Rinesh Mistry
OUGD503
RE S PON SI VE Project Report
Contents ASOS MODE Cath Kidston Royal Dine Wedding Invitation Secret 7 Lexy Branding Flora Branding Engagement Invite Evaluation
OUGD503
4-5 6-7 8-9 10-11 12-13 14-15 16-17 18-19 20-21
Rinesh Mistry
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ASOS MODE For the collaborative brief I chose to work with Jnae as we had spoke about working together at an earlier stage and we had found a brief which combined both of our interests. Fashion was something Jnae had always been interested in and I have wanted to try and do some work within that industry, so we figured the ASOS Brief from D&AD would be the best choice. The brief was to create something for people aged 20-30 which would also redefine street-style.
Collaborative
The brief itself was fairly open in terms of what you could create but we decided to keep it to what they had stated as we did not want to waste time doing extra things they did not ask for. The idea of an app came about straight away as it was something which they stated within the actual brief. We aimed to create something which ASOS had never done before with any of their apps, which was to give users a more tailored shopping experience. The name ASOS MODE is derived from the French word for fashion, but also means a way or a certain manner in which something is done, which in this context fit perfectly.
Final Images
I learnt a lot from this brief about working with other professionals from different industrys, mainly when we had arranged a photo-shoot and we ran into problems getting the right studio space which we then had to set up in of the studios upstairs. I also think that it has helped me realised where my specialism is as app or UI/ UX design is not a strong point of mine but I did enjoy working on this brief.
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Cath Kidston The Cath Kidston brief was an interesting one which I entered as I was not too sure if it was something which I was going to enjoy working on, mainly due to preferential reasons towards the brand itself. After reading the brief I decided that I should do a brief which was not my direct preference as it would be good experience. The brief was to create a new pattern for the Cath Kidston range which could be put across clothes and the home range, in 3 colour ways.
Brief 1
The brief was interesting in terms of what the content of the patterns had to be as Cath Kidston is a British brand and that was the theme which the pattern had to be in. I had tried a few different themes with what I thought Britain was known for but ended up choosing afternoon tea as I thought it would have been suitable for the target audience and keeping in line with existing Cath Kidston patterns.
Final Images
Working on this brief enabled me to re-engage with my illustrative type of work and also designing for a very specific target audience. I feel that doing a brief which I was initially not too keen was also a good experience as I don't think you will always get briefs you enjoy but you have to do them if you was working in a studio or freelance even.
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Royal Dine This brief was an interesting one as it was one which I had received from a client back at home who I had done work for in the past, who specialised in social media and marketing for whose clients I did the designs for. It was a live brief and was also paid. The brief itself was to re-brand and redesign the logo and menus for a new Indian restaurant within Leicester city centre. The brief sounded promising and I was fairly excited to start it.
Brief 2
From what the client had said they wanted it sounded fairly straight forward, as they wanted something which was classy and not too over the top or busy. I had created a few different logo variations and sent them to my client who then passed onto to his clients. From this moment I realised that the client was going to a nightmare to work with as my client initially had trouble getting hold of him which was not very helpful considering he had said he wanted the work doing ASAP. Once I did receive feedback it was simply that he did not like the designs I had done and that he wanted me to copy and existing one.
Final Images
I refused to copy the logo but had to do something similar to what he had shown me. I learnt a lot from this brief, mainly to do with handling bad clients and to what extent you can educate the client. I am thankful for having done the brief thinking about it now as I would rather learn how to handle bad clients from a younger age as I think it is definitely something which every designer will come across.
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Wedding Invite This brief was another interesting one which I had taken on from a relatives fiancĂŠ. The brief itself was to design a wedding invitation, luckily the client had some sort of idea of what it was he wanted and had compiled a set of images of existing ones. With the invitation being for an Indian wedding I had a fair knowledge of what things they need on them. The only thing I was worried about for this brief was if the client needed any of the text to be in a different language.
Brief 3
From the images that the client provided me with I had done a few designs of what I thought would be suitable and to what the client described. It took a while to receive feedback as the client was caught up in other things. I had also proposed a wedding logo, a monogram of the starting letters of their names. Due to the nature of what it was I designing the client had to consider other peoples opinions and not just their own, this was a mistake I made not stating how many amendments I usually include in the given quote. The design was finalised but the client failed to mention the short period of time in which they wanted them printed.
Final Images
This brief taught me one main thing, how to work with relatives. I would say that it was not easy treating them like a normal client as I felt that I could not be as direct with them as I can other clients. This did cause issues, especially when it came to printing as I suggested something like screenprinting or foiling but the client did not realise the time-scale of such methods of production.
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Secret 7 Secret 7 was one brief which I initially did not think I was going to enter this year. But I was glad that I did as I think it was a good change to the longer briefs I had going on. The brief was to design a vinyl sleeve for either of the chosen songs, but you cannot use any type or images of the artist. I had chosen the song 'Team' by Lorde. This was the only song which stood out to me, and because I had some knowledge of the artist and what sort of music they make.
Brief 4
I had started with listening to the song and then picking up on some of the main lyrics which I then searched and looked into. I had found a few key themes which had run through other songs by the artist and how they had been represented through artwork. In the end I had decided to go for a fairly obvious or direct approach at what I going to be designing and chose an image which I best thought described what the song was talking about. I had used colours I had found from the video in forms of screen-shots.
Final Images
I was glad I chose this brief as I brushed up on my Photoshop skills and learnt new ways of achieving different effects and visual styles. I did not win the competition but I did submit 3 entries as this year you could submit as many as you wanted. Album artwork is something which has always interested me as well so I enjoyed this brief.
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Lexy Branding This was a brief I really enjoyed but I received on very late notice. The brief was to personal brand a surface pattern designer. The client was not too sure what she wanted but she definitely wanted a logo and portfolio logo doing. I had suggested that corporate identity would a good idea if it was meant to be for showcasing her work and applying for work and interns. The client was a friend of mine so I sort of knew her what sort of thing should would like.
Brief 5
As part of the branding I ended up designing a logo with 2 variants in addition to a portfolio folder, and corporate branding such as a letter head, business cards and a CV, I had also suggested that she use a specific font on all of her work to keep a good level of consistency. Due to the short time-scale I was not able to give myself a lot of time to develop the logo; which was a monogram of her initials but I did get inspiration on what colours to use from looking at her work and patterns she had created.
Final Images
I enjoyed working on this brief as branding has always been an interest of mine and I was very happy with the outcomes especially due to the short time scale. I would say that from this brief I learnt how to educate the client when they are unsure about what things they want designing.
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Flora Branding This was another brief which I received on short notice and was very similar to the previous brief as it was another personal branding for a surface pattern designer. I took a different approach with this one as I did not want it to look like the other one I had done. It was always going to be different once it was finished as I feel that the branding should represent the person as well as their work and their work differs as well as it being a different person.
Brief 6
Like I had done with the previous brief I looked at the clients work for inspiration and I had seen from most of the work which the client shown me that darker colours we're her preference. With the short time-scale I could not really develop the work as much I wanted to but I did manage to create a logo with 1 variant, business card, letterhead and CV.
Final Images
I enjoyed working on this brief as branding and identity is something which I have always had an interest in. I think that having 2 very similar briefs also meant that I was able to try different things with them with the time I was given. I would say that from this brief I learnt about building a good relationship with your client as this makes it so much easier to work for or with them.
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Engagement Invite This brief was a fairly short brief but was still interesting as I already had some ideas as to what I was going to do for it. The brief was to design an engagement invitation with a strict colour scheme of grey and a teal blue/green. I had suggested to the client that she compile a set of images so I had something to go off, she was very helpful in providing this.
Brief 7
After having a look at the images the client provided me with I saw that she wanted something which had a very Indian feel to it so I decided to use some henna patterns. There was also one mandatory requirement which was that a religious icon must be on the invitation somewhere. I had decided to also create a wedding logo which was a monogram of the couples initials.
Final Images
I enjoyed working on this brief as I was able to try different methods of production and also was a good experience dealing with clients and specific requests. I was fairly pleased with what I had designed and the client liked it as well. I found this brief beneficial as I believe it has aided to finding my specialism within graphic design.
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Evaluation
I feel that this module has helped me to develop communication and professional skills on how to speak with client and how to approch issues within work in general, I feel that some of the briefs meant that I had to be direct with the client and almost educate them on certain things. I think that for most of the briefs I was able to establish a good level of communication with the client and they cooperated very well. I also think that proffesionlism within my actual work is something which is something I have developed through this module. I think that designing to industry standards and specific needs is something which I have developed in terms of methods of production as well as designing for specific media as some of the final elements from the briefs were only meant to be for screen based viewing, things like this affected and influenced my design decisions in the way that I was not able to work and use certain colour modes and for interactive media how things would animate and what certain colours would signify or resemble.
Throughout this module I have realised that it has helped me to see what sort of briefs I prefer, in terms of the content and also if it is a live brief or competetion. Branding and identity is something which I enjoy and working with clients, or live briefs is also where my preference is. I aim to apply these skills in work I do in the future and will try to take on work which I am more confident doing, Throughout this module I had identified weaknesses of mine such as only being enthusiastic in the briefs which I had personal interest in, and I had realised this which was when I decided to change the Cath Kidston brief to my main one as it was something which I would not have normally done. I feel that working within your own preference is at times the best thing to do but you will recieve briefs which you do not like but have to do.
If I was to re-approach this module I would that I would try to keep to some of the original briefs I had chosen as this would have given me more time to develop them as I think for some of them I simply did not started on them and ended up changing them. I would have also tried to get some more client based work as it was something I enjoyed doing throughout the module and is something which I would like to be more than confident doing once I had complete the module. In addition to this I would have wanted to try and get more work produced commercially as that is how you would have to do it when working professionally.
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