OUGD502 - Tumblr

OUGD502 - Tumblr

Over the summer I decided to make a tumblr blog to as an inspiration tool,  Looked at a range of blogging websites such as Behance, Pinterest, trend list and tumblr however tumblr felt the most engaging to me personally. I wanted something that would be a chore to maintain and could just flick through when I have a spare five minutes. 

I added various links to the tumblr page to promote myself as a designer linking to my instragram, portfolio, and about section in order to promote my practise as well. The main function of the blog it to engage with the industry keeping an up to date knowledge of graphic design that will provide me with inspiration for future and current projects. 

At present I have limited the blog to graphic design however am considering expanding this to other design forms such as photography, architecture and interior design to pull inspiration form a range of different disciplines. 

*UPDATE* this works and its going great, ive gotten into the habit of checking it when I have down time, ive talked to other designers on it and taken some real inspiration as a direct result of this blog. 

http://rgbrhys.tumblr.com

OUGD502 - Pressision Printers visit

OUGD502 - Pressision Printers visit

I took the time to visit a professional printing facility Pressision, located within Leeds. The founders have a long standing connection with the college and gave me and a group of students a tour of their facilities. I was extremely impressed with the versatility of the printers and their ability to produce works from bespoke one off design to mass produced volumes for some of the UK's leading brands, Harvey Nichols for example. There volume of services provided ensured they could 100% meet their clients needs from cutting edge technologies such as the white ink they can print with to more traditional techniques such as letterpress. (Serviced documented below) 

• High Definition 350 lithographic print
• HP Indigo digital print with white ink technology
• Large format solvent 1440dpi print technology
• Traditional crafted letterpress printing
• Ultra detailed foil blocking
• Perfect and PUR binding
• Case binding, thread and singer sewing
• Creative laminations
• Project consultation and budgeting
• Online multi site ordering solutions
• Storage, stock management and distribution

Their experimental approach to printing really shone through during the tour as they seemed excited by the endless possibilities of print. They said they would try just about anything once which is exciting as a designer to have such creative printers especially located within Leeds. They told us they get a lot of portfolio requests from third year students and this would be something I am definitely interested in enquiring about to ensure the profession finish to my work pressision pride themselves on. 

Original Letterpress

HP Indigo digital print with white ink technology

OUGD502 - BOH Development

OUGD502 - BOH Development

During the summer I resumed by old retail job at topman. For a visit from higher level management I was asked to create a Development board for the back of house (stockroom) due to my knowledge of Graphic Design. I created a bold logo that was easy to reproduce in black and white due to the small budget, The logo features a jigsaw puzzle piece in he centre as this connotes clear logical thoughts of development. I also created small A6 postcards to fill in areas of development that would make it unique to each individual team member. 

I received high praise from staff members regarding the aesthetic and Claire Williams (regional manager) gave me the contact details of the retail operations that would be able to connect me with the design team for topman and set up a potential visit. This is exciting as what initiated as a favour would turn into real work experience that would allow me to gain a live insight into the role of graphic design within that fashion industry. 

OUGD502 - Summer Inspiration

OUGD502 - Summer inspiration

Throughout the summer I went on a family holiday touring Australia, It was a real cultural insight and a completely different way of life. We stayed with family in Melbourne however travelled around the country also visiting Sydney and the Gold Coast. I was amazed at how drastically the culture differed throughout the country.

Melbourne offered an urban bliss that had an abundance of culture from the number of galleries, sporting stadiums and shopping precincts that bring the city to life. Constantly voted amongst the most livable cities in the world this is clear when walking through the electric streets. I experienced a range of culture in the city from watching an aussie rules match at the world famous Melbourne Cricket Ground, viewing a range of natural street graffiti in Hosier Lane and taking in the culture of Flinders street station and the surrounding precincts.

The gold Coast offered a completely different culture I found this to be quite commercial to how I imagined it, We travelled around the area visiting the Australia zoo (an ambition of mine), took a surf lesson on surfers paradise and visited Byron Bay which was my faourite location of the trip, the laid back atmosphere serene and the bright surf community provided me with a range of cultural inspiration.

I found Sydney to be a city of two halves we stayed in the Central Business District, this gave me a heavy city atmosphere but exploring darling harbor and the nearby Bondi beach set a completely different tone highlighting the diversity of the city. Sydney offered a similar vibe to New York in terms of commuting around the city and the urban nature of the city.

From my trip I found the Australian way of life far more laid back even in the hustle of city. I found distinct differences within each city that has given me a diverse range of creative inspiration that I feel will be visible within my creative practice, taking examples from the culture to apply a creative edge to my work.

Studio Brief 2 - Self Branding: OUGD402 END OF MODULE EVALUATION

OUGD402 - Module Evaluation

Looking at this module in retrospect I feel I have learn a great deal about how the industry functions and how  I can start to emerge into it. I feel this module relied more heavily on the experiemental process of understanding myself as a designer and communicating this effectively.  I have clearly documented my methodology throught the course of this module. I feel the quality of my outcome in this module is of a  extremely high quality due to the depth of my investigation research and timescale I was given to produce my resolution. 

Brief one allowed me to investigate itno the industry learning about local, nationa and international studios to give me a broder knowledge of practising studios, this has also inspired my practise over the course of the year as I have taken inspirations from these studios and applied it into my own practise. This brief has allowed me to engage more with the industry than I typically would have, I have visited a range of galleries, print fairs and talks with industry leading designers to raise my awareness of whats currentyl happeing within the industry. I have reflected on how I have deleoped throughout the year through ongoing evaluations of my modules to highlight my progression throughout the course thus far

Brief 2 I initially found challenging as the I was the client for the brief developing my own identity that would be the first point of contact with clients and potential employers.  I wanted this identity to represent me and my practise yet still be professional and engaging. I have learnt how to develop a concept and the importance of applying this to all aspects of the design to create a continuity between my resolutions. I used research and feedback from students and tutors to inform y design decisions to create a sucessfull resolution to the brief. I feel my outcome is representive of me as an individual and reflects my practise well. I feel I have created a strong concept and look forward to developign this into level 5 and 6 of the course, as my personal branding will be ever evolving with my practise as I learn new skills and develop as a designer. 

Overall I am happy with my progress through the module and my development throughout the year. I feel I have learnt an abundance of new essential skills that will be invaluable  when developing throughout the course and into an industry practise. I feel I have a much better understanding of the design process as a result of this module and think I have worked more independantly through the course of this module, managing my time according and organising my own bookings, inductions etc. Due to the extended nautre of the module I have had chance to enjoy the design process without it feeling rushed meaning I can extensively collate research and develop my designs to the highest possible quiality. I feel this module has given me more independance when designing and allowed me to think about myself as a designer and how I want to present myself to clients and employers. 

Studio Brief 3 - Design Strategy Presentation

Studio Brief 3 - Design Strategy Presentation 

Studio Brief 2 - Self Branding: Business Card Production

Production

I printed my final business card in digital print to see how the final design worked in context. I thought they worked well as the front display logo created bold engaging aesthetic. I liked the minimal reverse design as it used plenty of white space giving the design a contemporary aesthetic. I feel the bold display typeface works well as it is the first thing that catches the eye on the reverse side of the card. The body copy printed slightly smaller than anticipated however I personally like the small text as I think it allows the whole design to breathe and doesn't overcomplicate the minimal design. 

I printed my business cards on a range of stocks to experiment with different stock choices. I sampled GF Smith 135gsm ice white stock as I felt this would give a clean feel that enhance my modern contemporary aesthetic. Somerset antique white 250gsm stock as I wanted to experiment with different paper weights and standard matt stock from the print room. I printed my designs on all the sample stocks and ultimately found the standard white print room stock to work best. The G F Smith stock was too thin for the purpose of a business card and the somerset stock made the ink bleed causing the images to be less sharp and vibrant. I am happy with the final outcome of my printing however would suggest my final stock choice is still slightly too thin for business cards. If producing these for real life application I would consider outsourcing the printing from specialist business card printers such as moo.com which provide great quality prints on industry leading stock. 

Studio Brief 1 - Reflective Practise: COP Turn It In Feedback

COP Turn It In Feedback

As an interim submission for our extended Context of Practise essay I was required to submit a draft of my essay using the turn it in software, this meant that the tutors could easily asses my progress so far and give quicker summative feedback. This gave me a clear target to work to as the module was spread over the course of the year, I could then plan my time appropriately to ensure I had a completed first draft to submit before the interim deadline. 

I completed the first draft of my essay in time achieving the minimum word count, I felt my essay was of a relatively good quality as I had thought about the argument I was presenting and backed it up with a range of sources. I unfortunately did not have to construct my bibliography for the interim submission however I felt I should have prioritised submitting a finished fist draft over submitting 3/4 of an essay that included a bibliography. I was extremely with the feedback  I received from this interim submission, Tutors considered this first draft 'a very good essay' and considered my image analysis 'Excellent'. This is extremely encouraging as acting upon the changed suggested here I feel I have  the opportunity to create an extremely strong analytical piece of writing. 

Following this Turn It In feedback I was given a scheduled tutorial with the module leader to discuss the feedback in more depth. He was very encouraging and stated that the essay is around a 2:1 standard and has the potential to be a first if I correct all the necessary suggestions. He explained these changed in more detail and I agree with the suggestions he ha make for example not using bullet points as this can look amateur and relating certain parts of the essay back to the initial question to further evidence my point. I will make the nessacrry changed and include my full bibliography before the final submission to improve the overall quality of my essay. 

Studio Brief 1 - Reflective Practise: Live Brief - Hungry Sandwich Club

Hungry Sandwich Club 

We were given a talk from visiting professionals 'The Hungry Sandwich Club' it was a really great presentation as they are recent graduates of the course so it was a good insight as to how the course sets you up for life after graduation. They have set up their own design studio at Duke Studios in Leeds and have a quirky niche of predominantly animated illustration that features a really distinctive unique style that sets them apart from other studios. They gave us a presentation about their life after graduating from Leeds College of Art which was really informative, they also gave us some great advice for when we start graduating. They showed us the projects they have been working on so far and I was slightly surprised to see they have worked on arg scale national briefs for well known clients within their first year of setting up their studio. 

They then introduced a one day live brief to us which was to design a map for the 'North Leeds Cycling Trail' as part of the Leeds Independant food festival. I was excited for this brief as it was a chance to take part in a fun one day competition that could lead to more exposure within the industry as the winning designers would be credited alongside their work. We were put into our current collaborative work groups for Studio Brief 3 and were given all day to work on our design. 

We initially had some problems with idea generation so we asked the guys from the Hungry Sandwich Club and they gave us some great idea generation ideas that they use when they are stuck for ideas within their own practise. They told us about crazy eights which involved folding the paper into 8 sections and we each had 5 minutes to sketch 8 ideas. We found this was a great way to gain a range of simple concept quickly which we could then evaluate and see if we thought as a group one idea had the potential to be developed into our final concept. Another Idea generation method we used was word association where we gave ourself a topic and we then had 1 minute to write down as many words we could think of that was associated with the initial topic. This was a great way to expand our thinking and allowed us to consider a range of new topics or ways we approach the design.  We disagreed most of these ideas however we all agreed that one of the crazy out outcomes could work as a resolution to the brief. 

Crazy eights

Crazy eights

Word Association

We had decided the that the concept we were going to develop into our final resolution was a concept derived from the crazy eights activity which had the idea that the train was included within the frame of the bike, we felt this could work well as a relatively abstract approach to the brief. We all produced a range of basic sketched then started to develop this digitally. Hattie did a great job of recreating this initial sketch digitally which we would all then modify and tweak until we felt the design was successful. We played around with hand rendered type to appeal to the independent and artisanal nature of the food festival however later decided as a group that the design worked better with digitally produced type. 

We all developed some simple illustrations of typical foods served by each establishment, We felt this would make our design ore engaging and aesthetically pleasing.  We had a few different styles of illustrations however we decided to go with Megan's abstract style illustrations as we felt this appealed to the quirky nature of the 'indie' feel of the food festival, we therefore thought these illustration would be lost popular with the target audience. We felt Thea's mock ups had the most aesthetically pleasing colour schemes so decided to develop these designs further to create our final resolution.  We noticed that the map was the wrong way round for standard western reading (left to right). So we flipped the bike round to make it more legible. We experimented with bolder colours such as a darker orange however we felt this was too stark so decided to keep to a slightly more conservative colour scheme to not make the page too busy as it already contained text, illustrations and the vector of the bike overplayed with dots to depict the cycling trail. 

Final Resolution

I am happy with the final outcome of our concept, I feel it looks professional, engaging and aesthetically pleasing. I am pleased with the results of this one day brief as we initial found it challenging to work within a group as we all had individual ideas we wanted to push forward however we worked well as a group compromising and working together to develop a strong final resolution to the brief. Although we were not picked to win and feature in the Leeds Independant Food Festival catalogue I am still pleased with our final outcome and think we worked well to create this resolution in such a short space of time. 

Studio Brief 2 - Self Branding: Presentation

Presentation

I presented my self branding presentation to the entire course as well as a two tutors, I felt slightly apprehensive as some people hadn't seen my ongoing evaluation so this would be their first time seeing my self branding however when I presented I soon forgot about this. I felt I presented my self branding relatively well as I expanded on the points made in the presentation and tried to keep the presentation engaging my not lingering on each point for too long. I feel my presentation went well as I received some good quality feedback about my designs, one of the tutors also commented on the quality of my presentation saying that it was thorough and highlighted my whole design process. There were a few suggestions made by both students and lecturers on how I could improve the outcome which included embossing and making slight amendments but I feel that overall the majority of people felt my self branding was successful with tutor feedback saying it was a really good start towards a comprehensive branding identity.