Journal Three by Nick Yates

NICK YATES JOURNAL THREE 2011/12

NICK YATES JOURNAL 3

IT’ TIM S NEA R TO E FOR LY GRO ME WU P

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92 98 Nick Yates _Journal 3

THE FINAL YEAR MAIN PROJECTS OTHER PROJECTS LECTURES

WORK EXPERIENCE

SPIRATION TOP TEN READING LIST PAPER WORK Nick Yates _Journal 3

CONTENTS

HIBITIONS & EVENTS

NICK YATES

THE FINAL YEAR

A LOOK BACK ON THE YEAR AS A WHOLE. THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY Nick Yates _Journal 3

JOURNAL THREE Nick Yates _Journal 3

SO IT’S ALL NEARLY OVER... The third year is now almost completely over and it is scary to think about just how quickly the experience has flown by. When I look back towards the beginning of the year, I can really see how much I’ve grown through the experience. I left the second year believing that I was already quite confident about my work and that I was a decent designer, but I can now appreciate how much I have learned this year as well as how much I still have to learn too.

YEAR OVERVIEW

In general, the year has been a fantastic ride. There have been ups and downs of course, but on the whole I have found more positives than negatives. It started with one of the most difficult projects I’ve faced thanks to the Bang(!) brief, where I was well and truly taken out of my comfort zone with the level of experimentation I was expected to do. Since then however, there have been plenty of projects that have been more to my tastes where I have produced work that I am far happier with.

^ I struggled a lot with the Bang(!) project.

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As mentioned, the Bang(!) brief was one that I’d say I struggled with a lot, and in fact, I think that I struggled a lot in the first term in general. There was a lot of changes to deal with; new studios, coping with working on a building site, new teaching etc. It meant that there were periods where I didn’t feel much like doing design work. I was quite unenthusiastic at times and it took a lot of effort to get into the swing of things. There was also the welcome distraction of 3 weeks out of university when I went to London for work experience. This was a disruption in terms of my work, but also a time where I think I learnt an awful lot about myself as a designer and how the real world of graphic design actually works. The biggest eye opener was seeing that you’d be lucky to get a week doing one single project let alone the three or four we are used to at university. I was also surprised to see just how little time you got to do design. James at Realise for instance didn’t do any designing until about 2 in the afternoon most days. The rest of his time was made up of replying to emails, making phone calls, chasing up clients for money and all the other things that are important when you run your own agency. At first I thought this was quite sad, but now I’m not sure if it is actually a healthy distraction from purely being sat in front of InDesign 12 hours a day.

“I ACTUALLY ENJOYED WRITING MY ESSAY TO THE POINT WHERE I LOOKED FORWARD TO MY TRIPS TO THE LIBRARY. ALMOST. ”

Another test I had to face was writing my dissertation. In school I’d found that I never had much trouble writing essays, but since starting university, they had become the thing that was letting my grades down. Knowing that this year’s one was so important I tried to make more time for it. However, when you have a lot of other things to do, it’s easy to put it aside. Despite that I managed to write something that I was very happy with and I found that when I began to involve myself more with it, I actually enjoyed it to the point where I looked forward to my library trips. (Well a tiny bit at least…) The fact that I could write about something that I genuinely had an interest in was also a big factor that went towards me doing a better job. I enjoyed pouring through books looking at all the things that could feature and hopefully that passion showed in my writing. In general, the second unit has been a lot more fun for me. I have felt freer to muck around a bit and I think that my work has improved a lot because of that. Perhaps one of the biggest reasons for this was the Johnny Hardstaff workshop. His energy and love of what he does really rubbed off on me and I suddenly realised that what I do cannot only be impressive, but also fun. When he arrived, he created a positive vibe in the studio that hadn’t been there for a while and I think that everyone who took part in the workshop developed a lot. This showed when you saw the work that people produced. Most did something that was a bit left field for them – I know I did at least – and this was exciting.

^ Johnny’s workshop helped me to free myself up a bit. Nick Yates _Journal 3

Looking at the work I produced during the SDP unit, I often wonder if I haven’t taken the whole design thing that seriously. Between doing projects about LEGO, dressing someone up as ‘Google Boy’ and pouring water on people’s heads I have had a lot of laughs and even if the work isn’t all that serious, I am extremely proud of it. I handed in my portfolio for assessment and for the first time, I was genuinely happy with it all. Normally there is at least one project that think could have been better, but this time I felt that there was something about each one that meant it had worth as a piece of design in my portfolio. I remember one of the tutors saying that by the end of the third year there wouldn’t be a second year project that you’d want to put in your portfolio and thinking that that was laughable. Now however, I totally agree and actually think that about not only second year work, but also the majority of the work from the GDP2 unit as well. For me, this is great because it shows that I feel like I am still improving and after all, there is always something to learn.

“I OFTEN WONDER IF I HAVEN’T TAKEN THIS DESIGN THING ENTIRELY SERIOUSLY. ”

Showing our work in a portfolio has been another learning curve this term as well. The two experiences I have had of that so far this year were completely different, but it was clear that there was an improvement after the second. Having work that I am pleased with made the whole business of talking about it feel very natural.

Another thing that I have learnt this year is to not fear digital. Where I would not have even considered it before, I now find that I have designed websites, apps, sound pieces and videos. I have actually really enjoyed the process too. There’s something about the instant-ness of designing a website that is satisfying. With just the press of a button, you can see your designs in a web browser. This is something completely different to print based work where you have to wait until you have the finished product in your hands before you can appreciate the effort you have gone to. I still have a huge love for print, but I am now opening up to the possibilities of digital work too. In a way, this is perhaps one of the best examples of showing my improvement over the past year. I now feel a lot more open to trying new techniques and processes, which is something that I was perhaps a little afraid to do when I finished the second year.

^ I’ve had a good laugh at times this year.

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The third year has been probably the most crucial in seeing myself develop from a student to someone capable of working in the world of design. The future is certainly scary, but I feel like I am ready to take that leap. My three years at university have been the best experience of my life. Of course there have been bad parts, but it is all part of the journey that has lead me to this stage and I am entirely grateful of that. Seeing how much I have grown during this time makes me extremely proud and a little surprised too. In another three years, I might look back again with an entirely different view. For now though, I am just glad that I have managed to make the most of what has been available to me not only this year, but in all three years that I have had the pleasure of being a student in Manchester.

YEAR OVERVIEW

“MY THREE YEARS AT UNIVERSITY HAVE BEEN ONE OF THE BEST EXPERIENCES OF MY LIFE”

Nick Yates _Journal 3

NICK YATES

MAIN PROJECTS

BANG! TWEET TWEET SPROUT CLOUT MAKE RAIN ATTRACTIVE PACKAGE GOOGLE CELEBRITY MATCHES CAMPUS Nick Yates _Journal 3

JOURNAL THREE Nick Yates _Journal 3

MAIN PROJECTS

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BANG! Responding to the given theme of ‘Bang!’ in anyway we liked. Then using the experiments to form some sort of application. University set project

I found the first project this year to be one of the most challenging I’ve encountered at University. When we’ve been given very little to go on in terms of a project in the past, I’ve really enjoyed the projects. For instance, in the restriction brief, simply having the word ‘forgotten’ lead me to what was quite a good concept. However, I found I struggled quite a lot with the word ‘Bang!’ I think what hindered me a lot was the 2 weeks we had to purely experiment. Experimentation is great, but for me, I think that it is best served once you have a notion of what you want to do for a project rather than using the experimentation process to try and create ideas. Although it is a process that many people seemed to work well with, it didn’t really work for me. However, I tried my best to work in this way and it meant that I was able to come up with several options in terms of ideas. I was quite pleased with my typeface as a final outcome to the experimentation stage, although I think that due to a desire to try to work on several ideas, I didn’t finish it to quite as good a standard as I would normally want. One of the best results from the experimentation phase was that it allowed me to have a go at a moving image piece and although it wasn’t perfect, I had a lot of fun doing it and meant I tried something I’m not used to.

I felt slightly more comfortable with the application stage of the project as I was able to do designs for something more specific. I tried to use my typeface and the way it was developed to create some sort of promotional piece for a new type foundry. I think that I tried to be quite ambitious for this part of the project and my work might have suffered slightly because of it when it came to the review stage. I perhaps tried to do too much, especially so in terms of things that I hadn’t got much experience in. For instance, I tried creating website designs for an imaginary type foundry, something I’d never done before. The type foundry I wanted to create also only had my typeface as an outcome. As well as that, I wanted to create a promotional piece and I think it all got a bit too confused. Once I had my review feedback, I decided that I needed to simplify things a bit. I feel that the work I created by January was a lot more refined and that choosing to create a type foundry for the third years enabled me to have my own client to design for and I eventually created work that I was quite happy with. It is also quite exciting to think that my ‘Intro Type’ publication could continue by getting a different student to design a second issue. I hope to continue to add to the blog I created as a way of showcasing the typography related work designed by the third years as well. Overall, I don’t think that my work for this project was as strong as some of the work I’ve done, but it is the one that I have pushed the most and worked the hardest on in the first term. I have tried to work in different ways and create outcomes that I haven’t done before, such as websites and moving image pieces. Although they could have been better, it was good to try them and learn from the experience. The Bang project also helped me to realise much more what sort of designer I am and I think that I work better as someone who analyses and breaks down a brief, and does research to form a clever concept rather than one that relies on experimentation as a way of creating ideas.

^ Promotional publication for typeface. Nick Yates _Journal 3

TWEET TWEET Exploring the world of Twitter, choosing a network of participants and creating a typographic response. ISTD Assessment Brief

I find that sometimes being given a choice makes it harder to make a decision. This is certainly the case with projects. We have had 5 ISTD briefs to choose from and I almost feel as though I’d have been better off picking a random selection out of a hat at day 1. When you have a choice, there is always the grating feeling that you might have picked the wrong one. It is also true to say though, that having a choice generally means that you can have fewer complaints about the project you go for. As a way of helping us choose what project we would do, we did SWOT analysis of each one.

I also enjoyed looking at visual references too, and there were many, but the two things that really aided my designs were the typography created by design agancy Hort that seemed like the perfect way of visualising football based work typographically and a poster series called “Grandma Says” which showed the do’s and don’t in our technological society. I think that when looking at my work, it is clear that I was influenced by these references, but that I managed to put my own spin on it too.

I wouldn’t say that the SWOT analysis particularly helped me in terms of picking an ISTD brief. All it seemed to do was show how a threat or a weakness can just as easily be considered as a strength or opportunity if you look at it differently. However, it was still quite an interesting exercise to do. Eventually, I narrowed my choices down, and what really helped me make a decision was working out what brief I would do if I was feeling brave and wanted a challenge and what I would do as a safe option. I thought the ‘Tweet Tweet’ brief would be a challenge as I’d never really used Twitter to a great degree and it would mean learning about something new. In terms of an option that I thought I’d be more comfortable with, I concluded that the ‘Tales to Change the Word’ brief, as a type and layout based project, would be a bit easier. In the end, I decided to take a risk and do the ‘Tweet Tweet’ brief. I thought the prospect of doing something where I had to learn about a subject would make it quite exciting. This turned out to be the case as I really enjoyed spending time doing research into the area which lead me to a good subject to hone in on. I enjoyed the research process in this project the most and had fun learning about all the different stories Twitter has created. I used my research to aid writing the copy for the book and I think that this is perhaps one of the best parts of my outcome. The reader should be rewarded for giving the book a good look by some nice writing.

^ I was influenced by the typographic style by Hort.

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ED RD TD A AW H IS HIP WIT BERS M ME

“I WOULDN’T SAY THAT THE SWOT ANALYSIS HELPED ME IN TERMS OF PICKING AN ISTD BRIEF”

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^ Grandma was a big inspiration.

As a typographic outcome – which was important for this project even more so than it usually is - I feel that I created something that was quite expressive but still related to the subject matter. I also thought that by creating typography that was interactive, I’d added something beyond just flat typography on the pages of the book. Despite this, I think that there was certainly the opportunity to do more extravagant out comes than I did and trying something away from the computer would’ve been interesting. This can sometimes prove difficult when you’re restricted by time and money as we as students often are. In terms of comparing this to my other outcomes from the term, I think that ‘Off the Pitch’ was the one I’m happiest with. That might perhaps be because it’s the sort of thing I could imagine myself buying if it was sold in Magma, and since the audience for this project was open to our own decision, that’s not a bad thing. If I’ve learnt one thing from it however, it’s that I could think bigger during a project and perhaps do things that rely less on macs. I decided to enter this project to the ISTD competition so I went back and changed some of the design decision that I’d chosen previously. I think that after some consultation with a tutor, I’ve improved it quite a bit. I found that the application for the competition was very thorough and if I had the choice again, I perhaps wouldn’t have entered since it took up a lot of my time. However, I look forward to seeing how I get on and if I get any feedback.

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ISTD FEEDBACK

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MAIN PROJECTS

I have recently recieved my feedback from ISTD and was quite pleased to hear that I passed. I’m not entirely sure whether simply passing is much of an achievement, but considering only two from every one who entered managed to pass I suppose it’s quite good. I found that the feedback was relatively useful, although not exactly thorough... I was surprised to see that they thought my research was very slim as I believed that I’d done quite a lot. I expect that it was quite clear that my only real references were either from the internet or books and I could have perhaps experienced more things to add them to my sketchbook work, perhaps this is something I will look into in the future. Apart from that, the feedback was quite positive and that is something to be proud of - it seems to me that the people at ISTD are quite harsh - and on the whole I am glad that I entered even if the process of entering was quite long winded.

SPROUT CLOUT “Possibly the world’s most hated vegetable? Make Sprouts the coolest veg on the planet!” Roses Student Awards Brief

For the personal project, I decided to work on the Roses brief called Sprout Clout. The main reason for this was because I enjoy how open the Roses briefs usually are and when I was analyzing what brief to choose, it seemed as though I had the most ideas for Sprout Clout. I think a lot of people thought that this brief was a bit silly, but I actually think it presented quite a challenge as there is such stigma attached to sprouts. In terms of the ideas I came up with, I seemed to let myself go bit and I managed to come up with more potential solutions for the project than I do for most. The humorous aspect related to sprouts made all sorts of solutions a possibility and this helped me to have a good discussion about the potential of the project when I had a tutorial with Sue. I think what made this tutorial so useful was because there was only a small amount of people and we all seemed to really want to help each other come up with good ideas for our projects. I often find that our tutorials aren’t much help because people don’t involve themselves that much (myself included sometimes), but this one was a lot better than most. What really helped was when Sue asked what idea I would choose to do if I only had 24 hours to do it. It made me really consider what solution would be most appropriate if the deadline was very urgent, after all I find I work a lot better when there’s a bit of pressure and I have to make decisions fast. In the end, I went with this idea and I think it paid off. When I started the project, I thought that there was an opportunity to create a slick outcome for the project that would be an alternative to the way that sprouts are seen by most at present and I think through my concept of creating ‘Brassicca Leaves’ I was able to do this. I thought that my solution was quite a good one and I think it was a truly believable outcome that I could imagine on the supermarket shelf. I also really enjoyed the process I went through with the posters I designed. I decided to do something that I thought might be quite fun and that had a sense of humor as well as being quite sophisticated. I thought that the photographs I took had a really interesting feel to them that was apart from the usual way food is photographed. The photography in a recipe book for Ikea influenced me a lot in the art direction here as they had a similar unusual nature to them. I haven’t used a lot of photography in my work, but I enjoyed it and I think that I’d like to use it again in the future. After the assessment Hitch mentioned that the art direction of the photography wasn’t that good and upon reflection I have to agree, I think there was something in the idea of the photographs, but they perhaps weren’t as related to the ‘big

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idea’ as they could have been. Good art direction of my photography is something I intend on working on in the next term. In terms of other projects I’ve completed at university, I don’t think that I pushed this project particularly far, the brief was essentially a re-brand and a couple of posters and some packaging aren’t very much when you consider this, but that was primarily because I knew I had a lot to do with the other projects and therefore wanted to keep this one quite small. What was really great though, was the amount of potential ideas I had that could’ve quite easily been my outcome. I’d like to pursue another one of these in the future as I think that they were quite strong.

^ Ikea Homemade Is Best Photography.

MAIN PROJECTS Nick Yates _Journal 3

MAIN PROJECTS

“I COULD HAVE EXPLORED THE NOTION OF THE POSTER HAVING A DUAL FUNCTION MORE” Nick Yates _Journal 3

ED LIST T R HO

MAKE RAIN ATTRACTIVE “It always rains in your country. Make a poster explaining to visitors of the UK why so much rain is attractive.” D&AD North Poster Competition

I had decided to take on this brief because it seemed like an interesting challenge and one that I could do with a short turn around. The notion of doing this brief quickly was something I wanted to focus on as it would not only have meant that I would have a project ‘under my belt’ so to speak, but it would be good practise to do a small brief quickly so that decisions would have to be made faster and the pace could have been raised. In a way, it is therefore somewhat unfortunate that I came up with a concept that has meant that this project had a lot of scope to continue beyond simply an A2 poster. Therefore this project has gone from something that I wanted to do quickly to one of the longer projects I’ve done this year. This project eventually ended up having two real phases, the first one being the designing of the A2 poster. Unlike previous competitions of this sort, the brief wasn’t to simply create a poster for the event. I found that this made the project a lot more challenging and also that more thought had to be applied. I was pleased that this was the case however because it meant there was more creative freedom.

^ I wanted to create something where the poster could go beyond an A2 print, influenced by this image from Craig Oldham.

I knew that I wanted to create something that was a little different to a normal poster so in that sense I was pleased with my final outcome. I liked the idea that the poster could perform more than one function; not only did it promote an attractive feature of British rain, but it also had a more fun element in that it could be pulled down and used as an emergency rain hat. I’d looked at the work of KesselsKramer, in particular some of the work for the Hans Brinker, as well as a piece Craig Oldham wrote about the functionality of a poster and I thought that my outcome was in a somewhat similar vein to those references. Yet despite being pleased with the result for the most part, I did think that I could have explored the notion of a poster having a dual function more before I went ahead with the design. That view became apparent after seeing the eventual winner of the competition. In terms of idea, both my poster and that one were similar, but where mine perhaps needed a bit more imagination and explanation, there’s had more instant impact. In this situation, that was important. However, I was still happy with my idea and also pleased to have at least been shortlisted. In terms of the success of this project as a whole, I think

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MAIN PROJECTS

^ Final A2 Poster. Pulling it down and folding it up was very important.

that it was in the application of the original idea where it began to work really well. The next step once I’d designed the poster was to see it in use as a hat. This meant that I could do some art direction of photography, something that was raised in my PDP as an area to improve – my photography for the Sprout Clout brief wasn’t relevant enough to the idea - therefore I wanted to have some shots that aided the design idea as a whole for this project. This is perhaps the area that I am most pleased with and after giving the photography a lot of thought, I feel that I have been rewarded with some great images. I also had a lot of fun doing the photo shoot and think that I really benefitted from having a good photographer there, and not just me taking the shots.

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^ The vibrancy and unusual layout of the Design Symp website pushed me do something similar with my own site.

In my review, I loved the idea of taking my Rain Hat Poster and using it as an icon for some sort of ‘Make it Rain’ day on St. Swithun’s Day in a similar way that the red nose is used for Comic Relief. I think that the fact that parts of the country are suffering from drought and hosepipe bans makes this idea quite relevant. With the poster/hat and the photography already in hand, it was quite straightforward putting that towards the promotion of the event. I am particularly pleased with my design for the event’s web site. I feel that it carries the over all tone of voice well and also stands out against a lot of other websites in that it is bold and vibrant. Web design is something that I have no real knowledge of so I am very happy with the results. I’d looked at the website of The Design Symposium from 2010 a lot because it too was bold and vibrant instead of being overly sophisticated and I think that my website has achieved something similar. I’d also been on the Thames Water website to learn a little more about the drought and therefore saw the sort of design that it had. It’s safe to say that my outcome was very different, but where I think their designs were somewhat patronising, I have tried to speak to the audience in a fun way that hopefully also delivers a message. It may not rain on St Swithun’s Day and even if it does it doesn’t necessarily mean that it will continue for 40 days, but in creating this event, I have created a platform to tell people about more practical things such as how to save water.

Looking at how far I have taken this project, it’s surprising to think that I had originally intended for it to be a short turn around. Although I have somewhat failed in my original plan, I am very glad that I went ahead with all of my ideas as I think that this is perhaps my strongest project to date and although I may not have won the poster competition, I am extremely pleased to have created a project with enough depth that I have been able to improve a lot of different skills.

ITHUN’S DAY W S t.

N I A R T I E MAK

“LOOKING AT THE SCALE OF THE PROJECT, IT’S SURPRISING TO THINK I HAD INTENDED ON A SHORT TURNAROUND ”

itrain.co.u

www.make

15t

1 h J U LY 20

< Despite originally wanting this to be a short project, I was really pleased with the creation of the ‘Make It Rain’ event. Nick Yates _Journal 3

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PACKAGE GOOGLE “Imagine all of Google’s products came in boxes. What would that line of packaging look like?” YCN Student Competition Brief

If there was one single thing that I’ve learned since undertaking this project, it would be that I should read, re-read and then read again exactly what the brief is before deciding to do it. If I had properly scrutinized the brief sooner, there would be a chance that I would never have started this project since it is safe to say that it is one of the hardest projects I’ve undertaken since starting university. However, I’ve never before given up on a project once I’ve started it and decided to plough on regardless with the packaging Google brief. I think that what it was exactly that made this brief so difficult was because the outcome seemed so useless. Google are a brand that create products accessible online, there didn’t actually seem any reason for them to need a range of physical packaging. Yet in the brief it stated that they wanted to see ways of visualising the different product families that showed customers that there was a vast selection of products on offer over and above simply Google search. They appeared to be asking for a fun, imaginative solution that also clearly and in a sophisticated manner, articulated all that Google have to offer. I have had to work extremely hard on this project to create something that I think is a good solution to the problem, but now that I have got there I can feel quite good about the experience. For me it was an important learning curve as I’m not all that often as stuck as I was at points during this project. I had to seek advice from tutors that I wouldn’t normally speak to and I found that it was after a chat with Liz, rather than during my review, that I finally made some headway. She said that my idea at the time was a little too pedestrian for Google and that I needed to think in a more quirky way. I found that this almost gave me a mandate to go away and do something a little stranger, which is what I eventually did. I’m very glad I had this chat with Liz even if, at the time it seemed like a huge step backwards as the clarity of what I eventually produced was much better than the original idea. In terms of my final outcome, I think that the quality of it as a whole was restricted because it took so long to come up with the idea. Perhaps if I’d reached my conclusion sooner I’d have had more time to prepare for the photo shoot and maybe have been able to create a stronger final piece. Despite that, I think that it’s not bad considering how difficult I found the project and through having to deal with a tricky brief, I have learnt a lot. ^ Say hello to Google Boy Nick Yates _Journal 3

CELEBRITY MATCHES Branding, packaging and App development for Celebrity Matches, a game from the mind of Sue Platt Self Initiated Brief

Choosing the final project that I’d undertake at university was a lot easier than I had originally thought it would be. Having a think about some of the things I’d done during the third year helped me consider if there was anything that I hadn’t done that I’d like to have in my portfolio while I still had the chance. After a chat with Liz, it became apparent that unlike in the second year, I hadn’t focussed any of my efforts on tactility or printing techniques. Thinking along these lines as well as knowing that I had to think of a project straight away made picking something far easier. It has also been really nice to work on more of a self-set project this time around instead of working on a real brief. It has given me the freedom to do things that I want to do and to not be too restricted by elements outside of my control. I decided to work with Sue’s game idea of Celebrity Matches because I was instantly excited as soon as she told me about it. The thought of working with such small packaging and thinking about humour made me want to get started straight away.

“CHOOSING MY FINAL PROJECT WAS A LOT EASIER THAN I HAD THOUGHT IT WOULD BE”

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I found that I was almost hindered by this enthusiasm at the start. I did my usual thing of trawling the Internet and design books for inspiration and found that I’d come out with more imagery than I ever had before. I think the notion that this project could be anything I wanted made it almost too broad. However, having too much inspiration is far better than too little. That meant that I experimented a lot more with how the design could look, including attempting hand drawn typography for instance. My designs developed a lot since the early stages, but that shows that I considered plenty of different options. The experience of using special print techniques and getting good paper stocks was another challenge during this project, but one that I have learned a lot from. It is really nice to get paper samples from companies instead of simply relying on what Paperchase or Fred Aldous can provide as it adds an extra element to the work, it lifts it beyond a student project in a lot of ways. Trying new print techniques was also exciting and I think that it has really paid off. Using screenprinting and foiling adds to the whole feel of the product and helps to make it pop.

^ I enjoyed all the print techniques I got to use.

One final new experience that I encountered was designing an App that could work along side the physical package. I found this really challenging, as there has to be a lot of planning to make the app feel right. If I had more time, I would have perhaps worked a lot more the designs, but for a first attempt I think it’s worked quite well. Designing for such a different platform was a fun experience, but it shows just how different design can be when you shift the parameters. If there’s one thing that I really enjoy about screenbased design is how instant it is. You can design an app and then put jpegs of the pages straight onto your iPhone in a matter of hours without having to think about anything like print production or paper stock. I’m still print’s biggest fan, but there are elements to digital work that are really exciting. Of all the projects I have worked on this year, I think that Celebrity Matches is the one that I have had the most fun with. It might not be the most professional or sophisticated project, but I think it has a lot of character. I have to say also that I have enjoyed the reception it gets from fellow students. A “wow!” every now and again does make you feel quite good.

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^ Designing an app was a tough, but enjoyable challenge. Nick Yates _Journal 3

CAMPUS Working with the Manchester Modernists to create work for their ‘Artists not in Residence’ project at UMIST. Manchester Modernist Society

When I first heard about this project, I thought that it would be the sort of thing that I’d enjoy being involved in. The thought of working on something that would actually become ‘real’ was an exciting prospect, as was the potential of having a proper client/designer dialogue. After three years of University, I really feel that I’d like to move on to working on real, tangible briefs now. University based projects are a fantastic way of bringing out the best, most creative ideas, but there’s something very different about working with a client. This brief has been a great experience in learning to deal with clients in order to get the most out of the work. It’s been a nice transition between uni work and real work too because Jack and Maureen are so enthusiastic and friendly. The other new experience that I have had thanks to this project is working with someone who I haven’t had the pleasure of working with properly before. Hopefully she agrees, but I think Lisa and I work well as a team. Her energy has helped us to try out new and exciting things such as the ‘concrete’ badges. If I was doing this project by myself or with some other people, I don’t think we would have achieved quite as much. We also seem to agree quite a lot which is nice as there isn’t too many arguments! At this current stage, we have managed to create prototypes for two of the products we wanted to make for The Modernist’s Campus project. These should be enough for our assessment, but we aim to finalise them for the Campus event. It will be a whole new experience finding money to pay for them and getting them printed in bulk. I’m chuffed with our outcomes, I think we have done quite a good job of tapping into the Modernist ideals but that we’ve also added elements that relate a bit more to Jack and Maureen’s humour and character. I think they seem to agree, as so far they have been very impressed. I am enjoying this project a lot and look forward to the next stage as well as the final event.

Nick Yates _Journal 3

^ Working with a partner has meant that we’ve had the confidence to try out new tecniques and processes.

MAIN PROJECTS Nick Yates _Journal 3

NICK YATES

OTHER PROJECTS

SUMMER SALT GBH ARE 12 POSTER SEVN ME & YOU - IA PLACEMENT RESPONSE YELLOW - IA POP-UP SHOP SELF PROMOTION - JH Nick Yates _Journal 3

JOURNAL THREE Nick Yates _Journal 3

SUMMER SALT Recording our Summer holidays in macro detail and then responding to the results with infographics. University set project

When I start a new project, I try and start positively. There’s nothing that frustrates me more than when people take an instant disliking to the brief. However, when I first read the Summer Salt brief, I have to admit that I didn’t feel particularly inspired. My first thought was that I wasn’t sure if anyone would be too interested in my life and the huge collection of data that I might collect would be of no use to any one. Therefore I tried to come up with a way of making the brief slightly more interesting for myself. Using ‘to do’ lists, as my data collection was a great way for me to create a catalogue of my daily activities over the 24 days I recorded myself. I was also pleased that I would create a series of artifacts that would have an interesting aesthetic.

The book that mostly inspired me was Information is Beautiful by David McCandless so I tried to create a series of different info graphics that could be linked together but were different in style. I’m not sure how happy I am with the work for this project. In fact, I’m probably most pleased with my teaser poster over my actual poster series. I wanted to create something a bit different to the sort of thing I’d normally do, but I’m not sure if the end product is as good as it potentially could be. Having said that, there are elements that I like and I’m pleased that I pushed myself to do something a bit different in style.

I found that recording the data was perhaps the most interesting part of the brief since it enabled me to learn something about myself, which is that ‘to do’ lists only work for me when the tasks are interesting and I want to do them, if I don’t want to do a task, I won’t do it… In terms of the work I created, I tried to push myself away from the obvious style of info graphic representation. As much as I love Nick Felton, I wanted to avoid creating a replica of his yearly annuals.

^ I was happy that I didn’t choose to collect the standard sort of statistics related to info-graphics. Nick Yates _Journal 3

OTHER PROJECTS Nick Yates _Journal 3

GBH ARE 12 POSTER Winning poster design for the D&AD competition to promote agency GBH’s lecture in Leeds. D&AD North Poster Competition

WIN

After seeing the entries for the Greg Quinton poster competition a few months back and how good they were, I decided to enter the competition for the GBH lecture happening in Leeds. Because I knew that my main projects were of more importance, I purposely set myself the target of designing my entry in one evening. I successfully managed that and I actually thought it was a really good idea. Sometimes it’s nice to just produce a piece of work without too much thought. Going with your gut instincts and producing something quickly made a nice change from spending three to four weeks deliberating over projects, which often happens. When I’d finished the design, I knew I liked it, a lot of the time when I create something I feel the need to get some praise before I believe that I like the work. With this poster design however I was instantly pleased. That meant that I wasn’t too worried when I sent it off, it didn’t really matter if I didn’t win because I had a piece of work that I enjoyed making. That’s not to say that when I found out that I had been selected as one of the finalists for the competition I wasn’t really happy… It also meant that I could attend the GBH lecture, which was really great. Finding out that I had won the competition was a really good feeling for me, it showed that sometimes a quick concept and design can work just as well too.

“GOING WITH MY GUT INSTINCTS AND PRODUCING SOMETHING QUICKLY MADE A NICE CHANGE” Nick Yates _Journal 3

OTHER PROJECTS Nick Yates _Journal 3

OTHER PROJECTS

Nick Yates _Journal 3

SEVN Responding to the given theme of ‘Bang!’ in anyway we liked. Then using the experiments to form some sort of application. University set project

Being picked to be one of the creators of the 3rd year publication was a great achievement. It meant that John had enjoyed some of my work from the 2nd year and also that I could be part of a team that could have a real input into the way the ‘outside world’ sees our course. However, I have experienced being put into a group with people you don’t normally work with before and the same problems always tend to arise. The main problem tends to be that we are all Graphic Designers. We are all much more interested in the parts that relate to our course than, say writing articles or doing interviews. What that has meant is that we all want to be involved in layouts, logo designs etc. and it’s very difficult to collate 7 people’s opinions on what good design is, especially so, when there is a lack of actual content. I have always believed that the best group projects arise when people can choose the groups, know what each person will bring to the table and trust each other’s decisions. There are also practicality problems that arise too since not everyone has the same software or access to content. Despite that, things are moving forward steadily and there has been an increase in involvement now that we have discovered we can create a print based solution. The printing methods and the steady flow of designs now coming together are making the project more and more exciting. What I am most interested in however, is how the next group of editors will take what we’ve done and put their own spin on it. I’d also like to see what our group will be willing to let them change in their publication, or if we want it to remain very similar to our publication, when it’s finished…

we have done, we’ve done very well. I think we’ve set a high standard for the next group to aim for which is all we could ask for really. The publication project was quite a distraction from all our other project work, but it ended up with a great outcome. I feel that on the whole, we did a good job of working as a team and that it was really interesting to work with people I haven’t worked with before, even if that did make it slightly more difficult.

^ My response to Construction.

Update: Since writing this first account, we have finished issue one of SEVN and I have to say that I’m really pleased. It was definitely a case of it all coming together in the end and I’m really proud of our issue. I think that we had to struggle with the fact that we were creating the first issue, therefore had all the problems that that entailed, we had to create a structure, content, theme, ideology etc. which were all over and above the problem of actually designing it. Considering those hurdles, I think we’ve come up with something that clearly does what we’d hoped and does so in a highly professional manner. My only reservation is that we didn’t push the magazine that far, we potentially had the opportunity to do something that really stood out. As it is, we’ve stayed quite safe and although we’re not pushing any boundaries, what

Nick Yates _Journal 3

OTHER PROJECTS

Nick Yates _Journal 3

ME & YOU Creating relationships between me’s and you’s with a restricted design palette. Ian Anderson Workshop No. 3

This brief was focused on the notion of it being “the way you tell ‘em”. That having the killer concept isn’t nearly good enough if you can’t come up with an equally strong way of presenting it. Out first job was to tell a joke to the rest of the group. As a third year, I’m quite used to presenting my work now, but I have to say that telling that joke was the most nervous I’ve been in a long time. When you tell someone a joke, there is an expectation that you’re going to be funny. That is actually a lot of pressure, because you’re conscious of that. After telling the jokes, we realised how important the delivery

is. A joke can be great, but if you don’t tell it well enough, it’s not funny. Creating successful design is based on the same notion. You have to appeal to your audience and make them connect to the message. With that in mind, we had the relatively simple task of creating a relationship between the words ‘Me’ and ‘You’. We could only use Helvetica, and the colour black. Although the task seemed straight forward, it was actually quite difficult to create something that was clear for people other than yourself to understand. What was really interesting to see was that most people considered the ‘Me’ to be them, and the ‘You’ as an outside audience, mostly related to the world of design. It hadn’t even crossed my mind to tackle the brief in that way. I think that this led to problems, however because it ended up becoming more personal which instantly makes it less difficult for people from a different perspective to get an understanding. I think that in terms of my own work, I did OK to create a relationship that was relatively understandable, but that even at a very basic level as this project was, convincing everyone is ultimately very difficult. After that, we had to use the relationship that we had created, but represent it in a more abstract way. Using basic shapes and colours made the task even harder as there were no words to rely on. I did however prefer this task because there was more opportunity to be expressive. I was also pleased with my concept, where as I’d considered the first task from a third person perspective, I made this side of the project more personal by describing my relationship to the ambiguous use of shapes in design. This task was far more problematic than it would first seem, but I think that I created two pieces that worked quite well. That notion of being able to tell the story right and drawing the observer’s attention is so important and sometimes at university we lose sight of that. It’s always important to connect to your audience, no matter who they are, or what the content is.

^ The result of day one’s task. ‘You make me sad’.

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WORK PLACEMENT RESPONSE Using images or work I was involved in and excerpts from my Journal entry, I created a response to my placements. A1 Fold Out Poster

After my time in London, I decided to do piece of work as a response. I thought that this would be a better object to put in my portfolio than just a selection of the work I did whilst on placement because it said more about me as a designer. I understand that placements are great to write about in the journal, but I wanted to have some sort of additional record of my work that was more of a design piece. The A1 fold out had a selection of images of work from the placement and I put excerpts from journal entries in it too. It was supposed to be a cross reference of my stay in London and a way of presenting my work a bit differently in my portfolio. I decided to do this solution quickly in order for it to not interrupt my other work so I did it in a day. I often enjoy doing work like that because it leads you to have to make decisions quickly and to just go with them, something that was quite reminiscent of the placements, especially at Realise. I think that my response was a good way to round up my time in London and I thought that it was a great alternative to purely having any work I’d had an involvement with during my placement in terms of my portfolio. It also gave me a chance to try out a more ‘sophisticated’ style of layout; I wanted it to be quite Swiss in style. I’ve seen examples online on the sort of thing I wanted to achieve. I liked the idea of 2 colours with black and white imagery. I wanted the type overlaid on top and I went with this design style. In terms of the ‘Swiss’ nature of the work, I think I got close to what I wanted to achieve but only really on the front cover. I found that as soon as I had a lot of copy and images to deal with it became extremely hard to make everything link well to one another. This led to it perhaps looking a bit messy as one single folded out poster. However, on the whole I was pleased with my day’s work. I would have liked to have sent my response to Gill and the guys at Realise, but was worried that I hadn’t been overly complimentary about my experience as a whole in my journal write up and didn’t want anyone to get offended.

Nick Yates _Journal 3

^ Layout like this piece by Tim Wan influenced my work.

OTHER PROJECTS

“MY RESPONSE WAS A GOOD WAY TO ROUND UP MY TIME IN LONDON”

Nick Yates _Journal 3

YELLOW Imagining that the World is run by a global organisation who are looking to re-brand. Pitching for the colour Yellow. Ian Anderson Workshop No. 4

I really enjoyed our final workshop with Ian and I think that was helped because we are able to work in groups. I’m at a stage now where I’ve found a group of people that I really enjoy working with and who, between us get far more out of a project than we would if we were doing it separately. I’ve thought for a while now that I tend to work quite well in a team, I’m confident enough in my own abilities to recognize when someone else is better suited to a job and the benefits of working with people with their own strengths are huge. In terms of the project itself, it was a really interesting one. The brief was really imaginative and gave us a lot of scope. Having to promote a colour was difficult because every colour has so many connotations. This meant that not only did you have to come up with a legitimate argument, but also be able to fight your own corner when the inevitable questions about your colour arrived after the presentation. As a team, we tried to use the advice we’d learnt from Ian in the previous projects to drive our thinking. I think that that really helped, because we were aware of the importance of being able to sell your idea in a sentence. That instant awareness is really important in a presentation as it drives home your message. Our statement that yellow was the brightest colour, was something that we could mention knowing that there was little argument against it. As we’ve learnt, when a presentation is the final outcome, it needs to become the focus. It’s great to produce nice looking work, but it needs to be backed up with strong explanations and a good presentation. We kept that in mind and spent the majority of our time working on the presentation rather than design outcomes, we were selling a colour at the end of the day, not design ideas. I think that eventually paid off. Where we focused on answering the brief and presenting our idea well, other groups fell down because they’d spent too long making it all look nice and they missed the point. I was pleased with our presentation and felt that we were probably in the top two in terms of our pitch. I was really impressed with the red representatives because they had a great concept to unite the whole world in that the colour red runs through every one’s veins. Immediately after the pitch, we had to answer questions. It was amazing to see the change in people in comparison to previous opportunities we’ve had to give feedback and scrutinize. Where as normally, every one is quite polite and friendly, this time people were keen to disrupt the presentation as much as possible, this was really good however, because it

Nick Yates _Journal 3

gave us the chance to see our ideas from other perspectives that you often don’t realise when your head is focused on an idea. I have to wonder how much the of the scrutiny was down to people trying to get their own back after they’d been questioned however… Over all, I’ve really enjoyed Ian’s workshops Sometimes, I’ve approached them with a certain level of dread, but the fact is that he always gives you very good feedback on your work, he’s never overly harsh for the sake of it and he speaks a lot of sense. It’s realistically one of the only times where receive this level of feedback and it’s been a fantastic experience. I’ve learnt that presentation is key and that you can’t get it right every time. That evaluation and feedback is invaluable to improvement and that a killer idea and a strong, to the point description is far more important than pretty work that doesn’t carry much substance. Although it was really daunting to begin with, I’m really pleased that I took part and I’ve learnt a lot of truly valuable stuff.

“THE BRIEF WAS REALLY IMAGINATIVE AND GAVE US A LOT OF SCOPE ”

OTHER PROJECTS Nick Yates _Journal 3

POP-UP SHOP Worked with students to create a Christmas pop up shop to sell our various wares. Degree Show Fundraiser

To help raise money for our degree show, I organised a Christmas pop-up shop with several other students. It’s the first time that I’ve organised anything like this and it was quite an experience. It’s amazing how much something that seems so simple, can cost a lot of your time. From designing the posters and making sure that people are going to actually make things to sell, to making things to sell myself, the shop ended up taking up a lot of time at the end of term. What’s great though is how much I enjoyed doing it. I think I’ve got to a stage now where I’m not overly enthralled by university set projects, what I enjoy doing a lot more now is things the things I set myself. It’s something I need to consider next term, where I can partake in my own self-set briefs. Back to the pop-up shop though, it was brilliant to raise as much money as we did and it’s hugely satisfying to see people buying things that we’d created.

^ I was pleased with our customised bags. Nick Yates _Journal 3

As stated, it is the first time I’ve ever organised anything like this and it is certainly a learning curve. I’ve realised that these things don’t just happen and that a lot of planning and effort has to go in. We purposely wanted to avoid getting too many people involved because often that is when things start to go wrong. Although there was a point where I thought we wouldn’t have enough to sell, I think keeping it small scale eventually worked out well. In hindsight, I think I would have made the effort to screen print the wall planner that I designed. It turned out to be a hugely popular item, but it cost a lot to print out meaning that the profits weren’t as high as they could have been. Also, had they been screen-printed, there would have been the added element of craft. It certainly was a nice feeling to have people buy your creations and I think that I’d like to try making some more printed material to sell in the future.

OTHER PROJECTS Nick Yates _Journal 3

OTHER PROJECTS

Nick Yates _Journal 3

SELF PROMOTION 24 hours to come up with a way of promoting ourselves in a one minute presentation to fellow coursemates. Johnny Hardstaff Brief

“THIS BRIEF, WITH SUCH AN ENCOURAGEMENT TO DO SOMETHING QUITE RADICAL HAS, I THINK LEAD TO A MUCH NEEDED GAINING OF CONFIDENCE”

I unfortunately missed the workshop that Johnny did last term, but I’m glad that I was able to take part in this one. What impressed me the most about Johnny was his enthusiasm. From the outset he made you feel comfortable enough to say what you thought and to think big. There was something about the way he ran the workshop that meant I felt comfortable to come up with an answer to the brief that I wouldn’t otherwise have attempted. I think this was clear amongst everyone that attended the workshop, as there were plenty of very successful outcomes. Johnny also gave me a great piece of advice when he said that I throw away a lot of really good ideas and that rather than deliberating over projects, I should go out and try and do something new almost every hour. When we’re used to projects that last several weeks, I think it’s easy for me to spend a lot of time deliberating over the best ideas to push forward, but what Johnny said to do was to just ‘do stuff’ and as much of it as possible. It might be a method I try to adapt to in the final unit. In terms of the brief we were set, I thought it was fantastic and it was set at just the right time as we’re about to start going out to the ‘real world’ and attempt to become successful designers. This sort of brief with such an encouragement to do something quite radical has, I think, lead to a much needed gaining of confidence for those that took part, myself included as we look to stand out in the world of Graphic Design. I was extremely pleased with my outcome too. I set out to be quite shocking and to be as memorable as possible, not to mention have some fun at the same time. In terms of those targets, I think I did pretty well… Johnny also said that he thought I was perfectly capable of turning briefs on their head and doing something different, but he challenged me to nail a brief and properly answer it, when I spoke to him about my idea, he said that it was a great answer to the brief, which was great. Overall it was brilliant couple of days where I gained a lot of great advice and a final outcome that although certainly different for me, answered the brief well and was something I was very pleased with.

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ELEVATE THE ORDINARY Looking at collections and presenting them in the form of a confessional magazine. Vaughan Oliver Workshop

When we were told that Vaughan would be coming in to do a workshop with us, I initially thought that it had come at the wrong time and I wouldn’t want to do it. Now that we’re in our last term, I didn’t want to have the distraction of a two-day workshop when so much else needs to be done. However, now that the workshop is finished, I’m extremely glad that I made the effort to attend. Some times a bit of a break away from the main projects is needed and the challenge of a short turn around is quite refreshing. This was certainly the case here. As a brief, I first thought that another magazine project would be a bit boring, but as it turned out, I had a lot of fun. The notion of turning something mundane into something interesting was a good place to start as it takes skill to be able to communicate that to people. What also helped for me was the fact that we could do the work based on something that interested us. I always think that when the subject matter is of interest, it’s more enjoyable on the whole; it gives you added impetus to do something to the best of your abilities because it is of importance to you. Although I worked with Jonathan – someone I often work with – I also had to work with someone completely new as well which posed a nice challenge. It was great that Sally fitted in well straight away and I think the three of us worked brilliantly as a team (not to mention the fact that she likes LEGO which is a huge bonus.) I was very impressed with what we managed to turn out in just two days as well. We were able to do photography, write copy and create a very thorough and well designed publication, which I thought that was a great effort.

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When we all met up on the second day to show our wares, I couldn’t help but be impressed by what everyone had created. There were fantastic ideas and some brilliant treatment of photography and narrative. I loved how eerie the make up wipes looked in the ‘Face Off’ book and how two utterly separate pieces of junk can create a story when put next to each other as they were in ‘Curbed’, not to mention how different dust caps look when they’re about 500 times their usual size. Over all each group had taken the original starting point and gone on a really exciting journey and ended up with great outcomes. In comparison to our own magazine, they were quite different. Where most of the pieces told stories through imagery, ours was more reliant on copy. Although I really enjoy writing and reading copy, I couldn’t help thinking that some of the more image based work was interesting because it made the readers create their own assumptions. However, I was still very pleased with our work and think it’s a great project to put in my portfolio, as there is such a great story to tell with it. On a final note, I thought there was a fantastic atmosphere between us all during the workshop, which was really nice to be a part of. I think Vaughan was a big reason for that as he was extremely enthusiastic, funny and helpful. In the crit session he was nice, but still offered useful criticism, which was spot on. I’m glad I attended the workshop and it was something I think I needed at the start of what is going to be a very busy term.

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NICK YATES

LECTURES

GBH BRENDAN DAWES OWT IAN ANDERSON MARK EDWARDS PETER HOLDEN ERIK KESSELS ZOE HITCHEN Nick Yates _Journal 3

JOURNAL THREE Nick Yates _Journal 3

GBH D&AD North Lecture Rose Bowl, Leeds

LECTURES

I’m really pleased that I made the effort to travel to Leeds to go and see two of the guys from GBH give a talk on twelve of their favourite projects of the last twelve years. I felt really privileged to get an insight into the company. As with a lot of lectures and events I attend, I hadn’t heard of GBH before the lecture was announced. I had a brief look at their website, but didn’t really have much of a sense of what to expect. The one thing that I learned at the lecture that really hit home was that the work they did showed that the branding side of Graphic Design doesn’t have to be as stale as it sometimes seems. GBH work on some really large projects, but you got the sense that they were having fun with all of them.

^ This packaging design inspired the theme of my essay. The ideas that the company had come up with were really impressive. For instance; their work for Puma and the Africa Cup of Nations where they designed a National Unity football kit that became the third choice kit for eleven of the fourteen nations at the tournament. Or the massive eye applied to the Virgin Galactic rocket planes that will look back down on Earth as the ship completes its’ rotation before the decent back to land. What I particularly appreciated however was the close attention to detail they applied to their work, no matter how large the project itself was. They seemed highly passionate about the little things and the importance that had in raising the success of the brand. I always like to think that it’s the quirky little things in any project that really make the difference.

^ I loved the humour used in the branding for SLS Hotels.

When you look at GBH’s client list, you can’t help but be impressed by the scale of their success, twelve years ago, three guys decided to set up a design firm and now they are consistently working for the likes of Puma and Virgin Galactic, that’s hugely inspiring. Setting up my own company has been the dream for me and replicating even a fraction of the success GBH has had would be a good start. This is the second D&AD lecture I’ve attended now and I have to say that they’ve been two of the most inspirational design related events I’ve been to. I look forward to going to a lot more. As a side note, I also though that their raffle based Q&A session held after the lecture was a great way to involve people. I’m just sad that I didn’t win the Virgin Galactic brochure that would normally cost around $20,000…

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BRENDAN DAWES From Magnetic North Geoffrey Manton, Manchester

I go to most of the lectures held at university with out much knowledge of the sort of work that the person has been involved in. In my opinion, having this sense of naivety is a huge benefit. It means that I can go to the lectures with out having formed any opinions before hand. The best thing about this is that I often leave the lecture theatre seriously impressed by what I have seen. There’s a reason why these people are successful enough to come and give us a lecture and part of that is because they are great at giving presentations. Brendan Dawes was no exception. His work was based within the digital realms and although that is not a huge feature of my work at present he kept me really interested thanks to an array of great projects and a brilliant presentation style. He was relaxed, funny and passionate.

If there was one thing in particular that I’d take from Brendan’s lecture, it was his attitude. He was clearly just so interested in the world around him and that has definitely led to his success. Whether he’s in his shed or in his studio, he is always thinking about new and inventive things. As he said, he’s more of a maker than a designer. This sort of attitude seems to be integral when it comes to being as creative as possible and although I think I’m already very interested in the world around me, I know that I can open my eyes to it even more. One final thing of note from Brendan’s lecture was the 3D printer. The idea of being able to ‘order’ a product and for it to magically appear before your eyes is mind blowing. By showing us this, Brendan was giving us a glimpse of the future, and it’s extremely exciting.

^ It was amazing to think that this invention began with a prototype printed on a printer.

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LECTURES

^ The interactive maps in the Manchester ^ Information Centre are brilliant.

The most interesting project that he discussed were the interactive maps they’d designed to go in the Manchester Information Centre. What made this project interesting in particular was that I have been to the information centre and experienced the product. The maps are highly interactive but the most interesting thing about them is the level of intuitiveness. Brendan’s agency had the confidence to say, “have a go” to the audience. They didn’t have to shout instructions since the maps are easy to play with; it was a clear example of a good piece of design, since it didn’t have to create any sort of explanation, it just worked.

OWT Creators of the OWT Zine and OWT Press Geoffrey Manton, Manchester

LECTURES

Having OWT talk to us was really great because they’re not coming from a hugely experienced background. Being just 2 years out of University themselves means that they can tell us all about the trials and tribulations of being a ‘junior designer’ so to speak. I really admire OWT’s philosophy on being a working designer. I think the fact that they’ve decided to just got it alone is very brave. Understandably they’ve had to put up with a lot of hard times since graduating, but slowly they are beginning to see the benefits. In terms of their practice, I think that they’re zine is very impressive. Having started with practically nothing, they have done extremely well to get some success from it now. It’s not particularly the sort of design that I’d aspire to do, but I think the idea of showcasing talent from around the North West is brilliant and it helps to keep each issue of the zine fresh. Through the creation of the zine, it’s very reassuring to see that they are now getting new work as the OWT collective. I think it’s great to see that doing something you enjoy, like creating a monthly magazine can lead to people wanting to use you for work. I thought that OWT’s advice was very useful because, like I said, they’re quite new to the world of design too. The thing that stuck with me the most was something Sarah said about going back home after graduating. She believed that there’s no better time to start working for yourself than when you’ve left Uni as you have no money and not many responsibilities. She believed that going back home and finding any old job can sometimes lead to you getting a bit too comfortable and therefore making less effort to get a design job. Although the thought of not going home for any length of time is quite a scary prospect, I think Sarah’s right and it’s certainly something I’d consider.

^ I love the covers of OWT’s work. It’s where they get ^ a chance to show off a bit, whether it’s their own design, or that of a contributor.

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IAN ANDERSON Founder of The Designer’s Republic Geoffrey Manton, Manchester

If this lecture had happened in the first year before I knew who either Ian Anderson or The Designer’s Republic were, I think I would have had a very different impression of him than I do now. I was quite disappointed with the lecture in general if I’m honest and I think that is particularly surprising considering that Ian has said time and time again during the workshops that presentation is key. I have no idea what really constitutes the perfect lecture, but I think that I have been to many that have impressed me. Brendan Dawes for instance left me feeling inspired and eager, and Vaughan Oliver kept me engaged because he was very funny. As Ian went through a list of his projects over the past 25 years though, I almost felt that he didn’t really want to be there. He said during the lecture that ‘the only important job we’ve ever done is the next one’ and perhaps that is why he seemed a little disenchanted when talking about old work.

LECTURES

The fact that Ian simply went through work whilst telling us anecdotes was also disappointing, as I know from past experience that he has a lot of great advice that he could have discussed. The anecdotes Ian shared during the lecture were undoubtedly interesting; it’s just a shame that he didn’t add perhaps a bit more about how TDR started and what they might have an involvement with in the future. That’s not to say however, that I wasn’t interested in the lecture and that TDR haven’t done some fantastic work.

^ I still don’t really understand the DR logo, but I do love a bit of fluorescent pink...

In terms of the way TDR act as a design agency, I think that they are quite unique. They have a certain style and attitude that makes people go to them for work rather than the other way around which is more common. There’s a sense that they only take on work when it interests them or if it has a place in a grander scheme of things than simply the world of design. This is admirable even if it is perhaps something that I wouldn’t necessarily consider as the route I would take. It is almost as though what TDR do is ‘art communication’ where they have an opinion that they try and raise in the work they do for their clients. ^ The way TDR created a unique world for Wipeout has made it one of the most iconic games of its era

In my opinion, I don’t particularly like the design style of TDR, as I’m not particularly keen on the Japanese aesthetic, however conceptually it normally works extremely well. There is definitely a sense of attitude in the work of TDR and I think that was reflected in the way that Ian presented; telling us that we didn’t laugh loud enough at a joke for instance. You can’t deny that TDR have had a major influence on design over the past 30 years, but I don’t really know how to analyse what I learned since I only really heard stories and not anything that particularly made me think, which is quite a shame when the lecture came from a man that has made me think more than anyone else since I’ve been at University.

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MARK EDWARDS Co-Founder of Dr Me Geoffrey Manton, Manchester “See a problem, be the solution”

LECTURES

Eddie from Dr Me started his lecture by asking his audience to all move to the front. At first it seemed strange that he asked this, but as he explained, it was just a tactic he employed in order to be memorable. I’m not sure if it was this in particular that made him memorable however, as the whole lecture seemed to stick in my mind. Eddie was quite a passionate and opinionated man and characters like that usually make an impact. I think this is potentially because I am quite a quiet character in general so when someone who seems like the opposite arrives, it makes a mark. Whatever the reason, it worked and Eddie’s lecture was very useful and the advice he offered was highly valuable despite the fact that he is only a recent graduate himself.

making an impact and getting people to know who you are, which although it seems like quite straightforward advice, is something that is crucial if we want to become successful designers. This notion of standing out has been something we’re being encouraged to do more and more now and it is what I am trying to do now that we are edging ever closer to graduation. I’m not sure if I completely believed in the way that Dr Me work or that their mind set is identical to mine, but never the less, it was an enjoyable lecture and there was some great advice. Eddie was also shocked to hear that none of us had a proper website and he told us to make it our number one priority, something that I intend to do!

I thought that the way he delivered his lecture was good as he kept it to the point and just gave us the sort of advice that he has learned since graduating. He put a lot of emphasis on

PETER HOLDEN The Beard Geoffrey Manton, Manchester

“Astonish your audience and never lose the capacity to be astonished” We have a really varied range of people that come in and talk to us. Often it is people who have only recently graduated so they can therefore offer us up to date advice from fresh experiences. Peter Holden, however is someone completely the opposite of that. Having been in the business for around 40 years, there’s not much he hasn’t seen, from meeting The Queen to almost killing someone with a lion on a photo shoot, Peter has done it all. Above all it was his energy that impressed me the most, here was a man with grand children ecstatically describing everything he loved about design, and it was great to see. He was also very down to earth offering advice such as ‘Think about money’ and ‘Be clever, but not too clever’. He just seemed like a man who wanted to share with us all that he had learned through out his life and to also get to know us too. He talked about all sorts of different things but each one was as interesting as the next and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to him. He also has a fantastic beard.

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ERIK KESSELS Co-Founder of KesselsKramer Conference Centre, Manchester

In terms of my favourite work, it’s difficult to look past the branding they did for the Hans Brinker hotel in Amsterdam. The way they so boldly declared that it was ‘the worst hotel in the world’ and then watched it become as popular as the Ritz was astounding. It showed that they’re brave and believe in their approach, it was also apparent that they have a real talent for spotting the right opportunities for lots of different clients. This comes through in almost everything and another part of the lecture that stood out was when he showed both the cheapest ad they’ve ever made and the most expensive. Like Erik himself, I found it difficult to decide which one worked better but that was because both communicated the information so well. They spoke the audience they were aiming at perfectly. It doesn’t matter how much money they cost if they can do that. The final point about the lecture that I thought was particularly interesting was the series of books that Erik has published off his own back showing series’ of photographs. Although very simple in content, I was amazed at how passionate he was about them. It was also incredible to see the talent he had for spotting photographs that told such a story, yet were saved from being thrown away or lost in a cupboard. As he worked his way through slides showing a rabbit with various foodstuffs on its’ head and an old woman with a firearm, you couldn’t help but laugh. Yet without Erik’s passion, no one would know about them save for a few. ^ The work for The Hans Brinker was some of the bravest, most successful branding I’ve seen. Full to the brim of great humour and irony. Things I aspire to have in my work.

I left the lecture theatre realising that I have the opportunity to be so much more than I am at the moment and that you can be far more daring. It’s fantastic to know that there’s so much fun to be had at the same time too. Nick Yates _Journal 3

LECTURES

I’m extremely glad that I made the effort to go to this lecture despite the awkwardness of it being held in the middle of the Easter Holidays. I wrote in a previous journal entry that I thought I was getting a little bored of hearing designers give lectures where they do nothing but talk about their work. At the time I’d just been to the Design Symposium and had listened to both lecturers that did this and others that managed to not only talk a little about themselves, but also gave their point of view on a wider subject surrounding design, I thought that the latter was a far more worthwhile experience. However, since seeing Erik give his talk, my view has changed a little. I’ve decided that I have no problem with designers talking about themselves as long as they do it well. In that respect, Erik delivered hugely. It seemed that there was an interesting story to tell about every piece of work he’d ever created. What I was mostly inspired by was the fact that in practically all of the work KesselsKramer produce there is an element of humour and irony. This is something that I aspire to have in my work also, but when you look at KesselsKramer, it is clear that to do this, you must be a little brave.

ZOE HITCHEN Recently of Show Studio Geoffrey Manton, Manchester

Zoe was another fairly recent graduate from MMU, but her experience since leaving university was vastly different to anyone else who had come in given us a talk. The first thing I remember was just thinking how fortunate she was to get her ‘lucky break’ and start working with Nick Knight, she must have had some hugely impressive work in her portfolio for Malcolm Garrett to recommend Nick give her a chance. From there onwards however, it appears that Zoe has worked extremely hard to get to where she is now and that is a great achievement. Despite that, I have to admit that it sounds like an experience I would severely hate to have had; the thought of being called up at 3 o’clock in the morning by a man asking for ‘yellow snakes’ makes me very unhappy and I don’t think working in such close quarters with someone as Zoe did with Nick is something I’d choose to do. However, for Zoe it was an amazing chance and she certainly grasped hold of it. Seeing the work she’d been involved in also made me think about how seriously people often take design. Obviously there are occasions where being serious and sophisticated is crucial, but at other times having a laugh can add so much character to work and that is something that I often see lacking in ‘real design’. Perhaps that is something I will learn the hard way in the future, but for now having fun with my

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work seems very important. Overall, Zoe’s life isn’t one I’d choose for myself, but she perfectly proves how hard work and a nice personality are possibly more important than sheer talent when it comes to being successful.

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NICK YATES

EXHIBITIONS & EVENTS ON YOUR MARKS POST MATCH YORKSHIRE SCULPTURE PARK SON OF A GUN BASE 3 GLOBAL THREADS INTERPRETATION JUDGING DRAGON’S DEN ADVICE DESIGN SYMPOSIUM Nick Yates _Journal 3

JOURNAL THREE Nick Yates _Journal 3

ON YOUR MARKS 2011 Design & Art Direction Degree Show

EXHIBITIONS & EVENTS

Chatham Building, Manchester

In a lot of respects, I was hugely impressed by the degree show. What I particularly enjoyed was the high level of ambition. The guys had really gone to town with the sports theme. From the people at the bar (myself included) dressed in white tracksuits, to the room decked with plastic grass. I was also highly impressed with the exhibition booklet, which had been printed on newsprint and contained some great photos of the year group dressed in their finest sports livery. The show seriously set the bar for what our year group will do when it comes to our show in a year’s time. What I was less impressed with however was the way the work in the exhibition had been presented. I felt that the student’s work hadn’t been given the justice a lot of it deserved. I think the main problem with it was that everyone was restricted to just one piece of work from the year, I understand that space is an issue, but I don’t think one poster, or publication is enough to show just how much hard work you have done over a year. Hopefully, when it comes to our show, this issue could be addressed. It could be that having each person’s portfolio next to his or her work instead of in a drawer may help. Never the less, I thoroughly enjoyed the private view and I realise that we, as the new third years, have a lot to do to create a show as impressive as ‘On Your Marks’ achieved.

^ The guys set a really high bench-mark with their degree show. Nick Yates _Journal 3

SCULPTURE PARK A sunny journey to the country in early September Wakefield, Yorkshire

POST MATCH The Cube Gallery Geoffrey Manton, Manchester

Post Match, although very small, was a highly interesting exhibition. I visited for two reasons, I have always had a keen interest in football, and because I was drawn to the aesthetic value of the images of the cigarette ‘tops’. There was something quite nostalgic about the simple but weathered feel to the photos of the ‘tops’ in the advertisement I saw. I think the idea of turning a cigarette packet into a football shirt is great and it was incredible to see just how similar the design and placement of information in both situations was. I particularly enjoyed how the exhibition had been presented. Before I went, I wondered if there would be that feeling of ‘once you’d seen one, you’d seen them all’, but because they had been arranged in order of country’s they had been collected from and also colour, they almost looked as though they had been organised into football teams. It was fascinating to see differences in style between, say cigarette teams from Japan and cigarette teams from Australia. My final observation was how they evoked the sense of collection. They reminded me of when, as a child, I would collect football stickers, or pencil toppers. To me it looked as though it was one of the best collections of football memorabilia there had ever been and it was great to be able to have a good look at it.

^ The sheer expanse of Cigarette tops was something to behold.

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EXHIBITIONS & EVENTS

^ I enjoyed the Jaume Plensa exhibition

The Sculpture Park was a fantastic day out; we couldn’t have been luckier with the weather, if anything it was too hot. In particular I enjoyed the Henry Moore sculptures that suited the area incredibly well. I had a great time strolling around the field and walking along the river. The Jaume Plensa exhibition was also really interesting although I preferred the work that was in doors over the work out doors. The Alabaster heads were perhaps the most emotive for me; the lighting created a slight sense of unease and made the heads look more like projections or that they were moving, the room almost felt quite intimidating. In a purely typographic sense, I really liked the curtain of poetry too and in particular the tactility and noises they created. The park itself is actually quite overwhelming, there are so many sculptures that you begin to take them for granted. Rather than being pieces of art in themselves I thought that they almost became more of an extension of the landscape. That meant that the sculptures lost some of their own integrity in a way, which almost didn’t give the quality of the work true justice. Having said that, it made the whole experience of walking through the park better, which I’m sure a lot of the artists would prefer anyway. Overall it was a great day out and a good way to start the new year.

SUN OF A GUN 3rd Year Graphic Design Exhibition Holden Gallery Cafe, Manchester

EXHIBITIONS & EVENTS

Already having quite a lot of work to do because I am part of the 3rd Year Publication group meant that I couldn’t have as much involvement in the exhibition as a would have liked. However, I did help decide how the exhibition would look and also helped to put it up.

^ I was impressed by the layout of the work

Although my involvement was slim, it appeared that holding this exhibition was a real headache for everyone. As I have found out a lot so far this year, trying to rule by committee only results in a lack of decision-making and too many compromises. It was only when a smaller group of people lead by some tutors discussed the exhibition that the ball really started rolling. In my opinion, events like this need to be organized by one group of people who have trust in each other to make the right decisions. By either forcing people into groups they don’t normally associate with, or by not having a group all together, the thing itself is never as good as it could be. I also think that you end up relying on the usual group of people who have an involvement in nearly everything, because others don’t want to make the effort. Having said all that though, the night of the preview did come across as a success. I also thought that the way the work had been presented was really quite refreshing. It said a lot more about the outcomes than the usual array of bulldog clip. I also thought that the presentation, lead to the viewer almost being forced into taking a closer look. The work wasn’t laid out in a straightforward manner, and if you wanted to know more, you had to work a bit harder which results in more satisfaction. There will apparently be another exhibition held after our next project. Hopefully lessons will be learned about the management of events like this and that a smaller team can get together and work on something special. Over all I think that the exhibition itself was quite good, but that a lot of time and effort could have been saved if there was a bit more direction from the outset. In terms of my own work that I put up, my large-scale letters pleased me the most. Having them ‘fall’ down the walls in a slightly less restrained manner helped to break up the more linear aspects to other people’s work and it created a better aesthetic to the whole presentation of the exhibit.

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BASE 3 Another 3rd Year Graphic Design Exhibition Creative Lynx, Manchester

“I WAS HAPPY TO SEE MY WORK ON THE WALL, BUT I WOULD HAVE LIKED TO HAVE PRINTED SOME OF IT OFF BIGGER SO IT STOOD OUT MORE”

EXHIBITIONS & EVENTS

I didn’t have any part in the creation of the Base 3 exhibition, but I thoroughly enjoyed visiting it. I thought the girls had done a great job of making it look professional and sophisticated despite the short amount of time they’d had to do it. As an event, I thought it was brilliant to see so many people turn out and it’s exciting to think that all the people working at Creative Lynx as well as the other offices in the building will have the opportunity to peruse our work for a couple of weeks. On a personal level, I was happy to see my work on the wall, although I’d have liked to print off some bigger scale work so that it was more eye catching rather than the A3 prints that were put up. I was also intrigued by the work some of the students had done for the “I heart Manchester” brief. Although I had a go at this project, I never got round to creating an outcome. As a brief, I think it’s extremely difficult to unite a city that is so diverse in many ways. I was also disappointed to see that Steve from Creative Lynx decided that one of his favourite ideas was one that had the least departure from the current solution. It felt as though this went against the idea of the brief, which was to create an original and exciting alternative to the stale un-original Milton Glazer rip off. Having said that, there were some outcomes that were far more original and reflected the passion and pride of Manchester a lot better and it will be interesting to see if anything comes from this in the future.

^ The space was very impressive Nick Yates _Journal 3

INTERPRETATION Judging the Second years’ Interpretation presentations

EXHIBITIONS & EVENTS

December 2011

Judging the presentations of the 2nd years was a great way to end 2011. It was fantastic to see how all of the groups had responded to their quotes and filters but what fascinated me most was seeing how they got on in comparison to ourselves at the same stage a year ago. I remember that the whole event was very intimidating when we did it, but I was impressed by how confident the current second years were. If any thing they seemed a little too confident and perhaps just didn’t seem to care about the whole thing s much as we did. I can’t work out if I’m looking back at it with a high opinion of us, but I think that on the whole, our groups did a much better job. Certainly in the presentation stakes at least. Having said that it was hugely enjoyable and some of the projects were great.

In terms of being able to judge the presentations, it felt quite strange at times. I can remember two of the previous third years judging us and thinking how much more clued up they seemed about the whole thing, so to be in that position was quite odd. It was really interesting to be giving people advice since we’re only a year older, but it made me realise just how much we’d learnt over the year and how, at times, we actually sounded like we knew what we were talking about. It caused me to look back at my own 2011 and I realised just how much I’d learnt. It’s exciting to know that many of the second years are likely to develop in a similar manner in the year to come.

DRAGON’S DEN Helping the Second years’ with their presentation skills February 2012

Before Christmas, I helped judge the Interpretation presentations by the second years, which I thoroughly enjoyed, so I thought it would be interesting to see if the second years had improved after our advice when they did their presentations for the collaboration project. I seem to have a keen interest in helping on these occasions. I’m not sure if the main reason is because I genuinely want to help, or if it’s perhaps actually more of a tool for me to learn more about presentations for my own sake. I expect that it’s a bit of both. In terms of it helping me, it allows me to see what works and what doesn’t from a different perspective to being out there presenting myself, and making comments about them and giving advice means that I have to verbally communicate my thoughts, something that is actually an important part of presenting. It was certainly interesting to see that most groups had heeded our advice about not getting every person in the group to do a bit of the talking during the presentation but I think we perhaps didn’t make ourselves properly clear as they’d gone from one extreme to the other and stuck all the presentation pressure on one person’s shoulders, something that Ian Anderson in particular picked up on. Although having everyone do some presenting makes the whole thing seem

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messy, by relying on just one person, it makes it look as though the rest don’t have much of an interest. I thought the boot camp concept was a great idea as it gave the groups a dry run before the final presentations. I for one would have certainly appreciated this as it gave the students the chance to refine their ideas and presentation skills. I’m not sure if doing it the day before the final was such a good idea however, because if a group’s idea wasn’t great by that point there was very little they could do to change it. I remember that when we did these presentations, we were split into new groups which I argued wasn’t beneficial for us, but I think this actually worked well for the second years this time around as they all seemed to work a little harder for each other, something I hadn’t seen from many of them in the presentations before Christmas. I think that it was clear that most of the groups I saw during this process had improved since their previous outings and that is something that I feel quite proud of in a sense, as I may have had a small hand in that. It has also made me realise that I have an interest in giving advice to other students and if an opportunity to do more of this in the future presents itself, I’d really like to do so again.

GLOBAL THREADS Production, consumptionand global trade in cotton. Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester

EXHIBITIONS & EVENTS

I’m not really sure why I decided to visit this exhibition, as there wasn’t really anything ‘Graphic Design’ related there. I did however enjoy having a look around and in particular reading about some of the history of the cotton trade; something that Manchester is steeped in. I was also impressed by the variety of different responses there were to the theme. From choreographed human representations of looms, to video games comparing 17th Century cotton factories to their equivalent in eastern Europe today, there was a rich collection of work that helped to absorb you in the whole event instead of just looking at art work up on the walls. I think that was what I enjoyed about the exhibition; the fact that all sorts of different projects had been undertaken and many that involved the community. It meant that even if you weren’t particularly interested in the art, you could find some value elsewhere. From a graphic designer’s point of view, I have to say that I also really liked the typography used on the branding where the type was made to look like threaded cotton. I thought it was a good example of taking an idea and making it properly work without it looking too amateurish. The way it all seemed to be one continuous piece of thread was also a nice touch!

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DESIGN SYMPOSIUM An afternoon of lectures from an array of designers around the UK focussing on a theme of economy in design. Manchester, March 2012

As this is the first event I’ve attended where there have been multiple speakers and since presentation is something designers have to be good at, I thought marks out of ten would be appropriate for each speaker…

Nick Yates _Journal 3

EXHIBITIONS & EVENTS

I enjoyed the Design Symposium, but in particular, I enjoyed the fact that it had a theme. I think that a lot of lecture events are purely a way for designers to talk about themselves but when their lecture is supposed to be based on something in particular, it means more. With that in mind, I thought that Will Hudson, and Adrian Shaughnessy’s talks were the most interesting. Both of these speakers linked what they had to say back to the over all theme a lot more than the others and for that reason, what they had to say was more beneficial. However, that’s not to say that I didn’t find all the talks interesting and there was definitely something to take away from every speaker in one way or another.

JASON SMITH FONTsmith

EXHIBITIONS & EVENTS

London

I find it incredible that there are people out there who purely design practical typefaces. For me, it almost feels like these fonts are produced by some super computer and I find it difficult to believe that each letter form, each number and each glyph has be hand crafted by designers. The fact that the typefaces designed by Fontsmith have so much character to go with the craftsmanship amazes me and if I could afford fonts such as Pimlico, I would definitely use them a lot. In terms of Jason’s presence at the symposium, the thing that was the most memorable was when he discussed his opinion on piracy and fonts. Understandably he had the very strong view that if someone used a Fontsmith typeface without paying for it, it was stealing. I think that this issue is highly contentious and is difficult to decide what side of the fence I fall on, but I agreed with Adrian’s point that perhaps people should be given the opportunity to experiment with the fonts

and then pay for them if and when they use them for commercial gain. As David said, this issue is big enough for a whole other lecture series but it was something that I think needs to be debated, especially so in a world where people will need to become a lot more frugal.

0 6 /1

Decent opener, not as much about the economy as there could have been.

DAVE KIRKWOOD 3hundredand65 A Twitter Story Project

I thought the idea of a graphic novel told by members of the public through the medium of Twitter was a great idea and it almost seems a shock that this idea hasn’t been done sooner. I think it will be very interesting to see what happens once the year has finished and all of the stories and illustrations can be collected up and handled together. In terms of Dave’s presentation, I thought it was actually quite difficult to understand exactly what the project was about, but despite that, I think it sounds exciting.

6 /1

Not very clear in saying what exactly the project was about. No real mention of the economy.

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MORAG MYERSCOUGH Studio Myerscough London

7.5 /10 Passionate and excitable despite 25 years in the business. Good fun.

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EXHIBITIONS & EVENTS

Having had a lecture from Morag before, I think I knew what to expect and her presentation came as no real surprise. Morag primarily just spoke about her work and all of the exciting projects she gets involved in. Although there was very little about the economy, it didn’t seem to matter as much as it perhaps did with the others because you just seem to feed off of her enthusiasm and excitement, which is fantastic. She talked about the same projects as she had done the last time I saw her do a talk so in terms of the work, it was the same, but just as inspiring. The way she approaches projects is refreshing and it’s all about the way that people feel when they’re in spaces that have been designed by Morag. Her works shows that signage and way finding needn’t be purely informative, but that it can also be equally fun and exciting. Although she didn’t discuss the economy to a huge extent, as mentioned, she actually typifies the sort of designer a post recession world needs; some one who works in the community and with people to create work that everyone can enjoy. Rather than simply designing dog food tins.

WILL HUDSON It’s Nice That/INT Works

EXHIBITIONS & EVENTS

London

For me, Will’s talk was by far the most inspirational. For a start, he mixed talking about what he does with the economic side very well. However the best thing was that at just 28 years old, he managed to speak with confidence and intelligence that made me a little jealous. I hope that I can be that knowledgeable and come across that well in just a few years time. I thought that the way he talked about It’s Nice That and his vision for it was also great, he purely wants it to be a way of championing design talent. The fact that it has become a fantastic way of breaking into the graphic design business and how it has lead to the creation of INT Works is also great as this approach has been something I have also been considering. I also thought that the way he talked about the power of design to pull the UK out of a recession was extremely interesting and it showed just how talented and creative people in the UK can be.

9/10

Confident and likeable, hugely inspiring and great that he’s so excited about all aspects of design.

VERA-MARIAH GLAHN FIELD London

I think I have a bit of a problem with programming based design. For me, I’m not sure if the notion that creative control is in effect handed over to a computer is a great thing. Of course, this opinion might be because I don’t really understand it and perhaps if I gave it a chance I might change my mind. Although I have these preconceptions, I thought that Vera’s presentation was good and she spoke with confidence even if speaking to a crowd of people wasn’t something she was used to. On an aesthetic level, the work was also really great and I enjoyed the fact that some of the work could be user generated. It’s just a shame that I can’t see this sort of design as anything more than on an artistic, installation based level.

7/10 Interesting work even if I can’t see much value in it. Enjoyable talk.

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ADRIAN SHAUGHNESSY Unit Editions/Shaughnessy Works/Intro etc. London

Adrian’s talk was slightly different because he is not just a practicing designer, but also a commentator on the world of design too. Having written books and articles, he can discuss the design world without having to refer to his own work. At the time of his lecture, I thought what Adrian had to say was extremely interesting and he was the only speaker who talked purely about how design is affected by the economy. The way he described the post-graphic design era was interesting and I think that to an extent, what he said about there being a shift in the way the world deals with Graphic Design is true; it would appear obvious that when there is less money to spend, businesses are less likely to invest in a new logo every year. However, I also think that there is still a huge demand for the services of Graphic Designers and it is just a case of knowing how to get the work. I did also agree with what the said about how designers now have to change the way they work to suit a world where they can’t charge as much money and the fact that he referenced Morag Myerscough as a designer to look up to in this ‘new era’ was particularly true. However, after listening to his talk and then what he had to say during the discussion afterwards, I couldn’t help thinking that he liked the sound of his own voice a little too much…

I totally respect Adrian for offering his own point of view and what he has to say is worthwhile, but for me, it seemed like he enjoyed the attention a lot.

8/10

Great speaker with a lot of interesting things to say, but he does seem to like the sound of his own voice…

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EXHIBITIONS & EVENTS

^ It was hugely inspirational to see the success Will and the team had had with It’s Nice that and how it has lead to the creation of their own studio.

NICK YATES

WORK EXPERIENCE

TOPMAN REALISE CREATIVE IAN ANDERSON FOLIO CRIT PETER HOLDEN FOLIO CRIT Nick Yates _Journal 3

E JOURNAL THREE Nick Yates _Journal 3

TOPMAN Work experience with Gill and the team at Topman’s Graphic Design office. London, September 2011

WORK EXPERIENCE

I wasn’t sure what to expect working at Topman, I knew that the company had a small team of creative’s, but I didn’t realise that the office would be quite as vast as it was. It was quite intimidating walking into an office full of people… I perhaps enjoyed the Topman placement more than I thought I would. I was involved in a lot more work than I’d expected and it was great to know that I was actually having an input in the process. My first project involved coming up with designs for an event in the Oxford Street store. A charity called CALM was hosting a day of DJ’s at the store and there were a lot of elements that needed designing including posters, flyers, lanyards and a back of window display. Although I didn’t get a chance to do the designs for the event – there was so much to do and at the moment I’m not experienced enough to do that much in such a short time – I happened to find the inspiration for the designs and came up with the concept for the window display and it was really great to be involved in such a big project. The designs that were actually created weren’t to my tastes and that’s something that I knew I’d struggle with at Topman since the designs are very aesthetic based and don’t often have much of a concept. After working on the CALM project, I spent the next few days doing a research project for Topman’s POS graphics which included

^ Logo design for the Topman team to use spending a morning walking around London to get some ideas about what other clothes stores were doing. The research project was quite interesting because I knew that I wouldn’t be doing any designs for the POS graphics and it was a case of trying to gather as much information to aid the rest of the team when they came to doing the work. I did also manage to do some initial designs for this project and it seemed as though the guys had seen some things in the designs that they might get some inspiration from, it’ll be interesting to see what the graphics look like when they’re finished to see if any of my ideas had been taken on board. I had a couple more projects during the week, which included having a morning to come up with a logo for ‘Christmas at Topman’. This was one project that where they did use my designs completely which was great. I was quite pleased with the logo too; it’s nice sometimes to be able to just work on something that looks nice and doesn’t take that long to do. Finally, Gill asked me to think about some flyer concepts or a store refresh in Londonderry.

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I didn’t have that much time left to work on the flyer, but in a short amount of time, I’d come up with quite a nice idea so I asked Gill if it would be OK to carry on with the project after I’d left which she was happy for me to do. Hopefully they’ll take my ideas on board once I’ve finished them, but if not, I’m really pleased with my concept and I at least intend on getting a mock up of it printed for myself. I was also lucky enough to be around when a representative from a paper stockist came to talk to Gill. Although he was a bit of a salesman type, he had loads of really interesting papers to show us as well as some great printing techniques that had been used on the paper examples. I managed to get his contact details and he said he’d potentially be able to supply me with some paper samples if I got in touch, which would be really handy. Learning about printing processes and paper stock etc. is something we don’t really get the chance to do in university since the development of concepts and answering briefs is of more importance in reality. So it was great to see all the really exciting opportunities that are available out there.

Nick Yates _Journal 3

TOPMAN

^ My original designs inspired the visuals for the ‘CALM take over Topman’ event

I had a really enjoyable week at Topman and I really appreciated that the guys had taken the time to let me come and experience their work. I have to say however, that I couldn’t imagine working at a place like Topman. I felt as though the work they did there was all a bit too throwaway. A lot of the time they’d have a matter of hours to come up with designs, which meant there was never any time to really think about the work. It was more of a case of finding some inspiration quickly and using it to create some aesthetically pleasing designs. Although occasionally it’s nice to just do some work that looks nice, I think I’d get a lot more out of working somewhere where there’s more time to consider what you’re doing. That’s not to say however, that I didn’t have a good time and it was a nice laid-back week where I learnt a lot of interesting things about being a working graphic designer and took part in some interesting projects.

REALISE CREATIVE A Work experience placement in Hoxton working with the guys at Realise Creative. London, September 2011

CHATTING TO THE GUYS FROM THE PHIL THOMAS FOUNDATION

WORK EXPERIENCE

It was really nice to have a chat with James and Liam from the Phil Thomas foundation. Although it was only an informal thing, it gave me a chance to show some different people the work that I have created. The only work I had to show them was my second year portfolio. This was quite good however, as it gave me the chance to reflect on it after having not seen it for a while. Some of the work that I had considered to be the best a few months ago had actually become some of my least favorite now and vice versa. It was also a really great way of seeing how I dealt with articulating my work. I feel as though I’m quite capable of doing this since I carry a lot of passion with my work and being able to talk about it as well as showing my interest is important.

“THIS CHAT WAS A GREAT WAY OF SEEING HOW I ARTICULATE MY THOUGHTS WHEN DISCUSSING MY WORK” Nick Yates _Journal 3

The guys were really nice and they seemed pretty impressed by what I was doing. Having them think that the work in the portfolio was all the work I’d done at university instead of it being from just one term was really flattering too. This sort of chat was a real confidence boost after having spent most of the third year so far feeling pretty unhappy thanks to the Bang! Project. Since my chat, James has offered me an internship working at Realise Creative in London, which I’m really looking forward to. I’ve had a look at their portfolio and although it seems very different to what I’m used to, it looks as though it will be really hands on and exciting.

A FEW WEEKS LATER... In comparison to Topman, the experience at Realise was a lot more intense. This was great however, because I got to work on a lot of very interesting projects. My only regret really was that I wasn’t able to stay for longer. Although two weeks is great as a way of getting a feel for the work place and the way the agency works, it doesn’t really give you enough time to get your teeth into a project which would definitely have been a possibility had I been there for longer. Despite that, I was able to learn a lot about working in the ‘real world’ as opposed to working at University. The main difference really is the pace. At University, you are given several weeks to work on a project and you’re expected to compile a large body of work throughout this time. In an actual workplace, the turn around is a lot quicker. In many ways this is better because you don’t get bogged down with particular work and you are able to keep things fresh. At the same time though, it means that you don’t have much time to develop ideas, there are many occasions where you have an hour to come up with an idea, and by the end of the day preliminary designs have to be created.

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REALISE CREATIVE

In terms of the work I was involved in, there was a lot of diversity and some really interesting projects. I started with some identity work, one of which was for a hotel in Oxfordshire. It was quite an interesting experience because I started on it as soon as I arrived without having much information about the client. I’ve never really thought of my self as that good at identity work and I think it showed with this project as I struggled quite a bit. I think I also struggled with it because it was the very first thing I did and it takes time for me to settle in.

M ED I A

WORK EXPERIENCE

^ I worked well with Laura on the logo designs for Revolution media

The other identity project was for a new sports agency called Revolution Media which I had slightly more success with. I had more of an idea of the company, which made it a lot easier. Hopefully I can stay in touch with the guys at Realise to see how the project progresses because I had an input from the start. There were some projects that I only had a very small involvement in and they’re not hugely satisfying because I didn’t have enough time there to be majorly involved. In the second week I was able to see a couple of layout projects through to completion, which was great. I re-designed a newsletter for an FIA campaign about road safety that a company in America had initially done but that didn’t work well, and then I designed a feature for the ‘Lotus Notes’ magazine. Although the designs for the FIA have to be quite straight and basic because of the audience, what was really interesting about the job was when I got to see James work for a bit. I did some very basic initial designs where I really only matched the copy to the imagery, and then I handed it to James to create some visuals to go off of. What I was impressed with was the speed with which he could turn around a legitimate design for the newsletter. I suppose he’s been working on things like that for long enough that he knows what works well and he exploits that. Between us we managed to turn something that was quite stale and boring into quite a nice booklet. The audience for it was delegates from across the world involved in the campaign, and our design was much more sophisticated than it otherwise would have been. The work for Lotus Notes was more interesting because there were fewer restrictions to the feel of it, I had more of an opportunity to be expressive and I think the spreads I designed for that were really good. They also pretty much went straight into the magazine, which was nice to know. My experience at Realise was quite interesting, I wouldn’t say that it’s the sort of place I’d particularly desire to be because there was too much of the corporate side of design for my liking. The guys have good clients in Red Bull Racing and the FIA, and they earn a lot of money from them, but the work they do isn’t particularly exciting. However, it’s really interesting to see how design agencies from the ‘real world’ work, as we can often be a bit isolated at university. It’s certainly a lot different, and sometimes that can be great, but other times, you have to be involved in work that isn’t all that fun. Nick Yates _Journal 3

THREE WEEKS ON PLACEMENT

REALISE CREATIVE

After my three weeks in London, I feel as though I’ve learnt a lot about working in industry. It’s a real eye opener as it’s often not as glamorous as you’d like to expect. I’ve really started to question my future within the industry as part of me is concerned about being involved in jobs where I have to work in a way that suits the agency, rather than my own style. I also have to question the whole work experience thing. Many people you speak to will tell you that doing as much work experience as possible is really important, but then an equal amount of people will state other wise. Hopefully I can strike some sort of balance where I do enough work experience to learn more about the design world, but that I have enough time to pursue the design projects that I’m really excited by.

^ I enjoyed the layout work given to me by Realise more than I did the logo work. Nick Yates _Journal 3

IAN ANDERSON Portfolio Surgery March 2012

I thought the portfolio surgery with Ian Anderson was hugely beneficial if only to see how crucial being able to present your work is. Ian believes that 50% of your job hopes lie in being able to present well and it was great to learn about the things that he thinks make a good portfolio. I found the presentation quite hard. For me it was difficult to put myself in the mindset of someone at an actual interview rather than simply presenting to 6 people who knew exactly what the projects were and already knew what my work was anyway. However, Ian said that it doesn’t matter about that, as you should know exactly what you want to say about every project regardless of the audience. I thought this was true and that the notion of scripting your presentation even if it seems a bit formal was a great idea. I struggled with presenting my work because

I hadn’t planned what I was going to say and simply referred to the work as I went through it. Ian said I sounded like I was just saying things as they came into my head, which was completely true. That was exactly what I was doing. In that respect his criticism of my presentation wasn’t hugely helpful as I hadn’t presented in the way I would in a real interview. Like I said, however, the most useful aspect of the session was hearing the way Ian thinks the most successful presentations work and I intend on taking his thoughts on board when it comes to the real deal.

PETER HOLDEN Portfolio Surgery May 2012

When I presented my work to Ian Anderson, I said that I struggled to present to someone who already knew all about my work. However, presenting to Peter provided the perfect opportunity to present to someone who had no prior knowledge of me. I found that this made the whole experience a lot easier as I was able to talk in a way that didn’t feel restricted. Comparing the two experiences, I’d say that I could see for myself how much better my presentation was the second time around. Despite not being able to script my presentation because I only had a few hours notice, I found that I could comfortably talk about my projects and that I was doing a good job of saying the key things about each piece of work that I wanted to get across. I’m not sure if it also helped that there was a very relaxed environment at Peter’s studio, which meant that it felt a lot more like just a chat. I expect that each time I present my work the experience will differ, but the more that they are like this the better.

Nick Yates _Journal 3

From what I could gather, I think that Peter was very impressed by my work and the way I presented myself, but almost more importantly, I was pleased with my improvement since my last portfolio presentation. Hopefully that will mean that when it comes to presenting to Pentagram next month, it will be even better again…

Nick Yates _Journal 3

NICK YATES

INSPIRATION TOP TEN 10) 09) 08) 07) 06) 05) 04) 03) 02) 01)

PIANO CONCERT POSTER DESIGN SYMP NORTH SITE SHYAMA BUSINESS CARDS HORT VAUGHAN OLIVER WORKSHOP BOB GILL QUOTE COMEDY CARPET HANS BRINKER BRANDING SLS HOTELS BRANDING PUMA PACKAGING

Nick Yates _Journal 3

JOURNAL THREE Nick Yates _Journal 3

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LET THE COUNTDOWN BEGIN...

Nick Yates _Journal 3

I have grown a lot this year as a designer. One reason for this is beacuse I’ve been treated to huge amount of things that have inspired me. I don’t think there would be a way for me to properly compile everything that has had an impact on me this year, so instead I thought I’d try an put together a top ten. There’s a high chance that there are things that deserve to be on this list, but these are just some of the things that I consider to have really affected me in one way or another.

IN AT TEN. I can’t even remember where I found this poster advertisng a concert dedicated to the Twin Towers now, but I just remember thinking that it was the perfect example of how type and image can come together to create a truly memorable piece of design. It’s one of those posters where you must read it to understand it, but when you do, you suddenly realise just how good it is. This is the sort of design work I’d have loved to have done.

NEW ENTRY AT EIGHT. I love looking at work that has been treated with different print techniques. That little added extra you can achieve with a bit of letterpress or specialist inks can make a piece of design become something really special. The Shyama Golden business cards are a fantastic example of this. Some bright fluorescents pink against that gorgeous black letterpress make the whole thing really pop. This piece of work had a huge influence on me during the Celebrity Matches project as I wanted to have a bit of fun with the true potential of print.

UP 4 AT SIX. I’ve already written about the Vaughan Oliver workshop, but it was hugely inspirational because it showed just what was possible in a short space of time if you had the guts to go with the courage of your convictions. There was also a brilliant atmoshphere and energy to the whole thing.

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AND NUMBER NINE IS... The Design Symposium North website suddenly made me realise that the web could not only be sophisticated, but also fun. The bold design on show stands out against the incredible amount of minimal site design on the web. I took a lot of inspiration from this for my Make It Rain site and it made me realise that digital work can be as rewarding as print. It also showed that it’s not as difficult as I first thought.

NON MOVER AT SEVEN. I discovered the agency Hort whilst on work experience at Topman. I get blown away by both the energy in their work and just simply how cool it is. There’s something about their work that just seems effortless. The work they’ve done for Nike best represents this and I particularly loved the typography used in their ‘Turn Speed into Control’ posters. I was so impressed in the way that they keep the design elements to a minimum and just let the stuff that they do put on the page say it everything it needs to say.

NUMBER FIVE. I didn’t even see the lecture where Bob Gill said the following quote, but it just resonated with me. “When you get a job – say an ad for a drycleaner – many images come to mind, we all have preconceptions. My suggestion is to forget every image that comes to mind, forget everything you know about drycleaning. Instead of sitting at your computer, and looking at books, go to a drycleaner, and sit there. The way to get an interesting idea is to go to the source. Stay there until you have thought of something interesting about drycleaning. Then, listen to that idea and it will design itself.” I know I did it too much myself, but sitting at the computer trying to get inspiration isn’t the best way to have a good idea. It is about experience. This is something I now try and remind myself on a regular basis.

WHO’S NUMBER TWO? GBH design agency were the first I’ve seen that made me think to myself “I want to work there”. Their level of sophistication mixed with a real playfull-ness made me think that it’s the sort of place I could fit in. That’s reflected in the fact that this agency were involved in my supposedly 2 biggest pieces of inspiration from the year. I loved the SLS Hotels work because it showed how much potential there is in a good idea. It must be a fantastic experience to see the hotel simply because of all the great attention detail there is.

WHAT’S NUMBER FOUR? In terms of producing work for a different medium, it doesn’t get much better than the Comedy Carpet. Just the sheer scale of it is impressive. I love the way that it reflects the content and almost forces the viewer to look at it. I think I might have to make a pilgramage to Blackpool just to go and see it. It has opened my eyes to what the potential of my work could be. Provided of course that you have a massive budget...

NUMERO THREE The Erik Kessels lecture was fantastic for many reasons, but I will forever be blown away by the branding KesselsKramer did for the Hans Brinker hostel. To decide to focus on how bad the place was was a brave decision, but the way it paid off was magnificent. The level of humour, irony and sheer boldness is something I will forever aspire to achieve.

AND NUMBER ONE IS... The re-invented packaging for PUMA trainers was so good it inspired the subject matter of my essay. The way that sustainablity could be the driving force towards the creation of something as inventive and gorgeous as I think this piece of packaging is was incredible. It made me want to go and buy a pair of Puma’s that I’d probably never wear purely so that I could have the box they came in. If the design is that powerful, then it must be pretty good.

Nick Yates _Journal 3

NICK YATES

READING LIST BY INVITATION ONLY COLOURMANIA BOXED & LABELLED PACKAGE DESIGN NOW DATA FLOW TYPO MAG HOW TO BE A GRAPHIC ETC. LOVELY PACKAGE THE DIELINE AISLE ONE SEPTEMBER INDUSTRY FFFFOUND DESIGNSPIRATION Nick Yates _Journal 3

LOVELY STATIO THE HOBBIT NOTCOT A SMILE IN THE LOGO INFORMATION BBC SPORT BUSINESS CAR INDIE PUBLISH GRAFIK IT’S NICE THAT CREATIVE REVI THE FOX IS BLA

ONARY JOURNAL THREE

E MIND IS BEAUTIFUL

RD DESIGN HING GUIDE

T IEW ACK

THE GUARDIAN CRAIGOLDHAM.CO.UK BUT DOES IT FLOAT MALCOLM GLADWELL JUST MY TYPE FLASHBACK Nick Yates _Journal 3

Nick Yates _Journal 3

My reading list this year is probably about as long as a giant’s arm but there have been a few significant books and sites that have particularly inspired me over the course of the year. What follows is just a small section of those. Some on the list are useful in a design related way, others just because they make me think. Others are just perfect for procrastination.

NOTCOT

CRAIGOLDHAM.CO.UK

I don’t visit Notcot all that often, but whenever I do, I always tend to find somehting that is interesting. Rather than just show Graphic Design and nothing else, Notcot provides a cross section of areas, from product design, to furniture design. What I like the most about this site is there tends to alwayd be something on it that makes me smile as well as somehting else that really inspires me.

What I like about Craig Oldham’s website is the way that he manages to make himself just seem like an ordinary bloke. I enjoy reading about his experiences because they feel like the sort of thing any one might get up to. I have also read his books Ten Penneth and 12 in 12 and I found both to be very useful. We also seem to have similar design principals, perhaps I should try and get a portfolio crit with him...

SEPTEMBER INDUSTRY

BOXED & LABELLED 2

In terms of showcasing sleek, sophisticated design, you would struggle to find a better site than this. I always look forward to a new post on this site because I know I’ll be treated to some visually stunning work. It may not be the best work conceptually, but in terms of quality of finish, the work featured here is second to none. I’m not sure if I’m more of a conceptual designer, or a ‘quality’ based designer (hopefully I’m somewhere in between) but I certainly appreciate the incredible standard of work on show on September Industry.

This was the book that helped to inspire me to base my dissertation on sustainable packaging. There is such a beautiful array of designs in this book that I felt obliged to write something based around how wonderful the solutions can be. Writing my dissertation on packaging basically just gave me an excuse to trawl through this book and others like it and discover all the amazingly designed pack solutions out there. This book however is my favorite example simply because it is designed the best and feels every bit as luxurious as the imagery inside.

MALCOLM GLADWELL I’ve just finished reading Malcolm Gladwell’s book ‘Outliers’ and have now moved straight on to ‘What the Dog Saw’. These books are having a huge impact on me. I’ve started thinking a lot more about the world around me and I notice the smaller details and find that I am questioning not only my own decisions but also the decisions of those around me. In a way Outliers made me feel a bit dis-heartened - the thought that I should be waiting for a bit of fortunte was kind of depressing - but it also spurred me on to just try and work as hard as I possibly could.

Gladwell writes in way that enthralls you no matter what the subject matter is and I find that it makes the bus journey’s to and from Uni fly by.

Nick Yates _Journal 3

BBC SPORT

DESIGNSPIRATION

OK, so this one’s not remotely design related, unless you count the design of the website (Clutching at straws I know). However, it is a site that I visit more often than most so therefore it deserves a mention in my journal. If I ever want a small break from design work, then I often find that I’m on the BBC Sport website. I’ve always been a big fan of sport and can watch practically anything (although I draw the line at darts). The live sports feed is always good fun and there are some brilliantly written blog posts by some of the writers too.

This is to the third year what ffffound.com was to the second year. It has become one of my first ports of call when a new design brief comes calling and I always manage to find at least one thing of relevance every time I visit it. Granted there is plenty of meaningless hipster design work on there, but there are also some great examples of good design too. Plus there always tends to be lovely pieces of print too.

BY INVITATION ONLY

JUST MY TYPE

This is another great book published by Victionary who so far haven’t done a book that has been a disappointment. The best bit about the examples of work in this book is that they’re all primarily focussed on print and all the tactile, lovely things that you can do with it. Granted there is more to the world of design than lovely printed invitations, but it’s nice to celebrate them every now and again. This book is just choc full of work that aspire to do in the future, I just need to find a bunch of couples looking to tie the knot first.

It always amazes me to think that every typeface that has ever been designed has got some sort of story to tell. In a world where you just have to press some keys for type to appear, it is often difficult to appreciate the level of work that goes into crafting fonts. I love this book because it helps to celebrate the stories of some of the most famous fonts and as a designer, I find them fascinating.

LOGO

INFO IS BEAUTIFUL

Quite simply, if I need inspiration for a logo design, I know that this book will provide me with the goods. I wouldn’t say that logo design is somehting I’m particularly good at, I don’t seem to see in the same way as those with a real talent for it. This book however does help in the process as it shows that there is more than one way to design a logo.

This book was hugely influential when I worked on my Summer project about recording ourselves in macro detail beacuse it shows literally hundreds of examples of how information can be displayed. The best thing about this book however is that it proves just how powerful raw data can be if it is only presented in a way that makes it visually appealing. Simply displaying data in a linear graph format makes most people instantly switch off, but by making it aesthetically pleasing can really hold people’s attention and make them want to know more.

FLASHBACK

THE HOBBIT

There’s a lot of design in this book that I don’t really like all that much. Too many traignles if you ask me. However, there is also a lot of things that I do really like aswell. In terms of inspiration, I think that it is the use of colour that I find most helpful as there aren’t many in the book that don’t handle it really well. I often find that getting the right colours can be very difficult as they all come with baggage, but looking through books like this can provide you with ideas of what just might work.

It’s just brilliant really.

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100

NICK YATES

PAPER WORK

LEARNING AGREEMENTS GDP2 UNIT FEEDBACK HHC3 ESSAY FEEDBACK SDP SELF ASSESSMENT Nick Yates _Journal 3

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JOURNAL THREE Nick Yates _Journal 3

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Manchester School of Art Graphic Design

3rd year Personal Development Planning

Learning agreement

Student's name

→ Nick Yates

Date

Tutor's name

→

Tutor's signature

JH Personal Placement

Project type

Project duration & deadline

→ 'Off the peg'

'Off the peg' Live project Other (please specify) →

→

Competition

→

19/01/2012

Student's signature

Date

Complete this form BEFORE starting your project work. The questions on this form are intended to help you personalise a project towards your own interests and aspirations. The details for this project should be made in consultation with your tutor. Text fields will expand; use as much space as you need but try to be succinct. If your project changes direction you should complete a new form and outline the changes. refers to a project set by a tutor, a competition or a live brief. Keep a copy of the original brief with this form. This information is required as part of your evaluation and assessment process. Once completed the form should be printed out, signed by your tutor and kept in your progress file for future reference. It's a good idea to keep the digital file as well. Assessment of all 3rd year practical project work – including 'off the peg' projects – must be accompanied by a learning agreement and project evaluation.

Project title

→ ISTD Brief - Tweet Tweet

What do you want to do ? Give a brief outline of your project. It might be useful to break your project into phases and write a new learning agreement for each phase : research, development, application. You should include details regarding your specific approach to an 'off the peg' project.

→ I want to tackle the Tweet Tweet brief set by ISTD. I want to explore the world of Twitter, something I haven't had much experience in. I'm particularly interested in the language used.

Why do you want to do this ? Outline the reasons for your interest in this project. This may include reference to career aspirations, technical skills and/or personal research interests.

→ I think that the world of Twitter is highly relevent at this moment in time and it is exciting to do work based around it. I also think that the work I create could potentially serve as part of an ongoing time capsule based around the way we interact with st eachother in the 21 Century. There is also a wealth of information when it comes to the world of Twitter so there are many interesting starting points. What factors will be important in gauging the success of this work ?

This may include any specific goals you have for the work you make during this project.

→ It will be important that I answer the brief and that my work has a specific emphasis on the typographic elements.

Notes / reference / other comments... Amongst other comments, please indicate if you require any specialist technical processes such as video or printmaking. Access to these areas should be discussed with your tutor.

→

Graphic Design Learning Agreement

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3rd year Personal Development Planning

Learning agreement

Student's name

→ Nick Yates

Date

Tutor's name

→

Tutor's signature

JH Personal Placement

Project type

Project duration & deadline

→ 'Off the peg'

'Off the peg' Live project Other (please specify) →

→

Competition

→

19/01/2012

Student's signature

Date

Project title

→ Roses Brief - Sprout Clout

→ For the Sprout Clout brief, I want to assess what it is exactly that makes sprouts so hated by many people. As well as, of course looking at all the positive aspects too. Through this research, I want to gain a detailed analysis to develop from. I want to create a believeable outcome that could potentially make people who would other wise avoid Sprouts, give them a go.

Why do you want to do this ? Outline the reasons for your interest in this project. This may include reference to career aspirations, technical skills and/or personal research interests.

→ I believe there is the opportunity to create a new image for the Brussels Sprout that avoids all the common perceptions of them and makes them look far more sophisticated. I also think that the humour associated with sprouts offers a good opportunity

What factors will be important in gauging the success of this work ? This may include any specific goals you have for the work you make during this project.

→ I will constantly be researching styles of design and advertising concepts that are relevant in order to assess how my ideas compare. By the end of the project, it would be great to have created a believeable concept that people could see working.

→

Graphic Design Learning Agreement

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3rd year Personal Development Planning

Learning agreement

Student's name

→ Nick Yates

Date

Tutor's name

→

Tutor's signature

Jonathan Hitchen Personal Placement

Project type

Project duration & deadline

→ 'Off the peg'

→

'Off the peg' Live project Other (please specify) →

14 Working Days. Deadline: 26/03/2012

Competition

→

13/02/2012

Student's signature

Date

Project title

→ D&AD North Poster Competition KesselsKramer

→ In its own right, this project is quite a small one and at the time of writing, I feel as though I would like to keep it that way because I wish to take on several projects over the course of the unit. In that sense I would say that this project will constitute a 'small to medium' project. In the brief it says that the requirements are one A2 poster explaining to visitors to the UK why a lot of rain is attractive. Although I wish to enter the competition - so will therefore be working on an A2 format - I would like to explore different outcomes and potentially expand on my idea if I see it having the potential to do so. Why do you want to do this ?

Outline the reasons for your interest in this project. This may include reference to career aspirations, technical skills and/or personal research interests.

→ I feel that the 'poster' is a fantastic method of communication and is a format that I particularly enjoy working with. Being able to attract people's attention and then holding it is a tough skill to get right, but something that is powerful when it works. There are also plenty of designers associated with poster design that I particularly admire; Olly Moss and Jason Munn for instance. The notion of creating a poster that does more than just deliver key information is also a very interesting approach that I wish to test. In terms of this particular brief, I think it will be very challenging, as the perception of British weather is primarily negative. However, it is an exciting brief because it allows me to look at British people's opinion of the weather and to focus on our sense of humour. This will hopefully help me to improve my copy writing skills which is something that I thoroughly enjoy. In terms of how this project might help me work on skills that I am not so good at, I think it could be a great opportunity to develop my photography skills and the art direction in particular. Although I worked a little on this in the last unit, it was identified as somehting that I needed to improve. What factors will be important in gauging the success of this work ?

This may include any specific goals you have for the work you make during this project.

→ Obviously winning the poster competition would show that I answered the brief correctly. As it will be Erik Kessels who picks a winner, this would be a particularly gratifying result, I hope that he will be looking for something slightly unusual and that is what I aim to do. In terms of my own specific goals, I would say that my work would be Graphic Design Learning Agreement

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3rd year Personal Development Planning

Learning agreement

Student's name

→ Nick Yates

Date

Tutor's name

→

Tutor's signature

Jonathan Hitchen Personal Placement

Project type

Project duration & deadline

→ 'Off the peg'

→

'Off the peg' Live project Other (please specify) →

3 weeks beginning 07/03. Deadline: 30/03/2012

Competition

→

09/03/2012

Student's signature

Date

Project title

→ YCN - Create an imaginary packaging range for Google's family of products.

→ The main aim for this brief is to imagine what Google products might look like if they came in 'boxes'. For Google, it is a way for their wide range of products to be catalogued in a way that makes it easier for the consumer to understand what products Google provide. There is an extensive list of their products and I can either create packaging for the whole range, or just choose a selection. I have deliberately left this until quite near the competition deadline so that I am forced into working quickly if I want to enter the competition. I will hope to break the project into thirds, working first on finding a large amount of research and analysing the brief properly, then after about a week, I want to begin developing ideas and in the final week or so, I want to be working on my final outcome. Why do you want to do this ?

Outline the reasons for your interest in this project. This may include reference to career aspirations, technical skills and/or personal research interests.

→ I decided to do this brief for two main reasons, on a practical level, I wanted to enter a YCN competition but I also thought that there could be a lot of mileage in the notion of this being an 'imaginary' range of packaging, potentially meaning that the outcome doesn't necessarily have to be practical. I also think that the Google brand is one that allows for a sense of playfulness and I think that I would again like to focus on tone of voice. I also have a great interest in packaging- it is what I wrote my essay on afterall - and I see this as a challenge to create a fantastic packaging solution. It is also linked quite well with the notion of sustainable packaging too, as there needs to be a good reason why Google would wish to create physical packaging for products that can alternativley be downloaded online. What factors will be important in gauging the success of this work ?

This may include any specific goals you have for the work you make during this project.

→ As with any competition brief, winning would be a great way to say that the project had been successful. However, on a more personal note, I think that the project is quite complicated and provides a difficult problem. If I feel that my answer is clear and communicates to consumers what all of Google's products are in a sophisticated yet fun way, I will have achieved what I set out to do. I also know of several packaging blogs that I follow regularly and I think it would be great if I could get my work featured Graphic Design Learning Agreement

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Manchester School of Art Graphic Design

3rd year Personal Development Planning

Learning agreement

Student's name

→ Nick Yates

Date

Tutor's name

→

Tutor's signature

JH Personal Placement

Project type

Project duration & deadline

→ 'Off the peg'

→

'Off the peg' Live project Other (please specify) →

3 weeks

Competition

→

16/04/12

Student's signature

Date

Project title

→ Celebrity Matches

→ Ever since Sue told me about her made up game, Celebrity Matches, I've been keen to make it a reality. For this project I'd like to create the game for real, doing packaging designs for the matchboxes and a very tiny instruction manual.

Why do you want to do this ? Outline the reasons for your interest in this project. This may include reference to career aspirations, technical skills and/or personal research interests.

→ I've realised that I havenʼt as of yet this year had the opportunity to focus my work on interesting print techniques and the tactility of my work. This was something that I did a bit more in the second year so I'd like to do more. This project seems like the perfect one for that kind of work. Plus the whole match box opening experience would really lend itself to specialist techniques. What factors will be important in gauging the success of this work ?

This may include any specific goals you have for the work you make during this project.

→ For me, this project is all about how happy I am with the outcome. In a lot of ways it's a self indulgent brief where I get to have a play. If I create something I think I'd buy if I saw it in somewhere like Magma, then I'd be pleased.

→

Graphic Design Learning Agreement

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Manchester School of Art Graphic Design

3rd year Personal Development Planning

Learning agreement

Student's name

→ Nick Yates

Date

Tutor's name

→

Tutor's signature

JH Personal Placement

Project type

Project duration & deadline

→ 'Off the peg'

→

'Off the peg' Live project Other (please specify) →

Competition

3 weeks. Deadline is the SDP deadline

→

29/04/12

Student's signature

Date

Project title

→ CAMPUS - Manchester Modernists

→ I want to create various pieces of work for Jack and Maureen's 'artists not in residence' event. In particular, I would like to work on a guide map for the UMIST campus. I know that the mods are keen on texture and print techniques and this is somehting I would like to explore.

Why do you want to do this ? Outline the reasons for your interest in this project. This may include reference to career aspirations, technical skills and/or personal research interests.

→ The guys seem so entusiastic and interested and their energy would be great to work off. I am also excited by the prospect of working on more of a 'live' brief. Dealing with Jack and Maureen as clients will be a great experience. Normal Uni projects are really fun, but I am ready to move towards more professional experiences. Also, as it is a real project, we will be able create our products on a mass scale, another new experience I really want to have. What factors will be important in gauging the success of this work ?

This may include any specific goals you have for the work you make during this project.

→ Obviously, the main success will be if Jack and Maureen are pleased with the work. Aswell as that though, I think seeing the work produced in bulk and given away on the day would be fantastic.

→

Graphic Design Learning Agreement

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Nick Yates _Journal 3

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Graphic Design

PDP : self assessment Date :

19/01/2012

Credit rating :

Contact phone number :

40 (of 120 for year)

Unit number :

07542719344

Name :

1161 3001

Nick Yates

Unit title :

Graphic Design Practice 2

1. Evaluate your submitted coursework by putting an "X" against the relevant grade ( → A – F ) for each of the assessment criteria listed below. 2. What overall grade or mark ( % ) do you think is fair for this work ? 3. Make a few comments of critical reflection about this work. A

1. Assessment criteria

Knowledge and understanding

→

Conceptual development

→

Applied practice

→

Critical engagement

→

Generic skills and studentship

→ %

2. Overall grade / mark

68% 100–70

60–69

50–59

40–49

excellent

very good

good

pass

35–39

0–34

Interim

Final

fail

3. Critical reflection

I particularly enjoyed the workshops with Ian Anderson as they've been such a fantastic learning experience. I also enjoyed the Tweet Tweet brief. The content development and the fact that I had a keen interest in the subject made it particularly good. I was pleased with the typographic style I was able to develop in the project. I also went to London for three weeks for work experience which was totally new and very interesting. Since coming back from London I feel I have imroved as a designer in quite a few ways. Especially in terms of thinking like a professional graphic designer.

Best bit Which part of this unit you have engaged with the most, say why.

I feel I responded well to the Tweet Tweet brief and the Sprout Clout brief. When there is more choice with the project selection, you are able to pick something you're more likely to engage in. However, I feel as though I was brave to pick both briefs as there were other options that I would have perhaps found easier to answer. Although quite a small project in some respects, I think that my answer to the Sprout Clout brief was strong.

Things that worked What are the most successful aspects of your coursework for this unit, say why.

Things to work on Which aspects of your work will require more attention in the future, say why.

Any other comments

I've struggled to engage in the 3 year so far in a lot of ways. There has seemed to be a change in direction in terms of teaching and that has taken a lot of adjusting to. That has meant that I haven't worked as hard as I expect myself to and that is something I intend on doing more in the next unit which will help me develop and test ideas further than I have done so far.

I hope that I can continue to develop in the next unit and I am looking forward to becoming a more independent designer. I'm also particularly excited by the prospect of being involved in the Degree Show.

Graphic Design Practice 2. On successful completion of this unit students will be able to have attained or demonstrated... Knowledge and understanding

Conceptual development

Applied practice

Critical engagement

Generic skills and studentship

... awareness of professional practice relevant to their personal development

... a variety of creative strategies compatible with personal interests and aspirations

... a professional approach to the communication and presentation of ideas relevant to their personal interests and aspirations

... ability to analyse and evaluate their work within the broad context of the subject discipline

... ability to work independently, set goals and meet deadlines

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... ability to acquire relevant technical skills independently

Graphic Design

PDP : self assessment Date :

24/05/12

Credit rating :

Contact phone number :

40 (of 120 for year)

Unit number :

07542719344

Name :

1161 3002

Nick Yates

Unit title :

Nick Yates 24/ Deleted:

Self-directed Practice

Nick Yates 24/ Deleted:

1. Evaluate your submitted coursework by putting an "X" against the relevant grade ( → A – F ) for each of the assessment criteria listed below.

Nick Yates 24/ Deleted:

2. What overall grade or mark ( % ) do you think is fair for this work ? 3. Make a few comments of critical reflection about this work. A

1. Assessment criteria

Knowledge and understanding

→

Conceptual development

→

Applied practice

→

Critical engagement

→

Generic skills and studentship

→ %

2. Overall grade / mark

71%

x 100–70

60–69

50–59

40–49

excellent

very good

good

pass

35–39

0–34

Interim

Final

fail

I feel that this unit as a whole has been my most successful whilst at Uni. There are elements of every project that I am pleased with and Iʼm proud of my whole portfolio. In terms of what I have found particularly rewarding this unit, I think Iʼd mark my Celebrity Matches one as the one I am happiest with. I went out with the intention of creating work that had exciting print techniques and a lot of tactility. I feel I have achieved those goals. I am also really happy with the work I created with Lisa on the Modernists brief. I had a lot of fun with the project and thanks to having an energetic team member, we were able to try out things that I wouldnʼt have otherwise done, our concrete badges for example. I am excited by the prospect of continuing this project through to the event in June.

Which part of this unit you have engaged with the most, say why.

As mentioned, there were elements of all the projects that I really enjoyed. Iʼd have to say however, that there was something particularly rewarding about the two workshops weʼve had this during this unit. First was the Johnny Hardstaff one where I feel I did something completely and utterly outside of my comfort zone, it may not be to everyoneʼs taste, but at least itʼs memorable. The Vaughan Oliver workshop later on in the unit was also a great success. I am so proud of what we achieved in such a short space of time and it is one of the outcomes this unit that I enjoy the most.

Things that worked What are the most successful aspects of your coursework for this unit, say why.

Things to work on Which aspects of your work will require more attention in the future, say why.

Any other comments

I had real trouble with the Google project for a long amount of time. There were several factors that made it so difficult and I have learnt a lot from the experience. The first being that I should have scrutinised the brief a lot more when I forst started as it was contradictory and difficult to understand, It goes to show that briefs set by exciting clients may not turn out to be that exciting in the end. The other factor I seemed to struggle with was that I got lost in sketchbook work for a long time, coming up with plenty of ideas and avenues without actually trying much out meant that it took a long time for me to get started on real outcomes. Despite that however, I am still very pleased with my end product and I had a lot of fun with it. Overall, I feel that I have had an extremely fun time during this unit and I am really

Self-directed Practice. On successful completion of this unit students will be able to have attained or demonstrated... Knowledge and understanding

Conceptual development

Applied practice

Critical engagement

Generic skills and studentship

... awareness of professional practice relevant to their personal development

... a variety of creative strategies compatible with personal interests and aspirations

... a professional approach to the communication and presentation of ideas relevant to their personal interests and aspirations

... ability to analyse and evaluate their work within the broad context of the subject discipline

... ability to work independently, set goals and meet deadlines

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Nick Yates 24/ Deleted:

Nick Yates 24/ Deleted: %

Nick Yates 24/ Deleted:

3. Critical reflection

Best bit

Nick Yates 24/ Deleted:

... ability to acquire relevant technical skills independently

Nick Yates 24/ Deleted: