Message from Frank Tavares about Website Work

Just wanted to share this with you all. Feel free to comment!

David! I'll be making a dub of the BOD meeting tape for you over the
weekend.

I've been thinking about your student Mindy's (?) redesigned logo for
UM, and the hit she took when the BOD rejected it. I know you've
helped her put it in context, but you might share my additional
observation. It was a good design. ANd I especially liked what she
did with the shaded flour de lis in the background. It captured the
"classic" essence of the original UM line. The reason the board turned
away from it wasn't because of the design itself, but because they
expected some connection with the long established logo. That was
*not* Mindy's fault. She was operating under the parameters given to
her. Regardless, having been in her shoes, it's hard not to feel
frustrated.

The Elm City logo was a little too, well, bleak for the board. I can
see its appeal for a particular young demographic, but they needed
something broader.

The websites were a big hit. Yes some details that needed to be
tweaked, but the overall approach was a big hit. Even the next day in
a phone conversation with "Whitmore" we were talking about how well
they would work.

More later....my AC guy just pulled into the driveway....

Frank

-------------------------------------
Dr. Frank Tavares, Professor
Communication Department
Southern Connecticut State University
501 Crescent Street
New Haven, CT 06515
203.392.5387
203.392.5397 (FAX)

It was nice of Frank to write that to you and ask to have it relayed back to us - but honestly, I personally wasn't that upset.

I think the rejection of the logo by the board is completely understandable. I'm a little disappointed of course, but they were completely justified in their reasons for doing so. The fact is, the initial logo they had wasn't treated as such - that being as it were, nobody thought that paying homage to the original should be a concern so I started completely from scratch.

That being said, I think that we were taught a lesson as far as dealing with clients is concerned, because we should have asked those questions. Of course, because our client wasn't in marketing or advertising, there's no way she would have known to tell us that - so it kind of ties back to the idea that a client comes to you because you're an expert at something, and you need to be steering them in the right direction, as opposed to being steered one way or another yourself.

Oh well, lesson learned.

(And I still like my logo)

As a side note to Mindy's comment, things like this DO happen in the real world. And we do need to ask questions. One of the greater things that I've learned about this experience, too, is that even thought the client tells you EXACTLY what they want, in the end, it's not what they really wanted at all. And you've got to start all over again. But this is the business! I've lived it in the classroom, and in the real world. This project was simply a simulation of what happens in the real world. And I think we learned from that.

On the other hand, I think we all did a great job this semester working for UM. We've made a lot of mistakes along the way, but the greatest thing we received from working together on this project was the experience.

Personally, I learned how crucial it is to not wait until the last minute! It shows that procrastination is no good, and it just causes more tension and stress for everyone. That day we scrambled together was awful! And plain and simply ridiculous. I couldn't imagine what would've happened if UM walked in on our madness.

As with working with others, this is a tough task in itself. I think we are all very different people, with different schedules, but we managed to pull together a website that the UM board liked and approved. I loved how we pulled together in the end as a team to get the job done! I used to hate working in groups, but I don't feel that way anymore. Being able to collaborate with others, especially with people that I've come to know and love, has been one of my greatest joys in college.

Oh my goodness that sounded so sappy. SO WHAT! Bahahaa

You know Mindy, since Dan the bear foot man was the leader of UM and seems to me DR T. only liked your logo what happened to the team, really just kidding! see you tomorrow!