OUGD603 Tutorial

I had a one to one tutorial with Nick where I had the chance to discuss the briefs that I had been working on so far.

I started off by talking about the brief that I had recently started and was currently working on which is my Kitty Collateral Brief. I showed him what I had been working on, with it being a work in progress with me just experimenting with imagery and type for a logo and that I am undecided with what to choose for a logo.

Logo Possibility

He asked me what it would be producing for the brief in regards to printed work and suggested that it would be a good idea to add more of a context to it, such as making the work for a Cat Hotel due to the handwritten script font that I had experimented with was reminiscent of a traditional American motel. This way, I could produce work for something as well as to sell for a brand. I loved the idea of a Cat Hotel as it was unique and a lot more imaginative.

Illustrations

Alongside the more imaginative side of the Cat Hotel concept, Nick felt that I should keep going with the illustrations that I had produced rather than the logo and develop them because they had more of a fun element and could produce a really nice pattern for the brand. Not only that but they had more of a personality than having a cat shape within the logo.

I went onto talking about my Parish brief as I had got a bit stuck with it. I discussed some of the reasons for my design decisions and he felt that I should narrow down the scope and scale of the brief, sticking to what I had already done for it and leaving it at that. He felt that I was starting to get a bit lost in it and that the brief could become continuous therefore I need to narrow down what I need to do and leave it. The only thing that I could consider doing was some identification for staff.  

I am going to work on the comments that he made, particularly those made about my Kitty Collateral brief so that I can move forward and quickly progress with it.

For the next time I speak to Nick, he would like to see both of the briefs having progressed and developed as well as speaking about the DSM Brief.

PPP3: Design Something More Studio Talk and Studio Briefing

Do Something More are a team of 3 based at Munro House
Used to work at Elmwood in Leeds- wanted a change

Why do brands need your help?
- Brands in seen as a dirty word but its an everyday thing
- What can we do to make them better
- What is a brand? A logo is a brand and an identity in the look and sound
- Brands are about standing for something- Apple 'Think Different Adverts' showed no products but sold you a life
- Brand doesn't have to show what its selling- Nike
- Instead of going to hoover, people are going to buy a Dyson- ingrained into social conscious
- IKEA- doesn't talk about product but the ideology

Brands have become the new super power
- They do a lot of stuff around the brand as well to help better the brand and emphasis the style
- "Stand for Something + Wonderful Experience = People Care"
- Brands which are wonderful experiences make our lives better

• VW Musical Stairs
• Waitrose Communities
• Innocent Smoothies Bottle Hats
• Apple iPhone Packaging Presentation- Unveiling of the Product

- Design is an opportunity to make a difference

- We can be broader as designers and think beyond the logo

- How many brands don't think about it? How many don't help you?

- Talking about serious subjects in an interesting way, eg. Movember

- People to to gravitate towards what they already know and fear change

Studio Brief:

We are part of a group called The Ministry of Wonderful, who want to re-think the brands of today to make them better as brands should have a duty of care to be better 

We are to be given one of 6 scenarios at random who we are to produce a brand identity for with the intention of improving them, creating them from scratch for tomorrows world as if it was to be done properly:

Train Operators, Water Supplier, Retirement Home, Library, City Council, Recycling Scheme

Not changing what they do, but how the brand change what you do there and the relationship between the action.

Guide on how to create your brand: Define, Create, Build

Part 1: Define

- What should it stand for? Why should it exist? Why should people care? What makes it different?

- Big idea of what you are? Name? What you stand for?

Part 2: Create

- What does it look like? What does it sound like? What does it do?

Part 3: Build

- How does your brand talk to people? Make stuff thats relevant (not business cards)

Winner gets a placement with a crit in 2 weeks for rough stuff, ideas and research to get feedback

(See Extended Practice Blog)

PPP3: Tutorial 1

Feedback for PPP3 Presentations
- Specific content, like an answering a brief
- Some briefs will have changed and some will have stayed the same

Use of computers in studios
- Loss of personality within studios
- Need to show a strong character to rely on
- PERSONALITY PERSONAL PRACTICE - Personality comes with opinions
- Have a 15 minute group chat about things you have seen to pass things on

Look at the blogs of studios rather than the websites
- Website is selling them but the blog is who they are
- Look at the people who work their and their own personal blogs
- HAVE A REASON TO CONTACT THESE PEOPLE AND CONNECT THIS TO YOUR EMAIL
- What they want to talk about/ asking about what they want
- You've got to have bottle and take what you want
- Need to come across as dynamic and confident, not boring!

Your personality should show through in your portfolio
- Have work that shows your style and likes
- If you have something to say, say it

- When you are older, you don't feel as though you have to prove yourself unlike when you are starting out
- Just because you have a name doesn't mean you have the best work
- You are the product, the range is your what you can do and the way you distribute it

Next PPP Brief
- Looking about you
- What do we need to do to show your personality
- Start putting things on your blog that effect you
- Once in your comfort zone, try to go further
- Create a professional blog?

Parish Rebrand Brief Crit

We were to have a Crit for the Extended Practice module to show what we had produced so far and to get feedback on what we had done.

For the Crit, I had made some design boards for the Parish Rebrand Brief to show what I had made in preparation for the crit as well as some small mock ups of the editorial aspects of the brief, ie. the Menu and Brand Guidelines, which will allow for the people in my Crit to be able to physically go through my layouts and proof read them/engage in physically writing on them if need be. 

Design Boards and Mock Ups for Crit

For the crits themselves, we have been split up into groups. I have been put in the Blue group. Within the Group, we had to decide how we wanted to conduct the crit so that it would be the most beneficial to us so we decided to split the group into 2 halves so that the groups would be smaller but would be more intense.

For the crit, I showed the design boards that I had made and discussed my brief so far. The feedback I got however, wasn't great.

Crit Feedback

One of the pieces of feedback I got was that I needed to change the typeface that I had used for the logo as it was too clean and sophisticated. It needed to be grittier and grungy, however, this would go against the needs of my brief as it needs to have some type of sophistication as that is the point of the brief. The same was said about my illustrations, however, I had others say to keep them in because they liked them due to the clarity of the imagery.

An interesting piece of feedback I got was the suggestion of achieving this 'grungier' look by adding a texture or producing a pattern for the brand identity so that it creates a detail to the identity. I quite liked this idea as this would add to the brand identity that I had produced whilst adding to it, perhaps even having a dispersing pattern.  It was suggested that I could create more of a detail by having a banner on the logo design.

In regards to the skewer flags, they liked that idea and suggested maybe having just a hand as a skewer which reflects the logo design. Also, for a double page spread of design work within the menu  to break up the information for a bit of personality, however, the group did like my menu layout and commented on how much work I had managed to get done.

Preferred Colour Scheme from Feedback

Lastly, the group commented on my colour scheme as they agreed that they liked my reasoning and choice of colour yet they thought that it would look better if the colour scheme was changed up by having less off-white. I showed them some of the designs that I had played around with colour and they prefered the black background, white logo variant saying that it instantly added to the desired aesthetic. 

I think the crit could have gone better and I will take on board some of the comments, in particular the comments about the banner and the patterned background and see about applying it to my work. 

PPP3: Studio Brief 1- Design Strategy Presentation

We have been asked to produce a 10 minute presentation for the start of the year, which builds on from the presentation we gave at the end of 2nd year.

We had been given key aspects in which we should discuss:

• A statement about you as a designer
• The studio briefs we are proposing
• The direction for COP 3

I had trouble producing a layout for the format of my presentation, however, I realised that it would be a good idea to use the brand identity that I have just produced for myself so that I could use it in a professional context.

I decided to use only text within my presentation because I didn't see how I could illustrate the points I was intending to make. I kept it very simple with only the most important information on the slides. This was mainly for me to use the slides as prompts so that I had no choice but to face the audience and talk to them rather than using the presentation as a crutch.

The statement about myself as a designer is what I used for the CV that I was making for within my self branding yet I managed to condense it down to the most specific elements.

Practice Notes for Presentation

In order to illustrate the points that needed to be made and so I could practice the timing of my presentation, I made some notes that I could work with.

After doing the presentation, I felt that the presentation went well. I was given some feedback on my presentation. I mentioned that I wasn't sure of one of my briefs because of the timing, however, it was suggested that I should do it anyway. Also, John mentioned that there is a lot of brand agencies that specialise in being specifically designing for 'the ultimate shopper experience' so I feel that this would be a good avenue to go down.

PPP3: Possible Contactable Studios

It was important over the holidays that we look into and research into potential studios that we would like to go and visit which, hopefully, could lead to a placement.

Robot Food- (http://www.robot-food.com)

'Roots & Bulbs' by Robot Food
Robot Food 'Roots & Bulbs' [Internet] Available from http://www.robot-food.com/work/roots-bulbs/ (Accessed 23rd September 2015)

'Under Your Skin' by Robot Food
Robot Food 'Under Your Skin' [Internet] Available from http://www.robot-food.com/work/under-your-skin/ (Accessed 23rd September 2015)

Both myself and Emily started contacting Robot Food before the start of the summer in hopes for a studio visit however, we were told that they couldn't do it until after the summer so I decided to try again. Robot Food are a small design studio in Leeds who use illustration and clean design to produce modern and contemporary brand identities and products for those brands. I really admire the work that they produce and I have been following them for a long time so they are a company I would really love to work for.

Hungry Sandwich Club- (http://www.hungrysandwich.es)

'Open Garage' by Hungry Sandwich Club
Hungry Sandwich Club 'Open Garage' [Internet] Available from http://www.hungrysandwich.es/opengarage.html (Accessed 23rd September 2014)

'Foodpreneurs' by Hungry Sandwich Club
Hungry Sandwich Club 'Foodpreneurs' [Internet] Available from http://www.hungrysandwich.es/foodpreneurs.html (Accessed 23rd September 2014)

'Tour De France Junction Boxes' by Hungry Sandwich Club
Hungry Sandwich Club 'Tour De France Junction Boxes' [Internet] Available from http://www.hungrysandwich.es/junction.html (Accessed 23rd September 2014)

Hungry Sandwich Club is a newly set up collaborative duo based in Leeds who were in the previous graduating year. They have a bold, colourful and unapologetically fun visual aesthetic which is creative and fulfilling. I doubt that in this very early stage of business they would have people for placements but it wouldn't hurt to ask them about there experience in regards to setting up their own business and what challenges they have faced.

Split- (http://www.split.co.uk) and  (http://blog.split.co.uk)

'That Old Chestnut' by Split
Split 'The Old Chestnut' [Internet] Available from http://www.split.co.uk/old-chestnut (Accessed 23rd September 2014)

'Split Homepage' by Split
Split 'Making of the Split Homepage [Internet] Available from 'http://blog.split.co.uk/making-of-the-split-homepage-project/ (Accessed 23rd September 2014)

Split are a creative graphic design studio based in Leeds who work on a wide range of briefs, from corporate to self-directed which makes for a different portfolio of work. The fact that they are not confined by any type of design style makes for an exciting place to work and I had a look at their blog to see the way that they work behind the scenes of the briefs.

Tonik- (http://brandingbytonik.co.uk)

'Cream' by Tonik
Toni 'Cream' [Internet] Available from http://brandingbytonik.co.uk/portfolio-view/cream-pr-marketing-communications/ (Accessed 23rd September 2015)

'Arthur Cottam Horseshoes' by Tonik
Tonik 'Arthur Cottam Horseshoes' [Internet] Available from http://brandingbytonik.co.uk/portfolio-view/arthur-cottam-horseshoes/ (Accessed 23rd September 2014)

Tonik are an independent design studio in Sheffield who specialise in working with small businesses to provide them with a professional brand identity and the collateral and products that coincide with the business. This is exactly what I like to do by making brands by scratch and making all of the printed work to go along with it.

Eleven Design- (http://www.elevendesign.co.uk)

'Our Favourite Places' by Eleven Design
Eleven Design 'Our Favourite Places' [Internet] Available from http://www.elevendesign.co.uk/work/ofp (Accessed 2rd September 2014)

'Yorkshire World Collection' by Eleven Design
Eleven Design 'Yorkshire World Collection' [Internet] Available from http://www.elevendesign.co.uk/work/yorkshire-world-collection (Accessed 23rd September 2014)

Eleven Design is a Sheffield- based design and visual communication studio which have a range of different briefs from information design to editorial to branding. I liked the heavy illustration-based design that they work in whilst still putting emphasis on layout and grid systems, which is an aspect that I feel I could learn from through a placement.

Fieldwork- (http://madebyfieldwork.com)

'Camp Nothing' (2014) by Fieldwork
Fieldwork 'Camp Nothing' [Internet] Available from http://madebyfieldwork.com/work/camp-nothing (Accessed 23rd September 2014)

'Our Brand- Fieldwork' by Fieldwork
Fieldwork 'Our Brand- Fieldwork' [Internet] Available from http://madebyfieldwork.com/work/fieldwork (Accessed 23rd September 2014)

'Clarence & Fredericks' (2014) by Fieldwork

Fieldwork 'Clarence & Fredericks' [Internet] Available from http://madebyfieldwork.com/work/clarence-fredericks (Accessed 23rd September 2014)

Fieldwork are a Manchester-based studio who like to work on collaborating with clients to produce brand identities. The designs are innocent and considered with colour playing a major part of the visual identity which I felt made for a sophisticated visual language for the brand. 

Everyday Something- (http://everydaysomething.net)

'Bundobust' by Everyday Something
Everyday Something 'Bundobust' [Internet] Available from http://everydaysomething.net/work/bundobust (Accessed 23rd September 2014)

'The Sparrow' by Everyday Something
Everyday Something 'The Sparrow' [Internet] Available from http://everydaysomething.net/work/the-sparrow (Accessed 23rd September 2014)

Everyday Something is a Bradford based design studio founded in 2011 who work on mainly small scale work, usually one-off logos or poster designs as well as competitions. The actual studio itself is just one guy so this is a different dynamic to the other studios that I have looked at and it would be interesting to see how this works on a business scale.

R Design- (http://www.r-design.co.uk)

'Tesco Revisionist' by R Design
R Design 'Tesco Revolutionist' [Internet] Available from http://www.r-design.co.uk/project/all/tesco-revisionist (Accessed 23rd September 2014)

'Eyeko' by R Design
R Design 'Eyeko' [Internet] Available from http://www.r-design.co.uk/project/health-beauty/eyeko (Accessed 23rd September 2014)

'Millie's Cookies' by R Design
R Design 'Millie's Cookies' [Internet] Available from http://www.r-design.co.uk/project/food-drink/millies2 (Accessed  23rd September 2014)

R Design is a London based, large brand consultancy and agency with a huge array of well-known global clients. Their work is very mainstream and corporate yet it would be great to be able to get the experience to work in a large studio with this style of work and how I could adapt to this.

TAC Design- (http://www.tac-design.co.uk)

'Proteinology' by TAC Design
TAC Design 'Proteinology' [Internet] Available from http://www.tac-design.co.uk/work/proteinology/ (Accessed 23rd September 2014)

'Burger Stop' by TAC Design
TAC Design 'Burger Stop' [Internet] Available from http://www.tac-design.co.uk/work/burger-stop/ (Accessed 23rd September 2014)

TAC Design are a studio in Newcastle who create clean layouts and simple design which is comprehensive and cohesive throughout. This simplistic approach to branding is something that I feel would be great to learn about and get involved with. Newcastle is quite far away but that doesn't mean that they can't be contacted.

Following this, I decided to contact the 2 studios which were my favourite out of all of them to see whether I would be able to get anything from it.

Contacting Fieldwork and Robot Food

I sent my portfolio to Fieldwork and Robot Food but I didn't hear anything from them which knocked my confidence a bit, not just in the portfolio but in the entire brand identity and presentation of my work.