OUGD502 Studio Brief 01 - A Creative Strategy - Presentation

Presentation:

So who am I as a graphic designer? To be honest I'm still not entirely sure but I know that I have a love for big ideas and creative concepts, I enjoy illustrative design and working collaboratively, with a focus on branding and packaging design.

At the start of second year I found it really challenging and maybe I didn’t quite prepare myself for the workload or the level of professionalism.

But, I have learnt a great deal too, from producing a more professional publication, gaining an understanding of user experience and digital design, contacting professionals and taking part in live briefs and competitions.

For the publication brief I did a zine on handwriting. I found this project interesting as I could research into the number of different print processes. Having a basic understanding of them will be beneficial and prepare me for when I go into the industry. Overall I believe that I have achieved my aim of creating a publication which works cohesively with the content. However working with a content that required a simple design has its own challenges. It made me less confident with what I was doing as I didn’t know how far to take it, whether I had put enough into it, or how effective it is. I have also identified that I want to try and work further on the front cover as I feel that it lets the publication down.

Next we began to learn about digital design and user interface which is something that is completely new to me but I found really engaging. I redesigned an old app called ‘platter’ and added my own ideas for user experience. It has become clear that understanding the process, roles and collaboration, are extremely important to produce a good digital design. Thinking about the user experience has also added another layer to the design process and requires a different way of thinking that I have had to come to grips with. I have learned some valuable skills and I am now aware of the impact digital design is having.

One big thing that I have learnt In regards to contacting professionals is, emails don’t work. Well they haven’t in my case. I’ve emailed Michael C Place from Build regarding the talk that he did, as for me I found it really motivating and inspiring. I also emailed Robot Food a branding agency based in Leeds, with strengths in packaging design.

I am really interested in this design studio, the work that they do is always bright and fun. Their work is also consistently really strong which shows the high level of professionalism. These are some of the values that the studio have and I think it is really important as it allows them as designers to stay true to who they are and what they believe in. It is really inspiring to see this because it gives them personality and intrigue, it seems less corporate and inspires creativity. As emailing hasn’t worked I am going to go down to their studio and see if I can get a face to face interview.

I really enjoy engaging with the design world by attending exhibitions, talks and studio visits as I always feel motivated and inspired. Most recently on the trip to Berlin we went to the Hamburg Bahnhof Contemporary Art Museum where there were pop artists on display such as Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein. This was quite nostalgic of when I did art in school, so it was really good to get up close to these bright colourful pieces, encouraging me to consider colour more within my work.

As part of the responsive module I am working with two others on the fur for animals brief. I have really enjoyed working collaboratively, I like bouncing around ideas and using peoples skills effectively. It has shown how important it is for big projects as it helps you to produce the best possible design. I want to do further collaborations in level 06 as I think it will help me to develop my communication and learn new skills more effectively.

As part of the competitions and live briefs I took part in the Papyrus brief who are a charity for the prevention of young suicide. The brief was to produce a line drawing for an adult colouring book, that created a visual representation of something that helps you feel calm and relaxed, with a couple of lines explaining what it is you’ve drawn and why. So this was my interpretation, and it actually got shortlisted. But I was asked to add further details onto the trees.

I added the extra details in and just yesterday I heard back from the lady to confirm that I’ve been shortlisted. She also asked for links to a website/online portfolio, so I might quickly try and set up an Instagram account for my work. It was nice to hear that it got shortlisted as I wasn’t particularly confident in the design. I think confidence in my work is something that I struggle with, I want to try and feel comfortable to show off my work, this is something that I want to focus on within third year.

This ties in with how I communicate my practice which hasn’t been very well. I aim to try and create accounts on these platforms to help get myself out there and better develop that confidence.

My plans for the summer are to go back to my part-time job at Starbucks to try and earn some money. 

I’m also going to Barcelona for a week which I am really excited about to see all the different architecture. 

But other than than I want to try and draw / paint more as this is something I really miss doing and will help me to feel a bit more creative.

I also want to try and get a head start with my dissertation and start researching as I don’t want to be stressed out by it. 

I also want to try and make some more contacts with professionals, that way I can more easily ask for work placements.

I want to concentrate next year on building up my confidence and refining my professionalism so that I know how to present myself and I am ready for the real world. My work will take more focus into branding/packaging design as this is the area that I am most interested in and want to start developing my portfolio around this. During my last year I also want to take advantage of the range of facilities at the college, particularly the print facilities. I took an induction to use the dark rooms earlier this year and want to try and work with film photography more so that I can use this facility next year. Overall I am looking forward to next year and I want to make the most of my time here, thanks for listening.

Evaluation:
Initially I felt quite nervous as public speaking is something that I struggle with, but presenting in a nice smaller group gave me the confidence to successfully present. I tried to focus on projecting my voice so that the nerves weren't obvious. I had also made sure in advance to practice my presentation so that I knew what to talk about. I wrote up notes to take in with me to provide me the support if I got stuck for what to say. Overall I think that it went really well and hopefully further practice doing presentations will help with my confidence. Watching other peoples presentations was also really beneficial seeing the work people had produced was really inspirational and interesting to see. Also, looking at different presentation styles such as quick fire slides was interesting to see what effect that has on the audience. Compared with last years PPP presentation I think I have definitely improved my confidence and hopefully this will continue to further develop into my final year.