A Contextual Report of @aliciacassidydesign

Project Summary

@aliciacassidydesign is an instagram account that was created with the intention of targeting graphic designers by providing creative inspiration, whilst assisting to build my design portfolio. The project’s utility was defined through research by Adobe that stated the need for creatives to take time out to consume others work, rather than create. Similarly, the project displayed utility to myself as it enhanced my skills and potential to gain clients or exposure in future, through a developing online presence.

Instagram was utilised to bring this project to life as it already had a large and supportive community of graphic designers, making it easier to engage with similar accounts and my target audience. I planned on posting content such as mood boards or typography inspiration as well as my own designs and process. Specific accounts in this existing community such as @briefclub, @itsabiconnick and @by_macie inspired this project as they exhibited a balance between being educational, inspirational and beneficial to the designer, which is what I was aiming for.

However, during the execution of this project I found myself slightly unmotivated and having a lack of time to execute the account to my desired potential. As a result, this report explores a story of continuous experimentation and trial and error, whilst highlighting where I could have put in more effort to achieve better results.

Moment 1 – Reels vs. Carousel Posts

My first feedback loop was characterised by experimenting with reel posts vs. feed posts and their level of engagement obtained. This was a significant moment as the outcome differed to my initial predictions, which was that reels were going to be more effective. As I empathised with my audience and initially defined the problem of my target audience to be overcoming creative burnout, my first post was an inspirational typography reel examined below.

The level of engagement on this reel wasn’t extremely high, however this was expected as it was the first post and the account only had about 30 followers. To compare, I experimented with and tested a carousel post which was more focused on work I had designed, rather than inspiration. Whilst ideating for this carousel post I decided on utilising a creative brief that had already been posted by an existing design account called @wob.agency, in hopes of reaching a wider audience. The post and its engagement is exhibited below.

Comparison of Engagement

During this testing stage I observed that the engagement was still low and similar to the reel. However, what differed was the increased amount of positive verbal feedback received in real life regarding this form of content, with many stating they “preferred” this over the reel. What I found interesting is that when I asked why, many liked the relation to fashion that this post had.

This feedback loop, which adhered to the Harris and Ambrose Design process and the process of experimentation, was informative in guiding ideas for more niche design content for the future.

Moment 2 – Experimenting with Niche Content

The previous iterative feedback loop provided insight into particular interests of my audience which proved beneficial when ideating the following post. Using this knowledge about how my audience enjoyed fashion related design content, I prototyped and posted 3 fashion branding mood boards.

Insights from the Post Above

The testing stage for this feedback loop resulted in engagement that was higher than usual for the account. In turn, proving valuable by reinforcing the concept that niche content performs better. Although, it also taught me that my audience engagement wasn’t entirely from my target audience and instead family or friends, meaning there was still much ideation and testing to be done. Thus, I re-empathised and began experimenting with content that would evoke a sense of relatability for my target audience, a factor that had been observed to work well through other creators.

Moment 3 – Experimenting with Active Weekly Briefs for Targeted Engagement

As I was continually struggling to get specific engagement from my target audience for the first 3-4 weeks of undertaking this project, during ideation I brainstormed more relatable content. The prototype below, resulted in a testing stage that highlighted an increased amount of comments from my intended target audience of graphic designers. Ultimately, providing insight about my target audience and the content they prefer to engage with.

Comments Received from Target Audience

The post I created utilised the weekly brief from @briefclub and their hashtag #TBCHollapenos. This feedback loop was significant as I learnt that participating in ‘active’ creative briefs by large established accounts, was increasingly more effective in reaching my target audience, than those without active hashtags.

A moment was also highlighted here, where my lack of time and motivation interfered with my potential to grow the account. I could have utilised the lesson learnt from this loop by continuing to participate in weekly briefs, however chose not to. This was as I learnt that it took me a full day to design and post this type of content, which was time I could not designate regularly for one single post.

Moment 4 – Story Polls & Question Boxes

The final significant moment for this project that assisted in learning about my audience and increasing the utility of the account, was experimentation with Instagram story polls and Q&A boxes. I began with ideating what specific questions would work best and align with the feedback I wanted to gain. Therefore, for the first prototype, I went with a Q&A box that asked my audience what their favourite form of creative inspiration was.

Responses from Q&A Box

During the testing stage for this post, the content only received 2 responses, highlighting that this was largely ineffective. However, it allowed me to re-empathise with my audience by identifying the problem, which was that it was not direct or convenient enough for my followers. This was significant as it reinforced the power of empathising in understanding audience values. Therefore, I re-ideated and decided that a poll could be more effective in gaining responses. I posted the story below testing this theory, and it received 15 responses. This testing stage was effective as it allowed me to clearly re-define the utility as a platform for others to observe my work and process rather than use it as inspiration. Also, answering the question as to why most of the inspiration posts received poor engagement.

Therefore, I utilised this to shape the ideation of my next post which involved a collaboration with a fellow digital artefact podcast, Curiosity In Rising. I created a logo for his project which also simultaneously gave me design content to post.

Whilst the project is quite small with only 117 followers, utilising the design process and design thinking was largely effective in expanding my skills and knowledge and will prove invaluable for future work.