Responsive- Design Process 2: Collaborative Progress Crit

Following on from the last crit, we had to get together with the same collaborative groups as we had for the previous crit and was given 10 minutes per group to discuss how far we had got to and where we had progressed from the last crit. As groups, this allowed us to get a feel for the other groups briefs and be able to give some verbal feedback as to questions we needed answering and possible ideas.

After this, we then had to give each other feedback but we could only do this by taking another groups brief and spending an hour on it, working on different ideas or expanding on what has already been done to make it better. Anna and myself got Jasper and Priyesh's Royal Albert Hall brief, with the brief asking to produce an integrated campaign to raise money for the Halls.

Discussed Feedback

The group hadn't actually come up with a comprehensive concept for their brief so we started coming up with some concepts and angles that they could go with, such as linking the Halls with being British and the heritage surrounding the place; how it has stood the test of time and what it has seen over the years, like World War 1 and 2, 60's, etc. Another idea is the focusing of a platform or stage as most people go to the Halls to see a performance on a stage. Another aspect they could focus on is the reference to community and what the Halls does locally, focusing on community spirit ad locality.

Out of this, our main idea focused on the one factor which connects everyone who is an audience at the Royal Albert Halls- they have the experience of being there. The positive emotional response to the personal connection from nostalgic memories of being at the Royal Albert Halls would generate the public want of donating to the Halls. With this, we felt it would be a good idea to propose a month long event that runs a series of nights to celebrate the Halls as well as raise funds. Possible collateral they could produce could include; Entry Armbands, Tickets, Programme Brochures, Food/ Drink Packaging, Posters and Advert Banners with a ticket site and a web page for donation giving.

Feedback Discussed and Given for Royal Albert Hall Brief

We had to give this feedback in the form of a Progress Feedback Sheet which we filled in with our suggestions. We then fed back the comments to the group, hopefully helping them with their brief and giving them a fresh perspective.

The final group (Issy and Laura) had our brief and they did the same for us, giving us feedback on our brief and giving their take on what we could do with our brief.

Feedback Given from Group Brief Swap

We mainly got very positive feedback on our brief, particularly the concept which was very well received.

Suggestions that were given to us included having the outfits perforated, which we had already thought about, and to maybe have just a piece of an outfit on each box which would be released weekly. The main thing would be to focus on jobs which kids would want to do when they got older. A great suggestion was to have the bear on the box as well as the outfit so that it would come as a set rather than just downloading it as then it would be on different stocks and the bear may get battered around easily. It is important for the outfits to stay together so it would be a good idea to try it out so that the outfits fit properly.

We will take on board some of the comments, especially the bear on the box as it makes perfect sense for the actual collectibility and usability of the products.

Design Practise 2: Studio Brief 1- Research Book Concept Crit

For our Crit, we were put into small groups (I was in Group 3). There was 2 parts to our crit; the first part being where we got to talk about our work and discuss it verbally as a group and the second part being that we went around the table, giving written feedback for each others work.

Work for Crit

I discussed in my crit that I was very uncertain in regards to a format for the book and that I had 2 main ideas which I mentioned being either a flip book or a fold out map. I showed them my mock-up concepts for packaging and I showed that I had been experimenting with layout and aesthetic styles for potential ways of showing the information. However, the main thing that was I was stuck and needed some guidance into what direction I should go into.

For the written element of the feedback, I wanted to be able to get some specific feedback based on the problems I discussed so I wrote some questions that I wanted feedback on. The questions I gave for the written element of the brief were;

• Which format should I produce my information in? Have you any suggestions of your own as to format I should consider?
• Illustrative or Photographic/ Editorial style?
• Which idea/display of packaging would go well with my topic of Chester Zoo? Are there any other forms of packaging I should consider?
• Based on the experimentation on my laptop, which layout styles are the most successful?

These questions were important for me to get answered as I needed to get some direction.

For the written feedback, we had to fill in our comments based on the areas of feedback on the feedback sheet. This is my feedback:

Feedback Sheets

The feedback I got was useful as it gave me a wider scope of thing to think about and consider within the way I resent the information in my book.

In regards to my packaging, having it in the style of a Zoo Gate was the most successful overall as it was mentioned that it would be the most practical and probably the strongest in regards to holding the book within it. However, it was evenly matched in regards to which of the 2 designs to use so I think this would be something that I would have to try out and produce motte mock ups for. It was also mentioned as a suggestion that I should consider a thicker stock card for the actual packaging so it is less likely to get damaged. Despite that, my packaging ideas were heavily commented on as being creative and relevant to the topic.

Another strong element of the feedback was that more people felt that illustrations would be a more appropriate form of imagery yet it was mentioned that the photographs and illustrations would work together and would appeal to both adult and children audiences.

Referencing formats, I was suggested to maybe look at existing zoo leaflets and promotional material to get some ideas for formats. It was mentioned that the idea of having a format which is more interactive, like a map, would be beneficial to an overall design as a book would make the information in danger of coming across like a school textbook which would loose interest.

The group had a look at the experimental layouts I had produced and noted down ones that they preferred or felt that I should push further. It was mentioned however that I should continue to experiment with colour usage and I should be careful with the amount of text that I include.

Responsive- Design Process 2: Collaborative Practise Concept Cit

For the session, we had to present the research and initial ideas for the brief we have chosen for the Collaborative brief for a Crit with 2 other collaborative pairings.

Me and Anna presented the individual design boards we had digitally made to show the aspects of the research we had undertaken alongside all of the design boards that we had produced to get our idea across. They also had a look at our Collaborative Practise sheet.

Crit Collateral

We got a lot of feedback from the Crit itself. They felt that the simpler the concept the better and that we should stick to making just 4 or 5 boxes sot hat it doesn't become overwhelming. We should be able to show the the concept through just that amount of boxes. This was a perfectly understandable feedback and made me think that, even though we understand our current concept, this may be complicated for other people to understand.

It was important that the box was something that was collectible and they felt it might be an idea to have something inside the box, like a toy, that could be collectible. The problem with this feedback is that, in the brief, it is specifically stated that the brand do not want toys within the cereal itself and that it must be the box which is collectible.

We were given some ideas to work with, such as informing the children of types of fruit which would go with the brand or maybe having things made out of the word BEAR which was different every month but this would limit our range of responses. They thought that they could do tasks to get answers for that they could submit to the website online but this is something that they have already done.

What the crit also mentioned was that the current packaging is too sophisticated and it wasn't very playful for kids so it was suggested that if we have the time to propose a new front to the box design as well as the back.

We got some valuable feedback from the session that makes us take a new look at the actual concept that we had come up with. What the feedback from the crit made us realise was that we haven't answered the brief properly. We got so caught up in the concept that we had come up with that we had forgotten all about the main bit of the brief, the letters!

Straight away, we realised that we needed to produce a brand new idea that answered the brief. (See Design Practise Blog)

We then needed to fill out a sheet stating what our final concept was:

Concept Statement

For the next session, we needed to have the brief re-written based on the concept that we have newly come up with:

Re-written BEAR Brief

After producing the new and more specific Re-Written Brief, we started discussing the timeframe that we had to produce the work and what we needed to be able to get it done.

Planning Time Management

We made a calendar diagram of the timeframe and outlined the jobs that needed doing and how long we had to do them. This would give us structure and means that these have been outlined as a team so we cannot argue over them.

Written Up Action Plan

We then put these dates down onto an action plan so that they were set in place.

Responsive- Design Process 2: Interim Module Evaluation

We have been asked to give a self-evaluation on the module up to this point of the Final Crit of the Main Brief.

What I wanted to learn from doing the Responsive Module was of what it is like to work for somebody else, whether that be a client in real life or through a competition. In all honesty, I wasn't looking forward o the Module as I don't have any self confidence with my own work so I was very worried about having to put my work out there in the real world as I don't believe that it measures up to a lot of other designers. Despite this, I wanted to have a go at it and try out different things through the briefs that I would choose.

I have found this module difficult so far as I find it hard to juggle the time between doing briefs for this Module and doing work for everything else. I have managed to do one brief alongside the current main brief and I currently have one that I am working on so I am making slow yet steady progress. My Tigerprint brief I did in a day and I really enjoyed it once I got into the swing of it as it gave me something new to do and took my mind off of other briefs so I could go back to them fresh. The current National Trust brief I am happy doing now that I am on my way with it but, beforehand, I was finding it difficult to come up with a response. I should have probably picked a different brief which is much more straight-forward yet I wanted to challenge myself on a subject matter which spoke to me which is why I picked it. The current brief I am doing is Secret 7 as I felt that this would be another quick brief that I could do alongside what I am currently working on. I did Secret 7 last year but I knew that I would be approaching it in a new way due to how my skills have improved over the year.

What this module has shown me so far is how different and difficult it is to understand the needs of clients due to how badly some briefs can be written. I think I really need to get some more briefs done as I feel very behind and overwhelmed by the Module as a whole, however, at the same time, I think that the more briefs that I do, the more confident I will become.

Design Practise 2- Studio Brief 1: Research Crit

As part of the Study Task, we had to produce 5 A3 Design Boards based on our Research topic. We had to present the boards to a group of 6 people.

Design Boards for Crit

From this, we then discussed the topics of our boards and possible areas we could go into with the subject matter we have.

I mentioned within my presentation that, from the research that I have done, there is a wide array of areas that I could go into from zoos. The feedback I was given was that my topic of research was very exciting due to how broad it was as I could do anything with it. An idea which came up in conversation was maybe producing a guide that could have information and facts about the animals which could be used alongside the map. I thought that this could be accompanied with an interactive map App which could add to the interactive element of getting involved with the zoo. This was initially thought of as something for adults but it could be extended to children where they could do activities when going around the zoo which would be educational and fun. This developed to maybe having a treasure hunt that children could take part in and collect things around the zoo, getting a free toy at the end by completing it.