OUGD402 - Personal and Professional Practice - End of Module Evaluation

This has definitely been one of my favourite modules so far and I have found during this module that I really enjoying creating a brand from scratch.  Because I enjoyed this module so much I feel like I produced better work because I enjoyed it as I kept going back to improve it probably more than I would have with any other module. With studio brief 2, I started to try and organise critiques because I needed feedback, and as a result I started to go to the second years crit box/crap box. I think that if I hadn't got such valuable feedback from the second years I would have definitely felt a bit lost with what to do with this module. But with their direction I was able to experiment and have fun with my designs rather than not knowing what to do.

I found it very useful looking at different studios and other artists for inspiration and to see what the current trends are. I wish that I had found the courage to contact some of the studios that I was interested in but I feel that I'm not at a stage where I would be able to do that in terms of the level that my work is at.

I think if I was to complete this module again I would give myself a budget and try to experiment a bit more with materials and techniques. I could definitely improve my current business cards if I had more time and more money but as a student I didn't want to fork out on expensive stock or printing online. I would also try and explore work that isn't my style or maybe that I don't particularly like to see what goes into and try to learn new things from them. 

Overall, however, I am very pleased with what I have achieved this year. I think my work has improved leaps and bounds since I joined and will continue to do so.

OUGD402 - Studio Brief 1 - Sloemotion Packaging designs

After getting an email through college about an opportunity to design some packaging for a company I jumped at it. I really enjoy designing packaging and I'm always looking to improve. Also I haven't really worked with clients before so I wanted to experience this. So I sent some initial design ideas based off what they had asked for: an update to their previous chutneys, gift boxes and chocolate boxes. First of all I focused on the chutneys, they wanted something that would fit in with their newer design by a design firm, whom they couldn't afford anymore. 

Their updated design with new logo and colour scheme.

The old gift boxes vs the new.

So I started with the chutneys as I immediately had an idea for them. I thought that each flavour should have a corresponding pattern as well as colour relating to the main ingredient. So I mocked it up on illustrator. I wanted to create an effect like having a gingham cloth on a jar with these patterns. A kind of home made feel to them, which is friendly and inviting.

When they responded they seemed to really like my designs but they said that they had a no label look in mind, which is one that is printed directly onto the jar or onto a clear sticker. So I played around a bit more, removing the red circle so the patterns shone through. I also added a tamper seal to it - as they had requested one - connecting it to their "life on the hedge" design used on their new bottles.

At this point I was told that it was me and another person from LCA - a third year in graphic design - and we could collaborate, with her doing the chocolate boxes as I hadn't even begun to design them and me doing the chutney designs. We were invited to visit their little factory in Malton - just North of York. I learnt a lot about the company from the visit, that they were quite a small but successful business, stocking lots of the local stores. And also saw how they made their products, we even tasted their range of liqueurs which were all gorgeous.

After the tour they got us together and gave us their opinions on both of our designs so far. They said that they liked my designs - however they worry that they are too far from the new bottle design, with a different typeface. So they advised to change this to match. Also the patterns weren't on the bottles so they couldn't be on the jars either and the ribbon was a bit too twee. Initially I felt that they were taking away all my personality from the design. But I learnt a lot from this experience as I realised I wasn't creating a design for myself, like I do at Uni, I was creating it for a client, and whatever they want you need to give them. So with their feedback at hand me and Ida, the third year, created a range of designs for them to choose from. Below are the ones I designed for the chutneys and gift boxes while Ida designed the chocolate boxes. We were given just 4 days to do this so I did feel rushed and very stressed but we managed to send them off in time for the Friday morning deadline. 

Only now we played the waiting game. We didn't hear from the clients for a week, when I emailed to see if they had received the designs and if they had decided on the best ones they told us that we were competing against the printers in house designer and that they couldn't complete their designs for the deadline that they had set, so they were waiting for their designs to come through to make a decision. This was the most frustrating part of the experience as we ended up waiting for almost 3 weeks before they decided to give up on the printers who hadn't sent them any designs within that time. This was good news as it meant that our designs will be used. 

Now, the process is still on going, it is now a conversation of design ideas back and forth to the client via email. The deadline to send the files to print is the 14th of May, so I have given myself a challenge with the workload and deadlines we already have at the moment. But I feel like once it is done it will be a fantastic thing to have in my portfolio and I will be proud to just have something that I have designed being sold on a shelf somewhere.

OUGD402 - Studio Brief 1 - Work Placement at Burnley Council Graphics Department

Over the Easter holidays I managed to get myself a placement at the Burnley Council Graphics department (their site is here) from the 1st of April until the 10th. I was really excited to actually see how designers work in a practice such as a council and learn some new skills. Though they wouldn't have been a company doing ground breaking or game changing graphic design I thought that it would be a great insight into what goes on in a normal agency.

When I arrived they were very welcoming and I was shown their system. They had a system called job log, where they categorise each job that they received in order of importance and then you change the status depending on what stage the job was at. This system made everything very organised and easy to find which made me realised how un-organised I can be in terms of naming and saving files as well as prioritising projects. 

They told me that I would be working on two projects on my own which was very exciting to once again be able to produce work and let it go out into the public is a very satisfying thought. 

BE PAWSOME

The first brief I was given was one called "Be pawsome" - it was a dog fouling campaign that aimed to create a positive range of graphics to encourage people to pick up after their dogs. So from the go ahead it was about no negativity just positive messages that appealed to most age ranges. They wanted something that was friendly, quirky and had illustrations. I really enjoyed this project as I was able to create branding for it as well as illustrate some posters. Although I was there for a short period of time I made a good start on this project and finished posters and infographics for them to consider.

I have to say that I personally prefer the typography designs that I made to the illustrative ones, although my colleagues really liked them. I feel like I could really show off my style within these designs and I was very grateful that I was able to do this. The people who worked their were very kind to me and let me do it however I pleased. They gave me lots of critiques on my progress until I came to the designs that you see below. These were what I sent to proof just before I left. Unfortunately I won't know if these designs will be used or not but I will be glad to have made something towards it.

SUMMER GIANTS

The other brief was for an fun fair day involving some of Britain's strongest men, lifting atlas stones, logs and even cars. I was a bit bewildered at first by this brief as it wasn't as straight forward as the other. It had a more complicated audience - it needed to appeal to families but then again it needed to appeal to people who go to strongmen events - most likely strong men themselves. Creating a mix between targeting at buff men and families was difficult at first and a lot of my designs were either one or the other. 

However after lots of critiques I was really pleased with the final outcome for the flyer. I combined my illustration of the famous bear of Towneley Hall with an old fashioned weight lifting theme to make him lift the title. I also used strong, powerful looking typography to appeal to the people that would want to watch the strongmen perform. I concentrated most of my time on the 'Pawsome' work so I only created a flyer for this event but I believe that it could be printed as it is pretty much done. Once again the client wasn't there when I was to proof the flyers so I don't know whether he will go ahead but I hope he will.

Below are some of the other designs that I created, you can see that they are more aimed at gym buffs rather than families. But it was interesting to play around with photographic images as I don't often do this within my work at the moment.

STANDISH STREET IDENTITY

The final brief was one I was given to pass some time when we were waiting for feedback from the proofs that I had sent out. I started doing some thumbnail sketches for an identity for a street in Burnley, which ironically my dentist is on. They really liked the thumbnails that I came up with and asked if I could do a small pitch of their favourite design and show how it would be used in context.

So I created a set of posters, making use of the image libraries that they had access to. I wanted to make the street look fresh and trendy to younger people around my age. I found that there are a lot of vintage shops that you don't find about anymore like camera shops and herbal remedy shops. It is a very interesting and individual street. This was simply my take on it, calling it "Burnley's best indie street" to try to attract a younger audience. Whether they will use this sort of design I am not sure but I really enjoyed producing the branding. I think branding is definitely one of my favourite things to design.

SUMMARY

Overall I feel like I learnt an awful lot from just one week working there. It was a very enjoyable week and I think if I am given the opportunity I would happily work there again. I learnt a lot about time management and using shortcuts to make the most out of your time as possible. I also learnt a bit more about InDesign while I was there as that is one of the only programs that they use - even for creating logos. Additionally I learnt communication skills - I had to answer the phone as well as sending emails and communicating with printers for quotes. It definitely opened my eyes to a new side of graphic design that I had never even thought of before. 

OUGD402 - Studio Brief 1 - Eve Warren

http://www.evewarren.com/

When looking on Pinterest I came across a packaging design that I really liked and upon looking into it more I found that the designer was a previous student of Leeds College of Art. I found this encouraging as it shows that people from this course have managed to succeed.

"Nada isn’t just a brand for healthy food, but a brand that communicates through fashion, beauty, well being and body confidence. These core values reflect across the brands packaging and visual identity, through the use of minimalism contrasting with an array of bright and geometrical patterns. Minimalism has been applied to the lid of the packaging, which represent the products value of innocence, health and well being. The patterns that have been applied to the container symbolises fashion, beauty, the fusion of flavours and various pasta / noodle shapes. Collaboration with Thomas Squire.

The Nada brand is an adaptive and flexible identity which is built upon a bespoke typeface which instills and encompasses our brand aesthetic and brand manifesto. The typography consists of 8 individual typefaces which when used dynamically build an adaptive brand identity. The logo mark has a static variant, this acts as the primary logo mark. However the brand is built upon the logo changing across products ranges and product types."

I love the use of patterns here to show what product you are buying, the patterns also look slightly like the products themselves too making them almost instantly recognisable. Also the shapes of the actual packaged boxes is very interesting - not something you would usually expect for pasta or noodles giving it a unique quality and adding a slight bit of novelty to the brand. The custom typeface that they created is simply beautiful, I love the combination of geometry and lines to create letterforms. It has shown me that maybe within branding a custom typeface is more suitable than one that is already made to make the product truly unique.

"Being is a new high street retail destination that brings an online digital experience to a retail location. Being is a lifestyle, which offers Food, Apparel and Homeware. The retail store is similar to a coffee shop however each table is equipped with an iPad that customers can use to shop at their own leisure. This business means food and drink can be sold at subsidised prices while profit is made through orders from the iPads. The creative challenge was to establish the brand and lifestyle into the marketplace as a brand which embraces the simple life, natural materials and anti-materialistic way of life."

This branding is very sophisticated yet simple. I like the use of clashing colours in the background to emphasise the design in front of it. I also like the effects that she has used to make the business cards, they look like they are made of slate that has been etched into. The type combination used is perfect too - the very contemporary serif combined with a sans serif that isn't boastful about ornamentation. Together they work really well because the display copy does all the aesthetics for the body copy.