the BOX of nice things

Saturday, January 29, 2011, 12:53 AM

WHITE POPPY!

Hi everyone!

My group's blog page for our entrepreneuship project is up!
Please visit here and support us!

We are selling hand-made cups in a pair, price starting from $9.90 to $15.90.
There will be more updates on our range of designs in the next few days, please stay tune!

For those who had already made your orders, I would like to thank you for your support on behalf of all my group members! We will contact you by next week to arrange for collection!

For new visitors, please click here to check out designs that we have yet to update in our blog shop!
Should you like any of our designs and would like to make an order, please visit our BLOG SHOP or our FACEBOOK PAGE to make an order!

Your support is much appriciated! Thank you!

Labels: DCX 133 Teaching of Consumer Education

Tuesday, January 25, 2011, 4:19 PM

needs VS wants..

(image from: http://www.upit.co.za/philosophy.html)

A familiar pyramid? This is Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

The theory is that: only when the basic needs, those at the bottom of the pyramid, are met, we try to meet other needs higher up the pyramid.

Nowadays, many people do not problems meeting basic needs like food and shelter. Many of us even take them for granted. The distinction between needs and wants also diminishes and we often considered our wants as needs.

(image from: http://www.comparestoreprices.co.uk/compare-prices/patent-lace-up-court-shoe)

"I need to get this pair of shoes, it's pink and there's ribbon!"

(image from: http://www.jmarket.com/Featured-in-magazines-Bicolor-Mini-Dress.html)

"This dress is a must have, it's feature in the magazine!"

(image from: http://bagwhiz.com/category/luxury-handbag-reviews/betsey-johnson-bags/page/3/)

"This bag is so cute, I must buy it!"

Don't the above captions sound familiar? They are some common quotes I have heard before during my shopping trips (some are excuses I gave at times too!).

No doubt that shoes, clothes and bags are basic needs, but we don't stop buying after we have them. I have like at least 10 pairs of shoes that I barely wear, some are even brand new, and I will still buy new shoes (giving all sorts of excuses like this is pink and I need a pink heels to match my new dress, etc). BUT, if I really needed that pair of shoes, I don't need to find any excuses as (REAL) needs hardly need justification to be purchased.

Everyone loves beautiful things and sometimes, we think that we need to have them. However, when we actually spend the time and give second thoughts to analyse the need for the item, there are actually more reasons not to buy them.

The line between NEED and WANT is for us to define!

(image from: http://notes.chanv.net/want-vs-need)

Labels: DCX 133 Teaching of Consumer Education

Monday, January 24, 2011, 10:11 AM

mugs for SALE! =)

These are the items that our group will be selling for our entrepreneurship project..

We managed to design these cups in about 2 hours.. Here's some "behind the scene!"

I'll update our site for you to place your orders soon! =)

Labels: DCX 133 Teaching of Consumer Education

Tuesday, January 18, 2011, 11:45 PM

Creative advertising!

One of the most important factors of marketing: ADVERTISING!

Be it print, digital or through the media, consumers are constantly bombarded with numerous of advertisements everyday. In order for an advertisment to stand out, it has to be either very creative, very unique, or it can be very lame or annoying.

Since advertisements can sway consumers' perception of products/ services/ mindsets etc,
the key of advertising is probably:
The more impression your advertisement can leave on the audience, the higher the possibility to improve your sales/ bring across your me!

Here's some examples of "cool" adverts~
ENJOY =)

(video from: http://www.5min.com/Video/How-to-Be-Creative-in-Advertising-6304224)

Labels: DCX 133 Teaching of Consumer Education, something interesting to share

Sunday, January 16, 2011, 11:08 AM

it's time for CONSUMER EDUCATION!

New semester started this Monday and only TWO more modules to clear before practicum!
One of the modules is Communication skills and the other one is teaching of consumer education.
Consumer education is like another important aspects of home economics as it makes up approximately 40% - 50% of the Sec 1 / Sec 2 home economics syllabus.. In addition, when we start out practicum, there is a high possibility that we might be teaching consumer education topics!

Apart from the topics:

Advertisement, Making informed choices, Shopping smart, Cents and sensibility, Methods of payment, Buyers beware, and Consumer redress that are covered in the sec 1 and 2 textbooks.

There are actually more to consumer education (since I'll probably define consumer education as any issue that involves consumers can be part of consumer education). Some examples are product recall and entrepreneurship..

So, the first assignment for this module is a 90-minutes lesson plan and I'm assigned ENTREPRENEURSHIP to work on.

Some background information:
Entrepreneurship is introduced in school as it promotes creativity, innovation, team work and encourage students to consider various perspectives before they come up with a proposal.

While we try to encourage students to be innovative, they should be mindful of the feasibility, user-friendliness and quality of their design as well. They also need to consider what appeals to their target market.

An example of creative product that targets students/teenagers..

Thumbdrives with unique designs..

By adding unique designs, teenagers will tend to prefer these to the usual design of thumbdrives available in the market (if we are taking teenagers as the targeted market)..

Some are really cool, interesting, and cute..

But others are rather weird to me..

images from: http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/50-weirdest-usb-flash-drives-ever/

Labels: DCX 133 Teaching of Consumer Education