Stratstone: Initial Idea Development

After speaking with Jas, the project manager we've got a much clearer idea of what they are wanting us to do; A car from top gear will be in the showroom, so they would like some kind of decoration/set designing in order to display the car and communicate a sense of the outdoors with some reference to Alice in Wonderland. It should also act as a kind of barrier in order to keep the viewers from touching it. 

Upon hearing this, me and joe got to work straight away as the brief is a very quick turnaround(1 week). Our initial idea is to create a scene from various woodcuts that will surround the car and build a 3D scene, taking inspiration from illustrator Tom Haugomat's use of colour and shape, who has worked with alot of automobile companies. 

Initial mockup of the Set Design

Our main focus is to surround the car, and almost transport the audience to a wonderland. We have just learnt however that the budget is £100, which for this type of project will be a bit of a struggle. We just need to get an idea nailed down quick as we are very conscious of time. Personally I think this idea still needs refining as the proposed size of these cuts would be huge and extremely difficult to transport. 

Stratstone Brief + Initial Thoughts

After receiving an email about a live brief to work with Stratstone in Harrogate, I instantly decided that I wanted to take part as it's an amazing opportunity to work with a client that would definitely look good on my CV, but also it fits in with my statement of intent to create work for commercial use. I have learnt that this will be a collaborative project with Joe Hawkins(Illustration) which I'm really excited about as we both have similar ways of working so the outcome, whatever it may be, should have quite a harmonious quality. 

The brief so far:

Stratstone BMW Harrogate are launching the Mini Countryman on 11^th/12^th February in Harrogate

Targeting 50 year olds who had a mini in their youth.

They would like the launch to have an Alice in Wonderland theme, forest scenario, trees, flowers, Mad Hatters Tea Party, Picnic Basket

Materials will be paid for.

The launch will be videoed, invitations to launch and test drive will go out to their clients

Students names will be credited and it will be placed on the Stratstone website to all other Stratstones.

Potential of other launches throughout the year .

They will 4-6 students to meet with Jas and review points for their response.

I'm excited to find out what we actually will be doing but a bit nervous aswell as it's such a quick turnaround. 

To Kill A Mockingbird: Final Cover Design

So this is my final design for the Penguin Random House Student Design Awards, and I think it's one of the best things I've ever made?

I think it's really atmospheric and bold, and maintains a contemporary feel. I think the use of silhouettes creates quite an ominous feel, relating to the in-book elements of racism, lies and death. I think that the use of colours in the sky further create that effect, but still creating a warm/sunny environment that is described in the book. My favourite part of the design is the small subtle details of brown on each building that creates an element of mystery as you look closer at it. Overall I think the illustrative elements of my design are perfect for the story, and I think colour has been used really effectively to communicate tension and a darker bruding atmosphere. 

In terms of adding typography, I admittedly struggled to design the cover as I needed more text material to put on it, however because of the strictness of the spec I couldn't add my own, resulting in a slightly empty composition. 

I really enjoyed this whole project, researching and then eventually the development of the cover, and I think that I would like to push this idea further for my FMP. Book Design is a commercial genre that ties together graphic design and illustration, which I feel would be ideal for the direction that my practice is going in.

Mockup of my design on Hardback Book

YCN Greenalls: Idea Development

Today I began thinking about my idea for the Greenall's brief, and I came up with this idea of 'Gin Oclock'. I'd heard this saying before many times and feel that it has quite cheeky connotations and links with typical british humour. So I thought about what 'gin oclock' actually was and I had an idea of someone leaving work on a friday night, and rushing home to have some gin. I know it hints at being borderline alcoholic, but at the same time I think it could refer to the cheeky British sense of humour that Greenall's utilises in their brand identity. 

I also wanted to find a way to incorporate the idea of British weather, and leaving the workplace and going home, through the wind and rain? everyone united in leaving work on a friday night to go home and have a drink?

I recently saw this video from Parallel Productions, a Paris based collective who make work with a similar digital quality to some of mine. I love how in each frame the animation is subtle but makes the timing of the animation punchy and humorous. I admire the square cropped frame aswell, which I think could be really relevant to a mutli platform campaign -  especially through Instagram, appealing to the desired target audience of millennials.

I've never made a full animation before but I feel confident after 504 last year, that I could make subtle animations, if I plan it out in a good way. I think i'm quite good at thinking of ways that I could utilise my skills and knowledge of photoshop and after effects, so i'd be interested in giving it a go.

UNSATISFYING from PARALLEL STUDIO on Vimeo.

YCN Greenalls: Initial Thoughts

I wasn't extremely blown away with the briefs this year for YCN as I didn't think that many of them allowed for a lot of scope in terms of creating a completely original and creative outcome. This year I desperately wanted to have a shot at a big research led brief that fits in the commercial category - I suppose there's always going to be a little of loss of creative control when working commercially for brands, so I still wanted to give it a try.

 The one that appealed to me the most was the Greenall's brief:

"We would like you to choose quintessential British moments that have lasted through time and are still relevant today and produce a piece of creative that brings this to life in a contemporary way and has Greenall’s at its heart." 

I've identified this brief as one that will allow me to explore making work for commercial use, which refers to my statement of intent. 

I instantly felt a connection to this brief because Greenall's is distilled in my home town and i'm a huge fan of their products. My initial thoughts when reading the brief were to make a campaign about something very British and slightly humorous. The first thing that came to mind was the weather/rain and how the hate for the rain/crap weather is something that unites Britain, which is totally British and always has been. 

Some key things I picked out from the brief:

Aimed at a Millenial Audience

Patriotism 

British sense of humour: "the perfect balance of being down to earth with a touch of irony."

Vibrant and fun

Union Jack logo key to brand identity

These will be useful for informing my outcomes throughout the project and maintaining a focus. To begin I did some research into alcohol ad campaigns that use humor:

 

Both campaigns use language and typography to communicate their humor. They are successful because the language used creates a personality for the brand. I also tried looking into existed Greenalls campaigns that demonstrate their "british sense of humour", however I could not find any online. I did find this example of product design however, which I think is quite fun, and has inspired me to think about ways that I could start using the bottle and product design to help my outcome. These outcomes reflect a genre of commercial work that utilises both graphic and illustrative processes that I feel my way of working would fit into.

Extended Practice: Reflection So Far

Just after I have completed and handed in the dreaded COP module, I have now taken the time to fully immerse myself back into making work for the extended practice module (and for fun)

However I'm finding it a bit difficult to keep tabs on:

- what projects I'm doing, 

- which projects I want to do

- projects I proposed to do but have changed my mind due to something better coming along etc.

Thankfully I was pretty organised last term in terms of sticking to my action plan, however I did not set aside time for projects that might come along/live briefs.

Full List of Briefs I will complete before the module deadline:

- AOI Sounds Of The City

- Christmas Card Brief

- Penguin Random House / To Kill A Mockingbird

- To Kill a Mockingbird Promo Campaign 

- Stratstone Countryman Launch 
- Illustrated Typography x 4 (1 Month)

- Illustration Friday x 4 (1 Month)

- Out Of Order Exhibition
- Greenalls 
- Collaborative 'Cosmetics' Brief
- Final Major Brief

I am confident that each of these briefs will allow me to explore working in a commercial context, and if not, I can find a way of developing my outcome to apply it in this way (to meet my criteria for my statement of intent).