YEAR THREE
Statement of Intent
Rationale
My design practice will certainly focus in typography and layout in a variety of forms and to cover many areas of interest I have. These areas include subjects such as publishing and editorial which covers book cover design and magazine layout, promotional design which covers posters and flyers and corporate identity which covers logos and stationery.
I still see my main interest in design for print but I still want to show that I can work for screen too on things such as interface design and static graphics for electronic delivery. I feel this will beneficial to me once I leave as I know from my experiences this summer that new technology cannot be ignored, and so knowledge of it is essential in today’s market.
My aesthetic approach seems to sway towards sharp, clean and impactful, much like the examples I have been posting on my blog over the summer. I like to work with and manipulate typography to portray meaning in terms of scale, weight, orientation, leading, kerning and character styles and want to learn more about grid systems before the end of the year.
Statement of Intent
I want to create clean and crisp design solutions to strengthen my portfolio in the areas I have stated above. I want to work within advertising, public or information sector and the briefs I have chosen/written allow me to do all three and still with a focus towards type and layout.
Outside the briefs and studying I would like to secure a placement to work in a local design studio once a week. I feel that the experience and connection with the industry will put me in a better position once I leave and will also open doors to a career.
2.BRIEF
I feel the briefs I have chosen/written will enable me to express my layout and typography skills and also allow me to develop on other skills such as branding and packaging to a certain degree. I happy with my choices and feel that there is enough scope for each of them to be taken further and to be focussed down to meet the criteria. I also feel that there is enough of a range of briefs so when I do use them for my portfolio there are differing examples.
The collaborative brief will enable me to work as part of a team which I deem important at this stage as it is something I would like to get used too, and I will hope to build on the success of previous collaborative efforts and maintain a good working relationship until the end.
3.RESEARCH
My research will take the form in the same areas as I have searched through before. I feel that the facilities I can access at the moment are luxurious compared to that of the average design studio. I still plan to use magazines, books, and the internet as the bulk of my research, and I also plan to gather primary evidence through online and offline questionnaires and surveys.
4.PRACTICAL DEVELOPMENT
I intend to use the print facilities frequently as well as getting my hands dirty with traditional printing techniques. In every situation the printing will be to deliver mock ups and/or final prints. I will attend workshops involving screen design to further my knowledge in that field for the branding briefs particularly as there will be web delivery involved.
5.RECORDING, DOCUMENTATION & EVALUATION
My blogs will once again become my main source of documenting and evaluating. They have served me well in the past and I have continually kept them up to date on a day to day basis during some projects. They will be used to document contextual investigations as well as recording and evaluating my own design practice throughout the project.
Crits will be the next opportunity to evaluate my work against others to see what can be adapted, changed and developed throughout the briefs. This will become the main point of user input so will become an important part of my design practice. After crits I will evaluate where I am at, and write a plan for the next one. The action plans will also be documented on the appropriate blog.
Statement of Intent - Year Three
Collaborative Brief
Me and Liam have been talking over the past few weeks about a collaborative effort on the back of discussions at the end of last year. We first of all planned to do something this year depending on what our focusses were for the year ahead at the end of summer. We both have picked up on an area that we both consider interesting in the publishing sector.
After this we both decided on create a series of book covers to showcase type and layout skills. We both feel we can benefit from each others skills as well as work ethics and for me personally it would be good to see how Liam works.
I wrote up this brief as a starting point and we will look to strip it back and write something with more focus soon.
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BRIEF TITLE
Book Cover Collection
The Brief
Design a series of book covers to promote a collection of books of your choosing.
Background
To celebrate its 75th birthday in 2010, Penguin is publishing a new Penguin collection aimed at new readers.
The re-issue of classic books will be designed to replace existing copies of the books and add to new readers collections. The classics range will feature five books initially but will be rolled out to include more titles if deemed successful.
Concept/Proposition
Impactful and desirable to readers but keeping the essence of the original issues.
Considerations
How can you get new readers to interact with these titles without alienating the people who bought the original?
How can you capture the integrity of the titles and also update them successfully?
Think about framing, format, colour, type choice carefully.
Will your designs be typographically or image driven or a mixture of the two.
Mandatory Requirements
The book covers should be scaled to the same dimensions as the current penguin releases and the penguin identity should be visible on the front and back covers.
The rest of the design decisions are up to you including the selection of titles.
Target Audience
New young readers who want to a taste of classic fiction.
Deliverables
Covers are to be presented on A2 mount board along with any other development work.
Tone of Voice
The tone of voice will remain in the spirit of the original title.
Info Graphics
In light of the briefs I have chosen I wanted to look around for some inspiration to give me some ideas on a suitable design direction. I have not looked into information graphics before but it ties in with what I want to achieve and the way my design direction is going seems to suit this.
I remember looking through the consults website earlier in the year, and found some nice info graphics examples and so I wanted to repost them to jog my memory when I come to the premier league report brief. I already have an idea in my head of how I want it to look and this is the closest thing to that idea.
This facts and figures publication is printed on a cheap basic coloured stock and this is the kind of look I want to go with my report as it will be a free publication for fans, sponsors and footballing authorities.
*Spotlight* Idealismo
Idealismo is another agency I found via Aisleone who are inspired by typography and layout coupled with some simplistic yet impactful branding, they have a good portfolio at the end of it.
Kicking off with this lovely example of branding for A2 home design. They incorporated a new identity with a theme that runs along the stationery and is cleverly used with imagery too.
The reverse side of the paper is also printed with a distressed texture which could be linked to the planning process of A2's work.
Another Brief
I got in touch with Richard from Creative Squeeze and he agreed to give me a live brief to work on for the York Late Music Concerts. He wants to see the results and I hope that I can really impress with this one.
BRIEF TITLE
The Late Music Series
The Brief
Design the identity and create promotional material for the Late Music Series which take place at the Unitarian Chapel, York.
Background
These concerts are the first weekend of each month. All are new music from living composers and include piano, vocal arrangements, string and wind instruments. Some of the performers include Ian Pace < http://www.ianpace.com >, Juice Vocal Trio < http://www.myspace.com/juicevocalensemble > and Steve Crowther < http://www.latemusicfestival.org.uk/publishing/composer.php?id=2 >. All are cutting edge music composers or performers.
Late Music concert series also sells CDs, sheet music and tickets via its website www.latemusic.org
Concept/Proposition
To produce an engaging and colourful image that encompasses the spirit and ambience associated with the music series.
Considerations
How can you capture the essence of the concerts and get the local public interested?
Can you use design to attract an audience unfamiliar with these concerts?
A New logo and corporate identity to establish a cutting edge new music brand.
Mandatory Requirements
Business cards and letterheads must also be designed to promote the brand.
Concert series brochure (probably A5 or DL) to give information about the concerts, composers and performers.
Promotional posters (A3)
Promotional cards - to back up the brochure and be distributed locally in the immediate run-up to each concert.
Target Audience
Avid fans of experimental music and classical performances. Mature in age and taste
Deliverables
All artwork should be presented on A2 mount boards.
Tone of Voice
Friendly, engaging, fresh, yet professional.
Focus for the year - pre formal rationale/statement of intent
I thought I'd take this time to discuss my options and why I have chosen/written the briefs I have and what my focus will be for this year, to give a better understanding in what I want to achieve but also to make it clearer in my head.
I see myself as a designer working with type and layout, primarily for advertising and information and the public sector. Within that are an abundance for directions I could take. Before the course I felt like I could 'do' anything, and as much as I am aware that they are people who perform better in tasks I still feel I have skills to offer in a variety of areas.
I am discounting motion and video graphics as I have focussed my attention toward static graphics. I am not ethically driven nor interested in education. I see myself as undertaking both client and designer led work which offers me some balance and allows me to make some creative decisions.
As I said earlier, I feel a strong link with my type and layout skills and I feel I can offer my services in publishing, and editorial design such as magazine layout and book cover design as well as promotional design such as posters, and flyers.
I have enjoyed illustrating, however, I feel like I am playing at it at some degree and I should leave this to the people who are specialised in that area. I still would like to tackle illustration in the form of creating new typefaces but not as a means to an end.
I feel the briefs I have picked/written will enable me to express my layout and typography skills and also allow me to develop on other skills such as branding and packaging to a certain degree. I happy with my choices and feel that there is enough scope for each of them to be taken further and to be focussed down to meet the criteria. I also feel that there is enough of a range of briefs so when I do use them for my portfolio there are differing examples.
Negotiated Briefs
#1
BRIEF TITLE
Arkitekt Magazine
The Brief
Design the cover and sample spreads for Arkitekt magazine.
Background
Arkitekt Magazine is a new high end publication aimed at students, professionals, and amateurs who value an informed awareness and knowledge of international contemporary architecture.
Concept/Proposition
Clean with a sense of quality and professional finish.
Considerations
How will technology and consumer trends affect the format and your design decisions?
How will your magazine differ from the competitors?
Mandatory Requirements
The format of the magazine is up to you. The DPS’ should include in the region of a 1000 words, selected by you. You must include a proposed framework for further spreads including typeface selection, grid measurements and colour palette. The design systems you adopt must demonstrate scope so that the design solution can develop and function well for future issues of the magazine.
In addition, you must also propose various ideas for a masthead/identity for the magazine.
Target Audience
Students, professionals and amateurs alike.
All of which have an architectural background with a varying amount of understanding.
Deliverables
Spreads and cover should be presented on A2 mount boards with style guide to be presented separately.
Tone of Voice
The tone of voice has to be serious to attract the professionals but light hearted enough to be understood by students studying architecture.
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#2
BRIEF TITLE
Element T-shirt Graphics
The Brief
Design and produce a set of typographically driven t-shirts for the Element Skateboarding company.
Background
Element Skateboards (originally called Underworld Element Skateboards) is a skateboard manufacturer and surfwear retailer based in Irvine, California. It is a subsidiary of Billabong International.
The brand wants to launch a new style of t-shirt graphics using typography only. These will be sold directly from the element web store and initially in skate shops in the UK.
Concept/Proposition
Typographically driven t-shirt graphics inspired by skateboarding and music.
Considerations
How can you create designs that will suit both ends of the market? Will you test your designs with the consumer? If so, how?
Will you take into account economic factors and developments in textile technology? Vegan textiles for instance…
Mandatory Requirements
The style is totally up to you but you should include the element icon wherever possible. The graphics should be bold and upfront yet be sophisticated enough for a large audience such as this one.
You will be expected to create the product tags and a way of distributing them online and in store.
Target Audience
Skateboarders, and appreciators of skateboarding fashion. Males aged 16 – 24.
Deliverables
A minimum of 5 designs presented on A2 mount boards, including in context photography.
Tone of Voice
The tone of voice should reflect skateboarding and a lifestyle of freedom and carefreeness.
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#3
BRIEF TITLE
The Music Homecoming Tour 2011
The Brief
Devise a small promotional campaign for The Music’s homecoming gigs in Leeds.
Background
Local band ‘The Music’ have agreed to play three intimate gigs in Leeds music venues over 2 nights.
The band from Kippax, Leeds have released 3 albums in total, two of which have been top 10 hits in the UK, and the latest album ‘Strength in Numbers’ was in the top 20.
Venues/Dates
O2 Academy – 22nd February
Leeds Town Hall – 23rd February
Concept/Proposition
The aesthetic should have close affiliations with the bands music and existing promo and other material.
Considerations
Your campaign should make use of the technology available but shouldn’t lose sight of traditional methods to generate interest, as the budget is tight. How can you let the fans know but also keep the record label happy?
How can you incorporate the existing material such as album sleeves and tour material to keep the bands identity but freshen it up?
Mandatory Requirements
This is very open brief in terms of the direction but you must either use the band’s existing identity or create a new one. You must source appropriate imagery yourself and clearly state the venues and dates of the tour and direct fans to where they can purchase tickets for the dates.
Target Audience
Fans of ‘The Music’ as well as locals looking for a night of contemporary alternative music.
Deliverables
Finals and propositions should be presented on A2 mount boards.
Tone of Voice
The tone of voice should be to the point and clearly present the dates and venues.
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#4
BRIEF TITLE
Jim Carrey Film Box Set
The Brief
Design visuals for a Jim Carrey boxset containing 5 titles starring the actor.
Background
For the first time 5 titles starring Hollywood comedy actor Jim Carrey are being made available on DVD & Blu-Ray as a box set to be sold in high street stores from 2011 to celebrate Carrey’s work in the comedy genre.
The boxset will include mainstream classics such as ‘Liar, Liar’ and rarer films such as ‘Cable Guy’.
Concept/Proposition
A striking set of visuals which stand out in a flooded DVD market.
Considerations
Will the artwork be uniform across the collection?
Will the covers be type or image driven or a mixture of the two?
Can you push your solutions beyond the norm but still supply the information required?
Mandatory Requirements
The designs and the film titles are up to you but the format and scale must conform to standard DVD regulations (applying age restrictions, film information, etc).
You should also look to propose a static interface for the DVD menus.
Target Audience
This will stand out as a must for new fans of Jim Carrey and comedy fans who have not purchased the films before.
Deliverables
Five Covers to be presented on mount boards, together with packaging proposals for the collection.
You can create mock ups should you wish too.
Tone of Voice
The tone of voice should be informal as this is for entertaining purposes.
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#5
BRIEF TITLE
The Informant
The Brief
Design the identity and stationery for an international newsgathering organisation called ‘Informant’.
Background
Informant is an international newsgathering agency.
Informant should be position as a reliable and well-informed source of impartial current affairs reporting in the realms of high-quality business to business consultancy.
Concept/Proposition
Clean with a sense of quality and professional finish.
Considerations
How can you create a meaningful and impactful front for this business?
How can colour allow you to create tone and mood?
Think about frame, format, scale, composition, colour, and type choice
The design must function in both full-colour and single-colour variations, and be legible at both large and small scale, in a variety of contexts.
Mandatory Requirements
Use typography to interpret the name “informant”. Develop a unique and significant identity conveys the essence of Informant’s business activity.
The identity must be visually interesting, clearly legible, impactful, and indicative of Informant’s impeccable reputation for high quality journalism and newsgathering.
Target Audience
Decision makers in the business community and in particular, journalists working in print, screen, and radio.
Deliverables
Brand identity, stationery and guideline should be presented on A2 mount boards.
Tone of Voice
The tone of voice should be serious to reflect the assertiveness and reputation of the business.
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#6
BRIEF TITLE
Modern Movie Classics – Poster Series
The Brief
Design a set of collectable movie posters for the most loved films of the 90’s.
Background
To celebrate classic movies of the 1990’s GB Posters.com have announced the release of a series of movie posters dedicated to the classics.
Films such as Fight Club, Forest Gump and Edward Scissorhands were all released during the 1990’s.
The selection of the films is up to you and will ultimately determine your target audience.
Concept/Proposition
An impactful, contemporary and desirable finish. These are to be collected after all.
Considerations
What design direction will you take? Will you choose a uniform approach and adapt it to suit each poster?
Think about scale, colour, framing and composition.
Mandatory Requirements
You cannot use existing copyrighted imagery but you can trace and stylise original imagery from the films. The size of the posters should be 445mm x 610mm and portrait.
The design style and aesthetic is up to and you should seek inspiration from classic posters and contemporary film posters and re-issues.
Target Audience
Students, professionals and amateurs alike.
All of which have an architectural background with a varying amount of understanding.
Deliverables
Spreads and cover should be presented on A2 mount boards with style guide to be presented separately.
Tone of Voice
The tone of voice will differ with the content of the films, and should reflect the films content.
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#7
BRIEF TITLE
Premier League Report
The Brief
Design a full publication based on statistical evidence from the Barclays Premier League season 2009/10.
Background
The Premier League is the most exciting league in the world. The league consists of 20 teams and runs from August to May.
The Football Association want to realise a statistical report aimed at fans, clubs and the press in celebration of a successful season.
Facts and stats can be found at the Premier League’s website www.premierleague.com
Concept/Proposition
To make dry facts as engaging as possible.
Considerations
How can you take the dry stats and make people want to read the report?
How will your magazine differ from the competitors?
Look at other annual reports, how do they differ? Would this target audience want to read?
Mandatory Requirements
The format of the report is up to you. There should be a sense of continuity throughout the report and you must select appropriate typefaces and colours for maximum legibility and readability.
You will be expected to use premier league identity and you are free to use the clubs’ identities within your work.
Target Audience
Anyone with an interest in the premier league or English football. This will not be advertised so the readership will be varied.
Deliverables
Spreads and cover should be presented on A2 mount boards. Mock ups can be presented in the form of images.
Tone of Voice
The tone of voice will be formal but presented in a informal manner with points of interest.
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#8
BRIEF TITLE
Metro Newspapers
The Brief
Create a transport advertising poster campaign and strapline that cuts through the visual noise of the everyday commute to promote Metro newspapers.
Background
Metro is the UK’s 3rd biggest weekday newspaper with around 3.5million readers. Distributed in 33 cities across the UK it differs from paid-for newspapers by having no political agenda.
The paper is designed for a busy working audience who want bite-sized news, sport and entertainment plus information on things that are relevant to their lifestyles, such as fashion, food and travel.
As a morning newspaper it’s designed to be read during the commute to work. The average time spent reading it is 30 minutes.
Concept/Proposition
Create posters that cut through the visual noise of the everyday commute to promote Metro newspapers.
Considerations
Promote Metro to readers as the best way to get up to speed with the latest news in the morning.
Get readers to think about Metro as a personality rather than a product/utility.
Successful work will demonstrate how the response can stand out from the noise and grab the attention of the passing person.
Mandatory Requirements
Create a strapline that can be used across consumer facing activity.
A minimum of 3 poster executions, which show how the strapline can be incorporated into a campaign using a selection of transport media (bus sides, tube/bus panels, 6 sheets at stations/bus stops etc).
Include Metro’s logo and website and adhere to branding guidelines (see Further Information).
Target Audience
Metro’s readers are called Urbanites. A typical Urbanite is aged 18-44 and falls under the ABC1 socio-economic demographic, reflecting their higher-than-average income. As a person they are in full-time employment and live or work in an urban area in the UK. They love their cities and city living. They are time-starved, media-literate and love new trends.
Deliverables
All artwork should be presented on A2 mount boards.
Tone of Voice
Friendly, engaging, fresh, fun.
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#9
BRIEF TITLE
Showcase Cinemas
The Brief
Rebrand the Showcase Cinemas to reinvigorate the chain and boost it’s popularity amongst cinema goers.
Background
Showcase Cinemas are committed to providing you with the ultimate film-going experience.
The cinema market has been revived in recent times due to the rise in popularity of 3D films. However, the competition is high. We need you to rebrand the aging image of the Showcase Cinema chain to strengthen its market position.
Concept/Proposition
Professional image with a sense of the cinema going experience.
Considerations
How will your decisions on colour and type help create the necessary image that appeals to everyone? If it can’t how can you address this?
How can you set the showcase cinemas aside from it’s competitors?
Mandatory Requirements
The design must function in both full-colour and single-colour variations, and be legible at both large and small scale, in a variety of contexts.
The identity must be clearly legible, impactful, and indicative of Showcase Cinemas reputation for being assertive, friendly and family orientated.
You will be required to propose forms of promotional material such as ticket designs, gift cards, membership schemes, web interfaces, signage, etc.
Target Audience
Cinema goers of all ages and ex-customers of Showcase Cinemas.
Deliverables
The chosen identity along with development work and further proposals must be presented on A2 mount boards.
Tone of Voice
The tone of voice has to be formal yet friendly.
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I also have another one which is a collaborative brief with Liam Hine.
Design Strategies Presentation
I feel more organised but I'm annoyed about the lack of activity over the summer. I have kept busy as much as posible with my own stuff because of the lack of industry options I have had. I guess the industry isn't ready for Adam yet.
The presentation is nearly done, but I still need to find briefs and put some work into my, what will be, amazing portfolio.
Brief Selection
Exciting times ahead in the third year, as I get to choose and what I want to do with them is upto me too. The responsibility has shifted and now I have to manage each project which means I have to pick up on things I want to do, things I can do and in a time that suits both myself and the module criteria.
I have been looking on the internet for briefs that interest but I also want to write my own ideas for briefs that aren't available. I have selected briefs from D&AD and YCN as starting points into finding the right briefs with regards to content, rather than the timeframes and specifics, which I have to be aware off but its not of a major concern just yet.
So far I have picked out 4 briefs which have drawn up rough ideas from, as I know I can manipulate these briefs to focus them down, broaden them or adapt them to accommodate my investigation.
Out of these I would prefer to look at book cover designs with a view towards typography and layout.
Summer Self-evaluation 2
I filled out an evaluation form provided by Fred just to see what had changed during the course of the summer. I feel as though I should pay more attention to screen design but that doesn't mean I want to work with moving image. I still plan to focus on type and grid but I would also like to expand my knowledge when developing designs for screen.
My portfolio is looking good, and I still have to redo a creative and a normal CV but it looks like I'm fairly organised. I have started my design strategy presentation and collected a few briefs which have caught my eye.
*Spotlight* Grandpeople
Discovered this norweigan agency through the formfiftyfive blog, and I liked some the samples so decided to check them out. Again they have some strong, bold but simple typographic work, with the occassional hint of photography and/or illustration, alongside pure illustration and photoshop heavy work. They clearly have a multitude of inspirations which means they can experiment much more.
These images caught my eye. This is an identity for a furniture exhibition which has been carried through and applied to books and promotional designs. I like the way they have altered the designs so they are not simply resized versions of the same design which can often be the case when an agency tackles all of the promotional material. However, they are all nicely tied in together by the symbol/illustration which is part of the new identity.
A shift in focus?
Ever since my placement I have thought about my position within the industry and I feel that I cannot neglect design for screen in the 3rd despite my initial urge to continue with my focus firmly on printed graphics. Since discussing my aspirations with Richard at Creative Squeeze, I feel that my strategy for the third year has to change to reflect the way that the industry is changing or fear getting left behind.
With that in mind I would like to have another shot at some sort of web based project or iPad related brief which will enable me to design for this format. I still prefer design for print because of it's 'tactilality' (if that's a word) however, the shift towards digital media doesn't neccessarily mean that I will have to change my whole way of thinking. The considerations will have to be different but the principles will remain the same.
I feel it will help me greatly to attend workshops relevant to web design or interface design for digital media. So because of the experience I have had, I feel that this is more of a consideration for me now.
Screen Yorkshire
After completing the 3D: In your Face brief, today I met with Screen Yorkshire representatives to discuss the development and delivery of my chosen design. I was happy with what they said they wanted to change and that some elements needed tweaking such as colours and backgrounds.
I recieved the guidelines for logo and information on what pantone colours to use. I was really glad I submitted my work because it felt like a good experience, and now I have to invoice them once I submit the artwork.
I asked about printing and how they would go about it, but they already have contacts so I was happy to sign the artwork off to them. They assured me that my name would be somewhere on the flyers they distribute and that they would keep me informed about any further opportunities.
I gave them a copy of my portfolio on CD and told them to keep in touch. It's another contact worth having.
Summer Self-evaluation 1
Fred gave us these self evaluation sheets to narrow our focus and structure the third year of study. This will prove to help me as the summer comes to an end because I will have a clear record of where my thinking was and what I intended to do at the end of the second year. I expect some of these to change as an work with self-initiated briefs and planned visits and placements.
I have already seen my focus shift towards typography, but I am still unsure about the sort of area I want to look at particularly. Whether that is creating typefaces or working with existing typefaces and focusing much more layout and grid systems.
I plan to do another two of these if possible at key times of the summer, with the last one setting my intentions for the final year.