Context

Behind the degree is a programme set up by the University of Reading designed to focus on the experience of graduates who have left university. It also focuses on providing examples from real-life experience and promote the support available to students. Our client aims to launch this initiative within the Department of Typography and Graphic Communication, with the potential to expand to the School of Arts and Communication Design, and the university.

 

Restated brief

To create a student-oriented brand with a unique illustrative style that can be used across a variety of courses, whilst also reflecting the University of Reading and promoting the reasons why prospective students should study at the University of Reading. It should also reflect current design trends whilst also being timeless and not being biased to one subject area or school.

Deliverables

• Logo
• Social media template
• Visual identity guidelines

User needs

The new branding should appear friendly, approachable, and professional to the user. The client’s stakeholders are current and potential new students with the potential to go university-wide in the future.

Notes from initial client meeting

• We don’t have to follow the university brand guidelines now, be creative.
• The university uses the typeface Effra, so it can be considered in our brand guidelines.
• Mock-ups are needed to show our design.
• Brand guidelines must be clear as it will be used by other students.
• Feedback is needed, mostly by our peers.

Research

One of the main challenges we faced in this project was trying to find competitors, as this is not something other universities have done before. Because of this, we looked for visual inspiration of corporate branding that could be adapted for educational settings. This involved looking at different typefaces, use of shape, colour and imagery. The process initially started off as individual work, which was then discussed together as a group before proposing our concepts to the client.  We were also given the university brand guidelines by our client, which helped us later in the development process.

After culminating our collective research, we had a meeting with our client to show where our vision was going. The feedback was positive, and the early design stage was able to begin.

 

 

Logo sketches

Initial sketches

We created our own individual concepts for the logo design because we wanted to start with the logo design, as this would then help us to create a brand identity. We had quite a broad range to choose from. We showed them to our client, who gave us feedback and expressed their preferred logo concepts to take forward.

Book

One of our first approaches looked at the use of books. We associated books with studying and felt that this would link well to the concept of university life. It was also a lot more flexible and adaptable in terms of shapes. Further on in the design process, we were able to incorporate this concept into the finalised logo.

Mortar board

A second concept focused on the use of a mortar board. One set of experiments created the mortar board into a character, and was sometimes combined with the book concept, whereas some sketches used a hand-drawn design to create a friendly, personal feel to the logo.

Certificate

The certificate idea wasn’t one of our strongest ideas, as we found it wasn’t as versatile when it came to adapting it to different scales, so this was discarded early on.

Speech bubbles 

Another concept explored the use of a speech bubble. One set of experiments used different colours and shapes, sometimes combining them with the mortarboard concept to reinforce the idea of communication and learning.

Typography

Following one of our meetings with our client, it was suggested that we experiment with a typographic logo. In the early design stages, we tried a handwritten approach but realised this wouldn’t be adaptable and viable across the set of elements. We tried finding typefaces that would replicate this, such as the Adobe typeface Brush Up. After trying to combine this with our previous ideas, we felt the only typographic approach we could try was to use the university typeface, Effra. This led to some successful early iterations, which we took to our next client meeting.

 

Logo development

To help us go forward with the most suitable logo design, we carried out a survey to gauge how much current students knew about the support available to them at university. A digital form was sent out to the School of Art and Communication Design and the Department of Film, Theatre and Television. We received feedback from across both departments, with 56% of respondents saying that they knew what support was available, with the remaining 44% saying they knew a little. We also asked respondents to tell us which media formats they would interact with more. 35% of the results were made up by social media, closely followed by videos.

Based on this survey, we were able to reconsider and reshape our logo concepts to be used primarily on digital platforms, with the potential to also be applied to physical products and documents. Our focus changed, meaning we were now focusing on a simple yet professional response for our design. Using our initial sketches, we created rough black-and-white digital developments, which were then sent out to the same departments for feedback.

Because we had so many different concepts, we kept the survey simple, which allowed us to narrow down our concepts to two final favourites. After taking the results to our client meeting, we looked at the pros and cons of each design. As a group, we felt that the block logo worked better on different scales and was more adaptable than our typographic approach. Our client also agreed with this, and we were able to move forward into the branding stage of the project.

Colour variations

As a team, we explored a variety of colour palettes to apply to our logo. Our main priority was accessibility and legibility. We tried using a pink, yellow and green colour scheme, as these colours contrasted well and fitted our checks for accessibility in a UX colour checking website. After receiving staff and peer feedback, it was decided that we should experiment with more colour combinations. We worked with a range of fluorescent and pastel colours in RGB and received further feedback.

Having received our feedback, it was decided that our colours should have a meaning. Because the client wanted the branding to focus on academic support, we gathered information from the university brand guidelines and chose to use the three primary colours.

Brand guidelines

Once we had finalised the logo, we produced a document that could be used by the client in future projects, which contains the appropriate typography, colours and content layout for social media posts.

 

Social media

Because our client’s content will mainly be produced for digital formatting, we proposed and created a series of Instagram templates that the client could use for individual and carousel posts. We tried a variety of layouts and formats that also included using imagery to create the final series.

Outcome and reflection

Client feedback

“Thank you all for your efforts on this project, you have realised an idea that was just that at the beginning of last year – an idea to highlight student experiences whilst at university – and now you have brought it to life!”

– Rachel Warner

 

We are extremely satisfied with the outcomes of this project and believe that our designs respond strongly to the client’s intentions. By going through this project in separate stages, it made it much easier to create a cohesive, professional set of brand guidelines and social media templates that can be used across a wide platform. We also feel that we have met the client’s intentions of potentially expanding ‘Behind the degree’ from beyond the Department of Typography & Graphic Communication to use across the wider university community.

 

 Creamy Li, Cristina Pons and Nicole Azanova Isherwood

Background

As a continuation of the long-standing Real Job between the University’s Department of Film, Theatre and Television and Typography & Graphic Communication, we were tasked to bring the twelfth issue of Movie: A Journal of Film Criticism to life. In addition to this, we also had the opportunity to design a new eBook that focuses upon Weimar Cinema, as well as a logo for The Cine-Files and Movie merge. 

Movie: A Journal of Film Criticism is a digital film journal that originates from its printed predecessor Movie, a physical publication that was run by the late Ian A. Cameron between 1962 and 2000. It has since been designed digitally as a rolling issue, meaning that articles are added throughout the year. For Issue 12, the academic articles respond to a variety of themes in movies such as David Cronenberg’s Rabid (1977), to the modern day Drive My Car (2021). The journal primarily touches upon aesthetics, theory, and analysis of film and television from all genres.

The Cine-Files is a scholarly film and cinema journal, much like Movie: A Journal of Film Criticism, that has since been acquired and incorporated into the twelfth issue at hand, following a period of inactiveness on their website: https://www.thecine-files.com/

Restated brief

The primary objective was to design the twelfth issue of Movie, building on the previous issues that follow the same justified three-column structure. After talking with the client, we were told that the placement of images is extremely important, and stills should work alongside the corresponding text so that the viewer can visualise what is being analysed. From our first meeting in June 2024, we spoke about a flexible deadline to complete all given deliverables by February 2025. This date was primarily stuck to, but given the nature of the rolling issue and different authors sending through articles at different times, it was difficult to maintain this throughout the duration of the Real Job.

It is also important to mention that our first restated brief considers the design of two eBooks. This was the case, until we spoke to the client about acquiring the copy that needed to be designed. Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond anyone’s control, the writers were delayed and the text couldn’t be completed on time to fulfil the rest of this Real Job. This meant that we needed to alter individual workload, since the original plan was for Emma to work on Issue 12 of Movie, and Zaynab to work on the two eBooks.

Research

As for initial research, we looked at and read previous issues of Movie. This allowed us to familiarise ourselves with the traditional three-column A4 format of the journal, but also helped us to appreciate how the placement of type and image proves significant in bringing the movie stills to life. It also allowed us to understand the design differentiation between the deliverables, with the eBook instead following a two-column format on a square document.

Editorial design process

Due to the rolling nature of Movie, articles were designed when text had been approved and shared with us by our client. A useful tool that smoothed this process was a shared Google Drive between the Real Job team and the client, allowing the client to upload copy and images as and when they were available. This was organised into folders for each article, with text and images also organised for easy navigation and download. This was particularly helpful since additional authors outside of the university could also access the shared space since it was not limited to Reading staff and students only.

Once the copy was uploaded to the Google Drive, the design process took several days to perfect. This process includes the following steps, which are broadly applied to most of the articles within Issue 12 and the eBook:

• Import the text from Word into InDesign (Command + D).
• Apply appropriate paragraph styles – primarily differentiating between body and indented body stylesheets.
• Begin to place images in conjunction with where they are mentioned within the text. Interesting images usually take up two columns, where smaller images may only span the width of one column.
• Once complete, get peer to oversee the design, giving feedback where necessary.
• If approved by both members on the team, the article is handed over to the client for further feedback and suggestions.
• Depending on the client’s response, the design is handed back over to the team, or is sent for further approval from the writer, who knows more precisely where text and image should line up.

Although this process would sometimes span a longer-than-anticipated timeframe, it was a useful experience to have been a part of – almost mimicking what design sign-offs are like in a professional setting.

Logo design process

The Cine-Files logo was a collaborative effort, with both members of the Real Job team creating logo ideas. A lot of our initial concepts played into stereotypical film and cinema conventions such as clapperboards and film reel. In addition to these visual tropes, we also experimented using Minion Pro within the logo, since this is used for the logo of Movie: A Journal of Film Criticism.

Before showing these to our client, we spoke with our supervisor about our ideas. We had a great discussion that prompted us to steer away from the stereotypical imagery in the attempt to provide a range ideas that go beyond this. Therefore, our logo ideas felt more refined and played on less obvious tropes such as cinema screens and tickets. We even had some ideas play on desktop folders as an obvious nod to the ‘Files’ in The Cine-Files name!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After discussing again with our supervisor, we collated a small selection of our best concepts to send to the client. These were brought together on a PDF with codes, allowing us to directly reference options back-and-fourth via email.

 

 

 

 

After hearing back from the client, they stated a preference for the first two concepts that utilise the curved cinema screen, with the stacked variant of this logo being approved almost immediately. We both agreed that the slab serif variant was the strongest, since it echoes the logo’s original design.

With the stacked variant of the logo confirmed, we needed to experiment with a horizontal version that could also be used. Collaboratively, we worked on different ways of presenting ‘The’ next to the rest of the logo, ensuring its design didn’t steer too far away from the stacked version. Following this experimentation, we had eight versions to show to our client in a similar document as the initial logos were sent.

 

 

From these send-off sheets, both ourselves and the client agreed that the option with the stroke was the most suitable, since the typography felt just as grouped together as it did on the stacked variant.

With the logos finalised, we then discussed with our client in regards to an ‘incorporating’ logo to let readers know that the merge between Movie and The Cine-Files had been actioned.

Experimenting with different ideas, we mocked up the ‘incorporating’ logo independently and on the Movie website – its eventual home once signed off.

 

Following this send-off, it was agreed between us and the client that the fourth option, with ‘incorporating’ in the same outline that is used to start articles in Movie, was the most suitable, and was shortly published on the website after this approval.

Final products

Issue 12 of Movie: A Journal of Film Criticism ended up being 78 pages long and features 16 different articles from a range of writers. The issue colour naturally adapted to pink in order to match the clothing seen on the front-page image; a dress worn by Shirley MacLaine’s character Ginny Moorhead in the Some Came Running (1958), which is heavily referenced in the first article of the issue. The PDF is interactive, allowing readers to navigate the contents with ease, but to also access audiovisual essays, should they be relevant with the article being read.

The Cine-Files logo was supplied in horizontal and vertically stacked formats – allowing versatility depending on its contextual use. The logo purposefully stays loyal to the previous identity of this logo – utilising a dark green slab serif. It has already been used to highlight the merge of The Cine-Files with Movie on their website, as well as within the contents of Issue 12.

 

 

The eBook consists of 63 pages, including a title page featuring multiple stills from the discussed films, a notes page, and a bibliography. A mix of images featuring both scenery and characters from each film are used as to not make the cover look too repetitive or uninteresting. Like Issue 12, this is an interactive PDF, guiding the reader to the website for Movie by clicking the link in the top right hand corner.

To support the future of this reoccurring Real Job, we created an InDesign template for the Movie journal. This template features the commonly used paragraph and character styles – including the colours that are used to categorise each of the different sections (articles, audiovisual essays, student essays etc.) In addition to the stylesheets, the template also provides a traditional starting article page, with the boxed heading in the left-hand column. Although this is not section specific, it allows for easy copy-and-paste editing for future students working on this Real Job.

Reflection

Emma

As someone who has a strong passion for film and editorial design, it has been a pleasure to work on the twelfth issue of Movie. In completing this Real Job, I feel as if I have expanded my InDesign skillset beyond what I have learnt in compulsory modules, especially since the project lasted longer than anticipated.

Zaynab

Working on the eBook and issue 12 for Movie has been an interesting experience due to my interest in both film and editorial design. It has helped me develop my skills in InDesign and made me much more confident with editorial design as a whole. Being involved in this Real Job allowed me to refine my approach to layout and typography, along with managing style sheets efficiently and responding to client feedback effectively.

Context

Formally known as the DMT-DRSG (Dog Meat Trade Dachshund Rescue & Support Group, The Long Road Foundation is a Scottish-based charity who rescue dachshunds from kill shelters in South Korea and China, bringing them to the UK to be adopted. They wish to re-position themselves to appeal to more donors and need a new identity which will resonate with their current supporters and new corporate and high-net value donors.

Restated brief

Aim of the project

The aim of the project is to create a fresh, new brand image to broaden the network of donors whilst maintaining the relationship with current trustees. The clients want a brand manual to communicate their values, showing urgency but not guilt. The range of deliverables will give the charity an approachable and profound feel.

Objectives

• To take the next step to appeal to a wider range of supporters
• Very important to not isolate current supporters and keep the human and dog element to the brand at the forefront
• Communicate their promise to transport the dachshunds ‘from harm to home’
• Create a sense of urgency to communicate opportunity instead of guilt
• Enforce a sense of calm but in a firm way by using colour psychology
• Their creative vision is: Directional. Grounded. Enduring. Human
• Needs to be durable and visuals need to reflect passage and continuity
• A quieter brand which does not need to shout

Deliverables

A design toolkit including:

• Logo (static and maybe dynamic)
• Colour palette
• Typography
• Illustrative elements
• Usage rules
• Examples for different applications (social media, printed mater, merch, event materials)

Roles and responsibilities

Designers: Designing all deliverables, taking on the client’s feedback and refining accordingly, creating a cohesive set of deliverables, work within agreed time frames

Mya: Keeping in contact with project supervisor

Jemima: Keeping In contact with client.

Client: Work within agreed time frames, provide feedback at each phase of the project

Qualities of deliverables

Deliverables in detail:

• Focusing on human-to-human connection and the space between harm and home
• Create a sense of urgency to communicate opportunity instead of guilt
• Enforce a sense of calm but in a firm way by using colour psychology
• Presenting a range of different approaches such as illustrative, typographic and iconographic

Notes from initial client meeting:

• The core idea is that the brand is the journey, expressed as the space between harm and home
• The tagline: “from harm to home” is a direction of travel, not a slogan
• Our Promise to Dachshunds. If you are in harm and we can reach you, we will come. And we will bring you safely home
• Emotional Posture: When harm is present, inaction is still a decision. The path can stop or continue. We choose to carry it forward
• Tone and Character: Directional, grounded, enduring, and human. Calm, credible, and built for distance

Research

Right from the beginning the clients provided a clear vision of what they wanted the brand to be, with a clear backstory presented, vision for the future regarding visuals and tone of voice, and 5 separate sets of image references to work with as a base. These were colourful, playful illustrations and visual styles which had quite a retro feel.

The 5 concepts they presented to us included: human-to-dog connection, the space between harm and home, roads and roads with dachshunds. We created mood boards ourselves and found that our ideas aligned with the clients.

Stakeholders

Regarding the stakeholders of the charity, their donors are currently regular people who donate and adopt, and with this rebrand they want to appeal to higher net-worth stakeholders. This means that they want a brand which would appeal to a more serious audience, which is why they have identified quite simplistic illustration styles and general imagery which we continued to develop in the design phase.

Comparators

When conducting research, we found that most of the animal or dog charities we looked at utilised animal imagery within their logos, normally explicit illustrations (figure 1).

The common themes found in these brands were block colours, bright and energetic colour palettes, simple imagery and illustrations of dogs within the logos. The typography appears to often be sans-serif, taking on a more modern feel to appeal to a wide range of stakeholders. It is clear that despite the normally sad backgrounds of the charities, almost all of them presented a positive demeanour and shifted focus onto happier animal imagery and illustrations.

Moodboards

The mood boards we created worked off the initial ones we were provided, leaning into more playful imagery and illustration styles which are less constructed, and more flowing (figure 2). For the illustration styles, we liked block colours with overlayed thin lined, or textured illustrations which felt more tangible and human. We also began to look at typography, and how type could become the logo itself, such as through the ‘paws’ image.

Challenges

We faced challenges during research when we presented our research/initial ideas. Feedback claimed our ideas were too playful and we should lean to something more corporate in order to reach the high net-worth clients. However, we felt as though this contradicted the initial mood board we received. They wanted to suggest movement and the road, as well as dachshunds, whilst representing the space between harm and home, the human-to-dog connection, and symbolising home. This felt like a lot to consider, which meant that we had a a great deal of ideation to complete before reaching the right result.

Initial Logo sketches

Our initial sketches explored typography and illustration concepts (figure 3). We had logotype reminiscent of road illustrations, portraying long continuous roads which end with the foundation. We also had a logotype using the letters ‘LRF’ which represents the long road to safety and dachshunds in one, and spiral dog also represents the long journey to safety.

Our illustration sketches consisted of emblems representing dachshunds, road logotype for journey, paw prints representing harm-to-home and imagery of dachshunds in different forms.

Logo refinement

Concept 1

For the first set of designs, we explored long, winding illustrations of dachshund dogs, to represent the ‘long road’ (figure 4–5). We also experimented with colour and gradient, looking at a red/warm toned dog to represent harm, and a blue/cool toned arm to represent being safe at home (figure 5). Our first set of concepts did not the use of type, as we wanted to focus on the illustration aspect of the logo at this stage, but we still loosely explored typography (figure 6).

The feedback we received from these concepts were that they were too ‘playful’, but the colour psychology was thoughtful. The client also wanted us to be more conceptual and less literal, with a less cartoonish style. We were advised to illustrate with shaper rather than softer lines. We were also suggested to try a more muted, refined colour palette whilst still retaining the existing colour logic.

Concept 2

Our second set of concepts stripped back the playful, cartoonish style and explored a more geometric, conceptual approach (figure 7). We developed the dog head in hands concept with round shapes, geometric triangular shapes and a more delicate style with accurate features. We also started to incorporate typography, looking at circular typography and type under the illustration. There was also another head in hand concept we developed by muting the bright colours and looking at illustration styles.

From feedback for these concepts, the clients explained that these were now a little too clinical with just a navy and black colour palette. On a positive note, this helped the client clarify where they would like to go in terms of playfulness and simplicity. We were advised to develop the head in hand lined drawing but not to be “overly playful or cutesy”. With the colour palette, the navy blue was too ‘vet-like’ so we should revisit the pink, orange and yellow pastel hues.

Concept 3

For our next set of concepts, we created a few variations of the line drawing, using a single line to communicate the continuous road and connection between the dog and their new home (figure 8). Steering away from the head in hands concept as this was too similar to another charity. So, we looked at the dog walking on a ‘long road’ and a line illustration with a pastel threshold background which takes form as a subtle abstract gradient shape.

 

Feedback from this concept was to include a house drawing to represent the dog coming home. The dog also needs to have dachshund features, as this charity only focuses on this breed of dog.

Concept 4

For our most updated concept designs, we developed a singular line drawing of a dog (figure 9). Looking at different backgrounds and different ways to illustrate the roof of a home, developing the house overhang in the line illustration. The typography and spacing have been made more purposeful, allowing more breathing room. The addition of the dog’s foot was to imply the dog walking, pushing the concept of the ‘long road’. We continued to develop the pastel colour palette of blue and yellow to represent hope and calmness. There are minimal adjustments to be done before the logo is finalised (figure 10).

Continuation 

To finalise this real job, we plan on creating a set of brand guidelines for the client which will include the logo, colour palette, typography, illustrative elements, and usage rules.

We will also create templates for different applications such as social media posts and content.

Reflection

This project has been an interesting challenge due to the feedback we received requiring us to begin ideation again with completely new ideas after each round of concept development. It has been rewarding in that the initial brief served as an interesting challenge, and all the rounds of ideation has led us to a logo, which we believe reflects the values of the brand and all the elements the client wanted.

If we were to do this project again, we would make sure that our communication is effective and ensure that we are meeting our timeline, as we struggled to stay on schedule due to the number of ideation rounds and the time taken to receive feedback and implement it.

This project relied heavily on collaboration and being able to share ideas and develop each others illustrations and concepts, in doing this we were able to work effectively with each new design challenge, assigning work based off our strengths. We are excited to continue this project, developing the brand guidelines and social media further to a well-rounded identity which resonates with the donors, volunteers and anyone who wants to connect with The Long Road Foundation.

Background

Green Health Thames Valley is a therapeutic gardening charity based in Reading that uses horticulture to support people’s mental and physical health. Their work centres around giving people access to outdoor, hands-on activities as a way to improve their wellbeing – this became clear to us once we actually visited their site. This project was slightly different for us to begin with, as a previous student group had initially worked with Green Health as part of a branding project, producing brand guidelines, audience personas, user journey maps, competitive analysis and brand personality matrix. Rather than starting from scratch, our job was to build on this foundation and take the brand further through a new set of deliverables.

We had an initial meeting with our supervisor to get up to speed on the project history before meeting with the client for the first time. Visiting the charity’s site in Reading was extremely beneficial to us to do early on: seeing the physical space allowed us a better understanding of the organisation’s environment. It is an outdoor, working space that shaped how we made design decisions throughout the rest of the project.

Restated brief

Our first meeting with the client gave us a broad starting point: the initial list of deliverables included a refreshed website, postcards and potential merchandise such as mugs, aprons and t-shirts. From there we worked together to agree on a more defined set of printed outputs: postcards, mugs, aprons, t-shirts, business cards and a calendar.

The brief then shifted again once we factored in budget. Working with a charity is not much room for extras that are not as important, so we had an honest conversation with the client after sending over cost estimates about what would actually be worth producing. We eventually decided on t-shirts, business cards and a calendar for the printed deliverables, alongside the refreshed website – this set of deliverables covered in-person visibility, practical contact information and a digital presence that could support both new members and potential funding investors.

Getting the schedule right was another challenge. Balancing this project alongside our other modules meant we had to be realistic about timelines for both ourselves and the client, and pencil in enough flexibility for feedback and revisions on both sides.

Research & ideation

Our research phase was largely shaped by the work that had already been done by the previous group. They had put together a thorough body of work which meant we had a solid understanding of the organisation and its audience. Rather than duplicating that, we used it as a springboard and focused on our own research to fill in the gaps.

We also spent some time reviewing the existing brand with a fresh perspective, and wanted to refine a few things before we could take it further. We made small adjustments to the shaping of the individual letterforms in the main logo in Illustrator to soften the edges and appeal more to the sense of community and warmth, rather than harsh jagged lines. We also tweaked the colour palette by getting rid of the original dark brown shade, and introducing a lime green shade – alongside the original dark green (primary) and red (accent) – to bring some freshness and contrast.

 

Design development

Business cards

The front of the card stayed fairly consistent across different versions – the dark green background with the logo and tagline was the most effective way to showcase the brand. The main changes happened on the back, where it took a couple iterations to balance the information visually. The first version used a black background on the back with a large QR code to the website and the contact details listed plainly – also with a casual “scan me for more info!” prompt. It worked at a basic level but felt too rough: the black background clashed with the green front and the layout wasn’t very considered.

 

In the second iteration we changed the background to white and introduced the logo and tagline alongside the QR code, with contact details listed below. This felt more branded but was too cluttered for such a small format.

For the final version we used a white background again with a lime green vertical rule dividing the QR code from the contact details – this brought in the secondary green colour in a way that felt more deliberate rather than decorative. Icons were added next to each piece of information to make it quicker to scan, and the red heart from the original branding (with softened edges) sits quietly in the corner as a small but effective detail. The front remained the same: the dark green filling the card, the logo larger and the tagline underneath.

Aprons

The apron was one of the earlier merchandise options we explored, and while it didn’t make it into the final deliverables, it was a useful exercise in thinking about how the brand translates onto a garment used in an outdoor, practical setting.

We worked through four options on a black apron to present to the client. The first has just the leaf icon in the pocket area, which was minimal but lost the brand name entirely. The second added the full logotype below, which gave it more presence but felt a bit heavy with both the icon and the wordmark competing for attention. The third swapped the icon for the red heart in the pocket, keeping the logotype below – a warmer feel that leaned more into the brand’s personality. The fourth stripped it back further, replacing the logotype with just the tagline ‘a garden for growth.’ alongside the heart, which felt more considered and less like a uniform.

From there we refined the colourway, switching from black to dark green to bring the apron in line with the brand palette. The final version kept the heart in the pocket and the tagline centred below, which was simple, on-brand, and practical enough for a working garden environment. Although this one didn’t go to print, it was good practice for producing mockups and thinking through how brand elements behave at different scales and on different surfaces.

Mugs

The mug went through a similar process: three initial options presented to the client, followed by a more considered refinement. The first placed the full logotype with a small red heart floating above it – straightforward but a bit flat. The second used just the leaf icon at a larger scale, which worked well as a bold, singular graphic but lost the brand name entirely. The third combined the icon with the tagline and heart below it, which felt warmer and more complete without being too busy.

The refined version took a different approach altogether, thinking about the mug as a two-sided object rather than just one face. The front carries the full logotype, and the back has just the tagline ‘a garden for growth’ broken across lines with the red heart: so depending on which way the mug is facing, you get either the brand name or the tagline. It’s a small detail but it makes the design feel more considered, and it was good to think through how branding can work differently on a product that gets picked up and rotated rather than just looked at from one angle. Like the apron, this one didn’t go to print, but working through an unusual format like a curved surface was a useful exercise.

Postcards

The postcards had a simpler development process because we focused on imagery of the charity’s site for the front designs. We suggested producing four different versions, each using a full-bleed photograph on the front with the white logo sitting in the top right corner. Using photography from the charity’s own website and Facebook page kept things authentic and showed real moments from the garden and the community.

The back uses a simple, consistent template across all four versions. Rather than loading it with information, we kept it minimal and added the line “From your friends here at Green Health Thames Valley”, a small touch that makes the card feel personal. The postcards didn’t make it into the final printed deliverables, but designing them was a useful exercise in thinking about how the brand works with photography rather than just on flat colour.

T-shirts

The first four options explored different combinations of colour, layout, and content across green and white, some featuring ‘Staff’ on the back in some form. The client’s main piece of feedback was that the t-shirts were for everyone, not just the team, so that label got dropped.

The final design is simpler: full logotype on the front, tagline on the back. From there we put together three colourway options using the actual Fluid Branding catalogue – Mint, Lime, and Forest – so the client could see what each would realistically look like in production. They chose both the lime and the forest, which works well as a pairing across the brand palette.

Calendar

We started with a basic flat calendar: a full-bleed photo at the top, month name, and a date grid below, with placeholder text where the monthly tips would go.

The size changed to A4 once the client confirmed they wanted to print themselves due to budget. The typography developed too, moving to the display type used for the original logo (Poleno), and the red heart was added alongside the month name. The placeholder tips were replaced with actual seasonal gardening content, giving the calendar a practical function beyond the dates.

Icons were added in the final version to bring the tip boxes to life and create visual associations with each month’s advice. A cover page was added too: logo on dark green, matching the rest of the brand.

Website

The website refresh is an ongoing element of this project. Due to clashing deadlines, we brought in an additional designer to the team to take the lead on the website build. To ensure continuity for the client, we took on an art direction role – briefing the new designer on the brand, the client’s needs and the design direction established across the other deliverables, so the client wasn’t starting from scratch with someone new.

Final deliverables

Reflection

Rachel

Working with the client was a genuinely enjoyable experience: they were enthusiastic and open to everything we brought to her, which made the project feel collaborative rather than one-sided. If anything, communication could have been more responsive at times, but it’s hard to hold that against someone running a charity largely on their own. Practically, this project improved my skills with making realistic mockups, which became a big part of how we presented ideas to the client. It also gave me a clearer understanding of how budget shapes design decisions in the real world. Reworking the brief multiple times until the deliverables made sense for what the client could actually afford was frustrating at times, but it’s probably the most useful thing I’ll take into professional practice.

Harry

This real job has been an enjoyable and insightful experience that has taught me new skills in teamworking, branding and art-directing. Me and Rachel worked closely as a pair, and would meet frequently with our client which helped create a positive working relationship. In hindsight, the project could have been improved had we been more consistent in sticking to our proposed deadline – which was inevitably extended. I found that managing this Real Job, as well as other concurrent jobs and deadlines was hard and required an extra effort to schedule and manage this project with my other modules and Real Robs. However, working with Rachel, we were able to make a schedule that ensured an effective delivery of deliverables in the latter stages of the project. I believe that I can use these strategies of work scheduling for the future to organise myself for future professional practice. This Real Job gave me a better and clearer idea of working with a client for a branding project – because of this experience, it has inspired me to work on and seek more branding roles and projects after graduating.

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