OUGD502 - Collaborative 'Groovehaus' Project

This project has been commissioned by a group of DJs and has been a collaboration between me and a fellow student. This involved logo design along with banner and overarching graphical concept. This concept of creating themed variations for each event will create an ongoing project which can be developed throughout future parties.

OUGD502 - Expanding Skill Set as a Creative

Looking back at some of my ambitions from the end of last years PPP module, I can reflect on how these aims have been fulfilled and how my intentions have developed over the last few months. As can be seen by last years PPP presentation, I had a large desire to develop my skills in Adobe After Effects, Adobe Illustrator and Adobe InDesign along with grasping a better understanding of printing techniques and CMYK colour theory.

All of these ambitions have been pushed mainly by the first two studio briefs, design for print and design for screen. For both of these modules I pushed my practice to the limit and dove in at the deep end with my intentions for the module. I chose to design a 108 page publication with little prior knowledge of Adobe Indesign, this forced me to watch numerous hours of tutorials and build my practice in my own time. At the end of the project, I was not only proficient in using Adobe Indesign, but also had a good knowledge of manual print techniques, bookbinding and laser cutter software. The constant communication and meetings with Pressision Printers was also a pillar from which my knowledge on CMYK and RGB has evolved.

Moving onto design for screen, I attempted to complete the project purely in Adobe Illustrator and Adobe After Effects. The reasoning behind this was my lack of ability in these areas, my college only had access to Adobe Photoshop so all of my practice prior to my life at Leeds College of Art was produced solely in Photoshop. This again resulted in many online tutorials and the project even ventured out into Adobe XD to produce my final resolutions.

It is clear that every bullet point on last years PPP presentation has been addressed and executed with the best of my ability. I aim to keep building upon my practice by developing on my editorial, motion, branding and identity in my final year at this institution.

OUGD502 - Studio Brief 2 - Identifying Possible Interview Professionals

• Mark Stringer
• Nicholas Dixon
• Mark Stott or Common Team
• Danny Baldwin
• Matthew Tweddle
• Ian Anderson
• The Designers Republic

Freelance or big studio?

Specialisms

Work they are undertaking

Location

Design studios such as The Designers Republic were instrumental in some of the flyer designs and memorabilia from the 80's rave culture. Research into other studios who also conducted similar designs.

Consider how to approach them

Consider how to interview them, Skype etc...

Visit them?

Utilise Berlin Trip

Pre set questions

Think about more to it than just a document, add a fun element or get the document printed as a publication
Send Christmas cards with illustrations on the inside or design the card myself

Treat it like a brief, conduct your research development etc...
Come up with ideas on how to start the dialogue 

OUGD502 - Harrison Park Talk

• Build Relationships
• Its not handed to you on a plate
• You must approach professionals
• Be Flexible
• Be humble and approachable
• Don't be afraid to ask
• Rejection Happens
• Stay true to yourself and change if you are nit happy within a job
• Copywriters are great to represent your concept in words rather than visuals
• Charge a reasonable rate to build relationships
• Make approaches to studios personal and not just "I found your studio on the internet"
• Every creative director has an ego
• Put more effort into getting in touch with a design studio, send mail etc...
• Don't settle with the first studio, Look around thoroughly
• Working freelance is good money however, you can build lots of relationships with a range of clients and professionals through this process
• Speaking to printers is such a huge thing
• Always email back a studio after a rejection to thank them

OUGD502 - Leftbank Leeds Abandoned Exhibition

Attending the left bank exhibition was an exciting prospect, this was an opportunity to not only view my own work on display, but also meet other people within the creative industries. Even though photography is not primarily my career focus, I still met and spoke with a few other photographers which could form important contacts when collaborating on future briefs. I believe that as my photography in the exhibition was highly photo manipulated and graphical, this helped me to stand out above the crowd and establish what soft of a creative I aspire to be to the audience at the exhibition.

OUGD502 - Design & Art Around Sheffield

Offset atSheffield was a great opportunity to see new street artwork from a city that I had never visited before. I seemed to notice that there was quite a lot of typographical artwork, one in particular which stood out was one which collaborated with architecture. This form of unusual thinking has related to many of my recent responsive lectures which teach that there is no boundaries to who or what you can collaborate with.

OUGD502 - Offset Sheffield

Offset Sheffield was an incredible experience, the two talks which have really impacted me as a designer were the talks by 'Moving Brands' and 'MPC'. These two talks focused more on motion graphics and film, one project in particular which shocked me was where the studio had collaborated with some interior designers and architects to create a moving wall made from individual diamond structures. This innovative collaboration really opened my eyes to what is possible within the creative industries and just how far you can push the boundaries of design. 

OUGD502 - Collaborative Project

Interface Designed for Dogs to use

This collaborative project has been so influential in branching out to not only new software but networking with other students within the university. As the concept was mine and Lukes idea, we took charge in leading our group and I found that when placed in this position, I thrived and really took charge in organising the media footage, sound effects, illustration and motion graphics teams. Even though this was a playful activity, it gave me the opportunity to use facilities such as the interview/sound recording rooms which could be extremely beneficial in future projects.

OUGD502 - MA Creative Practice Exhibition 2016

The MA Creative Practice Exhibition was a great opportunity to view the work of other emerging professionals from our college. Whilst there, I met other students from the 3rd year and made some important contacts from the college which could benefit later projects.

OUGD502 - JFBS Book Sale - Informing OUGD504 Studio Brief 1

At Leeds College of Art, there has been a book sale on display recently, this is a prime opportunity to inform OUGD504 - Studio Brief 1 - Designing for Print. Some of these books such as the yellow 'Knoll Text Iles' book have a direct correlation with how I would like to produce my own publication.