Final deliverables from group

Natasha looked extensively at promotion towards the exhibition, using the logo in which I created and also Nicky's poster she developed a well structured, professional attempt at marketing. A press pack was also developed in an attempt to target the corrected demographic for the exhibition. 

Katie focused largely upon the way finding and how easy the exhbition was to guide. She looked at the development of a way finding map, along with vinyl floor pieces which would guide the consumer around the exhibition. The colour scheme followed is a positive approach upon that of the stock market.

Alex focused upon the covering of the air-con, a factor in which I believe we were misscomunicated about as we both developed a piece. As I felt my graphics was limited at constructing the idea I am glad that Alex also did so, so that we had a strong final piece.



All together I believe that each of our individual designs maintain consistency due to the typeface used. I feel that this is also a factor in which is expressed throughout the colour scheme. The general style of the exhibition is the same, a factor in which I found difficult as this design style is not one in which I am interested, although I am glad I have had the opportunity to explore this approach.

End of Module Evaluation

I believe that this module has really allowed myself to explore multiple deisgn options and facilities within the university. First of all I have experimented with screenprint at both Veron street and Blenhiem. I have also undergone letterpress, another traditional print method in which I have not used previously. I now have a greater knowledge upon the two printing methods and feel confident using them independently. I would also like to state that staff at both studios are extremely helpful and are willing to resolve any problem in which you may be facing.

For me I probably think that the most difficult brief was that of the group collaboration as I had to wait on other people to finish their pieces and to meet for discussions, rather than developing the design individually myself. Although completing this brief has allowed me the chance to work within a group environment, and to also present as a group. A feature in which I perceive to be helpful within my future career. As I still get somewhat nervous before presentations, this is an area in which I would like to tackle further within second year, by pushing myself to present work individually back to the class.

When thinking to which brief I enjoyed most I would suggest that of secret 7, as I felt this to be a turning point within my design, as I began to focus largely on concept rather than that of aesthetics. I also explored a range of processes which again I had not used prior to this course. I also went out and developed methods such as spray painting, myself. This definitely shows how far I have come within the past year as within my college course my work was highly vectorised.

I believe a similar approach to this was taken with the money brief, as I decided to sew into the design. As my sewing skills are very poor I wanted to push myself into a design skill that I had previously little knowledge upon. Although the final results were not fantastic, I am extremely pleased that I completed this method and didn't give up. I believe this is a factor in which university has caught me.

My workload towards the end of this year has been extremely busy with at one point 7 briefs being in place at once. I feel this is very different from my college course as we only had two briefs within the whole year. But although stressful I believe that the amount of work set is in order to help develop myself as a designer, as within jobs I must be able to balance briefs and meet deadlines.

Why Wood?

The concept of this piece determines its importance, as it has strong connotations to the wood based instruments which integrate with Etta's leading vocal to determine the songs impactful nature. The merging of both Etta and wood forms within this piece convey the sentiment that a song is not built primarily of vocals, and that a songs melody is a highly important factor. Thus rising the other composers who correlated with Etta to be acknowledged as producers of this lifelong classic.

The aesthetics expressed within this deisgn explore an untraditional method, an idea in which may apply to that of Etta's vocal range. The wood approach expresses tranquility a factor in which I believe applies to that of the song. I decided to not select the deisgn with typography as I feel that this minimal approach is much more effective as it allows the consumer to embed themselves within it. I would also suggest that the enigma in which this deisgn expresses is one of its key charms. 

Which design?

Design 1.

Clear concise and straightforward. This design embarks on the concept of segregation, a factor in which Etta personally struggled with herself. This approach is very minimal and appeals to that of  60's style clothing. Due to the minimal nature of this design I do not believe that a relationship to Etta is effectively expressed and thus this may be where the design falls short. 

 Design 2.

This comedic approach although humorous takes away from the classical song and expresses a whole new sentiment. Whether this design is picked or not will be due to the judge's sense of humour. 

 Design 3.

Following the idea of Etta's silhouette this design explores the other instruments present within her song.  A clear relationship between the two is obvious within this design. 

 Design 4.

This design explores the usage of spray paint, although it is fair to suggest that producing it through CAD limits the texture. 

 Design 5.

Another spray painted approach. The yellow clearly expresses the idea that this was Etta's form of testifying against segregation. 

 Design 6.

I really do not feel that this design is as strong as the others due to the rough monoprint being expressed upon a black background.

 Design 7.

Although I liked this design, I feel it may explore muller brockmann's style too closely.

 Design 8.

Fun and vibrant, this Cad approach explores both Etta's silhouette and iconic phrase.

 Design 9.

The pure white background on this typographical approach makes it appear dull and uninteresting.

As there will be no description to my designs if selected for the exhibition I had to think about which design appeared aesthetically strong as well as conceptually. When looking over the designs I feel it is obvious that design 6 appears messy and irrelevant and thus would not be selected as a final piece. I also believe that the Joseph Muller Brockman piece appears far too similar to that of his work, and thus appears as if I have just copied his famous style. As you are able to enter more than one design into the competition I believe that I will enter the remaining designs although I must select that of a final approach. In order to do this I have decided to ask my peers. Personally when focusing upon aesthetics my favourite design is that of the wood approach.


1-2
2-3
3-10
4-3
5-6
8-5


From the votes collected by my peers it is obvious that the wood based design was most appreciated and this I have decided to explore this as my final piece.

Final evaluation secret 7

When looking back over my secret 7 module I believe that I explored a vast range of approaches compared to that of my other modules, with scaling, monoprint and spray painting being just a few methods in which I explored. Although I did not get into the exhibition I am still very happy with my final result and feel that if I had submitted it physically my response may have differed.

My final piece itself explored the usage of type, a factor in which I believe to be highly relevant within the research stage. I believe that this task was the turning point for my conceptual ideas, as I have since explored avenues much more, as well as other printing methods.

If I were to re-develop this project my key suggestion would be to explore with the final design a lot more, and experiment with letter pressing onto it.

Evaluation

When looking at my final product I am extremely happy with it as I feel that it expresses a design in which I myself would have appreciated whilst in freshers. Although not directly suggesting how to make friends the design explores a way in which may result in a casual drink whereby people get to know one another, an opportunity in which I wish I had taken within the first week. The percentage of each cocktail isn't overly strong and thus the consumer wouldn't get drunk straight away, a factor I feel important as I wouldn't want to promote irresponsible behaviour. In order to help those who feel dependant upon alcohol I have also expressed the drinkaware logo, a factor in which I feel to be incredibly important. I have also included a slogan in which I believe would put others off binge drinking. If I were to re-develop this design I would definitely consider including a non-alcoholic cocktail in order to promote the idea that you don't have to drink in order to have a good time. I may also explore with putting the units upon each design, to allow the consumer to judge their alcohol intake themselves.

The design itself is aesthetically pleasing, with the illustrations appearing 'tipsy', this definitely being a factor in which I feel strong. I am also happy that I got to explore with my illustrative skills a lot more within this project, as I feel it is a lot less restricted than that of previous briefs.

I believe that the target audience was successfully targeted through that of publication format, as a poster is quick and concise to read. Although social medias should have been explored, as this is the main way in which consumers gather most of their information.

Overall, if I were to re-develop this project the key areas in which I would include are that of non alcoholic cocktails, units of alcohol, exploration with a printed book and also social medias.

Poster or book?

Although I do really like the book design and feel it maintains aspects in which would persuade the consumer to keep the it, I do not believe that the design would be used, as it would be stored away and lost. As the designs are also within a book format I would suggest that it may appear daunting, whereas the poster on the other hand appear simplistic and easy to use. The information presented is fast, with no 'waffle' text, and thus I believe this approach is more suiting to students.


When asking my peers about which design they prefer it was stated that the book idea explored that of a traditional approach, a factor in which does not always apply to that of a younger audience. Whereas the poster design is quick and innovative. The design is also somewhat pretty and thus may even be used for decorative purposes. Due to this I have decided to use the poster as my final piece.

Production

After deciding upon the poster route, I was unsure about whether to display the design on A4 or A3. In order to tackle this decision I originally printed the design on A4 black and white in an attempt to see its impact. I felt that this was not effective although I was unsure whether this was due to the lack of colour, and thus I decided to print the design in colour. After doing this I was unsure whether the design would stand out against other posters, and thus I placed it upon my noticeboard (in which I pictured within the research stage). When comparing the deisgn to that of the others I believed it made an impact due to the vast amounts of negative space present. Although stating this, the poster was illegible from a couple of feet away. As the idea of a poster is to reveal information quickly, I felt that this lacked. Due to this I decided to print the design on A3. A gloss was chosen in order to make the design appear more glamour and thus in turn appear to women. Digital print was chosen as my method of choice as I personally felt that screenprint wouldn't appeal to freshers as they would feel it was a design method of the past.

The only problem in which I occurred during digital print was that my typeface wasn't present on the computers and thus my design comply altered. In order to resolve this I went back to the classroom and transferred my typeface onto a memory stick in which I then downloaded and placed upon the digital print computer, this then resolving my issue.

Exploring a book format

The above designs explore the idea behind my cocktail book and how it would be laid out. Block colour is placed behind the cocktail in order to express a modernist format, a design factor in which I feel applies to that of a younger demographic. The minimal text used also follows that of a similar format. Again the colours used follow that of pantones summer collection. 

Bilding the book

Although I developed a poster I felt it a good idea to also produce a cocktail book in order to expresses the pros and cons between the two. 

As I was previously quick to decide upon producing a leaflet I also felt it appropriate to develop a book within the same format.

To start this design I explored a minimal approach in which expresses a similar colour background. I did this in a minimalist style in order to promote the design to youths, as over complicated design does not appeal to this demographic. 

A quick approach was taken to see what the design would look like if regulated it to appear like a chalkboard. I felt this then made the design feel very old fashioned, and aimed at males, due to this I decided to revert back to my original approach.

I explored a variety of typefaces in order to express a deisgn in which I felt didn't appear masculine. From this I decided upon Helvetica bold,as I also believe that it counters out the large imagery present upon the page.

Using the same imagery as within my previous design I began to explore with composition. Expressing one cocktail upon each page, and thus following the conventions from that of cocktail book design. I explored with regular helvetica in order to ensure the ingredients were legible.

I then involved further type, and explored with composition. I enlarged the image in order to express it as the main influence upon the page. I felt that this design should appear image heavy in order to apply to that of the audience. 

I mimicked this replication upon each page in order to express a consistent format.

Sizings etc

When thinking about size my initial idea was to produce an A4 design as this would allow an easy, informative view. It would also allow the deisgn to be easily transportable, a factor in which is important as during freshers you are given a lot of material. 

Building poster

When exploring type I looked specifically at typefaces in which I felt expressed femininity. By this I mean typefaces in which express slants, a handwritten style and curves. Personally I believe that these appear much more feminine than that of serif fonts. 

 This typeface is playful and well balanced. The text flows easily, a factor in which expresses conversation flowing when in a relaxed environment. The only downfall to this font is that as it was off DAFONT the owner had not made capitals to coincide with the lower case, and thus I am unable to use it. Although this is a shame I would prefer to gather a typeface in which uses the correct punctuation rather than one that conforms to the needs met.   

When thinking about cocktails, I believe that they have some forms of French nostalgia about them and thus I looked at what may be referred to as fancy french restaurant types. This expressing embellished serifs. Although I like the individual letterforms I feel that when put together they feel far too over powering and thus I decided not to use this typeface within my design. 

The format in which these typefaces follow is very similar as they both express all letterings the same, this limiting the x height. Due to this I believe that these typefaces appear very immature, and would be placed upon that of a child's publication. Due to this I have decided not to include these typefaces within my design.

I began to explore with the layout of the design ensuring that there was equal space present between each design. I felt this an important factor as I didn't want the design to appear immature and thus not target the correct audience. 

After consideration of type I decided upon the typeface in which is expressed above. I came to this conclusion as I felt that the typeface is not only feminine but also expresses that of a friendly atmosphere. The typeface is much clearer than the initial in which I wanted to use, a factor in which I believe helps promote legibility.

The type was firstly expressed through that of flush left, a format in which I didn't want to include due to the already strict nature of the cocktails. Due to this I then explored with the centralising of the text a factor in which I felt allowed the design to be perceived as more playful.

As I felt my design explored too much white space I explored with dividing the page through a line format, this being a factor in which I felt worked very well, especially as it then premoted legibility. 

Composition was then explored with more intricate designs appearing next to weaker. I did this in order to balance the deisgn and ensure that one part of my design wasn't more visually interesting than another.

Following my feedback I then included the drinkaware logo, this then making my design considerate to those struggling with their drinking habits. A tag line was also expressed within a friendly nature, I decided upon the loose typeface for this in order to express myself as a student warning them about the mishaps of student life. 

Following the highlighted approach I began to explore ways in which the text may be expressed.

In order to create a quirky student feel amongst the title I slanted the highlight. Not only does this promote playfulness within the deisgn but it also draws in the consumers attention.

Colour was explored, but I felt that the light green appealed far more to that of a female demographic. 

As the guides present are only that of the ingredients I felt it important to involve a 'shake well' phrase upon the design. This was done in the informal typefaces as I wanted to promote a positive attitude. 

The above image depicts my final idea.

Drink aware research

Drinkaware is an independent charity which aims to reduce alcohol-related harm by helping people make better choices about their drinking.


Drinkaware logo

The Drinkaware logo is used to direct consumers to our website where they can find the facts about alcohol and its effect on their wellbeing.

Our logo is a registered trademark. Any organisation that wishes to refer to Drinkaware, or the Drinkaware website, must obtain prior consent from us by entering into a Trademark Licence Agreement.

There is a licence cost payable for use of the Drinkaware logo, which varies depending on usage.

We will only enter into a trademark licence agreement with organisations that:
Promote the government’s lower risk guidelines
Comply with The Portman Group and Advertising Standards Authority codes of practice, which govern the packaging and promotion of alcohol in the UK



Alcohol Laws UK


The UK advertising rules for alcohol are amongst the strictest in the world. The rules are based upon evidence that points to a link between alcohol advertising and people’s awareness and attitudes to drinking. Accordingly the rules, independently enforced by the ASA, were significantly tightened in 2005 and were again re-evaluated and subject to full public consultation in 2009.

The stringent rules, which apply across all media and are mandatory, place a particular emphasis on protecting young people; alcohol ads must not be directed at people under 18 or contain anything that is likely to appeal to them by reflecting youth culture or by linking alcohol with irresponsible behaviour, social success or sexual attractiveness.

What it says on the government website 

 Advertising codes of practice

There are 2 advertising codes of practice that describe how businesses should advertise.

They cover all kinds of promotional communications, depending where the advert or promotion will appear.

Non-broadcast media

The CAP non-broadcast code has rules that cover non-broadcast advertising (eg print, online), sales promotion and direct marketing (eg telesales and email).

The code specifies standards for accuracy and honesty that businesses must stick to, including specific conditions, eg:
advertising to children
causing offence
political advertising

To ensure that my publication follows legal formats I conducted research into UK alcohol promotion laws. From this I discovered that as my piece stands it does not target anyone under 18 and does not contain any reference to that of  irresponsible behaviour, social success or sexual attractiveness, and thus is legible. Although stating this, as my design is for students who have only just become adults I believe it would be important to express a refrence towards drinkaware.com, in order to help anyone who is struggling with their alcohol consumption.  I also believe that the involvement of a tagline would embed this sentiment further.

Crit

When asking my peers about what they thought of the design layouts they suggested that the title should be more prominent within the design, as it is the first point of contact between the consumer and the poster. They also suggested that my poster was somewhat encouraging drinking and thus I must conduct research into the drinkaware campaign. They also suggested that I should form some kind of motto in which suggests that they don't need to drink excessively and that having one is perfectly acceptable. Due to this my next point of call will be researching the campaign and making alterations to my design.

Layout ideas

My initial samples involved that of Helvetica as I believe it expresses no gender. Unlike that of other typefaces the minimal nature of Helvetica, as well as its frequent use allows it to be applied equal to projects by the same sex.  

This approaches expresses no grid and thus allows the design to appear free from boundaries, a factor in which I believe to appeal to that of a younger demographic. As the design approach is relatively relaxed I believe that this composition also expresses this and thus continuity is developed between the two.

This restricted format only explores four of the cocktails in which I developed, a factor in which I would alter if taking this deisgn further, as the more cocktails the more interested the consumer. The heading is lost behind the scale of the cocktails, a factor in which I believe is poor design. I also feel that the underlying type is too large compared to that of the illustration and thus takes away the key selling point of the design.

This approach explores the usage of two cocktails amongst one poster. If this design was chosen I would produce multiple posters in order to express the selected cocktails. One factor in which really stands out within this design is the usage of a highlighted heading, a factor in which I believe allows the title to stand its own amongst the busy design. 

Although presented within a grid structure I believe that this approach does not feel restricted due to the uneven nature of the illustrations. The way in which the information is presented is legible and easy to navigate, factors in which I feel important. 

When deciding upon a format in which to follow further, I decided upon that of idea 3. As although formal I believe that structure expressed conveys well to that of informative design. The general aesthetic is clear and easy to navigate. Although stating this I believe that a different typeface should be used for the title in order to promote femininity. I may also explore with a highlighted approach in order to raise the title above my design.