OUGD301 - End of Module Evaluation

At the start of them module, having to choose our own briefs was difficult as there was so much I wanted to do and had to narrow down the choice. I feel like the briefs I chose have allowed me to develop my design skills and have helped me to focus mainly on branding and designing for a range of media channels.

I started with Brief 1, Leeds College of Art Graduation design to kick start me with some guidelines to stick to so I wouldn't get too lost with the brief. I did go off the focus point on this brief, and when I realised I had to pull my design back and simplify them to suit the college guidelines. This was hard as I had to find a balance between what the brief was asking and what I wanted to do. However I got to do some screen printing with metallics and spot varnish, and this is one of the things I wanted to do. Overall I think the brief turned out well and was relevant. I do however should have set myself stricter deadlines as I feel I spent the longest on this brief when it should really have been one of the shortest, that is something to take into consideration and also making small deadlines for me to stick to.

I chose the Fedrigoni YCN competition brief for my second brief, as I wanted to experiment and work with stock. The concept was quite weak to begin with, and I felt that I was getting bait lost, but then after re-focusing the design direction I clarified the concept and mad fit stronger and it turned out to be one of my favourite briefs of the module. I was really pleased with the outcomes and I got to use the laser cutter for the first time which was another process I wanted to use. Again I had to think bait the the Fedrigoni brand and try not to go off in the wrong direction, but overall I think it turned out well

Branding was my third brief. In this I created the whole story and concept behind a 7 deadly sins themed Ice Cream Lounge called Devilicious. I feel I had the shortest time on this brief, and should have got stuck into it earlier, so I would have had more time to experiment more ad come up with a wider range of possible design solutions, I feel I limited myself the most on this brief, and although the outcomes turned out ok, I am going to reassess this brief, re-print and photograph them for my portfolio, when I have more time. I was quite pleased with the logo design.

Brief 4, coming up with a design concept for new denim brand Waven, was a fun and interesting brief that I really tried hard to get it right for the pitch. I spent quite a lot of time on the logo, however not enough time on the other collateral such as labels tags. I did incorporate a few clever ideas such as a plantable swing tag. 

Brief 5 was to design a logo for Louise Tiler, surface pattern designer. This was a short two day brief that I think went well and I designed a logo that worked nicely against her detailed designs. This however wasn't picked for the pitch, but I think maybe creating a typeface out of the letterforms I used, could be something to look into.

The OTW, for brief 6, was a chance to work directly with a client and as part of a collaboration. We each came up with our own ideas for the logo and then combined them and came out with an 'ultimate'. This experience of working with a client taught me a lot, as ideas that you think may work the best, may not be the one the clients likes, so compromise and not being precious about ideas is key.

Brief 7, D&AD was one of the first brief, again a short brief to design the poster for the North Lecture. I really like this and it kick started my designing when I cam back to uni and got me working to a deadline. 

Overall within the module I feel I have worked hard and realised how much I can do if I really myself. I feel that my time management has let me down with tis module and is something I need to address before starting my FMP. I am happy with the outcomes of the module and feel I have some good material for my portfolio, which again is something I set out to do. I feel like I worked a lot harder later in the module and I want to keep tho momentum for the FMP and work hard all the way through. I want to carry on experimenting with stock and processes and designing across a range of media channels.

Brief 7 - D&AD North - Final Design Boards

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Brief 6 - OTW - Design Boards

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Brief 5 - Louise Tiler - Final Design Boards

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Brief 4 - WAVEN - Final Design Boards

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Brief 3 - Ice Cream Parlour - Final Design Boards

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Brief 2 - Fedrigoni - Final Design Boards

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Brief 1 - LCA Graduation - Final Design Boards

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Brief 2 - Finals - photography

Here are the photographs of my mail shot and magazine promo for my design boards:

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Brief 3 - Final Designs Photography

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Shows the final design for the logo, menu, letterhead, business card and exterior signage of Devilicious.

Brief 3 - Final Menu Design

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The menu would be printed double sided on 260gsm matt.
-Full size: A4
-Letter fold
-Digital print
-Red foil block - logo

Brief 3 - Final Menu Design

The menu would be printed double sided on 260gsm matt.
-Full size: A4
-Letter fold
-Digital print
-Red foil block - logo

Brief 3 - Exterior Signage

This is how the exterior of the Lounge would appear, with the logo printed on the glass window and with horizontal type across the top.

Brief 3 - Letter Head design

I tried a few compositions with the logo central and on the left hand top corner, I feel the latter worked the best. And I also had the contact of information at the bottom of the page as it felt too cluttered under the decorative logo.

The logo also worked better in red than black.

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The design of the business card follows through to the letter head, which also has a foil block on the reverse, to make it unique and memorable. The logo is kept in the top right hand corner with the contact detail at the bottom of the page.

Brief 2 - Web Page design

The website page is the contact point for the consumer to order their very own Imaginative Colour paper Selection tool. This must be the most informative. I used the black card as a backdrop for the webpage and working with a 800px x 600px, I worked out that there should be 6 pages
1. About
2. Warm Book
3. Neutral Warm Book
4. Cool Book
5. Neutral Cool
6. Order

I used the animal stencil so that on the home page all the gradients are shown behind the animals, but then once you click onto their individual page, only their gradient is shown and the rest of the animals are white. I also have rollover buttons on the pages so that the text underlines. The animals on the web page have been cut into circles, to reduce the size. The deign has been kept simple and easy to use, and more information about each booklet would be included.

I tried some compositions before deciding on the one that worked best:

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Brief 3 - Business Card

I decided to use the red logo design on a white background with the text in a dark red, this I feel is the most suitable and most striking.

The business card is a point of contact for the consumer, and for them to take as a reminder of their experience at Devilicious. To give a feel of unique and luxury, the logo is printed alone on the front, and on the back is the contact details reversed out of red foil block.

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The back of the business card is printed black so I can foil the reverse side.

The scale of the business card is 55mm x 85mm.

Here is a multiples document that would be used to print double sided

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Brief 2 - Magazine Promotion

I want to use the animal stencil and the colour gradients across all media to keep the concept consist. However I will do so in different ways.

For the magazine promo, I want 4 posters (one for each book) that work as a set. The designs have a bit less information than the mail outs - so they have more impact - yet they still direct the consumer to the web page where they can purchase a tool. It is important that the paper medium is used within the design and so it is not just purely digital, as fedrigoni is a paper manufacturer and they want to keep this medium alive. So Instead of using a flat black colour I used a black card texture, and with the stencils I cut through this and did bait of Photoshop to make create a bit of depth within the cut outs. The gradients cover the background and work nicely around the edges of the paper too, making it stand out more as paper. This could have been laser cut and photographed but it was less time consuming to mock up, and it still works well. The rest of the type is in in white to stand out from the black. I think the posters look professional and promote the Fedrigoni tool well.

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The slack card texture used:

The posters will be A4 size, so I will photograph them on silk paper to get that glossy appearance in my photographs

Brief 2 - Mail Shot Design

After mocking up the mail shot I designed another that would be easier to work and looked better. I also altered the type so that it read across the cut and folds better. The reverse of the mail out has the gradients and colour information.

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I prefer the animal faces rather than just the pattern as they are more striking and emotive.

I will use this as my final design. The blank space is where the laser cut stencil would be:

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The stock I will use is 260gsm matt card, to give a stable and smooth effect. The black gives a sort of velvet texture to the stock once printed, but this scratches easily so I will have to take care.

Here is the stencils for the laser cutter:

Brief 2 - Mail Shot Idea

After mocking up the mail shot I designed another that would be easier to work and looked better. I also altered the type so that it read across the cut and folds better. The reverse of the mail out has the gradients and colour information.

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I prefer the animal faces rather than just the pattern as they are more striking and emotive.

I will use this as my final design. The blank space is where the laser cut stencil would be:

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The stock I will use is 260gsm matt card, to give a stable and smooth effect. The black gives a sort of velvet texture to the stock once printed, but this scratches easily so I will have to take care.

Brief 3- Menu design

The menu embraces the whole Devilicious experience. From each of the seven stages, an item is picked to add to the sundae. These stages are: forbidden fruit, indulgent ice-cream, sinful shot, saucy sauce, immoral mixer, squirty cream and the finishing touch. The consumer is also offered the choice to add extra options to their sundae, meaning there is no limit to their indulgence.

Here are some designs I cam cup with to represent the 7 stages. I tried to make them seem less confusing and easy to understand.

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I then experimented with using the shapes and style from the logo to keep the consistency:

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I like the symmetrical design at the top and the bottom the most, they look very professional and in keeping with the logo design

Menu design

The menu embraces the whole Devilicious experience. From each of the seven stages, an item is picked to add to the sundae. These stages are: forbidden fruit, indulgent ice-cream, sinful shot, saucy sauce, immoral mixer, squirty cream and the finishing touch. The consumer is also offered the choice to add extra options to their sundae, meaning there is no limit to their indulgence.

Here are some designs I cam cup with to represent the 7 stages. I tried to make them seem less confusing and easy to understand.

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I then experimented with using the shapes and style from the logo to keep the consistency:

Brief 2 - Web Banner design

To promote the tool on the Fedrigoni, The best way was to use a banner that they can click on to direct them straight to. This format is is a strip so I used the existing Fedrigoni webpage and replaced the banner with my own design.

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Brief 6 - Design Board Idea

Information that  should be included in the design board for hand in:

Design board Idea

Breif 4 - Waven Final Design Photography

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Brief 4 - Waven - Pitch Boards

Here are the design boards I handed in for Paul, to explain the my ideas for the concept.

The images and information I will be able to use again, maybe with a few tweaks and changes, and the addition of an extra board where I have developed some ideas for the tags, etc.

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Brief 2 - Gradients

The gradients for each colour book used with the animal stencils. I think these work really well. I prefer the second tiger image. However I will experiment with it in context to see which suits.

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Brief 2 - Animal Stencils

I chose the most striking images of the animals from off my context blog, traced them and scanned them in and made them into vector images.
I did this for the animals:

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And the patterns:

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Even though the patterns are strong enough to hold the concept I think the animal faces are the most effective but I will try them both in the mail shot and see which is the strongest.

Brief 2 - Mock-up mail shot

Here is the mail shot I initially made, which I can adapt to make it's purpose more clear. The text written across the outer cover of the mailer could be quite confusion as it means they would have to turn it around and then they wouldn't' know which bit to open next. It would be better then if the Logo was just kept on the front with the Gone Wild strap line. This would make them read it as a book and open it the way it should. The next opening should contain information about the tool, and direct them to there they can get there own (making it clear that the mail out is not the tool itself). Then the inside pages would have the 4 animals with the gradients behind. I think adding some information about the gradients on the reverse would be a good ideas to give the consumer more information about them.

I also tried different scales. I prefer the design on A2 as it had more about it, and isn't as flimsy. It would also allow the animal stencils to be more detailed.

Brief 2 - Language

After thinking about the language used to explain the tool, that refers to using your animal instincts I decided on this:

Get your claws into the Imaginative Colours Paper Selection Tool, now available at Fedrigoni, and release your own imagination into the wild.

The tool consists of four distinctive booklets, divided into sections of warm, cool and neutral coloured Fedrigoni papers, that’s so easy to use, it must be in our DNA.

Brief 2 - Concept and Design ideas

After speaking with Lorenzo in the progress surgery, I still needed to strengthen my animal concept, and I thought about explaining this as having it in our DNA. The tool will be second nature to the consumer as it is so easy to use, the ideas of it already being in our DNA and that using the tool is like using your animal instincts. From this I thought the strap lien Fedrigoni Gone Wild, would be great to use as it refers to the wild animals, and also letting your imagination go into the wild with these imaginative colours. I also needed to re-think about the language used in the designs as in the mail shot it wasn't clear that the tool is something that you can order - it looked as if the mail shot was the tool as it did not direct them to where they could get it from themselves.

I tried a clever way of connecting Fedrigoni Gone Wild --- Fedrigone wild
However this may be confusing to the consume, so may be best to leave it seperate.

I also thought about how the idea of DNA could be used within the design. The structure of DNA itself is quite interesting and gives a scientific feel to the work - this works well as Fedrigoni have been refining the science behind creating their beautiful papers.

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Each book could have it's own DNA in a different colour, or with a gradient of their colours.

Brief 4 - Waven - denim details

I created a pocket deign that would mean the back pocket have the Swedish A woven into them so the stitching is obvious. This could be a mark of authenticity that the A is actually woven into the denim.

The rivets design would just be the 'o' for th top of the A - again to create emphasis

Brief 4 - Design Board Idea

The information needed to be included in the boards:

Brief 4 - Waven - Type & Image

I used a combination of the logo and photographs of the natural environment. To go with the concept of making the brand look more environmentally conscious (The majority of Sweden is cover in mountain, forest, lakes and rivers).

The photograph would be monochrome printed in the dark blue/green colour from the colour scheme and the logo in green to make it stand out. I used the rule of thirds for the composition with the logo on the last third, so as their is still focus on the image and the logo doesn't retract the consumer attention away from it too far. This always the consumer to consciously associate the brand with the environment.

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Brief 1 - Design Boards Ideas

Brief 4 - Waven - Plantable Card

I had the idea of having a swing tag as a plantable card, that the consumer can use to grow their own cotton - which marks the start of the denim process.

Th idea is that denim 'bloom's and gets better over time, the more it is worn - this represents the growth of the cotton crop. It also lets the consumer go back to the origin of denim - and sees it at its most organic point.

The product will also be sustainable and eco-friendly with it being reusable and biodegradable stock. This complies with modern materials and means the brand itself has an eco-friendly image and is conscious about the environment.

The card will have to have instructions on how to grown the cotton so I looked at step by steps of doing this as this will be the easiest way of understanding the process.

Grow your own Cotton:

Step 1: Prepare Pot - Fill your pot 2/3 full with compost soil and keep in a warm place above 14°C with splenty of sunlight.


Step 2: Plant Card - Plant the attached card upright, and cover with more soil so it is about 2.5cm below the surface.

Step 3: Water

After planting the card, water the surface. You should not water them again until 5 weeks after the plant has emerged. Then water once every 10 days.

Step 4:Grow

Stop watering the plant altogther 16 weeks after planting the card. This will cause the plant to dry up and shed it’s leaves. The buds will burst open, revealing the cotton fibre.

Click Here 

When considering the designs for this, it is a piece of information graphics to needs to be easy to follow and made to look interesting and inspiring.

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I used the step-by-step instructions in a list form with the use of images to represent each one of the four stages and break the steps up a bit. However, I don't feel that the images worked well for the designs and for the brand itself. I also experimented with typeface to try and get the right feel for the brand, being quirky and contemporary, and I think the typeface that I have used for the tagline (Pirulen Rg) works the best as it keeps consistency with the brand, I used it for the headers and I have used Tahoma for the body text. These two typefaces seem to work well and are clear and easy to read.

The scale off the instructions page will cover a double page on the inside of the swing tag measuring 105 x 148mm (portrait works better than landscape)
When the swing ticket is folded shut it measures 74 x 105mm

Brief 4 - Waven - Clothing Tags

Swing tag:

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This swing tag will be attached to the plant-able paper which will have the A logo. This gives the tag its own unique touch, with the idea that denim 'bloom's' over time, the more it is worn.

The swing tag will also be sustainable and Eco-friendly with it being reusable and biodegradable stock, This gives the brand an Eco-friendly image, and shows it is conscious about the environment.
On the inside of the folding swing tag is the instructions on how to grow the cotton.

Here are the size that hat would be on their clothing to make it easier for people to find their size. The range of cuts, and range of washes have different colours to represent each one.

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Breif 4 - Waven - Final Logo design

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I chose this as my final logo design

The logo needs to represent the idea of being woven together and also have emphasis on the Swedish A. it needs to intrgue the audience and be memorable and recogniseable as a denim brand. When people realise the A is pornounced 'o', thsi created ownership when the consumer get's it.

The typeface used is Fenix BlackletterCaps and creates a strong bold appearance, and the slant of the letterforms to help them fit toegther portrays the idea of being 'close nit'. The weavign line between the letter that passes throuhg the circle of the Swedish A further relates to the denim process.

The tagline typeface is Pirulen Rg - Regular - which is also bold and stands its ground alongside the brand name.
The colour scheme used made up of 5 colours plus black and white draws subtle associations with Sweden which further strengthens the Swedish A. it also could be associated with the natural environment.

The logo can be used in black, reversed out or full colour.

The A alone, or the circle from the Swedish A with the passing through line, could be used as another logo, and once the brand is known it could be recognizable.

Brief 2 - Concept and Design ideas

After speaking with Lorenzo in the progress surgery, I still needed to strengthen my animal concept, and I thought about explaining this as having it in our DNA. The tool will be second nature to the consumer as it is so easy to use, the ideas of it already being in our DNA and that using the tool is like using your animal instincts. From this I thought the strap lien Fedrigoni Gone Wild, would be great to use as it refers to the wild animals, and also letting your imagination go into the wild with these imaginative colours. I also needed to re-think about the language used in the designs as in the mail shot it wasn't clear that the tool is something that you can order - it looked as if the mail shot was the tool as it did not direct them to where they could get it from themselves.

I tried a clever way of connecting Fedrigoni Gone Wild --- Fedrigone wild
However this may be confusing to the consume, so may be best to leave it seperate.

I also thought about how the idea of DNA could be used within the design. The structure of DNA itself is quite interesting and gives a scientific feel to the work - this works well as Fedrigoni have been refining the science behind creating their beautiful papers.

Progress Surgery with Lorenzo

here is some feedback and some things I need to clarify as taken from the progress surgery I had today with Lorenzo.

Final Design Boards

- should link any gaps - smooth story of brief

-full range shot

-photograph in context where possible

Brief 2 - I tried to mainly foci on this brief as it was th even I was most struggling with making the concept clear enough. So I need to :

- clarify why stencils are begin used

-work out mail shot and who the consumer interacts with it - what information needs to be included

-work in the language used to strengthen then concept - 'use your instincts'

- Fedrigoni wild is in our DNA

Brief 4 - WAVEN - I was taking ages in creating the logo for this, so I need to focus it down to one and see how far I could develop it so it looked right for the brand, as I had too many ideas.
- I decided to go with the idea of have a thread through the 'o' at the top of the Swedish A to bring the weaving process into the logo design.

Brief 2 - Logo

Experimenting with some different typefaces for the strap line, to work with the Fedrigoni logo

This logo below uses a typeface for the strap lien that is similar to a typeface they use for their own marketing material, so it creates consistency one the brand. I don't like it as a strap lien however I think it may look better as body text for the paper selection tool info.

I prefer his bottom logo as it is clear and simple and bold. It doesn't give too much away so creates a sense of mystery to the design.

Brief 4 - WAVEN - Logo Typeface

Here are a few typefaces that I feel could reflect the brand. They are bold and clear:

These other typeface are still bold but have more to them in terms of being more visually interesting and they look less corporate:

I changed the A to the Swedish A and changed the kerning of the letters to make them more balanced. I feel these are more visually interesting than the arial typeface and have an edge to them.

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Colour Schemes

I found these colour schemes on colour lover.com,

These relate to Sweden

These relate to denim and twill.

OUGD301 - Brief 4 - WAVEN - Logo

Working from the previous logo designs I did in Illustrator here are some more that cary on from these. I tried to make it look less corporate by experimenting with dash lines to represent stitch and make it appear to relate to denim bait more. I need to experiment with colour schemes and come away from this obvious blue and yellow, which I have just used to make the type and circle separate.

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After this I got told the logo with the A and the large circle looks like a ferris wheel! So that is not something I want the brand to be associated with so I have chosen to to use this. However I found this image of a piece of machinery used within the denim making process which has a look of it. Suppose it is something that could be associated with it, but I don't think it is obvious enough: