For week 6, we learned all about promotional strategy and discussed things such as social storytelling. This brings us to our current task that Kyle has set for us which is to showcase our portfolio website on Instagram through stories and a post.
Creating the story
When creating an Instagram story I need to create a compelling both visually and narratively to gain the audience’s interest. As it is on Instagram it must be greatly condensed into its most simplistic form. With that out of the way, I started to look at the structure and what each slide will contain. I decided to create 4 slides with each one containing a different phase of my portfolio website. I tried to include the most important and relevant phases as possible which I have mentioned below:
Slide 1 – Inspiration
Slide 2 – Portfolio Guidelines
Slide 3 – Building the website – wireframes, etc
Slide 4 – Portfolio Website (There will be a link to my website on this section)
Ultimately, these short snippets that I will put on my Instagram story will only contain a small yet relevant portion of how the website was built, this ultimately should entice curious viewers to find out more thus viewing my portfolio website.
I decided to wireframe and create my stories on illustrator first using the conventional 1080 x 1920 resolution. As I am showcasing my portfolio website I decided to use the same values that are present in the case studies such as the enlarged numerical system. Not only is this consistent with my design, but it also looks extremely aesthetically pleasing and allows the viewer to see the design process in a coherent and orderly manner.
The Story
Overall, I am quite pleased with the outcome of Instagram as I feel like I’ve managed to storytelling in a simple yet coherent manner for the viewers while at the same time staying true to the design values of my website. Although storytelling on social media doesn’t have to be conventional as many people prescribe a sense of human engagement through short phrases or even emojis to condense a narrative or story. I decided to adopt this mannerism in my last post saying “Check it out” while also containing the curious eye emoji. Lastly, I have decided to highlight this story so that future audiences who click on my Instagram can view it.
The Post
Just as important as the image itself is the description. Creating a catchy and captivating description is necessary to draw in the audience. Using emojis or unique catchphrases is extremely helpful for this section as it can help create personality in the written text. I decided to go with a casual linguistic register as, after all, I’m trying to convey my identity of myself. Alternatively, hashtags are a good way to connect with new people in a global manner some of the tags that I have added show what my website is all about.
What have I learned?
If I’m being honest, Instagram (before IXD) has never appealed to me, I have never found the time to use it. This means that I am still new to a lot of the features that consist of the app. After doing this task it has shown me how extremely useful it is in promoting myself and my work. Additionally, this task has also given me more knowledge of the art of storytelling through social media. I will start to use this tool more frequently for now on as I can see the potential in it.