Mission Statement

After looking over my brief I really need to focus on getting my brand and name for my project, but first I need to write a mission and values statement.

• This is NOT a dating service, but a way in which people can introduce themselves to new people and start conversations. 
  
• A fun way to meet new people

Mission Statement

To promote and encourage a more connected society by giving individuals the tools needed to meet (introduce themselves) and connect with new people face to face 

 

Define what the company is

A networking service giving people the tools to help people introduce themselves to others and to connect people in a physical environment. 

 

What the company aspires to

To get more people out and making relationships in a physical environment and having healthier lives for it

 

Distinguish from other companies

Most other companies today are networking online and not connecting people together in a physical environment. I want to get people back to the basics by meeting others through bonding in a physical setting, person-to-person, face-to-face and eye-to-eye.

Slogan:  

"Changing the way people socially connect today." 

Social network service

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A profile page within the social network service Friendster

A social network service focuses on building online communities of people who share interests and/or activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others. Most social network services are web based and provide a variety of ways for users to interact, such as e-mail and instant messaging services.

Social networking has encouraged new ways to communicate and share information. Social networking websites are being used regularly by millions of people.

While it could be said that email and websites have most of the essential elements of social network services, the idea of proprietary encapsulated services has gained popular uptake recently.

The main types of social networking services are those which contain category divisions (such as former school-year or classmates), means to connect with friends (usually with self-description pages) and a recommendation system linked to trust. Popular methods now combine many of these, with Facebook widely used worldwide; MySpace, Twitter and LinkedIn being the most widely used in North America;[1] Nexopia (mostly in Canada);[2] Bebo,[3] Hi5, StudiVZ (mostly in Germany), Decayenne, Tagged, XING;[4], Badoo[5] and Skyrock in parts of Europe;[6] Orkut and Hi5 in South America and Central America;[7] and Friendster, Multiply, Orkut, Wretch, Xiaonei and Cyworld in Asia and the Pacific Islands.

There have been some attempts to standardize these services to avoid the need to duplicate entries of friends and interests (see the FOAF standard and the Open Source Initiative), but this has led to some concerns about privacy.

> Link to a  list of Online Social Networking websites

Some samples of social websites that are out there today:

London City Socialising

 

Be Londoner

 

Lonely in London

 

Loopy Love

 

oh, and this following website is just for the beautiful people. Good to know.

Beautiful People

 

__________________________________________________

Ok, so obviously there are massive amounts of people online connecting, but we are not getting together near as much in person to bond and to connect in a physical environment. 

My mission is to get people to meet in person, face to face, and chat it up!   After a great deal of researching and gathering my own survey information on this subject I have solid proof that we are disconnected and chatting on a computer is not going to solve our problem. 

I am NOT attempting to create a dating service or a love connection scheme. This is a tool to get people to introduce themselves and meet people face to face rather than online.

Person to person, face to face, eye to eye! 

Typeface I built to use for one of the cards. I was thinking about getting a photograph of someone handing the "Hello" to someone else, like on the street or in the train. I will have to tape or construct the letters together so they can easily be handed to someone.  

I also like the idea of having the type sitting on a train station bench or seat on the train. Since I don't have a camera to use yet i am just working with my kitchen chair for now to get an idea of how to set it up.

At a stand still

I have a great deal of visual ideas mapped out and thought through for my cards. I have about 7 to 9 concept ideas for visuals on the cards. At this point I can start moving ahead and get photographs taken for my my next design layouts. I need a camera to take my photographs for my design ideas as I only have a small cannon that does not take high resolution photographs. 

I went to the campus supply building and they are not sure if I can check out supplies or not because I am in the MA Design for Communications program. The person at the supply department told me it depended upon my program putting money into their department. I was also told that the head of their department was not there and they could not give me any supplies without his permission, but did give me his email address so I could contact him. 

I sent him an email and am hoping I hear back from him before he leaves. If not I will have to go with plan B and rent a camera. 

In the mean time I am designing my graphics needed thus far, gathering my text for the cards and organising my sketchbooks. 

This project is going to involve 2.5" x 3.5" collection cards with different designs on them. A bit like playing cards or top trumps for instance. There are a collection of cards. I am interested in designing cards with several different variations of styles and information. The cards can be saved, shared and even given to another person and used a bit like a business card as they can be given to others as a means to keep in touch and connect with new people. 

As I stated in earlier blogs, I want to have three main types of cards:

1. Character cards- will have certain scenarios with people and how they might be living their lives and how they got connected

2. Fact/statistics cards- will have facts about connecting and statistics about positive aspects of connecting with others verses being isolated

3. Contact/ business type cards- that one can actually give away, adding their contact infromation to keep in touch with people they meet

The following sample cards are a variation of one style I am playing around with for the back side of the connection cards. I am working with the idea of creating a small message on the tiny piece of paper, maybe something simple like " Coffee sometime?" or "Lunch?". On the back side of the cards there will be a photograph and either statistics about people connecting in a physical environment and the benefits of doing so or maybe a character and a bit about that person's life or some cards will have a blank area on the other side, which can be use to add a person's contact information; phone number, email, etc. 

Visual concepts for my design project

Updated Mind/Brainstorming Map

Using the same typeface I cut out of paper I started working on a design idea for the back of the cards.  

Sample Card

visual ideas for my project

I am now working towards how I am going to visually communicate my message about getting people connected. 

I have gathered all information and research regarding my subject. I have analyzed the information and found that there is a lack of people connecting in a physical setting. I found there is a need for this solution and am now working towards visual elements to be used. 

I am looking into the face to face idea for a brand for my project. The name is a bit used, but I do like the faces I cut out and want to incorporate them in my design. I still like the idea of using " Did you drop this" as it has a fresh curious feel to it. 

This is a layout idea for the actual brand for the project, "Face to Face". I made afew variations of this design.

The Big Lunch

I love this site as it hits on my subject of getting people to connect. A couple of men from the Eden Project came up with the idea to have one giant picnic in London in order to get people to connect with their communities. I want to get this concept on the go and in a package or way in which people can meet on an every day basis without feeling scared or shy about meeting new people. It is a good idea to get people together in this way, yet people still have to meet each other. 

The Big Lunch 

Interviews

There are many reasons why people are not connecting and meeting people. There might be time constraints, some people are very shy and find it hard to meet new people and in a different city or cultural setting one may not know how to meet people and what the proper etiquette is in that particular environment. Many people relocate and find it quite hard to meet people in a new place. 

I have interviewed a few people about their lives and how they are connecting and am telling there story here as I may use them as my characters in my project. 

15/07/09

I met Matt, 26 and a worker at Lush Fresh Handmade Cosmetics Company. He moved to London from Connecticut, US and said it took him five months before he made a friend here. He said it is very hard to meet people here. 

3/07/09

My name is Mary Anne. I am 35 years old and a student working on my masters degree in design. I am currently living in London. I am from the states, but am here for school. I have been here since last September 2008. It is now July, 2009. I find it hard to meet new people and find myself spending a great deal of time in my room on my computer as means of keeping in touch with friends and family back home. I have met a few people since living here, but I still find myself isolated from others as I find it really tough talking to people here. Most of the gatherings at school are alcohol related and I do not drink. This put a large damper on things as a great deal of the population consumes alcohol in college. People seem reserved and not willing to strike up a conversation unless it is through a friend's introduction or simple questions like directions from one place to another. There are days that i am very sad or am having trouble with research or just need someone to talk to. I have to rely on my mother a great deal and wish I had someone here i could confide in. It is amazing how a simple thing like a hug or pat on the back feels at a time like this. I miss my mom's hugs and reassurance. A warm smile and a nod letting me know things are ok. 

I am not as shy as most and am willing to put a little more effort into talking to people. I have classmates that say they are way too shy to attempt a conversation with someone new. 

3/07/09

Nancy is an illustrator and currently living in London. She moved here about five years ago to take a break after graduating from the university, but ended up staying here and looking for work. She met someone here and fell in love. They had a child together, but a few years later broke apart. She is thirty one years old and a single mother. She started working on her masters degree last year and is looking for freelance work in the design field. 

Other than the few people she met through her past relationship, she knows few people in London and finds that she is quite lonely and disconnected socially. She keeps quite busy with her classwork and looking for jobs, but would really like to connect with others, to have someone to talk to and even have a place she can go when she is feeling very sad and alone. 

My roommate Claire, comes to me often sad and feeling quite alone. She twenty nine and a student at the same university. She is from China and also feels it is very difficult to meet people here. 

She told me it is much easier to call someone at home, even if they are not very close to her, if she is lonely and feeling sad. They will call her right away and set up a time to get together to talk. She told me here she feels she cannot do that as she can't seem to meet anyone. Many days she tells me she is lonely and wished she was back home with her friends. She is single and would like to meet people 

'Love Struck", The London Paper, London UK, But what about "Friend struck", or "Community Struck"?...

A great deal of people I talked to thought it inappropriate to walk up to someone on the street or a train and start a conversation. Some societies have this unspoken rule about conversing with people whilst commuting in these situations. 

 

One of my classmates told me that in her experience some people actually find that talking to them would be considered rude as they are trying to get to their destination and this is time they are trying to get a minute of rest in their busy day and just don't want to be bothered.

 

Ok, so there are people that don't want to be bothered. What about the single people, the lonely people, the people looking for friendships and to connect with their community? 

 I then started traveling about the London trains and on the streets and found that if I needed help, such as asking for directions or wanting to read a paper that might be placed next to a person, it was fine to speak to someone and there is no problem. People, overall, are willing to help in a small situation like this, but do keep to themselves in general. 

 I have also been in a situation that I caught eyes with someone, we smiled at each other and then left separate ways because neither of us was willing to go to that next step. I have a great fear that I should not just walk up to people and start talking as I have been told it is not appropriate. 

 A woman started talking to me in line at the D&AD a few weeks ago. I was pleasantly surprised and pleased that she started the conversation. She was very kind and I thought she would be a nice person to get to know better. I am new to the city and would love to make a new friend. I had to leave suddenly and never got her name let alone her email or phone number. I left the line wondering "what if?" 

 

Whilst traveling about the city I found The  London Paper has a section for singles and people looking for love. There is an article is called, 'Lovestruck'. Basically what you do is if you fancy someone on your travels though out the day traveling on the train and you are afraid to speak to them, or whatever the reason, in person you can text a message to this site, pay a fee of 50p plus standard network extras, the editor looks over the message and finds it appropriate for printing and then your message will be printed in this section in the hopes that the person you are messaging might actually read the next issue. 

This seems to me a bit of a gamble when you could simply get rid of the middleman and just talk to the person...yes, but how?

I read several of the messages from this article and found that people are connecting in a non-verbal way. Most of the article either mention a smile or shared a quick chat, but for some reason or other are stopping before they can make a connection. Are they too shy, nervous about meeting new people, afraid of rejection? They are willing to text in to this service and spend money in hopes that they might find that person again to create a connection, be it love or friendship. 

Ok, so this is a dating service and I have been talking mostly about love and dating situations, but I was wondering why they don't have a friendship network services. I want to design a way in which people can connect in the actual situation and not have to wait and wonder “What if?”

 

Interview with Amelia

Name: Amelia
Age: 30
Single
Full-time student
Home town: Houston TX, US
Currently living in London UK

"I was fortunate enough to make a few friends while doing community theatre as a teenager - who I am friends with to this day. It seems that after the age of twenty meeting new people became more difficult. The friends I made throughout my twenties are people I met through work.

Moving to London was a completely different experience and trying to connect with people proved to be quite difficult. I suppose the situations I am in have allowed me to meet people easier (ie. through school or through friends I already had here). I was able to connect with several people at a film festival which I think is a good way to meet people. You are clearly all there because of a similar interest (in this case films) so it's easier to strike up conversations.

Also, in my case I have often taken to the internet to meet people. This is not without its own set of crazy circumstances but it does allow you to "feel out" people before actually meeting them. Perhaps it is a shy person's way of making friends. You are not having to completely put yourself out there."

my visual design

I am taking the "Did you drop this?" quote and working on my website image and card design.

This image is the first sample photograph taken

I am playing around with this photograph at the moment. I want the hand to be holding a card that says, "Did you drop this?", but instead of having an actual card in the hand I want to create the card out of just typeface. I will experiment today on my media and do a bit of mixing around!

This is the blank photograph I will be adding the type to