Time Management: May OUGD203

Evaluation... Product, Range, Distribution

I enjoyed reading through the briefs before the brief started properly, it really opened my eyes to the diversity of briefs out there, and showed how terribly they can be written too. I selected 5 briefs, not having a clue what we were doing with them, but secretly preferring one in particular, Channel X.

Forming the brief was incredibly challenging, I am used to being given a brief with a small amount of flexibility and a given set of deliverables. This time however, we were forming our own briefs, using the chosen ones as a foundation. This proved very time consuming for me, as I am not the kind of person to jump straight into a project, without ‘testing the water first’.

After my first concept crit I was still unsure, and spoke to different members of the group to gain their opinion. A chat with Fred made me realise I had to stop writing and start making decisions and getting on with it. The brief wasn’t long enough for hesitations. I decided on the idea of a music channel, but changed the genre numerous times. When I noticed people sketching, I realised I have to decide and just get on with it, and I am glad I did.

It was this hesitation that lead to my quick development of the logo, I was worried I had fallen behind, and made a rapid decision before fully exploiting all avenues. Looking back now, I am actually glad I did this, as it allowed me to concentrate on the development of my work.

I am pleased with the identity I built for my channel, Infrasonic. A lot of people have commented on the ‘I’ being made up of graphic equaliser bars, which leads me to believe it is a strong logo. It had to be strikingly obvious it is related to music, as infrasonic isn’t a regularly used word and may cause confusion.

I think I exploited the range well across a variety of formats. The postcard idea is appropriate as people can keep them, with the chance of people they know seeing them too. The posters for nightclubs and music shops was an idea to directly target music lovers, I can imagine the postcards being distributed in locations like this also. The London Underground advert was an idea designed to expose the logo to the public, regular tube users would get used to the design and it may encourage them to look at the channel. Similarly, the outdoor billboard advert was another strategy for exposing the logo, with not as much information, as it would only be seen on the go. It wouldn’t be something people stand and stare at like they would in a tube station. The web banner was a way of expanding my communication, again directly targeting music fans, but more specialised as the featured websites would be Drum and Bass Arena and Mixmag. The magazine advert was about targeting television watchers e.g. featuring in television guides and again, Mixmag.

My proposed range was not as strong, for example, the website. I believe this is because other elements were included that weren’t part of the branding. Also, I am really upset about my ident, I would like my speciality to be motion graphics and felt this would be a fantastic opportunity to engage in my area of interest, ready to set myself up for the third year. After some development and a tutorial, the feedback wasn’t overly positive, I went away, corrected the areas for improvement and again, still nothing great. However, peers had really liked the idea, and thought it should be a product rather than proposal. I must admit, I didn’t do anything new visually in After Effects to try it, although I did pick up some technical knowledge.

I feel my boards communicate everything that is necessary, and are much better in layout than my pre-submission boards which had far too much information on.

I would really like to propose an event, a launch party for the music channel, I think it would work really well, and it was mentioned by 2 peers at separate occasions. Sadly, time was thin, and I had enough to sort out.

OUGD203 Submission Boards

Boards for my YCN:

Open publication - Free publishing - More design

Final Postcard

This is the final design of my postcard, which is double sided, and features the launch date on the back. Again, it is similar in layout to the other landscape format designs.
Size: 12.16cm x 8.65cm.
Stock: Satin Gloss - to reflect light, and enhance the bright colours used.

FRONT:

REVERSE:

Final Web Banner

This is the final design for the web banner, which will be a static image, to appear on sites such as Mixmag and Drum and Bass Arena, as shown in the mock ups further down. I selected this design as it was similar in layout to my other landscape format designs, and I wanted to create uniformity across the range.



Due to space restrictions I was unable to fit the date in neatly, so in this case, the web banner, is only for the day the channel launches.

Final Billboard

Here is the finished design for the billboard, it is similar in layout to the Underground design, only with the date omitted, as this advert will be displayed when the channel has launched. Again, the text is the same format, but this is good for practicality, it will be easier for drivers to read down than across the board.



This is how my design may look in context:

Final Underground Board

This is the final chosen design for the 48 Sheet Underground board. The reason for this selection, is I like how the type directs the readers eyes to the logo. And it has an equaliser type effect due to the lines of type being different lengths. It features all the necessary information which is neatly grouped together without looking to cramped.



Here is what it might look like in context:



The idea behind this advert is for the piece to be on design a week or two before the launch, to expose the logo and design, so it becomes familiar before the launch itself. This will be a more detailed board than the outdoors billboard as on the Underground, people will stand around waiting for a tube, so will be more likely to take the time to read it. The bright colours against the black should draw them in.

The design of my postcard says, 'Get ready for the launch', but as there is quite a lot of text on the design already, I didn't want to add another, as I liked the layout already.

Web Banner in Context

This isn't the final mock ups, I just wanted to see how the colours would work with the banner, and how it would look in the format of a banner, as I haven't tried using the elements in this way yet...

Mixmag is the kind of website I would like my banner to appear on, here is a mock up of how it may look:

Another website is Drum and Bass Arena. As the colours of the surrounding area of the banner are black, I have colour matched the yellow and given the banner a stroke to help it advance.

Web Banner Layouts

Here are some sample layouts for my web banner. This would be a static image. Once I have designed my other material I can select a design for my final resolution.

Final Crit

A successful crit, and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing a different set of people's ideas... In our group there was Maya, Chris, Richard, Paul, Chris (Starkie) Ceara and myself. I had already seen Ceara's so it was good to see how her work had progressed.

Feedback from Paul:

Really useful feedback... I understand I didn't make clear what the 48/96 sheet poster meant, but I will rectify this for my final boards. And the layout of the boards were not how I envisaged my finals, but somehow felt I had to explain everything word for word, as the previous crit there wasn't enough information, so yes I really need to restructure my boards. I really like the sound of mocking up a 'night' and I actually had thought of this the day before, time is thin so I will have to see. And again, the interactive bus poster idea Paul mentioned, I think I could link this in with my proposed LCD Underground display.

Feedback from Maya:

I completely agree I should probably present the posters in context. With regards to the comment about targetting my audience on the underground, I thought it would be appropriate due to the mass volume of people that would be exposed to it, including my audience who are fans of the music genres, and potential fans in the future. Again, a comment about the boards, I agree, the layout needs to be more consistent, and this will be resolved in time for submission. The web banner for music sites is a good idea, I have proposed this but not got to the stage of carrying it through, so I will look into this.
There was a comment about printed music channel ads, and I should look at them, I have found a huge lack of this material! Otherwise it would have been my first port of call.

Feedback from Starkie (Chris):

It seems I really baffled people talking about the 48/96 sheet poster size! I think there was some miscommunication about me producing a magazine - I only stated I was producing an A4 advert for a magazine. Great idea about stencilling or spray painting logo, but as pointed out by Starkie, time is running out. Although it could look really good! And a spelling error, due to a fault letter a I have, I have had to copy and paste the letter a into words!!

In summary, a very productive crit! Great to see such a high standard of work from everyone.

Upcoming Dates

Here's how the next few weeks look...

Billboard/Underground Ad Variations

Underground Advertising Placement

Here I have created an image in Photoshop to show how my billboard might look on the Underground. This would be for a 48 page ad.

The Photoshop isn't very good quality, so I re-did it in Illustrator, much better quality, I don't know why I didn't do this the first time round, could have saved me time!! *Learn from this Gemma.

Screen Guidelines

The logo should only ever be in this position during programmes and music videos. At the commercial break it will disappear.

Pre-plan for Boards

Subject to change...
As I have five boards which potentially would be quite full, and still have lots more to put on them...

Print Guidelines

PORTRAIT FORMAT:

How the Virgin Media and Sky logos should appear.



The height of the Infrasonic logo should be equivalent to half the height of the document.

LANDSCAPE FORMAT:

The Virgin and Sky logos should be on the left, with the logo on the right.

The Infrasonic logo should be three quarters of the size of the document.

BOTH:

The font should be Electronic Highway Sign:

More Magazine Ad Layouts

More magazine layouts for a full page ad, this time including the genre of the channel, as the original ideas were not explicit enough. I can get away with putting more information on as people will have the time to read it, whereas posters are often seen on-the-go, and so people may not remember as much, especially, date and channel number.

Tutor Chat

Had a chat with Fred about the progress with my work...

Suggestions:
- Different typeface for each genre - in order to successfully communicate - at the minute it seems I am trying to reinvent the visuals for drum and bass ( usually loud, garish, in your face) to a more simplistic design, my design. Fred pointed out that I can't really do that, and I now completely understand as he put it 'you are paying for driving lessons but will only ride a horse' or something to that effect.
- Different equalizer for each genre? Again, to portray that style of music.
- Use references from my Design Context - don't reinvent!!
- Focus on what's there already- grasp the visual language of the music.
- If the idents are not pulling together, propose them.
- Focus on printed media and see what time is left.
- Don't let After Effects dictate me!!

Really useful chat, it helped to put my ideas into perspective.

Time To Stop And Think...

I love making lists, it's a novelty, and it keeps me in check! Winner.

Ident 2

This is my second ident, the beginning section is the same, but with the ending being slightly different.

After thought: maybe the Virgin media and Sky logos should come on with the line of text?

Ident 1

Two problems with this version:

-1 I accidentally didn't turn the opacity right down to 0% so 2 blocks are still slightly visible when they shouldn't be.

-2 The file format isn't correct- I should be formatting for Quicktime H.264.

Ident Layouts

Trialling different layouts for the components feature in the final frames:

I could split the elements into two parts like the above.

I think the Sky and Virgin Media logos look much better at the side, so they are still noticeable but not in the spotlight with the logo and the line of copy.

This layout works better for the magazine layout, unless I make the proximity of the logo and text closer, and reduce the text size.

Progress Crit

'More happening throughout ident, narrows down to 'i' shape.' This is exactly what the ident does do, but I completely agree with more happening, maybe more bars?

I agree with making the 'i' more clear, but in response to having it with other letters, I wanted to keep my logo simple.

'Use logo as imagery for idents.' - I did!!

'Heavier idents' yes for the Drum and Bass and Dubstep it should probably be a lot heavier and vibrant.

I didn't really want the posters to explain too much about the posters as I wanted to create an element of intrigue, but I will put more information on.

One comment from this (Sai and Liz) is that the logo is 'nice' but not specific to Drum and Bass, this is exactly what I wanted, my channel combines 3 different genres from different spectrums that still link, and its all music that should be played at full volume to appreciate it - hence the red bars in the equaliser!

And that I should base my idea on Drum and Bass artists- this was unclear, and never clarified in the feedback afterwards, they disappeared before I could ask! Another comment, 'that the ident is slow so you can't tell its Drum and Bass or Dubstep', one point is that Dubstep can actually be slow, but as I mentioned, Sunday will feature a day of chill out music, hence the track in this ident.

'Digital font is appropriate but could find a better one?' - I managed to ask Liz later on, who said it looked too digital, but this is the idea I am heading for to emphasise the digitally produced music.

'What's the channel's name' - clearly stated in brief that was on the table.

Nearly There

I now have 4 columns in, fully working! It's proven to be a right pain in the (neck) and slow progression but I hope in the end it will be worth it!

Ident Development

Adding the filler bars and more columns in to the ident - from Lorraine's comment:

I took a different approach to the way in which the layers would appear and disappear, previously I had multiple layers for each 'bar' that would only appear for a few frames, it worked but it was incredibly confusing. However, Mike Flower, the technician pointed out if I was to use toggle key frames for opacity I would only need one layer per bar, perfect for this idea really I would have needed hundreds!

Toggle key frames are good because you don't get that transition from 0% to 100%, it goes straight from transparent to opaque or vice versa.

Ident... Idea 1 Adjustment

This idea takes into account some of the comments received about the 'gap' in the logo, I know its supposed to be there, but others don't.

Channel Logo Placement

After choosing my logos, I have used 2 videos by Magnetic Man as the basis for placing my logo. It almost feels real!! To me, anyway...

Choosing the Channel Logo

After finally choosing a logo for the HD channel, I applied the +1 with the same format to keep it uniform.

Infrasonic HD Logo Variations

Testing out different fonts for the HD logo, I was unsure whether to use the Electronic Highway Sign font that I will be using throughout the copy associated with the logo.