Concept Crit.

This is the feedback I got from the concept crit. There was some good points made by others that I hadn't considered so I will have to go through this again and write a list of things to do on each of the projects that were present at the crit. 

Black & White print: further pattern development.

I developed my original pattern further because in my tutorial I was asked how could I push the ideas further and what else could be done with them. This then created a pattern within a pattern but I quite like some of the ideas that have come through from doing this. It's also shown me just what can be achieved with something so simple. 

This is my favourite 'further developed' pattern because the shapes are so intricate with the pattern place inside them and it's quite interesting and eyecatching. 

          

As this brief is about exploring print processes I decided to experiment with foil blocking on my favourite two patterns. I really like the effect I got and was pleased to find it even worked on the most intricate of my patterns. This foil gives a more high quality look to the overall design and this is something I need as some of the products will be gift bags etc and consumers buy the more high quality product. 

I started to apply my favourite patterns across a product that is going to be avaliable in my range to see which would work best and how they look in general. I think my favourite is definitely the bag with the pattern on the inside and the flower shape on the outside, it's very simple yet defined and eyecatching. I also think that when the foiling is applied to certain areas it will give it a really good finish and still work effectively with the design. I now need to take this pattern and apply it across my full product range. 

New weekly plan//refined proposal.

After my tutorial with Phil I re-wrote my proposal so that my week by week plan was more realistic and doesn't mean i'm trying to do everything at once. This means that some briefs won't be started until later on but this isn't a problem as it's still managable. Hopefully i'll stick to it! 

Tutorial.

I had my first tutorial with Phil to see if the briefs I had started are going in the right direction and also what improvements could be made. He gave me a few things to think about;
Tigerprint brief
- Lino print/cut
- Identify different markets

Off The Reel (illustrative type brief) 
- Research films from the 40's, 50's and 60's 
- Research iconic imagery and type. 
- Find a quick system to develop quick tests with the type experimentation such as, 60 seconds per letter. 

I also need to revisit my weekly plan because trying to do all my briefs at once definitely isn't working! We discussed having one running all the way through and then considering where the others will fit in one by one. 

Black & White print: pattern to take forward.

I printed the three patterns out in product form to see which I thought worked best, this isn't nescessarily the best way to choose because it may look different over other products but I think my favourite is still third from the left because it seems to have the highest impact whenever i've shown it to anyone else and it's been one of my favourite throughout the project so far. The other good thing about this pattern is because it began as a single 'flower' shape it can be stripped down again to it's simplest form and be used like that too. 

Illustrative type: initial typeface ideas.

These are the initial ideas for the illustrative typefaces and the style which they will take. 

I've used existing typefaces and tried to alter them slightly so they are unique to my project but fit the film they are themed around. I think I need to experiment with this in a different way because the typefaces look too similar to that of the films with the general shape of the letters or at least manipulate them so they can't be recognised as the originals. I might try manipulating some of these ideas digitally to see how far I can take them as well as beginning some new ideas from scratch. 

Coca-Cola: initial ideas.

I mapped out all the things that relate to christmas in order to give me ideas for themes for each of my bottle designs. There are so many things I can do that I think I need to narrow it down by creating a questionnaire and asking people what they relate to christmas most. 

Illustrative type: logo ideas and development.

Company name: the company name came from an initial thought I had and when I tried to think of other names to show i'd gone through a big thought process it just wasn't working. I was too attached to this original name idea and thought it would be time wasting to map out other names for the sake of this part of the development. I think the name is really strong and makes sense because it's film products that are being sold. 

These are the intial ideas for the logo design for my merchandise company. I took existing typefaces I downloaded and tried to make them a bit more unique to come up with a quirky logo design. Although this is in the very early stages I have already started considering keeping the logo black and white because it looks really crisp and quite clean cut within these ideas. The name I have come up with is just based on the fact that all films are on a reel at some point so it was just a play on that. I also thought it'd be quite easy to remember and this is what i'd like the audience to do. 

I then merged the reel imagery with various typeface designs that I felt were working to see if these would actually work together. I definitely feel that the reel with more detail on it has a higher impact and looks much more interesting, it also seems to compliment the type better. On the bottom reel I tried to see if adding merchandise would do anything to enhance the design but it looks a bit lost. I don't really think it needs to be there because once the company becomes known people will just recognise the logo. I also experimented with having the reel on different angles to see if this would make any difference. Although I think some of these designs are really working well I need to consider if they are going to work on different scales when being applied to products. 

I took a few of my favourite logos and experimented with them making them gradually smaller. Although this still works because you can still read the text and see the detail in the drawing you can't really see the detail in the text so really this is a negative. I showed the designs i'd already come up with to a few people in my group and they suggested using only part of the reel and including the text so it's still slightly visual but theres more focus on the brand name. The original design I did for this is the brand name with thick film edges around it but people in my group said this takes away the focus from the name so I tried it with thinner edges and think i'm pretty pleased with this logo (the one circled red). This is what I think i'm going to take forward as the branding for the merchandise company.

Module proposal form.

This is my proposal of what i'm going to do throughout this module and what I hope to get out of it. The week by week plan is subject to change depending on how each project goes. 

Black & White print: submission to Tigerprint.

This is proof of my submission to Tigerprint! 

Group tutorial.

*My tutor feedback from this tutorial went missing from my pigeon hole.
The group tutorial was actually really useful because it made me think more about why I was doing the projects I was proposing and exactly what I wanted to get out them. Initially I thought it was a bad thing to be doing something just because I enjoyed it but then we were told that we needed our 'play' brief and as long as we were developing a skill this was ok. This meant I felt a bit more confident about one brief in particular that I had chosen. I also realised listening to other people that I'd maybe mapped out my time management in a bit too much detail, because things are more than likely not to go to plan so if I just indicate when i'm working on each brief then this might be better. I also got opinions off others on my briefs that I was proposing to do, most of which was really positive because people could see exactly what I wanted to get out of each brief so this meant they must be written pretty clearly. There wasn't really anything I had to change at this point other than to go back and re-work my time management plan so it means I can really get stuck into my briefs. 

Black & White Print; pattern development.

I took one of the designs from my ideas sheets and started developing it using shapes as a form to follow and various other forms that the lines could take. I think my favourite here is the first design at the top on the left. I imagine this will make quite an interesting pattern when developed further and it's different to things I have seen before via the research I have done. I also think the fact theres a lot going on and not much colour variation makes it an interesting design. I now need to take this shape into illustrator and develop it further. 

These are the four shapes/drawings I started with when I began digitial experimentation. I tried to make ideas including them all but the shapes I created using the spirograph didn't seem to look right no matter how I tried to create a repeat pattern with them. The best results I got were from the hand drawn shape in the bottom right hand corner so I then went on to create various different patterns that could be submitted to Tigerprint. 

Althought there doesn't seem to be a lot of development here it actually took quite a while to place things correctly and to make them look how I wanted them too. I straight away found favourites amoungst these designs and with having the opportunity to submit a total of five designs to Tigerprint I chose my favourite three. I didn't carry out more development at this stage because I thought that the three I liked best could then be capitalised on and developed further instead of spending loads of time on this initial stage. Some of the above designs start to make the intial pattern look more complicated than it is which I quite like because it makes it appear more interesting. Once I was happy with everything I formatted the patterns and submitted them to Tigerprint. 

Detailed statement of intent; week by week.

As a starting point for my statement of intent I decided to draw myself a timetable of what i'm going to do week on week. It's quite specific in the things I need to do so that I don't miss anything out and make sure i'm keeping on top of everything. I haven't timetabled reading week in as I plan to be working hard on my dissertation but if necessary I will catch up on anything I fall behind on in this module, hopefully it will all go to plan though for the most part. I've left myself time for things to go wrong in other weeks so I don't have to rush to get things done and can finalise things to the best of my ability. I hope to stick to this plan as it makes me feel as though I will be able to complete everything I need to do for my briefs. 

Black & White Print: initial ideas.

These are the intial ideas I came up with for the tigerprint pattern brief. Some of these are based on things I have seen online and in books and current styles within fashion. I didn't really know the direction I want to go in to start with but after completing these ideas I have decided that i'd like to persue a line based pattern because the more abstract ideas on this sheet are some of my favourites. I also prefer a white background because it makes the designs look sharp. My favourites are the fifth down in the first row, the second down in the third row and the fifth down in the fourth row. I will choose one of these to take forward and develop. 

Based on the idea that I prefer the line based designs I also experimented with Sophie's spirograph set which was actually quite fun as i've never done this before. Some of the designs above are quite messy because I was just getting the hang of it but I quite like the examples that look like atoms and consist of lines on top of lines. Some of these ideas would create pretty nice repeat patterns if taken further. 

Re-written briefs.

I re-wrote two of my briefs, illustrative type and the penguin design award, because the outcomes weren't specific and there wasn't enough of them to make them out to be substantial briefs. I feel a lot happier with these re-written briefs because now I have a greater idea of the direction the work is going to take and what I will get by the end of the module. There general description of what i'm going to do is also a lot clearer. 

Workshop three.

This workshop made us think about how we would break our four briefs down into the ten weeks we have to complete them. I think the timelines I have done are a little unrealistic in some areas because i've given things a lot longer time than it will actually take me and possibly not prioritised certain things when I should have. The other thing I did not consider with this is that things may go wrong and i've left no space for this to happen so I may need to revisit the idea of the timeline again if I feel this will be useful. 

Top four briefs//workshop two.

These are the top four briefs I have decided to work on for the next ten weeks. I chose them because I feel they are the ones I will get the most out of. Initially one of my top four was the collaboration for the yearbook but the I realised this doesn't need to be done until the second half of the year so I chose a different one instead. In the second workshop we had to consider what we will get out of these briefs in terms of our personal practice which has made me realise a couple of mine need to be extended/re-written. 

Brief one: Black & white print. 
SKILLS
- Repeat pattern 
- Illustration
- Layout
- Branding
- Research

CONTEXT
- Stationery 
- Retail 

CONTENT
- Illustration
- Pattern design
- Research into existing products

PRODUCTS
- Notebooks
- Pencil cases
- Bags
- Pens
- Pencils
- Storage boxes
- Gift bags
- Wrapping paper
- Cards
- Gift tags
- Postcards

A print based investigation of repeat pattern with a focus on retail. 
I am going to create a repeat pattern that can be applied across a large range of products because this will allow me to explore product range to its fullest extent with having so many possible outcomes. It will also give me a chance to research into print processes. 
Product: Black and white repeat pattern
Range: Notebook, pencil case, bag, pens, pencils, storage boxes, gift bags, wrapping paper, cards, gift tags, postcards
Distribution: In stores and online



Brief two: Penguin design award 2013. 
SKILLS
- Illustration: hand rendered
- Layout
- Type//illustrative
- Client based: meeting a brief
- Print: stock apropriate
- Branding: keeping the brand style and standard

CONTEXT 
- Competition 
- Publishing
- Design for print
- Childrens illustration
- Branding

CONTENT
- Imagery
- Type
- Story synopsis 

PRODUCTS
- Book cover both printed and digital

An image based investigation of childrens illustration with a focus on book cover design. 
I'm going to submit an entry to the penguin design awards 2013 because this will give me experience in designing for a client. It will also give me the chance to explore contexts i'm not that familiar with. 
Product: The wind in the willows book
Range: Book cover
Method of distribution: In store and online



Brief three: Illustrative type. 
SKILLS
- Type
- Illustration
- Layout
- Hand rendering
- Research
- Screenprinting

CONTEXT 
- Typography
- Retail
- Print

CONTENT
- Illustration
- Text//type
- Shape
- Colour experimentation

PRODUCTS
- Posters//prints
- Full typefaces including numbers

An illustration based investigation of typography with a focus on hand rendering. 
I am going to design a series of illustrative typefaces because this will allow me to explore type conventions and also work on my hand rendering skills. 
Product: A series of illustrative typefaces
Range: Posters//prints and finished typefaces
Method of distribution: In store and online 



Brief four: Coca-Cola.
SKILLS
- Software
- Research 
- Print processes
- Illustration
- Layout
- Typography

CONTEXT 
- Advertising 
- Branding 
- Illustration
- Design for print
- Design for screen

CONTENT
- Persuasion
- Coca-Cola
- Food and drink

PRODUCTS
- Posters
- Online banners
- Bottles
- Flyers

A research based investigation of advertising with a focus on illustration. 
I am going to design a fully intergrated campaign to promote next years limited edition range of Coca-Cola bottles because this will give me the opportunity to explore branding and also print processes, as well as linking in with my dissertation. 
Product: Coca-Cola bottles
Range: Bottle designs, packaging, online advertising, bus stop posters, billboards, magazine spread 
Method of distribution: Online, in print, large scale advertising, in store 

Top ten.

WANT
- A professional portfolio so I can be proud of it and people will want to employ me. 
- Who is my favourite illustrator? I need a favourite illustrator who I can aspire to and look to for inspiration, someone to follow. 
- Is my design style appealing enough? My designs need to be appealing and communicate to an audience so I need to be aware of this. 
- Industrial experience, because working in an actual studio will make me aware of the day to day runnings, deadlines and client contact. It will also give me feedback on my personal skill set and prepare me for a full time job as a designer. 
- Print processes, I need to revisit this skill/understanding if I would like to become a print based designer because I need to know the ins and outs so my work is prepared properly for a printer. I also need to experiment with processes such as screenprint to give my work more variation. 
- Yearbook, this is a product i'd like to create as i'll get to collaborate with like minded people and the finished product will be seen by a huge audience so its an opportunity to showcase my skills. 
- Handmade books, I enjoyed the book binding workshop so would like to create a completely printed/finished product from this skill in order to extend my capabilties in terms of the work i'm able to create. 
- 'What is illustration?' Although I have a great passion for illustration, I would like to create a full body of research to become further informed and discover favourites within this area. 
- More studios/designers to contact. Now I have another focus area of branding I want to look at branding studios for studio visits to expand my knowledge and get a feel for larger working environments. 
- A range of briefs within my portfolio. I need a range of briefs with diverse outcomes so I am able to show my full potential as a designer. 

NEED
- To research Coca-Cola as this is my dissertation topic so I need to know everything this company is about in order to create a good piece of writing. 
- What is happening now in design? I need to know this in order for my work to be current.
- Professional portfolio photographs. If they don't look good this will reflect badly on both me and my work. 
- Screen based work in my portfolio because I need to show I am capable of other things although I love print based design.
- Are my briefs going to fully exploit my capabilties? I need to know this because this is an important opportunity to show what I can do so it needs to be right. 
- What studio environment am I better suited to? Without knowing this I can't go forward and apply for a job or at least one i'd definitely know i'd be comfortable in. 
- Design for screen. I need to be able to show I can work with this as well as print because professionals prefer you to be able to do both and I need to fit in. 
- Experiment. I need to not be afraid to take risks because I could be missing out on some brilliant design I didn't know I was capable of. 
- Create web designs. This would be a way of showing I can create design for screen and showcase the capabilties I have as a designer. It could also be more fun for me because it's different. 
- To produce multiple products for briefs. I need to push the briefs as far as they will go in order to get the full potential and express my creativity. 

Workshop one.

The first workshop was thinking about what we want to do this year and what we need to do. We compiled lists for five different areas. 

Skills to develop

WANT
- Illustrative type
- Branding
- Collaboration
- Illustration
- Book binding 
- Screen printing
- Print processes 
- Big ideas 
- Communication with tutors 
- Industrial experience 
- Industrial contacts 
- Thinking outside the box
- Working with people from other courses
- Layout: books//presentations
- Overall design skills 
- Blogging
- Basic type understanding 
- Hand rendering 
- Digital rendering 
- Time management 

NEED 
- Design for screen
- Software
- Confidence when presenting 
- Research
- Writing
- Keeping up to date with blogging 
- Experiment 
- Work out of my comfort zone
- Full Fill everything i'll say i'll do
- Confidence
- Web design
- Indesign
- Illustrator
- Ask tutors if im unsure about something
- Relationship between type and image
- Visually interesting presentation
- Reading 
- Feedback to others
- Make the most of facilties 
- Design for an audience, not myself
- Confidence when talking to professionals

Products

WANT
- Hardback books
- Professional print
- Book covers
- Illustration on products for a purpose 
- Publication design through to printing
- Fully intergrated campaign
- Handmade books
- Retail
- Design for a range
- Experimental//not yet tried
- Competitions
- Live briefs
- Solid product eg. bottle
- Textiles 
- Cards
- 'Freelance' prints etc. 
- Personal online presence 
- Range of stock
- Branding for someone else
- Yearbook

NEED
- Website design
- Product multiple products for briefs
- Basic understanding of coding for websites
- Personal website 
- Creative CV
- Tactile//interesting print
- Mailout for studios 
- Professionally printed 
- Easy to duplicate for client
- Design for a purpose
- Professional portfolio
- Branding on my blog
- Packaging 
- Informative
- Photography
- Posters
- Hand rendered type
- Existing brand promotion
- Screen//digital based 

Questions

WANT
- Where do I want to be? 
- Who is my favourite illustrator?
- Do I want to aim my design at a particular audience?
- What do I need to do to get my branding skills on parr with illustration?
- What is my favourite typeface?
- Are there any useful websites i've not yet used?
- Are there any events I could visit for inspiration?
- Is there a better market for hand rendered design or digital?
- Which is the best way to promote myself?
- Who do I want to illustrate for?
- Are there any events I could take part in?
- Are my designs 'current' enough?
- What do I want out of a career? 
- How realistic is it for me to be Leeds based when I graduate? 
- Do I have a unique illustrative style? 
- What can I do to be different?
- Would setting up Etsy benefit me? 
- Will I be confident in myself and my design by the end of the course? 
- What is seen as 'popular' now? 
- Will anyone want to collaborate cross course? 

NEED
- Is there anything I should focus on that I don't enough?
- Are my briefs going to fully exploit my capabilties? 
- Is there anyone else in the college who wants to collaborate with me? 
- What studio environment am I better suited to? 
- Do I want to work with a large or small company? 
- Do I want to freelance as well as have a job? 
- What do I want out of graphic design? 
- Am I good enough to full fill my aspirations?
- Are my skills stronger with illustration or branding? 
- What style of branding do I like? 
- Do I want to create work for popular brands? 
- What is my favourite branding studio? 
- Can I get a job that requires both of my skills? 
- How do you approach printers?
- Is there a particular place to find work? 
- Do I NEED to have a work placement? 
- What is design like in other countries? 
- Can I work comfortably with design for screen?
- What do I need to do to full fill my design potential? 
- How much would I initially charge for freelance? 

Research

WANT
- Print processes 
- Current and past illustration
- Book binding 
- Printers to work with
- People to collaborate with
- 'What is illustration?' 
- The basics of typography 
- General graphic design interests
- Current graphic design
- Designers/studios of interest
- Competitors 
- Live briefs
- Gallery visits for inspiration
- New places to visit
- Print visit
- Where do I want to be based as a designer? 
- Culture and how it relates to design
- Superbrands: history
- Branding
- Media that best suits my illustration

NEED
- Further industrial contacts
- Whats happening now in design
- Dissertation: Coca-Cola, branding, advertising, theories, questions to ask
- Things going on that I can visit
- Opportunities that will give me experience
- Places i'd feel comfortable for work (cities) 
- Branding studios
- Is there a market for my style of work? 
- Ask more freelancers questions
- Television adverts (branding) 
- Etsy//pros and cons
- Past student work for standard to work to
- Designers
- Studios
- Competitors 

Portfolio

WANT
- Things//subjects I enjoy
- Professional
- Organised
- Bright/bold work
- Largely print based work
- Something that reflects me
- A range of briefs
- Something I can be proud of
- Suitable for interview
- Professional photographs
- Self branding
- Approval of tutors//other professionals
- Well considered layout 
- High print quality
- Showcase skills
- To be admired
- Unique 
- Industry standard 
- Summary of third year 
- Collaborative projects

NEED
- Subjects that showcase a range of skills
- Full of work
- Work with a range of processes 
- Professional layout and photographs
- Some screen based work to show further skills
- A range of colour throughout
- My design interests
- Professional layout
- Personal style
- Draw attention
- Stand out
- Meet assessment requirements
- Feedback
- Exciting
- Well considered order
- Clean//edgy
- Relevent to areas of design I like
- Strongest work
- Aspirations
- Something i'll treasure