KOMA designs

Posts

Author: KOMA designs

  • Comparing Hierachy in Design: The Good v.s. The Bad v.s. The Very Bad

    One of the most important aspects of any design is hierarchy. Hierarchy is the element that helps guide the reader’s or consumer’s eye through the design. It also helps the reader or consumer understand the design’s message. It can encompass the following attributes that can either make or break a design: size, proportion, color, contrast, and spacing.

    Today, I gathered a few designs ranging from good hierarchy, bad hierarchy, and very bad hierarchy, so we can learn together and see the importance of the attributes of hierarchy as mentioned above, and the way it can impact a design and the information a reader has to process.

    Starting off the very bad examples (no offense intended to the original creators! This is purely for educational purposes!)

    In this design, all the words seem jumbled together, and the message’s concept is lost on the reader. One way to improve this design would be to increase the line spacing and reduce the subheadings’ font size to help the reader flow more easily through the design and better comprehend it. 

    In this design, the colors draw attention away from the text and the design’s literal message. To fix this design, one of the colors would need its saturation reduced or replaced with a more pastel or lighter shade to make the message easier to read.

    Moving on to the bad examples of hierarchy…

    This design has a lot going on both visually and literally. This design is overwhelming in both the colors and spacing. This design could benefit from adjusting the spacing and colors, and from allowing contrast between text colors.

    This design can also be overwhelming to the reader. This design again has issues with spacing and the proportion of each line of text. This design could benefit from adjusting the font sizes, making the heading information the largest and the subtitles and subheadings smaller to make the information easier to grasp. I would also recommend sticking to a smaller color scheme, as the multiple colors can be confusing to the reader.

    Now that we’ve discussed and examined the very bad and the bad examples of hierarchy, let’s look at some good examples.

    This design is an excellent example of hierarchy, as all the important aspects of hierarchy are in play. There is proper use of spacing, size, color, and proportion.

    This design is also an excellent example of hierarchy, as the important information is displayed clearly and in a way that the reader can comprehend, while being visually appealing. There is proper use of size, proportion, and spacing.

  • The Cultural Impact and Significance of The Color Red

    When discussing visual design, we would be remiss not to address the importance of color. Color alone can stir up emotions in its viewer. Color and design should also be studied in terms of how they can impact a culture and the people within it. For the purposes of this discussion, we will examine how various cultures around the world view and use the color red. I chose red because it is one of the primary colors that serve as the building blocks for mixing all other secondary colors.

    Red was first viewed as an important color/symbol by the ancient Chinese, dating to around 2070 BC – 1600 BC, and was seen as a symbol of power. Weapons were painted red during times of battle to symbolize strength. 

    Then, in Egypt, people believed a yellow-orange shade of red represented life and vitality. The Egyptians also used red in their hieroglyphics to depict fire.

    The color red is also widely accepted across many cultures as the color of love. Brides in India often wear the color red to symbolize love and purity. 

    In Britain, the jewel rubies are widely considered the stone of true love, energy, and success. Prince William proposed to Princess Kate Middleton with a diamond ring set with antique rubies because of the country’s connection to the jewel’s color.

    In Japan, red is often associated with a man’s primal urges and is considered a sensual color.

    The color can also represent blood, fire, and the sun in this country. 

    In parts of Africa, the color red is considered holy. Red is also known as the color of mourning. In certain regions of Africa, women are prohibited from wearing the color red.

    In Greek culture, when people say things at the same time, there is a belief that they will eventually get into an argument, and they must touch the closest red item to cancel out the potential fight.

    In Jamaica, the word red itself can be used to define someone who is drunk or under the influence of substances. 

    In Russia, the color red can carry two meanings: some may view it as a connection to beauty because the Russian words for beauty and for the color share the same root. Others associate red with communism, linking it to the Soviet Union.

    Through various cultures, red carries significance and impact for its people. That is why, when it comes to visual design, it’s important to consider the colors and even the cultural implications some colors may have for potential consumers or viewers.

    Sources:

    “Color across Cultures: Reading Red – Sherwin-Williams.” Sherwin, http://www.sherwin-williams.com/architects-specifiers-designers/education/project-profiles/sw-article-pro-coloracrosscult. Accessed 4 Apr. 2026

    davidstone1313. “A Brief History of the Color Red and Its Meaning – Roosevelt…” Roosevelt Island, New York, Daily News, 12 Dec. 2022, rooseveltislanddaily.news/2022/02/18/the-color-red-a-brief-history/

    When Does Russia See Red? Foreign Minister Lavrov on Red Lines | Russia Matters, http://www.russiamatters.org/blog/when-does-russia-see-red-foreign-minister-lavrov-red-lines. Accessed 5 Apr. 2026

  • Redesigning Flux Coffee: Brand Identity/Strategy

    When tasked with choosing a small to medium-sized business that needed a visual redesign, I thought of a local coffee shop that I often frequent. Flux Coffee was established in 2010 on the West Coast and began brewing and bottling cold-brew coffee in kegs and bottles. After relocating to the East Coast, specifically Farmingdale, New York. Flux Coffee has since committed to providing a fully educational, customized, ethical coffee experience for its customers.

    I defined the problem that necessitated a visual redesign to enable Flux Coffee to showcase both its educational and fully customized coffee experience for customers, while leveraging the aesthetic of its relocation to Long Island, New York, thereby becoming a native Long Islander’s go-to coffee experience.

    Then I began researching how Flux Coffee currently treats its audience to define the needed changes. Flux Coffee needs to continue prioritizing our customers’ needs and wants. Our customer profile is made of the following traits that, when combined, create the perfect brew of a Flux Coffee Customer:

    • Coffee Lovers
    • Those who prioritize ethical consumption and coffee harvesting practices 
    • Long Island Natives
    • Those who are willing/ or want to have a full Immersive and customized coffee buying experience

    After establishing a basis for our audience or customers, I began researching our competitors. Flux Coffee’s competitors can range from the following, and it’s Imperative that we utilize this redesign to become stand-outs in the market:

    • Fast Coffee Chains (Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts)
    • At-Home Coffee Brands (Nespresso, Keurig)

     After establishing the audience and competitors, I combined these insights to develop a new slogan for Flux Coffee. I created the following comprehensive slogan for the brand. Flux Coffee prioritizes a fully customized, educational coffee experience tailored for Long Island Natives. Our Slogan should reflect that experience: 

    “A Coffee Experience Curated for Long Island” 

    Then I consider how the name fits into the new brand identity for Flux. I decided that Flux Coffee still works as the name for our redesign. However, with the new branding and logo redesign, our values and who we are as a company will be clearer to our customers.

    Then I began to develop and further clarify the brand’s values. Flux Coffee prioritizes the following aspects:

    • Ethical harvesting and roasting of coffee
    • Creating fresh, high-quality, and customized coffee beverages for every customer
    • Educating customers about our entire coffee-brewing experience and persona.

    Following the values, I began to develop and consider the language and how it would align with the company’s mission. As already established, Flux Coffee prioritizes a fully customized, educational coffee experience tailored for Long Island Natives. Our staff will be welcoming, educational, and chatty with our customers to create an inclusive community, and this language will be carried over into all marketing materials and the shop’s physical environment. Flux Coffee will utilize words and phrases that emphasize our appreciation for our Long Island native customers who love coffee the way we do through our tone of voice. 

    I then developed some basic ideas for a new logo for Flux Coffee, as seen below. I wanted to keep the original iconic light blue while also emphasizing the rich coffee brown.

    Flux Pitch DeckDownload

  • TikTok: A Discussion On Privacy

    When discussing privacy, data protection, and ethical practices for collecting user information on social media, TikTok often becomes an immediate topic. TikTok began to gain real growth in users during the pandemic in 2020. TikTok gained its popularity through its algorithm and its extremely personalized FYP or “For You Page.” But how does TikTok gather the data to create a “For You Page”? 

    On TikTok’s website as of March 2026, the company states it collects the following data points to provide optimal usage for its platform:

    • Account information such as name, email, password, date of birth, profile image, and phone number 
    •  Any user content that is imported or exported from the platform ( images, videos, comments, livestreams, or texts)
    • Messages 
    • AI Content (Both outside the platform and through the platform’s AI feature)
    • Phone and social networks (with users’ permission)
    • Purchase information (utilizied throughthe use of the TikTok shop)

    The site continues to state that the platform follows the rules and regulations set by the CCPA or the California Consumer Privacy Act. This act allows for the right to know, correct, delete, or even opt out of the sharing of personal information to companies like TikTok. The app then goes on to state that it also automatically tracks certain data when using its services, regardless of permissions granted or not. These data points include cookies, usage information for the relationship between the user and its platform, and IP address information, along with location information. 

    The platform’s tracking of location information has recently come under fire since the purchase of TikTok was split by three of the largest US investors in the company following the short-lived ban of the platform. One complaint from the users who read the new terms and conditions for usage when the app was brought back onto the US market following the sale was the “invasive” precise location tracking. The concern stems from this high-level tracking not being included in the original terms and conditions before the ban. 

    When using a social media platform its important that both the platform and the user understand what data points are being track adn how it is being used. In terms of recommendations, while I understand the allure and the marketing purposes of TikTok being extremely personalized, I think this also leads to alienation for a large section of users who don’t want to be constantly tracked, especially to such extremes as tracking precise locations. I would recommend that the app take these users’ complaints into serious consideration, as the app was functional and widely used before this change. Changing their location policy back to the way it was before the purchase might actually help the platform and show that they care and are actively listening to their users.

    Sources:

    “California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).” State of California – Department of Justice – Office of the Attorney General, 28 Jan. 2025, oag.ca.gov/privacy/ccpa.

    “Privacy Policy.” TikTok, http://www.tiktok.com/legal/page/us/privacy-policy/en. Accessed 7 Mar. 2026.

    Picchi, Aimee. “Tiktok’s New Privacy Policy Is Sparking a Backlash. Here’s What to Know.” CBS News, CBS Interactive, http://www.cbsnews.com/news/tiktok-new-terms-of-service-privacy-geolocation-personal-information/. Accessed 7 Mar. 2026.

  • Influencer Marketing: Calvin Klein

    *All Images belong to Calvin Klein*

    In recent weeks, there has been a new fashion trend circulating on social media platforms since the release of Hulu’s series Love Story, based on the real-life story of JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette. Influencers have taken to their platforms with posts that are outfits, makeup tutorials, and hairstyles (even as far as dying their hair after watching the series), inspired by Carolyn and her iconic looks. One of the most common brands mentioned when discussing Carolyn’s fashion was Calvin Klein, the brand that employed her and launched her romance with JFK Jr. Calvin Klein has been known for its classic fashion as well as its iconic collaborations with its models, ranging from Brooke Shields to, as of recent, Bad Bunny. But what if Calvin Klein started utilizing the changing landscape of advertising and launched an influencer marketing campaign?

    Calvin Klein has iconic ads for their company of portraits of their models dressed in their clothes, ranging from their denim to their underwear. I believe if Calvin Klein begins to utilize the influencer space properly, they can see a real impact and ROI for their brand. I would set the objectives of the campaigns as the following: Utilize the current discussion on Carolyn Bessette’s iconic looks and raise brand awareness through influencers who have a similar fashion sense to her, and have a major increase in conversion through shopable ads, specifically through Instagram, to mimic the iconic billboard and in-store visuals. This can also be achieved through a series of sponsored posts from the influencers and utilizing affiliate marketing of a specific discount that is exclusive to the influencer’s code on the site. In regard to the content, the influencers would post, I think it would be best to mimic the iconic ads, a simple portrait with the iconic Calvin Klein pieces. Some of the pieces can be remakes of Carolyn’s most iconic looks, like the camel skirt and the simple black top, or the classic Calvin Klein denim. The influencers can also post a series of stories with affiliate links, showing how Calvin Klein fits seamlessly into their daily routine, much like it did for Carolyn. 

    The influencers I would recommend for this campaign are Emma Pritchard and Greta Tomé. Emma Pritchard is from Massachusetts (a nod to the Kennedys’ iconic home state) and has a total of 383K followers on Instagram and has a similar fashion sense to Carolyn, of simple yet classic outfits. Greta Tomé is from NYC and shows her life living on the Upper East Side, as well as her classic style ( a nod to the main setting of the series and the couple’s real-life home). Greta has a total of 308K followers on Instagram.

    Throughout the campaign, we will utilize the collaboration feature on Instagram and use Instagram insights to track the amount of engagement and click-throughs to the site, as well as purchases directly through Instagram’s shop feature. We will also track the number of times the specialized coupon code is used to track the number of customers who are coming directly from the influencers’ page. The only real challenge I can foresee for this campaign is that the allure of Calvin Klein’s ads may be lost on the younger users on the app. But this can be fixed by Calvin Klein posting a series of throwback posts to show the influences their ads and fashion have had on society over the years.

  • Audience Target Strategy: Kitsch

    When developing an audience target strategy, I chose to analyze and use the brand Kitsch. Kitsch is a female-founded and owned hair and body care brand. Kitsch is sold both in stores and has a strong online presence through apps like TikTok. If I were developing a strategy to develop and properly target a specific audience, I would first look at the products sold by the brand, as that will give more insight into how to properly target the people who will understand and value the brand and what it sells. 

    Kitsch sells a range of haircare, body care, and beauty tools. It was built out of the owner’s and founders’ need for elevated, sustainable beauty products. I would first focus on the demographics of our target audience for ads, which is mainly women on the platform. Kitsch makes a point to emphasize the relevance of being female-owned and founded through their site and social media posts. So ideally, the gender and age would be women from 18 to 65. I would also set the range of reach of these ads to worldwide, as the brand emphasizes their products’ sustainability features for the benefits of creating a healthy earth and minimizing beauty product waste through products like shampoo bars and solid face washes. 

    Then, further breaking down the ideal demographic, I would target those women who have an interest in beauty products and tools and have frequent interactions with beauty brands and beauty advertisements. When developing the target audience, we can also utilize those who are following a large number of beauty influencers and have made past purchases on beauty brand sites, who may be our competitors through social media ads. I would target those who have the room in their budget to purchase beauty products outside of the typical drugstore range, as I wouldn’t classify Kitsch as luxury, but it also sits outside the drugstore range 

    For the lookalike audience, I would recommend narrowing in on the women from the ages of 18-40 who prirotize self care and using sustainable products, as well as following the trend in the beauty industry of prioritizing purchasing clean beauty products, which Kitsch does offer through their products. I would also recommend narrowing our target audience to the women who prioritize using aesthetically pleasing beauty products. Kitsch offers a range of products that are both functional and look luxe and high quality for a middle-of-the-pack price point.

    Through these two target audiences, I believe Kitsch could see a return on their investments in social media advertisements through not only conversions but also finding customers that align with the brand’s value and mission through its products.

  • Paid Social Media Ad Audit: #TeamPepsi

    To complete a paid social media ad audit, I chose to use Pepsi’s latest ad campaign, which I have heard about widely, from social media ads to podcast placement ads. Pepsi launched “The Pepsi Challenge” over the last few weeks to invite soda lovers to taste test Pepsi Zero and Coca-Cola Zero Sugar and pick a “team”. 

    The objective of the ad was to increase conversions through social media engagement, as the ad drives conversations about which brand tastes better by encouraging soda consumers to go to stores to buy both brands, post their taste tests on social media, and choose “TeamPepsi.” The actual ad utilizes the actual competition between the brands through their visuals. Pepsi brought in an animated polar bear, which is widely known as a Coca-Cola image, and had the bear complete a blind taste test and pick its own competitor as the better-tasting soda, and shows the bear being torn by its choice in the taste test and being jealous of those who can openly enjoy their Pepsi’s out in public and ends with the bear ultimately accepting its fate asa pepsi lover. Much like the bear, Pepsi alludes in its copy that they are accepting of soda consumers who will complete the taste test and join “TeamPepsi.”

    The ad was ultimately successful in its engagement with followers and users. On Facebook alone, the ad had 112k Likes, 2.3K comments, 11K shares, and a total of 3.1M views as of February 2026. One could assume this ad is targeted to those soda consumers who are passionately opinionated about the age-old question of what’s better: Pepsi or Coke? 

    While the ad has ultimately successful in reach and engagement, I would recommend the following adjustments for the ad to reach maximum potential and ROI for the brand.

    Firstly, while I think the use of the Coca-Cola bear was a fun take on the way to depict the competition between the brands over the years, I think messaging could be misconstrued by consumers, thinking it’s a Coca-Cola ad rather than a Pepsi ad. I think Pepsi would do well with developing its own mascot or image that can be tied to the brand, the way Coca-Cola has done with polar bears, and using that for future ads.

    Another recommendation I have for Pepsi for the success of this campaign would be to utilize influencers for the social media ads. Utilizing social media influencers can help spread the campaign as well as the taste test experience, similarly to other viral campaigns we’ve seen on social media, like the “healthy diet coke” trend that went viral on TikTok back in 2023. Using social media influencers for this campaign can also build up trust between the brand and its target consumer by giving real faces to the campaign as opposed to an animated mascot for the leading competitor.

  • Facebook Ad Campaign: Bringing Crunch Fitness to Long Beach

    For the purpose of beginning to experiment with Meta Business Suite, we were assigned to pick a company and develop a mock advertisement through Meta Business Suite to run for a targeted group of users on social media.

    Screenshot

    First, I decided what type of advertisement I wanted to run for the mock ad. I chose to develop a mock ad for the fitness franchise Crunch and act as if Crunch were opening a new location in Long Beach, New York, and looking to gain customers. I chose a traffic ad to bring the interested parties to Crunch’s website to sign up for a membership.

    Screenshot

    Then I determined the location I wanted the mock ad to be target to. I chose to target any Facebook or Instagram users in Long Beach.

    Screenshot

    I then developed the demographic I wanted to target through the mock ad. I chose the age range of 21-50. I then targeted the ad to all genders and further targeted it through the specific interests of Crunch’s ideal customer. Those being, Fitness Trainers and people who had an interest in Crunch Fitness, Health, and wellness.

    Screenshot
    Screenshot

    After developing the mock ad, I then reviewed the ad and selected to share the mock ad to Facebook and Instagram in its entireity (stories, posts, feeds etc;)

  • Pleasing By Harry Styles: Analyzing and Enhancing Organic Social Media Performance

    Pleasing was created and launched by Harry Styles in November 2021. Pleasing has since turned into a massive unisex wellness and lifestyle brand. Across its social media platforms, it has accumulated over 2 million followers. For the sake of this discussion, I am going to discuss specifically the brand’s Instagram content and how it is currently performing, as well as adjustments I believe will help the brand to further develop its engagement and community outreach. Pleasing has the potential of reaching not only the dedicated fans of its founder but also anyone interested in the lifestyle/wellness space, so the content they post must reflect and be relatable to both parties. 

    Pleasing’s Instagram as of January 2026 has a following of 1.3 million followers. I found through my analysis that the content that was the most widely engaged with by followers was content that featured UGC being repurposed for their marketing campaigns of products.

    The UGC content on the platform is also a large portion of the brand’s posts on Instagram. This allows for space for community building, as followers will feel accepted by the brand beyond being viewed as just another customer to try and sell the product and brand too.

    UGC content for a brand like Pleasing that is created by a celebrity like Harry Styles often gives way to content making itself. I found the way Pleasing actually utilized the fans or followers as their models for the products to be a creative way to bring the brand down to a relatable level for other potential customers and followers, rather than using other celebrities to market the product or brand.

    Following the UGC content on the profile, the next trend in their content that received the most engagement was content promoting their pop-up shops. Pleasing has hosted pop-up shops for the launch of products, allowing for a physical, immersive experience for its customers in cities like London, NYC, and, most recently, Miami.

    I found this to be an area of content that can be tailored to better foster engagement and eventually conversions for the brand. Pleasing as of right now is only promoting the pop-up shops. I believe the brand could benefit from content that shows what the pop-up shop experience is really like. This is something that can be done with UGC content again. Pleasing could invite fans to film or take photos of their experience for the chance to be featured on the instagram. Or Pleasing can develop a campaign that runs for the length of the campaign, like showing the development of the pop-up shops through the planning, construction, and execution of the pop-up. Showing more of what the pop-up shop experience is like may lead to conversions either inperson at the shop or online, once fans feel like they can and want to buy into the product and pop-up, ultimately leading to more success for the brand.

  • Daphne By Paige Desorbo: A Deep Dive on Key Metrics

    The brand I chose to analyze its key metrics between organic and paid strategies was the ready-to-wear lounge wear brand Daphne. Daphne was created in 2025 by social media influencer, reality star, and podcast host Paige Desorbo. Paige was inspired to create Daphne after not being able to find ready-to-wear lounge pieces that would be comfortable to sit in at home on the couch, but also be ready to grab a coffee with a friend. Paige announced the brand in June of 2025 to her following of 1.6M followers on Instagram. 

    I chose to specifically narrow in on the brand’s Instagram and its key metrics. The first metric I chose to look into was the following count. Daphne, as of January 2026, has acquired a following of 158K since its launch in June. When compared to founder Paige Desorbo’s follower count, there is definite room for growth for the brand’s exposure.  

    Screenshot

    From my scroll and study of the profile, Daphne tends to average about 200-400 likes on each post. This is obviously very low for the high follow count the brand has. To reference Understanding Social Media ROI by Olivier Blanchard, I then moved on from the “vanity” metrics, like follow counts and likes (while not to negate its importance for the brand’s ability to grow) and began to break each post for more concrete data points that will tell me more about the actual exposure and reach the brand has at this current moment. Going further into the brand’s engagement, each post typically receives a range of 2-40 comments, depending on the call to action in the post’s caption. The posts with the most comments featured actual people or models in the posts, rather than the BTS brand posts, for the process of creating each “drop” for the line. Which was something I made note of, as this is a brand created by a reality personality, so the consumer liking and engaging in posts that featured her or actual people made sense to me. I also noticed Daphne posted a majority of organic or UGC posts rather than sponsored ads or collaborations.

    I began to zoom out on the social media profile in order to gather what appears to be Daphne’s main priority on its Instagram. As previously stated, this is a new brand, so it appeared to me that Daphne is focused on narrowing in on what their ideal consumer actually is and what the brand image will become in order to attract them. Daphne began its Instagram posting behind- the-scenes to the launch and creation of the brand’s first capsule collection and then pivoted to more people-facing content, whether it be through using fellow social media influencers as models for its newest items or Paige herself. I believe this was an intentional shift of the brand, realizing the people who want to buy from this brand want to buy a piece that connects to a social media/ reality personality who has either a lifestyle or literal style they are actively trying to achieve. 

    When it comes to improvements the brand can make, I think the brand could benefit from utilizing more sponsored posts from fellow social media personalities that align with the chic, easy, on-the-go vibe the brand’s clothing represents.  This could also help Daphne begin to tailor and zone in on their ideal consumer and create a full persona for whoever that may be.

    Sources:

    Blanchard, O. (2011). Social Media Roi: Managing and measuring social media efforts in your organization. Que.