DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

So far in the Mentorship program, I have attended the MICA Precollege summer program and worked with an independent designer on a co op advertising project. I have developed a thesis revolving around this project. At the Precollege program, I had an extremely successful time in learning the basics of Graphic Design. We completed several projects, and in doing so learned the basis of designing layouts and typography, as well as the commonly used computer programs in the design world. I also took a black and white photography class, which was something completely new to me. While I was at MICA, I didn’t have a project for Mentorship in mind, so I was mostly experiencing the basics of a college design class. It was interesting to have critiques, and work with my peers on projects. I received an A in the class, and gained a great deal of knowledge. 

The development of my project has been successful so far. It started out as a small idea to have a website linking people to the websites of the small businesses in Mt. Airy, MD. Then, I observed the workings of the small businesses around the area, and noticed they were not advertising very effectively. At first, my project was going to focus on building graphic identities for businesses through advertising. I was going to produce a magazine of just ads, and periodically choose businesses to design for with each issue. I was going to see how many customers came into the place of business based on the new identity. Then I did my University Challenge, and the head of the Graphic Design department at Virginia Commonwealth University brought up the point that it is unknown whether a customer came into the store based on the identity, or just the fact that there was an ad there to remind them about the store. This made me rethink my thesis, because my project just became immeasurable. 

My family and I then came up with the idea for a co-op advertising approach- co op meaning that there is no third party newspaper or agency involved, it is just small businesses getting together to advertise for themselves. For this, I would still design the magazine of just ads, but I would also have a supporting website linking consumers to the websites of the participating businesses.  This would also have community news on it, to get people to come to the website anyway. I will also provide the participating businesses with the means to have in store raffles. Now, my thesis is simply that this three pronged approach will be cost effective for the advertiser. In the magazine, I am also going to highly encourage businesses to include a coupon in their ad. My thesis will be measured by the amount of actual revenue gained from customers using the coupons. I will also give the business a survey on their satisfaction in advertising, which they will complete before and after advertising with my project. 

I have begun to design an identity for the co op. The name is Mt. Airy Links, and I am designing the mast head and the look of the magazine. My mentor is helping me with this, giving me assignments to come up with different options and looks for the front cover. She has given me a great deal of information about how a print material like this is processed and created. I hope to gain some real world experience from her in the future. In the near future, I know I am going to gain experience dealing with clients, when I meet with possible clients of the advertising program. 

I hope the project stays true to my thesis, and the co op will take off and possibly be brought to other small towns in the area. I expect to issue the magazine monthly, and work with my mentor to improve my artistic work.

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.