PPP1: Studio Brief- 'Design Strategy 1- Presentation'

For the second half of the brief, we have to give a 7-1- minute presentation on our time of the course so far. I didn't know where to start so I decided to take some questions that had been given to us as a starting point and working off them to give my presentation a structure. This was to include the following areas:

• Influences in Life
• Designer Influences and why
• Favourite Briefs
• What Ive learned this year
• What I want to learn next year

I am going to present my presentation using the same colour format, backgrounds and fonts used for my 'Up To You' Information Kit so that there is a visual correlation between the two. This is also because I have included a disc version of this presentation into the kit so that it could be seen by other people so they could get to know me better.

Life Influences:

I have found that talking about yourself, what you like or basing a brief about yourself is very difficult and challenging so I felt that it would be a good idea to talk about my dislikes. I can much easily talk about what I don't like and discuss why.

Pet Hates

From this, I decided to make a slide on my pet hates and annoyances as it is part of my personality to find little things annoying and want to change them. The photo illustrates my annoyance at using separate sheets but I could also include other points that I find annoying, such as slow walking and train travel.

My Cat, Bandit

I felt that just portraying things that I dislike wouldn't be very warming or sociable so I decided to include a positive influence in my life which has aided my personality which is my cat, Bandit. Why is a cat influential? because she has the personality that I don't have and an attitude to life which is relaxed and laid back, compared to how stressed and serious I find it. I would like a personality like this so I could learn to switch off.

Powerpoint Posts

Designer Influences from this Year:

When giving the presentation, I am considering discussing designers that influenced before 1st Year, such as Abram Games, Noma Bar and Brian Ewing, however I want to put more emphasis onto designers I have found influence from this year.

"Graphic USA" (2010) by Daniel Blackman

Blackman, D. (2010) "Graphic USA" [Internet] Available from http://dblackman.com/graphic-usa/ (Accessed 23rd May 2013)

Daniel Blackman- Blackman is a designer who doesn't have a set medium and doesn't limit himself to a set way of working. Mixing print and digital with editorial, info-graphics and branding which means he is a good all-round designer. This is something that I wish to emulate in my practise as I would like to be able to fit this into my practise and be able to do this for myself.

"Fuel" (2011) by Commoner, Inc.

Commoner, Inc. (2011) "Fuel" [Internet] Available from http://portfolio.commonerinc.com/#/fuel-america/ (Accessed 23rd May 2013)

Commoner, Inc.- Commoner Inc. are quite traditional with their approach to brands and iconography which is why I find them so fascinating. I like how their work seems quite traditional and has a authenticity and integrity to the themes they portray as well as the Americana influences which is another thing which draws me to them as I like American culture.

"Old Chicago Re-Brand" (2012) by PUSH

PUSH (2012) "Old Chicago Re-Brand" [Internet] Available from http://www.pushhere.com/case-study/old-chicago-re-brand/ (Accessed 23rd May 2013)

PUSH- Push are a studio who produce brand identities, a lot of them being food based which is what I am interested in. I like how each and every one is different with its own distinct style without using the creative stamp that the studio put in each one of their works.

Powerpoint Posts

Favourite Briefs from the Year:

This was a very difficult topic to narrow down as lot of briefs had some positive and negative aspects.

Communication Is A Virus

The Communication is a Virus brief was a great brief as it gave me a pretty positive experience in working in a group. Not just that but I was very happy with the outcome that we had produced and collaborated together with.

Speaking From Experience

The Speaking From Experience brief was great for me because it gave me the opportunity to put everything I had learned so far into practice. I have a knack of producing traditional things in a modern manner and have grown accustomed to finding a liking to create something interactive to encourage the audience to join in which I really like.

Presentation Posts

What Have I learned this Year:

I have learned a lot of things this year and made a lot of mistakes or had many learning curves so this is to take up the majority of my presentation.

Unsuccessful briefs

For my Context of Practise brief, I had a very difficult time creating a successful solution, had a very bad crit, scrapped all of the work I had produced and then was very lost with the brief until 2 weeks before deadline where I had to create my work. If it wasn't for this bad experience that I wouldn't have learnt how to cope with the extra pressure and worry.

Software

This year has a been a big turning point in regards to learning software. I hadn't used InDesign, had 4 Photoshop Inductions to no avail and been mocked by someone at the beginning of the year for my lack of Illustrator skills. The last 3 months have been a steep learning curve which I can now take on board and even solve some of my own digital dilemmas and problems. I have defiantly improved this year in this sense which means I have gained some valuable skills.

Design Principles

Design Principles was a very difficult module for me as I am not very technically minded, particularly with colour theory and the physics and science behind it. Saying that, before this, I would have never considered any of these aspects within my work, particularly layout and colour theory which I am more conscious about and I experiment more with typeface choices.

Crits

I hated Crits before this year as I found them very demoralising whereas this year I haven't been as scared or worried about this, even wanting a Crit towards the end of the year to aid my development. Sometimes suggestions are helpful and can aid with my work and I have learnt to take comments less sensitively.

Concepts and Ideas

The only area which I feel as though I have found a strength this year is the idea of producing concepts and ideas which can be expanded into. I like having ideas which can be added to and improved or expanded so it can go into lots of areas of design. Also, that the most simple ideas of communication are usually the most successful, shown by the Shatter letters I produced for the Visual Alphabet brief.

Powerpoint Pages

What goals I have for next Year?

There are many things I wish to achieve next year in order to improve myself as a graphic designer. I would like to get a placement in the industry as well as learn how to use Photoshop properly.

"Form Follows Function" (2013) by Jongmin Kim

Kin, J. (2013) "Form Follows Function" [Internet] Available from http://cmiscm.com/#/handicraft/72 (Accessed 23rd May 2013)

I think it would be interesting to look into web design as it is a media which I had never looked into or come across before. I like the idea of people being able to interact with my work and this would be another way of doing this alongside learning a new skill.

Print

This year, I have not had the chance to produce anything by a physical printed method so next year I would like to gain this experience and learn a new skill by making something screen printed or produce a bound book as I have shyed away from these things this year and I think it would make me more well-rounded as a designer.

"The Designers Dose" (2013) by Group 8/ Charlie Rotherham

Group 8 and Rotherham, C (2013) "The Designers Dose" [Weblog] Available from http://thedesignersdose.wordpress.com (Accessed 23rd May 2013)

From the Communication Is A Virus brief, I have been updating the Designers Dose blog by myself and it is roughly up to 140 posts so I would like to continue adding to this library of creative inspirations that myself and others can draw on.

Powerpoint Posts

Final Presentation: