Submission Form

Submission Form

Evaluation

Evaluation

What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you’ve applied them?

Time management has been improved, not only from working on my own and discovering the pace and speed that I work at but also by working in a group this has caused me to work more effectively and efficiently by setting internal deadlines. These have also be caused by external factors which gave us a time constraint on some briefs such as the pitches and yearbook.

Live briefs are something that I’ve become much more confident with, I feel I can decide on relevant deliverables and develop a relevant concept for my designs too.

Working with a client is something that has been improved and built on , improving professional communication. Working with content is something that has really benefitted my practice, spending more time on producing work rather than spending time deciding on content and researching this.

Working for a corporate brief involved working with limted content and to guidelines that needed to be adhered to. This caused me to work differently, basing the outcomes on concept rather than deciding on a logo or typefaces. Strengthening my concept development and range at which I think about the concept.

Type and Layout has been really improved throughout this fmp, working with 2 publication pitches, the fine art yearbook and also the design context, this has allowed me to develop a concept then apply it through non standard layouts. Particularly with the fine art brief, this worked so well to emphasise the underlying message.

Professional Print specifications was another improvement to my skill set, working on a brief from concept development to professional printing is a great feeling and we all learnt a lot about how to work best for printers, including image management. This was used again within my design context.

Freelance – working alone was similarly beneficial to working in a group, I realized that I enjoyed the different aspects of both as freelancing with a client gives you a less pressured, more creative way of working. However, with Sophie, I found her hard to get any content from, so struggled to push the range as far as it could have gone.

Book Binding was something I had hoped to do while at college and finally I sorted out doing it for my final publication for design context, it was a daunting concept and at times I was tempted to send it off to get professionally printed, but I am glad I had a go as I think the results work well in contrast to the other publication I’ve worked on.

Studio practice has been improved, since doing another placement I recognized that there is a much better way to work. Although I felt at some points the studio isn’t always that productive, nearing the deadline it becomes such a creative space and this has proven to me that I’d like to be working in a medium sized studio where the atmosphere is key to teamwork and concept development.

Dealing with several briefs has been something I thought I might struggle with, but its been really enjoyable and much more true to life. I can finally be confident in working on several very different briefs, which is a boost when looking to the future and working professionally

What approaches to/methods of design production have you developed and how have these informed your design development process?

Multi page doc- through all of the editorial work it has allowed me to become much more confident with working with larger files and involving pagination.  

Logo applications – developing a logo and then pushing it further than just applying it works much better to reinforce the brand and also adds interest to things that can be quite boring or standardized

Concept driven briefs

Live clients and freelancing

Range of collateral

What strengths can you identify in your work and how will you capitalise on these?

Team work – I want to work in a studio so this will allow for the growth in this area. I think I work well when I can bounce ideas off others, and when I can receive crits often it aids my design practice hugely.

Collaborating with others – my confidence with working with others has been boosted too, from both college work during this module and working on my placement on live briefs it has made me realize that conceptually, practically and visually all are improved when working with other.

Working with content makes things so much easier, and I have really enjoyed working with a large amount of this, especially when pushing forward a concept. I will endeavor to work on live briefs or self initiated ones for my portfolio, all with accessible content.

Research

Concept

Product photography

These are the things that I wrote I wanted to do differently in my last module and I feel that I have built on all of these, which for me is a great boost.

1.     Improve time management, start MAKING STUFF from the word go to help myself evaluate and play with outcomes.

2.     Improve my wayfinding mock ups, this is something that I want to explore further.

3.     Learn to use photoshop to a better standard, I am happy to work in the other programs but photoshop feels like a weakness.

4.     Use more type, I enjoy typesetting and so I will be looking into designing publications in my FMP which will allow me to experiement and build on my type knowledge.

5.     I think I am using colour more effectively but this also needs to be explored further.

Five things I will do differently:

1.     Work with content, as research for specifically the typography tour was something that limited the time I spent designing and producing it.

2.     Document my work process consistently and evaluate this for my own personal development

3.     Use time effectively and organise crits within peer groups to create internal deadlines which I can then work to.

4.     When working with clients, ensure communication is effective and deliverables are arranged from the beginning, to avoid misunderstandings or lack of content.

5.     Explore a concept more, push it further.

Attendance: 5

Punctuality: 5

Motivation:5

Commitment: 5

Quantity of work: 4

Quality of work: 4

Contribution to the group: 5

Further analysis:

Change to SOI

Not continuing with some briefs is something that on evaluation worked out well in some ways, but it limited the outcomes for submission. The reason I think this happened was because none of them were live, they were old competition briefs, or things I thought I should do…

What would have been beneficial was to spend more time considering what I’m interested in and how I wanted to spend my fmp. I thought I’d considered this but looking back, I don’t think this I was honest with myself on what I really wanted to investigate.

I am glad that my rationale matches with my SOI because at the core of my practice branding and identity is something I enjoy the most.

Fortunately I did end up doing a variety of live and competition briefs which made up time that I lost during the beginning of the module to dissertation and generally not working effectively.

Overall I am happy with what I’ve achieved for this module, and look forward to applying everything I’ve learnt to more live briefs. Working with clients is something I both look forward to and dread, but what I’ve learnt, particularly during this FMP stands me in good stead I think to communicate effectively with both collegues and clients. Which I think is key when communicating a message is what its all about.

Something that I found really inspiring was my design context, this has changed my view on how I want to design. I think that designers have a lot of influence and using that wisely is something very admirable. My dissertation really helped subliminally influence my designing and even definitely ended up being much more helpful that initially anticipated.

Final Boards

Final Boards

Final Boards

Final Boards

Fine Art Promotion

I wanted to take the brief further so have designed the promotion for the exhibition. Rather than basing the design around a series of three I used two images to suggest two parts to the exhibition as they are taking the show down to London as well as showing it in Leeds. The flyers and posters will be the same design but differing sizes. The flyer will be square format, the same as the year book.

Further promotion for the exhibition is shwon through web presence. This follows the same aesthetic as the yearbook to ensure continuity throughout the range and create a strong reinforced brand identity.

Website to promote all images sent in...

FIND VARIATION FILE

For the online ad, and for other promotion such as ad shells, the images have been altered to as mentioned before change the tone of voice. 

This flyer not only has the advert on but also gives more information and highlights the easy steps to enter. 

Changing the images, and therefore adjusting the tone

After the crit, I decide to go ahead and use the much more personal images I found. I think it removes the corporate-ness of it all and gives the impression of a much friendlier brand.  

Printed Collateral

I created stickers for the back of paintings or illustrations she creates, especially for when theyre sold.

I included a folder too for further branding, although minor it has been photographed here. 

I'm pleased with how everything turned out, I had initially printed onto cartridge paper but this really absorbed the colours and resulted in really dull images so switched to matte which allowed for much brighter outcomes. 

Posters/Flyers

Sophie needed further promotion for her exhibition leading up to the show, so I created a poster that could be translated into a flyer too. I wanted something that would work for both. 

They use the guidelines and include the exhibition information. They also give the opportunity for the use of different images for more of a range that doesnt stereotype her work to one particlar piece. 

Post cards

Along with her business cards, I thought it would be a good idea if she had something that would have her work and contact information on for people to take away to remind them of her work. I think this is key when people are seeing so much work and wont remember it from a business card. 

These are A6 format and on the reverse they have a very light version of the image on the back of the stationary to ensure continuity and also all of her information for future contact opportunities. 

Web presence.

The website luckily allowed for a little further experimentation. I started by playing with layouts and decided that the work, clearly is the most important thing to be showing, continuing with the brand guidelines, it was relevant to continue with the white background, and the circles. These were key, I also decided it would make sense to continue with the same typeface: basic title font. This would ensure the continuation of her branding, particulaarly as she liked the typeface. 

From this initial draft I recognised that it really didnt make sense to have the navigation bar across the left of the page, or the branding for that matter as it just didnt make sense. 

Deciding on the opportune size for the cropped pieces of work for buttons was interesting to experiment with as it involved just enough white space, but not so little that it showed not enough space to let each speak on its own. 

I felt this worked well and with the addition of a pieces titles, this would be a good outcome. 

When I had applied the names of the pieces, it was still lacking any depth to the design so added a pattern from the circles found in the logo. I didnt want this to be dark, but just to add something else. Otherwise it looked stark and too simplistic. 

I next considered how the website itself would interact with the user. I considered them showing initially in black and white, until you scrolled over an image, which would show the vibrance of the colours, but this actually dulled down the final outcome. They worked a lot better when theyre all in colour along with the logo too.

The final version of the website includes a darker boarder at the top of the screen. to create a weighting to the top and the bottom. Ensures that the whole thing doesnt jsut look like its floating. 

I wanted to ensure that it was viewable on a smart phone too, and this needed a simpler design with each piece of work shown as a larger single circle in the screen allowing for the opportunity to scroll through them.

Although the information is basic, sophie didnt want to over complicate her work with lots of navigation tabs, they also arent necessary...just simply work, about, contact and news. these are all anyone needs when they look her up online. 

Social media links allow for further less formal ways of promotion 

stationary

Once the business cards were sorted, we had a brand that she was happy with, next was the stationary, it was initially mocked up in photoshop on this mock up, so I could get her approval. There were a few variations but unlike my type tour, due to this being a live brief there wasnt a huge opportunity to get that experimental with the application of the logo. 

During a crit, when I showed a piece of her work Andy mentioned how when folded, say for a letter, this would work really well as its symmetry would allow for an identical image, or even further interesting outcomes.

For a notelet, she didnt need her contact information on the piece, but simply a sign off at the bottom. The logo was applied at the top, visually this is really simple, but she was happy with the results and the simplicity...

The same was applied to the letter heads, however, there was more information applied to the bottom as these would be sending out a more formal message. 

This pattern works really well on the back, and I cant wait to print them out as I think they create something really different from standardised stationary. Despite being bold colours, because the image doesnt go to the edge of the page, it creates quite subtle decoration. 

details down to the tee.....

I also thought that I should consider more detail so added by putting the logo onto a tshirt. This allows the audience to also gain a sense of the tone of voice, as helpful. 

On that note, I think I should comment on the tone of voice, as I think its similar to the logos and branding, very clear, bold but has no over riding humour. Instead this is a brand that is full of information, wanting to inspire and educate. 

Event wayfinding and further branding for the events

Again utilising the logo and branding for the wayfinding is a great opportunity to have a big impressiion on buildings that are not permanent locations. They create a bold statement on walls, therefore really helping to push the brand to the audience. 

The bold colours that will be relevant for each of the locations and so creating an even stronger link to their representative colours. 

The smalller signage utilises the arrows that can be created from the logo to show the way round the venue. 

The branding is emphasised, even down to the smaller details such as tickets and student membership cards, allowing for student discounts throughout. This will really help advertise the outcomes for the target audience. 

With both of these the standardised colour pallete, used on the website etc is applied to the back keeping the front clear for important information. The logo pattern, however, has been applied along with the logotype..

At this stage, when I realised that the logo is used so thoroughly the logotype is really key when branding everything.