Friday, 22 October 2010

Berlin Visit: Studio Contact

Today I spent roughly an hour emailing agencies that I am hoping to visit whilst over in Berlin during reading week. The first point of contact is to accquire some primary research for my dissertation, but hopefully once a relationship is established I can investigate potential internships etc. In all honesty, I have left it a bit later than planned to organise this which is a fault on my part. However, I still confident that even if I can't visit I can at least get some suitable responses through email or phone calls.

Visiting Professional: Paul Pensom

soon.

OUGD301: Proposal

Wednesday, 20 October 2010

OUGD301: Crit Feedback

This afternoons crit was particularly useful and some strong feedback was received. I'm confident that this was due to the fact that I was able to choose the relevant individuals within my group whose skill sets directly related to the feedback I was seeking.

The most re-assuring element that I gained from the session was that everyone generally agreed that my core briefs suited my proposal and would allow me to carry out my design ambitions. This was a substantial relief as I feel I have spent a considerable amount of time writing them and I know at times you can become so immersed in what you are doing within your own practice you can sometimes overlook certain things.
-
In relation to the brand identities that I am developing (and have nearly resolved at present) there were a few points raised by each group (Ross and Tim)/(Matt and Heather). They were as follows:

Robin Moore Carpentry

+ The 'joinery' of the individual letter-forms was visually engaging and conceptually strong.

- The logo itself doesn't really convey the profession.

Equine Engineering

+ Overall look is expensive which is suitable to the context and profession.

- The discontinued 'EQ' resolution was visually stronger than the chosen identity.

Market Week

+ Effective logo that conveys market week as an important event to attend, however...

- Seems too design led when the brief is client led. Too expensive given the budget?

General

+ Layout is strong and theoretically correct. Nice attention to detail especially with small type.

- Layouts for letterheads etc looking quite similar between the briefs, but they are strong.

- Need to explore stock and end production.

- No hand drawn development of identities present on the blog.

- Need to annotate and evaluate blog documentation.

--

All of the above points are valid and something to evaluate successfully against. I do feel that I have an answer for most of the issues, but it is my own fault for not evaluating thoroughly on my blog. As for the rest, they are definitely topics to think about and make decisions on.

OUGD301: 5x Questions For Today's Crit

01. Do my four proposed briefs cover all aspects of my proposal / design practice statement? Are there any gaps or areas that I have perhaps missed and should explore?

02
. Through working with live clients I am noticing the struggle between producing work that I like and work that the client wants. At what stage does / should the line be drawn? Do my resolutions accurately reflect a balance between the two?

03
. How would you suggest I handle quick turn around branding briefs when the client always comes back with amendment suggestions, other ideas etc. or simply doesn't like what you have done?

04
. Do the resolved identities (as present) suit their relative contexts and do they successfully communicate across all media?

05
. Given that each branding brief is aimed to be quick turn around, do you see any reasonable scope for expansion (even if it is just proposed). Is this needed / necessary?

Thursday, 14 October 2010

Tuesday, 12 October 2010

Saturday, 9 October 2010

Revised Portfolio (again)


I spent a quick half hour / forty-five minutes today updating my portfolio ready to send out to potential agencies that could offer me a placement. This includes agencies identified in Berlin who could essentially be useful for dissertation research. (I fly out 28th Oct, return 1st November).

It has been revised to include my new brand identity (as seen on my business cards), new e-mail address that links in to my web presence and two of the three typefaces developed in response to British idioms last year.

Thursday, 7 October 2010

Wednesday, 6 October 2010

Berlin Visit: Studio Research


Quick suggestions from Amber in regards to studios that could be useful whilst over in Berlin. Very commerical (so much so I don't think I would approach them for a placement), but a fair amount of type led work & branding which is relevant.

Kross Werbeagentur have a very impressive website.
-
I also had a word with John after my PPD tutorial (which was actually with Jane) to see if he had any additional info. Some of his suggestions (received just tonight) mirrored my own findings that I have been researching recently. I will be emailing the most relevant within the next few days and they include:

Edenspiekermann
Pentagram (Berlin Office)
Node
Onlab
Staendige-Vertretung
123Buero
Weiss Heiten

Obviously the first two are huge, but if you don't try then you'll never know.

Tuesday, 5 October 2010