Ba(Hons) Graohic Design
OUGD503 - Responsive
Studio Brief 3 - Project Report
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Intro
OUGD503 / Responsive Studio Brief 3 / Project Report Rhys Jones / RJ254465 Ba (Hons) Graphic Design
Ba(Hons) Graohic Design 02
OUGD503 - Responsive
Studio Brief 3 - Project Report
The Penguin Design Awards can be used as a great platform to gain exposure, with first prize receiving a work placement to gain further insight into the role of an industry leading corporation within the publication design. The awards seem substantially ethical with a professional design process running through the competition including opportunities for feedback, a paid internship for first prize and a substantial amount of prize money for the runners up. Identifying a use of colloquialism and humour through my research I implemented this as a strong design direction. Developing a number of design treatments through focused feedback and development I identified the most effective aesthetic in communicating the concept and engaging the target audience. The use of suggestive photography of a papaya identified sexual innuendos creating high impact visual iconography that presents connotations of the vagina to the audience in a humorous and bold aesthetic. My resolution to the brief is informed through this colloquial tone of voice taken, from the content and satirical personality of the author. This successfully creates an engaging cover design that stands out in a busy retail environment and is reflective of the of the books more serious content. The aesthetic will engage an audience through the strikingly humorous imagery that has polysemic interpretations. The aesthetic is refined using a minimal two-colour palette, the combination of pastel pink and navy blue is visually engaging and represents a sense of equality using these stereotyped colours in harmony to suggest the equality of men and women, a key feminist ideology.
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Penguin Design Awards The result is a classic cover design that feels traditional and timeless referencing the classic penguin cover compositions, yet will appeal to a contemporary audience through the use of a bold colour palette and humorous imagery that embodies the satirical content. This creates a successful resolution that will stand out within a busy retail environment and seamlessly transition to online platforms. This brief has expanded my understanding of publication cover design, identifying a more complex design process that initially proposed. The resolution needed to consider the context of the book, its audience and how it can remain engaging through different retail environments and succinctly communicate this within a simple high impact design. I initially struggled with creating engaging compositions and identifying appropriate sizing of the text and image, however resolved this through my design process taking inspiration from existing cover art and self-initiated feedback. This feedback worked particularly well in response to this brief as it made me more comfortable in determining what would be successful in engaging an audience and if it was representative of it’s content.
Ba(Hons) Graohic Design 04
OUGD503 - Responsive
Studio Brief 3 - Project Report
I chose to create a resolution for the secret 7� competition as I found especially engaging in Level 4, offering a great deal of creative freedom as opposed to a lot of the other briefs that require largely substantial resolutions and an extensive design process, engaging with this brief was more about creative expression than the documentation of the design process. Restricting this design process to just one day to create the resolution allowed a highly focused design treatment that will reflect the creative expression and experimentation within the final piece. Using this brief as downtime between more substantial resolutions offered a liberating sense of creativity, where experimentation and having fun with design came before of an overthought design process, this resulted in a contextual resolution to the chosen track by Tame Impala that is bold, engaging and fun. The development of the aesthetic took inspiration from the surrealist animation within the music video, This adds a contextual link to the resolution and creates a bold engaging aesthetic that builds on the sexual connotations within the songs lyrics.
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Secret 7” The final resolution is boldly suggestive in its concept yet refined and minimal in its aesthetic allowing it’s audience to interpret the image in different ways. There are subtle references to the track embedded within the concept and aesthetic through informed research and development. These references remain subtle and appropriate to ensure the resolution still appears to be vague and works well for the concept of the secret 7” competition. Restricting the design process to a single day worked well in creating a focused high energy resolution that didn’t become laborious or overthought. I enjoyed the spontaneity of the resolution, taking a day out from the more substantial design briefs to playfully experiment with different mediums which solidified the concept of having fun with design, an emerging ethos within my practice. Attempting to create a concept that was engaging and would stand out from the other entries was intially daunting and difficult however the short time frame of the resolution worked well to not over think this and just decide on a concept and focus on its visual communciation and design treatment, which resulted in a more personal design that fulfilled by creative expression.
Ba(Hons) Graohic Design 06
OUGD503 - Responsive
Studio Brief 3 - Project Report
I chose to respond to the BACIL poster campaign as the live nature of the brief adds exciting contextual engagement due to the resolution being displayed in the local area. This will offer opportunities to look at the distribution and implementation of the resolution if it was successful in winning the competition. The regional scale of the brief creates a more informed awareness of the audience and environments the resolution will be aimed at, providing further opportunity to ensure the design direction is appropriate through feedback and closely informed development from the campaigns target audience. The brief requires the resolution to target a younger demographic, to achieve this I considered their core values and developed a concept using emojis to visually articulate the information. This is an identifiable way to engage the key demographic and works appropriately in articulating the information with no negative connotations. Developing the aesthetic with a minimal colour palette and use of white space allowed a singular focal point to instantly draw the eye to the information, captioned with the slogan ‘watch your stuff’. The composition is bold and engaging to appeal to the target audience and works well both day and night time economies due to it’s simple legibility.
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BACIL Poster Campaign The resolution targets a younger target demographic with the use of universally popular emoji’s to create a high impact visual statement that is easily understood by this audience. The visual imagery transcends language barriers perfect for a multi-lingual city such as Leeds effectively communicating its message to the public. The minimal aesthetic creates a bold message that will be easily understood at bars and clubs where alcohol may affect the legibility of the design. This concept could easily be developed for a full campaign with interchangeable emoji’s creating a poster series creatively highlighting the awareness of your belongings when out without creating negative connotations of the environments in which these posters are displayed. Working to create a concept suitable for two different economies was initially difficult as they are very opposite in their types of trade and audience. I feel the concept worked successful in appealing to the key demographic set by the client teaching me more about understanding the audience holistically before embarking on the design direction as if the resolution doesn’t appeal to the intended audience no matter how strong the aesthetic it won’t work in it’s intended context.
Ba(Hons) Graohic Design 08
OUGD503 - Responsive
Studio Brief 3 - Project Report
I initially struggled to select a substantial competition brief, I ultimately chose the UCC brief for YCN as the creative challenge stated ‘No aspect of the brand, product range or communication channels are off limits’ this welcomed creative freedom the the design process and would allow one to fully implant a revitalised concept and direction for the brand. This creative challenge is inline with my current design interests and feel it will help me to develop as a creative learning more about the brands relationship with it’s audience and how to visually articulate this through a revitalised identity within its product sector. A more appropriate design direction will promote a stronger consumer brand relationship, elevating the product from being hidden away to displaying it proudly within its retail environment. Developing a new engaging packaging design was the most challenging aspect of the brief, the square structure reduces wasted transportation space and the use of recyclable aluminium creates a re-usable product that is environmentally aware, appealing to the brands core values. This is then complemented by the minimal aesthetic with the use of a boldly coloured lids to make the blends easily identifiable in a busy retail environment.
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YCN : UCC Coffee The extended nature of the brief is reflected in the quality of the resolution creating an engagingly appropriate response to the brief. My proposal is focused around the sustainability and ethics of the brand. This informs the re-usable and bio-degradable materials within the products packaging and extends into a revitalised branding identity, which is concentrated throughout the brands DNA.
Ba(Hons) Graohic Design
The brief as a whole was challenging and extended my understanding of embedding a concept with an substantial resolution. This is evident within the brand DNA of the resolution, succinctly implementing the core brand values into this revitalised identity. This succeeds in creating a contemporary identity extended through the high impact packaging design/point of sale displays that effectively articulate how the brand will appeal to its target audience, yet remain representative of its ethical USP. This has been by far my favourite brief within the module as it allowed me to become fully immersed in the revitalisation of the brand, to the point where I was having difficulty defining an end point, ultimately only being restricted by time and workload. I consider this to be my most substantial resolution of a brief to date and regardless of the professional judging can see this becoming a key portfolio piece I would feel confident in presenting to studios/ clients.
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OUGD503 - Responsive
Studio Brief 3 - Project Report
Brief Two was initially the brief I was most concerned about working collaboratively in a group as in the past has caused difficultly agreeing on concepts/design directions. Identifying my creative parter from the Pitcha Patcha seminar, A group of two seemed to be the most productive arrangement as Billy can focus on the illustrative elements of the response and I can focus on the concept and it’s visual communication, bringing both of our individual specialism together to create a refined resolution to the brief. I was initially attracted to the GAP brief as it presented an opportunity to revitalise the brand through an immersive campaign strategy. Although digital design is not my strong-est specialism, this brief would create an opportunity to venture out of my comfort zone and experiment with different styles of graphic design, centralising around social media and digital communication. Talking through this proposal with my creative partner he was very open minded to initial design suggestions and felt the brief had good potential to highlight our individual specialisms, selecting our competition brief with no disa-greements. Brainstorming the main factors customers want from their denim, we asked a sample of students that made up part of Gap’s target customer. This focus group concluded a high proportion of our sample associated denim with a good bum. Challenged with how to visually articulate this appropriately the concept of illustrating the campaign using bold illustrations of different bums in Gap denim was developed, creating high impact campaign imagery which was essential in engaging the brands target demographic.
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YCN : Gap Denim The aesthetic of the campaign will resonate with the target audience; who, from Gaps consumer profile are ‘bold, diverse and boundaryless’. This aesthetic works especially well in appealing to the ‘individual’ and creating connotations that Gap’s denim collection is tailored to fit their body. The Illustrations are also successful in removing negative issues often associated with the advertising industry, making the campaign more ethically viable. Restrictions of the brief such as Facebooks 20% text rule on advertising meant there was extensive problem solving and development through the education of the four major aspects of Gap’s denim collection. Working collaboratively had its difficulties working to two different course schedules, however these issues have been overcome, individually meeting set deadlines and finding time to come together to discuss ideas and development. This results in a strong resolution that brings together our individual specialisms to create an engaging resolution that appropriately responds to the brief. I couldn’t have created this resolution without my creative partners illustrative skill set and have identified as a part of this brief to full fill different design directions other creatives need to be brought into this design process to ensure a high quality resolution can be achieved.
Ba(Hons) Graohic Design 12
OUGD503 - Responsive
Studio Brief 3 - Project Report
OUGD503 has been the most individually rewarding module to date, choosing briefs that engage my individual design interests has resulted in enjoying process of creating work a lot more and appreciating the final resolutions, knowing the extent of this design process. The live nature of the module has elevated my work output and in instances made this design process more difficult, because I wanted to ensure a high quality resolution. The prestige of the judging bodies such as D&AD and YCN made me want to work harder as this validation from winning a major design competition would greatly improve my confidence as a designer, allowing a personal reflection that the work I have produced is completed to a high industry standard. I have overcome a number of personal challenges within this module, demanding a highly efficient design process in terms of time management, the nature of my resolutions created high quality mock ups that demanded a refined sense of planning, outsourcing materials and pre-booking college resources to ensure these elements were completed on time. This sense of time management extended into collaborative practice working with two different course schedules was initially difficult however was impressed with how me and my creative partner individually met set deadlines and found time to come together to discuss ideas and development. Development was large part my design process within my resolution to the briefs. Due to the extended nature of the substantial briefs this required constant development from students and tutors to ensure the design direction was representative of the brief and didn’t go off on a tangent. Presenting the final resolutions to tutors who had no previous involvement with this development was a great way to receive further development and evaluate how effective my resolutions were in resolving the problems defined within the brief. This further represented how the judging panel would react to my impact boards thus giving me further opportunity to refine any ambiguous elements in my articulation of the resolutions ensuring this articulation was as clear and concise as possible.
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Module Evaluation I am creatively satisfied with the results achieved through the development of this module, it has definitely improved my confidence as a designer giving me a better understanding of how I would respond to live briefs within a commercial design studio. The smaller briefs engaged my creativity to produce appropriate design solutions to the briefs and experiment with different media focusing more on the creative exploration of my development as opposed to a deeply overthought design process. This has extended my practice in a more holistic and refined sense utilising different processes and media that I haven’t had a chance to work with before.
Collaborative practice gave me critical awareness of working in industry as briefs are rarely undertaken individually and typically works as a collaborative effort within a design team. Overcoming these initial difficulties of choosing a creative partner I found a good match choosing a singular illustrator as a team of two felt the most efficient and would allow us to both bring out individual specialisms to the brief to create a well resolved concept and implement this successfully within the resolution to the brief. I found the process of collaborating stressful at times working to two different course schedules however was rewarding to see the finished resolution. This identified that collaboration is beneficial in order to utilise different skill sets that resulted in a far more successful resolution to the brief that I would not have been able to create individually. Regardless of the outcome of professional judging I feel satisfied in my resolutions these beliefs particularly the substantial resolution to the YCN UCC coffee brief which I can see becoming a key piece within my developing portfolio, alongside a range of the work developed as part of this module.
Ba(Hons) Graohic Design
The substantial briefs define how I can successful develop and implement a concept into an extended resolution that cohesively covers a range of collateral. These briefs have also allowed me to develop presentational pitch skills in the articulation of the brief, which can be utilised when transitioning into industry and engaging with clients. The UCC coffee brief allowed me to explore the conceptual elements of revitalising a brand in order to reposition the product with it’s consumer and embed this concept holistically throughout the resolution. Utilising appropriate materials to reinforce this revitalisation and adopting the tone of voice identified within the brief to ensure the resolution is representative of the brands ethos and speaks directly to its target audience.
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OUGD503 - Responsive
Studio Brief 3 - Project Report
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Contact
Rhys Jones / RJ254465 Ba (Hons) Graphic Design rj254465.students.leeds-art.ac.uk /rhysj96
Ba(Hons) Graohic Design 16
OUGD503 - Responsive
Studio Brief 3 - Project Report