Studio Brief 03 - Project Report Page

Evaluation

Stephen Bronze

During this assignment it has come across many challenges, a main challenge is logo design especially when it is related to sports, the reason for this is because I’ve never been particularly skilled in these responsibility. This brief has made me work in a short amount of time at a fast pace it has also opened up my eyes to how real clients expect work and how fast they want it. This brief has made me be more rational with thinking and it instead of just thinking about ideas I have created multiple of them which has resulted in multiple interesting experiments. Working this brief has helped me develop skills in and knowledge in to sport and opened up my eyes to sports design. What made this assignment easier is the communication I was lucky to have the client and the fact that he knew what he wanted made this easier. Overall I am happy with the customer as is he and because of this I’ve now been asked to create his advertising campaigns. The main lesson from this brief which I learnt is don’t limit yourself to what your used to just because you’re comfortable doing that particular area otherwise you’ll never learn new things.

Amanda Collins

This brief which I took on, is something that I’m used to doing and where my comfortabilities sat when it comes to designing, however this brief did not compare to the work which I did for Stephen. The reason for this was because I went with what I knew straight away and didn’t experiment properly which resulted in a pretty, but basic outcome. Even though the client was, I wasn’t proud of the work that I carried out this is learning curve for myself. The client Amanda was a delight to work for however what also made this assignment difficult was the lack of communication, as she had no phone so everything was over email which she only replied to once so because of this, this is also why I went with something I was comfortable with. However, the imagery and colour choice works with the company as it’s a natural tropical cream company selling hand creams etc. for this I created a collage and digitally enhanced, from magazines. Although the client liked her designs a common theme which I’m noticing is being under pressure with time and the fact that I don’t work well like that, this is learning curve that I will take into third year.

YCN

This was the individual brief which I choose to do ‘Craft academy’ looking back through my portfolio I noticed how I lacked packaging design and packaging design is something that I was interested in so because of this I wanted to work on this brief. For this brief I found it particularly insightful seeing the beers which were already out there that were very much sexualised with women and how inappropriate they are. It is for the reason its inspired me to carry out a study which will be presented on my PPP blog. I enjoyed carrying out this brief as found it interesting and a challenge to create sexual beers that were not so blatant and crude without using a women’s figure. Once again what I did notice In this process was a lack of experimentation which I was disappointed with we can see this when it comes to further development in my final outcomes. Overall I was happy with my outcomes but I wish I took more time in creating them as they feel rushed, I would do this if I did this assignment again.

YCN Collaborative

This collaborative brief was one of my largest struggles, it’s always hard working with someone who you don’t know very well, but this is a process which I enjoyed. We found it difficult to meet up at the same time so this meant that we both did some work separately. However, we did end up coming together to help with the final resolution. I’ve been disappointed with myself with this brief as I feel that I have been lazy and I’ve let myself down, and because of this I’m know working on the collective brief with the same partner again to prove that I do work good in a group. If I were to do this again I would take on more work and push and make more effort.

Overall a major factor of these briefs is my time management, it is because of this factor I have failed to develop really good out comes and experiments, this is something I will majorly thinking about and develop working. However, although the process may not be perfect, the final outcomes which I have produced for the clients they have really liked and used in return, this has now created me networks.

collabrative UK greeetings - 0UGD503

To start off this assignment we both sat down and started to note down ideas of what kind of cards that we could create, so from this we began to research into the different card genres

Primary research:

Firstly I began by carrying out primary research into card shops such as clintons, and paper chase what was noted from these is that as soon as you walked in the shop the use of colour was highly popular. What was also noticed is that the cards were either blue or pink which separated the genders immediately. 

Another factor which was noticed was that the colour influenced the target audience and that the shops had sections dedicated that seperated the type of cards which were being advertsied.

During the research we found  that the cards had manly had illustrative designs which clustered the cards making them illegible to really see. Some of the designs and illustrations designs which made the cards look either immature or old, so there was no in between. 

The research we carried out we found that cards and wrapping paper accessories lacked gender neutral options,, and were heavily image and illustration led. Cards that were aimed at emails commonly showed images of heart , cakes dresses and were usually in either at males typically had images of cards,beers,women, gardening and were commonly designed in blues and greens also with script fonts but were less delicate then the female cards as they were bold. From these findings we decided to trial the brief to being as gender neutral as possible to be as inclusive as possible

Genreal research

We then carried out research into more spercific genres of cards which were aimed and men and women and found the colours were either pink blue purple of black or used patterns such as floral, footballs, sports related, beauty related. 

Due to these findings Katie thought that it would be an idea to create gender neutral cards because from are research that we found we found that there didn't seem to be a balance between the to, we also discussed that the influence of colour was not needed along with all the illustration, and during research found that type based cards seemed more unisex and open. It is because this reason we choose to experiment with the colour scheme of black, gold, and silver the reason for choosing this colour choice is because in research we found that colour was a major influence in the designs so we wanted neutral colours that weren't aimed at a particular sex.

Gold silver and black, are often related to a more mature theme but we thought we could adapt and change the form of text to make it look more modern and appealing. 

Experimentation 

Idea generation 

To start the idea generation we designed a basic type composition that we then experimented with using traditional letterpress as we thought that this would create an aesthetically pleasing result. However because of the composition of the type we struggles to achieve the aesthetic we were looking for. 

After experimenting with letterpress we decided to develop the composition further as we felt that the letters did not connect. 

When designing we kept in mind the research we found and decided that including images and illustration limited the audience, so we decided that we would create a card range that used interesting type composition in replace of imagery. This left the intended audience open as it was not designed with a specific gender in mind, but would be designed to be given to anyone from anyone, we decided that the concept should not be limited to one occasion but be open to multiple occasions such as birthdays, congratulations, happy anniversary and thank you. 

From this we began to experiment with Bodoni font, as its known for its classy effect so we began by experimenting,  creating wrapping paper, & card designers. What we found through experimenting with this font is that the font looked to girly and designers and is something you'd see in a designer store and we really wanted to try and avoid aiming it in a target audience. It is because of this reason that they didn't work. 

Feedback 

During uni we had a crit, following this crit we had a wide range of feedback: 

- Using metallics is a Great idea 

- Gender neutral is a good idea

- Don't limit the colour choice because of gender

Colour combinations 

Development 

From idea generation, we discovered a composition that worked well for each occasion. Following this we then experimented with colour of the collection as we found colour is an important element which determine the target audience. Because of this we decided to use gender associated colours as we didn't want to confirm stereotypes. When Receiving feedback from this concept it was discussed that the aesthetic was that of luxury feel because of his we decided to use metallic colours as ordinary colours would not convey this aesthetic

It is because of this feedback that we then  decided to look at other colours such as blue pinks and greens as in feedback found we found that we should include colours as not all colours indicate a sex.

Colour combinations 

To carry out this we started to create colour combinations using purple and and blue the reason for this choice is because they are similar to each-other and these colours are used more than others when it comes to gender neutral cards. 

I then created a survey to find out what customers wanted in a card and what they thought would be appropriate and it was alarming to note that people didn't think that there were gender neutral cards and agreed that they should be type based. From this research it will influence the future designs .

From gaing this knowlege katie began to manipulate the font to make it look more gender neutral by making the serfs larger and this idea worked in its favour creating  a more appropriate card design. 

Katie then started to put together smoother type compositions which we both sat down and talked about to evaluate what to change and what not to change. All we decided to do was to move a few letters round so the fit in the concept in a more satisfying way.

Final outcomes: Mockups

Following on from research and are idea generation we found developments which we found we re most appropriate  response to the brief and out intended concept. We used a combination  of interesting composition and metallic colours to reflect a luxury feel. To reflect this we used a serif font which was adapted to make it more suitable and gender Neutral as we found bold strokes were to masculine, and thin strokes were to feminine Our typeface is a balance between the two. Overall out collection type fits together perfectly creating a seamless design which is complimented by the colour combination. 

From these design I then began to create mockups for are finals, we knew that these needed to be professional as possible as this brief was a live brief which was interesting to do. Through the experimentation carried out we decided to go with the use of purple and blue colours and use the thicker font and compositions which Katie created. This project has been particularly stressful as it is always hard working in a group for the first couple of times.   However from this experience I have learnt a lot from Katie when it comes to letter pressing and type composition.

If i were to do this again I would have definitely involve myself more I'm very disappointed with the little in this project which i did even tho i felt i did a lot in comparison to Katie I did not. We both had good communications but at times could not meet up due to these issues so Katie in her own time created more work, which is what i should of done to and pushed myself. Overall I have enjoyed this experience and if I was to do this again I would make a lot more effort. 

As final outcomes i think that these design work well due to taking into consideration or primary research carrying out surveys and findings from the public who agreed that gender cards were needed and feedback from are peers indicated that the cards and accessories we created worked well as a gender neutral outcomes altogether. 

Amanda collins - Blossom and bloom - OUGD503

This project was given to me by a client producing a buisness based on natural based trpoical products, for hand creams and body care, the business was called Blossom & Bloom.

This project was a 2 day project which was carried out, due to the time scale that I was given by the client. What I have noticed is that by carrying out these mini briefs clients seems to underestmate how long it taked to produce connective work. With this project I was challanged with time scale, and one of the major issues with this project was the communication with the employer Amanda, as she had no phone and rarely used her laptop so she would phone me on her one of her friends phone which was once a day which was frustrating because it was difficult to contact her, however I accpepted the challange.

Due to time scale I was rushed with research so I took a huge gamble going with my first instincts and started by creatung a collage out of magazine papers which I had right in front of me at the time luckly the magazines were cosmetic based anyway, so to create this i tore up part of the magazine and put them back together. Showing Amanda she was impressed and asked if i could add more colour. 

Amanda asked for an elegant girly buisness cards which related to the logo blossom and bloom, so i used the blooming flower to create this idea. I then also used refreshing colours to go along with the imagery. The idea of these buisness cards was so that you could scratch the flower blossom and a smell of one of the natural creams would come out, which amanda liked the idea of. However becasuse the time limit this was impossible to do in town days, although Amanda does like design and choose to use it for her buisness cards. I'm now currently working on way to make another set of buisness card smells by visiting printing companys over summer.

Amanda has been a delight to work with, although the commincation was not great due to the lack of technology she had avaliable, but when it comes to working for clients Im going to find hurdles and this is especially one to learn from. I've learnt to be patient, and work in a short time scale both two things which I am not good at. A common dominator with the past 2 mini briefs i've carried out is that theyve both been short time scaled, and in a sense i've felt rushed to help with this in the future I'm going to set myself 1 day briefs to challange myself to make my designs better in a short amount of time.