Friday 27 March 2015

WATER FOR ALL - GROUP MEETING

Today, me and Laura had another group meeting in which we showed our focused research and any additional ideas we had developed.

While talking through the specifics of our ideas and discussing their feasibility and relevance to the brief, we decided that continuing with the project was going to be counter productive as we could be focusing our efforts on briefs with more relevance to our practice.  

Therefore, during meeting came to a decision to not continue with the brief any further, the final deadlines are fast approaching, the brief is not specifically relevant to graphic design and is essentially asking us to reinvent an existing product. 



Tuesday 24 March 2015

BRIEF TWELVE - BAPT - YEARBOOK - STUDENT PAGE LAYOUTS

While we were concluding our group meeting with Duncan we outlined a number of dates to help get the project moving towards completion. In the session we defined the ideal completion time for the design of the publication in early May, as all group members want to submit the project as part of the extended practice module. To meet this deadline, it is essential that we start 

One of the dates we defined during the meeting related to when the students will be contacted with the body of information they need to choose and submit their selection of project images. The date was set at the end of this week, so to ensure the students have the information needed to submit their project images we needed to define the final dimensions for the publication and develop a series of layouts for the student project images. 



PUBLICATION DIMENSIONS

We progressed with the project be defining the dimensions for the publication. Initially, this process was started by measuring the yearbook produced for the previous year of Printed Textiles as we found its size to be inline with the aesthetic and feel we want to create for the publication. 

I assumed, by looking at the previous years publication, that its dimensions were that of a B5 paper size. However, upon measuring the book I found out that it measured 190 x 250, a size that I found does not fit any existing paper dimensions from either A or B variations.  


The discovery that the publication was printed at a custom size created a lot of questions that can only be answered by a member of Evolution Print, therefore, we made a list of questions that are documented below.

For the mean time, we decided to use a B5 paper size for the pages of our publication as using a custom page size could potentially raise the cost of the print job. 



We decided to created a physical version of the publication to help us get an idea of the page size once the size of the inside margin has been increased to compensate for the binding method. 



EVOLUTION PRINT QUESTIONS 

While creating the layouts we ended up coming across aspects of the print job that we needed to 
  • Publication size - Chosen B5 size is different from previous year, did they use a custom size? And did this cost extra to print?
  • Size of binding screws.
    • Size of gutter needed to compensate for binding method. 
    • Style of binding screws available.
  • What GF Smith papers do they have available?
    • What costs are associated with such papers.


LAYOUTS 

Below are the series of layouts created for the yearbook. 
  • The size of the inside margin has been increased to compensate for the biding method. 
  • The margin at the bottom of the page has been increased to make room for the addition of the individual students name. 
  • A range of six layouts were created for students to use to display their work.
  • The six layout variations provided the students with a range of layouts they can use to display one to three projects.  






PROGRESSION 

Once the layouts had been created they were sent to Danielle who forwarded them to Duncan with the supporting information students need to submit images of their work. 



BRIEF TWELVE - BAPT - YEARBOOK - TUTOR MEETING

Today, Danielle organised for our group to have a sit down meeting with Duncan, the course leader from the BA (Hons) Printed Textiles & Surface Pattern design course. During the session, we presented our current concepts for the publication and discussed our current ideas regarding aesthetic decisions such as the visual theme and stock choices.

Leading up to the meeting the group have had a number of developmental sessions in which we generated and refined our ideas for the yearbook. Before progressing any further with the project we needed to have a preliminary meeting with Duncan to ascertain if our approach to the project fits as an adequate representation of the course and its third year students.    


SESSION AIMS

Before attending the session I outline a series of aims for the meeting, all of which are listed below;

  • Review concepts with course leader.
    • Enables us to progress with project once completed.
    • Enables us to put together a proposal for Evolution so they can price up the cost of production. 
  • Organise dates for receiving content. 
  • Discuss the specifics and flexibility of content.



NOTES 

The image below displays a scanned version of my sketchbook that was taken to the meeting. The first series of points seen on the page acted as reminders for the aspects of our concept we wanted to discuss with Duncan. 



FEEDBACK NOTES;
  • Cover image - should not be overly detailed. 
    • Abstract. 
    • Bright colours.
    • Simple design.
    • Nice graphics.
    • Shapes.
  • Uncoated stock - preferred. 
  • Rows of students consist of 4 & 6-8's.
  • Text provided for the copy can be shortened.
  • Day in the life - information can be generated by a few students.
  • Photography options.
    • Could take images ourselves - been done previously.
    • Could organise to receive images from students - also been previously done.
    • If images are organised we will need to specify scaling and dpi etc.
  • If we want to include a class photo organisation is key/
    • A good amount of time is needed before the photo to properly organise it.
  • Arts thread - Portfolio website.
    • Previously used to display student contact details.


DATES 

After conversing with Duncan about the specifics of our concept we were able to conclude that he was happy with our proposed ideas for the yearbook. We moved on form discussing our concept by defining a set of dates to start getting the project moving towards completion. 

05/04/2015 - Students will be contacted with the details about the number and size of their project images before breaking up for easter.


05/04/2014 - Duncan is aiming to get the copy to us by the end of this week. 

24/04/2015 - A preliminary deadline for receiving the images will be set for the week. 

TBC - Inforgraphic focuses were sent to duncan today so information for the infographics will be collected over the next few weeks.

TBC - We also outlined a completion date for the project for around the start of May, as all members of the group ideally want to submit the project as part of the extended practice module. 



Saturday 21 March 2015

BRIEF ELEVEN - YCN - MOO BRIEF - SUBMISSION MISTAKE

Today, a day after the YCN deadline for competition submissions, I had the horrific realisation that I forgot to submit the digital advertisement as part of my response to the competition.

Somehow, during the excitement of submitting a project I am really proud of, I managed to forget to add the gif file to the collection of documents sent to the YCN email address through wetransfer. 

Unfortunately, there is nothing much I can do about it now other than hope it doesn't affect the success of the project too much. 


Friday 20 March 2015

BRIEF TWELVE - BAPT - YEARBOOK - GROUP MEETING


BRIEF ELEVEN - YCN - MOO BRIEF - SUBMISSION PROCESS

Unfortunately, in the excitement of the submission process I forgot to get some beautiful screen shots documenting the process. Therefore, instead I have used the conformation emails received from YCN and WeTransfer to evidence the submission of my project.

Images below illustrate the conformation emails;



BRIEF ELEVEN - YCN - MOO BRIEF - FINAL SUBMISSION BOARDS

Once I had completed all of the outlined project elements I progressed with creating the submission boards for the competition. 

To ensure that the boards showcased my response to a high level and evidenced the amount of thought that has gone into developing the project concept, both the visuals and written content were carefully crafted to achieve visual consistency and a thorough project description. 

The points listed below document some of the steps I followed to achieve this;
  • Typography and colours used on boards fit those defined in the MOO brand guidelines to form visual consistency
  • Brief was read with phrases picked out and used within the project descriptions. 
  • The MOO brand guidelines available as part of the project pack were re-read with words and phrases picked out to used within board type. 
  • All mock-ups were created in illustrator using the same line weight and colour to achieve visual consistency across all boards.   

The set of images below document the final design boards that were submitted to YCN;












Wednesday 18 March 2015

BRIEF ELEVEN - YCN - MOO BRIEF - SHOP FRONT - DEVELOPMENT

As an additional aspect of the campaign I decided to also include a proposal for environmental graphics that would be placed in the shop window of MOO's Boxpark store location in Shoreditch. 

Surpassing the simple notion of strengthening the campaign, the idea, although only simple, illustrates how aspects of the campaign can be extended to all the points of contact members of the audience will encounter.

As all elements needed to produce the design have already been created the creating of the shop front window graphic was relatively straight forward.


WINDOW GRAPHIC DEVELOPMENT 

Thus far, all aspects of the campaign have been digitally mocked up so that the visuals will be consistent when placed onto the submission boards.  Therefore, when creating the mock-up shop font I simply used an image of MOO's Boxpark shop, placed it into Adobe Illustrator and then create a simple vectorised version the cow graphic can be placed onto. 







Once I had created the vectorised shop front I opened the file in Photoshop so that I could add the cow graphic and adjust the perspective to visualise how the  display would look if physically produced.  


Once completed the graphic was saved ready for placing onto the final submission boards. 

Tuesday 17 March 2015

BRIEF TWELVE - BAPT - YEARBOOK - EVOLUTION PRINT

Notes taken during todays talk with Jason from Evolution print. 


IMPORTANT POINTS;
  • Pagination - if using varying stocks make sure to have a 4 or 8 paage spread for printing purposes.
  • Can only pint up to 450gsm.
  • If using a perfect bind no cover over 400gsm can be used.
  • 8 & 16 page sections work out cheaper.
  • 96 pages is cost effective - Useful to us with a student number of 62.
  • Don't always need to use full colour - reduces cost of job - consider.
  • Can finish small jobs ourselves to save money.
  • Contact type foundries to propose using fonts and referencing them for free usage.
  • b2 & b1 sheets printed on - B5 size could be used for publication. 
  • 1 - 2 weeks production time.
  • Make a dream list of stocks, binding methods and finishing methods - send to Jason for costing.  


Monday 16 March 2015

BRIEF ELEVEN - YCN - MOO BRIEF - STICKER PACK - DEVELOPMENT

I spent the majority of this weekend in London visiting some exhibitions as part of my PPP module. However, while in Shoreditch I had the opportunity to visit the MOO store located at the Boxpark. 


DELIVERABLE CHANGE 

While I was in the shop speaking to the employees working there I was given a MOO sample pack, which includes examples of a range of MOO products for potential customers to review. Unfortunately, one of my ideas for a campaign deliverable has an identical concept to the pack and was going to feature a range of MOO products, branded with the campaign visuals, for customers to review.

Initially, I considered continuing regardless and just redesigning the pakc it to make it consistent with my campaign. However, as the pack was already in existence and designed to such a high standard I decided to drop the deliverable and create a fresh new outcome.


QUICK CRITIQUE

Feeling a bit uninspired I sat down with some members of the group to talk through my current campaign and to explain the situation. During this process, while reviewing the employee grid concept for the posters, Pri suggested that I should make a simple sticker pack that would allow audience members to decorate the cow themselves. Genius idea.

Not only would the sticker pack be a relevant addition to the campaign, it would also allow the audience to express their creativity while decorating the cow themselves. Furthermore, MOO produce stickers, so it is also an opportunity to showcase their products.  

An example of one of MOO's current  sticker books can be seen below. 




CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT 

To progress with the idea I next worked through the finer details of the outcome and experimented with some layout variations. 


IMPORTANT POINTS -
  • Sticker pack will have an individual page size of A5.
  • Cow will be placed in the center of the page replicating the posters composition and creating visual consistency. 
  • Slits will be cut into the back of the sticker folder to allow the sticker sheet to be held within it.
  • Information will introduce the campaign, company and direct audience members to 'express their creativity' by decorating the boring cow to help give him some more character.
  • Body copy, similar to the carton, will utilise a humorous, playful tone of voice.  



PACK INSIDE SPREAD

With the concept and layouts defined I could progress with the digital development of the sticker pack, starting with the interior pages. 

The process of development was relatively straight forwards and did not take too long to complete as all of the design elements had already been defined and created. Therefore, the individual elements just needed organising into layout. 



The cow was placed centrally on the page composition to replicate the poster layout. 






PACK OUTSIDE SPREAD

After finishing the interior pages I progressed with the outcomes creation by developing the cover design. 










STICKER SHEET

Finally, after finishing the design for the sticker folder I finished the outcome by creating the sticker sheet which featuring some of the accessories developed for the poster set.

To ensure that the sticker sheet fit within the A5 page size of the folder, its size was slightly reduced to 140mm x 202mm allowing it to slide smoothly into the placements slits available.




Icons were taken from the poster accessories, scaled to fit the reduced size of the cow illustration and then arranged into a composition. 

While arranging the icons I had to make sure space was left between each one to account for the boarder that will be left by the edge of the sticker once they have been die cut. 

To create the sticker boarders I flattened the icons to make them a solid shape. 

Next, a slight boarder was added to the individual elements, expanded and then flattered, creating slightly larger variations of the initial flattened icons. 


The boarders where then added to the accessories to complete the sticker sheet and folder.