406 MODULE EVALUATION

Overall this Module has been by far the most fun and challenging.

For this first time at University we were given our first Live Brief for the Penguin Book Project. This allowed me to look at all aspects of the design, being type, colour and layout. I feel that the 404 Module looking at the use of the Marber grid helped reinforce a better understanding for Book Design when the project began. Although I spent some time in Barcelona, I was able to manage my time and design the work in time for the hand in. The final outcome that I created challenged my normal form and approach to design, as this form of design was rather simplistic. Through Crits my understanding or the importance of type was further developed, and allowed me to develop my final outcome a higher standard.

For the Spaces in Leeds Brief, I found that my final outcome was outside of the box. Taking feedback for my 405 Module hand in, I failed to express and create a variety of designs for my way finding project resulting in a lower grade than expected. I wanted to use this brief to push my self further and create unique and unusual work that still fit the brief. I found the DRMA workshop extremely enjoyable and learnt new skills on how the create GIFS, using stop motion keyframes on photoshop.

The group collaboration project was really enjoyable. I was able to put forwards my ideas that got used over the collateral of the branding, and was given the role as Leader of the group. At one moment there was a clash between to forms of designs, and I was able to use my problem skills to compromise my design to make the other team mate happy. I was able to gain better team  management skills, and an understanding for the use of social media in branding and print processing. The most successful outcome created from this project were my GIF's that I create on Adobe After Effects, this was the first time using this software. Out teams created work that was supported with great reasoning, and the overall presentation went really well. Although are team didn't win, I was glad to know my efforts and contribution to the group didn't go unnoticed, as I was chosen to lead the social media team with Amin for the RA|UM Exhibition. 

Collaborating with Becca who is one of my closest friends at Uni was a lovely experience, together we were able to come up with a strong and confident design, that was praised by peers during a final crit. I did however find it hard to contribute at  the same level as Beck as I found myself behind in work.

Overall the 406 Module was a great learning curve, I was able to undergo a high level of work ,and challenge myself with my work ethic, learning many skills along the way.

Final Critique and Evaluation

During the Final Interim Critique, the final piece was expressed as a really ‘funny and successful’ approach to the brief, and a ‘clever and well designed’ outcome. The consistency over all the deliverables was attained as the whole outcome was described as ‘polished and very thoughtful’.

Overall the final outcome worked extremely well. And the deliverables such as the cards. and the board tied in well together with a consistency on approach to the design. The overall concept of having the game held in a Folder, with a Rule guide designed as a Submission Label ties in to all the deliverables together and ties in with the concept and the meaning of the game.

‘Just play with it’ looks at expressing the ups and downs of Level 4 Graphic Design in a fun and friendly way, this decision for approach was inspired from the idea of not conforming to just educating the first years in a mundane way, but through the experiences we have had ourselves. The comical approach also removes the daunting first impressions of the course, as it highlights that mistakes can be made but we can still move forward. 

Submission Label - Rules Guide

Here is the final design of the Rules guide, this idea was created when thinking about ways in which to link the deliverables with a module submission theme. The idea to hold the game in a Module Folder ties all the deliverables well and encapsulates the stress of Graphics Design.

The structure of the rules guide was based of the Module Submission Layout, the guise greets the users of the game, and explains how other can join in. The use of the colloquial language as a friend and fun vibe to the game. The symbols located on the game board a labelled and identified on the Module Labels and also wishes the First years good luck with their first year here. Overall, it reinforces the friendliness of the outcome.

Illustrating the Cards

Initial Design Ideas, and the chosen scenarios I was given

Due to the large quantity of Illustrations needed for the cards, it was decided that the roles of illustrating the cards would be shared. This meant that both sets of cards had to follow a certain style of approach to create a form of consistency of the broad cards and scenarios placed on them.

My Illustration Designs 

Through finding inspiration from an animator under the name Oney Cartoons, it was identified that consistency through the illustrations could be attainable if there was one form of conformity in the designs. The aspect of the illustrations that remained the same were the shapes of both the heads and arms. By doing this, it allowed varied and rather hilarious facial expressions to be used. This form of over dramatising the facial expressions added a more comical tone to the game, which will hopefully engage the first years. 

The cards consist of both good and bad scenarios split into categories of Miracle, Deadline Stress and Troubleshoot, this will make the representation of Level 4 Graphics to come across less daunting , it will also create a form of relation between the students, as they relate to the scenarios. 

Designing of the Board

The Game Board design was created to link to the final design idea for the Card, following the optical illusion approach. By creating a complicated game board layout we wanted it to connote the complexity of the course through the design of the game. 

          

Rough sketches to look at how complex the game could be without making it too difficult to be played. 

The 3D approach links well to the design on the backs of the cards, creating a form of consistency throughout the deliverables. The overlapping style of the board adds a form of depth, making the board more misleading to the eye and also more difficult to follow compared to existing game layouts. As the game represents the journey of Level 4 in the Graphic Course we decided alter the design and make it a game that ironically never ends, linking to the never ending flow of work and briefs handed in Level 4. 

When the design was scanned, I used Illustrator to go over the lines, and then refine and alter the shape, spacing and route of the game to make it correlate with our design idea. 

We decided to keep the content within the board very basic, so that the overall composition wouldn't become overwhelming. The game board consists of 3 elements, the rainbow wheel , the pick and card space and then roll again space. These elements are very easy to distinguish and will be identified in the Games Rules.

The overall design itself is both complex yet simplistic at the same time. The minimal use of colour and the complexity of the layout work hand in hand to create a game board that is still able to be followed. The shape of the Board was inspired to be held in a Folder, mimicking the aspect of Module Hand in, further referring to the layout and the process of the game, following the life of a Graphic student. This theme will be further developed by using the design of a Submission Label as the Rule of the game.

As a group, the decision was made to keep the icons on the board simplistic, and easy to understand. The idea to use a rainbow wheel is comically meant to relate to the hardships Design students go through when waiting for work to load, and is symbolised for the player to miss a turn. The use of Helvetica as the type used in the board was to further neautralise the overall aesthetic of the outcome, and follow the structured paths.  The dice icon used, represent roll again, this aspect of the game was created to toy with the idea that the player is somewhat achieving something.

Colour

As the board is very complex we wanted to keep the colour scheme quite minimal. Taking inspiration from the classroom itself, the board was made grey (matching the floor) and the path white (matching the walls). By refusing the amount of colours used, the game won’t become too complicated meaning people will still want to play it.

As for the cards, we decided to go with a CMYK colour scheme linking to the printing process as it is a system we use a lot as graphic designers. This then allowed the cards to be split into three separate categories (magenta, cyan and yellow) whilst the black was used for text. The categories included ‘deadline stress’, ‘troubleshoot’ and ‘miracle’. We wanted to have more bad categories than good as it often feels like theres a lot of bad things that happen during the year with all the stress and workload. Magenta was used to show deadline stress as this is normally the time people become most tetchy and easily frustrated. The pink tone is the closes out of the three to red, a colour often associated with anger. Yellow was then used for troubleshoot as these cards contained problems that happen generally in the year, instead of an event which effects hand in. The yellow is best matched to this category as it links to traffic lights where amber is a warning light but not a definite stop. Cyan was linked to the miracle section as blue is seen as a trustworthy colour and often associated with a clear sky. For the back of the card we decide to stick with the pick colour chosen in the initial ideas stage as it is the closest match to the colour used by LCA. This gives a nice link to the university without being too obvious. The pink of the cards also give a nice contrast to the grey board giving a bit more energy to the design.

Designing of the Cards

For the back of the cards we wanted to use symbols which the first years would recognise as elements from the design process. This meant using things like a cursor and guides.

These ideas seemed to be looking a little old fashioned when we wanted to create something more modern. It was also thought that the design should reflect the complicated course. Leading to the idea of 3D shapes and optical illusions.

The most favoured design was the cubes as they would give a strong structure to the front of the card where the writing goes. Also they inspired an idea for the actual board stemming from the optical illusion idea.

For the front of the cards we wanted to stick as closely to the game of life cards as possible with regards to the layout. This is so people playing the game have some sort of reference to the other game to help them understand how to play.

   -By Becca

Research - The Game of Life

The Game of Life, also known simply as Life, is a board game originally created in 1860 by Milton Bradley, as The Checkered Game of Life. The Game of Life was America's first popular game. The game simulates a person's travels through his or her life, from college to retirement, with jobs, marriage, and possible children along the way. Two to six players can participate in one game. Variations of the game accommodate eight to ten players. This game has similar characteristics to what we want to convey in our game making it a good basis.

The board:

"Originally the Game of Life board was checkered. This makes its use of space more efficient as the squares fit side by side on the board. However this layout wouldn't fit for our game as it’s too regimented which does not represent the first year well. For many people this will be the first time they experience overlapping modules and this will be a learning curve for them. With this in mind, our board should be more like the current Game of Life board." - Becca Jones

The Board layout, intertwines around the board forming an irregular pattern, and in comparison to other games such as monopoly lacks a form of structure. This design outcome over laps with other paths around the game, making the overall board seem complicated and hard to follow, a great connotation to Life itself, hence the name. This is the style of design that will be incorporated into the final outcome of ‘Just play with it’ connoting the complexity of a Level 4 student’s life, relating the overlapping modules and continuous work flow. Although the game will have a comical aspect, it will also reflect the somewhat of the truth in Level 4, highlighting the work load they will face. 

"To represent what feels like a never ending work load, we want the board to be a continuous loop meaning no one can actually win."  - Becca Jones

Counters:

In the existing game now, The Game of Life uses pegs as their forms of counters, and each peg added represents a child or a partner. In relation to the use of objects as a form of counters, the counters used for ‘Just play with it’ should link to some aspect that is relatable to students, objects such as pen lids and bottle caps could be used to further reinforce this microcosm game of a Students life.

Cards:

"The cards themselves show things like possible jobs, expenses and other life events. This is where we can swap out these things for more course specific events like paying for adobe and missing a day of uni.

Design wise it may be possible to follow a similar design, however they can be improved drastically to appeal to a more design aware audience." - Becca Jones

Colour:

There is a great presence of colour used in The Game of Life board design. By taking existing aspects of the game such as the rainbow spinner, and relating it more to the life of a Graphic Student this could be related to the Rainbow Wheel known by all Graphic Designers, the Apple products loading symbol. Slight linked variations add a form of contextual value relating back to the research. Also the board of the original game is designed to represent the world of the players, this result in ‘Just play with it’ game being grey and white, relating to the world for the Level 4 Students, the classroom.

First Critique

When discussing our initial idea to the group, there didn't seem to be a lot of inspiration or form of reaction towards our idea. The concept came across somewhat mundane to the other members of the group, as their ideas were either comical or had a strong form of context that related to first year life experience. 

To develop our idea further, we were told to look at ways of incorporating information about LCA, or student life, however the purpose of designing the beer bottles were to help students explore away from LCA and more into the city centre, revealing the hidden bars in Leeds. 

With no confident way of being able to fully improve and stregthen the concept behind the idea we decided to change the project proposal. Inspired from the comical processes people had taken, I really liked the idea of portraying Level 4 in a humorous way for the 1st years, as it would help create a conversation. An idea that  I thought we be good was creating a game board that depicts the life as a Level 4, referring to the ups and downs that will come their way. Idea's that popped to mind were like:

- The rainbow wheel suddenly appeared move back two spaces
or 
- £10.00 was added to your printer credit move 2 spaces. 

Becca and I decided to follow this game idea approach, so that we would be able to teach them about the mishaps that happen during the year of Level 4.

List of Possible Bar Locations

• The Brunswick = Art space/nice food
• Belgrave = Neon lights
• Wax = Music/old school technology
• The White Rabbit = Alice in wonderland
• Sela Bar = Imported beer and cocktails/music
• Brudenell Social Club = Gigs
• Call Lane Social = Vegas/American
• The Hedonist Project = Changes all the time/chameleon

Initial Ideas

"At the beginning of the year it was hard to find places to go to have a drink and chat to people. With this in mind I (Becca)  came up with the first idea, which was to create beer bottle labels for independent bars around Leeds. Each bottle would be unique to the bar and tell a little story of the place. Then on the reverse there would be information about another bar you could visit, creating a chain.

Although the point of the brief is to provide advice for the first years, we wanted to provide them an opportunity instead. Something they can use when they are getting too stress out (like most of us have) and need to get out of the space they are in."

                                     - Becca

Group Contract

SB4 - Reflective Practice Brief

‘Produce a graphic response/ graphic product /piece of work that makes a statement, comment, observation or gives advice about your experience on your first year of this course.

Work with any appropriate media or format and develop and identify the content will be entertaining, advisory or informative.’

Although the first year has been a good experience, there has been a lot of rough patches. For the outcome of this brief, we want to create something which will help students through the first year and allow them to have a little break.

Mandatory Requirements:

Use the blank brief template to define your own aims, outcomes and processes. Take advantage of the processes and facilities you have been introduced to throughout level 04. The content of you final resolution should be appropriate to Level 4 freshers but also showcase the facilities  and resources available at LCA. Enjoy the process of reviewing your year. On going documentation of your research, development and evaluation should be regularly recorded on your  blog.

RA|UM Exhibition

Unfortunately, our teams Branding Identity wasn’t chosen, however through the noticed success of the Social Media elements in our work, Amin and I were chosen as the Leaders for the Social Media cohort for the chosen RA|UM team. This role involved creating and continuously updating a live feed to Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. After creating the GIF’s for the Substrate project, I was given the responsibility to create a GIF that would be included to go on emails, and shared on the social media platforms. Also by being one of the Leaders of the group, It was my responsibility to make sure that everyone is continuously updated and adding to the social media to get a larger coverage. After assigning roles to people throughout the group, many of the team seemed to focus of other project work, this resulted in a delay of getting social media accounts up straight away and running. There was also more workload given to the social media team than necessary, as the previous members of the original RA|UM team didn’t create social Media accounts. The Contributions made to the Social Media, was creating an Event page for the exhibition on Facebook and inviting the local public. I also set up the Instagram page, where I have been mostly contributing to the images and posts, that shows the process of making the posters and invites. For the emails, I created a GIF that mentions the name of the exhibition, and location, and the dates. The motion behind the gif was to mimic the action of screen printing with the appearing type. Also, to incorporate the traditional print process, I decided to create a GIF that has a peer screen printing the phrase ‘7 days to go’, this will be continuously updated with a 3 and 1 day to go reminder, to the Facebook page, Instagram and Twitter account. Overall, my contribution as a Leader for social media has been extensive, contributing to all the different tasks assigned to other members, and making sure the original RA|UM group are pleased with the content being shared.

Final Feedback and Evaluation

The overall final Branding design was successful, due to its consistency and well thought out approach. From looking at both production and design, the final outcome was both visually strong and cost efficient. Whilst presenting the identity, the Substrate team were the only ones to highlight more focus the public’s views towards the designed work. By limiting the outcome to CMYK and circles, the consistency of the branding was identifiable and successful. The input into the Social Media aspects of the design were heavily praised due to its professional high standard. The use of a web-link and Snapchat filter were commented for being great unique ideas, and the GIF’s were praised for their fluidity and professional finish. All work was supported with reasoning, making the teams approach the brief a success.

The one aspect of the branding that was given suggestions for improvement was the logo. The logo was described as clinic, and almost similar to a nightclub logo, this was probably due to the static structure it had in comparison to the open and free circles placed in the background. If the brand identity was chosen, or developed further, the logo design could be easily developed. Ways in which the clinical feel of the logo could be removed is by possibly breaking the structure, like the circles, the logo could be distorted and curved to form a sense of movement, and also link to the motion of the GIF’s created. This would possibly make the exhibition seem more friendly and approachable, and also unique. 

In terms of Collaboration with other peers for this task, being the Leader of the group and keeping an eye on everyone’s contributions to the project was key. There were moments of trouble with communication which faltered the design development and time management of the project, however towards the end of the project, we were able to work together to produce the final presentation to the highest standard. Some members of the team contributed more than others either/both physically and vocally, however others could have done more to contribute. This has been a great learning experience in both team and leadership work, and in the end we were able to create a powerful Brand Identity, taking inspiration from RM-OK, Myerscough and Morgan, and D&AD and their approached to creating a strong brand identity.

Final Presentation