Ellen Setterfield
OUGD603 Extended Practice
Brief 4
The Brief and Research Leeds College of Art send an annual brief to students at the college to design a Christmas card. The brief stated that the brand guidelines for LCA must be used within the design but the outcome was open to interpretation. This brief was completed as a collaboration as the number of outcomes was considerably large for one person to
design, print and craft alone. Photos were taken in order to gather some primary research and look at what other cards were being sold in shops. It was noticeable that most of the interactive cards were considerably more appealing but also more expensive. As graphic design is considered a tool for communication an interactive card would be
more memorable than a standard card design. Considering the audience for the card would be alumni, industry professionals and friends of the college it was important to produce something that was professional but also captured all of the emotions from Christmas time.
LCA Christmas Card
Ellen Setterfield
OUGD603 Extended Practice
Brief 4
LCA Christmas Card
Concept and Idea Development Ideas were brainstormed individually and then refined as a whole. This process took a long time as there were a lot of ideas to process and work through before coming to a final decision. This process was very productive as it allowed ideas to develop by discussing each idea and refining them based on visuals and also mashing up ideas from
both brainstorm’s. The idea decided upon was to create a Christmas cracker out of paper, this cracker would be 3D though thin enough to fit in a standard DL envelope. These decisions were made to try and keep costings to a minimum in order to win the competition. As the brief was not limited some digital outcomes were explored such as
using augmented reality to give the card more depth and make it more memorable. Another idea that was explored was to include a hash tag for social media and create a small campaign where recipients could post an image of themselves with the card to their twitter and tag Leeds College of Art within it. Though these ideas were good ones
it was decided that the card should simply be a print based outcome as only 200 people would receive them and it would be expensive to merge digital outcomes with print outcomes and the college would not see the return due to the small number of cards sent out.
Ellen Setterfield
OUGD603 Extended Practice
Brief 4
LCA Christmas Card
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from Leeds College of Art
EST
1846
Character Design Individual Contribution In order to add some personality to the design a set of characters were designed for the card itself. Using Father Christmas as the centre piece and creating bespoke elves to work alongside him attempts to represent students at Leeds College of Art. The insert of the card uses some of the colours within the LCA brand guidelines but due to some of
the colours needed to represent the Christmas theme new colours had to be introduced in order for the design to stand out against the red of the exterior cracker. The final insert features the characters within a Christmas scene wrapping presents and decorating trees whilst Father
Christmas loads his present sack. Overall this characters add a great deal of personality to the design though they could have been improved as the designs are quite static and do not work as well when trying to represent movement. The mosaic tiles from the LCA logo were added to the
Christmas trees to link to the cracker exterior and remind recipients that the card is from LCA. The message ‘Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from Leeds College of Art’ was added as per request within the brief.
Ellen Setterfield
OUGD603 Extended Practice
Brief 4
LCA Christmas Card
Development After submitting a mock up of the Christmas card the marketing department in partnership with the principal of LCA chose the design as the winner of the Christmas card competition. This meant that 200 copies were to be printed and hand made in less than two weeks. There was some worry over the cost of making the cards as it was
considerably more than a simple printed card design. This was discussed with the marketing team and a figure was decided upon. Working with the marketing team on the budget for this project was great practice at working with clients in industry. Printing was arranged with James in the digital dungeon at LCA and the cost was to come out
of the marketing budget. Crafting the cards would be the most time consuming part of this brief so organisation was key. A production line was created and each job was given an allotted time to be completed. Envelopes were sourced externally from the college to save money. Though these envelopes were chosen and given the go ahead from
marketing it was decided that when the cards were sent out different envelopes would be used to fit in with the aesthetic of the card.
Ellen Setterfield
Final Cards The final cards were finished with a small tag to represent a gift tag on a Christmas present. Each card was given a small piece of string which came in three different colours and also a small red bell. These extra features added to the card in order to ensure that recipients remembered the card amongst any other cards received.
OUGD603 Extended Practice
Brief 4
LCA Christmas Card
Ellen Setterfield
Final Cards The insert of the card was slotted into one of the pieces of the cracker. This was to mimic the experience people have when popping Christmas crackers during their Christmas dinner. When placed together the insert and cracker work very well together but also stand apart which was very important as it showcases the different work of each designer.
OUGD603 Extended Practice
Brief 4
LCA Christmas Card
Ellen Setterfield
Submitting The final cards were assembled and submitted on time, the Principal sent a thank you letter which made the brief much more satisfying as the main aim was to impress her with an innovative card that showcased the talent at the college.
OUGD603 Extended Practice
Brief 4
LCA Christmas Card