Final 4 Briefs

After the crit, I have revised my briefs one last time, designed to be printed clearly alongside my work for future feedback sessions.

Revised Brief: Icon-athon

After an extensive, and extremely helpful, chat with Phil in the studio, it has come to my attention that the 'Icon-athon' brief is simply too difficult to pursue as a substantial brief.  The deliverables, the range and the product itself is seriously limited, and although it would be an excellent brief to get my creative juices flowing, it isn't suited to the module.

In light of this, something had to be done.  4 briefs down to 3.  Sure, I could choose one of the other briefs, but after the feedback from the tutorial I really wanted to find a purpose for my icon design.

I have proposed a brief to select 20 films from 2010-2012, researching the facts, figures & ratings for each one.  The findings will be presented visually, through info-graphics & iconography, as a double page spread  featured as special material in high-end film magazines such as Empire and Total Film.  This, of course, can be expanded to collectable posters, A5 postcards, a dedicated publication and other printed media.  These would be sold in entertainment stores such as HMV and Blockbusters, in the form of collectable prints.

If I wanted to go further I could propose a shift to digital media, including the info-graphics & iconography as  a website, an app, or as desktop backgrounds.

Proposal Form Re-Visited

Note - The brief 1 title "Rugby League Publication" has been altered to "An Introduction to... Rugby League"

The brief 3 title "Typeface Design" has been refined to "Nordic Typeface"

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Brief 1: An Introduction to... Rugby League

Product - Publication, Zines

Range -  Lanyards, Postcards, Pin-ups, Promotional Posters & Flyers.
Distribution -  Football Grounds, Tourist Centres, Student Unions, Sports Halls, Headingly Town Centre


Brief 2: Emotion & Type

Product - Typographic Posters
Range - Booklet, Different Stocks
Distribution - Type & Print Fairs, Typography Magazines/Zines, Online Stores, LCA pin-ups (4D)


Brief 3: Nordic Typeface

Product - Full Typeface
Range - Glyphs & Special Characters, Variations, Font, Typographic Posters
Distribution - Type & Print Fairs, Online Stores, Typography Magazines/Zines, Typographic Posters


Brief 4: The Best Films of 2010-12

Product - Double Page Spread
Range - Collectable Posters, Postcards, Collected Publication, Website, Phone App, Desktop Background
Distribution - Magazines, Entertainment Stores, Online Stores, Online Presence

Revised Briefs After 9/10 Crit

After realising how broad my briefs were, I had to refine them down.  These were my 4 altered briefs that I discussed with Phil, where we had a discussion and marked down potential issues with what was being proposed - most notably the Icon-athon brief.  A set of deliverables, an actual product & range needs to be identified.

Initial Proposal Form

Time Sheets

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In this session, we were asked to analyse our briefs and break down the 10 weeks we have left based on the  7 stages of design process:

1. Idea Generation
2. Research & Investigation
3. Concept Development & Clarification
4. Design Development
5. Evaluation & Selection
6. Production & Resolution
7. Presentation & Submission

It's a plan that doesn't account for mishaps and underestimations, so to stick by it religiously would be foolish.  It is, however, helpful for highlighting that the Typeface Design brief, for example, needs thorough research and the Icon-athon brief should be allocated roughly 2 weeks for Evaluation & Selection.

Brief Development Workshop 3/10

An introduction to... Rugby League

Rugby League publication

Typeface Design

designing my own typeface

Typographic Posters

on famous quotes

Weekly Icons

a library of icons

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In the session we started by narrowing down the 10 briefs down to 4, based on our practice and which briefs would create better work.

We were asked to list the skills we would use, the content that would be part of the brief, what context the outcomes would be in and finally what products would be developed and produced.  We were then asked to refer to our lists of wants and needs to cross-reference the four briefs, creating links between all four and outlining an overall practice that can take aspects from one brief and feed into an other.

10 Ultimate Things

The 10 Ultimate Things that I want to explore this year:

I want to Screen Print my typographic posters

Extremely cliché, but screen printing is something I have always admired, but never done myself.  Work that has been produced this way has a unique quality to them, giving them a higher value and desirability.  I have proposed a set of typographic posters for one of my briefs, and I intend to use this opportunity to screen print my final outcomes.

I want to design my own typeface

I have always had a passion for type, but never thought about creating one of my own until now.  I feel it would develop my understanding of each letterform and the varying characters within each one.  This of course will be informed by my...

Type Journal

Although I created one for the type module last year, I don’t think I took it as far as I could.  I enjoyed the practical side so much I let the research side struggle.  I want to make amends for that in the third year, delving into the world of typography and finding out the nitty gritty details that will set me apart from other type enthusiasts.

I want to produce a booklet based on a ‘weekly themed icons’ brief

To get my mind around icons, I want to produce a body of work each week with a certain theme behind them.  This will be part of a brief, but I aim to collect, break down and organise them into a booklet to be sold at the print fair in 2013.

I want to broaden my knowledge of Info-Graphic design and produce my own that effectively breaks down masses of information

I really enjoyed the work that I was producing in the last module of the second year; an informative publication on the Premier League.  It was the first time I had properly looked at info-graphics - how they broke down a chunk of information and what form the graphical aspect would come in really intrigued me.  I felt I was a slight beginner and I really want to develop this side of my practice, which will inform my icon designs in places and vice-versa. 

I want to produce work that is inspired by other cultures

The Great Exhibition of 1851 introduced artists and the general public to Japanese art and culture.  From then, artists took on the style and implemented it into their artwork, creating a brand new source of inspiration.  This is what I want to bring in to my personal practice.  Rosalind Stoughton from last year’s third year created a great typeface based on ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics and came out with a fresh, well-informed body of work.  Just goes to show that new sources of inspiration can be fruitful.

I need to take part in a collaborative catalogue/promotional brief with a third year from another practice

I haven’t collaborated as thoroughly on a design brief as I had hoped to yet, and I feel collaborations with other graphic designers can create unproductive clashes, especially those specialising in type like myself.  Collaboration with a student on another course will allow both our specialities to shine through, creating work that we can both reflect on well.

I need to sketch my ideas before going digital

Although digital work is definitely my speciality, I think sketching ideas or a plan beforehand will greatly improve my design practice.  The 150 logos and the storyboards from the second year helped me reach my final outcome, without a doubt.  It gave me a stronger, better informed, final piece that was backed up with a bunch of development, getting me a higher grade.  When it wasn’t compulsory, I didn’t do it so much.  Looking back, I haven’t a clue why and I want to rectify it in my final year.  Also, it will improve my drawing skills.

Where are the most inspirational cities/places in Canada?

I have been stuck in Leeds all my life and my plan after graduation is to obtain a working visa that will allow me to move to Canada for an initial year.  I want to experience new surroundings & new people, but where is the best place to visit for a post-graduate such as myself in a year’s time?  This is what I need to find out, before I can devise any sort of plan of action.

What are the best ways to copyright work, to prevent other designers or companies stealing work?

Copyright issues are the greatest threat to me as a designer, personally, and I am disappointed in myself for not grasping a full understanding of this as of now.  This is one of my priorities to look up, which I can research through my PPD module and talking to tutors & visiting professionals.

20 Wants & 20 Needs

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20 Skills I want/need to use

20 Products I want/need to make

20 things I want/need to Research

20 things I want/need in my Portfolio

20 Questions I want/need to find out

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200 points altogether.  At first, I thought this was a little extensive, a little bit too many to be worthwhile.  However, after pinning the sheets up on my wall and having a thorough brainstorm, it has definitely informed me about my practice and which direction I want to take it in my final year.  Having wanted to focus on editorial, infographics & icon design, the obvious 'publications, screenprinting, typographic posters' made an appearance, but after delving further, some interesting outcomes started to appear.

'Research into Icelandic culture, printing processes of the 1920's, custom paper sizes' for example, were things that I started to recognise as possible devices for developing my practice.  After I completed all 200 points, I narrowed them down (the best I could) into 10 Ultimate Things.

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Initial 10 Briefs

These are the 10 briefs that I took into last Friday's session.  A few of them are pretty vague, but I wanted to go into the session with an open idea of what I wanted to do.  I know that I want to produce editorial, info-graphic and typographic work with an introduction of icon design into my practice, but I knew these sessions would help me focus down my briefs.

I have chosen the 'Faber and Faber' and 'Story of D&AD' competition briefs, as well as two research briefs dedicated to icon design and emigration to Canada, which is a life goal.