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FELINE WILD BRANDING I was approached by Thomas Sykes from Feline Wild Savannahs and Bengals as he wanted some new branding elements as his company had expanded beyond the borders of its old brand. I had previously done some branding for the business a couple of years ago which included a logo and web design. However this was solely when Feline wild was breeding the bengal cat. Since then the company has grown to include the breeding of Savannah cats which are now Feline Wilds main focus, Thomas was in need of some new branding to represent this. I enjoyed completing the brief, any practice within building a brand is extremely valuable to myself as it is one of my weaker practices. I was asked to produce 3 components for the brand; A logo, a business card and a folder, which is issued to customers when purchasing a cat, which includes important document such as these. One of Thomas’ main concerns was the audience he wanted to approach. For a long time the cat industry has been very female orientated, from cat magazines with a female audience, to other existing cattery brands today which display a very feminine appeal. However the exotic cat has turned into a pet wanted and admired by both men and
women due to their wild roots, some cats being up to 50% wild serval and 50% asian leopard cat. For this reason gender specificity was not a main focus for the client, but something they wanted to discard from their brand. As the Savannah cat was the main focus of Feline Wild I wanted to make this prominent within the logo. Both the Savannah and Bengal cat have aesthetics in the breed that make them completely different to other domestic cats which is what makes them so heavily admired. the logo is made up of the name of the company and an Image. The geometric illustration clearly displays just how diverse and wild the Savannah cat looks, and depicts the aesthetic for the cats that Thomas is aiming for within his business. The savannah cats distinct tall ears, large muzzle, black tear stains and distinct black and sand spotted coat set it aside from other domestics, appearing as an emblem for wild cats and in turn for this brand. The image within the logo can be used by itself, or supported by the name of the company written in bold sans serif font with uppercase letters. As the logo is very geometric the spotted coat which savannah cats are popular for is
not visible, and so I wanted to incorporate this onto the business cards and folder, and then make it available for further uses such as web work. This is incorporated through a simple pattern on the back of the business cards. Overall I wanted to create a look which was very striking, with use of geometric shapes, genderless and organic through the use of craft paper texture. I also considered format and usability for the user, creating a slot inside the folder for the placement of the business card. This way the user is able to have all the information regarding feline wild and they’re new cat in one place. This project was very useful and valuable to me as it challenged me to look much further beyond what I already knew to specific details. For the initial geometric logo, the cat appeared much differently, with a more domestic shape, I had to alter this a few times as it was important to Thomas and his business that his cat looked like the 50% wild cats that he was aiming to produce. Not using the correct shapes and aesthetics of this cat could hinder his business, and make the cats appear a lesser version that what they are.
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BEAR CEREAL BOX DESIGN Bear is the brief that me and Caitlin Walsh chose to do for our collaboration submission. We were initially attracted to this brief as we were both very illustrative based, we is what the brief was reaching for. I had also previously worked on a project previously that worked with educating children and so was quite confident that together we could produce something that would be appropriate and successful. I enjoyed both completing the brief and working with Caitlin. I felt that we were a very strong team, Caitlin brought skills such as illustration, layout and mock up creation (Photoshop) where I bought complimentary skills such as Illustration, designing for children and the ability to adapt to the already established style. This was something that was very important to stick to for the brief, Bear already had a well established brand, and we were only asked to establish a design/ series of designs for the Back of the bear cereal box. This meant that we had to adapt and produce something that would tie both the front and the back of the box together. The aim of the brief upon completion was to help children who would be eating the cereal to learn the Alphabet. This had been something that the designers at bear had focused on previously, however their current designs showed little innovation in how to teach children and more so interest and motivate them to learn. The current boxes use method of word association, which I believe to be fruitful in the teaching process, and helped to spur not only the learning of the alphabet but other skills such as memorising and affiliation. However they lacked something essential in the action of motivating children, craft, creativity and I hands on experience. Therefore as a team we decided to incorporate the strong features from the current design, word association and facts about the chosen word, and combine them with some more interactive and brain stimulative ideas.
The box backs that myself and Caitlin designed encompass; facts, a game based upon the facts and a cut out character. Thus building knowledge the theme of the box ( Bears, Jellyfish, Chameleons), challenging the brain through a game based upon said facts, and creativity, constructing and collecting a set of animal inspired letters, to build words, names or the entire alphabet. I believe that the attention to what was important to communicate to and teach the users of the box was what made our design so appropriate and well considered towards the audience. This was presented in a child friendly way, The facts were fun and easy to memorise, the game was entertaining and not overpoweringly educational and the character letters were well themed. Working with Caitlin was something that I very much enjoyed doing and would easily do again. We found communicating with each other very easy, probably due to the fact that we both have a similar work ethic, and our main focus was to produce design that was appropriate and had the best intentions for the project. Compromising was very easy as we both had a willingness to do whatever was best for our users, however didn’t hap pen much as we were both for the most part on the same wavelength. I would happily work with Caitlin again as she was a trusting partner, whom I could rely on to communicate with efficiently and for other things such as meeting deadlines and completing assigned work. We had a system for the project which worked well for the both of us. Caitlin did 95% of the pencil sketching/ illustrations and I in turn digitalised and coloured 95% of what she had sent me. Caitlin also then, once I had sent her the digitalised versions, made photoshop mock ups of these for other design elements such as presentation boards. I feel as though we evenly distributed the work and there was an equal input of effort from both people.
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SUSAN CLARK BUSINESS CARD & LOGO I was approached by Sue Clark to create some branding components as she was ready to take her long loved hobby and turn it into a career. Since making homemade knitwear and jewellery the interest in Sue’s creations has grown dramatically, and she decided that a new career adventure was a must. I was asked by Sue to create a logo and a business card, However she wanted the logo to be adaptable to other items such as carrier bags and hand written receipts etc, with the possibility to create a catalogue in the future for her once she had selected her full range of products. Sue wanted the business card designs as she was ready to take her products into boutiques and craft fairs but didn’t yet have the branding to do so and was therefore looking for an accurate way to represent herself and the products and communicate this with others. I was very excited by this project and was driven mainly by the concept that all of the merchandise produced by Susan was made by hand, with only her hands. I saw an opportunity to do something within this project that I had never done before, work organically. As the core of Susan’s business, and best selling point was how much time and effort she put into each piece, I wanted to create a response that would ultimately connect with this notion. Before I was given any specific direction (photographs or illustration etc) the client wanted to see what I could build with the ideas that I already had. My main inspiration for the design was the materials and textures seen throughout her work. I was influenced by the intricate patterns (plait, rope, cable knit) within the traditional woollen knitwear and the selection of metals
and beads which she combined to form each individual piece of jewellery. We both felt that using these instead of photographs gave the brand a more timeless appeal and meant that the branding would be longer lasting. (Photographs of the products would only be useful for as long as the selected products were in stock.) Doing illustrations also contributed more to the organic look I was aiming for for the project. I decided therefore that using elements that were completely hand drawn would be the best response for the brief, this included the cable knit pattern, jewellery/ bangle illustration and the typography, rendered to look as if it had been drawn by hand. This was all placed upon a brown paper texture to reflect the type of packaging/ bags you would receive the products in. I also wanted the process to reflect the homemade and organic demeanour. The idea that the business card, logo, or bags would be homemade would also be a lot easier on the clients income, as this would not be a constant but more so how much sells each week/ month. The idea was so create 3 stamps, the background (cable knit pattern) the logo/writing on top, and the writing on the back. This would mean that in order for the client to reproduce her own business cards, all she would have to purchase is new card, and ink pads. There would be hardly any printing costs involved and therefore this option would be very economically friendly for the business. However due to the inability to create such finely detailed stamps at university I was at that moment in time, unable to follow up this printing process, and instead have had to digitally print the business cards. I am however looking for alternate, budget
friendly ways in which I can produce these outside of university. I very much enjoyed this brief as it educated me on how to respond to the morals and ethics of a brief/business. I enjoyed taking the time to consider a different process and match the practice in which the design was made to how the products of the company are made. Although I am disappointed that I have not been able to fulfil my wants for the brief before deadline (stamps) I have confidence that I will be able to find a solution before the client begins distributing her products. Not only did completing this brief also help me to consider and educate me on how to be more ecologically and economically concious it taught me how to be true to the business I am designing for and how to look outside of the box to honestly respond to a brief.
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CATH KIDSTON PRINT DESIGN When I first saw the Cath Kidston competition brief on YCN I had mixed feelings about attempting to respond to it. I had been a fan of Cath Kidston long before I had even seen the brief, however I had also never done pattern design. Nonetheless this probably turned out to be the number one reason why I chose the brief as I am always aiming to expand my set of skills. Once I had gotten into the brief I thoroughly enjoyed responding to it, and it was probably my favourite brief to complete. As Cath Kidston is famous for her signature painterly/dainty style I thought that there was a chance trying to adapt to someone else’s style would be a struggle. However I thought it would also be useful to test my ability to do just this, as it would clarify whether I would have the ability to work on a design team for just one company, fitting in with their design aesthetic. Cath Kidston stated in the brief that they were looking for a new conversational print (not just their traditional floral or polka pattern designed would need to work across 3 different product ranges in store, women’s fashion, women’s accessories and Home. They were looking for
‘an original theme and a fresh new take on our unique visual style.’ The company were very open with the direction that you could take with your entries as long as what you submitted, you believed to be true to the brand. The first thing I wanted to focus on was originality as this was something important that Cath Kidston was prescribing for its entries, the pattern had to give a nod to British Heritage however, the aim was to project this in a fun and cheeky way. I noticed looking at other briefs that a lot of them had a very prominent city theme, most portraying places/monuments in London. This is what inspired me to create something of a polar opposite, deciding upon a seaside theme. I took my inspiration for the pattern from photographs taken by people enjoying holidays at the British seaside. I looked more so into Cath Kidstons conversational prints and noticed that they had done nothing similar to this subject previously. I chose four motifs to work with, staggering these across my tile and filling in the spaces with smaller details such as rocks. The four icons I designed were beach houses, deck chairs, donkeys and a sand castle. I particularly tried to capture the tongue in cheek attitude
they were looking for through the motif of the two donkeys which are pictured from the rear end rather than from the front. This brief especially, pushed me to work with media that I was more confident with when starting the course at LCA, pencils and paint. I decided instead of trying to posses the Cath Kidston style from the get go via digital programs, that the most authentic way of capturing the famous forms would be to go back to basics, and sketch, paint then digitalise any work I had done. This is why I believe my print is so successful, Hand painting the subjects within my pattern helped me to authentically seize the distinguishable painterly aesthetic which made Cath Kidston so individual and prosperous. Working on this brief also allowed me to see that adapting to another brands style would be an obtainable aim, thus proving and helping me discover that working on the design team for one company is something within reach and that I could enjoy doing.
TASHA RAE LOGO DESIGN The logo brief was the shortest brief I did which I worked on over a couple of days. I chose this brief particularly as I had always struggled with logo design, and the ability to capture the identity of a company in one concentrated motif. This was not one of my favourite briefs to do, not because of the above reason, but because of the restrictions but in place by the client. The client specified that their chosen colour choices for the brief were black, pink and grey. The colour choice did not sit well with me as I associate yoga with more calming and organic colours, and so I think that with this specific colour combination the client was instantly hindering her business identity. However looking at some of the previous entries I noticed that those who had suggested alternative colour pallets had automatically been eliminated, therefore I tried my best to design something appropriate within this limitation. I was inspired a lot by previous entries to the competition however more so to indicate what I should avoid rather than action. I discovered that most of the previous entries combined the colours of pink, black and grey with other design elements such as gradients, and some
even using up to three fonts within the one logo design, I felt that such overuse of these elements made many of the submissions look very dated. In consequence I designed something polar opposite to those that had already been submitted. I focused on the concept of minimalism, using a combination of 2 typefaces, simple line work and minimal fill. The client specified that they wanted a very clean, modern and bold logo which would look great against a black background with black and white photography. This further supported my wants to keep the logo design simple as I didn’t want it to distract from the website, such as the black and white images, but compliment them inside. My submission for the competition encompassed a minimalist style, with a nod towards the roots and traditions of Yoga. The logo encircles an acknowledgement of Yogas origins through the adoption of a Bhuddist themed font, Bhuddism is the religion in which Yoga naturally derives from. Yet I created a modern balance between this traditional element by coupling it with an avant-garde serif font such as Courier, I found this produced more of an organic look as a pose
to the use of sans serif which made the logo look less humanised and friendly. I also heavily incorporated the motif of the Lotus flower, the lotus flower is not only a famous pose within yoga, but also has great spiritual meaning, it grows through the muddy bed and breaks and floats on the surface of the water, only to sink again and repeat the same pattern frequently. I submitted my design in three different colour ways, solely white and black, which is the first design I completed. I felt that the minimal colour use inserted a sense of peacefulness into the logo, and appeared more timeless without the addition of pink. However as the client had asked for the addition of this colour I also produced one using a combination of pink and white, and one using solely pink. I found that through this brief I was able to present something I was happy with under the restrictions I had, by putting my efforts into other components of the logo such as typefaces, style and themes. It also enabled me to gain a better process for creating company identity through a concentrated logo.
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KATE SPRECKLEY BUSINESS CARD & LOGO I was approached by Kate as she had seen some of my previous design projects online. Kate is a make up artist whom currently works part time for Mac cosmetics and freelances part time, working mostly on weddings, with her sisters wedding company. Kate has been freelancing for approximately two years and still had no brand, but communicated with her customers via a blog and through social media. She had decided that in order to expand herself she needed to create a communicative platform that would allow her to reach more people. To do this she asked my to design some business cards which could be distributed at wedding, hair and make up shows. What I enjoyed most about this project was the new audience in which I had never designed for. Kate emphasized how important it was for her to appeal to her target audience brides-tobe. Although she works at Mac part time which boasts a streamlined modern brand using black, white and bold injections of colour, Kate specified how she wanted to create something art the opposite end of the spectrum, as the business cards were for her freelance clients over her clients at Mac Cosmetics.
Kate had specified that she wanted the pallet of colours to be feminine and soft much like the colours found within a wedding. The end product parades an undoubtably feminine collection of colours including a pale pink, a light powder lilac and white. The design took a few days to complete with the changes prescribed by the client. I had also done some custom typography for the client as I couldn’t find a script font that worked appropriately with the design, I also wanted to add extra feminine decoration in the form of swashes. Creating my own piece of type allows me to manipulate the letters and words however I wanted. I also wanted to find fun and quirky ways of incorporating a hair and make up theme into the business card. I had seen similar hair patterns online however I thought it was in mine and the clients best interests if I created my own hair pattern, which I hand drew and exported into illustrator. The hair pattern also creates an ethereal illusion of femininity through countless curves and contours. I gave a slight hint to Kates make up artistry roots through a small and quirky illustration making the typography seem like it has been drawn with a lipstick.
As a wedding make up artist and hair stylist whom is very busy, and as a part time make up artist at Mac cosmetics, a premium higher end make up line, I suggested to Kate that we take the design to a more elite level by incorporating a more luxurious craft such as foiling. I found a foil in the shade pewter which worked well with the current colour scheme. I foiled only the middle section on the front which included the clients name and her profession, as these are the details which I wanted to be noticed first by anyone who would come into contact with the card. I am extremely pleased with the end product and think that It was one of my favourite projects from the module to complete. It allowed me to practice designing for an audience which I had never designed for before, to have total control over typography and illustration and improve my skill at craft of foiling. Something I think that could have improved the business cards is the thickness of the card, a thicker card would have again, made the design appear at a more premium level, however for future business cards Kate will be taking my design to a printers where they will be able to provide this for her.
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MODULE EVALUATION MY OVERALL EXPERIENCE ON THE MODULE.
I have enjoyed the responsive module much more than any other module I’ve completed so far on the course, I felt that It was much more authentic and true to life than any other modules in progress, and whilst other modules offered me certain skills, responsive filled the void I was lacking in most. It was a really invaluable experience to work on both live (from clients) and competition briefs as both were diverse experiences and provided me with distinct sets of skills and practice. I found that the competition briefs were much more intimidating and I was much more nervous about the success of my designs. When submitting designs to competitions such as YCN, which is where I submitted both of my competition briefs, I am being judged by those with an extended amount of experience in the design world, and a great knowledge of what is expected from the brief and therefore a bar has been set for what the judges would like to receive. This is a striking contrast to the experience of submitting work to a client, I felt that surpassing the expectations of my clients was much more accessible than any design judges. However I think this is a reflection of designers ability to construct concepts and schemes compared to a clients capability. I found that a lot of the time when completing client driven briefs such as; Susan Clark, Kate Spreckley and Feline Wild, I was going beyond the clients outlook, however this is because this is what I am supposed to be able to do. As the designer it is my role within the relationship to come up with better solutions, as this is what we are training to do and gaining experience in. I think I chose a good range of briefs that allowed me to develop within certain sectors of the design industry including branding, product and promotion. I did a balanced amount of longer and shorter briefs, however I felt that the shorter briefs provided me with more skills in reference to experiences I had lacked or didn’t have prior to the module. Most of the projects I had completed so far across the course ranged from a week to up to 6 weeks, however I had never completed any as small as a couple of days, and so learning to react quickly was a helpful practice to involve myself within. Deadlines set by clients also
felt much less manoeuvrable than any critique deadlines in college forcing me to work faster than ever before and putting me under more pressure to finish early and on time, not only did I want to please the client, but I didn’t want to do a dissatisfaction to myself and my name within the design world.
on a design team? I am very pleased with the designs I submitted for this brief, and feel that I couldn’t have done any better. The winners of the competition are considered for an internship on the Cath Kidston print team and that is something I would be very excited to have the opportunity to do!
I enjoyed the longer briefs much more as they allowed me to go into more depth within a brief, as I was being asked for much more substantial responses. The larger briefs also required me to do more research and required more knowledge, and I always enjoy educating myself to a fuller extent, whether it was researching how children learn for bear or what experiences 29 year old women have shared for Cath Kidston. However I was also proud of the shorter briefs and how I was able to create great pieces of work in less time from concept to production.
I also really loved the collaborative brief, I think one of the reasons I enjoyed it so much is because I couldn’t really have asked for a better partner. I paired up with my friend Caitlin, I have always been inspired and fascinated by work that she produces and so when she asked me to work with her I jumped at the chance. We were both on the same page throughout the project, and when It came to compromise there was no tension as we both wanted the best result we could get for the brief. This has taught me not to be so scared of group work and that I should collaborate more often in order to improve and get used to working with others.
Skills that I have developed are definitely concept building, communicating with clients, pitching and presenting work (emails and boards) and mocking up work. Learning how to create mock ups and take good images of my work has made me appreciate how much of an impact presentation can have on the success of your work. Taking clear photographs or producing a rage of well crafted mock ups helps to sell the piece of work just as much as the design itself, and so in this module developing this skill has been very worthwhile and profitable. I also feel much more confident than ever before in illustrator, This was the only program I worked within to create all of my projects and because of this, I have never felt more comfortable to use it. I have forced myself to manipulate work within illustrator as I never have before taking advantage of different tools such as playing with effects and textures. Cath Kidston was my favourite of all my independent briefs I responded to. It allowed me to go back to my roots with focus on drawing and painting. I really enjoyed building the concept for this brief and well as creating a piece of work in another persons style. Which is what I think I have realised I am strong at doing, and therefore has bound me to ask, Would I be good at and enjoy working
The other brief that was great to complete was the smaller self branding project I did for Kate Spreckley. Although I did enjoy producing the business cards, and using traditional print forms such as foil to create something special and unique for the client. What I liked most about this brief was contacting and speaking with the client. I found that Kate was one of the best clients to work with as she was quite specific about what she wanted, and gave me a lot to work from. She suggested colours, and told me of her target audience etc. I proposed a few possibilities to her and sent her swatches, and sketches of my designs and she was very excited, which in tail made me very excited to complete the project as well. The one project I completed that I didn’t enjoy too much was the logo design for Yoga with Tasha Rae. I had found the brief on the competition website 99 designs. When I read the brief I knew that her colour choice, Black, grey and pink were not particularly appropriate for her business (Yoga suggests a much calmer and organic pallet to me). For this reason I submitted two designs that used the colour pallet she had prescribed, and one design in solely black and white as I believed
it made the logo appear much calmer and timeless, which Is something that the client stated she was looking for. However she eliminated the black and white logo straight away proving that she did not want to stray from her original visual. I wish in this brief I could have communicated with Tasha Rae and discussed my visuals for her logo, and how I thought it would better suit her business. However It was good to gain experience working for someone who does not have the same view as you. Although I was very pleased with the work I produced for feline wild, It taught me that I should only complete work in the future, for causes or business’ I am completely comfortable with. I found that looking more into the company it wasn’t something I would really like to do design work for again as I didn’t really like that the cats were bred for selling. Although this was done in a safe environment and the cats were perfectly happy and healthy, it wasn’t something that I would particularly like to involve myself in again. However I completed the work and handed it over to the client. Overall this module has prepared me greatly for future clients. I wish I could have completed more projects as it is very much my work ethic to strive beyond the average amount. However due to some struggles I have been facing this year, I have completed a set of six projects. However I don’t think this has compromised how much experience or how much I have gained from the module. I have created a range of designs and responses, all which I have given a lot of my time and a great amount of consideration to. It has definitely been my favourite module to complete, giving me that real life, in industry experience I was yearning for and the ability to answer briefs written by others instead of ones I had constructed myself. It has made me feel much more positive and excited about working in the industry and has also helped me prepares for any placement oppurtunities I may take on in the future, and for that I am very thankful.
"IT HAS DEFINITELY BEEN MY FAVOURITE MODULE TO COMPLETE, GIVING ME THAT REAL LIFE, IN INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE I WAS YEARNING FOR."