“Digital Artefact? What the hell is that?” was probably the first few questions on everyone’s mind upon reading our subject outline – which was exactly Kira and I’s initial thoughts once hearing what this subject would entail. However, we were quick to learn that just coming up with the idea for our DA was all part of the process wishing to be explored by the media subject.
Like everyone else, we were baffled by how broad the project guidelines were, and consequently, what that would mean when trying to think of what exactly we wanted to do. We knew that we needed to think of something soon, considering it would be a semester-long project, and we wanted to get started early enough that we wouldn’t be stressing about the approaching submission dates. And so, on our drive home from uni on a cold Wednesday afternoon – our first class back after our break – we debated over what we could produce.
We threw ideas left, right, and centre, laughing over the stupid ones, and pondering over the ones that would be more difficult to achieve. A cooking show? Too expensive. A DIY website? We didn’t know enough about handy-work. A café review blog? Too narrow of an idea. Thankfully, our drive home takes » one hour and so these ideas pinging around our heads began to join and we began to see a pattern in what we thought people were interested in, which we could combine with our experiences, and passions – and most importantly, we considered what was limiting us as uni students from achieving grand DA ideas. Money was a big consideration; we didn’t want to spend copious amounts on our project and with that thought, we understood what we wanted to do.
We started to mash the ideas together – why not make something that incorporated all of the things we were interested in and then make them relevant to university students – since that is the demographic we fit into. We began to think of this audience and what that would mean for our DA’s content. Because we have firsthand experience in being students, we knew the main areas in which people tend to stress about. We wanted to focus mainly on advice regarding money, such as where to buy cheap + good quality clothing, but also dabble into other topics such as studying and relationships. We then further narrowed our target audience to female uni students, as we felt our voices could be matched, and our experiences shared more closely. As soon as we got the ball rolling, it was on. The list I was rapidly typing away at, full of ideas, became longer and longer throughout our trip home and by the time I got out of the car, we were happy with what we had come up with so far – excited even.
We later decided on a website to post articles on, which would have an email attached, wherein people could ask for advice, which could then be posted anonymously if they choose, as well as where people could send in submissions for segments. An Instagram page would also be made for similar submissions, as well as updates on when new articles are posted to the website. Because we are majoring in marketing, we wanted to be able to target our audience, and felt that social media would be the place to do this.
We drew inspiration from YouTubers such as Bella Fiori, Ashley (‘bestdressed’), and, Rohini Elise, all whom have a similar aesthetic, and discuss similar topics to what we had in mind. Seeing what their audience is like will also help us further define our own.
And so, we started to create our DA…
(Twenty-Third of August 2019)
in omnia paratus 