OUGD603 Module Evaluation

On reflection, the module and the briefs I have completed within the timeframe I am proud of. I have attempted a broad range of briefs and new challenges this year, with results I am happy with. I made it my mission to attempt a range of briefs, make use of the college facilities which would encourage me to leave my comfort zone and just go for it as its final year. Looking back over this module has made me realise that I have produced a good amount of work. I was initially concerned with the amount I had done, but everything seemed to fall into place in the last few weeks. I found that the workshops organised over this module, were extremely inspiring and helpful for me. I really enjoyed being able to speak to creatives and work with people who have years of experience in the industry.

I learnt about the importance of collaboration and have really benefited from working collaboratively within large groups, small groups and with other students on different courses and outside of the course. I enjoyed the constant feedback amongst one another, I feel that feedback is really important even when refining your own ideas. Also that research really drives design. However, if I were to have more time on the module, here are some things I would do differently:

• Blog as I go to save more time in the long run. I just find blogging the worst.
• Manage my time better, so I can achieve a higher quality of work in a short time frame. However, I already think I am good at working under pressure. 
• Set more time to produce design boards, I did not rush my design boards this year. However, they are a lot more time-consuming than you can imagine.
• Take more pictures of the processes involved in the development of my projects so that I can keep a visual record. I always forget to take screenshots and pictures of what I am up to. 

At the beginning of the year I admittedly struggled with motivation as I realised that Design is something that I do not necessarily want to do in the long run, so found it quite difficult to get my mojo and interest. Since adopting the gym last year gym a lot and I find it really helps with my attitude towards life as well as my degree, it keeps me calm and I find I do not stress and I can really find my focus. I simply can’t stand just spending the day sat on in front of the computer screen, I have to get up and do things. It has been a huge learning experience and I have finally started to come to terms with what I want to do when I leave!

My confidence in myself and design is something that has changed dramatically, I would never have thought I would be able to speak clearly and confidently to a room full of people. Since placement and receiving good feedback has made me feel so much more confident in my abilities and just feeling overwhelmed by the feedback, I have adopted "I am good enough mentality", and I honestly feel I've reached a new milestone. For this reason, I now feel ready to approach the world of work. Whereas in previous years, I felt I was as good as others people on my course. However this mentality has changed, and I believe that self-belief is everything, and so crucial if you want others to believe it too.

Overall, I am looking forward to work on the final show and produce something that I really happy with and am proud of, especially as it does not have to fit into any learning criteria. It will be really nice to let my creativity run free without any limitations, such as the blogging and design boards.

At this point in time though, I feel that I am concept-led Graphic Designer with a focus on branding and editorial. I strive to develop innovative and authentic ideas with creative solutions that will make an impact. I enjoy working collaboratively as a team in a busy studio environment. However, in the future, I hope to study a Masters in Business Marketing. This will really develop clear and conceptual thinking, as well as improving on analytical skills and strengthen my project management skills, as well as translating marketing theory into practice.

OUGD603: Brief 10 / Oblivious

Oblivious – Client
Madeleine Westbrook is a conceptual women’s-wear designer. After finishing her Fashion Design Degree at Leeds College of Art, she plans to launch her fashion brand, ‘Oblivious’; a brand focused on creating ethical and organic, unique fashion pieces. The brand is called Oblivious, because as consumers we can be sometimes “oblivious” as to where and how our clothes have been made/produced.  I took on this brief as an opportunity to delve into my interests of Fashion and branding. For the swing tags for Madeleine to use; I used a thick white card stock to print on. I printed the logo onto acetate as well, the double effect works well for the brand and the word Oblivious. It looks contemporary and modern which fits well with the target audience. 

Madeleine was really happy with the outcomes as was I. If I were to have more time on the project I would like to have experimented more with printing methods and stock. However, this is something I can do now for Madeleines End of Year Show.

I was also working to a deadline that added pressure, however with Madeleine also being very organized this was not an issue at all, and everything was completed and within Madeleine PPP deadline.

OUGD603: Brief 9 / Feathr

Feathr – Competition
I entered into Feathr last year, and decided to enter it again this year as I find it is a brief I can try out something experimental with. I painted a floral painting, using a Winsor & Newton inkset. I got to work on Photoshop cutting out the illustrations and boosting the colours and contrast. Overall, I am really impressed with how the final wallpaper looks and what I have managed to produce in such a short time frame. I am fond of the delicate colour palette, which really connotes the spring and summer months. I wanted to create a calming, relaxing and soothing wallpaper which is suitable for a bedroom. Taking inspiration from William Morris’s early floral wallpaper patterns from the Arts and Craft Movement, but updated it to a new, contemporary, and modern customer/audience.

My final wallpaper entry to Feathr suitably named, “Florals for Spring”. The colour palette created is calming and refreshing for a personal bedroom. I used a combined skills, hand work and digital work. Regarding repeat pattern, I used a 1/4 drop, eg. the adjacent tile drops down 1/4 length of the design. This worked best, and created a wave/rippling effect of flowers across the wallpaper (see more development on blog). I took inspiration from early William Morris’s wallpaper from the Arts & Craft Movement but brought it to a more modern contemporary audience. Overall, I am impressed and happy with what I have accomplished within the three days. I feel I have stepped out of my comfort zone as I am no painter!

OUGD603: Brief 8 / Reflect / Leeds Student Union

Reflect – Leeds Student Union – Live Brief

The Reflect brief for LCA End of Year Party, was a chance for me to do a quick live brief! I found out about the brief late, which only gave me the afternoon to complete a poster. I enjoy working under pressure and from my experience of working industry you do only have short timeframes to complete things. Being able to work under pressure and priotise work is something I pride myself on.

I looked at posters produced in 1990s such as posters for Fantazia Raves. They are a great example of visual imagery and surrealism! As I only had an afternoon, I had to source my own imagery instead of creating my own. By using 90’s imagery it was relevant as the 90’s seems to be back in fashion.

The brief improved on my layout and type skills. I wanted to create a contemporary modern poster with an element of interest by using eye-catching surreal imagery. I wanted the type to be clear and easy to read as well as appealing to my target audience of designers and creative students, sometimes simple works best. I wanted all the information to be clear and easy read with the sponsors at the bottom.

From my final entry to Leeds College of Art Student Union you can see I have kept to a clear and minimal design, this is because I am appealing to a creative young audience of designers. Despite only spending an afternoon on this brief I am happy with what I have produced, especially as poster design really is not my forte, I feel I have stepped out of my comfort zone with this brief.

OUGD603: Brief 7 / Olivia’s Delicatessen

Olivia’s Delicatessen – Collaborative

Olivia’s is an award-winning Delicatessen based in the river town Topsham, in the heart of Devon. Selling a range of high quality cooked meats, local cheeses, bread, and unusual and foreign prepared foods to a middle class market.

Olivia’s Delicatessen brief was a rebrand I worked on with course mate Helen Street who has strong interest in branding and packaging. Our target market for Olivia’s is the middle class who have the money to spend on delicatessen products as they love local products and authenticity. So our branding design reflects this. By using a hand brushed logo this symbolised the hands on approach, as well as appearing refined and upmarket to reflect the target market and the high quality produce.

I enjoyed working on the illustrations, something I am not used to doing and they really created a strong aesthetic. A strong visual aesthetic was important especially because the printing was limited to black and white. For our photoshoot, we bought a selection of fresh breads, coffee beans, brown paper bags, croissants to give more context and background to our photos, as well as making fresh baguette sandwiches to photograph. I am really happy with how the photographs look and will look great in the portfolio.

Overall, I enjoyed this brief the most as it was fun and light-hearted. For the End of Year show Helen and I will be extending Olivia's Deli. Extending it for the end of year show will give us plenty of time to create lots of elements such as a laser cut menu, screen printed bags, as well as packaging for preserves and pasta. We had grand ambitions for the brief but with looming deadlines, we could not do everything we wanted to do. For End of Year show I simply wanted it to be interesting for people to look at, I didn't want to just produce a poster and stick it up on the wall, woow. Below, is a quick sketch I did of a potential set up. A rustic looking counter would provide a surface for all the food packaging to sit as well as clipboard menus, shelves to the left will hold a range of different branded mugs and takeaway cup. We also have ambition to create a laser cut menu to go on the wall behind. We also plan on having a roll of brown paper which has specials etc.

OUGD603: Brief 6 / Hillview Honey

Hillview Honey – Client

With this brief being live, one obviously strength was working with a client. . As a client, Ann was very easy to work with, as she helped put together a substantial brief with enough detail to work with. For the design I chose the particular typeface, “Bromello” which is a modern script font. I felt this gave the overall look a real rustic, organic, hand made vibe which would appeal to my target audience. I used Inconsolata as my secondary font, which gives it, again, a rustic vibe as it looks like a typewriter font which adds to this high quality yet handmade vibe.

With my new found interest and close eye for typefaces, it was fun to create a custom logo form. I am pleased with my final photographed outcomes, and I am happy with the overall look of the honey jars. The hessian jar toppers and hexagon honey labels really complete the rustic look my client and I were after. The brown paper gift bag with the logo looks good and works well.

I have never done a packaging brief before, so I was out of my comfort zone. Overall, I am really happy with my honey jar labels, and one happy client! I used Hessian materials tied around with brown twine to use as a topper for the honey jar. I felt this added a real rustic, authentic earthy vibe to the honey jars whilst making them look really appealing to buy. For the photoshoot, I used props of a honey drizzler, and brown paper gift bags to make the shoot look authentic. The honey jars are simple and clear, the “Made in Devon” adds a homey rustic feel, hopefully tempting customers in Devon to buy the honey. I have really enjoyed this client-set brief and I hope to see my labels in use.

OUGD603: Brief 5 / Secret Seven

Brief 5: Secret Seven – Competition

I enter this competition every year not necessarily to win but as an opportunity to try a different and new style of design, allowing for experimentation and development with my skill set whilst broadening my visual tastes. The music video of Less I Know The Better is full of sexual imagery, and the lyrics are about suppressing the feelings of jealousy after a break-up, when both try to date new people and usually one of them (in this case the guy) still has the hope in retaking the relationship or at least there are remains of sexual attraction for her he cannot control. He still has her in his mind and cannot forget her. He may still have feelings for her and suffers while imagining her with the new guy, “Oh my love, can’t you see yourself by my side. No surprise when you’re on his shoulder like every night. Oh my love, can’t you see that you’re on my mind”.

My design is an entry for the song ‘The Less I Know the Better’ by Tame Impala. It has been influenced by the music video, which is full of sexual imagery. The colour scheme has also been influenced by the video, in which mostly red, blues and pink are used. The song is about a boy finding out the girl he is in love with is in a relationship, visually the bright vibrant colours symbolise the feeling of being in love - his world being full of life and happiness. The eyes-on-you resembles his loved up world being shaken and disrupted. In the end, I just wanted to create a visually pleasing and interesting design that people would want to own, the less you know the better.

Working on a short-term brief, such as Secret Seven, which is an open and experiential brief, I find stress reducing. I find that I work a lot better in shorter periods of time and am often happier with what I’ve produced. This is because I get a lot more involved and dedicated to the brief when the deadline is shorter and tend to find that working on longer briefs, I can be easily get distracted and get bored of working on them for so long. Overall, I am really happy with the outcome, within the short time frame for the brief and I feel that I have been able to create a fitting design.