Design Practice

In Design Practice 2, OUGD505

OUGD505 Design Practice 2_Studio Brief 2

Final Crit
Today we had a final crit on what we had produced, due to my lack of time management I didn't have the entire project to show. But I did have wayfinding and logos to show therefore the feedback is all based around those.

Question 1
The icons are supposed to be used without a description or title, is it clear what they represent?

I think a key at the start of the exhibition or in an exhibition guide might be required because some icons are easily identifiable, others are not so clear.
I like the icons, I would have personally gone for more of a vintage aesthetic, but I'm not sure what that would be. I'm not sure how well the icons work without a description. It depends how important this is.
I like the aesthetic, icons maybe need to be slightly clearer.
Some of the icons I understand but others are harder. I guess if it's in context it would be easier to work out.
I can understand most icons but I don't have any knowledge on space so didn't understand a couple. A key would be handy at first but not throughout.
I think you need a key as some of the icons are not too clear. But if they appear inside the exhibition both in context or across your branding it would be easier to work them out.
I don't think that the icons are really clear, you could provide a code, infographic for people viewing the exhibition, maybe in leaflet format.

From todays feedback session I have come to the realisation that my icons need some considering and development if they're going to work with the rest of my project. Ideally I need focus on making a start with the rest of the project and branding the exhibition. Therefore, I'm going to put the icons on hold for now and reassess whether or not to use them once I have more branded material, this way I can tell if they're going to fit in with the rest of the branding or if they need a makeover or simply if I have enough time to develop them.

In OUGD503, Responsive

OUGD503 Responsive_End of module evaluation

BA (Hons.) GRAPHIC DESIGN		LEVEL	05
Module Code	OUGD503
Module Title	Design Process

END OF MODULE SELF-EVALUATION

NAME	Harrison Park

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

I further developed communication skills through communicating with clients when undertaking live briefs. It often proved difficult to get in touch with the clients and left frustrated a couple of times with the lack of direction and indecisiveness. But on my end I was constantly keeping clients up to date via email and meetings, this enabled me to develop the responses collaboratively so that in the end the solution was something not only I was happy with, the client as well.

I have drastically improved my collaborative skills through working with Sam, in the past I have dreaded the word collaboration but through selecting my own partner I found it isn’t too much to be scared of. I applied my collaborative skills well by always being available and constantly on top of my work in accordance to the action plan.

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

Through creating a typeface I developed my digital software skills through using Fontographer and creating a fully functioning typeface. I found this a very difficult task and process due to the fact I had to kern each individual letter and pairs. This is a task I don’t wish to do again in the future due to the difficulties I experienced but I developed the skills enough to have a basic knowledge and understanding of the software.

I have also developed my mocking up skills drastically, before the module I had no idea how to mock up logos or posters but through online tutorials and peer help I managed to understand the process involved and create visual mock ups that add depth and impact to what would otherwise be a flat image.

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

Working collaboratively with Sam has definitely been a strength, I thought I produced the best response to a brief since being at Leeds College of Art because not only did it fully answer the brief. What we created was a typeface I would use in the future as both a header and body copy. The concept behind the typeface and the grid proved to be another strength; it’s something different as opposed to simply illustrating The Big Issue.

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

My ability to pick apart briefs has come to light as I often found I didn’t fully answer the briefs, in future I will definitely spend more time reading through briefs and rewriting them using the skills I picked up in workshops.

The process of creating design boards has been a weakness, although my design boards have impact and structure I feel they’re lacking in depth. This could be down to the little number of them or the little information on them. This can easily be rectified through spending more time developing boards as opposed to leaving them to the last minute.

My brief selections were definitely rushed and left until the last minute, by simply keeping on top of briefs it would enable me to have a larger variety of briefs available but also allow me to keep on top of them and have more design responses.

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

1. In the future I would like to undertake more challenging briefs that take me further out of my comfort zone instead of relying on what I know I can do. This will hopefully aid in the development in me as a designer as well illustrating I’m not just a one trick pony stuck in a loop.

2. I would select briefs a lot sooner so that I’m not just selecting briefs to make up the numbers. By selecting briefs sooner I could spend more time developing the designs and exploring other concepts that in turn open up a large variety of responses.

3. Agreeing on conditions before working with clients so that I am not wasting time waiting on them to deliver images or text. This will allow me to fully complete briefs as opposed to part finishing them and relying on the client to input their own images and text and hope it works.

4. I would definitely pick apart briefs more instead of jumping straight into them, I found that I didn’t necessarily answer the brief fully on a couple of occasions because my responses didn’t fully communicate what was asked, this was mainly down to the lack of brief analysis and unpicking.

5. Next time I would probably select a different brief for my main individual practice, through selecting a poster I thought I was setting myself an easier task than some other briefs but it turned out opposite, I struggled to properly communicate the message. Through selecting a different brief that required more deliverables I would have found it less restricting and could have produced something I was a lot happier with and that answered the brief better.

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

Attendance

Punctuality

Motivation

Commitment

Quantity of work produced

Quality of work produced

Contribution to the group

The evaluation of your work is an important part of the assessment criteria and represents a percentage of the overall grade. It is essential that you give yourself enough time to complete your written evaluation fully and with appropriate depth and level of self-reflection. If you have any questions relating to the self evaluation process speak to a member of staff as soon as possible.

In OUGD503, Responsive

OUGD503 Responsive_Brief 2 Collaborative

Monotype_The Big Issue

Evaluation
I think Sam and I have definitely achieved what we first set out achieve but I still think we could have pushed it further. Once a typeface has been created there are endless possibilities, the designing of the typeface is the hard part and I feel we missed a golden opportunity to push our typeface as far as possible using it in many contexts.

Sam and I worked together in unison though, I couldn't have asked for a better partner. We were always in uni working together on the project be it on different aspects but he always critiqued each others work and gave honest opinions about each others performance. As a collaborative I feel we worked well and to the best of our abilities in the circumstances. I felt we could always rely on each other and trust one and others design capabilities.

In Collaborative, OUGD503, Responsive

OUGD503 Responsive_Brief 2 Collaborative

Monotype_The Big Issue

Support Material
For submission we thought it would be good if we submitted physical support materials to strengthen our submission but also boost our chances of winning. The printed support materials showcase our typeface differently to the design boards because it illustrates, a variety of point sizes and weights, it uses the typeface in context as well as further telling the story of our typeface. The poster allows the typeface to be viewed on a larger more detailed level, all together as one.

Final printed Specimen

Poster

Submission

To submit the support material I cut vinyl to brand our envelope and poster tube to give our submission more of an impact when it is received, the aim is to make it more memorable to the judges. The only issue was we couldn't find matching coloured envelopes and tubes which was annoying but there wasn't any way around it as we didn't have time to be shopping around. Therefore we just submitted them as they were because it is a lot better than not submitting anything at all.

In OUGD503, Responsive

OUGD503 Responsive_Brief 5

Secret 7
'We take 7 tracks from 7 of the best-known musicians around and press each one 100 times to 7" vinyl. We then invite creatives from around the world to interpret the tracks in their own style, resulting in a one-of-a-kind sleeve for every 7”. The creatives are made up of famous names through to gems we unearth through artwork submitted to us here on our website.'

Brief
Design a 7" record sleeve for one of the selected tracks, the design must not include the artists name, the track names or lyrics. Only the front of the sleeve is to be designed and is up to personal interpretation.

Response
I found this a difficult brief to do mainly because I had left it until the day before entry submission. I struggled coming up with a strong concept that tied in with the song and the requirements of the brief.

In the end I went down the route of researching the lyrics, this led me to find the repetition of one line in particular that stood out to me; 'send the call out'. This line led me to link the use of both calls and the secretive nature of the brief and come up with morse code, a secretive call. I simply illustrated the the lyrics using morse code.

Morse Code Variations
Below are a series of morse code designs but each one is slightly different; using a different line weight, filled or outlined. The heavier weighted and curved design below proved to be quite unsuccessful, I feel like it is all a bit too cramped.

I much prefer the example below, it's a lot more spread out and lighter, it feels like it has a lot more to offer and is less brash and in your face.

Final Sleeve

I'm pretty disappointed with my response to the brief, it ended up being an extremely quick turnaround. I felt my concept had potential to be strong, I just didn't leave myself enough development time that would enable me to push the idea further and turn what is a mediocre design into something I could be remotely proud of. This felt like a brief just to add the numbers up.