My business card is better than yours!

BA Graphics talk

We had a talk with Roger about going on to the third year of BA Graphics after i finish my time on Vis Comm. It was a really insightful talk actually, and It seems like the course is going to be really good. He showed us some of the previous students work and told us what would be expected, which to be honest, is a LOT, but even so, the way the course works looks very exciting. It's very research driven with a lot of time focused on concepts and ideas which is slightly different as the briefs we get at the moment are, in comparison, a lot more focused on producing something that could be used in some kind of real life situation. I am looking forward to the chance to have a go at some really experimental and exciting graphic design. Vis Comm has been really good for me though, don't get me wrong, I have learnt quite a bit whilst on the course and it has given me a sound undwerstanding of numerous aspects of design whether it be typography or software knowledge, but it will be good to have a go at doing some really free and loose designs on my third year. Just have to pass now then!

Hamish Muir

Today we had a really interesting talk from Hamish Muir, Co-founder of the design company 8vo. He started the company with fellow designers Mark Holt and Simon Johnston but they left to go their own ways quite a while ago now. It was a really inspiring talk as i really like his work and his way of working. He gave us an insight into the way he works and used to work before he used computers. There were a few main points that i will take from the talk and use in my own practice and approach to work. Possibly the best piece of 'advice' that he gave was that it's not important to always have the biggest and best idea ever as it's never possible to have that! Instead, a simple idea that solves the problem well is a lot better. This is great as i have gone through almost all of my education so far worrying about whether my idea is the best and it has been one of my biggest fears when showing my work to others. Hopefully, this will no longer be the case, as long as i can find a way of solving the problem instead. The next pointer he gave that will help me greatly was more of a comment on the way that he works rather than 'advice' was that he realised that he had to use the computer as a tool rather than a solution. The last of the main points he gave was another comment on the way that he works which is to set up some 'rules' to abide by for each piece of design. You could see where he had set these rules in his own design, whether it be a type face or a poster and it really seemed to work. It allowed him to be more free with what he was doing as he didn't have to worry about having aspects of the design all sorts of sizes and having to worry about the asthetics of things as the rules kept had already defined what size things had to be etc. All in all, it was a truly inspiring lecture and i will definately be using the points he gave in my approach to design no matter what the piece is.

Essay Talk

We had another talk with Anna today about the essay. I feel a lot better about it this now as i feel Anna has given me a bit more conformation that i am heading in the right direction. It's still not completely solid and i need to work extremely hard to keep up with the work but for the moment, at least it's going the right way. Anna suggested i look at the Innocence Smoothie brand as the second of my case studies, which i will look into as it is not a digital brand at all compared to ebay. I just need to start looking in more detail at some books in the library that will give me a much better understanding of brand building and critical theory surrounding brands in the digital age. Sleepless nights here i come!

PPRD Hand In

Finally one less project to worry about! to be honest, it hasn't taken up too much of my time and i think i have been worrying about it more than i have needed too, but then again, the marks wont be back for a while so i may have reason to worry! at the same time though, it feels good not to have to worry about it anymore, despite the fact that it wont make much difference at all as i am still going to do my blog and im sure my CV and portfolio will develop even further before the end of the course.

First Interim Crit

We had the 1st of 3 interim crits for our professional project on Friday. I knew it was not going to be what Mike and Kit were probably expecting it to be. Truthfully i was not ready for a 'crit' and this showed. I need think carefully about what i will call my fuel company before i go any further as the name will have to be something that reflects the 'green' ethos of hydrogen fuel. i need it to show the good side of the fuel and not have any bad connotations yet at the same time, be universally recognisable as i am going to design this comapny with a view to becoming an international brand.

MAA again.

We got an email from Matt today about the MAA giving us the actual feedback from the logo and presentation. They do want us to edit a few things on the logo, which is a shame as we really like the one that we submitted. 

Well done guys,

Every person who entered a design in response to the brief did a really good job and the competition between each of the entrants was quite astounding. But your design was picked over and above all the others.

The judges felt that the scheme that you submitted was professional yet not staid.. They felt that it created an impact but didn't overpower the viewer and that it represented the 'ethos' of the MAA without it being all about the logo.

Your presentation of your work was confidently and clearly laid out too.

The intention was always that they wanted an identity that they can use and they feel that your design represented the closest thing to that but the MAA steering committee did have some requests to make with the logo design. 

- To consider how the words 'Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole' might be incorporated into a strap line that highlights 'economic development' as the driver for the agreement.

- To revisit the teams design that used the demographic, relative population size 'dots' as possibly the best concept for development.

Having considered these comment, the MAA team would like you to work up and develop your identity and then re-present your developed ideas to Gordon Page, the Chair of the MAA and ex-chief Executive of Cobham (Cobham is a global company engaged in the development, delivery and support of leading edge aerospace and defense systems in the air, on land and at sea)

We will then present you with your prize and engineer some good coverage in the local newspaper, the Daily Echo, as well as seeing if we can get you some national coverage too.

I'm talking to the partners to sort out a suitable date for this withn the next two weeks. I will be in touch to try and organize a suitable, mutually convenient time to meet but in the meantie, if you could consider the two requests detailed above.

If you have any other questions, drop me a line.

Matthew Desmier

Head of the Enterprise Unit.

In the email, Matt mentions some local, and possibly national, coverage which would be really good, we just need to make the amendments and see what they say. It shouldn't be too hard as it seems as though they want an older version of the logo that shows the sizes of each population.