Today we had our first studio workshop with Phil and Lorraine for our design for web and print brief. We had been asked to bring with us three different briefs which we would be potentially interested in using. I chose the following three to bring with me (shown below).
I had already looked through the briefs yesterday in quite a lot of detail to ensure that I was making the right decision. I also decided to underline key information as well as write down as many relevant notes that I could think of.This is because I wanted to come to the session prepared and get as much out of it as possible.
It turned out that I wrote the most ideas down for the 'Not Just Fleurons' brief. I therefore had an idea that this would be the one I would choose to work on eventually, however I went to the workshop this morning with an open mind.
At the start of the session we were asked to underline the brief and highlight any of the key information which we felt would help us to understand the brief more thoroughly. I had already done this yesterday so I decided to just read over the three briefs again to see whether I had changed my mind about the one I would like to do. It turned out that I still felt positive about the same brief and so this confirmed my decision.
After this exercise we were then asked to answer a selection of different questions. The questions was really quite challenging to answer and required a lot of thought. I found this exercise extremely beneficial though as it helped me to look at the brief in a complete different way, but at the same time in a positive way, as I was able to dissect it and understand what ISTD were asking of us as designers.
Although I have taken a photograph of all of the questions and my responses I am going to type it out on here to have as a reference and to make it clearer to understand.
5 problems you want to solve and why?
1. Discover what my metaphor for life is to be able to apply it to my design.
2. Consider plants in the broadest possible ways to show what we feel is the role of the garden in our lives.
3. Develop an eye catching and informative outcome that interprets and celebrates the plants. Why? To illustrate my interpretation of the brief.
4. It isn't for a particular audience so I have to discover my opinion of the role of the garden in our lives.
5. Link nature to a typographic outcome.
5 facts about subject and content
1. Some see gardening as a metaphor for life.
2. The constant in all gardens is the presence of plants.
3. Words and language are our collateral.
4. We have to consider plants in the broadest possible ways.
5. The soul cannot thrive in the absence of a garden.
5 facts about the audience
1. Professional gardeners
2. Home owners with gardens
3. Vegetable plot owners
4. Ornate public garden visitors
5. Tourists
5 things I want to communicate
1. Illustrative hand rendered type
2. The uses of plants (aromatherapy linking to the soul)
3. An informative guide for tourists in one of the places (Japan/America/Chateau de Versailles)
4. The smell, taste and feel
5. The connection between plants/humans
Things I don't know about the brief
1. Specified audience
2. What the outcome needs to be
3. Eye catching and informative (broad)
4. The age range of audience
5. What they mean by 'not just fleurons' go the extra mile?
6. Can it be a deep and meaningful response?
After this exercise we were then asked to think about the possible products we could create for this brief and perhaps note them down. We were also asked how we would distribute these products, this helped us to think about whether we had enough to cover and fulfil the brief as a whole and whether we had chosen the right one. A lot of people at this stage realised that the brief they had chosen could have been a lot more direct and perhaps less generalised and vague. Although my brief is quite vague I feel as though I can nail it down quite easily in order for it to be easier to complete and cover the mandatory requirements.
Below are some of the initial thoughts I had in response to the brief. I am obviously going to expand on the ideas and perhaps eliminate some of them, however I am really excited about this brief at the moment and feel as though it is very well suited to me.
We were then asked to re write the brief to make it more suited to each one of us individually. I thought this was a very worthwhile exercise and gained a lot from it. As now I have narrowed it down and it has become a brief which is much more workable and easier to understand.
Below is what I have written out so far. For the next session we have with Phil and Lorraine we are expected to have a typed up version which is a bit more thorough, as it is likely that we have all missed out certain aspects that we are wanting to cover. I am therefore going to re organise my brief soon while it is fresh in my mind and organise it properly.
I am really looking forward to working on this brief and look forward to researching in to the Chateau de Versailles for more inspiration.
