OUGD603 - Brief 10 - Front Cover Digital Designs

Final Vinyl Cut Concept Design

Emboss Concept Design

Die Cut Concept & Variations

OUGD603 - Brief 10 - Sketches & Idea Generation

The initial idea generation phase was purely sketch based, using a variety of physical books as influence, along with secondary source images offline. Heavy online research was also conducted into different possible binding methods.

OUGD603 - Brief 10 - Literature Influence

Books which I have previously purchased throughout the year such as ‘Ambrose, G. Harris, P. (2014) Basics Design: Print & Finish, Bloomsbury Publishing’, were extremely influencial during the conceptual and production stages of the project. Especially in terms of processes experimented with such as foiling, embossing and spot gloss finishes.

OUGD603 - Brief 10 - Feedback Critique Session

During the group critique session I asked some questions about white stock, embossing and foiling methods. I was given the details of a company who creates custom block type for embossing below.

alan@photocast.co.uk

The Block Shop

16g magnesium mounted plates

1-2 day wait

OUGD603 - Brief 10 - Evolution Print Visit Influence

During my visit at Evolution Print, I spoke to the staff about possibly using their printing facilities to produce a publication. We discussed how digital print would be the best process for a small run of prints as metal printing plates would not have to be made.

We also discussed binding methods which could be interchangeable and therefore editable at a later date. The most recommended method was a screw bound publication as they advised me on what screw to use.

OUGD603 - Brief 10 - Communication with Printers

Since first conceptualising and sketching ideas for the book in early March, I have been in contact with Evolution Printers. They have given me a large quantity of advice on what is possible given the facilities at their printers, the time scale, and the budget.

After a long debate with both the printers and the project partners, it seemed more feasible to use the facilities within the university. This is due to the books small print run, along with techniques such as embossing and foiling which would be too expensive using the facilities at Evolution. Instead, I will conduct the production of the book myself.

This feedback via email, along with the visit to Evolution has been pivotal in the influence and decisions made throughout this project.

OUGD603 - Brief 10 - Timeplan & Project Management

OUGD603 - Brief 10 - Defining the Brief

OUGD603 - Brief 1 - Evaluation & Reflection

This project really allowed me to think artistically about how to respond to a brief, using conceptual skills rather than the practice of graphic design. It has been one of the most experimental and manual art projects which I have ever produced, resulting in a final piece which has been created without the use of conventional design. It has been a process where I have not been in control of the final aesthetics, as a graphic designer, this has been an odd experience as we are usually obsessed with a calculated and polished finish to our designs. This project has been more about idea generation of 

production methods, the final design is purely an expression of the music and has had little to no involvement with my design skills.

The main reason for the uniqueness of this project has been down to the mental process which was undertaken. The use of the first principle theory allowed me to explore ideas which are based on the core fundamentals of the audio and visual senses. Understanding these fundamentals have been crucial when executing a conceptually appropriate response to the brief. This brief has been the first time which I have exercised this theory and put it into practice, this basic way of perceiving the problem has really opened up some opportunities that I otherwise wouldn’t have considered. For 

example analysing the fundamentals of how sound and audio works within an environment allowed me to see other avenues such as sound vibration and waveforms, both of these were crucial in the conceptual stages and music visualisation process.

The final production process has taken a lot of experimentation, planning and organisation however, I believe that the results reflect this unorthodox approach to the brief. Creating art in a new environment, using new methods and materials allowed me to explore painting within my designs, a practice which I am usually quite unfamiliar with however, now feel more confident using in future projects.

OUGD603 - Brief 1 - Social Media Presence and Recognition

Since uploading the project to my website and social media pages, I have received gratification from Daniel Avery himself after tagging him via Instagram. Daniel is the famous music artist who I have based this piece around, he is even interested in possibly purchasing the piece.

OUGD603 - Brief 2 - Revamp 005 - Space Dimension Controller & LNS

For our latest and most ambitious event, we have hired Space Dimension Controller and LNS to headline. We have had to pay for flights for both of these DJ's to fly them into the country from abroad. Costing us around £3,300 for bookings, flights, hotels, promotional material and travel, this is our most expensive event to date which has only been made possible through our profits from our last 4 events. We are ambitious to continue pushing our brand further as we progress with our events to turn our company into a sustainable and profitable events company or all parties involved.

For the artwork of this event, we have collaborated with 2nd year students Harvey Williams and Laurie Miller.

OUGD603 - Brief 2 - Brand Partnership With Mint Festival

After hard work and long hours of progressing our brand throughout the year, we have been announced as brand partners for Mint Festival. This is an amazing opportunity to further progress and even though our company has only been around for a year, this is a promising step to progressing further.

It gives us the opportunity to play alongside some of our biggest inspirations and music idols within the industry whilst also giving us publicity on platforms such as Decoded Magazine and many more.

https://www.decodedmagazine.com/mint-festival-2018-news/

OUGD603 - Brief 9 - Personal Bio

For the website and Instagram, I wrote myself a bio and profile which can be seen below,


Dylan is a 20 year old passionate Graphic Design student in the process of graduating from Leeds Arts University. He has many creative talents which are varied and diverse, one of these being editorial design. This has led him to write, design and publish the book 'Logo, Font, Rave, Type', which is currently being distributed across the country and beyond. Last year he also Co-founded, and became a Creative Director of the events company Revamp. Through this, he has worked with some of the most established and emerging DJs from the UK and abroad. Having already worked freelance for clients such as Mixmag and DJ Mag, and having a YCN Student award under his belt, he is ambitious to transition straight into the creative industries, and make a real lasting impact to the world.

OUGD603 - Brief 9 - Social Media & Speaker Profiles

The social platforms were a constant source of publicity, and had to be updated on a daily basis with new speaker profiles and digital advertising material. Balancing this whilst simultaneously working on other projects was a stretch, but constant communication and collaboration with Connell helped to make this possible.

It was also a good opportunity to incorporate personal publicity and credit ourselves for the branding and web design of the conference.