Leeds College of Art BA (Hons) ILLUSTRATION OUIL505 ILLUSTRATION 2: Applied Illustration
Level
05
Credits 30
Module Brief Title: Product, Range & Distribution
STUDIO BRIEF 1: Project Proposal
Project Rationale What do you intend to do and why? I intend to produce an entirely new brand of Fair Trade coffee. This will include coming up with a catchy brand name, inventing new combinations of flavours and designing interesting and contemporary packaging. I will need to think about what type of container the coffee will exist in, as well as additional products like refill bags. I want to further develop this idea through applying my designs to merchandise such as; mugs, flasks, coasters and also unconventional products like scented candles. I am going to be ambitious and also aim to make a small publication for coffee enthusiasts that tell buyers background information about the process of making coffee, where it comes from, interesting facts and possibly recipes or ways to consume the goods. I will need to somehow promote the brand- which could take place in the form of posters, digital advertisements and even moving image/ animation using After Effects. I decided on this idea as I wanted to produce work based on a subject that I am interested in. I love coffee and would really like to know more about the work that goes into making it. After carrying out research into packaging design, I knew it was something I wanted try and this would be the perfect opportunity to do so. Furthermore, I feel as though I sometimes think like a Graphic Designer when approaching a brief and I believe putting this into practice through pushing myself to create a logo and think more about layout and type will really help me to develop my practice in new ways as well as giving me a point of difference from others- which will be beneficial in the future.
THEMES / SUBJECTS What Themes/Subjects will form the content of your work for this module? This should include theoretical and non-creative based content and concerns. This section should identify your consideration of the social, cultural, ethical and creative concerns of contemporary Illustration practice. GENERAL THEMES: • • •
Fair Trade The Process of making coffee Narrative?
SPECIFIC SUBJECTS: •
•
•
Ethics: Coffee being fair trade is something that I believe is important and isn't considered enough when making the choice to drink it. This may be due to the fact that the notion of something being 'Fair Trade' has connotations of it being expensive and for high society which results in it not being seen as accessible for younger consumers that don't have a steady/ disposable income. Coffee Mythology- I want to look into stories about coffee to see if there is anything interesting that could form the base of my practical work. Coffee plants- I want to research into the coffee plant and where/ how the coffee is grown to give me some inspiration for the illustrations.
PRACTICAL & CONCEPTUAL APPLICATION What areas of Illustration do you intend to investigate in relation to the practical and conceptual, production/ distribution of work in response to selected briefs? SPECIFIC DISCIPLINARY AREA: I want to investigate the Retail & Packaging industry within Illustration. I am interested in applying my own designs onto products but also want to look into producing packaging for said products. I find myself spending a lot of time thinking about the aesthetics and layout of my work, for example, making sure all my spacing is consistent within a presentation. However, I usually feel as though I am wasting my time doing this as I could be focusing on the actual content more. Creating packaging would require me to consciously think about this aspect of making in conjunction with the images produced and would therefore effectively utilise this skill. I will also be looking at the Publication for Adults strand as I want to make a small book alongside the other products and merchandise. AUDIENCE/CONTEXTS: I want to try and focus these new products at young adults & students. After carrying out a little bit of research into existing fair trade brands, I noticed that none of them appeal to individuals in a similar position to me. As mentioned earlier, fair trade coffee is tailored to a high end target market (in my opinion) and in terms of packaging, doesn’t appeal to a younger audience. I want to produce something that looks contemporary and exciting to encourage more people to consciously make the decision to drink fair trade coffee. PRODUCTION/DISTRIBUTION METHODS: • • •
It would be very difficult for me to make physical mock-ups for most of the outcomes I aim to produce so I intend to make a range of digital mock-ups using online tools such as GraphicBurger. I want to look into using a mixture of analogue and digital media such as vectors overlaid with print textures. Due to the fact that I won’t have any physical final products, I plan to print all of the final outcomes digitally in the print dungeon as I want to be able to physically see what they might look like, even if they’re not on the intended asset.
CONTEXTUAL REFERENCES Identify areas of professional/creative practices that will inform the contextualization of the work that you produce. This should include specific illustrators, studios, practitioners and products as well as broader creative disciplines and methods of Production /Distribution. ILLUSTRATORS / DESIGNERS / STUDIOS: • • • • • • •
Caleb Heisey – Good Bones Studio Gintarė Ribikauskaitė Long Gu Ryo Takemasa Aaron Draplin Horse Studio Supermarkets/ Department stores that might sell my products- i.e. John Lewis, Waitrose, House of Fraser etc.
CREATIVE SKILLS What practical skills do you intend to further develop and apply during your project? What do you intend to use the skills for? Consider extending the use of skills that you already have in order to deliver work of a higher standard as well as identifying new skills that you will need to develop.
I want to make use of the practical processes I am already comfortable with such as vectors and shapedriven imagery, but I also want to develop my skills in areas that I wouldn’t usually explore now, such as
more traditional methods- like paint- as I tend to avoid this. It could be quite interesting to go back and rekindle my interest in analogue media as I haven’t really used this much recently. As a result of having to use print methods throughout the last brief, I have established that I really like the aesthetic of print texture, which is something a lot of my work from first year lacked. I want to utilise this new found technique of adding texture to things I have made digitally in this new module. I also aim to develop my skills in the graphic element of packaging design- i.e. layout, logo design and type. Furthermore, I may need to use software such as After Effects if I am going to advertise my new brand. KEY TEXTS List a selected number of books, articles and texts that are central to your proposed area of practice. These should include a combination of design and non-practice based books, theoretical texts as well as visual publications. You should include a list of relevant websites.
http://www.packagingoftheworld.com/ http://www.gcoffeepod.com/en/coffee-news/11_coffee-in-the-uk-infographic http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/en http://maatouk.com/coffee.aspx http://www.britishcoffeeassociation.org/ Books on DesignDesigning Brand Identity: An Essential Guide for the Whole Branding Team- Alina Wheeler Draplin Design Co.: Pretty Much Everything- Aaron Draplin
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
OUIL 505 - Project Planner
1th 30 – 5th
26th – 12th
Module Briefing Studio Brief 1 Research & Proposal Proposal Planning & Research
Initial idea generation
Narrow down ideas Write draft proposal Peer feedback session on draft- 10th Review suggestions and feedback Initial research into chosen subject Project Proposal due- 17th
313th – 19th
Proposal Submission/Studio Development week
420 – 26th
Studio Brief 2 Development & Production
Software for packaging workshop- 20th Further research & development of idea Begin roughing
527th – 5th
Studio Development week
Practical experimentation Explore different media and processes
66 – 12th
Progress Tutorials
Progress tutorials- 7th & 10th
713 – 19th
Group Feedback
Group Tutorials- 14th
820 – 26th
Studio Brief - 3 Presentation & Evaluation Interim Crit
Group Crits- 24th
th
th
th
th
927 – 2nd th
103 – 9th
EASTER BREAK
1110 – 16th
EASTER BREAK
1217 – 23rd
EASTER BREAK
1324 – 30th
Group Feedback
rd
th
th
th
141 – 7th st
158th – 14th
Assessment Briefing & Final Crit Module Submission 09/05/2017
Interim Crit- 28th