PROCESS OF MAKING LOGO
LOGO
SELF - REFLECTION
Creating the MindCloud logo was very exhilarating and enriching for me, as I had access to different design elements and got to learn a bit about how visual identity affects branding and marketing. Using Canva as my major design application allowed me to play with fonts, color palettes, and graphics in getting my mind to conceive the best representation of the spirit of MindCloud. As I moved along this path, my realization of how designing can be awesome noticeably deepened, especially how the tiniest design considerations, be they in types or colors, affirm a potential mental image for the brand. One of the earlier main steps assigned in my scheme was the color selection for the logo. I wanted to select shades that would evoke calmness, positivity, and trust because the campaign focuses on mental health and, therefore, targets teenagers. I sought pastel combinations of blue and purple, which, in my eyes, bred calmness, creativity, and emotional balance. Darker shades of blue seemed too corporate, while freakishly bright colors were just too high for a mental-health brand. It came down to nice, gentle, warm colors that were very welcoming and supporting toward MindCloud's mission.
Typography was also a critical aspect of my logo design. The font styles offered on Canva are infinite, and this made for a fun time experimenting with different fonts in search of the right one for the logo. I thought about a bold modern font that would grab attention but that seemed too stiff for my mental health cause. I then gravitated towards softer rounded edge fonts that radiated warmth and welcome. Several times, I experimented with pairing a script and sans serif to give contrast that worked nicely for the logo. I ended up selecting a very straightforward yet somewhat playful font that walks the line nicely between formal and friendly and makes the logo approachable rather than intimidating. I also explored symbol and icon use. Since MindCloud is in the field of mental well-being, I wanted to use the cloud to mean thoughts, feelings, and mental clarity. I tried different minimal icons like the heart and brain outline, but either seemed too cliched or did not quite convey what the campaign was about. Canva's drag-and-drop feature was where I spent time trying out different symbols, placing them, resizing them, and finding a balance between a design that would work but still be meaningful and simple enough. The biggest challenge was to ensure that the logo would be unique yet versatile. A good logo will work on all media, be it social media or print, without suffering loss in clarity. I tested the logo against different backgrounds and resized it to maintain visual strength and readability in all cases. I think that, in general, working on this project has developed my design talents and taught me much about color psychology, typography, and branding consistency. The process of using Canva to play around with various design elements helped refine my creative process and strengthen my understanding of how branding can influence audience perception.
EDITING CLIPS TOGETHER
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Putting together and editing clips in Canva indeed was an engaging experience, very challenging as well, making one realize visual storytelling, pacing, and an effective smooth transition in video content. Since MindCloud targets teenagers in mental health campaigns, I wanted the end product to be engaging, visually inspiring, and very easy to comprehend. Worked around experimenting with different editing techniques, transitions, and text overlays, resulting in very fluent and clear-cut messages passed through the clips.I began my work considering the most basic thing: the sequencing of the clips. I would have to find out how to create the most appropriate order of content for the audience to understand and appreciate what it is presenting. This required me to cut off some parts I deemed unnecessary, adjusted the timing of each clip so that it synchronizes, and ensured that transitions felt smooth rather than abrupt. It was made easier in Canva because it allows trimming and reordering of clips, making it easy to create multiple versions before settling on one. And another important thing about this process was adding text overlay and caption. Most social media users watch videos in silence; therefore, summary points were to be concise, clear, and easy to read. The amount of font and animation options Canva presented had me trying out so many different styles to get a feel that looked appropriate for the project, yet kept easy reading.
ADDING VOICE OVERS
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An integral part of the process of adding voiceover to the clips was making the video more engaging and informative, in addition to understanding the role of clear audio quality, timing, and tone in communicating a message effectively. Now that MindCloud is a mental health campaign for teenagers, my voiceover goal for MindCloud was to ensure calmness, reassurance, and simplicity in clarity through which the message would be impactful yet accessible. Recording the voiceover in a quiet environment was among my first priorities, keeping background noises to a minimum. Tiny sounds such as fans or voices many rooms away from where I was connected and disturbed the quality of audio that I would collect. I solved the problem by recording it in a really controlled space and telling the record it multiple times to get the absolute best. It was just as simple to upload and replace voiceovers with Canva so once I made a mistake in taking multiple retakes, it gave me the easy flow to redo anything that was not as clear as I wanted. The major part again was syncing the voice-over with the visuals, which led me to change my speech speed to match every piece of the script with the respective visuals since they ought to have met one another. If I spoke too fast, it felt rushed; too slowly, not good sync with video. Reading at natural pace was the remedy, after which I used the timeline tool of Canva to adjust the voice-over against each clip more finely. Another problem was balancing the audio levels.
COMING UP WITH CAPTIONS
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Originally, I thought creating captions for MindCloud’s Instagram posts would be a simple job. But little did I know, it would turn out to be quite the challenge and learning experience. Being a mental health campaign targeted toward young people, I wanted the captions to feel relatable, engaging, and empowering yet still remain contemporary and simply grasped. This project has sharpened my skill at communicating important messages and was the right way to go about engaging with my audience. One of the first things was to make the captions sound organic and conversational. Social media encourages very laid-back interactions, and I knew that anything too formal or complicated wouldn’t click with young people. The second option I considered was more relaxed and motivating: It relied on casual language and simple terms of encouragement, within the spirit of electing emojis to soften it even further. Involvement of some questions or call-to-action (CTAs) felt necessary to boost engagement: "What’s one thing you do to take care of your mental health?" or "Tag a friend who needs to hear this today." An equally important aspect was balancing information with emotion; from stress management tips to improving sleep, some posts were educational while the others were meant to motivate. It was important to ensure that the captions did not sound too robotic or overstuffed with information. They were framed to be empowering and supportive and to remind the audience that they are not alone in their struggles.
ADDING TRENDING SONGS
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The most interesting and eye-opening experience was putting newly-trending songs to the Instagram stories for MindCloud. This experience increased my understanding of engagement, audience preferences, and platform algorithms. Because music accounts a lot in social media content reception, my interest had to lay on how the songs would animate each post, attracting a teeager. First of all, a book could be authored on how to choose the right song for the right type of post. A fast-tight, energetic song worked well for motivational or joyful content, whereas a slow, calming track was perfect for self-care or mindfulness posts. I couldn’t have overpowering music, either—it would be distracting with louder lyrics, possibly clashing when set against text-heavy visuals or voiceovers. This led me to try out different levels of audio, aiming for the music to intersect rather than taking over the meanings. Oh, boy! Finding songs that were both attractive and trending was a mammoth challenge. As trends come and go quickly, I was constrained in my keeping current with popular songs the audience might recognize or engage with. The Instagram music library thus made searching and finding easier, but I also had to consider these songs in the bigger picture of MindCloud's mental health campaign. Some songs were catchy but had lyrics that did not resonate with the message I wanted to communicate-thus, I had to be extra cautious and always opt above all for the lyrics that convey some significance.
DOUBLE EXPOSURE
PROCESS OF EDITING
SELF - REFLECTION
Creating a composition for dual exposure using Snapseed turned out to be an experimental and fruitful experience, given the exposure it provided to visual storytelling. The entire task was such that it allowed me to see how much effect a combining image had through evocation of emotion, this being more critically needing from a mental health campaign like MindCloud.The first lesson was to understand how double exposure works and to effectively use Snapseed's tools. I edited it multiple times with different blending modes and by changing the opacity, brightness, and contrast so that both photos could combine well. After a couple of tries, I was unable to get how to balance the two, as I do not want an image that appears so messy or unclear. It was challenging to find the suitable balance between the images because they had to be visible and at the same time complement each other.Selecting the appropriate images was another important aspect of this task. Since this belonged to MindCloud, it needed to reflect on mental health, self-reflection, and emotional well-being. Examples would be the combination of person silhouettes with serene nature images, like calm scenes, to reflect peace and mindfulness. I made some blends with cityviews and an image of a person in deep thought, representing the overwhelming modernity. Through all this, I became aware of how potent and prickly images could be at telling a deeper stuffing of emotions.Making the final product more professional and seamless was perhaps one of the biggest challenges. Some of the initial edits tended to be either too hard or too faded for me to understand the message behind the image. I altered this by fine-tuning the opacity and further using the masking tool to smooth fine details so that the transition became seamless. I also fiddled with hues and added filters to set the tone of the final image.
This made me realize what importance symbolism plays in visual communication in advancing mental health as a concern into double exposure photography. Audiences captured meaningfully by represented elements, such as cloudy skies signaling stress and anxiety, or bright sunrises symbolizing hope and recovery, are the ones it's all together to ensure capture with regard to mental health concerns. Thus I thought of a very thoughtful design approach-more like ensuring every visual choice really makes sense. This was a very enjoyable experience using Snapseed to perform this task as it provided an interface for an easy and very professional editing function. Though time-consuming in getting quite adept at employing the double exposure approach, I found it fun to experiment with the more superior styles and effects of that application. Subsequently, this taught me many improvements in my digital editing skills, intensified my creative thinking, and taught me how to use beautiful storytelling techniques to communicate very important messages visually. Last, double exposure taught me patience, creativity, and the value of trial and error in design. And it goes to show how powerful imagery could be in advocating for mental health-another major dimension of MindCloud.