 1 or 2 weeks of social media posting instead of 3. I don't know, 3 weeks of a project posting can feel too much sometimes, like I get bored or lose interest, which means if anyone is paying attention, then they would probably lose interest as well.
I enjoyed TPOP. I enjoyed the design process and addressing certain industries of the world that could use more love and a little less greed. I could have done more, but I am satisfied with what I tackled. Like I said, each industry I addressed could have been used to explore infinite concepts of layouts, social angles, and satire. I will say that introducing real world environments such as Billboards, Magazines, and Trifolds has given my work a new dynamic for showcasing possibilities. Let’s face it, an urban environment makes Graphic Design feel more alive and exciting. I didn’t explore much video compositions, which of course is kind of what sparked TPOP in the first place. That is OK though, TPOP still ended up being a different Design Process compared to other work in my portfolio. I will have to find another way to push video, perhaps just video projects that are solely independent of my Graphic Design approach. We will see.
So, was TPOP a successful study? Maybe? Personally yes, but publicly I am not sure, it’s hard to say. I don’t really have the best means necessary to accurately get the data I am after. As of today, I post my work on Facebook (personal and TMR), Linkedin (personal and TMR), Instagram, and Twitter. Facebook and Instagram are mainly friends and family, and even those “connections” are super low numbers compared to a normal user of Facebook or Instagram. On Twitter I have a total of 8 followers, LOL. However, as sad as my Twitter presence is, I received my first 2 retweets (for the TPOP Agriculture layout) from 2 people I have never met before. Those 2 people have a total of 300 followers between them. A very small and trivial milestone, but I was grateful nonetheless.
As weird as it might seem, I feel I get the best data from Linkedin. Linkedin will tell you how many “views” your post has. What is a view? Well, it's not much. A view is how many times a post in put into the main feed of a user/viewer. This doesn’t mean that they clicked on it, just that they saw it as they scrolled. Did they stop to look at it? Who knows? With time, you can go back to a post and see additional data. One of my post from 2 weeks ago has 557 “views.” The additional information is 8 people from SC, 1 from Atlanta, 1 from Houston, etc. The data will also list the professional background such as Architect or Salesperson. When you add up those numbers, the sum is like 8 to 15 depending on if those 2 categories overlap. So 15 out of 500? Again, did they click on the post? Who knows? However, the number of views is still telling me SOMETHING. TPOP has received more “views” compared to my previous project postings. My personal record posted from my TMR account was from Tangled where a post received 300 “impressions” (which is something entirely different than “views,” but that is a business account vs personal account, but we won’t get into that).
So, what does an increase in “views” tell me? I would have to assume that some number of people are seeing the post. Otherwise, what would be the incentive for Linkedin to keep populating other people’s feeds with the same post? There must be some sort of catalyst for continuing to promote a post in other channels. I would assume clicks, but who knows, it could be that they just stop in the scrolling process.
At the end of the day, I do not care about “Likes” or approvals. What I would like is for someone to reach out with a Graphic Design need or request. But what I desperately want is for someone to stop and think, even if only for 1 or 2 seconds. I am not sure if I am accomplishing that or not. It would be nice to know if someone was at least seeing it. The absolute dream for any creative is to have their work become a conversation starter. On Facebook and Instagram, I get zero responses aside from one or two likes. I thought the “Worship” layout from TPOP might drive a comment, you know, being part of the Bible Belt South and everything.
A hard lesson I learned in undergraduate school was that no reaction or response was the worst outcome for presenting a project. I learned it while presenting some of my projects as well as watching others with their presentations. It was a brutal process to welcome students to “reality.” This standard is true in Architecture and any other creative field. If there is an outcry of denouncement or frustration, then you have probably shown somebody something. You have challenged the idea of something. You are saying SOMETHING. I want to say something, but it must be articulated. I don’t want to use shock imagery, which I most certainly could, but maybe that is what it takes? Who knows, maybe everyone is just too busy to notice or too busy too care. The world is moving faster and faster every day. Or, maybe my work just fucking sucks out loud! I don’t dwell on it, but I do think about it from time to time. Anyways, enough of that, time to move on to what’s next!
Cheers