Campus Signage Project

I found the sign I chose to revise on my way out of the building after class. Although I was taking
numerous pictures at the time and did not quite pay attention to the signs, I realized that with every
picture I took, I was actually making brief conclusions on what I thought each sign was about and what
each sign was advertising. I took about 20 pictures of different flyers and decided to go with a flyer
encouraging people to donate plasma. I made my decision based on which flyer was completely
misleading and realized that what I thought was being advertised is not actually what is being advertised.

What drew my attention to this flyer was the misconception of what was being advertised compared to
what people were actually being encouraged to do. When initially looking at the flyer, I thought it was for a
job or opportunity to make more money in the form of earning free clothing from the University. I did not
know that the flyer was encouraging  people to donate plasma as a form of making money and saving
lives. I found everything strange about the flyer. I found the visuals strange, I found the wording strange,
I also found the layout strange as well.

I decided to use Befunky for my redesign based on Ashley’s positive reviews of the site and decided to
redesign the sign based on the way I would want people to read it and the actual message I wanted to
send. I redesigned based on the idea that people should be able to look at the sign and instantly know
what is being asked of them. I understand the incentive to make money, but that should not be at the
forefront of blood donation. I changed the way money was portrayed and made the donation of plasma
the main point.

I was also able to remove the background noise associated with the sign by making sure
that the image I chose was clear, simple and direct. I wanted anyone looking at the flyer to realize instantly
that its for a blood donation. It seemed as though the sign was attempting to lure people into donation by
first advertising that free gear and money could be acquired instantly and then revealing that the only way
to do this would be by donating plasma. I find that idea very similar to that of a commercial and actually
found it interesting that it was incorporated into a flyer. I was able to remove the layering of untruth by
making sure plasma donation was at the forefront and then also showing that money could be acquired
from this process.

Another thing I wanted to do was make sure that it was not too wordy. The initial flyer had about a
paragraph's worth of information. I was able to condense all of the information to a few phrases and
wanted to make sure people did not get bogged down or overwhelmed by a flyer they haven't even read
yet. I find it important to be able to advertise without the use of unnecessary images and words.

I was so unsure about my redesign and desperately needed a second opinion, and although I received
feedback from a few friends, I wanted feedback from those in class actually doing the project as well. I
received a good amount of feedback and actually look forward to making a few minor changes to the sign.