Evaluation & Statement of Intent

"A print based investigation of type and image with a focus on promotion and publicity material"


I feel OUGD301 has been the most enjoyable module of the course so far. I liked the fact that we could choose our own briefs and have the flexibility to do a mixture of long and short briefs. At the start of this module I was very indecisive and therefore my briefs changed a lot, and I also felt I was spending too long on them, I feel that towards the end of the module was when I began to produce work I preferred, and I seemed to be more on track. I feel after this module I have gained a better working frame of mind, and hopefully for the next module I will know how to approach a brief. I have also discovered, that I definitely prefer shorter briefs, I feel I work better quickly, I tend to lag a bit when working on a brief for a long time, it becomes a bit samey to me and probably to everyone else.

For my next briefs I want to set myself stricter guidelines, one of the problems I had with some of my previous briefs was that they were so vague, it took me about 3-4 weeks of churning out design work, only then did I have a written brief that I could design from! I also want to set myself small briefs with deadlines that I have to try and stick to, as well as proposing possible deliverables for the brief before I have started. Most of the time with my briefs, I think of one finished element of the brief before I have even started, so throughout it, design work and deliverables change and develop, although this is inevitable with all briefs, sometimes it's a bit extreme in my case due to my lack of decision making at the start.

Brief 1 - magazine covers for g2
This brief has probably changed the most, it started off as a photography and type based design, producing covers for LIFE magazine, it then changed to producing covers for g2 using a variety of styles/media and for a variety of topics. These were all scratched due to vagueness and the fact they weren't narrow enough. Once I finally established the brief, it was an interesting one. I hadn't thought myself as producing patterns from vector images, but I found myself working with clean cut, one colour design. I am happy with how the covers have turned out, the frustrating thing is that they didn't take me that long and the deliverables could suggest it was a short brief, however it was the development and the changing of the briefs that took too long to overcome. Be more assertive and strict at the start of a brief.

Brief 2 - Book jackets
The surprising thing about how this brief developed was again, the design direction. It started off as an illustrative based brief, I painted/drew designs/aspects for the covers but they didn't work so I tried another approach, using type and one vector image, this initial idea didn't work but I began to develop a design from this idea. It was looking at the work of David Pearson that inspired me, I loved the patterns he had done for his covers, and really wanted to produce some covers similar to that style. I enjoyed coming up with patterns that could relate to the story, and also the layout of the book covers was a new experience that I felt was challenging but in the end rewarding. This brief also expanded in terms of deliverables, it's the most substantial brief I have produced this module, I am happy with the deliverables, however some areas could've been worked on further (packaging, window display). The same thing happened again as did with Brief 1, in the sense that it took me a while to get to a design direction, so then everything that happened after that was a little rushed. I am pleased with my covers though and the other deliverables, I enjoyed producing design for book covers, the aspect of working towards a story and also layering type over image. Be more decisive.

Brief 3 - National Portrait Gallery
I thought of the design direction before I had started the brief, which was a nice change. I wanted to work with blurred photography and type. The brief commenced as just being promotional for the National Portrait Gallery through a set of posters, however it developed into becoming a specific exhibition which I came up with - Iconic. I also produced a booklet, ticket and leaflet for Iconic that related to the style of the posters. I felt my real challenge and my focus with this brief was type and layout. I wanted to produce something really crisp and neat, I have become interested in type and layout throughout this module and have begun to appreciate it a lot more. I am pleased with my final deliverables for this brief. If I could something it would be that my booklet look more professional. I printed it in Digital onto thin matt, but it's all scratched and marked which is disappointing. A few of my pieces look a bit dodgy as well, that's something I need to work on, I'm bad at making things, they never look professional. All in all a successful brief regarding outcomes, I could've developed it a lot more but I felt it was time to put it to bed. Spend more time making work so it looks professional.

Brief 4 - YCN - Heinz Salad Cream
My competition brief. This brief came together quickly, I had a few initial ideas which I started to work on, however, I thought of an idea, and once put to paper, felt it really worked. It was nice for a concept/design direction to be established early on. I felt this brief wasn't rushed towards the end, I wanted it to be a fairly short brief, so it wasn't that intense. However I managed to explore three areas of the concept, posters, mail outs and product design. Hopefully it works and the concept is clear, after asking colleagues, and getting initial positive feedback from Fred and Joe I feel the brief went well. Surprisingly again, my direction was type driven, clearly I have gained a lot more appreciation for type and layout over this module. However, I could've thought more about deliverables and how the brief could've been expanded. Think thoroughly about deliverables and how the brief can be expanded for effectiveness.

Brief 5 - Elliott M
This started off as a short live brief for my cousin, I wasn't actually going to put in on my blog. However when it became a brief for myself I decided that I had been spending time on it, and that it had potential so I wanted to take it further. I really like where the brief has gone, I feel I was a little out of my comfort zone when designing for a Drum and Bass artist, but once again using a pattern/shape with a purpose, seemed to work for me. The brief started off as a chance to design a few album covers, however it developed into producing more of an identity for Elliott M, I enjoyed this aspect. I liked imagining how the artist could be recognised in public. The LP covers were interesting to produce, and I felt this brief was a chance to push the boat out a little. Most of the deliverables are mock ups,  and surprisingly I enjoyed coming up with products/merchandise to support Elliott M (an area I wouldn't have put myself in). Unfortunately this brief started to really kick off towards the end, I started to think about design inside gig space, and possible products for Elliott M, gig related or just merchandise. I managed to produce some mock ups of these however, I feel my development of these is a bit slack, I could've done so much more with this brief, but didn't have time. Know when to finish a brief, deciding which elements are the most appropriate and then exhausting those.

Brief 6 - Little White Lies
A very very short brief, I wanted to spend under a day on a brief, just to do some quick design work and have another deliverable for this module and portfolio. I felt the D&AD Little White Lies brief was perfect, there were strict guidelines for the brief, and examples I could work from. I also really wanted to work with film. I wanted to produce something that was a little different from the typical LWL magazine, however I stuck to there guidelines. I worked from a main character from the film, kept it illustrative and also used their template. I used bright colours to that the magazine would stand out among others on a shelf (I feel this is what LWL aim to do). I like my final design for this and it was a relief to had a quick, bash out brief I really got stuck into it. However, would it have been useful to try out other ideas before going with one? Always do alternatives to seek out a favourite.

Brief 7 - Flicks Film Magazines
Another short brief, I learnt from my mistakes from previous briefs and set myself some specific guidelines. I wanted to work with film stills, a certain film for each cover (film year 2011), and a layout that worked across all of the magazines. Once I had found the appropriate images, logo design, name, layout etc.. I felt I had finished it. However it was decided that the designs weren't flexible enough to work for any image/film. I decided that the title logo could be in any colour, as long as it worked well placed over the image, or worked alongside the film's story. I also had the main film, featured outside of the other's text box, and had it in appropriate typeface to the film. I really like these, and I feel I definitely work towards quick briefs, with a strong concept/design direction already established. I also really like working with film. However, for this brief and others I felt I didn't execute them well on my boards? Should they have been photographed in context, e/g wrapped around a magazine? Always demonstrate products within their appropriate context to help execute your design.