Assessment 1 Client Profile

Learning Intention:

• Choose and Create a Client Character Profile.

• Understand and Analyse the Brief.

Target Audience

Who is Your Client? What are their Characteristics?

• Target audience is the group of people to which a product, media product, or visual communication is intended to attract or appeal to. It is described by referring to specific points of difference between people. These points of difference are organised into categories, known as Characteristics.

• There are six audience Characteristics for describing an audience in VCD: (Demographics) Age, Gender, Culture, Location, Socio-Economic Level and (Psychographics) Interests/Values. You should always choose those that can be clearly seen as evidence to support your design proposal. 

DEMOGRAPHICS

The facts about audiences and users. Demographics refers to categorising audience members and users based on demographic factors such as age, gender, ethnicity, income, education, occupation (socioeconomic status), and location. Designers use this information to create designs that resonate with specific groups.

AGE

There are three ways we can use to describe the age of audience members.

Age Group

We rarely find that a product is aimed at people of one age. It is more likely that they are aimed at people within a range of ages. Some examples of age ranges are:

• 0-3,

• 10-15,

• 18-25,

• 30-50,

• over Fifties.

Life Stage

We can also refer to the stage of life people are in. Stages of life influence the audience’s purchasing decisions. People want products that suit their stage of life. Some ways to refer to stages of life are:

• Toddlers,

• Preschoolers,

• Tweens (9-12 yrs old),

• Teens,

• High School students

• Yuppies,

• First-time mothers

• Grey nomads

• Pensioners

Generation

People can also be categorised by the generation into which they were born. Dividing the market by generations looks at the social, political and economic influences that formed people’s attitudes, beliefs and values. Dividing a market by generation is not so popular, or precise now as people do not agree on the personality traits, nor which years actually define generations for those when born into the digital age. Generations just don't seem to last as long as they used to. Some names for generations are:

• The Great Generation born 1901 – 1927

• The Silent Generation born 1928 – 1945

• Baby Boomers born 1946 – 1964

• Generation X born 1965 – 1980

• Generation Y or Millennials born 1980 – 1994

• Generation Z born 1995 – 2009

• Generation Alpha born 2010 – 2024

• Generation Beta born 2025 – 2039

GENDER

Traditionally, a person’s gender has influenced their purchasing preferences. For example, cleaning products were aimed at women whereas outdoor products were aimed at men. However, these stereotypes are becoming outdated, especially now as gender is accepted to be a dynamic concept. British giant Unilever has moved to ‘unstereotype’ representations of people in advertising ‘with the aim of eliminating harmful and diminishing portrayals of people …’ 

Researchers should determine if asking a person to identify as a particular gender is useful or relevant for the context of the data being collected. In any case, students must use inclusive language that allows for a range of responses, including an option of ‘prefer not to say’.

“(The) General recommended approach for the measurement of gender:

Acknowledge that gender is not a binary concept for some people. Some people may identify in a different way to male or female, or have a gender that is fluid. 

Be mindful that not everyone’s sex and gender will be the same. Why? Sex is recorded at birth, and gender is assumed to be the same. However, some people realise that they do not identify that way and express their gender differently.” 

CULTURE, ETHNICITY

Designers conduct ethnographic research to understand the cultural and social context of their audience. This helps create designs that resonate with specific cultural groups.

“'Ethnicity' refers to the shared identity or similarity of a group of people on the basis of one or more distinguishing characteristics.

These characteristics include:

• A long shared history, the memory of which is kept alive.

• A cultural tradition, including family and social customs, sometimes religiously based.

• A common geographic origin.

• A common language (but not necessarily limited to that group).

• A common literature (written or oral).

• A common religion.

• Being a minority (often with a sense of being oppressed).

• Being racially conspicuous.” 

SOCIOECONOMIC

A person’s socioeconomic status or level is calculated by a range of different factors depending on the industry in which it is used. For the purposes of Visual Communication Design socioeconomic level refers to an aggregate of points given from three influential factors. These are: 

level of education; ranging from no schooling finished to a post-graduate degree. 

occupation; ranging from temporary, casual, through skilled trades to higher managerial and

professional income; ranging from no income to high-level income with accumulated assets.

Market researchers categorise socioeconomic levels into five groups known as ‘quintiles’. These are formed by complex calculations. Students of VCD refer to the socioeconomic levels of audience members by the terms; low, medium and high.

LOCATION

The audience member or user’s location refers to where they live or use a product or experience. The location where they live influences their motivations for purchasing different kinds of products and experiences. Motivations appear in literal or conceptual ways. For example, some people purchase a four-wheel drive because they live on a farm and need that capability in a car. Others, like me, have one because I live in the city and like to be reminded of the outdoors when I go shopping! Designers consider local preferences, cultural nuances, and regional design trends. Locations for audience members and users can be referred to as:

• City dwellers,

• Urban, suburban

• Regional

• Rural

• Remote 

PSYCHOGRAPHICS

What audiences and users think and how they live. This approach to segmentation focuses on the psychological and lifestyle characteristics of the audience. It considers factors like values, attitudes, interests, opinions and activities. Psychographic segmentation helps designers create designs that connect with the audience's beliefs and motivations. Consider your own class, everyone pretty much has the same demographic attributes. But, if you think about it, you couldn’t group everyone together in the same audience. Everyone has different ideas, values, interests and lifestyles. Designers use these factors to figure out what things might attract people’s attention and make them excited. Psychographics examines the unseen factors about audiences.

ATTITUDES, VALUES, OPINIONS

Key differences between audience members and users lie in their attitudes, what means most to them and their opinions. These characteristics refer to what audience members think. They strongly affect their responsiveness to components including taglines, images and other ways Visual Language is used in messages, objects, environments and interactive experiences. Effective market research data assists designers to create design solutions that resonate with target audience members’ values and opinions.

INTERESTS, HOBBIES, LIFESTYLES AND ACTIVITIES

These characteristics refer to what audience members like to do. People have a huge range of interests and hobbies. Whilst certain products are aimed at people who practice certain interests such as camping or extreme sports, others can be marketed to those who are interested in such pastimes but are yet to take them up. Examples of interests, lifestyles and activities include:

• Adventure travellers

• Eco-conscious consumers

• Fitness enthusiasts

• Gardeners

• Music lovers, festival-goers

• Campers, Glampers

Assessment Task 1 Client Profile Instruction 

1. Who is Your Client? What are their Characteristics?

• Choose 1 or 1 group of clients (target audience) from the given 3 options. Highlight the design needs that will inform your design decision. Then set some goals drawing on the design needs to achieve. Noted that you can use your creativity to expand their characteristics in the Target Audience Analysis section. 

• Drop Your Name in this Spreadsheet (Each client has 10 available slots, first come, first served, please do not swap or delete other people's names): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/10jFEaow_3vvEtKV2xfRmn1-gxofeq_XMAHCRe--VeHA/edit?usp=sharing

3. Client Profile Digital Templates Download, please drop your name in the spreadsheet from Step 2 before downloading the templates:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Y49I2nNEQJFSd96shQ-NqRAPJ3YiTR7F?usp=drive_link

Can you summarise the 6 target audience characteristics from Nisho's statement?

New Concept

Design Need (Or Communication Need), is a design problem that needs to be solved in the design. Your final design outcome must be able to address this/these need(s). Solutions to the design needs are called Design Goals.

What are some of the design needs that you can tell from Nisho's statement?

Nisho is a Latin American tech consultant that has just found a job in a dystopian world enterprise based in New York. It is a very well-paid job, but after a couple of month, they found this job is quite demanding and spending time at home can be a luxury. As their company is dealing with Top Class secrets for the government, they would not want the house to be identifiable for thieves and journalists. Nisho has a cyber implant on their spine due to poliomyelitis, and would require a designated space to recharge implant daily. They have a very small friend circle and would invite them to have movie nights on Friday after work.

1. The house must not to be easily identifiable.

2. Nisho's job can be quite demanding and might not spend a lot of time at home.

3. Cyber Implant needs to be recharged daily.

4. Movie Nights with friends on Fridays.

What are some of the solutions (design goals) that you can propose for Nisho's new house?

1. The house must not to be easily identifiable: The exterior should be designed using local materials and adapt a simplistic style. It should merge within the surrounding context or neighbourhood (if any). No luxurious materials on the exterior cladding.

2. Nisho's job can be quite demanding and might not spend a lot of time at home: Nisho probably would like to have a small and cosy home. They are not spending too much time at home, so big space can be demanding for cleaning and maintenance.

3. Cyber Implant needs to be recharged daily: A dedicated room next to the bedroom for recharging devices.

4. Movie Nights with friends on Fridays: Slightly larger living room, with a big screen installed for movie screening.

GROUP ACTIVITY

In a group of 2-3, complete the follow activities: Target Audience Analysis, and Brainstorm Design Indications. 

Question: What if the client chooses not to disclose their socio-economic status, and I don't feel confident to ask them?

• In real life situation, not everyone is going to disclose everything about themselves, especially their income. However, as architects, it is very important to have a reasonable number in mind. You can use the information provided by Brian to research a possible indication of his income. You might want to go to Australian Bureau of Statistic Database, and search Census data.

Question: What is an Australian Census?

• Every five years, the ABS counts every person and household in Australia. We call this the Census of Population and Housing.

• The Census is the most comprehensive snapshot of the country and tells the story of how we are changing. Census data tells us about the economic, social and cultural make-up of the country.

• The Census collects information from people, and in this way, it's like a big survey. However, surveys only select a sample of people to participate, whereas the Census includes everybody in the population.

• The last Census was on Tuesday 10 August 2021. Planning for the next Census in 2026 is currently underway. 

If you would like to access Census Data, you may click on this link: Search Census Data

Alternatively, you will find the personal weekly income data, and see how each state or overall how much Australians (aged 15+) are earning in each percentile: New Insights using administrative data, total weekly income