OUGD102 - Collection 100 - Research proposal.

Aim - to derive a subject matter from:
15 objects I find interesting:

1. Photographs
2. I Pod
3. Drums
4. Bass
5. Bread
6. Stones
7. Birds
8. Eiffel Tower
   
9. Books
10. Television
11. Lace clothes
12. Money (how I can't handle it)
13. Monkeys
14. Butterflies
15. Feathers
    

15 subjects I find interesting:

1. Football
   
2. Photography
3. Movies
4. Music
5. World war two
6. Endangered species
7. Serial killers (O.K. that's wierd - but it's more their state of mind).
8. Traveling
9. French interiors - the old vintage style
10. Jeremy Kyle (the show - not him) - purely because it's so interesting to think about where he found the latest scum that goes on his show.
11. Technology
12. Conspiracies
13. Basketball
    
14. Olympics
15. Design
    

15 places I find interesting:

1. New York
2. Paris
3. Florida
4. Australia
5. The sea
6. Down on the Foreshore (Hull)
7. Japan
8. China
9. Area 51
10. Thailand
11. Rome
12. Woods
13. The Park
14. Towns/Cities
15. London
    

15 people I find interesting:

1. George Bush
2. Obama
3. Dallas Green
   
4. Tom Delonge
5. Heath Ledger
6. Hitler
7. Jeff Buckley
8. Patrick Wolf
9. Will Ferrell
10. Steve Carell
11. Seth Rogan
12. Napoleon Dynamite (O.K. so he's fictional)
13. Ron Burgundy
14. Marilyn Monroe
15. Michael Jackson
    

Subject matter:
I want to look into music.

Possible categories:

• local gigs.
• festivals.
• CD's.
• Downloads.
• instruments.
• DJ's
• Music production.
• bands.
• Album/Single charts.
• I-Pods
• Club nights - how music stems down into club nights.
• Fashion.
  

Research processes:

• Going to gigs.
• Looking back at past gigs I've been to.
• Looking through CD artwork.
• Go to instrument shops.

How will I research?
Primary:

• Attend gigs / attended gigs,
  
• my CD collection,
  
• visiting shops,
  
• flyers, posters etc.

Secondary:

• Books - CD / poster artwork,
  
• others gig pictures,
  
• Internet - past flyers/posters, gig pictures,
  
• Magazines - inserts for tours, editorials.

Who/Where will I research?
Primary:

• friends that are in bands, go to their gigs,
  
• DJ sets I can go to,
  
• general shops - in my home town and here in Leeds there are plenty of band flyers going about.

Secondary:

• Internet,
  
• books,
  
• magazines,
  
• bands websites I like... etc

OUGD102 - What if... evaluation

What problem did the group identify? Initially the problem me and my group decided to tackle was the fact that Leeds doesn't have enough cycle lanes and how it was dangerous for cyclists to bike around the city. This derived from our themes: city traveling, journey experience, from home to Paris etc. We did feel at first that our themes pointed towards international travel, but then decided that in order to fulfill the brief and aim it at a section of the public of Leeds, that domestic travel would be better to look at. However, after our group "pin up and pitch" presentation we quickly realised we had unearthed more problems and were unclear in the end what our main problem was - we decided to focus in on some of the other problems that had arisen and looked to solve the issue of the number of "ignorant" cyclists on the road and make them aware of the dangers they pose to motorists. Initial presentation boards:

What evidence did I find to support the decisions made? The evidence we gathered to support the new problem was based around how many bike accidents there are and other such things. From this new body of research we discovered five key facts that helped us make the final decision and be happy with our new problem:

• 20% of all road accidents involve a bicycle.
• 60% of fatal cycle accidents have been caused by the cyclists.
• 25% of cyclists killed are under 16.
• Cycling campaigns have encouraged a rush of inexperienced riders.
• 90% of West Yorkshire's cycling accidents occur in urban areas.

These are all types of secondary and quantitative research. It also became apparent from a report on BBC new website and through Karl's observations that there was a growing "cult" of I-pod zombies, making them more susceptible to causing accidents as they become less aware of what is happening around them. I quite liked this idea of creating a "campaign" wit ha modern twist - rather than producing similar mundane 'instructions' such as "wear a helmet on the roads", people don't listen to that anymore.

Methods used to gather evidence, and the forms that it took? The research we collected could be split down into four categories: Primary Quantitative; Secondary Quantitative; Primary Qualitative and Secondary Qualitative.
Primary Quantitative: At first we thought it would be a good idea to head into Leeds city centre with a closed question questionnaire to ask to the general public, however this proved highly unsuccessful as people tended to avoid poor Pav or rushed on ahead, thus achieve no results, we resorted to sending questionnaires to people we knew - such as housemates, students on the course, tutors amongst others from around the Leeds area. This information was then displayed in the form of pie charts to support what we were saying.
Primary Qualitative: Whilst out in town trying to ask the public questions, we decided it would be a good idea to take photos of the cycle lanes to show how pointless, short and dangerous they were to all people on the road.

Secondary Quantitative: Our research mainly came from the Internet - but we made sure we used reliable sources - (and not Wikipedia) such as BBC news, we mainly gathered a series of facts that could help us prove that cyclists are the main cause of accidents on the road. We felt that by using the reliable sources that the statistics gained were trusted and accurate.
Secondary Qualitative: again much of this research came from the Internet - this is generally because other sources to do with cycling - such as tourist information uses good points in their articles to get people to cycle. We looked at cycle forums, comments made after articles websites etc to further illustrate our problem.

What methods of research did I find useful? I think I found the primary quantitative research the most useful - this is because we could access a large section of the Leeds public directly and quickly to obtain big results and mainly to see if more people would be willing to cycle (41% would) and make sure our problem was worth continuing with. The secondary research we conducted I thought was very useful as it provided useful statistics and fact - such like the top five I have stated at the beginning of this post, and as I've already said, because we used reliable sources, we trusted what we were being told.

What research could I have carried out that would have proved more useful? I think I personally could have done more primary research, also as a group it may have been beneficial to maybe conduct a second questionnaire to obtain extra information when our problem changed - it may have been useful to see from a driver's point of view what they thought about cyclists on the road - I for one think they're are so annoying (the ones who don't look) and I nearly killed a few this week - purely down to their sheer lack of spacial awareness and erratic actions!

Five things that I have learned about the design process over the last two weeks:

• That good research links to a good footing in being able to form ideas and opinions.
  
• That planning a presentation really comes across well, you feel calmer because you know what you;re talking about and my confidence did grow as a result.
• I know now that there are various types of researching and through conducting most - if not all - you definitely get a broad range of information in order to be able to go through and actually construct - in this case a problem.
• That it is definitely important to generate lots of initial ideas.
• It is important to communicate within a group, say no to ideas when you don't necessarily think it's going to work and it is necessary to split up into roles within the group.
  

Five things I would do differently next time:

• I would try and voice my opinions more, although I felt included within the group, I sometimes struggle to get across my ideas, I also need to believe in them more and push them forward rather than hiding away in the background.
  
• I need to learn to be more critical of others work and not just go along with what is said.
  
• I need to produce initial sketches for ideas quicker... I think with the sheer pace the group took (gained by the time we had) I struggled to have ideas done on a night - this may sound selfish but I can't be working all day and all night and I had to find a balance.
  
• Try and develop ideas quicker, I felt that we launched into one idea too quick - with more time spent over it I feel the final outcome could have been so much better.
• Conduct more individual research.
  

End of Module Self evaluation

1. What practical skills have I developed through this module and how effectively do I think I've applied them?
I think the biggest skill I have picked up is that I know I can create an effective piece of work very simply and it can work just as well, were as before sometimes I would put too much into a piece and overcrowd it. I think this has come to light more at the end of the module - especially with my "no news is good news" brief.

2. What approaches have I developed and how have they informed my design development process?
I don't really know if you can call it an approach, but I feel I have become more receptive to feedback and crits, in the way that I can take away what people have said to me and reflect and respond to it

3. What strengths can I identify in my work?
Well I feel that I produce work to the best of my ability - even if at times it's not the best solution. I think that the way I work if fairly logical which helps me progress through the brief.

4. What weaknesses can I identify in my work and how will I address them next time?
I think I need to get the idea clear in my mind before I go on to developing. This was a problem in the envelope task, I wasn't sure what I was making was the best solution so didn't fully like it, but I was stressing to meet the deadline that I went with it, however after readdressing the problem I feel I came up with the best solution for the brief but I wish I had come up with that first to not waste time and resource.

5. Identify five things I would do differently next time and what I expect to gain from doing it.

1. Try to incorporate colour into my work instead of sticking with black and white (although I've felt that in the briefs I have done this module that black and white has been appropriate). It will help me get better at using colour and hopefully I can use it effectively.
   
2. Get an idea clear in my head first. It will help me develop a better solution.
   
3. Be clearer at crits - sometimes I don't express myself very well and what I'm trying to do is muddled by what I say and it's not clear.
   
4. Try and get work done at earlier times, I've been a bit daft this module - trying to produce work which hasn't gone well and ended up not getting enough sleep which in turn has made me very unresponsive the following day.
   
5. I just need to be more confident in what I do - this will help me in crits and in my work - I just need to show that I believe in what I am doing.
   

6. How would you grade yourself on the following areas: 5 - excellent - 1 - poor
Attendance - 4
Punctuality - 5
Motivation - 4
Commitment - 4
Quantity of work produced. - 3
Quality of work produced. - 3
Contribution to the group. - 2

OUGD101 - Illustrator Brief Evaluation

For this I had to create 26 variations of a letter in one CMYK colour - my first example shown - from a previous project - ten letter forms based on the word hybrid.
I've used illustrator for a few years now - am not an expert by any means - I felt it was easy to use the tools - but a challenge to create 26 variations of one letter - I mainly chose to look at changing the form and structure of the letter rather than adding filters. I feel some are better than others but overall it looks like one continual piece and they all look part of one set.

OUGD101 - No News Is Good News Message and Delivery

Brief- to creat 10 mail shots on a specific topic based on the posters of the last brief.
Concept Building:
What?
To create awareness of a "campaign" (fictional) against hooliganism.
Why?
United front against football violence - make people feel safer.
How?
Poster or Pop up envelope.
Who?
I would send this out to youth teams - to try and help stamp out football violence from a young ages, also football goers - try and help encourage them to return to matches.
Potentially this mailshot is there to promote the "campaign" and direct to a website (splash page - blogspot).
Colour and stock?
Colours to potentially stay the same as the previous posters, but stock - will have to consider the weight so it folds well and doesn't blister. Also the ink didn't dry too well for the posters so that needs to be taken into consideration aswell.

Crit One - peer crit.
This first crit came after a week of working up ideas. The majority of my ideas were just drawings at this point and my ideas were not too clear due to the fact I felt i wasn't coming up with brilliant ideas.

Issues raised:
Make target audience clear in mind.
What stock to use.
Think about composition and text that I will put on it.
Focus message further.

Actions to take.:
Look at using more football associated imagery.
Pick a net.
Information on the inside.
Figure out composition.
Make prototypes.

So I took this all on board and worked up some prototypes ready for crit number two.

Crit Two - with John.
Points raised:
Needs a sender's address.
The space on (prototype 4) the 3D area - is there going to be anything else there? - Could use prison bars.
Need to look at using another colour - as grey could be a tint.

This got me thinking about the whole design - it wasn't my best by any means, so I went back to readdress the points that John had brought up in the crit - he also knew that I had found it a challenge - but I think thats because I was going with an idea I didn't fully believe in.
What I've produced now I'm fairly happy with, it has been simplified down - I've realised it doesn't need lots of extras - or anything outrageous like pop up to make it look good. It works well with what it has got. The second crit definatly opened my eyes to see that I needed a chat about my work before I realised what the problem was. I still feel that it communicates what I wanted to say by using simple techniques - I managed to include the prison bars purely by adding an extra piece of card with cut out rectangles to represent bars.
The simple red strip I added I think works - it draws attention to one of the main points of hooliganism - in the fact it is considered the "English disease".
So, one of the mailshots needed to be sent out to university - hope it gets there in time and in one piece... only time will tell.

OUGD101 - No News Is Good News - Posters

This brief was a week long and unfortunately i missed the crit at the end due to illness.
The thinking behind the posters was to use simple language and visuals to communicate the idea of football hooligans and how in the 80's it was suggested to "fence in the animals" which is what I've loosely based my theme on.
For the text, I've opted for a bold font that I feel represents a manly sport, which I then broken into pieces to reflect a feeling of violence and show the nature of hooliganism.
The image poster I feel may take a little working out when looking at just image, I aimed to include a football - also broken up to reflect violence through pure image. The reason behind the bear is that I wanted to use a vicious animal, and when going through my imagery the bear suited best and is the most beast like looking animal, also unwittingly the head is quite round so it sits nicely in a row next to the football.
Through doing this brief, I feel that I am slowly learning and developing my skills to not put lots of imagery / text in to explain my point and that something can be said in as little as 3 words / portrayed by three images.

OUGD101 - No News Is Good News

Research Brief
Concept
""Fan beaches Liverpool's title hopes"
Football - the debate that surrounds it.

Ideas - to investigate concept:

• Pay to players.
• Rules - why don't all referees know the rules?
• Transfer issues.
• Premiership - all English players?
• Hooligans.
• Title race - arguments.
• Glory supporters.
• Inappropriate manager rows.
• International games effecting Premiership games.

Three ideas to investigate further:

• Premiership - should it all be English players? (with a limit of international players) Does it effect England's performance.
• Hooligans
• Rules
  

OUGD101 - Alphabet soup - Font for another person - group crit.

Group crit - in a group of seven, we went thorough what each of us had done so far in terms of research and ideas, which in all fairness didn't really help me - as I had been going over what I could have done for my font - produced a series of ideas and right before the crit totally changed what I wanted to do, so what the group were commenting on was stuff I no longer wanted to continue with.
The four words I am working with are: Finch, Chinese, Invisibility and shy (contained).
My research is following the words I have chosen and my ideas are starting to look at the research. I was told by the group just to create further ideas and to explore the new research I had accumulated.
The typeface I originally chose was Baruta Black but after talking with the group it was deemed not appropriate to communicate the Chinese word - it needed to be a more delicate and thinner font, which I totally agree with as I have now thought that it is quite a bold font - which would not be great for representing Jonny as I feel he is quite shy and reserved.
The group wanted me to look back at a Chinese A I had created in my work sheets - which I have done but feel it just doesn't communicate Jonny in the way I had hoped.
Actions to be taken (decided by the group):
Experiment with inks - to explore the Chinese aspect.
Create more letter ideas
Experiment with font - perhaps choose another.
Look at colour.

OUGD101 - Alphabet soup - Font for another person - Presentaion of the work.

My Font

Which personality traits did you choose to respond to and apply to the typeface?
Treasured Possession - Chinese Olympic photos.
Invisibility - superpower
Name.

Reasons?
I thought they were some of the better answers to the questions which could be shown visually better.

In what ways are the results effective?
The font doesn't look like it has any relation to the one I based mine on.
The traits I have chosen to explore are shown subtly. I like what I did, however after presenting to Amber and Fred I now realise it needs bringing back a step - make it even subtler - try and represent the bird by the brush strokes I use, and also the U, V, W and X need looking at the make them look they are at the same point size as the other - add a bit more in.
I feel that I rose to the challenge well - even though there have to be some changes made for submission. I really did feel challenged by this - having not met him before and having to represent him based on four words - I felt at first was ni on impossible, as i felt that when it was drawn onto paper it really wouldn't look like it was for Jonny. However when justifying what I had done I felt that it had gone well and did a good job of representing him based on just a few words.

Jonathan's font for me

I can see clearly that he has used my treasured possession - my bracelets as the theme for my font. I really liked how it was developed beyond my bracelets into other pieces of jewellery. I liked how the weight of the letters was thin as it made it look delicate like jewellery. I thought the layout of the letterforms was good as it looked like a designed piece as well as the individual letters - but I think I would liked to have seen the letters individually and tracked further apart.
I think it is very effective of representing me - I never go out without my bracelets - they remind me of home. The letters are legible and when put together for my name it is readable - although they have to be change slightly - which is why I would liked to see them individually.

Jonathan's name badge for me.

Feedback from Amber and points to address before submission.
Strengths:
Communicates personality.
subtle at points.
strong concept.

Weaknesses:
Some letterforms need to be clearer - for example the "O" looks a bit like a "U".
Even though it is subtle in parts - the bird too clear.

Actions:
How much can I add / takeaway?
Brush strokes - could I just use them to represent a bird? Could it just be a black font ? Rather than a gradient of greys?

OUGD101 - Alphabet soup - Font for another person - peer feedback.

Feedback from Ross and Pav:

Strengths: P: Intentions v. clear.
Plenty of ideas with range of typefaces.
Experimented well.
Good amount of research.

R: Lots of imagery to back up work.
Well developed worksheets - lots of ideas generated.
Lots of Methods / Media used to experiment.

Weaknesses: P: Although research good, would like to see more drawn ideas.
No colour experimentation.

R: as above.

Actions: P: Remember to bring in final (yer... I forgot to take it in)
Use a bit of colour in visual research.

R: as above.

My Evaulation:
Really appreciate the feedback from them. Next time I will remember the final piece, however I know I shouldn't have done it but I assumed it was tutors going through the support work who had seen the "final".
I will say that the reason for not introducing colour was just to keep it simple - not detract from the letterforms themselves - although I do agree with the guys that I could have put colour into my ideas.
This project was so hard - never met Jonny before and from the questions it was hard to resolve the problem - although I know this is how it works in industry.
I also realise I need to produce more visual ideas in order to find the best solution, but in terms of research this is just how I work - I feel I need "extensive" research in order to help trigger ideas.

OUGD101 - Alphabet soup - Hybrid

I wanted to just reflect upon the feedback given from Sai for this piece of work I did. It really helped me to get feedback in this way - as on my previous course we never got anything like this and now i already feel like I am learning. I've found that it is good to have an extra "pair of eyes" look over your work in order for you to improve.
I understand now that there are things in the future to readdress - like how I've stuck the letters down - the glue shows through - as she points out for me.
It also feels quite nice to get input from someone to tell you what they like about it - I don't feel anymore that I am just going through the motions - like the last course and not particularly learning anything. I now feel that I have things to build on and strengths I can continue with.

OUGD101 How To...

How To... Self Evaluation

The role I took on in the group was to think about and solve the problem of how students could keep the bathroom free from shampoo bottles, as Emma had said there was a big problem carrying all her toiletries to the shower. I would like to think that I did my job well and created something that fitted in with the general feel of our products.
I think to say we had just met and had to get a project finished within a week we did fairly well to come up with ideas and actually discuss them with each other. As a group I think we addressed the problem well and came up with practical solutions to answer our brief. It was good to listen to others opinions, thoughts and bounce ideas around as I think this helped us to reach some sort of conclusion fairly rapidly.
On the negative side, I feel that all our solutions were different from each other in some way or another - sizing/font/colour of the type, the shape of our toilet signs etc. We could have discussed further I think in order to make sure we definitely had the best solutions. We could have done to have been perhaps a bit faster in order to rectify the problems before the deadline. We also could have assigned further roles within the group - such as someone to illustrate, someone work on layout, someone create the type so they would all look part of the same "brand", but i suppose it's hard to put forward what you perceive yourself to be good at to a group of new people when you have no idea if they are better than you and fit the role better... but I guess we will soon find this out in the near future.
I think our presentation let us down, I don't feel we planned it enough or showed off our ideas enough for people to understand why we did what we did. I unfortunately at the moment don't have the confidence to present my work with conviction and find it difficult to not get nervous so I feel my section of the presentation was rather brief.
What I would like to note for the future is that I think now I am on the way to enjoying working within a group as I feel it will make me a stronger designer and will in turn help me build my confidence with working with new people and presenting my work.

10 Things I'd like to achieve in a year:

1. To become more experimental with my work in terms of using a variety of techniques.
2. I'd like to be able to work in a group better without getting stressed.
   
3. I'd like to have some defined direction in which I'd like to progress and maybe start to specialise.
   
4. To have more confidence when I present.
5. I'd like to have started to developed a style.
   
6. I'd like to be able to be proud of what I produce and actually be able to talk about it with tutors.
7. I want to be able to constructively criticise my work and realise when I've made a mistake and to know that it's not horrendously difficult to correct my work.
   
8. I want to build support networks with my peers and be able to talk to them continuously to help me develop.
   
9. I want to be able to put what I learn into practice and know what I can do well.
10. I want to have found out who I can and can't work with in order to help me improve my work and know who to call on when I need them and for them to know what I'm good at so I can reciprocate.

We will see what the year brings ...