Chapter 7 of Landa’s book discusses the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion in marketing strategies. What we put out into the world matters, knowing your audience and their pain points is valuable when creating an effective branding strategy. Most importantly, topics of DEI in marketing must be genuine. There is a trend in advertising to target those who have been historically excluded from society, solely for sales purposes, but my generation seeks to hold these companies accountable. To whom and where my money goes matters as making sure our work speaks to specific audiences and that there is a purpose in reaching them. This mindset is evident in my final project for Process + Systems as it encouraged me to consider the lasting effect of my deliverables. Since How to Make Something is centered around “making to make yourself feel better”, and targets mental health initiatives, I decided to add an extra component to my website and deliverables. Although it is hypothetical, there is now a link to donate to so that not only I would be supported to continue making projects, but part of that fund would go to The Art Therapy Project, a non-profit that serves children who have been affected by domestic violence, and many other traumas.
I very much resonated with Chapter 8 of Strategic Creativity. Landa mentioned several anecdotes but there was one that stood out to me as it spoke to the goals that my final project is trying to accomplish. Nijel Taylor, a design director discusses how allowing others into your creative process encourages better work from a team. One major component of How to Make Something is to take projects that were successful and break them down into instructionals that anyone can access. Because I am providing these projects through both digital and physical mediums, highlighting key aspects such as duration, materials, and skill level that the project, it encourages people to make and it is inspiring me to keep making as well.