Thursday 22 May 2014
Context Publication// Presentation Boards// Final Photos
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I decided to make a couple of boards simply to present the photos I took of my context publication. The aim of this was the make a publication full of secondary design that has inpired me during my three years at LCA.
I'm really pleased with my final outcome and I must say the process wasn't easy in anyway. Making the publication was a joy, printing it was a real nightmare. The printer on the first run managed to smudge a large majority or my pages, I guess the ink wasn't dry before the next sheet fell on top of it. Then came the matter the cost. I spent a large amount of money which in the end went to waste as I had to reprint.
Once I had made it I decided to take it a little further and get some vinyl done. This makes a massive difference to the packaging and also the book it's self.
The photos aren't that great unfortunately, I didn't have the time to set up a proper shoot. At least they show my final outcome of my publication
Tuesday 20 May 2014
Beer Rebrand// Final Design// Evaluation
Evaluation
This brief was spired from a brief we were given last year from Leeds Beer Brewery. They came in to pitch us on a new brief which was to re-design a beer called ‘Hellfire’. Overall I enjoyed this breif and decided that it could become a quick fun brief for me to do this year.
I went onto their webite and I had a look at the beers they had to offer, I came across a beer called ‘New Moon’ that was in dire need a redo. My plan was to make a beer label that was modern and would work in attracting a younger audience. I think I have acheived this and my design is modern. Considering I had very little time to print anything as Jame’s print was completly full. I decided to not print this brief. Instead I went about mocking the label up simply.
Orignial Statement of Intent// What briefs didn't I do and why?
Why didn’t I take these brief on?
RSA Everyday Wellbeing
This brief asks you to design a product or service that facilitates positive behaviors, helping people to embed positive mental health activities as part of their daily lives. Typically solutions to this problem take an explicit approach, which can put off many people who don’t want to be involved in activities that are associated with mental health.
Reason:
At the begging of the year this happened to be a brief I was very excited to start and crack on with. However, after thinking I had a good concept, I began to realise that the brief wasn’t moving on in any way. On the second day of not starting anything I decided I should give up and get started on the visuals for the Dead Stray’s single release.
This was a brief I wanted to complete. I found good research and wanted to make a newspaper that was only full of good news. Considering this was my first brief of the year it downed my confidence and had me worried.
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Peggs and Sons
Your job is to design the Winter Collection catalogue for Pegg’s and Son’s. This upper class retail store desires a clean finish that allows the clothes to be the main focus. Think about what layout will work best in making the catalogue easy to understand and legible.
Reason:
I have always been into editorial work. This is why I contacted Pegg’s and Son’s to see if I could have a selection of their photos and use them in a catalogue for their winter clothing range. I really liked the idea of having the content already done and there, my only job would be to make everything look nice. You could say this is the sort of path I want to take after university.
Unfortunately, after trying to get hold of the shop constantly, I think they stopped bothering the contact me and the brief fell thorough. This was a real shame as it’s this sort of publication I would have loved to have in my portfolio.
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Student Cookbook
The challenge is to create a new and exciting Student Cookbook which is not only cheap to buy, but includes recipes are also cheap to make, with little ingredients, little fuss and maximum taste. Collaboration with Sam Hoh, Sam Lane, Chris Shuttleworth and George Simms.
Reason:
We actually started this brief and in very good time. We made one meal and it turned out perfectly, we all had great fun during the process and took some lovely photos with the help of George Simms, the team photographer.
It was one of those unspoken about situations when the brief seemed to disappear into thin air. We began all working on our individual work and the brief seemed to vanish. I think it might have something to do with having a very large team. Getting everyone together took time and effort an after a while it was clear that most people weren’t that interested.
I did end up doing some collaborations which was good news after this. One with Luke Rossiter for D&AD, and one with Emily James for Dr.Me.
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Transport for London
Create a campaign that encapsulates the history of TFL as part of its 150 year celebration. Collaboration with Luke Rossiter. 2013 is the TFLs 150th year. The idea is to use a range of media to promote the history of the London Underground and the London Transport museum in Covent Garden.
Reason
This brief was something Luke came up with. It was something he only had a vague idea about and thought it could work for a brief. When it came to sitting down and looking at the brief, we quickly decided that we wanted to do something different.
At the beginning of the year it’s always nice to have an idea of what you want to do, even if you don’t end up doing it. Luke and I went on to do WPP (Global Campaign) for D&AD and it turned out fantastically.
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Its amazing how my decisions for briefs have changed so much. Because of all the other briefs that popped up during the year this sort of made me change my mind on a few of them. I did a total of 13 briefs. Only 4 of which a made at the beginning of the year.
Monday 19 May 2014
Priority Earth// Campaign Overview
riority: Earth is a new concept for a global campaign. Our central aim is to provide a positive space for those who already believe that climate change is a threat, and to activate a social and political movement with a strong community. The core of the Priority: Earth campaign would be found online at PriorityEarth.com, however we propose that a large scale print advertisement campaign point users towards the website. The posters have been developed with thermochromatic ink, which reacts to heat, altering their appearance. As a result the posters create a strong symbolic visual representation of global warming.
When users visit PriorityEarth.com they will be able to read our manifesto:
1. To put a price on carbon in the economy, and a price on denial in government.
2. To support green policies in politics.
3. To raise the global awareness of climate change.
4. To advance climate change education in schools.
5. To advocate the development of energy efficient technology.
6. To promote environmentally friendly and cost saving practice in business.
7. To provide a healthy environment for future generations.
8. To turn our knowledge into action. The only time to act is now.
Having read the manifesto the user will be introduced to the ‘Pledge’ system, were the manifesto is organised into four key areas for action.
1. Government. Write to your local government representative, telling them to consider the implications of current policies on our future.
2. Politics. Vote for politicians who support green policies. Main parties will be forced to change their own policies to reflect public opinion.
3. Business. Support local businesses that take care and pride in the environment. Large organisations will be forced to engage in environmentally friendly practices to retain custom.
4. You. Make small lifestyle choices that will help the planet. Simple things like recycling and saving water can make a great difference if whole communities get involved.
Users can ‘Pledge’ to help in any -or all- of these four key areas, they will receive a ’Priority Pack’ based on their choice; a series of online or printed books filled with helpful information on how to get started.
The users pledge choice will also be added to data maps which can be viewed by anyone to see activity on a global scale. The aim of these maps is to provide support to the pessimist in all of us, who may believe that they are fighting climate change alone.
Finally the website supports a forum for anyone who pledges, to form a strong and helpful online community, share tips and organise activities.
For our submission we can send one a4 document supporting our work to help explain our campaign, we have put together this for submission:
When users visit PriorityEarth.com they will be able to read our manifesto:
1. To put a price on carbon in the economy, and a price on denial in government.
2. To support green policies in politics.
3. To raise the global awareness of climate change.
4. To advance climate change education in schools.
5. To advocate the development of energy efficient technology.
6. To promote environmentally friendly and cost saving practice in business.
7. To provide a healthy environment for future generations.
8. To turn our knowledge into action. The only time to act is now.
Having read the manifesto the user will be introduced to the ‘Pledge’ system, were the manifesto is organised into four key areas for action.
1. Government. Write to your local government representative, telling them to consider the implications of current policies on our future.
2. Politics. Vote for politicians who support green policies. Main parties will be forced to change their own policies to reflect public opinion.
3. Business. Support local businesses that take care and pride in the environment. Large organisations will be forced to engage in environmentally friendly practices to retain custom.
4. You. Make small lifestyle choices that will help the planet. Simple things like recycling and saving water can make a great difference if whole communities get involved.
Users can ‘Pledge’ to help in any -or all- of these four key areas, they will receive a ’Priority Pack’ based on their choice; a series of online or printed books filled with helpful information on how to get started.
The users pledge choice will also be added to data maps which can be viewed by anyone to see activity on a global scale. The aim of these maps is to provide support to the pessimist in all of us, who may believe that they are fighting climate change alone.
Finally the website supports a forum for anyone who pledges, to form a strong and helpful online community, share tips and organise activities.
For our submission we can send one a4 document supporting our work to help explain our campaign, we have put together this for submission:
Self Evaluation Publication// OUGD603 Self Evaluation
To identify all the skills I have learnt this year will be difficult as there have indeed been many. I must begin with the skill that has taken most of the year to master and a skill that is a life saver in the life of graphic design and in life in general. That skill is time management. Through first year and second year we had to be in everyday, because of this my time management wasn’t of my own doing, I had to be in college so I would be in and from there I would work.
In third year we had the freedom to do as we pleased, the demand to be in wasn’t there so naturally the course became very relaxed. It was no entirely up to us to get the ball rolling and for me, this task was very difficult. As the year went on and we approached the Christmas hand in, I found myself becoming stressed for the first time that year. This I needed, I found that I was working twice as much and I was in college regally.
It was this Christmas hand in that put me into gear, my daily routine became normal, like it was in the past and I found my work load increasing, increasing in a good way. I was meeting my own deadlines and I felt my confidence growing. Printing down with James was a huge issue last year. I never booked slots in advance so I never had slots, and in a result I had to wait around for drop in all the time which was a waste of time a highly uncomfortable. In terms of how well I have applied my time management, I feel once you have learnt how to mange your time by yourself, you become a more organised and professional individual that longs to succeed.
The next lesson that springs to mind is checking everything before it goes to print. When it came to sending my Amsterdam Zines to print, I forgot to check probably the most important thing, the resolution of the images. I sent off the zine with all the photos at a low resolution. The error almost cost me £100, which goes to show its good this happened this year and not when I was working for somebody. Its mistakes like this that you’ll never ever forget.
Aside from the last two points brought up I must say that all the other skills come in to the adobe suite and using it so much. Fellow students around the studio are always so happy to help if you need it. The skills I have learnt this year have really taught me a hell of a lot which will be very useful in the years to come as a graphic designer. Time Management is a skill only you yourself can learn from determination to get things done, when you have this determination you will find your daily routine fall comfortably into place.
What approaches to methods of design production have you developed and how have they informed your design development process?
Considering that we had to go out on our own and find briefs to complete throughout the year my method was at first inexperienced and at the end of the day wasn’t working too well. I always said that I am not the one to come up with briefs on my own, so I decided that I needed to come up with a new idea.
A friend of mine suggested that I contact studios to look for briefs, which was a very good idea. I emailed around and most studios didn’t have anything. Then, Innocent drinks got back to me. Claire is the senior designer at Innocent and she said I should have a go at designing some back of backs for their juice cartoons. This filled me with joy and excitement. This would be the first brief I would do for someone.
In terms of other briefs I had to find, I went about looking on websites. I did find some I was interested in on YCN and D&AD, YCN I didn’t follow through but Luke and I did WPP for D&AD. Again, the task was to find 10 briefs to come back to college with, out of those 10 briefs I found I only did 2 of them. This shows that throughout the year was when I found my briefs. I liked how studios came in to introduce briefs to us.
My design development process has been the same since I started the course and I think is pretty standard in that it is everybody design development process. I begin by reading the brief and writing down ideas that come to my head, of course it is always a good idea to get what is in your head into paper. From there I look for inspiration, whether that be looking on the web or seeking it from elsewhere.
I don’t always use design sheets, I find I sometimes get an idea and get straight to the computer to play around. I always blog my process and I consider this to be part of my design process. I think this is a real important process and you get to follow the whole brief. It’s often a pleasure to look back at the work I have done through the brief, I like to look at previous designs to see if they might inspire the latest design. It’s an odd process but It seems to work for me.
What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future?
I have to say I’m happy with the work I’ve produced this year. My main weakness that has been with me for as long as I can remember is spelling and punctuation. This really brings down the quality of my work sometimes and despite looking very closely at my work, I always seem to miss the errors. I seem to go to print and look for the mistakes, seeing that there aren’t any, I proceed and print my work. Once it’s printed is somehow when the spelling mistakes turn up.
It doesn’t just effect my design work. It also effects my blog massively. This is such a shame as I spend a lot of time trying to perfect my blog and there are mistakes everywhere. In terms of this self evaluation I am trying my hardest to spot them out. I don’t know to well what I can do to address this problem in the future. Probably the best idea would be to get people to check over my work and see if they can find any spelling mistakes. In the studio this is always impossible.
I said earlier that my fellow peers on the course are always happy to help when it comes to a problem with design, but when it comes to spelling it’s a different story, looking for spelling mistakes is quite a long process and also takes a lot of concentration. Considering this is the last year of my time as a student I guess I’ll have to figure something out when it comes to printing in the real world of design. I am aware that this is some ones job in the world of editorial design so that in some ways is a relief.
Another weakness that I can identify is the lack of design sheets I have. It does worry me that I don’t have many but at the same time I haven’t felt the need to do them and they haven’t always helped me.
Finally, my primary research this year has been next to none existent. Firstly, when it comes to looking for inspiration in design, I honestly see no need in buying a book when there are tonnes of examples of design on the internet. In terms of surveys I could have constructed I never had the need to produce one.
Looking back at my weaknesses in second year it’s such a joy to see it was time management. Time management is probably the best skill I have learned this year, it’s times like this you really realise how much you have learned.
What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?
The main strength I can locate in my work is my attention to detail. Since first year I have treated the blog as the heart of the course. The main thing that must have absolutely everything about everything on it. In terms of improving this It hard to say as I won’t have a blog that I religiously turn to everyday. I can however say that I will continue to keep my attention to detail the same. Making sure that everything is legible and easy to understand.
I feel the above is the biggest strength and without falling too much into what I said in my skills I must say my time management. My time management has been the most important part of this year and what has made me into the designer I am today. I has been so important in my work, from creating it to blogging about it.
Time management is always something that anyone can improve on and the only way you can improve on this is by making sure you stick to your work schedule. If you make your you stick to this to are guaranteed to become better and better.
I feel that I have covered everything within these four questions and they do fall in hand in hand. These three years have been such a thrill. They have been extremely difficult but that was the only way any of us were going to learn. The long hours the course gives us is something that every university course should have.
To become a Professional in any given filed requires daily practise. It was so fantastic to have a course that offers this to you. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at LCA and it is a real shame that my time has come to an end. I can only give all my thanks to my tutors that have spent a great deal of time making the course what it is today. All I can do is put all I have learnt here and apply it to the real world.
Out of FIVE
Attendance : 4
Punctuality : 4
Motivation : 4
Commitment : 4
Quality of Work Produced : 4
Quantity of Work Produced : 3
Contribution to the Group : 5
Wednesday 14 May 2014
Beer Rebrand// Mock Up
From mocking up the label onto this black bottle I have got a very good idea of what my final outcome will look like. I've been trying to think of a different printing technique for the labels but unfortunately there is only one I can think of that will be most suitable and that is the stickers. The only think I don't like about the stickers are they are very bland.
I have however had another idea and that is to lay on top some laminate paper just to boost the colours underneath. This will have to be done by hand and not on the cutting machine as the laminate paper is too thick. It will be difficult but the outcome will be much better.
Tuesday 13 May 2014
Beer Rebrand// Development.
Final Design
Overall I am very pleased with this final design and I look forward to getting it mocked up and on some bottles. The only problem I really face now is getting in to print with James. I will have to go to drop in which I am happy to do, I just fear I may lose some time over doing this.
The plan now is to mock these up over the computer to get a good idea of what they will look like when printed out. I am also tempted to make more packaging for the bottles so they are easy to carry, for example, if they were to be sold in a pack of six.
Beer Rebrand// New Moon Leeds Brewery Re-Brand
New Moon Crisp Dark Ale
Here we have Leeds Brewery's New Moon dark ale which I think is in desperate need of a rebrand. The design at the moment looks like it is for a book to be solf in waterstones. It doesn't work as a label for a beer. My Job is to re-design this label to make it appeal to people of my age. considering this is a beer label for a beer that is sold in Leeds it need to appeal to a younger audience. Leeds is a thriving student city where night life is a very large part of people lives
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Here's a little look into the new moon to give me a much better idea.
"In astronomy, new moon is the first phase of the Moon, when it lies closest to the Sun in the sky as seen from the Earth. More precisely, it is the instant when the Moon and the Sun have the same ecliptical longitude. The Moon is not normally visible at this time except when it is seen in silhouette during a solar eclipse. See the article on phases of the Moon for further details.
The original meaning of the phrase new moon, sometimes still used in non-astronomical contexts, was the first visible crescent of the Moon, after conjunction with the Sun. This takes place over the western horizon in a brief period between sunset and moonset, and therefore the precise time and even the date of the appearance of the new moon by this definition will be influenced by the geographical location of the observer. The astronomical new moon, sometimes known as the dark moon to avoid confusion, occurs by definition at the moment of conjunction in ecliptical longitude with the Sun, when the Moon is invisible from the Earth. This moment is unique and does not depend on location, and in certain circumstances it coincides with a solar eclipse.
The new moon in its original meaning of first crescent marks the beginning of the month in lunar calendars such as the Muslim calendar, and in lunisolar calendars such as the Hebrew calendar, Hindu calendars, and Buddhist calendar. But in the Chinese calendar, the beginning of the month is marked by the dark moon.
Although the new moon is typically depicted as a black circle, its actual phase is a very thin crescent, because the moon does not pass directly in front of the sun (except during an eclipse). On July 8, 2013, French astrophotographer Thierry Legault successfully photographed the new moon, although the crescent itself was not visible to the unaided eye...'
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Thierry Legault's 2013 photo of the new moon
Its this thin slither of moon I have to adopt in my design. This task at the moment seems very tricky, I think the only way to go around it is to get designing!
Beer Rebrand// Inital Ideas// Modern Beer Branding
Objective// Rebrand and old beer and make it modern.
Beer Research
Weekend Beer
Beer Research
Weekend Beer
Above is a beautiful example of a black label with what looks like gold foiling. This beer label contains many modern looks but at the same time maintains an old look. The old look I feel suggests a trust worthy beer with years of experience and happy customers.
The gold connotes wealth and royalty. The black is an interesting colour and I can't quite pin point how I feel about it. I do like it but trying to example it fails me. Lastly, I adore the simplicity of the label. The illustrations are very simple yet effective. This is potentially something I want to achieve.
Dru Bru
I chose to blog about this example because of its load and bold use of type. However, I'm not a fan of this beer bottle. To me it looks more like a medicine bootle. The black and white colours enforce this, it's a very cold looking beer, by cold I mean it contains no warmth or personality.
State Brew Miller
The packaging is the main reason why I decided to blog about this beer, Is this something I decide on doing? I think this would be a lovely finish to the beer bottles. In terms of the design of these bottles and the packaging, I'm not that much of a fan. It's not like a beer bottle I've ever seen, the colours are very different to what I'm used to seeing.
Golden Fleece Bitter Ale
I very much like this example, I feel this will be my main source of inspiration and colours. I simple love the illustrations that combine and work so well with the colours and type. In terms of finding a modern design, I think this ticks all the boxes.
Root Beer
Beer bottle. Love this cap, however, when I see these on top of beer bottles I always feel it's such a waste of money! However, it does look amazing and I am very much tempted to use this on my bottles.
But why?
I think it is simply a matter of making the bottle look nice, that and you could say it keeps the beer fresh, but judging from experience a beer that has been opened will be drunk then and there. Then again that is the main purpose for such a lid/ cap thing.
Great America Pale Ale// Three Examples
Here are 2 rebrand examples of The Great American Pale Ale. I am very much into examples 1 & 3. I very much like the colours use in example 1 and also how the letter fade into each other, the playful use within opacity draws me in. It does make it look like a beer for Autumn though! The third example
La Catrina
The mocking up in this example has inspired me to do something similar. By mocking up my design I will be able to get a very clear idea of what my final work will look like. In case your interested I didn't choose this because of the design on the bottle. I might just because of the mock up not paying any justice to the design but it doesn't look that great here!
Alliance
Finally, we have this very lovely example, I admire the simplicity within colour and use of text. It's simple yet the point. Its perfect in many ways! The finish is so professional and very attractive. Secondly aside from the zine, I like how the logo has been applied to a glass. This is a idea, to get the logo of title of the beer put across different products. Beer mats for example.
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