OUGD505 / MODULE SELF EVALUATION

Design practice 2 was a highly full speed, demanding module, really allowing me to throw myself into creating something I am proud of and I have worked hard on. I became extremely passionate about my work for the course of the projects and found myself going further to push the brief and produce a contextually relevant and appealing body of work. 

Brief 01 allowed me to work on my screen printing techniques and consider the limitations and possible errors that could take place. This was then taken forward to a larger degree in brief 02 in which I relied heavily on screen printing for a lot of my deliverables. This was slightly nerve wracking as it was me who was responsible for the quality of the prints. It allowed me to consider the different deliverables for distribution especially in this brief, as I knew that with creating something as large as a new company, the deliverables must also reflect this. 

This module allowed me to begin to think further into how corporations appeal to the masses, and I compromised on being self indulgent as I had been in previous modules to thinking more contextually and considering the purpose, target audience and product range. I looked past designing purely ‘contemporary’ and ‘trendy’ work, and alternatively used this to my advantage by combining this outlook and also the drive to create something that will attract a larger audience.

I managed to learn about new software during the course of the module, becoming introduced briefly to After Effects was incredibly exciting and something I’d like to delve deeper into for future briefs, and become a lot more confident using it.

Effective time management was an aspect of the brief that I demonstrated well, showing that I can keep to print slots and deadlines and complete a large range of deliverables within a certain time frame, although this was difficult it took a lot of strain off myself as I knew when things had to be completed by. 

Most importantly, my overall confidence and competence as a designer has blossomed over the course of this module, and I feel proud of the resolutions I had created for each brief. My level of professionalism has increased further,  and I have demonstrated how I can present a large range of deliverables professionally and in an organised way. 

There was a lot of creative freedom and independence involved with this module which in effect will prepare me for the challenges I will face in third year. I’m very happy with what I produced and enjoyed this module, and I feel as though this is evident in my submission.

OUGD505 / STUDIO BRIEF 02 / EVALUATION

Studio brief 02 was an extremely challenging and immersive project, and going into it I knew that I would have a lot of deliverables to produce. This brief allowed me to take charge of my time management, booking print slots well ahead of where I was gave me a responsibility to complete the various tasks, and organising screen printing facilities again utilised my time management and independence in completing the brief. 

I became extremely passionate about my cause especially by the end of the brief, as I had chosen a topic I’m very interested in. I found myself becoming increasingly involved in the project and finding a love for what I was doing. It even inspired me for future prospects, as I’d love to see this become a real thing. 

This brief also allowed me to exercise my skills in a variety of software and introduced me to using After Effects (very briefly). I gained a wider knowledge of illustrator after working closely with it throughout the brief. I had also gained more experience with screen printing since I had also relied a lot on this printing method and actually started to enjoy it and will pursue it again when relevant in the future. 

OUGD505 / STUDIO BRIEF 01 / EVALUATION

Studio brief 1 was a highly involved process containing methods I was not highly familiar with or comfortable. It pushed me out of my comfort zone in terms of screen printing, a process in which I had previously avoided if I could, and gave me a sense of independence regarding printing methods, encouraging me to try and broaden my skills in this field during future projects. However, this brief had it’s challenges, and due to human error there was a lot of mistakes during the printing process in the screen print room, such as the screen becoming blocked and not printing strong lines, offset prints meaning the designs were not perfectly straight, and feelings of despair when I assumed I would not get a good final print for the exhibition. 

Due to perseverance, I managed to print a bank note I was proud of, making use of the materials around me such as stock and ink to put together a visually attractive composition and unique layout. In hindsight, I wished I had experimented with more realistic imagery as it could have looked more ‘realistic’ in contextual terms however what I created was unique and visually clean, making good use of the space of the note. 

It also gave me a lot of creative freedom and the choice to experiment however I wished, and also gave me an insight into the means of designing for currency.

OUGD505 / STUDIO BRIEF 02 / STYLE GUIDE

Since my deliverables would hypothetically be presented as a pitch to potential investors, it's a good idea to create a style guide for a design team, to communicate the do's and don'ts of the aesthetic choices, the brand's values and overall concept and how the design decisions can be applied physically and conceptually.

It shows professionalism and the fact that every direction has been considered, and overall I am pleased with how it has turned out.

OUGD505 / STUDIO BRIEF 02 / DISTRIBUTION 03

Website:

Having a website facilitates the professionalism of the company, giving it an online platform to distribute information about the food, tips on why to go vegan and locations of the nearest Erdenbürger to the user.

Throughout the website, a strict colour palette is applied and the composition is left minimal and clean, in order to give the user an effortless and visually pleasing experience. The fluorescent green is perfectly visable for screen, and maintains the core visual aesthetic of the branding throughout. All type is in Radnika, again keeping consistency the key factor.

The first image shows the 'enter' page. This is an interactive element added to the website to make it engaging from the word go. The user simply clicks on the burger to enter the main page of the website.

The homepage reflects the brand's identity with one of the patterns utilised on screen, the tiled effect fills the composition and gives the page visual balance and something fun to look at. From here the user can select the burger bar which will bring down a concise drop down menu with four links to the pages of the website.

The first is the about section which is a brief description of what the restaurant stands for and a hypothetical image of how the restaurant would look, the colour palette is again reinforced through this image, and it installs a sense of realism and puts the restaurant in context.

The second image demonstrates how the user can find restaurants. The UK is shown here, but in the future the company can stretch their wings onto new countries. The user can hover over each mark point to see where the restaurant is, or select a city from the drop down menu, whichever they prefer. Giving the user multiple options on how to engage with an interface is important as it shows versatility and choice.

The final image shows how the website can be used to distribute information about veganism for those who wish to read it. It is not placed on the main section of the website, but available for those who are interested in learning more or may be curious. Fitting with the rest of the company's ethos, there are no graphic images, only simple facts. The information is not complex or overfacing and gets straight to the point.

At the bottom of each page the user can follow and interact with Erdenbürger on social media or join the mailing list, which is a way for the brand to keep engaging with the consumers and keep the company in their mind.

To make the website versatile it should be adapted for mobile use. If the desktop version was simply scaled to the iPhone, it would not be a pleasant user experience as the text would be too small alongside extremely small and unusable buttons and links.

Here this image shows how the designs have been adapted adequately to provide a similar experience as the desktop view, but in some cases simplified. For this, the map has been removed as there would be certain limitations to implementing this onto a phone, such as the inability to hover on a smartphone. The function remains the same, however.

The website's main demographic will include younger millenials who either eat there regularly or have heard about the chain from social media, word of mouth or TV / online advertisement.


Social Media:

Social media is integrated into almost everybody's lives on a daily basis. It's important to promote the brand through the platforms most people visit everyday. Here is an example of Erdenbürger interacting through an online presence. This personalises the brand, and gives the users a way to ask questions and engage with the account, and promotes the brand through the power of social media.

Retweets and follows will spread the word, especially because of the demographic on Twitter, which contains a lot of young, liberal vegans who will be very likely to advocate the company. It will have the opportunity to gain a wide range of feedback and even trend, applying hashtags can speed this along and get the snowball effect. It's promotion for free.



Advertisement:
Erdenbürger Advertisment from Lo Wilcock on Vimeo.

And finally, an example of an advertisement that could be played on social media and even television. The example is just an inital development, and could be taken further by adding more effects and information, or having a voice over to explain the concept better.

This distributes information clearly about the company in a short and succinct way, adhering to the identity of the brand perfectly and reaching a large audience. Although not everyone who sees this will be in the predicted demographic, it could attract a wider range of consumers as they may not think about eating at an establishment like this until they know more about it.

I held off on using hard hitting and graphic facts about the negatives of eating animal products, as I felt it was unnecessary. It could put a damper on the advertisment and be more like a charity video, guilt tripping the audience is poor taste for how I want to be able to sell the products. Taste and visual aesthetic should be the main points of sale, and the veganism can be subtly intertwined as a core value none the less.

The music is cheery and uplifting, helping to combat the stereotypes that veganism is super serious and depressing and 'irritating', and just demonstrating that there can be fun involved, and the food can be superb.

OUGD505 / STUDIO BRIEF 02 / PRINTING

Booking a slot for the print room was a wise move for this project. I knew I had a lot of deliverables to create and produce, so booking in advance gave me the incentive to get the work finished for the day and also ensured I would be able to print when the room gets very busy and drop in queues are miles long. In doing this it demonstrates good time management throughout the project. I also knew I would be screen printing some of my deliverables, so I ensured I had found a screen and exposed onto it in time for hand in, which again was beneficial to my work process and made sure I wasn't on edge or under pressure at the last minute.

OUGD505 / STUDIO BRIEF 02 / FINAL FEEDBACK & SOCIAL MEDIA REACTION

General feedback:

I wanted to see people's thoughts on what I had created so far, therefore I showed multiple people these deliverables and briefly explained the concept behind the project:

 

"It doesn't scream vegan"

I'd like the company to subtly communicate the core values which are integral to it's unique selling point. There currently isn't a worldwide fast food chain serving vegan only convenient food. However, that being said, it is a big positive that the brand does not overdo this aspect, and the overall aesthetic and design decisions which maintain its contemporary and fun vibe outweigh the educational and informative, serious side.

"The green works very well conceptually and visually"

"I wish this was real!"


Social media:

The objective of this feedback exercise was to find out how individuals on social media platform Twitter, would react to the news of a vegan fast food chain opening in the near future. I wanted to know whether people would be surprised, happy or if they wouldn't give one. So I posted this image with this caption:

The ambiguous image of the vinyl on one of the studio windows looks to show a shop window, putting the image into a hypothetical context.

The response I got was quite surprising with quite a few responses showing that people were pretty much 100% positive about it:

By the end I felt bad that people were so happy about the prospect of an all vegan fast food chain, but essentially this exercise was extremely interesting to see if I had answered the problem I had identified at the beginning of the brief. Clearly there is a demand for a convenient  way for vegans to eat, and non vegans alike.

It's definitely made me think about future prospects, if a little ambitious, I've found a great passion for this idea and would love to see it developed as a real chain in the future......