The campaign that I decided to run for the participatory collective is a workshop event called Hull in bloom, which focuses around themes such as celebration, story telling and an the overall community connection. The use of this campaign helps to promote the community workshop event helping to bring together both individuals and organisations through the use of these activities and interactional stands. Rather then focusing on the outcome of the event, but instead focusing on aspects such as shared experiences and the connection between the community created. Which links in well with one of the collectives core values, being that a positive change can only begin from human connection and conversation.
The main concept of my campaign is to share across the idea of story telling to as many attendees as possible, this campaign centres real people, real experiences and a collective action, meaning that deciding to do a community workshop session is the best possible outcome for sharing and story telling. This type of approach then encourages members of the community to talk, share and advice which is important in helping participants to feel valued, listened too and connected. Celebration is one of the other key aspects involving this campaign, by celebrating the creativity and contribution that is done for the community, yet again making participants feel seen and proud with what they are able to contribute to a better future.
High-Fidelity Prototype
The high fidelity web page that I have created not only servers as a hub for the campaign but also offers the chance for users to understand the work done by the participatory collective, helping to therefore shine a light on what they do as a whole whilst building up their recognition. From the very start of the web page, its clear that my intentions are to get the user to sign up and be a part of the collective, with the first button the users seen being a link to finding out more regarding the collective, and then about signing them up as a new member. Navigation through the home page is really simple with all key information easily being accessible through the first few page, which reduces the chances of users being frustrated due to not being able to locate a certain piece of information, the designed user flow then means that all key information is obtainable within minutes of being on the website.
In my opinion, the home page helps to communicate across all the key value surrounding the participatory collective, through the use of colour choices, community focused images and welcoming text. The main call to action across the pages are highlighted in a fashion where the user will not miss them which helps to support user accessibility needs. Buttons such as “get involved” and “become a member” are placed accordingly at various points of the web page to support the idea of engagement and long term involvement with the collective, as that is the main goal and purpose of the web page.
Visual Identity System
I wanted the visual identity of my system to reflect the ideas of celebration, inclusivity and an overall warmth towards the users. With this idea also being displayed within my designed logo, the logo helps to symbolise the core idea of unity and coming together as a group. Designing a logo like this is both simple and effective for being recognised in both an online and in person setting. The minimal design for my logo ensure that it therefore can be used in a variety of ways and platforms, including in mobile apps or possible social media profiles, which helps towards creating a good sense of identity for the collective.
All my typography was selected with accessibility in mind, I’ve used a a clean and simple typeface all the way through my high fidelity pages to ensure its readability whilst still looking professional. For any text that has been used as a heading, I switched the text type to semi bold whilst the sub headings and other pieces of text are set too medium, with the users still clearly being able to tell what is intended as a heading due to its bolder style.
The colour palette I have chosen across all the pages for my website helps to portray the emotions of warmth and trust, as the colours included are all consisting of lighter shades, with the main colours featuring blue, purple yellow and orange. The same colours made to make up my logo. The usage of these colours allows both the campaign and the website to come across as both welcoming yet in a professional manner
The imagery direction focuses on people and shared experiences, I aimed at choosing imagery that felt authentic to the brand, images that could create a sense of trust between the website and the user. Using images that display interaction, community and communication help to reinforce the campaigns goal of story telling and inclusion. The images mostly consist of activities, conversations, and togetherness which yet again help to communicate the core values of the collective and the campaign, however this also means that the website isn’t reliant on text only and that the selected images can provide the same emotions I want the users to feel, and also help to remove clutter and overwhelming amounts of text.
Traditional Media
To support the workshop experience, I designed a set of physical items that the community is able to buy to support the collective. These include hoodies, hats, t-shirt’s and bottles all with the collectives name and logo. The purpose of creating these physical items was too help reinforcing the campaign’s visual identity and storytelling. Alongside these physical items I created posters which acted as an information guide to help spread the word of my event. in my opinion these posters help to showcase the joy and importance of community and communication. The layout of these posters prioritises readability and accessibility, ensuring that users can easily navigate the event regardless of age or ability. My posters uses bold typography with a nice colour scheme to reduce the chances of any confusion the users may have, allowing to reach all possible audiences to increase the turn out that the event can then have.
Social Media Campaign
Social media plays a crucial role in building an audience and extending the amount of viewers the event can gain. Instagram was used as the primary platform due to its visual and storytelling features, such as the use of posts, reels and story’s. Branching out into social media therefore means we reach a larger audience target, helping to connect with people of all ages together when the time comes for the workshop event, one tactic I can use using Instagram is the story’s feature. For example I can upload daily count downs for the event, the aim for doing this is that this will help to create momentum and excitement, whilst acting as a daily reminder about the upcoming event while also being able to highlight different aspects of the workshop, displaying what users can expect when attending. Posts and reels focus on being short and engaging, such as introducing a variety of projects taking place, sharing quotes from organisers, and showcasing the overall set up of the events. Tone of voice across social media is friendly, celebratory, and inclusive. The messages avoids formal language, and is something the users will want to engage with and get involved.
The intended impact of this campaign was to strengthen community connections, and boost the smaller initiatives through the use of storytelling and celebration. The success would be measured by the amount of people that turn up to the event, engaged with the website, and boost in social media interaction. Whilst also receiving updates on how the event is going from the perspective of people at the event. Most importantly, the campaign aims to build up a whole new range of relationships between participants and the Collective by creating a positive and welcoming experience for everyone, the campaign encourages people to then get involved involvement in and around the community, even beyond the initial workshop event, yet again helping to reinforce this idea of strengthen connections between community members.