OUGD603 - Brief 4 - Adidas Partner Organisations

https://www.adidas-group.com/media/filer_public/5f/13/5f132bc6-79db-42b5-bc45-e57e7f5b6d44/af_organisations_2016.png

After analysing the brief, it was suggested that I could propose possible partners to work with alongside my concept. Therefore, I decided to research into the current partner organisations who work alongside Adidas to gather an understanding of the companies who they tend to work with. Most of these organisations seem to be charitable, and offer opportunities to work alongside communities in a variety of countries worldwide. Each one seems to host, introduce or teach sport to youth within local communities.

https://www.adidas-group.com/en/sustainability/people/community-engagement/#/adidas-and-america-scores-team-up-to-help-kids-succeed-through-football/the-reebok-foundation/

OUGD603 - Brief 4 - Timeplan & Project Management

OUGD603 - Brief 4 - Adidas Brief Analysis

In order to fulfil the D&AD brief to the best of my ability, I have decided to treat it as if adidas were the clients giving me the brief overview. Therefore, I have dissected the brief to the best of my ability to really evaluate what the client is looking for. As the brief is very open to interpretation, it is vital to embed the core demographic and issues stated. I have also narrowed all of the information down into one key sentence which will be at the core of my design ideas moving forward:

How can Adidas use sport to implement core ethical improvements to the heart of city living?

OUGD603 - Brief 3 - Feedback & Reflection

After receiving feedback from Whitecote Primary School, it seemed beneficial to review why my concept was not chosen, and reflect upon what I would do in the future. It was stated that my designs were a little too abstract for the children, this may be down to my influences as a designer (Piet Mondrian, Minimalism etc...) and also my lack of experience when designing for a young demographic. All of my commissioned freelance work has been for older clients and I therefore should really consider the tone of voice and mindset of young people when conducting a brief like this in the future.

Personally, I found the designs to be reminiscent of children colouring and relatable to the younger population however, I should maybe have conducted case studies and primary research with viewers aged 5-12 for more appropriate feedback.

Moving forward, I feel as though I have learnt more about what is necessary when designing for different age groups, thorough feedback and research is necessary to conduct a successful age specific final resolution, which was not possible within a week long brief. I will allocate more time to this research stage when conducting similar projects in the future.

OUGD603 - Brief 3 - Evaluation

Taking on a commercial brief which is outside of my comfort zone gave me the opportunity to really consider the target audience to create an appropriate and relevant final resolution. The small time scale set by myself also gave me experience working under pressure to come up with a solution. This will help to train myself for working within the creative industries. I also took the opportunity to experiment with new creative hardware (apple pencil and iPad) and new software (adobe sketch). This was a nice way to broaden my knowledge and practice with potential tools for future projects. I hope to tackle more commercial briefs in the future to set myself challenges which I am not used to.

OUGD603 - Brief 3 - Final Resolutions

OUGD603 - Brief 3 - Design Process

I took this opportunity to experiment with other adobe software on the iPad platform. There are certain limitations and advantages to using this creative tool however, I really wanted to expand my knowledge to make better use of all the design tools available to me. The apple pencil works really well alongside the tablet and is easily transferable to illustrator and photoshop on the MacBooks.

OUGD603 - Brief 3 - Mondrian, Minimalism & Pop Art Influence

When thinking about engaging vibrant graphic design which is simple and bold, the work of Piet Mondrian is the first thing which comes to mind. The basic colour schemes he uses within his artwork creates impact and grab the attention of the viewer without being too overwhelming. This sort of reaction from the viewer is exactly what I intend to imitate within the banner designs. With the target audience being mainly children between 5-12, I also want to create something which can resonate with them whilst also being engaging to the parents.

http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/piet-mondrian-1651

http://designtaxi.com/news/397046/Watch-More-Immensely-Satisfying-Animations-Of-Bold-Minimalist-Graphic-Posters/

The punchiness of Pop Art is also a factor to consider however, it can sometimes be too intense with its neon colour schemes and crowdedness. 

https://www.widewalls.ch/10-faces-by-andy-warhol-february-2015/

OUGD603 - Brief 3 - Initial Ideas & Mindmap

OUGD603 - Brief 3 - Timeplan & Project Management

OUGD603 - Brief 3 - Primary School - Primary Research

To grasp a better understanding of the aesthetics and interior design situated within primary schools, I volunteered at Hovingham Primary School, this gave me a good opportunity to create a design which resonates with the interior currently in place. Much of the design inside is quite basic with fonts such as 'Comic Sans' reoccurring throughout, the three primary colours was also mainly used on the chairs and tables. This simplistic form of design is mainly in place to be legible to all of the children, many of whom are only beginning to learn to read and write. Children artwork also runs throughout as the school showcases the students work to boost morale and confidence.

The art class which I ran at the school was with a set of year 3 students, I decided to share my passion (book design) with the students to hopefully get them enthusiastic about the creative industries. Each of the children designed a page of a book using pen, paint and collage techniques which I then photocopied and turned into a publication with a french fold bind.

OUGD603 - Brief 3 - Whitecote Primary School

In order to gain some industry experience, I thought that I would attempt to tackle a client brief and come up with a solution in a short time scale. This process has been inspired by 'The Pop Up Agency' who tackle client briefs within 48 hours. I also wanted to challenge myself by stepping out of my comfort zone in terms of design, this is to replicate and prepare myself for jobs which I may experience when working for clients within the creative industries.

OUGD603 - Brief 2 - Evaluation

This project has been the longest project which I have ever undertaken which is intended to continue for years to come. It has been a pivital point in my professional career which has guided me to be involved with the setting up and management of a company from scratch. Collaboration has been key throughout, with all members involved playing a huge part to the success so far. It has also opened up so many opportunities within the industry as we work alongside some of our favourite music producers and companies. This has been huge when reaching out to companies such as DJ Mag and Mixmag for job positions as they value the experience highly.

My skills have progressed so much in both business and design. Working with management, communication, deadlines, budget and a range of other areas has given me the confidence to transition from education into the creative industries. Each event we host only teaches me more about how to manage a business succesfully. On one of our more recent events, we lost money due to some of the decisions made however, we have pushed through stronger and have gained valuable knowledge because of it.

OUGD603 - Brief 2 - Revamp Future Progression - Event 004

The Revamp 4th event was another collaboration, this time with the Leeds based events company Limit. We brought in the rising artist 'Saoirse' to headline the event alongside some of our resident DJs from Revamp and Limit. This event focused more on the planning and organisation side of event management. We have built up enough base profit from our 3 previous events that we had extra money to spend on extras such as a professional photographer, props, lighting, better venue and a more expensive headlining act. This was of course all managed within budget procedures and organised within excel documents.

OUGD603 - Brief 2 - Revamp Future Progression - Event 003

After the success of Revamp Acid House Special with Posthuman (the brief showcased within Brief 2) I have decided to add our future events and company progression, summarised within one blog post each. This was, an overview of our advancements as a collective/creative company can be seen without the need to add a whole new and detailed brief to my extended practice each time.

For our third event, we collaborated with Defected Records and The Mannequin Collective to host a house party in Leeds. For this event, we set up a live stream feed to showcase the whole event online throughout the whole night. Event planning, organisation, props, sound system and promotional material also had to be put in place, this was executed by a variety of members from both the Revamp and Mannequin Collective team. This was another great step to progressing our company and really showcased what collaboration can offer when hosting events. It also allowed us to gain valuable contacts within the record label Defected Records which we intend to utilise in the future.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_hNc1m6VgM

The photography below was taken and edited by the Mannequin Collective.

In preparation for the event, props were purchased and promotional posters were printed out for each room. A Mural was also designed by the Mannequin Collective and was applied to the basement with stencils and paint.