Art With A Heart

YOUR VOICE IS YOUR SUPPORT

Go to www.CuriousAndCreative.com and tell us 

WHAT HAS CREATIVITY DONE FOR YOU? 

We will be producing a poster with comments to support 

awareness and funding for future programming.

Opening Event

September 23rd 6-8 pm 

Conrad Hotel 

50 West Washington Street

Indianapolis, Indiana

What would we be missing without creative minds?

Where would we be without creative minds?

Amid the harsh reality of education budget cuts in Indiana, arts programs are commonly the first programs reduced or removed in schools.  Alternative solutions are being created in some communities so that students can still have access to the arts.  And now, one Indianapolis-based group is not only keeping the arts alive for area students, but is working with a renowned five star hotel to allow them the ultimate showing of their work.

Over the last two years, over $300 million has been cut from education budgets in Indiana.  In many school corporations, programs such as fine arts, music, band and dance have been scaled back or cut entirely due to these cuts.  Many communities have relied on museums, churches, after-school programs, community centers or other volunteers for alternative outlets.  One example is Jenny Kiser, a teacher in Lewisville, Indiana, who sought out a grant to run an art program that applies art into other areas of academics.  A particular lesson may be utilizing Andy Warhol’s classic “soup cans” works to illustrate cylinders for mathematics.  Similar type programs have popped up all over the state to try to help with the lack of arts, but in other areas students are still being deprived.

Art with a Heart is a non-profit organization started in 2002 by an art teacher, Carol Conrad, and several of her supportive friends and co-workers.  Their dream and mission was to expose art to at-risk children who would not otherwise have the opportunity to do anything artistic.  Almost a decade later, the organization serves over 1,200 children each year through after-school programs, honors art classes, week-long summer camps and even Kindergarten classes.

“While being able to express themselves creatively is fun and rewarding to the kids,” explains Executive Director Andrew Lee, “most importantly, our programs also incorporate educational components such as problem solving and critical thinking skills.” 

Earlier this year, Lee made the acquaintance of two art consultants in the city, who were impressed with the organization and their mission.  GK Rowe is the creative director for Q7 Associates, an Indianapolis marketing and experience design firm.  Chris Mallon is the owner of Editions Limited, a well-renowned art gallery in Broad Ripple.  Both Mallon and Rowe have served as curators for the Conrad Hotel over the last two years, planning quarterly shows in The Alcove at the Conrad, a unique event space inside the hotel.

Experience Design: A Return on Creativity

I'm preparing for a second meeting this week where I have been asked to explain our design process as it relates to Experience Design. This is important considering the current economic situation, companies are concerned about their ROI. However, more importantly the question becomes what is your [ROC]Return on Creativity when it comes to investing in your company's marketing campaigns?

We are now living in a Conceptual Age, first explained by Alen Greenspan as "The growth of the conceptual component of output has brought with it accelerating demands for workers who are equipped not simply with technical know-how, but with the ability to create, analyze, and transform information and to interact effectively with others." New findings in the neuro-movement such as neuroaesthetics and neuromarketing has confirmed we are living in the Conceptual Age of the 21st century. We now have quantitative data through science that can enhance design and marketing strategies; additionally, it is becoming obvious that "There is a mismatch between what science knows and what business does" Daniel Pink.

GET THE MESSAGE
We know that we only perceive a fraction of what is going on in the world from studies done related to "change-blindess". Additionally, a recent report by NeuroFocus explains, "We have found that 75% of all content - not just advertisements - is not neurologically optimal". Too much information can be sensory overload and the information is filtered. So, best measures for getting the message is to keep it simple and stand out.

SET THE STAGE
A standard formula for information processing can be 3 units of 7 (such as your phone number or social security no.) for retaining information in short-term memory. Studies have indicated that a clear and simple message generates more engagement by end-users and that an end-users "attention and retention is strongest at the beginning and end of a message". (Social-Brain.com) The Left-brain keeps us on task and helps us move about the world swiftly and it takes some shortcuts to get us where we need to go. John Medina, author of Brain Rules, reports, "Vision trumps all other senses. Visual processing doesn't just assist in the perception of our world. It dominates the perception of our world." Having a better understanding about how the brain processes information can enhance the desired response. Simply placing text or content on the right side of an image is one effective way to simplify the processing of information since the Left-brain processes analytical information while the Right-brain is best at interpreting images.

GET ENGAGED
Creativity is not always synonymous with effectiveness since an emotional side of a design may be more critical to a product's success than its practical elements. it is better to understand how your message will be perceived. How will your end-user interact with your message? Telling a story is the best way to get your end-user engaged in your product/message/design. You don't need to write a lengthy story, but develop the visual and contextual information so that it resonates emotionally with your end-user. A person looking for a drill bit isn't really looking for a drill bit, they're looking for a hole.

CREATE AN EXPERIENCE
How will your design be used, handled or experienced? Is your design universal? Understanding how your design will translate into function is a key to the end-user's experience. An early example comes from the early 1950's when the Betty Crocker Company introduced it's ready-made-cake mix. Just add water. The product failed when it first hit the supermarket shelves. A study conducted by market researchers found that "The customer felt no sense of accomplishment, no involvement with the product. It made her feel useless, especially if somewhere her aproned mom was still whipping up cakes from scratch" (Donald A. Norman, Emotional Design). The solution to the problem was simple - have the cook add an egg to the mix and "thereby putting pride back into the activity"

Experience Design

Your brain lies to you a lot. It means well, but usually it aims to get answers in a hurry rather than a perfect answer that takes a while to figure out. And, it has good intentions. Because we now live in a complex world of abundance the brain needs to take shortcuts and make a lot of assumptions.

“For example, try to solve the following problem quickly: A bat and a ball together cost $1.10. The bat costs $1 more than the ball. How much does the ball cost? Most people say 10 cents, which is intuitive but wrong. (The bat costs $1.05, and the ball costs 5 cents.)” 1

Glancing at the faces above, most people (if consciously deciding) will select the image on the right as being happier than the image on the left despite the fact they are simply mirrored images. Why? Our brains have two distinct halves, the left brain and the right brain. They are joined together by a thick cable of nerves functioning like an Ethernet cable between two powerful processors. The left side of the brain is wired to the right side of the body and vice versa. This is also the case for our eyes which process a majority of the sensory data. 2
The right brain, which controls the left half of our body, is more intuitive. The left brain is more analytical. While both brains function together, they also process information differently. In the case of the faces drawing, the left half of each face is being viewed by the right brain which is specialized for face recognition.



As an experience design firm, Q7 Associates specialists apply the understanding about how the brain processes information in our conceptual development and design strategies. A common challenge for designers is understanding end-user‘s unmet and unarticulated needs. Because most people are unaware of their true needs, discovering them requires careful observations in their natural environment. The trained observer can often spot difficulties and solutions that even the person experiencing them does not consciously recognize. 3

Adopting neuroaesthetic and design psychology concepts in the art and design industry will provide enhanced outcomes in many industries by focusing on the needs of the people who interact with the end-design. Two of Q7 Associates main areas of focus is in healthcare and hospitality. Healthcare can benefit by incorporating neuroaesthetics in the practice of Evidenced-based art to enhance patient’s recovery while hospitality can combine design and service concepts to fulfill guests’ emotional needs.

While our left brains may have made us wealthy, we have reached an era where social outreach is replacing products and services that are reasonably priced and functional. Businesses must look for new ways to engage their end-users through aesthetic experiences and give them something to smile about.



Resources:
Left Brain Right Brain by Dan Eden 1
Welcome to Your Brain by Sandra Aamodt, Ph.D and Sam Wang, PhD. 2
Emotional Design by Donald A. Norman 3

Social Media for Private Practices

Graphic by: Current Configuration

Social Media platform Involver has announced since May 2009, over 40,000 brands are using its technology to engage over 100 Million people on Facebook. It has quickly become the go to choice for leading brands and agencies looking for customizable applications for their social media sites. [Full article by StumbleUpon.com]

Cottonnele and Kleenex brands are both embracing "Personality of Products" and "Behavioral Design" in their campaign using social media networks. According to Donald A. Norman, 'a simplified way of thinking of product personality is that it reflects the many decisions about how a product looks, behaves, and is positioned throughout its marketing and advertisements'. Additionally, 'Good behavior design should be human-centered, focusing upon understanding and satisfying the needs of the people who actually use the product.' ...like toilet paper and facial tissue.

And, recently, two brands have found a way to engage consumers in their products and all kinds of people are voting and/or talking about their experiences with toilet paper and facial tissue. Kleenex started with their "Let it Out" campaign designing their site to allow consumers to post their own experiences/stories (what they tag as Experience the Release)that provided an open forum for people to post, read and "Give a Tissue". Stories range from a mother who gave up a child to a person with allergies. Most recently they have elevated the consumer connection to the brand by offering a customized box where you can upload an image and design your own Kleenex box at MyKleenexTissue.com Target, has offered an exclusive Kleenex box for a limited time designed by Hiroko Sanders.

More and more companies are focusing their designs and marketing campaigns around the understanding of neuroscience and adopting the concept of neuromarketing and our response to products in relationship to practice. Associating a positive or emotional memory with a photograph will encourage a positive response associated with the product at a subconscious level - think of the early developments of souvenirs where the purpose is to cause us to recall our memory to remember the moment.