Monday 27 February 2012

Enterprise// Business: Business folder design..

I have designed a folder for our business plan so that we can hand it out during the presentation. This way it will be something physical for people to look at and it shows off our design work. The folder links with the business card designs made by Liv and Kirsty and the website proposal that Liv designed.


The tab will fold in and be stuck down so that the business plan will slot into it.


Here is our business card that Liv designed, to give an idea of how the two designs link.




Sunday 26 February 2012

YCN Brief// How open is our chosen brief?..

After choosing our brief we were asked to consider how open it actually was. We were given four categories to consider, of which we had to pick five points out of the brief for each one:

Content subject//

- Heinz
- Salad cream
- Food values
- Taste
- Modernity (hip)

Media distribution//

- Campaign
- New media/ interactive website
- Traditional media
- TV and radio commercials
- Posters

Audience context//

- Fun
- 18-29 year old adults
- Sociable
- Food lovers
- Young

Product deliverables//

- Name
- New product ideas
- Packaging
- 'A campaign'
- Digital media

YCN Brief// Our chosen brief..

Our chosen brief is:

Heinz Salad Cream :)

We were told to write five things the brief was asking us to do:

- Create a creative campaign.
- Get the young eating Heinz Salad Cream again.
- Associate salad cream with other 'popular' foods.
- Make the message upbeat/ fun.
- Generate excitement.

We then had to write five problems the brief was asking us to solve:

- How to raise the profile of salad cream above other dressings and sauces.
- How to modernise a heritage brand.
- How to re- engage consumers to remind them of the great taste.
- How to embed new eating behaviours for salad cream.
- Make the campaign fun and upbeat, with a memorable message.

YCN Brief// Choosing our brief..

We are asked, as a pair, to pick two briefs that we liked and one that we didnt. Me and Lisa had a selection of briefs that we personally liked/ disliked, so we looked through our selection and picked out the three briefs.

The two briefs we liked were the Heinz Salad cream one and the Marks and Spencers brief and the one that we didnt like was the SEGA brief. We were then asked to make 5 points about each one on why we did or didnt like it.

Heinz Salad Cream//

- We both had a personal relation to it, as we both liked salad cream.
- There was an open outcome, which gaves us the opportunity to use digital or print.
- The brief is light hearted and fun.
- The research will be interesting and fun to do, there are lots of Heinz campaigns we can look at.
- It will be a challenge because we will have to make the brand appeal to a younger target audience.

Marks and Spencers//

-A broad target audience means we can choose who we target at.
- Comfort with considerations like colour.
- Interesting to research the M&S food.
- Design development for the final outcome will be interesting.
- Can relate to it and already start to come up with ideas.

SEGA// (The brief we dont like)

- The subject which is sport and football.
- Neither of us have a connection or relation to the subject matter.
- Never played a SEGA football manager game.
- Would be challenging to become interested in researching the topic and hard to get motivated.
- No relevance to how we want to develop as Graphic Designers.

YCN Brief// My response..

Brief title// YCN

1// Why have you chosen to work with your creative partner? What are your aims?

We know how each other work, yet we both work in completely different ways (im image based whilst Lisa is type based). I also get on well with Lisa which has worked out well. My aim is to work hard and create some amazing design, and win of course :)

2// What are your specific areas of creative interest in this brief?

I really enjoy image based print design. I would say I also like type but im just not that good at it. I also enjoy the branding and identity aspect of Graphic Design which I know comes into some of the YCN briefs.

3// What specific design skills do you have to offer in relation to your collaboration? How do you intend to use them?

I am quite good at using Illustrator, which will be handy when creating either digital or print solutions. I like creating vector based imagery and I am also interested in photography. After Effects is another program that I really enjoyed in the last module which I would love to use again during this one.

4// What specific non- design skills do you have to offer in relation to your collaboration? How do you intend to use them?

I work hard (sometimes only under pressure), I am fairly good at time management and I can motivate myself. These will all be helpful when collaborating because the work load will be split equally which means we will both need to do our bit and we will need to stick to deadlines.

5// What will your specific roles be in the collaboration?

I will work hard and try my best whilst doing what needs to be done when fulfilling the brief. I know I wont be in charge of time. I could be in charge of budget as I earn less money than Lisa.

6// What will be your individual responsibilities be in relation to your collaboration?

I will be responsible for research for the brief and work that I have been given to do. I will also be responsible for being punctual, committed and communicating with Lisa and meeting all deadlines set.

7// What will your joint responsibilities be?

To work hard as a team and try our best, to be creative and think outside of the box, to be punctual and committed and meet all deadlines and make sure we share the work load fairly and support eachother.

Monday 20 February 2012

Enterprise// Business: creating a brand identity for the business..

For the business plan brief, we have come up with the name 'Upstairs Downstairs'. The reasoning for this name is because we will have a business upstairs and a business downstairs. One of the services we will offer is a branding and identity design studio, we will work with clients to help them create a brand image for their existing or new business. We decided on this service because it allows each of us to work in our own design approach which then also means we can offer more to our clients.

The other service we provide will be a retail space, the space will be split down into sections of which can be rented as a space to sell work. We will be targeting graduate design students who are wanting to get their work recognised by selling it in our shop. This works out well too because our property is 15 minutes away from Edinburgh's college of Art (university).

I have started to look at designing a brand image for our business. I wanted to create a logo and identity that was simple and could work across a variety of marketing methods, including business cards, press ads and leaflets.

Here is what I came up with//


































Wednesday 8 February 2012

Design for digital// OUGD202 END OF MODULE SELF EVALUATION..

1// What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?

During this module I feel as though I have learnt so much and developed a whole new range of skills. The  main skills I have developed through this module are my After Effects skills. Before this module I had never used after effects, it was all new to me. I have learnt many techniques like how to make imagery and text move in many different ways, how to add audio and edit it on a timeline. I have also gained a better understanding of how storyboards and timelines work and their importance in motion graphics. I have used this new skill and understanding in my final sequences which has helped me to communicate my ideas to others and prepare myself for after effects.

I feel that my time management has improved a lot throughout this module. To start with, I wont lie it took me a while to get into it, but now looking back I feel I have tried really hard and managed to manage my time effectively in order to get everything done on time. It is such a good feeling being organised.

2// What approaches to/ methods of design production have you developed and how have they informed your design development process?

With the Top 10 brief I feel that I changed my design approach quite a bit because I couldnt think of a solid idea that I liked and would enjoy doing. In the end I came up with a design approach that suited me and the way in which I work. I tried to keep my designs simple, not to be lazy but because it is a design approach that I enjoy working with and looking at. My final sequences are light hearted and fun and the movements in them are also simple, but it works so well. When it came to the point of which I didnt have a solid idea, I start to panic, but its not until I look at pieces of design that inspire me that I remember I need to work in a way that suites me and not worry what everyone else is doing.

I think that I have become a lot better at drawing out my ideas before I try and do a final piece, the storyboarding process has helped me to understand the importance of getting all your ideas down first before getting stuck into a final outcome. It has allowed me to step back and look at a range of ideas before I settle on one to pursue with.

3// What strengths can you identify in your work and how will you capitalise on these?


I think that the my biggest strength that has developed through this module is the fact that I can look at my work and be so proud of what I have done. I have thoroughly enjoyed this module, especially the Top 10 brief. Its not very often I want to show off my work, but with my final sequences I couldnt wait to show everyone!

Other strengths include my pre-production skills, I am a lot better at drawing out ideas and evaluating them. I have also got better at research as I think before this was a weakness of mine, but I have tried to improve through this module. Time management is another, being organised makes me less stressful as much as I do love working under pressure. I think these are all important skills and strengths that I should continue to improve on during the course as they are very important things.

4// What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future?


As I said before I have become a lot better at time management but one downfall is still blogging. I am getting better at this but I do feel like I still leave some stuff to the last minute. I think that I could have done my silent movie a bit better because some of them I didnt spend that much time on them.

5// Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?


1. Keep up to date with all of my blogging: If I can keep on top of this then I wont have any last minute stresses just before deadline.

2. Try and research more: I know I said I am getting better at it but I feel that you can never research too much and I need to do more.

3. Generate more ideas: Every time I get an idea I should be jotting it down and I know I didnt always do this in this module. This will give me more choice when deciding on final outcomes and it also pushes me to think outside of the box.

4. Ask for help more when I need it: I did ask for a lot of help through this module especially Studio Brief Two, but I feel like some parts of my sequences fell short of some amazing techniques because I was too lazy to ask for help. You dont get if you dont ask!

5. Never doubt my work: I have started to become more confident in the work I produce but sometimes I still doubt myself, I need to stop worrying about everyone elses work and what they are doing. The reason I am on this course is to develop my own skills and enjoy myself!

Attendance: 3
Punctuality: 4
Motivation: 4
Commitment: 4
Quantity of work produced: 4
Quality of work produced: 4
Contribution to the group: 4













Design for digital// Hand Rendered storyboards..

Here are my hand rendered pre-production storyboards for my idents and title sequence//

For these storyboards I have drawn out the frames and hand drawn my illustrations and imagery, these have then been coloured with water colour pencils and drawn over with pen. I have then scanned them in and uploaded them as PDF's to Issuu.



Mountain ident//

Here are the hand rendered storyboards for my mountain ident. My idea has changed slightly to the original storyboards due to tweaking and coming up with a better transition etc. I think that the storyboard clearly communicates what is happening with the ident. I have shown that the character is 'climbing' the mountain and then the text appears from behind the mountain and then showing the tv channel appearing from mid air, spinning and enlarging into position.




Skydiving ident//

This is one of the most simple storyboards I have but it clearly communicates my idea. The skydiving character parachutes down from the top left hand corner and as he falls his scale increases and he also changes rotation as he moves. As he gets 'closer' he swoops past the centre frame which the reveals the tv channel, time and day.




Scuba diving ident//

The scuba diving ident has changed slightly from the original storyboards. I have simplified it slightly as I felt that there was too much going on. Again I feel as though I have clearly communicated my idea. I think that my ideas have come across clearly because of the way in which I have drawn out my storyboards. They are very simple and the water colour pencils have helped me to give a good sense of colour within my sequences.







These are the hand rendered storyboards for my title sequences. I have used most elements from these storyboards but i have also changed and adapted parts. I have not drawn out all of the title sequence in hand drawn storyboards but I do have post production screen shots of the key frames in another post.

Monday 6 February 2012

Design for digital// Packaging my module dvd..

As part of the OUGD202 submission we were asked to design a packaging for the DVD that we would be handing in. I decided to use my character from the 'Top 10' brief because I feel he was the most prominant part of my module. I have kept the designs simple giving the character a front and a back. Giving him a back allowed me to incorporate one of the 'Top 10' which was getting a tattoo.



All of these designs are pretty much the same apart from the fact that I have changed the colour and positioning of the text. This will be printed A3 so that the DVD will fit inside. With this design I have placed my name, course, year and module code on the bottom left of the front of the character, with the module code in bold, using Century Gothic. Im not really sure if it works here. It seems to make the characters face look squashed.



On this design I have changed the text colour to orange, there are two reasons for this. One, I love orange and two, I have used orange in my sequences.


I then tried blue to see what it looked like, as this was also a colour that I used within my sequences quite a lot. I think that the blue works better with the colour of the character than what the orange does. It makes it a lot softer but you can still see its there.



This is the one that I have decided to use. I have moved the text to the back of the character because I felt that it fitted in better there and didnt look like it had just been stuck there like it did on the front. I have also made the text into two lines rather than four so that it doesnt look so bulky.



I will be printing my final packaging onto white card, the actual character has a light grey tone fill so the inside of the packaging will be white and the outside grey. There is then a semi-circle which will be stuck at the sides so that the DVD slots in.

These are the final versions of my packaging for the submission DVD//

 I am really pleased with the final print out. I think it works really well because it is so simple. It is printed on white card and is very sturdy. My name, module code, course and year is printed on the back. I think it is funny that the character has a front and a back which meant I could give him bum cheeks and a tattoo like the sequence.
This is the back of the packaging, as you can see I have made it so the character has bum cheeks. There is also a small slot at the side to close the packaging.
This is the inside of the packaging. I made a flap and stuck it with double sided so that the disc would slot into it. I made the inside a different colour to the outside so it didnt look so plain.
This is a view of the back and front of the DVD case. It just makes me laugh that I will be handing this in! Hopefully he'll bring me good luck!!

Design for digital// Top 10 title sequence: screen shots..



Here are the screen shots for my 60 second title sequence for the 'Top 10' brief.

Design for digital// Ident storyboards: screen shots..



Here are the screen shots taken from my tattoo ident for the 'Top 10' brief.




Here are my screen shots for my skydiving ident for the 'Top 10' brief.




Here are the screen shots for my mountain ident for the 'Top 10' brief.




Here are the screen shots for my octopus ident for the 'Top 10' brief. (This ident will be the fourth one I will submit rather than the one below).




Here are the screen shots for my scubadiving ident for the 'Top 10' brief.

Design for digital// Design boards: redesigned..

I decided to re-do my design direction boards as the ones I initially did are no longer relevant to my final solutions and design approach I decided to take. The new boards show the new imagery that I am using in my sequences and also information about the channel they will be shown on.





Wednesday 1 February 2012

Design for digital// Top 10: Title sequence idea generation..

Title sequence//

Below are some experimental idea generation clips for my Top 10 title sequence, along with the final outcome. I am very pleased with what I have produced and feel that I have learnt a lot through out this module.



This is the beginning of the titke sequence. What I have done is created the character and used the scale and position key frame tool in After Effects to make him appear into frame from the bottom left hand corner. I tried to make it look as though he was walking up from the corner by changing the rotaion slightly with the other two key frames. Once he gets to mid frame, still on the left hand side, I started to bring in the speech bubble which 'blew up' slowly. The text then appears in this speech bubble when it has reached the required size. I have then used an After Effects effect called type writer which makes the text appear letter by letter, like a type writer.




This shows the first half of my title sequence which took me a good few hours. It is using the same elements as the first video but then adding bits. This sequence slightly changed as I developed my ideas. I had changed the timing of some elements as they either moved too fast or too slow. 




This is my final Top 10 60 second title sequence. I am very pleased with the final outcome and I think I have learnt a lot whilst making it. At first I found it difficult to grasp After Effects because it was new to me but once you learn a few simple techniques theres no stopping you. I think the thing that works best about the sequence is the music and the transitions. The music is everything in all of my sequences, it is what makes it. The transitions were hard to solve at some points, as I couldnt just randomly go into a frame, they had to be smooth and clever. I think the ones that work best are the skydiving and mountain frame transitions because I gave myself room to merge elements together which made transitions smooth but also added a bit more humour to the sequence.

There are obviously things that I would tweak if I had more time such as the timing in some frames and the placing of some elements, but nothing is ever 'finished'. 

Design for digital// Top 10.. Idents..

Idents// Development:

Here are my ident developmental ideas for the Top 10 brief. My Top 10 is 'Top 10 things to do before you kick the bucket'. I am creating four 10 second idents that will be shown at specific times of the day to remind my target audience of when my proposed programme would be shown. Each ident has been designed to give a snippet of what the show is about without giving too much away. The design approach is consistant throughout all the idents and the title sequence. I have tried to keep each one simple and light hearted, keeping to the tone of voice of the 60 second title sequence and the proposed programme.

I have also tried to find audio that fits well with each ident rather than using the same music as the title sequence. The music is still taken from the film The Bucket List film where I found the soundtrack album on YouTube. A lot of the music from the album is quite upbeat jazz and there are also songs that are a lot slower.


From my list of 'Top 10', skydiving is number one. In this ident I have tried using just one off of my list to keep it simple and not give too much away. I also wanted to keep the transitions simple so that it didnt become unclear or confusing on what I was trying to communicate. The character is parachuting through the frame after the type has disappeared. I decided to add in the sentence 'What will you do before you kick the bucket?' because it communicates my topic and the way in which it is asked just before the parachute is quite inspiring. It will make my audience think about what the programme may be about, and then the illustration gives them a clue. I think that the way in which the channel name, day and time appear after the parachute has moved past the centre of frame works well, its simple and an effective transition. I used an After Effects effect called 'write-on' for the type that appears first. This works well in time to the music and it has also helped me to learn how to use effects effectively within my sequence. The main thing that is consistant between all of my sequences is the background, which I think is important. I didnt want to keep changing it as this could look too confusing and the same with the illustrations, I wanted to keep things simple but still use After Effects in an effective way.


This is probably my favourite out of all my idents. Its so light hearted and fun and I think it works really well. The character has gone to get a tattoo, which is something off of my 'Top 10'. He 'walks' across the frame and shows his bum to reveal he has a 'peace' sign tattooed on his bum cheek (this idea came from the fact that one of my flat mates is considering getting this tattoo on his bum cheek, but keeps chickening out!). I would say that this ident is slightly different from the others because I have used the frame space in a different way. The tattoo parlour takes up the a lot of the frame and the character is almost restricted in where he can move. I have made it so the character looks as though he is walking away from the tattooist before turning to show his tattoo, I did this by changing the position and rotation key frames along the time line. The music again has been chosen specifically for this ident, rather than always using the same one. I think the music makes the whole sequence more light hearted and funny because of its beat and tone of voice. I have used the speech bubble as I did in the 60 second sequence, as this allowed me to place the 'Top 10' title within something and it then also looks as though the character is saying it. The channel name, time and day fades in the tattoo shops window, which again I think is a successful transition.


This is my second favourite ident. I think that its the music that makes this sequence work so well, its a very upbeat and happy song (again taken from the film 'The Bucket List'. The music along with the smiling face of the character just makes me giggle. This ident is showing the character climbing a mountain. I have used the position and rotation key frames to make him look as though he is climbing it. Once he is at the top of the mountain, a speech bubble grows and the 'Top 10' title appears, this stays for a couple of seconds then fades out while the tv channel, day and time, rotates and changes scale as it replaces the speech bubble. I think that the way in which the mountains enter the frame work well. It seems to make them feel really tall (which mountains obviously are) and just makes it a bit more realistic.



This is one of the last idents that I created that was based around scubadiving. I designed it so that my character would be swimming through the sea with some fish and then some how the tv channel, day and time would appear. I think that this ident is quite clever with its transitions. I started off by creating the imagery for the fish and the character in scubadiving kit. The fish appear first to set the scene and then the character moves in as though he is swimming, I did this by using the position and rotation key frames. I think it has worked quite well because of the way in which I have created a smooth line for the character to follow. Once the character has gone out of frame the octopus comes in from the top left hand corner and squirts ink. The ink then fades out, using the opacity key frame tool, and the tv channel, day and time appear. I have made the octopus the same colour as the BBC Three logo so that the visual elements work better and feel more consistant. The music fits really well with the sequence and it is again taken from the film The Bucket List. It is a slowish jazz piece that has a chilled out tone of voice which I think suites the under sea environment. I decided against using sound effects within certain sequences like this, even though suggested during peer crits. This is because I wanted to be able to pick a piece of audio that told the story and fitted with the emotions of taking part in this activity, and I feel I selected the music very well.