I recently created a marketing campaign; here's how it went. 2

It was fine. I mean it was hard, like, challenging to conceptualize branding for a local business, let alone the pressure of creating materials that looked appealing. Ultimately, just like Superhuman, I felt partially unsatisfied after completion.

Our options of businesses to collaborate with were Wonder Paws Rescue (an Animal Rescue Organization) and the Weston Census (a campaign to promote completing the government-administered census in my city). For me and my partner, Ollie, it was an easy choice. As proud animal lovers, we buckled down on brainstorming campaign materials for Wonder Paws Rescue.

From our initial exposure to the brand, we both knew that we wanted to rebrand the organization. The previous logo was extremely medical and professional. Ollie and I created a design more contemporary, personal and unique to create appeal for our campaign:


(Previous logo on left, New logo on right)


I'd never seen both logos side by side.
Yeah, I can already see where there might've been a disconnect from vision to execution.
Ugh.

I'm not trying to be super pessimistic or critical, but I just felt mediocre about the material I brought. I felt like the website was strong and effective in that it eased navigation for the user (which was exactly what needed revision for the previous website) and our brochure was really positive in that it provided contact information for the organization.

The promotional videos though: those were my babies. I captured all the b-roll and edited both videos exactly how Ollie and I desired. I was really proud of the quality of those videos.

At the end of the day, I created the best campaign I could with the time I had. I'm 17 and I have not only classes but other extracurriculars that veer my attention left, right, up and down. This I am and have been aware of: I'm not oblivious to my responsibilities. However, I do need to account for these activities and the time they consume.

I'm gonna work harder this year and plan ahead to make this project better than the last :)

Thats a Fretwell promise.

- Jake

dusting off the ol' blog. 1

It feels great to dust off my blog, crack my knuckles, and start typing again.  Last year I had a lot of fun on my media project; this year I plan to surpass my personal expectations of what I am capable of in storytelling. This year's film will be extremely different.
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Last year, I had a great idea. I combined my love of superheros and fantasy with my admiration for heartfelt dramas. The opening of Superhuman was cute in that it introduced and established the relationship between the student and the teacher and a heartwarming story. In retrospect, there are numerous edits I would make to this project, such as efficiently plan and schedule my filming days over 3 weeks in advance as to maximize my filming days and increase my editing time.  Being the main character in my film was very difficult in that I had very limited control in my cinematography.

Going into my A-Level project, I am setting myself up for success. Primarily, the fact that I am collaborating with my best friend, Luis! We became incredibly close over the course of last year, hanging out frequently and sharing interests in pop-culture (for the most part, although he doesn't like Marvel characters nor uses TikTok). Conversation is easy for both of us in addition to teamwork. The most integral reason why we decided to work together is that we both pour our hearts into our work.

Luis is just fantastic at what I'm not. He is a great negotiator, business-oriented, extremely analytical, not to mention great at giving advice.  There is a lot that I learn from him; he is one of the smartest people I know. Having him as an extra brain on this ambitious project will be immensely beneficial for all aspects of creating and marketing our short film (oh yeah, I'm making a whole film this time instead of just the trailer!! I'm so hyped!!)

I'm really excited to play with camera angles, lighting, and AWESOME character development throughout my film this year.  For my AS project, I was extremely limited in what I was able to do because of all the roles I was trying to play. Don't get me wrong, I'm a theatre kid forever and always so I WILL BE A CHARACTER in this short film, no matter if Luis likes it or not. We have already brainstormed some potential stories for the project (which I will mention in an upcoming post)  because we are both eager to blow people away with our project!!



I'm really excited to experiment and create a piece of media that I can be proud of for years to come. I want to bring my all for this project, so planning is essential.

In the meantime, I'm going to continue brainstorming with Luis and work on my homework.

Till next time,

- Jake