websites to note,

http://sophisticatedyouth.com/life/

http://www.f2-design.com/graphic_design.php

http://grainedit.com/

Work Placement.

Cuba. (research)

an island country in the Caribbean. It consists of the island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos.
Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city.[8] Cuba is home to over 11 million people and is the most populous insular nation in the Caribbean. Its people, culture, and customs draw from diverse sources, including the aboriginal Taíno and Ciboney peoples; the period of Spanish colonialism; the introduction of African slaves; and its proximity to the United States.

The name "Cuba" comes from the Taíno language and though the exact meaning is unclear, it may be translated either as "where fertile land is abundant" (cubao),[9] or as "great place" (coabana).[10] Additionally, there is the claim that native inhabitants called the island "Cubagua" in the Columbus era starting in 1542

Idea - Cuba is about revolution, what if havana club was considered a revolution.

(cuban revolution, 1959)

Final One?

Colours Tests.

Feminism.

Starts today! :)

18.19.20.06.09 - Sónar 2009 Trailer from Sónar on Vimeo.

Portfolio Evalutaion.

So it is the end of Second Year. My aim this year was to create work for my portfolio, as you can't be a Graphic Designer without some work to put in there! I think I have done this, I was quite easily able to fill up my portfolio pages with work that I was happy with.

The start of the portfolio summarises what I want to Foucs on, Print based promotional design. I have included other pieces of work that I have done is well, such as stop Motion. I thought I might as well put it in as it was quite a strong piece of mine, i thought. I just hope it does not confuse what I am all about.

The start of my Portfolio is definitely the strongest, so In my third year I hope to fill the rest of my portfolio with pieces just as strong and then my entire portfolio will be focussed.

There are some weaknesses within my work, but there is something I will always be able to improve on. Since I have noted my focus of creative advertising for print, I now pick up the advertising world alot me, but I do need to get more involved with it.

For my dissertation I have decided to write about the polemics surrounding the colors of Benetton Advertisements. It will allow to discuss a campaign that has had a huge impact on the world, and the brand. It will also allow to discuss some of the negative connotations associated with advertising.

Nice. A good end of Year Video.

End of Module Evaluation.

What did I learn from these briefs?

I learnt more about the area that I want to focus on in my third year, image, print based, creative advertising. I enjoyed exploring this, knowing that It was was my speciality was going to be. I enjoyed the Nude brief the most, as I felt it had alot of potential and I could push the boundaries of it, rather than just have one final poster design.
These briefs helped me to clarify what my design work was all about, and what I want to focus on, which has hopefully boosted my confidence.
I felt quite happy with all my final resolutions, but felt i could have developed the Capital one brief a bit more.
I did not know if i would be able to work on three briefs at a time! But i did, and i quite enjoyed being able to swap between them, so that I did not get bored of any of them.

What would i do different next time?

Not get ill! I would have liked to spend a bit longer on the nude brief, but being ill half way through the 5 weeks made this a bit difficult.
If I were to be set the briefs again, i don't think i would do much different, as I felt i managed my time quite well and completed all the projects to the shcedule that i set.

What skills did I use?

I was happy to be able use a bit of photography in my work (nude brief) as it is something i enjoy and am also wanting to improve, as I was not able to explore this in the image module which is what I wanted to do.
I tested my conceptual skills, I struggled a bit at first, but felt I ended up with strong concepts across all projects. I find that i get really stressed If i am not happy with a concept of a brief, as I still consider this to be the most important thing to create good design, and always try and stress that.
I also learnt to simplify! Which is something i wanted to do more after the collobrative brief, this shows in the Postcard design i think.

Do i feel ready to go into my third year?

I feel more confident to go into my third year now, and feel a bit more focused. So overall, I am happy with this module. I feel these final pieces help bring my portfolio together to show what I am really about. I am happy with all the briefs I have completed in the seond year, which is not what I can say about my first year!

Considering logo Design.

The brief says to increase brand awareness so it seems a bit silly not to put the logo on. But I think it ruins the poster slightly as i like the mystery behind it.
Here are some designs with the logo on.

Nude final Pieces.

I am unsure if I should use stitching on the final pieces. I have done some variations, I think this are quite good.

I was booked into the print room yesterday before I had chance to do any of this, so I printed them big without the stitching, on sugar paper because they are big on recycling! They look good :)

Business Card Development.

I scanned the labels in and did a bit of development on Photoshop with them. Although I think what is nice about this business card design, is that they are printed on cotton, which makes them more unique and interesting. So the final piece will be printed on cotton, but i did some of these layouts to get an idea of how they could look.

Summary Board.

Taking environment into consideration. And presenting all my final pieces.

Nude - Development.

I thought about what else I could do to support my poster designs. I started off by doing a leaflet, something informative and give away. 

But then i went on to doing something simpler, a business card. I thought the posters could be in a drugstore, such as boots, and then could be backed up with a stand with a set of business cards on. The two locations I see my posters being in are the drugstore, where it will be obvious what the poster is about. And also somewhere out of context such as a billboard or in a bus stand. This way, the posters are more intriguing and the meaning is quite ambiguous. This way it may capture more unlikely customers as they log onto the website to see what it is all about. 

I don't think it was necessary to include the logo in my designs, i felt it would just make the customer more curious. 

Nude.

These are the two posters I am going to go with. I chose to go with 2 final pieces, on boy and one girl. Although I have a variety of different photos that could be used as posters, these two are what I feel to be the best. I chose one boy and one girl because they said that they want to be considered a uni-sex brand. I felt that the plaits on the girl helped to portray a bigger, or more obvious girl/boy difference. I am happy with these two posters, the only thing that I would change now is, the difference in Background colours, but this is something I can not really resolve now. I am going to try fiddling around a bit more on photoshop and see what I can do. 

Direct Mail Research.

Another thing I could consider is binding. I have thought about sewing down the edge of the leaflet, to give it a 'bound' feeling. It does seem to have to much of a 'printed' feel to it.

Direct Mail Research.

I like this. It is so simple, and the way it opens is really clever. Something to consider for my capital one Brief. Maybe my envelope could open as the book?

Direct Mail Research.

I am on a search for innovative direct mail ideas. I feel like my design is a little 'flat' as at the moment it is just an envelope with a leaflet in it. Need some inspiration.

Direct Mail Research.

This is some really inspirational work. This was done by a guy who is still in his third year at university and has got so far already. Really envious!
I contacted him to get some feedback on my work, he was really helpful.
http://www.headingseven.co.uk/

Nude Brief Photography.

Robin Hood!

I thought I would get a bit of inspiration for my robin hood/capital one project and draw him.
I am going to do my mail shot, as a present from Robin Hood :) - 'stealing from the rich and giving to the poor.'

Capital One Adverts.

I am not really a fan of them, not my cup of tea. But good research for designing their mail shot.





I prefer this one.

Some TV advertisements.

Not really relevant to the work I am doing at the moment. But i like :)

Research - Benetton.

I have begun researching into 'controversial' forms of advertising, the obvious place to start it The United Colors of Bennetton advertisements. I could into so much detail whether these advertisements are morally correct or not, but that's what the dissertation is for! I just put these up on my blog as research for my NUDE brief. I have decided to go with some imagery which could be quite ambiguous in a similar way to these adverts, but not quite as extreme.

Clothes Label Research.

Idea to Remember.

Business Card. Cut out a credit card shape out of interesting materials - such as bubble wrap. Print my name on the same place on each one. Bind together. Business card to represent use of mixed media!

Interesting Direct Mail.

This was created by a bank, trying to make them seem more friendlier! I like it. It tells you to 'build your own banker.' It does make the bank come across as more approachable.

Some Cool business Cards.

A card from a proof reader. The rubber has cleverly been extended!

Magnetic Posters.

Magnetic Posters, to encourage people to donate money to the WWF.

Anti Theft Lunch Bags.

A plastic bag with a mould print on it, to prevent people stealing your lunch!

Photography.