OUGD503 - MODULE EVALUATION

OUGD503 - Module Evaluation 

OUGD503 has been the most individually rewarding module to date, choosing briefs that engage my individual design interests has resulted in enjoying process of creating work a lot more and appreciating the final resolutions, knowing the extent of this design process. The live nature of the module has elevated my work output and in instances made this design process more difficult, because I wanted to ensure a high quality resolution. The prestige of the judging bodies such as D&AD and YCN made me want to work harder as this validation from winning a major design competition would greatly improve my confidence as a designer, allowing a personal reflection that the work I have produced is completed to a high industry standard.

I have overcome a number of personal challenges within this module, demanding a highly efficient design process in terms of time management, the nature of my resolutions created high quality mock ups that demanded a refined sense of planning, outsourcing materials and pre-booking college resources to ensure these elements were completed on time. This sense of time management extended into collaborative practice working with two different course schedules was initially difficult however was impressed with how me and my creative partner individually met set deadlines and found time to come together to discuss ideas and development.

Development was large part my design process within my resolution to the briefs. Due to the extended nature of the substantial briefs this required constant development from students and tutors to ensure the design direction was representative of the brief and didn’t go off on a tangent. Presenting the final resolutions to tutors who had no previous involvement with this development was a great way to receive further development and evaluate how effective my resolutions were in resolving the problems defined within the brief. This further represented how the judging panel would react to my impact boards thus giving me further opportunity to refine any ambiguous elements in my articulation of the resolutions ensuring this articulation was as clear and concise as possible.

I am creatively satisfied with the results achieved through the development of this module, it has definitely improved my confidence as a designer giving me a better understanding of how I would respond to live briefs within a commercial design studio. The smaller briefs engaged my creativity to produce appropriate design solutions to the briefs and experiment with different media focusing more on the creative exploration of my development as opposed to a deeply overthought design process. This has extended my practice in a more holistic and refined sense utilising different processes and media that I haven’t had a chance to work with before.

The substantial briefs define how I can successful develop and implement a concept into an extended resolution that cohesively covers a range of collateral. These briefs have also allowed me to develop presentational pitch skills in the articulation of the brief, which can be utilised when transitioning into industry and engaging with clients. The UCC coffee brief allowed me to explore the conceptual elements of revitalising a brand in order to reposition the product with it’s consumer and embed this concept holistically throughout the resolution. Utilising appropriate materials to reinforce this revitalisation and adopting the tone of voice identified within the brief to ensure the resolution is representative of the brands ethos and speaks directly to its target audience.

Collaborative practice gave me critical awareness of working in industry as briefs are rarely undertaken individually and typically works as a collaborative effort within a design team. Overcoming these initial difficulties of choosing a creative partner I found a good match choosing a singular illustrator as a team of two felt the most efficient and would allow us to both bring out individual specialisms to the brief to create a well resolved concept and implement this successfully within the resolution to the brief. I found the process of collaborating stressful at times working to two different course schedules however was rewarding to see the finished resolution. This identified that collaboration is beneficial in order to utilise different skill sets that resulted in a far more successful resolution to the brief that I would not have been able to create individually. Regardless of the outcome of professional judging I feel satisfied in my resolutions these beliefs particularly the substantial resolution to the YCN UCC coffee brief which I can see becoming a key piece within my developing portfolio, alongside a range of the work developed as part of this module.

OUGD503 - Brief 3 Project Report

OUGD503 - Studio Brief 3/ Project Report   

Project Report

http://issuu.com/rhys.jones/docs/ougd503_brief_3_project_report/1

OUGD503 - BACIL Poster Campaign: Evaluation

OUGD503 - Studio Brief 1/ BACIL Poster Campaign   

Evaluation

My resolution to the brief is effective in engaging a younger target audience which was identified as a key problem of the old designs. My concept uses the popular use of emoji’s within the demographics daily lives to communicate the content effectively through appropriate visual content that will appeal to this audience. This use of emoji’s also creates a more informal context that doesn’t cast any negative connotations on the environments in which the posters are displayed.

The aesthetic is bold and eye-catching, with the strong use of red to instantly catch the eye, this directs the eye to the central focal point of the emoji’s and the supporting slogan ‘watch your stuff’ a further benefit of the visual content is that is transcends language barriers making it more appropriate for a multi-lingual city such as Leeds. The minimal aesthetic creates a refined message that will be easily understood at bars and clubs where alcohol may affect the legibility of the design. This concept could also easily be developed for a full campaign with interchangeable emoji’s creating a poster series creatively highlighting the awareness of your belongings when out in Leeds.

Although my resolution was unsuccessful in winning the competition I am happy with the design and feel it successfully communicated the content and solves the the problems identified within the design brief. I have considered its application and altered the typeface from a paid DIN font to free 'intro' as due to the small scale of the organisation it is unlikely they would have the budget to paid for premium fonts, this understanding of the client and commercial practice highlights my developing practice and commercial awareness within the industry and has lead to a well informed and appropriate resolution to the brief.

OUGD503 - BACIL Poster Campaign: Summative Feedback

OUGD503 - Studio Brief 1/ BACIL Poster Campaign   

Summative Feedback

Following the submission date I was unsuccessful in winning the competition, I felt I had a genuinely strong concept that addressed the key problems within the brief and created a successful resolution. I emailed the lead co-oordinator of the competition to see if she could direct me towards some feedback as this would help me to identify where I could improve in the future. She was really helpful in providing me with some good quality constructive feed back. 

The judges found my design to focus too heavily on the night time economy and represents from this judging board felt it wouldn't be understood easily enough, they did however like the bright use of colour and composition within my entry. I feel that the resolution and aesthetic was extremely easily understandable and this was never identified as a problem though the constant feedback I received throughout my design process from students who double up as part of the target audience but the design may have simply been not what the judges were looking for. 

I came across one of the winning entries displayed in the cloakroom of my part time job at Topman, I was personally don't see how this design appeals to a younger demographic as this was a problem identified within the brief regarding the uses of the old posters, this aesthetic is vastly different to mine and may have been more suited to what the judges are looking for however I feel its not that successful in engaging the target audience through eye-catching visual communication. 

OUGD503 - BACIL Poster Campaign: Submission

OUGD503 - Studio Brief 1/ BACIL Poster Campaign   

Submission

Rationale: This concept targets a younger target audience with the use of universally popular emoji’s to create a high impact visual statement that is easily understood by this audience. The visual imagery transcends language barriers perfect for a multi-lingual city such as Leeds effectively communicating its message to the public. The minimal aesthetic creates a bold message that will be easily understood at bars and clubs where alcohol may affect the legibility of the design. 

This concept could easily be developed for a full campaign with interchangeable emoji’s creating a poster series creatively highlighting the awareness of your belongings when out. 

OUGD503 - BACIL Poster Campaign: Further Development/Feedback

OUGD503 - Studio Brief 1/ BACIL Poster Campaign   

Further Development/Feedback

From the group critique I was given a range of good quality feedback, one of the tutors states he felt the use of the real emojis would create a stronger more demanding visual aesthetic that will appeal to the target audience and create a more colloquial tone to engage its audience. I initially tried sourcing these emojis from a website http://emoji.ink however these were too low quality for the size of the poster. Failing this I had to vectorise these by hand with help from the IT technicians I manages to get a really close resemblance to the originals that would be instantly recognisable as the popular icons. 

With the vectors I then placed these into a composition. I tool inspiration from the initial design treatment as this was popular with students and tutors in the critique however moved the slogan to sit directly under the emojis to create a singular high impact focal point. I was much happier with this design direction as it was bold high-impact and created a strong communication of the content which remaining engaging to the key demographic highlighted within the brief. 

I trailed a series of colour ways, I initially liked the turquoise colour taken from my initial ideas however receiving feedback from students and tutors they felt this was too calming and didn't enforce there high impact nature of the design. Following this I trailed the red which created a far high impact creating a strong eye-catching aesthetic, this also complemented the BACIL logo refining the colour palette further to ensure the emojis are the instant focal point of the poster. 

I tend to draw away from banners within my design as I feel it separate the design too much to resolve this I created a thin boarder around the image which adds a consistency to the whole aesthetic. I then asked a range of students and tutors which variant they felt worked most effectively, there was split opinions however I decided in the boarder as it creates a more proportioned aesthetic that works better as a whole, it came down to personal taste and I feel it works more succinctly as a whole design treatment. 

I received strong feedback for the final resolution as it is strong and minimal in its aesthetic with a simple colour palette and bold focal point that is playful and engaging to the key demographic identified within the brief. The tone of the resolution is informal and colloquial so to not cast negative connotations on the environment in which it is displayed. I have considered its application and altered the typeface from a paid DIN font to free 'intro' as due to the small scale of the organisation it is unlikely they would have the budget to paid for premium fonts, this understanding of the client and commercial practice highlights my developing practice and commercial awareness within the industry and has lead to a well informed and appropriate resolution to the brief.

OUGD503 - BACIL Poster Campaign: Feedback

OUGD503 - Studio Brief 1/ BACIL Poster Campaign   

Feedback

During a critique I presented my initial design direction to a group of students and tutors, they were positive about the development thus far and agreed the second design direction was far more appropriate due to its simple direct aesthetic. It was suggested the navy didn't work particularly well as a background colour because it wasn't eye-catching enough and students felt it may become overlooked especially in dark night time economy venues. Another suggestion was to use the actual emojis instead of creating the illustrations as this would make the aesthetic more fun and engaging to the audience. 

This feedback offers improvements to my initial design direction that will improve the overall quality of the concept and resolution,  I will implement this feedback and develop the design further as this will improve the posters engagement with its audience.