OUGD503 - Responsive [SB1] - Sketches

OUGD503 - Responsive [SB1] - Initial Identity Brainstorm

OUGD503 - Responsive [SB1] - Competitor Research

I decided to look at Landbay's main competitors listed in the brief to have a look at what their competition succeeds at and what improvements I could make to their current brand strategies.

Zopa

Zopa was the first peer-to-peer lending agency in the UK. This probably has helped it establish its' experienced lending scheme, protected by a fund and repayment scheme in the case of borrowers not repaying on time. The amount of time it has been established means it has gained a loyal following and will be difficult to sway to Landbay. For this reason it would probably be the best decision to specifically target newcomers to peer-to-peer lending.

After researching Zopa I came across a page on MoneySupermarket that specifically compared the different peer-to-peer lending companies and their pros and cons. I thought this would be useful to see the common pitfalls of these companies and how to create a branding strategy that fixes these issues.

Landbay are currently ranked second on the list of peer to peer lending services. They currently have the best policies between all of the companies and I believe this will help university leavers become Landbay customers.

OUGD503 - Responsive [SB1] - Landbay Research

After much research into the subject, I have decided to choose Landbay as my substantial brief for Responsive. I believe that Landbay's brief is very interesting in that it targets an audience close to me, which gives me an upper hand in audience research as I would have easy access to the demographic (friends, flatmates etc.) and I would understand first hand the issues that Landbay is facing trying to connect to their audience. I also believe the campaign Landbay is trying to create would help students with learning about finance and lending in general. 

To begin with, I looked at what Landbay stands for and its' marketing ethos. This is how Landbay describes itself in the brief:

Being a new startup, Landbay has a smaller reach than some of their rivals due to them being in the market for a smaller amount of time, but I believe Landbay has a process that simplifies investment and works well to engage with a younger audience that ingest information in quicker format. Their USP of safety within investing is very effective due to the current economic climate, and damaged trust the younger generation has with lending companies & banks. The creative challenge I believe will be trying to gain the younger generation's trust and to differentiate Landbay from other companies. I believe I can achieve this by using personal advertising techniques to make their audience feel like they're valued and listened to. Perhaps direct audience would be a good method of communication within the campaign.

Below is the creative element presented in the brief:

The fact that there are two target audiences makes this branding difficult, since the age gap between the two audiences can be quite vast. However, I believe primarily appealing to the younger audience will in turn have a domino effect and will persuade the older audience as a result. Another consideration I will need to take into account is the vagueness of the challenge, as a "brand awareness campaign" isn't very specific. On the other hand, this means there is creative freedom within the brief, and I will be able to fully research the limits of marketing towards the younger generation before I decide on a specific process.

I think incorporating both "online" and "offline" methods will yield the best results as there are some individuals with different marketing tastes, some preferring online and vice versa. Keeping the target audience as wide as possible is a big priority as Landbay doesn't intend to cater to a certain demographic, only age group.

It's important that I follow the brand guidelines to keep my work consistent, and it fits with Landbay's other collateral, otherwise my work could look out of place and would affect how people notice Landbay.

OUGD504 - Design Production [SB3] - Research

My research involved looking at publications similar to mine to see how they presented similar imagery. I did this to not only make sure I was original with my work, but to try and identify any trends involving London’s typography. I didn’t find many examples but I did find some examples including a website documenting some of London’s best works of type scattered throughout the city.

I also got to do some primary research which I don’t often get to do and that included walking around the streets of London to get a feel for the design produced and to identify what was common between the different shops. I found that the majority of popular shops were designed with modernism in mind, and were usually simply designed but with effective branding including bold logos and smart one-liners.

I used this information in my final design by sticking to the conventions of the design in London, but also experimenting with different production techniques, mainly scanning. I used the mix of urban utopianism and dystopianism as inspiration to alter a perfect typeface into something glitched and abnormal.

OUGD504 - Design Production [SB3] - Final Design

My titles were printed and scanned in manually, creating a glitched effect that expressed the mix of perfection and imperfection that you come across in the centre of London. I feel this worked well with my book because even though the book was nicely laid out it was bound using industrial looking clips that gave it a handmade feel.

The only thing I found needing improvement with my publication was how stiff the binding was. The stiffness of the binding made it so that it was hard to browse through pages, and this contradicted my idea of making it an easy to read book on the go.

Overall, I was really pleased with this publication and I definitely think it fits the demographic of my audience, and I think if it was to be in a book shop it would stand out due to the modernist design and the scanned in titles. I tried to experiment and I think it worked well, and I will definitely continue to try new things in the briefs to come.

OUGD504 - Design Production [SB3] - Wireframes

I think this would be an effective layout because it highlights the subject of the page, the imagery. However, this would require double the pages as there would need to be a separate page for text and that would cost me twice as much. If that is more effective however, that is higher on my priority list.

This would be the second page of the spread and I think this would work because it makes good use of white space and takes influence from contemporary editorial design. This fits the interests of my target demographic of trendy young creatives.

I like this layout because it is compact and effective at conveying information. However, I feel there is not enough emphasis on imagery and the text could overwhelm the rest of the page and defeat the point of the publication altogether.

Study Task - Dealing with Feedback

Dealing with feedback is an essential part of being a designer, and learning to evaluate the feedback you receive to learn what you need to develop and change. The two categories of feedback are informal and formal feedback. Some examples of informal feedback consist of:

• Crits
• General conversation
• Asking for opinions on social media

Informal feedback is useful because it gives you a quick idea of what other people think of your work. You can also get input from multiple people to address trends in the feedback you get very quickly. Simply asking your class what they think of your work can gather a lot of data.

Formal feedback on the other hand consists of:

• End of module feedback
• Written feedback
• Summative feedback

This feedback takes into account that your work is finished, and gives you feedback based on that idea. The feedback is in formal language and usually gives a more in-depth view at what you did well and what you could improve on. The feedback is not there to improve your current work as such, but improve your work you create in the future.

Below are some examples of work I have received summative feedback on, and how it was useful to me progressing as a designer.

I found this feedback very useful because it reinforced an opinion I held of myself that I could easily improve on and fix. I often thought that I did not research analytically and this was the case with my Design Principles module. I have since attempted to analyse all of my research this year, and I hope this will improve my design decisions in the future. I also was told that my design process was not clear within my brief which I would also agree with. I have had difficulties with tunnelling mentally on a single design as soon as I begin researching, and I now realise that coming up with multiple designs is the best way of incorporating the best elements of each design into a single piece of work instead of going with a narrow-minded approach like previously.

This feedback was also very helpful as I could see what my strengths were in the brief as well as what I should be trying to improve on. I believe my strengths lie in my ability to reflect on my experiences and what I have done well and what I should pay attention to in the way of improvement. However, I learnt from the feedback that I need to develop a higher level of awareness of the creative industry and become more aware of leading design studios in order to stay up-to-date with current trends and this will teach me what is currently successful in the way of advertising and etc.

OUGD504 - Design Production [SB3] - Target Audience

The target audience for my book would be creatives in London and people interested in Soho primarily. The demographic for my audience would primarily be younger, aged between 18-30 that have grown up in the digital generation. I think in order to cater to this audience effectively I would have to research into similar publications that have been successful and identify common features between each. The target audience of this publication would be individuals interested in type culture and design in general. This is because typography is a niche subject to be interested in so it would be aimed at a smaller degree of the public. The publication would have to be produced to a high standard in order to appeal to this niche audience because of the level of knowledge of publication that my audience would possess. They would be able to acknowledge quality so that would be a priority of mine during the creative process.

OUGD504 - Design Production [ST3] - Print Finishes

There are a range of different print finishes you can use for your work that give off different messages about the work itself. The finish of your publication can be very important as the front cover of a book is the first thing the audience sees, and a well executed print finish can be vital to producing an effective piece of work.

Below are the various different print finishes and what they are commonly used for in industry:

Spot Varnishes

Spot varnishes are used to attract the eye to certain places on the book and to generate interest in the book from afar. Using a spot varnish for a title can be a clever way to stand out amongst other books whilst not having to make your publication look 'tacky'.

Lamination

Lamination, while being one of the more expensive finishes, can add a layer of protection to a project to give it a sturdiness and also enhances the contract and and sharpness of a project to give it a professionally designed look. Lamination is most commonly used for business cards and book covers to protect them from water and day-to-day wear. 

 

Foiling

Foiling is commonly used to add an element of luxury to a project and adds reflective properties to your work. Foiling is the process of adding a stamp using heat and pressure to mark stock. It is usually only used on text and elements of the project as opposed to fully foiling a page.

 

Embossing

Embossing is the act of raising certain elements of a project to give it a 3D feel on the page. It adds shadows to the project, with physical touch being incorporated which can be used for projects involving the physical nature. The fact that you can literally feel the texture instills trust into your project.

Die Cutting

Die cutting is the process of cutting out elements of a project using a die cutting machine. It is commonly used to add another layer of design to your work, often revealing linked elements beneath the cut-out.

OUGD503 - Responsive [SB1] - Competition Research

I spent an afternoon writing down all of the competitions I was interested in. I was looking for awards that would be useful in my career at a later date, and possibly competitions with a placement involved as I thought that would be a good way of getting my foot in the door when I leave university. 

The main competitions I had a look at for the substantial project of my brief were:

The RSA Awards - Highly respected however costs up to £35 to enter


D&AD New Blood Awards - 2015/2016 briefs not currently released


Starpack Student Awards - Packaging design could be interesting


The Penguin Random House Design Award - Would be fun to design a book cover


The YCN Student Awards - 2015/2016 briefs not currently released


The British Journal of Aesthetics - Deadline too soon: 24th October 2015


IIDA Student Design Competition - Very interesting brief however costs $70 to enter

I thought all of these briefs were interesting to me but there were some briefs I found that I could excel at more than others. I then limited these briefs to a limited few.

The RSA Awards

IIDA Student Design Competition

(When briefs are released)
 
D&AD New Blood Awards

YCN Awards 

I had a look at the RSA briefs for 2015/2016 and I think the one I would most like to do is the brief to "Design a way for people to improve their financial capability and manage their money better."I think this will be quite a difficult brief to stand out on because there have been countless money management programs through the ages and to create something original and useful could prove difficult. However, I think setting myself a big target will help me massively in overcoming obstacles and trying to create effective, original ideas on a wide scale.
 



 

OUGD504 - Design Production [SB2] - Idea Development

My idea generation started with a simple illustration of two ice cream sticks. I thought this was effective because the simplicity of the illustration was eye-catching and appealed to a younger audience because of the cartoon-like bold stroke. However, it would also appeal to an older, trendy audience because of the flat icon design being a popular choice for logotypes in todays' design. Here was my first initial idea for the logotype:

The icon worked well in the context of being a trendy, modern approach to a classic ice cream parlour. I believe the contrast between the two would encourage the widest demographic interest. However, the logo wouldn't have good scaling and when used in collateral, it could end up illegible. The circle around the logo I also found was unnessecary, and instead used the circle shape in a different way. I felt that the three ice lollies also did not convey "ice cream" as such, but "ice lollies for sale". This was a problem obviously, because the logo would be the first thing the audience would see and this would send mixed messages about what the shop sold, so I decided to change it.

I changed the design slightly by adding an ice cream cone into the icon, which I thought was a fun play on a knife and fork which works well together. I emphasised the name of the store and removed the bend effect as it blended the title into the design too much, instead of making it stand out amongst the design. The year of establishment is important, as it shows clarity within the store and also shows it is a startup company, which attracts my demographic.

I produced some different patterns with the icon to add a fun twist to the iconography, and also represents the different toppings you could get on the ice cream. This worked well with my logo, but being reproduced in small collateral would clutter the page with small details, and I reminded myself to keep it simple and effective, as I have the habit of trying to over-complicate things.

I then created multiple designs for the bag that I think would show my idea better. I created a repeating pattern and this makes the bag stand out and fits the simple aesthetic of the brand. The repeated pattern drills the icon into peoples' mind and it is an icon that can stick inside someone's head for sure.

OUGD504 - Design Production [SB2] - Initial Research

For my Kickstarter brief I have chosen three different kickstarters that I like the look of and I feel I could improve on. My three kickstarters are:

Sweet Stone Ice Cream

I like the idea of creating a logo for Sweet Stone as it would be a style I have never done before, and the idea sounds like it isn't too far fetched to be believed. I would really like for this kickstarter to be successful and to have my logo attached to it because I feel this would really boost my professional design CV. I contacted the owner of the kickstarter, Rachel, about the brief and asking if I could produce some work for her to boost her potential to succeed with the kickstarter.

Overall, I really like the idea of creating a logo for Sweet Stone and I already have some initial ideas I have been thinking about.

Eclipse Foam Roller

Eclipse is a fitness company producing a new style of foam roller which I think would be interesting because fitness is one of my hobbies and as far as I can see Eclipse doesn't have a logo. 

I looked at countless kickstarter campaigns that were successful in order to determine why they had achieved such success. Other than having great ideas, the pitches that were successful usually were succinct and well designed. They emphasized their USP’s and what the product was useful for and how it would reward the contributor.

OUGD504 - Design Production [SB1] - Final Design & Evaluation

My final design was a quick turnaround due to me changing my ideas because of problems with my initial "final" idea. I had trouble lining elements up in my idea and so I changed it to a more simple open-out maze. I really like my final idea as I think it is simple but effective. It resembles my creative process as I work in stages to keep myself organised, and slowly unravels throughout my brief. I added some handy tips in there but tried to make them original because I thought my audience would be bored of the usual facts you'd get about the creative process. I believe I continued my informal approach throughout my design, with the use of calligraphic fonts and block colours.

Here is the rough print of my final design, in black and white as a test print.

 



The printing process of my design would be easy as it is simply an A4 sheet that is cut and folded multiple times. I think this makes it a functional design as it would be able to be mass produced to market if this was a live brief. I decided to peer-review my design to see if it met the standards of my fellow classmates, and here were some of the responses I received.

Ethan: Ethan said he liked my design but thought I should add some sort of navigational system. I think this is good feedback as the design could be confusing to someone who is only viewing it for the first time.

Charles: Charlie said the colours were too imposing on the audience and I agree, I believe I need to tone down the colours to perhaps a coral tone to seem more friendly towards my audience as having such bold colours contradicts my laid-back nature and doesn't work in context.

The final net of my leaflet

Evaluation

On final evaluation, I feel this project has given me some engaging hands-on experience in identifying my target audience in-detail and has allowed me to find my own design process to a tee. I think this brief has taught me to strengthen my time-management skills as I created a plan and executed it in the correct time frames, and having such a skill as a habit would benefit me greatly. The parts I enjoyed most about this brief was the weightlessness of a week long brief where I was able to experiment more without being stressed out about how much work I had to do, as usually I always stress about how I need to get the work done as fast as I can so I have enough time to tweak it and this can sometimes degrade my idea generation work greatly.

Another part I enjoyed about the brief was the fact that I could design out of the style that I usually design for. I feel that to get the most out of my studies I need to try and experiment with different styles that I wouldn't usually design in. This helps me develop as a designer because I am able to broaden my knowledge to help me when I enter the industry.

OUGD504 - Design Production [SB1] - Idea Development

This was the first mockup I created for my first design. I tried to create a leaflet that would cut out to reveal the layers beneath. I found this very hard to create because lining up the different layers perfectly took many test prints and simply wasn't functional with how precise the folding and text placement was. I was thinking about aesthetic and forgetting about function so I decided to change my idea.

I then decided to change my leaflet into a smaller fold with many panels, as it would engage with my audience on the basis that it's a maze, and you have to get through every element of the design process stage by stage. I think this would be effective to do because the unusual size and unfolding process would attract people more than a traditional leaflet fold, and I think people prefer to see original designs on such a well-documented topic that would surely have come up in their design careers before.

This is the net of the design I produced. I came to this arrangement through two key selling points:

1. Ease of Access
2. Engagement with the Audience

These two points were the driving force for this design, because I believe this brief was about your personal design process, and I like to think I am a laid back designer that has a more fluid version of designing. Hence the reason that you can read the leaflet however you want. There is an order proposed in the leaflet, but you are able to read it in whichever order you want, or you can even open the page up and take it all in at once. I tried to add in some original tips of which I've never heard before, and I added in some humorous content to invite my audience in and to convey my laid-back way of working.

I think this works well because the script text connotes friendliness and fluidity really well, and I think the fold of the leaflet is original in its' concept and in turn would attract my target audience to picking up my leaflet instead of another with another fold e.g a traditional double gate fold (not invalidating the double gate fold however!).

OUGD504 - Design Production [SB1] - Primary Research

       Primary Research

We spent the morning in the studio experimenting with simple newsprint, trying to create folds for our leaflet. I created a number of folds all with ranging intricacies, some of which I like and would use and the others that I thought were not effective for one reason or another. Below are some images of each fold I created.

First Fold: 4 Panel

The four panel I created was meant to be more functional than intricate, but I added some flair to it by cutting some of the front and back panel off, to reveal what was underneath. I feel this would lure the audience into the rest of the leaflet by showing only slightly what the information was inside. If professionally folded and with proper stock I feel I could create an effective leaflet that could be easily made. The net of the leaflet is simply one sheet of A4 folded into squares. I feel this reflects my design process as I tend to have a linear process but I am always excited to start a project, hence only showing part of the front of the leaflet to get straight into the process.

Second Fold: Abstract Portrait

The second leaflet I created was not as effective as half of the back page was cut off, meaning you could only read a page and a half of information and this wouldn't be enough to demonstrate the whole creative process. The thinking behind this was similar to the first in that I am always excited to start a project. This fold works intricately but isn't as functional as the first.

Inspiration

I had a look at some of the existing folds on the internet and didn't come across many original ideas as most of the folds concentrated on functionality rather than how intricate the designs were. However, I did come across some that I liked and below are some of the images.

I feel this fold is effective due to the alluring nature of showing some of the content before you even open the leaflet. The concept of having some of the front cover cut off to show what's beneath is a smart way of being eye-catching and original without losing aesthetic appeal. Turning a simple leaflet design into something more in my opinion is a great improvement.

I like this design simply for the symmetry it brings, and the minimalism of the fold. An easy fold, however not one you would come up with easily. This is effective because cut off edges are in trend right now, and would appeal to a design audience (if that was who your brief was set towards.)

This is a very simple fold but it works well because of the way it stands, as if it was a plaque. The way this fold sits is in clear view of the audience and can be used for flyers or leaflets with eye-catching information on it. This is a fold used for functionality over simply aesthetic (although the shape of the fold resembles importance in the shape of a diamond.)