JAMES PENTLAND UCA EPSOMGRAPHIC DESIGNYEAR TWO SEMESTER ONEEGRD5001: STRUCTURES & STRATEGIESNEIL DRABBLEMARK POVELL

OCCULTURAL STUDIES

Fig.1 - Storyboard from first group Fig.2 - Still from first video

Fig.3 - Still from second video

Fig.6 - Technical skills - Editing in Photoshop

Fig.5 - Technical skills - Editing through Final Cut Pro

Fig.4 - Research: The hanging munchkin (Wizard of oz)

Fig.7 - Still from third video shoot

For the Occultural studies brief, I was placed into a group five consisting of seven people. From this we all had to go off into different workshops individually and share the ideas and concepts of what we had learnt in which was an eye opening experience to me as new ways of methods and team work came into place. Since, we were spilt into different workshops in which I went to the storyboard workshop, which then as a team we decided to put me in charge of the storyboard that you see in (fig.1).

As a group we initially agreed on a concept in which was filmed on a Monday night by the other six in the group due to the fact that I had working commitments in which would allow me to pick up the footage later on in the evening so I could help Peter edit the video.

This would also allow me to further my knowledge of Adobe Premiere Pro as Peter went to that specific workshop.

However, from looking at the footage seen in (fig.2) I could see that our group had completely gone in a different path to the storyboard which meant our group went off in a tangent in which made the idea not clear and completely different to what work was already done.

After, we decided a group tutorial with the tutors for feedback of what happened would be the best resolved decision. From this tutorial, we all understood that a lack of communication was developed and that it’s something that I will improve on for the forthcoming semesters in UCA.

From this happening, Vaneet and I decided to pair up as a group and then leave our existing group in which we added Lauren Doyle as another member to help us.

In (fig.3.) is a still from the video that Vaneet, Lauren Doyle & I created in under 48 hours in which we thought would never happen but with sheer hard determination enabled us to create an idea in which we could put forward to the interim critique.

However, from this interim critique even though the technical skills of editing in this video which was done by myself got praised because I had used a software that I already knew instead of the software that was taught in the workshops because we spilt from our group that we all agreed in this critique that it looked too much like an MTV music video.

From this critique after following feedback we then decided to go back to this brief for the third time in which even though was stressful and time consuming allowed us to research into the themes that were discussed in our critique see (fig.4) in which a hanging munchkin appears in background within the Wizard of Oz film.

After this research, in (fig.5) & (fig.6) shows the technical process of editing that was done within this project in which helped me apply the knowledge of software programs such as Final Cut Pro & Adobe Photoshop to the group work. This enabled me to demonstrate my skills effectively in, which is shown in (fig.7) a still of the revised clip that was created for this brief.

Overall, I’m happy with the process that I went through to achieve the final outcome however in the near future I would like to go back to this brief and explore the different ways in which would make the revised version much more clearer.

Final Link to Occultural Studies: http://jamespentland.gdnm.org/2012/12/13/occultural-studies-revised-version/

IDENT-CRISIS

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Fig.8 - Mindmap of Ideas

Fig.9 - Research: Poster Campaign

Fig.10 - Ideas & Concepts

Fig.11 - The initial logo design

Fig.12 - The changed logo design

Fig.13 - Improved Website

For this project we were all paired up in which my partner for this brief was Vaneet.

From this, I started off by sending Vaneet a questionnaire to complete and send back to me so I could get some information to pull apart and contextualize towards this brief in which enabled me to create a mind map of ideas of what I may portray within this brief shown in (fig.8).

Within research, I discovered work by Jonas Emmertsen shown in (fig.9) in which was inspirational to me as his work is always crisp and clean in which suited the project of Vaneet so well as it inspired me to work towards a minimalistic feel for this brief. From this in-depth research which is shown on my blog to show the development of how I tested out many ideas and concepts in which is shown in (fig.10).

Within (fig.10) the ideas were drawn out on Adobe Illustrator that enabled me to use more technical skills for this project and allowed me to progressively learn and develop my understanding through technical programs.

From this, the ideas and concepts helped me create a logo, website, posters, badges, an ident, clothing items, a strapline and a promotional video. From this seen in (fig.11) was an initial design of the logo in which was my favourite part of this brief in which allowed me to brand Vaneet as her nickname ‘Vinny’ this was because it was catchy and allowed me within this brief to create my own interpretation of how we brand an individual.

Furthermore, within the logo I decided to replace the dot of the I to a crown in which would symbolize and represent that she was from Windsor in which many individuals know and makes the brand feel more prestigious.

However, from this critique even though most of the items got praise and slight tweaks to be made the only main issue was the logo that although people liked it looked a bit too masculine in which I would have to change for final hand in.

I then decided to follow through with all the critique that I got and decided to change the logo into something much more feminine seen in (fig.12) which would symbolize the way in which Vaneet writes. Furthermore, this enabled me to follow feedback in order to generate a more resolved design solution.

However, I decided to edit the website seen in (fig.13) in which was done through a place called Cargo. Cargo allowed me to put my own domain name of ‘vinny.tv’ and incorporate my own HTML/CSS code in which was taught in as basic form through the workshop done by Luke Watts. Luckily, I had experience in coding in which GDNM would not allow me to edit the code that I wanted to do so I decided to use Cargo as it was a service I could rely on and trust.

Finally, I decided to use old footage from brief 2 for my promotional video as it was seen to go to waste and I decided to recycle old footage and use it in the branding project in which fitted well. Overall, I’m happy with the outcomes and hope to in the near future push the branding aspect of this course further into my work in which has taught me new technical skills.

Final Link to Ident-Crisis: http://vinny.tv/

ID-IOT

Fig.14 - Perception & the Senses (Program)

Fig.15 - Research: Mette’s Book WorkshopThe ID-IOT brief I found was the most challenging due to the amount of information that was found in the program.

From this I decided to go with the Perception & Senses Program found in (fig.14) in which talked about how perception can be deceived in which gave me a great idea to create a book on visual illusions. From this, I decided to research how books are bound and go to a workshop by Mette who taught me how to perfect bind a book in which even though this brief was getting outsourced to a printing company that this was an invaluable learning experience in which within (fig.15) you can see my own book that was created following her methods.

Feedback with Ben & the tutors allowed me to create a four-page pamphlet produced on the program Perception & the senses shown in (fig.16). From this, the pamphlet was mainly visual illusions in which I encountered many print problems such as ink spillages in which was a great learning experience and helped me understand how I should set my work out for the printers once I’ve finished this brief.

From this I already created a first publication and was finished but decided to redo my whole publication because it was only visual and not contextualizing the actual program which was stated on this brief. This enabled me to start to redo this publication that is seen within (fig.17) and can be once again supported by my blog.

From completion of this, I decided to mockup test print a publication seen in (fig.18) in which enabled me to spot any errors or mistakes in which I found in which enabled me to sort these before printing.

Finally, getting a lot of quotations for my books I decided to get two done in both perfect bound and thermal bound seen in (fig.19 & fig.20) this is because I knew somebody within industry who made me a thermal bound A5 publication in which in the end I decided to go with the perfect bound book because of the way the text and images sit on the page better than the thermal bound booklet.

My final publication is A5 size and perfect bound by: printed.com & the two colours within this book are red & black. I decided on only putting the colour red on the title page as I believed that from normal conventions of visual illusion books that they only use a monochrome theme in which i’ve followed through my publication.

Overall, I’m happy with the time management done on this brief and I’m pleased that I redone the brief so it would meet the standards in which the feedback given by both tutors and peers has helped me to established me to become a better designer by understanding how work can be outsourced to companies.

Fig.16 - 4 page pamphlet Fig.17 - Redoing the publication

Fig.18 - Mockup Test print

Fig.19 - Perfect bound book Fig.20 - Thermal bound book