OUGD 406 - Studio Brief 4

Concept Crit:
For this crit we presented our three boards and talked through our concept, method of delivery and production ideas. With us in the crit was a small group of peers, two tutors and two third year students. Here are our boards:

We talked through our boards and explained our proposed idea. This is the feedback we received:

• Actually doing processes - Screen printing etc.
• Could add info about where/how/prices in a friendly way?

• Useful
• How are you going to bind/Are you going to bind?
• Research - Have you asked other first years?

• Trial different stocks in publication. Write what it is, price? Where from? etc.
• Good, professional

• What processes are you going to use?
• Are you planning on attaining content from all year groups?
• Reason behind formats
• Informative tone

• Good that it can be used throughout the whole year
• Experiment with some different stocks

• Summarising of first year
• Progression - Questionnaires - Examples of student work
• Colour - Type - Layout
• Good that we're thinking about categorising
• Definitely screen print, explore processes - bookbinding
• Very well thought out
• Exploration of format is good

• Blogs page is good
• Explore as many many processes and resources as possible

• Tone of voice - Where would the content come from?
• Manufacturing/Production
• Leeds university for binding

Overall, the group seemed to really like our idea and understand where we are coming from and why we are doing what we are doing. They were very keen on the idea of us using the various printing techniques and skills that we have learnt as opposed to just talking about them. This is a very good way for us to show what we are talking about as well as demonstrate our own understanding and skills. The production, printing and binding, of the final publication is something that was picked up on and we clearly need to consider a lot. It will ultimately effect the whole publication so we need to sort this aspect of the design out before we start to actual do any design work. Something else that we need to consider greatly, something that will make or break the whole project, is the content. We need to ensure that we get enough feedback that is of good quality in order for our publication to be successful. To do so, we will have to conduct some sort of surveys and questionnaires and think of solutions to any problems that we feel need addressing within the publication.

OUGD 402 - Study Task 8

We have been asked to respond to these set questions, thinking about how we want ourselves to be perceived: (illustrate each answer with as much relevant information and imagery as possible - examples of our answers etc.)

If you were a book what would your subject be and who would read you? - I would be a colouring book that would be viewed, as well as filled in, by my peers. This is due to the way in which I am very contained and shy at first but, depending on who I am around, can become very different and much more interesting; how I behave very much depends on who I am around.

If you were a package what would you contain and who would open you? - I would be a very simple but effective shoe box that would contain a pair of aesthetically pleasing and interesting shoes. On the surface I may seem to be very normal and functional but once people 'open me' and get to know me they realise I am much more interesting and fun. I would be opened by someone that wants to 'have the pair of shoes' and therefore get to know me.

If you were a shop what would you sell and who would buy it? - I would be a sweet shop; seeming average and quiet at first glance but actually containing a sweet and pleasant interior. I would be bought by anybody that had a sweet tooth and wanted to bring a little bit of happiness into their life.

If you were a poster what would you promote and to whom? - If I was a poster, my main focus would be good manners as I feel these are a vital trait that everybody should have. My target audience would be people who don't have this quality and think that they don't need to be polite and well mannered.

If you were a brand what would your values be and why would they be important? - The most important value for me would be 'the customer always comes first'. I feel that when you are working with a customer they should always be number one, as without them it wouldn't even be possible to do what you're doing. This means that you should always ensure that the person that you are catering for is entirely happy as, at the end of the day, they are paying good money for your service.

If you were an exhibition what would you show and where would you show it? - My exhibition would be to present and demonstrate the talent of young, up and coming artists. I feel that this is the most important group of talent as they are the future and need to be nurtured. There isn't enough focus on this category and it is much harder for these people to get noticed within the art and design world and this exhibition would be the stepping stone that they need to get a foot in the door. I would be held in London as, with it being the capital, would hopefully give them the best chance for people to see their work.

If you were a leaflet what information would you contain and who would read it? - I would give information about independent music events happening all over the country. Not enough people are listening to this sort of music and I feel that with a leaflet containing information about events all over the country, many more people would be influenced to attend the events. I would be read by anybody that has a keen interest in music and would like to open their eyes and broaden their taste in music.

If you were a sign what would you show, to whom and where? - I would be a protest sign against university fee's as I feel they are way too high, especially when you consider that fact that we are choosing to go into further education in order to better ourselves and society. It would be aimed at politicians and world leaders and would hopefully persuade them to reduce, if not remove, university fee's. It would be displayed in front of all major landmarks across the country so that everybody, even tourists, would be constantly reminded of this concept.

If you were an App what would you do and who would use you? - If I was an app, I would help solve problems that would otherwise take up and waste peoples valuable time. I would be used by anybody that is stuck trying to do something or by people that would just like to learn how to do a certain task.

If you were a blog, what would you be about and who would follow you? - I would be a blog about analogue photography, a craft that I feel is beginning to become much less used and appreciated. It is much more complex and difficult than modern photography and I feel that it is very neglected in comparison. I would be followed by fellow photographers and analogue photography lovers, as well as anybody who was just interesting in the way in which it worked.

If you were an event, what would it be and how would you promote it? - I would be a film festival, promoting mainly unknown and less mainstream films. It would be promoted through small trailers and clips that would placed at the beginning of similar style films and magazines. It would be aimed at people that are fond of this type, or genre, of modern visual culture and this would be the most effective way to target them.

OUGD 402 - Personality & Practice

5 statements about me as an individual:

• When I originally joined the course I was a very unorganised individual that struggled a lot to keep on top of my work. I found that I would procrastinate as much as possible before doing even the simplest of tasks. However, recently I have completely changed and have become much more focused, determined and driven to get the work done properly on time without having to rush things last minute.

• I am a very clean and tidy individual, I don't like working in a messy environment. It distracts me too much and prevents me from being able to completely concentrate on the task at hand.

• Manners are free. I don't understand people who don't say please and thank you or stop to let people come past etc., manners don't cost anything and could make somebody's day a little bit better. 

• I believe the key to everything is smiling. It is always nice to see somebody smiling and helps you become much more relaxed around them, especially if you have never met or spoken to them before.

• Since coming to university I have realised that I am much more open to things. This ranges from art and design, music, film and so on. Living with people from different courses has also really helped to open my eyes to a much wider range of visual culture. (artwork etc. off Pinterest)

Magic by John McCracken

5 statements about me as a designer:

• I have reasonably recently found that I have a very strong interest in publication. Through numerous different sessions in which we have been thinking about publication and layouts etc, I have been exposed to a vast amount of publication design work and it fascinates me.

• I have always been a big fan of branding and identity. I like the way in which you sum up a whole company or person through a single simple image.

• Linking back to my love of branding and logos, I am very fond of simple icon like designs. I like their simplicity and the way in which they can be reduced to their simplest form and still clearly represent something. 

• Aesthetics is the most important part of any design for me. If something doesn't look nice then I won't even pay any attention to it and I would expect everybody else to act the same way as this. This means that when I'm doing anything I always try to make sure that it is executed to my best ability.

• I am very fond of clear, clean designs. From looking at the modernist movement and through developing my own design practice, I have become very keen of this clean, simple aesthetic.