http://madebypetchy.blogspot.com/2008/08/another-one-to-cross-off-list.html


There's really little to say about this blog entry. It had a giant picture of her project, which gave good visuals. The copy is good, since it's black on white. I'd want to do this project one time. It requires diligence, though. Something that I lack as of the moment.

Artwork by: http://kitcat4056.deviantart.com/

When I found this picture from deviantart.com, the first thing that came to my mind was, I HAVE to freaking make these! I'm a Pokemon fan - before. And when I mean before, I mean when it was still the first season. I got depressed after I knew that more Pokemon were going to be introduced. After all, I memorized 300+ Pokemon names, and which number they are. I was never ready to memorize 300 more names.


But other than Pokeballs, I could make other charm designs as well. I could do miniature sweets. I could do letters. I could do creatures. But first on my list is definitely these Pokeballs.


It's really easy to make charms like these. All I would need is polymer clay, paint, varnish, hooks and an oven. Everything's easy to get, except the polymer clay. I tried to search for a supplier of polymer clay online, but what I found is that the supplier's relatively far from my house, and that polymer clay is expensive. It also comes in different colors. So a set of polymer clay would cost me more than 3 thousand pesos.


It gets me really excited, though. Crafts like this is really a hobby of mine. And my friend, who is also a Marketing Management student just like me, suggested that I should make some and sell them. Talk about talking business! I've never imagined myself making charms and selling them. Maybe because it would really require hard work and patience. And, since I'm still in college, I'm going to find it hard to allot time for making charms.


My friends and I thought of selling planners, once. But we never pushed through because we don't have a graphic designer who could design our planners.


Anyway, I think I won't be able to put up my own business with selling charms. It's too expensive for me, and I don't have a team to work with on this. The supply is limited as well. But it would be really a fun thing to do.

Artwork by: http://resoluteassassin.deviantart.com/

Art block. It is a term used when artists seemingly can't have any good ideas when making their works. They try, but the works don't really fit their standards.

This is what I'm having as of the moment. I get my trusty pencil and sketch pad, ready to do some doodles, but I just can't seem to have any good ideas on what to draw. I was trying to draw a cavegirl, but I don't like how she turned out, and stopped working on her completely. I've been wanting to draw cavegirls because, well, they look amazing since they're hunters. It doesn't matter if they don't bathe! I also feel the same about pirates. They don't bathe, but they're good fighters. And stealers, for that matter.

Anyway, when I DO get brilliant ideas for art works, it's when it's late at night or when I'm totally swamped with work. But when I try to sit down and try to draw, nothing comes out good. Art blocks really make my day depressing. They slap my face hard with a hard plank, with the word UNIMAGINATIVE written all over it.


Usually, what I do when I experience art blocks is I clean my thoughts. Sometimes, the reason why we experience art blocks is that we're too stressed with other things. So what I do is finish all my homework, clean my room, eat some snacks, listen to feel-good songs, and anything that would relax me. I also find inspiration through deviantart.com. The works there impressive, and I get ideas there on what my art works should look like and what they should contain.

It's a good thing that I'm not enrolled in a Fine Arts class, since I get art blocks often. And I'm such a perfectionist, in a way that if I believe that my art work is missing something, or if doesn't look right, I give up right away.


Well, I'll try once more. I'll think of something good to draw. It's time to go to my inspirations and work!

This video blogger, Meg Allan Cole, shows viewers some of her DIY crafts, while she makes them herself. She is also known for creating decorations for her home, and some event ideas, tips and tricks for weddings and seasonal holidays. In the video above, she teaches us how she could make a dreamcatcher.

Personally, I love dreamcatchers. I'd like to buy one to display in my house. However, I can't find any dreamcatchers for sale in the shopping places I go to here in the Metro. I'm grateful to have stumbled upon this video because, instead of spending so much on a dreamcatcher, I could just make one from things lying around in my house.

This video blog definitely encourages resourcefulness, as most DIY tutorials do. Meg also encourages creativity, by stating that we could do a different method and use different materials in making a dreamcatcher. Bottom line, it really is "anything goes". Crafters are masters of their own work. Meg is just an adviser, giving tips on how to do crafts such as this.

What I like about this video blog is that she really took her time explaining the steps in her tutorial. Her voice was loud and clear, so no text was needed. Just like a recipe, wherein it gives the ingredients needed, Meg mentions all the materials needed for this project for easier reference. I also like how she gives tips on making a dreamcatcher quicker to do, such as doubling the twine when wrapping the embroidery hoop. The lighting is perfect, and the video is in high quality, which makes viewers have a clear picture on the dreamcatcher.

Overall, this video blog really wants me to look at her other DIY tutorials because she gives great advice. This dreamcatcher is definitely going in my to-do list of craft projects, along with other projects I’m procrastinating on.

KUMUKUTITAP NA BITUIN NA YARI SA PAPEL.

Cess Lugtu

The blog site of Cess is a clean and bright site. She used the colors white and gray, but added orange to some of the links, which goes really well with the color scheme. But this blog site is too plain for my liking. More images could have been added to add a more aesthetic element to it. But I really like how her blog entry contains a picture, at least.

The copy is a bit lazy, because the content blends to everything in the website. Gray is too light to stand out against the white background. More information about the blogger could also have been put in the blog site. Aside from the name, nothing else gives information about the maker of the blog.

In the default Wordpress layout, visitors can share the blogs through Twitter and Facebook, which gives an advantage to the blogger as publicity. However, Cess’ blogs were not categorized and there is no search bar. The user experience for this blog site could still be improved upon.

This blog is as simple as it could be. Making use of the colors black and white, this blog site aims to focus on the content, and not on the design. The Wordpress basic layout is good enough, giving categories to the blogs for easier access to the viewers. At the menu located at the right side of the page, situated there is a search box.

The blogs can be shared through Facebook and Twitter, which is an advantage to the blogger. When viewers share a blog entry, the blogger could get publicity.

What the blog is missing is the information about the blogger. It would be nice to have a bit of background shown on the blog site. Also, colorful elements, such as font colors, images, and the like, would make this blog site more appealing as well. Each blog entry should have images of what the blogger is reviewing. In Ruchie’s case, she makes reviews of different websites. It would be best to give viewers an immediate picture of how the websites look like.

The image header found in the site could be a personal image made by the blogger, or an image of the blogger itself. It would also be nice to use more elements offered by wordpress for an added bonus. The copy of the website is formal, and it gives a clear distinction from the bold titles of each entry.

Advertising agencies are now going digital. It is not a specialization any longer, but an essential element in an advertising campaign. In BBDO Guerrero, they point out that there is a need for a team for digital marketing, so that the different plans are in line with one another. It is also important that they mix their IMCs with traditional media and the use of digital media, which are mobile and Internet usage. The coherence of the ideas is also a must, so as not to make consumers confused about the product or service being offered. BBDO Guerrero also stresses that all media are now connected. The ability of consumers to multitask would mean that there must be a digital aspect to everything.

With everything said, digital media is not cheap. It takes a great amount of time to utilize digital media to make sure that digital campaigns work. Moreover, when an advertising campaign is a hit, the mass is going to talk about it. It is not an easy task to do.

BBDO Guerrero also says that an effective media tool in the Internet is an interactive tool, wherein consumers continuously engage in a brand’s website. A plain website giving information is not at all effective. BBDO Guerrero also mentions that the next big thing is still television. People are still watching television, and the numbers are rising. Perhaps the people below the poverty line, who could not afford to get Internet services yet, cause this phenomenon. The Philippines’ population is made up of a bulk of poor people, but since the television set is getting cheaper and cheaper, some of the unfortunate could afford one.

The partnerships with online games by companies are also an effective strategy because, in a way, the brand interacts with the consumers. For example, the Facebook game Sims Social was used by Dunkin Donuts to promote their brand. If companies can’t partner with existing games, they make one of their own. Also, the value of fans for a page is zero. No interaction exists at all, and the company only attained little exposure.

A company has to utilize digital media to compete in an industry. Digital media really gives an edge to a company. But the company and the ad agency merely need to know how to utilize it.

Today is the digital era. Once it was a specialization, around the early 2000s. But nowadays, it is essential to have a digital marketing plan. Companies are, therefore, hiring digital marketers and specialists who would use the different digital media in promoting their products, and the like. The demand for digital marketers is increasing over time, as a matter of fact, because the demand for traditional media is going down, as they are substituted with the use of the Internet.

Most of the time, Mr. Gary Abello said that what companies ask are those who are still in their youth. The youth is usually equated to being more techie, because it is they who find it interesting to explore and try different things. They also know the basic functions and sub-functions of some websites, which is an advantage to the company, since they know the tips and tricks on how to use such sites.

Yet, one of the speakers, Mr. Carlo Ople, urges that it is still important to know the basic skills of marketing, and the use of traditional media. It is from there that marketers learn. It is also important to have the skills on analytics and monitoring to know if the strategies are working, and if they will work in the long run.

But most importantly, to get a career in digital marketing, one should know the skills he already has, and improve and develop more skills he still needs. It is also important to leave a good digital footprint because companies look into the online persona of their applicants. And, lastly, never stop learning. The vast characteristic of the Internet makes it susceptible to change. Everyone with access to the Internet can innovate with just a click of a button. That is why it is important to keep learning on its changes, its functions, because that’s what companies need right now.

Ruchie is able to share information about herself in her website (www.ruchierai.weebly.com) – her family and student background, and her interests. At her home page, she shows some pictures of herself. This makes the website very personal in nature.

Looking in her other pages, I see several quotes from three persons she looks up to - Steve Jobs, Paulo Coelho, and Gurbaksh Chahal. The inspirational words shared by Ruchie through her website shows how she intends to achieve her goals in life. She also shares her dreams in life.

The website’s warm colors make the site pleasing to the eyes. Yet, a bit of color to the sepia tone of the color scheme should have been done to, at least, the text. The black copy is a bit dull when placed in this kind of theme. The Google feature in one of her pages is definitely an eyesore. It’s too bright because it is in white, whereas her theme is dark and sepia. She could just omit this feature.

But I believe that the layout’s good in all of her pages. Her use of a slideshow feature is good as well. She used some pictures to show her 3 icons in life, and the way she puts a comment box and her contact details to make viewers have an easier time to contact her.

However, she could have put more about her student background, such as her extra-curricular activities, if there is, to show companies how she is in her college stay in La Salle. She could add information about her exposure to marketing training. She could have had more information about her interests and hobbies. And since she mentioned that she wanted to be a writer one day, she could give a sample of the works, which she already wrote. She also mentioned she wanted to travel. She could give a list of the places she wants to go.

In Nikki’s website (www.iamnikki.weebly.com), she features some of the things she’s fond of: fashion and food. She also features in her website some inspirational quotes and stories that relate to everyone. She also made sure that she wrote something about her personally, such as her birthplace, her studies, and the other things she enjoys.

The color scheme of this website is rather fresh: it’s clean, and only a bit colorful. The colorful elements are combined with gray, which make the colors stand out well. On her home page shows a poem, with the copy having a bright purple color, and centered. And it is the only thing on the page. Perhaps it would be better if a more important context was placed in the home page, such as the about me, or her achievements.

In her closet page, Nikki supplied pictures to show clearly what articles of clothing she fancies. But, it would have been better if the pictures could show a bigger size, when visitors click on it, to have a better picture and to know even the little details of the outfits.

In her recipe page, Nikki has some recipes of meals she loves. The title page somehow is a dark shade of blue, which does not go well with her bright color theme. The titles in all pages are somehow strong and big. The titles could have had a typeface that is more feminine, but still formal.

I also like how she showed a picture of herself in one of her pages, but it would have been better if she gave a clearer picture of how she looked like. She could have shown more of her school life, such as her extra-curricular involvements. Companies would love to see information like that when checking for Nikki’s online persona. I also like how she linked the website to her facebook and twitter, and added a comment box, so that people could easily contact her when needed.

This website shows a pilgrim and his travels around the world to preach about God’s teachings. The pilgrim, Fr. Louie, OP, shares his many travels within the Philippines, and in Rome. He is basically showing that being a religious man does not mean a pragmatic life. Because of him being a priest, he gets the opportunity to travel and see plenty of attractions, historical and natural, those that the Philippines is known for.

He talks more about tips on going to trips, such as what to pack in the bag. He talks about some of the destinations where he dreams to go to one day. He shows all the places where he had gone to already. I like how father connects his website to his facebook, because it’s definitely easier to be contacted there. There are also sharing options at every entry he has. This makes the website easily promoted through famous social networking sites.

My comments in this website would be a lot. First, the copy is too unorganized. The typefaces are too strong and big for some of the texts. There is no layout at all. It seemed that every vacant space a page has needed to be filled up. The pictures would have been better if they have higher quality. Higher quality pictures give visitors a pleasing experience, most especially since they serve as visuals for the website. The color scheme is a bit dull because of the depressing colors it has. Father could have chosen brighter colors, because his preaches show salvation.

But I really like this weebly in a way because of its message to people. It says that his life is fun. Therefore, as stated in his website, “Explore the World”, “Experience Life”, “Exceed Expectations”. No one should stop anyone from living life to the fullest. And we all must keep that in mind.

Ashley (http://ashleytalksbeauty.weebly.com/)

I was amazed with the layout of this website. It looked like a page from the magazine! And since it was a beauty website, it was suitable for its purpose. Ashley provides tips, reviews, fashion news and inspiration in her weebly. This website, even though it looks like a personal website, caters to women who seek beauty advice, thus, giving this website a public purpose.

What made me love this website is its beautiful, colorful banner. It really attracts people. The colors in the banner go so well together, some even used for special texts in the website. The site’s use of black and white for the color scheme gave it sophistication. The copy has really good positioning and a good typeface, even if the titles and the content have similar typefaces. Ashley used different sizes and used bold for the titles to give them more emphasis. Some captions for the pictures were in gray.

The pictures in this website are in high quality. The titles are placed on the left side of the site, making every entry of the website at least known by the visitors. On another page of her website, she asks viewers beauty tips that work, to be featured on her website. She promotes interaction through this feature. She could also be followed on Twitter and Facebook.

What I wish this website had was Ashley’s actual picture on it. It would be great if she had a lookbook on her website, with fashion tips on outfits. It would also be advisable to have make-up tutorials on her as an additional feature. Nothing on her website shows who Ashely is, aside from a beauty guru. The posts that she have in her website also do not have any sharing feature. It would be good to have one so as to gain popularity in views.

Let all lovers awaken to the truth:

Only in trust would love remain. Otherwise be eaten by the,

Vicious green-eyed monster. And love dies

Eternally.

One of my favorite bloggers is Petchy (http://madebypetchy.blogspot.com/) for her creativity and resourcefulness. She has seemingly endless ideas for home designs, clothing designs and the like. She is known for DIY and revamping items that a person normally wouldn't redesign. She could take broken items and paint them to make pretty decorations for her house. She also has a hand for sewing and creates clothes for his son and herself. She is also a great photographer, which is why her works’ pictures are featured beautifully in her blog. She sells some of the items she made on her own, like jewelry and pouches, on etsy. She is truly an inspiration to a person who wishes to create DIY crafts, such as myself.

Regarding the technicalities of her blog, it is simple and clean. The site title “Randomness by Petchy” has a large, colorful and bold typeface. The other copy is black and white. This was done so that her pictures or videos were emphasized, being the only colored item in the blog. This also creates a formal and clean blog. And the fact that the sizes of her pictures are enormous is pleasing to the viewers’ eyes. The use of different fonts and sizes appears that the site is playful and quirky. This blog also maintains an RSS feed, making it easy for visitors to share, and in a way, promote this blog. Also, because of all the entries she made, Petchy made it easy for users to find certain blogs, since she filtered posts and categorized them. She also has a search box for her blog so that visitors could find more specific blog entries. This blog truly screams her personality. Everything she loves is in this website.   

http://thefilipinoblog.blogspot.com/


I stumbled upon this blog as I searched for famous Filipino blogs blogging about the life of a Filipino citizen, especially one from the Metro. I don’t know the author of the blog, but he seems to be keen on ranting about the Filipino culture in his blog entries.

When I first entered his site, I immediately thought one thing: CLUTTERED. The viewer would never think of where to look first. Good thing there are pictures, and viewers would simply scan the pictures and check which ones are interesting. On the other hand, his other picture-less blogs would be ignored. Even when this blogger offers to let visitors view his blog site in the most classical way, that is, a chronological order of his blog entries, from the latest one down, the viewers would still have to have the will to find such feature. Viewers who are too lazy wouldn’t even bother.

The monochromatic color scheme gives sophistication to this blog. This, and the peculiar layout of the blog almost make it look like a broadsheet. His pictures are not in high quality, but the pictures added more color and visuals to the site. The typeface is constant – from the site title to the title of the blog entries to the actual content, making this blog site look boring.

There are sharing features in this blog, though. An interesting blog could be easily shared in facebook.com and twitter.com. Viewers could also send feedback about this person’s blogs, and a search bar would be seen at the upper right-hand corner. The feedback button and the search bar were uneasy to spot at first. It was only after examining this blog site more that I found these features. Now, I could attest the fact that viewers would almost never notice anything placed on the right side of the page, most especially when they blend in with the color scheme, and when they are small.

My recommendation for this site: change the layout of the site. It is too cluttered and unappealing to the eyes. Change some of the copy to give emphasis on titles. His feedback and search button must be placed nearer to the left side of the site. But I like the formality of this site, and the appealing color scheme.