Contextual Studies - My Essay

Today is the last day at the college before the Christmas break which means that I have a few weeks over the holidays and then a few weeks in January when we come back to complete my essay. Now that I've finished all the contextual lectures I have chosen which topic my essay will be on.

A little while ago I bought two books from the college library on Toulouse-Lautrec, as I have an interest in his fine art. Then the next day was the Toulouse-Lautrec lecture, so I decided that it must be fate and decided to make my essay on Toulouse-Lautrec and his influence to the world of graphic design.

Augmented Reality Video

Just a video that I watched for Contextual Studies, just a thought about how we might be interacting with technology and our own computers and devices in the near future.

Alt Tech - SWOT/Skills Analysis

Alt Tech - Final Outcomes

Today is the hand in so I thought I'd post my final outcomes.

Contextual Studies - Time Table

LO3/LO1

I thought I'd post my schedule for the contextual studies module. As you can see this module ran alongside the Alt Tech module which meant that I was juggling quite a few different tasks at the same time. Previously I wasn't very used to doing two modules at the same time, so this last month had definitely improved my management skills as I have had to start writing my essay while continuing on my Alt Tech brief. I know that being able to work of multiple projects at once is a key skill and something that is a requirement when it comes to working in the industry, and is something I feel more confident doing now.

Contextual Studies

Over the last seven weeks while doing the Alt Tech module I've also being doing the Contextual Studies module. The Contextual Studies module aim is to...

'examine the industry in its context, identifying key influences that shape and define practice. Students will also investigate the potential impact of emerging factors that may influence future industry direction. It will provide the opportunity for students to focus on a specific aspect of graphic design'

There is lecture every Tuesday afternoon each lecture is based on a different topic in graphic design. At the end of the seven weeks I have to hand in a essay wrote by me, the topic of the essay is of my choosing and will explore an area of graphic design that I find interesting and how it is being effected by the evolution of the industry. The essay has to be 3000 words and must include a wide range of sources.

Alt Tech - Development

I thought I'd post some images of my development during this brief. These are some print screens of how my loyalty card designs have progresses.

Weekly Reflection

LO5
My plan for this week was to start sketching out initial ideas which I did accomplish. Its just this brief seems endless in all the final outcomes that is needed, but as long as I make time management plans I think I will be ready to hand in on the deadline.

Alt Tech - Logo Ideas

I thought I'd do a post showing some ideas that I've come up with this week. I have been having some trouble with this brief as even the name of the coffee shop had to be decided by me. I guess I've never had a branding brief better where nothing is decided before I start so I'm having a little trouble knowing where to start as creating and branding a whole new company seems a bit daunting.

LO3
I think a way to solve this problem would be easier If \i planed the whole branding process before it came to ideas as it's difficult create w whole brand identity and style as you go. Next time I would come up with a whole branded style and visual look before moving onto the actual design.

Alt Tech - Sketches

Plan of the week

Well this is the start of the third week of the alt tech module. My plan for the week ahead is mostly about starting my initial sketches and ideas. Another aim for this week to keep updating my blog with the posts about what I'm doing during the week

- Start initial ideas/sketches
- Update blog

Weekly Reflection

Looking back on this week my aims were to really get stuck in the new branding brief and quickly move onto research. I've completed research into coffee shop branding ans also managed to update my blog and write a few posts about recent modules and briefs.

LO3
I think that my time management skills have improved over the past few months as I have learned how to better prioritise tasks and I think I can better juggle different modules at the same time than I used to.

Alt Tech - Research

This weeks plan was to research into coffee shop branding, so I thought I'd post some of my research moodboard pages here.

Alt Tech - Action Plan

After deciding which brief I would be doing this module I had to create an action plan outlining which skills I want to develop, how I will do this and what resources I will use.

Alt Tech - Chosen Brief

In my plan for this week it was all about choosing which brief I will doing during this module and then starting the brief and its initial research.

After I did a breakdown of the brief and my own creative process the next step which I had forgotten to add to the weekly plan is creating an action plan for this module, to help identify which skills I would like to develop over next five weeks during this live brief.

Plan of the week

The plan for this week is to decide which branding brief I will do during this module and then start on more in-depth research about that brief.

- Consider which project I will complete during this module

- Complete research task about brief chosen

Weekly Reflection

LO5
At the beginning of the week I set out three specific bits of research that I had to complete to stay on schedule. I finished all of the aims for the week and also posted about them. The whole point of the research was to help me determine a selection of skills that I want to improve and then pick a live brief to help benefit my practice and professional development.

Alt Tech - Branding Job Spec

Part of my research for this week is to look into the job specifications specifically from a branding point of view.  

LO1
One of the learning outcomes is defining progression requirements in relation to industry work. This research definitively help when it comes to knowing what skills are needed in the area of branding.

Alt Tech - Branding Trend Predictions

In my plan of the week I said that one of my aims for this week is to research branding trends and make some of my own predictions. So here is my research.

Alt Tech - Branding Practitioners

I had three specific areas of research  to do this week so I thought I'd post them here.

Work of specific branding practitioners
Nubby Twiglet

Karen Kavett

There is a reason that I chose to research these specific is people mostly because I've been a fan of there work for a long time.

Plan of the week

Right so this module I have to pick an area of expertise and then use a live brief as a chance to enhance my skills in that area.

After some though I decided to pick branding, as there is currently a live branding brief that I thought sounded good. So the plan for this week is to research...

- Work of specialist branding practitioners
- Branding trend prediction/forecasting
- Branding job specifications

New Brief

This new module is called 'Alternative Techniques'.

The module will be largely self-directed and will focus on broadening and extending my skills sets. I will have to reflect on my graphic design practice and identify a preferred area of expertise (branding, editorial, typography, graphic illustration, branding, packaging etc.)

Packaging - Evaluation

Project Reflection (Using SWOT)

What did you enjoy about the project?

I enjoyed designing packaging as it was something I have never attempted before. 

What you didn't enjoy about the project?

Nothing

Have you encountered any problems?

There were some problems in balancing all the different aspects of this brief as there a lot of different final outcomes needed and they all required there own research and consideration.

What went well?

I think my final outcomes went well.

What didn't go well?

Although I liked my final outcomes Id o think that If I was given more time I could have improved them slightly and made them a more cohesive brand identity.  

New skills acquired?

I think I have improved my skills in branding as I have never had to apply them to a packaging brief before. I think I now have a better understanding of branding as a whole.

Did my time management go well, did I hit the internal deadlines?

I think this project was okay-ish, there were a lot of different elements in the brief which definitely tested my management skills, but I managed to hand in on time.

Packaging Brief - Action Plan, Skills Analysis

At the end of a brief there are few ways to help evaluate my strengths and weakness through out the brief and to evaluate my skills.

Packaging Brief - Final Outcomes

Well today is the hand in day and I though I'd post some images of my final outcomes for this brief.

Packaging Brief

I though I'd update the blog with some more development images for the packaging brief.

As you can see these images gives a slight feel of what direction I'm going and the colors I'm using.

Weekly Reflection

LO5
Looking back on this week I've started to develop my ideas further and I've managed my time well as I think I'm on schedule. The only problem with this brief is there is quite a few different final outcome that I have to do, like the actual box you use for sending records as well as envelopes to but the invoice in, promotional cards that could be included n the packaging to help promote the brand. As all the outcomes are different it quite a juggle to proprieties everything and make sure that I don't forget something.

Packaging Brief - Development

My time plan for this week includes development of my Phonica packaging ideas so I thought I'd post some print screens of my work and how its progressing.

LO5

Obviously as Phonica is a record store some of my packaging ideas reflected this. I though it would be silly for the packaging not to reflect the company.

Plan of the week

LO2
The plan for this week is the developmental of my initial ideas.

The deadline of this brief is the 30th October so I have a about four weeks left for development and finalization of my packaging outcomes. This seems like quite a lot of time so I'm quite confident that I will not be rushing when it comes to hand-in.

Inspiration - Sara Elizabeth Berks

Sara Elizabeth Berks is a graphic designer and artist based in Brooklyn, New York. I think I first saw some of her work on Pinterest and I just had to see more so I found her amazing website www.saraberks.com

I just though I would show everyone what is inspiring me lately.

Each booklet includes projects based on the typefaces used. All the exploratory text was pulled from book she was reading during that time period.

LO5
I really love how even though they all are based on different typefaces that they work so cohesively as a collection. The main reason these images stood out to me is that I loved the simplistic but unique layout of the booklets that does nothing but enhance the content of the page which I think is what good editorial deign is all about.