Age of Aquarius

Velvet, Velvet, Velvet... I'm trying to think of some inter sting/ unique/ hip things to do for Velvet sunglasses. So far for other products that Velvet could manufacture I have thought of purses, swim suits, sunscreen, pretty wallets/id cases, nail polish, jewelry, phone/ i pod cases and innovative hair accessories. If the target market is right then I think the hair accessories could be a huge hit if they are a new idea. I know when I was in middle school I loved to wear the butterflies with the flaping wings, and the little flower hair clips. Also the V is kinda cool for something to hold up a French twist. Wet Seal is adding cosmetics to their line. That is really cool. They also hired a marketing expert with insight into the teen view of music, movies and celebrities. Also I think something really slick would be to have Velvet shades appear in a fashion magazine like Seventeen or YM in one of those cheap but trendy where to shop pages.

We are also supposed to be looking at other campaigns that we think have either succeeded or failed. Apparently this guy Foster Grant was a pretty big deal in the 1960s. He focused his advertising campaigns on the fashion aspect of sunglasses.

Hoven sunglasses target young men athletes in sports like snowboarding and motorcross. They have focused on grassroots marketing campaigns.

I guess Oakley is getting in on the game by appealing to the women's market for sunglasses. In the article "Oakley Shades for Her Eyes Only" there are quite a few interesting tidbits about the current market and where women feel they are in that market.

This shop called Vanity has been reaching their consumers via text messages. I have never heard of this store, but Im guessing its similar to a Forever 21/ Wet Seal type of deal.

This article tells about the creation of the Roxy brand and how it is changing with its customers.

Something else cool I found today was a graffiti artist who paints the inside of sunglasses rims. A personal touch for Recon.

This website called Karma Loop might have some interesting updates on fashion that I haven't previously thought about.

One more thing, Victoria's Secret has a Myspace page. What is this business? Why is everyone on a myspace craze? Velvet should have a myspace page. Also I think for in-store advertising to be effective Velvet would need its own special section, forget putting it in with the rest of the glasses, they will just get lost. The glasses and other accessories need their own designated and special area. Also extra touches like custom made tissue paper, and packaging sealed with a logo sticker might be cute. Im not sure if it would be possible though in a CVS.

Ending thoughts... Since Velvet has stopped focusing on the technology aspect of its glasses I think the focus of the campaign will have to be directed more toward the fashion aspect. Personally I love shopping at places like Forever 21, Charlotte Russe, and Wet Seal. They are cheap-chic and way cute clothes and accessories. So Im feeling like we are going to have to break into that market in some way. I think that Velvet could have a good run if it focused specifically on accessories/ make-up. Also this comparison of H&M to Forever 21 might be helpful for something in the future. Possibly we could do a website and I could do a video similar to the one for Urban Outfitters that I mentioned in my last post.

It's snowing today!! Really intense too for Oregon. I decided to take a snow day since the public transportation system seems to be nonexistent when it snows. In other news, I found this video the other day for Urban Outfitters and I thought it was super groovy. I am thinking about trying to imitate it, so we will see how that works out. I'm not sure what the message would be quite yet in the end, but it will probably come to me as I'm doing it, because it seems thats how all my great ideas are formed.

I didn't think I had a usual spot or a usual routine, I try to mix it up every once in a while. So I go to different places around campus to think and write, but I do love Laurence Hall, the Hearth and AAA Library. The point that I am trying to make about all this is I usually buy a cup of coffee from the coffee shop in the Hearth after a night of insomnia added to 8:30AM class. So today I get up to the counter and before I can say "12 ounce nonfat white mocha please" the girl at the counter says it for me, not in a patronizing way, but in a I'm good at my job and I recognize you from last time you were here sort of way. All she asks me is if I want my mocha with whipped cream today.

This little exchange absolutely blew my mind because today was the first time I actually payed attention to who she was. If yesterday you would have asked me to identify any sort of physical feature of the girls working in that coffee shop I couldn't tell you one. I would probably even have said that it was a different girl taking my order every time. I might not have even been able to discern that it was a woman, I might have said it was a guy who wears a baseball hat. Who knows?!? Anyway I just found that incredible that I could be so blind to who she was and she could instantly recognize me. I guess I have to pay better attention.

Im watching Jerry Springer and the topic of the day is Lesbian Snowball Fight. Classic! These two lesbians, one missing her front teeth, are ripping each others clothes off and throwing snowballs. Loves it! We used to play this game where we would drink every time they 1. swore, 2. showed skin that had to be blurred out, and 3. Got into a fight. If we were playing our Springer-drink-a-thon game I would be wasted right now. I love this show. I love how raw and dirty and uninhibited all the characters are. The things they say to each other, the surprise twists make me say "Oh no she didn't" every time I watch. I am especially impressed by today's episode because Jerry has hired his first transsexual security guard named Mimi. Also today Jerry has hired a hula hoop artist to be doing hula hoop tricks in the background. And I never really noticed before, but Jerry is actually quite the comedian. Well im sad I can't finish watching it because I need to get ready for wine class tonight, but I'll catch it again soon.

It seems Cheetos is doing the same thing as State Farm with the Now What? commercials. Same concept of a television advertisement with a teaser at the end enticing the viewer to visit the website. The Orange Underground website is pretty neat. It has this whole fight club type of rebellion feel going on. And the index page is a video where the leader guy gives the rules for RAoC (random acts of Cheetos) that the viewer is supposed to commit. They have a blog where members of the Orange Underground can read updates on the movement and stay informed to the progress of sticking it to the man. I like this marketing technique. Sure people know that it is a gimmick to get them to buy cheetos, but it is fun, and hip, and has nailed the target audience on the head. I wonder how popular these websites are going to become? This campaign has integrated all forms of media and by asking the consumer to become involved it propels the content to the next level.

So in my J399 class yesterday morning I was struck by the idea of a hitchhiker going under the sea and finding something like the lost world of Atlantis, or a carnival with elephants and tigers and I could use pictures from Burning Man, and then possibly the Hiker will find another underwater world and be happy in this place, kinda like in that Big Fish Movie. so it would be a mix of Big fish, surrealism, Burning Man, Laurie Simmons, Lost city of Atlantis myth, Vegas/Mardi Gras party scene, and Douglass Adams's Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy...

New idea for J399 10 still images project. So I know I was thinking about birds before, but I got this new idea about a hitchhiker. I mean crazy things can happen when someone goes hitchhiking, kinda like a road trip horror story, maybe throw in a little urban legend for some familiarity and I've got a story...I'm just not quite sure where it is going quite yet though. What happens to the hitch hiker on her little adventure through the city, maybe an urban hitchhiker, or a boat hitchhiker, or a freeway hitch hiker, but that is kinda ordinary, so I think it needs a new twist, but im just not quite sure what that twist is yet. So maybe I'll take pictures while I am in Seattle over the weekend. I bet Liz will have some great ideas for story topics.

Laura and I decided we needed a change of scenery so while waiting for our campaigns field trip to the printing press today we went and sat on the top floor of the Lillis business building and watched people walk by below. We were trying to make up their life stories and were talking about art when we stumbled upon the artist Sandy Skoglund. Skoglund is an American artist and photographer who creates surrealist images by building elaborate sets or tableaux, furnishing them with carefully selected colored furniture, other objects, and actors. The works are characterized by an overwhelming amount of one object and either bright, contrasting colors or a monochromatic color scheme. So anyway, pretty cool. Maybe something to keep in mind when I am thinking about Velvet color schemes and designs.


Picnic on Wine

I am currently at the top floor of the AAA library, I haven't been in here since I was a freshman thinking about becoming an architect, but I thought I would get a different perspective. So anyway I am eavesdropping on a class happening below me on the second floor. This is so relevant to what Deb talks about it is scary. I love eavesdropping in on other classes. The teacher is talking about different books, the content and production of different artists and their ideas. So cool, oh the class just ended, I'm going down there...

So I went down and met Kara, a librarian/ design class teacher, and got a little one on one session viewing some of the different books. They are all so gorgeous and really took my breath away, but here are a couple of my favorites...

Laurie Simmons: Water Ballet - A book of photography about nude swimming. She used a silky and shimmery cover page to replicate the feel of water what an interesting topic as well. No words, just images.

Adrian Piper: A Retrospective, 1965-2000 - Piper juxtaposes current images from the popular media with images of cultural significance from the past. One of my favorites was seeing an all American advertisement of a woman selling a beauty product layered over a photograph of a race riot from the 60's. very powerful. Might be a cool photography project to keep in mind.

Susan E. King: Treading the Maze - A book about the authors struggle with breast cancer. King embarks on two voyages, braving the uncharted territory of cancer after setting off to explore the medieval Europe she had always dreamed of visiting. Transformed by her journey and the inspiration she found there, she has created a new path, a rich odyssey of words and images. It is spiral bound on both sides and opens like a triptych, with a transparent sheet in the middle that can be flipped, and is relevant to both the middle and left hand side.

Laura Russell: Urban Decay - This book of photography is hand bound with a piece of plywood for the cover. Subject matter includes vintage neon signs, graffiti and the urban landscape of Russell’s hometown of Saginaw, Michigan. The decades of decay and poverty are sad to see, but they are photographed in such a beautiful way.

Diane Jacobs: Alphabet Tricks - A small book that is the size of my palm, double sided, and stitched together like an accordion. Topics of the alphabet address words that are usually demeaning to women, but Jacobs turns the words around to have a less vulgar and more substantial meaning in a creatively poetic and witty way. Jacobs also put a piece of shiny plastic on the front cover, and I am thinking for a book of mine maybe that would be a nice place for some fused glass. I think this book was my favorite by far. Jacobs also has an amazing website where she talks about her art projects she constructs using human hair. Really interesting.


Another book had a kit included to with pockets and hand crochet diseases to contemplate their beauty. It commented on how diseases can be beautiful, and how the job of a nurse can be interpreted in a different way then the one we usually associate with that kind of job. It adds a whole new dim mention to the medical field. The paper is thin and transparent, like a skin.


A very small and delicate book featured stamp sized pieces of paper with secrets written on them that were hidden in the skirt of a hand made doll dress.

Julie Chen and Barbara Tetenbaum: Ode to a Grand Staircase - This book was so beautiful. The content is a poem based on a piano symphony. It is divided into two halves with each side unfolding out to an elaborate panorama, can be read by turning the pages of each half. It is an elaborate interplay of text, images and structure. Amazing concept.

Then finally I found this little manual called The Book as Art: Artists' Books from the National Museum of Women in the Arts when I was looking at some of these others on Amazon.

Searching around this place called the world wide web today and I found this crazy little movie from these guys called Picnicface. Simple visuals, yet super entertaining and hilarious copy. Definitely the right tone for an energy drink. This seems so simple and yet it is ridiculously humorous.

I am taking a class called Audio Visual Story Telling and the first assignment is to tell a Story communicated through 10 still images. So as you know I have been thinking about birds lately, and also about smoke, and smoke rings, and clouds, and I think it would be really cool if someone lit a cigarette and the smoke turned into a form in the clouds, kinda like a Harry Potter Petronus type of thing. So Im not quite sure what the ultimate meaning of the story would be, but I want smoke to turn into cloud forms, maybe represent the person's soul. So that is where I am at on the assignment so far. I was thinking maybe in black and white, and color in the last one, but maybe crazy sunset colors? To be continued...

I just talked to my friend Laura about our portfolio class, and I have beenhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif getting some ideas for the competition for Doritos. Deb Morrison, my advisor and University of Oregon SOJC advertising guru has been talking about an innovative print campaign, so I was thinking about making it interactive, by using stickers or maybe when you peel something off there is another image revealed underneath, or what if there is a hole in the page, or a tab where you pull on it and something pops up, or disappears? Kinda like a Children's book then I guess.

So now I need an idea for Doritos, the ultimate snack food. They have a pretty amazing flash website already, really interactive and fun. Its called Snack Strong Productions.

OH! I might have just gotten one, what if there was a miniature painting of a sunset on a Doritos chip, because the red, orange, and yellow are both sunset and Doritos colors, like the guys who do miniature paintings on grains of rice. Or what if the triangle shape represented something with a triangle shape, like a woman's bikini and it could be a sticker o a page and when you peel back the bikini sticker you just see a chip with copy saying "you wish" or something like that? Shapes are interesting, I wonder what other kinds of triangle shapes I could come up with...

This winter term I'm taking the final class for my major, J448 advertising campaigns. Our product is velvet sunglasses. They are made by K2. I am the art director for our group and have been thinking a little bit about creative ideas and possible layouts. A couple rough ideas:

1. Maybe something kin to a grown up version Barbie theme? Using dolls because the sunglasses are for young women. maybe stop animation, but a vintage feel. Maybe something like Benefit makeup?

2. I also really like Annie Taintor's style.

3. Also if it came in a really awesome case, that could possibly double as a mini purse that would be amazing. A little bonus for buying the product.

but we just got the info yesterday, and we are being briefed next week, so more to come...

So I returned from Christmas break a few days ago. Actually I'm not too excited to be back, I had so much fun traveling around. I was in Hawaii for Christmas, Seattle for New Years and San Diego with Tonya for the weekend before winter term. The whole thing seems to have gone by in such a crazy blur and would take a full day to describe some of the adventures I had, so instead of giving a long drawn out explanation I am going to tease you with a picture from New Years and a comment Tonya left on myspace from our SD trip. If we are friends on facebook or myspace you may view the incriminating evidence in its origional and unaltered format on my profiles. Enjoy them, and if afterward you are asking yourself, "WTF? This stuff couldn't have really happen to Juli.... could it?" Well my friend, I guess you won't ever really know unless we go traveling together. Ciao!


Comment from Tonya:

Jan 11, 2008 3:12 PM
You should rename your photo album on myspace so its not the same as facebook. Top 5 ideas:
1)Green poop that looks like lawnmower shavings grass
2) Will you go in to my stall after im done so nobody else will?
3) Burger King, Pizza, FroYo, Burger King again, and Tbell all in one day
4) Scary airplane toilet and midget sink
(and last but not least)
5)[in the pouring rain] "I just cant let you do this alone...Im coming with you" HAHHAHAHA