Ougd603 brief 9

EXTENDED PRACTICE MODULE BRIEF COVER SHEET

LEEDS COLLEGE OF ART

Module Code: Module Title:

Student Name:

OUGD603

Andrea Hannah Cooper

Extended Practice Studio Brief Title: Brief 9 - KEEN York Synopsis:

A logo redesign for the York University Student Union branch of international children’s charity KEEN.

List of deliverables Evidence (boards, resolutions, apps,etc)

Boards

(Series of business cards, posters, website etc)

Design boards explaining the concept, background, research, design development and final logo.

Evaluation: I was approached last summer by the York University Student Union branch of KEEN charity to redesign their logo for them. When I agreed to do it, I had no idea that it would be as difficult and stressful as I thought it would. Initially, they sent me a long list of instructions of what they wanted, which was two logos combining together. I patiently tried different examples of how this could work and sent them back, only to be told they had changed their minds over what they wanted. I suggested that I pitched a new logo idea to them but they still knew what they wanted. They now wanted the original KEEN logo which appeared in slightly different ways depending on the location redesigning for them. After a frustrating day of trying to replicate realistic child like drawings, I decided to add more of a concept and connection to the group to the logo and asked them to get one of the children they work with to draw it out. This then gave me a basis to work off that the design was inspired and influenced by one of the young children that the charity works with.

This connection made me more confident about the brief but I still was not happy with the design. However, once they had seen where it was going they asked for it to be kept as it was, and they rejected the suggestions I had for type and instead gave me specific requests. In the end I am happy that they liked the logo and have since used it across their staff t-shirts and other promotional materials, but from a design side I am still no where near happy with it.

This brief was a huge learning curve of how to work with clients and how to accept that what they may want is not necessarily what I want to design. I did learn an awful lot about compromise within the design process and how to find ways around setbacks. In terms of the design, I do not consider this brief to be successful yet in terms of what I learnt from it it has been a significant experience.