Partnership Agreement - OUGD502

Taking Care of Business - Study Task 01 - OUGD502

Drew Boulton, Gaby Renavent and I have taken it upon ourselves to create our very own business, the following post will provide a brief outline of what it is we will do, and how we will go about setting our business from the rest.

• What skills and services do you have to offer?

With good knowledge of digital design whilst maintaining the versatility of experimental work through a vast range of media. By having a unique approach to conjuring up simplistic yet effective ideas and applying them in many different ways. Nothing isn't doable.

Drew:

Out of box thinking

Maintained creative flow

Experimental using mixed media

Lettering

Publication design

Advertising

Gaby:

Typographer

Layout artist (Print/Digital)

Minimalist

Mock up specialist

Illustrator

Colour theorist

Myself:

Digital based

Web / App

Animation

Vector

Practical application

Logo

• Who is your target market?

Our client base will be diverse. We will not restrict our market based on the importance of our clients: Big company dreams with small company values.

• Who is your competition and how will you compete?

As much as we will try to separate ourselves from the rest, there will always be a healthy amount of competitors that will be breathing down our necks, the competition will vary greatly based on the scale of our studio and client base. Positive reputation is what will deter us apart from the rest. 

• What are your costs, charges and financial considerations?

Studio workspace:

1. Possible rent costs
2. Furniture (Chairs, desks, tables - Create a presentable environment where we could potentially meet clients but also keep an ikea state of mind, don't spend a lot on furniture.)
3. Production materials (Initially, but when profit is made, this won't come out of our own pockets)
4. Equipment such as iMac's, however this could be eradicated by using our own computers (MacBooks), but screen size may need to be larger so monitors would have to be bought to accommodate for this consideration.
5. Drafting boards
6. Wacom tablets
7. Software subscriptions (Adobe CC, Fontographer, etc...)
8. Travel costs
9. Outsourcing costs (Printing, development)
10. Swatches (RAL, Pantone, etc...)
11. Beverage making equipment (Kettle, coffee maker, fridge, microwave and other appliances)
12. Backup server (FreeNAS based to eradicate software cost, this can also be used as a cloud to store work on for 24/7 access from anywhere, useful for when you pitch to a client and they may ask you for something you didn't bring a long with you.)

Client Charges:

Between £30-60 per hour split 3 ways depending on the difficulty of the work they are asking for.

• How will you structure your studio?

A calm social environment with work scattered around the walls/shelves for inspiration purposes or simple to exhibit to the clients what kind of work we produce. Quiet area for when music/talking is too distracting in the main studio. Plenty of natural light and the ability to take breaks whenever it is necessary if the workload allows it.

• Who will be responsible for what?

The company will be created in the form of a Limited Liability Partnership. This will allow us to figure out our own financial situations such as vat/taxing but utilise each others individual skills to gain more clients. We will individually bring in briefs, and the person that is handling the client will carry out the research as it is key to know all about who you are working for, then the responsibilities of actually executing the work and generating ideas will be a collective effort.

• How will you promote your services? To who? Using what media?

By using a strong brand, we will apply out identity to various social media and other promotional services like classified ads. Our mainframe (being the website) will supply all links to social media and creative hosting sites.

USP:

We are a versatile and diverse creative thinkers, by priding ourselves on communication skills we can execute any form of work the client may need. 

My Summer ☀️ (And my first ever invoice) - Studio Brief 01 - OUGD502

Before beginning summer, I set myself the task of being productive and to expand my knowledge of Graphic Design as a profession rather than just something I’m studying. So I set myself the task of entering a competition and getting at least one bit of paid work, and that I did.

The contact for work came through as somewhat of a bit of luck, like they say, it is not what you know, it’s who you know. I don’t really agree with this statement entirely, but it does in fact have a large impact on how you can get your work in the real world, and that is in the form of word-of-mouth. I have posted this job to my PPP blog, highlighting aspects that I had learned and the differences that are predominantly different from education to the real world. Having successfully generated an outcome that the client was happy with, and I took the task of invoicing them, something of which I've never one before:

The competition I entered was something passed to me in the fresher’s fair at Leeds University, the week before enrolling. To design a poster that made people more aware of theft of their possessions. I found this a little difficult as I hadn’t done sufficient research or development. But I submitted what I thought was an appropriate response to the brief.

Overall, I am fairly pleased with my attitude over the summer, the brief which was set by Simon prior to the end of level 4 was completed well in time for the start of level 5, something of which I haven’t done in the past, set myself a deadline and stuck to it. My attitude towards design as a profession has developed into something more than just a subject, I am becoming more and more aware of the world around me every day and how to flourish in the design industry.

Interviews - Studio Brief 01 - OUGD502

What's an interview? - A series of questions

What does it require? - Good planning, proper preparation and sensitivity to the complex nature of interaction during the interview itself.


Tips:

• Arrange the interview. Plan every aspect of the interview, time scales, questions etc...
• Consider beforehand: how and where?

Skills:

• Be attentive, actively listen to what they're saying in order to give a response and ensure they are aware of you engagement and interest into them.
• Be empathetic, tolerate silences, use prompts, use open questions, use probes, ask for clarification, examples and more detail. Using checks; Summarise the interviewee's thoughts.

Conducting the interview:

• Be friendly and ensure you are coming across as trustworthy, ask if you can record the chat etc...

Recording the interview:

• Notes
• Audio
• Online communications

Beginning of the interview

• Opening question is the most important.
• Ask them about themselves and who they are

Finalising the interview

• It's up to the interviewer to close the interview in a subtle way
• Ask its there is anything more they want to add to the interview
• Finally thank them for their time (Goes hand in hand with common sense and good manners)

PPP2 Briefing - OUGD502

Aims:

• Understand practical and professional concerns of individual creative practices.
• Investigate the personal, professional, innovative and entrepreneurial aspects of the external creative industry.
• Establish independent understanding of the practical and contextual location of individual creative ambitions.
• Develop higher level of comm skills through programme specific practical and contextual research.

Studio Brief 01:

"Creative Report", contact a design practitioner or organisation and devise a report. Show at least one interview with the selected creatives.

Studio Brief 02:

"Design Strategy Presentations", same as last year, produce a 7-10 minute presentation that represents my progression in the last couple of years, and more specifically, what direction I want to go in.

Finally: Blog

BACIL - Competition - OGD502

To give myself a creative boot up the backside and get me back into the swing of studying, I entered a competition I'd been given through freshers fair.

The brief was to design a poster that highlights the importance of looking after your possessions whilst you're out and about. Specifically focusing on the younger audience.

My pitch (50-100 words)

"Using an isometric perspective, I was able to create a simple mobile phone and small ‘thieves’. By belittling the thieves and making the mobile larger, I was able to emphasise the importance of your belongings."

GIFT Ltd. - Final Logo - OUGD502

Here is the final design after a swap from Gill Sans to DIN Condensed to Bebas Neue (Bebas because of its free commercial licensing) and a complete redo of the highlights and shadows. This was due to the white stroke that was previously used was not able to minus back using the pathfinder (For some reason). This was done for the web designer as he required transparency through png format.

Overall, I am happy that I was able to execute the clients interpretation of the brand and receive a positive reaction.

GIFT Ltd. - Logo - OUGD502

I have been asked to create a new logo for  company which specialises in provision for the 'exceptionally able, talented and gifted' children.

The current logo needed updating. So I set out to pitch an overhaul of the brand to give it a fresh, young feel.

Current:

The green double helix shape is made to represent DNA, which I find doesn't quite represent a rememberable logo, I found it overcomplicated and that it needed simplifying.

So I set went to the drawing board and set out finding symbols that can represent words like talented, gifted and able.

Which then led me to this solution:

I thought it would be refreshing for the brand to be uplifted, but when I pitched this to the client, they were unsure because they found it too much of a radical change. Also they found it a little 'too' modernist for their taste. Which I was fine with, as this gave me a much better perspective on what the client wanted, not a re-design, but rather a facelift for the current logo.

The brief they then set me was:

To re-create the current logo in a more legible and up-to-date fashion using purple as the primary colour.

So I went back to the drawing board and set out vectorising the DNA shape from the original logo.

I tried to keep changes to a minimum as you can tell. I found that the DNA spiral was difficult to execute without it looking outdated and *too* skeuomorphic which again is not my typical style of working so I had to dust off the old shadow/highlight techniques within Illustrator to give the 3D effect.

The style of shading I chose was a subtle 'contouring' rather than the reflective style of the old logo.

Examples of contouring:

2015 Freeview Re-brand. A great example of subtle shadows and highlights creating a more 'flat' looking 3D shape. 

Not forgetting the old Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 icons. These were strong inspiriting for me when updating the logo with their 'folded' effect.

After the client took some time to decide which variation of the logo they found most effective, they went with the very first one:

Throughout this process, I have gained valuable experience on respecting what the client wants and although they come to me with the problem and I am the one with the solution, I find it frustrating that what I might see as the more effective outcome, the client may not see eye-to-eye with me but when the brief is applied, I have to see it through and create an outcome they will be pleased with and effectively communicates the brand.

Zeek App - Branding & Identity - OUGD502

I've recently purchased a book token from the gift card marketplace Zeek. But it wasn't the gift card that made me shop there.

They run primarily from their mobile app which has recently been re-designed. This caught my eye and I thought it was very well executed.

Even the packaging I received the card in was appealing to the eye, I found it to be very rememberable and strong brand.

The logo, shown above, so effective in communicating the given message, gift cards. With the token like features on the end of each edge give a good contrast to the smooth sides of the letter.

The designer(s) of which are unknown to me, the only information I could find on the design this brand is the UI/UX redesign of the app on Bēhance from Nicole Bierbrier, a Graphic Designer from Isreal:

Bjarke Kristensen - Studio Brief 02 - OUGD402

Bjarke Kristensen

Final example is a Designer based in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Another fantastic example on concept. Playing on the fact their name has a silent 'B' at the beginning of it and using this to their benefit.

I love the animated gif at the start of the post, it gives the viewer an idea of the growth which is represented throughout his identity. The only downside I would have with this branding is, I don't think there is a reason as to why he displaced the 'creative' within his poster and portfolio. Being a modernist, I like to see things logically placed on a page by using  grid or something similar.

I like his use of indigo on white, but it would have been nice to see some colour swatches and type decisions.

My intention is to use a similar colour of blue to represent my eye colour, which I will take a picture of and colour spot myself to give it meaning, not just random like this could possibly be.

Bruno Fernandes - Studio Brief 02 - OUGD402

Bruno Fernandes

This example is of a designer from Portugal.

Lacking in versatility, I think he hasn't done the final examples justice by not including enough examples of his work in a flat, digital format.

His colours are bright, vivid and fresh, but his logo style seems outdated and predictable. I think the best thing you can do in a self branding/identity project is find something out about yourself that is unique and sets you apart form the others. Where as his logo doesn't say much about him, I think employers will have trouble remembering him and what he looks like, meaning the next encounter could be a little uncomfortable, that's if there ever would be one. This once again shows how important it is to stand out from the crowd and separate yourself from the rest of the design community.

His choice of colour could be a bit of an issue when it comes to ease of printing. It is clearly a specialist colour that will have to be purchased specifically for his branding as CMYK is not capable of producing this colour, unless he went in the direction of screen printing and using a neon ink, with would seem a little unviable for something that might possibly just be thrown away. Something of which I am going to have to consider myself, as I intend to use something which bounces of the page and catches your eye more than other colours.

Kim Dekker - Studio Brief 02 - OUGD402

Kim Dekker

A designer based in Colchester, UK.

Kim has shown a good range of uses for her brand. But in spite of all this, I can't help but feel the blue/red gradient she included in some of the collateral is unneeded.

With a simple as can get logo and effective colour way, I like how the business cards are uncluttered and uncomplicated. Her use of white space really lets each letter breath on the page. This gives a very fresh and inviting feel to the brand. Something of which I wish to mimic myself.

When you put so much work into branding yourself and I know personally that it takes a long time to get something you are truly happy with. It seems a shame to include such little detail on your journey and how you got the the outcomes you did.

I will attempt to address this within my own work and include some sort of a direction and have more consistency that will represent how I got to where I was. This will hopefully make it clear like the previous example and how they shown where the pattern and shapes came from as they were not just plucked from thin air. There is always a route in which you followed and I feel it is important to represent this visually within the final presentation of examples.

Marta Llop - Studio Brief 02 - OUGD402

Marta Llop

First example is a designer based in Spain.

I have chosen these examples as I think Marta has really hit the nail on the head with the colour swatch and typeface (Unusually the same type I used in my previous branding, which I will more than likely be using again. So bear in mind I might be slightly biased.) 

The only downside to this identity is the language used, 'Design Some Shit' isn't quite what you want your future employers basing you on. I'd like to think I would be able to think of something a little more professional than this within my own solutions.

She has included plenty of collateral which I think is always a positive thing in my eyes. As it shows how versatile a design solution can be. When you can visualise something on pretty much anything and actually make it work proves you have succeeded in you endeavours.

The second image in this post which features the outcomes of her brand are fantastic. The fact she used her initials represented in an icon to create a unique pattern really shows she thought about the conceptual meaning behind this branding and I think this example would be an outcome to be proud of.

Personal Identity - Studio Brief 02 - OUGD402

Stand Out

The creative industry demands you to be different to the rest. You must be rememberable, to essentially persuade the client that you are the one for the job.

In the past, I have branded myself in what I was told by others to be a successful way. This being well over a year ago now I feel it i time for a change as I consider myself a different person than when I created this . 
Change plays a massive part in how you see and essentially give yourself an identity, one morning you could have a certain interest, and the next you find yourself wanting to focus on something else.

I will begin this project by looking at some current examples of branding, including my own. This should improve my design practice by representing my style within a brand that employers will see before anything else.

Something to remember - Studio Brief 02 - OUGD402

Before I go rushing into handing out my business cards, note to self: Make sure I check for changes over time.