Secret7� I thoroughly enjoyed working on this brief, as it is something that i'd be willing to explore further in my career. I found the challenge of designing album sleeves to be something that was really appealing to me and the type of work I like to make, and I really enjoyed the freedom and the interpretative nature of the competition. When designing the images, I really went off the images in my head that were popping up as I listened to the songs, so my responses are quite abstract and personal (which may be why I didn't get chosen). I feel that most of my responses are really effective pieces of illustration, and I think that the mixture of colour schemes, compositions (some similar), and the use of patterns look really nice as a set, which was not my intention. I wanted to take this competition as an opportunity to establish the type of work I make, my 'Style', which from looking at my submissions, I like to draw skies. I admit that I need to step away from using digital media in my artwork, however I felt this competition was the time to capitalise on what I do best and what I enjoy. I found myself tackling this project in a professional manner, actually taking the time to make schedules, and plan my days etc, in order to meet the deadline, which I am really happy about, even though, honestly, I didn't feel particularly challenged by this brief. Despite saying that, I feel that my designs are well executed and developed, which is all I could have hoped for. If I were to take part in this competition again, there are a few things I would have changed. Throughout the duration of the project, I didn't receive alot of constructive criticism on my designs. I feel this may have effected the success of my designs because of how I was basing them on my own personal experience of the songs, and remained unaware of how my audience would view them. Truthfully, I don't think I fully understood the competition aswell. I knew the basic idea was to design 7 album sleeves, inspired by the given tracks, however I wasn't clear on a few aspects. I found designing the sleeves quite easy because of how vague the instruction of 'be inspired by this track and draw' was, as it is completely down to personal experience. I was also unsure of aspects the judges would be looking for in my designs, or if it was just objective. Despite not being chosen, I'm confident that I've created some interesting pieces for my portfolio and social medias, in order to start getting myself out there.
Collaborative Practice BRIEF D&AD The Desperados Brief
AUDIENCE Young Urbanites, students, party goers D&AD Judges GENRE Advertising Experiential Brand Expression Integrated Campaigns DELIVERABLES Your solution to the brief, presented using 2 mins (max) video, and/or up to 8 presentation slides.
D&AD: The Desperados Brief This project has been a definite eye opener for me, especially as it was the first time I have collaborated with other artists, in a professional manner. It has taught me about a lot of things; communication, and how good communication is essential for success; maturity and the importance of being truthful and constructive with each other; and time management, an important aspect always. On this project, I was working with graphic designer Amelia Bramwell, and animator Gavin Rae. My role in the group was to create an image for our product, including bottle, packaging and type design, which I feel I did quite successfully. However I also had an input in the other aspects of the project during the group meetings, of which I attended every one. There were alot of meetings where there were only 2 members, which was a bit annoying, but this is mainly down to scheduling issues with the graphic design department, and couldn't be helped. The brief at first did seem quite vague, but the more we spoke about it, the more we got our heads around what we needed to do. We decided to create a glow in the dark campaign for Desperados including bottles, posters, promotional material like glow sticks and pingpong balls. Our idea of glow in the dark bottles was really effective, and our concept was well rounded, and linked harmoniously with the desperado's brand. I think it is an effective outcome for what the brief was asking, as from researching into colour theory and asking peers, neon colours link to the party scene so well because they are the brightest, and create a sense of excitement and energy. Our final submission to D&AD, consisting of a 6 slide presentation and a sting, was in my opinion successful because of how we effectively presented a campaign that ultimately answered the brief. However, there were some slight issues throughout the project that I feel could've been improved by better communication. For example, the image of a Desperados bottle used in the sting, did not match the product that we had designed, which unfortunately ended up looking slightly unprofessional. I cannot fault the execution of the animation though, and think it communicated our idea really effectively. I don't think that the collaborative element of this project appealed to me that much, because of the added obstacle of having to communicate more effectively, as opposed to working by yourself and knowing what's going on. Although me and my team worked really hard, i do not feel that we achieved anything spectacular. However, this could be down to the nature of the brief and how in my opinion there wasn't much opportunity for creativity. If I were to do this brief again, I think I would like to work with more than one animator because I feel a longer and more advanced animation would have made this project stand out.
BRIEF Briefbox AUDIENCE The client, Briefbox users/designers, Homeowners GENRE Branding, Identity, Graphic Design DELIVERABLES 5 Variations of business card design, to promote Alison Bow’s painting and decorating business. Designs should maintain a contemporary and playful aesthetic to reflect the clients identity.
Briefbox: Visual Identity for Painter & Decorator Alison Bow
As an illustrator with a background in graphic design, I was really excited for this branding brief as I’ve always been passionate about crafting an identity through my images. I found this brief to be mostly challenging in the way that I was assimilating the information, and inspirational images given in the brief, to I’m really pleased with the outcomes of this project, as I was able to generate a contemporary looking card that in my opinion met all criteria. This brief also forced me to think about use of colour schemes and the messages certain colours create. Compared to alot of briefs, I found this one to be quite straight forward in terms of design process, using keywords like playful, bold and contemporary to drive my designs forward. My only complaint for this brief was that because of the hypothetical nature of the brief, I was unable to base my designs on something concrete. If completing a real branding brief, I would want to meet the client face to face in order to gain a sense of who they were, and importantly for my card design, what they look like. This may have been a mistake to include a character based on the client when I a was unsure what she looked like, however I found that it adds the playful element to the card, that wouldn’t have been created otherwise.
BRIEF Feathr AUDIENCE Feathr judges, General public Home Decor Enthusiasts GENRE Pattern Design, Interior Decoration
DELIVERABLES A 1560px Square tile for a repeat pattern, that blows minds and doesn’t just match the carpet. Make ART.
Feathr
For this brief, we were asked to create a repeat pattern tile for a wallpaper, that challenges the boundaries of mere decoration, and embodies Art. I chose to respond to this brief in a way that felt comfortable to me, basing my imagery on the theme of pop art and unusual objects. I used Pop Art to give my image that added edge, taking inspiration from the work of Andy Warhol and Martin Parr. I have never made a repeat pattern before, so to come out of the brief having achieved this has given me confidence. I didn’t find the technical side of this particularly gruelling, even though I had to learn from scratch. Because of the fast paced nature of the brief, I didn’t have alot of time to develop my imagery, however I did not feel that it was necessary; The vagueness of the brief really confused me and I found it difficult to choose a path and stick to it, which can be seen in my initial ideas and development, which is a weakness I have identified in my work process throughout. I’m really pleased with the outcome of this brief, as It has made me consider colour scheme alot more. I found myself thinking about the target audience and purpose of my image, and I am happy that my thought process when designing is shaping to that. The title of my submission was ‘Decapod’ which I thought was quite striking, especially if it is to be sold in a professional manner.