Overview and context

The Cowsey is a large (around 20 hectares) public site in the heart of Whitley, a neighbourhood in the south of Reading. It consists of a variety of unmarked trails in a mixture of both woodland and grassland. For this project, we were asked to develop a series of maps that could be used for large boards situated around the site, orientating users and showing the opportunity to interact with the green space around them. To engage with the local community, we joined Nature Nurture, a community interest company, with students from the New Directions College to evaluate and comment on proposals for the map; we further joined a research group from the University’s Department of English Language and Linguistics to hear of people’s opinions of using the Cowsey. Fully meeting the client’s expectations, we have now been approached by them to take on more mapping work in other areas in Reading.

Restated brief

Aim for the project

For this project, we wanted to improve how people experience and navigate through the Cowsey Woodlands area. This distinction between experience and navigation is interesting – whilst the woodlands require mapping for the basic navigation, we also wanted the experience of the woodlands to be one that created a sense of place and interest. By designing a welcoming and accessible wayfinding system, we help encourage exploration and develop the sense of place, helping visitors understand where they are but also where they could go.

Deliverables

Initially, the brief proposed a range of deliverables, including signage and a map of the green space. As the project developed, and the budget and scope were defined, the deliverables became more refined. The final deliverables evolved into three main outcomes:

• A detailed user-tested map of the Cowsey
• A framework for an external designer to use for ‘lecterns’, displaying a specific route available within the area
• Information boards to showcase the entire map at the entrances of the woodlands area

Timeline

Main points in the timeline of this project included:

• Thursday 22nd May
  • We visited and mapped the core paths of and around the Cowsey area using Strava so that we could start digitising almost immediately. (see Mapping)
• Thursday 29th May
  • We joined Nature Nurture and Sylvia Jawoska in a focus group to involve and ask the community for feedback on the area. (see Research)
• Wednesday 11th July
  • We participated in an event alongside students from New Directions College to get feedback on our draft map. Their feedback was astonishingly useful and guided most future developments. (see Research and Mapping)

• Monday 14th July
  • We revisited the Cowsey after feedback to plot all the paths that were missing as a result of feedback from the students and staff of the New Directions College. (see Research and Mapping)
• Friday 15th August
  • We revisited the site once again to plot the three trails that appear on the map – the ‘Wild Walk’, ‘History Hike’ and ‘Memory Lane’

Mapping

Mapping the area was a brand new skill to both of us and we relished the challenge of learning new software and adapting our skillset to develop a strong outcome. We started off by sketching the map physically and using Strava to plot our course, specifying that any path that appeared clear and large enough would feature on the map. Initially this was effective at showing the routes we thought were necessary.

Following on from our engagement with the New Directions College, whose campus is situated close to the woodland site, we received extensive feedback that the paths were drawn incorrectly. Part of the reason that we drew them ‘incorrectly’ was because we had, at some points, excessively smoothed the paths to the point that they no longer resembled the paths which physically existed. The main issue, however, was that the criteria that we selected the paths (in retrospect, ‘clear’ and ‘large’ are poor criteria) with was completely unclear to the end user, leading them to suggest – quite understandably – that they had been given a map that was unrepresentative of the site. This directly led us to the conclusion that all navigatable paths should be shown, even if they lead to dead ends (which ought to be noted graphically). To map them this time, we used actual GIS data from an app called MapCanvas.

Research

The research phase of our project was illuminating. As documented by the research project  conducted by Sylvia Jawoska, a general consensus that the Cowsey was ‘unsafe’ and ‘unwelcoming’ was advanced by many participants, citing illicit drug use, confusing pathways, and few features to create a sense of place; for example, in later research, we concluded that there existed only two benches in the whole area. Whilst constructing benches for this project was not our responsibility, wayfinding improves the sense of place immeasurably, and we were satisfied that the development of a map would be beneficial to the community.

Development

• Addition of minor paths
  • Following feedback from New Directions College students, minor and secondary paths were added to the map to ensure accuracy and reduce confusion while walking along the routes.

• Expanding the map
  • The map had to be extended to fit the scale of the information boards which led to increase in number of roads and buildings.
• Map reorientation
  • The map was reorientated to align with the visitor’s position on side, making it easier to understand the direction in which they will start their walk.

Delivering the maps

Delivering the maps to the client proved to be another exercise in packaging files correctly, which we again seized upon. The client required three ‘focussed’ maps (i.e. maps documenting the walks) and two maps showing the whole area, differentiated by their orientation.

 

We had designed the maps in such a way that they could be resized freely right up to sendoff. This enabled us to use the same core files in multiple different environments; the focussed maps for the three separate walks, for example, use the same underlying file with a simple blur to focus the user’s attention.

The extraordinary weight of the files (with a wide variety of effects, shadows and lines) led to difficulties being experienced with exports, with some exports taking over 5 minutes at a time. To prevent this from affecting the external designer, we rasterised the file such that the effects were ‘flattened’. This meant that we could rapidly deliver iterations to the client.

Reflection

This project was a valuable real-world design experience. Engaging with Nature Nurture and members of the local community throughout helped to ensure that outcomes met everyone’s needs. One of the most rewarding aspects was seeing how user feedback directly influenced the final design decisions.

This project also had some challenges, particularly around accuracy and making the map simple enough for the users to understand without excluding any details. It required multiple iterations and back and forth refinement with the client to provide the best possible outcome.

Overall, this project strengthened our confidence in working with real clients, responding to feedback, and designing for public spaces. The skills gained from this project will directly inform all our future design work including a further freelance relationship with Nature Nurture to redesign further places in reading with the same style as our Cowsey map.

Restated brief

 

Research of speakers

Speaker search

We began our search for speakers by identifying the most effective channels through which to approach and engage them. These included attending external speaker events, exploring professional networks such as LinkedIn, and gathering recommendations from lecturers as well as student suggestion forms. One particularly valuable resource was St Bride’s annual Design Conclave, where we had the opportunity to hear from speakers including Micaela Alcaino, Kate Dawkins, and Carolyne Hill. Inspired by their professional journeys, we approached each of these speakers and invited them to deliver a talk at the University of Reading. LinkedIn also proved to be a useful tool, enabling us to identify connections to the department through mutual contacts. This process was further supported by our supervisor, who helped connect us with alumni and provided strong recommendations.

 

Speaker communication

Before diving into the rebrand, one of the most important focuses of Baseline Shift was maintaining an exceptionally high standard and consistent communication between the team and speakers. This ranged from tailoring email templates and being immediately available to answer any speaker questions, to organising pre-talk Microsoft Teams calls to personally guide speakers on what to expect. To reinforce this consistency, we introduced a new rule requiring that every email be signed off by at least one team member via an informal group chat before sending. This process supported newer team members, ensured high-quality written communication, reduced errors, while maintaining individual autonomy.

 

Logo Design

Logo

In a departure from the previous year’s logo design that featured a shift key symbol, the 2024–25 team began individually sketching new, more appropriate concepts, developing the logo gradually with each round of iterations. One early sketch (marked with a red dot in the image below) represented the idea of ‘baseline shift’ in its most literal form, achieved by shifting the baseline itself. This concept was then developed further, with the underlining rule evolving into the outline of a speech bubble in order to more clearly communicate the event’s focus on speakers. A summarised overview of the development process, from this iteration through to the final design, is shown below.

In our search for a typeface with a strong sense of personality, we selected Fractul Variable, which became the first step in establishing the brand identity. The typeface informed the development of a speech-bubble motif featuring a sharp top-right corner, reflecting the letterform of the  ‘a’ in the Fractul typeface.

 

Logo in context

The logo was designed for use across multiple contexts, including an email signature developed and implemented for the 2025–2026 season. As communication with speakers is a key part of Baseline Shift, this application helps establish a sense of professionalism, cohesion, and trust for potential speakers.

Another example of the logo in context can be found in the header on the Baseline Shift page hosted on typography.network (which the clickable email signature links to). This page houses the Baseline Shift blog posts as well as the digital timetable.

 

Poster Design

Ideation

When researching previous Baseline Shift posters, we found that the most successful and engaging designs tended to use atypical layouts. In response, several of the concepts we developed explored the idea of a modular poster system, which would allow for easy editing to accommodate the inevitable changes that occur within a guest speaker series.

One proposed design, shown below, featured each speaker presented on an individual title card, with the cards overlapping to form a cohesive series. Each week, the previous speaker’s card would be removed, revealing the upcoming speaker at the forefront of the poster. While this concept initially appeared effective, feedback from our supervisor highlighted that physically removing the cards was a destructive design approach and resulted in the loss of an archive documenting that year’s speakers.

In response, the concept was further developed into a system in which the speaker cards were mounted on runners, allowing them to slide past one another. This iteration retained the intended ‘reveal’ interaction while also preserving a complete archive of the speakers throughout the series.

 

 

Digital ideation

With the modular poster system established, the design was developed in InDesign to explore initial visual layouts. The first concept used the four CMYK colours and emphasised the event date, speaker image, and a quote; however, this approach was later identified as clichéd. During the week of each talk, the relevant speaker card would be spotlighted, initially revealing the session number with the speaker’s name integrated into the numeral. Through iterative feedback and refinement, the information hierarchy was simplified to better serve user needs, leading to the relocation of the speaker’s name to the speaker card and the removal of elements such as quotes and descriptions. A key functional change was rethinking the reveal mechanism: rather than exposing the already apparent session number, the final design reveals a piece of the speaker’s work, resulting in a stronger pay-off for the user. Some early poster concepts, as well as the final digital designs for both years can be seen below.

 

Materiality

Before printing and crafting these modular posters, a (slightly rudimentary) small-scale prototype was created to check that the idea was feasible and that the individual cards worked together as a series.

Considering the materiality of the posters was very important for a printed item that needs to be both durable and functional, as well as sleek and portable. After experimenting with several material options, we decided on a backing of 3mm foamboard, mountboard for the runners, and 250gsm cardstock for the speaker cards. The final crafted poster proved to be effective, and very user-friendly when it came to moving and replacing speaker cards after each Baseline Shift talk.

The vibrant choice of colours against the sleek black frame of the posters meant that it was difficult for students to walk through the corridor of the department without stopping to look, and the tactile nature on top of the abundance of scannable elements on the poster encouraged a lot of interaction from curious students. To explain a few of those elements further, the QR codes that feature on each speaker card direct the user to a live webpage featuring links to the speaker’s portfolio before their talk, and a written blog post after their talk. The vibrant colours assigned to each speaker were picked in reference to the speaker’s image of their work, and once chosen, these colours became an important part of the branding.

 

Business Card & Timetable Design

Business cards

To accommodate changes to the Baseline Shift lineup and timetable, the physical, printed timetables used in previous years were replaced with an editable, digitally hosted PDF. To ensure easy access for students, we designed a business card featuring a QR code that links directly to the digital timetable. Many ideas were considered before landing at the final concept for the business card.

It was important that this was a well-considered deliverable as the user is a design-orientated student familiar with printed artefacts and trained to analyse and critique designs they are presented with. With this in mind, alignment was carefully considered, and the final concept ensured that the design of the front lines-up with the design on the back when flipped horizontally or placed side by side. The elements that are lining up are blown-up outlines of the speech bubble shape with a gradient applied. The gradient is made up of the colours that were assigned to the individual speakers, representing a culmination of speakers, industries, and backgrounds, which is the core essence of Baseline Shift.

 

Business card prototypes

Before getting these sent off to print with soft-touch laminate and UV-varnish finishes applied, we needed to test where best to apply the UV-coating, so we developed a crude but workable prototype, painting clear nail varnish over a printed version of the business card.

 

Distribution of business cards

The distribution of the business cards was vitally important to making this brand successful as we wanted students to appreciate the quality and craft of the cards themselves. We achieved this by personally handing each student a card and allowing them a few moments to observe the special finishes applied and scan the printed QR code to browse the timetable. This year’s rebrand was about so much more than just the deliverables, but also about ‘shifting’ the mindset of the students.

 

Digital timetable

The design of the digital timetable also required careful thought, considering how much and in what way the information is presented. After a short ideation process, a tall, scrollable design was decided on with interactive elements, directing users to the same web page that the posters link to, where the speaker blog posts are posted.

 

Social Media Design

Ideation

Upon deciding on the design for our poster and printed assets, we came up with ideas on how to structure our social media templates in the style of our poster design to ensure consistency across deliverables. To maintain a regular social media presence and keep students updated during the Baseline Shift seasons, we proposed five templated posts:

• Introductory post
• Pre-talk speaker carousel
• Post-talk speaker carousel
• Pre-talk story
• Feedback post

We began by sketching ideas for posts and arranged group feedback to decide on which designs work well and which are less successful.

 

Introductory post

We created the initial introductory post not only to introduce Baseline Shift to new first year students who were previously unaware of the module, but also to highlight to existing students that baseline shift was back in their schedules. Again, as our users are design-minded and design-trained individuals, it was important that every small detail was considered, including a seamless carousel transition.

 

Pre-talk speaker carousel

The main purpose of the carousel posted before a speaker’s talk is to promote and inform. Expanding on the assets used in the poster, this template finds the right balance between displaying enough information, giving the audience enough of a peek into the designer’s work and career, while also leaving enough mystery for them to look forward to the talk. To connect the last two slides of the carousel, the speaker’s assigned colour was used as a block-colour background, adding an on-brand pop of colour as the user swipes the post.

 

Post-talk speaker carousel

To allow for a focus on the photography as well as a summary celebrating the speaker’s talk, the post-talk carousels could be less designed and use far fewer assets. We deemed it appropriate, to let the photography speak for itself and stripped back the carousel to just the three images, placing the Baseline Shift logo in the bottom of the post to tie back into our branding.

 

Pre-talk story

The story posts followed a similar format to the pre-speaker carousel, however, to differentiate these from the speaker’s posts we made sure to schedule these a day before the talk as these have a time limit as to when the posts expire. The purpose of this templated post is to act as a reminder for students, that the talk was taking place the next day. We also decided to include a further piece of the designer’s work to give some context to who the students will be listening to. This idea of drip-feeding images of designer’s work across different platforms (poster, main-feed posts, story posts, etc.), keeps content relevant and new and gives students a reason to stay tuned.

 

Feedback post

The final template that we designed for the Baseline Shift socials was for regular feedback posts. Students were presented with a QR code directing them to the feedback form on the big screen at the end of every third speaker session. In case they missed this, or simply wanted to access it later, this post acted as a reminder for students to provide feedback. It also served as a step-by-step guide on how to access the form when presented with a QR code via a main-feed Instagram post.

 

Posting consistently

To ensure a regular social media presence and avoid conflicts with the T&GC department’s existing schedule, we liaised with the department’s social media team to establish agreed-upon posting days. As part of the handover of responsibilities to newer team members, we refined existing templates and developed tutorials, alongside collaborative training sessions, to clearly outline expectations around content, tone, and posting timelines.

In line with our email review process, we also implemented a sign-off system requiring at least one additional team member to approve each post prior to publication, ensuring consistency, strong execution, and a high standard of grammar across all content.

 

Animation

For the 2025–2026 season, we set a task for the future Baseline Shift leaders to create an animation to display both on the screen in the department and across social media. Due to time constraints and limited knowledge of software, after storyboarding their ideas they were only able to execute the introduction, and we happily stepped in to assist with finishing it off. We wanted the team dynamic to have clear roles and responsibilities, while also acknowledging that if something was ever beyond anyone’s capabilities at the time, there were always other team members to reach out to for support.

The following animation was designed with sound in mind, to be posted on social media:

While the next animation was designed to be played without sound on the promo screen in the department entrance (with the difference between the two animations being in the smoothness of the introduction) :

 

Blog posts

Writing about our speakers

For this season of Baseline Shift we focused on improving and maintaining the consistency and quality of our blog posts celebrating each speaker. To achieve this, we ensured that for every session, all team members had clear responsibilities: one person taking notes, another capturing photos, another setting up the tech and another introducing the speaker. This preparation meant that when it came time to write the posts, we already had all the content and assets we needed. Each blog was either written or edited by one of us two, ensuring a consistent style and high standard of writing across the series. Our blog posts can be read here.

 

Outcome

The 2024–2025 Baseline Shift sessions have been a great success, seeing a skyrocket in attendance and an overwhelming amount of positive feedback from students, staff, and speakers alike.

We are both incredibly proud of what has been achieved, and are so committed to the future of Baseline Shift that we have agreed to continue our involvement beyond the completion of the Real Job itself. Our hope is to carry forward the legacy of Baseline Shift and to keep delivering outstanding industry talks for students of the Typography & Graphic Communication course.

Baseline Shift’s increase in attendance since we stepped up to co-lead the team in 2024 has been visualised below, (it must be stated that these increases are also impacted by first and second years being required to write learning journals on the sessions, however, there are no other causal factors for the increase in third year attendance other than our drive for promo and devotion to the project).

 

Feedback

Client feedback

“I don’t think I have ever seen such a successful example of a student team in action. Through thick and thin (a lot of stuff happens in a year) they have supported each other and made the whole Department proud. I now have a new baseline of excellence in how these things should work. And my teaching observation is that I can’t really take the credit for that. Instead, it comes the fact that every year – somehow – tremendously able young people find our course in BA Graphic Communication and sign up (not quite knowing, I think, what to expect). When the most able among that group then feel ready to take on the biggest challenges, I think maybe the best I can do is get out of their way, and just be there when they need to talk.”

– James Lloyd

 

Reflection

Baseline Shift has exceeded the regular boundaries of a Real Job and has become a passion project that the two of us have devoted hours, weeks, and months of our lives to. We have nurtured it into something that we are deeply proud of and excited to pass on, hopefully continuing the legacy and the bar we have raised it to. There have been challenges throughout the project, often regarding how to work on such an involved project fairly as a team of students with varying levels of time and commitment. We overcame this by considering everybody’s individual needs and adjusting the workload accordingly. We didn’t want to design deliverables that would only be successful for one season, instead, by designing a system, an identity and template after template, we created a well-structured framework, that can easily be handed over to the next generation of students – that to us, is a new legacy for Baseline Shift.

 

– Written by Amirah Yasin and Tommy Molnar

Overview

The premise of this job was to continue the work of our recent branding project, in our design portfolio module, for the East Reading Federation. The client was so pleased with our pitch that they decided to expand the brief through the Real Jobs scheme. East Reading Federation is a newly formed governing body of two local schools: Alfred Sutton and Redlands Primary school. Their aim is to bring both schools together under one management team to deliver excellence across two different schools. After completing a brand identity for them, the client wanted to continue the partnership with The Department of Typography and Graphic Communication through the Real Jobs scheme and asked for the four of us directly. Although we knew we had a limited window of time to complete the job, we stayed together for the client and got involved in booking meetings with the client and our supervisor and, soon after, restating the brief.  

 

Restating the brief

Following initial meetings with both our clients and supervisor, we were able to create a restated brief that established the project’s details, such as the exact deliverables and their requested formats. We began by establishing our roles and responsibilities to manage our time efficiently and guarantee clear understanding of what was expected from us. The short project time was acknowledged by ensuring clear detail of desired outputs and member allocations of such. A weekly schedule was devised to make sure that each member and output would regularly progress to fulfil our close deadline at a manageable pace, without compromising quality. Our restated brief was quickly approved by our clients and supervisor, both describing it as ‘spot-on’. 

 

Deliverables and design identity

Due to the nature of the Job, we were working off our own brand guidelines, which made the design identity easy to follow and with little scope for creativity. Despite this, we could still experiment with various layouts and formats with the only constraints being colour, typography and use of logos.  

The deliverables for this project were: 

• Complete Website on WordPress 
• Email footers  
• Branded slide templates 
• Letterhead  
• Lanyard  

The client did not request photography as an extra deliverable but because this was added to the content of the other deliverables. It allowed us to go beyond the scope of the brief and deliver a folder of well-produced imagery of their lovely school buildings and areas for them to use as they desire. 

 

Research and collecting resources

We already had an extensive knowledge of what the East Reading Federation was and their visions and aims, due to our research in the Branding Project. However, more research was done through the form of meeting the client to discuss their aims for the deliverables, such as attending both schools to gain a better understanding of the buildings, the environment and the teachers. While at the schools, Olivia was able to photograph the buildings, playgrounds and equipment, as well as inside some of the classrooms and the corridors. This collection of photos not only gave us a better understanding of the schools but aided the development of the website.  

Photo examples: 

 

Development: 

Website 

As one of the hardest deliverables, the development of the website meant that we had to learn to navigate a new software: WordPress. It proved to be quite hard to understand and, although the photos below in the items delivered section show some development, we were unsuccessful in completing this deliverable. It was a decision made due to a conversation with the client regarding the successful completion of the website. The discussion with the client determined that in order to complete the website successfully within the timeframe, the job would have to be passed over to someone with more sufficient knowledge of WordPress. However, due to the relationship we had with the client, they decided to allow Olivia to continue to build the website outside of the project timeframe while learning and navigating WordPress and solidifying a new skill.  

The developments made on the website within the project timeframe can be seen in the images below. Olivia learnt the ability to create headers and footers which could then be applied consistently across the website. She applied some of the photos to the website as seen in some of the examples later on.  

 

Email footer 

The email footer design was refined through multiple layout experiments for the East Reading Federation. The use of red bricks was reduced to prevent the red from overpowering the federations colour palette. The type size was also adjusted to improve legibility, and the typography was refined for greater cohesion, resulting in a more polished and accessible design. 

Several versions were created to suit the two schools within the federation, Alfred Sutton and Redlands. The highlighted text and colour schemes were adapted to match each school’s identity, making the designs feel more personalised and thematically consistent. The designs were created using Canva to ensure ease of use for the client, allowing staff names and other details to be updated quickly and independently as needed.

 

Slides 

Multiple versions of the title slide, table of contents, and several internal pages were developed to accommodate a range of presentation needs for the East Reading Federation. To maintain consistency throughout, the federation’s logo was used as a running head on each page, alongside a cohesive used of typography, colour palette and the signature red brick motif. 

The layouts were intentionally kept open and adaptable, allowing clients to customise the content as needed. To further enhance usability, the final slide designs were converted into PowerPoint format, making it easier for the federation staff to edit and repurpose the templates independently. 

 

Letterhead 

In order to create a visual identity that represents both individual schools and is consistent with our branding, Alice’s role in this project was to create a letterhead for the federation required coming up with a visual identity that complemented the overall branding while representing the two separate institutions. The original idea was to combine the architectural features of each school’s watercolour paintings to create a single, coherent depiction. A change in strategy was necessary, nevertheless, because the initial attempts at applying watercolour effects did not match the federation logo’s brand look. The design was improved by matching the logo’s stroke width, and after multiple iterations, an asymmetrical pattern was selected because it felt dynamic and organic. To maintain uniformity and strengthen the brand identity, the same green on the tree and red bricks from the logo were used. 

 

Personal Reflection 

Olivia Moors 

Despite the quick turnaround of the project combined with all my other projects due at the same time, I am glad I was able to retain a relationship with the client and deliver new assets of the brand identity we created. I am upset that I wasn’t able to complete the website within the timeframe, but I am grateful the client has offered me the experience to learn a new skill and develop an impressive portfolio piece. The skills I learned during this project are expandable and will develop as I continue with the website. The fast pace of the project meant that organisation skills were a top priority, and the use of the Trello board was an important tool for project management, I made sure to make use of the all the features such as deadlines, check boxes and file uploading. As team leader I ensured that my team kept up to date with each section of the Trello.  

Alice To 

That the client liked our branding project concepts and chose us for this actual task made me very happy. Despite the somewhat hurried nature of this actual assignment, I’m delighted that my group members and I worked well together and submitted on time. Since the client expressed how much they enjoyed the watercolour artwork from the person’s school, I first had a lot of trouble deciding on the appropriate style for the letterheads. Using all of the colours seen in our federation logo, I was able to produce the final version after consulting with my group members and our supervisor. 

Vivien Lee 

It was a great honour to have the clients decide to use our pitched branding for their federation. Our group worked well to overcome the short time frame we had for this project and successfully produced outputs we’re proud of; we’ve learnt valuable time management and communication skills as a result. Reflecting on this project, our skills in using WordPress have room to improve, and this will greatly benefit us for future projects that require UI and UX design. This project has encouraged branding to be a possible sector for me to pursue professionally in the future. 

Aina Zain Azrin 

Working on the East Reading Federation project really pushed me to think beyond just aesthetics, I had to understand who we were designing for, what the federation stands for and how to communicate that through every detail. I learned how meaningful design can support identity and connection. It’s been challenging but rewarding experience that made me more confident in my ability to design with purpose.

 

Items delivered to the client

Website

 

Email footers

East Reading Federation

Alfred Sutton

Redlands

Slides

Letterhead

 

Lanyard

Context

The client is a non-profit company whose mission is to “unite education and business to inspire and equip our future workforce for tomorrow’s workplace.” EBP are re-branding to modernise their current identity with the aim to appeal to both corporate and young people alike. The client aims to relaunch with their new branding for the upcoming academic year starting September 2025.

 

Restated brief

Aim of the project

The client aims to move away from the current, ‘dated’ logo and create a modern, professional, and trustworthy feeling through updated branding.

Objectives

Through a detailed analysis of both the client’s current branding and that of their competitors/comparators, new branding will be developed with the aim to create a more positive impact for the different stakeholders. 

Deliverables

• A logo
• A set of clear and easy to use brand guidelines
• Five editable Canva templates for social media
• Linkedin Banner
• Facebook Banner

How the deliverables will be measured:

Client feedback will determine the reception from internal and external stakeholders both throughout the design process and when the new branding and logo launch.

User needs:

The new logo and branding should aid in the business appearing modern, trustworthy and professional to the user. The client has two very different stakeholder groups, one being corporate professionals and the other being young people who may benefit from the charity. Both of these user groups’ individual needs must be considered and met within the re-brand. Some key needs are to be approachable, friendly, and empowering, while also being professional, reliable and sleek.

Notes from initial client meeting:

• The client has explicitly stated that there are a few things to avoid while re-branding. These include: Primary colours and clip-art-style imagery.
• The client has already brainstormed some elements that the new logo could take inspiration from, such as bridges (bridging business and education), business, and people.
• EBP’s brand values as stated by the client are to be reliable, trustworthy, professional, and to have a positive impact to both businesses and education.
• The client mentioned that while EBP is a charity, they are also providing a service for businesses (e.g. by helping them to meet their corporate social responsibilities).
• The client was open to investigating the current strap-line and potentially suggesting alternatives.

Schedule

 

Research

Branding workshop

After receiving the brief for this job, our team were fortunate enough to be invited along to a workshop run by Chris Washington-Sare, specifically on re-branding charities and non-profit organisations. This is where we were introduced to brand archetypes, symbolic colour interpretations, and some ‘deceptively simple brand questions’ that can be used to dive into the meat of what the brand really stands for, who they are, and who their target demographic is.

Comparator and user research

After using some of these questions and techniques in our initial client meeting, we began to research brand comparators (fig 2), and develop user personas for the different types of stakeholders involved (figs 3–4). This brief had the challenge of targeting both corporate and young people alike, so developing these different personas was key to understanding the requirements of both.

 

 

Logo sketches

Initial sketches

After reviewing the meeting notes, we began sketching some initial logo concepts, keeping the clients’ words in mind (fig 5). There was a recurring theme of ‘bridging’ education and business that came up throughout our initial client meeting, which was something that we incorporated in a few of the sketched concepts. When presenting these sketches, instead of showing them in their natural state (pen & paper), we took them into illustrator, as advised by our supervisor. Taking the concepts digital and placing them in contextual mockups at this stage helped us to refine some of the ideas and make the message clearer for the client to understand (fig 6).

Developed sketches

After presenting the client with the six refined concepts, the clients decided to move forward with Concepts D, and E, (fig 7) combining the two, with the clients requesting one logo using the full organisation’s title ‘Education Business Partnership’, and one using its shortened acronym ‘EBP’. It was at this stage that the client mentioned that different sectors of the organisation are currently separated and categorised by four assigned colours. As redesigning the organisation’s website was out of the scope of this project, the client asked if we could incorporate four different colours in the developed concept. This prompted the idea to add a third element to the bridge icon (fig 8), meaning that, including the colour of the type, a total of four colours would be incorporated in the new logo concept.

 

Logo refinement

Refining logo structure

After deciding to add the third element into the icon in the form of a shadow along the bridge, we moved to looking at the overall silhouette of the logo, in both its short and long format. After feeling like the long-format logo was a little heavy/busy with the icon running along the entire length of the type, our supervisor, Greg Bunbury helped us come to the ideal solution of shrinking the icon, so that it still hugs the letterforms and allows the type to stand on its own (fig 9).

 

Colour variations

After finalising the format and structure of the logo variations, it was time to experiment with colour palettes. We then presented the client with five options (fig 10), and Concept B  (fig 11) was chosen as the colourway for the final branding.

 

Social media

Editable Canva templates

With the logos finalised, it was time to begin considering EBP’s social media and working on some templates that the clients can use moving forward. After investigating the organisation’s existing social media, it became clear that they would need posts to, advertise their volunteering events, showcase work experience opportunities, post quotes from stakeholders, and display general photographs taken from various events. Templates were created for each of these on Canva (fig 12), which brought with it the challenge of not being able to use our chosen typeface, Satoshi. We considered creating the templates in Figma, and providing instructions for the client, however, after a discussion with the Real Jobs team, it became clear that choosing a suitable alternate typeface on Canva was the most logical solution to allow for ease of use for the client.

 

Introductory assets

While editable post templates were important to provide the client with, we also pitched three pinned posts for the organisation’s Instagram page, as well as LinkedIn and Facebook banners, to act as introductory assets when users land on their socials (fig 13). As the rebrand is due to be launched after the time that this blog post was written, we have included a mockup of what the organisation’s instagram would look like with the templated social media posts (fig 14).

 

Brand Guidelines

File sizes

With all of the individual deliverables designed and finalised, we put together a brand guidelines document for the client to refer to and potentially provide to other designers in the future if they decide to rework their site with their new brand identity. Throughout the project, due to large file sizes, we were using WeTransfer to send over deliverables and documents. James Lloyd offered the insight that while this was okay for transferring folders and deliverables, the brand guidelines document being such a large file would make it very difficult for the client to send around internally. After this feedback, we compressed the document into a small enough file to comfortably send via email. This was a good lesson – that when designing, it is just as important to consider the client’s user experience in handling the internal documents, as it is to consider the end-user and stakeholders’ experiences.

 

Extra Instructional doc.

WordPress instructions

While a full redesign of the organisation’s website was out of the scope of this Real Job, the client still wanted to implement their new colour palette and logos into their existing website. The WordPress website was previously designed by an external designer, so the client did not know how to go about changing the colours of certain areas of the site. This was an exciting challenge for us to investigate, and once we had come to the conclusion that the coloured headers and footers were controlled through WordPress themes along with some custom CSS, we created a simple set of instructions (fig 17) for the client to follow to go about making these changes without impacting the rest of the site.

 

Feedback

Client feedback

“Tommy, Creamy and Diogo worked with us to come up with a re-brand for our charity.  From the initial meeting, the team were excellent, professional and demonstrated a good understanding of our requirements.  The work produced was of a high standard, they listened and acted on feedback and maintained good communication throughout the process.  They demonstrated a high level of professionalism at all times and we were absolutely delighted with the final designs selected.  We would not hesitate to recommend them for any future work and wish them all the best in the future.”

– Kate Barrow (CEO of Education Business Partnership)

 

Reflection

Our experience

Working on this project has been incredibly rewarding, and we are extremely grateful to have had such communicative, active clients who are deeply passionate about their organisation and the rebrand. While we believe that our scheduling and organisational skills were very strong, if we were to redo this project, we would book in specific dates and meetings ahead of time with both the clients and supervisor, to give fixed communication points. It is very easy when working alongside other responsibilities to leave enough time for one another to review the designs before they reach the client, but it is also vitally important to ensure that there is time for the supervisor to review the design work, and this is where we could have improved.

 

By Tommy Molnar, Creamy Li, and Diogo Pereira

Background

The Craftsman’s House is a new small business which creates and renovates bespoke upholstery pieces. The brand is a sister company of an existing local furniture business, which produces items for the hospitality, office, and commercial sectors. The Craftsman’s House instead seeks to work directly with customers and offer the following services:

• Bespoke reupholstery of customers’ existing furniture items
• A range of second-hand items which the company has sourced and renovated
• The ability to create upholstered items to match customers’ furniture

The company want to produce custom, high-quality pieces that will last for years and can become family heirlooms. Each item will be handcrafted by experts with forty years of industry experience, to offer an exceptional finish and specialist guidance. Sustainability is a core focus within the business, as their services preserve existing or second-hand furniture items, in addition to using sustainable materials where possible.

 

Restated Brief

To support the new business, this Real Job involved creating a cohesive brand identity which conveyed their commitment to producing artisanal, sustainable, and high-quality furniture pieces.

Creating flexible brand assets was critical to the restated brief, as these would be applicable when launching The Craftsman’s House via an Etsy shop, and later an online store. Furthermore, the branding assets would ideally be applicable to other print and digital spaces as the business grows, such as social media posts, letterheads, etc.

The client expressed that they would also be interested in deliverables which help to promote the new business and create brand recognition over time. As each item they create is unique and designed to last for years, incorporating a way for customers to recognise their products was a priority.

Therefore, we agreed on the following deliverables for the project:

• A branding system (including brand colours, typography, and a logo set)
• A business card to distribute to potential customers
• A fabric label to be applied to each piece of furniture

 

Research & Ideation

To develop a visual strategy for the deliverables, user personas were created to represent potential customers. This process identified how the deliverables could respond to customer needs, such as emphasising the range of different services offered, the company’s unique products, and conveying their longstanding industry expertise.

 

(Above) Three user personas developed to identify user needs

 

Conducting competitor analysis revealed that many existing upholstery companies overuse visual tropes such as sofas and armchairs in their logos, with often plain, sans serif typography. The logos struggle to separate themselves from one another and often convey corporate identities which creates distance from consumers. Conversely, the moodboard for The Craftsman’s House concentrated on curating a brand identity which highlighted their handcrafted products, and the personality of a small, artisanal business.

(Above) A selection of competitor logo designs , which often lack illustration or rely heavily on sofa and armchair imagery

 

(Above)  A moodboard reflecting the style and tone for the logo design and printed deliverables

 

To avoid the typical chair and sofa logos on the market, I created a mind map of different symbols that could reflect the industry and brand values of The Craftsman’s House.

(Above) A mind map of visuals relating to the company’s brand values

 

The initial sketches shown below expanded these concepts by experimenting with typographic combinations, vintage border styles, and hand-drawn illustrations. Some symbols referenced the eponymous ‘Craftsman’s House,’ through a house, door, door knockers, etc. Others included upholstery tools (scissors, tack hammer, etc) or signifiers of the business’ countryside location, such as deer and hares.

(Above) Initial sketches for the logo design

 

Design Development

When translating the designs into digital formats, typography was the first element to be developed. Various logotypes and monograms were made with script and serif typefaces, and combining both types helped to convey the handmade nature of the business, whilst also signalling quality.

(Above) Initial experiments with typographic combinations

 

(Above) Initial experiments with monograms

 

(Above) Initial experiments with vintage border styles

 

My supervisor suggested exploring classic British typefaces for the logo, which led me to setting the type in King’s Caslon, an Old-Style serif which originated in Britain in the 1700s. The supporting text was also set in Lamar Pen, a flowing script which references the handmade nature of the products from The Craftsman’s House.

(Above) The refined logo typography, featuring King’s Caslon and Lamar Pen

 

Matching the typography with an appropriate illustration proved more challenging, as vector logos (such as the deer and hare silhouettes below) proved too modern for the rustic style of the business. By contrast, my initial hand drawn illustrations of the door, lion door knocker, and upholstery scissors were too fine and presented legibility issues at small scales.

(Above) Initial vector logo designs

 

 

(Above) Initial hand-drawn logo designs 

 

From discussions with my supervisor, I was able to rework the illustrative component and focus on more abstract visuals to spur customers’ imagination, rather than obvious motifs which were repeated in the logo name (house, doors, etc.). I found that designs with the hares were more successful, as they depicted the countryside location of the business whilst evoking quality and elegance.

Revisiting the hare illustrations allow me to develop two distinct styles: one a looser, pen-like illustration (logo set 01), and the other a more traditional, line-based approach (logo set 02).  In addition to the main logo, I experimented with a complementary emblem. By using circular borders, the designs mimic leathermaking stamps, which are closely linked to upholstery practices and reflect craftsmanship.

(Above) Development of the first illustrative style

 

 

(Above) Development of the second illustrative style

 

(Above) Refined logo set 01

 

(Above) Refined logo set 02

 

The client expressed a preference for second logo set, commenting that it conveyed a sense of heritage and therefore felt the most suitable for the brand. I additionally noted that the second logo set offered more flexibility for variations, as the linear style was more legible at small scales, or when cut in half and combined with other elements. With this agreed, I developed the following final logo set, offering different logo options for print and digital applications. For example, the primary logo would be ideal as a letterhead, whilst the simplified logo mark would suit the business’ profile pictures on their social media and Etsy store.

 

(Above) Final logo set

 

To support the logo set, various colour palettes were tested. The final colour palette includes mainly rich neutral brown shades, which convey a premium, classic brand, as opposed to a trend-led business. Moreover, the two subtle green tones in the palette reflect the brand’s focus on sustainability. Each colour in the final palette has sufficient contrast with black or white and can be combined with one another to offer additional flexibility.

(Above) Brand colour palette experiments

 

(Above) Final brand colour palette

 

Further Deliverables

The above assets were combined to develop the brand’s business card and fabric label designs. In the initial restated brief, the client had asked for a ‘thank you’ card to be supplied with each customer purchase. However, due to the brand only just launching, we agreed that a business card could be more appropriate to generate interest in the brand at this early stage.

With this amendment in mind, the client expressed an interest in the business card and fabric label using a variety of assets, as opposed to the same design over and over. Therefore, the initial business cards experimented with various combinations of assets, typography, and brand colours.

(Above) Initial business card designs

 

Despite the colours reinforcing the brand identity, the consistent colour on the front and back of the cards lacked contrast. Consequently, the revised designs incorporated a different background colour on the front and back to create more visual interest. This allowed the client to select the final design, which featured inverted green and cream shades on either side. The final deliverable also combined the primary, secondary, and emblem logo assets to add detail without appearing repetitive.

 

(Above) Business card design iterations

 

(Above) Final business card design

 

In contrast to the business card, the fabric label needed to adopt a much more minimal design. This was due to the fact that it would be applied to each furniture item, so ensuring that the label wouldn’t clash with any surrounding fabrics was a priority. Hence, the simple primary logo (design 01) felt the most appropriate solution, as an easy way to allow customers to recognise a furniture piece from the company.

 

(Above) Fabric label design options

 

(Above) Final fabric label design

 

Final Designs

In summary, each of the assets fits into a broader design system which can be combined in different ways as the brand grows. To support the client when using the assets, a set of brand guidelines were developed. Each component of the design system is referenced, with both a justification and suggested applications. Mock-ups were also incorporated to help the client visualise the final products (business card, fabric label, digital assets) in practice.

 

(Above) Final brand assets

 

(Above) Sample spreads from ‘The Craftsman’s House’ brand guidelines

 

(Above) Mockup of final business card

 

(Above) Mockup of final fabric label

 

(Above) Mockup of brand assets being used on the Etsy store

 

Reflection

In summary, I found this Real Job to be a highly valuable experience. As this was my first official branding project, it was a fantastic opportunity to learn and follow the appropriate processes to build a brand identity from scratch. I found creating each of the assets particularly rewarding and appreciated being able to start with a completely blank canvas on this project. Whilst this required some research on my part and many attempts and revisions to the illustrations, I believe that we have reached an outcome which is cohesive, appropriate, and avoids the overdone sofa logo of many competitors.

The feedback from both my supervisor and client were integral to the process, and it required me to be adaptable in accommodating changes to meet all stakeholder needs. Furthermore, this project allowed me to appreciate the importance of designing for different applications, from clear, minimal fabric labels which support brand recognition, to a more dynamic business card which seeks to draw in customers. As a result, this Real Job has produced design assets which support an artisanal, high-quality, and sustainably-focused small business as it launches and grows in the future.

Background on the project

KateMustSew is a self-made quilting business based in Reading, specialising in workshops, trunk shows and quilted artwork. Kate required a profile-raising rebrand and website design to elevate her business and reputation as an artist from a hobby quilter to a more professional level.

Restated brief

In our initial meeting with the client, it was clear that she wanted a rebrand but was unsure of what deliverables to ask for. Together we ran through her business model, noting the platforms she primarily operated on and the ways in which she communicates with her customers. This offered us insight into her business and allowed us to suggest deliverables which would suit her specific business style. Our main aim with this process is to ensure our deliverables help Kate to achieve her goals through the rebrand.

The agreed deliverables were:

1. 1. Three logo designs (One portrait, one landscape and one circular)
      The range of logo options offers the client flexibility across platforms whilst maintaining the house style.
   2. Business cards
      Designed for the client to hand out at open houses, workshops, trunk shows.
   3. Introduction sequence for her videos
      Visually aesthetic introduction sequence to be used on YouTube tutorials and online workshops.
   4. Website pages (gallery, home page and contact page)
      Simplistic and clean website pages to emphasise Kate’s professionality to potential galleries and trunk show bookers, as well as customers looking to book classes.

Research

Before we began the ideation process, we spent time researching Kate’s business and competitors to ensure we could fully understand her user’s needs and how we could support these through the deliverables. We were particularly interested in how similar individual artists presented their brands, especially on their websites. We analysed how these artists chose to present themselves; looking at the website styles, colour schemes and imagery/ illustrations used across the brand. Through this process, we discovered that many artists within the same field as Kate chose sleek and clean website layouts. We also noticed that a lot of quilting artists logos felt cliche and passive.

Some of the examples we analysed include:

• Heidi Parkes
• Pauline Burbidge
• Alexandra Kingswell
• Sarah Payne

After looking through these online presences, I compiled a list of features that we found appealing and believe to enhance the presentation of these businesses.

• White backgrounds and simple layouts – these help draw the user’s focus to the artwork which is the artist’s primary goal.
• Large images and scrolling image carousels on the home page – show a range of the artists different works and styles with minimal user effort.
• Well lit images shot from above with white / removed backgrounds – high quality images ensure the detail is maintained and white backgrounds make the product the main focus.
• Personal ‘About’ pages – this offers artists a way to add a personal touch and convey their motivations and passion for their work. This also creates a parasocial relationship between the customer and the artist in which they understand their passion, likely encouraging customers to purchase more to support the artist.

Audience

The client’s audience is primarily over 50s and with the inclusion of a professional website, it will broaden to art galleries and exhibitions that wish to include her work. It is important that Kate’s work also appeals to a younger target audience as Kate hopes to expand her audience and recognition as an artist through this rebrand.

 

Design Development

Logo

For Kate’s logo, our aim was to create a visually impactful design which represented her quilting work in a simple yet sophisticated manner.

With our initial sketches, we explored a range of different approaches with some typographic and others more shape and pattern focussed. The client’s response made our next steps clear; she liked bright, bold colours with a playful edge—but not too much—as she wants her business to appear serious. She also emphasised that she dislikes the abbreviation ‘KMS’, cursive/ threadlike typefaces and cliché sewing iconography (such as thread spools). Furthermore, it felt important to capture the client’s love for 70’s typography and the colour hot pink in my future developments.

 

 

Our supervisor helped us to narrow down and alter the logos above before presenting ideas to our client. For my designs, our supervisor suggested to focus on executing the typography better which I agreed with. She saw potential in C2, however commented that the overlapping type became too much with the organic shapes of the lettering. C4 was a favourite amongst us and the idea of adding ‘stitching’ to link to the business was suggested, however I was unsure whether the client would see it as too cliché considering her previous comment.

The client rejected Ben’s geometric ideas as she felt they looked too corporate and therefore not representative of her values and business. However, she was very keen on my square ideas (C5–7). As I predicted, she disliked the stitching around the edge but liked the large block of pink and the organic feel of the rounded corners and slightly wonky text, which are representative of the handmade nature of her work. We agreed that the next steps would be to experiment further with typefaces and colours, using C5 as the base design.

 

I offered the client a variety of typefaces inspired by 70s typography which she mentioned in our initial meeting, however after deliberation she selected the original typeface, in its original form. Although this resulted in no change, the process was insightful as it allowed comparison and highlighted how effective my original design was.

Of the colour options I offered the client, she was most keen on those including the original hot pink colour that she favoured. We discussed creating an additional black and white version of the logo for monochrome print-outs, however since the majority of Kate’s branding appears digitally, she decided that there was no need, especially as the bright colour is part of what makes the logo so appealing. Kate liked the colours on the top row and asked for white text with a coloured full stop, to emphasise the imperative ‘Kate must sew.’

Both the client and I am really happy with the final logo and variations. I feel that the typeface represents the quirky and handmade nature of small businesses and the colours capture the brightness and energy of her quilts. The chosen colours have helped to identify Kate’s brand colours which are continued across the business cards, website and video. Kate posted a sneak peak of her new logo to her Instagram account where she recieved an overwhelmingly positive response.

 

Business Card

My original business card designs were lacking, which I understood through supervisor feedback and personal reflection. Through discussion with our supervisor, my next steps were clear;

• work on the typography, try Sweet Sans (classy)
• work on alignment of elements across the front and back
• try to avoid mixing imagery and the logo
• find less clunky social icons

The concept of idea 1 however was popular with both our supervisor and the client. During the research stage of the process, I was inspired by one Kate’s Instagram stories where she had embroidered on a card. I thought this would be a great way for Kate to promote her business if this was something she was prepared to do. Being able to offer potential customers a hand-sewn business card would almost definitely ensure that people kept the mini artworks and remembered her, boosting her artist awareness and customer base. Kate loved the idea, however decided that a design which she could sew on, but could also stand alone was the best option.

My solution to this was to ensure that my future designs had enough negative space which she could embroider over, but were still visually effective alone.

For my developed designs I experimented with the recommended typeface Sweet Sans. Although I agree that the clean shapes of the letters works well to create a balanced design, I was not sold on this specific typeface and neither was the client. The client was happy with the size of the logo but did not want her face on the front as it felt unnecessary and cluttered. She also asked me to bring the icons back for social links. She liked the idea of having 10 images to highlight her varied works, however my supervisor usefully pointed out that the size of these would likely be too small when printed.

To resolve this issue, I suggested printing the business cards with a set of different background images allowing potential customers to pick their favourite and browse the other designs while doing so. The client was keen on this idea, and my supervisor recommended the website Moo.com which specialised in this process, which I passed on to Kate.

 

 

As the client had expressed she liked the stacked style of social links, we chose that for the final design. I also hand-drew the icons to represent the handmade nature of Kate’s business and to create visual interest against the clean and simple sans serif typography. The client selected 8 different images which she plans to print using Moo.com for different backgrounds and may sew over some in the future.

Although I struggled along the process of designing my business cards, this was largely due to it being my first time making one. The hardest part for me was working out how to balance the card when there is so little information to go on it. To resolve this I researched other business cards throughout the process for reference.

As a result of this process I now feel a lot more confident in my ability to design business cards as I’m really happy with the final design and my unique ideas and I know the client is too.

 

Video Introduction

To understand the clients wants and needs for the video intro, we booked a meeting to discuss.
My notes include:

• Transferrable, can be used for YouTube videos and Online workshops
• Just needs logo and her name
• Visually quick and punchy, not ‘floaty’ or ‘lazy’

Creating the video introduction was a surprisingly straightforward process, considering we had previously been worried about how difficult and time-consuming AfterEffects can be. Of the 4 initial ideas we presented to the client, she was instantly sold on my second concept. The animation features a pink square sliding in, with the text scrolling across from the left. At the end the full stop shrinks in, creating the punchy effect Kate desired. The whole animation occurs within 6 seconds, ensuring it is quick and straight to the point.

As our client was clear on the concept she wanted, our next steps were to develop the animation. Our supervisor suggested subtly bringing in the theme of sewing and my partner Ben came up with the idea of adding a sewing machine sound behind. The client was very happy with this idea and helped us to select a specific sound.

 

The final video:

Our final video satisfies all of the clients needs for it; it is suitable for a range of uses, straight to the point, punchy and quick. It is also visually coherent with the rest of Kate’s branding, meaning that when customers click on a video they will instantly recognise Kate’s brand and know they are in the right place.

 

Website

Since the client has never had her own website before, and operates her business primarily on Instagram and through Crafty Monkies, she was initially unsure of what to ask us for. My research for the website process included re-visiting the websites we had intially identified as effective and reviewing our user personas, noting down their different needs. As the website is hosted on Squarespace, I also played around with the tools, identifying some of the limitations and advantages of this platform.

Limitations:

• Non-customisable fonts
• Limited nav bar customisation

Advantages:

• Elements such as buttons are customisable (padding etc)
• Can design pages differently for mobile and desktop (Logo can be different)

We then designed wireframes on Figma, so the client had a chance to visualise the pages and layouts we were suggesting. My designs feature image heavy pages to show off the client’s work. I chose to use the landscape logo to maximise page space and went with mainly left-alignment. I also used a restrained colour scheme of the client’s recognisable pink colour and simple black and white to draw customer’s attention to her work.

I also explained to Kate how my design plans to satisfy the needs of the personas I created. For example;

Persona 1: Barry, 53, UK, Works on the hiring team at a trunk show.

Goals

• Find a quilting artist open to presenting at a trunk show
• Learn more about Kate and her work
• Find how to book and contact Kate

Frustrations

• It can be hard to find artists websites from their other socials
• It is not always easy to find how to contact artists
• Instagram DMs often go unnoticed or not seen as serious enquiries

Technology

• Confident on websites and email
• Partially confident on Instagram

How our design work / deliverables could aid Barry

Website pages- 
About me with interesting and engaging information about Kate to help people get to know her and her personality
Gallery page highlighting her favourite and recent quilts
Easily findable contact page linked from homepage to save Barry time
Link to website in Instagram bio and on business cards to ensure potential employers can locate Kate’s website easily. Website offers multiple ways to contact, email and phone (for quicker contact)

 

Persona 2: Lily, 21, Los Angeles, Student.

Goals

• To find an artist who offers online/ remote craft classes
• To get inspiration on her Instagram timeline
• To expand her skill and creativity


Frustrations

• Not many in person craft classes where she lives
• She doesn’t have friends with similar interests

Technology

• Digitally confident
• Primary social media is Instagram and TikTok

How our design work / deliverables could aid Lily

Logo and clean website design, creates a continuous style between platforms as she goes to book a class. Obvious that she is on the right website. Builds confidence and trust for customers, encouraging them to purchase services.
Youtube intro- maintained style, when she browses to look for craft tips and inspiration she will recognise the branding. Seeing videos on her suggested, she’s more likely to click them if she recognises and already trusts the brand.

Business card – N/A she is accessing Kate’s business remotely

 

Overall, the final website satisfies the needs of Kate’s customers through the easy navigation, shortcuts to the contact page, shared house style and simple, straight to the point design. Having user personas made this process a lot easier as I could frequently reference their needs and explain to the client my thoughts behind the design. Although the client was initially unsure about what to feature on her website and what pages she wanted, her feedback suggests that she feels a lot more confident now. However, the client still remains unsure of whether she wants a shop page on the site or not as she is not currently selling quilts. To resolve this we designed the page but hid it so it is not published and she has no pressure to use it until she wants to.

A video run-through of the final website design can be accessed here.

 

Evaluation

When approaching this Real Job, the client’s main aims were to increase her profile as an artist and grow her audience, to help her turn her side hustle hobby into a career. We sucessfully helped her to achieve this through professional and eye-catching branding which is coherent across assets and platforms. We worked alongside Kate and with her help thought strategically about her user’s needs, creating personas and allowing us to create visually appealing and advantageous deliverables. I feel that the final deliverables are very sucessful and will aid the client’s business and I look forward to checking back in a few months to see the effect of our work.

Although initially challenging, learning how to communicate professionally with clients and recieve constructive feedback was the most valuable part of this process for me. I look forward to using these skills in my future professional roles and am grateful for the lessons this project taught me, which can’t be taught without firsthand experience.

The main lesson I am taking away from this project is the importance of time managment and keeping to schedule. We had to push the inital deadline back twice and although the client had no issue with it as she wasn’t working to a deadline, it resulted in the project dragging on and us losing motivation at points. The main issue came from our initial misunderstanding of how long the process of contacting our supervisor and client would take and we soon learnt that it was imperative to allow more time to fit with everyone’s schedules (especially as our client has young children). In future projects I will bear this in mind and try to get a better understanding of the client’s weekly schedule before creating a project schedule.

This project also forced me to take a group leader role which pushed me out of my comfort zone as I usually would avoid this role. Although I found this challenging, as a result I now feel a lot more confident in my ability and hope to develop this skill further in the future.

Restated Brief

Job summary

Nicola Wilson is the author of the book Recommended! A book that
follows the Book Society and the literary influences that highly
influenced the reading during the interwar period. Wilson would like
ephemera such as: a bookmark, postcard and book plate to supply at
book shop visits during the book launch of Recommended!

Aims and objectives

• To create cohesive ephemera that reflects the nature of the book and
  the time period that it focuses on, with some contemporary elements
• To experiment with typography from the 1930s
• Find images through the collections to use/utilise in my work

Deliverables

• Bookmark
• Postcard
• Book plate

Qualities of deliverables

The user will need to be able to see a clear connection between the
content, book and the ephemera. They will also need to be able to read
the text displayed on all of the items.

Research

My research will consist of meeting Emma in collections to look at all
of the ephemera from the Book Society. I have also been supplied with
the manuscript so I can read it, so that I can understand the content
of the book further and what I need to be representing with my
designs.

Research

Development

After digitising them in Illustrator I started working on different colour combinations to see which was most effective. I then test printed to ensure that the colours transferred well in print, so had to make some final adjustments. The final digital versions are shown in figures 4-7.

Figure 4: Outside of bookplate.

Figure 5: Inside of bookplate.

Figure 6: Front of postcard.

Figure 6: Back of postcard.

Figure 7: Front and back of bookmark.

Printed Deliverables

Reflection

I really enjoyed this project, it was something completely different to anything that I had previously done. This real job was heavily illustration based and that through me out of my comfort zone , in the best way. I have grown a lot of confidence in my illustration skills and have learnt a valuable skill which I can utilise in the future.