Brunel Digital - Future Proof by Brunel University London

Copyright ©2020 Brunel Digital All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or physical, including photocopy, recording or any other storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Printed by: Sterling Solutions bruneldigital.net Brunel Digital Brunel University London Uxbridge UB8 3PH +44 (0)1895 274000 Publisher: Brunel Digital Editors: Tarun Agrawala, Christian Azolan, Carter Brown, Paul Butler and James Sayer Publication Design: Andrei Alexa and Sebastian Negus FutureProof Brand Design: Mumbi Munyua and Sam Wood Photography: Brunel University London Special thanks to: Harry Agius, Marios Angelides, Christian Azolan, Nadira Bisnauth, Paul Butler, Stephen Cockett, Natalie Crowley, Alan Mannion, Scarlett McDonald, Rakesh Mohun, Dan Perryman, Francesco Ricci, Deborah Sterling and Fred Weimer

Welcome

This book showcases the variety of skills and talent presented by our Digital Media students here at Brunel University London. We aim to immerse you in the creativity, versatility and innovation of our Digital Media division, this is done through a portfolio of projects and articles. Enjoy.

The FutureProof Project Managers: Carter Brown, James Sayer and Aisha Tungekar

Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 The FutureProof Brand. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Facilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 BSc Digital Design. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 BSc Visual Effects & Motion Graphics. . . . . . 56

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MSc Digital Design & Branding. . . . . . . . . . . . 80 First Year. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 Second Year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 Brunel Digital Timeline. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 Projects, Lectures and Workshops . . . . . . . . 138 Case Studies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 Placements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160 Brunel Digital Media Alumni . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168 Digital Media Staff. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172 Thank You . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

Divisional Overview Digital Media at Brunel lies at the intersection of Creative Arts, Design and Creative Technologies. As a result of this vivid interaction, our students generate a stream of new ideas and new forms of digital creativity every year. This book showcases and celebrates the digital creativity of both our undergraduate and postgraduate students in our division of Digital Media at Brunel University London. Our degree programmes combine the creative arts, technologies and design with significant and continuous input from industry partners working in the Creative Industries to produce interesting and practical digital artefacts to a professional standard. Our hands-on undergraduate and postgraduate Digital Media programmes are: y Digital Design BSc (Hons) y Visual Effects and Motion Graphics BSc (Hons) y Digital Design and Branding MSc

Creative Industries, and some with extensive academic experience teaching in this exciting subject area. Their aim is always to help and support our students to create innovative work and, most importantly, to develop their own individual creative skills and style for their future employment. During their time with us, our students benefit from state-ofthe-art production facilities that include an industry-standard, well-equipped, Green Screen production studio, which is utilised by commercial studios when not needed by our students.

Each student also has the benefit of working with the latest industry-standard software 24/7 in our specialist computer labs.

You may also want to browse online through our students’ digital artefacts by visiting: bruneldigital.net

To find out more about our Digital Media programmes, please visit: brunel.ac.uk/digital-media

Enjoy!

Professor Marios C. Angelides Leader of the Digital Media Division

Both our undergraduate courses are fully accredited and industry recognised by ScreenSkills, the industry-led skills body for the UK’s screen-based industries, and carry the ScreenSkills Select quality-mark which indicates that the courses are best suited to prepare students for a career in the screen industries.

They have access to an industrygrade Immersive Dome, which was set up in collaboration with the technical team that installed and now maintain the same feature at the National Space Centre in Leicester.

They are delivered by a team with multidisciplinary skills; some with past and/or long-standing current industrial experience in the 4

Student Overview I am sitting here thinking about where the last four years have gone. It feels like I went from Fresher to final year student in a flash. How could I possibly have absorbed anything of value?! Well, I learnt more than I realised and am thoroughly ready to enter the Creative Industries. I hope this article gives you some insight into what students can expect from Brunel’s Digital Media course. You may feel like a

here onwards. However, I still had so much fun (and lots of coffee!) because I was working in different teams and making new friends in the process.

deer in the headlights when you start at Brunel but the Digital Media faculty do all they can to help orientate the “newbies”. One of the biggest complements I can pay them is to mention how friendly, helpful and interested

in you they genuinely are. They work hard to bring all the students together through field trips, orientation workshops, and socials. These activities are fun to be a part of.

design work previously. Field trips (hello Brighton!) are highlights of this year.

During Level 1, you’ll find that you meet fellow students of all abilities and the aim is to help you think more critically about design principles and to experiment. The year is more about discovery so try to be explorative with your projects and techniques; that was great for someone like me who had not done much

It’s packed with content so stay on top of everything from the outset. This is where things get real; assignments count toward your classification; they’re more demanding, and you may choose to look for a year-long work placement before entering the final year. It is important to infuse quality in everything you do from

Now, Level 2 is a blur!

Brunel’s Professional Development Centre (PDC) helped me on my placement journey to a job at IMG Studios right from Level 1 so I endorse them thoroughly. Getting a placement requires a significant amount of effort so start early; I would recommend it without hesitation. Getting to experience the industry that I had dreamt of entering for years helped me to narrow down the area that I wanted to be involved in. Also, the salary was very welcome! Use the PDC as much as possible!

Going into final year was easier because of placement. My dissertation process was so complex that the organisational and technical skills I learnt at IMG helped me to progress more easily. Only four modules are taken this year; they are no less challenging, requiring you to utilise the many skills you have learned over the years.

Develop projects of a quality that you would be proud to put on your showreel and discuss at interviews. High quality projects can remain on your portfolio for years. Other aspects I have not yet discussed? Make use of the facilities. The green screen is awesome and new resources such as a VR and photogrammetry room are being added. Industry talks, workshops and events occur throughout the year and are incredibly useful, leading to endless opportunities. And discuss your portfolio by talking to the experienced faculty; it has been especially important for me.

Things are changing, and keeping up with technological advances is mandatory. Students and faculty work together to make this happen, and there have been key changes and updates to ensure it keeps in line with current standards. Is there room to improve? Absolutely! Every course should seek to do so and I’d rather be part of one that listens and continuously adapts than rests

on its laurels The Digital Media team is a collaboration of both staff and students, and together we thrive. The additional bonus of being ScreenSkills certified demonstrates the upward trajectory of the course and this is to be applauded. There is a wealth of opportunity when studying on one of the Digital Media courses at Brunel and I speak (write!) from experience. But you have to go out and find it.

campus, and the staff and students of Digital Media have been here to support me every step of the way, good and bad, and for that I will be eternally grateful. Enjoy it here. It will be over before you know it.

Tarun Agrawala Visual Effects and Motion Graphics Student

I know my journey started the day I stepped foot on to Brunel’s 7

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What is FutureProof? FutureProof is the brand for the Brunel Digital 2020 Degree Show. To ‘FutureProof’ is to create something unlikely to become obsolete. This represents the drive and thought put into our students’ work.

The logo The logo font style was selected to represent the bold and fast-paced movement of our careers. The architecture of the FutureProof branding is inspired by the bold and brutalist construction of the Brunel University Campus. To create the slanted effect, we used Integral CF Heavy Oblique typeface and rotated it to 17.89 degrees. Additional colours have also been applied to the logo for various touchpoints.

futureproof futureproof futureproof futureproof futureproof futureproof 11

Titles Integral CF – Heavy Oblique

Typography To compliment the heavy FutureProof branding, Integral has been selected to bring “electricity” and “dare” to our 2020 brand. To ensure legibility and clarity, Montserrat has been chosen as our body text; allowing people to connect with our work (in style).

HEADINGS

Dark Grey – 40%

Green – 40%

Dark Blue – 5%

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C: 60 M: 0 Y: 62 K: 0

C: 100 M: 81 Y: 33 K: 19

R: 42 G: 42 B: 42

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R: 26 G: 57 B: 102

Montserrat – Bold

BODY TEXT Montserrat – Regular

Colour Palette The FutureProof colour palette is bold and energetic just like our students. The dark blue and yellow colours were chosen to be used as accents to bring effervescence to the brand. 12

Lemon Yellow – 5%

Off White – 10%

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C: 3 M: 2 Y: 5 K: 0

R: 255 G: 255 B: 97

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Themes The key themes of FutureProof represent our direction as creatives. This year, we created a brand that was about more than just our personal achievements; in the hope of creating a better world for everyone. We do this by looking to the future and immersing people in our work with an empathic approach.

Empathy Immersion 14

Forward thinking

The City The visual language of the FutureProof brand is inspired by Brunel University’s campus and the City of London. The two contrast to form the “FutureProof” city. This city represents the scale, variety and strength of our students’ work. 15

Our Team

Vasiliki Ntiso

Social Media Strategist

Andrei Alexa

Book & Print Manager

Tarun Agrawala Project Assistant

Douglas Marshall Content Manager

Alice Cagno

Project Assistant

Aisha Tungekar

Project Manager

Sam Wood

Brand Manager

Fabrizio Popescu

Content Manager

Sebastian Negus

Book & Print Manager

Mumbi Munyua Brand Manager

Melanie Schomann Social Media Strategist

Carter Brown

Project Manager

James Sayer

Project Manager

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Intro Brunel Digital students have full access to state of the art tools, equipment, industry-approved software as well as access to our very own Green Screen studio.

Green Screen With an infinity cove green screen, post-production Mac Pro and Armari workstations, and industry-standard applications, our Visual Effects Studio rivals plenty of worldwide production studios and is also used by professionals in the industry. Here, you’ll learn the art of digital compositing, motion graphics, 3D animation, 2D graphics and video editing. 20

Sound Studio Our post-production and audio mixing room is acoustically treated and has everything you need to record, mix, and master instruments, vocals, sound effects and voice-overs. It’s connected to our larger live space; you’ll have plenty of room and flexibility to work with. 21

Virtual Reality Studio The Virtual Reality Studio allows students to explore new and up-and-coming VR and AR applications, experiment with a variety of 2D and 3D content and create immersive and extended reality experiences like never before. 22

Motion Capture Studio Motion capture sits at the heart of console games, blockbuster films and a whole host of other industries. Within our Motion Capture Studio, you’ll get hands-on experience and learn to master a technology that’s changing the world of 3D animation. This space doubles up as a photographic studio for students wanting to experiment with portraiture and product photography. 23

Immersive Dome One of the crown jewels is the Immersive Dome which features a 360° 3D projection dome to transport audiences to the edge of the universe, inside of the human body and beyond. It was set up for Brunel by the National Space Centre in Leicester, and is one of only a few in the UK! 24

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Intro One of the first undergraduate courses of its kind in the UK. Fully accredited by ScreenSkills and bearing the ScreenSkills Select quality-mark, it provides the skills required for the creative use of digital technologies in designing and developing innovative and engaging user experiences within interactive digital products and services.

Alice Cagno BSc Digital Design

Email: alice.cagno@gmail.com Portfolio: alicecagno.wixsite.com/portfolio LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/alice-cagno

Freddie – Music Gigs with a Twist Freddie is a mobile app with the aim of bringing fun and excitement to the process of organising a music gig by matching artists and venues with a dating app-like mechanism. Freddie provides a multi-channel experience centred around an all-in-one app in which venues and artists, 28

not only match with each other but can also be part of a growing and vibrant community in which users help each other and positively share their love for music. Other functionalities are in-app messaging, calendar and events, contract templates and trip scheduling tools.

Andrei titus Alexa BSc Digital Design

Email: andreititus.alexa@gmail.com Portfolio: andreititusalexa.com Instagram: @andrei_titus_alexa

Eagle’s Club

Data Visualisation

Clean It

A concept for a digital experience that challenges the users to complete three different tests based on general culture, in order to prove their worth and get access to a private society. The user interface was designed in the Neumorphism style in order to emphasize its functions.

Combining fashion and statistics in order to illustrate the evolution of the cotton price during the last five decades, by using different types of patterns and materials which were popular during their respective decades.

A digital platform that aims to create a community which can compete in a points-based system if they complete certain actions such as: reporting a waste spot or confirming that they cleaned those areas. The users can also trade their points in order to get discounts or vouchers.

The work implemented by this student has not been accepted for commercial use by HSBC.

aran bansal BSc Digital Design

Email: aran_bansal@outlook.com Portfolio: aranbansal.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/aranbansal

Burger King Delivery

HSBC Private Banking

Fantasy Kicks

A mobile app experience for Burger King Delivery which includes an exciting digital experience for a different take on a loyalty reward scheme.

A mobile service app for HSBC Private Banking customers. The app features well presented data visualisation and infographic elements.

An new online Fantasy Football game which implements new customisation features, a level progression system and real life rewards for players.

The work implemented by this student has not been accepted for commercial use by HSBC.

Carter Brown BSc Digital Design

Email: carterjamesbrowndesign@gmail.com Portfolio: carterbrowndesign.com Instagram: @carterbrowndesign

Summerworld Brand and Experiential

Carter Brown Design

Vibe

I created a new digital experience that matches consumers to a drink sample based on their mood; the Summerworld product was designed based on market trends.

Following on from my placement year at Mattel, I have been able to create a variety of insightful and impactful assets; allowing me to grow the Carter Brown Design brand.

Vibe is the new wellbeing companion for students, inspired by therapy and approved by counsellors. The vibe user experience is supported with a style guide and 360 marketing campaign.

Dimple Ambasana BSc Digital Design

Email: dimpdesigns@gmail.com Portfolio: dimpdesigns.myportfolio.com

Instagram: @dimpdesigns

Douceur

Origin

VeganGo

I curated a 360 marketing campaign for a hand lotion as shown above. I combined multiple design principles and market research techniques in order to execute this project successfully.

For my Final Year Project, I designed a vegan smoothie with biodegradable packaging. I curated multiple deliverables for this project, one of the main artefacts being transit advertising as shown above.

For this particular project, I curated a high fidelity prototype for a vegan food delivery service by using InVision. I applied relevant design principles to the UI and ensured the market research I carried out was also showcased throughout the elements of the app.

Dominic Percy BSc Digital Design

Email: dompercy@hotmail.co.uk Portfolio: dompercy.co.uk Instagram: @dompercy174

Cod Liver Oil Plus

Wake The Dead

Plant House

During my internship at Proctor & Gamble I helped to design a new product range, Cod Liver Oil Plus. I helped design and create the packaging, as well as the in-store displays and online marketing material.

Wake The Dead coffee is an alternative-themed coffee brand aimed at the craft coffee market. It features a standout advertising theme aimed at catching customers’ attention and provoking a response.

Plant House is an app-based houseplant store that helps users care for their houseplants after they receive them. It provides water, food and growth tracking, as well as a subscription service that provides fertiliser, tools and free gifts.

Jesal Varsani BSc Digital Design

Email: jesalvarsani1999@gmail.com Portfolio: jesalvarsani.com Instagram: @varsani.01

Nike Marketing Campaign

HSBC Private Banking

Sequoia

I designed a 360 marketing campaign for Nike with the kind of visual style that attracts people the most. I was highly inspired by artist Vasjen Katro’s designs. With a similar approach, I designed my posters with contrasting tones of bright gradients and a dark background.

We got a chance to undertake a brief of HSBC. We had to develop a high fidelity prototype mobile application. After research, making wireframes and sketching out my ideas, the outcome was a design of a private banking app.

‘Sequoia’ is an organic brand that promotes the medicinal benefits of eating raw and natural food. This was my final year project, and I created a 360 campaign for my brand, exploring different mediums. I developed a

The work implemented by this student has not been accepted for commercial use by HSBC.

website, created social media content to emphasise my UX/UI designing skills. My project also includes product packaging and print media that highlight my illustrations.

Leena Hooper

BSc Digital Design

Email: blasianldn@gmail.com Portfolio: blasianldn.carrd.co Instagram: @blasianldn

La Boutique Co

Image assets used for the app. All taken and edited by me.

A visual summary displaying what the app has to offer.

A UX app design for my brand “La Boutique Co.”, which is an eco clothing brand dedicated to helping people change their shopping habits to be more environmentally friendly by: encouraging them to donate old

clothes, be more inventive with old clothes as not to be tempted to buy new ones, and to provide affordable clothing made from renewable/ recycled materials.

Mason Alsuhaily BSc Digital Design

Portfolio: masonalsuhaily.co.uk Instagram: @masondigitaldesigns LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mason-alsuhaily-a801b4162

Digital Paintings

3D and Final Year Project

Digital Design Collage

With Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop, I used the classic laptop trackpad to paint these 5 pieces of digital art. Doing this required a high level of patience as well as attention to detail.

These 3D Renders were developed using Autodesk Maya. This includes some renders of my Final Year Project which made use of Vicon Motion Capture software and was even developed for Virtual Reality viewership.

A combination of website, graphics and other conceptual designs using a mixture of the Adobe Creative Suite and web development tools such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript and MYSQL.

Mumbi Munyua BSc Digital Design

Email: mumbimunyua@gmail.com Portfolio: heyyymumu.com Instagram: @heyyymumu

Relief – The Therapy Directory App

Heyyymumu Illustrations

The lack of research in the mainstream mental health services has led to ethnic individuals being more likely to be misdiagnosed by psychologists and experience poor treatment outcome.

My app, Relief, provides a unique service that promotes cultural competency in therapy and increases accessibility to mental health professionals of different ethnicities in the UK.

Aside from being a digital designer, I work as a freelance digital artist and showcase my illustrations on social media. My work explores themes of black beauty and black culture, as well as characters from TV shows I am watching at the time.

Neesha Hooper

BSc Digital Design

Email: kimmiehoocreative@gmail.com Portfolio: kimmiehoo.wixsite.com/creative Instagram: @kimmie_hoo

Multimedia Project – The K Collective

HSBC Private Banking

Multimedia Project – The K Collective

A brand campaign with the focus on normalising diversity within fashion. These are shots taken from the campaign video. This is a project for my Multimedia Final Year Project.

A UI app design created for HSBC Private Banking sector.

A brand campaign with the focus on normalising diversity within fashion. This is a project for my Multimedia Final Year Project.

The work implemented by this student has not been accepted for commercial use by HSBC.

Rishiraj Sihra BSc Digital Design

Portfolio: rsdigitalportfolio.wordpress.com Instagram: @rishiraj_portfolio LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/rishiraj0

Football Motion Capture

HSBC Gold Price 3D Infographic

Glove Boxing 3D Animation

This 3D image is part of a motion capture animation to create a highquality cinematic video. This shows an opening scene, with a football on a pitch and a logo above. I used Paint effects to create multiple grass strands. To make the pitch look thicker I instanced these strands.

This was an HSBC task to create a visual interpretation of an online chart. It shows statues holding different quantities of gold and reflects recent changes in the price. I used metal textures to create different levels of reflectivity and smoothness across all models.

The 3D images in this collage are animation scenes from a 360-campaign for a boxing app. They show two boxers fighting in a ring from different angles, cheering spectators and a commentary desk. I polygon-modelled the ring and its surroundings in Maya creating a local arena feel.

The work implemented by this student has not been accepted for commercial use by HSBC.

Sam Wood BSc Digital Design

Email: sam@visitsam.co.uk Portfolio: visitsam.co.uk Instagram: @Visit_Sam

Left Page

Right Page

On the left is a marketing campaign for the Formula-E motorsports event taking place in London. On the right is a corporate promotional video for Amazon Prime Air, showing how the company’s fleet of aircraft have made deliveries faster and cheaper.

On the top is my final year project, a branding and marketing campaign for a non-alcoholic brewery. On the bottom is a collection of my social media work, mainly focusing on work completed on placement at Think Jam, but also including a few university and other projects as well.

Sebastian Negus BSc Digital Design

Email: negusebastian@gmail.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sebastian-negus

Food on Track

Entry – Branding

EVE Assistant

Mobile app concept focusing on the experience of London commuters and poor eating habits. “Food on Track“ is designed to streamline the process of commuting and planning food around it. The app was marketed using a series of Underground inspired posters.

This was a collaborative business project where we created Entry, a digital branding agency for small businesses. My role an Identity Director was to design the brand for the company which focused on minimalism and the use of traditional TV test card colours.

Eve is a new assistant, able to help you with daily tasks and manage your smart devices, making your life easier. To keep balance in your relationship with technology, she simplifies what you need to worry about and keeps track of what is important for you.

s t c e f f s E c i l h a p u a is Gr V c n S o B oti &M

Intro A cutting-edge and practical course which arms creative designers with industry-standard VFX and motion graphics skills. It is fully accredited by ScreenSkills and bears the ScreenSkills Select quality-mark, which indicates that it is best suited to prepare students for a career in the screen industries.

Abdul Abdullah BSc Visual Effects and Motion Graphics Email: nebulargoon@hotmail.com Portfolio: spacetelly.myportfolio.com Instagram: @SpaceTelly

Moonlighters Moonlighters is a one-shot comic about monster hunters and vigilantes in a desert style arabian setting. The motion comic is a single issue with a self-contained story, and is not part of an ongoing series. It serves as a pilot introducing a new concept or story for a series that I am hoping to 58

work on after university. The logo on the left/right is the original creation for the series, I took inspiration from games and such to design this and the poster is a little sneak peak of what style and aesthetic you can expect from the motion comic.

Becky Ward

BSc Visual Effects and Motion Graphics Email: beckyward.design@gmail.com Portfolio: becky.design LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/becky-ward-73112b161

Bull**** Free Burgers

The Simple Answer

Branding, packaging design and marketing for a plant-based burger patty company. Including, billboard advertising, collaboration with a fastfood restaurant and online grocery paid placement.

Branding, packaging design and marketing for a company selling alternatives to plastic in the form of on-the-go lunchbox items. Including, digital marketing and pop-up food cart.

Douglas Marshall BSc Visual Effects and Motion Graphics Email: douglas@douglasmarshallvfx.co.uk Portfolio: douglasmarshallvfx.co.uk LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/douglas-marshall-360a50130

What is Gauntlet?

Who are the characters?

What’s the story?

“Gauntlet” is the title of my final year project. It’s a 3D, sci-fi-action animation which is about 4 minutes long.

The animation has 6 main characters. Each of these characters wear special sci-fi armour called “Gauntlets” and also have their own superpowers.

The 6 characters are split into 2 teams and have a mock-fight in a stadium. These matches are treated like a sporting event. The full video can be found on my YouTube channel, “Douglas Marshall VFX”.

Ewan Laidlaw

BSc Visual Effects and Motion Graphics Email: ewan_laidlaw@outlook.com Portfolio: artstation.com/ewanlaidlaw LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ewanlaidlaw

Swoon

The Witcher 4 Cinematic Trailer

This is a reimagined render based on an old project. The swan was the mascot for a dating app that I made an animation to advertise. I modelled and rigged the swan, created an environment, and animated the short about two swans finding love in a crowd.

This is a render of Geralt of Rivia, one of the three characters/creatures I made based on The Witcher franchise. My final year project was to create a trailer animation for a hypothetical fourth game in the Witcher series.

Fabrizio Popescu BSc Visual Effects and Motion Graphics Email: fabrizio.popescu@gmail.com Portfolio: fabriziopopescu.myportfolio.com Instagram: @faberproduction

Rue

ETCH Taper

Potatoes

This is a motion capture animation inspired by the TV Show “Euphoria”. While learning motion capture for the first time, I practised cinematic lighting and composition.

This freelance job required me to create a social media video for a new product. I worked closely with the client to recreate the shape and texture of the product in Cinema 4D.

My Final Year Project is a 3D short animated movie. The central theme is the reflection of how success can be achieved through hard-smart work, learning from mistakes and perseverance. The purpose of this animation is to convey emotion through storytelling, movement and cinematic elements.

Gabriel Lavin Alonso BSc Visual Effects and Motion Graphics Email: Lavin.dsgn@gmail.com Instagram: @Lavin.photography

Medieval plaza

3D Compositing

EDM O’Clock

3D Scene of a small medieval plaza I modelled during my first year.

Scene of a short animation incorporating a 3D environment and live-action green screen footage. Completed during my second year.

Collage of some of the scenes of my Final Year Project: EDM O’CLOCK Music Video.

George Clarke

BSc Visual Effects and Motion Graphics Portfolio: george-clarke.net Instagram: @geooclarke LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/geooclarke

Motion Graphics FX – Futureproof

Motion Capture Dance Piece

Horror Environment with Animatic for a game Add-On

Techniques used to create this include using MoGraph (cloners and random effectors), dynamics tags and particle effectors for the simulation. Mock-ups were done in Houdini using effects such as differential mesh growth, shortest path growth and geometric points created using VEX.

For this, I wanted to push myself to use emission on the texture of the character and produce most of the lighting within the scene. The workflow required the use of the Motion Capture Studio to record movement, and to clean up the data, I used Vicon Software and Motion Builder.

Game environment with inspiration from Lovecraftian Horror and the game ‘SOMA’ set in an abandoned underwater testing facility. A range of techniques used across the environment artist workflow from concept design to look dev. Done using Maya, Substance Painter & Designer and Unity.

James Sayer

BSc Visual Effects and Motion Graphics Email: jamessayerdesign@gmail.com Portfolio: jamessayerdesign.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jamessayerdesign

Chernobyl – Title Sequence

FutureProof Idents

Title Sequence created for the HBO Production Chernobyl which explores the two main themes of scientific disaster and human tragedy.

Idents created for the Digital Media Degree Show, FutureProof.

Tarun Agrawala BSc Visual Effects and Motion Graphics Email: Tarun.Agrawala@gmail.com Portfolio: tag-me-designs.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tarun-a-bb924014a

XOXO (3D Animation)

Praemonitio (Short Feature)

Portfolio Collage

This scene comes from a short feature I created during the course. It features two robots relentlessly attempting to win at noughts and crosses. Available to watch on my website.

This image demonstrates my VFX skills including keying, 3D modelling, tracking and compositing. This skillset proved integral to my work at IMG Studios for mograph and VFX projects. Available to watch on my website.

The last 24 months have seen me work on industry and personal projects, developing my graphic design, mograph and VFX abilities (column 1). This resulted in a dissertation involving a concept 360-campaign promoting Cairo, Egypt as the host of the 2032 Olympic Games (columns 2-3).

Tuo Liu

BSc Visual Effects and Motion Graphics Email: 1724486@brunel.ac.uk

Space Environment

Texture

Zaku

As shown using a still from my Final Year Project, this scene is set in space with shattered satellites and other space elements floating around the main character, Zaku (a mecha). The lighting has added characteristics to make the environment feel cold and dreary.

The idea of the texture is to show the battle-damaged and rusted mecha during the war. I created a number of layers to show abundant detail including cracks, scratches, leaking paint, rust, peeling paint and abrasions etc. for added realism.

Front and back view of Zaku (mecha) to show more detail, including dust cover between the forearms/legs and rear regions. These are created by Marvelous Designer rather than being modelled or sculpted due to the way the cloth is deformed and affected by the clamping of screws and

joints. Marvelous Designer can automatically calculate this deformation and generate the perfect shape of the dust cover. The other image is an environmental background of Earth created in After Effects and used for a different scene where there is a war between space and Earth.

Yuan Dai

BSc Visual Effects and Motion Graphics Email: z1412470@gmail.com Portfolio: ihstudio.uk LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/yuan-dai-59282b164

Real Examples: How To Promote A Company & Extend The Design According to Inspiration Hub, a series of designs start from the initial stage of creating a brand image and corporate culture, to the stage of identifying logos, creating web pages and posters. Through practical

cases of this, customers can see our sincerity and ability. What we’ve shown is a more concise way to gain the trust of potential customers and a sense that picking us is a necessary step to success.

The Inspiration Hub gives customers a visual guide of what they can do to improve their brand. We provide customisation of the brand’s image, business strategy consultancy, an assistant who helps clarify a corporation’s working culture, and help develop the customer’s enterprise

scheme. We try to think and act from the client’s point-of-view, target their needs, and combine their and our industry expertise to help reach their business goals.

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Intro A dynamic programme to equip graduates for creative roles in the digital branding industry. A unique blend of digital design and technology in the context of branding, this MSc aims to fill a gap, by developing knowledge and practical experience of both digital design and branding concepts.

Aisha Mariam Tungekar MSc Digital Design and Branding Email: aishatungekar@gmail.com Portfolio: behance.net/aishatunged060 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/aisha-mariam-tungekar-a8aa46a3

90.97 Churro Bar

OH MY GRUB!

90.97 is an interactive churro bar that sells handcrafted churros and artisan coffee to their consumers.

An interactive menu concept that is part of a family restaurant providing insect-based food in a fun and immersive environment.

Ashwin Khatwa MSc Digital Design and Branding Email: ashwinkhatwa@hotmail.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ashwin-khatwa-16098913b

Woke Woke is a social media-based application, focusing on the environment, connecting like-minded people. It will allow them to share tips on leading a sustainable life. Additionally, users can educate themselves through a

Forever Hungry variety of games with challenges. Incorporated are pages with tips and videos on how to prevent food waste and reuse old items.

Forever Hungry is a brand for both inexperienced and experienced home cooks. Incorporated within this are: Cooking, Baking, Healthy, Vegan & Eating. Focusing primarily through an online service, it provides ideas for

those who want to create food at home. Unlike the other services, Forever Eating will include a blog aspect, reviewing recipes and restaurants.

Dahyun Lee

MSc Digital Design and Branding Email: 2allhyun@gmail.com Portfolio: 2manygems.com Instagram: @2manygems

Triplan

OMG!

Reminisce

Triplan is an all-in-one user’s trip manager. It helps users to book cost-effective flights and hotels as well as providing practical information which creates travel routes for different places and countries. Users’ trip planning can be reviewed to help one another.

OHMYGRUB! is a brand that mainly focuses on providing insect-based and organic food to the young. We planned on providing different experiences to customers with this insect restaurant. We used characters to attract the attention of children.

REMINISCE is a customer-oriented brand that helps people plan their own funerals. It changes existing funeral culture which centers around the bereaved to a new one where people can design their own funeral themselves. They can therefore express their own personality and console

their bereaved relatives and friends. I have suggested this idea to people by designing it with funeral-style branding.

Dhanyath Shetty MSc Digital Design and Branding

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dhanyath-shetty-3534b6197

Fulltime

MANIK

Trifecta

The essential football app, packed with football news, videos, fixtures, tickets, scores and statistics for your favourite teams and competitions. The application features include: live scores, ticket purchasing, breaking news, player/match statistics, videos and more.

Song recognition apps are essentially apps which collect samples of the recently-heard music and compare the audio fingerprint to a huge online database of each app. MANIK is an app which I created, that identifies audible music to inform users of songs, lyrics, and artist information.

Trifecta Sports is a sportswear manufacturer and provider of sports apparel. It also designs and manufactures sports equipment. It offers athletic apparel in various categories, including jerseys, tees, woven shirts, sweaters, jackets, and sports equipment such as footballs, boots, trainers,

etc. as well as pants, bags, and accessories. The idea for this brand comes from my love of sports. The name of the brand is derived from the slogan – “Mind. Body. Spirit.”. These are the three factors which make the perfect athlete.

GeunAh Park

MSc Digital Design and Branding Email: rmsdkfinn5908@gmail.com Portfolio: gabiroom.webflow.io Instagram: @carr_ota

Carrota Carrota is a world’s local recipe app in which local people upload their own recipes with tips. The unique selling point of this app is that the user not only sees the recipe but can also get the ingredients and products that were used delivered to them. 90

Carrota is the perfect app for people who want to try foreign cuisines. The recipes are trustworthy because only local people can upload to the app and this makes users comfortable as they know what products are used and that they can be delivered right away.

Isaac Curmi

MSc Digital Design and Branding Email: hello@isaaccurmi.com Portfolio: isaaccurmi.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/isaac-curmi-24b79bbb

The Sports Box

Responsive Portfolio Website

Sitmydog

As part of our Brand Experience Design module, I created a concept brand which is a subscription box related to football. It is the first of its kind, through which the main aim is to engage passionate fans with their respective clubs.

As part of our Digital Media Technologies module, we were given the opportunity to develop a portfolio website. The aim for this website is for it to be used as a platform to either find employment or attract clients with whom to collaborate on projects.

As part of our Digital Design module, I created a concept mobile application and brand identity, Sitmydog. Sitmydog is an online platform of carefully vetted dog sitters and walkers for Malta.

Jahed Hafiz

MSc Digital Design and Branding Email: jayhafiz@outlook.com Portfolio: jayhdesigns.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jay-hafiz

Brunel Boost

Portfolio Site

Aircreate

This project was about creating an advertisement video based on a brand or service. I created my own energy drink brand and identity to base the assignment on. We then had the chance to plan, film and edit our own video to industry standard.

During the second semester, we had the chance to get hands-on with front-end coding languages. I developed my own responsive portfolio website from scratch with HTML/CSS/JavaScript. The website professionally presents my design portfolio from university.

The digital design module gave me a chance to study UX methodologies and UI design. We had to think of an app and design an interactive prototype. My app, Aircreate, is about finding and experiencing digital and creative cultures across the world.

Jen-Hua Wang MSc Digital Design and Branding Email: 1809928@brunel.ac.uk Portfolio: portfolio-8aa631.webflow.io LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jen-hua-wang-70ab96195

Together

Chellewy

Chermon

For a designer, weddings are not only romantic projects but also require designs based on emotion. This company does not try to create a romantic story but instead helps customers develop their own dream stories and then brings them to life.

This is a website dealing with brand strategy. The website design intends on giving people a sense of professionalism and stability. It also aims to help brands that just want to start a business but cannot find a position in society.

This is social media with the purpose of protecting every creator. It lets everyone create and communicate in its space. The main feature of the app is that everyone can reply to 3 other people’s posts a day and the number of likes given is unlimited.

Therefore, users must learn to cherish the opportunity of leaving a message and will also discover more creators who also deserve attention.

Jenita Royal

MSc Digital Design and Branding Email: jenni_royal@outlook.com Instagram: @jenni.uiux LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jenitaroyal

Cartoon-styled portrait

Cupcake company – Logo

Drawings

This is the first cartoon-styled portrait I did when I started my Graphic Design journey. This piece is really important for me because this kickstarted my love for Graphic Design and always brings a smile to my face when looking back at it because I was so proud of myself.

This image is the first logo design I did for my best friend’s cupcake company. I wanted to use this image because this was my first experience rebranding a brand from scratch. Redesigning her logo and brand identity was such a great and enjoyable experience.

My love for digital design started 3 years ago when I got my first graphics tablet. I’ve always loved drawing portraits from the age of 15, so when I got my graphics tablet, I started drawing people digitally, for fun. I started to get better and better at it and have now started to do them professionally

for people as gifts and personal use. The image on the left of this page is the first portrait I did for a client and the right is a portrait of a celebrity.

Jiafu Han

MSc Digital Design and Branding Email: 1925232@brunel.ac.uk Portfolio: issuu.com/fashionfufu/docs/hanjiafu_pdf_2 Instagram: @herefffoo

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Branding Brief

Store Display

Corporate Stationery

Paddy creates a beauty that combines the mellow taste of the sake with the cultural charm. The basic concept is not only casual but also inspiring people’s collections. Users not only taste the sake, but also the memories and beauty of collecting and drinking it.

On the store front, Paddy retains the traditional Izakaya style of Japanesestyle shops. However, when guests enter it they can feel the atmosphere of modern art which creates a tenseness that can make people feel the tension of the modern city.

The style used by the brand is mainly applied to the hand-painted style of Japanese ukiyo-e (Japanese genre painting). In Asian and world art, it presents a special colour and richness. After more than three hundred years, it has a deep influence in Europe and Asia.

Because I like Japanese retro illustrations, my innovative brand also adds this style to my brand without losing the traditional Japanese culture.

Jothsna Rajeev MSc Digital Design and Branding Portfolio: behance.net/jothsnarajeev Instagram: @jothsnard LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jothsna-rajeev

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Photography

Neelakurinji

Typography and Logos

The left half of the image above shows the power of a mother’s love over her children and the right half shows Edinburgh which has a most elegant look when compared to other cities. For seven years, I have been a photographer which has always kept me happy and engaged.

What is special about Neelakurinji is that it blooms only once every twelve years. The last bloom season was in 2018 and the next will not be until the year 2030! This is an event which should not be missed and should be witness in person.

The best thing about being in the creative field is that you are your own masterpiece. We have multiple perspectives about everything and this is the reason we are different from the rest of the world. I also do experiments in typography and create logos for branding needs.

Malika Sadvakassova MSc Digital Design and Branding

Email: malika.sadvakassova@gmail.com Instagram: @malika.sds

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Pop Art

Kidsevent

Artsy Work

The following illustration was my first attempt at pop art illustration. I chose an intense yellow background to grab attention. The face is that of a friend that I tried to illustrate it in pop art style. I find this style aesthetically pleasing and modern.

The following work displays sample screens of an app I have created. It is called Kidsevent and is focused on helping people easily find different events for kids and teenagers that will help develop their social, personal and cognitive skills, as well as widen their world view.

Artsy is a brand that I have created as a future art and design agency. The idea was to build my own company, and I therefore created a logo for it. The flower image is taken from a tattoo I have. I decided to name the brand “Artsy” as I feel this word to be very creative and appropriate for an

art and design agency. The letter ‘M’ on the flower represents my name, Malika. For the logo, I chose gradient colours as I feel they look modern, and in a 3D format, they make the logo look attractive.

Melanie Schomann MSc Digital Design and Branding Email: melanie.schomann@gmx.at Portfolio: linktr.ee/MelliSchomann LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mellischomann

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Sassy

WISHY

Portfolio

Driving a new era of empowerment, collaboration and personal growth, where like-minded are enabled to reach their full potential. SASSY is a community platform focusing on supporting and inspiring each other to strive for more.

Have you ever received a gift you didn’t like? Or felt anxious about not knowing what to get someone else? Well, no more. The gifting app WISHY will sort that out for you, so you can focus on the good sides of gifting: spreading joy and making your loved ones happy!

Responsive portfolio website to showcase my previous work and projects, also introducing myself and my services as I am eager to apply and develop my skills in all kinds of projects and opportunities.

Thunchanok Saengtes MSc Digital Design and Branding Email: firmtcn1995@gmail.com Instagram: @Thunnchaa

Voter – Aim and Introduction To deliver a message which makes people realise there are election problems. A while ago, Thailand had an issue involving the election system and could not find a way to resolve it. Then, as time passed the world moved on, and people’s minds changed. 108

Voter – Example Of An Application This generation focuses more on politics than ever before. For example, there were a lot of problems last year and the Thai people thought it was very suspicious. There are still doubts but the government doesn’t try to help its people vote in elections.

This is the feature of the application. I tried to use a simple and clear design, because my target audience has a big age range; from teenagers to the elderly. Moreover, I still retained some trendy design features to make sure the application was not too boring.

Vaishnavi Sahu MSc Digital Design and Branding Email: 1933740@brunel.ac.uk Portfolio: vaishnavi.webflow.io LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/vaishnavi-sahu

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Portfolio Website

Changing Perceptions: Brand Development

Digital Artefact : Findit. App

This portfolio website is the result of Digital Media Technologies individual assignment. The whole website is made up of elements made by me which I love doing such as Illustrations, picture manipulation etc. It is an effort to show my personality and work to other people.

This is a group project where a brand was built for kids cereal made of cricket flour. This project covered Branding, Character design, Marketing and Advertising. I took the role of creative head in this project, from coming up with whole brand identity to creating the character.

This assignment to build an app was an individual effort. “Findit.” App is a mobile in-store shopping application which is an amalgam of location and online shopping. It helps people buy things easily by locating their desired items and alternatives near their location. Findit. App promises

to save you money, time and energy. Indirectly, it also helps sellers get noticed and improve their services.

Vanessa Suen MSc Digital Design and Branding Portfolio: vanessasmy.webflow.io Instagram: @v.studio.design LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/vanessasuenmy

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VSMY

Saucy Secrets

PetAssist

A portfolio-based responsive website. This platform highlights my passion for design, identifying essential aspects of various projects and shares my experience and expertise in the field.

Saucy Secrets is a newly established brand consisting of a range of healthy sauces, created with exciting and unique ingredients; edible insects. The brand strives to introduce and normalise the consumption of insects in the UK.

A pet care app that is tailored for pets and their owners. By using PetAssist, owners are able to manage their pet’s schedule, make vet appointments, create and share health records and even track their pet’s location!

Vasiliki Ntiso MSc Digital Design and Branding Email: ntisovasiliki@gmail.com Portfolio: saltychaos.webflow.io LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/vasiliki-ntiso

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SEAgency

Salty Chaos

SEAgency was one of my projects for the “Brand Experience Design” module. SEAgency is a creative agency for travel and tourism businesses. I went through the branding and advertising of the agency, with the main feature being that of the sea and summer.

Salty Chaos was my project for the “Digital Media Technologies” module, about Responsive Website Design and Development.

I chose to create a portfolio website, which is not only about showcasing my professional work, but also reflects my personality by showcasing my work, hobbies, thoughts and my aesthetic style. I added a section about photography and a blog to share opinions with my audience.

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Intro A hand picked selection of Level 1 student work. These students represent the creative potential of young designers. Showcasing projects from a variety of creative backgrounds.

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Harry Lavington

Jade Peter

Project name: Creative Fusion

Project name: Inigos

Harry Lavington

Jade Peter

Project name: Creative Fusion

Project name: Tez’asiya

Project name: Zun’ox

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Josh Lamprell

Ramzeen Mohamed Saffaf

Project name: Le Corbusier

Project name: Fusion

Kia Cookey Williams

Josh Lamprell

Ramzeen Mohamed Saffaf

Project name: Sketches

Project name: Le Corbusier

Project name: Fusion

Project name: Lego Batman

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Intro A hand picked selection of Level 2 student work. These projects represent the creative development of our students during their time at Brunel University London.

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Patrick Geider

Zeel Jethwa

Project name: KUIU

Project name: Loop App

Patrick Geider

Zeel Jethwa

Project name: Mivolve

Project name: Viewfinder

Project name: Loop App

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Purvi Kotian

Alireza Royaie

Project name: Cigarettes Effects

Project name: The Joker

Project name: 3D Character

Purvi Kotian

Ivy Hu

Project name: 13 Reasons Why Title Sequence

Project name: Robot

Project name: Scope Mobile App

Project name: Illustration

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Our Year with Brunel Digital The Digital Media division here at Brunel University gets up to all sorts throughout the year. The following pages detail our extra curricular activities, society events and more.

Brunel Digital Society Brunel Digital is here to help members of the design community connect and collaborate with one another. We aim to offer all members course-related support and resources, alongside fun socials, trips and events, ranging from visits to industry and festivals celebrating our craft. Over the year we helped to bring our courses’ communities together, we planned and hosted a variety of events that were useful for those on creative courses as well as anyone who had an interest in design at Brunel University London.

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Science Museum and V&A Visit September 2019

Dan Perri Master Class

First year students visited London’s Science Museum and the V&A. The exhibitions ranged from immersive trips aboard the International Space Station to those exploring relationships to the consumption, reinvention and design of our food!

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October 2019 Master Class and workshop held by international title sequence designer Dan Perri.

MV Augusta Promotional Live Action Shoot

Creativity Can Save the World

November 2019

Our students attended a night with Glug to discuss, celebrate and investigate the topic of Creativity Can Save the World!

December 2019

Workshop and live brief from motorcyle company MV Augusta.

Student Mixer Party

Halloween Movie Screening

Sky Mobile Live Project Brief

Creativity and Z-Brush Workshop

September 2019

October 2019

November 2019

December 2019

At the start of the academic year, we held a mixer to introduce new students to the Brunel Digital world.

Film screening ran by the Brunel Digital Society.

Live brief from the Digital Art Director of Sky News Design.

Industry workshop with Character Artist Matthieu Schneider.

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Final Year Project Interim Exhibition

Winter Party

To celebrate the great women of both Brunel Digital and the Creative Industry we held an International Women’s Day event, with inspirational guest speakers and students.

February 2020

To gain essential industry and academic feedback on their Final Year Projects, a winter exhibition is held for level 3 students.

To celebrate the festive period, the Brunel Digital Society held a winter party.

March 2020

Oscar All Nighter

January 2020

December 2019

Our Digital Society held an event to watch the 2020 Academy Awards live broadcast.

Global Banking Branding and Promotions Campaign

FutureProof Degree Show Brand Launch

Daisy Green Marketing Campaign

Brands and The Power of Social Media

February 2020

March 2020

January 2020

To announce our brand for the 2020 Degree Show, we held an event with food and drinks; introducing guests to the FutureProof brand.

Daisy Green is a small chain of London based cafés/restaurants/ wine bars providing Australian inspired cuisine. The brief was to visit their Crowdcube website and see how easy it was to invest in the future of the business.

Guest lecture from Alex Bodini from Spin Brands, talking about their Social Media business.

The brief was to research, brand, design and produce a creative campaign for a private banking service.

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International Women’s Day

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STEM Promotional Campaign A brief to promote an interactive digital resource called the “Radiation Biomarkers Module”, conveying the science of radiation biomarkers for biodosimetry to non-scientific audiences.

April 2020

May 2020 Students visited The Design Museum in London to experience Beazley’s ‘Design of The Year’ competition. This brought together the very best examples of design across several platforms.

April 2020

Guest lecture from Freelance Motion Designer, Emma Kingsnorth.

Live Briefs in partnership with Co-innovate.

Storyboard Pitching and Presenting

Mitchells & Butlers Daniel Gill

Brand Marketing in the Real World

Virtual Degree Showcase

April 2020

May 2020

March 2020

Industry Competition for our first year students.

Guest lecture from David Bonney, talking about marketing in the real world.

Due to the cancellation of the physical showcase, we acted resiliently and created our virtual showcase.

Guest workshop from Natalie House, Creative Producer and Oliver Haurd, Storyboard Artist.

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Small & Start Up Business Branding Projects

Setting Up Your Own Business

March 2020

Design Museum Visit

Created by: Fabrizio Popescu and Douglas Marshall

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Projects, Lectures and Workshops Sky Mobile TV – Live Project Brief

Brand Marketing in the Real World

Storyboarding, Pitching & Presentation

Matt Simpson Digital Art Director, Sky News Design

David Bonney Marketing, Brand & Media Consultant

Natalie House, Creative Producer and Oliver Harud, Storyboard Artist

We’re always looking for cutting edge ideas that we can incorporate into our mobile product and to this end we worked with students at Brunel Digital on the mobile design module.

It was an honour to be invited to guest lecture on ‘Brand Marketing in the Real World’ to the Digital Design students. Preparing the lecture made me look deeply at the lessons I’ve drawn from 30 years’ experience as a marketer.

The students showed good skills in identifying demographics, producing relevant research, creating personas likes/dislikes of the target audience and translating this into effective wireframes and prototypes. It was particularly enthusing to see the design work and the different directions students had taken. I definitely enjoyed my time with Brunel and would hope to do it again in the future.

Matt Simpson Once again the Digital Design students have risen to the creative challenge of designing a mobile experience for the Generation X users of News applications for Sky Mobile. It is a challenging experience to create a relevant industry standard design for Sky focusing on Generation X’s consumer needs. The focus is to attract a younger audience to use Sky Mobile’s news application for the future.

Alan Mannion, Module Tutor for Design Mobile

An interactive workshop where students collaborated with an experienced industry storyboard artist – learning the importance of visualising narrative in order to pitch and present creative ideas in a professional manner.

I was really encouraged by the students’ engagement and the questions they asked. Although they weren’t marketing undergraduates (as I once was), their level of consideration for and knowledge in the subject was impressive. It was a lot of fun to show them ‘obsolete’ technology and explain how it informed the world that they’ve grown up in.

We enjoyed seeing how quick the students were in understanding the visualisation techniques and how they benefited from the exercise – we’d love to come back and have the opportunity to repeat the experience.

David Bonney

Natalie House Creative Producer

Setting up Your Own Business Emma Kingsnorth, Freelance Motion Designer Students gained a personal insight into a freelance graphic design business, learning about the creative considerations, business set up, networking, finance, client liaison and the risks.

I really enjoyed the session, being able to provide business advice and guidance for those considering a freelance career. The students were very engaged with the talk and I was pleased they had lots of questions about the subject.

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Projects, Lectures and Workshops Brand Strategy & Business Frameworks

The Art of Games Character Design

Guest Lecturer: Robbie Dale, Creative Director & Co-Founder of ‘Story Cube’

Guest Lecturer: Matthieu Schneider, Character Artist

Robbie presented a detailed examination of industry focused strategies and frameworks, introducing his six-sided Story Cube model that explains the essence of understanding and constructing a business proposition. The session included practical and engaging exercises, case studies and explanations that focused on informing students of methods and techniques to improve their creative brand strategies and the setting up their own enterprises.

A deep-dive into the career and work of a leading games character artist revealing the artistry and technical skills required to succeed in one of the fastest growing areas of the creative industries. Matthieu also delivered a workshop to our 1st year students on ‘ZBrush’, an industry standard 3D sculpting tool, enriching their technical development.

We push our students to really understand creativity from all aspects of design. The aim is always to develop their skill set so they can reach industry standard as quickly and professionally as possible.

Christian Azolan, Digital Media lecturer

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Projects, Lectures and Workshops A Live Brief for an International Banking Branding & Promotions Campaign

Mitchells & Butlers Video Promotion

Dan Perri Lecture

Industry Competition

The Mystery of the Title Sequence Uncovered

For the second year running, Module Leader Paul Butler and a major international banking corporation collaborated to create an industry standard multi-platform live project brief for 3rd year design students.

Mitchells and Butlers, parent company of Malt Shovel Restaurant, held an internal competition. The theme was: ‘why their pub is the best and how they create the best atmosphere for their guests’. The result was a short promo video, creating a walkthrough experience of the pub environment, in the style of their customer’s viewpoint.

Dan is an LA based, international title sequence designer trained under the guidance of the legendary American designer and animator, Saul Bass. He joined Brunel Digital Media students for a master class, unpacking the technical and creative choices behind his catalogue of work, sharing insights into his collaborations with renowned directors: Spielberg, Scorsese and Friedkin; providing classic titles for The Exorcist, Taxi Driver, Close Encounters and Star Wars. He continues working on contemporary film titles today from his West Coast studio.

The challenge: to research, brand, design and produce a creative campaign for a private banking service. The learning outcomes were to demonstrate professional levels of creative thinking, technical skills and brand & marketing awareness.

The calibre of work produced by Brunel University has far exceeded our expectations from students who have not yet fully engaged with the Digital Industry. Their ability for critical thinking, complex problem solving and practical creative abilities are fully aligned with industry expectations. This alignment means it’s very easy for us as an international bank to hire these students with confidence that they will succeed inside our environment.

Clients: Gurmit Shakon and Amardeep Shakhon, Executive Digital Experience Directors

Concept, production and post: Nathaniel Bouncy, James Wilson and Tasfia Khan. Sound Design: Alan Mannion

The Mitchells & Butlers project offered an opportunity for students and staff to engage in a real world pre-planning, video shoot, with post production and music creation. Students and staff worked on shooting, editing and post producing footage as well as creating a soundtrack to set the mood for the audio visual experience.

Alan Mannion, Module Leader

Dan Perri’s talk was engaging and insightful. It was really inspiring seeing a master of his craft talk first-hand about his iconic work. As a first year student, it was incredibly beneficial because it opened my eyes to the potential of an entirely new career path as a Title Designer.

James Wilson, 1st year design student The Digital Media department is really top quality. I liked their energy and passion for our shared love of the graphic and motion design. Many picked up the importance of listening to their own feelings and personal responses in creating and developing a design solution using graphics and moving images. To find the essence; like the famous Bauhaus axiom, ‘less is more.’ – tuning in and connecting with their own passion is the key to good design.

Dan Perri

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Projects, Lectures and Workshops Workspace Re-design Project

MV Agusta Motorbike Promotion

For HSBC Global Banking Corporation

Live action Workshop

The flagship HSBC office in Canary Wharf, London were looking to upgrade it’s Private Banking workspace and Brunel Digital Media was exclusively asked to come up with initial ideas to kick-start the creative thinking around this space.

Our second year students were set an industry-based, live brief promoting MV Agusta Motorcycles. Each Team developed a storyboard to shoot the video and then filmed it with the guidance of Director of Photography, Tony May, and his camera assistant, Jonathan Boyd.

The brief was to create 3D concepts of what a private banking workspace of the future would look like, with considerations of the type of people and the things they need to use the space for. A selected team of Digital Media and Product Design students put forward some top line concepts and produced some impressive results that were evidently appreciated by the clients.

There were those who wanted abstract & dynamic shots and others seeking a more smooth and linear approach. With the generous direction and technical expertise of DoP, Tony May, some scenes could be prepped and shot in one take!

Francesco Ricci, 2nd year student We believe there is a lot we can learn from this new generation of creatives and for this reason we engaged Brunel students to re-think and re-design our work space which will be implemented in quarter three of this year. Their fresh approach to design thinking and environmental collaboration helps us prepare for a new generation of designers and creative problem solvers. We look forward to continuing our successful engagement with Brunel Digital Media.

The Brothers, Gurmit and Amardeep Shakhon

Creative Team: y Sebastian Negus

y Purvi Kotian

y Patrick Geider

y Nina Krinis

y Ivy Hu

y Christian Ihekwaoaba

y Andrei Alexa

y Jovana Koprivica

y Alireza Royaei

y Iaona Saioc

It has been a great opportunity to work with a major global bank on a future-focused office design. The multi-disciplinary team worked together to depict a sharp and effective concept that builds on the company’s identity, needs and history.

Patrick Geider, 2nd year student

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Small and Start Up Business Branding Industry requirements and student needs have helped evolve this second year module, Applied Media Aesthetics, into what it is today. In collaboration with Co-Innovate, our second year undergraduate students are helping small and startup businesses develop. Jointly funded by Brunel University and the European Regional Development Fund, Co-Innovate provides innovative support to London SMEs. With Co-Innovate’s help, eight business-briefs were selected, enabling Digital Media students to sharpen their creative design skills while working on the different business requirements. During the second term students are required to form groups of five, select the business they wish to work on and based on their strengths, each student gets to choose which business requirement they wish to fulfill.

Business requirement y Branding y Website and Mobile App Design y Digital Marketing/ Social Media platform

This year’s collaboration has now come to an end and the results get better every time. As Module Lead, I take great pride in what my students have achieved and I am thankful for all the support that I have received from my department and Co-innovate. I hope this journey will continue to help small and startup businesses and enable future students to create quality work for their portfolios.

Rakesh Mohun, Module Leader of Applied Media Aesthetics

y Product Packaging Design y Promo Videos y Radio Adverts

Varshaa Srinivasan – Pamphlet Zuzanna Szczpaniak – Business Cards and Website Marriana Ioannou – Social Media Simona Ogilbaite – Product Packaging & Photography Bella Li – Promotional Video Concept Zeel Jethwa – Logo Creation, Mobile Application and Brand Book Design

Having the opportunity to work with a real client on a live brief can be challenging, fun, rewarding and frustrating. We expose our students to this as quickly as possible as this experience gives them the opportunity to build a professional relationship on how to work against an ever changing brief and design outcomes that are about what a client needs, and, more importantly, how design can solve complex problems in the industry.

Christian Azolan, Media Aesthetics Tutor

y Direct Marketing y Photography

When the opportunity was given to me and my colleagues to work for a real business, it further motivated us as designers, to ensure the client was comfortable and happy with the work produced. This meant open communication was key throughout the project. Despite facing a few challenges along the way, it was evident that the passion for the business was not only present from Houda, the business owner, but also from myself and my fellow students who worked with me in the creation of the Branding book.

At the beginning I had an idea of my business’ brand identity but reflecting on what the students have achieved I can honestly say that they have done a remarkable job taking it to the next level. The students were professional throughout and provided much needed fresh ideas. The designs provided by the students are of professional quality and in line with my vision. I now have a clearer vision of what branding is and how I can better market my business online. Thank you for this great initiative.

The quality of work and commitment that you and your students delivered to support micro and small businesses was exceptional. The benefits of this collaboration will be seen by the businesses as we reach out to them to further provide evidence of the delivery being implemented as a new product/service in their business. The Co-Innovate team welcome the opportunity to continually work with the Brunel Digital department. We look forward to future collaborations.

Gurnam Sevarajah, Innovation Director, Co-Innovate Journeys

Houda Amanouss, Business Owner of Breakfast in Bed Visit student work at: breakfastinbed.co.uk

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International Women’s Day Event This engaging event featured 6 women from the Creative Industries discussing amongst themselves and the audience about the lack of female representation in the workplace. Industry Panel

Students

y Natalie House – Director of House Inkorporated & Senior Project Producer at Flirt Soho y Rachel Brockbank – Digital Product Designer at Inktrap

Part of the event included a selection of our female students from across the year groups presenting a range of portfolio work to the industry panel and audience.

y Louise Murray – Broadcast Manager at Camouflage/ IMG Studios

y Alice Cagno – Branding, Social Media Strategies for a sports club

y Tracy Hall – Motion Designer and 3D & Graphic Communication Teacher at Esher College

y Tasfia Khan – VFX and live action work

y Debra Doran – Former MD at Noble House Media y Linda Scerpella – Motion Designer at Blue Spill y Zehra Berry – Promotions Designer at Sky TV

This was a truly fitting tribute to International Women’s Day, combining a series of impressive presentations by female students on the cusp of their career paths, with an evening of insight from a panel of women from different spheres of the industry with a diverse range of experience to draw upon. The one thing everyone in the room did have in common was our belief in eschewing gender barriers and loving the work we do.

Louise Murray, Broadcast Manager at Camouflage/IMG Studios What a privilege to be in the company of such a richly diverse group of professionals on the panel at Brunel. This was only surpassed by the humility and insight of the students’ questions and debate. I was impressed by the variety and depth of creative work presented by the digital media students. There is clearly a wealth of talent and enthusiasm waiting to be unleashed in the workplace.

y Jade Peters – Illustration & character design

As part of Brunel Digital Society committee, I had the opportunity of hosting the event as well as presenting my own portfolio of work. As the society’s social media manager, I promoted the event with the help of my team on our official Instagram, Facebook and Twitter platforms. The experience boosted my confidence, improved my communication skills and helped build connections with industry professionals, benefitting my future career direction.

y Purvi Kotian – 3D design projects

Purvi Kotian, Event Host, 2nd Year VFX & Motion Design Student

y Mumbi Munyua – Freelance illustration portfolio y Ivy Hu – Brand Lead Designer

Debra Doran, Former MD at Noble House Media This was an exceptionally well organised event with some great student presentations, proudly showcasing their work. The student audience was lively, inquisitive and at the end of the interviews, I had the opportunity to speak with many students. They came across as very confident, mature and keen to know of any tips or further advice that I could give them.

Tracy Hall, Teacher of 3D Design and Graphic Communication at Esher College

y Kristen Bjaastad – Creative Lead & Design Specialist at Tui Travel 148

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Peer Assisted Learning The PAL scheme has proven to be a success with our Digital Media students. Year 2 and 3 students provide useful mentoring to 1st Year students through offering a range of teaching activities. This exercise allows our students to share their skills, encourages peer bonding and engagement across different year groups.

Student Teachers: Patrick Geider – Web Design Portfolios workshop Alireza Royaei – 3D Maya workshop Purvi Kotian – 3D Maya workshop

I first applied to PAL to improve my CV, but soon discovered an opportunity to help others by sharing my own experience and mistakes. Over the year, the PAL team worked together to provide our best learning, asset and setup resources. We campaigned to be the first course where PAL leaders are allowed to teach, then gave relevant and specific workshops on portfolio websites and 3D modelling.

Pal Leader: Patrick Geider, 2nd Year Student Ali and I conducted workshop sessions on 3D modelling foundations and VFX techniques with the aim to help students with their modules and assignments. The topics we covered ranged from low poly modelling, UV unwrapping, texturing, lighting and further help with personal projects that could come handy for assignments. Personally, I found that the students enjoyed learning from me and found it helpful, as their participation was lively and interactive, with positive feedback.

Purvi Kotian, 2nd Year VFX & Motion Design Student The PAL Portfolio session was a useful addition to our studies this year, allowing us to utilise Webflow to develop portfolio websites. Within just a few weeks, the PAL sessions took us from total beginners to capable users of the software. We were also inspired to drive forward to develop our own websites, complementing the work we had done on personal branding and giving us a solid foundation of work for when we graduate and look for employment or freelance opportunities.

James Wilson, 1st Year Student 150

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Intro The academic nature of university allows our design students to create pieces of work with insight, depth and character. We have selected some great examples.

Futureproof idents

Rue

Effects Animation

Rigging and Motion Capture

by Ewan Laidlaw

For my Effects Animation assignment, using Houdini, I created a few short videos for FutureProof’s social media feed. Made up of four regular animations and one parody, they would each showcase an effect in the context of Brunel and FutureProof. In one, I used VEX to code a perprimitive transform matrix that rotated a face around a parent edge. I could apply this script

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to a re-meshed photoscan of the Brunel statue and animate the layered-rotation of all the primitives to create a polyfolding effect.

For the Brunel ice cream, I used a fluid simulation with a heat dissipation system that altered the viscosity of a set of particles which caused them to melt.

For another, I used VEX, a particle system and Houdini attributes in an Arnold shader to create a Doctor Strange style portal. For the third, using a pyro simulation, I created an infection system to build the geometry of Isambard Brunel’s signature hat.

Defining a particle grid from the statue model with high viscosity makes the fluid rigid in the statue’s shape and as it heats up, the viscosity drops making it act more like a liquid.

by Fabrizio Popescu

Finally, for the melting face effect I used the same heat transfer and viscosity technique, placing a heating volume in the eyes to start the temperature spread and melting it from that spot. The texture was applied to the particles and to a fluid mesh via VEX and 3D space attribute transfers.

The Rigging and Motion Capture module, taught by Fred Weimer, presented us the complete process of motion capture animation, from calibration through to integration with a 3D character. During the workshops, I learned how to use the Brunel Motion Capture Studio that makes use of an up-to-date Vicon optical system. This module had two assignments with the aim of producing an

artefact which includes a motion capture piece along with a 3D environment. The first part was about researching the technology, planning the mocap session, practising cleaning the data, rigging and weighting.

plan your recording by creating a shot list with all the movement details and interactions. The second assignment was about creating the final artefact by applying the learned techniques and creating a breakdown video.

One issue I encountered was the interaction with walls and door frames of the character which I fixed using studio props. I had to calculate the size of the 3D environment to match the real-life performance.

The deliverable for this part was a report about planning and designing the final performance capture piece together with creating an animatic. It is most important to be organised and

For this assignment, I decided to recreate a scene from the TV show “Euphoria” in a 3D environment using motion capture to support the acting performance of the 3D character.

The 3D character was created using Adobe Fuse, using visual reference of the TV show actor. I used C4D to model, texture and light the 3D environment to achieve a darker cinematic mood.

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WORKING WITH A PURPOSE by Alice Cagno

Research and Evaluate a Creative Industries Business

Guus is the husband of an excolleague and friend of mine, Ralitsa, who I met during my placement year at Emakina, in the Netherlands. They have both been such inspirations during my time there, especially Guus. He was my main role model as he had done something with his career that I would like to do with my future; he decided to start his own company. Therefore, I thought it would be very interesting to talk about his journey from employee to employer, and then back to employee again, and how his relationship with clients had changed along the way.

Frog employee A few months into his “boring” engineering job, Guus was given the opportunity from Eindhoven University to exhibit his graduation project “Friendly Vending” during Dutch Design Week. He was very proud of his work and decided to take a week 156

off work to give his career in design a chance. During the exhibition, a person from Frog Design was impressed by his work. Frog is a global leader in design and strategy, founded in 1969 by Industrial Designer, Hartmut Esslinger, in Mutlangen, Germany as “Esslinger Design”. A few months after the exhibition, Guus received an email from Frog asking him to have an interview with them.

Finding Clients After Frog Design closed, Raft had to find clients. For the team, it was quite easy. They approached the task by listing all of the clients Frog had worked for in the past and contacting ex-colleagues who had moved to other agencies. “It was all cold calling” – Guus said – as they did not have any active network.

Raft employer Right at the 5-year mark, Guus was told that the Amsterdam office was closing. It was at this moment that Guus and three other colleagues decided to transform this ending into a new start, opening their own design studio, which they called “Raft”. Instead of quitting their jobs, Frog Design was kind enough to hire them as freelancers until the office closed and therefore became Raft’s first client.

The questions they would ask themselves were:

y What are their design needs?

And so, they appointed one person out of the four of them to the specific task of obtaining and keeping clients. After 4 years of running their business, Argo Design came around and made them a great offer.

y When do we check back in with them?

ARGO EMPLOYEE

y Who do we know? y Where do they work?

Argo Design is a design consultancy focussed on innovation, strategy and research, as well as software, hardware, brand & experience that creates products and services for big-to-small sized companies. Argo’s Services are: y helping companies with their innovation process from strategic resource and advice, to UX design to delivering with their developers (front to back) y changing company process help them figure out how they can be better at innovation.

Guus Baggermans

As Guus said, the decision to work for Argo felt natural for a couple of reasons: firstly, Raft and Argo shared the same idea

of what good product design is. They both believed in quality and experimenting. In addition, some of Argo’s employees had been their colleagues before, making the switch easier for both parties. Lastly, Argo’s network and its clients would help them grow beyond a certain size. It is rather difficult in fact, as Guus explained, to grow from a small-to-medium size design studio. I asked Guus how he perceived the difference between being employed and being the employer. He said that initially being an employee was normal, it felt “fine and safe”. When he became an employer he could start feeling the weight of responsibility: especially in a small company like Raft, the employer is responsible for wages and if ever there is no money, they will not pay themselves in order to guarantee a salary for their employees. “As an employer, you are always looking for stability,” Guus said, “and running a design agency you never plan projects far ahead, so there is no fixed monthly profit”. Another great responsibility is

to build a strong and consistent culture in the workplace in order to attract people who share the same vision. When Argo came around, Guus said it felt natural to work with them, as they shared their culture and vision and were already a couple of steps ahead. Regarding the management position, not much has changed, as Guus and his partners still run the Amsterdam studio. He said that he is very happy about their choice, as he was “never in it for the money” and still does what he likes, which includes “looking at people’s skillsets and how they can help them to develop their skills rather than looking at their career paths”.

Onboarding Clients The onboarding of clients is not a set process but it is very important for the company. The Business Development team usually explains to clients what Argo’s offer is and organises a kickoff meeting for the team and the client together. In order to manage client expectations,

the company provides two main contracts to be signed before starting any collaborations: y Master Services Agreement (MSA) - in which they define the secrecy of the project and agree on the legal aspects of it, e.g. in case of a missed delivery etc. y Statement of work

Relationships with Clients Towards the end of the interview, I asked Guus to give me an example of a good and a bad client relationship. Both his examples relate to the same client and perfectly represent how easily a seemingly good project can turn into a potential nightmare. The main way of keeping clients happy according to Guus is listening to their requirements and always looking for something more that needs to be done. Whilst getting clients is mostly the responsibility of the business development department, keeping them is the responsibility of the design department.

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bullS**t free by Becky Ward

Digital Graphics: A 360 Marketing Campaign

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The Concept

Project Branding

Marketing Campaign

Collaboration

For this project, I decided to create a 360° campaign for a vegan/plant-based burger company targeting millennial men focused on trying to adopt a healthier plant-based lifestyle. This company will be selling premade plant-based burger patties, which would be available in supermarkets and fast-food chains.

I first mind-mapped out all of my ideas for my branding- with emphasis on what I wanted my branding to say about my company. I highlighted three key branding pillars: the product was affordable; it was simply healthy and the brand was edgy and modern.

In terms of the advertisements themselves, I wanted to follow the edgy and loud look and feel of my brand through both simplistic imagery and the use of big, bold, eye-catching statements.

I felt that my company would benefit through collaborations with online distributors such as Amazon Fresh, where customers could easily buy my products and have them delivered to their door; also in conjunction with fastfood chains such as Shake Shack where my product would be used to celebrate #Veganuary.

I decided early on in the process that my company would use controversial language in the form of bold statements and curse words.

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Placement Scheme Students are given the opportunity to undertake a placement as part of their course. A placement is the perfect opportunity to develop new skills, gain essential experience and learn even more about the Creative Industries.

Placement Scheme Why Do A Work Placement? The optional Placement year gives our second year students the opportunity to gain skills specific to their chosen subjects; giving them the best possible preparation for employment.

Over the years’ students have secured placements here in the UK, Europe and across the world at prestigious companies such as:

Each student receives a number of supportive visits from their allocated academic tutor throughout their placement. In collaboration with our Innovation & Entrepreneur Hub, we also ensure support and guidance for students who are looking to set up their own business for the year.

y Ten4Design

y Imperial Design

y Peter Anderson Studios

y Sunday Somewhere

y PAN studio

y Cannon Europe

y Think Jam

y 87 Seconds

Aims of a Placement Year

y Mattel

y Avery

y IMG Studios

y Ferring Pharmaceuticals

y Develop and enhance student’s future employability skills and industry focus.

y Ability to analyse industry demands from an employer’s and academic perspective

y Brunel University

y Mindcorp

y Emakina (Amsterdam)

y Al Jazeera

y Gain relevant industrial/design experience in a professional environment

y Successfully engage in selfdirected, informal learning

y Peerless VFX

y Shift MS

y Escape studios

y Warner Bros

y Automatik

y IBM Laboratories

y Gram Games

y Dare Digital

y Sanofi

y Walt Disney

y Al-Suhaily

y Cannon

y LocalRen (China)

y Double negative

y Seven Seas Ltd (Merc group)

y Amazon UK

It seeks to ensure that these employability skills are not an optional extra, but an integral part of their learning experience.

y Gather knowledge of a company’s business and expectations

y Adapt to professional behaviours and organisational expectations

Brunel University has a distinguished history as a pioneer in providing work experience within our degree programmes. A work placement is a strategic opportunity for students to gain experience and develop new skills. We have a diverse set of placements from a wide range of industry sectors both national and from abroad. We cultivate strong, longstanding relationships and links and have an excellent track record for placing our Digital Media students in various companies from large corporations to SMEs in the Creative Industries and beyond.

Mohamed Rahman, Placement Officer, Brunel Professional Development Centre

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Placement Job Skills y Production

y Photography

y Web/apps

y Project Director

y Visualisation/Pitching

y Client Liaison

y 3D artist

y Front-end Development

y Software Development

y Motion Design

y Coding/programming

y Live Action

y Sound design

y Post-Production

y UX Design

y Visual Effects

y Post Production

y Video Editing

y Video Content and Creation

y Marketing Artist

Careers Guidance and Support Our students receive support & careers guidance in their placement choices and searches from the academic staff in

collaboration with Brunel Professional Development Centre. For more information visit: brunel.ac.uk/pdc

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Placement quotes Doing a placement at Proctor & Gamble enhanced my design and life skills. I learnt how to work a full 9 – 5 working week without distraction, whilst managing my own schedule. Being the only designer within the marketing team allowed me to voice my ideas without them being diluted by senior team members and allowed me to lead projects such as new product packaging. I’d highly recommend doing a placement, as it provides key experience in your chosen field that will definitely help with finding a job after university.

For my placement I worked at a mobile games developer, Gram Games, as a marketing artist. The experience not only developed my key soft skills and design skills but I also learnt the savvy and technical skills behind digital marketing. I not only learnt from my colleagues but they benefited from my skills too, as my knowledge of software was fresher and my understanding of digital media platforms was stronger. Overall it improved my time management, ability to work effectively in a team and learn that criticism should be embraced and not shied away from.

I am working at Amadeus in a Visual Communication and Content role for my placement year. During this time I am exposed to real-life applications of digital content, including 2D motion graphics further developing my skills. This has also allowed me to build up a portfolio of dynamic visual content. At Amadeus, I am supported by a great mentor who has 15+ years of industry experience, and from whom I can learn a lot.

My time at Peter Anderson Studio has allowed me to fully immerse myself in the world of motion and title design, from seeing the creative process and rationale behind ideation at the beginning of a project to the production and development of the final result. Not only have I learnt to question myself more as to why I am doing something, I also have been given the trust and creative freedom to explore my own ideas which is something I didn’t expect at such an early stage in my professional career.

Dominic Percy, Former Placement Student at Proctor & Gamble

Rebecca Ward, Former Placement Student at Gram Games

Erno Frak, Placement Student at Amadeus

Thomas Merry, Placement Student at Peter Anderson Studio, London

I believe my placement year at Hello Lamp Post transformed me into being a more confident and organised individual and most importantly, made me realise my potential as a multifaceted designer. My self-discipline and confidence as a person and a designer increased exponentially, learning that my opinions and ideas are worth being told, whether they are good or bad and I should be proud to share them.

For me, it was an absolute privilege to be accepted on placement at IMG Studios’ graphics department. I was treated as an equal, surrounded by fantastic colleagues who continued to teach me about the rules of broadcast, implementing the principles of design in the real world, and supported me when things became a little stressful.

I can confidently say that doing a placement year has shaped me as a designer and guided me to a deeper understanding of my technical and soft skills. Not only did I have the opportunity to experience the agency life but, since I did my placement in Amsterdam, I was also able to discover and fall in love with a new city. During my year as an intern, I felt respected and my views were always taken into consideration.

Tom has been an invaluable asset to the Peter Anderson Studio team. He brings a fresh enthusiasm and insightful knowledge to our animation team. Tom’s drive to learn new technical skills has seen him take on many daunting tasks with ease and excitement. Tom also brings his creative passions outside of work to the studio and is often introducing our team to interesting podcasts, new software and innovative technology.

The company was selected to be one of the start-ups on Facebook’s accelerator project called LDN_LAB and we got to work in the Facebook Offices for 3 months. I gained great insights from the Facebook teams and Creative Director of Facebook London. Overall, I gained a wealth of knowledge across certain key roles and responsibilities I am now putting into practice as a Digital Designer.

Mumbi Munyua, Former Placement Student at Hello Lamp Post

Having now created content for TV broadcasts and worked with different industry personnel, I feel confident going forward and working in the industry post-graduation. I am truly excited for the future based on my overwhelmingly positive experience during my placement.

Tarun Agrawala, Former Placement Student at IMG Studios

My ideas were always listened to and my opinion asked for. I even had the amazing opportunity to organise and facilitate a design sprint myself. To say that I recommend undertaking an experience like this is an understatement.

Alice Cagno, Former Placement Student at Emakina

Peter Anderson My placement at Peerless has given me an introduction to the real world of working in the VFX industry for TV and film. I had the opportunity to work along side VFX designers, gaining valuable knowledge and skills in rotoscoping work and daily screening sessions. I feel that this experience has set me up ready for my final year back at university and also looking ahead to future employment.

Rowan Bean, Placement Student at Peerless VFX, London

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External Advisory Panel

Industry quotes

We would like to thank our Industry Advisory Panel members who enable us to make our educational provision relevant to the needs of industry. Their expertise and business experience help ensure we provide enhanced graduate employability.

Absolutely thrilled at the stellar level of talent and ingenuity of the students; the imagination, dedication and excellent execution apparent in the 3rd year’s interim final year projects pitch & presentations. A real testament to the learning environment provided by the staff at Brunel, and their dedication to ensuring that their students have the skills needed to thrive in industry.

y Matt Supersad, Post Production Producer, Absolute Post

y Hannah Townsend, Creative Manger, WISER Recruitment Agency

y Information on the latest processes and technology from industry

y Peter Anderson CEO and Motion designer, Peter Anderson Studios

y Kardo Ayoub, Digital Design/ Branding, The Team

y Knowledge, professionalism, and creativity

y David Bonney, Marketing, Brand & Media Consultant

y Advice on guiding students’ career development during the course

y Natalie House, Director of HouseInkorporated & Senior Project Producer at Flirt Soho

EAP Member, Matt Simpson, Sky TV Mobile

y A check on the quality of output from the courses and their relevance to industry

y Freelance Motion Designer, Emma Kingsnorth

Brunel University has successfully designed their courses to allow students to create their own path in how they discover solutions to real world problems, this is what makes them successful and independent in the world after university. We have been working with Brunel University in an advisory capacity to help shape the course to be aligned to industry. This has proven highly valuable to students and the digital industry, with graduates entering into jobs with complimentary experience and subject-matter expertise.

Our Industry Panel y Matt Simpson, Digital Designer, Sky TV Mobile y Rachel Brockbank, Digital Product Designer, Inktrap y Sam Lester, CEO, Inktrap y Daniel Roulston, Creative Producer, Sky TV News

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EAP Member, Jon MacNamara, IBM

The panels provides a number of benefits:

y Amardeep Singh Shakhon, Executive Digital Experience Director, HSBC y Gurmit Sing Shakhon, Executive Digital Experience Director, HSBC y Tushar Merwanji, Service and Interaction Designer at Fjord (Accenture Interactive)

y Jamien Middleton, Motion Designer, The Animation Guys y Drew Jones, VFX Producer, Cinesite y Will Ward, Motion Designer, GlenDimplex

It was heartening to see such a wide variety of projects and interests from the students, and speaking to them individually was illuminating! As so many projects had a social or cultural focus, it was stimulating to see just how engaged the students are with contemporary concerns and experiences; a positive sign for the future.

The standard of work was first class. The confidence and passion the students showed for their projects were exemplary. The concern they showed for their world, and how they want to make it a better place, was really encouraging for our future. They were keen to accept input from industry figures like myself; and as a marketeer, from a business background, I was happy to introduce some commercial thoughts to the students; they listened attentively, asked me plenty of good questions and suggested their own ways to optimise their projects It was equally valuable to sit with experts from a variety of disciplines and from a marketing perspective, a good opportunity to share a client’s perspective on the students’ work, and the course in general. Presenting to clients is an essential skill and the students presenting the graduate show’s brand identity were confident and well prepared, I wish I had that level of confidence at the same age. It was clear, from my guest lecture, the interim poster presentations and the EAP meeting many students will have successful careers after graduation and I feel the course is in good hands.

EAP Member, David Bonney, Freelance Brand and Media Consultant

EAP Members, Amardeep & Gurmit Singh Shakhon, HSBC Private Banking

y John MacNamara, Senior Inventor, IBM Hursley Innovation Centre 167

Brunel Digital Media Alumni Inktrap Digital Product Design Studio Evolution of the company Inktrap was founded at Brunel by Sam and James; two students in the final year of their courses. Initially they took on a wide range of creative work but over time this narrowed to focus on design and front-end development of human-centered digital products. Since its inception in 2013, Inktrap has helped clients ranging

from early stage startups to multinational corporations. Their highly collaborative and transparent way of working ensures that they create products that work brilliantly, whether they’re improving an existing product or launching a brand new idea.

James Hanks

Chris studied Digital Design, graduating with a First in 2018. Throughout the first couple of years, he found his passion for digital product design and programming.

James graduated from Digital Design in 2019 with a First, and has a keen interest in the intersection between design and technology.

This led him to do an industry placement and a final year project combining these disciplines. Upon graduation, he joined Inktrap as a Front-end Developer; building web interfaces that ensure users have the best possible experience.

Contact details: mailbox@inktrap.co.uk

Involvement with Brunel

Sam Lester

James Keal

Rachel Brockbank

Sam and Rachel now attend the industry advisory panel for the digital courses, helping to shape the course for future cohorts.

Sam graduated from Multimedia Technology and Design in 2013 with a First and subsequently founded Inktrap with James.

Over the last few years the company has taken on Brunel graduates and they run a paid placement scheme to help students gain experience.

The course at Brunel helped to define his design process and provided a foundation to further develop technical skills.

After graduating from the Product Design course James went on to found Inktrap with Sam. The multidisciplinary aspect of the course gave him the capability to cope with the varied workload required with running an agency. Learning the project management and organisational skills required to complete endto-end design briefs have also been vital, along with a strong grounding in the product design process.

Rachel studied Visual Effects and Motion Graphics at Brunel expecting to start her career as a filmmaker, but instead discovered a love for motion graphics and digital design – both areas she knew almost nothing about when beginning her degree.

Next, they plan to increase their engagement with Brunel by running talks and a portfolio review.

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Chris Evans

The placement scheme was also vital to understanding the industry and inspiring the launch of the business.

The balance of both technical and creative skills at Brunel separated it from other institutions, and enabled him to find a role at Inktrap, where he could continue to practice both as a Digital Product Designer and Developer.

Finding a job that combined both of these areas of design, she now works at Inktrap, designing products and animating promotional videos for startups and multinational corporations. 169

Brunel Digital Media Alumni Emma Kingsnorth, Freelance Motion Designer

Linda Scerpella, Motion Designer, Blue Spill Design VFX Studio

I graduated from Brunel’s Multimedia Technology & Design course in 2006 and after working as a developer for Yell Online Business directory, I decided to be a designer. I was lucky enough to be selected for a place at Dareschool which really shaped my whole career and something that I am super thankful for until this day.

With a background in graphic design from my lovely Switzerland, I graduated in Visual Effects and Motion Graphics at Brunel University in 2019. During my studies I had work experience at Peter Anderson Studio as an Animation and Brand Intern.

I loved working at Dare, where I started my Motion Graphics career, but in 2011 I decided that the time had come to move on. I wanted to perfect my technical skills and so I managed to secure a position at Unit post house.

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In July 2019 I attended New Designers where I was lucky enough to be awarded the Pentland Brands Award for the quality of my work and offered a 2-month placement at Pentland Brands. There I had the opportunity to help on a global integrated campaign for Speedo.

After working for 2 years, I felt ready to start freelancing and I set up Emki Limited in 2013 and haven’t looked back since. I get to collaborate with so many amazing people and on such a wide variety of projects for clients from Facebook, Google, BBC & Redbull and agencies including Mr President, Across the Pond, and Imagination & Oliver.

In 2019 I also freelanced and had the chance to work at Huge Designs on the latest title sequence for The Walking Dead. I am currently a Junior Motion Designer at Blue Spill, where I am involved in the ideation and creation of title sequences and in-show graphics for major production and distribution companies, with a focus on series and documentaries.

emmakingsnorth.co.uk

linda.scerpella.ch

Tushar Merwanji, Service and Interaction Designer at Fjord (Accenture Interactive)

Author: Emma Kingsnorth

Author: Linda Scerpella

In 2015 I graduated from what was then called: ‘Brunel’s Multimedia Technology and Design course after completing a year in industry at a healthcare design agency, Content Formula. I felt really lucky at the time that the skills I learnt during my degree and placement taught me how to bring design and development together and the importance of user experience design. After graduation I joined Publicis. Sapient as an intern specialising in user experience design. In 2016 I was learning more about designing for the iPhone and ended up creating and releasing the largest public Apple iOS 10 global user interface file that became a go to resource for mobile interface designers around the world.

Author: Emma Kingsnorth

Author: Linda Scerpella

services and experiences that define industries in banking, home improvement, healthcare and most recently a media and entertainment provider here in the UK.

Amardeep and Gurmit Singh Shakhon, Executive Digital Experience Directors, at HSBC Gurmit and I studied Multimedia Technology and Design and graduated in 2007 at the top of our class with professional development. During our time at Brunel University we discovered a key mental shift, which gave us the ability to learn how to learn. It’s a strange position to be in, as you take for granted your ability to learn throughout your career. However it’s done, it leads you to question how you have perceived the world up to this point.

A year later I joined Fjord, the design and innovation consultancy for Accenture Interactive and for the last three years I’ve had the opportunity to design, build and launch 171

Digital Media Staff The Digital Media staff offer an extensive portfolio of expertise and experience, tapping into a variety of industry-relevant skills and disciplines. Some blend their teaching with direct creative industry practice and experience and others are leaders in particular industry related academic research. We all focus on developing students’ creative, technical and employability skills; achieved by using our knowledge and experience to support, educate and guide students through their studies and ultimate preparation for the world of work.

Prof Marios Angelides Head of Division and Professor of Computing Digital Games, Data Modelling

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Dr Harry Agius Undergraduate Courses Director and Admissions Tutor Web Development, Digital Futures, Experience Design, Digital Games

Dr Damon Daylamani-Zad

Steve Cockett

Alan Mannion

Wolf Winter

Director of Teaching

Lecturer in Digital Design

Lecturer in Motion Graphics

Postgraduate Course Director and Admissions Tutor

VFX, Compositing, Match Moving, Effects Animation, Post-Production

Web Design, Graphics, Video Production, Post-Production, Mobile Design

Motion Graphics, Animation

Creative Computing, AI and Games

Paul Butler

Fred Weimer

David Poole

Dr Rafiq Swash

Rakesh Mohun

Christian Azolan

Michael Murdoch

John Salisbury

Lecturer in Graphics and Design Theory

Lecturer in 3D Modelling and Animation

Lecturer in Design Practice, Marketing and Branding

Lecturer in Digital Design and 3D Technologies

Lecturer and Studio Manager

Lecturer in Brand and Marketing

Lecturer in Brand Strategy

Lecturer in Motion Design

Careers Advice, Placements, Creative Industry Links

CGI, Rigging, Motion Capture, Photography, Animation

Branding , Graphic Design

Web Development, Interaction Design , 3D Imaging

Motion Graphics, Film, Media Aesthetics, Sound Production

Illustration, Graphics, Promotion and Creative Direction

CEO of The House Creative Agency

Graphics, Animation, After Effects and C4D

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Thank You We would like to thank all our guest lecturers, partners, advisors and supporters who have contributed so importantly to Brunel Digital Media’s courses, enriching our students’ learning experience, heightening awareness of industry practices, skillsets and expectations. y Sky TV Mobile

y Automatik VFX

y Dan Perri, Title Designer

y Fjord (Accenture Interactive)

y Inktrap

y Blue Zoo

y Walt Disney

y IBM Hursley Innovation Centre

y Sky TV News

y Sky Creative

y Emakina, Amsterdam

y WISER Recruitment Agency

y Absolute Post

y Breakfast in Bed

y Gram Games

y Peter Anderson Studios

y Jahdrops

y Channel 5

y Digital Design/Branding, The Team

y David Bonney, Marketing, Brand & Media Consultant

y Story Cube

y Seven Seas Ltd

y ClikD

y Cannon Europe

y Oilver Harud, Storyboard artist

y Media Zoo

y Tui Travel

y Peerless VFX

y Esther College

y Emma Kingsnorth, Freelance Motion Designer

y HouseInkorporated y The House y Tony May, Director of Photography, y Jonathan Boyd, Camera Assistant

y Camouflage/IMG Studios

y Mitchells & Butlers

y Blue Spill

y Co-Innovate

y Noble House Media

y European Regional Development

y Fitsprint

y Marta Abello y Flirt Soho

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y Cinesite

y Magnet Harlequin

y The Animation Guys y GlenDimplex y Soapbox

y Siyona Tech y Private Banking, HSBC y The Factory y Black&Decker y Spin Brands

y Sterling Solutions

y Mattieu Schneider, 3D Character Artist

y Amadeus Services

y Wonderbly 175

Thank you