SB4: Evaluation

I completed this in a day, therefore a very small brief but one I had a lot of fun with. I chose a subject that I am interested and wanted to inform others on, a lot of friends of mine are useless with keeping plants alive and so I thought it would be fun to produce something they could watch and learn from. I chose four of the most popular house plants, and would expand on this if given more than the 60 second time constraint. The video is square in shape, perfect for use on social media platforms such as Instagram, each of the slides have the same typeface to ensure consistency and it works well with the illustration style. The slides are straight to the point, with the majority of information slides being on the screen for 2 seconds - the text must be the bare minimum whilst still being informative. In between each plant care method the slide featuring all 4 plants flashes out to show how far through the 60 second doc you are. Working with Photoshop in order to create a timeline video animation is something I haven't done for years, it was nice to get some use out of Photoshop as I don't often get the chance to use it. It took a good few rounds of experimenting with the timings before it was right and at the correct length. 60 seconds sounds like a long time to fill with illustrations and text however when you get down to it, it really isn't and I think this was a very successful outcome. One thing I would like to experiment further with would be animation using After Effects, this is something I can aim to incorporate into another brief.

SB4: 60 Second Documentary

Produce 60 sec documentary on any subject of your choice. Consider how the doc would be viewed on social media, formats, how type and image interact - viewing with and without sound. Think about usefulness of information, how and what you can communicate within 60 secs.

Deadline: Friday 11th Jan

Initial Ideas:

The documentary should be about something I am interested in and want to educate others on. With this in mind my initial ideas for topics are: caring for house plants, Spotify playlists, exercise, becoming a vegetarian. 

I decided on caring for house plants, as I thought I could create some illustrations that would be in line with my personal style of design.

Illustrations developed:

I used Adobe Illustrator to develop theses illustrations, with the plants in my room as reference. 

Aloe Vera

Cactus

Monstera Deliciosa  

Snake Plant

Information gathered from research carried out:

Aloe vera

Step 1: use a plant pot with a drainage hole

Step 2: place in bright, indirect sunlight or artificial light 

Step 3: water every 3 weeks, more sparingly during the winter

Step 4: repot when root bound

Cactus

Step 1: use a plant pot with a drainage hole

Step 2: place in bright sunlight such as a south- or east-facing window

Step 3: rotate the pot monthly

Step 4: water every couple of weeks when the soil has dried out

Snake plant

Step 1: use a plant pot with a drainage hole

Step 2: place plant in a warm spot with temperatures above 10 degrees Celsius 

Step 3: let the soil dry between waterings

Step 4: wipe leave with a damp cloth as needed to remove dust

Monstera deliciosa 

Step 1: use a plant pot with a drainage hole

Step 2: place in an area with high humidity and indirect light

Step 3: water weekly, reduce in winter to prevent water logging

I used Illustrator to produce each separate slide that includes the illustrations and the text information. After finishing all of the slides I imported them into Photoshop and created a frame animation. As the video/ animation is only 60 seconds I thought I would keep it simple in terms of the illustrations to enable as much information to be included as possible. The result is below:

Initial Brief Ideas

We would also like you to prepare for your level 6 studio practice module by considering the sorts of design brief you would like to undertake. You will need to write ten studio briefs that you are planning to undertake during the academic year, a workshop will take place during the that week to provide feedback on the briefs and finalise any further details. These briefs will become part of your level 6 studio practice submission and your portfolio.

We suggest that you include within the ten:

• A competition brief (D&AD, YCN ISDT etc.) this brief will not need to be written but please research into the “type” of brief these competitions set.
• A collaborative brief with a person(s) external to the course.
• A collaborative brief with a person(s) from the course.
• A live/client brief.
• A research lead brief, this may be informed by a previous/current CoP question.

As with any brief consider the background, audience, deliverable outcomes and timescales (it would be beneficial to have briefs that range in mandatory requirements and timescales).

In order to write and undertake relevant briefs I have to consider what area of graphic design I am most interested in pursuing as a career. This is essential so that the work I produce can be used as a portfolio for potential clients and employers.

I have really enjoyed competition briefs in the past, the Starpack and Penguin in particular, as well as enjoying them I have been pleased and proud of my outcomes so will definitely do at least one of each. I will also look at the D&AD/ YCN briefs to see if any suit the kind of outcomes I want to produce.

The areas of design I enjoy and produce the best work in are as follows: packaging, layout, UX design, branding and illustration.

• I will undertake numerous competition briefs
• A collaborative brief with a photographer external to the course, focusing on layout design
• A collaborative brief with Hannah Thomas on the course, we have worked well together in the past and compliment each others style
• A research lead brief, looking into packaging and branding strategies 
• A live/client brief

The above briefs are the ten I am going to plan for in terms of writing out the full brief, I need to decide which are going to be larger and which small, as well as time scale in terms of when I will dedicate time.

OUGD603 Module Briefing

Studio Practice - 60 credits
Submission Deadline: 7/05/2019 by 15:00 Room 136

Brief Considerations:

• Creative 
• Social 
• Ethical 
• Commercial 
• Aims:
• Quality outcomes, physical or mock up - depending on outcome which ever allows for a higher quality outcome to be produced
• Independent and professionalism 
• Draw on knowledge from first and second year, bring in different ways of working and appropriate outcomes, focus on current interests.
• revisit old briefs if appropriate 

Learning Outcomes:
6A3:
Understand and demonstrate coherent and detailed subject knowledge and professional competences.
Informed by research into current relevant areas within graphic design.

6B3:
Assessed against self written briefs. Briefs need to be thorougher, clear of intensions, research, content, audience.
Bring together knowledge, understanding, skills set, all elements come together and make sense.
Critical awareness, doing things for a reason, are things appropriate?

6C3:
Blogging/design boards, combining visual and written techniques.
Presenting: don't start with negatives, critically evaluate when blogging, be positive.
Not every project has to be challenging, be interesting and engaging

6C4:
Professional skill: controlling what goes out, competition briefs, take ownership
Demonstrate thinking behind research, problem solving within thinking and research
How visual quality and problem analysis go together
Think and evaluate things without going through practical process, discuss and think about solutions

6D3:
Review each brief at the end of completion due to working independently, have confidence to self evaluate.
Record reasoned argument based on decisions, showcase decision making process
Have an awareness of what your doing - DOCUMENT ALWAYS

Context:
Build work into portfolio that demonstrates your ability to plan, research, produce, and present a substantial, innovate and informed body of work.

Brief:
An initial statement of intent which clearly identifies and articulates:

• Themes, subject matter
• Research methodologies
• Practical development 
• Contextual and theoretical references 
• Approaches to documenting 
• Reflection and Evaluation 
• Project management 

Part 1:

• Design Practice
• Written briefs, competitions etc. 

Part 2:

• Project Journal 
• Support of design practice - blog
• Showing development, evaluation, research etc.
• Summative evaluation of project
• Evidence documentation

Have Bibliography as part of submission:
What have you read that has informed your body of work

Evidence:

• Project Journal:
• Blog, label correctly and easily 
• Design Context Blog:
• Research and publication 

Design Development and Solutions:

• Demonstrating your ability to respond to a substantial design problem

Ongoing and Summative Evaluation:

• Ongoing evidence of formative and summative evaluation 

Ten Briefs:

• Competition brief 
• Live brief - client work 
• Collaboration - Internal 
• Collaboration - External (collaboration could be work done on placement)  
• Research Led - comes from researching something that interested in (can be big issue or something fun e.g. climate change or trainers)