Nick Entwistle

Irn Bru Advert

2010-05-09T13:33:00.000-07:00

This advert is a disgrace and should not be allowed on TV. Have just read the comments on Irn Bru and most of them are totally negative. The strapline 'It's Phenomenal has no point whatsoever and makes no sense in relation to the ad. Irn Bru seem desperate for publicity by showing this ad but maybe thats what they want. Unfortunately it has backfired.

Mick Greer- Lecture

2010-04-27T13:22:00.000-07:00

Last week Mick Greer, a freelance copywriter, came to my college to give a lecture about life in the design industry. Guy Lawrence, one of our tutors, introduced Mick to the group as they had known each other for a number of years. After 20 years not being in touch they met 5 years ago and have been friends since.

Mick studied Graphic Design for 4 years but then decided to get into Advertising as he felt he wasn't that good at design. He leaned heavily towards copywriting and works now with an art director.
His CV includes working for The Chase, LOVE, Amaze and Mccann Erickson.

He started with some maths equations that basically showed that there are too many people and not enough jobs. This proved you have to be pretty special to get yourself a job. This led onto the subject of placements being of huge importance in getting a job. It is all about what you do and how motivated you are.

He told us that once we get a contact, to keep in touch at least once a week and build up relationships within the industry which is the best way of getting a job. When on placement do the jobs other people don't want to do and make yourselves invaluable. Mick also said not to just talk to one person. Talk to a dozen agencies to give yourselves the best chance of being hired in the future.

People often find they are without work for a year after qualifying. This means you need to act before you graduate to assure you are not without work. Agencies do not expect the finished article when you arrive and ther is still a lot of learning to be done after you graduate.

His advice overall was to be tenacious and you will get your reward.

SOFAbulous

2010-04-21T13:04:00.001-07:00

Untouched Logo

2010-04-21T12:27:00.000-07:00

I am in the process of setting up another web/print agency in Manchester. We have come up with the name Untouched. This is because we want to show that the value for money and quality of service we provide is untouched. We also like to create clean design that hasn't been tarnished with unnecessary clutter which ties in with the philosophy of the company. The logo I have designed leaves the word Untouched 'untouched' and surrounded by the 3 barriers which protects the word from anything else being able to touch it. The circles show unity and the colours can be interchanged accross the website when this is produced.

Contact Report - Questionnaire - Caroline @ The Clinton Partnership

2010-04-15T02:35:00.000-07:00

Questionnaire:

1.) Recently, myself and James entered 10 awards between us for D&AD and YCN. This has possibly had a slightly negative impact on our Final Major Project's as we have not spent as much time on them as other people on our course who entered one or none. We felt that it is our last chance to win student awards so we wanted to give ourselves a good chance. Tutors have told us a number of times to be wary of spreading ourselves too thin on each entry by doing so many. We were advised to focus on one or two and make them entries better. However we feel all of the entries had a chance of winning so we worked them all up and sent them off.

Do you think we approached this in the right way or would you agree with my tutors? What are your thoughts on the subject of student awards?

In all honesty, I think your final projects are incredibly important to a certain extent in that they dictate your final marks/degree. However they are not the be all and end all – gaining experience and entering awards ( & winning them in your case) will be invaluable to your credentials and ultimately land you better jobs than your colleagues in the future! It is a balancing act between everything. I can see your tutors concerns as you must focus time and effort on your important projects but if you have time to enter and feel strongly about your work, then go for it – you’ve got nothing to lose, providing you don’t lose sight of your uni work alltogether!

2.) I am of the opinion that good ideas should be put ahead of the design of anything. I did my dissertation on this subject and found out a lot about products and advertising doing their job well rather than just looking nice.

How much emphasis do you think should be put into an idea with relation to the design and why?

A common industry saying is ‘Ideas Everything, Media Anything’ – think this is really important and design follows this philosophy to a certain extent. Basically, the ‘big idea’ drives everything and is the hook for all communication to hang off. The idea should drive the design although sometimes you see pieces of creative work that has a great idea but the design is totally shoddy. Like you say in your question, sometimes the design can be amazing and look nice but the idea just doesn’t cut it and deliver the single minded proposition, which is ultimately the most important thing. So, in answer to your question – I think the idea is the most important thing but the execution of that idea is important too, not just to sell that idea into the client but to the consumer too.

3.) I have now done a number of work placements at various design/ad agencies which I feel has helped me adapt to the industry. It is a much faster pace and more of a challenge to be in an actual workplace.

What do you think about the importance of placements and what are the benefits/disadvantages of having placements in your agency?

- Placements in my opinion are incredibly important. Not only are they important to the student, but to the agency too.

Benefits to agency: students breathe fresh ideas/new insights into an agency. A lot of the time, both account handlers and creatives have been working on their accounts/brands for long periods of time and can almost become too close to it, which can sometimes restrict thinking/fresh ideas. It’s always nice to have a new view/opinions, etc. They tend to work hard, get jobs done and be really eager to learn – a lot of senior people no longer have this!

Disadvatanges to agency: None in my opinion!!}
Advantages to students: Real experience of the agency world (the rat race), meet new people/contacts/networking, opportunities to get a job afterwards, earn money, etc etc

Disadvantages to student: sometimes placement students are not given the TLC they need (i.e not enough time given to them/teaching/learning/briefing, etc) purely because the buddy/mentor doesn’t have enough time themselves. Therefore some placements cannot be worthwhile to the student because they just end up making tea, etc.

4.) Pitching is obviously a big part of an agencies work these days. I have been involved in a few pitches and it's a good feeling when you win but I think it would feel like a lot of wasted time and money if you were to lose.

Do you agree with this system or do you take part in the pitching process out of necessity?

-I agree, it is a LOT of wasted time and money when you lose and very disheartening for the team. But you live and learn and believe it or not, you get a huge amount of experience and you can learn a lot from pitches and the pitch process. Sometimes pitches are just for fun (some agencies pitch for work just to get the brand/event in their portfolio – the kudos is often important for some agencies – e.g think Mccanns getting the Olympics but at a huge loss! Sometimes it is necessary, e.g because they need extra revenue & new business or sometimes you have to re pitch for existing clients which is more frustrating! I guess some people think the pitch process is part of the game – in my opinion & if I were the client, chemistry and credentials is more important than answering a pitch brief.

5.) I have been working as a freelancer recently and have run a small business the past couple of years which has helped me learn to deal with clients and sourcing web coders and signwriters etc.

Apart from being a source of income, do you feel that it is worthwhile during studying to get involved in real work and start to interact with other businesses. Do you think these skills can be important in helping you get a job?

100% - I think it is really important to have some business acumen before you enter the fast paced world we are in– you will be dealing with senior people, account handlers, other creatives, plus tonnes of other interesting people in your line of work so learning key skills early on how to handle situations/etc will prove invaluable. I think you’ll benefit from it all massively – it will also show potential employers that you are keen, entrepreneurial, driven, and can work with different types of people and characters, which will only work with you – not against you!.

Contact Report - Questionnaire - Gary @ BJL

2010-04-15T02:29:00.000-07:00

Contact Report-Questionnaire-Chris @ Driven

2010-04-15T02:16:00.000-07:00

Contact Report: Questionnaire - Carol @ Mccann Erickson

2010-04-14T08:42:00.000-07:00

Questionnaire:

1.) Recently, myself and James entered 10 awards between us for D&AD and YCN. This has possibly had a slightly negative impact on our Final Major Project's as we have not spent as much time on them as other people on our course who entered one or none. We felt that it is our last chance to win student awards so we wanted to give ourselves a good chance. Tutors have told us a number of times to be wary of spreading ourselves too thin on each entry by doing so many. We were advised to focus on one or two and make them entries better. However we feel all of the entries had a chance of winning so we worked them all up and sent them off.

Do you think we approached this in the right way or would you agree with my tutors? What are your thoughts on the subject of student awards?

Well...you made the right decision for you at the time based on your future ...one of the things I learnt in the first few years was about not being able to do everything and having to make choices...some right...some were wrong. Some force you to be strict on yourself...like when you have 1 day left before a pitch and you’ve a head full of ideas and which one do you pick to run with because you can’t and shouldn’t make them all...you have to be strict and only do the best one. Equally you shouldn’t go for the easy one.... 1 day left and the best idea is a 12 foot tall giraffe or whatever.... Well go ahead and make it even if it seems like a bit of an impossibility. But 10 awards seems like a tall ask to do a great job on all of them and the thing that suffered was your FMP. Guess you have to work out what the consequences are to your choice. If you are confident you put some great ideas into the awards then I’d say that’s a good choice. Having awards to your name is great when touting your book and not many people will ask what your FMP mark was!!! If you win nothing and get a crap mark then ouch but you learnt something. And anyways...you have a good great book to show at your final show.

2.) I am of the opinion that good ideas should be put ahead of the design of anything. I did my dissertation on this subject and found out a lot about products and advertising doing their job well rather than just looking nice.

How much emphasis do you think should be put into an idea with relation to the design and why?

Both should be brilliant. But then the idea can be the design of it. Depends what it is really...eg product design...the idea is usually an innovation in the design. However... A great idea not so beautifully designed is far more satisfying than just a beautiful looking thing that has no substance. Depends what it is really...if you were designing a toothbrush...yes some new innovation idea would be great...but so would just a really funky looking design. If you’re talking more like an ad...I usually find the beautiful ones without an idea instantly gratifying but soon forgotten. The ones with an idea as well last. It’s an idea that connects us...engages us...finds empathy with us.

3.) I have now done a number of work placements at various design/ad agencies which I feel has helped me adapt to the industry. It is a much faster pace and more of a challenge to be in an actual workplace.

What do you think about the importance of placements and what are the benefits/disadvantages of having placements in your agency?

They are crucial to you. Gives you sense of reality...and hopefully excites you about your future.
For us...occasionally they are a drag if the student doesn’t throw themselves at it 200% and you end up just finding stuff for them to do...but if you find a great student then its fun and it reminds you what got us doing this in the first place ...makes me want to do just ideas and no meetings ha ha.

4.) Pitching is obviously a big part of an agencies work these days. I have been involved in a few pitches and it's a good feeling when you win but I think it would feel like a lot of wasted time and money if you were to lose.

Do you agree with this system or do you take part in the pitching process out of necessity?

It’s necessary to continually proactively hunt new business. But also to service your existing clients as if they are new ones. New customers cost more to get than keeping old ones so never forget to treat them as special as the first day. There are occasionally fixed fee based pitches but these are rare. Sometimes remuneration based pitches with costs covered but only if you win. Most are win or lose out...so you just have to win more than lose...and win the big ones ( and some smaller ones if they look good on your client list so add their own value ). You just have to be careful what you go for and ascertain the cost of success/failure. Pitches can easily cost thousands and thousands if films involved and man hours are high. Its alright thinking you can do all the work in house but you still need to cover salary. Some of this is absorbed but your overall business plan must include a budget towards new business.
Re how it feels – like all things in life –the best ever feeling if your effort pays off and the worst if it doesn’t...but that just proves you put your all into it and that’s the only way to tackle a pitch. They are part of our business. However, more and more we will win business on reputation ( credentials pitches) and menu costing. So a potential new client can see what you have done/won, maybe expect a point of view on their business, and know exactly what its going to cost them.

5.) I have been working as a freelancer recently and have run a small business the past couple of years which has helped me learn to deal with clients and sourcing web coders and signwriters etc.

Apart from being a source of income, do you feel that it is worthwhile during studying to get involved in real work and start to interact with other businesses. Do you think these skills can be important in helping you get a job?

Absolutely...real experience is invaluable. Helps you understand how people’s jobs interlink in the chain from idea to finished production. Helps you negotiate and hit deadlines. But importantly...it can teach you the importance of responsibility...taking that leap of faith with a supplier, with your client’s money but at your risk, and make damn well sure its your responsibility it turns out perfect as you want it.
Re job seeking it definately gives you a head start...its the difference between hiring someone from scratch and training them everything and being able to give them a brief on day one and let them get going.

Contact Report: Questionnaire - Parisa @ Mccann Erickson

2010-04-14T08:39:00.000-07:00

The LAB

2010-04-14T06:45:00.000-07:00

Just before the Easter holidays we had an initial deadline for our Final Major Projects where we had to exhibit our work in an enclosed room in the studio which was called The LAB.

The reason behind this was to push us to have our projects at a very finished stage a few weeks before our final show. There were also some designers who came in to speak individually to people about where they could take their projects and give some advice. If I'm honest my FMP is nowhere near finished as I spent so much time producing award entries. I wanted to spend a lot of my time on these as we will not get another chance to enter these when we graduate.

My idea that was exhibited is as below:

Playstation Brief –
Create a campaign that gets children to combine virtual sports game playing with getting involved in real sport.

Solution –
Incorporate real sports into the virtual sport playing experience.

Why?
Hardcore virtual sport game players will not wish to give up their console completely. Players of real sport are
occasional virtual sport players also. Rather than alienate either group with a campaign against playing virtual
sports, I have decided to bring these people and both worlds together and create a Playstation community.

Output –
Campaign called ‘PlayNation’ that merges both virtual and real world together.

Benefits for Playstation – Sony
Publicity via various medias. New image as a promoter of health and talent. Help in the fight against obesity.
Create new communities and get people talking.. Create relationships and promote sports playing ahead of the
World Cup and Olympics 2012.. Make Money from product sales. Increased console sales to players of real
sport.

Benefits for Children: Healthier Lifestyle. Ability to talk more. Work in teams.. Achieve a feeling of success.
Chance to better themselves and increase confidence..

*Impossible to cheat: Even if it is done indoors: Bouncing ball. = still physical activity. Anything is better than
nothing.

Brand:
The name ‘ PlayNation’ is a play on words of ‘Playstation.’ The reason for the word nation is that Playstation is an
international brand so this can be used all over the world. It divides nations in the same way sport does but
brings them all together in the form of an online world that mixes virtual reality with reality. The word Play
remains as it works on both levels. Playing real sport aswell as playing virtual sport..

There is a lot more to be said about the idea as it needs its own Manifesto but this will be worked up for the show.

Dan Ingham and Stephen Owen were the people from industry that came to speak with me about my work. They offered good advice liked the idea overall as it had so much potential. They suggested I focus on one area of it and have fun with it to make sure it becomes a hard hitting campaign. At the moment I have the idea sorted but need to communicate with the viewer much more effectively so they get it straight away. A suggestion that came up was to focus on my iphone idea as everyone does posters for their final show and the industry is going much more interactive and digital based. We spoke about some work I had seen of Stephen's for Umbro which has a similar feel and they agreed that the style of it all should look real rather than half digital and half real.

I think the idea of bringing the deadline forward was a good one as people are at more of an advanced stage that they might have been. However, I don't feel anyone is anywhere near a finished standard with their work so it didn't work in that respect. It was good to get people in as ultimately these are the type of people who will be looking at our work in the final show.

The Clinton Partnership - Freelance Work

2010-04-14T06:12:00.000-07:00

Upon returning from our trip to London, myself and James were offered a job as a creative team at The Clinton Partnership. We had been recommended by someone from Mccann Erickson which goes to show that hard work, contact and placements can gain you recognition and not necessarily with the agency you do the placement at.

Unfortunately, as we were working at Driven for 2 weeks and also have to do our Final Major Projects, we were unable to move or stay down there to work there. However, we sent our portfolio to them and they liked what they saw. They then said they would still like us to work with them and we arranged a freelance project where we would work from home and send our work over to them and we would then review how well the project worked even though we weren't actually there.

We worked on a 2 day rate on a brief for a Hot Pepper Sauce company and came up with mainly sketched out ideas in that time, as well as some slightly worked up versions to show how they might look.

We had some great feedback and we spoke with a number of them via a conference call which was a new experience but it shows that you don't strictly have to be in a certain place to be able to work for them.

Three core ideas were picked out which they wanted us to push and they gave us the option of working on a new brief for the same client. We said yes and have spent the last 2 days working on our ideas and mocking them up. We then sent them over as boards ready for them to print out and show the client. We are awaiting feedback on these ideas and are hoping the client goes with one of them so we can produce the final product.

At the moment it has been hard to fit the projects around other work and university commitments but it has been a good experience to work as a freelancer as I have never done it before and it can only benefit me for the future. I look forward to working with the Clinton Partnership on future projects if this is possible.

Practitioner Report Dan Ingham/Stephen Owen & Mike Rigby

2010-04-14T05:57:00.000-07:00

I have decided to write my practitioner report to compare Mike Rigby, who came to speak to us this year, and Dan Ingham & Stephen Owen who came in last year. I decided this as I also wanted to compare my own thoughts and reflection on what the guest speakers said with the difference of a year’s design experience. Dan and Ste were still starting out on the design ladder but they both won awards at the end of year exhibitions and were entered into the 'New Blood' section of D&AD.
They told how important it was to get into college as much as you can as you could miss important information and being around other people is paramount to improving ideas you couldn't do on your own.
As they both got chances to exhibit their work in London, it gave them the chance to build relationships and contacts with people and show their talents to thousands of people.
Out of 2000 students Dan and Steve won one of the 40 awards given out which is a tremendous achievement.
This led to numerous offers of work which surprisingly they turned down as they want to work at big agencies which is commendable and it seems they are going to follow a similar path to Mike who graduated in 2002 and has been in employment at The Chase, Landor, Moon, Pentagram, Mark Studio and has recently been offered the job as Creative Director at Interbrand in Australia. Therefore, it is good to get opinions from their different perspectives.

Mike's talk was advertised by posters put up around the design department recently featuring the word WOW which since the talk I have realised means Words of Wisdom. The date on these was 26th October which was wrong as it was meant to say November. Then someone designed a poster that said D'oh in place of Wow with the correct date on. These were placed next to the ones with the incorrect date on. I don't understand why you would want to highlight someones mistake and it makes a mockery out of that person. It could quite easily have been reprinted with the correct date on. However maybe this was intentional. The way Dan and Ste promoted their talk was with a screenshot of an email saying that they didn’t have any time to make a poster. I am not sure if this was intentional either or it was a real e-mail but they both got our attention by being different.

Dan and Ste explained they would rather not work on designing kebab house leaflets forever and would rather work on the bigger things. I respect this as it would be easy to take the money and they have decided against this.
Mark seemed to have taken the same attitude and spoke of the positives about being in the design industry. He said it is interesting, challenging, no two jobs are the same, you get to go on photoshoots, you go on free awards nights and that their is a strong design community. Also, people are helpful and it is easy to work from home or abroad. Aswell as this you can work for worthwhile causes and help give people a voice.

The negatives were the long hours of unpaid work, the competitive nature of the industry and the amount of pressure put upon you. The negative impacts are overpackaged items which is negative on the environment and also information overload. He then went onto speak about Studio structure and the hierarchy of staff which I think was more for the first and second years.

Moving onto the subject of placements Mike did a 6 month placement at Imagination and then did a placement at The Chase. Dan and Ste also opted to not take the first job they were offered and they decided to go on some placements with the likes of Thoughtful and The Chase and then moved onto placements with Mark Design and McCann Erickson.
Marks opinion is that placements speed you up and you become ten times faster than before. You get real live projects and you can gain contacts by networking and going on nights out. His advice for getting a placement was to have 6 solid placements in your book, have good ideas well executed, impress tutors and do well at interview. To get the most out of a placement you should socialize, be enthusiastic and positive. He advised us to not let rejection get to us as it does not mean you aren't good enough and will only make you stronger.
With so many people graduating each year from Graphic Design in the North West, Dan and Steve's advice to us was to build up contacts with people, continually improve your portfolio, enter competitions and try your best.

Also starting on a low wage isn't all that bad, Mike started on 13k and left only a couple of years later on 23k. His first project was ironically the project that we worked on at the Liverpool Design Symposium during The Chase's workshop. He achieved what was required and the underlay outsold carpet at the company for the next 2 years which shows what good design can do to sales. With his design he also achieved a 350% store card uptake increase which shows it doesn't have to be a glamorous brief to achieve results.

Aside from design, Mike has travelled the world and advises us to do the same as it is the best thing he has ever done. This is in contrast to Dan and Ste who got stuck into the industry as soon as they graduated. Mike then eventually got a job working at Landor in Australia whilst travelling where he was paid more and had amazing views from the studio. He believes British designers are highly exportable due to superior ideas whereas other countries are more strategic. I have found this when showing my work in New York. He is now working at True North until he leaves to travel again before he takes on his new job with Interbrand.

He says a lot of his time is spent producing brand guidelines which show the look, font, colours and tone of voice of a brand. Although he likes to make time to do self initiated briefs and advises us to do them aswell.

Overall Mikes advice to us as students is to broaden our horizons and look at all types of media. Experiment whilst you can and you are in education. Crit and collaborate with other students. Above all believe in yourself. This is echoed by Ste and Dan who had told us that, due to them always being together and doing the Colleges promotional work, they had received some negative comments and jealousy. This led to some bitchiness because it was always ' Ste and Dan '. This wasn't a problem for them because they were getting slagged of for doing good work. They told us that we should believe in ourselves in the same way and it will take us far.

Overall I think both talks were similar but it was good to get opinions from people at different levels within design as Dan and Ste are attempting to do what Mike is doing right now. The things that Dan and Ste have told us I am certain Mike would say the same as he also seems to be good and determined to do well in the industry. Mike has a more laid back style to myself and Dan and Ste but it seems to work well. They both agree on the subject of placements and being proactive in getting yourself aswell as having strong portfolios. It was also interesting how they all had the opinion that money wasn’t a big deal when starting out. Mike said it soon went up and I am sure that Dan and Ste are now reaping the benefits of their decisions also.

Issues and Practices Analysis

2010-04-14T04:13:00.000-07:00

The issue I have decided to write about is something I have learnt a lot about this year and feel very strongly about which helps me with my own work. The issue is that good design doesn't have to look pretty. It is the idea and marketing behind the product that makes it sell. Something can look ugly and still sell a lot compared to something that looks pretty and is marketed badly.

Good design does not rely purely on aesthetics, it needs to provide a call to action, which is something that this years placements and engagement with industry has helped me to understand. I am in the business of designing products and brands, which companies want to be sold to the public. If a product purely exists aesthetically it will still fade into the background. In the case of this brand you almost have to literally put the product into the target audiences' hands, as they will not take notice of a design itself in most cases. Good design does not guarantee good sales. Hence the reason why marketing and implementation of design into an already fiercely competitive market are hugely important, if not more important than the design itself. Bad design however can still achieve good sales as is the case with Red Bull and Pro Plus. During research for projects this year I have noticed that these products have poorly designed packaging. However, they are very cleverly marketed, which more than makes up for the lack of creativity within their design. The product has also got to do what it says it does but these products are marketed by overemphasizing their good points and, of course, not mentioning any side effects that may occur. Accentuating the positive is not lying, it is simply telling the truth in a dramatic way for maximum effect. How I’ve been applying this concept to my work is to. Find out what’s right about your product or service and then dramatize it. For example, you know a horse can jump a ditch, therefore you accept that it can jump the Grand Canyon. Providing there is a basic truth in your idea you can dramatize it to infinity.

To exploit products advertising to its maximum potential by going beyond what has gone before in traditional advertising means.
An example of this exaggeration is in an advert I saw which echoes the idea that you “ can exaggerate a bit in advertising. And since a Touareg is capable of pulling a Boeing 747, we also hitched a caravan in our ad.”
To apply this idea to my work I had to think of how the product can make people feel good, and times that by ten. Going that step further is difficult as it is stretching the truth to it’s extreme but once you break that barrier then you are likely to get results.
This is what the previously mentioned products do perfectly even though there are other products on the market that do the same job and in most cases look better. Promoting the products rather than the brand drives sales and from this you will gain exposure to the brand itself. The brand can then be exploited further, in it’s own right, to familiarise it with the public. I have learnt this from discussions with Mccann Erickson’s Creative Director who told us that whatever you do, “Don’t sell the brand. Sell the product.
I am now in a mindset where I am aware of the fact that sales are the prime target and therefore have changed my outlook on design completely. The opposite of accentuating the positive is eliminating any negative connotations with your brand. Something I have adhered to during this project is to “Avoid knocking the competition. It usually serves to publicize them rather than you. It may win attention, it may win awards but the likelihood is that it won’t win sales."
Arrogance like this can lead to the rival company highlighting your own flaws and result in lower sales so it is better to avoid such tactics and focus on removing any negative areas of your own products within the marketing approach.
Trends and financial restrictions have changed the way advertising is perceived in recent times and this has lead to rise of blogging, which in itself is an effective marketing tool. More and more people are reading blogs due to the fact they are easy to access and readily available. Blogger.com, for example, allows people to have their own account which they can upload content to. This along with the rise of Twitter and Facebook means that everyone knows what everyone is doing all of the time. It is an advertisers dream.

Driven Work Placement

2010-04-11T04:38:00.000-07:00

During the Easter holidays myself and James decided to take the opportunity to do a work placement at Driven in Wilmslow. We were offered the placement after a portfolio visit a couple of months ago. It looked like a great place to work with some big clients so we were happy to do it.

The agency is situated in Wilmslow town centre which means it doesn't get too busy like the town centre yet you can still go out with a lot of things to do around. The Aston Martin garage is also directly opposite which is a bonus for me with my love of cars.

We arrived at 10am on the first day which allowed them to get themselves sorted for the day before meeting with us and going through what was required of us.

We were then given a ambient advertising brief for a energy supplement company which was a great initial brief to get into as there was a lot you could do with it and we tried to inject a bit of fun into it. The overarching theme was already in place and we had to come up with ideas around this. We produced a lot of ideas and had a meeting about them. We went over the ideas but there was an issue of quantity over quality with them. Some ideas were good but some were just thrown in and didn't achieve what it should have. We spoke about this and it helped us be more focussed on our next challenge which was for a famous fruit juice company.

The task was to think of ideas for a TV advert which was within a budget so we had to consider the amount of animation, camera work, location, props and extras. Most were kept to a minimum but we were able to keep the fun factor. We drew up lots of storyboards and wrote a lot of scripts which took us a few days. We had a couple of meetings about this in which we found out which ones should be developed further. This allowed us to work on the dialogue and Sound effects and it was good to get involved in different aspects. In the first week we didn't do any designing at all which I was happy with as I prefer coming up with ideas anyway.

The TV brief then changed slightly to viral ads for across the internet. We had to try and design something that people will pass around the internet. This was hard at first as we have never really designed a viral ad before but once we started coming up with ideas, more ideas started to flow. A lot of the ideas were very interactive and used the screen on a computer as the actual platform for what happened in the video and pop ups. This idea lent itself to iphone apps so we designed them too. We then had a meeting about the TV and viral ads and Driven were pleased with what we had come up with and how hard we had worked. We had learnt to focus our ideas more and produced a lot of work so it was good to get the recognition.

We were then given a design brief for something not so glamorous but we still had to come up with some exciting ideas around a number of existing themes. The task was to design a new compost bag. We sketched up a lot of ideas on the first day and then worked these up to presentation standard on the computer. We then applied them to a blank bag which brought the designs to life and made them look real. We then had a final meeting about the designs and they were impressed with the amount we had done aswell as the way they looked. It was nice to have our effort and ideas appreciated.

Just before we were leaving on our final day, we were called into the office for a chat where we were asked to come back when we graduate. We thought this was great as it seems they see potential in us to help their business in the future. The client list is good and Driven get involved in everything from ideas through to design. I would like to get involved in everything and not confined into one area so I am very happy to have been asked back. This is an option I am taking very seriously and it would be good to repay Driven's faith in us in the future.

Portfolio Visit - Pentagram

2010-03-05T11:20:00.000-08:00

The last of our visits before we returned to Manchester was at Pentagram. Unfortunately there was no time to go through our portfolios there and then but we were able to leave a copy with them. We were given a tour around the studio which was just having some new screens fitted for better presentations. There was a large presentation/gallery room at the front where they hold big meetings and lectures to students etc.

Something I haven't seen at any other agencies is an archive within the building. Years of work were kept in huge metal cabinets which can be used for referencing and also presentations and pitches. Then behind this was the canteen area where they all meet for lunch and catch up on gossip etc. To the back of the building was a woodwork which is another first that I have seen in a design agency. He explained that this is where the architectural designers create models of their designs. He showed us some of the models in a storage room next to the workshop.

We then went upstairs and looked around the open plan studio. There was some interesting work on show and it looked like a good atmosphere to work in. We then asked a few questions about what it was like to work there and what they got involved in. We received some good advice and would like to go back in the future.

At the end of the visit we were each given two fantastic Pentagram books which was completely unexpected but a really nice gesture that we really appreciated.

Portfolio Visit - Saatchi & Saatchi

2010-03-05T10:56:00.000-08:00

We signed into the reception at Saatchi & Saatchi and sat down with a huge screen showreeling their ads to the right and a full wall of D&AD pencils to our left. This reinforced our knowledge of the place being a major agency in the world.

We were then greeted by the creative team we had contacted and we went up in their lift to their enclosed glass fronted office. We started off by talking about our course which is exactly the same one as they did. Again, this shows that you don't have to study advertising to get into it. Due to this, they were able to give us some good advice on turning our book into an ad book rather than a design book. They also gave us a handout to look at with some unwritten rules of advertising which offers great advice.

They then went through our book. Sometimes we talk about our work as people look at our book but in this case it was silent and they looked through it carefully which I appreciated more as the ideas should be communicated without talking about them anyway. We were then given feedback on each idea. They explained that the ideas seemed like one-offs in some cases and that they could be expanded into some great campaigns. The Berghaus was an exception to this as they really liked it.

They wanted to see more 'big' ideas in our book. An example they gave us was the Kwik Fit campaign 'Look What We Can Do'. This one sentence was then used in lots of different ways. The core thought behind it is the type of thing we need to make our book more ad based. This would also include new media as well as online content to support the idea through different mediums.

They liked the Blood Drive, London F1 and innocent work but it all needs more of a point to create a call to action as nobody does advertising without a reason.

Overall from this meeting I feel that we have gained a lot more knowledge about advertising and I think that we need to make a serious decision very soon of which route to take because they don't physically do much designing themselves. So mostly it is one thing or the other although the two are now slightly merging together.

Agency Visit - Dew Gibbons

2010-03-05T10:43:00.000-08:00

The tutors arranged a few visits for groups of people on our course whilst we were in London. The agency we visited was called Dew Gibbons which design lots of packaging and products for clients such as Boots and Vidal Sassoon. We walked up quite a few flights of stairs into the top floor of the agency which looked like a flat with a table, sofas and a balcony. This is where the library was kept and looks like a place to relax and research.

We were then shown a presentation on a laptop of past and new work. He showed us expected salaries and their client. We saw mainly packaging design and some 3D design. He also spoke about going on nights out and the design community getting together.

He had actually previously studied at Somerset College where our current tutor Guy Lawrence used to teach. We spoke about his experiences with Guy and we told him ours. We then asked a few questions about his experiences of the industry and the feedback was very good. He advised us to be positive and know what you want to do and you will be fine.

After the talk we had a tour of the studio and met all of the other workers who said they would be happy to take on placements etc which could be an option in the future.

Portfolio Visit - BBH

2010-03-05T08:45:00.000-08:00

We were fortunate enough to meet with a senior creative director who actually did the same course as us at Stockport College a few years ago. So it is possible to make the jump from Graphic Design into advertising.

In Manchester he worked at BDH before it turned into TBWA but he decided to make the move to London. We briefly spoke about our course and what it entails. We spoke about the competitions and the BBC work we were getting involved in.

He then went through our joint portfolio which he liked the finish of. Although he felt it was almost too finished and could include rough sketches that show a big idea. At the moment he felt it was a Graphic Design book with good ideas in it rather than the other way round. He advised us to expand on our briefs into new media and applications to keep up to date with current trends and show that our ideas have some mileage and sustainability in them. Of all of the work the favourite was the Berghaus ads and the Age Concern campaign he felt was the weakest.

After a lot of advice on where to go with our portfolio. We were then given a tour around the offices which was surreal as we had never seen such a big agency. The inside looked like it could have been a shopping centre with stairs leading around upto 3 floors of glass fronted rooms. He showed some creative team offices that were in the process of being removed as the future is about collaboration and not confining people into one space. From my own experiences I feel that this is a good idea.

He advised us to do a placement for a month but don't do anymore unless it has likely work at the end of it. He explained that there are lots of nationalities working at BBH because they need to communicate their ads and their business across the entire world. The subject of pitching was brought up and he told us that they have to get involved in this as everyone loses clients as companies like to vary who they advertise with.

Portfolio Visit - Williams Murray Hamm

2010-03-05T08:09:00.000-08:00

The first thing we noticed about WMH was the light in their reception that is very bright and flashed their company initials. It warmed the whole room up and is unlike anything I have seen before.

After waiting in the open reception, we went into the large basement meeting room with Fiona. We had to walk past huge amounts of awards in the stairway which made you realise what a serious agency this was. We talked about our course and the way we are able to blur the boundaries of each pathway where and when we want to a certain extent which allows us to experiment in line with our ideas. As it was a design agency we opted to show our spearate books rather than the one we show to as agencies.

I went first and Fiona liked the interactive magazine which was good to hold and she felt it is something NewScientist might go with. We spoke about naivety and freedom of our first year experimental work. I showed it in the form of a book whereas James showed his in his portfolio which she preferred. She loved the 'A Thousand Words' subtle design and concept and wanted to see more which is something to look at when updating the portfolio. She also advised us to only put the final work for that concept in as it becomes confusing with other ideas that we show. She was impressed with the Berghaus advertising and was surprised that it hadn't been used for real. We then spoke about how it could work for other brands and products which I will definitely look into. Fiona liked the fact that we had used 3d software for the Shine work. She explained that they usually source workers for this but that it is always a good skill to have. She felt the E4 briefs had a good chance of winning awards which was a great comment.

Something that was another good point was that Fiona thought our Ministry of Sound video was just a mocked up storyboard. We talked through how we used a dance, green screen, filmed and edited everything which again was another skill which is good to have. She liked my logo identities for Mercedes and Angel of the North although she felt they should all have their own page.

Their was some constructive criticism of my work which I always welcome. She felt my furniture poster was purely style based which isn't in line with my other work. She didn't like the overused halo idea in my DreamCreators logo. She liked the table tennis TV advert but felt that the road warning sign looked too similar to my Age Concern work. She felt it was god that this work was used in their newsletter as a good cause and that I should include this in my portfolio. She would prefer to see the o2 work as an animation or interactive board as it is too static at the moment. She liked the inocent work as it was on brand and cheap. The Blood Drive work was appreciated but I was advised to brand the bus etc so people knew exactly what it was about without having to guess. Her favourite piece of work was probably the BBC and she wants us to send her one of the USB's that we get made which we definitely will do to hopefully give something back for all the time and andvice she gave us during our visit.

Portfolio Visit - The Partners

2010-03-05T07:40:00.000-08:00

Situated in a nice quiet square in the London, The Partners is an ideal place to work as you bet the best of both worlds. We were greeted by the friendly receptionist who spoke to us about the London Design scene. She explained that some people had left London to go to Manchester such as the owner of Mark Studio. A former worker at The Partners had also moved to Dew Gibbons which is another agency we visited whilst in London. She was also kind enough to give us two more contacts to go and see which unfortunately we couldn't do due to a lack of time. She also showed us the display and library of books in which The Partners are mentioned. The display was a piece of work from each year as they are now 40 years old and were shown in a build up of boxes which was a great way of presenting as you can see in the picture.

We were then greeted by one of the creative teams and went to sit in the meeting room. Initially, we spoke about our course and the flexibility of choosing briefs to fit our strengths as well as getting involved in all different aspects of design. As The Partners is heavily design based, we were advised to go into more of an advertising route as they felt we would be wated just doing designs. They were kind enough to comment that they hadn't seen so many good ideas in one book in a long time but the downside to this is that there is so much work to show. Although it's hard to take out work, less is more. It was interesting to see that they see our book as though it could be an advertising book whereas some ad agencies have thought of it as a design book.

They said it could be an option to start up our own creative agency when we leave and not to bother so much with placements but look to get work or even a 6 month trial. A few people have said to us now that we should set up a business and it is something that does interest me. Especially as I hav ran my own small business for 2 years.

They kept thinking we had already left university as we mentioned the awards and BBC work and were surprised that we were still studying. The main bits of work they liked were Berghaus and Blood Drive in my book. We were asked to send the moving image videos over of the storyboards that we showed them.

Some constructive criticism was to take out 1st year work out as, althought nice and experimental, it doesn't have any idea in it like the rest of the work. It was advised to try and include these experiments within our ideas based work. We were told to have a look at new technolgy within our work too such as phone apps and new uses of media. During our 3 years at university there has been a dramatic change in the way media is used. We agree we need to change our thinking towards this.

We were told to try and get in touch with 4Creative as they felt our work suited their style.

Overall, it was a very positive portfolio visit that we gained a lot from. The advice we received was great and we can now implement these ideas and opinions into a redesigned portfolio.

V&A : Decode

2010-03-05T07:29:00.000-08:00

Digitally growing plants and a mechanical eye that mirrors the blink of a visitor's gaze are among the digital works that feature in Decode: Digital Design Sensations. The exhibition shows the latest developments in digital and interactive design, from small screen based graphics to large-scale installations. Curated in collaboration with leading digital arts organisation onedotzero, there is work by established international artists and designers including Daniel Brown, Golan Levin and Daniel Rozin as well as emerging designers such as Troika and Simon Heijdens.

The exhibition is centred in the Porter Gallery with a series of interventions throughout the Museum and garden as well as a number of specially commissioned one-off performances. For the first time, the V&A also commisioned a digital work for its website and this provided remote access to some of the works on display.

I found this exhibition to be the best I have ever seen with every piece being amazing. Using computer generated code to create artwork is extraordinary. It was worthwhile as I can take inspiration and have more of an understanding of this type of work which can help me with my ideas for my Final Major Project which links reality with virtual reality.

Portfolio Visit - The Driven Agency

2010-02-10T08:04:00.000-08:00

Upon recommendation from BJL, I decided to get in touch with Driven. Driven are primarily an advertising agency, although they deal with aspects of design and multimedia. Their simple idea is simple: to create ideas that sell. As my critical journal was about this subject I was even more interested in what they do. The company was created by 4 people who used to work at TBWA so they are obviously very good at what they wanted to do. They did not like the way the agency world was going and decided to form their own agency.

We were able to meet the creative partner and the person he works with as a team. This was beneficial to us as we had two different perspectives and opinions on our work. We arrived to meet at half nine and sat in the waiting room and had a drink. There was a folder on the table of all the stories about Driven in articles on the web. This made for interesting reading as it talked about new accounts, rumours and transfers. It was almost like reading the back pages of a newspaper. I had never thought that rumours and gossip went on around the creative industry but i do now. There was also a number of 'The Drum' magazines which featured Driven in them. Once it was time for our meeting we walked through the agency, which was surprisingly spacious and full of staff considering they had only been set up a couple of years. The actual agency is in a great looking building in Wilmslow and overlooks the Aston Martin garage. I really like the way it is away from the town centre and in a nice upmarket place. It is still in the town centre so you can do things in your spare time but it takes away the hassle of working in Manchester. This was a deliberate thought when Driven was created.

We then sat down in an office that had just been used for a briefing and spoke a little about our course and what we have been working on. We mentioned our Final Major Projects and awards work. It was then when we looked through our portfolio. Pleasingly, they liked our branding for London F1 and Great British Blood Drive. This shows they aren't just into advertising and appreciate how ideas can work well in other ways. We were told to possibly include our final ideas and production of the 'A Thousand Words' promotion. They liked the animation and enquired about how we had done it all which is a good thing and they appreciated the diversity of our work. This is something that I found very positive in the meeting as other ad agencies have just wanted ads. In this case the ideas were key and it didn't matter how they came through. The pieces they liked the most were Berghaus and the BBC pitch win. They were impressed by us winning the YCN award and by the way we have done pricing, design and application for the BBC moving packs idea. They also praised our workrate as we had done a lot of work which is now starting to show in our ideas. This goes to show there is no substitute for hard work.

Of course it can't all be good news, some pointers we had were to put a couple of 'core' ideas in there and work around them. This can be in the form of drawn sketches or digital but doesn't have to be to a finished standard. Some people are of the opinion that we should put more sketches in our book but as we are from a Graphic Design background we tend to go to the finished piece anyway so it comes naturally to us to only put this work in. Some advice was that we could tailor certain ideas for different agencies that we go to see and to show a few less pieces as it can sometimes be time consuming. This advice was constructive and we plan to use it to make our redesigned portfolio much stronger for our Final Show.

After going through our portfolio they asked if we wanted a placement. This initially took us by surprise as we had only gone in to show our book and wasn't expecting anything like that. However, we confirmed our interest and said we would check dates to see if we could come in over Easter. We then had to leave the building due to a Fire Drill! It was good timing though as we had just finished our meeting and we returned to college. We then checked our term timetable and we will be involved in a 2 week placement starting on the 28th of March.

You can see Driven's website here: http://www.thedrivenagency.co.uk/

1 minute Brief - Design a logo for a bricklaying company called brick by brick.

2010-02-10T07:01:00.000-08:00

1 minute Brief - To advertise Nicola Foster's design agency

2010-02-10T06:56:00.001-08:00

1 Minute Brief

2010-02-10T06:49:00.000-08:00

A 1 minute brief to design a logo for an upmarket shelving company.

Canned Laughter

2010-02-10T04:12:00.000-08:00

I hate Canned Laughter!

New York Visit 09 Stockport College

2010-02-09T17:46:00.001-08:00

Alarm Clock

2010-02-09T17:28:00.000-08:00

The alarm clock next to me is ticking wayyyyyy too loudly.It's meant to wake you up not keep you awake all night long! Thought I would design this as I can't get any sleep.

BLANK

2010-02-09T17:18:00.000-08:00

TextFaces

2010-02-07T20:34:00.000-08:00

Random post. Instantly recognisable and only using type yet can trigger emotions within messages.

BJL Portfolio Visit

2010-02-04T02:44:00.000-08:00

Last night myself and James went in for a portfolio visit at BJL. As with TBWA, we went in as a creative team. Therefore, we decided to create a team portfolio. As we have collaborated on a number of projects this was quite easy. We also included a few projects we produced on our own for the same brief to show diversity in our ideas. It also means we aren't having to waste time and show two portfolios. The editing down of what we show is hard but it provides a strong portfolio.

At BJL we initially talked about what we had been working on recently and about our Final Major Projects. They were particularly interested in the BBC work. Although it's not an advertising project as such, they said to definitely keep in contact with them as they are hard to get in touch with usually. Hopefully this will help us in the future. Again, as with TBWA, they thought our graphic design background had come to the forefront once again. This was not seen as a bad thing but he would liked to have seen more development work in our book. We have been advised to include this for future visits to ad agencies as it will show our enthusiasm for the world of advertising. At the moment the book is working as an ideas based design book rather than an advertising book even though there are a number of ads in the book.

Aside from this issue they really liked our branding for Blood Drive and London F1. Our work for Berghaus he said could have won professional awards rather than student awards which is quite a compliment. He thought our innocent ideas were great and we were told to produce these and put them online. To get these opinions is great and gives us the confidence to improve our ideas.

Thoughtful Portfolio Visit

2010-02-04T02:22:00.000-08:00

Last week myself and my classmate James visited Thoughtful with our portfolios. We went up to their office and initially started off by talking about our course, what we have been doing and what we are looking to do at the end of the course. We spoke about the agencies we had seen in New York and the way they do things differently to the UK. The subject of collaboration also came up which they feel is beneficial as a combined idea can be a lot better than an idea produced on your own.

After our chat we moved onto showing our portfolios, James went first and we spoke about the work that was standing out which included Ministry of Sound, Berghaus and Hot Photography. This proved that collaboration was working as all of them projects we worked together on. The BBC work we are currently working on was a key point of the discussion where we explained how we won the pitch for the work and are now involved in producing the moving information packs for MediaCity. Something that Thoughtful weren't sure about was that I had books of typography and experimental work in my portfolio. They feel that putting 1st year work in is a backward step as it doesn't represent my style and current work. This is something to consider, although other agencies seem to really like seeing this work.

We spoke about the QR codes they had created for the Tate and Chris showed us this in action from his iphone. I haven't seen this in action but it is clever stuff and works well within the concept. With my portfolio we spoke about the Blood Drive logo working well as well as the innocent ideas. It was also advised to send these in as ideas and try and get them into the real world.

Finally, Thoughtful think we should consider setting up our own business when we leave as we are already running small businesses and could build this up as they said they, in effect, started from scratch. Rather than building up to a high position within a company. Why not start a company? This is a definite possibility for the future.

TBWA Portfolio Visit

2010-01-27T09:48:00.000-08:00

Today myself and James Clancy visited TBWA's agency in Didsbury, Manchester. They have 2 different sites in Didsbury which are about a mile apart. The site we visited today is a renovated traditional church building with an ultra modern design interior inside it. The interior is amazing to look at and uses the height of the original church to create numerous floors divided by spiral staircases.

We waited at the reception and watched through the Nissan showreel that TBWA had designed. This was on a screen behind the front desk and we sat on 2 big leather sofas with a TV in the corner. We then went into a conference room that had a very long table with lots of chairs round it. Light came into the room through the huge stained glass window at the other end of the room.

We went through our joint portfolio and were lucky enough to receive some great feedback. Some of what we spoke about was awards work so I cannot write about it her on my blog. He said our book was one of the best he had seen in a long time which is a nice compliment. However, he also said it was almost too good and very graphics based. As an advertising agency, they want to see more ideas based work and if this means that they are just sketches then that is not a problem. We have conformed to what briefs have said but some weren't relevant to what TBWA do and we have been asked to come up with more advertising based ideas for these briefs and go back in a couple of weeks.

He has also said that some of our work is too good in the way it is designed because we should never overestimate what the public will see. Our work was seen as quite implicit and needs to cut more to the chase.

Overall it was a brilliant place to see, we received some great advice and will be going back again soon hopefully.

SOYO

2010-01-21T05:40:00.000-08:00

Recently noticed this identity on Lets Kiosk's website. It is not a logo, as such, it uses Scrabble style squares to make up the name. This look extends to the website, advertising and interior. This makes it a strong brand. It is modern and attractive. The identity also suits the type of place and make it inviting and trendy to visit.

There is also a feature of the site that I have never seen before but it looks and works brilliantly. When reading through the menu, instead of clicking next to move to the next page, you have to physically drag the page across the site. This gives it the feel of a real book and is much more interactive for the user. Making them stay on the site longer. To see their site visit here : http://www.soyo.me/

Craig Oldham - Ambient Media Campaign - Adidas

2010-01-21T03:48:00.000-08:00

I am currently researching different ways of getting young people into playing sports as part of my Final Major Project. I was told to look at the ambient media campaign for Adidas to promote football ahead of the FIFA World Cup in 2006. This was designed by Craig Oldham from Music who came in to the college to give a lecture about design a while ago which I have previously written a post about. http://nick-entwistle.blogspot.com/2009/04/craig-oldham-lecture.html

The campaign provides great value for money as it is simply a roll of tape. This shows that the simplest ideas are the best. I can really relate to the campaign as me and my friends used to use walls, garages, car height barriers, trees etc... as football goals. Anything that resembled a goal and was reasonably sized we would use. If not we would put our jumpers down for goalposts. This tape allows you to make a goal anywhere you want and can turn any environment into a football pitch. It promotes street football and can bring communities together. With the rise in obesity and people staying in playing computer games, ideas like these are vital.

I like the posters as they are well art directed and the copywriting is great. They are not made too fussy and don't seem expensive, which is a good thing as it relates to the idea. I also like the way it gives football an importance over other things like cars. Humour is another aspect of the campaign and I feel that it is this that captures people's imaginations.

You can see this campaign at: http://craigoldham.co.uk/project/take-it-to-the-streets/

Browser Pong

2010-01-17T09:56:00.000-08:00

Browser Pong is a traditional Pong game played not in a browser window, but with browser windows.

The typical browsing experience is conducted through a single application window. This is indeed a useful, practical thing. Browser Pong instead exists between a collection of windows. During play the negative space between windows is transformed into a playing field?the abstracted tennis court of Pong. The idea of thinking inside or outside some "box" is of course a dead and beaten horse. Browser Pong attempts to think with the boxes. The audio content was created by sound artist and musician Dominic Matar of Nine Cats Music specifically for this piece.

I love the idea of thinking 'inside the box' as the idea of thinking outside it is overused and contrived. This program, although fun, has the potential for many uses within other websites and applications. The thinking behind it is very clever and the technology matches this. It takes design as I know it to another level. Not just onto screen, it is a step above which means you can interact with it's content which grabs your attention.

The work is done by Stewdio and is well worth a look. http://stewdio.org

iQuit

2010-01-17T09:35:00.000-08:00

When I first saw this application I thought it was just a joke application that wouldn't really work for real. I can't see many people having the bottle to use this program but it is really funny and could potentially help people get out of their jobs and relationships with ease if they are stuck with what to say.

iQuit generates a formal letter of resignation from its library of pointed, yet ambiguous, sentences.

You don't have to be a celebrity to quit with panache. With a few clicks iQuit will email your desired party an official letter, constructed on the fly just for you! No configuration necessary. Perfect for quitting any sticky situation.

If you want to use this technology go here: http://stewdio.org/work/iquit/

No Scale To Fit Logo and Stationery

2010-01-17T09:22:00.000-08:00

I have never seen such an ill fitting, badly kerned, typographically incorrect logo that works so well. It does exactly what it is meant to do by promoting a Visual Arts profile for the Oslo National Academy.

It fits the name perfectly and I love its structure (or lack of it). It is an abstract logo and a refreshing change to the swooshing computerised logos that are getting tiresome and are overused.

These type of logo designs are very risky but more often than not they stand out which is what a logo should do. I aim to bring this way of working into my own work somehow.

See this work and other examples here : http://uglylogo.no/

Blogging with bar graphs

2010-01-17T08:59:00.000-08:00

After looking through some great work by James Thompson I picked out these posters as my favourite.
They use real life objects to create graphs and visually represent data in a whole different way. They make the idea of data a lot more human and they are relative to the graph they are depicting. This makes the person interact with more and actually take notice of its content. A computerised graphical chart just does not have the same effect. You can see James site at:

http://www.james-thompson.co.uk/index.html

Below is how James described his own work.

A series of daily blog posts that explored the visual language of self–documentation. It was part of a larger project about the contrast between individual and group intentions on the internet and the rise of both the monologue and the conversation in the form of blogs and group applications respectively.

It was also an attempt to reduce my textual output into the blogosphere. The system for deciding the theme of the blog was such that I could decide at a whim in the same way that any blog author would.

Umbro HQ Interior Design

2010-01-17T08:42:00.000-08:00

Umbro went to LOVE to redesign the interior of their HQ. They wanted to inject their strong traditional links with football into their offices to create a sense of occasion. I am not normally too interested in interior design. However this is an exception as it revolves around graphic design and ideas.

I found the imagery on Rory Sutherland's website http://rorysutherland.co.uk/index.php?/project/umbro-hq/ who I saw on a portfolio visit at LOVE last summer. He is now at Truth as Senior Designer.

LOVE's website can be seen here : http://www.lovecreative.com/

YOU ARE, WHAT YOU’RE SEEN TO BE.

2010-01-17T08:29:00.000-08:00

Saw this great post on Truth Design's blog and it talks a lot of sense. It relates closely to what my critical journal was all about and explains how important branding is to a company and if it isn't done right, no matter how good you are, you could fail.

You can see what the post says below and the images accompanying the message are above.

So what does YOUR branding say about you, and is it appropriate?
YOU CANNOT NOT COMMUNICATE.
So it is very important that the message your branding is communicating is appropriate for the brand values you are trying to portray.

KEY POINTS
First impressions count, potential customers WILL judge your company on the image you portray.
GOOD DESIGN can help a one-man band look like an international corporation and equally vice versa.
BAD DESIGN is more expensive than good design.
Consumers ARE willing to pay more for branded goods than unbranded ones.
In today’s climate it’s important to make sure your brand is working hard and your money is well spent.

It is the most relevant post I've seen for a while especially in today's financial climate and you can see this post and more at:
http://truthdesign.typepad.com/truth_design/

Tokyo Motor Show

2010-01-17T08:10:00.000-08:00

The Tokyo Auto Show showcases all of the year's best new automotive technology and design. A lot of the time I don't feel Japanese design lives up to the technology in their cars along with their reliability but some of the examples above that I picked out definitely do.

Car technology and design inspires me as I have a strong interest in it and can relate my work to it in the future. Especially as I my Final Major Project is linked to cars.

See the full show on http://www.tokyo-motorshow.com/en/index.html

IDEA 2009 Gold Award Winners

2010-01-17T07:57:00.000-08:00

Over 30 products were given the top award in the International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) 2009, organized by the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA). These ranged from innovative heavy-duty equipment to complex medical systems. The emphasis was on creating an appropriately user-friendly experience, whether that user is a veteran warehousing professional or a seasoned clinician. The Best in Show title was awarded to a company that is working hard to exorcise its past demons: Nike (NKE) won for its Trash Talk basketball shoe, made entirely from recycled materials.

Bad Car Design

2010-01-17T07:42:00.000-08:00

As I am into car design I was interested in looking at a design article in Business Week highlighting the 50 worst car designs in the past 50 years. Some of the designs are funny and that bad that I can't understand how they got signed off for production in the first place.

Most of these cars saw sales figures drop due to their design which proves that bad design actually costs more than good design.

See all 50 here : http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/10/1028_50_ugliest_cars_of_past_50_years/index.htm

Business Week T-Shirt Designs

2010-01-17T07:13:00.000-08:00

Something that caught my eye was this article in Business week which is a humorous take on influential figures of the modern world.

The age of transparency calls for company leaders to wear their hearts on their sleeves. Why not their shirt fronts, too? BusinessWeek asked readers to come up with appropriate T-shirt designs for CEOs of their choice.

Take a look at more on http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/09/0914_ceo_tshirt_designs/index.htm

Audi A1 Design

2010-01-15T09:27:00.000-08:00

I was looking through Audi's website at some of their cars and came across this, a video of a conversation between two designers of Audi's brand new entry level car to their range. Chief Audi designer Stefan Sielaff and Dany Garand (project designer, exterior) explain the striking headlights with which the development process began and speak about how they want their car to be portrayed by the way it looks.

The video was filmed behind a glass screen which allowed the designers to draw the car out as they spoke about how they wanted it to look. The viewer can then see both at the same time making it very easily understandable. It is a good technique that I may use in the future. They were straight to the point in everything they said about the designs and I like the way and reasons they styled the car in that way. It is the start of a new design direction for Audi. I just hope this small car won't cheapen the image of Audi as they are a brand that has welcomed a major resurgence in recent years.

You can see this film at http://www.audi.co.uk/new-cars/a1/a1.html#

Goodby, Silverstein and Partners

2010-01-12T04:53:00.000-08:00

I have just stumbled accross an ad for HP that i saw on TV quite a while ago. The ad was my favourite at the time but I never thought anything of it. Now I have seen it on the showreel of the digital agency Goodby, Silverstein and Partners and have been able to look at some more of their work on their portfolio.

Their home page is made up of thumbnails of their videos that all move at the same time which makes it very eye catching. It is laid out much in the same style as Universal Everything from the UK.

I recommend taking a look at this site as the work is superb. See it here: http://www.goodbysilverstein.com/#/work

Leo Burnett Design Agency

2010-01-12T04:38:00.000-08:00

User interaction is something that I have been learning a lot about lately and this website epitomises this as you have to navigate yourself around the site via a pencil which draws your route around the site making the design of the site unique to any single user at any time. You can draw anything onto the blank white background of the website which is a nice touch. Purely a gimmick but it holds your attention and draws you into the site, literally.

The layout of the site is clear and the client list is impressive. There has obviously been a big budget for the site and this will have been possible due to the size of the company which has offices all over the world.
You can experience the website here : http://www.leoburnett.ca/FLASH/index.htm

Time Concepts

2010-01-12T04:26:00.000-08:00

On the Johnson Banks Website there is a link at the bottom of the homepage which invites visitors of the site to take part in a project revolving around the concept of time. You have to upload an image or video that relates to time. It is good to see what people have put up and it is a great way of making people interact with your website and I'd like to do something similar with my own site.

I shall be thinking about the concept of time and hopefully have my image posted on the site soon.

Try it for yourself here :http://www.johnsonbanks.co.uk/

4 Creative

2010-01-12T04:13:00.000-08:00

Through my research for the E4 D&AD brief I have come across 4Creative which is a website devoted to the in-house design agency at Channel 4. I wasn't aware of this agency before but from the strength of the art direction and ideas you can see that Channel 4 only employ the best in the business. The actual website is creative and works nicely as a flash site.

I have chosen to upload a number of examples of the work from the site as it was so hard to choose the best pieces because the quality of work is so high throughout. You can see these abover or look at the full site here : http://www.4creative.co.uk/flash/#

Wieden + Kennedy

2010-01-12T03:54:00.000-08:00

Wieden + Kennedy is an agency in London which deal with a lot of ultra famous brands and it was good to have a look through their site which is packed full of their work. I find showing a large selection of your work on your site is important as it is the only way of people knowing what you are capable of. The site is a YouTube style site that looks modern and navigates simply but effectively.

This is what Wieden + Kennedy say about themselves.

Wieden+Kennedy is the world's only independent creatively-led global agency.

Our London office was founded in 1998 with just a handful of people. Now we have a family of around 150. Just check out the portrait wall in reception for proof of our talents. We have a range of clients and it's with these folks that we set out to create the best work of our lives.

Why?
The strongest brands represent a meaningful emotional relationship – they have fans not consumers. The most powerful brands are leaders, not followers – they reinvent themselves as fast, often faster, than their consumers. The most effective brands are provocative – they change people’s minds, they disrupt the market place, they change the consumer culture. And we’ve seen that brands like these deliver real business value.

How?
We never start off by trying to create advertising. Our fear is that, if we jump straight into ad-writing mode, then we’ll get advertising that looks like advertising. We want stuff that’s got a brand or product idea first, rather than an advertising idea. So the first task is to come up with the ideas, writing, images, quotes, clips from films, or whatever, that seems relevant to the brand. In other words, we start by developing a rich and nuanced understanding of a brand’s voice. This is not a linear process of defining strategy that informs the execution. This is a way of working and thinking where strategy dovetails with creative. Each inspires the other. Hopefully this results in fresher, truer work. It’s an organic, collaborative process and our clients have hands-on participation at every stage. With each new task, we find an extraordinary approach in order to achieve extraordinary results.

Go here : http://www.wklondon.com/

Johnson Banks

2010-01-12T03:39:00.000-08:00

The website of Johnson Banks is very words based which, although some people might not like it, I find works well as it tells you exactly what the company is about in a lot of detail. The site doesn't overwhelm you with information and works as a spider diagram which means you can pick and choose what information you can look at. There is also more than enough imagery to look at.

There seems to be a lot of thought that has gone into the site which makes you feel like they can do a good job and can trust them although it is produced in a modern way that navigates well. Each link is incorporated into a single paragraph that typifies the company and these are each highlighted by a colour.

It is a navigation style that I have seen before but not done so cleverly.
See it here at http://www.johnsonbanks.co.uk/

MarkGraph

2010-01-12T03:17:00.000-08:00

MarkGraph are a German company that take Graphic Design into exhibition installation and interior design. Here are a few examples above from their website.

They use a room as a canvas to design on and try to change the atmosphere and feel with the arrangement and choice of furniture and materials. Lighting is very important in their work as it changes the way you feel. This is what design is all about, changing the way people feel for the better. If this doesn't happen then your design isn't working.

See the full portfolio of work here http://www.markgraph.de/en/flash.html

Well worth a look.

BBH

2010-01-12T03:01:00.000-08:00

BBH are a design agency that opened in 1982 and have 6 offices which are in Sao Paulo, London, Mumbai, New York, Singapore and Shanghai. They employ 928 people and have billing costs of one and a half billion pounds a year.

They are a big ideas agency which I relate to as I like to have big ideas in my own work. Their portfolio on the website is fantastic and well worth a look :http://www.bartleboglehegarty.com/#

They produce work for some massive clients that I would like to work for in the future including Lynx and Audi. There are examples of their ads for both of these above which I think are really clever and slightly controversial.

I think controversy is an important tool in design which can be used to your advantage and I aim to do this more often in my work and take more risks.

Gorgeous

2010-01-12T02:39:00.000-08:00

Gorgeous is a group of Art Directors which are grouped onto a single website. Not a design agency as such, more freelancers joined together as an organisation. Their clients are major brands and all of their work is moving image which I am highly interested in.

I came across the website as one of their directors oversaw the Skoda Fabia Cake advert which is one of my favourite TV adverts ever and it was good to see other work that he has produced in his portfolio which is just as strong.

The website itself is different in the way it mixes flash animation and sounds with retro looks and the directors all have a character each. These characters are all cats which give the site a friendly approachable look although I am not sure on the reasoning of them being cats. It is a refreshing look which grabbed my attention and I'm sure it will do the same to anyone else who view it. You can see it on http://www.gorgeous.co.uk/

Apple Magic Mouse

2010-01-12T02:19:00.000-08:00

I came across the 'Magic Mouse' whilst browsing the Apple website and it is a beautiful piece of design and crams so much technology into it which makes the simple 'mouse' completely groundbreaking.

Magic Mouse — with its low-profile design and seamless top shell — is so sleek and dramatically different, it brings a whole new feel to the way you get around on your Mac. You can’t help but marvel at its smooth, buttonless appearance. Then you touch it and instantly appreciate how good it feels in your hand. But it’s when you start using Magic Mouse that everything comes together.

The Multi-Touch area covers the top surface of Magic Mouse, and the mouse itself is the button. Scroll in any direction with one finger, swipe through web pages and photos with two, and click and double-click anywhere. Inside Magic Mouse is a chip that tells it exactly what you want to do. Which means Magic Mouse won’t confuse a scroll with a swipe. It even knows when you’re just resting your hand on it. See it here :http://www.apple.com/magicmouse/

AMV.BBDO-D&AD President and Guinness Strategy

2010-01-12T02:04:00.000-08:00

Upon having a look at AMV.BBDO's website I have found out who the new D&AD President is and what he thinks about the coming year and also been able to have a look at the new campaign strategy and advert for Guinness which AMV.BBDO have overseen. It is a big departure from Guinness' well known current campaign which is a brave step as it is so successful but I think it works brilliantly.

Paul Brazier Appointed New D&AD President Paul Brazier, Executive Creative Director at AMV.BBDO takes over as D&AD President today, following his election by the Executive Committee.

“I haven’t checked, but I’m willing to bet that every incoming D&AD President has described the year ahead as ‘challenging,’ said Paul Brazier. “This next one certainly will be. There’s less money about. More awards schemes competing for entries. And the possibilities in communications seem to change almost daily.’

“I think the best way for D&AD to go forward is to look to its past. To remember why it exists, what it stands for and why it was created in the first place - the DNA of D&AD. There are two strands: awards and education. The D&AD awards are there recognise the best work in the world. Our juries are famously tough and we’re proud of that. Sometimes it makes D&AD maddening but it also makes it the award to win.

But if we’re mean with awards, we’re generous with education. D&AD has always encouraged the best students and helped them find work. Many of us in the industry have benefited from D&AD Workshops and Student Awards in the past. So let’s remember the DNA of D&AD in this tough year ahead. By supporting these two strands we, and the industry, can do more than just survive. We can thrive.”

As President, Brazier will work closely with the Chief Executive and Executive Committee to oversee the affairs and set the objectives for the organisation.

This November GUINNESS have created their own fireworks, bringing a world to life in an epic new ad which is part of the new ‘Bring it to Life’ marketing campaign created by AMV BBDO. In a move away from the iconic ‘Good Things Come to Those Who Wait’, the ‘World’ ad sees a group of guys come together to bring a world to life in a creative parallel to the famous surge and settle motion of a pint of GUINNESS and the way it comes alive in front of your eyes when poured at home or in a pub.

This is the website where you can watch the full advert :http://www.amvbbdo.com/

10 YEARS OF BLACK PENCILS

2010-01-12T01:48:00.000-08:00

There have been a lot of TV shows recently celebrating the 'Noughties' with the breakthrough of technology and social media being predominant. Times have changed massively with Graphic Design becoming more and more digital and I found a post on D&AD's blog via Twitter which celebrated the Noughties in terms of digital design. D&AD had never awarded digital design before this period but it is now a lot more important to get this right.

The noughties are no more, but it was a decade of huge change in advertising and design.

Since the turn of the century, D&AD Black Pencils have been awarded to everything from coins and stamps to posters and TV commercials. The digital world was awarded its first Black Pencil for ground-breaking creativity in 2006 and since then, the industry ‘rules’ have been entirely rewritten.

A few screenshots of the winning work are above but you can see all of the winners and people behind them on: http://dandad.typepad.com/dandad/2010/01/10-years-of-black-pencils.html

TAF Design

2010-01-12T01:33:00.000-08:00

This website is one of the simplest websites I have seen with no fancy Flash animations and a very plain portfolio of work. This works in it's favour as the work itself is very visual and unique. It is easy to navigate and straight to the point. The work itself is more product and architectural based than I usually research but it uses elements of Graphic Design within it which makes it relevant to my pathway and I like to gain inspiration from all areas of design.

Gabriella Gustafson and Mattias Ståhlbom have run the architecture and design studio TAF in Stockholm, Sweden since 2002. TAF’s aim is to make ordinary life less ordinary through subtle but effective changes in how products and architecture appear and function. A recurrent departure point in TAF projects is that everyday objects by their very commonness can be made uncommon.

Further examples of their work can be viewed here: http://www.tafarkitektkontor.se/

Photo Mash Ups

2010-01-11T11:27:00.000-08:00

After seeing Giles Revell's PhotoFit work it reminded me of an art technique I had done during the past at school and my Final Major Art Project for GCSE was a photomontage based on David Hockey's work. Photomontages are a simple way of distorting and adding depth and impossibility to an image. It is something that really interests me and would like to take further at some point. Here are a few examples of very simple photomontages that I have just produced. They are humorous and often used on TV quiz shows etc.

Giles Revell Photography

2010-01-11T10:06:00.000-08:00

Something that really intersts me is photography. Due to other work I am not able to do much of this but would like to involve it in my work much more in the future. Examples of superb photography I have found are on Giles Revell's website. The site itself is clean and simple, thus devoting its focus onto the beautiful photography on display. The projects all have design elements in them also so it is something I can really relate to. Here is the site: http://www.gilesrevell.com/

If You Could Collaborate

2010-01-11T09:41:00.001-08:00

If You Could Collaborate is the fourth annual If You Could exhibition. Aiming to provide a platform for the finest creatives from all over the world to question their conventional working methods and outcomes. The contributors have been challenged to produce something a little unexpected, by working with a partner of their choosing from any discipline, profession or background. There is no brief to answer, or format to honour – the only limit being the enterprise and imagination of the artists involved, and a liberal 12 month deadline. Below are all of the pairings, and their outcomes. See the full website at http://www.ifyoucould.co.uk/

Light Touch

2010-01-11T09:34:00.000-08:00

Light Touch™ is an interactive projector that instantly transforms any flat surface into a touch screen. It frees multimedia content from the confines of the small screen, allowing users to interact with that content just as they do on their hand held devices – using multi-touch technology.
Light Touch™ has Holographic Laser Projection (HLP™) technology inside which creates bright, high-quality video images in WVGA resolution. Integrated infrared sensors detect motion and turn the projected image into a 10.1″ virtual touch screen, so the user can control the projector and interact with applications simply by touching the image.
The opportunities for Light Touch™ extend beyond consumer electronics and into retail spaces, the workplace and the home profoundly changing the way people interact with multimedia content and the built environment. Light Touch™ has recently been named a CES Innovations Honoree in both the Media Player and Personal Electronics categories.

See the Light Touch in action here: http://lightblueoptics.com/products/light-touch/

Mexican BillBoard Collages

2010-01-11T09:26:00.000-08:00

Here is a selection of Mexican billboards that get chopped up, exchanged and randomly assembled to create interesting collages. I liked the compositions as it is something that you never see in the UK and therefore visually catches the eye. You can see more examples here http://cutupmx.wordpress.com/

Circle Vector Distortion

2010-01-03T10:59:00.000-08:00

When doing some work recently I distorted a shape(circle vector) and realised that some amazing patterns could be made from using one single vector. The circle vector is essentially always the same but changes its form to create something unique. I pushed these quite far until they were completely unrecognisable and am pleased with these results above as I can now potentially use them in the future within my designs.

Mike Maurer Design

2010-01-03T10:32:00.000-08:00

This post is about a freelance designer from Los Angeles called Mike Maurer. He is proficient in all aspects of design from print to web and this shows in the work on his website. http://mikemaurerdesign.com/ The work is of great quality and is presented to an excellent standard. I like the professional look and colour scheme and the way it is laid out in sections by each brand. His client list is also very impressive and these are the type of brands I wish to be working with in the future.

Sang Han

2010-01-03T10:16:00.000-08:00

This is some of the work designed by Creative/Art Director Sang Han from America. I found his work on the FWA and it is really inspiring. It is all mainly art direction for websites as opposed to print but the vivid imagery and colours really stand out on screen. All of his site designs are individual and unique in their unstructured design. The way the homepage of his own site is displayed is good as you can see all of the work and can pick and choose what you want to see. Then you can simply drag across to see all of the derivatives of each site page. See the work for yourself here http://www.elixir818.com/

CoolBrands

2010-01-03T09:56:00.000-08:00

During my research on Branding for one of our most recent projects I came across CoolBrands which is an organisation that recognises all the best brands and talks about them in publications and on their website. I have now found who did their branding for 09/10. It is an agency called Clusta. I liked the style of CoolBrands and thought I could put it on my blog for other people to have a look at. See this and other work at http://www.clusta.com/v7/#/casestudies/coolbrands/

Screenshot Compositions

2010-01-02T16:40:00.000-08:00

I had mistakenly done a screenshot too small before when I noticed how good it looked as a composition. Using the screen in this way works well and you can create some good looking pieces of work. Here are a few examples of what I did. With other apps open I'm sure you could create a lot of good stuff.

+Good Website

2010-01-02T08:52:00.000-08:00

Have found this website of a digital agency from Newcastle via FWA. The site itself is revolutionary in the way it uses a map to navigate through and explain each section via messages that pop up at each stop. You can skip this flash intro if you have already been shown this which is a good option to have or it would be time consuming. It is visually very interesting and really shows off exactly what the agency is about. See it here : http://www.plusgood.co.uk/

Nicola Walbeck Photography

2010-01-02T08:33:00.000-08:00

This was website on FWA as Site of the Day. It is very simple and easy to use. Using the home page as the portfolio page grabs your attention straight away and it is a good idea. The quality of the photography is fantastic and the site shows off the work very well. To see the site click here: http://www.nicolawalbeck.com/

Barcodes

2010-01-02T08:24:00.000-08:00

Saw these really interesting barcode designs on a blog along with lots of excellent visual work. Definitely worth a look on http://www.designyak.typepad.co.uk/

Scroll Clock

2010-01-02T08:11:00.000-08:00

The 'Scroll Clock' is a really clever idea that is strange to look at at first but then becomes perfectly legible. It looks great on screen and can be downloaded as a screensaver. If you fancy a look go here http://toki-woki.net/p/scroll-clock/

BooneOakley YouTube Website

2010-01-02T06:32:00.000-08:00

Have just found this website for the advertising agency BooneOakley on DesignYak's Blog. The website is innovative in the way it works entirely on Youtube. If you type the site URL in you are re-directed to a page on YouTube. There are actual links overlaid onto the YouTube video which is looped so it never stops working. It works in the same way as a normal site but the usability of YouTube makes it easy to use in some ways but perhaps holds it back in others due to size restrictions etc. However the site does size up to full screen without pixelation, in effect, this turns the site into a full working website. It is good how you can comment and review the site aswell as see how many people have looked at it. It is a completely new way of using YouTube to your advantage and I am really impressed by it. Other people have recognised it as it has been entered into the Favourite Website Awards.

Wired. Design Process

2009-12-29T08:56:00.000-08:00

Just a few images to show the process taken to come up with a quick flyer design for a clubnight called Wired. This will now be worked up properly and all text and imagery added before it is printed soon.

Packaging Design

2009-12-28T09:26:00.000-08:00

Upon researching packaging design for my last project I have come across lots of brilliantly executed designs. I don't see much of this type of design and I can't understand why. Here are a few examples of what we found above.

3D Design- University Project Products

2009-12-28T09:21:00.000-08:00

Here are some images of the products we designed including the dispenser, spray and keyring battery/light.

3D Design- University Project

2009-12-28T09:13:00.000-08:00

For one of our university projects this year, part of the brief was product design. We came up with our ideas and mocked them up to a good standard on Illustrator. However, we decided to go a step further and learn some 3d software. This gave a whole new dimension to our designs which stopped them looking flat and unreal. We were shown how to use the software by Paul who works in all aspects of digital design and he was a great help. It is a platform for us to be able to use this software in the future on other projects and it is good that we have got the chance to learn these different programs before we enter the real world of industry. You can see the designs mocked up in 3D above. The product is also shown over the existing logo to show the idea we went for.

Olympic Logo 2014

2009-12-28T08:53:00.000-08:00

As the furore over the Olympic 2012 logo dies down attention is moved onto the logo for 2014. The top logo came second to the final choice designed by Interbrand which you see underneath. At first I was drawn to the top design as it is colourful and attractive but then I realised why it was not chosen. Too often people go for the pretty choice. I have learnt all about this through my critical journal and research into marketing and branding. Attractive design does not mean that it will do it's job as well as a less attractive piece of work. This was the same case with the 2012 logo which in effect did it's job tenfold by getting people talking. Logos are now being designed to be dynamic and move in animation. This makes the second logo the best proposition as the top logo appears flat and static. I agree with the choice made for the final logo.

Comic Sans

2009-12-28T08:36:00.000-08:00

Found this great diagram on when to and when not to use the font Comic Sans. Look at it carefully and you will realise when it should be used.

AdGoodness

2009-12-28T08:22:00.000-08:00

The site AdGoodness is a fantastic source of inspiration. It is an archive of all the best ads across the world and shows all types of medias including print and ambient media. All of the ideas are of great quality and no mediocre work goes on the site. One of the adverts for Coca Cola was very similar to an idea I had for the Berghaus YCN Competition brief which I didn't enter. Its nice to see that an idea that I didn't view as my strongest was good enough for such a big brand. See the site here http://www.frederiksamuel.com/blog/

Xtranormal

2009-12-28T08:08:00.000-08:00

After finding out about Xtranormal via the last blog post I did, I have been testing out the site to see what you can do. It is extremely easy to use with a wide range of characters to choose from and you simply type in what you want them to say. Camera angles and animations can be added to make it more professional. I would recommend the site to anyone and I am going to create some videos on there myself modelled around friends. I will post the videos soon. Try it for yourself on http://www.xtranormal.com/index

Graphic Designer vs. Client

2009-12-28T07:55:00.000-08:00

Recently I keep seeing this video appear on various blogs. It is hilarious and definitely worth a look. It has been made on some easy to use software on http://www.xtranormal.com/. The storyline of the video is an initial discussion between a designer and their client and, although dramatised to the extreme, shows how difficult a designers job can sometimes be. There are numerous copies and different versions on YouTube and it has gained a big following. You can see the video here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfprIxNfCjk or see the sequel here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCjcwBGQtiw&feature=related.

Wordle

2009-12-28T07:33:00.000-08:00

I have been found a website that creates designed 'word clouds' from words you type in. It is a quick and easy way of creating a visual representation of whatever it is you want to say. They could be used as mood boards for research purposes as they stop you looking at a sheet of black and white text for inspiration. They could even be used as part of a design although this look has been done too often. It is a really useful tool which you can find here : http://www.wordle.net/

I have done one with words about my business NE-Design to see how it works as you can see above.

The Lynx Non-Effect

2009-12-28T07:07:00.000-08:00

I have just been reading this on a design blog which is an article on a man who is suing Lynx for false advertising. Lynx really do show that using their product makes you irresistible to the opposite sex which is a very thin line between good and false advertising so I am actually not surprised by this story. I personally think the adverts are great and work really well. The article is below:

A luckless Indian romeo is suing Lynx after he failed to land a single girlfriend during seven years of using their products.

Vaibhav Bedi, 26, is seeking £26,000 from parent company Unilever for the "depression and psychological damage" caused by the lack of any Lynx effect. Court officials in New Delhi have agreed to order forensic laboratory tests on dozens of his half-used Lynx body washes, shampoos, anti-perspirants and hair gels.

Lynx - marketed as Axe in India - is famous for its saucy ads showing barely clothed women throwing themselves at men. But Bedi says in his court petition: "The company cheated me because in its advertisements, it says women will be attracted to you if you use Axe.

"I used it for seven years but no girl came to me."

When contacted Unilever declined to comment on the case. But India's leading compensation litigator Ram Jethmalani warned: "There is no data to substantiate the supposition that unattractive and unintelligent men don't attract women.

"In fact some of the best looking women have been known to marry and date absolutely ghoulish guys. I'd suggest that the company settles this issue out of court."
(credit: Ananova)

The Brand Gap

2009-12-28T06:48:00.000-08:00

I came across this presentation on a blog recently and it is the most concise and to the point piece of work I have seen for a long time. It has definitely left an impression on me and taught me a few thinks about the link between strategy and creativity. I am currently editing my Critical Journal which is all about creativity linking with strategy and I hope to include reference to this presentation. Unfortunately we have already performed our own presentations which is a shame as I could have included points from what I learnt here which no doubt would have got me better marks. I love the way the presentation is laid out as it has a good mix of words, typography and some good imagery. A good point of the presentation is that I get it without anyone having to speak about it. I aim for my own presentations to do this in the future.

See the full presentation here : http://ptgmedia.pearsoncmg.com/images/0321348109/goodies/The_Brand_Gap.pdf

Spoof Apple Ad for The Sun

2009-12-28T06:38:00.000-08:00

I was sent the link to this youtube video by my brother and it is really funny. The idea is that the advert for The Sun newspaper is a spoof of the Apple iPhone adverts. I can relate to it as I don't see the point in reading information on a tiny screen. I would much rather read through a magazine or newspaper. It is a very clever advert done in the same style as Apple. You can see it here at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gk2brfbSG2g

M&S at Christmas

2009-12-04T10:46:00.000-08:00

A logo idea I had for M&S at Christmas.

CJP

2009-11-30T19:31:00.001-08:00

AOL becomes Aol. Wolff Olins Rebrand

2009-11-28T18:19:00.000-08:00

Wolff Olins New York has created a new identity for one of the internet's pioneering (but now ailing) brands, AOL

The brand, which introduced millions to the wonders of the world wide web, has struggled to stay relevant in recent years. A New York Times report reveals that AOL chairman and chief executive Tim Armstrong even considered dumping the AOL name altogether as it prepares to be spun off from Time Warner.

Instead, he asked Wolff Olins in New York to help turn it around. Wolff Olins' solution involves using a set of hundreds of different backgrounds to sit behind the new mark in which AOL is written Aol. (don't forget the full-stop).

Its use of interchangeable imagery is a similar approach to that employed by WO for New York whereby the basic logo could be filled with various images to add freshness, while the goldfish is somewhat reminiscent of a piece of work by one of WO's founders - Michael Wolff's logo for The Consortium.

Dave Sedgwick Lecture

2009-11-28T06:55:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago Dave Sedgwick, of 999 Design, came into college to talk about his experience in the design industry. The talk was about his journey through design, his advice on getting a job and also a portfolio of his work.

Dave came to Manchester a few years ago to study a D&AD course at Manchester Metropolitan University. He had 2 placements in which he found he liked working at one and didn't at the other. This showed that placements are beneficial not only to the employer but also to see if you want to work at certain places.

He then moved onto talk about portfolios. When showing a company called Dinosaur his work, he got a lot of negative feedback but he persevered and ironically ended up at the same agency on his first placement so he tells us never to give up. His first real job was at LOVE but he unfortunately got made redundant in 2003 which forced him into freelancing. He then ended up getting the job as senior designer at 999 and has worked there ever since.

He told us the way the time is divided at work.This was:

80% designing,

10% account managing,

5% taking calls,

3% making/having tea,

and 2% emailing friends.

The advice he gave us was to start trying to get into the industry now and use time wisely. He tells us to get CV's, PDF's to as many people as possible and to get their names right. He tells us to always check through what we send first incase of mistakes as they reflect badly upon us and also to only show a few examples of work. He also feels we should have a website or a blog and aim it towards agencies. It is all about standing out from the crowd

He also gave up tips for interview as well and portfolios, and how to prepare for them and what to do and not to do. Like talk slowly but don't bore people, and always take advice on board and make sure you always have a leave behind.

I feel the advice was good and I will take it into consideration upon entering the industry.

Mike Rigby - Words of Wisdom

2009-11-26T10:28:00.000-08:00

Mike's talk was advertised by posters put up around the design department recently featuring the word WOW which since the talk I have realised means Words of Wisdom. The date on these was 26th October which was wrong as it was meant to say November. Then someone designed a poster that said D'oh in place of Wow with the correct date on. These were placed next to the ones with the incorrect date on. I don't understand why you would want to highlight someones mistake and it makes a mockery out of that person. It could quite easily have been reprinted with the correct date on.

However, aside from this I enjoyed the talk by Mike. He graduated in 2002 and has been in employment at The Chase, Landor, Moon, Pentagram, Mark Studio and has recently been offered the job as Creative Director at Interbrand in Australia.

Mark spoke of the positives about being in the design industry. He said it is interesting, challenging, no two jobs are the same, you get to go on photoshoots, you go on free awards nights and that their is a strong design community. Also, people are helpful and it is easy to work from home or abroad. Aswell as this you can work for worthwhile causes and help give people a voice.

The negatives were the long hours of unpaid work, the competitive nature of the industry and the amount of pressure put upon you. The negative impacts are overpackaged items which is negative on the environment and also information overload. He then went onto speak about Studio structure and the hierarchy of staff which I think was more for the first and second years.

Moving onto the subject of placements Mike did a 6 month placement at Imagination and then did a placement at The Chase. He says placements speed you up and you become ten times faster than before. You get real live projects and you can gain contacts by networking and going on nights out. His advice for getting a placement was to have 6 solid placements in your book, have good ideas well executed, impress tutors and do well at interview. To get the most out of a placement you should socialize, be enthusiastic and positive. He advised us to not let rejection get to us as it does not mean you aren't good enough and will only make you stronger.

Also starting on a low wage isn't all that bad, Mike started on 13k and left only a couple of years later on 23k. His first project was ironically the project that we worked on at the Liverpool Design Symposium during The Chase's workshop. He achieved what was required and the underlay outsold carpet at the company for the next 2 years which shows what good design can do to sales. With his design he also achieved a 350% store card uptake increase which shows it doesn't have to be a glamorous brief to achieve results.

Aside from design, Mike has travelled the world and advises us to do the same as it is the best thing he has ever done. He then eventually got a job working at Landor in Australia whilst travelling where he was paid more and had amazing views from the studio. He believes british designers are highly exportable due to superior ideas whereas other countries are more strategic. I have found this when showing my work in New York. He is now working at True North until he leaves to travel again before he takes on his new job with Interbrand.

He says a lot of his time is spent producing brand guidelines which show the look, font, colours and tone of voice of a brand. Although he likes to make time to do self initiated briefs and advises us to do them aswell.

Overall Mikes advice to us as students is to broaden our horizons and look at all types of media. Experiment whilst you can and you are in education. Crit and collaborate with other students. Above all belive in yourself.

One Minute Brief- Poster Levi 501 Jeans

2009-11-25T18:48:00.000-08:00

The idea was to make the 1 and I look like they are walking legs in the Jeans.

One Minute Brief- Chest of Drawers Poster

2009-11-25T18:47:00.000-08:00

I tried to do a different take on the usual boring furniture posters you see and add a bit of humour into this poster for a chest of drawers.

One Minute Brief- Rover Poster Design

2009-11-25T18:45:00.000-08:00

This is a poster created to advertise Rover car company within one minute.

One Minute Brief- Naming and Logo Design

2009-11-25T18:43:00.000-08:00

Within one minute I had to come up with a name and design the logo for a Shock Absorber company.

One Minute Brief-Logo Design

2009-11-25T18:42:00.001-08:00

A design created in one minute for Chelsea International Hostel in New York.

Design Solution Before Seeing the Brief

2009-11-25T18:28:00.000-08:00

Recently, after having the idea for the 1 minute briefs, I had another idea which also had to be completed in one minute.

Working against someone else you have to design a poster or logo. You can do anything you want as you only find out what the brief is once you have completed the design. The winner is the design that is most relevant to the set brief.

This allows for total freedom of ideas and you can literally put anything onto the page because you have no idea what is required of you. I really like this idea as it relates to the way I think sometimes where I pick something random and attempt to use it in a certain design brief that has nothing to do with the brief itself. The results were funny and in some cases worked well.

The top design was for sportswear. The middle design was for Levi Jeans and the bottom design was a poster advertising Coca Cola.

Due to the designs being so far off brief you have to argue your case such as the 2 lines resembling stitching for the jeans poster, the asterisk resembling a person doing a starjump and George Bush being American for Coca Cola. I will use this technique again at some point and see if it works out.

Fergal Kilroy Talk

2009-11-24T08:42:00.000-08:00

Last week, Fergal Kilroy D&AD Student Award Manager, came in to speak to us at the college. D&AD was set up 47 years ago in 1962 to promote creativity in design and advertising.

Fergal began by showing us the call to entries video and there are 20,000 entries from around 60 countries. Judges at D&AD are looking for the idea foremost but also the following features are very important: self expression, that it stands out, that you have thought about the audience, hunger to do something different, extreme ideas better than industry.

As I had been at the Liverpool Design Symposium I had already heard a lot of what Fergal had to say but it was interesting what he said about the portfolio surgeries that occured that day. He said that a lot of people pointed out their portfolio flaws and spent their time apologising. If a piece of work isn't well executed it's not worth putting in unless the idea is outstanding. He said a lot of the portfolios were badly presented also.

Moving back onto the awards he told us that 30% of the judgment is the client and 70% is from creatives in the industry. You can also achieve placements within industry if you win. D&AD have also done a survey which shows that 84% of creatives would choose to interview someone first if they had a D&AD pencil. Winning ideas have to be 1.) A great idea 2.) Superb execution 3.) On brief

They don't have to be realistic or even possible. It is all about freedom of ideas. There are 1500 panels and 500 tables at the judging Olympia hall and student's work is right next to the work from industry so it has to be good. Past years have been voted by a yes/no system but this year the entries have to pass certain criterias. Entries need to be easy to understand and straight to the point. Fergal suggests we should put our work next to fellow students' to see if it conforms to these rules. Boards are viewed first and then backed up by 3d or digital work elsewhere. A tip is to read the brief carefully as it has trigger words which they want to see in the work you produce.

It was an enjoyable talk and I gained a lot from it. Thanks to Fergal for taking the time to come in and talk to us.

Mike Carter Workshop - Orchard

2009-11-24T07:30:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago Mike Carter from Orchard recruitment came in to speak to us. He graduated in design and art direction and Orchard have placed more people into design than anyone else in the North.

At the moment 49.188 people are studying in art and design. This is second only to business studies. During the discussion we spoke about what was needed in the industry to breakthrough this huge number of competitors for jobs. The main points were enthusiasm, commitment and organisation. Real industry work requires a whole new level of accuracy. You can't afford to make mistakes before you go to print or it can prove to be very costly to your employers. When making your portfolio you can afford to make mistakes and make them better but when you show your work to people it cannot have mistakes in it.

We moved onto the subject of CV's. These need to get people to contact you. They need to conform to the 3 second rule. If your potential employers see exactly what they need to within that time then you have given yourself every chance. You need to include Employment - What your company does and what you do in it. Aswell as this you need to include education and your number of GCSE's with dates. Other qualifications need putting in order most recent first. We were advised not to put our date of birth on the CV due to ageism. If employers really want to know age they can work it out from our qualification dates. We should not be general with hobbies and only put in references if they are excellent.

With regards to the portfolio the advice was to consider the amount in our book carefully. To fake real prints to make things look like real industry pieces of work. We spoke about portfolios all looking the same which I have noticed about my class. Something I agree with is the way you should let the person look through the work. If you need to explain your ideas they are not good enough. During interview we should be ourselves, know the location and have some knowledge of the company.

We then did a small group exercise which involved having 25 cards with industry and student projects upon them. We could only include 15 cards for imaginary portfolio breakdowns. We did this for different types of job which helped us to understand how to taylor our portfolio to each one.

We were told to always have questions to ask your interviewer. Going around the group we were asked what we would ask. Most people didn't have one to ask. Mine was 'What are your plans for the future?' At the end of the interview we should clarify when we should be contacted.

I found the workshop worthwhile and got involved as much as possible and plan to take the advice into my own work.