PPD

2012-01-20T15:14:00.000-08:00

January 2012 Portfolio

Sort of happy with my portfolio at this stage, a few weaker briefs, few shit photographs, but I'm not really worried about it - I'm just going to be working hard to do as much strong work this term as possible and not worry about making the most of old work.

2012-01-20T07:03:00.000-08:00

Portfolio Surgery with Andy Lodge

I didn't get quite as much out of this tutorial, as Andy was generally quite positive. Not as critical as Ric. Andy said he preferred photographic images, over artwork - opposing Ric's advice. I think it depends on the brief.

2012-01-16T06:48:00.000-08:00

Portfolio Surgery with Ric Bell,

Really happy with surgery, Ric gave me some pretty good feedback. Some key points are: I need to include artwork files as well as photographic images. Spreads for each project, don't use single pages, it's confusing. The image hierarchy needs to be more obvious and I need to be selective and less precious over the images I use. The Kaleidescope posters need to be on a lighter wall, preferably less red, reducing contrast. The over arching point is that my work is of a professional standard, but my portfolio doesn't do it justice and still looks like a student's work.

2011-12-04T09:54:00.001-08:00

//
TOM SHARP TBM TALK.

2011-11-12T04:21:00.001-08:00

//
GENERATION PRESS TALK
/
Another really amazing talk from GP, showing us the quality and consideration that goes into their printing. Some useful notes worth mentioning are,
- Take photos in RAW format and only adjust them by 5%, more than might look better on screen but ruins the print possibilities.
- Use curves to edit photos.
- Colours will print very differently on coated and uncoated stocks.
- Never use 50% tints, always try and go at least 5% either side.
- Try and keep one CMYK colour at 100, to enhance colour strength, and especially with type so you get a sold edge.

A really interesting quote from An&...

'Don't try to be the best, just try and try to be better each day'

2011-11-02T12:41:00.000-07:00

'the philosophers have only interpreted the world; the point, however, is to change it.'

Karl Marx

Hand written, back to front, left to right (maybe even left handed) by Ken Garland

2011-10-11T10:11:00.000-07:00

//
VISITING PROFESSIONALS
/
STUDIO TALK #01 - RIC BELL - NOTES & THOUGHTS
/
I need to put more effort inro presentation of your work
Ric has worked with Peter Hellicar (skater & illustrator)
Design/produce/give away more tangible objects at exhibtions/shows/awards - better than just a business card.
Make friends with others students at exhibtions/shows/awards - offer to help them out where possible, you might need them at somepoint in the future.
My CV needs to fit on to a single sided A4.
The Consult & Golden in Leeds.
Don't take a job straight away or the first job you get offered.
Wood McGrath in London.
Everything that is cool you will have to do for free to begin with.

2011-10-09T16:53:00.000-07:00

//
THE BEAUTIFUL MEME
/
During august I did a three week placement at The Beautiful Meme in Yorkshire. While I was there I worked on a variety of different briefs, across a range of scales, deadlines and budgets. Clients that I worked on projects for include Azko Nobel, One&Other and Lumen.

2011-10-09T15:49:00.000-07:00

//
TYPOGRAPHY SUMMER SCHOOL
/
The first week of July I attended Fraser Muggeridge's Typography Summer School...

A week-long programme of typographic study in London for recent graduates and professionals. Alongside live projects run by Fraser Muggeridge, the school hosts talks, seminars and tutorials from daily visiting practitioners.

Daily visiting practitioners: APFEL (A Practice for Everyday Life), Sara De Bondt, Europa, Ken Garland, James Langdon, David Pearson
Visiting speakers: Sarah Newitt, Stefan Kraus

2011-10-09T14:37:00.000-07:00

//
D&AD NEW BLOOD
/
At the beginning of summer Arthur & I went down to New Blood, to help with student judging of the event. We were assigned about a dozen courses to look around and judge the work with the same criteria as the professional judges. Although our votes // comments didn't actually count, we did have a meeting with people involved with D&AD the following day and we discussed out votes against the professionals, as well as how the New Blood and D&AD could improve on what they already do. The most useful part was seeing the standard of work for over a hundred courses UK wide.

As part of new blood we also signed up for talks // workshops. I went to a studio talk with P&S, a company that select, edit and manipulate music for advertising campaigns. Although it wasn't particularly relevant to my practice, it was interesting to know how successful a company can be starting up with a niche in the market.

The other talk I attended was with Design Bridge, (who I actually got a phone call from a couple of weeks before, after I sent them my portfolio - there main feedback was a was producing work with a high standard of type & layout skills, but I needed to produce work with a 'big idea'.) Their talk showed through some of the more recent briefs and how they always strive to take each project above and beyond what the client asks for.

2011-09-22T13:30:00.001-07:00

^ THIRD YEAR ^

2011-05-25T06:26:00.000-07:00

Just took this screen shot of the Grafik website, thought it was quite interesting as it's got two versions of the advertisement for the LCA end of year show, and the article is about the success of a participant on last years Typoography Summer School.

2011-05-17T13:08:00.001-07:00

2011-05-14T16:40:00.000-07:00

so I got a place on the Typography Summer School. So excited.

http://typographysummerschool.org/

2011-05-12T07:04:00.000-07:00

Wim Crouwel. My favourite. The Best.

I just read this...

'His colleagues used Swiss type AkzidenzGrotesk everywhere, and Wim fell in love with it. Unfortunately, it wasn't readily available in Holland, so they had to buy Swiss newspapers and cut out the letters he needed by hand!

Wim is the best, and if he cut letters out and stuck them down, maybe that's the only thing to do.

2011-05-11T02:08:00.000-07:00

three hours in this room made me think a lot

2011-05-03T07:46:00.000-07:00

With this module being so different to the structures of conventional design modules, it was a struggle to plan, organise and find the motivation for most of it. The tasks were so hard to contemplate as they were all so directly aimed at freelancers or start up companies, where I definitely see myself targeting a job in an established design studio. I generally tend to struggle with writing and analysis, where referencing and backing up ideas is essential. When it came to choosing the groups, I was really happy with the four I was part of, as we all have complimentary design skill sets, similar client sectors we are interested in and an equally high drive for success. As a group we definitely struggled to find time, for this module, as optional modules clashed and with the timetable being split into 3 alphabetic rotations we never seemed to be free at the same time. Resulting in all meetings taking place on the weekends at our homes. However once we did get to arrange a meeting, they were all very productive and we covered a lot of ground in the available time. Once we had decided upon our company direction and ethos, we went through all of our lecture notes and handouts to distinguish the essential contents of the presentation, allowing us to split these into four equal responsibilities. So with two slides to do each it just left opening and ending slides to combine heads for the content. Having split the presentation into two tasks each it was obvious that Alice and Steph has more research and sourcing to do, because of all the funding issues, which are a lot more in depth that other areas. However we balanced this out as group because I was in charge and company branding and the visual content of the presentation. Arthur also stepped up with organisation skills, and a lot of verbal solutions to any problems the group had. I think as a group we are all pretty happy with how the presentation went; we covered all areas, and added in client examples, long term goals and a bibliography. The verbal delivery of the presentation was successful, as we had majorly image based slides allowing for a little distraction between that and the verbal content. Overall I definitely picked up a few tips for business, but struggled to adapt my direction of aiming to be part of an established company in order to answer some of the tasks.

2011-05-03T03:04:00.000-07:00

presentation for enterprise which I put together with all the group research and input we accumulated.

2011-05-03T02:25:00.000-07:00

So I posted some package out to the following five Muggeridge // Studio 8 // Inventory // Hyperkit // Collective Approach //

I also e-mailed out a few as well.
This is the pdf which I sent, and printed.

All the e-mailed pdfs received no response, but out of the five packages I got two responses.

One from Collective Approach saying general positive encouragement. I asked for a visit but they were too busy.

I also got a response from Muggeridge, (without having to recontact them) and again it was general encouragement but also advised to apply for a typography summer school, which meant to be just for graduates. So I have sent a portfolio in for that. Fingers crossed.

2011-05-02T17:35:00.000-07:00

group overheads for the first year assuming we will each want to earn £30,000 a year to cover our own individual requirements.

year one profit if we add 11% to prices charged in order to put money back into the business making a profit of £19819.01

year two with less overheads we can each take the same salary and put back 26% into the company making a profit of £41325.95

year three increasing percentage back in to 35% and increasing out salaries to £32500 and increasing our rates by £3/phpp we could generate a profit of £59131.09

2011-04-22T17:50:00.000-07:00

NOTES FROM MEETING

NAME - CAVASSO

Introduce and refresh emerging creatives into their appropriate market, through multi-disciplinary design solutions. Covering art direction, identity, print, web, event based design work, with a consideration of elegance, colour and format.

1 Who we are/What we do - statement of intent / mission statement / usp
2 Services/specialist areas, experience
3 competitors - SWOT analysis
4 resources equipment, start up/overheads
5 Location/environment/arts council funding -PEST analysis -
6 business plan (bank) accountant solicitor partnership copywrite tax
7 clients & marketing prices
8 clients' audience & our design strategy rates
9 rates // funding
10 USP/ goal progression

divided the work load and slides up between us
1&10 (all of us)
2&3 (AS)
4&9 (SO)
5&6 (AV)
7&8 (AC)

2 Services//Specialisms//Experience//Printing//Hiring out

Cavasso is multi-dsiciplinary design agency based in @@@@, offering a wide range of formats from art direction to web design. We work closely with new and emerging creatives, in order to enhance their presence within their appropriate industry. We strive to produce content driven work, allowing the clients work to be at the forefront of the work offering the highest possible impact.

print, digital,

art direction, branding, brochure, catalogue, exhibition, experiences, installations, invitation, leaflet, packaging, photography, poster, web
---ART DIRECTION, BRANDING, EXHIBITION, EXPERIENCES, PACKAGING, PRINT, WEB

> printing

A multi-disciplinary design studio producing work, which is content and conceptually driven, for the creative culture and retail sectors.

3 Muggeridge//Egelnick & Webb//Bibliotheque

Muggeridge -
[s] are a multi disciplinary company, with ten years of professional experience, who produce a wide range of high quality type driven work, which all carries a very current aesthetic. Having successfully collected vast amounts of awards and being based in London, it is no surprise that their over sixty clients who keep coming back to them.
[w] their only weakness is their small amount of staff; with only three members of staff, they may struggle to produce vast amounts of work in small time scales. Also they rely on their website as promotion, but I guess with a large client base and word of mouth, this isn't much of an issue.
[o] their main opportunities would lie in their large client base, of whom they produce work with a very current editorial trend and with specializsng with one client area, of whom all have similar target markets they have tailored a very accurate strategy toward successful design outcomes.
[t] their only real threats at the moment would be the lack of funds available to artists and other creatives, which make up the majority if not all of their cliental.

Egelnick & Webb

[s] are a design and art direction studio, offering complete a service to a varied client basis, but predominantly within high end fashion and other luxury sectors. Their client list features brands such as Prada and Jaeger, it is no wonder, the high end print processes suggest projects with a particularly high budget.
[w] However with resolutions of such high quality due to budget, there could be issues with their response to more closed briefs, which are more restricted and hold a tighter budget.
[o] Working with fashion allows for those trends to follow through into the visuals of the design work, this is something Egelnick & Webb do well, along with the high end processes allowing for some really innovative often interactive solutions, which all combine to effectively reach the target market.
[t] One threat would be the financial strength of their clients in the current climate, having said this most of their clients are established high end wealthy companies. However thier main threat would be

Bibliotheque -
[s] are a multi award winning London based design consultancy offering captivating design solutions, which are underpinned by conceptual thinking. With an evergrowing client base, including Adidas, Nike, V&A and Grafik, their place in the UK design industry seems fairly cemented. They work across a range of media and with a range of budgets. They also sell limited run prints as an extra source of income.
[w] their only threat simply seems to be that they do not offer a web design service.
[o] they have produced work accross a vast range of clients, creating conceptually driven work which appeals to clients who want more than just aesthetics. Their work seems to have an ethos about it which suggests Bibliotheque without overpowering its content.
[t] if another company offers a more complete service than they do, basically offering web as an extra.

2011-04-22T00:43:00.000-07:00

2011-03-14T08:25:00.001-07:00

Pentagram will always be one of if not the best around.

2011-03-13T09:11:00.000-07:00

FIRST GROUP MEETING

2011-03-13T09:09:00.000-07:00

LECTURE NOTES

2011-02-28T05:39:00.001-08:00

TWENTYWORDSABOUTME

A GRAPHIC DESIGNER WITH A PASSION FOR TRADITIONAL AND EXPERIMENTAL LAYOUT DESIGN,
WITH AN OBSESSIVE EYE FOR TYPOGRAPHIC DETAIL.

2011-02-16T05:18:00.001-08:00

OUGD202 EVALUATION

Having chosen Top Ten City Skylines, I was able to take forward an obvious visual aesthetic, because the topic itself is pretty straight forward. I also looked into a few facts about each city, such as tallest buildings etc, but with such visual obviousness, I didn't feel much more research was necessary. The target audience was people interested in general knowledge and perhaps a light geographic interest. Also the viewers of most Channel 4 documentaries.

I really struggled with ideas generation in this module, having never worked with moving image before or ever considered or ever liked it, it was hard to think of where to start. Some of the early workshops on storyboarding did improve this, but with such little interest in moving image it was always going to hard. I was definitely more motivated as soon as packaging and print was introduced. I was pretty happy the cover for the packaging with the embossed front cover. The supportive poster uses a strict yet interesting grid system, the colours from the title sequence and a bespoke typeface for 'Top Ten' which considered construction in its elements to connote the structure of buildings. Although when I folded it up to go into the case, the black ink transfered from one part to another. Something I iwll have to be careful of in future. As for the moving image side of things, I was pretty happy with the idents, as they were pretty original as far as idents go, whilst considering a grid structure, similar to that of buildings. However I originally planned for the idents to create the majority of the title sequence, but this wouldn't have worked as the flashing would be overload for fifty second. So the resulting title sequence looks a bit dull and I am definitely not happy with it. This is definitely an apt time to quote Craig from Music: 'there are no bad briefs just bad responses.

I think the main things I have learnt from this module are:
- I still have no interest moving image
- A lot more can go wrong in moving image as opposed to print
- Being negative towards something doesn't mean it will go away

The most successful areas of this module were:
- The embossing of the packaging cover
- The layout of the accompanying poster
- The potential of typeface development from the bespoke 'Top Ten' typeface

The least successful areas of this module were
- The quality of the moving image finals

2011-02-10T05:48:00.000-08:00

D&AD TALK

- ideas and execution
- spark
- originality
- daring

2012 - 50th year anniversary

Perpetuation of creative brilliance

SHELLSUIT ZOMBIE

Go Further - ideas
Go Crazy - ridiculous ideas could lead you somewhere
Go Original - bend rules, don't copy
Go in Stilettos - take a different angle on the audience
Go all out - idea + execution

What can people understand about a product without the obvious being stated

Go & try it - interact, what do you like about it, will others like it.

*HONESTY*

2011-02-04T10:10:00.000-08:00

Craig at Music

attended a really inspiration talk today, so thought the notes I took were worth typing up (as I can never read my own handwriting)...

graphic design will never rise above its contetn.
content + form = communication
'be interested not interesting'
no such thing as a bad brief, just a bad response
the solution is always there
solve the right problem in the brief
'ideas are like whores' if one isn't good enough, move onto the next one
*ORIGINALITY* *RELEVANCE* *EXECUTION*
*MEDIA* *SUITABILITY* *CONTENT*
don't repeat yourself - love OR ♥ not love ♥
if you use your style, you probably haven't solved the problem
OBSERVE / QUESTION / RECORD / ACT
don't become a professional - you are not repairing a broken pipe
so man ways to fix a design problem
trust your doubts, go with it
BE HONEST
don't talk about your design, let your design do the talking
clients don't care about point size, leading and rationales
don't be an ELITIST
Einstein is a genius - no graphic design will be

be scared you won't get a job
when visiting companies/placements take finished work AND in progress work

*good design is invisible let the content do the talking*

...swearing is just being fucking passionate

2011-01-27T08:24:00.001-08:00

Looks like Egelnick and Webb have the market covered as far as high end fashion look books etc.

2011-01-27T07:58:00.000-08:00

Another post with loads of images in, Onlab is in Berlin. I'm going to Berlin in reading week...

2011-01-27T07:32:00.000-08:00

I think a post with 20+ images in suggests a new favourite in: Fraser Muggeridge studio...

2011-01-27T06:10:00.000-08:00

Kasino are a print based design agency from Helsinki, producing some really interesting work.

OUPD201 - PPD2

2011-01-25T04:33:00.000-08:00

Bibliothèque are an amazing multi-disciplinary design agency in London, producing some fantastic print work.

OUPD201 - PPD2

2011-01-25T00:28:00.000-08:00

homework is amazing. Maybe I would be tempted by Scandinavia?

OUPD201 - PPD2

2011-01-24T10:29:00.000-08:00

Peter & Paul...Maybe it's time I contacted these guys again...

OUPD201 - PPD2

2011-01-20T05:50:00.000-08:00

Cam Diamond: a Melbourne based multi disciplinary freelancer, producing some lovely editorial and identity based work with some highly reputable companies. As well as the branding for some of the worlds top tattoo artists.

OUPD201 - PPD2

2010-12-15T02:26:00.000-08:00

Jae Jeon a MA graduate from New York, producing some amazing freelance print work.

OUPD201 - PPD2

2010-12-15T01:58:00.000-08:00

Value and Service, a London based design agency producing some nice work across a range of media.

OUPD201 - PPD2

2010-12-15T01:43:00.000-08:00

NR2154 is a multidisciplinary design network based in Copenhagen and New York established by Troels Faber and Jacob Wildschiødtz.
NR2154 create visual identities, logos,x typography, exhibitions, books, magazines, websites, films and campaign material.

The collaboration was initiated in 1996 with the launch of several magazines and the design studio that later became NR2154 was founded in 1999. Today Jacob and Troels are based in New York and Copenhagen respectively. They work independently and together on various projects in the framework of NR2154.

They also have sweet business cards....

OUPD201 - PPD2

2010-12-15T01:05:00.000-08:00

Atelier Carvalho Bernau is an independent practise for graphic design, typography and typeface design. Based in The Hague, The Netherlands. They design printed matter (mainly books), bespoke and retail typefaces, and identity programmes. With an interdisciplinary network of other committed creative professionals, we develop interactive and web solutions, installations and exhibitions.

Shame so much amazing print work is produced in Europe.

OUPD201 - PPD2

2010-12-06T06:24:00.000-08:00

Studio 8 are an incredible design agency in London, producing some stunning work across editorial, identity and print.

OUPD201 - PPD2

2010-12-06T05:37:00.000-08:00

Alan Kitching - This is the sort of work that really ignited my passion fro typography over the past few years, although I have only recently came across Kitching's beautiful work. I would happily create work like this forever, but I think cutting it in such a niche market is unrealistic. Producing publications on woodblock and letterpress, would be close to perfect...

OUPD201 - PPD2

2010-12-06T05:25:00.000-08:00

Tomato - a design agency located in London and in Hollywood, create some really nice work, it's just a shame their website is a bit laborious.

OUPD201 - PPD2

2010-12-02T07:10:00.000-08:00

Carine Collin - a freelance designer working on some lovely editorial work. I believe she is now working in Brussels, having been born in France. I really like the use of white space in her work, and how it majorly features other forms of art, such as photography, installations and sculpturing. I would definitely be interested in working with publications, with other artistic content.

OUPD201 - PPD2

2010-12-02T06:58:00.000-08:00

I've always had a massive admiration for Wally Olins; having grown up with a fascination for logos, I found out about him pretty early on.

OUCE255 - Enterprise

2010-12-01T01:28:00.001-08:00

Proposed Position Statement.

1. Ideally I would like to find myself working in London after graduating, as I love the city and feel it is at the heart of modern day British graphic design. Although I do have aspirations to travel and possibly work abroad at some stage.

2. I aim to work for an established and reputable company, with an average amount of employees (say a dozen), as I feel my qualities are best served as part of a team as opposed independently.

3. I imagine I will produce work for clients of all sizes as they I am interested in the aesthetics of design which small scale clients often entail. Producing look books and publications on fashion companies and designers would be perfect. I would also love to walk into places and do the whole 'look I did that' scenario.

4. I would consider working with almost any type of client. Big, small, eco, controversial etc. Obviously I have my own opinions and outlooks on life, but none strong enough to stop me deciding against accepting work (I imagine something may come up which I will have to decline though). I also really want to produce something of a certain controversial level.

5. I mainly see myself working with editorial/publishing design. I feel my knowledge of type and layout is my strongest asset, and definitely my favourite area to work within. I would like to work with the of produce art based publications, such as design magazines or fashion look books.

6. Another area I am interested in is branding. I have an appreciation for the level of effect the subtle nuances that companies logos or identities can contain, giveng that company a more impressive visual aesthetic to the next.

7. With both of the previous in mind, I would ideally like to work in high end print, producing work with both a high consideration of the qualities of visual and tactile presence. Having said that I feel I can produce effective work with restricted briefs and limited money.

8. A slick easy navigational website will be important to have over the next couple of years, along with a blog, both which will hopefully gain some exposure. A unique business card with a personal touch will be paramount, to seal the deal as such with people I meet or people who see my work.

9. I want to obtain a design direction which is obviously not unique, because that is something near to impossible, but something which can always be linked back to me and obvious that I produced it or had some input into the aesthetic.

10. In ten years time I want to have worked in a reputable design company, travelled and possibly worked around USA and Europe and possibly start thinking about starting my own business!

OUCE255 - Enterprise

2010-12-01T01:27:00.000-08:00

TASK 4
Who else is out there – how good are they?

Muggeridge -
[s] are a multi disciplinary company, with ten years of professional experience, who produce a wide range of high quality type driven work, which all carries a very current aesthetic. Having successfully collected vast amounts of awards and being based in London, it is no surprise that their over sixty clients who keep coming back to them.
[w] their only weakness is their small amount of staff; with only three members of staff, they may struggle to produce vast amounts of work in small time scales. Also they rely on their website as promotion, but I guess with a large client base and word of mouth, this isn't much of an issue.
[o] their main opportunities would lie in their large client base, of whom they produce work with a very current editorial trend and with specializsng with one client area, of whom all have similar target markets they have tailored a very accurate strategy toward successful design outcomes.
[t] their only real threats at the moment would be the lack of funds available to artists and other creatives, which make up the majority if not all of their cliental.

Egelnick & Webb

[s] are a design and art direction studio, offering complete a service to a varied client basis, but predominantly within high end fashion and other luxury sectors. Their client list features brands such as Prada and Jaeger, it is no wonder, the high end print processes suggest projects with a particularly high budget.
[w] However with resolutions of such high quality due to budget, there could be issues with their response to more closed briefs, which are more restricted and hold a tighter budget.
[o] Working with fashion allows for those trends to follow through into the visuals of the design work, this is something Egelnick & Webb do well, along with the high end processes allowing for some really innovative often interactive solutions, which all combine to effectively reach the target market.
[t] One threat would be the financial strength of their clients in the current climate, having said this most of their clients are established high end wealthy companies. However thier main threat would be

Bibliotheque -
[s] are a multi award winning London based design consultancy offering captivating design solutions, which are underpinned by conceptual thinking. With an evergrowing client base, including Adidas, Nike, V&A and Grafik, their place in the UK design industry seems fairly cemented. They work across a range of media and with a range of budgets. They also sell limited run prints as an extra source of income.
[w] their only threat simply seems to be that they do not offer a web design service.
[o] they have produced work accross a vast range of clients, creating conceptually driven work which appeals to clients who want more than just aesthetics. Their work seems to have an ethos about it which suggests Bibliotheque without overpowering its content.
[t] if another company offers a more complete service than they do, basically offering web as an extra.

Being a graduate of any sort will always be competitive, but particularly in the creative industry. It seems almost ridiculous to compare ourselves to well established companies, because it we just wouldn't stand up against them in every area. Having said that it is probably worth looking at this, from the point of view that how could I add to these companies, which is more along the lines of 'what makes me better than other graduates applying for the same job?' And in all honest I can't even answer that yet, but I guess that is what the next year is for. I am a type and layout designer, with obsessive eye for typographic detail, but so are so many other graphic design students. I have a year to take this above and beyond.

OUCE255 - Enterprise

2010-12-01T01:25:00.000-08:00

How will I promote myself?

Hopefully by graduating a high standard of portfolio work should be a given, with the hard work encouraged by this course. So with my input into that I feel that is something not to consider too much at this stage. Also I am aware that the college organises opportunities where visiting professionals come in to crit out work during third year as well as being invited to the end of year exhibition. However if I am going to act to greater my chances of successful employment I feel making contacts over the next couple of years is paramount. I plan to gain a list of people whom I plan to contact regarding information, advice, reviews and potential visits/placements. I imagine these will all be different depending on the answers I require; for example I may want advice from one person about getting into the industry, but I may not feel their review of my portfolio would be as helpful as someone else. Blogs and websites are definitely important. I've already had about 18000 blog views so hopefully somebody important has or will see something on there they like. I am yet to build a website but I have recently set up a behance, which has had a few likes and comments on there, but I dont think I should push that too far until I have a better selection of work on there. As well as all of these, I think personal interaction is somewhere toward the top if my list. I feel if I were to meet a potential client/employer, my personal approach to the meeting would help me achieve a positive outcome from a meeting.

OUCE255 - Enterprise

2010-12-01T01:21:00.000-08:00

Where are they – How will they find me?

Local Bikology Leeds
[p] a company working with, repairing and selling bikes have very little negative political factors because their industry supports environmental improvement, and they use very little equipment which affects the environment.
[e] perhaps cycles are something which are often seen as unnecessary luxuries, so in the current climate this may have a negative affect on the company. Having said this in a city which has awful traffic routes and a mass population of students, a cycle business is probably booming.
[s] cycling as a form of leisure is somewhat decreased dramatically over the past decade or so with other forms of entertainment taking over, but with environmentally aware citizens it is often a preferred mode of transport, along with the young adult trend in cycling currently sweeping the country.
[t] with technological forms of recreation being more popular among younger people, the amount of cycles bought may be less, also with cycles being able to be factory manufactured abroad and sold for very very little, this would affect the sale of bespoke produced cycles.

National Croots
[p] the obvious political issue here is the nature of products, of which Croots sell. Products for a sport which is not nationally accepted is always going to be an issue. Another issue would be ethically sourced the leather is, which in this case is all naturally sourced in England.
[e] with these products aimed at upper democratic divisions, economy would not be much of an issue. I work in a retail environment where these products are sold, and the sales are improving annually. However they have just dropped production of their budget range, as the profit margins are much smaller, but it might be interesting to see if this affects them long term.
[s] similar issues to that of economical, with the elder, wealthier clients being the most dominant customer, but as the products are for a sport which entices as many young people as old, there will always be the market.
[t] with all their products being hand made, there will obviously be cheaper, more economically produced equivalents being produced by machine, but it the handmade quality which their customers look for.

Transnational Npower
[p] there are obvious issues around naturally sources power, but even with solar and renewable energy, natural energy will still primarily function as the source of power for some time. Npower are doing their bit for the environment with renewable energy and encouraging customers into energy saving.
[e] the main economic factor would be the instability of source and availability, which in turn constantly affects, the variation in both source and sell on costs.
[s] the only real social issues are where people actively choose not to use natural energy, but the majority of people except that you pretty much can't get away from it.
[t] with natural sourced energy being sourced pretty much the same for years, I imagine it will be the technological developments of the more sustainable energy sources.

Bikology - How will they find me?

They won't, they are small company who have enough work to keep going, they are happy at the size they are, they love the small scale bespoke jobs they do. They probably have no idea for the aesthetic of brand design, despite producing amazing bikes. However if I really wanted to work for them I would probably have to literally walk up to them and show them what I have done with other brands, and how I could improve their identity.

OUCE255 - Enterprise

2010-12-01T01:10:00.000-08:00

Who am I? Who are they?

I am slightly unaware of what client groups I could or should be aiming towards working with, as I guess I have always seen myself working for a company where clients would do the approaching. Thinking about it I would be happy to work with anyone if they had they approached me with an idea or concept that I was interested in or I could work with. There's obviously a few moral values to consider there, but I wouldn't mind producing the odd controversial piece.

If I was consider where I am currently or where I see myself progressing as a designer, perhaps that would lead me onto suitable clients. If I were to list my main skill within graphic design they would be:

- Editorial/publication design

- Typographic based design

- Design for print

- Branding and Identity

My current aspirations towards ideal employment is, working with other artistic professionals, so that I can incorporate my type and layout skills into the presentation and promotion of their works. Recently I have found some really inspirational editorial design work, by graphic designers, for sculpturors and photographers etc. This is something that I could really see myself doing.

My passion for type based design has been evident for years and it is something I seemed to grasp quickly. Having a strong understanding of the fundamentals of the rules behind type and grid is essential and this is something I feel I have and could contribute to any working environment within the design industry. With a year and a half left in education I plan to majorly work with further improving my existing knowledge of typography, by gaining a vast range of contextual knowledge and understanding, as well as an ongoing investigation into my own production of type based work.

Product, Price, Place, Promotion:
I would aim to offer companies a range of products which could benefit their business; with a strong skill in branding and identity I fell I could create visuals for both new and existing companies, to improve both their aesthetic and ethos behind what they do. However I feel my most important skill would be the creation of print and editorial design which would further inform and promote audiences about a company.

With the mindset of working within a design company as opposed to freelance, I imagine their prices will be pre-determined, although I would love to be working with high end print design, where I could benefit from visualising a quality of beautifully printed work with a consideration of print process and the fees they would entail.

Ideally I would like to find myself working in London after graduating, as I love the city and feel it is at the heart of modern day British graphic design. As a city it has so much potential for contacts and inspiration. I also have a massive wish to spend a certain amount of time working in the USA, most notably New York, but this just a wish for the future. If I'm planning my career it needs to start in the beginning, so London.

Promotion is probably the most important and hardest of the four Ps for me to consider. As I mentioned previous I imagine products and price would be pre-determined, and place I am pretty much set on. So in order to obtain these three things effectively it will all be down to my personal promotion. Business cards and a website will be necessary, but often they just don't cut it alone. I am aware of a couple of industrial based events which the college organise throughout the third year and during graduation to help us get noticed, but mainly it will be down to me making contacts in the next year or so. Contacts will always be the key to improving.

IMAGES

OUPD201 - PPD2

2010-11-30T13:37:00.000-08:00

blast are one of my favourite branding agencies. They create some amazing identities as well as print and editorial designs to accompany.

OUPD201 - PPD2

2010-11-30T12:12:00.000-08:00

Magpie Studio - some absolutely beautiful work from a design agency based in London. Not sure on how long they have been around or how big they are, but they have produced some amazing work, throughout branding, editorial and print.

OUPD201 - PPD2

2010-11-30T11:58:00.000-08:00

Multistorey - multi disciplinary design London based design agency, working for nearly fifteen years, and taking on some very respectable clients.

OUPD201 - PPD2

2010-11-30T09:17:00.000-08:00

Because Studio - an independent design studio, from Preston. Creating some nice identity and print based design over the past two years.

OUPD201 - PPD2

2010-11-30T01:02:00.000-08:00

Inventory - phenomenal work by London based design agency. It's been a very long time since I have liked nearly every piece of work on a agency's website. So this clearly speaks volumes. Only been active as a company for nearly two years. Consistently high standard of work across, editorial, branding, type and print, which all suits my direction of work.

OUPD201 - PPD2

2010-11-29T16:48:00.000-08:00

Design Judge (Matt Judge) - a freelance producing a range of design work, but with a major branding & identity direction. Working between London & San Francisco.

OUPD201 - PPD2

2010-11-29T16:28:00.000-08:00

YES - London based design agency producing some phenomenal work for some pretty large clients.

OUPD201 - PPD2

2010-11-29T16:18:00.000-08:00

Leeds based design company, producing a range of design work all mostly high end, with a consideration into print processes.

OUPD201 - PPD2

2010-11-29T15:31:00.000-08:00

Fabio Ongarato an Australian based design company with some amazing work. Shame they are that for away to be honest.

OUPD201 - PPD2

2010-11-29T15:17:00.000-08:00

Stout/Kramer - Rotterdam based design agency producing some really nice editorial designs.

OUPD201 - PPD2

2010-11-29T14:51:00.000-08:00

Hawaii - a London based design agency with an ever growing reputable client basis. Constantly producing lovely editorial and identity based work.

OUPD201 - PPD2

2010-11-29T12:39:00.000-08:00

Keller Maurer Design based in Munich.
About: Keller Maurer Design is a graphic design consultancy based in Munich and run by Martina Keller and Marcus Maurer. Formed in 2002 after working several years abroad, we have over 15 years of experience in delivering design of the highest standards. Our approach to communication is one of simplicity and clarity, allowing us to create content-driven, original and relevant design strategies for our clients. While placing an emphasis on creativity we have a pragmatic outlook in finding intelligent design solutions that really work. We work across a wide range of disciplines and media with a tailored network of specialists and partners.

Really nice experimental layouts in the majority of their publications.

OUPD201 - PPD2

2010-11-29T12:23:00.000-08:00

g-j (Hannes Gloor & Stefan Jandl)

A small Zurich based design company running only three years since graduation from Zurich University of the Arts. Some really lovely editorial design work, which is so inspirational to me. I love the use of experimental layouts, white space, and monotone images. So exciting. No major clients, but still some lovely work. A business only running a couple of years, I will definitely keep an eyes on these guys.

OUPD201 - PPD2

2010-11-29T12:04:00.000-08:00

Hyperkit - London based design company, producing work across a range of media. Over the past ten years they have started to produce work with a consistent direction, whilst picking up some respectable clients along the way and featuring in the top design magazines and blogs. Currently have two directors and three more employers. They write an ongoing journal/blog and have a website which i easy to navigate and aesthetically effective, with each category having a varying colour scheme.

Brief History: Founded by Kate Sclater and Tim Balaam, Hyperkit grew to a team of four in 2006. Highlighted as ‘ones to watch’ in Creative Review magazine in 2003, we were also profiled over 8 pages in Grafik magazine in 2005 and included in an international survey of Graphic Design in Idea magazine in 2006.

OUPD201 - PPD2

2010-11-29T11:37:00.000-08:00

The Consult - Leeds based award-winning design agency delivering effective & considered communications, who have been producing some lovely graphic design work over the past five years.

OUGD201 - What is Good?

2010-11-23T13:16:00.000-08:00

What is good?
Good is ‘The combination of the visual aesthetic of infinity & the branding and promotions of consumable emotions’

This entire module was interesting from beginning to end; the researching personal views of good obviously led me into areas of interest, but also into new areas which I have since become fascinated with> The main example of this being geometry and more specifically fractals. This in turn led me on to the topic of the visual aesthetic of infinity. The only downfall of this new found fascination was the amount of time i spent researching before I actually moved on to any concept based design work; however a crit just in time led me onto the path of branding infinite emotions. Although selling anything infinite can only mean a company would not lat very long, so the emotions would only be allowed for a given period of time (say a few hours) and for the chosen emotion to have an infinite affect the consumer would have to continually purchase the product. Despite this once I got into the design work I was able to go in a direction which perfectly suited me; closely looking at branding and identity along with typography resolutions, as well the newly introduced geometric approach.

Due to the fictional nature of the product direction, it was quite hard to prove its necessity in the market, but there is definitely space for a product which can aid the controlling of your emotions. Particularly for people who work so much they have little time to relax or socialise, or even people who have too much time they don't know what to do with themselves. These types of people would definitely benefit from the proposed product range.

I think the main things I have learnt from this module are:
- more about industrial print processes and how the level of which your understanding is of them, the easier your life and relationship with the Printers is. Also how to mock up industrial processes with the resources available at LCAD.
- a basic understanding of geometry; and its rules and structures. For a period of about a week I started to get my head around fractals but I realised it was not necessary to delve any deeper as it was purely the visual side of the theory I was interested in and not the mathematical production behind it.

The most successful areas of this module were:
- the branding and identity; how I structured the development to come up with a high standard of resolution. I spent days adjusting subtle nuances of stokes, serifs and kerning, both on screen and in print. It was definitely all worth it. I was happy with the bespoke letterforms for the brand name and all the emotions within. I will also plan yo create the upper case and glyphs fro personal benefit in the near future.
- My crafting skills are usually well planned out and carefully constructed and I feel the tablet box evidences this; with a net which was bespokely designed to create a seamless cover over board structure.
- I was really happy with the use of colour against their respective emotion, I found a diagram which seriously aided me with this, but nether the less it was still a successful area of the branding.
- work ethic was better than it has ever been, I worked hard throughout with many long days in the studio, but it definitely paid of with the amount of work I produced and the processes I under took and experimented with. I was also much more decisive throughout and using the experience gained in the first year I knew when and how I had to make decisions, to progress in the right direction.

The least successful areas of this module were
- The general standard of the range of mock-ups; the box was well constructed, but the all labels were grubby and not applied to the products very well. The stock I had to use to suit the foil blocking, didn't affix well to any surface and the foiling itself wasn't particularly great. However all of these issues were easily resolved in photoshop, so I guess this is not too much of an issue as a designer.
- Perhaps the lack of quantity of emotions I suggested to create; looking back on research there are about fifty achievable emotions, but my range only suggested to sell half of those. This was mainly down to the colour selection.
- as always the quality of photography - I'm not sure whether to try and get good at it or whether to give up and ask other people to help me...

I am rarely happy with much of my resolved work, but I guess that is understandable when I am always learning and evolving as a designer. Having said that, this is by far my most successful resolution to any brief I have tackled so far. I choose to work in a direction which suited me perfectly. I love type, layout, identity and now geometry. I just now need to take these areas of my work and see how they can work within a less open brief.

I am rarely happy with much of my resolved work, but I guess that is understandable when I am always learning and evolving as a designer. Having said that, this is by far my most successful resolution to any brief I have tackled so far.

OUGD201 - What is Good?

2010-11-08T06:36:00.000-08:00

Progress tutorial feedback

OUPD201 - Group Tutorial Task.

2010-11-03T06:46:00.001-07:00

Personal response task...

Group discussion...
Cant't say I agree with all of them, but it was decided democratically...

OUGD201 - What is Good?

2010-11-03T06:38:00.000-07:00

Formative feedback...

After this feedback session, I have taken on board the comments I received. I mainly needed to continue in the direction I am, as it was generally quite positively received. I need to look at the distribution of my products, and how the audiences will be targeted...

OUCE255 - Enterprise

2010-11-03T06:27:00.000-07:00

Lecture notes 5

OUGD201 - Progress Tutorial

2010-10-28T11:42:00.000-07:00

Today I had my first Level 05 progress tutorial, in advance to this I had to fill in the forms below; in order to be aware of the issues within my design practice, that needed to be talked about and hopefully somewhat resolved. The main issue(s) I raised were that I struggled with a RANGE of research techniques, ideas and development. In a nutshell I was advised that the best way to solve this is to decided which is most appropriate depending on the brief. So I should be coming up with ideas and when I get stuck, do some more research and then go back to ideas etc. The other issue was I was concerned my work is too one directional, with type being almost solely the forefront of my design work. The answer to this is this is not a problem, I still need to consider other types of design, for when they are necessary to include, but I can focus on and resolves the majority of work with type. The only issue here is that I would then in turn have to become an expert in type in order to rationalise my work effectively. I now need to look into companies who prioritise their work with type, and how effectively it can be used. I also need to gain an industrial awareness of type based companies in order to make contact and aim towards potential industrial experience.

OUPD201 - Group Tutorial Prep.

2010-10-26T09:01:00.000-07:00

What are your concerns about industrial experience?

- Aiming too high too soon; basically making contact with a company and my portfolio isn't strong enough to impress yet, so could be disregarded and not given another chance

- Being unprepared and not being able to make the most of a given chance.

- Being in an environment which produces aesthetically good work, but clashes/disagrees with my views/ethics.

- Finance/recession; something which is obviously evident currently and could affect both experience and career opportunities.

OUPD201 - Group Tutorial Prep.

2010-10-26T09:00:00.001-07:00

What area of industry are you interested in?

- high quality print and its process

- type & grid

- branding & identity

- editorial

OUPD201 - Group Tutorial Prep.

2010-10-26T09:00:00.000-07:00

What form/format could industrial experience take?

- agencies of various sizes

- freelancing

- in house design companies

- printing companies and manufacturers

- galleries and exhibitions

OUPD201 - Group Tutorial Prep.

2010-10-26T08:52:00.000-07:00

What can you learn from industrial experience?

- the step up or variation from uni to industry

- portfolio advice

- making contacts

'The Ziggurat of Flavour' an installation by Bompas & Parr which I (along with Arthur) worked on over the summer at The Big Chill festival.

- employment styles/environments and which suits me

- industry standards; skills, software, techniques, time scales etc

OUPD201 - Group Tutorial Prep.

2010-10-26T08:51:00.000-07:00

What is industrial experience?

- live briefs, having to take into consideration real time constraints. real budgets and real requests/restrictions.

Digitally printed. Hand bound tattoo portfolio. Client was a close friend. Ridiculous timescale...

- being part of a already functioning design team and having to balance your presence within it, compared to being part of a group of people you have known and worked with at uni for three years.

One of the work areas at ILoveDust...

- working in an environment where powerful people already successfully work, so will need to develop an industrial rapport with them.

- working under direct instructions given from an individual, as opposed to creating your own (often fictitious) briefs.

- seeing or being part of the entire design process, from clients to ideas, from development to resolution and through to professional print.

OUGD201 - What is Good?

2010-10-21T04:11:00.000-07:00

Today we had a crit for 'What is Good?'. For me this was one of the best crits of this module, as I got to that stage where I had hit a bit of a design brick wall. The feedback below shows a few point risen, but it doesn't do justice to the helpful feedback that I received verbally. Some of the main points raised which I need to attend to are:
What will the range consist of? - drinks/tablets/creams etc? How will these be packaged as a consistent set?
Will the design represent the emotion the individual product offers? - The answer to this is probably not, as I want a consistent branding feel, across the range, so that people will look for the brand on a shelf and upon closer inspection be able to select their desired emotion. However I do feel some research into provoking emotion will add value to my contextual knowledge surrounding this product.
Will the colours relate to the emotion? - Yes, as I experimented with a basic hypotrochoid with colours of the spectrum and various opacities linking to a range of emotions. I also found a diagram to aid heavily with the colour-emotion link.
Who exactly will be targeted & how? - I am heading towards busy business people, who lead hectic lives. I definitely feel this should be a luxury high end product, almost unobtainable by some people, but perhaps that is too limited. I imagine a research questionnaire would aid in this decision.
Could people choose flavours or even cocktails of emotions - If I do look into the production of a bespoke shop, this is definitely something to consider.

OUGD201 - Wrap it up

2010-10-21T03:07:00.001-07:00

Today we had a crit for the 'Wrap it up' brief. I was a bit worried about this as I didn't think my packaging looked like a weeks worth of work, as I spent so much time on the production of the imagery. However the feedback and the quantity of ticks suggests it wasn't as bad as I imagined. General positives were the crafting, use of stock and the imagery (hopefully it was worth it then!) The type was hard to read, although the overall theme did re-alliterate the chosen word. I made a conscious decision to not modify the nets in order to get used to making the most of what is given to you by the client; so from now on I will need to develop bespoke packaging fro my products, as well as look into type clarity.

OUCE255 - Enterprise

2010-10-19T11:16:00.000-07:00

Lecture Notes Four

OUGD201 - What is Good?

2010-10-19T07:41:00.001-07:00

What is Good? Rationale/Concept Statement.

Good is: 'The Visual Aesthetic of Infinity' which will be a visual solution to the branding of 'Infinite Emotion'.

Why?
1. Anything infinite is unbeatable
2. Infinite lines or shapes can fill any plane
3. So much visual potential with infinite lines and shapes
4. The structural and production rules will have to be understood in order to effectively use anything infinite
5. Infinite emotion would potentially create an improved state of mind across the world

I intend to persuade and promote to a group of the public who need or regularly feel they wish to change their current emotion. Perhaps people who run busy lifestyles and are stressed with work or family etc. So that they know there are a series of emotions available to purchase, which will instantly change their state of mind. These emotions will only last a certain amount of time, so if it is necessary to feel a certain emotion for an infinite amount of time, these will have to be repurchased. Possibly creating an addiction. In order to achieve this I will produce a series of packaging solutions for variants of available emotions. These will need branding and forms of promotion to accompany them in a retail environment. Could possibly looking into producing a bespoke stockist company by the same name. This will be produced using high quality print processes due to the exclusive nature of the product. Until I look further into the design style and outcomes I will not fully decide which exact processes I will use.

OUCE255 - Enterprise

2010-10-11T13:27:00.000-07:00

Lecture Notes 3

OUCE255 - Enterprise

2010-10-05T00:50:00.000-07:00

Lecture Notes 2

OUCE255 - Enterprise

2010-10-05T00:36:00.000-07:00

Lecture Notes 1

OUPD101 - PPD presentation

2010-06-05T04:32:00.000-07:00

Presentation Planning
I planned all the possible content before, putting them into possible slide content and orders. I also considered branding, using type manipulation and geometry, but I decided it was unnecessary.

OUGD103 - Speaking From Experience

2010-05-26T08:20:00.000-07:00

OUGD103 Evaluation

Don’t Panic
Following my last interim tutorial, I decided with such an open brief it would be a good opportunity to explore illustration; something which I have never really pushed before. Working with visuals which represent a face, but with only two parts to each, was quite a good place to start for me, as it helped me settle into an illustration style, which is messy, yet simple and clear.

Communication is a Virus
This was an interesting brief for me as I have never worked in a pair before, only in larger groups. It was quite a challenge spreading the work duties evenly, and almost a risk choosing the correct partner. I didn’t feel as confident in a pair, compared to a group, finding myself more polite and less decisive. Also it was the first time I had thought about designing for children, and I really didn’t like it. I’m aware that if I was employed to design for children, I have certainly learned how this is possible, but I will never choose to do so if I can avoid it.

InDesign / Type & Grid
I enjoyed the type & grid sessions, as they were a nice recap on things I had been taught or found out in the past. It was good to learn how to work out how a previous grid was composed. When we first received the InDesign partner brief I was quite excited, but when it start to run in parralel with Speaking from Experience, it became a bit of a chore to do one DPS compared to a 50 page magazine. Never the less I always enjoy the thumbnail process. To improve the layout it would have been good to produce my own photographs, but with the lack of snow and skiing equipment in Leeds this was obviously a problem.

Speaking from Experience
After experimenting with many different styles of working throughout my first year, but settling back into my comfort zone, having taken more skill on board this was no doubt my most successful brief of the year. I really enjoyed and benefited working with a producing type in a variety of print processes and then combining them in a magazine with an experimental layout. I am happy with the outcomes, and I received some really positive feedback throughout the process and production. Getting the zine professionally printed increased the quality of the end product, although they seem to have been trimmed more than the size I was told to work with, I expect this to be my error as I doubt a company would make a measurement error, but I did check again. The only other minor errors were how messy the final posters got, because it is so hard to keep anything clean at Vernon Street! I found blogging more successful this brief, but I still need to get round to the idea of blogging the process and not as a showcase for work.

OUGD103 - Speaking From Experience

2010-05-24T00:29:00.000-07:00

OUGD103 - Speaking From Experience

2010-05-08T06:48:00.000-07:00

OUGD104 - PPD

2010-05-03T05:32:00.000-07:00

OUGD104 - Speaking from Experience

2010-04-22T14:01:00.000-07:00

OUGD103 - Communication is a Virus

2010-04-13T06:22:00.000-07:00

Feedback

OUGD104 - What is a Line

2010-03-02T14:04:00.000-08:00

Self Initiated Brief

Brief Title
'What is a Line? - A connected series of events, actions or developments'

The Brief
'What is a Line? - A connected series of events, actions or developments' looking to focus on a timeline of my forthcoming events which will occur before now and the deadline.

Considerations
Practicalities of production
Location of the events

Target Audience
Anybody interested in art student life, both study and social.

Tone of Voice
Informative

Background
Document sources and locations

Mandatory Requirements
Collection of visual research, developed ideas and organised drawings/images

Deliverables
Sketchbooks/Notebooks
Evaluative comments
Direction of Resolution

Studio Deadline
Sketchbook content for final crit - 23rd March
Further investigation or resolution - 20th April

OUGD103 - Dont Panic: Vogue

2010-03-01T11:35:00.000-08:00

Final Crit Feedback

What concept/statement/question/tone is being communicated?
A timeline of fashion, but with no personal identity.

Is it being communicated effectively?
Definitely, imagery speaks for itself, type is not necessary, but does work aesthetically.

Strengths:
Exploring a different style to comfort zone, and it has worked well.

What could be developed further?
Scale of the images as they are currently quite cramped, although general layout works really well. Could colour be introduced, perhaps within the type?

Further feedback:
Illustrations carry a slight resemblance to fashion illustration.

OUGD103 - Dont Panic: Vogue

2010-02-25T13:46:00.000-08:00

Mid Brief Crit

Issues raised:
Will the images be Celebrities, Musicians, or merely stereotypes and how will this reasoning be backed up?

Action to be taken:
Look into the illustration style of Mr.Bingo
Decide on the celebrity/music/fashion content and its reasoning
Look into the inclusion of type and experiment with layout

OUPD101 - Time management plan

2010-02-24T07:00:00.000-08:00

OUGD103 - Dont Panic: Vogue

2010-02-24T06:30:00.000-08:00

Brief:
Design an A2 poster, taking the word Vogue as inspiration.

Considerations:
Thirty visual ideas, leading to five with the most potential

Target Audience:
Students

Tone of Voice:
Depending on Type/Image combination, but mainly to communicate stereotype

Background:
Research other Don't Panic posters, Fashion stereotypes, lifestyle over the past x amount of years, beauty/vanity

Mandatory Requirements:
Thirty Visual Ideas
Exploration of five with most potential
Supporting research and development
Online Registration

Deliverables:
Three A2 posters, which will be visual variations of the same concept

Studio Deadline:
26/02/2010 - 09:30

OUGD104 - Book Fair

2010-02-24T06:06:00.000-08:00

Feedback

Issues Raised:
What style will the artwork be in?
How will the groups of 3s be decided upon?
Will the groups of 3 be random/planned/found?

Action to be taken:
Experiment with style and decide upon one
Decide how to collect and produce imagery
Decide on stock and printing method
How will the cover function?

OUGD104 - Book Fair

2010-02-24T05:37:00.000-08:00

Rationale

What is the problem you intend to solve?
How can the number 3 be communicated to an International Audience, without using its numerical form.

Who needs to know?
The International audience at the book fair.

What do they need to know?
That the number 3 can be understood in ways outside of its numerical form, perhaps in various languages or in a pictorial manner.

What will they respond to?
A series of various size images, which communicates the number 3 in their own language amongst others.

What research is required?
Primary: Collection of International translations of 3 and find out other ways in which it .
Secondary: Consider current and past book design as well as type and illustration in various forms.

OUGD102 - End of Module Evaluation

2010-02-13T17:17:00.000-08:00

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

- I have learned to collect vast amounts of research in a relatively short space of time, so there is more of a basis before the design process

- I have learned how to push just one idea as far as possible, and that it is easier because of the amount of research backing it

2. What approaches to/methods of research have you developed and how have they informed your design development process?

- Looking in different places; library, internet, inside, outside, asking people, questionnaires from random people or at least varied types of people. The more sources you can bring together, the more obvious a problem area will be, often things will overlap if you have enough sources, indicating in one way or another a gap for a product or resolution.

- Taking in as much information as possible from a valued source, which is often a competitor to your potential market. For me it was the Highway Code, not only did I learn an awful amount, (which I had obviously forgotten in just two years of driving), but it made me realise how successful something in my design area already was, so I couldn’t compete with it, and had to step away from that direction all together

3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?

- I have worked with various amount of image manipulation before, but never in such a confined way, so it was interesting to see how disciplined I could be to create subtle manipulations and edits in order to create 100 suitable varied images.

4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these more fully?

- I think the main weakness was variations within my ideas. I went with my idea from the beginning as this was advised as I missed the first week due to the snow. However it meant that I had to work hard within this area to produce something effective, which I think the idea and potential was certainly there, but perhaps the lack of visual variations within the process, let me down and lead me into an inevitable finished piece.

- Time management was a major issue within my work. Not in the obvious sense that I didn’t work hard enough to begin with and had sleepless nights at the end, although it did end up like this anyway, but it was mainly due to the order in which I undertook certain processes. I occasionally found that I couldn’t do anymore work until the completion of another part of my work had happened.

5. Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?

1. Time management – for the reasons above and next time I know I need to plan ahead not only to space things out so that everything can be completed, but so that everything can be undertaken in an order which is most efficient, so there is little waiting around. However I guess this depends on the type of project, but I will still consider it.

2. Diet & Sleep pattern – it seems minor and sort of links to time management, but I need to get myself into the best possible routine, where I can work arrive at uni and work all day and then eat and sleep. As opposed to power naps after uni and working until early hours and thus needing another power nap the next day. Basically I need to start a successful cycle from the beginning of the next module. I also found that when I was at my busiest I would eat something quick and occasionally opt for a takeaway, hoping to save valuable working time, however this was to have a negative effect at the worst possible time when I became ill in the middle of the deadline week. So even thought I probably saved an hour each time I had a quick snack or a takeaway, the nutritional values I missed due to the lack of home cooked healthy food could possibly have been part of the reason I was bed ridden for over two days in the middle of the deadline week.

3. Ideas variations – if I had not had the first week off due to snow I may well have had more initial ideas, but even so my chosen idea was fairly strong. The area I feel I need to develop is the ideas and thinking during the design process. I aim to carefully consider more thorough critical analysis and visual variations next time around.

4. Stock/media experiments – I made too many assumptions within this brief in order to save time, but it ended up wasting time and money, so if necessary next time I will need to do more experiments with stock, media and printing.

5. Stay away from digital type – unfortunately it seems to a similar issue as last time. Being a first year I don’t really want to structure my design direction too much, the next module, I plan to really step outside of my comfort zone and produce something which doesn’t look like ‘my’ work at all; perhaps some illustration and I will try my best not to use digital type as a vocal point of the work.

(6). Don’t get ill and don’t get snowed in at the beginning and end of a module!

6.How would you grade yourself on the following areas:

6.How would you grade yourself on the following areas: (please indicate using an ‘x’) 5= excellent, 4 = very good, 3 = good, 2 = average, 1 = poor
	1	2	3	4	5
Attendance			x
Punctuality					x
Motivation				x
Commitment				x
Quantity of work produced			x
Quality of work produced		x
Contribution to the group				x

OUGD102 - Collection 100

2010-02-01T06:41:00.000-08:00

Interim crit

Issues Raised:
Changing the backgrounds would cause unconsistency and suggest change of location
The book title Flip St. is too cheesy
A hardback cover would not function as a slip book
How will the audience know to flip the book

Action to be taken:
Different sign styles will need to be photoshopped onto the same background
I suitable book title will have to be decided upon
A paperback cover is needed, perhaps only on the front though, so the strength is still in the back
A thumb hole could be cut out and the title could be supported by a statement introducing the flip book