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 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 Design Strategy Presentation - Tuesday Club (Studio Brief Two)

Tuesday Club is a collective of people across Yorkshire. It consists of Lana Green, Amber Taylor, Izzie Glazzard and myself Amelia Bramwell. Myself and Izzie were asked to join this collective and agreed. We specialise in graphic design and motion picture. It's a good collective to be a part of, as two of us are based in Leeds and two of us are based in Hull, meaning we can all collaborate and design for people across Yorkshire and from two different locations. Although we have yet to take on any work due to us all being very busy at university, it is definitely a project to continue in summer.

I was set a task to design a possible logo for the collective, and this is what I came up with. It's based on the tip of a pencil, but it is modelled on the Futura A, meaning it is a perfect triangle and perfect geometric shape.

OUGD502 Design Strategy Presentation - Letterhead (Studio Brief Two)

I created a simple letterhead mock up just to see how my logo design would look once printed. I think it looks really successful. I have decided not to add any colour to my logo or letterhead, as recently I am a huge fan of the colour black, and I think if a logo design is successful in black and white, it will be successful in any colour - I don't particularly need to have a colour to symbolise myself.

OUGD502 Design Strategy Presentation - Twitter (Studio Brief Two)

I have also made myself a Twitter account for my professional design. To stop graphic designers following my private account, I have set that account to private. I thought creating a Twitter account would also help my engagement with the industry, and also with my online presence. 

OUGD502 Design Strategy Presentation - Business Card Design (Studio Brief Two)

This was my original business card design in first year. I thought it was successful on the front, so I decided to keep the same style, just change the logo design to my current logo.

This is the design that i have come up with. I decided to get rid of the 'graphic designer & creative thinker' as i didn't think it was necessary, as if I was handing my business card to someone, the chances are that we would of already had a conversation, or they would be picking my business card up in context - for example, at a print fair. 

OUGD502 Design Strategy Presentation - LinkedIn (Studio Brief Two)

To continue my online presence, I decided to join LinkedIn. My profile can be seen below. It still needs some work, however it is coming along and I will keep adding to it when I meet new contacts / gain more experience.

OUGD502 Design Strategy Presentation - Artwork Blog (Studio Brief Two)

As I have yet to get my own website domain name and I also can't code so I can't code my own website, I thought it would be useful to get myself a blog to post my recent work. I thought it would be a good idea to get a Tumblr account, as its an easy means of people following the blog and also sharing the work for more people to see - it means I will get my name out there on a social media platform, which can only be a good thing. This is the website as it is at the moment, of which I will keep updating when I create more work.

Now I just need to figure out how to add social media links and also my contact details so that if someone likes my work and would like me to create something for them, it will be easy to access.

OUGD502 Design Strategy Presentation - Leeds Christmas Print Fair at Munro House (Studio Brief Two)

I found out on Twitter about Munro House doing a Christmas fair that sold prints and I was instantly interested. As I have exhibited at the exhibition in the past, I emailed over to see if I could take part and sell some of my own prints. The fair was really interesting as it featured lots of stalls, some selling prints and others selling bread and cakes. There was also a raffle and lots of people drinking and having a good time and it really got me in the spirit of things. Another contributor to the fair thats work I really enjoyed was Anthony Cameron. His website can be found here. His work was quite similar to my own contribution, in the way that it focused on geometric shapes and prints. 

Although I didn't manage to sell many prints, I think this was a really beneficial event to take part in, as I had printed lots of business cards and lots of people picked them up, meaning I have got my name out there and it's a small step in the right direction.

OUGD502 Design Strategy Presentation - Joan Cornella Exhibition (Studio Brief Two)

Joan Cornella is a cartoonist and illustrator from Spain. I went to see his first exhibition in the UK, which was at Munro House in Leeds. I've been following his work for a long time and I was incredibly excited when I found out his exhibition was coming to Leeds, and was to coincide with Thought Bubble. Although I didn't get a ticket to Thought Bubble due to lack of funds, this exhibition was free to visit. 

His work uses very bold, bright and eye catching colours and all of his illustrations use an element of humour. The exhibition was advertised as the first exhibition where you're expected to be laughing out loud and not walking around in silence. His illustrations are quite unsettling and are often at the expense of others, however he also brings to light some interesting ideas, such as the image below, which could be thought to represent the current racism in America by police.

Whilst visiting the exhibition, I decided I would purchase his book entitled 'Zonzo'. The book is really interesting and showcases all of his illustrations. The books front cover is also really interesting as it has become a kind of promotion for the book, as through social media, people have been holding the book infront of their faces, which has become a kind of craze. 

OUGD502 Design Strategy Presentation - Website Development (Studio Brief Two)

This was my website design from first year. Looking back, I'm not particularly fond of the design, I think it needs to be very simple and easy to navigate to be a successful portfolio website. For this reason, I am going to create a very simple design. This will be useful, as it won't take too much time to design, but it will also showcase my design work a lot more successfully.

This is the design that I have come up with. Personally, I think that it is a lot more successful as it is simple and clean and there is a good amount of negative space around my portfolio of work. I got rid of the links for social media, as I thought they looked very messy and far too big in the original website flat i designed, and this way I could put all links to social media in the 'contact' tab. The website would scroll horizontally, which I have seen on a lot of portfolio websites recently and I think it's a really successful idea, as everything stays neat and organised. 

OUGD502 Design Strategy Presentation - Research, Website (Studio Brief Two)

I thought it would be beneficial to look into some website designs before redesigning my own. This is the website of a photographer called Stephen Maycock. I really enjoy the layout of this website as it is very minimal and easy to navigate. The only downside of this website is the fact that you have to click to see the next image - it would be a lot more successful if you could scroll to see the next image. 

This is the website for the design agency Studio DBD. I think this website is very successful as you can see all of the portfolio at once, and it's also minimal and easy to navigate. I don't particularly like the typeface used for this design studio, however this is just a minor factor. The white background and spacing in between each project works really well, as each project pops off the page and make it all work really well together, even if the projects don't really fit well together at all (from a glance, as in the colour schemes).

This website is self branding for a design studio called Fieldwork. The website is incredibly beautiful and colourful, and uses animated illustrations to entice the viewer. The website isn't great to navigate and a lot of the images don't work well with the coding, which is slightly ironic as this is something that they specialise in. However, The images and gifs on the blog work really well with the theme and colour scheme of their website.

This website is for the web designer Sean Halpin. The website is very aesthetically pleasing and honestly adorable. He uses little illustrations to get across the feel of his work, however what the website is actually lacking is a full portfolio. 

OUGD502 Design Strategy Presentation - Logo Development (Studio Brief Two)

Below is the logo design I came up with during first year. I personally thought it was successful, as it represented my initials, however multiple people said that it looked slightly like male parts, so for this reason I thought I best change it as that isn't really something that I want to be remembered by.

I knew I still wanted to use my initials, but it was just a case of carrying on with the development of this and creating a design that doesn't resemble anything inappropriate. Below is the first idea I came up with. I still wanted my logo design to involve circles, as circles represent focus and 'everything', which I think represents me as a person - I like pretty much all types of design, whether that's digital or analogue, and I also feel like I'm quite a focused person and I want to achieve good things in my life. I thought this idea was pretty slick, however I feel as though it is quite a boring logo design, and I want something interesting to look at to represent myself.

This is the next logo design I came up with. I really didn't like this logo design as I didn't think it was obvious that it was supposed to represent my initials. 

I tried to then use minimal shapes and create a very abstract A and a B. This was very unsuccessful, as I don't think it was obvious that it represented either an A or a B. 

I then went back to my original logo design and started trying to play around with that idea again. I think this was a lot more successful compared to my original logo design, however it looks very similar to Anthony Brown's logo design, so it is therefore unsuccessful. 

I then tried again, using different angles and shapes. I think this logo design has some potential, however it's also very abstract and therefore unsuccessful, as I want my logo to be legible and recognisable. 

I tried to put this logo design in a circle to incorporate my concept, however I still wasn't happy with the outcome as I thought it looked a little bit like the apple logo, as in my initials were bite marks out of the circle. 

I tried again using a square this time, but this was also unsuccessful for the same reason - it just reminded me of bite marks.

I then went back to full the circle idea. This was supposed to be an A and a B, which I can actually see, however it needed work as it was still pretty abstract, and also the full circle reminded me a little bit of a car logo.

I then tried the same idea, however I cut out part of the circle so that you could tell that it was a letter A and a B. I also separated the two letters to make it more legible. I thought this was a definite improvement and in fact I really liked this logo design. It was slick, legible and included my concept. 

I played around with the shape even more, and decided to get rid of the capital B and turned it into a lower case B. I thought this was definitely the most successful design that I have come up with so far. I feel like it represents me as a person, it involves the concept behind the circle, and it's also legible and slick. This will be my final logo design for my self branding.