BA (Hons.) GRAPHIC DESIGN LEVEL 06 Module Code OUGD303 Outcomes 1

Module Title FINAL MAJOR PROJECT

FINAL MAJOR PROJECT STATEMENT OF INTENT

Name: Robyn Russell Blog Address: http://r-russell0912fmp.blogspot.com/ Rationale

An investigation into branding and identity, with a focus on using print techniques and

finishes to create the outcomes. As well as looking into the publication and editorial design within branding projects.

With my practice I intend to explore the relationship between branding and the consumer, the influence the elements of branding have on creating the relationship with the consumer. I intend to use the knowledge accumulated from my dissertation to help inform my practice. Within branding I intend to investigate identity, logo design and then the application it has across a range of deliverables from publications, stationary, packaging etc. Whilst at all times focusing on elements within these brand briefs to make them unique, making the small things count within the brand, whether this be within a hi-end boutique brief to the more corporate style of branding. Throughout this I intend to explore the relationship of print techniques and the finishes that can come from this to enhance the deliverable. I intend to work on my knowledge of print processes in order to learn how to speck jobs so that they would function within the industry. It is also important to my design practice that I learn to use stocks, costing and budgeting, so that my work can be contextualised in the real world. I intend to use this knowledge to inform the design decisions that I make through the process of research and development. As mentioned I intend to focus on the printed outcomes, however I will consider on screen design if the work needs it, this is not a main concern and I will only use on screen design as a tool to enhance a brief. I intend to maintain a sophisticated and quality aesthetic throughout my work that is appropriate to the chosen brief. In order to produce this work I will need to improve my knowledge in process and explore production. This will also depend on the briefs I choose, in order for me to gain a well rounded practice I intend to work on a range of briefs from self driven to working with live briefs and client in order to further my knowledge as a working professional. Throughout this module I will have an on-going research into processes as well as studios and

designers that inspire me, such as Beautiful Meme. I intend to visit and interview professionals in order to gain experienced views on the areas I am interested in. All of this will hopefully work together to create a design practice that I am confident in, and will be reflected in my portfolio. Subjects / Themes SUBJECTS:

- Boutique and vintage, the styles and trends around this area. - Print processes and finishing techniques, used on printed media to enhance format and

function within design - Hotels and the entertainment sector; Hotels, Restaurants, Bars, Bistros, Café’s - Hi-End culture and design - Corporate - Promoting and Informing - Fashion retail - Publication and Editorial

THEMES:

- Steve Jobs “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”, a statement I truly believe in and something that inspires the work I am interested in and the style I aim to create.

- Branding and consumerism, the interaction the brand has with a consumer within the current culture and why.

- Contemporary culture, hi end design. - Traditional design brought to the 21st century (1800+), and the aesthetics that can be

brought from there to now. - Fashion for retail towards one off labels and boutique style stores. - Printing techniques, to enhance printed media - Cross over between printed media and on-screen design

Design Disciplines / Creative Development BRANDING and identity, centred around high concept and context, this is important in order to create functioning work. All of this is focused within the luxury and bespoke market, with hi-end clients where possible. I am also interested in crossing this over into the business sector, so as to gain an understanding of branding within the corporate world. As well as creating an identity, I want to work with creating logo designs, with an interest in the application of the logo over a range of products, in order to further my knowledge on how to apply logos in the most effective way. PUBLICATION//EDITORIAL, design used to create a system throughout my work in order to utilise my skills in working with body-copy and imagery. This will give me a chance to explore further the relationship between layout and printed media, so as to further my knowledge in the printed format and it’s functionality. I will also be using this as a tool to promote and inform audiences within my briefs. PRINTED MEDIA, this is an important part of my design practice, as I will be using the knowledge I have already amassed to inform the concepts and ideas I use. I will be looking at using print techniques and finishes to enhance and produce my work. However I want to further my knowledge in this area so as to speck up jobs within prospective clients and making my work function in the industry. The use of printing technique and finish will drive the concepts and outcomes I come up with. STOCKS, it is important for me to gain a better understanding of the stocks I use, so as to create printed media that functions on the right stock, and it is all part of the print specking processes

that I want to learn. DISTRIBUTION, is an area I need to improve and bring into my products so as to further the distribution and functioning elements of the product outcomes I produce, this will help me create a more professional practice that will work in the industry. I intend to push my briefs across a range of different deliverables, with a consideration for on-screen design. However, this is not the main focus of my practice, and I will only use this where it is applicable. Throughout all my briefs, I intend to use each discipline to inform one another so as to create concepts that work across a range of different disciplines and further my development within my design practice. The areas that I am not going to focus on are; motion graphics, web design (only if needed). These are only areas I would dip into if needed to enhance a brief. Practical Skills / Workshops – what, why and when? Initially I want to improve my skills within research, becoming more decisive within the areas I am interested in, which can then be brought into being decisive within my design practice. The research will help inform my design concept process, which is another skill I want to improve so as to get as much out of the brief as possible. I also intend to work across a range of different printing methods, this is in order to further the skills I have already learnt and develop them to further my concepts and design outcomes. I will be working with different elements of print from digital print; looking into learning skills about specking up print jobs, producing work that is on time and on budget within client led briefs. Also looking into using more traditional forms of printing, from letterpress to screen-printing in order to help develop my work and produce highly throughout outcomes that use these methods to enhance the design process. Throughout this I will be furthering my knowledge in working with stocks, this is so that I can produce artwork on the most appropriate substrate, which in turn can help generate ideas on the form and functionality of the piece. All of the research, and skills development will be used as a tool in order to help develop and deliver my final outcomes. As part of my production and development method I will be furthering my knowledge in using the laser cutter so that I can use it to help generate finished and textures within the printed outcomes. This is a tool I will be using to enhance my work. Throughout the processes of development and initial conceptualisation I will be using my drawing skills in order to help generate ideas and showcase my thought processes. This is as far as this skill will go as I am no illustrator. With regards to my software skills I will need to improve them all so as to help throughout my work. I will need to improve them within: in-design (working with publication and editorial), illustrator (generation of vectors, logos and styles), Photoshop (editing photos, contextualising outcomes and generating logo formats). This is a tool I will be using in order to develop my ideas and create the outcomes at the end. I will also be working on improving my skills within Photography I will use it to further my research as it will be a tool for research. It will also be used to generate content for my work from photographing studios and content, so will be a development tool as well. I will also use photography to document my work as well as presentation of outcomes. Throughout all of this I intend to utilise my time management skills and further them so as to push my briefs as much as I can, and get as much out of them as possible. This is something that will become very useful when working with prospective clients and live briefs, so I can hit deadlines and produce work within a timescale.

Brief 1: YEARBOOK BRIEF – Printed Textiles

Deadline

Rationale: To create a yearbook for Printed textiles, an opportunity to work with other students in collaboration and then do a full spec printing job. Brief 2: Cleo Tavern

Deadline

Rationale: A branding brief that covers a variety of different elements from logo to identity. This has plenty of scope to do a range of deliverables that can be driven by printing and process. Brief 3: LuLu Fashion Label

Deadline

Rationale: A fashion branding brief, creating a boutique style high end range of deliverables to help promote the new store. This will involve processes and appropriate deliverables. Brief 4: ‘I’

Deadline

Rationale: A live brief, to re-brand ‘I’ newspaper, creating cover designs with promotion and opportunity to work with stocks, formats, printing techniques/finishes and layout. Brief 5: ‘Scotch Whiskey’

Deadline

Rationale: A live brief, to re-brand and package Scotch Whiskey. This is an opportunity to work with promotion, branding which can all be process driven. POSABLE ADDITIONAL BRIEFS: Brief 6 – Design Context Publication – Working with layout, with large amounts of body copy. Specking for print. Format and stock opportunities. Brief 7 – Regents Property Consultants – Re-branding, working with a live client to create a new identity. Brief 8 – NHS – Branding a GP’s, creating a logo to go across a range of deliverables. Brief 9 – Fashion Student ‘Alias’ – Branding, and publication, layout and possible web work. Contextual references / Designers / Studios / Companies (specific) DESIGNERS/STUDIOS: I have listed a range of artists and studios that I am interested in, all of them specialising in element’s of branding and identity. Focusing around areas of fashion, retail, culture and hi-end design for print. - Heydays - Sid lee - Bureaubruneau.com - Lagarconnbleu (Sebastian gram) - Swiss Legacy - Studio Verse - NBStudio (.co.uk) - Collective approach - Wearegolden - Studioworldwide

- Guy&max (.com) - Moving Brands - Popcornbox - Mash - Bk-w.com - Dan-sl - Seventhdesign - Generation Press - Beast Pieces - Atipus AUDIENCE/CONTEXTS: Culture sector, creative industries, corporate (annual reports), business sector, retail, fashion, food sector, entertainment, event PRODUCTION /DISTRIBUTION METHODS: Print processes and finishes – embossing, duplexing, monotone, duotone, web-design, on screen distribution (where applicable), viral marketing (again, where applicable), packaging, food packaging, product packaging, publication format, stocks.

RESEARCH ACTIVITY: Contacting stock, paper mills/printers

Deadline

Details This will be a processes throughout this module, in order to gain experience working alongside printers and stockists to understand how it works in the industry. RESEARCH ACTIVITY: Visit studios

Deadline

Details Organise visits to branding studios in order to get a better understanding of their processes and how they go about creating their ideas and work. (Thompsons’ brand company and Beautiful Meme) RESEARCH ACTIVITY Interviews with professions from visiting professionals week to other designers, such as team at Popcorn

Deadline

Details Speaking to professionals in order to get a better understanding of their view on branding, and how it impacts on consumers. (e-mail Ben Haworth, Andy Logde, Thompsons and Chris Jackson) RESEARCH ACTIVITY Visit boutique stores/bars/hotels etc

Deadline

Details I intend to visit boutique stores, and hotels/restaurants etc in order to see how their branding is done and what I can do with my work. RESEARCH ACTIVITY Deadline

Branding Details There will be a constant investigation into branding throughout this module, in order to fully understand it and utilise it in the most effective way. I will do this through primary and secondary sources.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS / TEXTS - (Harvard Refernced) Fiske, J (2011). Introduction to Communication Studies. 3rd ed. Oxon: Routledge. 9-177.

Olins, W. 2008. Wally Olins: The Brand Hand Book. London: Thames and Hudson LTD. Olins, W. 2003. On Brand. London: Thames and Hudson LTD

Lasn, K. 2000. Culture Jam. New York: Harper Colins

Klein, N. 2005. No Logo. London: Harper Perennial.

Hodkinson, P. 2011. Media Culture and Society. London: Sage. Dittmar, H. 2008. Consuming Culture, Identity and Well being. New York: Psychology Press. Davis, M. 2009. The Fundementals of Branding. Switzerland: AVA Publishing SA MAGAZINES / JOURNALS / ARTICLES – (include publication date and details) Jacoby, J and Kyner, DB. (1973). Brand Loyalty vs. Repeat Purchasing behavior. Journal of

Marketing research. 10 (1), 1-9.

Jevons, C. (2005). Names, brands, branding: beyond the signs, symbols, products and services.

Beyond products brand management. 14 (2), 117-118.

Walsh, MF. Winterich, KP. Mittal, V. (2010). Do logo re-designs help or hurt your brand? The role of

brand commitment. Journal of Product and Brand Management. 19 (2), 78-84.

Ivan. (2009). Interview with Rob Janoff, designer of the Apple Logo. Available:

http://creativebits.org/interview/interview_rob

_janoff_designer_apple_logo. Last accessed 10th January 2012.

Fitzsimons, GM. Chartrand, T. and Fitzsimons, GJ.. (2008). Journal of Consumer research Inc.

Chicago Journals. 35 (1), 21-35.

Dameron, K 1941. “ Advertising and Consumer movement” The journal of marketing. Vol, 5. No, 3. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1246666 (Accessed October 24th, 2011) Muniz, AM. O’Guinn, TC. 2001 “ Brand Community” Journal of Consumer research. Vol, 27. No, 4. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/319618 (Accessed October 24th, 2011) Computer arts – branding edition Computer arts – Logo edition

ON LINE REFERENCES / WEBSITES / ARTICLES (include specific urls) All of these websites cover a range of different design elements from product design, to layout to packaging, each website has some form of inspiration for my design and will push my concepts. Form Fifty Five - http://www.formfiftyfive.com/ September Industry - http://www.septemberindustry.co.uk/ Eight:28 - http://eight48.com/ Madethought - http://www.madethought.com/ Its Nice that - http://www.itsnicethat.com/ Holy Cool - http://www.holycool.net/ Blush - http://www.blog.blushpublishing.co.uk/ B&U - http://beautifulanduseful.tumblr.com/ Today and Tomorrow - http://www.todayandtomorrow.net/page/3/ Neither this nor that - http://neitherthisnorthat.tumblr.com/post/16171457178/online-shopping-6-of-my-favourite-stores Daily Drop Cap - http://www.dailydropcap.com/ Email inspiration - http://www.emailinspiration.com/ OTHER REFERENCE MATERIAL (Films, events, exhibitions, conferences)

ACTION PLAN – use this section to identify specific tasks that you need to complete in order to resolve the brief. Brief What do you need to do? Deadline 1

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