OUGD406 | Studio Brief 03 - Evaluation

This brief was great practice for collaboration and working in a group, which will be common when working in studios in the future. I felt that our group worked really well together, every person put something into the final design and contributed their strengths towards the project. Everyone was present at the meetings we planned and happily put ideas and research forward. I was also pleased to have the opportunity to get to know others in the class, I feel that I have developed friendships as a part of the brief.
I felt that our strength was not jumping into an idea. We went through several ideas before deciding to go forward with each one. We decided to make small digital experimentations for each idea as a test before going forward with any. When Pete came up with the concept 'Nice Jacket' we all decided that this idea was our most creative and this group agreement I feel strengthened our project overall. As every person had strengths in different software we were able to use all of these to aid our designs and produce an effective branding. I was also happy with how mature our group was when it came to decision making, as the group was not always in complete agreement. Despite this, everyone got behind the decisions the group made. I feel that overall our branding was professional and creative.
Although our group was very strong there were still areas that we could have improved. Firstly, if group members didn't particularly like an idea they found it hard to come forward and criticise the idea. I feel that all of us are still reasonably unconfident when it comes to criticising each others ideas. With this criticism maybe our group could have moved forward more quickly, however this is a skill that will come in time. I also feel that we should have spent more time working together digitally as many of our digital experiments were created independently. The second week I feel was our hardest, as the group overall was feeling tired and this lead to some errors in our work, these were corrected but we could have finalised our branding more effectively if we had not felt so worn out.
I feel that one of our major strengths was our presentation, everyone contributed towards the presentation and spoke for an equal amount of time with confidence. I felt that this confidence really made our idea appealing to the client. Another strength I feel our design had was that we successfully communicated that the exhibition was about books but also with a graphic design feel and without overcrowding the design, satisfying all of our target audience.  
Our success is evident in that our design came 2nd of all 11 groups, and as a group we are proud to have achieved this and the design we created. We would definitely like to work together in the future and I look forward to working with my group in the future.

OUGD406 | Studio Brief 04 - Brief analysis and idea generation and plan

Studio Brief 4 offers us a fun opportunity to reflect on our first year of university and create a practical response to this which would ease the university transition for first years. As I found university particularly difficult to begin with, I feel I will enjoy the opportunity to pass on advice. The brief itself is rather open and I plan to define my own brief as I decide what I want to create. Obviously the target audience is first years, I just need to decide what I would like to communicate. 

As the brief states, the work can be either a "statement, comment, observation or piece of advice". I will consider all of these approaches when designing my work and considering a concept. 

I feel that it is most appropriate to focus on the difficulties I experienced as a new student, to help prevent first years from experiencing the same. There are so many subjects I could base my practical work on but here is a list of subjects I came up with inside and outside of uni.

OUTSIDE LCA

-Cooking

-Money

-Food Shopping

-Night out

-Social aspects/developing friendships

-Living away from home

-Student accommodation

-Getting your first house/second year accommodation 

-Homesickness?

-Places to visit 

INSIDE LCA (COURSE)

-Making friends

-Understanding the resources

-Understanding the course structure

-Developing a Graphic Design understanding e.g. type, grids

-How to approach a brief

-Organisation

-Blogging

For me personally outside of uni I found developing friendships the most difficult as you meet so many people. I was unfortunate enough to meet more people that I didn't click. It was also a big challenge to live with strangers. I have also found money difficult due to the amount of student finance I receive. I have learned ways to save money and do cheap food shops so perhaps I could pass on this advice?

In terms of the course, at first I found it very confusing especially the module codes and the whole structure of the course confused me. Once I understood it, it seemed far more simple than it did at first. I was also completely unsure of what was expected of me and the standard that everyone else was at, which was scary at first! I did not complete my first few briefs as effectively because of this, once I learned how to break down a brief this became far more clear. 

This afternoon I have been brainstorming my first few ideas based on my own reflection of the year. A few of the ideas I came up with today include creating a uni resources guide, so first years can learn early on how to make the most of what the college has to offer. Also, a module guide. Personally I found the module codes and blog labelling very confusing at first, so perhaps a poster explaining each one would be helpful. Another idea involves a step by step on how to tackle a brief. As for students who may have not experienced an art course before, it can be quite challenging to understand what is expected and what will earn marks.

Brainstorming Ideas

During this brief I really want to showcase what I have learned and be more adventurous with my materials and production methods. In particular I would like to try foiling, so I aim to find a way to fit this appropriately into my work. I also want to be more experimental with stock and maybe consider more colour choices. As I do not have time to print a mock-up, I plan to visit the print room prior to my booked print slot and ask for advice on whether my printing method will be successful. 

Potential Materials and Production Methods

PLAN

As I am about to go on a break for easter, and all my deadlines are the week back, I feel it is very important to plan ahead to ensure my work will be completed in time. So I have created a basic plan to ensure I complete this brief in time -

OUGD404 | Studio Brief 02 - Production

Over the last two days, I have been to drop in to bind my book. I went in with my printed pages ready to bind. Unfortunately, when I printed these during my booking, these had printer errors on the block colour pages. A streak was shown where the printer had been working. This meant I had to go back to a print drop in session to reprint the design. Fortunately, this error meant I was able to spot a few small errors that were not as visible on screen within the design. I was able to correct these in time for the drop in session, where the block colours printed much more vividly and with no streaks.
I had tried to print a mock up of the book in black and white to check these errors, but as I printed the book the pages kept printing out incorrectly so I was unable to properly check these. In hindsight,  I should of asked a tutor to help me print it correctly.
When it came to binding my book, I encountered another big issue. The tutors at the book binding drop in felt that my design would not be feasible to make and I would have to rethink my whole design. This was disappointing for me as I was happy with my design overall and prior to this no one had mentioned any issues. Thankfully, the tutors at Vernon Street were extremely helpful and showed me a way to bind the pages I currently had together.
The first issue lay with how my book had printed out. I had not had a perfect bound induction, but was informed that if I created my book as it would appear on indesign I would be able to print this correctly. However, the tutors informed me that my book had not been printed correctly for perfect bind (despite following the advice of the print tutor). This meant I had to bind this section using thread firstly as 3 smaller books had been printed out. I was shown a way to thread these together by the tutor, and then he advised I glued the spine and left this for a few hours.
The second issue was that with perfect bound there should be a blank front and back page as some of the page would be lost to glue. To solve this, I cut new pages using blue stock I bought from the library and glued these on to the design. We created a test with my failed print version of the book and thankfully none of the text was lost on the first page.
The main issue was that the original cover I planned was not possible in the opinion of the staff. I had originally planned to create a three side cover, meaning that two flaps would fold over the pages. Within this longer cover would be a pocket which the concertina at the back would fold into. Instead of this I had to change my design to two hardcover buckram squares which would cover the front and back. Unfortunately this meant my spine had to be visible, but this showed the handmade feel of the book. This design makes my perfect bound/sewn section difficult to find/read but this was my best option to bind my book.
Other issues I encountered were down to personal error, this included inaccurate cutting and wonky glued pages - this will all come with time but this book in particular was created much more inaccurately than normal.  I would definitely create this again if I had the time and resources.
Thankfully, to the untrained eye my book appears reasonably professional and I was very thankful towards the tutors that were able to help me.  If I am to create a book for another brief, I will ensure to firstly check the design is feasible, create a full mock up and take my time over the whole creation of the book.

Extra Page added to the mock up. All the text was still visible

Printer error on one of the original prints

Buckram covers which I created which were too big

OUGOD406 | Studio Brief 03 - Idea Pitch

I personally felt that our presentation went smoothly and came across as professional. We all explained the elements of the branding over 2 or 3 slides each so every group member was involved in promoting our branding. There was an issue in that our flyers did not seem to be on the presentation but as these easily follow the style of the branding I hope that the clients understand that this would be easily created if they do not know we have already created one.
I feel that we could have improved by printing some of our collateral out to aid our presentation, however as we were busy perfecting the branding this was not possible. However, we feel that our strong concept will make up for this.
Below are the slides we created. We tried to keep the slides as simple as possible using only pictures and text only when necessary, I felt that this would deliver a more effective pitch.

Feedback -

The overall impression of our branding was good, the students seemed to think our concept was strong and catchy. There were few issues with the whole branding, only a few helpful tips from the second years that would enhance the branding overall. There were no major issues that were identified so this was good! Here are some of the points raised -

Wayfinding - Arrows could be vinyl rather than mount board (We were unsure about what we were allowed to stick on the walls of the library. The material can easily be changed) .
Screenprinting - Digital with screen print would be too costly (however we provided many options to reduce cost, this was only if the budget allowed) .
Chair and coffee table - Could possibly make the exhibition too busy.
After the exhibition - how would we continue to promote after the exhibition? Maybe a website would aid this.
Booklet - Would you include student work within this?
Coat hangers - Maybe spray paint these to match the theme of the exhibition.

OUGD406 | Studio Brief 03 - Design Development

The first task at hand was to improve the logo as the current shape had a bad perspective and was not clearly a book. We worked on creating a spine so the illustration was clearer, this meant the name of the exhibition was easier to understand. We also refined all the lines so that there were no errors, and we also corrected the angle of the text to match the angle of the book. We tilted the final logo on an angle as we preferred the more playful and inviting feel.
We did work on the open book logo, first by defining the pages and then by flipping the book round so that the title was on the cover rather than the pages so that this did not cause confusion. However, we decided to scrap this to the other logo as we felt one logo would be easier to transfer to other collateral and would produce a more consistent design.
I tried some alternative colours that were inspired by the interior of the library itself, but we felt that these were not as bold and eye catching as the red.

Old logo

Old designs -coat hanger arrows were too complicated and misleading. 

Logo development 

Logo testing on collateral 

Colour testing

OUGD406 | Studio Brief 03 - Preliminary Final Branding

Above is the final branding I designed ready for the rest of the group to check and correct any errors that still exist. The branding consists of a logo, which is used consistently across the appropriate collateral so the brand is easily recognisable. Our colour scheme is simplistic yet eye catching, using black and white and red as a bold spot colour. As our designs are so simple, if the red is taken away the designs are still clear and effective meaning the designs can be produced cheaply if the budget was small.
We created two poster designs, one being monochromatic to demonstrate the effectiveness of our design. We used the turned corner in our branding as we felt this was a strong yet simple idea that could be introduced to Nice Jacket without overcomplicating the design. We decided that for designs that were single sided, this would be printed on. Whereas with double sided designs we would actually fold this over - giving a hand made feel and making the designs more interesting overall. We tried to include the Leeds College of Art logo on everything to give a strong presence of the college so people would relate the exhibition back to LCA.
We created our invites in a book mark shape to relate this back to the content of the exhibition, for these the corner would be physically folded as it is a double sided design. We created the social media hash tag of #nicejacket, we felt this was catchy and easy to remember. Since social media is the main way people communicate we felt it was really important to emphasise this, so we placed the hashtag large on the back on the invites to make the social media connection really clear.  We decided that a thick stock was ideal for the invites so that it was actually usable as a book mark.
For flyers we decided to present two options, this being either a smaller A5 version of the poster, or a similar book mark shaped flyer, again the monochromatic scheme could be applied to both of these and the design is very similar to the rest of the branding. We created signage to guide people to the exhibition and as a final advertisement to those who may have not heard of the exhibition. We created a very simple 'Welcome' board on A1 Mount Board which would be placed on an easel, this would be clear to see when entering the library, we created a simple red arrow which would be placed around the library guiding visitors to the exhibition space.
Again, the labels for the work followed the book mark page turn theme, showing the designers name contact details, book and production method. We decided to include the college logo on these to give LCA a strong and clear presence within the exhibition. As an addition to the promotion we created sticker or badge designs which would be another clear way of spreading the word and would also give visitors the opportunity to take home a souvenir. Finally we created a booklet which gives a brief explanation of the exhibition and another clear list of the designers with contact details, this enables any visitor to contact designers with ease as they have a physical copy of the details.

OUGD406 | Study task 04 - HSC map design

The Hungry Sandwich Club (LCA Graduates) gave us a brief to create a cycle trail map for the up coming Leeds Indie Food Festival. All our groups were in competition with one another and the chosen map would be featured in a booklet created by The Hungry Sandwich Club. The pair were very open about the brief and wanted us to have creative freedom. The only requirements were that we included the title and details about the 5 locations along the trail. 

Although this was an exciting brief, our group was tired so we struggled with the project. As the locations were over a large distance, we decided to image trace the points on Google Maps in Illustrator. We retraced the trail and added pins similar to the style of Google Maps. For the title we chose a typeface that was similar to some of our sketches, that were inspired by our research. We decided to give it a bold outline and shadow so it stood out against the map. We used circles across the map to make the text readable against the background and guide the eye to each section easily. Futura worked best for the titles as it was simple and legible and did not make the map too crowded. We decided that we would create relevant food illustrations for each of the locations. However, I felt that this was unsuccessful as we all designed the illustrations in our own style, leading to inconsistency in the design and the map feeling overcrowded. 

I feel that the group could have approached this project more effectively had we been more focussed but I feel that our map design was successful overall. 

OUGD406 | Studio Brief 03 - Time planning & Management

Time planning is an important element of working in a group. So a time plan was the first thing we decided as a group. We had to take advantage of the free time for week 1 as week 2 contained far more timetabled sessions. Although our planning changed throughout the project this was the basic plan we wrote at the beginning of the week as well as the time planning prepared in week 2...

Week 1

Monday 

AM
-Visit Leeds Library 
-Studio time, plan the week and begin idea generation

PM

Branding Research collection and comparison.
Library Research analysis
Continued Idea Generation

Individual 

General Idea Generation and Research 

Tuesday

AM
Critique of groups individual ideas

PM
Define concept.
Blogging

Wednesday

AM/PM

Independent work due to screen printing. 

Thursday

AM
Critique current ideas. Analyse and finalise concept. 
PM
Finalise Ideas and collateral ideas/production method

Individual
blogging

Friday

AM
Finalise ideas. Method mock-up/testing
PM
Complete ideas in preparation for critique 

Individual
Blogging

Week 2

Monday 16th 

interim crit, take ideas and advice from this to take idea to next step.
__________________________

Week two

For this week we decided that we were going to develop our Nice Jacket Concept using advice from the crit and influences from research etc. Since we have so many projects on, we decided it was best to note down when everyone was free so we could work out who could work on the branding when. Below are the times when everyone was available.

Monday - Gracie, Jess, Pete, Tom, Rowan
Tuesday- Gracie, Tom, Pete,
Wed- Gracie, Jess, Tom, Rowan
Thurs- Jess, Pete, Rowan
Fri- Jess, Pete, Rowan

The crit informed us that our branding was already well developed, so not much work was needed. Other than this and blogging only the presentation needed to be prepared. We were all available on Sunday so arranged to meet up to prepare and practice for this in time for monday.

OUGD406 | Studio Brief 03 - Research & Exhibition Trip

As a class we went on a research trip around several galleries including The Hepworth, The Tetley, The WhiteCloth Gallery and The Henry Moore. The aim of the trip was to gain a greater understanding of exhibition branding and collateral, as well as understanding how these are applied to an exhibition space. 

Unfortunately I was unable to take photographs. I personally did not feel very inspired by the exhibition branding, I felt that in every gallery the branding was very similar and rather boring. The branding usually adopted a minimalist style using single colours and typefaces. The labels with work were usually monochrome with the artists name, title of work and material/technique used. I feel that the minimalist style appears classy and professional in a gallery space and allows the work to breathe. However, I felt that this kind of branding should be more playful and interesting, it should be an extension of the work on display and get the visitors excited about it. 

In relation to the branding my group is currently developing, I do not feel there was anything outstanding from the day that informed our branding. I did however analyse one of the booklets on offer at The Hepworth. This was a booklet on conferences that can be held at The Hepworth. I noticed that all the booklets are designed in the same style, using a thick stock folded into thirds, folded over each other. The design is simple but effective. The front cover appropriately features an evening photograph of the building itself, advertising the the reader where their conference could potentially be held. This cooler palette is brightened up once the booklet is opened with a bright red page and a warmer photograph. There is a lot of empty space on the page which allows the complimentary quotes on this page space to stand out and take the focus. The main content of the booklet is very neatly organised, each page using a 3 column structure. A very simple and minimal type is used meaning the body copy is easy on the eye. The top half of the spread features a neat arrangement of images with some spanning two columns. This continues the professional and sleek look. 

As a group I feel that we want to achieve a professional looking branding but also achieve a playful look which will represent the exploratory stage we are all still at. 

The booklet - 

OUGD404 | Studio Brief 02 - Page Design

After creating my grid and layout. I began to construct my book, placing in the content from the photography induction sheet as well as my own content to make the guide friendlier and easier to understand. I tried not to edit the existing words too much as I am still learning photography I would not want to change it to something incorrect.
The main inspiration for my design was the magazine CEREAL that I found. I used similar typefaces to the ones found in the magazine - Bebas for display and Bodoni Italics for body copy. I used italics as this was easier on the eye than the regular Bodoni, and seemed to have a friendlier feel. I began using a grey background for title pages similar to the magazine, with a bright yellow concertina zig zag to represent the old style cameras. In a critique, it was stated that the grey wasn't very appealing and made the book seem unpleasant to read, so it was suggested that I should use brighter colours. I had also created a zig zag line to relate back to the concertina fold and old style cameras, however it was stated in the crit that this detail was not necessary and the text spoke for itself so I deleted this from the design. Finally, I asked for suggestions about my cover as I had not learned perfect bound I was unsure how to create this. I originally created a cover design with the play on words 'What the photography' which I thought would appeal to the young audience. However the group suggested that I could place the title on the sleeve similar to my mock up as this would make the production easier.

Experimental Cover 

Zig Zag Design 

FINAL

Despite creating two columns in my book, after test-printing, the page size was too small for two columns, so I decided to span my body copy over the two columns, within the margin. I used the guides to centre the titles and boxes. I also tried to create the columns so that there was 7-9 words per line as this is ideal for reading. Bodoni 8pt was ideal as this size was readable and allowed the ideal amount of words per line. I was able to use a smaller pt size as the book is aimed at first year students so eyesight is less likely to be an issue.

Final grid design with 22mm central margin for binding 

For my contents page I needed to ensure the page titles and numbers could easily be matched up. So I created a line (rather than dots as this was consistent with my design) to guide the eye across the page to the number. I asked several people to check my designs and it was stated that the numbers appeared wonky, so I adjusted these later on to be in line and evenly spaced.

'The Camera' was quite a difficult section as labels are difficult to type set, especially with the size of my pages. To make the appearance of the labels as neat as possible, I tried to place several of the labels in its own column, using a ruler guide on indesign. This made the labels appear more organised overall. I used a digial feel typeface Andale Mono, as this reminded me of the typefaces typically found on the DLSR software. The advantage of this typeface is that a very small pt size can be used but the text will remain readable. 

I really wanted to break down the existing information as much as possible, as I was aiming to make the information simpler to understand. To do this, I broke each function down to a double page spread, using diagrams where appropriate. I broke the information down into smaller paragraphs which I felt were more digestible. As the book is a supporting document with the spoken induction, I did not try to add any information if I felt something was unclear as the book is supposed to be a reminder of what was taught in the session. These pages were difficult to typeset as there was little body copy in a small space. To typeset, I shifted words up and down the lines and adjusted the tracking until I achieved the neatest rag possible. 

Below is the concertina section of my book which will attach to the above perfect bound section. For this I decided to photography a simple object - a cactus. I felt that by photographing the same object, the effects of each setting may be clearer to see. As this is only a basic beginners guide I did not want to show any more advanced photographs as this would be something the first years will develop on during their time at university. Each photograph was positioned within the margins of each page, with a small caption explaining what setting the photo was taken with. I tried to keep the cactuses the same size and in the same position for consistency and a professional look.

OUGD406 | Studio brief 03 - Further Experimentation & Interim Crit Presentation

As mentioned before, we decided to show our development work within the crit as well as a range of designs from the idea which we felt was strongest 'Nice Jacket'. We felt that this was the best way to decide how to move our designs forward as any potential problems could be picked up on.

As we expected and hoped, it was said that our Nice Jacket idea was the strongest and one design in particular was singled out as the most successful.

We were told that we had a well developed branding already as we had covered all the collateral as well as stock choices. The only points we still needed to cover were how we planned to use the exhibition space, in other words, how are we going to fit 107 pieces of work into the space. As well as a mockup of how our work would look hung up on coat hangers. Finally, we needed to consider were contact information for the library as well as how we would construct our labels to go with the work including all the relevant information such as contact details.

This feedback was really helpful for us and it was good to know that our idea was strong. We decided it was best to develop the favourite design into a final branding, considering all the points brought up in the crit, so we planned our next week around this noting down when everyone was available to work on the project. Since I had created the favourite design, I was asked to finish off the branding, whilst others prepped the presentation. 

Below is the presentation produced for the interim critique -