External Collab - initial design direction

As we all need to work cohesively and keep the design of the magazine consistent across all elements, we have done research into themes, styles, colour palettes etc.

One idea Pippa had that really inspired the direction of the magazine was this image (fig 1) from the TV show Killing Eve. The big pink dress is extremely girly, soft and feminine, and we thought this was the kind of style we should convey in the design of the publication, in particular, the photography, showing readers that they can still be feminine while suffering from IBS.

fig 1

Photography

Following along this feminine theme, Pippa and Angie did more research into photographic styles and content, also generating ideas for location and content. We decided we would try to represent the symptoms of IBS and problems that IBS sufferers experience on a day to day basis. This can include bowel movements, migraines, stomach cramps, tiredness, changes in mood, social anxiety etc. 

Figure 2 shows the initial inspiration for the photographic shoots that Angie researched. The photos are very soft and representational as opposed to obvious. Some relate to the symptoms of IBS for example, tiredness and also the tendency to avoid social situations. The top right photo in the mood board was one of our favourites as it uses pastel makeup to represent the symptom of migraines. 

fig 2

One of Angie's favourite ideas and one that I loved during the initial discussion was the idea of the model sitting on the toilet in a public place such as a park in a fluffy dress similar to the dress in figure 1. This brings the privacy of IBS into a public setting, therefore opening a discussion and normalizing the subject too.

Illustrations

Pippa's illustrations for her unit on a related topic focus on bowel conditions, encompassing a few, not just IBS but also IBD (Chrone's etc.). The illustrations that feature on her Instagram both show the physical side and the resulting mental effects of IBD.

In other illustrations, Pippa used an abstract style and colour picked from pictures of inflamed bowels, this resulted in a colour palette of pinks, browns and yellows. She also used lots of abstract shapes to represent parts of the digestive system eg. the stomach and parts of the intestines and rectum.

External Collab - Meeting + Planning

Angie, Pippa and I met up on the 29th December to discuss the project. We knew we wanted to make a publication on the theme of IBS, a condition we all suffer from.

Our first discussion was around the aim of the publication, whether we wanted it to educate/inform, be purely photographic, to use as a guide for sufferers etc. We eventually decided that we would create the magazine for existing sufferers to read, in order to normalize the condition and tailor it towards women, as IBS is more of a taboo subject with women. 

Our second discussion was the format of the magazine. I knew that I didn't want it in zine format, I wanted it to replicate a normal magazine, with elements of stylized photography featuring in it. We decided that we would introduce the subject, include photography and also include a section on help and recommendations from us as sufferers. 

In order to make this a successful collaboration, we each need to delegate the tasks involved. I will be in charge of the layout, content, overarching design and production of the publication, Angie will be in charge of the photographic content, organising the shoot in terms of models, stylists, makeup, location and costs involved in this. Pippa will be creating illustrations for the magazine, tailoring the illustrations to the content that I will be including. She also has existing illustrations from her unit that we can use in the magazine. 

Angie and Pippa will be in charge of creating moodboards for illustrations and photography - the underlying theme of the publication is that you can still be feminine while suffering from IBS, so the content will need to reflect this. Ideas that we talked about were lots of pink and pastel colours, as well as swatching colours from pictures of inflamed bowels, which is the method Pip used in her original illustrations - this left her with pinks, browns, reds and yellows, a colour palette which I think would represent the project perfectly. As Pippa already has a style of illustration that fits with the project, we did some initial research into photographic references to assist Angie with creative direction.

In order to make the design process easier for me, we planned out what we could include in the magazine, organising the page layouts so we could create content around this. We assigned pages for photography - these needed to stay in a succession of double-page spreads to emulate a fashion editorial in a fashion magazine. For the illustrations, I am envisioning some which take up a full page, and then a few dotted around the magazine in appropriate places. Some of the illustrations will be reflective of the content. 

External Collab - finding collaborators + a project

For my external collaboration, I wanted to work with people I hadn't worked with before. After getting back in contact with someone that I knew from college, I thought she would be perfect to work with. Angela is a fashion photographer, but recently dropped out of university and wants to keep her creativity flowing. I reached out to her about collaborating.

During this exchange, I also reached out to Pippa, another girl I went to college with who was doing a project about IBD on her illustration course. She needed people to contact her who suffered from a stomach/bowel condition, who could input into her project. I helped her out as I suffer from IBS, and I answered some questions for her. This gave me an idea for a project - to create something on the subject of IBS as both Angie and I suffer with it. This link between us all was something we were very excited about as we have personal ties into the project and could create something great as we all can input something different. Luckily, Pippa was open to collaborating on the project too, so we got the ball rolling.

We created a WhatsApp group chat to discuss the project and plan meetings and keep in contact. We felt this was the easiest method of communication. We planned to meet up on the 29th December to discuss the project and what we wanted to achieve with it.

Max Walsh rebranding - existing branding

At the moment Max doesn't have any existing consistent branding. He has business cards (see fig 1), but these were put together quickly, out of necessity. They do not reflect the style Max wants to portray.  Similarly, his website (fig 2) has been thrown together, with no branding. The pages are all over the place and there is no style to them - just basic information. Also, a lot of the pages are heavy text and it is very hard to read. I think in order to improve the website I need to apply branding and separate sections in order to make it easily navigatable and easy to read.

fig 1

fig 2

Max mainly communicated through his Facebook (see fig 3) and Instagram pages, where his clients can read updates about the sessions he runs. As Max runs his business himself, he is the forefront of the brand and considers his clients his friends. He is therefore very good at keeping open communication and responding very quickly to enquiries. I want to keep this personal touch in his branding - through the use of photography of Max so he doesn't alienate his existing customers. His website also features feedback about him and his business which I think adds to the personal element of his brand.

fig 3

Max Walsh rebranding - meeting

Deadline: to be determined (project may take longer than anticipated)
Client: Max Walsh
Project: rebrand Max Walsh 
Purpose: to improve his professionalism as well as incorporate his new venture into shamanic practices

Max Walsh is a yoga and meditation teacher who requires rebranding.
He has been a yoga teacher for a few years and has recently extended into shamanism, an element of his practice that he now wants to incorporate into his branding.

Outcomes
Logo and Identity
Business Cards
Website
Flyers
A-Frame
Bumper Sticker
Class Tickets/Vouchers
T-Shirt 
Invoices

Max prides himself on the traditionalism of his teaching, as opposed to the modernisation of yoga practised today. He wants to stay away from modern design and wants to represent the traditional roots of his teaching and practice.
Max was taught about shamanism in Mallorca, as well as in the mountains of Mocoa, Colombia. Mountains would, therefore, be good imagery to work with as opposed to the standard yoga logo of a person in a position, or a hamsa or related imagery. He also mentioned that most yoga teachers he knows use Sanskrit in their branding - he wants to avoid this as he does not base his practice on ethnicity but rather the traditionalism of yoga and shamanism.

Max wants to use earthy colours to reflect traditionalism, stay away from the white and bright colours of modern yoga.

Illustration could reflect the environments he learnt in - plants, patterns and elements from the mountains/jungle of Mocoa, Colombia. The group who taught him were called Ayahuasca Plantas Sagradas and his teachings were based on Ayahuasca, which is a hallucinogenic drug, but he wants to avoid advertising this for obvious reasons. The drug comes from a vine and links to sacred geometry.

Research Lead Brief - ideas

For my research lead brief, I want to undertake a project that addresses a current issue, one that could impact people and assist in making a change.

Ideas

Vegetarianism
Climate Change
Plastic pollution
Politics
Food and Nutrition 

I am always interested in the topic of food and nutrition as a lot can be done with it, however, I am already doing at least 2 other briefs around the subject. This could limit my portfolio by focusing on the subject too much.

I think that one of the biggest issues/ topics of discussion in the world at the moment is the environment. I have seen so many articles and news segments recently about plastic pollution and how it has reached an all-time high. This could be an interesting topic to cover and would provide me with a wealth of research. However, I also think the topic could be chosen by a few other people as it is such a relevant issue.

Time Planning

As studio practice is an intensive module taking place over just 4 months beginning January, I have had to plan my time and the briefs I am doing within this. Taking inspiration from PPP workshops on time planning as well as videos on Youtube from creatives around the subject, I have begun to time block using my laptop's calendar.

24th December
To begin with, I organised all my briefs into separate calendars - also including calendars for general uni events, as well as life, and deadlines too. To ensure I am as organised as possible, I gave these an order, listing them by projected deadlines, as well as designating them a colour. 

Following this, I looked at the time available to me within these few months. As I will normally be looking at my calendar by month view to see the month ahead, I have blocked out periods of time under the project name, this allows me to see by glance which project I am working on at any one time, and also allows me to see if I have given myself a proportional amount of time to be working on each project. 

Then, under these sections, I have divided up each project into research, initial designs, development, final designs, blogging & design boards. This helps me to gain clarity and a better understanding of what tasks I should be doing each day.

In terms of deadlines, most final deadlines (aside from competitions) are set as the 7/05/19 as this is the final hand in date. As for the most part I will need to complete projects one at a time as opposed to simultaneously, I have set myself interim deadlines. This is also handy as I am planning my working hours around a busy month in February, so will need to have briefs completed before this. 

2 briefs that I am completing are competition briefs through uni, one with the deadline of the 14th Jan, and one 28th Jan. As these are small briefs, I am awarding them an average of a week each to be completed over Christmas holidays and the first week or 2 in January. Within the Christmas holidays, I am also meeting a client for his branding project, and my collaborators for our publication project, so I am getting the ball rolling for those projects at the same time. I can set deadlines during these meetings so I will know the timescale for these projects, and continue to fill in the rest of the projects in my calendar regarding these. 

Brief Planning - revised

10 briefs

I am still short one brief. I plan on researching and discovering new briefs in the first few weeks of January - maybe filling the gap with another competition that arises in this time. I would like to make a brief focusing on UI/UX design as I love this area of design and want to expand my skills and portfolio in this area.

		Brief	Final Deadline	Set   Deadline	Area
Competition	1	Starpack	29/03/19		Packaging
	2	Secret 7	7/05/19		Illustration/ Graphic Design
	3	Display Wizard	1/05/19		Graphic Design
	4	The Real Junk Food Project logo	28/01/19	28/01/19	Branding / Identity
	5	Tote Bag Design project	14/01/19	14/01/19	Graphic Design
Collaboration Internal	6	D&AD - Durex or For Her	20/03/19		Advertising / Graphic Design
Collaboration External	7	Angela Farrell + Pippa Kane (?) IBS publication	7/05/19		Graphic Design / Editorial
Client/Live	8	Max Walsh	7/05/19		Branding / Identity
	9	???
Research lead	10	Environmental - Ecotopia	7/05/19		Branding/ Advertising/Social Media

Starpack - Create a ready meal pack with reduced environmental impact.

Display wizard - Design two display stands for your University or College that focus on the career benefits of your course

Secret 7 - released 2019

The Real Junk Food Project - design a logo for The Real Junk Food Project

Tote Bag design - design a tote bag for LAU for promotional purposes 

Max Walsh - create branding and identity for Max Walsh, yoga teacher and shaman

D&AD Durex - Help Durex champion a world of real sex for everyone /  D&AD For Her - Change the way the world thinks about menstruation issues and undo the social stigmas surrounding them

Publication on IBS - with Angela Farrell and Pippa Kane 

Ecotopia - new waste free store open in Leeds. Create something to help gain donations/ grow the store.

Initial Brief Planning

10 briefs
1 Competition

1 Live/ Client

Collaboration

1 Internal 

1 External

1 Research Lead

Competition

Starpack - Create a ready meal pack with reduced environmental impact.

This brief fits well with my COP project, as I am creating a range of "almost ready meals" packaged proportionally to encourage people to eat healthier. I can incorporate some of the research I do for COP into this brief but adjust the rest of the project to reflect an environmental approach to the brief. I also wanted to do this brief as part of my extended practice as I enjoy packaging as a specialism.

Secret 7 - (Yet to be announced)

I really enjoyed creating an illustrated cover for this competition last year and it fit perfectly into my briefs as a short project so I would like to repeat the brief again.

Display wizard - Create 2 displays to promote your course for open days etc https://www.displaywizard.co.uk/graphic-design-student-competition

https://newnow.ycn.org/live-briefs

RSA Brief 06 Harvesting Health - Design a product, system or service which uses sustainable food and farming to help improve people's health or wellbeing.

Penguin Design Student awards - illustrating a book cover

Live

Branding Max Walsh, Yogi and Shaman

Max is a friend and former colleague of mine who has recently set up his own business teaching yoga. He has decided to expand into Shamanism, and is currently undertaking a course in Majorca. He needs a new identity created to show this change in business as well as lifestyle.

Distrikt Advertising Campaign 

Caroline Carr reached out to me for help to create an advertising campaign for Distrikt bar in Leeds. 

Collaboration

Internal 

Collaborating with Emma Blackman on a D&AD competition brief

External 

Collaboration with Angela Farrell, fashion photographer

(?) possible collaboration with Caroline Carr, creative advertising

Research Lead

What am I interested in?

Feminism

Individuality 
Environment

External Collab - Idea

For my external collaboration I really wanted to create something involving photography. I reached out to fashion photographer Angela Farrell who has recently left Falmouth Arts University.

We brainstormed a few ideas that we could make an impact with:

Climate change/environmental issues - has been done a lot but could push it further using sustainable, slow fashion or alternatively only incorporate materials like plastic and oil etc.

PTSD after sexual abuse - Angie already had some ideas for this subject involving a film but I felt a film would not suit my brief well. Also the subject is incredibly sensitive so could be hard to negotiate ethics wise.

Incorporating Dance - using dance as a way to escape, Angie has contacts with dancers and studios in London where we could shoot and create something around the topic.

However my favourite idea came to mind when I realised both Angela and I suffer with IBS (Irritable Bowel Disease). When I mentioned this to Angie the idea of creating a project around the subject seemed like it was meant to be and we came up with ideas for content for the project.

A publication addressing IBS as a hidden disease

- using selfies of sufferers
- imagery of toilet and toilet related stuff in public spaces
- stylist and make up moodboards
- location ideas eg. toilets (brainstorm with Angie)
- create text content - statistics, interviews, advice, problems, educational
- include work from other sufferers (Emma, Pip (illustrator)?)

Another illustrator/creative we know, Pippa Kane, is currently doing a project on a related topic and would like to be involved in creating the publication.

Internal Collaboration - Discussion and Initial Ideas

For the internal collaboration brief, I will be working with Emma Blackman completing a D&AD brief. We have decided to work together as we both provide different and complimenting skills in order to complete the brief. Whereas I am more ideas based and experimental, Emma is skilled at executing and professionally presenting a finalised concept. We thought these skills would supplement each other well.

To begin with we chose 3 briefs which stood out to us.

Durex

Help Durex champion a world of real sex for everyone.  

 Your campaign must: 

1. galvanise 16 to 24 year olds across the world to stand up for their right to protect themselves 
2. make carrying, and using, a condom the norm. Just like making a cup of tea or brushing your teeth

How can you help Durex be the challenger of sexual conventions that are holding people back from the sex they deserve? 

ideas

- normalising carrying a condom, taking out of hiding, display

- aim at women as well as men

- sexual conventions and misconceptions ("slut", "lad")

- preparedness, not "looking" for it 

Times

Create a campaign to show that being well informed is worth paying for. 

 Create a campaign or activation concept that: 

1. persuades people that considered news and content are worth your time and worth paying for 
2. drives online subscriptions, engaging a relatively younger audience 
3. cuts through the noise of other media outlets. 

How can you persuade people to subscribe to the ‘trusted guide to life’? 

ideas

- social media campaign since it is for younger audience

- fake news

- time and money as considerations

- friends joey encyclopedia scene 

- old and established newspaper - relate to current times??

For Her

Change the way the world thinks about menstruation issues and undo the social stigmas surrounding them.

The Case For Her want you to develop an innovative service, product or campaign that:

1. tackles menstruation issues and social stigmas
2. is grounded in a solid research base
3. shows fresh thinking and does not replicate what’s been done before

How will you do this? Through an innovative new product? A brand-new teaching tool? A national campaign to spark debate, discussion and education? What you create is entirely up to you.

ideas

- school based for education - counteract stigmas early

- global impact (use global information)

- social media 

- "PMSing" 

- manstruating (male periods - no bleeding, hormone shifts)

- unapologetic

- bodily function like breathing, blinking

- essential for life (no bleeding no people)

- public toilets (cater to women and men differently)

After brainstorming Emma and I have decided that we prefer the Durex or For Her briefs as they sound more interesting and we can have some fun with them. We also felt that these briefs allowed us actually make a social change and impact an audience, as opposed to the Times brief which we felt would only really benefit the Times. The Durex brief would allow us to normalise sex and promote the use of protection in safe sex. The For Her brief allows us to use our knowledge and emotional connection to the subject of menstruation to educate people. 

Statement of Intent

In my third year of university my overall aims are to create a focused portfolio of work and develop my skills to improve my professionalism. One of the ways I aim to do this is through my extended essay and accompanying project, related to the subject of healthy food and packaging. Packaging is a specialism I explored through a brief during second year and really enjoyed it, and I felt the outcome I produced was some of my best work which I produced and presented professionally. I would love to carry on working in this area of design. Another area of design within which I would like to improve my skills is editorial and publication work. I enjoy the topic of health, especially when related to food, so I would love to extend this topic through to my studio practice too and write some briefs around the subject. Other topics I would like to explore include feminism due to my interest in the subject, environmentalism and sustainability, and branding. Other aims include engaging in current issues by participating in research lead and developed briefs and developing my skills within collaboration with others - working with people to create engaging and realised outcomes.

I want to utilise the library this year and use a wider range of resources other than the internet - interviewing people to provide primary research and reading relevant books and journals. The internet is also a great tool for research and current news and I have found many articles for past research, so will continue to use this - sites such as Jstor and Google Scholar will be helpful. 

During second year I was more thorough with my projects and production. I also photographed my outcomes in a studio setting which allowed me to present my work to the best of my ability. Both of these achievements are ones I wish to carry on with through third year as I felt it portrayed more professionalism. As one of my primary focuses this year is on packaging, I will need to experiment and develop more with physical prototypes and materials. In the past I have struggled  with this but this will be vital towards my final pieces.

Whilst researching for my COP project, I narrowed down my contextual and theoretical references to self identity and lifestyle. While linked, both of these references are of interest to me and would like to create briefs around them for studio practice. I can also link to this to my PPP as part of my branding and explore my own self identity to brand myself. Other contextual and theoretical references that may be linked to my studio practice are feminism and gender as well as sustainability.

This year I will thoroughly blog my project stages through experimentation and idea generation as well as development and production - I also want to improve my documentation through photography too. A thoroughly well documented photo journal of my progress will be useful to look through for my own development and also present as part of my final blog. 

Reflection upon my projects and practice will be ongoing within my blog. At the end of each project I will evaluate my work and progress.

For most of university I have struggled with allotting adequate time to each project. This year I want to plan my projects in advance using tools such as calendars to plan my outlook for the month.

(until Christmas)

COP - Mondays, Tuesday mornings, Wednesday

SP - Thursday

PPP - Friday

Catch up - Weekends 

(after Christmas)

SP - Monday, Wednesday, Thursday

PPP - Tuesday mornings, Fridays

Catch up - Weekends