Project Report OUIL503 Reponsive
Neneh Patel
OUIL503
Neneh Patel
Contents Individual YCN - UK Greetings (substantial) Whittards: Design a caddy Ohhdeer cards SSGB
2-6 7-9 10-11 12-13
Collaborative YCN- Royal R Opera House
14-18
Summative Evaluation
19-21 1
Neneh Patel
YCN: UK Greetings
OUIL503
Brief: To design four greetings cards, a set of boxed notecards, notebook cover, gift wrap and gift bag for an occasion of your choice. I was quite set on this brief from f that start as I feel that there isn’t enough choice of contemporary Diwali cards. Although I was hesitant at first to do Diwali as the celebration, I felt that this would make it more personalised to me, so I would be more invested in the project. I think that this helped me not to lose interest in the project towards the deadline when I had a few difficulties. I wa also viewed this as a way of making my work more unique, instead of doing birthday or Christmas cards which would no doubt be popular. I chose to use bright colours, but tried to make a few combinations that were unexpected and limited the colours used in order to push myself to make the images simpler. 2
Neneh Patel
YCN: UK Greetings
OUIL503
I researched the kind of cards that were available for Diwali, and the only ones that appealed to me were on notonthehighstreet.com. These were slightly more expensive than the ones that would be on offer at UK Greetings and I felt that my cards would fill this gap in their repertoire. I think that doing more research into the symbolism of the images may m have strengthened my work, but I think that I have a good prior knowledge of the rituals involved in celebrating it. The majority of the cards and e-cards didn’t look very clean and tended to use a lot of stock imagery of divas and curly, fussy writing. Not being very comfortable using type myself, I decided to hand draw the lettering, so that it would fit in with the images. Using ink was a consious decision as I feel comfortabe with it, but it also allowed me to produce a large amount of imagery very quickly which allowed me a range of options when it came to collaging them digitally.
Cards available at notonthehighstreet.com (top) and asHallmark e-cards (left) 3
Neneh Patel
YCN: UK Greetings
OUIL503
I encountered a few problems along the way, firstly when I was making the card designs, which I chose to do first, I found that they were getting too complex and busy. This forced me to simplify my designs to make them more eye-catching which made them more successful in the end. I found that I need to trust my gut instinct more, and trust that working quickly doesn’t necessarily mean that the quality is compromised. Looking back, I think that recurring heart/flame image could have been altered more for the wrapping paper in order to make it stand out of the collecition more
Mock-up of the notebook
4 Development of the designs before Photoshop
Neneh Patel
YCN: UK Greetings
OUIL503
Technically, I also had issues with making a repeat pattern which slowed down the process, as did finding digital mock-ups which were the right size for my card and notecard designs. I was lucky to have designed cards that were square, but on the notecard design which was slightly taller, I had to cut off some of it in order to make it fit. I also had to improvise imp with the gift bag design which was frustrating as I has spent a long time trying to make them work within the composition and as a series. Perhaps in the future I would have more time to make a physical copy and photograph it myself, which would negate the need for online mock-ups. I think that the toward submission I really took my foot off the pedal and let the momentum go. This meant that when I submitted, I didn’t feel the same excitement about the project. I submitted in quite a rush as I had been focussing on finishing the collaborative work on time. This meant that I actually submitted Photoshop files instead of PDFs or JPEGs. Fortunately, I received an email about reJPEGs submitting the work in the correct format which meant I could correct the error. 5
Neneh Patel
YCN: UK Greetings
OUIL503
Submitting my work I was pleased with the overall collection, but I had an issue with the actual file types. Receiving an email from YCN to ask for a resubmission as PDF was quite surprising and I wish I had given myself more time to check they were PDFs before I had sent them. Luckily, I was able to resubmit quickly.
The designs as a collection
Overall I think that this was a good brief for me as I finally made work that fit together as a collection. I also learned that I need to give myself enough time to check over my submission. I need to be able to trust my instincts and I can work to self-imposed limitations such as a strict colour palette.
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Neneh Patel
Whittard: Design a caddy
OUIL503
I found this an interesting project, but I know now that it isn’t something that I would like to focus too much on in the future. Brief: Design a caddy for both the Pumpkin Spiced Tea and Toffee Apple Infusion. For this brief I wanted the work to be playful. The brief asked for the work to be ‘bright, bold and funky’ and step away from the traditional images of Halloween and Autumn. the theme was ‘A Very Autumnal Halloween’, so I brainstormed a range of ideas and symbols that worked for both of the holidays. For each of the designs, I wanted to feature the main flavour and try to give it an unexpected twist. I approached this brief in the same way as an editorial brief and tried a range of ways of combining the images. I made quick sketches and then tried different versions in ink that I could easily add colour to. Despite this, when it came to making the images, I found that the Toffee Apple one was more successful, as it was coloured digitally. I think that this resulted in a bolder image, and it would have been good to see both of them made digitally to bring them together as a set. I wanted to do this brief as it allowed me to experiment with making work for a retail environement, which I had not done before.
Initial ideas and tests
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Whittard: Design a caddy
Neneh Patel
OUIL503
I had a few problems with the pumpkin design - it was quite small which meant that the details weren’t easily visible. I also tried to use too many layers to make the gloves and scarf within the pumpkin image look better. Had I opted for a more simplistic design, like the apple/owl one, I would have made a better design.
Main images for each design
I struggled with the use of colour in this brief as I wanted to make them funky, but this seemed too far away from the autumnal theme. I think that the colours that I ended up using were too muted didn’t give the images enough impact. Overall, I was only really pleased with the Toffee Apple design as I think it is clearer in showcasing the flavour of the Infusion. The layered images in the other image are lost as there is too much chaos in the pattern and colours used. Making a more pared back design would have been more successful, but I think I learned that I have to force myself to limit colours in order to make work with more impact. 8
Neneh Patel
Whittard: Design a caddy
Final designs
OUIL503
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Neneh Patel
Ohhdeer greeting cards
OUIL503
Brief: Make up to four cards for an occasion of you choice. I chose this brief as I wanted to see if I could make ma some more general greetings cards. As Ohhdeer were making their Valentine’s Day collections for next year, I decided to make cards for that occasion. I wanted them to be simple in order to extend the process of the pared back designs that I made in the UK Greetings brief. I painted textures onto card and then made cut paper shapes which I collages. I also utilised one of the drawings from a previous brief for the hands. For the backgrounds I used textures that I have collected, as I am in the process of building up an archive of handmade textures.
Initial ideas
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Ohhdeer greeting cards
Neneh Patel
OUIL503
For the ‘natural woman’ card, I decided to use brighter colours and have a plain background to make the lady stand out. I wanted it to be funny and a little cheeky. Although I’m not sure how the cards will be received, I enjoyed making them as a smaller brief. The issue that I had was making the third card match up with the others. As the composition is quite different, dif and has additional text, I decided to make the card quite different from the others and used brighter colours whilst trying to retain the texture. Final designs
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Neneh Patel
New Statesman: SSGB
OUIL503
Brief: Design an editorial illustration for the SSGB book review. This brief had a very quick turnaround and I wanted to try it as I feel that my strengths lie in editorial illustration. Having a brief from Gerry Brakus was a good way of seeing how briefs might be worded. I started sta by thinking of British icons, and how they might be altered under Nazi rule. I chose a Mini, corgi and teacup as I felt that these were all quintessentially British. As the subject matter was quite sensitive, I didn’t want the work to come across as offensive, so I wasn’t very confident in the corgi image. I felt that it communicated the message clearly, but might be interpreted as too comedic clear for the dark topic. When it came to media, I decided that using watercolour would fit in well with the delicate teacup and dog, but contrast with the darker message. This media had teh added benefit of being quick to use as I feel quite confident painting. I tried digitally colouring the Mini, but painting woul dhave been more successful and fit with the subject matter.
Initial ideas and tests
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Neneh Patel
New Statesman: SSGB
OUIL503
When I spoke to Gerry, she responded positively to the work and liked that there were subtle hints at the change in power from Britian to Germany. She agreed that the corgi might turn the book review into comedy territory, but liked it as an an image. I was pleased with this feedback as it made me realise that I could handle a short timescale for a project p and still come up with good ideas. 13
Neneh Patel
YCN: Royal Opera House
OUIL503
Collaboration partners: Kat Williams (Illustration), Guy Rathbone (Animation) Brief: Create a campaign that encourages culturally engaged young people aged 20-30 to experience opera for the first time. For this collaborative section, I was sure that I was set on doing this brief from the start. I had wanted to attempt it on my own, but hadn’t tried a campaign before, so felt that this would be best alongside others. even though I had wanted to work with graphic designers, I feel that the skillsets between us complimented each other and Kat has a graphics background, so she took over that role. We all started out with similar aims for the project and made sure that we knew what we expected of each other from the start. Although the mix of skills within the group was right for this brief, we didn’t stick to our proposed timescale for work which caused a bit of stress towards the deadline.
Mock-up for public transport advertisement
Still of the animated Undergound transport advert
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YCN: Royal Opera House
Neneh Patel
OUIL503
After some initial research into the brand, we decided that we wanted to stick to the traditions of the Royal Opera House, but try to make it appear more contemporary. As two of us were illustrators, we thought it best to utilise those skills and make illustrated banners and posters, which is a departure from the brands’ predominant use of photography in advertisements. These could then be easily translated into animation using either After Effects or drawn frames to make animated stings. Sketches for the poster designs
From the outset, we made a list of outcomes - we wanted to make posters, an app (for information and ticket sales), and an animation alongside this for social media. I think that we should have been more realistic when planning the animation as even a 30 second animation, when using hand-drawn frames, would take a considerable amount of time. Being more mo realistic about the length of the animations would have made it easier to plan them, rather than revising the ideas that we had for a longer one.
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Neneh Patel
YCN: Royal Opera House
As part of the research stage, I found some original posters from the 1920s which we based the colour scheme off, as it would hark back to the rich heritage which the ROH pride themselves on. The colours in the posters were bright and used a limited palette and shape based imagery. To make this more appealing to the target audience, I looked at vector illustrations which use clean, bold loo shapes and are quite popular at the moment. We wanted to make work that felt familiar to the audience but was enriched by the use of animation. Looking back on the project, it would have been possible to make more animations had we used After Effects as the process is a lot quicker than drawn animation. I did some tests using the figures I had made on Illustrator, but as a group we decided to stick to hand-drawn animation. Kat and I made posters and although I was not very comfortable drawing figures as first, I drew from a lot of videos and poses which helped me to understand some of the key positions used in ballet. I think that by making a lot of drawings, this helped to make the posters more dynamic. I don’t feel that they were as good as they could have been. been
OUIL503
As the project progressed, I started to test more complex images, but this felt like too much of a step away from the simplicity the we were trying to portray. I think that working in a group made me more conscious of how others saw my work, so I chose safer options. Whilst it worked for overall for the group, I think that my work lost its independence from f the group and it felt more like making work for others enjoyment rather than what appealed to me.
The traditional poster designs from the 1920s
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Neneh Patel
YCN: Royal Opera House
The original poster designs (top) and the mock-ups (below)
OUIL503
It was difficult to strike a balance between what the brief asked for, the clear ideas we had at the start, and the expectations of the others in the group. I think that it would have been nice to adapt and let the project grow a bit more organically, like how we adapted to making a shorter animation. I feel that the roles that we established at the beginning changed as we progressed, and having been assigned art direction I took a step back from that. It worked out as a success, but it would have been helpful to reassess the roles/expectations, so everyone knew what the toes were. I think that working in a group made me more hesitant than normal and I didn’t speak up as much as I normally would. This is something that I need to work on, as I think that I would like to take on more responsibility in future collaborations. Although Guy and Kat worked on the app, I think that the underground mock-up that I did worked well alongside the video that they produced to explain the functionality of the app. Towards submission was when the majority of the work was done which was very stressful.
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Neneh Patel
YCN: Royal Opera House
OUIL503
If we had had the same energy for the project at the start as we did in the final weeks, it could have been pushed even further. Despite this, in terms of responding to the brief, the range of outcomes that we had worked as a full campaign and I feel were successful. Closer to submission, I was in charge of making the mock-ups for the campaign. This involved i reworking the poster designs and adding elements to make them fit the odd compositions. I enjoyed seeing the work mocked-up as it looked very professional rather than the still images I had been working on. Overall, I think that working in a group was an important learning curve, but I really enjoyed the process. In future collaborations I would be more outspoken and hopefully take on a larger role in the group which would allow me to be more confident about my work. I also think that better planning and organisation would be needed to produce the work to our own deadlines, not just the submission deadline. One of the final submission boards I designed (top) and the banner mock-ups (right) 18
Neneh Patel
Summative Evaluation I was a bit apprehensive about this module as I was intimidated by the prospect of putting my work out into the public sphere and the added pressure of the professionalism involved in submitting work. When we started the module, the design boards that we were shown looked very slick and neat and I felt that this was far removed from the way that I worked, however, I found that I can present my work in a professional manner. During this module I expanded my technical skills I’m glad that I attended the repeat pattern workshop as I feel that having that background knowledge kept me sane when I tried to use the method on my UK Greetings work. Going back to my notes from the workshop helped immensely for this, so documenting things on the blog really helps. Having said this, I feel that the blog was not as instrumental to my development as it could have been. I think that from seeing my sketchbooks, you can see the development better as I have started to work quicker and with media that enables me to do this.
OUIL503
I am trying to embrace using ink and watercolour. I think that trusting my gut instinct is something that I have been trying to do this year and it has been especially important in this module. Where previously I had seen using ink as being a cheat as I was comfortable using it, I think now I have seen that it is actually a strength of mine and I should capitalise on that. For the SSGB and UK Greeting ca briefs especially, working quickly in my sketchbook allowed me to go back and refine the images digitally, and I had a range of options to choose from when collaging. This module has given me the confidence to start showing my work in the context of the real illustration world, rather than relying on the safety of university as my audience. I think that I have learnt a lot about professionalism, especially having made a glaring error in submitting my individual UK Greetings work as Photoshop files instead of JPEG/PDFs. Making this mistake as part of a univerJPEG/PDFs sity module rather than for a professional submission has been an important lesson in checking and trip-checking the submission. I am sure that I won’t make that mistake again!
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Neneh Patel
Summative Evaluation
To improve from the work in this module, I would try and be more confident about my work, whether individually or in a group. I know now that in the context of a larger group (even the two that I collaborated with) I lost my own voice and did not speak up as much as I could have. Although I was pleased with the outcomes that we made as a group, I feel that had I voiced my opinions more, I would have been more pleased with the responses that we made. I also think that I would have been more passionate about the project as I had been on the individual briefs. Making the Ohhdeer cards was a fun project and I think that I have embraced small, quick briefs as a relief from the other modules alongside this one. I particularly enjoyed the SSGB brief, even though it was small and had a quick turnaround, as I got positive feedback about it and it strengthened my resolve to focus my practice on editorial illustration. Making work for competition briefs is an important part of practice and I know that in the future I will be more open to selecting ambitious projects on my own.
OUIL503
This time I had the safety net of approaching the Royal Opera House campaign within a collaborative group, but having finished the project, I feel confident that this could be achieved on my own. Research played a large part in this and I feel that where I had a strong basis in research, the work that I made was much more successful as I fully understood the brief, brief context and audience. Setting limitations on my work, such as colour palette and composition have also become more important to my practice as I am trying to adopt a more abstract approach in the other modules. I think that in the future I would use the blog more actively to reflect on my work as I definitely get carried away working in my sketchbook and not updating it regularly. I could definitely have organised my time better, and this may have meant avoiding an incorrect file submission. Although I felt that I was questioning my work too much during the collaborative brief, I found that being able to see my work through the eyes of others is a useful skill, and helped when responding to other briefs. It is a way of trying to anticipate what the judges want, but next time I will try to retain more of my individuality while doing so.
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Neneh Patel
Summative Evaluation
OUIL503
Overall I really enjoyed this module as I learnt a lot about my practice, even if it was stressful when it came toward submitting work. Better organisation and regular reflection would allow me to build upon the skills I learned in this module.
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