OUGD502 Module Evaluation

This module has been very challenging in the fact of time management as I have had multiple projects on the go all at once, a number of them being outside of uni projects. However, I believe that my time has been managed very well as I have not been late submitting a brief, and I also haven’t been stressing towards the end of each brief as I have managed to mostly keep on top of the work load. 

A thing I enjoyed about this module was contacting different design studios, some all the way across the world. This is a really great way to let other designers know you exist, but to also show respect to the designers for the portfolio of work. This is a project I am going to continue over the summer and probably also in third year, as the questions I will ask I genuinely want to know the answers to, and it is also a good way of interacting and getting your name out into the industry. 

A thing I didn’t particularly enjoy about this project was not getting emails back from design studios or designers. It’s understandable that the design studios will be incredibly busy, however it’s also a little insulting to think that I’m not worth their time. 

I think a strength of this module was my research. John had previously mentioned that you shouldn’t email too many design studios as all of the emails would look a little bit like spam, so it was really useful to research into different design studios prior to emailing them. A design studio that I particularly wanted a reply from was Farrow Studios, however it’s understandable that they didn’t reply as they are a huge firm and are very busy at the moment designing record sleeves for National Record Day. 

A weakness of this project was probably the number of emails that I sent out. I sent a number of emails out to five different design firms and only ended up getting one reply. I think if I had been a bit more willing to send more emails, I would’ve been able to create a number of different creative reports. This would’ve looked really successful in my portfolio, which is just another reason I plan to carry on emailing different studios and interviewing them. 

I think another strength of this module was the study task Taking Care of Business. Cameron has a very different design style to my own, however we met in the middle and I feel the group as a whole worked successfully. I think our presentation was also very successful as we covered a lot of points and we researched in great detail about things that we would definitely need for a design studio, such as furniture and general costings for software. 

A weakness of Taking Care of Business was probably the lack of time put into the presentation by everyone involved. Everyone contributed, however the presentation was solely put together by myself and Cameron as the other members were busy during the time we put aside to complete the project. This is okay, however, as this is what it would be like in industry - not every member would be available at all points to contribute. 

I think my presentation went really well and I think it was obvious that my confidence has definitely improved since last year. My main downfall with the presentation was the fact I really struggle to talk fluently without a script, and with a script I often find myself reading straight from it. I did try to stop this from happening in this presentation, however compared to the other peoples presentation that I saw, I think this was my downfall as most of the other students can easily talk about their work and their progress from the top of their heads. 

Overall, however, I believe this module went very smoothly and successfully and I am definitely going to carry on being immersive in the Leeds art scene, and potentially the art scene in Hull. I am also going to carry on pushing my development with different analogue techniques other than digital printing. 

OUGD502 Design Strategy Presentation - Evaluation (Studio Brief Two)

For this project, I tried to improve my personal identity from last year. I wanted to keep the same kind of concept, around a circle representing focus, as I still believe this is a strong character that I have. I think my new logo design is very successful compared to the logo design I came up with the previous year. I think it represents my style of design a lot more clearly, as I am quite a neat person and the new logo design is slick. My business cards are in a similar style, however the use of type on the back of the business card shows my experimentation side and how I also enjoy to experiment with new things. 

I also think my presentation is very successful, as it shows who I have become as a designer and the direction my work has gone over the past year, but also where I would like my design to go in the future. I don’t want to stick to one specific style of design, and only this year did I realise this. I found a new love in using different printing techniques, as I have learnt more skills, such as screen printing, and I think the final product looks a lot more interesting when a different printing method has been used other than digital print. 

My presentation also discusses things that I have took part in outside of uni, such as the Leeds Christmas Print Fair at Munro House. I really enjoyed taking part in this print fair as it has given me new contacts in the local area and more opportunities to take part in the Leeds art scene. I also decided to go film a CryBabyCry gig at a radio station. This was a really great opportunity as I jumped straight into the deep end with using video, and I also got contacts at the radio station and within the band - such as after the video was posted online, myself and Izzie have been offered paid opportunities to go to concerts and film bands. I have also become part of the collective Tuesday Club, based in Leeds and Hull. This is another great opportunity to get my work seen, as Hull is becoming a very good art city, and Leeds’ art scene is always growing also.

I think a strength of this project was definitely getting involved in the Leeds art scene, as I have given out multiple business cards and hopefully I will get some more work in the future. Another strength of this project was the questions that I decided to ask Studio DBD, as they were answers that I genuinely wanted to know and being in contact with Studio DBD is a really great opportunity for potential work in the future, as it’s a design studio well known for doing a lot of collaborations.

OUGD502 Creative Report - Evaluation (Studio Brief One)

I found this project incredibly interesting as I've never been set a task before to research solely into design studios and not their work. In this process, I found out about lots of different design studios all over the country and all over the world. I was particularly fond of the studio Instruct and the studio Studio DBD, both based in Manchester. Both of these studios really enticed me as their work was in a very similar style to mine, and their ethos was something that I like to think is my own ethos - they don't specialise in any specific style of design, they don't limit their ways of working, whether that be digital or by hand. 

I based my creative report on the design agency Studio DBD. I chose to focus on this specific design studio because I really liked their portfolio, and they are local to both Leeds and Warrington, so therefore I could potentially get an internship or some work experience with them in the future. I’m particularly proud of my creative report, as it was very conceptual. It used minimal colours to keep printing costs low, and it also didn’t have a consistent grid system used through-out the publication. This was the concept, as Studio DBD is a design studio that doesn’t have one particular style, so I made each double page spread very different, however used the same colour scheme to keep the publications flow and fluidity. 

I think the questions that I asked Studio DBD were very relevant to the studio, as I researched into Dave Sedgwick previously so I could ask original questions, and questions that he hasn't answered in previous articles or interviews. His answers that he gave for my interview were really inspiring to me, such as:

“Get your shit in order early on, so a decent accountant, job filling system, back up system etc. Take on loads of work at first, but don’t pitch yourselves as cheap or low price. You’ll always be known as that if you do so. Build up a good portfolio of work by going the extra mile on all your projects. Work hard, stay safe and try to enjoy it.” 

This was really inspiring as these are things that we didn’t really consider in great detail for the Taking Care of Business task, and it something that I would definitely have to consider in the future if I were to set up my own design studio. 

Overall, I think that my time management for this brief was really well executed, as I emailed multiple design studios and the studio that I wanted to respond the most responded straight away. I am also really proud of my final creative report publication, and it will be a good experience as I am going to send a copy to Studio DBD and see if I can get some feedback.

OUGD502 Creative Report - Printed Creative Report (Studio Brief One)

This is the printed creative report that I have designed. I digitally printed it, as Studio DBD mainly create their work digitally - not screen printed etc. I used CMYK Yellow, meaning it has been printed incredibly bright. I used a 135gsm newsprint stock for this publication. I chose this stock as it is affordable and it can be creased well in multiple numbers of pages - exactly what I needed. 

OUGD502 Spin, London (Studio Brief One)

Spin is a design studio based in London. I found their work through Tumblr (the second image). The style of this design studio is very appealing to me, and reminds me a little of HORT. It often uses both modern and postmodern approaches to finish briefs. This design studio is very interesting, as a lot of their final designs don't necessarily use colour. I think this is a bold approach, as every other design studio hasn't limited themselves within their use of colour. 

OUGD502 Design Strategy Presentation - Presentation & Script (Studio Brief Two)

This is the final presentation that I have designed for Design Strategy. It features most of the work that I have completed this year for PPP and some other work that I am proud of for other projects. In the script, I discuss what my growing interests are within graphic design, and also projects that I am proud to have been a part of over the last year. This can all be seen below:

Slide 1: Logo.

Slide 2: First Year Portfolio.

This is some of my portfolio of work from my first year at LCA that I am particularly proud of. 

Slide 3: Design Knowledge.

Before coming onto this course, my idea of graphic design was limited to mainly branding, posters, leaflets and website design, as those were the main things I was taught at A-level and in Art Foundation. In first year, I learnt a lot of other design work also counts as graphic design, such as publication design and typeface design. Through-out first year, I found out I really enjoyed publication design, and it was something that I really wanted to push in second year. I also had a very limited knowledge about different printing techniques. Once I had learnt these skills, I set myself a goal for second year to experiment with them further, even if the set brief didn’t require it. 

Slide 4: Second Year Portfolio.

This is some of my second year portfolio to date that I am proud of. 

Slide 5: Progress.

This year, I feel as though I have definitely progressed within my designs and also my final outcomes. I have tried to make each piece of work that I create as relevant to the task as possible, but also tried to experiment with different print techniques other than digital print. I have also tried to experiment with stock, for example the Type in Context publication was printed on GF Smith Colour plan, and then it was also screen printed over to give a gloss effect, not only on the front cover, but also on the images inside the publication. 

Slide 6: Growing Interests.

During first year, I generally made all of my final outcomes using the computer. This year, however, I have tried to push myself with physically creating work. I have really got into paper cutting and creating stop motions. I have also had a try at using letterpress and mono printing. My opinion on digital design has definitely changed since last year, as I originally thought physical design was quite tedious, however I have come to have an admiration for it as I really prefer the final product of something created or printed by hand. 

Slide 7: Past Years Interaction.

This year, I have really tried to interact more with the Leeds Art Scene. Myself and Izzie had followed a band for a while called CryBabyCry. We had been to multiple of their gigs and decided we wanted to be a part of their music. We emailed them asking if it would be possible to come to one of their gigs and create a music video, to which they agreed. It was a really great experience, as I have a growing interest in film and video, and this particular task was really challenging as it was quite a professional one to jump into. 

Another thing I have done this year was take part in the Leeds Christmas Market and Munro House. I heard about the market taking place a month prior and contacted the owner asking if it would be possible for myself, Izzie and Florence to have our own stall. It was a really great experience as it was a very busy environment and a lot of people took my business card. It was also successful as I have expanded my contacts, as not only did I meet the owner of Munro House, I also met the lady who runs a lot of print fairs around Leeds, which will be a very useful contact to have in the future, as I plan on staying in Leeds after university. 

Finally, myself and Izzie were asked by two designers in Hull to become part of their new art studio entitled ‘Tuesday Club’. The studio consists of a film maker, photographer and graphic designer. Although we are yet to take on any work, it’s a really good opportunity as it will give me the chance to meet other designers and also get my own name out into the creative industry. We plan to start taking on work over summer, which will be great for my portfolio, seen as Hull has a really good growing art scene.

Slide 8: Exhibition Visits.

Over the year, I have been to see multiple exhibitions in Leeds. The first I visited was an exhibition entitled ‘inFLUX’ which was part of the third years graphic art and design course at Leeds Beckett. It was an interesting exhibition as all of the artwork was varied and different with no common theme. The next exhibition that I visited was Joan Cornella. I had been following this illustrator online for over a year and it was really great to see his work in the flesh. It was an odd exhibition to visit as most exhibitions expect silence while walking around, however this has people laughing. The final exhibition featured on this slide was the second year Illustration students, which was an exhibition based on prints. All of the artwork featured was really great and different from one another.

Slide 9: Design Studios.

Through-out second year, I have come across multiple different design studios as part of PPP. Some of these are seen on the slide. The first is Alphabet, which is a design studio based in Leeds. I particularly like this studios portfolio as it has varied responses to each brief that they have been set. Instruct is another studio that I found over the year. It’s a design studio that is based in Manchester, and they have worked with many big names, such as Adidas and the BBC. Finally, I found out about a studio called Studio DBD, which is also based in Manchester. This is one of the studios that I have been in contact with for the creative report. 

Slide 10: Online Presence / Networking.

This year I have tried to create an online presence for myself. I have created a twitter and tumblr for my designs, and I have also recently joined LinkedIn. I hope by doing this and keeping each running will potentially get me future clients, or at least contacts already in the creative industry. 

Slide 11: Personal Identity.

My personal logo design last year was the first logo design on this slide. I have since tried to alter the logo design, and I have come up with the logo design on the right. My logo design is based upon a circle, which symbolises focus. 

Slide 12: Self Promotion.

For my self promotion, I have created my own website that I plan to actually create fully in summer. I have also re-designed my business cards and created a letterhead and envelope. Over summer, I plan to carry on asking people if I can interview them, as I found the responses I got for my creative report really helpful and interesting.

Slide 13: Future Projections.

Over the summer and in third year, I plan to email some of the studios I have been in contact with for my creative report and ask if it would be possible to get some work experience with them. I also plan to carry on experimenting with different print methods and pushing my own design to relate to said printing methods and techniques. It would also be a great experience to get involved with Tuesday Club, and also some more print fairs around Leeds. For this, I will need to have prints already printed, so over summer it would be a good idea to design some and print them to a high standard.

Slide 14: Thank you.

OUGD502 Design Strategy Presentation - Collateral (Studio Brief Two)

This is the work I have done for my self branding so far, used as collateral. I think each design is really successful and it is consistently designed on each platform. I used lots of different coloured backgrounds to make the work pop and be more eye catching. These images will be featured in my presentation. 

OUGD502 Creative Report - Final Publication (Studio Brief One)

This is the final publication design that I have come up with. I think it's really successful as it fits with the concept, as each double page spread is completely different. I stuck to two colours as it would make printing the publication a lot easier. The main colour I needed, however, was black, as in my interview, Dave said that he doesn't have a favourite colour, however 'there is something to be said about the colour black'.