I was asked to do the yearbook for the DFGA course, a first I was a little skeptical about taking on the brief as I wasn't sure if it was right for me to do. The yearbook was to be a digital interactive PDF, this isn't something out of my comfort zone and I have worked on interactive PDFs before, it was more the fact of working with the DFGA course, as I had been told they were quite difficult and there was a lot of personalities.
This was the work that I produced for the Yearbook.
In terms of working with the course, I did find it quite hard. I was in constant contact with the course leader and he set up regular meeting to discuss the progress of the yearbook and give his opinions on what I was doing. The feedback was always positive and working with him has been good. But the students have been hard work in getting the work off them, they didnt really seem to understand the idea of giving work that was suitable for the template which was provided as alot were portrait images and some just had too much within one image. It was asif they were trying to cram as much work into the spread as possible, but really that was making it worse. Because of this, the content had to be reworked and I had to wait around along time to get anywhere with it. The same can be said for the tutors, it has been difficult getting the relevant content from them. Even though we set up the meetings, alot of them were the same as the progress of the yearbook was quite slow.
It was frustrating as from the start I set working on the brief straight away, since Easter the template of the whole yearbook has been designed and the tutors and students were happy with it, Ive just been waiting for all the content as none of this has been in my control. This was the one reason why I had doubts in my mind about taking on the brief.
Even though there has been troubles with the access to the content, working with both the tutors and the students was a good experience, it was good to work with other people that I didn't know and within another course discipline, this opened my eyes to a new area of design that I didnt really know much about. Working on the project has developed my own design skills as working with the interactive PDF isnt something I tend to do within my practice on a day to day basis, but this has made a good change and something that could be of interest in the future within other possible projects.
I think the experience of this live brief was different to the last, this one hasn't gone so smoothly, but thats because the ball wasnt really in my court this time, the DFGA course were in charge and I was effectively working for them. At times I did feel as though they didn't really care about the yearbook and that had an effect on my motivation for the product, but in the end when all the content did eventually come in and I could work on the yearbook solidly to get it all finished, the end product does look great and the interactive elements work a treat.
The course were positive about the yearbook and are using it within their end of year show, by putting it on a touch screen monitor, which will be good to look for and check out. There are some positives from working on live briefs and that is one. Seeing my work on an interactive screen that is hopefully going to be 90" will be amazing and should do the design justice!
Showing posts with label live briefs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label live briefs. Show all posts
Wednesday, 21 May 2014
OUGD602 // Live Briefs // Luke Beevers Photography
After being asked by my friend to design his brand and identity, decided to treat this brief as a live client and see how the brief would develop taking on a professional approach with how I dealt with the brief and the communication between us both.
These were the outcomes that were designed within the brief for the photographer.
In terms of this affected PPP, I felt as a live brief it was good experience within my own practice and dealing with clients. Throughout the years off PPP we have been taught how to interact and deal with clients, but the best knowledge and experience is by actually going out and doing.
Even though the photographer was my friend, it didn't really change the brief. I know him very well, so in fact it probably helped me because I know what he likes and what he doesn't.
Throughout the brief there was alot of contact with the photographer, after each stage of the brief we either met up or emailed each other on the progress and I often showed him the progress of the work through taking screenshots and sending them to him.
In terms of the actual brief, the photographer knew the products he wanted creating and showed me examples of the work which he liked, this was a great start and it showed me that he was actually interested in being apart of the process of the project.
When it came to making decisions, I often sent him images of the work and gave him my verdict then let him make up his own mind on the choices, he was good at making decisions and choosing the route to go down, I think this was because he had in his head an aesthetic he was after within the branding.
After a couple of days we had a decision on a version of the logo, this meant the project could be pushed on and developed it into the different variations. I dont think the photographer was expecting this much from me and he thought id just give a logo and thats all, but as a designer I like to push out the boundaries and I would rather create a range / set than just one as the range creates a better project and shows a better understanding of the subject area.
There wasn't really a set deadline in which the project had to be completed, but I didn't want it to go on for a long time, as I had other work alongside and needed to move onto other products. Again I dont think he realised the speed in which this would be developed and he would start to see the brand.
After creating the identity, it was applied to the stationery products, again the photographer was up to speed and told me exactly what he wanted designing and showed me more examples of the products he liked. It was great to have such an enthusiastic client to work with, as it made my job as the designer much more easier and interesting.
After around a week the project was finished within the designing stages and now I just had to wait to print it all. The files were packaged and sent off to the photographer, who again was shocked at the speed that this was created at.
Overall it was a great experience of working with a client. In this case the client was very responsive and was keen to be involved as much as he could with the project, which I am grateful for as it made the project run a lot smoother and a lot quicker. I feel that the branding was well considered and related back to the photographer and his practice well, giving him a professional style to communicate himself through. With the photographer giving me so many examples and explaining what he wanted to achieve this again made the project a lot easier than I thought it was going to be.
I dont believe that all clients are going to be as great as this one and want to be as involved with the work, but as a recent and first live client, it proved to be a very good experience and one which I have learn alot from that I can take away to future projects.
These were the outcomes that were designed within the brief for the photographer.
In terms of this affected PPP, I felt as a live brief it was good experience within my own practice and dealing with clients. Throughout the years off PPP we have been taught how to interact and deal with clients, but the best knowledge and experience is by actually going out and doing.
Even though the photographer was my friend, it didn't really change the brief. I know him very well, so in fact it probably helped me because I know what he likes and what he doesn't.
Throughout the brief there was alot of contact with the photographer, after each stage of the brief we either met up or emailed each other on the progress and I often showed him the progress of the work through taking screenshots and sending them to him.
In terms of the actual brief, the photographer knew the products he wanted creating and showed me examples of the work which he liked, this was a great start and it showed me that he was actually interested in being apart of the process of the project.
When it came to making decisions, I often sent him images of the work and gave him my verdict then let him make up his own mind on the choices, he was good at making decisions and choosing the route to go down, I think this was because he had in his head an aesthetic he was after within the branding.
After a couple of days we had a decision on a version of the logo, this meant the project could be pushed on and developed it into the different variations. I dont think the photographer was expecting this much from me and he thought id just give a logo and thats all, but as a designer I like to push out the boundaries and I would rather create a range / set than just one as the range creates a better project and shows a better understanding of the subject area.
There wasn't really a set deadline in which the project had to be completed, but I didn't want it to go on for a long time, as I had other work alongside and needed to move onto other products. Again I dont think he realised the speed in which this would be developed and he would start to see the brand.
After creating the identity, it was applied to the stationery products, again the photographer was up to speed and told me exactly what he wanted designing and showed me more examples of the products he liked. It was great to have such an enthusiastic client to work with, as it made my job as the designer much more easier and interesting.
After around a week the project was finished within the designing stages and now I just had to wait to print it all. The files were packaged and sent off to the photographer, who again was shocked at the speed that this was created at.
Overall it was a great experience of working with a client. In this case the client was very responsive and was keen to be involved as much as he could with the project, which I am grateful for as it made the project run a lot smoother and a lot quicker. I feel that the branding was well considered and related back to the photographer and his practice well, giving him a professional style to communicate himself through. With the photographer giving me so many examples and explaining what he wanted to achieve this again made the project a lot easier than I thought it was going to be.
I dont believe that all clients are going to be as great as this one and want to be as involved with the work, but as a recent and first live client, it proved to be a very good experience and one which I have learn alot from that I can take away to future projects.
Friday, 18 April 2014
OUGD602 // Live Briefs // Dialogue Exhibition
Even though 'Dialogue' was a part of my extended practice and a brief that me and Eve both took on together, I feel that this particular project was a lot bigger than that. It has been a great learning curve for myself both as a designer and as a professional.
Throughout the project there has been a lot of time management, planning, organising, liaising, working with people / students / designers / clients, designing and also compromise. This project taught me more things than I thought it would.
Whenever I speak about it and explain the whole project, I always start with the thought I had when we first came together and put this project into motion - how hard can be to organise an exhibition, it just putting up some prints in a room. It's a lot harder than that, we learnt it the hard way, but defiantly the best way and I wouldn't change any of it.
Through doing the project I have learnt about myself. I have realised that I do like to take the lead, but I like it when I know there is also someone else there alongside me - to work with and to rely on. Time management is a good thing for myself, through having to be on time, be place, meet people to get all this done, it made me realise that having that structure there helps me. I am an organised person and one that can keep to times and place and budgets. I strive off deadlines and pressure to get things done. I'm not afraid to put myself out there and on the line, also speaking to people and business people business isn't that much of a worry for me.
Theres a lot of things I realised I weren't so good at, but through doing this I have learnt and become much better. I thought I was good at networking, but compared to Eve I'm not, getting to know more designers within the local area was great and speaking to them at the exhibition was very useful. I'm not the best at writing, which I already knew, but in terms of writing to people within business this was different all over again.
Other things I learnt was that I cant always do everything by myself and I'm not the best at everything. There are other people which can do things better than me and through this, I have let them do that and seen the results of this. People are there to help and want to help so let them. Life is too short to live and not try things out and put yourself out there - be a risk.
I also realised the great people I have on my course and the friends that I have on the course, as when we needed help to get things done, so the exhibition could actually be there, they came and helped us.
It has been the best project of the year for me, both design wise and as something I have enjoyed. Working with Eve has been a blast and I have enjoyed every bit of it. I have learnt things from working with Eve as a pair, it has been great to bounce ideas off each other and get things done as there was two of us.
What I did realise was that you can get a hell of a lot done when you put your mind to it and know that things have to be done for a certain time or date. Also the main thing that came from the project was that I love print, but not just print, making things. Being in the print room for such a long time was great, I much prefer that to sitting behind a computer. This made me realise that I don't want to do that for a job.
Throughout the project there has been a lot of time management, planning, organising, liaising, working with people / students / designers / clients, designing and also compromise. This project taught me more things than I thought it would.
Whenever I speak about it and explain the whole project, I always start with the thought I had when we first came together and put this project into motion - how hard can be to organise an exhibition, it just putting up some prints in a room. It's a lot harder than that, we learnt it the hard way, but defiantly the best way and I wouldn't change any of it.
Through doing the project I have learnt about myself. I have realised that I do like to take the lead, but I like it when I know there is also someone else there alongside me - to work with and to rely on. Time management is a good thing for myself, through having to be on time, be place, meet people to get all this done, it made me realise that having that structure there helps me. I am an organised person and one that can keep to times and place and budgets. I strive off deadlines and pressure to get things done. I'm not afraid to put myself out there and on the line, also speaking to people and business people business isn't that much of a worry for me.
Theres a lot of things I realised I weren't so good at, but through doing this I have learnt and become much better. I thought I was good at networking, but compared to Eve I'm not, getting to know more designers within the local area was great and speaking to them at the exhibition was very useful. I'm not the best at writing, which I already knew, but in terms of writing to people within business this was different all over again.
Other things I learnt was that I cant always do everything by myself and I'm not the best at everything. There are other people which can do things better than me and through this, I have let them do that and seen the results of this. People are there to help and want to help so let them. Life is too short to live and not try things out and put yourself out there - be a risk.
I also realised the great people I have on my course and the friends that I have on the course, as when we needed help to get things done, so the exhibition could actually be there, they came and helped us.
It has been the best project of the year for me, both design wise and as something I have enjoyed. Working with Eve has been a blast and I have enjoyed every bit of it. I have learnt things from working with Eve as a pair, it has been great to bounce ideas off each other and get things done as there was two of us.
What I did realise was that you can get a hell of a lot done when you put your mind to it and know that things have to be done for a certain time or date. Also the main thing that came from the project was that I love print, but not just print, making things. Being in the print room for such a long time was great, I much prefer that to sitting behind a computer. This made me realise that I don't want to do that for a job.
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