Speaking From Experience... Final Pieces

This is the 'logo' that will be used across all of my products.



This is the logo with the dates fo trip week.

This is another variation of my logo.

This is a banner type poster that will be for the Graphics noticeboard, on the toilet doors and around the studio.


This is a variation of the poster, with a blue background.

This is a business card that students can carry around with them, so every time they reach into their wallet or look on their notice board, they will be reminded.

This is the media player I designed where students can download the playlist of the tracks on the CD.

This shows the animated version of the media player on the homepage of the website, I have never used animation before, I was just messing around on Photoshop, I probably should have used a tutorial or asked for guidance, but its only an experiment.



This is the non animated version of the website created on Photoshop, I would love to learn web-design so I could have really created it.

This is the front cover for the Road Trip CD.

And the back cover.

Speaking From Experience... Branding

I wanted to design the logo in a bold yet quite minimal. Impact seemed like an appropriate font, it is sans serif and very striking, the colours used for the type I wanted to keep to a minimum, I visualised 'Prepare To Be' in one colour and 'Inspired' in another to put emphasis on being inspired.

I decided this looked far too sinister, almost as if I am scaring the students into being inspired. Not appropriate at all.

I liked the idea of using a star in the logo to symbolise an idea, an inspiration. I did think of using a lightbulb as this is often associated with an idea, but a star seemed better suited. I think this is a little bit cheesy sounding, so I will continue using Prepare To Be Inspired. I like that the blue stands out, but I am not sure it is the right colour. I think the grey works well, as it is visible but it's not the most important element, which is what I intended to do.

Although I originally wasn't keen on the blue I think this looks a bit better, especially against the grey of the date above it. 

I like the way the stars break up the type, however this does not seem to work, it may be the colour or the fact that the text is on its own.

The black and green works well, however the three stars idea maybe isn't as successful as the one star at the end. I will add in the date to see if it looks any better.


This does look better, and the colours work well however, I am wanting a brighter colour to really jump out.

The pink seems to work better here, 

InDesign... Elliot

I have collected together a possible set of images, to use in the document for Elliot. For the main page with a photo on, I will use a photo from his Collection 100 brief, as I liked the design of the book he created.





These are the original colours for the photo, but I have adjusted the glow which gives it a cool effect.

This is one option for the images, I like this photo as it shows Elliot just 'chilling'. I have distorted the image slightly to cover the fact that the image quality is rubbish as it is only 72dpi. I have also changed it to Black and White, as the original looked good, but would not fit in with the colour scheme, plus in Elliot's original interview he stated he did not like bright colours.

This is quite a funky edit of the original, again I have stuck with black and white and applied a filter on top, it looks more like a screen print now.

This is very similar to the other image, however I have adjusted the contrast to make the black, blacker and the glow.

This was my original grid, however it did not leave a great deal of room to fit in the text content and would have made it hard to read.

This is the grid for my document, there is a 2cm bleed, and 3 columns with 5mm guttering:

This is the final design for Elliot's page, it looks much better on screen due to the colour settings in the printer using coloured ink to print black.

Speaking From Experience... Email/Text

This is an idea raised in my crit as an alternative to the iPhone app, where students can receive information in a visually engaging way about travel offers, exhibitions and events, it could also feature a link to a blog which I could set up for the current first years to share their experiences to give hints and tips to the next lot of first years.

This idea is in the very beginning stages as I am unsure if it is a strong enough idea to carry forward...

Speaking From Experience... Posters/Leaflets

In order to remind the first years to be prepared for the week, I could create posters in areas that would be noticed by the students passing by, such as, in between the male and female toilets, the notice board and the door to the studio. It will feature the dates for that week on, and give suggestions of where they can go in that week plus one of the taglines about inspiration.

It could even go in the form of a leaflet that stands in a 3D triangular plastic cover, to be placed near the macs in the studio or even in the Mosaic Bar. It will have 3 sides and stand on its own, one side could have the main tag line on, another side could have suggestions of interesting locations, and another side could have images on from my trip week, or quotes from this years students about their week.

Speaking From Experience... The CD

One of my products which I feel is a little gimmicky, as mentioned in my PPD blog, is a road trip CD, which would feature songs picked from this years Graphic Design group in the response to the question, "If you could pick a song to listen to on a road trip what would it be?"

Here are some of my friends' favourite tracks:
- True Romance - Golden Silvers (Emma Cooper)
- Fuck Her Gently - Tenacious D (Jamie Flear)
- Cigarettes & Alcohol - Oasis (Pav Adamek)
- The Road - Frank Turner (Rob Green)
- Twist & Shout - The Beatles (Naomi Farrar)
- Road To Nowhere - Talking Heads (Hazel Gage)
- Grease Megamix (Kirsty Hare)
- Sleeping Lessons - The Shins (Matt Khan)
- Your Latest Trick (Live) - Dire Straits (Robyn Russell)
- Jumping Jack Flash - Rolling Stones (Polly Williams)
- Old Friend - Rancid (Natalie Jackson)
- Be My Girl - Jet (Jo Catlow)
- Virtual Insanity - Jamiroquai (Ben Mckean)
- Kiara - Bonobo (Sam Wallbank)
- Mishaps Mishappening - Quantic (Chris Ando)
- Elusive - Scott Matthews (Maya Srivastava)
- Make It Wit Chu - Queens Of The Stone Age (Josh Dazeley)
- She Sells Sanctuary - The Cult (Gemma Byrne)
- Go Your Own Way - Fleetwood Mac (Amy Leigh)

The CD features a very eclectic mix of tracks, some well known, others not as well known. What needs to be considered visually is the design of the front and back covers, the fold out inlay featuring maps and information, and the design of the CD itself. The design of the CD will be the design used throughout the other products to keep it all uniform, and make the design recognisable among the products.

Speaking From Experience... Naming

Now I have decided what to do, I need to come up with a tag line for trip week to be placed on the products. Here are a few I have come up with, some based on already existing taglines just to bring about familiarity...

- With a name like Trip Week. It has to be good.
- Did somebody say Trip Week?
- Great Trip Week. Great Times.
- Go on. Get your Trip Week out.
- Get more from Trip Week.
- Whatever you're into. Get into Trip Week.

It did cross my mind to maybe rename the week, but as this is what it is referred to by Fred and Amber I did not want to cause confusion. However, in a crit, this idea was completely overthrown, see PPD blog.

Speaking From Experience... iPhone App

My main product will be an iPhone application, I think it gives me a lot of scope to contain large amounts of information in a visual way without taking up lots of paper, or being anything additional to carry around, as it will be stored in the iPhone. However I am aware not everyone has an iPhone, therefore I intend for the other products I create to reach out to the remainder of the audience.

The purpose of the iPhone is to provide information on where the students can go in trip week, the app will provide options, for example, the students may want to pick their trip according to budget and so I could create a Budget option menu:

Menu > Budget > Cheap > Leeds, York, Bradford...
> Average > Manchester, Sheffield...
> More costly > London...
> Abroad > Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, Barcelona...

Another option could just be based on country:

Menu > Country> U.K. > England
> Scotland
> Ireland
> Wales
Europe > France
> Spain
> Holland
> Italy
> Germany

An example of another search option could be alphabetical order of art galleries, an example for searching under the letter T may be:

Menu > Alphabetical >UK > T > Tate Britain
> Tate Liverpool
> Tate Modern
> Tate St. Ives
> Towneley Hall Art Gallery and Museum
> Towner Art Gallery
> Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery



This website features all of the galleries in the UK and Europe which can help provide the information needed for me.
http://www.artcyclopedia.com/museums/art-museums-in-the-uk.html

In terms of the design, I will use the logo as the banner at the top, and the menus will be quite plain so they are easy to use, I will use a Helvetica typeface which is the font for the iPhone anyway, and probably a grey menu. To go along with this, the app button needs designing, and some form of promotion for the app will need producing.

Speaking From Experience... Research

I have decided to concentrate on providing information for around Leeds and London, because London was a popular choice of destination from the current first years when asked, what place or place of interest they would visit for art/graphics. Leeds is my other choice as I am aware not all students can afford to go that far, and may not want to travel far out of Leeds. But then again, the whole point of this brief is to give people enough preparation time to make the trip as cheap as possible, for example I found out that to book the Megabus, you can book tickets up to 4 months in advance, for as little as £2 for a return journey!

There is a Mega Train which is a similar kind of set up however, there is only the Mega Bus that goes from Leeds to London.

Below is a list of prices for an outbound journey on the last day available currently to book from Leeds to London, so to book for February students want to aim to have organised themselves for October/November.

These prices are correct on the date Friday 14th May.

To travel by coach with the National Express, for the same dates, it would be slightly more expensive:

I also looked at the National Express train website, I couldn't book a ticket as far ahead as September, the furthest ahead I could book was 5th August, and this was even cheaper than the National Express Coach.

I also looked into travel within London, for example purchasing an Oyster Card, this is generally a cheaper method than travel cards as it works out the cheapest fare available. Also it is a quick method, as you do not need to queue up for tickets, you simply tab in and out at the appropriate readers, providing you have enough money on your card. I have taken the prices from the Oyster website:

The daily price cost of travel will be reduced by 34% if a 16-25 Railcard is added to the Oyster Card.

I will include a research book with my work, with places to go, places to stay and methods of travel for London, I will also include places I have been to and stayed at, to really emphasise I am speaking form experience!

Speaking From Experience... Rationale

Brief:

How the first years can make good use of trip week.

Who needs to know:

First years in Graphic Design, 2010-2011.

What do they need to know:

Where they can go that will benefit the course, and what they can see and do.

Why do they need to know:

In order for the week to not go to waste, and to ensure cheaper prices e.g. travel fares...if that's necessary to the person.

What will they respond to:

They may respond to a pocket guide or an interactive DVD. A blog could be set up for other students to share their experiences.

What research is required:

PRIMARY:

- Galleries - what this years first years went to, and what is happening next year.

- Cities - sights etc. or just in Leeds.

- Previous experiences, and what people would have done differently.

SECONDARY:

- Gallery websites, leaflets etc.

- Places of interest.

- Travel websites, e.g. National Express