OUGD102

Collection 100. Research proposal

My subject matter is:

CD's and record's (album artwork)

Possible categories will include:

Different music genres i.e rock, pop, punk, metal, hip hop.

Research processes will include:

Photographs, photocopies, scanned images.
Primary and secondary research into different music genres.
Collection of opinions on different artwork for different genres.

How will you research?

Primary methods: Photos, ask people, friends, family.

Secondary methods: Internet, books

Who/where/will you research?

Primary sources:

Charity shops, CD stores, home, other peoples houses.

Secondary sources:

Internet, books.

Research processes will include:

Primary material:

Collection of 100 album artwork, CDs, records.
100 opinions of the artwork.
100 facts- about the artwork, about the artist, about the band or solo artist the artwork is for.

Secondary material: Internet, books.

OUGD102

What if... self evaluation

The problem I identified was that not enough people knew the dangers and unknown side affects of the new legal high drug MCAT. I found evidence of this by doing some primary research and asking 20 people in a questionnaire about the most common drugs they see people doing on a night out. The most common was MCAT. I went on to do secondary research and tried to find some more information on the drug. I found out allot about what the drug was and how to buy it but I couldn't find much info about the affects of the drug.

Other primary research used was asking friends of friends who often take the drug MCAT, this helped with my research alot as if gave me a clear idea of the affects of the drug and how cheap and easy it is to get hold of.

In response to this me and my group decided we were going to try and inform people about the unknown dangers of the drug and instead of trying to stop them doing it, which I found whilst doing my research that this doesn't work, but trying to show them how to do it safely.

The problems I came across were that it was quite hard trying to get people to listen to you or take a leaflet off you if you were to pass it out on the street. To resolve this our group came up with the idea to have our logo and message on a small card sized ticket as your entering a club, therefore the ticket would be kept and more likely to be looked at. We also came up with the idea to make a stamp with the logo on which would be stamped on your hand as you entered the club. The logo would be subtly put up on posters etc around the city centre.

I think if we had more research into the actual dangers of the drug the project would have worked better even though we found it hard to find this research.

5 things I have learnt about the design process over the last two weeks are:

1. The more research you gather helps with the final outcome.

2. You can't do the research after the final outcome.

3. To come up with a problem from a wide variety of subjects.

4. To try and solve this problem.

5. To use quantitive and qualitative research as well as primary and secondary.

5 things I would do differently next time are:

1. Decide what each member of the group was going to do individually at the start rather than all going off and doing our own thing without discussing it.

2. All sit down as a group and come with a design together for the final piece.

3. Get the final handouts printed and completed quicker.

4. Tested the stamps more and used better ink.

5. Targeted the actual problem more effectively and the chosen target audience.

End of module self evaluation

I've developed the skills to work by hand and then develop and manipulate my work on the compute using software such as photoshop and illustrator.

I've learnt how to resolve my work, when i've done it wrong, in a short space of time. For example I used too many colours on my posters for the 'No news is good news' brief. This helped in my development process.

I think I'm quite good with photoshop and developing hand done work on the software so I hope to carry on and improve my skills with this.

I found it hard working with illustrator as i have never used it before, but I found that if i kept practicing with it I could develop my skills.

Five things i would do differently next time

1- Organize my time more efficiently. I will therefore have equal amount of time to work on each part of the brief.

2- Spend more tim on my blog. This will help me to know what i done and what is needed to be done.

3- Work more with work sheets to show development and brainstorms.

4- Annotate my work and worksheets to show and explain my work how I developed it through each stage.

5- Get more feedback from others, outside of crits.

Alphabet soup evaluation

Referring to the typeface I designed for Ellis

Which personality traits did you chose to respond to and apply the typeface?

1. Favourite flower

2. Favourite fruit

3. Favourite type of film

4. Starsign- Pisces

What are the reasons behind decisions you have made for the typeface?

I chose the typeface because it is an easy to read, organic looking type which matches the chosen words.

In what ways are the results effective?

I chose to stick to just drawing flowers (daisies) and they sat really nicely in the curves of the font. If the type had been straight with a lot of blocks and lines it wouldn't of worked as well.

Referring to the typeface designed for me

Which personality traits do you interpret from the typeface designed to represent you?

• girly
• pink
• bold
• eye catching

Describe what you think of the typeface?

It catches your eye and is very appealing visually.

In what ways is it effective, and in what way is it ineffective of representing you?

Its effective as it shows my favourite colours and my girly side.

10 Things I Want To Do:

Ten things i would like to achieve in the following year from this course.

1. I want to work with people who have skills in areas i feel i need to improve on for example drawing and illustration.

2. I want improve on skills I already have and enjoy doing for example type.

3. I need to use my time well and efficiently.

4. I want to make the best of the space i have in the studio, computer suites, library etc.

5. I want to improve on working in groups as well as on my own.

6. I want to receive as much feedback on my work as possible from tutors, 1st, 2nd and 3rd years.

7. I want to take this feedback and use it to improve my work.

8. I want to expand my knowledge of graphic design.

9. I want to have a wide variety of research on new designers.

10. I want to have a wide range of different fonts and styles of type.

Visual thinking evalution

Name of designer- Brady Miller (Sophie Herring)

What is being communicated and how?

The word compress has been communicated by photographic letterforms made of springs, silver springs on a black background makes the letters legible and visually attractive.

How well does this answer the brief?

It is visually communicates the word well through springs however it is not originally based on an existing letter form typeface. There are 10 A5 letterforms which answers the brief (maybe increase the size of the 'm')

How well has the idea been visually explored?

The idea has been explored looking at a wide variation of words that relate to the word compress but the idea could have been explored and developed more throughout the sketchbook.

What are the strengths of the resolution?

The strength of the resolution are the visual idea of the springs and how the word had been looked at in a variation of ways. The style of the letterforms works well. the silver and the black well great together.

How could it be improved?

The research could be improved, looking at existing typefaces, and typographers. Also using development throughout the sketchbook could have helped. Increase the size of the 'm' just so it works as a set. Maybe still using the springs try and compress them, squash them although this could be difficult to capture in a photograph.

General comments...

Brainstorming ideas as a starting point could help to generate a range of solutions.

Good solution using springs.

How are the four words selected to represent the typeface being explored?

The typeface used works with the four words i chose as the typeface looks organic, natural and clean cut. The four words i chose are Daisy, Peach, Pisces and goofy.

Why is the existing typeface that has been selected to manipulate an inappropriate/appropriate choice?

The typeface chosen is an appropriate choice as its quite a simple font that can be manipulated easily. For example using a leaf from a peach as a serif.

What are the reasons behind the design decisions you have made for the typeface so far?

In my sketchbook i have tried out a few different fonts that i found in a book from the library called ABZ more alphabets and other signs.

Action to be taken?

1. Reduce busy backgrounds behind letters. Simplify them.

2. Try different patterns on different letters.

3. Consider pattern with each letter i.e change pisces for H.

4. Select colours for each each letter.

5. Consider readability and legibility. Make sure you can tell what letter is what i.e the letter 'N' can be confused with the letter 'A'

What were the negatives of working in a group?

At first we were all a bit unclear of who was doing what job but after a while we all knew our roles. A few of our ideas clashed a bit but nothing major. We also all found it quite hard being new to the studio and equipment.

What will you do differently next time?

Decide who is doing what quicker and without messing around. Organise our time more efficiently for example we needed more time to spend on the presentation of our project.

Where could you have improved your resolution?

Apart from needing more time for the presentation i think our resolution turned out excellent given we only had a small amount of time to do it in. We could of asked more questions to the public and asked more people for research.

What are the strengths of your presentation?

We had a good end product to show in our presentation. We also used a powerpoint presentation as well as photos. Given that we got the most votes for best presentation i think we did really well.

What would you do if on a night out one of your friends becomes unwell? group project work.

What roles did you take on in the group?

I was involved in decision making and collecting research. I also collected quotes from the public answering the given question. We worked as a group to come up with ideas and concepts.

How well do you think performed in the roles?

I think i worked well on my own and as part of a group.

How well do you think you worked as a group?

Very well, we all communicated and agreed on ideas as a group. No one was left out or without a job to do. All our work came together really well at the end.

What were the positives of working in a group?

We all came up with good ideas because we had excellent communication with each other. As we all had set roles to do individually and together we managed to get everything done. We all got along really well and i've made lots of know friendships with the people in my group.