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.
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.
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.
This blog post covers a project we carried out for HMP Huntercombe Prison in Oxfordshire. Huntercombe is a Category C adult male foreign national deportation prison. The prison governor wanted to improve communication, particularly with prison inmates, about some of the support services available to them. The project was a collaboration with students from Reading’s Linguistics Department who were tasked with improving the wording of information provided for inmates.
Brief
The brief for this project was to redesign three noticeboards from different sectors of the prison; DARTS (Drug and Alcohol Recovery Team), Chaplaincy and Resettlement Office. The client and the prison department leaders stated that:
The language used should be understandable by those with B1 English level.
The design should take into account the need for the posters to be understood by people from different cultures.
The design must be legible from afar because inmates aren’t allowed to stand and look at the notice boards in the corridors. Therefore the design should be legible enough for inmates to absorb the information within 30 seconds or less.
Deliverables
Three redesigned A1 posters to be placed within the notice boards on the walls of the prison. Each of the A1 posters must either represent information regarding the DARTS (drug and alcohol recovery team), Chaplaincy and Resettlement Office.
Design Development
Given the short time period proposed for this project the design development for this poster required rapid changes to meet the demands of the client, the prison department leaders, inmates and the linguistic students. This was somewhat challenging due to the breadth of the initial requirements of both the students and the prison department.
DART (Drug and Alcohol Recovery Team)
The original noticeboard for DART (Drug and Alcohol Recovery Team) raised awareness about how drugs, specifically spice, and alcohol affect an individual and informed inmates about how the DART department would help them. Discussion with the prisoners suggested this information was not being conveyed clearly currently due to small type size and a limited amount of time in the corridors.
On one of the DART notice boards situated in the residential wings, there was an image of a tree which the prison inmates found very hopeful. They wanted the tree theme incorporated into the redesign of the noticeboard. Relating to the feeling of hope, an inmate would write weekly inspirational quotes on a whiteboard in the DART department, and the DART team felt would be a suitable addition to the redesign of the noticeboard, as it connects with what they want to achieve.
Development 1: Developing on the ‘tree’ theme, tree was used the central focus of the poster. An inspirational quote was placed on the left side of the tree to relate back to the inspirational quotes in the department. Suggested the idea of separating information about drugs and alcohol by incorporating a colour coding system, allowing easy identification of information.
Development 2: The DART team requested to change the word ‘marijuana’ to ‘cannabinoids’, as although scientific language might be difficult to understand for non-English speakers, the use of scientific language was necessary. Additional rephrasing and repositioning of bullet points under the various categories, as well as changing the bottom paragraph below the tree to ‘education, support groups, one to one sessions, and help with release planning’ to keep it short.
Development 3: The Inclusion logo, the charity which funds the department, was incorporated at the top right-hand corner of the poster, and to accommodate this the DART title was shifted to the left hand corner. The colour of the drugs section was changed to the blue used in the Inclusion logo, as I wanted to show the relationship between the department and the charity.
Development 4: The last and final development of the poster showcased the final amendments given by the DART team and was sent back to them for printing confirmation. The team stated that they were grateful for the work we have done and were really pleased with the posters final outcome. The inmates were also proud to have contributed to the design process of the DARTs poster.
Chaplaincy
The chaplaincy board was the sole board that did not have a lot of information compared to the other two noticeboards. It consisted a single sheet of A4 paper outlining the schedule and activities occurring in the prison. This allowed flexibility and areas of improvement to design the noticeboards in the most effective manner.
Development 1: Input from the inmates provided during a focus group suggested that they wanted bright colours and a timetable suggesting when each session of prayer was (as prior to this they only knew this by word of mouth). The head of the chaplaincy also required an area of the poster where he would be able to add notices and etc.
Development 2: With this in mind, I played around with the concept of brightness and the sky as the inmates also suggested that they would also like more colour. This paired with the presentation of several religious symbols would allow the inmates to immediately associate the poster with the chaplaincy.
Development 3: However, after a time away from looking at the poster, along with my group mates I decided to change the structure of the poster to make it look more cohesive and aligned. However, I continued to play with colour. I chose blue not only for its brightness but also for it to look more connected the other posters to create a more cohesive project.
Development 4: Finally, the last and final development showcased the developments with more writing as well as adding the word ‘your’ to make the piece more personal
Resettlement Office
The noticeboard for the resettlement office was about letting the inmates know about the options they have for resettlement within the UK. Officer Macdonald’s noticeboard was a flowchart made of separate small paper pieces and wanted to change this to a single sheet. In terms of the colour choices, such as black background and white text, this needed to be changed as it interfered with the content in terms of legibility. The prison inmates stated that they did not even know this board or this department existed hence the design needed to showcase a clear typographical hierarchy.
Development 1: The notice board features two houses to showcase the choice between resettling in the UK or back into their home country. A quote was placed in the centre to remind the inmates about the resources available for them in the prison. The title was made bigger so that the inmates are able to recognise the board and the department the board belongs to.
Development 2: After speaking with the client and the linguistic students, the overall approach to the noticeboard was revised. The options open to inmates were removed as the responsible officer primarily wanted to use the notice board as a prompt to inmates to come to ask for help and talk about the various ways of resettling and rehabilitation.
Development 3: There was a suggestion to brighten the poster with more colour. The visual elements within the poster were kept minimal and to avoid information confusion and to not create high contrasts, which could confuse the inmates about the information being presented.
Development 4: Once showing the redeveloped poster, the Linguistic students strongly felt that the sun needed to be more expressive. In addition to that they felt that the pictograms placed near the text required different colours to make the poster more lively. This was done and it did uplift the poster. However, it is unsure if it could cause confusion for the inmates. Additional small changes were made to the wording at the request of the officer responsible.
Final design features
The poster for this department consists a shade of the blue colour background we have established to create a sense of cohesiveness along with the use of clouds. This is to create an illustrative approach of the poster rather than a poster filled with just text. Using these minor illustrations makes them playful and engaging in an environment where there is not a lot of use of colour and the atmosphere is dull and dark. Therefore these posters are in attempt to make a subject that seems daunting more friendly and inspire more inmates to seek help or to look at the poster.
Key takeaways
Although working with several different departments was challenging, it gave insight into what working with several clients would be like. As the project began to develop, all graphics students were put into different groups with the linguistic students who would handle the information being stated in the posters themselves. This led to each poster having a different timeline and set of outcomes it needed to achieve due to the different nature of information each poster had to show.
This caused some stress, extending the project to give both departments time to asses and change both the information and design to ensure that the poster that was created was the best possible produced.
The feedback given from the inmates for resettlement poster noted that the background created a light airy atmosphere to the subject. The symbols help clarify the text for the 7 pathways and the signposting helped clear misunderstandings. They liked the words within the clouds but felt the term ‘NGO’ would not be understood but as a whole, it was clear and informative. In terms of the Chaplaincy poster, they noted that there was a nice contrast between yellow and bellow as well as the symbols helped explain the meanings of the text presented. The poster is inclusive with clear signposting and the timetable was easy to read. However, they mentioned some of the alignment of the information created a strange shape but didn’t hinder the design as a whole.
Nonetheless, when returning to the prison to showcase the redesigned posters, the prison inmates were delighted that the posters brought vibrant colours which stood out from the dull walls of the prison, and highlighted the information in a clear and concise manner
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.
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.
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.
The British Eating Disorder Society is a new organisation aiming to improve awareness of eating disorders, and the care and treatment of people with eating disorders and their families. The society is a body representing people working in the field of eating disorders across the United Kingdom with the intension to host conferences and meetings, as well as elevate their form, to create a well-supported of professionals. Their main aims are to promote communication, collaboration and consensus amongst people in the field of eating disorders, especially disciplines, professions, academic and clinical settings and sector. BrEDS will represent the views of people working with these people to the media, the public, businesses, government and relevant bodies. Simon Chapman, the main point of contact, is a Paediatrician at King’s College Hospital and specialising in Eating Disorders, as well as working with obese patients. He is part of the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Clinical Academic Group.
Restated Brief
BrEDS would like a clear brand identity, specifically starting with their logo design, to be applied across their website as well as using the logo on social media. The image and feel needs to appeal to professional and hold authority in the field, whilst still being sensitive and subtle with the subject matter of the cause.
The main points of focus are:
To create a simple, clear yet impacting logo that communicates with their audience and the wider public. This will need to convey their main aims of working with professionals to improve awareness and care of people with eating disorders. The Society intends to be far reaching and influential with government and media.
To re-structure and apply the logo and secondary branding to the website
To present a positive/collaborative view of the disorder: it is about recovery, restoration of health, food as medicine and essential to physical and emotional wellbeing. It is also about communication.
The client has not set strict guidelines or preferences for the style or approach for the deliverables. The items should however explore their initial idea of wheat and be sensitive to the subject matter and their audience. The basis of the deliverables and necessary to carry through to the other items is the logo design.
The key deliverables are:
Design the logo for BrEDS, to be used on website and social media.
Assist with brand guidelines and website recommendations for a coherent and consistent brand identity. This will include providing a brand guideline document as a PDF
Design a one-sided business card
The later request for an A1 poster was added two weeks before the final deadline
Process
Initial contact with the client
Despite being my first real job, I was feeling comfortable with working with an external client having experience as a freelance designer. With a personal investment in the cause I was eager to build a strong and trusting rapport with my client from the very beginning and showed willingness and enthusiasm in my initial correspondence. I was privileged enough to be a part of the BrEDS committee skype meetings, held every two months, from the very beginning of the process, giving me a well-rounded perspective of the whole organisations and the different voices beyond just my main client. The first skype session coincided with the start of my project and I was able to gather the key points that were the basis for my research and design ideas moving forward:
Remember that BrEDS is a professional body
There needs to be a balance between medical and emotional in the overall visual identity of the charity.
It is important that there are no religious connotations, trees or apples
The preference is to take a more simple approach, with inspiration such as NEDA and AED for their logos.
Charities show the positive so remember this within the approach to any visuals
It would be good to have a subtly of the overall intention of BrEDS, which aims to connect with lots of different professionals who deal with treating eating disorders to work as a stronger body of people.
Research
In order to inform my design stage I spent time researching a range of logos, from mental health charities, wellbeing logos and more generally medical branding and logo designs. I look specifically at logos of those mentioned by the client to ensure I was keeping in line with their preferences, as well as trying to form a wider understanding of potential directions that the logo design could go. The research was valuable in showing attention to colour palettes and how these can help create a medical identity without obviously having imagery of something more specific to the cause. Blues and purples appeared to be popular in medical branding.
A collection of logos considered during the research stage, paying attention to the use of typography and colour palettes that make them successful or unsuccessful.
Sketches and initial ideas
From the research done, I created mood boards for presentation, which included ideas for secondary branding and tag lines. As part of the presentation document I became to sketch 10 ideas to show the client as the first stage of the job. Consideration the a predominately illustrative or typographic logo was key and understanding how the graphic style of the illustration or typeface personality needs to be appropriate for both the eating disorder subject and the charity as a professional body of health care experts and doctors. I used Illustrator to both digitalise hand-drawn sketches as well as outline typefaces for greater flexibility and ease of modifying positioning and scale.
Considerations of different typefaces for the logo, with Neue Haas and Proxima Nova creating a more neutral and clean appearance whilst Saffran and Twine show some what of the fractured nature of eating disorder diseases.
In response to feedback I refined three ideas to take forward to show the client and wider committee. Through this I learnt the attention to detail for how best to present the concepts on the page, drawing on information design, to ensure I kept the description of the idea in the same place on each page as well as keeping the description away from the graphics. Including a short description of the concept and design outline for the designs was a good exercise to consider a concise and professional tone to present my designs to the client and committee. This was a helpful aid for the those considering the designs and the client provided thorough feedback and opinions from the committee that brought together the general consensus in favour of one design. The client also provided a new focus to consider in moving forward with ideas: the group’s wish to focus on integration/collaboration – I would echo this: BrEDS seeks to represent some very different professional groups all of whom work with adults and children with eating disorders. Similarly, another member of the committee emphasised that “For what it’s worth re: logos – I agree with others. Need something more rounded, and welcoming than the fractured images. It’s about bring together. And should be aspirational, and warm.”
“Thank you Philippa for all your work on this – some imaginative and beautiful designs.”
At this point in the job it was clear that the design store would not be working as systematically as I had hope. Attention to adding new concepts and designs to present to the client I learnt how to adapt and evaluate where further designs and concepts needed to be explored rather than pushing on with my own expected deadlines and refinement of one idea. Still considering the preferred design by the client and committee I created two variations of that design whilst presenting two new designs. I spent time digesting the comprehensive feedback I had received to focus more on the togetherness of the charity itself and how differing professionals are coming together under one cause. The new designs were presented in a similar way but it was of benefit to join another skype meeting which fell at the same time as sending through the designs. Before the meeting it was interesting to consider with my supervisor the expectation of the design they would prefer. Up until this point the job had taken a natural course, with there being a general development of one idea leading to the next more refined concept. It was therefore surprising to receive, for what seemed to me, a complete change in direction as the committee all unanimously agreed on a new approach to the brief, overlapping letters, with differing colours to show how differing voices and professionals are coming together to make up BrEDS. This new innovative design was, from my perspective and shared by the committee and client, a fitting direction for the charity and when put against other similar charities. Unfortunately, however as it had been viewed as an alternative approach that would not be chosen the design was very much a draft design, with the overlapping letterforms in need of attention to create a clean and precise composition that would be successful at both a small and large scale. The typeface itself had some awkward curves and inconsistent characteristics that meant that the general appearance was not as crisp as it could be. Whilst this would be expected to go through two stages of refinement to get to the final design there was a turn of events that meant that the committee was now in need of the designs within a week of the skype meeting. The short deadline meant that it was agreed that the design presented would be used as an interim in order to have an identity for the conference. This was a real challenge for me as I did not want the charity to define a visual identity that then may change, even if in a small way, but with such a tight deadline this was necessary. It taught me how as a designer it is important to still maintain a level of refinement of visuals through every stage as people are susceptible to getting attached to ideas and designs. Once sent to them it was hard to retract or modify the designs within my own bounds as a designer which has been an important lesson for me to consider for future jobs in my career.
Final stages
Following on from this the final stages of the job was about creating a more refined identity for the charity within a need deadline. Despite presenting a more visually dynamic and balanced design it was clear that the committee favoured as little variation as possible from the interim design. With this in mind I chose a more structured and uniform typeface that was stronger in overlapping the typeforms to create a clean and crisp logo. Understanding the large and small scale of the logo was crucial as the colours used at times meant that letters got lost at a smaller scale, at times it meant that BEDS or even BS stood out more than the full BrEDS, an issue that needed resolving. In solving these conflicts and balancing the typeforms and points of overlap the final design was approved. In using this and the composition of BrEDS alongside its full name I provided the client with the small scale and large scale variations. Following this I create business cards and posters that used a clearly defined colour palette and drew on the visual identity of overlapping colours, particularly seen in the poster designs.
Final design
The final designs of the logo incorporates overlapping letters to create a typographic identity. The blue and green colour palette clearly defined the logo as a medical charity and the differing colours of the letters is indented to reflect the joining of different voices under one charity. The refinement of positioning of the overlap ensures the logo is success at different scale. Creating a variation in composition allowed the client to use a stacked or more horizontal position in accordance to the overall design that it might be featured on. The business cards play to the striking nature of the logo, with a more simple and clean approach to the design. The geometric Proxima Nova typeface is used for the website and slogan to balance the dynamic typographic logo. The poster plays to the logo and uses blocks of colour, in line with the colour palette, to create a strong visual identity of the overlapping colours. Ensuring the type sits and interacts with these blocks in a crisp and uniform way the posters maintain a medical professionalism whilst ensuring that there is a bold and eye-catching poster for the committee to use.
“Very happy with our new identity – already loads of followers on twitter”
In 2017 a new format was created for in-class tasks for Part Two which incorporated the University of Reading’s branding. Applying this same template to other areas of the syllabus was needed to help standardise and update worksheet in different modules. The key module where resources were in need of updating was Introduction to Editorial Design, which includes the focus on the importance of copyediting and proofreading and creating specifications for editorial work. The issue with current material for the tasks surrounding these elements were that they were outdated and were not fully relevant to the current students. The handouts were also in need of further copywriting to help the students understand the task that they would be assessed on and engage with how the task is relevant in the wider design context. The explanations of assessed tasks needed to be more in line with how the Department’s pedagogic approaches have more recently evolved.
Restated Brief
The Department would like a series of tasks for Year 2 students to be updated, taking inspiration and clear guidance from the new Inclusive Design worksheet. Taking copy from the original task sheet, rewriting copy and creating new copy, the new design should be easy to follow whilst creating a relevance of information for the students and a level of engagement.
The main points of focus are:
To create a series of worksheets for the Introduction to Editorial Design Part Two module, including the copyediting task and specification task
For the both the copyediting task and specification task the worksheets will be uploaded to the online Blackboard system as well as some sheets being printed for class use.
Each document should be engaging, well-structured and relevant with a balance between an interactive experience and clarity of instructions. The copy should also ensure the students understand why the task can be applied to everyday practise.
The worksheets should work alongside the University of Reading brand guidelines and in a similar style to Inclusive Design worksheets. The copyediting task should be set up in three documents including an introductory sheet to be uploaded on BB, a task overview and the task itself. The specification document should include an introduction about specifications, top tips and analysis of past specifications, including helpful visuals.
The key deliverables therefore are:
Design and update the copyediting task and specification task of the Part Two module Introduction to Editorial Design, each being A4 two-sided worksheets for electronic and print use.
The copyediting task should follow the document structure of:
2pp of handout that can go on Bb
2pp of instructions
2pp of actual task that they mark up and has names of both pairs plus actual mark
Process
Having taken the same Part Two module only a term before, the material and experience of the module were very familiar to me and it was an exciting opportunity to bring my own feedback to the design brief. For both sides of the brief the main focus was to update, develop and add additional copy to the worksheets to be more appropriate and engaging for the new Part Two students. The first three months of the project focused on the copyediting task.
Research in response to feedback
To ensure I designed a document with both clarity in the visual design and written copy I spent time revising my knowledge and understanding of copyediting. I used documents already in place from the module resources and other modules, as well as spending time with the teaching staff of the module itself and similar modules to gain more information on common mistakes and extra copy for the worksheets. As the worksheets are intended to encourage more student engagement I spoke to peers and other students about their experience of the tasks and areas for improvement.
Copywriting
In considering the concept of gamification for a more interaction experience, I identified that the structure and copy of the worksheets, and choice of text for the task itself could be a way of bringing freshness to the task and a way to draw links with other modules. The first part of this was to therefore gather multiple sources to add more detail and examples of the application of copyediting and proofreading in potential jobs in the future. By comparing sources about copyediting I was able to build coherent and thorough copy for introducing copyediting and proofreading and the process of how to best approach the skill.
Having gathered the information for the overview of copyediting and adding in original copy about the task structure I began to focus on the assessed task and the piece of text used required for students to copyedit and proofread. Looking at the Part Two’s Design Thinking module the text choice could introduce important historical designers or design historians, building a bridge between the modules as well as drawing attention to influential and dynamic graphic design writing. Texts that were explored included First Things First manifesto, an extract from an article with Ellen Lupton and The Crystal Goblet by Beatrice Warde, which was the decided text for the task. In line with the BSI guide, I used the symbols outlined and common mistakes that students might make with their work and applied these to the chosen text. I added mistakes such as using a different typeface for a word, adding unneeded line breaks, the wrong use of em-dashes, incorrect capitalisation and the colour of a word from black to registration. Having added 60 errors, I marked up the document using the correct margin symbol and in-text symbol for the mark scheme.
Initial ideas for the copyediting task sheet, including First Thing First Manifesto 2000.Initial ideas for the copyediting task sheet, including an interview with Ellen Lupton.
Document format and graphic style of illustrations
Ensuring my InDesign file was set up with the character and paragraph styles in line with the Inclusive Design worksheet I also began working on a similar graphic style for the illustrations for the new worksheets. Sketching, scanning and editing in Illustrator, I hand drew small cartoons to bring more playful and student-based quotes as well as adding visuals that break up the body text; integration the text with the illustrations was an important consideration.
The use of headings and subheadings was essential and made successful by the typographic hierarchy already in place. Negotiations with the copy to retain and copy to cut in accordance to space on the page and amount of information to provide to students was a careful consideration and one that was supported by my supervisor. Once the content was placed illustrations were used to bring engagement, secondary levels of instructions or subtle guidance and a break from the amount of written information. The working document, having been determined by a previous visual identity, went through small changes during feedback, usually just movement of information or rewording content to keep it concise.
The inclusive design worksheets, the visual model for this brief.
Specification
After completing the copyediting task, the second task of the brief was to focus on the specification task in the module. Understanding the tone and desired appeal from the copyediting task I was confident in creating illustrations that would assist the document, with my supervisor expressing her like for my first attempts as they were ‘nice and lively’. With the template in place on InDesign and a collection of new illustrations the substantial project of writing, sourcing and editing copy to create a new document for the task began.
Copywriting
With my own understanding of the project I put together a first attempt of the copy that may be of relevance and assistance for students. I spent time researching academic writings and syllabus documents that might help shape this, but the majority of the writing was taken from my experience and others about what we wanted to know and helpful instructions for the assessment. As with the previous task I spent time talking to tutors who were involved in teaching the module. Working with less of a firm structure it meant that I was aware of the feedback and input of a secondary person with reading through my own writing and structure. It was reassuring to receive my supervisor’s encouragement, saying ‘You’ve done a good job and are talking about the right kinds of things’. The development of my own copy was refined and added to by my client, bring a more clear and concise voice to the process. Further content and revised writing were sent from my supervisor via email which I was able to place and typeset in my template. With hindsight it is my hope that I did still play a key part in generating ideas for the writing.
‘Thank you for all your work on this,
you’re doing a great job’
Jeanne-Louise, supervisor and client
Copywriting and use of visuals
The copywriting of the main document took a considerable amount of time in the design process, but a firm priority set by both myself and my client was ensuring the use of visuals and their annotations were a key strength to the document. Having spent time talking to my supervisor and peers it was generally agreed that, whilst past specifications had been provided, understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the examples would be of benefit. For my own project I had spent time comparing and contrasting past examples in order to take each one’s strength and use the structure, content ideas and document layouts to ensure my own specification was to a high standard. With this in mind I collected screenshots from specifications that I felt were most helpful in discussing areas of interest, making key notes on each one that could be included in the document, ready for feedback and points to consider from my supervisor. I was clear on the layout of these pages, large visuals with defined text boxes for short points for consideration and more detailed advice. I was able to put these together ahead of confirmed content and I thrived in using my own conscientious approach to my learning to this part of the job.
Final design
The final designs of both the copyediting task and specification information were both delivered on time despite coming at a busy time in the term and over the summer holidays. Both documents provide a standardised approach to the tasks, in line the University of Reading’s brand guidelines and the Part Two Inclusive Design worksheet and bring additional content to help student engage more with the task. The task resources also show a greater emphasis on the wider context of the taught skills in industry and the expectations of students in the deliverables. Published on Blackboard as well as provided as print outs in briefing and assessment sessions the documents are intended to be easy to navigate and follow on screen and printed. They work as a set in the Part Two syllabus material, creating a consistency of material for students.
The copyediting and proofreading document, uploaded on Blackboard for student use.Page one of the copyediting and proofreading task giving an overview of what copyediting is and the process involved.The mark scheme for the copyediting task, which I designed and marked up.Page one of the specification resource introducing students to what specifications are and why they are important.An example of the visuals and annotations included in the specification resource, uploaded on to Blackboard. Previous specifications from the module are annotated to provoke students to think about what they want to include in their own work and how this can be done successfully.
Reflection
Whilst the two stages of this job were working in line with an established visual identity, working to a template, the end results were two functional, informative and consistent documents that are aimed to improve resources for students. Having been asked to take on the real job because of my interest in the task it was a great opportunity to bring my own experience and initiative to feedback. I approached the brief with my own aim of wanting to help implement change in content and energy of existing and new documents for the module. This was also paired with my previous experience as a designer, before starting the Graphic Communication course, which was particularly relevant to the copyediting task. Creating collateral for a brand and website blog content the importance of copyediting and proofreading is a key skill that the designer should see as part of their own job, not just creating a visual identity. I was able to draw on this knowledge and understanding of the skill to make the content as tailored as possible to those in Part Two.
With experience in how the skills can be used and an interest in assisting the resource development I was efficient with my communication and response to feedback with my supervisor, putting the job as a clear priority in my schedule and to work at all times to the design schedule agreed upon at the beginning of the brief. I enjoyed bringing my input of copywriting for both documents to the brief and whilst at times the copy was changed and developed by my supervisor, I learn a clarity of writing style in the process that has helped my own report writing in later modules. The amount of copywriting for the specification document and the new initiative of the whole document has created a piece of work I am proud to discuss with employers as it fills a gap in the resources that students were clearly asking for.
Comfortable with working with a supervisor and client this second real job helped me implement some of the more refined lessons I learnt from my first real job.
Combining face-to-face meetings and intentional email correspondence I worked on being realistic with working to deadlines to ensure that meetings and emails were constructive, with suitable work to show and discuss. Delivering the brief at a busy time of term for my supervisor I was even more waring of ensuring that I was direct and purposeful with her time and emails with queries that I might have. The pace, communication methods and clear direction in the relationship between me as the designer and my client and supervisor was naturally developed.
‘This has come a long way
so thank you for all your hand work’
Jeanne-Louise, supervisor and client
Unfortunately, at the end of the project, time was running short and I was disappointed that the job had a very quick wrap up, with my supervisor doing the final proofread. I always like to finish a job to the highest standard, ensuring that I as the designer have proof read for myself and had a final sign-off with good time. Whilst this was clearly done for the copyediting task the nature of working in the summer holidays and the time pressure of getting the resource uploaded on Blackboard as soon as possible meant that the project took an abrupt end. Part of this attention to detail at the end of the project I would have also liked a little more time to fully assess and improve the finer details of the typography of the document. Looking again at final designs more refined typographic attention could be given to the design, including using a baseline grid to keep captions and main body text more aligned.
Aside from this whilst both myself and my supervisor/client were happy with the final designs the true success of the pieces can only really be measured by the students themselves. Having received some practical revisions for the copyediting task, such as the change in time allowance of the task, I would like to aim to do a focus group about how the material was received and how small alteration could be made to improve the documents again moving forward. This brief was a unique experience of creating something that can directly improve resources of modules of students who follow after me and whilst the finer attention to the design should have been more attended to the true success of the job was creating an informative and more dynamic resources to assist students with their assessments. It is my hope that these designs have helped at least some students engage a little more with their tasks in hand.
This reflective report aims to explain the process and how the team tackled the brief, presented design ideas through to coming up with a successful design solution to the QVI Chiropody Clinic brief. The report will explain in detail the full process and present the final visual outcomes to the brief.
Allocation:
From meeting with JL we spoke about possible questions to ask the client at our first meeting, and the expectations of the brief. Also in the meeting as a collective we were able ask any questions we had regarding our first meeting with Deborah, and possible alterations that could be made to the existing branding of QVI. This was extremely helpful as it allowed to get a better understanding of what the client is looking for and how we will be able to meet their needs.
We discussed how to go about suggesting ideas such as additional colours to their current colour palette and how to work towards making the poster inclusive for all the audience (both the over 60s and the carers or health workers). It was also useful to be encouraged to take previous website options with us to the initial meeting with the client to work out what they would prefer from their website.
Going forward we have discovered some obstacles which we did not consider before. Different trustees within the charity have conflicting ideas about what designs would be appropriate so we must put forward a range of developed ideas to gain feedback and make sure to include trustees as much in the design process so they are more likely to feel tied to the design process and therefore appreciate our designs more.
Briefing:
Once we met the clients in a meeting, it became clearer to establish what they realistically wanted from this process. We gave them some opinions on deliverables and they made some changes, such as the dimensions of the appointment card and they also decided that it was not necessary to have a ‘hand out’ as well as a leaflet. At times is was difficult for the clients to agree amongst themselves which made the process slower, however we think we were successful in organising meetings with them, which lead them closer to deciding as a collective.
We had to get them to realise what they actually wanted to get out of the design process. They changed the outcomes from the initial brief so that we had get rid of the idea of a postcard sized information handout and merged it into a larger appointment card with the necessary information on the back. This was done through us generating ideas and gaining feedback from the clients as they were not 100% certain on what we could deliver to them.
This process ran smoothly with all parties communicating on what was required and the deadlines the needed to be met throughout the most part. One challenge that we faced as a collective was
after the briefing session, the trustee that briefed us, didn’t fully communicate with the rest of the staff and left gaps in the communication and knowledge of what was needed as the requirements were altered but not fully communicated with all of us. One key aspect that we found to be tricky when designing for QVI was the clashing of ideas between the trustees and the clinic manager. At some points throughout the process this seemed to slow our progress.
Research:
We compared our deliverables to similar surgeries to make sure our aesthetic suited the market and was familiar to potential and current patients. Based on this genre research, we were able to make successful designs and make improvements such as larger font (for older patients) we also took inspiration from other organisations; we established a colour palette for the deliverables and made them coherent as a set.
Promotional Material:
For inspiration we looked at other clinic logos as a comparison to what sort of style the client was after, we researched colour schemes surrounding teal, blue, white, green as clinical but approachable. We also looked at typefaces and did research about the best legibility for the elderly target market. We also looked at other appointment cards, leaflets and posters to see what our designs would be up against in the real world and how weak their original design was in comparison to their competitors.
Website research:
Our first meeting with the clients for website designing was successful, we first went and did research of competitor chiropodists both nationally and locally. Screenshots of various webpages were displayed to the clients where they then explained to us from looking at the various examples what they liked and what they disliked and if we could potentially carry certain areas over into the design of their website. From this we then started sketching up some screens of the webpage when they were present to make sure we were clear of their vision and what they were after.
Design:
Once we had established a ‘house style’ the production process ran a lot smoother as we had decided on a logo, motive, typeface and colour palette. All of which were saved in Adobe library so artwork could be dragged and dropped into InDesign. We made small changes to deliverables based on regular feedback from the clients, who made adjustments, based on their opinions, for example, the QVI ladies liked the circular shapes in the logo and asked if this could be incorporated throughout the printable deliverables, which helped them link to each other.
Promotional Material:
We began by looking at the the poster and working through different ideas. We began working on feet images and trying to develop our own digital versions using Adobe Illustrator and combining a fingerprint image to a foot outline. We decided to go for a more realistic approach and as it would reflect the clinical side of QVI. We came up with the dot aesthetic for the clinic as we wanted to use
geometric shapes to keep the design clean and sharp and the colour scheme made the design approachable and friendly.
Website design:
The design process overall went smoothly throughout the whole project and feedback was received and worked on in a quick efficient way. We first started building the new website through a programme they used previously called Yola however, this website builder was extremely difficult to use and was very old in comparison to alternative web design providers out there such as Square space and Wix. Our next step was researching various new builders and confirmed prices with the clinic. https://www.queenvictoriachiropody.co.uk
Please see attached images below of the new improved promotional material for QVI Chiropody:
Production:
From working on the QVI project, this was a key opportunity to gain self-knowledge of what was needed in order to make the clients happy and be successful. As our first real job that was taken on suited us perfectly as it contributed to what we see ourselves doing as a career in the future which is branding related work. From taking on this real job we found that it ran smoothly throughout and there was strong communication between everyone throughout the most part, as we frequently went to the clinic and able to get feedback from customers of the clinic themselves and were given a survey to help inform our designs further to suit the needs of the users of the branding items required.
As we used InDesign, it was crucial to check the document before exporting to print PDFs and also export with the correct settings. We learnt that discussing the print finishes with the clients was important to finalise their needs. On this particular real job, the client out sourced the printer so it was important for us to give the printer strict instructions so that the deliverables were correctly printed/assembled. I feel like this is a vital lesson to learn, and it has made us aware of things that can possibly go wrong in an authentic work situation, which now we feel prepared for.
We learnt how to ensure that all the files are ready for press and to check multiple times for any errors in the PDFs. We had multiple design solutions which meant we handled different manufacturing methods from print to digital and large 3D format which meant we could gain experience with all of these. We also learnt about the design constraints surrounding each of these and the practicality that is involved in producing them for a client or manufacturer.
To conclude, throughout this process collectively we found it to be a successful project. As a collective we met all the criteria set by the client and found working with a real life design brief allowed us to gain a wider idea of what will entail when working with clients after we have graduated and go out into the world of work. Once we had produced the final design solutions we received positive feedback from the clients and were happy as we exceeded their exceptions of the final product due to the low funding the clinic had to due being a charitable organisation.
Gareth Mills from the English Department at the University of Reading and Tabitha Stanmore from the University of Bristol set out to create an academic journal entitled ‘Question’. The main purpose of this journal was to present work created by PhD candidates, in collaboration with the South, West & Wales Doctoral Training Partnership (SWWDTP). The journal will include scholarly articles from humanities courses, as well as some poetry, photography, and paintings. Gareth came up with this idea after noticing that there are currently not any magazines or journals that showcase this type of work that are accessible for the general public. This is why they plan on making the first copy free and available in universities and in bookshops such as Waterstones. The content of the journal will be from PhD candidates from 8 UK universities, including the University of Reading, University of Bristol, University of Bath, University of Southampton, and University of Cardiff.
Restated brief
The brief was to design the first edition of Question. This included creating a logo and visual identity, which will be implemented in both print and digital forms of the journal (including on a website and social media), as well as designing the physical product and sending this to print in time for their launch on November 6th 2017 (a date decided on towards the end of the project). Our clients plan to bring out two editions of Question per year, therefore we needed to create template files with layouts that could accommodate a wide range of content, including academic articles, poems, and images, for future editions as well as issue one.
During our initial meeting with the client, we established several preferred features of the printed product. These features included:
matte paper is preferred over glossy paper;
a question mark should not be used on the cover but rather perhaps as an occasional detail within the journal;
dark blue and cream colour scheme (for the first issue);
the journal should have a tone that is somewhere between formal and informal – it should be accessible for everyone but still needs to maintain a certain level of formality due to the content;
the format at this point was not finalised, but we had agreed on a page size of slightly smaller than A4.
We also agreed on a series of outcomes for Question. These were:
A logo and visual identity
An abbreviated version of the logo for social media
Design and templates for the magazine cover
Design and templates for the printed magazine
Research and ideation
We began this project by looking for inspiration through existing magazines and journals. As Question was such a new and unique idea, it was challenging to find similar publications. However, we looked to stores such as MagCulture and Magma and found many great examples to inspire us, including Cereal, Delayed Gratification, Fare, Makeshift, Migrant, Woven, and The Outpost. These publications all held strong brand identities, and their covers were engaging and effortlessly clear about what the magazine’s purpose was.
A shelf displaying a selection of magazines, including Woven and Fare (Magma, London).
From here we needed to make some decisions about Question’s visual identity and the physical product; its format, stock, and any printing finishes. From very early on, despite the client saying they originally wanted an A4 page size, we thought it would be much more suitable to the type of publication if it were smaller than A4, even if only slightly. This smaller size would make the journal easier to handle physically and make the pages seem less daunting as they would contain complex essays. The purpose of Question is to make these pieces of work available to the wider public, therefore we needed to consider this in every aspect of designing it. With this there came an opportunity to create a nicely designed product in a market where, typically, little attention is paid to the design. The client was happy to agree to this new format after hearing our thoughts, and we settled on a page size of 200mm × 280mm.
Design development
Branding
The client had informed us in our initial briefing that they would like a mortar board included in the logo. We tried out a couple of designs using this idea, but immediately felt as though it was too predictable (perhaps even corny). We wanted to create something mature, sophisticated, and instantly recognisable. The most successful mastheads from the publications we looked to for inspiration were the ones that followed a ‘less is more approach’, giving quite a simple but bold typographic logo.
The most important thing for us during the branding phase was finding “the right ‘Q”; it was essential that the typeface that we ended up choosing would have a unique ‘Q’ that we could then adapt to use as an abbreviated logo for the journal, for purposes such as social media icons. We sent a selection of typefaces to our client, to which they said they liked the Baskerville and Goudy Old Style fonts best. We decided to go with Baskerville, because of its capital Q, and also its wide availability making it easier for the client to use consistent branding for things such as Question’s online platform.
Question logo initial idea generation, including mortar board conceptsQuestion masthead typographic logo ideas
From here, we knew that the masthead needed a little something more. We thought of combining the Q and a question mark, so took the dot from Baskerville’s question mark and it just happened to fit so perfectly beneath the curve of the Q tail. The Q was now strong and distinct enough to stand alone as well as part of the whole masthead.
Final logo designs, both full text and abbreviated versions
We chose the typefaces Charter and Proxima Nova to accompany Baskerville. Charter was chosen for its large x-height, therefore making the content easier to read and more accessible. Headings and running heads are set in Proxima Nova Condensed, and introductory paragraphs and captions are set in Proxima Nova.
Question’s body typefaces: Charter and Proxima Nova
Front cover
After settling on the logo and journal format, we started to come up with ideas for the front cover template. This was probably the most lengthy process of the whole project. We started off with some wireframe ideas before receiving images from our client, and then worked with different images to find the most flexible solutions, so that the template could work just as well for future editions. There were a few occasions where it was agreed that we had reached a final cover design, only for that to be changed – either by us knowing that it wasn’t the best design we could come up with, or by the client saying that others were not fully satisfied with it. There were a lot of people to impress and we wanted to always be thinking logically about how the journal could work as a series in the long term.
Eventually, our client decided on this cover design and we stuck with a deep blue for this issue’s colour – something we had agreed on from the first meeting. While at the time this was not the design we hoped they would choose out of the ones we created, we believe it suits the tone of the journal well, as it shows both text and images that give a taste of the variety of works that Question includes. It is easily customisable and provides a solid template for future editions.
Cover template ideaCover template ideaDeveloped cover designDeveloped cover designFinal cover design for Question Issue 01, titled ‘Beneath the Surface’
Final stages
During the development stage, we had not yet been given a submission date for the final deliverables, nor had we received all of the final content to be put in the journal. This set us back in terms of making progress as we could only work with the limited content we had initially received from our client, and did not yet have a wide enough variety of work to see how they would fit in the templates we had created. We explored various layouts for typesetting the articles, focusing on an accessible and sophisticated design. We designed pages with wide margins to achieve this, and our client was happy with this design.
We were then suddenly given everything on a Tuesday (17th October) and told that we had to have the finished files sent to the printers by that same Friday (20th October). This is likely due to an earlier miscommunication where we promised an initial draft of the journal by this date. This was a deadline that we knew straight away wouldn’t be physically possible to achieve, given that it concerned formatting a 100 page journal almost entirely from scratch (minus creating the templates and designing the cover), print-testing it, and presenting it to the client for a final check before sending it to print. We knew that we just had to be honest with our client about the impracticality of this deadline, so we spoke to them and agreed to reschedule the deadline to the following Wednesday (25th October). Through communication with the printer, we were able to push this deadline back as far as possible for the delivery of 1000 copies on November 1st.
We worked on the journal for that week by delegating articles to typeset and finishing other elements in the journal – including contents page, title pages, and endnotes – and made the Wednesday deadline to send it to print, which was received with much praise from our clients.
“You are amazing! The overall look is fantastic – it looks really clean, professional and frankly beautiful. Thank you both so much for all of your hard work, I know it’s been frustrating at times and that you’ve been working flat out over the last few days. It has definitely paid off, though – you’ve created something marvellous.”
– Tabitha Stanmore, Question
Reflection
We regularly communicated with our clients as best as we could, through a mixture of face-to-face meetings, emails, and phone calls. However, we often found ourselves waiting around for replies and had to try to use that waiting time as efficiently as possible, although admittedly we didn’t always know how to productively achieve that without essential client feedback. These periods of waiting would have been better put to use sourcing content from elsewhere – as we had an idea of what the client wanted, even if we didn’t have the exact files – so that we could have tested the templates we created and saved ourselves time at the end. This potentially costed us more opportunities for trial and error in the design phase, as we had to design quickly and instinctively in order to meet the deadline. Though in the last week we found ourselves with a pile of work on our hands, we were able to work efficiently whilst maintaining quality and attention to detail.
The allocated budget for the project was not made clear to us at any point, as SWWDTP was ultimately paying for the production. We suggested print finishes like an embossed cover and a spot colour to be printed throughout, but were deemed too expensive. The quote from the printer was higher than expected, and our client was able to negotiate this with SWWDTP. We would have hoped to have these conversations earlier in the project, as some of our decisions were not the most cost effective, such as our decision to have large margins and thereby increasing the page size. In future projects similar issues could be avoided by insisting on establishing a budget earlier in the process.
We received a lot of positive feedback after the journal was printed and sent to various universities around the UK. To see the journal that we helped to create be spread so far and admired by so many people was an incredibly fulfilling experience. We are both immensely proud of what we have created, and feel as though we created a really positive working relationship with our clients during the process, who were full of praise, encouragement, and trust from start to finish.
“The overall setup is leagues ahead of other journals in overlapping areas of interest. It is the best looking academic journal I’ve ever seen. You’ve really done an incredible job and I can’t credit you highly enough for it. Even the endnotes (notoriously ugly) look great.”
