When we receive a message such as one through a picture the message is registered through the senses and processed in short term memory before going to the long-term memory. We are always taking in information even if we don’t realize it. Sometimes the information that we take in is subtle through visual or auditory background elements. We all easily recognize the main subject information as it holds our primary focus. Knowing that we take in information from multiple levels we can design our multimedia work in such a way that we convey the most information possible without having to add text or audio. My personal favorite ways to do this are through video and image editing by simply framing the scene in the lens to make it visually appealing while also telling a story. The featured image is a great example of this. Other ways of doing this is placing appropriate audio cues in the video such as music or sound effects. This can also be done through creating text with certain size, color or style. Every little detail adds up.

When it comes to Transmedia Marketing, I don’t know if they ever inspired me to make something happen, other than to watch another movie or research a reference. It is however a concept which I do plan to use within my own branding. For example, when I move to my professional branding, I will always make reference to Good Design #8 and my educational journey.

When considering fonts and colors for your website it is important to choose ones that are inviting to the user. Fonts should be easy to read, and colors should be pleasant and contrasting. With so many colors to choose from using a color wheel can help with finding complimentary colors that go best together. Some goof examples of this would be red text and a green background or a red background with green text while a bad example of this would be orange text on a red background or red text on an orange background.

Moving onto fonts could be a whole essay on its own. There is so much to learn about fonts. The general rule of thumb is to use Sans Serif Fonts as they are generally more legible and easier to read. Helvetica being the main font that all Sans Serif Fonts descend from can be found everywhere and is the easiest text to read. When fonts are hard to read, they will often go unread, or the message will be quickly forgotten. The biggest lesson with fonts and colors is to choose ones that complement each other and make reading easy so that the reader can retain the information.

I chose to make my cartoon avatar on the http://southpark.cc.com/avatar website. This link took me directly to the avatar creation page where I was only able to use Butter’s body type, but I was able to customize the skin color somewhat. Overall, there were a good variety of customization options. Some customizations had more options than others. I did enjoy the meme phrases they provide as they brought back the laughs from when I watched this series years ago. The process of customization was made easy with simple navigation and clicks that were easy to understand with a good layout and design.

I would like to see more features added to this site for users to have more creative freedom in their avatar choices.  For example, if we had the ability to make a fat Cartman avatar with the meme “Respect my authority” fans could have more fun with the creation of their own cartoon characters. I do believe that more options could be added without taking away from the South Park theme.

Fan sites such as this are a great way to promote engagement by allowing fans to join in on the fun of creating their own avatar cartoon character. I think this cartoon would have been successful even without this feature, but it does keep South Park more relevant than it would have been otherwise.