Learning Agreement

We got given the Unit handbook for our professional project the other day and the first part of the project was to write a learning agreement. On the first day of having the new brief we had a session with Dan Cadell who had some sheets that he had made to help us narrow down what we wanted to do and define what our project would be. We brainstormed for most of the day thinking about what we could produce.

I decided that i wanted to look at a branding project as that is what i am most strong at. As well as that though, i wanted to look into making and designing a website as i had enjoyed doing it in the last unit. This was all i got from this session but to have the idea of what i want to produce in the first day of a project isn't too bad. All i needed now was something to brand. The next few weeks i have concentrated on defining that subject. I want to do something that is quite relevamt to todays world and isn't too abstract. I work better when there is a sure subject to work with and that way i can't go too far off of the subject. I struggled a lot with finding a subject but eventually i settled on the idea of some sort of renewable fuel. I will focus on renewable fuels fro cars/transport rather than alternative elctricity sources. I have looked at numerous fuels ranging from electric and battery cars to compressed air engines, but the one i have chosen to use for my final project is Hydrogen. It seems to me like the most sensible choice for car companies to use as there are no emisions except water and oxygen. It is still in its early stages of development as a fuel as only one major car manufacturer has made a car that runs on it which is the Honda Clarity. There are other companies that are eveloping some cars but they are all prototypes such as BMW. Because of it being in its early stages will hopefully be a benifit for me as it means there is no major brand to it yet so i have a completely clean slate to work on. I can do whatever i want!

Onto my learning agreement then. I went through a few drafts before i came up with this final one which i feel covers all of the main areas.

It is inevitable that the world will eventually run out of “conventional fuels” for cars and because of this, car companies are developing new cars that run on “alternative fuels” such as electricity and bio fuel. I will use this as a theme for my professional project, I will research thoroughly into all of the currently available “alternative fuels” as well as those that are still being researched then decide upon the one type that I feel will be best for us to use. I will find out numerous things about each fuel before deciding, including: the cost, how available it is/will be, how far a car can go when either full up with the fuel or fully charged and also the likelihood of this becoming the next big fuel giant.
After the extensive research and I have decided upon which fuel I am going to use, I will give it a name and an identity. The identity/brand should be easily recognizable and very strong as it will be on many things, the biggest being the fuel stations and the transport for the fuel. I will create a logo for the fuel as well as many other things that the company will need including print materials such as letter heads and other stationary items and screen projects that will predominantly consist of a website and email templates. I have looked at many other websites for fuel companies, the biggest of which being shell and BP, and I have found there is a big contrast with the sites in that they are either very easy to use and simple or quite interactive and more complex. I will try to bridge the gap with my site by making it interactive as well as being easy to use and navigate. It has the potential to have to hold lots of information so must be easy to navigate and not be too cluttered, but at the same time, look very contemporary and well designed. There are then, 2 main sections to my professional project and this brief: the branding/identity of the fuel and the website for it. I have chosen to make it like this, as these are my two biggest strengths in graphic design based on previous experience, as I have had a logo chosen to be used by a company and have designed a second for another company since. As well as that, I have found designing and making a website really interesting and stimulating and I would like to develop this skill further.

Next stage is the research into branding, other fuel companies, web design etc so watch this space.