The Concept

The concept which was carried on was Idea Four. This is because it had more room to explore and encouraged people to go and find Fairtrade and what it can mean to them on their own terms rather than in a way that is forced onto them. It is also a more innovative way of getting the message across rather than redesigning old tricks like websites and video campaigns.

Developing The Idea
The original idea for this was very basic, so this has plenty of room for development.  This idea is creating a marketing campaign for Fairtrade, helping to raise awareness of the charity and increase the sale of produce. With this in mind, the campaign is to encourage people to get involved with Fairtrade and spark an interest in the products. The marketing campaign will revolve around a mobile application (app) so that it can be carried around and used without intruding the user’s life. An application developed is to encourage people to see what’s around them and make them and explore Faortrade, slowly introducing them to the products at their own pace rather than forcing it upon them. Through this exploration, the user can see how Fairtrade can fit into their lives and find new things they enjoy.

The use of QR codes is that each product is different from the other, there is a range of Fairtrade products all come from different places, so each product will have its own unique QR code on the packaging of a product. This code can be scanned by a smart phone with a QR scanner app and will be recognised by the app. The idea of the app is that the user go out and collect as many different product codes as possible for them, so that they are going out and exploring the Fairtrade world and seeing what is available to them. The app will be a series of jigsaws for the user to collect the pieces of. With each product there is a new piece for the jigsaw. The user collects each piece until the jigsaw is completed. Once it is complete, the user gets a new jigsaw piece for one final jigsaw. At the end of each puzzle, the user can enter a competition. As competitions have to come to an end, mini games will be provided where users can compete with other users to get high scores.

To help raise awareness, the user will receive a letter when they scan the QR code. The letter will be from a producer relating to the product and gives the user some insight to the lives these farmers have had, and how Fairtrade has helped to make a different. The letters will be personalized to the user, letting the user develop a bond with the producer and product when they get a letter. The letters can only be viewed once when the user collects the piece, but it won’t be forced onto them, they can choose not to read and carry on putting the jigsaw piece in the jigsaw. As most charities use some emotional pull to get peoples attention, this will be the job of the letters. As the letters will be insightful of the producers life, it will look at how they coped with out Fairtrade as the user needs to understand the need for Fairtrade. However, this will not be the main focus. As Fairtrade is a happier charity than others, the letters will look more to the benefit of Fairtrade and the effect this has on people around them.

Here is some sketches to show how it would work.

1. The user uses a QR scanner to scan the code and retrieve the piece. 

2. Once the user receives the piece they can view a letter by the producer.

3. The user can then place the piece in the jigsaw.

4. Once the user is has finished the jigsaw, the user can the enter a competition or play a mini game.

 Heres a presentation I made in the last module to present my idea.

Concept Ideas

These are the original concepts ideas from the previous module.

Idea One
This concept was to create a animation using striking graphics to draw people in, possibly using kinetic typography. This would be designed to directly deliver the message of Fairtrade, making it more fresh and youthful so that it appeals to a wider range of people. This animation could have been used in a number of ways, an ad campaign on TV, a viral video on the internet or even in e-mails sent out and on the FairTrade website as the first thing someone see when they visit as they know what it’s all about from the start. This has been successful for some campaigns already, making this idea not very innovative, but as it’s for a charity it can be very different form existing ones. An existing example is ‘The Universal Declaration of Human Rights’ kinetic typography video which has a strong empathize on the words within the video but is complimented by the graphics in it too. However, the colours used are very neutral making it not the most striking thing to keep watching. The video for this can be seen on YouTube.

Idea Two
When looking at the website, for most charities, the first page has everything possible crammed on. For this reason, the second idea was to reinvent the charity’s website. This idea was to restructure the whole site, making for focused on getting people involved with Fairtrade, and making it more user friendly, some things as not always clear for the user. Another thing, which I feel charities in general don’t do it let people donate straight off. At the moment most charity websites have a link to a page which tells people the different ways to donate and then to another to link. This delay make take people off the path of going to donate as they get sidetracked by everything they see on that home page. For this reason the site will be designed to let people donate as fast as they can upon entering the site without making people feel they have to do it.

Idea Three
This idea is to create a global market place which is solely for Fairtrade produce. A website will be designed so that people can browse Fairtrade goods and purchase them straight from the producer. So far Fairtrade is available in shops, especially places where food or drink is sold. However food and drink are not the only Fairtrade items, clothes and cosmetics as fast becoming available with Fairtrade ingredients. With this in mind, a website will be produced so that there is a place where people can go directly to get Fairtrade items. The site will work with shops already selling the Fairtrade items, but will work with producers and manufacturers of Fairtrade items to create and arena where the quality goods are showcased giving them a more respectable environment. People expect to see everything on the internet,and by doing this, the producers will get a more equal chance of selling the goods themselves rather than through someone else.

Idea Four
This idea is a vague one. Using either augmented reality or QR codes, create a more interesting packaging. The outcome of the codes can be a wide range of things from films about Fairtrade and the products to the farmers growing the produce, to a game where people can collect things and explore Fairtrade making it more known to individuals. The content can be anything, but it is the idea of getting people involved with Fairtrade and buying it. Whether it be a simple message or something to play, the collection of the codes will allow people to go out and explore Fairtrade on their own terms.

Research

Fairtrade
Other than acting as a middleman to get a fairer deal, Fairtrade campaign to get the message across that it is out there and the products are great. This is done in many ways, getting schools involved so that people learn of early, in schools, Fairtrade is on some of the syllabus’. There are also Fair Trade events where some Fairtrade goods are sold.

Campaigning
Fairtrade fund-raise for many reasons, one being to help raise awareness of Fairtrade and what that means for everyone involved, especially the producers. To do this, campaigns are the main activity, but these take on different forms. Campaigns are done within communities to help incorporate Fairtrade into their everyday lives, whether it be a school community or a village/town community,. These campaigns work within different communities:

• Towns
• Universities and Colleges
• Schools
• Places of Worship
• Workplace

To become a Fairtrade town, all the different communities need to come together can do their best to incorporate Fairtrade. To do this, Fairtrade have set five goals for towns to achieve.
1. Local council passes a resolution supporting Fairtrade, and agrees to serve Fairtrade products (for example, in meetings, offices and canteens).
2. A range of (at least two) Fairtrade products are readily available in the area’s retail outlets (shops, supermarkets, newsagents, petrol stations) and served in local catering outlets (cafés, restaurants, pubs).
3. Local workplaces and community organisations (places of worship, schools, universities, colleges and other community organisations) support Fairtrade and use Fairtrade products whenever possible. Populations over 100,000 will also need a flagship employer.
4. Media coverage and events raise awareness and understanding of Fairtrade across the community.
5. A local Fairtrade steering group is convened to ensure the Fairtrade Town campaign continues to develop and gain new support.
The following image shows the influence different groups can have on a town to achieve the Fairtrade status.

All the different campaigns have similar goals, all designed to raise awareness of Fairtrade in that community and ensure that the products are being used. It is believed that by uniting in the fight for fairer trading standards the voice for justice will be heard. With this in mind, another event Fairtrade do is Fairtrade Fortnight.Here all the communities spend two weeks promoting Fairtrade within the community creatively as they like. The idea is to get people to raise their voice and let people know that they support Fairtrade. Stalls, point of sales and people dressed up as Fairtrade food are popular ways of doing this.

What Do Charities Do?

Different charities do different things to get people to give money to their cause. Many of these look to peoples emotions, making them feel good about themselves as they are helping others. To do this, emotional campaigns are created but all are very similar, just adapted to the charity. Stories of people who have been greatly affected by the problem are used as examples for why people can give; by donating x-amount they can help those in need so that their life is improved somehow. The stories create a feeling of guilt, that something which is often out of their control, can be solved if they give money, which can give the donator a sense of achievement for helping and some happiness that they have done something good. This section will look more into what methods charities do use and also some things Fairtrade do.

Mood Board

In this mood board, one thing to notice is the colours associated with Fairtrade. Colours are rich and vibrant, giving a positive feeling and happiness, rather than dull plain colours. The colours look active and clean.

The Charity

As with the RSA brief, the final design will be for a selected charity. This will be Fairtrade Foundation (usually referred to as Fairtrade). This is a unique charity which goes out to help farmers abroad to get a better income, and improve their lives.

What is the Fairtrade Foundation?
Fairtrade is a registers charity in the UK and work with companies at home and abroad to creates a fairer trading system between workers of third world countries and big name businesses in the developed countries. To do this, Fairtrade cut out the middleman, giving producers who provide better quality produce a chance to get their share in the market. Fairtrade is a unique charity, in a way that it doesn’t demand extra help other than people buying the produce. What this means is that there isn’t something negative used to push people into giving – to give, people can buy the produce as the price they are paying is going straight to the people Fairtrade are helping. This is not to say that people cannot donate to the charity – on the website (http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/) there is a chance to donate, but this is so that the charity can set out and help those people so that they get a chance at a better life.

The Problem
The perceived view of Fairtrade is what keeps many people from going out and buying it. Things like, ‘it costs more than other non-Fairtrade products’ is a major thought. Once upon a time this was very true, but nowadays Fairtrade is getting incorporated with many different big brand name companies so this isn’t always the case any more. Another this is that the quality of some of the fruit produced is not as aesthetically pleasing as they get a little bruised in the transportation so they are often over looked,

With this in mind, I have developed a way reaching out to people to explore Fairtrade and their products is a friendly manner which evokes the willingness to continue with Fairtrade product. Only through exploration will people truly beginning to realize that Fairtrade is not going to leave them penniless.

Collaboration and Professional Association 01

This section will look over what I've done for the original Brief.

The Original Briefs

This is the original brief form Collaboration and Professional Association 01

The next brief is the Giving and Getting brief from the RSA, available on the RSA website.

The Brief

This is the brief for Collaborations and Professional Associations 02.

Introduction

This blog is for the module brief Collaboration and Professional Associations 2, which is a continuation of the previous brief Collaboration and Professional Associations 1. The course of the blog will look at the past brief, and looks into how the design is developed into a prettier piece than the previous outcome. There will be research into different aspects of the final design, which will also be incorporated in the document.

In the original document for Collaboration and Professional Associations 1, the brief was to choose one of the briefs from the RSA Student Design Awards. The chosen brief was the Giving and getting brief. This brief was to design a new way of making people give money to a charity. The charity that was picked was Fairtrade, and the outcome was an application, which would create a way of increasing people’s awareness of Fairtrade by getting them to go out and explore to find new products and helping them to realise that they could incorporate these into their lives.