Proposal : Timeline

Below I have produced a timeline for my 5 briefs, categorizing their importance over the 10 weeks and allocating specific days and weeks to certain areas of the design process. The two main briefs I aim to complete run for 10 weeks where as my other 3 briefs that won't be as demanding have been allocated 3/4 weeks.

PPD Tutorials - Task 1

From John's session this week we were given a short task of answering the questions below;

List 5 things or more you would address differently than you did before the summer...

-The amount of time I spend In studio, I definitely will be taking advantage of having studio space open for us to use 6 days a week, as this is probably going to be my last year in education using the studio as much as possible Is something I want to prioritize.
-To use the research process in much more original and interesting ways, rather than jumping straight onto the internet instead finding day's out and visits that can inform my research. Using other resources than the colleges Library and being thorough in the way I execute research.

-Try and be much more experimental with the media and methods of delivery I work alongside, I want to show that I'm a jack of all trades and enjoy working in in alternative forms of media that wouldn't usually be associated with Graphic Design.

-In terms of my attendance I feel that last year there was a few mornings where I woke up late and didn't get a chance to sign in, overall effecting my percentage. This year I want to manage my time so that I don't end up having late nights catching up with blogging etc and as an outcome I don't sleep through my alarm.

-The design Process, Coming back and analyzing the briefs I've picked out has really helped me to think about the differently stages undertaken in the design development process. Weekly plans of each stage you intend to go through is a really good aspect of project planning and this is something I will be undertaking this year.

List 5 things or more know now that you didn't before the break...
-Stressing out over work, is only achieved through bad planning. Project and time management is key to being able to structure time to work & procrastinate.

-I aspire to be open minded this year in terms of industry, I think I will be happy in whatever job I end up doing as Long as its part of the creative network. Having time and space over summer gave me a chance to properly think about my future and I have concluded that If i don't pursue a graphic design career, I would definitely like to stay within the creative Industry possibly with textiles or illustration.

-I know now that speaking to other designers through creative Industry can be very difficult but at the same time extremely easy, it completely depends on the other person at the end of the telephone line or computer screen.

-I know what type of designer I work well alongside collaboratively, I completed a 10 day collaborative mural over summer and I truly think that this taught me alot about compromise and pushing different peoples strong points.

-I know what type of designer I am now, strangely coming back to University I feel really motivated about my own practice as summer has given me a chance to understand who I am within Graphic Design. I'm a graphic designer who works well with image, has an eye for composition and enjoys illustration but can work in a breadth of different types of media.

List 5 things or more you feel we could address as a group...
-Group Visits to Studios and printing companies.
-Some feedback forms on what types of sessions we feel would benefit us this year.
-Feedback on Taught sessions and our advice on how to Improve the teaching of graphic design for following years.
-A creative project where everyone in the class has to contribute, I.e A branding and identity brief where everyone in the class has to propose a logo to a specific size and format, this could turn out to be a print showing the diversity in the way the class thinks.
-More hands on practical sessions, where we learn about skill driven design.

List 5 or more specific things you will address this semester that should be useful to your practice...
-A continuation of constant practice of my drawing, I just want to keep touching up and perfecting my style of illustration and this is only going to be achieved through repetition and trying out new techniques.

-My collaborative Skills, I have 2 collaborative briefs written out for OUGD301, I've learnt the importance of collaboration over summer and now its time to perfect the way I work with other people.
-My typographic knowledge, I think my biggest mistake of last year was picking image over type as type is something that as the course has progressed I've moved further and further away from. I want to be able to grasp the fundamental and technical aspects of arranging typeface and traditional rules of typesetting.

-I want to arrange to meet more studio/professionals, to broaden my knowledge on where I want to end up at the end of the course. Meeting successful designers and popping into studios will help me to understand the sort of environment I eventually want to enter into.

-My online status is something I really want to get going, especially for getting myself business contacts and work. I'm going to start with creating a behance and cargo collective.

4 Selected Briefs/Development

Below is a re-vamped selection of the 4 Main Brief I Intend on completing in the next ten weeks. Analysing the skills content, context and products I aim to work with. 

Shop Installation /Collaboration with Sadie

Skills - Collaboration skills working with another designer/illustrator, printing techniques, concept development and working to a set space/area. 3D craft, media and material manipulation.

Content- Anatomy and the human body, sketal system and muscles. Mechanics and car engines, clocks and cogs.

Context- Design for retail, Fashion and Interiors.

Products- Wall Hangings, 3D/ Multi Layered Prints. screen prints, oil paintings, 3d craft and media, the possibility of producing wallpaper and printed fabrics to go alongside.

 

British Humour /Collaboration with James

Skills - Type driven, collaborative skills, spray painting techniques and traditional sign writing. Also a good use of After effects as we propose to produce a motion graphic to run alongside.

Content- British Humour, Young aspiring comedians. what makes British humour unique from other nationalities.

Context- Design for screen/working with live spaces

Products-1/2 mural spray  painted murals, laser cut 3d work and screen prints.

Personal Garment Printing Brief / The Universes Pupils

Skills - Screen printing on garments, Networking, Website coding and development, branding and identity, Sewing/Pattern/Textile design.

Content- Skateboarding culture, Victorian typography and traditional crests, current trends and pattern.

Context- Online/ Website Exposure, Design for Fashion and retail. Printed media.

Products-10 or more t-shirts, 2 Jumpers, labels, tags, and an online shop.

 

 

Live Brief F & J Groundwork's and General Property Maintenance

Skills -Client Led Design on a live brief, working with transfers and decals, Branding and Identity and logo. Working alongside commercial printers.

Content- Plumbing, construction, roofing, brick layer, electronics.

Context- Design for coorperate identity.

Products-Van decals, business cards, letterheads, informative banner and other printed media.

Brief Devlopment Workshop 3 Timelines/Sentances

For todays session we had to re-write the four sentences we came up with last week but with an extended explanation, so that our briefs become much more focused and can be simply understood in a couple of brief sentences. As seen below;

-A print based investigation of retail and garment design with a focus on skateboard culture. I am going to develop my garment/textile printing skills working with pattern as this is an area I have yet had a chance to explore.

-A mixed media investigation of retail graphics and shop interiors with a focus on anatomy and mechanics. I am going to be as diverse and experimental as possible with my deliverable's because working for an exhibited space gives me the opportunity to do so.

-A client led investigation of branding, identity and logo with a focus on a home maintenance company. I am going to brand F & J groundwork's key to the services they provide and offer as they are looking for an innovative new image.

-A web Based investigation of British Culture, humor and young aspiring comedians with a focus on sign writing and British typography.  I am going to focus on traditional British typography as I need to improve my Knowledge of type.

In today's issue we dealt with the next part of our planning that needs to be considered which is time. How will we effectively plan and manage our time to produce all the work we want to produce. How will this be effectively managed so our aims and objects get completed to a high potential by the deadline.?

We were given the task of writing down the design process across a timeline that was chopped into 10 sections representing the next 10 weeks ahead of us.  I found this really useful in terms of thinking whether what I aim to produce is achievable within my time limit.

I have extended this further to produce a full timeline for the next 10 Weeks, as seen below;

Brief Devlopment Workshop 2

This weeks session continued on from Last weeks series of Lists, producing the same 5 sheets but this time in much more detail and 20 wants and needs rather than 10, Then producing a final list of 20 questions derived from the other sheets. I found this process of self analysis and constantly questioning who I want to be as a designer was overall very satisfying because It made me feel more decisive in terms of my professional practice.

From this we had to select just 4 of our briefs we thought had the most potential to push us as individuals and colour code them, highlighting what brief would be key to each aim or objective we'd written down. this was then matched up to our sheets of 20 wants and needs to figure out what briefs would be key for developing specific skills, portfolio, research and product.

We were then asked to write down the four briefs that we favored the most in terms of the potential achievements and diversity of areas of skill, In the format...

A.......Investigation of........with a focus on.......

I am going to......because......

-A print based investigation of retail and garment design with a focus on skateboard culture.

-A mixed media investigation of retail graphics and shop interiors with a focus on anatomy and mechanics.

-A client led investigation of branding, identity and logo with a focus on a home maintenance company.

-A web Based investigation of British Culture, humor and young aspiring comedians with a focus on sign writing and British typography.

Research

Questions

Skills

Portfolio

Product

Self Promotion Task

Self Promotion

For Wednesday's session, alongside our business cards we also needed to produce a piece of promotional material any format to be analyzed by other members of the group. Rather than producing a flyer or poster or something 2D I wanted to stick with my original intentions of my third year and produce something 3 dimensional. From my brainstorm below I started to think about a deliverable that would communicate not only my skills as a designer but my personality.

I thought that a beer bottle or label for a bottle of beer would be appropriate to communicate myself as a designer traditional to my British routes, I do enjoy a nice pale ale. Plus this would be a nice item that could be picked up and held by its viewer rather than being seen from a distance.
Idea's I wanted to play around with was the original wording of a beer bottle label, changing the nutritional information to facts about myself.

 I came up with the idea of having the ABV percentage as the division between my skills and what sort of designer I am, explaining that I'm 60% graphic designer 40% Illustrator. On the side of the bottle I planned to design and make two small tags with the strap lines, Always half full, Never half empty to promote that I'm a positive thinker.

Process

Using a Sam Miguel bottle I took measurements and planned out how big I could work with the space on the glass, I actually thought that the Sam Miguel labels themselves weren't very effective when it came to using space to its full potential. After printing my labels I used the laminator and gold foil to foil block certain parts of my label, I used this technique to highlight key elements of my type that I wanted to be eye catching. I was thinking about extending this project into making a small crate of ales, I think if I sent out a six pack to a studio each with a different label, promoting a different skill, this would be a really good way of promoting myself.

Brief Devlopment Workshop 1

This weeks brief development sessions was about producing a series of lists to analyse the things we want to achieve and get out of this academic Year. The opportunities we want to pursue and the skills we want to practice, it was divided into 5 sections and we were given around 5/10 minutes to write down 10 wants and 10 needs for each different section;

questions, products, portfolio, skills, research

From this session we were told to go away and think about what we'd written down for each heading and then re-vamp our suggestions focusing on our negotiated briefs and aims for the year. I found this session helpful because I've started thinking about what sort of designer I want to be and what I need to do to achieve these qualities.