The Shock factor

This speaks of the element of shock and what shocks us as a human race. The magazine deals with popular culture which i feel is saturated with ideas such as violence, sex and war, so much so that we have become desensitised by the supposedly shocking factors of pop. So i pose the question, What is considered shocking, our behaviour or our lack of humanity in a world controlled by humans. Perhaps we are the destroyers of our own morals and human ethics leading to our ultimate destruction. But even that in itself is not shocking to the human ear.

The balance

With this concept i would like to explore the ideas of pairs. I think there is an odd intangible factor that brings out the connection or bond between certain things that just go together. For example a spoon and a fork, could we not just use Sporks? Why is there necessity in pairs and why do we seek relationships? What is the human bond that ties a boy and a girl together, is it the emotion, love or hate? or is it a mental need and bond.  I'd like to look at parallels which cannot go without each other, for example life and death or love and hate.

Magazine articles

So its time to get creative and conceptualise a cover and double page spread of an a design magazine, this being One small seed. The idea is to conceptualise ideas under the umbrella of design in order to put together creative articles under a single concept. The magazine describes itself as South Africa's Pop culture platform.

The main two concepts that have been decided upon is Balance in humanity and The shock factor.

Nokia forever

It has come to my attention that Nokia is the only cellphone brand to have a distinct and iconic ringtone that is recognised by millions around the world regardless of their race, creed, age or culture. This emanates the fact that Nokia does not discriminate and is accessible to all.  Their phones range from very expensive to very cheap but always remain at a more reasonable price than its competitors. By making their brand and handsets available to all classes and strata, they are able to reach a wider target audience and by doing so sets the brand in good context with the rest of the world.  Unlike Blackberry and iPhone who only cater for the more wealthy audience, Nokia has occupied the market niche of the majority of the world who are all feeling the effects of the recession and thus seek a good reliable, long lasting cellphones with high quality features at lower prices, Nokia provides this and that is how they are able to keep their current strong stance in the market despite the increases in popularity of the competitors. I would like to enhance the bond that people have formed with Nokia and increase the familiarity of the most loved brand so that perhaps Nokia may become a new trend. It was one of my very first phones and truth be told they really do not break easily!

Nokia, Most loved cellphone brand

http://ringaz.nokia.co.za/opinions/nokia-voted-south-africas-most-loved-cell-phone-brand-again/

Visit this blog to check out Nokia's latest award-

Nokia voted South Africa’s most loved cell-phone brand…again

Rivalry

Nokia's main competition is iPhone, Blackberry and Samsung (who are about to start their own social network).. there has already been some rivalry amongst their advertising, take a look at the link below...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1qurHPAeDA

Although it may seem that Nokia is falling to the bottom of the top, it is noted that they are still South Africa's most loved cellphone brand and this sentimental value is what may be used to their advantage

watch this videohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RWhOKb6HzE

Brief 2

The next brief we've been given is to conceptualise and produce 3 radio adds in different South African languages... This is no easy feat, and completely new to us first year copywriters, however, upon doing some research i was able to choose the brand Nokia... This was under observation of my grandmother once again whose ability to use cellphones and technology is the same as an elephants skills and tight rope balancing(not the ones from the circus).  After writing a how to guide, explaining to her and yelling to her on the phone "HOLD THE SPEAKER BY YOUR MOUTH, PRESS THE GREEN BUTTON" amongst endless communication failures, i found that Nokia would be the best phone for her and for the general middle class person in society. It is apparent amongst my peers that Nokia's are so strong they could figuratively survive a nuclear explosion... Apparently the only way these phones may be put to death is through the washing machine. Also nokia was my first phone along with many others my age who are all familiar with the name "3310"... The brand brings back a nostalgia and acted as an introduction to the world of modern technology.. Currently in South Africa the trend in mobile phones amongst the youth is Blackberry and iPhones and unfortunately nokia has fallen to the bottom of the top most popular cellphone brands..

I feel that instead of trying to change this, they should embrace it and begin a campaign about how Nokia is for the people, bringing back the nostalgia of your very first cellphone. There is the idea of personifying the brand as your friend...