14 Brief Title
The Brief
Solution
Evaluation
End of Year Show
Visual identity and promotion for Leeds College of Art End of Year Shows in 2014.
Knock Knock. After asking people in the college I found most people were ambitious to work in the ‘most creative’ studios in the UK - with the majority saying they are ‘knocking on doors’ so to speak to break into their dream jobs. As a title for the exhibition it said everything that needed to be said about the show. It is full of unknown people, and unknown work. The work is copy led, with neutral visuals.
The brief has been a huge learning curve. Working with two committees, one anonymous the other incapable of making a decision is hard work to say the least. Instead of focussing on the negatives of the brief I will instead talk about what skills it has helped me improve;
Brief Type Live
Collaborators
Background This year is the first year both End of Year Shows will be promoted in a single promotional campaign.
Patience Having work signed-off to be signed back on again is very frustrating. Especially when you are met with a wall of stupidity whenever you have the ‘nerve’ to question senior management decisions. Organisation The shear quantity of work to do is challenging for a one man team. It has challenged me and made me get myself together, preparing me for heavy workloads in the future.
N/A
Presentation I have had to present my ideas to a team of people, this has improved my presentation skills and my ability to sell ideas. Back-bone I have stood up for myself and my work at every stage in the brief, pushing the client further than they would like go. I am happy I did this, the mark of a professional is caring about what you do, not politely sitting by whilst you compromise until you hate waking up in the morning.
Considerations What is an end of year show? What do the people visiting care about and what do the people exhibiting want to say to them?
Overall, I will make sure I don’t work with such unethical clients in the future.
David M Gaskell
OUGD603
Brief 14
1/14
Initial idea
David M Gaskell
Look Up
What was wrong
How it could be changed
The first idea I had for the End of Year Show was ‘Look Up’, a message to the students that they should set themselves higher aims after finishing at the college.
The visual was pretty appalling and I didn’t want the idea to be preachy. I think the college telling people how to feel has been a huge downfall in previous shows.
Visual needs to be more engaging. Less preachy. More focus on copywriting and the college experience.
OUGD603
Brief 14
2/14
Initial ideas
The Big Picture
What was wrong
How it could be changed
The Big Picture Each of the pixel blocks will have a photograph of a student in. Showing that everybody involved in the college makes up the end of year show. The Big Picture can also mean that college isn’t everything and it is important to look at the bigger picture - family, television, phones and stuff.
The visual language only works at a large size.
I wasn’t sure the big picture said anything in an instant. Too image led, not very adaptable - not something I could see on a t shirt or A6 flyer.
Pictograms were designed to show each of the courses that will be in the end of year show.
David M Gaskell
OUGD603
Brief 14
3/14
knock knock tuk tuk banke banke på frapper frapper тук тук klopfen klopfen llamar llamar bussare bussare bate bate bater bater pukać pukać zaklepat zaklepat klop klop стукаць стукаць cridar cridar trokas trokas zakucati zakucati kucati kucati куцати куцати χτυπώ χτυπώ vurmak vurmak koputtaa koputtaa koputama koputama kopogás kopogás banka banka klauvēt klauvēt затропа затропа ħabbat ħabbat slå slå zaklopať zaklopať стукати стукати pulsate pulsate
Concept pitch
The Name
Strengths
What needed to change
Knock knock An international joke for a joke of an international college. I took advantage of how money hungry the college is and followed ‘knock knock’ - ambitious students ready to progress - with international translations.
Knock knock is a start of a joke that end in multiple punchlines. I think this reflects the college well. I am good reading people too, so I knew the SMT in the college would be more than happy if they felt a campaign could give them an improved chance of squeezing money out of international students.
The design is a bit open, Marketing felt it needed to be dumbed down a bit to be understood by their imaginery audience of idiots.
The symbols from The Big Picture idea were simplified and used in the wayfinding for the show.
David M Gaskell
OUGD603
Brief 14
4/14
Clothe to touch A happy ending A Jehovah’s Witness Cliff Richard 17 clean toilets Development
David M Gaskell
Meeting marketing
The Concept
What needed to change
I ‘won’ the pitch and was rewarded by being lucky enough to meet marketing. They felt the previous idea was too vague, however they liked how vague it was. I knew instantly the project would be a shocker, working with people who were closed-minded and only interested in ticking boxes whilst replicating previous shows. It is an absolute disgrace how marketing have since treated me, but I will get to that later.
Knock knock Still using the knock knock headline, now it will be followed by a default list of amusing options.
Laughter isn’t what the college were going for, the removal of international translations didn’t please the principal. They ‘had to remain’ as she believed it would help earn £2000 a year extra from students...and I thought we were promoting existing students work in an interesting way.
OUGD603
Brief 14
My ambition was to make people smile, and avoid the feeling of desparation the college typically has surrounding the end of year show.
At this point I regretted ‘winning’ the end of year show.
5/14
Development
David M Gaskell
E-invite
Why it works
Reason it was rejected
I proposed a website for the exhibition. A function of which would be to create personalised invites.
People are more likely to respond to an invite from a friends, with a message that means something to them, than they are a mass email.
The college have and EventBrite account...the vaulting ambition of the marketing department stings the eyeballs.
OUGD603
Brief 14
6/14
Development
David M Gaskell
Exhibition t shirt
Why it works
Why it was rejected
I wanted the t shirt to be light-hearted and engaging.
Tone of voice matches that of the overall campaign. Each t shirt could have a bespoke list.
No budget for t shirts this year.
OUGD603
Brief 14
7/14
Development
David M Gaskell
A2 Mailer
Extended copy
Why it was rejected
An extended list is used on the A2 mailer, this attempts to show the college as more than a grey box.
Seen in the image on the right. Another attempt to give the college an almost self-deprecating tone of voice.
May cause offence.
OUGD603
Brief 14
8/14
Development
David M Gaskell
Symbols
Why it was rejected
Updated symbols to include the full set of courses on display and utilities in the college.
I felt the symbols were boring. I got feedback on them from Mark at MARK Studio who said they were too generic and there was an opportunity to do something special with the exhibition wayfinding.
OUGD603
Brief 14
9/14
Development
David M Gaskell
Hand-out
Signage
Why it was rejected
Serves as a key as to make the symbol based wayfinding understandable.
Image only wayfinding.
I felt the wayfinding lacked much of the humour that the external promotional materials once had.
OUGD603
Brief 14
10/14
Boring sentence Random translation Boring sentence Random translation Boring sentence Outcome
David M Gaskell
Concept
How I tried
Why it doesn’t work
Knock knock Remove all the humour from the first idea and force feed in some international transaltions.
I tried my hardest to convince marketing of the scale of mistake they were making. They didn’t listen, they were working under instruction from the principal.
I don’t think boring people is a good way to inspire them to attend an end of year show. Especially when the best thing about the show, a free drink, isn’t talked about as the principal ‘doesn’t think people go to the end of year show for a drink’.
OUGD603
Brief 14
11/14
Outcome
David M Gaskell
Printed promotion
Postcard
Why it doesn’t work
A2 Mailer, I am led to believe this will be posted to design studios and local schools.
To be placed around the Leeds area, in bars and public toilets, places where people are drunk enough to be convinced to attend the end of year show.
The international translations are very confusing, they make the list seem like it was wrote by a schizophrenic genius, a person capable of writing in so many languages whilst the same time unable to form a coherent argument.
OUGD603
Brief 14
12/14
Outcome
David M Gaskell
External signage
Posters
Signage to make people aware the show exists at both Vernon Street and Blenheim Walk.
Placed around Leeds to promote the End of Year Show.
OUGD603
Brief 14
13/14
Work-in-Progress
David M Gaskell
Hand-out
Internal signage
I am hopeful
The latest version of the hand-out uses the tick boxes. This allows the visitor to tick-off the courses that they have visited on the night. Leaving a functional hand-out.
That marketing don’t destroy this part of the end of year show by asking the principal what her opinion is.
The hand-out is in development, going to print on 9th June.
The internal signage is a work in progress. With the next round scheduled to be completed on the 6th June. For this reason I have no examples of the latest signage. However, the symbols have gone and we will be using a simple tick box version of the wayfinding.
OUGD603
Brief 14
14/14