Personal Identity Resolutions

Blog

After getting my new logo done and dusted, I wanted everything to be new,

wanted to make me blog look more professional, not be embarrassed about it like I have been the last year, but finally done something about it.

From this;

To this;

I feel the design on a whole is alot better, a massive improvement, looks more professional and now I am happy to let people brows my blog, instead of hiding it.

Logo

I finally got me new logo designed, it took me long enough,

But I decided to have it as a brief of my own, to re-create my identity.

Makin' Designs Logo;

Beinging of Year Presentation

To kick start the year we had to put together a 5-7 minute presentation saying what we done during the summer and what we plan to do during our third year and what we have planned to do from there.

Slide 01_ To start the presentation I had my logo on screen, an explained to my fellow students that I may be changing my logo cause I have had the same one since I was 16, which is now 4 years ago, and within the last four year I have gained strong design knowledge, so I could maybe come up with something better and much stronger, but if that fails can stick to what I have.

Slide 02_ I started to talk about my business card, this has been put together pretty quick if I am being honest, I am not happy with it at all right now, also my address is on it, which is a mistake. But within the next next few weeks, I will be working on my branding and would like to have it all together by November, it will be posted on this PPD blog when done.

Slide 03_ Speaking about the placement I could have had at Smiling Wolf, but unfortually I had to cancel due to resubmission for my FMP at Level 05, I was disappointed with this but lucky for me they have told me I can go and do the placement end of October, or a small time during the Christmas holidays.

Slide 04, 05, 06 & 07_ With these slides I focused on my resubmission work during the summer, I designed a set of seven books based on the 7 Deadly Sins, I designed two logos, 7 symbols and 7 books, but I gave myself 4 different designs for the books, & finally I put put the designs in context for reading the books electronically.

Slide 08_ During the summer aswell as my resubmission work I designed 6 posters based on my favourite music artists and lyrics by them artists. But I moved on from this.

Slide 09_ I took some of the posters I designed and came up with the idea of the "27 Club" which is a well known in rock music, with dozens of artists dying or killing them selves at 27. This is yet to be finished, but I will be continuing it when I have time, maybe put it in with a brief for the year?

Slide 10_ I wrote down the 14 brief I wrote over the summer, and explain my ideas and the ones in bold are the ones I will be doing for OUGD301, and spoke about how I could try and combine some of the briefs.

Slide 11_ Wants, I listed what I want to achieve this year, there is alot, but I ain't been the best designer the last two years, so I feel I have something to prove, to my tutors, class mates, and even myself. I know I can do all these 'Wants'

Slide 12_ Focus on what I don't want to do this year, explaining I don't like working for screen, and that I don't want to leave this year with a portfolio I am not satisfied with.
Slide 13_ What do I want to do after graduating? I want to either start working for a agency and if that fails I have a few friends back home, who I can start our own little design company and see where that could lead us.

Overall, I feel the presentations where worth the nerves, they where very helpful,

Personally, I feel I just need to nail down what designer I am and why?

Also nail all them wants, and prove to myself and people around me that I can do it.

.

Buk Evaluation

As this brief was a resubmission brief, I once again got to write my own brief, but I needed to add a lot more to it, more work and more ideas.

Within the first few days I struggled to nail down any convincing ideas that I could use for a resolution, this went on for numerous day, with this being a resubmission and getting done during the summer, I wasn’t able to have crits, but I did ask some of my fellow students to look at my blog and give me feedback and opinions what I can do to improve my resolutions, along with asking them, I was asking my friends from home, who attend university doing Graphic Design, so that was pretty handy to have as a back up.

I was producing a lot of layout work, putting down every idea of thought of down on paper, for the two logo’s I designed, the set of books and symbols, then I was finding it easier cause the ideas where flowing. Then I was doing a lot of trying and testing with pieces, messing with composition of words and images and colours.

Once I had my idea down that I wanted to produce, I planned for the resolutions to be simple, nothing to confusing, with my options being limited, not having the apparatus I would usually have available whilst in the studio’s, but I feel I have done well with what I have got, and happy with how the resolutions have turned out, and the idea of keeping them simple have worked out really well. A lot better with the simplicity.

I feel I managed my time well, I got all the work done early, so that gave me a good amount of time to do anything that needed to be edited, and worked on anything that commented about by students and friends. I kept my work organised, the layouts and the computer programme work.

It was a lot harder not being able to have crits, because they are very helpful in addition to your designs and ideas, I had friends giving me opinions and my fellow student helping over the internet and phone, but of course that is nothing compared to group discussions, was a lot harder, but they where still helpful,

Throughout the past four weeks I feel I have produced a good amount of layout work,

and been keeping up to date with my blog well, I am really happy with how my resolutions turned out, I design four sets of books, giving me the options to choose from, I feel they where all strong ideas, but feel I have made the right choice in the ones I have chose, really happy with how they turned out.

Bacardi Evalution

Kick starting this brief with trying to find a partner, so we had to design some advertising posters, to advertise what it is we want from our partner, one poster representing yourself and your qualities, and the next poster advertising what you want in a partner.

After a workshop of doing that activity, I found my partner in the form of Marc Redhead.

We spent a good few hours dissecting and speaking about the briefs, narrowed it down to three, o2, HMV, Bacardi then after a discussion, and deciding what would be our best approach we finally came to a conclusion that we wanted to work on the Bacardi brief together.

We came up with a lot of designs and ideas, ranging from packaging, idents/advertisments, re-branding and a poster campaign, We spent a lot of the time of the briefing working with the different options, we mainly focused on working on a ident/advertisment & packaging for the item. Crits, to us where a massive help, cause we had periods where we where struggling to nail an idea, and out fellow students brought up some ideas that helped up develop. We had a numerous crits, getting good feedback and comments about our ideas, and it wasn't till the last crit we realised we had been taking the wrong direction for a long time, with a week left we came up with a solid idea, we where both convinced its strong and would make a good portfolio piece if we pulled it off, so we put the ident/advertising & packaging ideas aside, and focusing on a poster campaign to promote the product, as we both decided we feel our strongest point of design is advertising and promoting items in the form of posters.

Cause we spent so much time working with ident/advertising & packaging ideas we didn’t have much time left, one week. Within this week we had to get some layouts and the ideas down on paper and also get the resolutions done, so as a pair we came in the last weekend before deadline, with all the equipment we needed, camera and items for the images. We where to late and unorganised to book the one of the photo studio, as it was a busy time of year for major project for photography students, it was fully booked.

So we had to make do with a make shift studio, the images came out fine, alot better than we expected as a pair, and that day we editted and done what needed to be done to the images, including adding the logo and text, we ended up with 18 different resolutions, from going from nothing with a week to go, to having 18 well designed posters with a week in hand, we where very happy with our outcomes.

Working with Marc was a pleasure, I feel as a pair we worked well, both putting ideas into the generator, both being honest if anything wasn't working,

worked well together in and outside the studio, keeping each other up to date with everything & as a pair I feel we developed and created some really nice final pieces of work. Something we can be both be proud of and use for our portfolio.

Overall, with this brief I feel it went well, got a lot of work done, and some pieces of work that we can be proud of and be proud to put into our portfolio, as well as the work, I feel the partnership worked well as mention above. Although we spent a lot of time doing worked that we didn’t end up doing, I personally think we could have done something a lot stronger with the idea we had, made it a lot better and stronger if we could have used that time, but that aside we still feel we done well and produced some good, appealing work.

Website Mock Ups

I have yet to start my own personal website,

but I have thrown together a few mock ups, just simply so I know what I want it like when I do start,

I imagine I will be starting it beginning of third year, so I have more work to put on it, from the work I am going to do during the summer time.

Also it gives me the summer to do any tweeking I feel could be done on the website,

cause these are mock up's, not actually finalised ideas.

For the home page, I will be replacing the large logo with something else,

Don't want two logos on one page,

So will be working on that during the summer to decide what is suitable for there.

Collaboration Evaluation

Kick starting this brief with trying to find a partner, so we had to design some advertising posters, to advertise what it is we want from our partner, one poster representing yourself and your qualities, and the next poster advertising what you want in a partner.

After a workshop of doing that activity, I found my partner in the form of Marc Redhead.

We spent a good few hours dissecting and speaking about the briefs, narrowed it down to three, o2, HMV, Bacardi then after a discussion, and deciding what would be our best approach we finally came to a conclusion that we wanted to work on the Bacardi brief together.

We came up with a lot of designs and ideas, ranging from packaging, idents/advertisments, re-branding and a poster campaign,

We spent a lot of the time of the briefing working with the different options, we mainly focused on working on a ident/advertisment & packaging for the item.

Crits, to us where a massive help, cause we had periods where we where struggling to nail an idea, and out fellow students brought up some ideas that helped up develop.

We had a numerous crits, getting good feedback and comments about our ideas, and it wasn't till the last crit we realised we had been taking the wrong direction for a long time,

with a week left we came up with a solid idea, we where both convinced its strong and would make a good portfolio piece if we pulled it off, so we put the ident/advertising & packaging ideas aside, and focusing on a poster campaign to promote the product, as we both decided we feel our strongest point of design is advertising and promoting items in the form of posters.

Cause we spent so much time working with ident/advertising & packaging ideas we didn’t have much time left, one week. Within this week we had to get some layouts and the ideas down on paper and also get the resolutions done

so as a pair we came in the last weekend before deadline, with all the equipment we needed, camera and items for the images. We where to late and unorganised to book the one of the photo studio, as it was a busy time of year for major project for photography students, it was fully booked.

So we had to make do with a make shift studio, the images came out fine, alot better than we expected as a pair, and that day we editted and done what needed to be done to the images, including adding the logo and text, we ended up with 18 different resolutions, from going from nothing with a week to go, to having 18 well designed posters with a week in hand, we where very happy with our outcomes.

Working with Marc was a pleasure, I feel as a pair we worked well, both putting ideas into the generator, both being honest if anything wasn't working,

worked well together in and outside the studio, keeping each other up to date with everything & as a pair I feel we developed and created some really nice final pieces of work. Something we can be both be proud of and use for our portfolio.

Overall, with this brief I feel it went well, got a lot of work done, and some pieces of work that we can be proud of and be proud to put into our portfolio, as well as the work, I feel the partnership worked well as mention above. Although we spent a lot of time doing worked that we didn’t end up doing, I personally think we could have done something a lot stronger with the idea we had, made it a lot better and stronger if we could have used that time, but that aside we still feel we done well and produced some good, appealing work.

OUGD203, End of Module Evaluation

This brief kick started alot different to other briefs,

seeing to we got to write the brief our selves,

started by collecting a few existing briefs from the past, YCN and studio briefs etc,

Helped us get an idea of what we could do for our own brief.

Within the first few days I struggled to nail down any convincing ideas that I could use for a resolution,

this went on for numerous day,

An going into the first crit I didn't have the greatest amount of work to show,

but that crit helped me alot and shaped my ideas alot more than when I first went into the brief.

From here I knew I wanted to do a poster campaign and a rebrand of the companies logo.

I was producing alot of layout work,

putting down every idea of thought of down on paper, then I was finding it easier cause the ideas where flowing.

Then I was doing alot of trying and testing with pieces, messing with composition of words and images.

Was staying in the studio till late hours trying to get everything done.

Once I had my idea down that I wanted to produce it was just simply the case of taking the photographs I needed.

I took over 100 photographs,

50+ for each idea, then selected a few that I feel I could work well with.

Unfortually cause it took me so long to nail down the design I felt comfortable with these photographs where taken in the last week.

So I didn't get aslong with the resolutions as I could have liked,

that is down to poor organisation on my own behalf.

Apart from the poor organisation of getting the photographs taken,

I feel my time management was alot better than it has been for most of the briefs I have done over the past two years.

Was well organised also, was making sure I had work for crits, so I could get as much help as possible for my fellow students.

The organisation and the time management of my resolutions was the biggest down fall,

but I am still pleased with what I have came out of this brief with.

But, if I was to change anything at all over the past 4 weeks of this brief it would simply be organising the photo shoot alot quicker,

and getting them done with two weeks in advance, to give me two weeks to edit the picture,

or may be even re-do them, if that would have been the case.

Crits, we had 4 over all,

and without them I don't think my resolutions would have been as good as they are.

Throughout this brief I have realised how important crits are,

and how much they help,

getting alot of good feed back, going in different directions, different designs,

all due to help from people around you in the same situation.

Throughout the past four weeks I feel I have produced a good amount of layout work,

and been keeping up to date with my blog well,

Could my resolutions have been better?

Yes, but that is down to my lack of organisation, something I can learn from,

"Make Mistakes To Learn From Them"

Although they could've been better, I am still really pleased with how they have came out,

and are a good addition to my portfolio.

PPD End of Year Presentation

Second Amount of Feedback

After sending off my second electronic portfolio,

I got a reply from Stuart Baker from Teabag Design,

"Hi Andy,

Yeah some nice use of photography there. Like the clean space on the studio branding. Its a shame the lighting in the photograph of the studio two signage isn't a bit better on page 3. I like the depth of field in the bottom photo but i think if you could re-take that with the wall being brighter it would really improve the shot. Its a minor detail really because the design is the important thing.

I like the concept for the Bacardi design. There is some nice photography and composition there.


Hope that helps."

Stuart Baker
Media Director
Teabag Studios

Electronic Portfolio, Re-Send

After sending off my electronic portfolio I recieved a few e-mails back about my work,

Information on blogs below.

But during this time I felt I produced good work in Image and was over the moon with the work Myself & Marc produced,

so I quickly made another portfolio to send out and sent it to the replies I got and asked for more opinions on my work.

Electronic Portfolio

When we e-mailed out to agencies with examples of our own work,

here is the PDF I sent out to them.

Unfortually I couldn't get the PDF, so had to make do with screenshots.

Website Ideas

I have been working on design ideas for my website,

hoping to have this up and running either before I break up for summer,

or early third year.

Here are a few home page images I have been playing about with.

I prefer the second design,

but I don't think that will be the design I go with,

I will work with this design and expand on it, try work away where I can use photography with it.