my work
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digital
print & digital
print & digital
branding
print & digital
bluestone communications
background
what is bluestone communications?
bluestone communications is james madison university’s student-run public relations firm. the firm is made up of 35-40 students each semester. they are split up into 3 teams that each serve 2 clients. the clients apply to be taken on by the firm each semester can be non- or for-profit organizations within the shenandoah valley.
what was my role in the project?
i serve as a co-creative director for the firm meaning that i oversee all creative deliverables put out by the firm as well as help to create all of the graphics to promote the firm.
what deliverables were created?
a social media rebrand & monthly newsletters
deliverables
social media rebrand
we chose to rebrand the social media due to its over-reliance on graphics and templates and the overuse of dark and harsh colors. our rebrand included three essential pieces. through these tactics, we were able to increase our social media engagement by about 30-40% each month and our reach by 100-150% each month.
increasing the diversity in the types of posts
we posted consistently 3 times a week - each monday and friday post had a new topic such as a workshop recap, reel, or client shoutout.
expanded the color palette to include 3 new pastels
by doing this, we were able to use Bluestone’s iconic neon colors as more impactful accents
increasing the use of photography
we utilized our headshots and group photos as well as making sure to take photos at class and other firm bonding events
feed overview (as of 4/30)
a closer look at some posts i created
monthly newsletters
i created the copy and designed the firm’s monthly newsletters. they are distributed, through email, to the college of arts and letters faculty, bluestone’s professional advisors, and to the school of communication studies’ students. i made some improvements to the newsletters including:
being more intentional with and utilizing consistent branding throughout the newsletters
using more dynamic and visually intriguing layouts
huy fong sriracha
background
what was the project?
this was the senior capstone project for my creative advertising concentration. we were put into groups of 5-6 students that were responsible for creating a campaign for an existing, well-known brand. we completed secondary research, conducted two forms of primary research, wrote a creative brief, completed a nine piece campaign, and compiled it into a booklet.
what was my role in the project?
i mainly served as a graphic designer for this project - the ads that i created have been separately uploaded outside of the final booklet. additionally, i was the creator of the two characters that we centered our campaign around, helped film and edit the tv commercial, and put together and designed the final booklet.
what deliverables were created?
three print ads, two out-of-home ads, a viral video, one tv commercial, ten social media ads (across two platforms), one guerrilla marketing tactic, & one branded product placement.
deliverables
booklet
our entire campaign, from research to final products and everything in between, is in this booklet. we all worked on it, but i took the lead on making it all look uniform and as professional as possible. the booklet was put together on adobe indesign and all of the graphics were created on adobe illustrator.
print ads - magazine
these print ads were designed to be a full-page magazine ad (required by the assignment). I played off of the devil and angel aspect of our characters and had chili be more of a trouble maker. these were all created on adobe illustrator.
ad 3: dive in
in the third ad sweeti is using a bowl of pho soup* as a hot tub, but chili ruins the moment by umping in off of the chopsticks.
*pho, and vietnamese restaurants in general, always have a bowl of sriracha on the table
for our social media ads, we were allowed to choose our platforms, but only one could be of the instagram/facebook/snapchat/etc variety. our “nonconventional” social media was tinder. we thought it would be fun to play off of a romance between our characters, given the purpose of the app. these were both created on adobe illustrator.
for our product placement, we wanted to do something different than just a tv show or a movie. we thought fortnite would be a great fit for our target audience and would be fun to incorporate our characters into. i learned how to 3d render on adobe illustrator for this project. i edited the backgrounds on photoshop.
ad 2: back to back
in the second ad, they are in a traditional “double trouble” pose featured on the poster for the 1992 movie, double trouble.
ad 1: on your shoulder
in the first ad, they are the angel and the devil on the sriarcha bottle’s “shoulders.
social media - tinder
ad 2: power couple
in the second ad, the sriracha bottle is thinking of his favorite celebrity couple, chili and sweeti. a small detail is that the pupils in chili and sweeti’s eyes are hearts.
ad 1: perfect pair
in the first ad, they are having a “lady and the tramp” style encounter. a small detail is that their hands make a heart-like shape when they hold hands.
product placement - fortnite
placement 1: chili skin
we created a chili skin to be used by players within the game. his description reads “the hot and spicy half of the sriracha duo.”
3d render
placement 2: sweeti skin
we also created a sweeti skin to be used by players within the game. her description reads “the sweet and caring half of the sriracha duo.”
placement 3: bottle consumable
we created a sriracha bottle consumable item that can be found in chests and consumed by players for a special boost. the description reads “consume for fire-powered super speed.”
for our guerilla marketing, we chose to do a transit bench that features little statues of chili and sweeti. since our target audience was young adults in cities, we wanted to combine public transportation with social media. the bench reads “do you prefer sriracha’s sweet flavor or spicy kick? take a picture with chili or sweeti and tag us @huyfongfood with the hashtag #hfsweetvheat!” when people take a picture with the bench, chili or sweeti would appear to be on their should, like in the first print ad. the 3d render was made on adobe illustrator and the mockup was made on adobe photoshop.
for our tv ad, we wanted to take a humorous approach. we all worked on the script together and i also helped with the editing and ending graphics.
guerilla marketing - transit bench
important takeaways
persona/representation of target audience
kylie wilson, 20 years old
lives in chicago, illinois
single
part-time student, part-time employee
takes bus to work & school
plays video games with her friends
big idea: huy fong has both flavor and heat.
message objective: brand recall by utilizing brand logo, colors and our two characters
overall concept:
we took a humorous approach focusing on two characters, chili and sweeti
we created all of our graphics from scratch and utilized a simplistic 2D approach
copy
We went with short, one to two word headlines
We used a consistent tagline, “huy fong sriracha. where flavor meets heat”, in combination with the logo, in order to create brand recognition among the audience.
mockup
tv ad - 45 sec spot
jmu dining
background
what was my role at jmu dining?
i was a graphic design intern for jmu dining for the 2023-24 school year, so i helped to create the digital and print materials for all 28 of the different dining locations across campus. jmu dining doesn’t have a brand guide and likes to design each graphic/campaign with individual branding.
deliverables
cram cart story
inspired by a metallica tour poster, i created this story to announce the times that our cramcart was going to be around campus. the cramcart is a wagon full of snacks and drinks that we passed around to students for free to help relieve end-of-semester stress.
to create this story i used illustrator to hand-alter the “c” and “t” in the title, manipulate a photo of one of the dining halls, and to arrange the rest of the text and texture.
menu story
rodeo night campaign
wanted poster (1 of 10 designs)
invasion of the other worldly campaign
i created these two stories and digital banner to advertise an alien/space themed event called “invasion of the other worldy”. i got inspiration from pop art and comics for the graphics. i made everything from scratch on adobe illustrator, even placing every star by hand. the menu wasn’t finalized before my time at the office was over which is why it is blank.
the building in the background is d-hall, the dining hall where the event was taking place, and i used the traditional scene of a cow being lifted by an alien’s ufo. for the menu story, i used that same ufo-lifting idea to make it seem like the ufo was trying to take the menu. i also made sure to only place the stars around the perimeter to make sure the text, once added, would be legible.
for rodeo night, i was tasked with creating an announcement story, menu story, and wanted posters to use as ads around campus. all three deliverables were created entirely on adobe illustrator, except for the photos on the wanted posters which i edited on photoshop.
for the announcement story i hand created the rope texture and hand lettered the word rode using that texture. i also used that rope for the border of the menu, and i also hand made the knot at the bottom.
the silhouettes on the story feature a cowboy trying to wrangle a bulldog wearing a crown and cape to resemble our mascot, duke dog.
for the wanted posters, i used pictures of the dining staff and had them come up with fun nicknames to use on the posters. we wanted them to be fun, recognizable, and to have the date and location be used in a fun way.
announcement story
announcement story
menu story
digital screen
fidelis vitae studio
background
what was the project?
for my visual design class, i was tasked with working with a student from the entrepreneurial center, kate harwood. kate was a senior who wanted me to brand the freelance film studio that she wanted to open after graduation.
what did the client want?
katherine wanted something that was based in her christian faith, but wasn't obvious enough to turn away those who aren't religious. she also wanted to incorporate the color purple. she had no material to go off of; she needed a name, colors, and a font.
what deliverables were created?
a logo & a brand sheet
deliverables
logo & icons
reel change film festival
background
what was the project?
for my visual design class, everyone in the class was tasked with creating a poster for a film festival other students in the smad department were putting on. my professor wanted us to create a photo-based design that represented the four films being shown at the festival; inhabitants, missing in brooks county, a thousand cuts, and us kids. after my professor sent the class's designs to the professor planning the festival, mine was chosen to represent the it. i was then tasked to create a corresponding web banner and tv monitor design.
what deliverables were created?
a poster, a web banner, and a tv monitor
deliverables
poster
tv monitor
web banner
