OUGD504 - Design Production [SB4] - Evaluation

This was a fun brief due to the fact we were able to choose our own artist to produce our work for and we got to talk to an actual studio about how they would go about this brief themselves. We had to choose an artist that we liked, and create a campaign for their new album being released, including advertising tours and album signing dates. We could pick anyone we wanted which made this one of my favourite briefs so far, if not my favourite brief. That doesn't mean I didn't find this brief challenging however, as the open-ended aspect of the brief meant I spent a long time confused on what to do and how to do it. I enjoyed that I was able to dab in web design even though it was creating wireframes, which is something I also experimented in before coming to Leeds College of Art. Web design is definitely something I want to advertise as one of my services when I leave the college, and I feel that web design is a sector that I need to research more as this would definitely help me become more multi-faceted in the design industry, helping my employability. One thing I could’ve improved would be trying to create more basic wireframes rather than rushing into the well-designed finished wireframes that look like a final design themselves. I feel like if I worked on wireframes before I delved into the final designs I would have many more ideas to choose from and could’ve made a design I was even happier with. Nevertheless, I am very proud of my wireframes because I have tried to create a clear concept which I think I have been doing well in the second year, as opposed to designing simply for aesthetics in first year. This helps me become a better creative thinker as well as designer because I am able to generate more ideas and I can solve briefs differently to before, where I was just creating good looking work now I create good looking work with a clear purpose and work that's effective at meeting the brief set by a client. This is definitely a valuable skill to have in the graphic design industry as creating something that firmly fits your clients brief will in the short term allow you to finish the brief in a short time compared to if you only created things you personally liked and hoped your client would like them too. In conclusion, this was my favourite brief of Design Production due to the freedom given and the feel of a live brief. I felt it was a breath of fresh air to be able to design something specifically to my interests even though I know that making personal projects for money will be extremely rare in the industry. I hope to create some more personal projects in the future by messaging musicians, artists and general businesses that I am interested in and trying to get work from them.