OUGD505 - Design Practice 2: Studio Brief 1 (Crit)

Below is the feedback I received on my publication. I am really pleased with the feedback I have received as it is very constructive and will help me to make progression with my work. 

OUGD503 Responsive: Design Process 2: Overall Final Crit

Today we had our final crit with everyone. We presented all of our final pieces of work including all of our small briefs as well as our individual and collaborative competition briefs. We went around the studio and gave people feedback on sticky notes. We then went back to our own spaces at the end and read all of the feedback we had received. I was given positive feedback on my presentation boards which I was really happy about, however both Issy and I were extremely disappointed when we were told that our Champneys work was 'old fashioned' and 'dated' and not unique enough when comparing to existing Champneys products. We both felt extremely disheartened about all of these comments but thankfully received some other which said how beautifully presented our work was and that we didn't need to change it at all. 

As it is too late for us to change anything anyway and we are happy with our finished work, we have decided to just take on board what people have said and stay positive about the project. There are always going to be people who give negative feedback which isn't constructive.

My fedrigoni work was was also appreciated and I was given the feedback I needed about whether or not I should use the shape of the crest as opposed to cutting each of the individual letters out. This makes my final stretch of work a lot easier and I am looking forward to getting it all finished. 

OUGD503 Responsive: Design Process 2: Champneys (Box Development)

Issy and I have decided to create a crate to put all of our products in. We went down to woodwork yesterday and asked one of the technicians whether it would be possible for him to assemble a box for us. He had no problem doing this for us and said he would have it done the following day. Issy and I were so happy about this as we had already booked a photography slot in which we need all of our products for. We decided that we were going to put their existing logo on the box as this also demonstrates the versatility of it and may actually persude YCN/Champneys to use this box for more of their products. 

We spent quite a considerable amount of time laser cutting the panel with the logo on it as we had only been provided with an image of the logo as opposed to outlines of each letterform. This meant that we had to experiment a lot before we reached the final piece which was successful to use. 

Below are all of the samples we did for us to double check that it was suitable before cutting into the final panel of wood. 

Once we had had the final piece all sorted we then sanded the top layer of it down to remove all of the brown marks. 

Having made the box we are now ready to put everything together. Issy was in charge of designing the labels and so we got together tonight to confirm that everything was suitable and we printed out all of the labels, packaging, mail shot and any other promotional material. 

I bought the wood shavings from Paperchase for us to put in the bottom of the box to give an added aesthetic feel. We put some Champneys products inside some of the containers so that our products are as realistic as possible to photograph. 

Both of us are extremely happy with the outcome of all of this work and we are looking forward to presenting it in the final crit tomorrow. Hopefully we will receive some positive feedback. 

OUGD503 Responsive: Design Process 2: Dialogue Exhibition (Opening Night)

The opening night for Dialogue was brilliant. There was a great atmosphere and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. There was also an element of excitement when participants found their work paired up with another creative. Overall I think the exhibition was a success, and I think everyone got a lot out of it. At the end of the exhibition, work was sold to the general public. This is a great way of getting noticed, however it would have been beneficial to us if we had been able to give our names with the designs. 

OUGD503 Responsive: Design Process 2: Champneys (Submission to YCN)

Today I was able to submit my collaborative brief with Issy. I sent it off at the same time as sending my Fedrigoni brief to get them both sorted at the same time. I'm so pleased to have been able to work on an individual and a collaborative brief for YCN and look forward to the outcome! 

OUGD503 Responsive: Design Process 2: Fedrigoni (Submission to YCN)

Today I submitted my work to YCN. I am so pleased that I have been fortunate enough to have been able to submit my work to them, as I remember sitting in on the talk on the open day when Fred was speaking about the competitions, and it seemed like something which was a long way in the future at the time, but it has come round so quickly and I have thoroughly enjoyed every minute of working on this brief. 

OUGD503 Responsive: Design Process 2: Tigerprint Competition

I have always been interested in contacting Tigerprint, purely because I would love to get involved in designing food packaging for Marks and Spencer. Therefore I carried out some primary and secondary research and then started on my development. 

Having looked at ties from Marks and Spencer and taking some of the patterns found on them, I decided to experiment with bow ties and how I could create a pattern with them on their own or with a tie as well. Below are some rough experiments. I felt as though this idea wasn't progressing very well though and thought the finish of it was a bit too bold and simple.

I then designed some ties, each with a different pattern on them. I wanted them to all look striking and work well as a pattern all together. I experimented using a brush which gave a little bit more of a rustic effect rather than them being crisply outlined, but I didn't like the outcome of this. 

I then had a go at developing a pattern using the ties but turning every other one upside down to make it a little bit more interesting to look at. 

By doing this, I was able to come up with a pattern like the one shown below. Once I had created this pattern however, I realised that the darkest tie didn't fit in with all of the others as the polka dots were obviously too close together and as a result it made it stand out. 

I therefore decided to just use three different tie designs and multiply them. I prefer them all in the right direction as opposed to rotating each row when necessary. 

I altered the size of the pattern as I developed it, as I wasn't sure whether to submit a pattern which was quite small and would encourage the recipient to work out what it was, or whether it should be obvious straight away. I came to the conclusion that I wanted it to be as obvious as possible so that the ties were recognisable. 

Now that I am happy with the outcome of my work I am ready to submit it online. I added a brief description with my submission and decided to only submit one, as I am still concentrating on other briefs as well. 

Evaluation

Overall, I am really pleased with the outcome of my submission. I submitted the work and then found out within the following week who the winner was. Although I didn't win, and I wasn't a runner up, I am still glad I participated as I was able to try out something new and revisit pattern design which is something I really enjoyed in first year. 

One thing I did notice is the way that Tigerprint announced the winner and I didn't like the way they wrote about how they have experienced designers on their team and so it was a tough competition to enter. I didn't think this was very modest of them and actually found the written response quite unprofessional. It is all a learning curve though and is interesting to see how different competition briefs respond to each individual designer.