Sunday, December 7, 2014

MCBS Portfolio Project Submission 2


MCBS Portfolio Project Submission: Slaughterhouse Interview For ThatsHipHop.com

Star Rating Sought: 

2 Star Approval Rating 

Project Description: 

I have been writing for many publications and websites for years now. I wanted to submit an interview that I held with Shady/Aftermath's Super Hip Hop Group "Slaughterhouse" I hope you all enjoy. 

Link to Deliverable:
Feedback Received: 

I always received great feedback for my work. I am hoping that instructor enjoys this interview and leans something about 4 men that I truly respect in the music industry. 
Resources Utilized: 

A tape recorder, Microsoft Word, and Word Press. 

Week 2 Project: Soft Launch

Welcome To Holy Magdalena Cupcake Express!

Self Assessment: 


I am actually proud of the website that I have created for this company. I will also say that I met all of the provisions that I outlined in my proposal. I even took time out to start social networking accounts for Mr. Archer. There are more things I would like to add to the site to make it a little more snazzier, yet I know that Mr. Archer wanted the website to be simple for any user to access. Everything that I offered in the proposal was delivered on time to the client. I will say that the most challenging part of this process was actually trying to design the site. I know the more I learn, the more I will be about to conquer this process in the future. I would like to go deeper by adding some more colors to the website. I hope I will be able to do it because this was made off a free account on WordPress.com. I know just having it plain white may be a little boring. I would also like to add a Google map app to the website.

Thursday, December 4, 2014

Practice: Mock-Up

Holy Magdalena Cupcake Express Mock-Up

Week 2 Analysis: User Behavior


Holy Magdalena Cupcake Express

List of Potential Questions/ Tasks of the Ideal Site Visitor:
Will I be able to know what kind of cupcakes they are selling?

Yes, you will visually see the cupcakes and the recipes that make these cupcakes unique.


Are they only selling cupcakes or are there any more products that are for sale?
You will be able to view a full menu of all the goods that are for sale including pies and cookies.


Is there a schedule where I can see where the food truck will be located?
Yes, we have a schedule that will be up to show the customer where the truck will be.

Did you ever think of broadcasting the food truck’s location in “real-time”?        
We know that it makes it easy for the customer to be informed about where the food truck will be parking next, even though we do have a schedule, I am personally thinking of embedding a google map to be displayed on the homepage. If the owner is up to entering his current location, customers can find the truck on their mobile devices.  

Why can I not find this company on any social networks?

At the time we are currently working on that. To make it easy for easy for the owner of the truck, we plan on having an auto-feed app to add posts on the truck’s Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and other social network accounts. You can now follow us on Twitter and like our FaceBook page.

What is the story behind this brand?
Everything you will need to know about Archer, his daughter, and how the food truck came along, you will be able to read all of this in the about section of the website.


Before I try them out, I would really like to know what other people say about their cupcakes and other goodies?
You will be able to see all the reviews in the Press/Review section of the website. I would also love to ask you to leave a review yourself after you have visit the truck. We invite all type of feedback.

I am a person that is always on the go, but I love pleasing my sweet tooth. Is this site mobile optimized?
Since the food truck is on-the-go, our customers are on-the-go. I feel that this website should be also. The site is  100% mobile optimized. This will work on any smart phone, tablet, and laptop.
My daughter’s birthday is coming up, and I would really love for her to have your cupcakes, instead of a regular cake because we are a vegan family.  Will I be able to see prices for catering?
Yes you will, we actually have a special section for this. We are currently working with the owner to collect this information for customers that want to make large orders.

How are some ways I can contact the Holy Magdalena Cupcake Express?             
We have a section where you can access their contact information. Along with this information, you will soon able to keep up with HMCE through social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and more. Our goal is to please the customer and make sure that we can be easily accessible for you.



Freelance Consideration:



How does your proposed strategy address the questions/tasks that you came up with? I will say it addresses everything that was asked. I know that there is some information that I will have to get from the owner, look into mobile optimizing this site, and I will have to set up the social networking accounts and auto-feed before I am finished with the site so the site will already have the social networking content on it.

What, if any, gaps have you identified between the content you have and the content you need?
As I stated above, I will need to work out the social networking situation, embedding the google map on the site, and collecting information from the owner, such as primary contact information and catering service information.

How does your site mock- support the ideal visitor’s quest for information?
I feel that it is great. One thing I remember what Archer said was to make it intuitive, attractive, and simple. This is what I have done. I wanted the site to be pleasing to the customer’s eye and easy for their mind. When you throw a whole bunch of stuff together, it becomes cluttered. A wise woman by the name of Emily always told me “Less is More”… and she is right!


Do you feel that the site navigation is intuitive based on the questions/tasks you identified? How?
I definitely feel that this site is very easy to navigate. Everything that a person will need to know and see will be on the front page. If they want more information on anything such as the schedule, the menu, or contact information… it will only be one click away.   

Monday, December 1, 2014

Week 1 Project: Proposal & Wireframe

Dear Mr. Archer Ray, 

I would like to begin this email by thanking you for contacting Designs By Benzo and wanting to do business with us. I very excited to be a part of expanding your brand.  In this day and age, sometime in the near future, Holy Magdalena Cupcake Express will experience a significant increase in competition. I would personally say that the competition will utilize modern-looking websites and social networking. I feel that you wouldn't want other businesses that use trendy sites along with using social networking to draw customers away from Holy Magdalena Cupcake Express. Your brand needs a extreme online presence. This may be one of the reasons why you reached out to me a few days ago. I also kept in mind that you want this website to tell your story, along with what makes your cupcakes unique, and how to let your customers know where to find your truck.

To effectively get your story out to the public, bring to light the uniqueness of your product, make it accessible for your supportes to find you, and to broaden your brand... You will need to build a website. I do remember you stating that you don’t have any social networking accounts. I will have to tell you that we have to change that as soon as possible. There are so many benefits when it comes to social media. You can increase your brand recognition, improve your brand’s loyalty, you can showcase your cupcakes, you will have better search engine rankings, and you can get a clear view of the customer experiences. I understand that you may not have time to run social networking pages such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and so on. Well I have a solution for that. There are programs that will produce auto-feed to all of these accounts at one time. So, let’s say that your truck is driving to a new location, you can just access the auto-feed app from your phone and your post will generate on all of your accounts. You can also set up post-dated feed that will generate at certain times of the day. I will help you with this, free of charge. This is really all up to you, but I would zealously suggest this.

Now, let’s talk about the website. We already spoke on the key elements of the website, we identified your audience, and we determined the most effective call to action. The next phase would be the plan of the content. I appreciate you sending me the color schemes, the logo, and pictures that you would like to showcase on your website. If you look below, you will find a wirefame representation of what I feel will be very pleasing to your current and potentially new customers. I know you wanted to keep it simple. In the future you would like to add some more pizzazz, please let me know.





The estimated design and administrative time will be 48-72 hours. The fee for everything will be $1,500. I estimate the delivery of the site would be 1 week after a deposit of $750.00 is sent to DesignsByBenzo@me.com via Paypal. I do ask that this deposit will be made in a timely manner, because I would need the deposit of $750.00 in order to start this process. I also ask that your initial payment of $750.00 would be sent to the PayPal account listed above, within 15 days of the deposit. If this project becomes shelved, prolonged, or delayed by you as my client for 30 days or more, I will invoice you for this job as completed. I would also like to advise you that there is an cancelation fee of the identical amount of the deposit, which would be $750.00.

I am ready to get this started for you and I would like to thank you for considering me for this project. If you have any questions and/or concerns, please contact me at the information below.


Best, 

Lauren Benzo

Lauren Benzo
Designs By Benzo