Background

The MERL is a museum, library and archive dedicated to farming and the English countryside, aiming to maintain their relevance. Its collections span objects, archives photographs, films and books. It is affiliated with the University of Reading. Maria McKinney is a Dublin based visual artist. Her collection, Sire, is based on genomics in modern cattle-breeding, where she collaborated with genetic scientists and a pedigree bull-stud farm.

Brief

The Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) approached us to design the promotional and in-gallery materials for their most recent installation by the artist Maria McKinney – Sire. This exhibition consisted of sculptures constructed from Semen straws, to represent different DNA of different breeds of bulls. The exhibition references several themes, such as science, agriculture, and art, so the design had to tap into each of these, whilst respecting the wishes of two clients: the artist and the curator. The deliverables required were posters of different sizes, an in-gallery brochure, A0 foam interpretation boards, postcards, and involved some cropping and editing of images for digital display.

Research

Initially we spoke face-to-face to the artist, to find out more information about her as an artist, what her collection means to her, and her thoughts on how she wanted to be presented as an artist. We took these answers, and produced a document of inspiration for typefaces, zines, posters and illustration styles. The artists in turn gave us opinions on each image, giving us a better idea of her preferences. We also met with the curator of the exhibition who showed us around the exhibition space. This allowed us to visualise where the exhibition materials would be to get a sense of scale that we could consider in our designs.

At this stage, we had a number of ideas for possibly producing illustrations that could later be adapted into animations for digital deliverables, or for producing patterns that could change as part of a series. Eventually, we agreed to focus on the work itself, instead of illustrations, and to pull colours for the identity from the sculptures.

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The fact that there were two clients with different background overseeing the design, meant that there were two contrasting ideas presented to us. The artist suggested we produce something like Zine – what tends to be more “rough around the edges” – and the curator suggested a glossy brochure, more in-line with the museum and university’s image. To begin with, we chose to research zines, looking at what is commonly done.  Our resources included Pinterest, as well as materials the artist sent us herself.

Design process

A large portion of the project was designing the brochure for the gallery – it contained a lot of copy and required a flexible but strong layout to accommodate different text lengths and image formats.The compromise with the conflicting brochure ideas, was to produce a glossy brochure, but incorporate hand-drawn elements, and editorial design with more visual interest, such as indents and bold colours. We began by sketching out layout options for each page, before moving on to digital tests.

When presented and justified to both clients, they were pleased with the initial ideas and happy for us to take them forward. One of the suggestions, that was carried forward in a more pared back approach, was to use the artist’s handwriting for the titles in the brochure as well as have the interview section written out in her handwriting. The agreement was that this would present legibility issues, so handwriting was reduced to just one title, on the artist’s interview segment.

Alongside the brochure, we also produced the posters in different formats. These were shown to the clients in a face-to-face meeting and discussed to establish their best elements.

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We decided to pull colours from the artist’s sculptures in order to drive the colour-scheme. This ensured the artist felt that the exhibition was representative of her work. The main colours of the materials were yellow and red; this gave us strong colours that would build links between each deliverable and to construct a brand unique to the exhibition being held at the MERL. The typefaces agreed upon were Cardea and Source sans. Once the colours and typefaces were agreed, the arrangement of these elements on the posters could continually be reviewed and perfected, without harming the consistency with other deliverables. Once the brand identity was agreed, we could progress further with the deliverables required for the exhibition, using the key styling throughout. Designs were continually presented to both the project supervisor, and the clients. These took the form of both sketches and more polished documents.

The final deliverables

The final deliverables were as follows:

• Posters in A4, A2, A1
• A5 events diary page
• External banners
• A0 foam boards
• Brochure
• Postcards

The deliverables were submitted to and used by the client at different points of the process. One version of the posters was submitted early in the process, for use in the university events diary, and larger format posters were adapted and submitted for use during the exhibition period. The external banners were sent to an external printer a few weeks before the exhibition opening so that the museum could install them and promote the exhibit to passers-by. The brochure and postcards were also submitted for use during the exhibition period, and were found strategically placed in the entrance to the museum and at the start and end of the exhibit’s space. These varying deadlines and requirements meant needing to consistently keep up with work, be flexible to sudden changes or requests, and be in constant contact with clients and the supervisor.

Reflection

The long time period of 7–8 months meant that availability between us varied throughout the process. It was agreed that at some stages one person would design, and one would supervise. As well as this, we assessed our strengths, and shared deliverables accordingly. For example, while one was responsible for arranging the brochure layout, the other was responsible for the information design involved. Time management and organisation was also heavily affected by the collaborative element of this project. Deadlines across the project were relatively flexible, but still had to be agreed upon by multiple people each time. This meant that clients and supervisors had to be available to approve work, we, the designers, had to be available to work on the documents regularly and on schedule, whilst relying on each other to supply files, and printers and their deadlines would need to be considered in advance, to avoid last-minute prints. For the most part, this worked well however, as there were many people being relied on at any one point, occasionally deadlines had to be rearranged. Fortunately, the clients were very patient and understanding of the process, and were enthusiastic about the work and the project throughout.

Communication was mostly done by email, this being the most effective way for us to share files and messages with multiple people within a conversation, whilst also being a familiar service for us all. Exceptions were Skype calls and face-to-face meetings, where more in-depth discussions of ideas and feedback needed to be had.

This project brought a lot of new experiences and issues to us. For example, there were lots of deliverables that we did not have previous experience of sending to be printed professionally. With increased pressure for perfection, we had to have a keen eye for detail, as well as have a clear understanding of how the client needed the files to be set up for printing. For each deliverable, these requirements were different. For the large-scale banners for example, the external printer wanted a certain measurement of bleed, and needed an extended design shown, where the banner would fold over at the top and bottom to be attached to the pole.

One printing issue that occurred was that the brochure was originally intended to have a foldout map. Because of the number of pages, the printer called us back and told us this could not be done unless we could add or remove a page. We tried several solutions that would enable the foldout to stay but, they did not seem a comfortable fit for the pace of the brochure. In the end, the foldout was removed however, the client was still pleased with the outcome and grateful for our work.

Overall, we feel that this was a valuable experience which we have learnt from as designing materials for a large exhibition was something we had not been a part of before. This has allowed us to develop our skills as designers and become more knowledgeable in the design and production processes associated within this area. We were also fortunate to be invited to the opening of the exhibition. We met the clients as well as other attendees; here we were given a lot of positive comments of our work which felt like a rewarding end to the project.

The Brief
During the end of my first year in Reading, I had invited to be part of the publicity team of the Typography & Graphic Communication department. I have always enjoyed sharing my stories and updates on social media, which I thought it is an excellent opportunity for me to develop my communication skills through this position; therefore I have taken it as my first real job.
The job aims to increase students’ engagement in the department’s events, showcase student’s work to the public, and enhance the public recognition of the department by providing a global platform. Roles included blog writer, event organiser, event photographer and marketing material designer.

The Client
Our team has the same lecturer as both our client and supervisor. As I am not a talkative person, I rarely gave opinions throughout the first few meetings with our client and fellow teammates. However, I started expressing my thoughts more after, and I noticed the importance of having every member of a team to speak up. Even if my idea were not impactful, it would lead the team to discover other possibilities when solving problems.

The Process
We first started by having a job rotation system, but shortly, we have set specific roles in order to smoothen the process. During the whole experience, I did mostly event poster designing and some event photographing. As I am away in the second half of the year, I had decided to help the team a lot in the first term, especially for the Wednesday department events, since it is impossible for me to take part in the events in person. Therefore, I volunteered to design all the posters and social media graphics for the events in the first term solely, with one poster created as a group.
The most memorial task I did was to write a blog to share my study abroad experience and to promote the opportunity for future students. The blog is written in a weekly format and in both English and Chinese, along with photos featuring throughout the blogs.

The Challenges I Faced
As each event has only a short preparation time, there are always sudden changes in the plan. For example, once I was in charge of the poster making for an event and I was told to change the poster design the day before, which this frustrates me. However, after these experiences, it trained me to work better in the real world, where schedules can be changed in a sudden.
For the study abroad blogging task, as my supervisor and I have not set an exact deadline before the end of term and I seldom check my university email during the summer break, therefore, I have missed the deadline my supervisor wanted. At the end, I wrote the blog in English, Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese and published them as soon as I received my deadline. This experience taught me to check my email daily to prevent creating any problem.

The following link is the English blog I did to promote the study abroad program: http://typography.network/2018/08/09/study-aboard-at-monash-university-melbourne/

The Experience I Gained
I have gained confidence in my graphic design skills through this real job. I still remember our team has to create the first event poster and refine the existing template few days before the event, which I volunteered to fully in charge. After showing my design draft to my supervisor, he was happy with the outcome, even though it was just the first draft.
Even though it is not the first time my designs have been used by real clients, as the posters are stuck throughout the department hallway, I felt delighted and happy every time I passed by them.
I found myself good at finding supporting images and creating designs in a consistent style as well. Since we have a fixed template for the event poster, all we need is to find the appropriate supporting images and edit the title and headline. Both elements have to be consistent with the posters that were made previously. However, I seldom have to change the supporting images after my first draft.
Moreover, with the blogging task I did, it helped me to practice my writing and improve my translation skills. I have learned how to impress the readers, who might not know me in person and the program in the first state, but still willing to read my blog. The content choosing and placement have to be well considered, as it would affect readers’ curiosity.

Final Reflection
Lastly, I would like to thank James. He is not only my supervisor and client but also the one who chose me to participate in this real job. As I have learned a lot throughout the process, even though I could not help much in the second half of the job, I pushed my limit to help my team in the first half and the blogs at the end of the year.
If I could do this real job again, I would try to create a new template for the event posters and social media graphics. Even though the existing template is well designed, it has been used for the previous years, which it would be refreshing if a new template is used.
To conclude, it was a fantastic experience to be a student publicity officer in this department. It broadens my future career as it provided me practices of designing marketing materials within a short period, and strengthen my writing and other transferable skills.

References:

• http://www.reading.ac.uk/research/themes/theme-heritage-creativity/rd-typography-and-graphic-communication.aspx
• https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/571/57191/down-and-out-in-paris-and-london/9780141393032.html

The Brief
My second real job was to design posters with numerous illustration for Empiribox Ltd, a nationwide primary school science provider. My team was first started with two members, and one additional member has joined the team after my departure to exchange.
The job aims to let the students discover science excitingly and enjoyably, broaden their horizon in the field of science, informing parents about science-related careers and positive impact of science education.

The Client
The first client meeting went well; we were able to understand a lot from the client side, including their needs and expectations. As our supervisor, Alison Black, was not able to join us for the first client meeting, we have met her separately. Alison is a researcher on user-centred design; she shared many suggestions on how different users will interact with the posters, and how complex should the posters be. We have started writing our restated brief right after the first client meeting, as we wanted to have a fresh mind on what we are supposed to design.
The overall idea is quite straightforward; we have to design 24 posters in total, which has changed to 12 later in the project. However, we have faced challenges in identifying the categories of the posters. As there are three subjects in science, and there are two different poster types with different audiences and functions, we were confused at first. In the end, we have solved the problem by making a table on dividing the posters, in order to make a clear mindset.

The Process
In the pre-production process, we have made a few mood boards and initial sketches on the cartoon illustration and poster styles. In particular, I have researched both the general and science-related illustration and posters, in order to gain creative ideas throughout the process.

Mood Boards:

Layout Sketches Examples:

After our client has chosen the style that we should pursue, we have started on designing the main elements, including the layout, mascots and main scientists. I have designed all three mascots for different categories before my exchange program starts, and I am grateful that my mascot designs were chosen. With the layout, three of us have proposed different ideas to our client, and we all have decided on the most user-friendly one.

Mascots:

Illustration-wise, since my style is different from team members’, we started by separating the illustrations into three categories and each of us in-charged one each, while Fay helped to edit all the illustrations to the same style. However, after my departure from the United Kingdom, it was difficult for us to meet up and unite the illustration style. I have then gradually shifted from working on the illustrations to the fonts, header, footer and layout, in order to smoothen our progress.

Illustration Examples:

Moreover, since I have more experience with the Friday real job meetings than my partners, which they were new to it, I know the process quite well. Therefore, I prepared on the issues to discuss for the first few meetings.
At the end of the real job, we have designed 12 A2 posters with numerous illustration. Although the company ended up not using the posters as they wanted to change the brand direction and the poster concept, our illustrations have been featured on their website. It is a grateful moment when we saw our design used in real life.

The Challenges I Faced
I have learned that it is a hard task to work as a team when a member is away. Even though I enjoy creating cartoons, I still have to consider my team members and the outcome of the project. At first, we are working on all parts together, then we have separated our specific role, in order to smoothen the process.
On the other hand, the communication between me and my team members has been affected during my away. It is mainly affected by different schedules, deadlines and time zones. My members did not reply my messages often; as I know they have tight deadlines in Reading, I frequently approached them that I can help on aspects outside my role, but their replies were always delayed.

The Experience I Gained
I am not confident to use illustrator to illustrate before this real job, as I found illustrating digitally is quite difficult. However, I have gained confidence after forcing myself to apply to this real job. I found it is always good to challenge ourselves, in order to strengthen ourselves.
Also, I have learned to approach our client proactively. Since my departure to the study abroad program and my team members might be busy with the coursework in Reading, we have less contact with our client in the second half of the year. Therefore, as we wanted to provide a more professional look to our client in year 3, we emailed and called her proactively. Unfortunately, our client’s company has been rebranded, and she only needs the illustration, but not the posters.

Final Reflection
Even though there were many difficulties during the process, I have learned a lot from this real job, which could help me to develop my communication skills, such as contact both of my co-workers and client proactively, provide updates to people in-charge progressively, and the way to deal with unexpected situations.
If I could do this real job again, I would set and follow a more detailed schedule for my team, my supervisor and our client. To conclude, it is still an amazing experience to work with my members, supervisor and client, especially seeing some of our illustrations are used in their brand.

Final Design Examples:

Mood Boards References:

• https://www.flickr.com/photos/flopdesign/3600278534
• https://www.radiotimes.com/tv-programme/ymy/horrid-henry/
• https://peanuts.fandom.com/wiki/Charlie_Brown
• https://hero.fandom.com/wiki/Mabel_Pines
• https://imgbin.com/png/X6Ydiugh/sonic-mania-doctor-eggman-metal-sonic-segasonic-the-hedgehog-dr-robotniks-mean-bean-machine-png
• https://homedesignersuite.co/top-3d-home-designer-for-your-perfect-home-design-project/
• http://hasshe.com/cartoon-people-human-5c148cc58719620724a8bd54/
• https://www.pinterest.co.uk/cupcakeshunshin/chibis/
• https://cartoon-image7.blogspot.com/2019/02/attitude-boy-cartoon-images.html
• http://clipart-library.com/boy-cartoons.html
• https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/407857309975059109/?lp=true
• https://www.freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/cartoon-characters
• https://www.freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/businessman-character
• https://www.vecteezy.com/vector-art/77164-cartoon-scientist
• https://www.pinterest.co.uk/nnedv/positively-safe-the-intersection-of-dv-hiv/
• https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/traders-going-down-trends-stock-financial-1247669584
• https://www.shutterstock.com/search/mad+scientist+mascot
• https://oceansciences.wixsite.com/core/single-post/2017/11/21/Share-Your-Science-Outreach-with-Dr-Laura-Good
• https://www.behance.net/gallery/704035/Mad-Scientist-Illustrations
• https://www.istockphoto.com/gb/illustrations/young-inventor?sort=mostpopular&mediatype=illustration&phrase=young%20inventor
• https://www.iconfinder.com/search/?q=scientist
• https://www.vecteezy.com/vector-art/160608-scientist-working-at-laboratory-illustration
• https://www.clipart.email/clipart/girl-scientist-clipart-1418.html
• https://www.amazon.com/Forces-Motion-Poster-Laminated-Full-Color/dp/B071LQQXYG
• https://www.pinterest.com/accessbiomed/
• https://www.pinterest.co.uk/dudley1700/
• https://www.daydreameducation.co.uk/poster-light

The Brief
My third real job was to design the Daily Hazard Assessment for the Met Office, which is the national weather provider in the United Kingdom. As the headquarter is located in Exeter, this job was communicated and delivered via phone calls and emails.
The job aims to improve user experience with current user research and testing. As the final product is for future design referencing and the organisation has limited resources with this project, the goal is to create an easy editing document with Microsoft Word that could be edited by any employees.

The Client
The first client meeting was communicated via phone call, and it went well; we were able to understand a lot from the client side, most importantly, the constraints from the organisation as they wanted an approachable and clean design that can be easily edited by employees who did not study design.
During the process, our client has been changed twice. Our first client had left the organisation, and it was handed over to a temporary client. However, it was handed over again to a new employee of the organisation, as he needs time to adapt his duties, our schedule has been pushed back. Our clients were so nice that they were willing to accept our request to end the project as soon as we could in order to submit this as part of our real job submission, and we finished all the materials by early May.

The Process
In the design process, we have first made initial layout sketches as the layout has considered the main issue to solve. With a clean and organised layout, it helps users to be able to identify their target information intuitively. At the same time, we had studied the user testing undertaken by the organisation. We have noticed the order of the information being seen, and the existing information order is not parallel. Therefore, we reordered them, starting from the maps, then summary and details, and ending with future issues.
We have tried complicated and fancy designs at first. However, we figured out the usability is lower with these concepts and layout. After discussing with our supervisor, we then focused on making the design as clean and clear as possible, with less decorative elements.
Afterwards, we have focused on refining the typographic issues, such as text length, rephrasing terms and copy editing. This is a new challenge for both of us as we were usually only correcting simple typographic issues like punctuation, readability and hierarchy with the provided text. We gave many thoughts on using the correct terminologies and erasing the unnecessarily needed sentences.
During the Friday real job meeting, we have also discussed our problem with our lecturers and getting comments from both our lecturers and fellow classmates. These feedbacks are useful as the document is for emergency use, which the first impression and intuition of the information are important.
My partner and I have consistently refining small details of the document in the later part of the project. As our client was happy with the layout and concept, we tried to refine the document as error-free as possible, in order to make the document to be used as smooth as possible.
In early May, we have called our client for the final phone meeting. Our client has expressed his joy in receiving our design, which he thinks the document we created would definitely help and influence his team for future document design. He also stated the clearness and linkage between sections work well, while the way we ordered the sections are well considered.

Initial Ideas Examples:

Developing Ideas Examples:

The Challenges I Faced
As this real job was promoted as a digital product, my partner and I thought it would be an app or website. However, we later figured out it is a word document that contains images made with powerpoint. Since we usually design fancy products with Adobe Creative Suite, this job is a challenge for us, as the aim of this job is to create a clean and approachable design with Microsoft Word.
Moreover, as we communicated via phone call and email with our client, sometimes we might not receive their reply as quick as we wanted. Therefore, I have learnt that we should approach our client proactively when we want a quicker reply, as they might have other duties to work on and lower the priority of this project.

The Experience I Gained
As we rarely use Microsoft Word as the tool to design, it is an exciting challenge for us. We had overcome it by the help from our supervisor and lecturer, Matthew and James. As images and text can be placed freely in Adobe Creative Suite, Microsoft Word has limits with this. This might due to the software’s target audience is the general public, while Microsoft aims to design the software with an approachable and fixed setup. Since most users used Microsoft Word as a text document, images have to be locked to prevent moving along with the text, while text should be placed in a table in order to create a less problematic file for our client for their future use.

Final Reflection
Even though there were many challenges during the process, I have learned a lot from this real job. For example, as our client is working in a big company, the volatility of its employees and department structure change are high. As a designer, we should expect sudden change and allow more time for them to give us replies and comments. In addition, the employees might have many duties to follow up; the priority of the project might be affected as well.

Final Design:

The Kevin Kararwa Leukaemia Trust (KKLT) is an organisation founded after the tragic death of Kevin Kararwa who died from leukaemia 3 years ago, after he failed to find a stem cell donor. His mother, Veronica Kararwa, founded the organisation with hope that one day what happened to Kevin will not happen to anyone else. Through this project the aim is to create a strong brand which represents KKLT clearly and cohesively.

The brief

The aim of this project was to ensure the organisation has a professional visual presence when they visit events and promote the cause, by refining, updating and generating new branding. Specifically, we redesigned the logo, making sure it resonates with the target demographic and represents the brand as accurately as possible and developing a business card and leaflet.

The current logo, although it translates the main aims of the brand to the audience, does not have a refined and appealing appearance. The organisation felt that the redesign of the logo we developed during the Branding Project module, although dynamic and engaging, did not work effectively enough for its purpose and therefore we took on board their comments and developed something more useful. We also designed business cards and updated the leaflet thus that when the organisation attends various networking events they have means to inform people of the cause and stick in their minds. The requirements for the user are that the design work is friendly and intriguing so that they engage with the content.

Research

We researched successful donation campaigns that are similar to KKLT, to allow us learn more on how other charities approach their audience and discover more about what makes a successful campaign. The campaigns we researched are DKMS, Anthony Nolan and ACLT. We aimed to discover what makes them effective and translate the same to the rebrand of KKLT, while giving it it’s own individual identity.

DKMS

DKMS is a large multinational advocacy group with its own registry. DKMS is one of the most successful stem cell donation charities and therefore it can provide us with valuable insight into how to create a successful brand.

Anthony Nolan

Anthony Nolan is the most widely recognised stem cell donation charity throughout the UK and many people recognize the name due to the high-profile national appeals that have been featured in popular culture in recent years.

ACLT

ACLT is the most successful charity in the UK aimed increasing awareness and encouraging sign ups of people from ethnic minorities to the donor register.

Design process

Being that this project is a continuation from the work we completed during our Branding Project module (TY3BR), we providentially already had a relationship with our client and and an understanding of the organisations needs. The original feedback from our client, from our earlier submission, guided us in our initial approach and understanding of this project. It was clear that the logo we developed needed more thorough iterations to ensure it represented the organisation effectively. We also felt with more refinement we could produce a more effective and professional leaflet.

Upon our first meeting with Veronica she expressed her desire to continue with a bright and positive approach and suggested we experiment with the iconography from the original logo (the images of; Africa, hands), but in a more minimal and clean way. We also spoke with her to familiarise ourselves with other needs of the organisation and decided to also develop a business card which could be given out to people interested in the charity.

Once the deliverables we would be producing were clear to us, we spoke to the client about her printing needs. Whilst at first she expressed an interest in us printing the materials at the University, her existing relationship with her printer and the reduced cost which they provide made her decision to print the materials herself understandable.

The development of the logo took many iterations, most of which can be found adjacently. The subsequent feedback from the client guided us toward the logos which included the hand iconography (8,9). To refine these logos further we worked closely with our supervisor, Rob, who was supportive in giving us feedback and tips to improve the chosen logo as well as the other deliverables. We met and communicated regularly with him to discuss our process.

Logo

The client requested to use the finished logo on banners, business cards, leaflets and social media posts thus we aimed to develop a logo that can be used in all circumstances. When designing the logo we made sure to supply Veronica with the logo in; colour, black and white, and greyscale, in case she needs to use the logo in different background colours in the future.

Business card

The client asked to create a business card with only her details, as she was the director and founder. When the logo was finalised, a lot of iterations were made to ensure to the most appropriate version. We provided the client with a few variations and worked based on her feedback.

Leaflet

The leaflet was already designed from our previous submission. However, alterations had to be made to fit into the new brand identity, and check every is represented appropriately.

Reflections

Throughout the duration of the project we have built on our existing relationship with our client by ensuring regular communication throughout the process and ensured their comments guided our approach.  This has helped us to better understand and respect the organisation’s needs, to ensure the eventual result was a brand identity the client could be proud of. We feel as though we have worked well with the organisation to understand their brand and consequently meet their expectations. One issue that we faced throughout the project was the possibility that our existing work could cause a hindrance in developing the most effective solution. This was due to its tendency to cause us to have a narrow mindset in our approach, as we felt we had already solved many of the problems. Therefore it had the potential to cause us to fail to explore alternative ways to develop the project. Fortunately our experiences in real job meetings and discussions with our supervisor forced us to gain a new perspective and highlighted situations where we needed to rethink our original decisions and approach problems in a different way. Specifically this became clear when designing the leaflet, which whilst we felt was originally strong from in initial submission – in actuality needed many other iterations until it was successful enough to provide the client for ‘real world’ use. This real job highlighted the need for a keen eye for detail and observance in our work as many times we felt work was ready to send to the client, but small discrepancies and issues were spotted by our supervisor which although relatively easy to fix, would’ve decreased the quality of the work if missed.  

Chrystalla Panayiotou & Jessica Hegarty

Brief

The purpose of this Real Job was to create a visual brand for the degree show for the Undergraduate students of the Art Department at the University of Reading. The School of Art hosts a private degree show at the end of each year to display the work of the graduating art students. Our job was to work closely with the art students to produce a visual identity that they were happy with and believe reflected the vision they had.

Aims

• To create a visual brand for the degree show which reflects the chosen theme
• To create promotional material for the degree show for both people within the university and visitors
• To showcase a selection of works by the final year students to attendees through a publication
• To provide a directory of final art pieces for each graduating student to be shown online to the public

Our Team

Our team comprised of three members: Beth, Angie and Ali, and within the team we allocated roles. Beth was project manager, which involved being the main communication with the client, organising the jobs within the design team as well as being in charge of designing the publication. Angie took charge of designing the brand identity and the printed materials, as well as being in charge of sending the deliverables off to print. Ali took charge of coding the website and other online aspects.

Deliverables & Schedule

Our first meeting with the clients was really informative and we were given clear direction to what they wanted from our design team. They set out a clear set of deliverables:

• Printed publication: showcasing a selection of students’ works that attendees of the event will receive upon arrival. The publication size was A5 consisting of 64 pages, printing 500 copies in black and white.
• Website: showcasing every graduating student’s final art piece that can be easily shared around the web on social media, as well as serving as a public showcase of the degree show for those who could not attend in-person.
• Other promotional materials: including printed posters, invitations and digital media advertising.

The degree show dates were as follows: 7 June 2019 (Private View), 10–16 June 2019 (Public View). Setting key deadlines was key throughout the project, as it meant that we were able to produce the designs for them quickly. An initial deadline was set on the 1st March 2019, for the BA and MA Art students to finalise the content they wanted to be included in the website and publication. The team also encouraged the Art students to finalise a clear theme and title for their degree show. However, deciding a name took time and not everyone provided the content for the team, forwarding the deadline to three weeks later. Nevertheless, this minor setback did not affect our schedule majorly, as we had clear understanding as to what was expected of us at the beginning of the Real Job, which proved incredibly useful and aided the design process for specified deliverables. The final deadline for the completion of the publication and website was set on the 28 April 2019, in order for the website to be live and publication to be set to print a month before the day of the degree show.

Visual Identity

The Art Degree Show Committee had come up with a title ‘Error 404‘. We encouraged them to create Pinterest boards and collages for the next meeting so we could understand the visual identity they were expecting from us. During our second meeting, we looked over their inspiration and highlighted images, consistent colours and themes that stood out to us. From there, we began to ideate and design posters to what we believe reflected what they wanted.

Initial poster variations we produced for the clients.

The committee found that the pink and blue poster stood out to them the most and best suited the ‘Error 404’ theme. Using the colour scheme and typeface as a basis, we further developed and built the visual identity and applied it to the publication and the website. 

Challenges

One of the main challenges that we faced in this project was coming up with a title for the degree show. With having strong ideas from a range of different students that where all passionate about their vision, it was became difficult to settle on a single idea as the final title of the show. We also had to make sure this idea was strong enough to create a visual identity to for the show, that would entice people to visit. In addition to this, the degree show included a variety of student work, which created difficulty with getting all of the students to comply with the deadline of sending in work for the website and publication. Also due to the large number of students, when meeting with the committee board, who relayed the ideas of all the students, we found there was conflicting feedback which become difficult to come to coherent conclusions, bested suited for the future of the project, due to the feedback being sub bar.

Reflection

This project has a lot of different aspects to the progress which came with own set of challenges. The main challenge we ran into several times throughout the project was the communication from the whole group of students through the committee to us. We felt like the ideas from the students often just canceled each other out and got over ruled by the ideas for the individual students that were on the committee. This did however bread creativity allowing all aspects of the project to be looked at in different ways that allowed the final solution to be the most applicable one for this project. Another problem that we ran into was the students changing their minds on what they wanted in the publication and on the website. With them being students at the University they were still creating work throughout this process, meaning they kept wanting their most recent work to be the displayed on publication and site. This meant that even though deadlines where set to have work in on certain days, this didn’t play out in the same way as they kept trying to add new work and update their section, after the deadline for the submitted. After finishing the job, all of the deliverables were approved by the clients, the deliverables met all of the original aspects of the design that we were trying to achieve all of the original aspects of the design that we intended. We also created a unique brand for the show that is coherent throughout all of the deliverables that was made for the clients.

Background
The department of of Graphic Communication and Typography required two students to help with the organisation and delivery of the summer exhibition in the department with the theme of ‘celebrating five decades of Real Jobs’. Real Jobs are a client facing scheme which students can choose to take on in completion of their BA degree. The aim of the scheme is to engage new clients and give the students a real experience working in the ‘real world’ to see how a design job is processed and criticised, which successfully prepares them for working with real clients after University. We decided to take on this particular Real Job as we believe our understanding of student behaviours and interests in and out of class will enable us to draw in as many students as possible. We know that students are curious about interactive events occurring on campus, and given the event is celebrating student work it is imperative they are a part of the outcome.

The Brief
The client for this Real Job was James Lloyd, also the organiser of the scheme which meant communication was key in order to ensure the exhibition would be successful. We were also lucky to be supervised by the head of department – Eric Kindel who guided us throughout the long process or producing an exhibition. 

The purpose of the brief was to create and engage both students and clients in an exhibition celebrating five decades of real jobs. Other than the exhibition, deliverables needed to be designed and distributed in the lead up to the event. These deliverables were equally as important as the final exhibition as their goal were to raise awareness of the event and gain new clients interested in the scheme. ‘Clients’ can mean anyone from local businesses, large organisations, charities, etc. Fundamentally though, their common thread will be their future need for design tasks to be completed, and their desire to give such opportunities to students – a desire that we are being tasked in awakening. 

Given that the scheme has been running for a long duration of time, the final display needed to be carefully categorised to present each theme. These themes were established later in the design process and organisation of the exhibition. Overall the final exhibition and deliverables needed to successfully engage both student and client relations with the department as this will allow the scheme to keep running in future years to come. The exhibition opening night should also represent a celebration as the scheme has been successfully running for over five decades.

Research
In order to understand the Real Job scheme in more detail we immediately arranged a meeting with head of department and supervisor – Eric Kindle. This enabled us understand the topic to then take a more emotional approach. 

It is important to note that the initial approach we took to organise the exhibition did not produce the results we had intended and forced us to reconsider our approach. We had the idea to create an opening night in a location other than the department however it soon became clear that this idea was not feasible and fitting to the genre of work we would have been displaying.  We produced initial concepts for poster art that would be used to promote this event. We mostly looked at styles of work that inspired us and attempted to link them to the subject of design.  

 During this time we also applied for funding from the Arts Committee, however shortly following from this the funding was rejected. Disappointed but not disheartened we continued with the planning and took a new approach with organising the exhibition. The exhibition was to be hosted and displayed in the department of Graphic Communication and Typography. We felt this would also be nostalgic for clients or previous students from the department who visited.

The main bulk of research came from finding and looking through archives within the department containing series of Real Jobs which dated back as far as 5 decades ago. We found it extremely enlightening to see the variety and content of work that has taken place in the department over this period of time. We are also incredibly grateful for the help of several lecturers here in the department who assisted us in looking through the large volume of work. This part of the research was incredibly time consuming however worth it when we had a concise pile of artefacts we felt could be suitable for the final exhibition.

Concept
The final concept and themes for the exhibition came to us once we had thoroughly looked through the archives and current student work. After sketching several plans, we agreed that the overarching theme of the exhibition would be “time” or things evolving. This can then be broken down into different focusses, allowing us to explore a broad range of work. These categories are collaboration, client relationships, community impact and changing technology, all of which fit into the main theme, as well as interconnect with one another. 

Design Process
The first deliverable that we produced was the exhibition invitation. We were informed of the Degree Show invitations being sent through the post, and decided to collaborate with the degree show team to insert our invitation into their own to be sent together. We had a tight deadline and so wanted to make a design that had its own identity but that could be flexible according to changes in the style or theme of the exhibition. Initially we agreed on a colour scheme and set of typefaces that would be positive and celebratory, without being crude. The concept we started with was 50 years of real jobs and the title had a subtle 50 behind it, as pictured.    

We were later told that this would be misleading, as the scheme has not been running for exactly 50 years. With the tight deadline looming, we consulted our supervisor and client and decided to use another concept that tapped into the nostalgia; this was the green star used in older real jobs meetings. 

Another aspect of the design process – and arguably the largest – was arranging and preparing exhibition material for display. After grouping the work for display, we wrote out appropriate captions that would summarise the key information of a project, as well as indicate how it relates to the theme. We unified the textual hierarchy and the paper stock for a professional finish. Additionally, we had a new experience of mounting and displaying for an exhibition space. Because we were dealing with a range of work such as books, posters and more 3-dimensional pieces, we had to explore a range of ways to raise, stick and hang certain things. This came with many challenges, as there were some resources we had not previously come into contact with such as the clear tape used to hold down open books. As well as this, a lot of time was spent discussing how to arrange certain items so that the grouping, the pace, and the viewing direction were all clear, and so that items were viewed in their optimal position for the appropriate level of detail.

The Final Deliverables
The below images are completed cases and walls for the first category of the exhibition – changing relationships.   

Communication with the Clients
As our client and supervisor for this job are both important roles within the department it was imperative to keep communication with them at all times. Being constantly in the department during working hours, as well as available through email and phone, both our supervisor and client were easy to reach most of the time, if available. 

Overall
It was agreed that we both found the Real Job extremely challenging but overall rewarding. We took on the job with the thought we would have more independence with organising and hosting a final exhibition opening however it soon became clear the style of work and the clients we were dealing with insisted on a consistent and professional style. Displaying and hosting the final opening within the department of Graphic Communication and Typography enabled us to do this with ease. It was incredibly eye opening to have access to all of the work from the scheme over the past five decades and we like to feel like delivered the final exhibition and deliverables at a high standard with pride in the community and degree we are grateful to be a part of.

As the exhibition opening is set from 13 June 2019, displaying exhibition work is still in progress. This will be completed by this deadline and all print materials will be completed by this time. This also means that we are unable to measure success until after the exhibition is taken down. However we have agreed we are more than happy to assist the department in final display of any work left and also to bring down any material in preparation for the following exhibition later in the summer. 

Finally we would like to state how incredibly grateful we are to have been given the chance to contribute and help organise in the run up to the event. We have from this learnt many new skills including event planning and organising an exhibition which will be useful later in life with our chosen career paths following graduating from the department.

The next steps
This real job is a work in progress and has been partially completed to represent that range of deliverables and captions that will be displayed. The current display has been arranged based on a complete plan of the exhibition space that we have been following, based on the themes mentioned earlier in this report. 

Abi Hammond and Racheal Paris

Background

Kaffee Haus advertise themselves as ‘proprietors of amazing Artisan Coffees expertly roasted in Nottingham’. The company is owned by Daniel Wright and Alexei Lambley-Steel and as was established as a limited company in 2016. They produce coffee bean blends and are sold in different weights with respect to different brewing methods. The blends are comprised of various coffee beans from around the world including Peru, Columbia and Honduras. Our first meeting established their core audience as millennial-aged (21–35) coffee drinkers.

Restated Brief

Initially, Alexei and Daniel gave us a brief to create a ‘rebrand/new logo for our online Artisan coffee business.’ with the potential for this to extend into a new coffee packaging labelling design. The logo would be the new face of the company featuring in not only the website and packaging but with the potential to move into a coffee shop logo. The client requested that the design was both modern and catchy, this is with the desire to appeal to the generation ‘Y’ customers.

Research and ideation

To gain knowledge of the project at hand, Phoebe and I spent some time researching the brand. After this took place we join a call with Alexei and Daniel who explained to us their expectations of the project and their hopes for what we can deliver. Their subtle Germanic theme was an area that needed further research. We also took into consideration the needs of the audience, which in this case is millennials. Most millennials subconsciously sway towards contemporary designs and the highest looking quality for the lowest price. After this, we compiled our research into a mood board (figure 1), which was then sent to the client to obtain feedback as to whether the style was of their expectations and taste. After understanding the brand, their hopes for the rebrand and the current market we had an understanding of the direction this project would take.

Figure 1 – Mood board of research compiled and sent to the client.

Design Development

Logo

The client’s first request was for the company to see a rebrand, we advised that this was a wise choice, as the decisions made in regards to branding will inform all other deliverables. The direction Alexei and Dan wanted to take the rebrand did see some changes throughout the process. Initially, they hoped to have an ‘edgy’ logo that alluded slightly to their Germanic sounding name (as seen in the sketches in Figure 2 and the mood board set out in Figure 1).  

Figure 2 – Initial logo sketches that were drawn and sent to the client.

However, in a move to add a more classy atmosphere to the company, the client asked us to take a new direction with the brief. Their new marketing strategy hoped to have branding that demonstrated a premium brand. After this move, we spent a lot of time sketching and developing the idea (Figure 3).

Figure 3 – Initial logo sketches that were drawn and sent to the client.

We are still in discussion with the client to decide on a final logo. The client informed us of their favoured logo (figure 4), yet our supervisor raised some flexibility issues in regards to their chosen logo. Therefore, we presented a simplified logo (figure 5), which removes many complications but does not quite meet the vision of our clients. Ergo, we hope a compromise will resolve these issues.

Figure 4 (left) – Clients favoured logo.
Figure 5 (right) – Simplified logo.

Packaging Labelling

After progress was made on the logo design, work began on the packaging label. As the favoured logo concept was produced by Charles, his main focus was on the logo design while Phoebe’s main focus was on the packaging design. Having said this, it is important to know that work was not done mutually exclusively and design decision were regularly made together. The ability to allude to the ‘edgy’ style came into play when designing coffee bean labels (figure 6). 

Figure 6 – Initial coffee bean labels.

The client favoured the first design, with a few minor alterations. To be certain the label is effective, every alternation made was printed onto a coffee bean bag, this helped to ensure, spacing, size and colours were correct. Hence the small alternations to the spacing of each of the elements. The most recent editions of the label (figure 7) features the minimalised logo and will change when a finalised logo is established. Besides the logo, the label design has been signed off by the client.

Figure 7 – Favoured coffee bean label.

Reflection

Regular communication with our client allowed us to overcome any challenges we faced and we hope this continues. Due to the busy schedules of both the client and ourselves, our timeline outlined on our restated brief was not closely followed. However, this was not an issue as our client emphasised their requests to have a high-quality logo over a restrictive deadline. One instance that caused a delay in communication with the client was due to Charles being involved in an accident. Although this caused a delay, the client was very understanding. Thankfully, during this time Phoebe was still able to work on the packaging label designs which allowed the progression of the project to continue.

Furthermore, the process has pushed both Phoebe and me to consider the durability and flexibility of each of the designs we create, in order to not only meet the requirements of the client but to allow the design to be versatile and not limited in placement, size and colour.

We are both proud of the work we have produced so far. The opportunity to learn more about the design process has been invaluable. The positive relationship built with the client is a testament to their contentment with the process, communication and outcomes.