Speaking from experience

Links to other posts:

Actual BAGD 2011 Blog
Final Blog
Illustration
The website
Primary Research
The brief
Secondary Research: Illustration
Secondary Research: Blogs
Secondary Research: LCA Resources

Rationale:

Idea One

The Brief (what is the problem you intend to solve?)

How to find out what to expect about your first year of Graphic Design at LCA.

What do you need to communicate? (be clear and specific)

I am communicating what the students can expect from the first year, to excite, inform, reassure, and prepare them for what is to come. I will do this through images of work, text, and links.

Why do they need to know? (the concept for your problem)

This is a problem that worried me as I had only really seen examples of 3rd year final work before I started. I hadn't seen the development of 1st years pieces. With the summer task, I had no one to ask for advice and feedback and so I panicked with this.

What will they respond to? (will they see/watch/buy/wear it etc?)

They will look at a website. They will have the opportunity to ask questions and receive answers/ There will be links to other websites and things they can do to find out more. For example, they can find information like the times and dates of exhibitions at the college, and details of visiting artists etc.

Where do they go? (how will they access/receive/discover etc the resolution?)

They access the information on an online blog. This will save print costs as there are 46 students coming in September, and it also allows for the blog to be interactive and updated. They will receive the link to this website through the post before they start the course. This link will be given to them on a well designed postcard, so that they feel they want to keep it and find out more rather than throwing it away.

Idea Two

The Brief (what is the problem you intend to solve?)

How to find out more about your accommodation and what is around the area.

What do you need to communicate? (be clear and specific)

I need to communicate the cheapest places to shop, the best places to eat, the location of cash points and rail ways etc. I need to show how to reach college from different accommodations. I also would like to communicate what to expect from different accommodations.

Why do they need to know? (the concept for your problem)

Before moving to Leeds I was worried as I didn't know what my accommodation would be like and I didn't know where to shop etc. Even when I moved here, it took a lot of wasted money and time before I discovered the best places to go.

What will they respond to? (will they see/watch/buy/wear it etc?)

They will read the information in a booklet and read this and look at images and maps.

Where do they go? (how will they access/receive/discover etc the resolution?)

They will receive a welcome pack with information in it on the first day of college. The information will vary depending on which accommodation the student is staying at.

We then swapped our rationales with another member of the group who gave us their opinion. I swapped mine with Michael Mooney, this is what he thought about my ideas:

Idea One

The blog is a nice idea, maybe us lot can all chip in examples of work we've done throughout the year? Maybe also link them to various other websites of interest, and maybe some graphical challenges to get them in the right frame of mind would be cool... something I personally would have appreciated.

Idea Two

This is spot on, but it might be cool to draw up some budget plans maybe? Like, how to live off £50 or something, like where to buy the cheapest best bananas for example. And how many to buy for the week...

Week One Crit

This is the feedback I received from tutors and other students after presenting my three direction boards.

- Good concept, new idea, relates just to this course

- Could make this project time based, so that it starts now and lasts up til the students start, rather than them getting all the information at once. This would get the students in to the routine of to keep checking the blog, and makes more sense for this to be a blog rather than a website.

- There is a big gap from the work you do on art foundation/college compared to the third years work you are shown, so their work is quite scary. The gap from  art foundation/college to the first year is not as a big, so to see their work would be reassuring, and let you know that you can do it.

- Blogger designs can be ugly, and this project is about what you want to be as a graphic designer so concentrate on the design identity

Week Two Crit

Unfortunately because of the blogger meltdown, all my work from the week was deleted so I had nothing to show other than my logo designs for the crit. My work was never recovered, which has affected my progress for this brief, as I had to spend time re-doing the tasks that were deleted rather than progressing with my blog for the new students. It also stopped my progress over the weekend as I was waiting for the blog posts to return that never did. I now know to back up all of my work and not rely on blogger in case a similar thing happens again.

For my crit, I talked about my blog and my ideas and still received useful feedback. These are some points from Amber and the other students in the crit.

- Everyone has progressed so much over the year so it will be useful for the new students to see this development. Look at the first year blogs of the second and third years to see how much they have developed.

- It is good how there is not just 'excellent' work, but work from all different students - this makes it more realistic.

- Focus the blog on reassuring the new students that they can create good work, and that they will improve, as everyone agreed this was a problem for them before starting.

- Would be useful to know how a piece was made, what software was used and where it was printed.

- Need to send out an email, asking everyones permission to use their work and asking if there is a piece of their work they'd particularly like on the blog.

- Could use the masks of the tutors off the course blog.

- Would be good to have illustrations of tutors and form reps (Lewis, Luke and Charlie).

- Don't just include final pieces.

- It would be good to see the development of a piece, including earlier design ideas and the final piece.

- It may be useful for the new starters to see photographs of the group to know who we are.

- Include links to each person's blog under their work.

- Need to decide a date for when it will become live.

- Think about how you can make this real and how can you extent this.

Final Crit Feedback

Other Comments

As well as getting feedback from the crit, I asked other students on the course and also other friends for tips on how I could improve.

- Have the links in the same place at the top of each page as its confusing otherwise

- Make sure all the banners at the top are the same height and width

- On tabs it should be 'First Year's Work' not 'First Years Work'

I've made changes to my blog based on this feedback; this is really useful as they are all points I might not have noticed myself.

Final Design Direction Boards

 

Screenshots of Final Blog

Final Link Card

Link to Blog

Evaluation

I've had countless numbers of problem with blogger, which has really made this project difficult. After the blogger meltdown, in which I lost two days worth of work which never came back, I started up backing up my work just to be sure. I've had problems such as being signed out when publishing a post so losing that post, 'blogger could not complete your request' messages with what I have done also being lost, problems with images not loading, the new template being lost with the blogger meltdown. For example, I have typed up the equipment and reading lists three times before the post actually worked!


Apart from these problems with blogger I feel this has been a really successful brief. I think I had a really good concept and so put a lot of effort in to ensuring that my final product was the best that it could be. I have spent so much longer on this project that I have for previous briefs, as I have really got into it, and was motivated by the fact that this blog could actually really be used by the upcoming new starters if it was successful. I feel really positive about this project after comments received in the three crits.


I think the way I have worked has been better than on other briefs, because this brief has been all about what I want to be as a graphic designer, so I've been a lot more motivated. I have experimented a lot with different styles of illustration, which is something which I am really interested in. I hope my work on this blog shows my improvement throughout the year just as the examples of first year work prove how much we have improved as a group during the year. I think my blog does answer the problem I initially set myself, of showing the new starters what they can expect from their first year. If I had more time to spend on this blog, I would like to add more content to the 'before you start' page, and maybe add some more pages.


I think the blog doesn't look as good as it could do, but this is mainly because of the restrictions of blogger. I have learnt how to edit the blogger template, and how to code some simple html to help improve the look of this blog, but I think to make it look really attractive I would need to use a different website to host the blog/website, and learn more about website creating. 

End of Module Self Evaluation

1. What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?

As this module has been going on throughout the year, I have learnt a lot which has all been valuable. We have covered a wide range of topics, such as things that may seem very simple, but are actually very important and often ignored, such as revisiting English language and covering verbs, nouns, adjectives etc - something that I haven't really had to consider in many years.


The things that stand out to me the most are what I have learnt about colour theory and also what I have learnt about grids. Before this course, I didn't know anything about either of these areas, so since developing these new skills, I have applied them to all of my Graphic Design in general, and therefore have noticed an improvement in my work as a whole, so I think I have applied these skills effectively. Learning about colour theory has made me think more about the choices behind using a colour, what this colour means, and how the use of it effects how the piece looks/is read. Learning about grids has ensured that my pieces have a visual consistency, making them neater and more professional.

2. What approaches to/methods of research have you developed and how have they informed your design development process?

For this module I haven't researched as much as I have done for other modules, as most of the time has been spent on the visual language sessions. I have completed secondary research for the briefs set on photography, books for the book fair and the what is a line brief. I have used books and the Internet to find examples of inspiring artwork - this including graphic design, illustration, photography, and paper folding - as well as to find out more about the subjects I have chosen to create work for.


All my forms of primary research have been either photography or drawing for this module. I have done a lot more observational drawing as research than before, as usually I only use photography as a method of primary research, and then draw from these photographs, where with this module, especially with the 'What is a line?' brief, I have captured my researched through drawings.

3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?

As the visual language sessions were only half day sessions, I worked quickly and wasn't too precious about the work I produced. This is actually a good thing, as this way of working allowed me to think of many different responses to a problem, and to be experimental with my work, trying things I wouldn't usually as I would be too scared that it would not work. By trying things outside my 'comfort zone' style of working, I feel I have benefited greatly, and hopefully will capitalise this strength by working this way in my next module. In previous modules, I haven't achieved what I had wanted to as I hadn't experimented much; I had just stuck to my initial ideas.

Relating to the 'being experimental' strength, this module has encouraged me to try new things. After being introduced to photography through the induction, and having an idea for how I could use photography in the 'What is a line?' brief, I bought a fish eye camera and enjoyed taking film photographs with a totally different type of camera to what I am used to. Although I didn't end up using the results for my 'What is a line?' brief, I took some photographs that I quite pleased with, and will be capitalising on this new skill by taking more photographs with this camera.

Another strength is that I think I am improving on aspects I have noted that I wanted to improve on in previous evaluations. For example, at the beginning of the year, I don't feel as if I put enough effort in to my presentation of work, and I didn't experiment much with stocks. In this module, I have taken better care with my presentation of the work I have produced for the brief, printing in digital print where possible. For the books I created for the book fair, I tried out many different stocks before deciding which one to use. I hadn't done this to this extent before, so I hadn't realised how useful this experimentation is, as the use of different stocks can completely effect a piece, from making it stand out more, to making the text easier to read and other aspects.


Overall, I have found this module enjoyable and hope my passion for this subject can be identified in the work I have produced.

4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these more fully?

I think a weakness for the work I have produced for visual language is the lack of quantity of work, compared to the amount of work I have created for other modules. The only way to address this weakness more fully would be to spend more time creating work outside of the sessions.


I found it harder to manage my time for the briefs set for this module than with the other modules, as we only had one half day session a week. Therefore, for the rest of the week, my time was spent concentrating on the other work I had for my other modules. Also, knowing that the module hand in date was quite far away from things were initially being set, I didn't feel the same pressure which motivates me, that I felt for other modules. To address this more fully, I could set myself mini deadlines to ensure I am completing the work as I go, rather than rushing to complete it at the end.



Another weakness is not asking for help and feedback with my briefs for this module. Again, this relates to how the visual language sessions are different to the other modules, so with less time there have been less crits, and less time for detailed feedback on my work. I could address this problem by asking for feedback from other students or emailing tutors about my questions, instead of just waiting for the next week's visual language session for the advice I need.

5. Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?

I haven't done much research for this module, so next time, I would like to research the topic we have covered after a session, to expand my knowledge and to find relevant images which could inspire future work. I did this for only a few topics, such as the paper folding session, and was really fascinated about what I found out, so next time feel it would be useful to research a topic without having to be told to do so.

Following on from the previous point, after researching relevant work for a topic, I would like to revisit what I have learnt in my own time, and spend a bit longer on the quality and presentation of my work. Everything I have learnt in this module I have enjoyed, and it has been a nice change from the other modules as it is so different, but I don't think I have fully capitalised on what I have learnt as I haven't managed to use the skills in other projects.

Next time, if I was set a brief where the majority of work was to be completed over a holiday away from college, I would be sure to plan ahead better. When I went home for Easter, I needed to work, which meant that I had a lot less time to concentrate on this brief, as well as facing difficulties due to not having very good equipment. At home there were many distractions so I found it quite hard to do any work. Next time, I would set aside some time to return to college during the break as it is a much better environment to work in, and at college I would have access to facilities such as the Mac suite and digital print.
I changed my idea for the book for the book fair over half way through the brief which left me with very little time to actually produce my book. While I am still pleased with the book I eventually produced for the fair, I think next time I could gain more time to spend improving the quality of my work by thinking through my idea more thoroughly before starting to design. I don't think I considered aspects such as the purpose of my book or my target audience until much later on, and when I did, thinking about these considerations made me change my idea.
As relating to the weakness I have stated in the question above, next time, when I feel I am at a dead end with my ideas and stuck what to do next, I will ask others for their advice. This will allow me to get on with my work, rather than waiting around or putting off this work. From doing this, the quality and quantity of my work should improve.

6. How would you grade yourself on the following areas
(5= excellent 4=very good 3=good 2=average 1=poor)
Attendance = 5
Punctuality = 4
Motivation = 3
Commitment = 3
Quantity of work produced = 3
Quality of work produced = 3
Contribution to the group = 4

Identity

After seeing examples of second years business cards in a seminar with Fred, as well as looking at other first students blogs, I have decided it is time to create an 'identity' for myself. This isn't a marked project, it is just something I wanted to do to improve my blog. 

To create my business cards, I have used the same process that I used to create posters in the 'communication is a virus' brief. This is to draw letters (CRG - my initials) by hand with fine writer, from typography books and from downloaded fonts, and then to scan them in. I then live traced the letters in Illustrator, and then took these images back over to Photo shop to create my business cards.

Letterforms

Experiments

Adding Colour

To start with, I have used the same colour scheme that we used in the 'communication is a virus' brief.

I think these colours are more personal to me, but at the same time could still appeal to a male audience.

More Experimentation

I decided to take a step back from colour and try some more designs in black and white.

Final Business Card

This is my final business card (for now). I am also using this logo for my blog re-design. I changed the colours of the logo based on the colour scheme of my blog. I don't really need a business card at the moment, so there is no doubt I'll be creating many more experiments before I actually need one.

Interim Self-Evaluation

List five practical skills that you have developed. When have they proved useful?

• Using a mac - As a PC user, I had never used one before this course, so it took some getting used to, but now I feel confident and have even been able to help friends out.
• Using illustrator - This new skill, which I am still learning more and more about, has improved the quality of my work as well as making certain processes quicker and opening up many more possibilities.
• Screen printing - I now feel much more confident than I did before this course about screen printing, having properly learnt the processes, which has proved useful in creating prints which I feel have much more of a special quality than digital prints.
• Colour theory - This is something I didn't really think about before, but after the visual language sessions with Fred, I have realised how important it is and I now feel that I am choosing colours that work well together and have relevance to my design instead of just random colours.
• Grids - Learning about grids in Lorenzo's visual language sessions has made my work neater, easier to read and has made it look more professional. This was especially useful when creating my own book, and when designing a magazine article.

List five transferable skills that you have developed. What have you used them for?

• Time management skills - I have had to develop these skills to make sure that I am not behind with the amount of work for different briefs set. These skills are transferable as they help me to keep on top of other things and stop me from wasting time on pointless things such as watching lots of TV as I would have previously done.
• Organisation - The main thing I picked up on after Jo's time management workshops was the importance of organisation. I have always made to-do lists, but sometimes ignored these, so learning more sensible ways to organise my lists means that I am now more capable of keeping myself organised in more ways that just to do with course work, for example, remembering to take library books back on the right day and keep appointments.
• Sticking up for myself - In group work I had to explain and defend my ideas, and I have also had to do this in crits. This skill is a confidence skill which can be transferred to many different aspects of life, such as making me feel more confident with dealing with messy/noisy flatmates.
• Team work - Having to work in three group work briefs already this year, I think my team work skills have greatly improved. I now feel that instead of agreeing with others ideas, I am confident to put my own across. This is a transferable skill which will be greatly beneficial in other areas, such as in my job.
• Trying different things- Instead of sticking with my first idea, and keeping work the same dimensions and media as I would usually do, I have done a lot of experimentation this year. This confidence to not just stick with what I know works has been transferred to other things, such as trying out new recipes in cooking.

List five things that you have achieved. How have they helped you progress?

• I have achieved a first in my critical studies essay which has made me feel more confident about my writing skills. Everything I have learnt in this subject has helped me to understand more about the origins of Graphic Design which has helped my design context progression.
• I have achieved 98% attendance, which is the best attendance I have ever had. This has stopped me from missing out on any work.
• I consider being able to look after myself now an achievement. I can now cook, clean, do my laundry.. etc. Looking after myself properly has helped me to progress into a more responsible adult.
• Being able to take criticism of my own work now is also an achievement to me. Previously, I felt insulted/put off after hearing negative responses to my work, but after the crits we have faced this year, I know now that constructive criticism is the best thing to help my development, by letting me know what I need to do to improve.
• I count positive responses I receive from my peers and my tutors towards my work to my an achievement, as they show me that I am improving and learning. They help me to progress by making me feel more confident about my own work, as I believe we are all our own harshest judges!

List five problems that you have had to face. How have you overcome them?

• In my third group work brief, we changed our idea half way through, however, I preferred the previous idea, so didn't feel as enthusiastic about the brief at that point. I overcame this problem by discussing our new idea with Jo in a crit, and ended up feeling more motivated about this new idea.
• In each group work, there have been people in the groups that have not contributed as much as others in the group. To over come this problem, I have kept my blogs up to date, and annotated which work I have done, so I feel that I will be fairly marked.
• At the start of the year, I felt that my limited software knowledge was slowing me down, especially as so many others seemed to be so confident with the software. However, after the inductions and speaking to technicians, I now know a lot more about software, such as illustrator, and am enjoying learning more all the time.
• I have had to face disappointment with my module grade, which was really off-putting as I felt I worked especially hard in the module. After my tutorial with Amber, I realised what it was that I hadn't done, so will overcome this with more experimentation in the next module.
• I haven't been able to afford things that other students have, such as Macs/course books/software, so to overcome this problem, I've made good use of the mac suites and library, and spent longer days at college. I think I have got more work done this way than if I owned the items myself anyway now.

List five facts that you have learned. When have they been useful?

• I have learnt that there is no such thing as free time for Graphic Designers! This was told to us many times at the beginning of the course by Fred and Amber, but I didn't realise how true this was until we first starting receiving the briefs. This fact has stopped me from wasting time doing pointless activities, as I feel guilty when I do, knowing that there is always graphic design work or research I could be getting on with.
• I have learnt to book a slot for digital print or to get here for 8.30am, as otherwise I will be wasting precious times in queues with other stressed out students!
• I have learnt that three hours worth of work done at home can be done in an hour at college. This has made me stay behind to finish my work at college, which has been useful, as it has saved me time in reality.
• I have learnt that 12 hour days at college are actually really rewarding and make you feel like you have achieved something. This has been useful, as it has allowed me to get a lot of work done.
• I have learnt that mistakes are often more useful than having the right idea initially. Through changing my mind, having bad ideas and making other mistakes, I have probably saved myself time in the long run, as I now have a better idea of what I need to know before continuing on with an idea to know if it will work.

List five things that you will never do again. Why?

• I will NEVER choose a subject that it is impossible to get primary research for, this really effected by observation for my dinosaur project, which also happened to be the longest brief of the module!
• I will never forget to put the eggs in my typogateux cake again, as it looked good, but tasted disgusting.
• I will never leave blogging until the end of a brief again, as it is so hard to catch up on, and it means that bits inevitably get missed out.
• I will never choose a subject that I am not interested in out of choice, as it meant that I didn't really enjoy the brief. I believe the no news is good news brief could have been so much better if I had chosen something really gripping, rather than choosing an article about Katy Perry and Russell Brand's wedding, however, we did not know what the brief would be when we had to choose our article.
• I will never leave an important part of a brief until the last minute, as I did with the packaging side of the product and packaging collection 100 brief, as it meant that I rushed this aspect of the brief, whereas I spent a lot of time on the other aspects of the brief, leaving me quite unhappy with result, and I think this poor response also effected my grade.

Which of these words describe the way you work as part of a group?

- Confident - Passive - Ethical - Open - Vocal - Decisive -Informed - Critical - Determined - Considerate - Tolerant - Withdrawn

Which of these qualities do you most appreciate about yourself?

- Honesty - Originality - Commitment - Responsible - Flexibility - Creative - Ambitious - Focused - Punctuality - Humorous - Organised - Criticism

Which of these attitudes best describes the way you worked at the start of the group brief?

- Organised  - Impulsive - Entertaining - Focused - Laid back - Direct - Informed - Critical - Objective - Committed - Flexible - Entertaining - Passive - Unrealistic - Indecisive - Ethical

Which of these attitudes best describes the way you work now?

-  Organised  - Impulsive - Entertaining - Focused - Laid back - Direct - Informed - Critical - Objective - Committed - Flexible - Entertaining - Passive - Unrealistic - Indecisive - Ethical

 

After completing this self-evaluation after a briefing with Fred on 31/03/11, I looked back at my targets for the year, which I wrote on 25/9/10 (link), and I am pleased to say I have achieved, or am on my way to achieving nearly all of my targets. This really makes me feel pleased about my progress and everything I have learnt, through mistakes and successes. Soon it will be time to think of some targets that I will be aiming to achieve next year!

Visual Language: What is a line?

Our own brief

Written by me:

The Brief:

I am to produce a body of work that visually investigates the following definition of what a line is: "A mark indicating position, connection or boundaries."

Considerations:

I will photography and draw peoples palms and look into how reading the lines of a palm can supposedly tell some one's future.

Target Audience:

Adults, not just those who are interested in fortune telling.

Tone of Voice:

Light hearted, entertaining, informative.

Background:

I will need to research palm reading, as well as different drawing styles.

Mandatory Requirements:

I will need to draw regularly, and ensure good time management.

Deliverables:

A set of notebooks/sketchbooks and drawings/images in an organised, rational and considered format.

A final piece showing my collection of drawings/photographs.

Written by Will:

The Brief:

You are to produce a body of work that visually investigates the following definition of what a line is: "A mark indicating position, connection or boundaries."

Considerations:

You will use photography and draw peoples palms and look into how palm reading is based around lines that supposedly tell the future. This could be analog or digital photography. You could get interesting results with a fish eye camera.

Target Audience:

Adults, designers, artists, creative types.

Tone of Voice:

Light hearted, entertaining, informative (in relation to palm reading), visually interesting to look at.

Background:

Research into palm reading. Research into various different drawing styles: - continuous line drawing - still life - drawing with opposite hand - drawing blind folded. Research into photography and which camera to use.

Mandatory Requirements:

Set out a certain period of time each day to create a routine for drawing your hands, managing how much you want to get done each day/week.

Deliverables:

- Set of studies in sketchbooks/notebooks

- Final poster - outcome of body of research

Action Plan

Action - Research artists, illustrators and photographers (look at Jemmy Cowalt and Rob Gardiner). Get at least four books out of the library that will help. Research the hand in science books to get a better understanding of what you are working from. Experiment with photography (fish eye, Diana, Polaroid etc) and drawing (- continuous line drawing - still life - drawing with opposite hand - drawing blind folded) techniques and begin to consider which process you will use. Deadline - 22nd March

Action - Start to take photographs of hands, and begin to draw from these in your chosen styles. Research palm reading and what the lines on the hands mean. Ask Amber and other students about your work as this is the last chance to show other people before the Easter break. Deadline - 29th March

Action - Continue with photography, and start putting together studies of hands in relation to what you have found out about palm reading. Reflect on progress and consider if you are following action plan properly. Deadline - 5th April

Action - Continue to produce hand studies. Explore and try out different ways of presenting ready for starting the final piece. Reflect on progress and consider if you are following action plan properly. Deadline - 12th April

Action - Decide which stock you will use and what size the final piece will be. Begin to work on final piece. Deadline - 19th April

Action - Complete all work for 26th April

Evaluation

I would've liked to screen print my final pieces, as this is a process I have recently learnt and what to use this skill, also, I think there is a better quality to hand printed final pieces than with digital printed pieces. However, by printing my final pieces in the digital print room I am still pleased with the outcome. I didn't have the opportunity to screen print my final pieces as I had work commitments that didn't allow me to come back to Leeds during the Easter holidays.

I didn't work as well at home as I would've done at college because of the distractions as well as not having as good equipment and facilities to use. Also, it was difficult to know if I was on the right track as I didn't have the opportunity for feedback crits to hear responses from my tutors and other students.

I really enjoyed this brief as I did quite a lot of drawings I didn't feel too precious about them so got to be experimental with different styles. I also enjoyed the secondary research as I think I learnt quite a lot from this and looked at some images that may inspire future projects.

Although I didn't use my fish eye photographs in my final piece, as I was unhappy with how these particular photographs turned out, this is something I will continue to experiment with in future projects as I like the unique results from the other photographs.

I don't think I managed my time too well as I had planned out in the time plan as I ended up spending quite a long time learning about palm reading and reading others palms, yet I don't think I spent long enough on my final piece.

I had a lot of ideas for this project but didn't have a lot of time due to me having my elective during the Easter holidays and having work commitments, so I think I could've gone further with this project if I had managed my time correctly.

Final Pieces

Poster

Booklet

Communication Is A Virus

Week One Pitch

Issues raised
- Take care with presentation of design boards - white boarders need to be chopped off
- Design boards may be easier to read if they were portrait as there is a lot of text
- The concept board makes the idea sound new and exciting, but the other boards start to talk about what has already been done
- Example leaflets are interesting but need to move away from these for a new idea

Actions to be taken
- Primary and secondary research - look at websites such as Leeds volunteer society, free cycle, peoples supermarket (channel 4 programme) and websites where you can click and companies give
- Could make publications to advertise a charity that you can volunteer for
- Research into the psychology of why helping others feels satisfying
- Need to make sure what you create is eye-catching, interactive and easy to follow so people don't just throw away any postcards/mail shots you make
- Be careful not to harass or irritate people, such as people with buckets in town centres do
- Would be good to actually host your own event, such as the Leeds RAG week events that are taking place this week
- Need to let people know that giving more is simple
- Let people know what they can achieve in what amount of time, let them know there are more valuable ways to spend their time, such as half an hour watching hollyoaks could be half an hour giving blood, which is saving lives
- Make people realise they do have time to help, there are simple things they could add to their daily routine, and there are ways that everyone can help
- All the group should actually do something to help a charity, such as volunteering, donating to charity or giving blood and write about their own experiences

Week Two Crit
- There should be some visual consistency between the posters, this could simply be that they are the same orientation and dimensions
- Each poster could contain a question which triggers a response to motivate
- Need to help the viewer to be inspired and understand why they should do the suggested activity and what it can do for them e.g. going for a run benefits fitness
- Need to make the viewer think in a different way, and have an impact on their mind
- The responses could be personal to the things the people in our class wanted to change
- Could make the viewer feel guilty or positive, which could effect their motivation
- Could include a link to a website or more advice of where to go next
- Could attach the designs to relevant products
- Look at artist Anthony Burrill and his motivational typographic posters
- Look at self-help books for motivational phrases
- Make sure the type on the posters is legible and that there is an impact on the viewer
- Hand rendered type related to the theme
- Motivating the viewer is more important than providing them with a practical outcome, but how do you motivate?
- Prints seem to have more sense of value than digital, especially framed prints. This is something to research. If the posters were screen printed they would have more value.
- The concept is challenging, thought provoking and inspirational
- Need to re-work design concept boards for the presentation next Friday, which needs to include a PowerPoint presentation which lasts between 5 and 10 minutes.

Final Feedback

This is feedback we recieved on our presentation from group 7, aswell as from Jo and Amber

These are the questions the group had to consider while giving us feedback:
Was the concept clearly defined?
Was the context clearly defined?
Was the method of delivery clearly defined?
What methods were used to gather information?
What methods were used to evaluate information?
What methods were used to distribute information?
How was the problem resolved?
How could the problem be resolved more effectively?
Was the problem delivered in the correct context?
Did the problem communicate with an audience?

 - Liked the concept, think it is strong
- Might be better to challenge people rather than be too nice to them and guide them
- Fear motivates more than positivity, so could include facts and figures
- Posters are aesthetically nice but there isn't much depth and meaning
- More of a 'kick up the butt approach' could work
- Liked the posters but don't think they are motivating
- Would be worth creating other products that are more relevant to students
- It would be good to test the products now that you have actually produced them and to see whether they work
- The posters seem a bit girly so a different approach would be better for males
- Posters worked for Kirsty, she did think they were motivating
- Liked the logo, thought 'help yourself' was a clever title, could make more use of this logo
- Some of the type styles didn't relate to motivation
- The different skills of group members is useful
- How would you give the products out? Have you tested it? Does it work?

Final Pieces

Matt's Designs

Stickers

Posters

Websites

Kirsty's Designs

Posters

Screenprints

Kirsty modelling her t-shirts and bag

My Designs

Shopper Bag

Posters

Final Products

Steph's Work

Screenprints

 Doiley

Tearable poster

 

Poster

    

Fridge Magnets

Mitch's Designs

Posters

My Evaluation

I think this has been a really difficult brief because of it being group work. There are always problems with group work, such as some people not putting in as much work as others but I also think there are benefits to group work. For example, I have learnt new skills on photo shop and illustrator from Kirsty and Steph, who knew a bit more than me. I hope I have also been able to teach the others in the group something too. It was good that we could all put in our different skills, as we discussed at the beginning of the project. I have been inspired by others work, and tried new ways of working. It has been good to discuss ideas with others, as they may notice flaws that you don't, or suggest other things you haven't thought of. I think I personally work hard in group work briefs as I don't want to feel like I am letting the rest of the group down.

Earlier on in the year, when we did other group work briefs, I think it was easier because people weren't as confident about speaking out so would tend to agree with ideas rather than to fight for their own. This isn't necessarily a good thing, but now, with everyone willing to speak out, there are far more conflicting ideas to choose from. At the same time, this is good, because it allows for a really original idea to be chosen.

I'm not sure if our answers to the brief show the keywords we described ourselves as at the beginning of the year: motivated, fresh, talented, edgy and innotative. There were certain times where we were all not motivated at all, so to try to solve this we had regular group meetings, and discussed our ideas with Amber or Jo where possible. We did try so hard for our work to be fresh, and hopefully showcased our different talents through the variety of work. I wouldn't say that what we produced was edgy, but we did try to use innovative, however, due to various restraints, I don't think our idea worked as well as it could have done.

At one point we felt we had come to a dead end with our ideas, as we felt it had all already been done before. Some members of our group had different opinions about where to go next than others. After a crit with Jo, we decided on a good idea that we all felt positive about. However, I don't think our ideas execute this idea to its full potential. Other groups had made their briefs live and we hadn't, which really let us down. I feel that we had so much opportunity, as our initial concept was good and received really positive feedback in the crit, but we didn't produce the quantity or quality of work we could have done. I don't feel as if our final pieces actually answer the problem of getting people to give more. I think they look good, but don't actually work. We should have tested the posters and products to see if they were actually motivational before our presentation.