OUGD203 - Product, Range and Distribution boards

OUGD203 Evaluation

This module has been my most successful to date, I have produced a body of work that I am finally proud of, without an incredible rush at the end. I have finally managed to get on top of my time management and I think that this shows through the work that I am presenting.

The collaboration brief was an eye opener for me. Working with two people increased the pressure to perform and really put the work in. I feel it was this that made my work ethic turn around. I was in a group with two strong students and I wanted to impress them with what I could do…with my input and the amount and quality of work that I produced. We worked very well as a team, we collaborated as we should and put together a strong body of work that we were proud to send to YCN.

At the beginning of ‘Product, Range and Distribution’ I was somewhat undecided as to what to do…who I was, in effect. This brief was meant to be the first real opportunity to really get to grips with what we wanted to specialise in both third year and then in our careers. For some reason, this really pressurised me and I got a bit worried about whether I was going to pick/write the right brief for me.

The competition briefs and the sessions with Fred helped a lot to define what exactly it was I wanted to do. I had a vague idea… I knew I wanted to incorporate merchandise design and mixed media, but I wanted a definitive brief to work to.

Two briefs amongst my five chosen ones really stood out to me, the D&AD ‘Diesel one, and the ISTD ‘78rmp –mp3’ briefs. This was probably because they were both focussing on music, but there were other aspects of them that drew me to them. Such as the similar target audiences; ‘fans of the band’. These were briefs that were not making people aware of something, this was, in effect, preaching to the converted. This gave me the opportunity to be creative, to work for an audience who already appreciated the subject matter. Finally, a brief where I could focus on the aesthetic value of the product.

I set myself an extraordinary amount to do. Producing a range of merchandise for 6 separate songs. In hindsight, this was very over-ambitious. I set about this task by analysing the lyrics of these songs, and then experimenting with mixed media. I put a lot of time into illustrative type experimentation, which I didn’t even end up using.

My tutorial with Fred was a real eye-opener and really helped me focus my idea down. This was when I decided to produce a very strong body of work for one song, and then proposing the other 5. This was when things really started moving.

I produced a 12” vinyl cover for the EP and then a range comprising of a poster, a 7”single cover, a CD single cover, 3 t-shirts, 2 tote bags and packaging for each of these. My distribution method was designing them a website and logo.

If I had more time I would go about printing the t-shirts and totes, and following that, produce the ranges for each of the other songs.

I think all in all it has been a real learning curve for me.  I put the work in – I get the results. It is as simple as that. I have learnt an incredible amount about software and different methods of idea generation, analysing and both image and type production. This module has really got me excited about 3^rd year. 

OUGD203 Hand-in disc packaging

I decided to do a quick bit of packaging design for the disc that I am handing in on friday. It is very simple, drawing imagery from different aspects of the module. 

It definitely looks better than handing the plastic default case that the disc comes in.

Tote Bags

These are a couple of tote bag designs that I have produced for the Now, Voyager single range of merch. It completes the set. 

Again, like the t-shirts, I have just taken aspects of the Now, Voyager imagery and translated it across a different medium.

I have only produced two designs for these, but if I had enough time I would definitely create more. 

I have looked for the cheapest way to print these. I can buy 60 for 58p a bag. Seeing as there are 2 designs, and 30 printed of each, this is a perfect amount. 

The designs. 

T-shirt designs

This is a set of 3 t-shirts that I have created for the Now,Voyager single range. 

I am not actually producing these for the presentation, but if I had more time this is definitely something that I would do. 

I wanted to create a set of t-shirts that would not look generic. With print on the front and the back. 

I decided on white because the lilac would look to bold against the imagery. It is alright on paper, but the transparency of the abstract object does not work with the lilac colour on fabric. 

I talked to John and he said that he would buy these t-shirts due to the little details on the back... just the logo in some examples. 

I think they add to my range perfectly. 

The set - Now, Voyager single

This is the set. 

Along with the t-shirts and tote bags that I am proposing. 

CD - Now, Voyager single packaging

This afternoon I printed off my CD cover for the single, and again, it went to plan. 

It is very similar to the 7" single version, but this is purposeful. They need to look like a set. 

I like the way that it is not just a sleeve. It gives it a bit more depth and looks a lot more considered. 

12" Vinyl - printed and produced

The 12" vinyl cover came out perfectly. I was a bit worried about the scale and design of the one I sent to print as I accidentally deleted the original Illustrator file and had to put it together again very quickly before my print session. However it looks incredibly effective and exactly how I intended. 

I think it may be safe to say that this is my favourite thing that I have designed so far. I am actually proud of the way it is put together. The relationship between the type and image and the packaging itself. 

The printing. Nail biting stuff. 

I made some plastic packaging to go over the top so as to protect the stock. 

Photographs of the product.

The vinyl pack with the stickers included. 

Poster packaging

As the poster is going to be on sale at gigs... it needed packaging. I chose a simple cardboard tube with The Cape Race sticker on the bottom to give it some identity. 

This is a photograph of it mocked up.

T-shirt tags - production

To add a bit of edge to the t-shirts that I am proposing I decided to craft the t-shirt tags and hand them in rather than just proposing them. 

I decided that it would be a nice idea to print them out twice on separate pieces of stock and then tie them together to add a bit of depth to the design.

The best way for me to do this was to print one on acetate and one on matte card, when you put them together they create a nice layering effect and with the way that the skull is designed, it looks a bit trippy. 

Photographs of the tags together. 

Matte card.

Acetate

Together at an angle.

 Measured up together.

Tied together with a string.

I decided to use an old string as, with the nature of the design, it looks somewhat pirate-y. 

Re-thinking 'The Cape Race' animation

Originally, my design for screen part of my range  was going to be an animation that I was going to mock up and screen shot. It was going to be presented to the public on a monitor built in to the merchandise stand, on the board where the t-shirts and posters would be exhibited. 

However, since producing my website yesterday, I thought that it would be more appropriate to produce a website, as this can translate to an iphone app as well and will be able to distribute my range through a store on the internet. 

If I have the time in the next 28 hours... I will definitely mock up the animation as well to add bulk to my range, really pushing it as far as it can go. 

But for the moment... this is the website. 

I have chosen a 6 page website, designed much like my one for Enterprise. 

Simple and sleek. 

The six pages are...

News/homepage

(This will have photographs of my products once I have printed and made them)

About

Shows

Videos

Shop 

(again, this will have photographs of my products on it)

Contact

I have made careful attention to detail on aligning type and image. 

There is all the information you would ever need for a band website. 

These are the website in context, the photos I will present it on my boards with.

Website design - Dreamweaver - Love4 Design

Now this was the brief I was dreading. My mind does not work in numbers and calculations so I think I was definitely leaving it hoping it would go away (does not happen). 

I have a general idea of how I want this to look. Sleek and sophisticated. Something that is easy to use, nice to look at and informative. Something that will give 'Love 4 Design' some justice and make people want to employ us as a design company. 

A website for a graphic designer should be designed by that designer. A client would look at it a bit strangely if they had nothing to do with the design process. 

A good graphic designer has to have a well designed website. 

The colour scheme

This came very easily. The starting point being the logo. 

Black

White

Red

Shades of grey

I think this gives us a very corporate feel. Sophisticated and simple. Easily readable and legible. 

I have also decided to use images for the main bulk of the content of the website as I would like to use the font 'Champagne and Limousines' and it is not in the list of web friendly fonts. 

First of all, I found a website on the internet that I was going to draw inspiration from. 

This was the one I chose, it is simple and to the point... at the same time as looking stylish and professional. 

I then started to draw out some grids of how I was going to split up my page. 

This was tricky and took me several attempts. 

A couple of attempts at splitting it up into columns and rows...

The first asset... the logo.

After I had sorted out all the spacing, I went about making my buttons. Each word, when scrolled over turns red to go with the colour scheme. I have also entered copyright and contact details at the bottom of the page. 

I then linked up all the pages so they worked as a proper website. 

The blank template page. 

I then had to consider content. I looked at other websites and saw what they contained... and then did that. 

5 pages

Home page

About

Portfolio

Blog

Contact

I wanted to keep this as simple as possible but still get the information across. 

I am very happy with how it turned out. 

Things to consider when designing a website.

Design in illustrator or photoshop. Save as .png files (saves transparency)

72dpi

RGB

Web only colours. 

Save everything to a root folder.