OUGD503 Responsive
Project Report Ethan Earle
Introduction At the start of the responsive module, the outcomes remained uncertain to me. Not having a set brief that you have to stick to was somewhat refreshing in terms of freedom of choice. The smaller briefs could be whatever we wanted, so it was crucial that I chose something that interests me as a designer and would closely resemble that of what I would want to do in the future and pursue as an actual career. In the beginning, I considered the larger brief a chance to go outside of my comfort zone, to learn something new, however this posed to be more difficult than expected, so a change in direction was needed in order to create successful outcomes in a timely manner. Collaborating has been much more successful this year than it has previously, it is obvious by the outcomes produced we had great chemistry and worked in similar ways. Learning on my mistakes last year has really helped me grow this year in terms of collaborating. It is clear that to succeed at group work, you must communicate and sometimes take charge of the situation if things go off track, however finding a healthy balance between being somewhat bossy and maintaining a sense of being equal was a challenge, however it became clear that it is necessary to have a certain amount of leadership within a collaborative design project.
Se– cret 7”
Secret 7” Secret 7 had taken a large chunk of my time this year. This is because I wanted to build on my poor effort last year and ensure a better outcome was achieved this time around. Focusing my time on a digital outcome as well as an analogue outcome was a chance to see how well I perform with and without a computer, by assessing my confidence with each process and pushing myself to get it right first time was my main goal for this brief. Screen printing the Richter cover posed a lot of problems for me, not necessarily because of errors on my behalf, but errors that occurred due to the mesh of the screens that are stocked in the university. Choosing to create a fine halftone that would have needed a screen mesh finer than 200 posed many issues when trying to print this on a 140/120 mesh screen. So this made me rethink my plans and come up with a backup so no time was wasted, using common sense and a certain amount of luck countered this and ensured that an outcome I wasn’t just happy with but was still in keeping with the concept was produced. The digital submission for Garratt was of course going to be the stronger outcome of the two, solely down to the amount of experience I’ve had with computers compared to the former process. It was risky selecting a lyric to stick with as this is what many, many others do however if executed differently to everyone else I knew it should have been a unique entry that would hopefully grab the judge’s attention. Using Cinema 4D for the first time in years made me realise that I should take advantage of the skills I have acquired whilst even in university
and even as far back as college. Learning techniques such as 3D modelling before I had a good grasp of design has meant I can now take full advantage of it and apply my own, informed decisions within the work that would create much better outcomes. Overall, the design for music is something I have often done in the past, and to much success with designing for the likes of a friend who has recently released a metal album and a DJ duo that go by the name of Eton Messy. This shows I am not afraid to design for different clients and my outcomes vary greatly according to what would be an appropriate response for any given brief.
Snap– chat Geofilter
Snapchat
My successful submission to add a filter to the Hyde Park/ Headingley area was a spare of the moment decision and because it was successful it has given me the confidence to want to submit more and make a series out of which could be added to my professional portfolio. Choosing to opt for a landmark that best represented the area in a simple line format enabled a more universal outcome that could be recognised by all of those who may visit/live in the area. This ‘one-day brief’ has really helped me make the most of the time I have and create something that will actually be successful in a rather short amount of time.
UCC —YCN
UCC Having a strong interest in branding drawn me towards this brief. However, it wasn’t going to be as easy as just thinking of a name and logo off the top of my head and going from there. The UCC brand was already established, it was more of a refresh that anything, which is something I have never done before in regards to branding. Deciding to make the brand more human and interactive was something I wanted to do before even carrying out any research. It was clear that the brand was overly retail and lacked what most other coffee branches have, and that being something that gives you a sense of relaxation, the red wasn’t necessarily the issue with the brand, it was simply because it would fail to fit in with the usual coffee shop atmosphere. By adding patterns and adding new, appropriate colours to the coffee bags was all that was needed for the brand to come to life. I chose to spend the majority of my time creating the app. This is because I wanted to learn new skills whilst doing so. Rather than playing it safe and mocking up in illustrator then dragging it over an iPhone in Photoshop, I wanted to bring it to life and really make use of the resources I have to hand. Adobe After Effects is something I have dabbled with in the past so I knew the fundamental’s of how it worked, it was a simple enough process that enabled me to make the mock up more interactive and sow how the UX would function whether than explain what would happen when something was clicked. The skills learned during this brief are invaluable for the future. Animation is something I really want to focus on in the future and this
has given me the confidence to take on more challenging yet rewarding tasks. Overall, the presentation of this project came out great, there is a clear and concise theme that runs throughout the brand that makes using different colours somewhat acceptable to ensure the brand appealed to the correct target market. Conclusively, refreshing a brand is not something I would want to work on again in the future, this is because I feel having freedom to start from scratch with no previous influences enables a much more fluid outcome that represents something more consistent.
Design
Bri— dge D&AD
DesignBridge As said earlier, collaboration is something that has posed many issues in the past, however this was a time when choosing who to collaborate with was not an option. I think this played a large part in pairing with someone who has a similar thought process to myself, therefore making the flow of work a much more productive procedure. Having visited stores like Boots and Superdrug, it was made clear e were going for the straight down the middle retail target market, this was due to a gender neutral product as to market the product as high end would mean too much upfront cost for production materials, as with a gender neutral product could bring controversy, so more money would need to be spent on the promotion and advertising of the product to neutralise any concerns therefore expanding the target market, it was clear that a solid and informed decision on the target market of the product was needed rather than a hunch. This was agreed with when we were receiving feedback on the matter, people generally agreed colour was needed and that it should be a product you could imagine seeing on a supermarket shelf, rather than something with more prestige and luxury as that would generally appeal to an older age range, that would also be less likely to conform to a gender neutral product. The naming of the product came from a desire to create a theme, this theme was Japanese and words we focussed on were unity, serenity and equality. As previously stated it was a preference of mine to brand something from start to finish rather than have to work from something that has been given to you from a previous brand. This is something which I want
to focus on in the future and this brief has been invaluable in terms of experience, I now feel confident enough to accept work that could be of this nature.
Conclusion To wrap up this module, I would have to say it has been a great experience in terms of getting to grips with what I am interested in. Naturally opting for briefs that I know I want to pursue in the future and are already confident in gave me the opportunity to try something riskier within those projects like website building, app production and animation. I will no doubt be using these skills in the months/years to come within my own practice.