Experience 8000
Tourism Promotional Campaign
ACADEMIC PROJECT
Posters, postcards, social media materials, merch
Duration
4 weeks
April 2025
SOFTWARE
Adobe Lightroom Classic
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe InDesign
IDEATION
The purpose of this assignment was to create a campaign concept to encourage tourism and visitors to a local area. My chosen location had to be driving distance from San Luis Obispo, as I was required to use all original photography, illustration, or graphics. My chosen location was Montaña de Oro State Park, which known for its beaches, hiking trails, and ocean views. Because of this, I wanted to capitalize on the beauty and expansiveness of the park, as well as the wide variety of natural resources within it.
TARGET AUDIENCE
Outdoorsy and nature-loving individuals and groups, who would be enticed to visit through curiosity and compelling imagery
INItIAL CONCEPT BRAINSTORMING
Finding different solutions for the campaign and beginning to think about logistics of progressing with these solutions
photography
Visited Montaña de Oro on three separate occasions to take photos and videos in a variety of locations. All photos were shot on a Canon PowerShot digital camera, then edited in Adobe Lightroom Classic
Type & Color Studies
Color palette and type system development, with focus on creating palettes that both support and contrast the previously gathered imagery. Using similar palettes to explore how small color changes lead to larger tonal differences
Sketches
Translating campaign concepts into visual designs, and starting to solidify the roles of imagery and text within the frame
Early iterations
Combining sketch concepts with further ideation, and using layout and hierarchy as tools to support the overall message
Design System
Utilizing deep colors and silhouette illustrations, in addition to functional fonts with a hint of personality
Final Solutions
My final campaign was titled Montaña de Oro: Experience 8000, named for the eight thousand acres that make up the state park. Because Montaña de Oro is so well-known for its beauty, I had to work hard to go deeper in my messaging concept. To do this, I decided to highlight the individual pieces (nature, wildlife, coastline, etc.) that come together to make the park so beautiful. I approached the campaign with a 5-senses method of delivery, with “experience” being the overall concept, but splitting it into separate senses depending on what best fit the deliverable.
POSTERs
The posters were designed to be shown outside of the park, in order to attract new or returning visitors. The purpose of the blown up numbers is to spark curiosity, and the goal of the imagery was to leave viewers with almost a feeling of FOMO, as a tactic to encourage them to visit the park.
INFORMATIONAL POSTCARD SET
I envisioned this postcard set as one that would be given out within the park, giving options for people already at Montaña de Oro. Potentially, it could also be a collectible set so park visitors would find individual cards ar separate locations. This incentivizes exploration and multiple visits.
SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS
I chose to design a mix of posts, some campaign-specific and others that were more resource-based.
Social media post for “HEAR 7,” which includes video and audio, a feature that is unique to digital campaign formats
MERCH
When thinking about what to design, I was very aware of how destination-branded merchandise can often turn into overdone cliches. As I designed my merch, I was careful to consider what would follow the structure of the campaign while still being an item that consumers would be interested in purchasing.
Reflection
CHALLENGES
Targeting 5 senses was something I came in extremely excited about, but soon realized had its own challenges and limitations. I would have loved more time and resources to pursue the feel/touch aspect of the campaign. Though it is not something I have currently included in these deliverables, I’m optimistic about the potential it would have should I decide to develop this concept further.
CONCLUSION
This project was extremely process-focused, with three of the four weeks being dedicated to messaging and content development, and only one to application and design. While it was structured differently than any other project I’ve done, it emphasized for me how design is nothing if there is no thought and intention behind the overarching concept. I was extremely happy with both the digital and print versions of this campaign, and am definitely interested in engaging with more messaging-heavy projects in the future.