Thursday 15 May 2014

OUGD502- Module Evaluation




1. What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?

I have a basic understanding of how the business side of design works. I found it really difficult but interesting and a good insight to the procedures required starting up a business. It has been inspiring to me listening to Johns presentations and stories about his experiences within the filed.


2. What approaches to/methods of design production have you developed and how have they informed your design development process?

I am getting much better of thinking about how I can apply a design to a range of media and seeing how far I can push the range across different mediums. This has made me realise branding and identity is one area of design I really enjoy and would like to further explore.


3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?
I feel my work represents me as a person through the minimal stripped back aesthetics. I like to create work that is considered and balanced that has visual impact. I now feel comfortable within my self in regards to producing work and definitely know I prefer to create work digitally.


4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future?
My finishing skills are getting better but I still want to improve them so I can produce work that could stand up against any professional and commercial product out there. This will be achieve through more practice and experimentation.


5. Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?

- I would of liked to make some kind of packaging to house the promotional material. This would be better if I was to send the pack to studios.

- I need to spend some time looking into studios and sorting out placements

- I would like to have more of a focus in regards to the areas of design I would like to work in, I don’t think I can make this decision until I have some work experience.

- I should of researched more in depth about the business side of the module and gone more indepth with the group presentations and work because a lot of it is still new to me and I need to understand it better to cover myself when I come into the industry.

- My organisation has been really bad towards the end of the year and I have struggled to balance the work load between modules. I need to plan my time better so I can get the most out of the briefs and produce a larger body of work.


Thursday 8 May 2014

OUGD502- Studio Brief 2 Development: A DESIGN PRESENCE

Brief

Create an appropriate print based and online presence that can be used as a focal point for your design practice, professional communications and visual identity.Think about how you can stand out from the rest, make yourself recognizable and communicate your professionalism as well as your creativity. You will also need to include relevant contact details. Your design Presence should consist of:



PART 1: YOUR VISUAL IDENTITY.

Your own professional visual l identity for 'Brand You' and apply it to an appropriate range of stationary and promotional material. You should aim to create a simple but effective visual identity that communicates the essence of your creative 'image' and details about your emerging design practice. You will need to consider the practicalities of your identity which may include a logo or bespoke typeface. How readable, legible and usable is your identity?



Initial ideas/ Details








I sketched a few layouts to help me visualise what would work best. I am going to keep them simple so a structured layout will be used.

-Font


I have chosen to use the typeface Century Gothic throughout my pack because it is a font I have come to like over the year and have used in a few of my projects so far.


-Logo Development 


For my logo I have decided to keep it simple and use my name as the main focus.

The concept is the three 'Es' in my surname stand for my design ethics and will collate to the three stock colours. The 'Es' stand for efficient, eclectic and evolve.





To make this clear I have experimented with highlighting the E in different ways.


I have decided to use the design above for my final logo, the line under the E can be adjusted to suit the purpose of its display.

I realised I have spelt efficient wrong so I have adjusted this. I have made the logo work with my name and it can work as a stand alone logo to feature across my range.


I wanted to test the stock with black ink so I printed the logo experiments onto each coloured stock. Im really pleased with how it looks and think it will work overall.



PART 2: YOUR PROMO PACK.

A promotional package the communicates your skills, abilities creative concerns and professional competencies to appropriate sectors of the creative and cultural industries. This pack should include a business card, introductory information, samples of work a creative CV, contact details and other relevant material and 
information


-Business Card Development


I want to keep the business card simple to reflect my design interests and style of design I like to create.



I couldn't decide between the two designs so I wanted to see what they could look like with the stock colours. This made me decide to use all three colours, so the front and back will be two different stock colours, so three card variations all together.



Final Designs  


I decided to use this for the final design because I think it best reflects me and the black lines are meant to represent my progression and desire to move forward.

Colour Context

Print Version 

I will print the cards onto the three A3 stocks and sandwich them between black card for structure and aesthetics. 


Posters

I am going to create three posters that visually represent the three Es in the logo. This will be a means of promotion to showcase the kind of work I like to produce.


-Poster 1



The first word is efficient so I have represented this by using the logo with a grid to show my attention to detail and technical ability to produce good quality work.


Just a quick test to see what it would look like on the stock. i will need to decide what stock to best suite each poster.


To further make it clear I have lined through the words that the poster doesn't relate to.



To finish the poster I have used some alternative words to further represent the idea of efficiency.

Colour Context


At the moment I think I like this poster best with the orange stock but I will decide once the rest are finished.

Print Version 

-Poster 2


I want this poster to represent the idea of me being able to take information and ideas from a range of different sources and bring them together to make a well thought out, considered design.



I want to use different shapes to represent this so I experimented with the 3d bevel filter. I bought this looked out of place with the other poster so I decided to start again and use flat shapes for consistency.





Once I was happy with the arrangement of the shapes I connected the solid shapes with a 10pt line and the open shapes with a 5pt line that all lead into the centre logo (me) 

Colour Context


I think I might use the blue stock with this poster.

Print Version 





-Poster 3



This poster is going to represent me as a designer and my progression within design because I feel I have learnt so much since starting the course.



To communicate this I have used the logo at different sizes and divided the overlapping shapes and deleted ares to reveal the stock.

Colour Context


This poster will be printed onto the green stock.

Print Version




Poster Series 


Poster 1
-Orange stock

Poster 2
-Blue stock

Poster 3
-Green stock 


Letter Head 

I am designing a letter head to go into my printed range. This would be used to send to potential studios to ask for visits and possible placements.


This was my first attempt but I felt it didn't work with the rest of the designs.


I thought the range should be consistent so I am going to follow the business card design throughout.



I have included my contact details at the bottom and my address at the top right. I don't think the design needs anymore details as these are the most important.


On the back of the letterhead will be the stand alone logo to reinforce the concept and my ethos.

Colour Context 




If I have enough stock I might print one in each colour which could be for specific purposes such as orange for branding companies etc. 

Print Version



Invoice


To work withe the letter head I am going to make an invoice document that can be used to bill clients if I do any freelance work. I want the layout of the letterhead to run throughout the design for constancy.  



I have used the lines from the right hand side to break up information to make it easier to follow.



Next to the invoice for type will have the clients name or company name and address. 


The black box will be where the job description goes with the details of the job.





I felt the black box was too harsh on the eye and would make it hard to line up the info if there is more than one line so I have divided the box into section with white lines. This makes it easier to clarify the information.


Underneath I have followed the grid but using the negative space to outline the costings and due date as these are the most import sections.




I want to be payed via online banking so I have included my bank details at the bottom to make this clear.


From my research I found a lot of designers invoices had thank you on them so I have included this to form a better relationship with the client.


Print Version


Envelope

I am going too have a thick dashed line around the envelope for aesthetic purposes.


The rectangle shape is where the stamp will go.


Final Print Version


I have kept the envelope pretty minimal with just my logo elements on both sides. The rest of the range has more graphics so I think it will work best as a set if they are minimal.



Sketch Book

To push the range further I am making a cover for a sketch book. I am going to print this onto the stock and stick it to an A5 sketch book. 




I have used the black lines on the spine with the logo in the top right corner. Because the book is for initial ideas I have used the tagline Evolve with the logo to represent this.




I experimented with a light bulb illustration to further support the concept of the design. I like the image above the best and will use this for the final.

Colour Context




At the moment I like the blue stock colour the best for the sketch book. Once all the material is designed I am going to work out what needs to printed onto what stock. 

Print Version




Sample Book



I am going to make a sample book of some examples of my work that I feel are my strongest and that exhibit the areas of design I am most interested in.

Dimensions:

210x 210mm



To keep continuity with the range of things I have created I have used the rectangle shapes bleeding off the page.


The opening page has a quote from Massimo Vignelli that I found inspiring and to me domes up what graphic design is about.


I am going to use each double page spread to cover one project. This will be more of a look book to show samples of my work rather than being text heavy which I think is unnecessary.


Final pages 
.
.


Creative C.V.

My cv will have a little introduction about myself and information of what I have to offer. I am going to include software skills, design areas of competency, general skills and interests.


To communicate my software skills I have made icons for the programs I have knowledge in. The circular segments represent my competency in each.



I am creating the design in indesign so I can use a grid to help me layout the content. The page will be landscape to fit together with the rest of the range.




I have made some basic icons to illustrate some of the sections. I wasn't happy with the layout of the introduction so I started again.


I have used the same techniques as on the invoice page by using the black lines to separate the information.




To keep the identity constant I have used the black lines to visualise my strengths and weaknesses in the areas of design I am interest in.



I was happy with the layout apart from the intro section so I increased the width of the text box to better utilise the space.



Final Print Version 


Moving the Info text opened up space for the interests section without over loading the page and making it look cluttered. I am pleased with the final outcome, I think it has relevant information on and its straight to the point. This could be used to sent to studios to ask for a placement. 



Eraser Wrap



I made a quick design to go round some erasers to further extent my stationary range. I will print one in each colour stock.


Production


Business Cards



Sample Book






 Envelopes


Eraser Bands 


Final Range






PART 3: YOUR WEBSITE.

You have been introduced to the fundamentals of web design and web design software through a series of workshops in previous modules. Based on these workshops propose/produce the structure and content of your own personal website. Keep it simple and make sure that your visual identity forms the basis of your online brand.



Development 


-Homepage

The E logo will be the link to the homepage. Each page link will be fixed on the left under the logo for ease.


The homage will just feature my logo with the links. I have used an off white colour for the background to relate to my sample printed book, I want to use the colours of the printed material in the site to link the digital to the print material.


For usability the links will have a line through when rolled over to make it clear to the user.


I tried using the stock colours for the background as I have designed the site to have three pages. I didn't think this worked because the site is to showcase my work and I think the colours may be distracting.

-Profile Page


The profile page has a short description about myself and the kind of work I like to produce. I have used the strap lines from the printed material to support this. 

-Work Page


I have decided to use a two column layout to present my work, the images can be clicked to show further information.






To incorporate the colours I have changed the line under the logo to each stock colour on each page. This led to me making the images the same colour to act as a roll-over.


When the image is rolled over the original image colours are revealed to show it can be clicked for further information.

-Contact Page


The final page is the contact page. I have included my email and number with social media icons that can be clicked to direct the user to the sites.



To finish the page off, I changed the icons to the colours and added a subtle inner bevel to suggest that they can be clicked.