i know we left class in a less than ideal place today, regarding a solid plan for monday's "gotomeeting" call. i do not want you all to fret about how to get this information organized -- i am here to help each of you figure out how to articulate the research in a clear and organized manner.
just to re-cap, (and this is from my memory/experience, without the benefit of Y's resource) here are some important things to consider including:
- vision (look this up. it's basically "how do we want to change our corner of the world? what does that world look like?")
- mission (look this up. "what will we do to achieve that vision?")
- why are we doing this? (what's the larger motivation for doing this work?)
- how? (building on the mission, it states the specific actions the group undertakes to achieve its vision)
- values ("what ideas does our group hold as valuable in the work that we are doing?")
- audience(s)
- brand attributes (typically derived directly from values. these are descriptive words that may be visualized or symbolized in some way)
- etc etc
each of these things can be expressed in written language, but can just as effectively be expressed visually. words typically have a more focused meaning (but not always), whereas images are usually a bit more ambiguous.
look at multiple sources for advice and ideas for how to make this a creative and informative document that can be useful for future reference. it may be built upon as you start to add identity elements that give visual form to the "big ideas" for this organization.
please email me if you want me to look things over and comment as you develop them. i am happy to help out as much as i'm able between now and monday. i am out during school hours on thursday though (volunteering at my daughter's school for the day).
finally, as i said to some of you at the end of class -- be proactive in contributing to this work. do not sit around waiting for someone to tell you what to do. i am keeping daily track of who is actively participating and moving this work forward, which will be reflected in your grade. make work, propose solutions, help wherever you can, bring stuff to respond to.