EXTENDED PRACTICE MODULE BRIEF COVER SHEET
Student Name: Will Jeffrey
Module Code: OUGD603
Module Title: Extended Practice
Level: 6
BRIEF TITLE: Studio Brief 5_ Brown & Blond
Brief: Help Brown & Blond make their way into retail by developing and designing the packaging concept for their range of brownies.
Positives and Learning Curves This is the first piece of design I have ever produced that I actually feel proud about. I had a perfect vision in my mind of what I wanted the solution to be like and I pursued it. One of the initial positives of this brief was the fact that I was working for a real brand and a real client. Although the client is one of my closest friends, I think the fact that whenever the project was discussed it became a business meeting between 2 professionals, not 2 friends, meant it good practice for me in terms of listening, advising, talking and presenting. The fact that my work was actually going to be used and put into production also made this a pretty exiting project for me. In terms to working with a real brand, I felt this was a really good thing because it presented me with a challenge. Brown & Blond already had a logo; it already had an identity that people recognised and because of this it couldn’t be changed. But it could be improved. It could be pushed further; made better; made cooler; made newer – and it was my job/challenge to figure out how this could be done. I’ve never really had chance to think about a brand in that way – like figuring out what makes Brown & Blond, Brown & Blond, and how can advance on this through design. It has really paid off too, because I have now been asked to develop the rest of the design material – promotion, banners, t-shirts, web etc. The final positives of the brief relate to production. Firstly, because the designs will be being put into a retail situation, I had to learn about packaging specifications – primarily food packaging spec. I felt this was a good thing to learn about as it is not something I have ever looked into before and it will no doubt in handy in the future. Secondly, because I am not a professional packaging designer and didn’t feel ready to be taking full responsibility of production when the time came, I was in contact with a number of specialised packaging companies whilst I was developing the concept. I felt this was good because it allowed me to learn about pricing, their processes; specifications for production and what can be achieved on a large scale. The final positive of this brief was that it allowed me to practice my screen-printing skills. I had decided that I wanted to spend more time in the print-room this year before we finished and I regretted not making the most of our facilities, so this gave me another chance to do that. Also, the fact I had to print so much stuff, most of which was just extremely small text, meant my skills were really put to the test.
Negatives and difficulties Most of the difficulties faced during this brief related to the client and miscommunication. Firstly, during the initial briefing I was told that once I had developed the designs we would be going straight into production with a packaging company. Because this was early in the year and because I was also using this as a college project, my plan was that I work alongside the packaging company so everything went smoothly - develop the designs then bring them to them for production – all in good time before extended practice submission so I could steal a few to photograph or hand in. I contacted a list of packaging companies the client had given me to find out what they could do for us and who was best for the job, ready to discuss my ideas and how we could take it to the next stage. Unfortunately, the next time I met with the client his mind had changed and he now didn’t know when he would be ready to take it into production - he just wanted the designs there ready for
when he did. This was frustrating as I had been taking it slowly, thinking that I wouldn’t need to worry about the bigger job of production, but in the end I did because I didn’t just want to just submit some digital designs or crappy mock ups for the module -I wanted the real finished thing! When it did come to production, I had quite a few problems with printing. I had chosen to work with a dark brown textured stock, and as I did not have access to a digital printer that can print white, my only option was to screen print. This wasn’t a negative thing in itself, but it meant things went wrong. Most of the whiter colours I printed worked absolutely fine, but when applying vivid colour to the stock – e.g. green and pink, they were very opaque and faded in with the dark brown. This problem was purely down to my lack of screen-printing knowledge, but will indeed be something I learn from and find a way around in the future. The final negative aspect of this brief was the photography shoot at the end. I decided that I didn’t want the final photographs to be taken in a boring photography studio with a boring white background. I wanted scenery, chocolate all over the place, whisks and bakers. I organised a trip to the Brown & Blond bakery so I could get some shots of the final designs with the product in the perfect environment. Unfortunately after 20 minutes of finally finding an area with reasonable lighting (one window in the whole place), I was told that I needed to pack up in 15 minutes. Considering I am not a confident photographer in the slightest this was a ridiculous situation. I was literally throwing chocolate and peanuts everywhere, sweat dripping from my head as I jumped on and off tables frantically taking as many shots as I could. In the end there were 5 photos out of about 300 that were slightly decent – and that was after a shit load of editing. This was extremely annoying as I feel I could have done so much with the photography, but not when I am that rushed and under pressure. Although I was proud and happy with the final outcomes, I definitely feel they could have been presented a lot better.
What would I do differently next time I would have been a lot more on the ball and motivated – getting all the design work completed in sufficient time so that if I did run into problems with production, print and photography, I would have time to resolve these. I would have also tired to push the brief further – although I have now been asked by the client to do this, I think it would have been good to see what else I could come up with and how far I could have taken it. Another thing I would have done would have been arranging visits to the packaging companies I was in contact with – I think it would have been really good for me just to actually see how it all works and what goes on there instead of just learning through email. Finally I think I would have been a bit more stern and organized with the client - maybe taken a bit more control and not waited around for him to give me the orders.
Ratings (1 Very Bad – 5 Very Good) Quality of work - 4 Quantity of work - 3 Attendance - 3 Punctuality - 3 Motivation - 4