Summary

For my senior project I wanted to create something that would improve my portfolio and would be an avenue to showcase the many things that I have learned here at BYUI. As a Communications major with a video production emphasis and module in visual communications, I wanted to do a project that would encompass a lot of those elements with a main focus in video production. I decided to combine an amateur hobby of mine with the skill sets I have developed and created a baking blog called Carborella. Named after all things carbs and my last name, I put together an Instagram account to showcase my work. This channel showcases a logo, icon illustrations, food photography and video tutorials. This project stretched me and I feel like I really grew. I developed new skills and improved others and I am really happy with the results.

How I Spent my Time

Before we get into the details of my project, here is a list of how I spent my time:

• 2 hours researching and planning. I wanted to find the best recipes I could film. I was also looking to gain inspiration on different design elements for my channel.

• 10 hours creating a logo, 4 icon illustrations, and a small animated icon.

• 40 hours creating 8 video tutorials. This averages out to about 5 hours per video.

• 1 hour capturing and editing photos.

• 1 hour captioning and posting my work on my channel.

• 3 hours working on my final presentation.

• Total of 57 hours.

What I Accomplished

logo

I wanted my logo to be simple but very colorful. I was inspired by a colorful retro oven and decided that design would be the best way to show what Carborella is all about. This was the first thing I made. As you will see through out my project the logo sets the tone for the rest of my content.

Icons

I made each design in Adobe Illustrator. Each icon illustration represents a new week’s theme. I had four themes: cookies, bread, cake, and bars. Each icon illustration follows a similar pattern with a different design in the middle.

Animation

This animated stopwatch icon can be seen in every single video I made. I know this was a small portion of my project, but it was one of the things I feel I learned the most from. I wanted to try a new skill and animating an icon in Adobe After Effects from Illustrator seemed like a doable task. It’s small, but there was a lot of work that went into creating it.

Photography

Photography was one of my favorite parts of this project. I loved getting to stage the different desserts, and then eating them afterwards!

Video Tutorials

 I created 8, 1 minute tutorial videos, each highlighting a different recipe. All were shot in the same style to ensure a strong brand identity.  Each video is shot from an overhead perspective. They all include how much of each ingredient you will need, how long to bake them, and a time lapse to demonstrate how to put everything together. Below are all 8 videos.

Moving the Needle (My Plan for the Future)

My project was focused solely on creating content, so the next step is to promote my work. I have created a plan to be able to do that. Through this plan potential clients and other baking enthusiast can view my work. I will continue my posting pattern of three times a week, starting with an icon illustration explaining this week’s theme, followed by two video tutorials. I will add hashtags to all of my posts, produce paid ads, and become more interactive with other users. I will also use the story element of instagram to post a behind-the-scenes look at how I create my content.

Reflection

My project, as with life, didn’t always go to plan. My original project proposal had me doing 12 video tutorial posts and starting my social media campaign. As I began working on my tutorials, I quickly found that those videos took a lot longer than I had originally anticipated. I sat down, regrouped, and created a modified plan that I would be proud of and could accomplish in the set time frame. My main focus throughout this whole project was creating content that would be an asset to my portfolio. So, I decided to postpone the social media campaign. I changed the original 12 video posts to 8 video and 4 icon illustration posts for a total of 12 posts. This way I could focus on creating quality content and not rush to hit less important elements in my project.

My advisor asked me if I thought I missed out on something because I didn’t fully realize my original proposal. In the short term, yes. It would have been nice to be able to have analytics and data to back up the content I produced. To have seen how others would react to my work. However, in the long term, I don’t think so. This project was created with longevity in mind. I wanted to create something that not only lasts, but something that can continue to grow past the due date. By keeping quality content creation at the center of my focus, I feel like I have a good foundation to build upon. I can move forward with the next steps having full confidence in my work.