Logo Finished, Time for a Jubilee

Task 1 is now almost if not completely finished and I have a logo. All I need to do is convert my two letters to become a single outline shape. This is my final idea. The next big task to be finished by the end of the holiday is the Style Guide and all the creative work to go with it. Sounds a lot? Not really as it is a case of create the rules and then stick to them. A new feature brought to this week was a 'Crit Session'. This involved me putting my four logos on the wall and then discussing, then having my peers tell me which one they thought was the best and this is below. I am a bit indecisive about whether to use a white background or the blue (Pantone 628).

I had originally made a baby mistake and that was putting a too small keyline on the outside. As the logo is shrunk, to go on a business card for example, and the keyline is lost. Having been told about this I should have really remembered but I guess you just sometimes learn by getting it wrong.

Time planning has improved a lot for me and I feel that a merit is closer than I hoped. Which is something I really hope to get one as I have put a lot of work in so far.

I started to design the Business Card but have been advised that it is a more efficient way to do the Style Guide rules first then all the other things fall into place. I have chosen to do a simpler design for this as it is more on the Styles than how it looks. I am attempting to complete it in full CSS including the layout and this is proving to be easier than expected. I have had a few problems with cross browser compatibility but these have been resolved with a few more wise words from the CSS Guru, Craig.

Assignments back and I have got a referral on one and a pass on the other, if anything I thought they'd be the other way around. I am however really happy to have passed Revert to Type as I don't have to do the Presentation again.

Anyway this holiday I'm going to have to forage about for some extra bits of research e.g. Letterheads and Email Templates as I don't really know what goes on an email template. I also need a few 'spacey' themed CD labels/covers as well to give me some inspiration.

Going at it with all Guns Blazing

After receiving passes for the other assignments I have been putting more effort into the initial sketchbook 'Ideas Generation' and have to say I think I have got some good ideas. The next task is to dwindle them down 4 for next weeks lesson where we will be showing them to the group. I need to develop a colour scheme for this logo and decide what fonts will be used and how.

I have to say I have a bit of work to do before Wednesday and am a bit nervous about finding out what other people think of my ideas but I guess this is a pretty standard thing in this industry so it is a case of 'Get over it' or 'Get out'. I hope to think that I am in the first group and am looking forward to the display session.

I think that I have gone with a relatively easy concept and one that is probably a bit obvious but this is my first ever logo that I have created. Having only just had the ratio click in my head of 2:1 or 1:1 I think the designs I have created have 'accidentally' been made to fit the ratio.

I do hope to have the logo finished for the end of next week so I can start the screen designs for the website/online style guide. I want to go for a landscape website this time as the previous 2 designed wer e portrait and had to be scrolled.

Sketchbook. Now this hasn't been neglected so to speak just a bit underestimated into what actually needed to be done. With the assignment sheet firmly in hand I will need to thoroughly look through to make sure the criteria is met. I can say that some is met so it is not going to be a complete over-haul but there are sections that lack somewhat and could be changed.

The feedback meeting, however quiet it was, has really opened my eyes to what is required for us to pass the year and the even startling news that 'Passes just aren't good enough'. Deep down I knew this was true and hopefully this will be a turning point for me. There is a difference between saying and doing but im not someone who applied for the course just for the sake of it. I want a career out of this job and I know I can do better.

Rebranding my Secret Identity

The week started with a visit from another ex-student from the course but from a different area of the design spectrum. Working for Real Radio, Marc Bowers, came to give us an insight into his work and daily life. He is charged with the creation of the online publications on the Real Radio website. From the past two visits it seems that the sketch book will eventually be lost to memory at the end of this course, the opposite which I expected to happen. Having had a visit from a design studio worker and a designer for a sole company I think I would rather work in the design company, although I would also like to see my project from start to finish as you would working for a single client.

I think I have received the best assignment, if not the largest, of this year. The assignment is split into 4 tasks and looks set to be a heavy design one. To start with I was a bit at a loss as to what a Corporate Identity actually entailed but after the heavy lecturing I now know. So for this assignment I need to design from scratch a logo for a company. Having done this I need to show exactly how it will be used in every way thought possibly (well maybe not every way) including letterheads and business cards and present it in the form of an online style guide.

That done I need to re-release a selected CD from a Artist and music Genre I literally haven't heard of. Chosen from the list was a CD called 'In Starless Space' by 'David Reeves'. The idea behind this is so that we can start to develop ideas without listening to it and as it won't be our cup of tea it is a good example into a scenario where you have to create something you'd rather not... Still this does not mean that i'm not looking forward to the whole designing of the CD parts.

Another new process would be the Pre-flight document, which sadly does not involve a lavish holiday away on a plane. (Far from it...) This is the document that goes of to a printer specifying every little detail about the CD Label, Book and Inlay.

AND to finish we need to evaluate the whole process from start to finish...

It also looks like there will not be much holidaying for a while according to my time planning overall sheet. Most of the holiday is dedicated to the website style guide, but I guess you can't design everything that you'd 'want' to design.

It's Not Just About Wearing the Costume

Revert to Type.
An assignment about Typography isn't really as exciting as one called 'Grandmaster Flash' but having completed it the unit wasn't that bad at all. I have learnt that Presentations are not something to be feared and on the day of the presentation felt good for completing it. This gave me the opportunity to research into someone I had no knowledge of. The name did not mean anything apart from that there was a font called Garamond on my laptop at home. I believe that my standard of presentation creation and delivering has got a lot better, although you wouldn't think it looking at my dry run. Not only that my knowledge of Pagemaker has increased, not the best DTP software but it does what it says it does.

The task bombs were a new, and in the beginning, slightly daunting. To have a task given to you on an 'as and when' situation made me a bit worried but after completing a few they didn't seem that bad. In fact they are a perfect way to get us adjusted for the world of work which is something Steve is trying to achieve. I have to say I am grateful for the experience of working in such a tense environment and it has made me think that this is definitely the area of work for me.

Jonathan Gee
This is the first task and it involved creating an article and displaying it on an A4 page. Content and images was supplied and we had to set it out and solve the typographical solution. I think as this was my first it wasn't necessarily my best but I think that I did my best on it.

Hokai
This let me be a bit more creative as I was to create a label for a paint tube. I felt that this was the best task that I had done but what was submitted wasn't entirely the design I was going for although the text would have bled into the background colour.

Vodaphone
This task tought us all about newspaper design and all the terminology. This broadened the mind into designing for a specific size and getting value for money as we had about '£4800' to spend on the creation of the advertisement. A fact we found out from receiving the content is that if there are mistakes (not that there were any) we weren't allowed to change them as it is the content received.

Grid and Story
Another newspaper assignment this time on the Jazz musician Don Weller. The content was again supplied and the images we already had. I liked this task as it was split into two parts. The first was designing the grid for the layout of the page and the second was laying out the story. I did feel that I could have done better with this assignment.

The final task
This was more of a test than a task as it required me to remember everything tought in the unit. I felt that I could have done a lot more rough work and remembered a few more terms. I do think that the layout I went for was okay though and I took into consideration some of the typographical features when creating it. I do think I could have remembered more terms.

Overall I think I need to do more roughwork and develop my ideas further. I did eventually come to enjoy this unit as it progressed and even enjoyed the final presentation. I now feel I can use typography better than I did in previous assignments and understand how to use some of the typographical features.

Down Among the Dead Men

I think I'll start with the highlight of the week and that was when an ex student of Steve's Jonny Haynes came to talk to us. He currently works for www.technophobia.com which is a design company in Sheffield. He showed us his portfolio and talked a bit about where he works and what it is like. It was amazing to see how laid back he was both dress wise and attitude. Looking at his portfolio though he has done some really good work.

The next best highlight was receiving the book I ordered of Amazon. The Flash Cartoon Animation: Learn from the Pros. This book has been written by 2 people who work for Disney. I feel that I would prefer to work in animation and this book, having briefly flicked through it, has got everything I will ever need to know about the principles and key stages of creating an animated video.

Now to the Blog Title. This week saw the dry run of our presentation and for some bizarre, strange, out of this world reason I was absolutely petrified. Out of all the presentations I have ever done this was by far the worst and I can't start to even explain why. First of all I was forgetting words and the biggest stupidest mistake was I referred to a font as being sans-serif instead of serif!

And finally back to the biggest highlight of the weekend. I have seen Ghost Rider at last!! The film was without a doubt a contender for best Marvel film released (and that is saying a lot from me when I regard Spider-man 2 as being the best). I would even go as far as saying that it may be bigger than Spider-man 3 but we'll have to wait and see. With quite possibly the best special effects and best use of characters Ghost Rider was fantastic and even Nicholas Cage did the Rider 'Justice'. My only concern was that Blackheart was not used to his full potiential and remained mostly human until his transformation into Legion.

In closing I have recently discovered that the shop I work at is being closed so in less than a month I will be unemployed! What a week for me?