My Adventure Abroad

Terry Nichols Farmingdale State College Visual Communications Senior Project 2012

Terry Nichols

My Adventure Abroad May 8th 2012

Terry Nichols

May 8th 2012

Bachelor of Technology in Visual Communications Senior Thesis Book Department of Visual Communications: Art & Graphic Design Farmingdale State College, State University of New York

Professor Irina Lee

Professor Jack Harris 5

Table of Contents Executive Summary

2

Introduction

4

Product Description

8

Visual Strategy

12

Cultural Relevance

20

Target Audience

22

Competition

26

Ancillary Products

30

Promotional and Collateral Materials

36

Exhibition

40

Additional Areas

46

Business and Post-Graduation Plan

50

Executive Summary My Adventure Abroad is an interactive website that encourages college students to study abroad. Studying abroad offers many advantages, but less than 1% of American college students do so each year. 1 My Adventure Abroad contains information and advice about studying abroad. It allows users to suggest new content and also urges them to share their own study abroad experiences through social networking.

Additionally, it features a video game, which helps demonstrate the ease, benefit, and the fun of studying abroad through dialogue and tasks.

1

Institute of International Education (http://www.iie.org)

2

Introduction Last spring, I studied abroad at Akita International University in Japan. It was an amazing, life-changing experience, but if I hadn’t been in the right place at the right time, I would have never looked into studying abroad at all.

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I had never considered studying abroad because my impression of it was that it was only for students from wealthy families. I was relying on student loans just to go to a local state college, so going to another country seemed out of the question.

Then one day, an acquaintance of mine was talking about her plans to study abroad. She made it sound feasible, and her excitement about it stuck with me over the following few days.

There happened to be a study abroad fair on campus later that week, so I went and gathered some information. Surprisingly, one of the Japanese programs cost about the same as living at a state school, and they taught the majority of their classes in English. Soon after, I was applying for a student visa.

A few of weeks before I was scheduled to leave, Japan was hit by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake.

Akita International University wasn’t damaged, but nearby Sendai and Fukushima had been devastated by tsunami and radiation respectively.

I went despite this, and I am very glad that I did.

The months I spent in Japan were some of the greatest and most influential months of my life. I met amazing people from all around the world, and there was always a new adventure waiting to happen.

I miss Japan more now than I missed home while I was abroad. I had probably walked right by study abroad fairs in the past, and I would have done it again if someone hadn’t planted the idea.

Photographs © 2011 Terry Nichols

6

Product Description My Adventure Abroad is a website that encourages college students to study abroad. It uses bright colors and interactivity to engage users and speaks to students in a peer voice. Its goal is to spark students’ interest in studying abroad and leave them with a positive impression.

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The design of the website imitates a video game.

The world map in the background resembles a level selection screen, and a character sprite follows behind the cursor as the user moves it around the page. When one of the landmarks on the map is clicked, the My Adventure Abroad logo on the top of the page is replaced by a version of the logo which represents that particular country.

Home Page– MyAdventureAbroad.com

Information is displayed in closeable, movable menus. The menu on the left is the site’s main navigation. The content is organized into a list of common questions and concerns about studying abroad. The items are listed in order of priority and each has at least one corresponding answer.

Clicking on an item in the menu brings up the response window, which contains all related content.

Example of a response page

Users can vote on the priority level of questions, suggest new questions to be added, and can also suggest additional responses. The new content is added to the site upon moderator approval.

The window on the right integrates Twitter in place of the chat feature commonly found in online games.

Recent tweets by My Adventure Abroad are displayed, as well as tweets by others that reference

Submit a question

My Adventure Abroad. Users can sign in with Twitter and send tweets directly from the website.

The play game button on the bottom left of the page loads the My Adventure Abroad video game. When the button is pressed, the sun sets over the map scene and it becomes nighttime as the game window fades in over the page.

Night version of the home page

10

Visual Strategy

12

Color Palette The color palette consists of vibrant greens, blues, and oranges, as well as black and white. The greens and blues playfully represent the colors of the world.

Orange is an accent color, which adds warmth and is visible on top of the greens and blues. Black and white are contrast colors for text and menus.

Typefaces Rockwell is used for the headlines. For a typeface to represent My Adventure Abroad well, it needs to give a feeling of fun and adventure, and a slab serif seemed to be just the right fit. Most serif fonts feel

Rockwell Bold Rockwell

too formal, but using all sans serif would have been too dull and textureless.

Helvetica is used for the body copy, since it is very legible and is a common web font. For users who do not have Helvetica installed, Arial will replace it.

Helvetica Helvetica Light

14

Logo Design The My Adventure Abroad logo has both a vertical and horizontal format and uses the imagery of an airplane runway. Most study abroad journeys begin and end with an airport, but the adventure isn’t in the take off and landing, it’s in the people and the culture of the destination. Since every country is unique, each country has its own version of the logo.

Gerneral My Adventure Abroad logo

Japanese version of the My Adventure Abroad logo

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Brand Visuals My Adventure Abroad’s visuals are simple and illustrative. The video game character is a generic representation of an average college student.

The world map motif simplifies and distorts the world, making Europe much larger and the oceans much smaller. Silhouettes of famous and recognizable landmarks from popular study abroad destinations are placed on the map representative of their respective countries.

video game character

World map motif

18

Cultural Relevance My Adventure Abroad is colorful, animated and eye catching. On the Internet, first impressions are extremely important. If a website doesn’t make a good impression right away, users will just move on to the next. It also makes use of modern jQuery and CSS3 techniques, which helps give the impression that the site is fresh and relevant.

My Adventure Abroad is clutter free and functions smoothly. It makes use of CSS sprites to avoid the need to load many small graphics, since long load times can discourage people from using a website.

Though it’s interface doesn’t work like a standard website, it is intuitive and reminiscent of online video games. The My Adventure Abroad video game works intuitively as well, using the arrow keys and mouse.

20

Target Audience My Adventure Abroad’s target audience includes American college students between the ages of 18 and 22 who have stayed close to home. Most of them have part time jobs, busy lives, and very little income.

22

Throughout my research I have found that many students would love to travel and experience other cultures, but they are worried about the cost, the language barrier, and about being far away from their friends and family. I had similar concerns about studying abroad, and that will help me better address the audience.

James "Internet Fan" The primary focus is on students like James, who fits the persona of an ‘Internet fan.” James spends several hours a day online. He checks many different blogs, web comics and websites regularly. He plays online games and uses sites such as StumbleUpon, Digg and Reddit to discover new material online.

Jane "Social Networker" The secondary focus is on students like Jane, the “social networker.” Jane doesn’t spend as much time on her computer, but she is almost always connected to social networks on her cell phone or iPad. She updates frequently and pays close attention to what her friends share online.

Katie "Average Student" “Average students” like Katie fall into the third target group. Katie spends a few hours online each day, checking some usual sites, her email, and social networks.

She doesn’t go out of her way to find new content on the Internet, but if a friend sends her a link, she is sure to check it out.

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Competition There are several other websites about studying abroad, but unlike the others, My Adventure Abroad uses color, animation and games to get the attention of students who otherwise might not be interested. It doesn’t require users to sign up for an account to contribute to the site, and it takes advantage of Twitter, which many students already use. Though My Adventure Abroad doesn’t have a database of study abroad programs, it encourages students to visit their school’s study abroad office to find out what their options are and find a program that suits them.

26

GoAbroad.com and StudyAbroad.com are websites that allow users to search for study abroad programs and provide information about various scholarships and opportunities. These websites can be cluttered and complicated. The amount of information can be overwhelming. They also neglect to stress that students should involve their school, which might leave them lost about their next steps.

GoAbroad.com

GoAbroad.net is another competition site, which lets travelers keep and share journals about their time abroad. Users have to create an account to share their experiences, and they are mostly reaching an audience of already experienced travellers.

StudyAbroad.com

The Institute of International Education’s “Get a Passport” campaign is a campaign that encourages students to get a passport and talk to their school’s study abroad office about going abroad. The Institute of International Education spreads this message through events on college campuses, but they don’t have much of a web presence and are limited to reaching students that

Institue of International Education– iie.org

go to their partner schools.

Additionally, gaming sites are peripheral competition.

NewGrounds and Facebook are popular websites for online gaming. Adventure Quest is a popular online game with a continuing story and was also a source of inspiration while creating My Adventure Abroad.

Adventure Quest– Battleon.com

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Ancillary Products

30

Video Game My Adventure Abroad features an exploration video game. It is currently being programmed for PC

Player sprite sheet

using Microsoft’s XNA framework, which can later be transferred to the Silverlight format to be played online.

The game helps demonstrate how easy it can be to study abroad, how it can help students learn a new language, and how it can teach them about another culture. In the game, there are non-playable characters the user can talk to. These non-playable characters ask the user to gather items from the environment and bring them back.

My Adventure Abroad title screen

The gamer starts off in the library of an American college, and they have to collect some paperwork and hand it in so that they can go to their destination abroad.

Katana –game item

The pilot level takes place in Japan. The user can inspect items in the environment and read about different aspects of Japanese culture. They can collect Japanese hiragana characters and pair them with their English spellings.

To complete the level, the user must buy groceries from the local store for a Japanese student named Keiko.

Keiko wants to teach the main character how to make a traditional Japanese dish. All of the items in the store are written in Japanese, and it is up to the user to apply what they have learned in order to figure out what to buy.

Once they bring Keiko the proper ingredients, the level ends with a traditional Japanese picnic called ‘hanami’.

My Adventure Abroad menu icons

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Social Networking My Adventure Abroad uses Facebook and Twitter for promotion and to keep those interested updated.

Facebook.com/MyAdventureAbroad

@AdventureAbroad

Web Advertising My Adventure Abroad uses web advertisements to promote featured countries. These ads promote Japan.

Leaderboard ad (728 x 90 pixels) displayed on QuestionableContent.net

Skyscraper ad (120 x 600 pixels) displayed on AwkwardZombie.com

Square ad (125 x 125 pixels) displayed on BetweenFailures.net

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Promotional and Collateral Materials

36

Luggage Tags These luggage tags have the My Adventure Abroad logo printed on them. They serve as reminder to go somewhere and are useful when traveling.

3.37" x 2.12" luggage tags

Sticker Sheets These sticker sheets promote Japan as a featured country. They include the Japanese variation of the My Adventure Abroad logo, the student character, and Japanese items (with descriptions in Japanese and English) that can be stuck onto the character.

8" x 10.5" vinyl kiss cut sticker sheet

Postcards These postcards have the world map motif on them and are packaged with small orange stickers that can be used as location markers to mark where you have been, where you are going, or where you want to go.

4" x 6" postcards with location markers and instructions

Business Cards These are personal business cards that have been rebranded for My Adventure Abroad.

2.5" x 3" business cards

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Exhibition

40

Exhibition Space The exhibition space will include a 26” x 18” display

A. Mac displaying live website

table, a 24” x 14” framed poster of the map motif,

B. Map motif poster

a Mac computer station, and a PC computer station.

C. PC running game demo

The Mac will display the live website, and the PC will

D. Exhibition book

be running a demo of the video game. The exhibition

E. Sticker sheet

book and all supporting collateral will be displayed

F. Postcards

on the table. There will also be SUNY study abroad

G. Business cards

applications and a sticker despenser with instructions

H. Luggage tags

to place stickers on the map: white for anywhere you

I. SUNY study abroad applications

have studied abroad, blue for anywhere you have

J. Sticker instructions

traveled and orange for anywhere you want to go.

K. Sticker dispenser

A

B

C

I

E D

G

H

J K

F

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Show Card [content of show card] Last spring, I studied abroad at Akita International University in Japan. The months I spent in Japan were some of the greatest months of my life. I met people from all around the world, and there was always a new adventure waiting to happen. I think everyone should get to experience that, so I created My Adventure Abroad: an interactive website that encourages college students to study abroad.

The website contains information and advice about studying abroad. It allows users to suggest new content and urges them to share their study abroad experiences through social networking.

It also features a video game, which helps demonstrate the ease, benefit, and the fun of studying abroad through dialogue and tasks.

Exhibition show cafrd

Poster and Invitations CMYK // Creative Minds Yearn Knowledge

Senior Exhibition 2012

CMYK Creative Minds

CMYK Creative Minds

Senior

Senior

2012

2012

Yearn Knowledge

Exhibition

Exhibition Dates May 4th–May 11th

Opening Reception

Yearn Knowledge

Exhibition Dates:

Opening Reception:

May 7th–May 11th

Tuesday, May 8th 6PM–8PM

Featuring Terry Nichols’

Exhibition

Christian Bangert

Theresa Maurelli

Doug Bouchelle

Kaitlyn Miller

Jacklyn Brizzi

Terry Nichols

Victoria Ohman

Wadi Talhami

Damian Martinez

Scott Truelson

4" x 6" Exhibition Invitation: Front

Farmingdale State College A Campus of The State University of New York 2350 Broadhollow Road Farmingdale, NY 11735-1021

Tuesday, May 8th My Adventure Abroad Terry Nichols

Admission is free and the gallery is accessible to persons with mobility impairments.

For additional information, please call 631-420-6118 or 631-420-2181.

May 7th–May 11th CMYK // Creative Minds Yearn Knowledge Senior Exhibition 2012 Opening Reception Tuesday, May, 8, 2012 6:00PM – 8:00PM Memorial Gallery in Nathan Hale Hall Farmingdale State College Gallery Hours: Monday – Friday, 9AM – 4PM

24" x 72" Exhibition Poster: Front

24" x 72" Exhibition Poster: Back

4" x 6" Exhibition Invitation: Back

44

Additional Areas

46

Student Survey On Febuary 8th, 2012, I surveyed 25

Have you ever studied abroad or thought about studying abroad?

Farmingdale students (9 freshmen,

0% (0) have studied abroad or made plans to study abroad.

5 sophomores, 3 juniors, 7 seniors,

24% (6) have looked into it, but were undecided.

and 1 other) about their Internet habits

8% (2) have looked into it, but decided against it.

and thougths on studying abroad.

16% (4) have thought about it, but never looked into it.

24% (6) haven’t considered it, but would be interested.

24% (6) were not interested.

4% (1) wanted to, but their parents were against it.

What would strongly encourage you to study abroad?

32% (8) said the opportunity to learn a new language.

60% (15) said the opportunity to experience another culture.

36% (9) said the opportunity to spend time away from home.

24% (6) said the positive impact it may have when looking for a job.

28% (7) said hearing about other students’ positive experiences.

What would strongly discourage you from studying abroad?

Do you use StumbleUpon or Reddit?

16% (4) said not knowing the local language.

40% (10) said yes.

12% (3) said being unfamiliar with the local culture/customs.

60% (15) said no.

20% (5) said being far away from home/family/friends.

72% (18) said the cost.

12% (3) said the requirements/application process.

8% (2) said their job.

On average, how much time a day do you spend online?

Do you use Twitter?

40% (10) said yes.

60% (15) said no.

Do you play games online?

8% (2) said less than 1 hour.

48% (12) said yes.

32% (8) said 1–3 hours.

16% (4) occasionaly

40% (10) said 3–6 hours.

36% (9) said no.

20% (5) said more than 6 hours.

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Business, Financial & Post-Graduation Plan

50

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Terry Nichols 631-209-7004 tnichols0415@gmail.com

NEW WEBSITE URGES STUDENTS TO STUDY ABROAD New York Designer Announces Launch of My Adventure Abroad

April 18, 2012, FARMINGDALE, NEW YORK –After spending a semester abroad in Japan, designer Terry Nichols is launching My Adventure Abroad: an interactive website and video game meant to encourage college students to study abroad. Alpha versions of both the website and game will be exhibited at Farmingdale State College as part of the CMYK Senior Exhibition in the Hale Hall gallery from May 7th until May 11th.

My Adventure Abroad contains information and advice about studying abroad. Users can contribute content to the site and share their thoughts and experiences through integrated social networking. The accompanying video game promotes study abroad using dialogue and game play.

Studying abroad can offer many advantages, but only a small fraction of American college students participate.

“Studying abroad was probably the best thing I have ever done for myself. I think everyone should experience it. It’s not as scary as it sounds,” Terry says.

For more information about My Adventure Abroad, visit www.MyAdventureAbroad.com, Facebook.com/MyAdventureAbroad or follow @AdventureAbroad on Twitter.

About Terry Nichols: Terry Nichols is a graphic designer and programmer from Long Island, New York. For more about Terry, visit www.TerryNichols.net/.

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Funding & Extension My Adventure Abroad will seek funding through grants, fundraising on Kickstarter, and possible

Kickstarter.com

partnerships with the Institute of International Education and Games for Change. If funded, the social functions of the website would be completed, and a mobile version of the site would be released.

The pilot level of the game would be expanded and made savable, and then beta testing would be done.

After beta testing, My Adventure Abroad would start

iie.org

regularly releasing new levels featuring different countries. Returning users would be able to keep a “digital passport,� which would contain stamps, images and prizes from levels they have completed.

If My Adventure Abroad becomes successful, it would also be expanded to include e-postcards, customizable game characters, and a web comic.

GamesForChange.org

Mock-up of My Adventure Abroad being featured on GamesForChange.org

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Start-Up Costs Senior Project:

Post-Graduation:

Domain name from GoDaddy.com $10

Web developer $40/hour

Year of web hosting from JustHost.com $54

Game developer $50/hour

60 Postcards from 4by6.com $72

Domain name renewal

$10

Location marker stickers $15

Year of web hosting

$54

Bags from ClearBags.com $10

Advertising $1,000+

25 Sticker Sheets from CustomStickerMakers.com

$178

Promotional materials

5 luggage tags with Printed Logo from PrintPPs.com

$30

250 business cards from GotPrint.com $23 4 standard landscape books from Blurb.com

$187

14� x 24� poster from Minuteman Press $14 Poster frame from PosterFrameDepot.com

$32

Display materials $54 Small display table from Target $17 Building materials $80 Total: $786

$2,000+

Online Marketing My Adventure Abroad will take advantage of online marketing for promotion. It will continue to have a presence on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter,

Facebook.com

and will also take advantage of Facebook’s advertising service, which can target very specific demographics.

My Adventure Abroad will also be promoted on websites such as StumbleUpon, Delicious and Reddit, which are web services that help users discover content that matches their interests. StumbleUpon has an advertising plan that

StumbleUpon.com

insures people will be directed to your site.

In addition, My Adventure Abroad will advertise with banner ads through Project Wonderful, a service that auctions off advertising space on many websites, including many popular web comics.

Kickstarter.com

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Additional Marketing My Adventure Abroad will also work with colleges.

Posters and promotional material can be placed on campuses, events can be held, and informational

Farmingdale.edu

material can be handed out. My Adventure Abroad could also have a presence at college orientations and events for high school seniors who are planning to go to college.

Conventions such as New York Comic Con and PAX East could also serve as a channel of distribution.

NewYorkComicCon.com

My Adventure Abroad could be an exhibitor at these events, emphasizing the game aspect. About 40% of New York Comic Con attendees are in the college student age range. 1

1

www.newyorkcomiccon.com

East.PaxSite.com/

Bibliography “IIE’s Get a Passport: Study Abroad Campaign.” Institute of International Education. Web. 01 Feb 2012. <http://www.iie.org>.

Institute of International Education. (2011). “Profile of U.S. Study Abroad Students, 2000/01-2009/10.”

Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange. Retrieved from http://www.iie.org/opendoor

“NYCC Sales Kit.” New York Comic Con. Web. 05 Mar 2012. <http://www.newyorkcomiccon.com>.

Pinola, Melanie. “Why Studying Abroad Is Worth the Expense.” LifeHacker, 15 Dec 2011. Web. 01 Feb. 2012. <http://lifehacker.com>.

Project Wonderful. Web. 05 Mar 2012. <https://www.projectwonderful.com/>.

StumbleUpon Paid Discovery. Web. 05 Mar 2012. <https://www.stumbleupon.com/pd/>.

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End.