Message and Delivery - Final Crit Feedback

For my final crit, I had to present my posters and then my mail shot to a group of peers and a tutor. The feedback I got was negative and positive, I learnt a lot from it, received some good ideas/solutions and went away with a productive task to do.

Issues raised:

• My posters were much more visually ingaging then my mail shots
• The colours I used for my posters (green and white) worked better and communicated better then my mail shot colours (orange and navy)
• It was aparent that I had been more excited when producing my posters, as they looked more like a piece of graphic design- more thought
• My mail shots were hard to understand, posters communicated better

Actions to be taken:

• Relate my mail shots more with the style I used for my posters
• Design and make one version of the new mail shot
  
• Use green and white, as apose to orange and navy

Even though my mail shots were not as good as my posters, I feel I haven't wasted two weeks as I learnt something by doing this. I was more excited about my posters, and I think that showed through the design. After getting quite negative feedback relating to my posters, I took the approach I thought would be best, I eliminated that idea completely. I know now, I should've worked with it further.

No News Is Good News - Message and Delivery

I have to produce 10 mail shots that are based around my previous subject matter that fueled the creation of my 3 posters. They must be of a particular scale and also able to fit through a letterbox, they also have to be practical as one of them has to be sent to Leeds college of Art. The other 9 addresses have to exist, but I won't be sending my mail shots to them, but my reason for choosing the specific addresses has to be valid.
CONCEPT BUILDING

What?
Persuading people to to stereotype young people

Why?
Young people are stereotyped too much in today's society, their achievements should be recognised as well as their bad behavior.

How?
I think I am going to have it as an envelope that when you open it, folds out into a very small poster/flyer. It's contents will be simple, straight to the point, trying to communicate my point in quite a laid back way.

Who?
Busy places, with lots of human traffic. I think it is something that generally should be known, schools? Community centers? Hospitals? Maybe advertising companies? Journalism could be a good connection to broaden the communication of my message.

Inform/Instruct/Persuade/Promote?
Originally I thought mine was to inform, but there is no actual fact or proven statement on my mail shot, therefore I think it would be between persuade and promote. The nature of my image inside the envelope is quite laid back but also with a slight comical value, it seems to be persuading...softly.

Format?
An envelope that opens out simply into a small flyer/poster.

Colour/stock?
White paper, with navy blue and orange colours

NickLovegrove's typeface evaluated

How are the four words selected to represent the typeface being explored?
Kooky, simple, smooth and interesting - I chose a simple font but with serifs to make it slightly interesting. I didn't want anything too heavy though because I wanted to incorporate bugs bunny in a 'kooky' but sophisticated/creative way. Also the fact that Nick wanted Bugs bunny to be brought back to life, the way bugs bunny seems to sneak around the font suggests creeping back.
Why is the existing typeface that has been selected to manipulate an inappropriate/appropriate choice?
BELL MT - simple with serifs, not too much and can easily be manipulated.
What are the reasons behind the design decisions you have made for the typeface so far?
I decided to focus on Nick wanting to bring Bugs Bunny back to life, I felt this could be explored through little parts of Bugs Bunny peaking through a font Nick also liked.
Actions to be taken?

1. Complete the draft alphabet, seeing which parts of Bugs Bunny work best with each letter
2. Scan the alphabet, use Photoshop to enlarge each letter to an appropriate size that I can then trace onto the A1 poster.
3. Print these out - roughly 4 on a page
4. Place each letter onto A1, working out their best positions, and trace
5. Clean up my final poster, making any last minute corrections.
   

HOW TO...self evaluation

What roles did you take on in the group?
I helped design the series of packaging our group produced, but specialised in one particular. I also contributed to the group discussions when we discussed the ways we could go about completing this brief.
How well do you think you performed in the role?
I think I performed quite well, my outcome solved the problem. However, I reckon we could've worked more collaboratively.
How well do you think you worked as a group?
We brainstormed ideas, and had many discussions as a group, but we were all quite indecisive. We ended up discussing a lot as a group, but then producing individually.
What were the positives of working in a group?
Discussing the problem as a group meant we could maybe solve it faster, or atleast have more ideas in a shorter amount of time.
What were the negatives of working in a group?
When it came to group discussions, solving a problem this way was effective and useful. Although, it was harder narrowing down all of our ideas, and choosing an appropriate solution that everyone liked.
What will you do differently next time?
Plan our final outcome more as a group, perhaps produce collaboratively. Doing this could also enable more of a direct link/product resemblance. I would also maybe develop my/our ideas further.
Where could you have improved your resolution?
I think I would change the font at the back of my solution, so it could relate and connect more with my groups work. Also, I think I would've just developed it all further, perhaps produce more of them and maybe some flyers/posters to help promote ourselves.
What are the strengths of your presentation?
We all communicated what our problem was and how we solved it, as well as presenting each individual product fairly clearly, describing it's point and purpose.