Tuesday 9 December 2008

Along Came The Breifs


I’ve just done the first piece of design work and, to be honest, I’m over the moon, as I’ve been looking forward to doing design work since I started the course.

Hokai was the first piece brief that I did which went great. It was basically designing a paint tube with the small dimension of 65mm x 45mm. This was challenging as we had to fit all the text on and make it readable.

In terms of using the ‘posh’ sketchbook to do the idea generation I feel that it gives me the chance to get all my ideas down on the page until I find the design that’s right. By the time we had finished I had a design that I was happy with. I also got over using Adobe InDesign and feel that I have grasped the basics and feel ready to start experimenting with it.

The second mini assignment that I received was the Vodafone advert that went well but I didn’t enjoy it as much as the Hokai task. I felt that I didn’t pick my ideas as well I could of done and by the time that I had finished I realised that I had picked the wrong grid system. This annoyed me to some extent but I managed to adjust my idea in the end to fit what I wanted to. In the future I will do more thumbnails until I find the right set.

The latest brief is out to make two type trumps which is a good chance to be creative with InDesign. The best bit in designing for me is the ideas generation as I feel that it helps me separate the good from the bad. This is probably one of the best things I have learnt so far.

Tuesday 25 November 2008

Feedback from Referral

About two weeks ago we received our grades of the first assignment, which I finally found out that I had referred, which to be honest it wasn’t what I expected but it turned out that it wasn’t that bad as the majority of the class also referred.

To begin with I felt like I could have done better but it was only little things that I referred on but on the other hand it could have been worst as I could have had to change a whole section.

I found the feedback that I had received from Steve pretty helpful as he explained what I had done wrong like referencing and a few spelling mistakes. When talking to Steve I realized that I had referred but part of it was because he wanted the class to have a perfect assignment to look back on so we can see how it should be done.

As that assignment ended we received two more assignments to run along side each other; this is pretty daunting as I don’t want to favor one and let the other one slide.

When we were introduced to the assignment I felt confused as I didn’t understand what we were been asked to do but as we are progressing through the assignment they seem pretty straight forward.

The project that I am looking forward to starting is typecast as I am excited in finding out what we are expected to do in regards to the briefs as it will be the first time that we have done any design work.

In this assignment I intend to check what the criteria is before I hand it so I know that it’s been done the work to the standard that is needed.

Tuesday 11 November 2008

The Talk: By a Professional

On Monday we where visited by Dave Pannell and Craig Burgess from The Design Mechanics. They gave us a presentation on how the company works and what Dave expects of new workers entering his company.

I found it an interesting talk in regards to the time taken to design a logo which was sometimes as short as 1 hour. This is good way to work as it gets the logo out in a good time, but still maintains the same quality as it would if he took 2 weeks to do it.

As well it was great to see an employer that was keen to take student straight from the imedia course. However was shocked when he said that students from university where not the people that he wanted in his business, because of the fact that he didn’t think that they knew enough about the varied time scale that comes with working for a company. In turn this ends up costing him too much money to get them to that stage.

Also I think that his company is sort of like a supermarket in terms of you go in get your goods i.e. logo, business cards, leaflets etc. Paying a set price shown in the price list which I thought was different as I didn’t think you can know what to charge before you know what the work is.

It was a good opportunity to get told by someone with experience in the industry about how creating your own business isn’t all it cracked up to be, it’s a long process full of mistakes, almost like a rollercoaster ride.

I found it an informative presentation, and appreciated the talk by a professional.

Tuesday 4 November 2008

The Font: FF Meta

1Erik Spiekerman designed FF Meta in 1984 for the German Federal Post. Designed to be readable and sturdy, the font has also been used on post boxes and Deutshe Bundespost vehicle.

This font has been used in a range of different places from Connex (Stockholm Metro) to becoming the official typeface for Imperial College London and all publications for the UK’s Environment Agency

The font was used so when writing on bad paper in small text size the font would still be readable.

2It was named after Meta studios where the typeface then became exclusive to that company. It is a popular font especially in the USA where ID magazine used the font from when the company was established. FF Meta has also been hailed to be the ‘typeface for the nineties’.

Below is an example of what the font looks like as you can see it’s pretty simple and easy to read. In my opinion I think that it is just an easy font to use, not too fancy or flash design, just nice and simple and easy to use. This is one of those fonts that you use as an everyday font, or on websites that require a lot of writing so that people don’t seem to get stressed because it isn’t readable but will enjoy reading it.

3Photobucket

4This billboard uses FF Meta on it as you can see it is clear as the eye can see. With Meta they have gone into a lot of detail on the each letter so that no matter what size the font is it wont be made blurry or unreadable. FF Meta is a universal text. FF Meta has also has been used on: Pickle Jars, Cars, Bags, Trucks and Beers in range of different places and can also be used in bold, italic, caps and lower case.

Photobucket

Reference
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FF_Meta#Uses,
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2. http://www.paratype.com/pstore/fonts/FF-Meta.htm
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3. http://www.paratype.com/pstore/fonts/FF-Meta.htm
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4. http://www.designworkplan.com/typography-fonts/ff-meta-is-everywhere.htm
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Tuesday 21 October 2008

The Deadline

The first assignment is over. The relief has set in.

In general the assignment wasn’t too challenging but it had a lot of research which helped me with my general understanding of computers, especially in the computing language section.

In regards to submitting the project, it was an easy process but I did keep thinking ‘Have I done the cd right?'. By using
Das Forum the relevant information was available so it wasn’t a big deal in the end.

Tweaking the assignement started to become a problem for me because I found myself changing parts that were right. So in the end I had to say enough is a enough, its done and had to leave it alone, before I changed too much.

The course in it self is getting better with no-one being stressed, as the assignment is handed in, so it is all about waiting for the results now.

Timekeeping is a problem for me in terms of getting distracted but I feel that I’m beginning to become more aware and
self disciplined by trying not to go out when there’s work to be done. A time sheet, in my opinion, would be a good thing to have as it will help me structure my time.

The biggest challenge for me will be juggling the new assignments and not just favouring one of the projects as the other project is going to suffer. So I feel it’s essential to do this time sheet as soon as possible.

On the whole I am looking forward to the challenge of the new assignments and looking forward to starting the creative work.

Tuesday 7 October 2008

The Wheels are in Motion

Having just finished week 4 of the course things are getting easier in the group and beginning to grips with A2. It's has been a steep learning curve for me been half way though the first assignment; kind of an overload of information.

I'm finding the assignment boring at times simple because there is pages and pages of research that has to be covered.

Earlier this week there was a feedback session around Blogger that I found helpful, however mine wasn’t selected but the feedback given helped me figure out what i had done right and in turn the things done wrong.

In the first week we did a series of team building exercising one was the egg drop that went very well even though we was doubted, I feel that this was good at bringing the group together due to the competing and the creative work involved.

A personal task for me is timekeeping which I think I’m getting better at I’ve had one experience of been late which disappointed me, but feel that a bit of self motivation is needed to sort that out.

The past couple of days have been a little weird for me as I’m receiving extra support for my dyslexia, it’s been different shall I say as my past experience of support have been rubbish to say the least.

However I’ve been given the inlays which I didn’t think would help with reading but surprisingly they make a difference. I have also arranged my meeting for 1:1 tutor groups.

So the wheels are in motion.

Tuesday 30 September 2008

Where I’ve come from; where I am now; where I’m going

About me I’m 18 years old and I’m from Ossett I’d say that I'm creative and enthusiastic, however I feel that I still have a lot to learn before I can really get out into the industry to be able to generate income. However I am working to improve my skills and think that I am getting better by the day.

For the past two years I have been studying Film Studies, Media Studies and Photography as A Levels at Wakefield College which I finished and passed with CCD in June 2008.

Whilst doing those courses I worked a Homebase for 2 years which I really didn’t enjoy, this made me want to move on the different things, however by working there I gave me one more thing that I know I’m don’t want to do so in way I’m glad.

After completing my A levels I managed to get an apprenticeship in Film Making with a company called
Lippy Film Ltd, which I am very pleased about as it given me an insight on how the industry works, during my time there I have been on film shoots where I have learnt a lot about sound, camera work, editing and the main part that I have learnt is how to tell a story because without a good story there’s no film.

Recently I enrolled in the
HND Interactive Media course and to be honest at first it was a bit weird not knowing anybody but as time went on it's got better, by doing this course it will give me a unique set of skills ranging from photography to web design this will let me be able to make films and distribute them using the Internet. However I can’t wait to get stuck in with the course and get stuck in with the practical work.