Wk3-B: Developing a Brand

 Power Gamers

     The creation of Power Gamers was started largely by a friend of mine, DJ, I was brought on late in the project to help organize things and assist with art/graphics. DJ composed our current logo and I'm currently working with a friend of mine to make an easier-to-use vector logo. Our color scheme is green and purple which was chosen by DJ. While they are difficult colors to combine I do my best to utilize them in a pleasing way. At the moment our marketing material is not as cohesive as I would like but I am working on an overhaul of our logo, graphics, and social media profiles to fit a more singular brand. 

Whatwolf

     On the other hand, I have my personal brand, Whatwolf. I create almost all of the art, graphics, and products for this brand, and use it as a catch-all for my art and streaming content. I have a logo and a character that I play, complete with webcam overlay, who is a large Maned Wolf named Mosh. I use a specific font that I created for all of my Whatwolf graphics that is actually my handwriting to give it more of a homemade feel. I use this branding consistently over Facebook and Twitch, but I use my Twitter for personal things as well making it is less streamlined to the brand. 

  

     Developing and building a brand is very difficult without prior knowledge or research to back up your actions. Best practices are very important to find and follow to ensure that you are maximizing your use and benefits from various social media sites. Making sure that your brand fits the niche you're looking to inhabit is an important thing to consider when planning and building your project.

     With online-only brands, it is extremely important to utilize the social media use of your audience. Engagement via Facebook or Twitter can help cement your brand and/or character for people and assist in recall when they think of your brand. The camaraderie with other brands that can be achieved via these mediums can also help you push yourself to the forefront as your name flickers across feeds they otherwise may not.

     Overall, building a brand takes a lot of work and study for you to be successful. Keep up on current trends across similar brands on your social media sites to ensure that you are staying relevant and avoiding any current 'hot button' issues. Remaining consistent in your use and graphics can help you propel your brand.

Wk3-A: Aesthetics, Design, and Branding

 

A Look at Designs

     Design is an important way to retain an interest in the information your website or posts are conveying. Visual language is at times an overlooked medium of communication and, unfortunately, that can cost a company in the long run. Effective and mindful design and branding can make your product or project go future. 

     The following two websites, I felt, were lacking in one area or another and will further explain that below. No ill intent is meant towards the creators and designers of these works, these are just my observations and opinions built upon those. 

Penny Juice

     Right upfront, the color choices for this website threw me off. While coherent they are oversaturated with little contrast, causing difficulty while I tried to read the information. When you hover over the red buttons on the pages they flip to a pure green; as this color is used nowhere else in the layout it is jarring to see suddenly. Also, despite having a Twitter they did not include it in the social media links in the top left of their footer with the Facebook emblem.

     While I do think this website was professionally done they may have followed the customer's lead more than was advisable for a visually appealing website. I think that finding a more coherent color palette would fix the issues pointed out besides adding the Twitter icon alongside the Facebook icon. For the most part, the site was easily navigable and user friendly. 

Gates N Fences

     Upon opening up Gates N Fences I was given more information at once than a home page should have. The various links strewn through the text make navigation difficult and the wall of buttons to the left are overwhelming at minimum. Only some of the images on the site have a copyright overlay on mouse hover giving it a very disjointed feeling.

     Overall, I think this website was made by a novice designer, they have the basics there but the execution is lacking. If they could change the navigation buttons to be dropdown or hover reacted lists that would help reduce how long the list of red is. A concise home page would be better as well; keeping the images and explanations where they are relevant would clean up the overall feeling from the website.

    Alternately, I chose the following two websites based on their strengths. Their modernism is something to watch to ensure that you are following any necessary trends in your industry. Aesthetic in design can change quickly. Keep an eye on competitors to make sure you are keeping up!

Apple

     I feel like no list of who's who in design can be complete sans Apple. Their sleek design with an eye for minimalism covers phone and website alike. Navigation is simple and easy to access, while images softly balance out large blocks of information. Color is well balanced over the site and draws the viewer's eye. 

     This website seems professionally done and expensive to boot. More difficult coding is used to have the navigation track as a header as you scroll down. Viewing this site reinforces the visual flaws of the previous two. A lot of things can be learned by studying Apple's design work.

Toyota

     In a similar vein to the Apple website, the Toyota website is clean and precise. The limited color palette extends over the entire site giving it a sense of cohesion. Navigation is simple and easy to access. At the bottom, they have neatly categorized articles spanning sales to maintenance and more to help their customers find what they need.

     I have no doubt that this website was professionally done. The Toyota website does a great job of sharing information cleanly. It is well put together with the car carousel navigation and ways to filter those. The bold image squares feel at home in the negative space. 

     Overall each website had more positives or negatives than I could condense into one blog post. Almost every website will have an aspect someone doesn't like; the challenge is properly utilizing and balancing the most loved things. Get used to the balance and your design will flourish!

Wk2-B: Business Research

  

   For this semester my focus will be on social media use for streaming on twitch and building a cross-platform following as well as artists who stream and use twitch as a source of commission income. I'll be posting five streamer's social media information that I feel fit my criteria well.

Critical Role

https://critrole.com/

     Critical Role began as just a group of voice actor friends who got together to stream their Dungeons & Dragons campaign on Twitch and the rest is, as they say, history. They have grown into an independent media company with various partnerships as well as a 501(c)(3) non-profit to help fund charities they care about. They took their surprise success and turned it into something that does good and helps others as they play and have fun.

Critical Role Social Media Presences

     Critical Role uses their social media fairly often, uploading to their Youtube channel multiple times a week Instagram seems to get the least use and mostly gets crossposts from Twitter and/or Facebook. I believe Twitter may have the most interaction as it has the added benefit of retweets and likes to boost interaction. I was unable to find their social media links easily on their website, instead, I found them all attached to their Twitch channel. 

(Last Post information as of 1:10pm pst 2/12/2021)

Youtube - Last Post 2/8/2021 || 1.16m Subscribers

Twitter - Last Post 2/11/2021 || 473k Followers

Facebook - Last Post 2/11/2021 || 196k Likes

Instagram - Last Post 2/11/2021 || 360k Followers

Twitch - Last Post  2/11/2021 || 675k Followers

Buffpup

https://buffpupcommissions.carrd.co/

     Buffpup is an artist and variety streamer that I have been watching for the last few years on Twitch. They use their platform and commissions to pay their bills and do donation drives for various charities. They stream on Twitch Mon-Fri in the mornings with various content from PC games, VR games, Art commissions, Facerig Commissions (a facerig is in essence a webcam filter that you can make yourself), or whatever else they feel like sharing with their audience that day. They always bring a smile to my face.

Buffpup Social Media Presences

     Buffpup uses their social media very often, keeping in touch with friends and viewers most often via Twitter. They upload recorded video compilations to Youtube of streams cut together once the hold on content is released by Twitch (Affiliate and Partner users are held to a contract specifying a minimum of 24-hours of content exclusivity).

(Last Post information as of 1:30pm pst 2/12/2021)

Youtube - Last Post 2/11/2021 || 1.04k Subscribers

Twitter - Last Post 2/12/2021 || 17.6k Followers

Twitch - Last Post  2/12/2021 || 16.5k Followers

Tik Tok - Last Post 2/11/2021 || 955 Followers

Briitybear

https://briittybear.live/

     Briitybear is primarily a Sea of Thieves streamer and is partnered with both Twitch and Sea of Thieves and is able to do special cross-platform events to increase her views and engagement on Twitch. She hasn't built up a large enough following to effectively run  any charity campaigns 

Briitybear Social Media Presences

     Briitybear uses her social media in a more personal way while keeping a focus on her Twitch content and Sea of Thieves/piracy as a whole. Her Instagram seems to mainly be used to post selfies used as an advertisement for her streams, I'm honestly a little taken aback by the lack of diversity in her posts on the Instagram grid. 

(Last Post information as of 1:50pm pst 2/12/2021)

Youtube - Last Post 2/4/2021 || 863 Subscribers

Twitter - Last Post 2/12/2021 || 975 Followers

Twitch - Last Post  2/12/2021 || 14.7k Followers

Instagram - Last Post 2/12/2021 || 5.2k Followers

Pictobeam

https://triforce.carrd.co/

     Pictobeam is a bright spot in an often dark world. She is forthcoming with her health issues and is open with her viewers about why she is ending a stream early or unable to stream that day and I find that sort of transparency to be very brave and admirable. Pictobeam reminds her viewers and friends that it's okay to be sad sometimes because you are loved and you have people there to pick you up when you fall.  

Pictobeam Social Media Presences

     Pictobeam uses her social media to keep viewers abreast of her health and feelings and also to check in with those who watch her and make sure they're doing okay too. She spreads joy and love over her social media platforms to make people's days that much brighter.

(Last Post information as of 1:50pm pst 2/12/2021)

Youtube - Last Post 6/17/2019 || 22 Subscribers

Twitter - Last Post 2/12/2021 || 1.75k Followers

Twitch - Last Post  2/12/2021 || 6.5k Followers

Instagram - Last Post 1/26/2021 || 489 Followers

Shiabun

https://shiabun.com/

     Shiabun is another variety streamer who often collaborates with Buffpup. His content tends to be a bit darker than Buffpup's and I feel like when you follow them both you get a really nice dichotomy of likes and styles.

Shiabun Social Media Presences

     Shiabun uses his social media to keep in touch with his friends and viewers. It seems to me that for Shiabun a wide social media reach is maybe not his biggest goal, instead opting for more of a personal or community vibe. 

(Last Post information as of 1:50pm pst 2/12/2021)

Youtube - Last Post 1/26/2019 || 677 Subscribers

Twitter - Last Post 2/11/2021 || 4.3k Followers

Twitch - Last Post  2/10/2021 || 14k Followers

     Overall in my research, I have found that social media use varies greatly from person to person in the streaming world. Some users rely heavily on it to make an impression and others use it as an afterthought. This leads me to believe that at the moment in the streaming world there may not be any set expectations as far as advertising and growing via social media which makes my job both harder and easier as a social media manager for a streaming project on Twitch.

     Due to there being no set standard I have to forge ahead and set my own path, occasionally stepping into the footprints of those with larger followings than mine to try and extend my reach like theirs. In an area without defined rules for success, you have to weigh each decision with more intent and be aware that your actions may fall flat despite all efforts. You have to keep moving forward even when the path seems impenetrable as there is no progress without effort. 

Wk2-A: Blog Post

Business communication methods have changed drastically in the two decades I have been alive. I can remember watching ads on television in awe, wanting the newest toy or weird 90's snack they had come up with. As social media grew in popularity with people corporations began to join it and use it for advertising and eventually for communicating directly with their demographic. This has opened more alleyways for users to receive support, suggest new products or ideas, and feel as if they have a closer relationship with the products and brands they love.

Social media can be a boon or a hindrance in getting noticed or having your problem solved. Many people have taken to the internet to air grievances with companies over anything from a broken product to receiving poor support from employees. In some of these cases, the public outcry over the situation has forced the hand of companies, and occasionally competitors, to offer up more services in exchange for a positive customer response. On the opposite end of that many attempts to contact companies via social media can be lost due to algorithms or just ignored by the company's social teams. 

In the past companies relied less on public opinion to ensure branding success, negative stories told by word of mouth fizzled quicker than those we now see online. With the growing use of social media companies need to be on their toes regarding what they say and how they say it to ensure they are not stepping on toes or, intentionally or not, using harmful language or imagery. While social media can assist in cutting some advertising costs the price of a misstep could be the end of a company. 

Personally, I do not tend to leave reviews or attempt to contact companies unless the service or actions were on one extreme or the other: fantastic or terrible. I could likely count on two hands the number of times that I have contacted a company, whether by phone or social media, to communicate my satisfaction or displeasure. I suppose a part of me still lives a bit in the past where a strongly worded corporate complaint feels much more productive than a social media campaign against a company.

If I had my own business and began receiving reviews I would do what I could to respond to each one, thanking those with positive words to say and attempting to rectify any issues customers had with me or their product. I believe that when properly handled many problematic situations can be resolved amicably to a mutually beneficial end. As it is when I sell paintings or commissions I strive to ensure my customer's needs are met and send multiple work-in-progress images to ensure customer satisfaction. 

Wk1-B: Blogs I Commented On

 This week I comment on JR Cook's, Ty Morissette's, and Ana Gomez's blogs from Week 1.