BUZZ PROJECT BRIEF

This is the final brief I am giving my students for this year and it is the brief I will be using as the basis for my case study during BUZZ. It's a branding brief that brings students through identity design, investigation of branding strategy, then on to the expansion of that into packaging design and finally the brands' further expression as a website. At the outset of the project students are asked to come up with concepts that shape the type of product they are branding, defining it function and its audience. This level of involvement is increasingly more common in industry where rather than a designer being brought in to 'style' a product or service as a final stage, we are now assisting in the development, definition and naming.

WHAT CAME BEFORE....

I would like to refer to the last project just completed by the students also. This was an editorial design brief, and I have included here some photos from 2 of my case study students of their research and concept and visual development for that project.

Chloe:In this short movie I have just focused on Chloes' design development for the masthead of the Magazine 'Breathe' There are obvious similarities between the design of a mast head and the design of a logo and so I have just focused on that element here.


TRYING TO SORT VIDEO PROBLEM - ONLY 2 SECONDS CAME THROUGH!

Ita:

Here is a quick run through Ita's sketchpad for the editorial brief. It shows her research into editorial design - gathering examples and familiarising herself with some of the work of leading designers in the field. We can see the development of her own designs as she attempted to immerse herself into the subject matter of her 2 chosen articles. She delved into the experience of travel, in motion and also the investigation into a new type of camera - the LYTRO - that allows the view to decide the point of focus in the image so she investigated issues of control, framing etc. Her masthead work revolves around her investigations into flow and ease and the masthead reflect these notions.

I will upload the final designs for this project separately  - once I've had a chance to photo them

TRYING TO SORT VIDEO PROBLEM - ONLY 2 SECONDS CAME THROUGH!

One point I underline to students, and I refer to in my COP Google site (please see ‘Research Methods in Education’ and ‘Curriculum’ navigation's) is that while beauty and self-expression may be appreciated and admired, it is the wisdom and meaning in work that gives it its’ value, relevance and communicative definition. Meaning grows out of knowledge, and to become knowledgeable on a subject one must research it. It is through the exploration with materials in the studio, conversation with peers or lecturers and researching methods that involve online searching, library sources, and active research (or design as research) that provides the student with the complex tools to progress ideas and visuals in a creative and meaningful way.

It is my sincere hope that the emphasis I place upon research and the value they witness in it throughout the execution of the briefs will remain with them for their careers as professional graphic designers. In bringing their awareness to a more intellectual and meaningful design approach I hope that they realise the greater level of satisfaction to be gained from this rigorous and reflective practice, to value the reflective component of design as much as the active one.

In conversation and observation with my students I wanted to understand the methods of research they use. I find that internet based research is the first port of call for students. In this regard I endeavor to point them towards a particular attitude of selectivity. Also I have found that while they are generally good for using the library facilities in the college they need to be nudged towards other forms of participatory research such as interviewing relevant individuals or just simply talking to experts in different fields. Of course in large part too the act of designing forms part of their research. It is satisfying to see that when students embark on these various forms of research that they are motivated all the more to do so subsequently having witnessed the benefits within their own working practice and the final creative expression.

“There are enormous challenges facing the design profession; unprecedented complexity in the scale of problems that requires new work in interdisciplinary teams; rapid technological change under which users are more and more invested in the construction of messages and artifacts; and the need for new knowledge/research to support design decisions in a climate of greater accountability” (Meredith Davis, 2011).

It is my opinion that in order to make the value of meaningful design clear to my students I must encourage them to think not just creatively about their intended message, but to have that message well grounded in analysis and reason and also to have great awareness of the complexity in the larger context of what they do.

Graphic Design:Now in Production

This major international exhibition explores how graphic design has broadened its reach dramatically over the past decade, expanding from a specialized profession to a widely deployed tool. With the rise of user-generated content and new creative software, along with innovations in publishing and distribution systems, people outside the field are mobilizing the techniques and processes of design to create and publish visual media. At the same time, designers are becoming producers: authors, publishers, instigators, and entrepreneurs employing their creative skills as makers of content and shapers of experiences.

Featuring work produced since 2000 in the most vital sectors of communication design, Graphic Design: Now in Production explores design-driven magazines, newspapers, books, and posters as well as branding programs for corporations, subcultures, and nations. It also showcases a series of developments over the past decade, such as the entrepreneurial nature of designer-produced goods; the renaissance in digital typeface design; the storytelling potential of titling sequences for film and television; and the transformation of raw data into compelling information narratives.

Graphic Design: Now in Production is the largest museum exhibition on the subject since the Walker’s seminal 1989 exhibition Graphic Design in America: A Visual Language History, and the Cooper-Hewitt’s 1996 comprehensive survey, Mixing Messages: Graphic Design in Contemporary Culture. Appropriately, this exhibition is co-organized by the two institutions. A comprehensive, illustrated catalogue produced by the Walker accompanies the exhibition.

Below is a 1hr 26 min presentation from the curators and other exhibitors in the show. Each one gets 6 mins of show time. Well worth a look.

Curators:
Ian Albinson, artofthetitle.com

• Andrew Blauvelt, Walker Art Center
• Jeremy Leslie, magCulture.com
• Ellen Lupton, Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution
• Armin Vit and Bryony Gomez-Palacio, Brand New