If you were a...?

1. If you were a book what subject would you be and who would read you?

I would be a guidebook to an area in the world. All the content would satisfy my interest in travel, advising readers on tourist spots, shops, food and lesser known districts that interest me.

2.  If you were a package what would you contain and who would open you?

 I would be a Coca-Cola bottle with varying designs depending on public interests, time of year etc. and would be sold as limited edition coke bottles to people interested in the brand or just coke-lovers.

3.     If you were a shop, what would you sell and who would buy from it?

I would sell one specific type of food, I love jams and chutneys, for example chilli jam and would love a shop filled with slightly more obscure jams, like Whole Foods bacon jam. People who shop there would be people who love food and trying new foods.

Ritter-Sport chocolate shop Berlin

4.     If you were a poster, what would you promote and to whom?

I would promote a big event in the world, for example the Olympics or the World Cup. I would like to be able to aim promotions at something that already generates so much public interest. They would then be directed at the whole of the public.

5.     If you were a brand, what would your values be and why are they important?

If I were a brand I would make it important to create a high quality and authentic experience for the public over producing a product. An idea that I'm so interested in is Secret Cinema and how it manages to put you into a situation that you're aware of but never imagined being in.

6.     If you were an exhibition what would you exhibit and where would you show it?

I would like to exhibit 50s and 60s advertising, it was all so overt in it's advertisements and would in some cases be totally dishonest. It aims to sell a lifestyle over a product and leads people to believe this will change their life. I would show it in a house designed and decorated in the style of the era.
This blog is a database of all old school advertisements and it really highlights the difference between now and then.
http://blog.vintascope.com/

7.     If you were a leaflet what information would you contain and who would read it?

If I were a leaflet it would be self-promoting, therefore allowing me to fill it with all my own content in terms of text, image, layout and design. It would be directed at people with an interest in graphic design and I would probably design it in a way to make it like a CV, to be read as a job application.

8.     If you were a sign what would you show, to whom would you show it and where?

I would be a big way finding sign, with maps and highlighted areas of interest. I would be in city centres for people who aren't used to the area or are tourists.

9.     If you were an app what would you do and who would use it?

If I were an app I would be a redesigned version of a weather app. I check the weather everyday and check for the following days so I always know what to bring out with me. However, I would redesign it to make it applicable to people in terms of how to prepare for that weather. It would be able to be aimed at almost anyone if they plan on being outside for long.

10. If you were a blog what would your subject be and who would follow you?

If I were a blog I would be aimed specifically at one interest, for example one of my own greatest interests is cinema, and I love learning about the background of the making of the film, and backstage photographs. I would be followed by people who bare the same interest and can appreciate the greatness in a topic.
As an example, one of my favourite blogs is this one of 'Awesome people hanging out together', which is mindlessly entertaining and extremely addictive. http://awesomepeoplehangingouttogether.tumblr.com/

Communication Is A Virus Evaluation

1. As a group what problem did you identify and why in response to 'drink tea'?

We identified what tea is associated with, mostly relaxing after a days work, a pass time that fits in with the lifestyles of working professionals who need that down time. As well as this tea has a reputation for represented a British 'stiff upper lip'. We wanted to change that by creating this 'tea is cool' ethos and incorporating into the lives of students and young professionals.

What methods did you use to gather your evidence to prove this was a problem and what forms did it take? (primary, secondary, qualitative, quantitative)

When doing research into other brands of tea, almost all the websites tried desperately to capitalise on the British theme, the use of Union Jacks, London Buses etc, a theme which in my opinion is extremely overdone. When looking at some of the tea brands on sale in Harvey Nichols, a few more tried to appear natural and pure, a concept that I was quite interested in implementing but that wouldn't contribute to the 'tea is cool' idea.

What methods of research did you find useful and why?

Our secondary Research proved most useful given that we were trying to do something completely different to all the existing brands. This made it easy to see what other brands had done and almost do the opposite so that we wouldn't fall into a trap of being similar to any other brands. It was the secondary research that contributed to our decision to make our own brand, since we'd seen nothing that was in-keeping with our theme.

What research could you have carried out that would have proved more useful?

Spending more time and actually documenting primary research could have really helped us decide how to make our brand fit the target audience perfectly, enabling us to have more success when it came to making the brand viral. Actually talking and documenting students and young professionals interest in a new brand of tea aimed at them would have helped us identify what areas required more attention.

How did you manage the workload as part of a group?

For the first time in any group I have been the workload was split very well. Initially we struggled as we were still coming up with a concept and plan for the first week, delaying us starting on the actual practical side, but once we had the idea clearly laid out we listed everything that needed to be done and assigned people to different areas based on their strengths. It was fairly evenly distributed and when someone was struggling more under their load others did help them out when they had the time. As a result, despite setting ourselves quite an ambitious project and therefore the workload being quite high, we were able to finish it effectively with everyone's help.

In spite of the success of the branding design and production, we were side-stepped by it and became so distracted by making it perfect that we didn't spend the amount of time on promotion that we could and should have, meaning that we didn't fit the brief as effectively as we had the potential to.

Personal and Practice

5 Statements about me as an individual:

1. In only the past couple of years I've realised how much I love to travel. No matter where it is, the shift in my surroundings has a huge effect on my the way I look at things; buildings, nature and even people become more interesting when I'm in a place I'm not accustomed to. There's a level of excitement that I get before going abroad that can't be matched by anything.

Similarly, this is the only time I get to spend with my family, something that I've started to appreciate more as I've gotten older. While at 16 I wanted nothing more than to not have to deal with parents and siblings, a short 4 years later, half the excitement of the family holiday is the family part.

Skiing with my family 2012

2. Despite this love to travel, I will always live in a city. I love Leeds but couldn't carry on living here without being a student. I have always planned to go back to London after uni and although I may not stay there forever it is one of my favourite places to be.

3. It is unlikely I will ever have a pet more adventurous than a goldfish. Given that I don't like animals that much, I shouldn't be be made responsible for a creature I don't understand. I have never and will never own a cat, live with anyone who owns a cat or even tolerate someone who really likes their cat. Cats are probably the most demonic creatures in the world and their ridiculous sense of self-righteousness is unparalleled, even by Tom Cruise.

4. I love organising anything and everything that isn't to do with me. For the life of me I couldn't explain why, but I find nothing more satisfying than organising other peoples lives down to the most minute details.

5. Some of the situations I've been confronted with over the past couple of years have allowed me to temporarily step back from what I'm doing at that time and consider things that are so much bigger than that. Although I've realised these things at times that haven't always been great, this momentary change in attitude allows me to put the things that I'm finding difficult to one side and acknowledge how insignificant that they might be. It allows me to put into perspective how lucky I consider myself to be.

5 statements about me as a designer:

1. I am extremely particular and think very logically and I think this is reflected heavily in the designs I most admire and my own designs (at least the ones I actually like).

2. Contrary to what some designers might say about typography and layout design, I don't believe either of these should be used to communicate content of an article or design, they should only be used enhance the message. Both of these elements of design mean nothing without the content.

3. I hugely admire designers that can be successfully minimal. I used to think it would be easy to produce a minimal design but now I think it might be one of the harder parts of Graphic Design when I realised that a whole message is expected to be delivered with a 'the simpler the better' mentality.

4. I love type, but only if I have to look at it twice.

5. I want to spend a lot more time learning about editorial structural and layout design. It's like doing a puzzle, when you have to force something to fit together on a page it's never gonna look right, it almost has to fall into place.

Questions

What 5 words best describe your design practice?

Structured

Illustrative

Monochromatic

Detailed

Minimal

What 5 words best describe you as a person?

Relaxed

Open-minded

Particular

Practical

Rational

What are your 5 strongest design skills?

Hand-rendered design

Layout design

Research

Problem solving

Endurance

What areas of Graphic Design interest you the most?

Typography

Layout design

Editorial and Publishing

Motion Graphics

Who are your 5 favourite designers/design studios?

Hello Von

Noma Bar

Peter Saville

Linn Olofsdotter

Stefano Buffoni

What makes these your favourite?

HV- Attention to detail and ability to capture an atmosphere over actual image

NB- Perfect example that attention to detail can be more apparent in thought process over end product

PS- Simplicity provokes a more personal reaction that something with heavy detail

LO- Prefer typography to illustrations, typefaces are detailed and reflect a similar style to my own

SB- Manages to use one word and reflect it effectively in a typeface that would be noticeable to everyone

What are your 5 favourite design blogs?

Creative Review Blogs

itsnicethat.com

graphic-porn.com

For Print Only http://www.underconsideration.com/fpo/

http://welovetypography.com/

What are 5 things you want to be?

Typographer

Magazine/book publisher/editor

Journalist

Critic

What 5 things do you think you need to be this?

Individual

Enduring

Thick-skinned

To maintain interest

To be very aware of competition

Where Am I Now?

10 things that I have learnt about myself as an individual and a learner:

1. I have improved my time management greatly and have learnt how to structure my days effectively while not overloading on one this more than another. As a result I have not allowed myself to get behind and haven't had to deal with a mad pre-assessment rush to finish everything.

2. I have started structuring my time on a work/reward basis and by following this I am able to set myself effective tasks that have to be finished or I can't for example, go out that night. By doing this I can ensure that nothing gets in the way of the work I set myself for a day. However, I think I might need to be more ambitious with my tasks to ensure that I am completing the work to the best of my ability instead of just trying to get it done.

3. I have learnt that, while things may have been different before this course, attendance is the key to ensuring that I understand everything a task involves so I can effectively fit the criteria of the briefs we are given. As a result I have improved my attendance greatly from the first few weeks of the course, but unfortunately learnt of it's importance the hard way.

4. I have learnt how to manage money effectively, partially due to the fact that we do have put a bit of money into our work if we want it to be produced at the best possible quality. I realised that I needed to cut back on other things to compensate for this and have ended up saving more as a result.

5. I have learnt that I work much more effectively when secluded somewhere, as oppose to in the studio among a lot of other people. I get distracted easily when I have company and get caught up in conversation so I have started using the mac suite alone a lot more of the time in college and find that I work more effectively when on my own whether in college or at home.

6. I have started to appreciate that it is important to take time out of my work, whether I just watch a film, go out for a meal or even just work on something that I can dedicate my spare time to. While it is difficult to stop working on one brief and start on another, doing work that is outside of college is an effective break from the intensity of the course.

7. I have gathered that the most effective way I learn is by doing. For example, after software inductions I find that what I have learnt is more likely to last if I have a look around the programme myself after the induction.

8. I have realised that my surroundings greatly affect my attitude to work. I have always worked while sitting somewhere like a bed or sofa to be comfortable but realised while writing my essay that this attitude makes me feel more tired than I am and I work slower. I started working at my desk with my supporting work surrounding me and it stops me from getting distracted.

9. I have started to develop my skills at prioritising things, those that require more input I try to spread out over time and those smaller tasks can be easily finished when I have a spare hour or two. This has allowed me to keep up to date without being over-whelmed by work.

10. As a result of improving my time management I have been able to avoid becoming stressed and have realised that this in itself contributes to my ability to get work done as stress causes me to avoid those tasks that cause me to become stressed.

10 things that I have learnt about myself as a designer:

1. I have learnt to appreciate the much smaller examples of Graphic Design that surround us and the importance of the inspiration I draw from my surroundings. The colour theory and typography sessions we had enabled me to see how big an effect these have on any form of Graphic Design.

2. I have realised where my passion in Graphic Design lies and that is with Typography. After our Design Principles sessions in type I came to realise the importance of structure in type but similarly what I've always loved is type designed specifically for a certain purpose, usually in advertising.

3. My forte has usually been in hand-rendering designs and typefaces and that still remains the same. As a result I have been trying to develop my software skills but have found that it's more difficult to jump right into using it without effectively developing these skills effectively before trying to apply them and that good designing is more difficult using software than I had anticipated.

4. I have learnt of the sheer magnitude of areas within Graphic Design and would like to spend more time learning about these fields, particularly Editorial and Publishing, and Branding and Identity.

5. I have come to realise the importance of working in a group as it is something that a designer has to do when working in an agency. While it isn't always easy to work with people that differ in specialties and ways of working, the input from everyone gives allows the whole group a vast collection of ideas to work from/with.

6. I have learnt the importance of not relying on the internet and instead using the library more and trying to use just my basic surroundings as research as it is often more applicable to a brief when seeing the research in context.

7. Similarly, a lot of my research that I do find online is from blogs as oppose to just found on searches. In the same way that finding examples from surroundings, it allows me to see the designs in context and many of these blogs are strictly Graphic Design based so they have allowed me to develop an understanding of different areas of design.

8. I have realised the great importance of the opinions of others, one of the reasons why working in the studio can be extremely helpful, in spite of how distracting it can be. I have started to rely a lot on group crits when I am stuck for ideas as other designers think differently and allows me to vary my point of view.

9. I have come to realise how much importance colour theory bares in designs and how the context can completely alter the way the colour is seen, depending on the other colours used and the place in which the design is exhibited.

10. I have learnt that I work in a very structured format and could see myself following a path in layout design perhaps in editing and publishing. This is something that I would like to research and learn more about since I have been dead set on my speciality within Graphic Design being typography. In spite of that, I need to broaden my horizons as I may find that my interest and/or talent lies in an area I haven't explored yet.