Deliverables.

Done..
1. Brochure.
2. Poster.
3. Postcards.

Extend..
1. Limited Edition Prints - Type & Photograph.

After talking to Graham about my ampersand booklet,  I was wanting to know a few rules about putting together a typographic layout and these are the notes i put together afterwards. It is all about an eye for detail the majority of the time and I felt like i was glazing over the details that were there and that I knew needed sorting but needed a bit of guidance in doing so.  It was really quite refreshing the advice Graham gave me, and he was pushing me to do all the thinking, even though it put me on the spot it was really helpful and I like being taught like that on a one to one basis as it takes me out of my comfort zone and makes me really reflect on the work.

Evalutaion & Feedback from Mind Design.

This post comes a few days after visiting mind design in London, Holger gave me lots of ideas for improving some of my projects so some of the evaluation will be based on this. 

Having spent Easter finishing off my briefs but primarily focussing on my design context and ppd. I feel a bit at a lose end with my work at the moment, so I thought it was time to evaluate what briefs I have completed so far and what other briefs I intend to take on.

These are the four briefs I intend to submit. I have been doing other small briefs along side these ones but I do not intend to put them into my portfolio of work so I am going to focus on these four for the time being.

1. ISTD Connections.
2. ISTD Magic.
3. RSA Postage Stamps.
4. HG Wells.

1.
a. Set of 4 Posters.
b. Branding & packaging
c. Booklets.
d. Message cards.
e. notebooks covers.

How can I improve this brief? 
I think this brief has come to and end now on the designing side, I think I need to focus on the printing and producing to get a really high quality finish. I thought it would be good to screen print the design onto notebooks and sell those. The foil print on the booklet came out really well on such a small scale so I think the design with all 3 punctuation marks could look quite delicate and impressive.
Holger suggested that I need to clarify what my final pieces are, or treat them as separate briefs altogether. He was impressed by the detail the foil could create on the small booklet so I think I am going to work on this a bit more, looking at scale and seeing If i can create the same amount of detail but on a larger scale.

2. 
a. Typeface
b. Packaging.
c. Exhibition
d. Posters.

3. 
a. Stamps.
b. Poster.
c. Postcard booklet.

I need to improve some of the illustrations & then re-print, re-produce and package in a good quality set of stamps. 

4.
a. Typeface
b. Book Covers.

This is the brief I am going to work on next. I can see how the typeface could be improved. Experimenting with width of the line slightly.

(enlarge to clarify detail)

My plan...

Crit Feedback...

Connections Brief...

'The book is lovely and simple, don't spoil it by over complicating it. Maybe a poster with all the ampersands?'
'Book works really well. Perhaps a & bookmark, stickers, poster. Make it into a hand out pack. '
'Works really well, foiling looks great!'
'Very impressed with your typographic posters - delicacy works really well.'
'Like the double printing on the connections poster.'
'Cards either colours need to be darker (red on red) or filled in letters not outlines.'
'Very nice visual quality, especially black foiling - adds depth.'

I like the idea of doing a pack, like I did with the magic brief, to bring all the pieces together. So i will look into doing this and finishing the brief soon! I was really happy with the positive feedback, and the foiling effect seem to go down well.

Stamps Brief..

'Could be extended to promo posters & possibly diary covers + canvas bags? Photo albums - places linked with travel.'
'Think the Paris/Eiffel tower illustration is the weakest one. Stock works really well & the layout is consistent.'
'Really like the postcard booklet, possibly develop it further with envelopes, cards  etc..'


The idea of doing a photo album is really good, and associating it with things relating to travel. I need to do a brainstorm into this to give me some more ideas. I also agree that the Paris/eiffel tower illustration is the weakest as it is slightly over used I think.


Magic Brief..

'Finding it quite difficult to read the type on your fold out poster but theres one in your development that spells outs magic that works better.'
'Exhibition idea could work well.'

I think I want to finish the brief now. I am going to maybe frame the poster designs in the style of an exhibition and photograph it, to give it another context and then I can use all the promotional material to go with it.

Crit Feedback.

We had our crit this morning. Not the best of crits, but has been helpful and I know what i need to get on with.

Some comments:

'Ampersand poster is the strongest of the 3.' - I knew that the ampersand was the most successful as I spent the longest on this one and just did the others as mock ups. But It clarified this for me and will be one of the next things I work on after submitting to ISTD.

'Ampersand Posters could print with spot gloss maybe could pick up a nice quality.' I can see how using effects could enhance the aesthetic of this poster - but i need to focus on other aspects first.

'Magician type needs to be more legible.' - agreed. I knew this before I went into my crit but I have been focussing on my ISTD brief this past week.

'The audience could be clearer.' - agreed. After the discussion Jess pointed that I could use it for a Book Cover. I really like this idea and It could really be applied to lots of stationery too - anything related to the learning of language or the liking of typography. 'Where is it going?' I need to write an action plan, focussing on the ampersand for the time being and looking into what i want to have finished for the submission to ISTD. Do I need to look into contexts for this? ISTD like to look at layouts, so I think i may create an informative booklet or create a blank book with an informative section at the front. Some kind of learning tool.