Starting Photoshop

Photo from Pexels

Last week in public relations publications, we finished our letterhead based on our business card. This wrapped up our section on InDesign. Now, we are transitioning into Photoshop.

Tuesday's class was about learning the basics from Linda.com. We watched a video lecture series on how to do some really useful, common operations in Photoshop. Having had a class over graphic design and being involved in photo-editing, I had what I thought was a decent knowledge of Photoshop. These videos didn't so much contradict that, rather they taught me more efficient ways of editing pictures, removing objects from photos and blending photos. 

I didn't finish the videos in class, but I did that evening. Linda.com is a great learning platform. I think students at the University of Oklahoma are very lucky to have free access to those lectures. 

For Thursday's class, we had a guest speaker from OU's department of admissions and recruiting. The guest speaker told us about what goes into the department's strategy in reaching potential OU students. 

The strategy they use is very interesting. It consists of three stages. The first one is where they try to get young, prospective students aware. The next one comes when perspective students are juniors and seniors when they are thinking about applying. They use their messaging to get these students to apply. The final stage is where students have applied and now they are about to commit. 

GIF from Tumblr

We learned about the different costs associated with printing direct mailers and postcards. It is actually cheaper and more efficient to stick with regularly-sized objects. I thought it was interesting that OU has switched to sending acceptance boxes instead of acceptance envelopes. I wish I would have received one when I applied to OU during my sophomore year at Eastern Oklahoma State College. 

These two class periods were to help get us ready for our next project, the direct mailer, which we will design in Photoshop. I feel like I have a better understanding of Photoshop and how to specialize messaging for specific target audiences.