Studio Brief 1 - Final Critique

Studio Brief 1 - Design Practise, Professional Practise - Secret 7 

Final Critique

In preparation for the final critique for this brief we were advised to only present 1 or 2 designs as I had developed 3 sophisticated concepts I performed an informal critique before the final critique to see which designs other students found the most engaging and felt had the strongest concepts. I asked the majority of my year group as well as a range of lecturing staff and found that the abstract brain concept and the digital window concept were both really strong amongst this group. I collated this feedback from a range of face to face discussion and asking people to like their favourite designs on a Facebook group created for Graphic Design students. Based on this feedback I decided to present them both in the final critique to gain further feedback which would then ultimately help me to decide which design to submit to as the final resolution to the brief. 

Following this I presented these two concepts in the final critique. Similarly to the interim critique this method of feedback was not standard of other critique's I have taken part in during my time on the course so far. This critique paired us up with another student and analyse another students work following the analytical framework of 'D.I.E.T.' (Describe, Interpret, Evaluate, Theorise) this ensured we discussed the work in-depth looking at it from a range of perspectives and justifying our opinions to our pairs. I think this worked well as it ensured I thought analytically about the work and provided some high end feedback. 

DESIGN 1

I feel this pair interpreted this design well, this shows I have clearly communicated my concept as this is clearly the message I was trying to portray. This is encouraging as it has so clearly been understood without any prior description.  I like the evaluation as they have linked all of the concepts to the message I aimed to convey, this shows that I have succeeded in attaching connotations to my design for them to so clearly and successfully evaluate the design. In theorising the design they have identified some issues they would change however I critically disagree with these comments. They felt the image has been compromised due to the type and felt it looks flat however the primary aim of the type was to subtly blend in with the style of the image at a first glance and become legible when analysed more closely, I feel the image succeeds in doing so and do not feel the type would benefit from a thicker stroke or texture as suggested. I am happy with this feedback as it is largely positive and shows I have clearly communicated my intended message. 

DESIGN 2 

I think that this pair missed some of the message behind this image in their interpretation, I feel they clearly identified the obvious components of the squares forming a window and linking this to the lyric in the track 'people turn the tv on, it looks just like a window' they stated the colours seem bright and happy and could be seen as trippy however I sourced inspiration from the colours used within the music video and supported by their bold confident aesthetic, similar to that of St. Vincents music. Their evaluation states the design is successful however I think they are missing some of the symbolism in regard to the evidently artificial and digitalised landscape emphasising our dependance on digital technology. This stereotypical image is the kind of generic image one would find if they googled window and shows how we can come to accept this as fact through reinforcement from the internet. They raised several questions within theorising this design most of which I have addressed throughout my response for example the colours are taken from the confident nature of the artist and colours present in the tracks music video and the images are typical of a basic window scene found on the internet. I like one of their suggestions to change the squared window to that of a TV screen to reinforce the song lyric more evidently however I would look at changing this to app icons similar to those found on an iPhone to reinforce the digital reliance. I will look at developing this as a result of feedback before submission of a final design.