FMP Evaluation

I set out to produce a body of work that concentrated around the theme of ambient media. This didn’t actually pan out as I expected. I stated that I wanted to take part in a lot of competition or live briefs, the majority of my briefs were either live or competition, but doing a broad range possibly didn’t work in my favour. I did resolve the majority of the briefs fairly early on, but then I didn’t go back to finalize layouts and context boards. This has let me down in presentation, which is something I stated I wanted to improve by producing a professional body of work.

My design context was possibly the most interesting and useful part of the module as I learnt so much about the industry, but my final outcome does not reflect this. I began looking into why certain companies use ambient and outdoor media, I found out lots of facts and figures surrounding the subject matter and conducted several interviews with David Sore, from an outdoor media company. However, I found that the information I acquired was a bit dull and boring rather than interestingly informative, so I thought it would be better to just showcase the best example from leading UK agencies.
I like the pack of postcards as it acts like a directory for all the large advertising agencies and shows a more fun and frivolous side. Yet, it appears like an uninformed collection as I didn’t take the time to design it as this is not where my strengths lie. In my rational I stated to just be brave and get on with doing my own style of work and not get frustrated with how everyone else is getting on, this did not happen and towards the end I got so frustrated with my work it stopped me almost completely.

In the beginning stages of the final major project I was fuelled with lots of ideas and was excited to begin and that’s when I produced my best work. I had a range of briefs to get on with and also had a lot of interviews with various ad agencies driving me forward. But, towards the end stages, everything spiraled out of control. I am really annoyed as my time management was good, almost better than ever, I constantly updated my blog and was forever researching but I think I found myself wasting a lot of time in the research stages. To be on a graphic design course I know that the design is of paramount and I feel that still, at these final stages that it is not the design that is relevant to me. This is perhaps why I spend so much time in the research stages, as I feel no matter how beautiful the design, it simply doesn’t make a bad idea work. An idea driven role, as oppose to design, is a role I aspire to have in the professional world but I think I adopted the design role too early and didn’t consider my practice.

The end of year show, although it was a very quick turnaround brief it was possibly the most successful and enjoyable, as myself and Bel had two clear roles and stuck to them producing possibly the best piece of work through this module. I came up with the concept for the poster and Bel using her meticulous layout skills produced a great identity, we sat together playing about with different layouts and I acted as art director I suppose, this was very successful and I wish that we had produced the interior design book together.

The interior design book was very insightful at the beginning stages, talking with the students and tutor and finding out exactly what they wanted us to produce, although working collaboratively with friends was possibly not the greatest idea as we were all very similar in our desired roles and there wasn’t room for 4 designers. I would have liked to have had a stronger role, as I don’t feel I had much input towards the end and it was probably not the greatest use of time in my project.

The crits throughout this module were of great use but in the final stages, due to poor time management, there were lots of factors that could have had a large impact which directly effected my markets briefs which never really got resolved. I got myself into a bit of a fluster and wanted to produce something so great that it never got off the ground. I didn’t want all of my research to go to waste so I just put it up in a form of a blog, which was most definately not my desired outcome.

I presented my self in a professional manner at the end, which is what I wanted to do, and it looked like a considered body of work. This final major project has undoubtedly helped me move towards my final goal and got me ‘ready for the real world’ but I don’t think that is clear from what I have produced. I got too concerned with grades that it stopped any creativity. I don’t have a next time to improve on, but going forward, the strengths and weaknesses from this project have most definitely informed me on any creative jobs I apply for. I have discovered my role to be an art director which is why the end of year show was so successful. Working more freely is something I will also take away from this experience.

Great design doesn't just look good, it communicates: it inspires, it intrigues, it involves, it informs.
Bostock and Pollitt

All Boxed Up

Well there we have it, all neat and tidy. FMP. DONE.

Tescopology

The Tescopoly Alliance was launched in June 2005 to highlight and challenge the negative impacts of Tesco’s behaviour along its supply chains both in the UK and internationally, on small businesses, on communities and the environment. The campaign also advocates national and international legislation needed to curb the market power of all the major British supermarkets.

The website is mass of facts and figures to do with the down turn of the global economy and why supermarkets are bad etc. I thought they would be a great place for inspiration n and facts, i sent away for some nice little postcards so i can spread the word if i so wish. Its all a bit preachy really which is not the avenue i wish to follow but the design of the site is a lot better than is rival slandering style websites if you want to see more click here.

End of Year Show

Ok so this was the winner, if im honest im not a fan of full on vector work but in the flesh this is quite nice although i wasn't convinced that a paint brush should come to signify all that is good with an Art and Design college but hey ho, well done Merlin. Looking forward to the Exhibition.

British Markets Blog

I have decided rather than rack my brains any more to just do a detailed blog about markets including local markets, the produce you can buy and random facts about supermarkets. As i have done a large body of research that i think is interesting and blog format is probably the most appropriate.

Fruit Stickers

For the final exhibition i am thinking of proposing to giving away fruit as a kind of promo attaching stickers with my website on, this will tie in with my fmp markets brief making everything fix together. I need to find a way of producing these small stickers well, as they will be quite fiddley. I also think it would be interesting to follow the style of design used for fruit labeling.

Crafted Type

Another typeface produced by Auberach. I love the appropriateness of the phrase witht the material used a real quirky pice of design i love simple copy with with a creative media. Context specific also. This is great inspiration for the materials i wish to use for my brief.

Food Logos

I've been looking at a few food/farm/market logos. I like the compactness of the first two and they look like a stamp but the bottom british one to my dismay looks a little like my font and i hate it so, back to the drawing board for a nice new logo.

Potatoe Type?!

Iv been messing around with getting a hand rendered feel for the project. I thought by stenciling the letters it might look good but as it turns out it looks quite 'potato printy' i have done some shapes in potato also. I am going to apply all of this handmade type to a poster.

Justifying the 'tacky' element

Could you walk past a traditional English fish 'n' chip shop with immaculately painted signs and no ugly fluorescent, star shaped cards screaming "large cod & chips £2:50!" without feeling there's something wrong?
James Eden

I want to use all of the iconic imagery and textures from markets as they will evoke a reaction/feeling or emotion its not intended to be tacky more nostalgic.

Personal Touch

The personal relationships we develop with our customers day in day out mean that, better than anyone, we truly understand the needs of today's british market customers.
Gavin Kenning- Gavin Kenning Engineering
the leading authority on market stalls

I really wish to emphasize the importance of personal communication with market traders and customers and identify that going to market can be an experience in itself. This quote does sum it up.

Grass Type

Well i hope this was all worth it, it took me a long time to get this grass off Neil the Greengrocer (lovely man) I have decided to use the tackiness to my advantage with the market brief, this grass is such an iconic image of markets so thought it might be nice to do a hand made typeface with it. I originally thought of writing things like fresh and organic but the 'fake' grass is going to somewhat contradict the statement so going to think about it a bit more.

clairemcgregor.com

Ok so i have totally bought myself a cheeky website domain but i cannot for some reason create a template or edit anything, iv tried help things and everything and scarily running out of time.

Progress Packaging

I love this agency who specialise in print production, i have mentioned them before.
This selection of bags they have produced on canvas by screenprinting were promotional materials for various events designed by Made Thought this idea of promotional bags is great. I want to produce an environmentally sound reusable bag for my markets brief which also aids as a marketing tool.

Up Market

So here i am thinking its all day glo stickers and blue and red stripes but no markets have gone all fancy, Neil the greengrocer has got nice little computerised labelling with a bit of a dropped back image and bold typefaces, it shows that markets are changing, maybe the signage im creating is all wrong????

but then again, i want people to feel the quirkiness and the friendliness and isn't it the stereotypical things that i should play on??? hmmm i shall bring this up at crit time.

Red, White and Blue

I have taken some advice and gone for the red and blue to be very british, if i am honest i quite like it, doesn't look half bad and is probably more relevant i just don't want it to lose the whole market feel. But it adds more heritage and more corporatness which is what i am going for, Lorenzo suggested more of a stamp like quality, like a stamp of approval so still going to do the potato thing but se if i can produce more of an emblem.

Final Crit

Lovely, well that was the last ever crit, ever.

This what everyone had to say:
I need to download map off the ordinance survey website so that it doesn't look as fat and to miss out the other bit of ireland.
Experiment with red, white and blue colours instead of the dayglo range.
Do a potato stamp of the logo to give it a more organic and wholesome feel.
Hand paint on the wood, or write it to make it look more 'real'.
Focus on areas that supermarkets don't have like a smithery, tailors and sweet shop think of textures appropriate to that.

Basically if the logo is right the advertising will all fall in place. 15 days to go!

Whatever Next!? Posters

I thought it might be quite nice to attach a poster alongside my design context pack. These are a few developments on one design.

I have chosen to typographically describe the images which appear in my design context file. In a humous less obvious way that - 'a picture on a billboard' kind of thing. I have also colour coded the words so that they relate to the agency who created the work.

Market Blog

I have created a blog for my markets brief. To run alongside the 'website' it will have various catagories such as - Local Markets, Facts about Markets and the History of Markets. I am going to use the same style for the blog with the bright day glo colours and hand rendered lettering so that it all works together. It will be a consise area where all of the proper research into markets will be. Check it out here

British Markets Website

Ok so heres an attempt at making a layout for the market website. Its very basic at the min, but its how i want it to stay but with a little more consideration, as i really want to introduce texture i will introduce this at a later date. I have used the idea of an interactive map within the logo design to get people to manually find a market near them. Next I want to make a blog informing people of local markets, where people can post their own views on markets etc.

Identity

Im just thinking about the exhibition a bit and the idea of drawing attention to myself by combining my FMP- Markets brief with my identity, using the bright day-glo colour in some way, this was just a quick experimentation.

Final Logo

I have combined the strongest elements of the logo designs to create the final logo for my British Markets campaign, i have chosen the star shaped design along with the british isles outline as i believe it has a good stand alone value without the typography, it works as a stamp like design, it would look good in a variety of situations, scales and colours as i have shown it also works well in black and white.

Advertising and Typography

i genuinely believe that words can be as visually engaging as any image, if used and treated correctly.

Craig Ward (graphic designer at CHI)
Interview in Creative Review

My interests in design are advertising and typography pretty much every form of advertising i see it is typographically based.
Therefore although i have stated previously i really wish for my markets brief to be purely typographical so that it concentrates puerly on the content.

Logo Development 2

I took the typography further by adding a graphic symbol, i used typically British images and the famous market style 'neon stars' to experiment with logos. I also used Day-Glo colours as i want it to be a vibrant and fresh campaign which will also have strong associations with markets. I would like to move these on further for a more polished logo that can be instantly recognizable and visible at a range of sizes and will also work in different colours or revered out.

Type Development

I have experimented with reversing out the logo. My intention is to experiemnt with low-fi techniques and different forms of printing. The areas of black i see to be either relief potoatoe print or screen printed to give a rough appearance. I also like the idea of producing stickes, like apple sticers to stick on products to show they are from a market.

Britsh Markets

This is the initial logo that i have created from the hand drawn alphabet by Neil the greengrocer. It works in a variety of ways, either centered or length ways. I am pleased with the outcome, i think it really shows the character of market typography yet looks proffessional when applied in a different context.

Vectored Type

After getting Neil the greengrocer to write the alphabet and draw some numbers, i traced round the shapes in illustrator so that i could create a typeface and use the letters with ease.

Initial Poster Layouts

To go alongside my design contest posters, i have decided that there must be a promotional style poster, which would be double-sided with the postcard images on the reverse as a kind of inspiration board. These are just a few initial layouts. I have chosen to use the star as it is impactual and part of my new identity, which also ties all of my final things together.

Front Cover

After trying 3d forms with foam board, i thought it may be a good idea to not concentrate on the form but more the shadows so again me and nicky started meticulously cutting out letters and then photographed them from above with the light creating the outlines shadows, obviously for the final product it would be shot in better light and touched up but otherwise i think its quite an interesting resolution for an interior design book, something creative which shows a graphic input.

3D Type

Myself and Nicky started experimently with 3d type today, making 3d letter blocks from card, but after a fiddly few ours we hav decided to scrap making them from card and try foam board.

abel and cole

Abel and Cole is a leading organic food delivery company specialising in ethically sourced seasonal foods.
I love the low-fi quality to the design of the website and logo. The hand rendered logo in a corporate style font with just a little illustration on the '&' makes for a professional yet organic image, it is the kind of approach i want for my British Markets logo.

Final Layouts

This is pretty much the layout and design of the book, we still have a few changes like organising the text so there are no widows, orphans or typos but apart from that the layouts all fit to a grid but vary page by page so that every page has interest and it doesn't get boring, the images were throughout quite poor or bad quality but i believe we have worked well with what we've got.

Change of Plan

After careful consideration I have decided to scrap the idea of a book and create a set of postcards. I think this is appropriate as there are loads of books about alternative medias out there but they all blend in to much of a muchness due to the fact its just within a book, i want to encourage the distribution of postcards and putting them around a work space for inspiration. This would be a more intriguing format for me and i think others. So onto designing postcards.

Ocado

This organic online superstore owned by Waitrose shares the similar simple style. I really like the simple logo, which works both typographically and as an image, which works on-top of a variety of images, such as close ups fruits and veg etc. I would really like my logo to be similarly adaptable to different contexts, textures and backgrounds.