Our Client

Mrs Myrtle is an independent events company based in London, a small business enterprise which offer their clients a styling service for premium events. Each private occasion is tailored specifically to the requests of their clients, based on their specifications and requirements for high end events. The company was established by Jenny Hodges, who is also a stylist at Fabulous Magazine in London. Her company specialises in meticulously planning the intricate details of memorable experiences. The predominant quality of the company is their ability to source the best materials in order to produce the finest possible outcome for their consumers. This what gives the company a distinct identity and separates their work from other competing companies that provide a similar service.

Bespoke Works

As our portfolios are distinctively illustrative and hand-rendered, they demonstrate a confidence in the creation of imagery and lettering produced by hand. Our skill set indicated a correlation with the company’s ethos of fine, high quality, handmade features/props to be commissioned for private events. The client was looking to employ individuals who could produce typographically lead, illustrated signage. Upon the initial communication with the client, she emphasised how much she valued the commissioning of bespoke artwork, made directly by hand. We immediately felt an enthusiasm for this project as the client made a direct acknowledgement of our abilities and showed an appreciation for the skills required; she recognised this artistry is a rarity.

Deliverables and Specifications

The client requested two A0, tailor-made signs for a Gatsby event, and a Vintage American event. This bespoke service was requested by Jenny’s two clients and encouraged by herself and her team. This type of sign is an immediate affirmation of the premium events that the clients are investing a significant amount of money into the production of. The client and ourselves shared a common understanding that a digitally produced sign would not have the desired effect. The company wanted a hand-lettered display illustrated to reinforce the theme of each party. The clients wanted an integrated composition, they were particular about the standard of calligraphy required to be drawn free-hand for each sign. After our initial first meeting we returned with inspiration boards based upon the content they required. This outlined the typographic distinction of each colour theme and appropriate iconography. We also presented the client with a number calligraphic experiments in order to develop our skills in this field of hand-lettering.

Alice Kearley – Deliverable 1 – Gatsby Sign

Design Features

The client specified that she wanted the typographic elements of this particular sign to be decorative with large capitalised text and the smaller copy in the design to be written in a hand-written calligraphic style typeface. This sign combined both vintage, but specifically 1920’s typography indicative of the art deco style; though the client had an idea of the visual effect she wanted to portray, the final decisions about the design of these typographical features were left up to myself to design an overall outcome that replicated a 1920’s style cinematic typeface. These typographic styles are reminiscent of the art deco and art nouveau posters from the 1920’s and 1930’s. The thought-provoking aspect of this project was to replicate this style of writing but through a hand-written format; the client and I discussed particular features of this design, as the art deco style typefaces come in many different variations with a number of varying letterforms. She wanted the lettering to be similar to a style we found together through our research, this style of typographic treatment leant towards a more art deco style, specifically with decorative letterforms. I achieved this result by carefully choosing the placement of the lettering of the signage; it was incredibly important that the design featured an asymmetric layout, evocative of the art deco film and cinema posters of the 1920’s. The content of the design featured several different challenging elements in terms of the copy. The client specifically requested the information she needed the sign to include, and this was decision was mine to make about which typographic treatment would be allocated to more important information on the sign. Despite carrying out a fair amount of research into different styles of art deco typography, I did eventually create my own style of letterforms that consisted of a combination of these typefaces; this was not my intention, however the result was just as effective. The client explained that the design would be presented at the Woodland’s Park Hotel, Cobham. The location of this event was a sophisticated, high-end event, therefore it was appropriate to present the artwork in a gold decorative frame, supported by an easel. The client also made it very clear that the purpose of this signage was to function as a welcome sign to guests arriving at this event. Presumably as the guests were all familiar with the Gatsby theme, therefore the typographic details of this sign played an important and significant role in the idea of the event itself.

The Client’s Request for Copy:

• ‘Welcome to’
• Sandra’s 40th Gatsby Birthday Celebration
• Illustrations
• 14th April
• Woodland’s Park Cobham
• Additional decorative features

Production

The production of this sign was the most significant learning curve for me, in terms of learning how to produce a sign using specific materials, and practising the techniques of free-hand, bespoke calligraphy on such a large scale. It is fair to say that the production of this sign was challenging in some ways, and certainly required thought, practice and preparation. As the designer, I ensured I had thoroughly planned how I would begin this making process, so that I was able to produce a final result to the best of my ability; to a high standard suitable for the client’s high quality demands. The most challenging area of this production was to calculate the measurements for the each part of the text placement. Having discussed this layout with the client, I was aware that she wanted certain elements in the sign to be more significant than others. For example ‘Sandra’s 40^th Birthday, Great Gatsby’ would be the most prominent text in the sign. I began by planning out a very rough sketch of this layout in an A4 format, and then from this calculated how much I needed to increase the text by in order for it to fit onto the A0 sized sign. This did work successfully, and I realised that this was an important stage in creating a balanced layout where the scale of each letter was increased accordingly. This step meant that less errors would occur later in the process when transferring the calligraphy by hand onto the sign. This planning process gave me a clear idea of the scale of each letter, so therefore I could plan the placement of each word onto the sign. The writing process was certainly the part that took the most time. Though I had decided which styles of typography the client wanted, I had to write this perfectly onto the board – this ended up being a very trial and error process but luckily as I had practised these skills before producing the final outcome, I managed to create this hand-lettering correctly the first time. Lastly, I decorated and finalised the design by using my illustrative skills to produce my own drawings of 1920’s cocktail glasses. This supplemented the design of the signage and finished the overall result very nicely. Overall, I feel that the experience was incredibly positive and I learnt a great deal not only about my skills in calligraphy and illustration, but perhaps more importantly the benefits of preparation and planning. Gaining as much knowledge as possible about our client was definitely one of our strengths, we ensured that we formed a good relationship with the client, and kept a continuous level communication with them.

 

Eloise Williamson – Deliverable 2 – American Sign

The American sign was to be situated at the front of the SO Bar in Richmond, London, where the event was to be held, as an immediate indication of the themed party to potential audience members. The sign wasn’t defined as wayfinding, but to brand the event within its theme, using the provided content styled appropriately to imply its message. Upon the first meeting with the client, they specified to what extent the sign was to be hand-made, as the quality of its creation and the consideration would also define the premium expense of the event. As the events theme included extensive use of colour in addition to its bespoke qualities, the client specified the design was to be hand-painted in addition to the use of calligraphic markers. This requirement was an exciting change, yet daunting and challenged my illustrative abilities. The client composed the layout design to be based upon my inspiration boards as proposed in the second meeting, the sign would imitate the impression of a vintage metal American signage, which was framed with a circular and striped structure to hold the lettered content. There would be three typographic distinctions which would organise the information, ‘Happy 13^th’ ‘Birthday’ and ‘Ellie’, each typographic choice was outlined by the client and varying in the dimension of each letterform, a characteristic of American signage and design. The colour themes were decided upon, based on vintage pastel colours and off white with the Starfire 98 car, fully illustrated on the sign as a reoccurring iconographic feature throughout the event. As the event catered for a younger audience, the client required the design to be almost naively considered and illustrated to conform to the likes of its audience. Typography which indicates American thematic qualities derive from letter-pressed type which have worn surfaces and geometric LED type which are metal sky signs advertising Motel or Diners, this was research I considered throughout the process. The dimension of the typography is often indicted by a darker backdrop colour to reinforce the most important content and in this case, it was the name ‘Ellie.’ The compositional space was also a consideration to allow for the information to be legible and read without being overwhelmed by unnecessary content. The materials were sourced by myself as singular emulsion colour paints, the A0 board and the varnish enamel finish. These materials were considered to ensure the sustainability and professionalism of the signage. There were additional attributes that had to be organised and left to our responsibility to complete the outcome the client wanted to achieve. The vintage easel was located and hired from a props company, which I had to fix together per to the sizing of the Gatsby artwork to sit upon, in addition to applying a finish to the wood surface to look additionally worn as the client wanted it to fit in with the vintage style of the event (this adjustment was first allowed by the props company). I located the ornamented frame for the Gatsby sign which I sprayed gold with a varnish finish/enamel for the Gatsby sign to sit within. Additionally, a smaller clapper board was required to be made and illustrated for the American Signage

 

OVERVIEW:
While the style of this signage wasn’t my personal preference, this artwork was produced to meet exactly what the client had required using the specific content specified. The chosen typographic styling, colours, finish and naivety was catered to its younger audience and to meet the specific personas of this project.

The Clients specifications:

– A fully illustrated sign using the given content

– Well composed execution of information, without overloaded information.

– Appropriately styled to the required theme

– Well executed bespoke hand-lettering and illustrated design

– ‘Happy 13th Birthday Ellie’ and Fully illustrated Starfire 98 Car

– Hand-painted as required (due to this quality the events company’s clients were paying for)

– The varnish enamel finish

 

Client Feedback
The client contacted me via a previous client, admiring my menu designs and signage for another company, I have also produced work for her as the sign designer of her company over the summer of 2017. Due to the short turn around, a concentrated amount of work was undertaken to complete the signage to client’s requests and specifications for each event deadline. Although this isn’t best for us as busy students, it is of the interest of the client for us to work to their requests. The events company was extremely pleased with the outcome of the signage, impressed with the hand-painted outcome and typographic stylisation. Their clients were also sent the sign and got in contact with a great response to my final work. I have been allocated 2 upcoming design jobs with the same events company following shortly and the possibility of a regular position designing with them. Overall, a very positive response to my artwork.

Final Deliverables

Vintage Gatsby Blackboard Sign

Vintage American Sign

Alice Kearley & Eloise Williamson

 

 

 

Introduction

With this real job, it was made clear right from the start that it would be an intense project, as our client – Katja – needed it to be invoiced and sent to print within a month of the original brief. Being our first true real job, this really put the pressure on and informed many of our design decisions throughout – making us work with efficiency and speed, as well as quality.

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Brief

To summarise our brief, our client had requested us to design a folder which contains around 35 sheets of information, varying in size of paper sized A4, A5 and A6 for lecturers to use in aiding lecture planning activities at The University of Reading. Different sizes of paper were to be used to denote different complexities of activity ideas.

The brief also asked for a ‘premium’ and durable feel to said folder which would remain clean and solid after much usage. It was at this point we questioned the budget, to which we were told any expense would be covered. Whilst this opened many opportunities to the way in which we could craft the folder – it was also quite a daunting prospect to potentially be designing something worth a lot of money and that would be costly to produce.

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Response to brief

Throughout the briefing session, our client kept referring to the folder as a ‘paper wallet’.  We found later after discussing the project with our supervisors and DPS that a paper wallet would no be suitable. This is because the material would be short lived and unable to hold 35 sheets of paper.

To remedy this and create a more durable folder, we proposed the usage of a 4 ring binder to hold the sheets in to our supervisors. Whilst our supervisors agreed with this change, it was still our job to return to our client and convince her as the designers in the room that this was the better option. Our client was very understanding of this, and it felt good to have a client respect our design expertise and decisions.

In this meeting, we also proposed to our client that we used the University templates as a basis for design. This template enabled our designs to be ‘on brand’, creating a consistent design which would be in keeping with other pieces produced by the University.

Our client seemed slightly reluctant to this to begin with, but we explained that it would be a good compromise to make sure that we could hit the tight turnaround deadlines and make sure the overall design was still of the highest quality. From this experience we learnt how to express our thought process and ideas by having a professional and formal discussion. This has helped us understand how to approach this problem in the future.

Our final part of responding to the brief was to get an estimate together for the agreed materials to be produced. We found that this was a much harder process than expected due to the complexity of the different sizes of paper and varying suppliers of the ring binder – but working with Geoff and DPS eventually arrived at a figure. This figure came out to around £3000 for the requested 300 copies of the folder, and although we were told “budget didn’t matter” at the beginning of the real job, we still needed to run it past our client. This figure came as quite a shock to our client and so it was our job to meet with her to explain the current costs as well as how to potentially reduce costs. The solution we arrived at was to print a third of the amount of folders, as well as to use a lighter stock of paper and source the folders from elsewhere – leading to a reduction to a much more comfortable £1500. 

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Design

After receiving the templates and waiting on the copy for the document, we worked alongside our supervisors to amend the templates whilst using the University’s brand guidelines, but still created a ‘new’ document so to speak. This process taught us both a lot about working within brand guidelines, and paired with the large expense of the project made the project feel very live and ‘real’.

These initial template designs were received well by our client and supervisors, this is because they were partially derived from a template so there weren’t many major problems. The most noticeable changes (shown below) were present in the cover, where a more ‘exciting and colourful’ cover had been requested and within the folder where small changes to the typography and typesetting were required.

Once these changes were finalised, we both worked together by splitting up the necessary tasks to efficiently work as a team, typesetting the supplied copy into our templates. This process was completed in a matter of days and we contacted our client throughout to update them, as well as query about any errors or parts of the document we were unsure about. This style of work massively aided the speed of the design process and we were both impressed that we could typeset such a large amount of content in such a small time.

Before thinking about sending the document to production, we had to check in with our supervisors – who raised a few small amends with the document – the corrected document was sent to the client for sign off. This process went very smoothly as our client had seemed happy with our work throughout and this did not change in the finalisation process. It was then our job to go through the document to make sure it was set up correctly for print, as well as the files being properly set up and ‘clean’. During this process, we liaised with DPS and decided it was best for us to create a mock-up of the document so that we were both in agreement of what was being produced. This practice proved helpful on both sides as DPS could understand exactly what was to be printed, and we were able to check that the document would print properly.

 After delivery of the final product, our client got in touch requesting an interactive version of the document to be used online. We did not have much time to do this and so most the interactive document was lifted from the print document, with links and a clickable contents page added to an interactive PDF. Given more time, it would have been interesting to work on a truly interactive version of the document, but we learnt that it was better to work efficiently on this project as opposed to trying everything possible during the design phases. 

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Reflections

As a first experience of a live – and expensive – design job, this Real Job taught us a lot as a trial by fire. The main learning point being a quick turnaround of a project, where all parties involved are highly responsive and involved. Balancing speed with quality of design was difficult, as it meant having to swallow your pride on some aspects and not being as experimental as usual.

Having professional compromised discussion due to conflicting views with our client was something we had to self-teach. This was a great learning experience as it has prepared us for such conversations in the future.

We also found the estimation and production phase to be a steep learning curve, as we had to come to terms with a complex production, as well as managing cost and our client’s expectations during the production process.

Brief

The Centre for Ephemera Studies at the Department of Typography and Graphic Communication planned an exhibition titled “A to Z of Ephemera” for their 25^th anniversary. In addition to print deliverables such as posters, exhibition captions and decorative alphabet labels, the clients also wanted a simple visual system and a website to bring the ephemera to a broader audience and to create an online presence.

Deliverables

Our deliverables included high quality scans of the items, a website design, a consistency between print and online channels and assistance with setting up and design of the physical exhibition.

Initial steps

The very first stage of the project was to scan each item from the collections into an external hard drive. In order to preserve the intricate details of the objects, we had the scanning resolution set to very high (2400dpi). As a result, each scan took a minimum of five minutes up to 45 minutes to scan, process and save. Having both the A3 and A4 scanners running simultaneously really helped me completing the task much quicker. Most items were scanned in within the first three days after the project began.

Website process

We started by researching specific platforms we could use (Cargocollective versus WordPress) and the costs that would be involved with either one. Initially we explored basic dark and light themes that had features such as “You might like” and a “highlights” section. This was partially due to the assumption that we would customise an existing template, so I was working within typical website layouts and functionalities. Caroline was introduced to Mark Barratt, who would help with the website.

We were initially using Europa as a typeface for the entire website, but later realized that the two weights it had (Light and Regular) were insufficient to support the entire website as a whole. I switched to Open Sans as it is a clean, sans-serif GoogleFont that is easy to import into the website template, which also has enough variations to differentiate the information in the exhibition.

It became apparent fairly quickly after that, that a cookie-cutter template would not work for the website the client had in mind, so we started again, trying to come up with something more interactive and fun to use. We tested and mocked up the hover-states and visual appearance of the “Instagram-like” page that featured the items in an alphabetical grid. We also considered the use of decorative letters, colours (one, and many) in the website.

 

 

Using GoogleAnalytics with Mark, we decided on the full-width dimensions of the website based on the most common desktop browser sizes and also had insight into most-commonly used browser platforms.

During this time Kash also completed the bulk of the image processing and scanning – a total of nearly 200GB of data. We had also begun to think of the necessary cropping, exporting and resizing of images for the website and testing out different crops. The main challenges of this task was to make the objects on screen look as close as the ones in real life in order to give the audience an accurate impression of how the items look like in the physical exhibition. We had to take various factors into account such as the lighting of the environment and how the content would be displayed while adjusting the colour and the brightness and contrast settings as well as how these changes would look on different computer monitors.

Exhibition design

Finally, both Kash and I helped with setting up the physical exhibition. We helped Michael Twyman copy edit the captions, which were still not finalized. Several last minute deliverables were added including a video for the 40-inch TV screen, an A3 welcome poster and an opening poster to be mounted onto the side of the display case (113x59cm). Our final work for these last minute deliverables were based off Kash’s ideas and initial executions, as we worked together and shared ideas.

We decided to print them on self-adhesive vinyl, which looks more aesthetically pleasing than pinning paper on the boards. We printed a grey background colour matching the boards so they would blend in with the wall. Getting the accurate colour was not as easy as it seemed. Several colour test strips were printed in order to get the closest matching colour possible.

As the initial opening date approached, the website’s functionalities were stripped down to the minimum, providing a simpler user experience. The website required final fine-tuning such as including the dimensions of the objects, changing some of the navigational features, and including the decorative letters that we had installed in the physical exhibition.

The design of the website and the physical exhibition and posters informed each other. The website determined the typefaces we used for the captions in the exhibition, the inclusion of the decorative letters in the physical display case as an opener was eventually integrated into the online experience as well.

Key takeaways

The exhibition overall was well received and the website brought a new perspective to the ephemera due to the high quality scans and the interesting crops. Additionally, the png format of images allowed us to play with the rough and imperfect edges of the items thereby bringing out the age and physical quality of the ephemera on the screen. The zoom functionality of the website also brings a new dimension to the experience that is not accessible in the physical exhibition.

Despite that, there were still several things we would like to change and correct. If we had more time, we would have come up with a new brand identity for the exhibition. The current monochrome approach does work well and consistently with the website, but it is not very effective in terms of drawing attention.

Working in a team with a partner who has significantly different focuses of the project forced us to clarify messages and think about what was really necessary for clear communication.

“I signed up to web design because I wanted to be challenged and to expand my portfolio. This Real Job was intimidating at times as I was thrown out of my comfort zone. But I am now more confident in my web design skills and communicating with a web developer. I also realize that much of my role involved communicating between the various stakeholders, while forming my own design opinions and decisions and including them into the messages at the same time. Above all, I realized that working with people who are passionate about the subject matter makes the work much easier and quicker as a whole.” – Caroline

“During the process, there were times when I felt overwhelmed by the conflicting feedback and sudden demand from the client and defeated and embarrassed by the blunders I had made. However, I believe these experiences will help me prepare for the real-life work environment where these situations would often appear. Working on a large-scale project like this one was great fun and I really enjoyed almost every second of it. It was fulfilling and rewarding and helped improve my technical and social skills in many ways. I now feel more confident of presenting ideas in front of clients and expressing my disagreement on some of the things they say. I must acknowledge the time and effort the whole team had put into this this task which led to the success of the exhibition, I would certainly not be able to achieve it all by myself.” – Kash

Context

Incognito has cultivated a revolution in Reading’s quiet underground music scene. Springing up from a radio studio, Incognito Radio is the central hub for artists and music lovers to come together through the club events and radio podcasts they provide.  

“Incognito Radio is a collective that works to promote music and culture through whatever means possible. We work in radio, events, publishing and are always pushing for new opportunities to give music and art a platform. From our series of flagship parties with some of the UK’s most exciting DJs and performers to our pop-up events that empower young people to play and listen to a culturally diverse range of genres; we are determined to showcase fresh music in a variety of settings, confidently balancing accessibility and artistic integrity.” – https://www.facebook.com/pg/incognitoradioUK/about/?ref=page_internal

Incognito Radio were looking to strengthen their professional image and branding to help tie together all of their social media and event campaigns under a more coherent image and website. Being an urban, electronic music brand, Incognito already had a substantial vision and image that they had developed for themselves and it was our job to strengthen and develop this to help them grow in the future whilst still keeping an essence of authenticity.

Our design team consisted of Hector Penrose, Callum Bendelow and Jordan-River Low. We all provided different skills and areas of expertise throughout the project. As a group, all 3 of us were familiar with Incognito’s events and music scene before accepting the real job and we had organised the project ourselves. We were also familiar with the co-founders of Incognito before the project so this instantly put us in a more casual situation which we will discuss in more detail later.

Goals

• Develop the existing amateur, expressive identity but with a stronger structure across all mediums to tie social media sites, website and promotional material together under consistent branding
• The ‘big picture’ of the brand should be considered to make it more recognisable and consistent for the long run. This will also help other designers understand the guidelines in the future to keep consistency
• Editable website for purchasing tickets, looking at past events and contacting incognito with social media links a hub for everything they do. It must also be editable for future expansion such as a live radio section
• A more structured social media promotion template for Instagram posters, Facebook event banners considering both content and layout

Deliverables

• Social media and poster templates for future events. Including Facebook, Instagram and a printed poster. PDF and Indesign files
• An editable website to act as the online hub of Incognito. It must be editable for future expansion – they have provided us with a detailed specification for this
• A logo icon to be used as the Facebook and Instagram profile picture keeping with the branding of the existing logo. JPEGs and PNGs
• Brand guidelines document on their overall image and promotional approach to help improve consistency and strengthen their brand and future – ‘big picture plans’. PDF

How the project evolved

Early on in the project though we came across some difficulties regarding a cancellation of an event which we were designing a poster for as this interfered with our schedule. The clients then requested that we design a different poster and logo for something else that wasn’t initially agreed on and it didn’t adhere to the brand guidelines. This problem arose because of the casual relationship we initially had with our clients. We sorted this out by referring back to the brief, explaining that it wasn’t in the contract. This showed the importance of the restated brief and we also realised the necessity of maintaining a professional client relationship throughout the duration of the project in order for tasks to get completed to the highest of standards.

Throughout the project, our main way of communicating between team members and with our clients was through Facebook instant messaging group chats and a private Facebook page where we would arrange meetings to discuss progression and show our work for feedback in a more informal way. However for final submissions we used email to contact our clients in a more formal manner. This also meant that each person had a backed up copy of the work. We also set up a Creative Cloud file that all 3 of us were all connected to where we could post updated work. This enabled each team member to edit the final documents and show design ideas during the making process. It also meant that we were all working on the same final file so each of us had identical copies of all of the work in one accessible place when working from home. This online basis for exchanging ideas between each other was essential as the website side of the project ended up going over schedule and into the summer holidays. However, through the use of our Facebook group page, email and Creative Cloud files we were able to to stay in regular contact with each other to ensure we were all connected on every stage of the design process.

We started the design process by deciding on the brand guidelines which would then govern the rest of the visual design of the other deliverables such as the website and poster templates. The guidelines cover everything from brand identity to logo usage and colour schemes. By starting the project with designing the brand guidelines, they acted as the foundation for the other deliverables and the future image of Incognito.

 

Examples of the brand guidelines

After confirming the overall visual identity we moved on to develop the Instagram and Facebook icons. To do this we simply took the ‘INC’ from the existing INCOGNITO logo in order to stick with the existing logo they had already developed. The ‘INC’ formed a compact square or circle shape to then be used as the profile picture for social media accounts such as Facebook and Instagram.

 

Logo and Icon

After confirming with our clients that they were happy with the brand guidelines and image we had developed, we applied the visual principles to 3 event poster templates: Facebook, Instagram and print. This was to provide guidance for the content, format and style of future promotional material to keep consistency in their image and identity across all mediums. These templates are also featured in the brand guidelines.

Facebook, Instagram and printed poster templates

Once all other deliverables were finalised we started planning and designing the website. We began by going straight into Photoshop to quickly mock up templates and work out the navigation and user journeys. We then moved onto high fidelity mock-ups and here we were able to apply the visual identity from the brand guidelines. The content and specification for the website was provided early on by our clients which massively sped up the whole process.

High fidelity website wireframes

After meeting as a group on a regular basis and constantly keeping in contact with updates on the Facebook chat we finalised our wireframe design with our clients in person and then moved on to coding.

Due to the nature of the coding, Callum was mostly responsible for this process due to his experience. Hector and Jordan were in charge of visual design and helped with coding where possible. Here we learnt how to use our strengths and weaknesses to maximise efficiency within the group.

The coding process ended up taking longer than initially expected and the website side of the project ended up extending into the summer holidays. A new deadline was negotiated for the beginning of 2017 Autumn term. However after leasing with our clients this was not a problem as they were in no rush to get the website live and would have rather have it designed to the highest of standards. We therefore kept in contact with our clients over summer using the Facebook Group chat, Skype calls and screen shares which worked very successfully. Here we learnt that although a project may have set deadlines, it is always important to be flexible for unforeseen events. Please go check out Incognito’s website! http://www.incognitoradio.com/

Overall the project ran smoothly but the problem with using Facebook messenger is that often you could return to your laptop with 100 unread messages between 2 of the group members and then have to read through all of them. For finished work and more official correspondences we always used email to stop this from happening. Facebook was later used for quicker feedback on screenshots of unfinished work and for the purpose it served us well. However in the future we wouldn’t use it as a mode of contact between clients as it reduces formality and structure to the communication. It possibly worked well for this project as we were already familiar with our clients.

How the project was received

After handing over the final deliverables to my client we received an email of thanks. It was satisfying to know that the final outcome was well received and even more so to see the deliverables put to use throughout their social media platforms and on the newly launched website. After we finished the project, all 3 of us had already made plans to stay in contact with Incognito for future design jobs and the website would need future maintenance and editing to keep it up to date. This shows the overall success in our relationship with the clients.

Reflection

On the whole our project was successful, it made us realise the importance of working on a project which we were passionate about and with team members we got on well with as this meant that we could produce work to the highest of standards. Despite not meeting our original deadline of finishing everything by the end of the 2017 summer term, we instead learnt how to re-negotiated the deadline with the clients to have everything done for the beginning of the 2017 Autumn term and this enabled us to produce work to a much higher standard. It was also very rewarding knowing that we were also helping out a student run business and for a cause we are all part of and passionate about. As well as learning technical skills such as wire framing, writing brand guidelines and the process of coding a website from scratch and getting it online, overall the real job project taught us the importance of being mediators and negotiating design differences with team members to meet in the middle and combine ideas. It also taught us the importance of meticulous planning before approaching a design project with a client, however when difficulties did occur we learnt how to negotiate timeframes so everyone involved was satisfied. Finally we learnt the importance of having a healthy relationship with our clients that balances a professional and open correspondence. The main thing we learnt from this project is that even when working for friends and family it is important to maintain a professional relationship in order to keep the structure and standards of the project high.

The success of the project and our relationship with the clients is emphasised through the fact that they have asked all 3 of us to become the design team for Incognito Radio as a part time job next academic year. This is very exciting as we will be able to improve on the branding that we have begun to develop for them throughout this real job and see Incognito Radio grow with our input.

Please go check out Incognito’s website! http://www.incognitoradio.com/

Designing Entre Playas’ signage was my first independent design job at The University of Reading. From the beginning of the project I understood that it would be a tricky task to take on as the final product would be situated abroad in Ibiza. This meant that throughout the project I needed to consider aspects which normally wouldn’t be a problem such as: the difference in climate, erecting the job in a foreign country and the location the sign would be manufactured.

Unfortunately when I first received the real job my schedule was extremely busy and as a result of this I had very little contact with my client. After many months I decided to speak to my client and arrange a new start time for the job when I was less preoccupied and had more time to focus on the project. This is something that I regret not doing sooner, I have now learnt from my mistakes and understand I need to be honest with the amount of work I can handle at one time. My client was extremely understanding and told me that the job was in no rush to be completed.

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The Brief

The initial brief was to design three premium outdoor signs which reflect the Ibizan culture as well as representing the community within Entre Playas. The client wanted the signs to require minimal maintenance and be able to attach on various walls. One of the fundamental aims was for the signs to be visible for drivers and passers by on foot, considering back lighting which is already installed on two of the properties wall entrances. The signs were to replace the current outdated signage at Entre Playas and fundamentally enhance the community, adding value to the properties.

As my client lived in Kent face to face meetings were not possible, therefore I arranged to communicate via Skype, email and over the phone. This was something that did not phase me as I am confident in using technology to communicate.

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Target Audience

To begin the process of creating the three designed signs I needed to understand my target audience. My main concern was the thoughts and perspectives of the residents at Entre Playas in Ibiza. In order to understand their views I asked my client for their contact details and devised a set of interview questions for them to answer. This was extremely beneficial as I was able to grasp the likes and dislikes of the original sign of 6 Entre Playas residence as well as receive insight to the changes they would like to apply to the new sign.

After collecting my data from the 6 interviews I devised 3 user personas – all three of different ages and with different views. This research helped me to understand that the main issues with the original sign were that the type size was too small, the style was not in keeping with the surroundings and the material used was not suitable for the climate.

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Research

The research process for this real job was crucial as I wanted to ensure that the designs I produced were in keeping with the atmosphere of Ibiza, the climate and the price budget. In order to understand Ibiza’s character I researched the branding of various successful hotels, beach clubs and restaurants on the island. It was interesting to see how each created a modern, premium and stylish character through typography and logos.

This research was beneficial and helped me to understand the look and style I would introduce to the new signage design at Entre Playas.

It was vital that I researched examples of how signs can be produced. A mood board was devised to highlight various sign elements which could be applied to my design such as the material used (stainless steal, glass, wood), lighting (illuminated signs, lighting backdrops), shadows (reflected from the light) and dimensions (flat type, 3D type). The material which would best withstand Ibiza’s climate was stainless steel as the material is extremely resistant against weathering. As only two of the sign locations have available electricity mains I wanted to produce three signs which could be seen both illuminated and not.

Typography was the fundamental aspect of my real job, in order to produce a professional legible sign I researched various typefaces on Myfonts, Typekit and Adobe, where I found a great range of fonts which I thought were suitable for the new sign. To create three diverse designs I chose to research sans-serifed fonts, serifed fonts and hand written fonts. I wanted to include one of each into my designs to give the community of Entre Playas three various designs to choose from. Due to the nature of the course I have previous knowledge about typography, therefore choosing suitable typefaces was straight forward.

Sign Express, a sign company in Reading supplied me with a sample of a stainless steel 18cm high letter ‘K’ which I could use to experiment with. I decided to measure the gap between the wall and the letter K to understand how shadowing would effect the overall design. I measured the K at three distances from the wall: first at 2.5cm away, second at 1.5cm away and the third flat against the wall. These three measurements created different shadow outcomes, the best outcome being 1.5cm away from the wall -creating interesting shadow but not effecting the legibility of the character.

 

My research was sent to my client within a powerpoint presentation for him to read through. The powerpoint was created to communicate my findings with the client and help him to understand my thought processes throughout each decision made during the project. This real job has helped me to understand that constant communication with your client is a vital aspect of creating a great professional relationships as well as producing successful designs.

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Design

When given the initial brief my client asked me to explore the idea of incorporating a logo with the sign. In order to investigate this further I developed thumbnail sketches of primary logo ideas to enhance the Entre Playas signage. This soon developed onscreen, vectorising the logos and comparing them with various typefaces which I had previously researched.

I showed my initial designs during a Real Job’s meeting and to my supervisor. Both meetings were beneficial as I collected positive and negative feedback about the designs. My classmates in the real job’s meeting suggested that I continued to experiment with the two wave logo as they believe reflected the name of Entre Playas. My supervisor also suggested that I avoided interrupting text with logos as it distracts the reader. Before sending my initial designs to my client I applied the feedback which I was given from both meetings. Throughout the process of my real job I began to understand the importance of showing my work to various people. There fresh outlook helped me to overcome problems and highlight issues which I wouldn’t have done myself.

 

After my clients feedback I further developed the typefaces and logos which he liked best. Further development helped me to uncover areas which I had not previously thought of such as layout, stroke and character spacing.

With the help from the Real Job’s meetings, my supervisor and my client I finally produced three final designs. Each design conveys a different typographic style but they all equally reflecting the modern and sophisticated character of Ibiza.

I created three mock ups with my final designs to show to my client and the residents of Entre Playas. This was a great way for myself and the client to visualise how the final product would look.

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Production

The location of the site of Entre Playas played a difficult role in the production of the signage. My client wanted the signs to be manufactured in England to avoid a language barrier when discussing the work with manufacturers. This had its positives and negatives, although I was able to meet with the manufacturer in person the manufacturer was unable to see the actual sight where the sign would be implemented. To help the manufacturer understand the signage area I produced a guesstimate of the area size, this was from mine and my clients previous memory of visiting the site. I attached the measurements of the site as well as the height of the type which my client asked for (20cm tall). This was helpful as it allowed me to visualise how large the sign would actually be.

In order to produce the signage designs I contacted Signs Express, a company recommended by the university. I had a meeting with the centre manager Ian Richards who showed me the materials and application tools which could be used for my designs. Ian suggested stainless steel as the signs material and showed me various finishes that could be used. He also suggested using a large paper stencil to ensure that when the signs are erected in Ibiza the characters stay in the right position. Meeting with the Ian was extremely beneficial as he showed me various examples of signs he had produced in the past. With the materials and colours in front of me I was able to visualise how my signs were going to be created.

After agreeing on materials and size with my client Ian sent me three specs including their quotes – one for each design. I was then able to send my client these figures which he would then reveal to the community at Entre Playas. My client explained that the three sign designs would be put to a vote and which ever design is most popular would be manufactured.

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final reflections

This real job taught me a lot in a short amount of time. Throughout the job my time management skills improved dramatically as I had to juggle various modules whilst working on the real job. This is a great strength as it will benefit me when I am working in the design industry. If I were to repeat the job I would have been honest with my client from the get go and expressed to him the heavy amount of work I had on when originally given the job. Although this was unprofessional of me I am glad I made this mistake as I now know to avoid it from happening again. After my initial mistake my relationship with the client was extremely professional and our conversations throughout the job were productive and fluent.

Throughout the job I felt it important to presented my work in a professional and accessible manner as I was unable to meet with the client in person. Presenting my work in a formal way really helped me to illustrate my thought process and ideas as well as communicate effectively with my client.

Contacting manufacturers and testing material was a steep learning curve, as I had to research and understand the restrictions each material used would create. After understanding which materials were best to use I then had to manage the cost of the product and our client’s expectations. 

I really enjoyed working on this real job as it has exposed me to areas of the design industry which I have not previously visited. I will be staying in contact with my client until the signage has been put in place at Entre Playas, and I plan to visit the sight once the signs are erected.

Background

PALS, or ’Partners for Active Leisure Scheme’ is a local charity based in Englefield, Berkshire. They provide leisure and recreational activities for children and adolescents aged 5–25 with physical disabilities. This helps the children achieve things, gain confidence and achieve their potential, and it helps the entire family to get a break from the full-time job of caring for a child with a disability.

Restated brief

In the occasion of the 20^th anniversary, PALS wanted a new logo. Partly because their current logo feels out-of-date and has been in use for such a long time. The main reason for the change was the footmark in the original logo, paired with the tagline ‘Every step an achievement’. As Helen Randall, the manager of PALS, pointed out, this is very inappropriate as many of the children they help are not able to walk.

Through discussions with the client we decided the logo should feel more modern, use illustrations to show what the organisation does, use the colours white, yellow and orange and potentially show themes of friendship. The logo should appeal to children, the older end of the 5–25 age gap and their parents.

 

Research

When doing research, the logos of the main competitors for PALS were considered. Many competitors use a rainbow of colours in their logos, similar to that of PALS. Some use fewer, but still bright, colours. Various graphic elements are used, such as simple illustrations, stick figures and pictorial typography.

The new PALS logo should look like it belongs among these groups of logos, as they are often put together on leaflets and brochures. However, it should sufficiently stand out and draw attention. Different styles were discussed with the client, such as using bright colours and an icon with a hand-drawn feel. However, the logo had to be fit to be stitched on shirts and therefore needed simple shapes.

 

Development

As the client desired to show the organisation through the logo, ideas of using wheelchairs and walkers were brought up early. Especially in terms of a wheelchair icon, it should be similar enough to the conventional icon for person in wheelchair, but look different enough to be representative of PALS and recognisable.

The first approach taken was one where icons were incorporated into the lettering of PALS. Subtle details and changed to the A symbolised a walker, and putting the L on an angle and adding parts of a circle symbolised a person in a wheelchair. The client did not find this approach ideal, saying

‘It’s a great start, but I think the committee felt we should keep “PALS” clear of any pictures as such and that the new logo needs to be either underneath or by “PALS” and not within it if that makes sense’.

This idea was therefore scrapped, and I started developing ideas for an icon to go along with the lettering instead.

Different approaches to this icon were developed, with or without a person sitting in the wheelchair. Many ideas to simplify this icon, yet have it remain recognisable, without being too cliché were explored. I decided to go forth with the person sitting in the wheelchair, as the organisation is about he people, not their equipment. I developed icons of a person in a wheelchair interactive with a physically abled person to symbolise the friendship and interaction between people. Different styles were tested, such as angular shapes or rounded shapes. The general reception to these designs at the Real Job meetings favoured the rounded shapes.

After deciding on the icon, different pairings with typefaces and hand-lettering were explored. The lettering could either seamlessly blend in with the icon to make it look as if one, or contrast could be created with the use of a sans serif typeface. I developed different versions exploring possibilities to get more feedback from my client.

Due to my client having other work commitments, communication ceased at this stage of the project. I continued to develop the ideas, but due to lack of feedback from my client the project came to a halt for a few months. Particularly in terms of colour treatment and style of lettering, I felt as if the client’s opinion was vital for me to continue working on the project. The reception of the developed icon was positive however, as a member of the chair said

‘I really like the new designs. I think the ions are great. We need to have a font which is easy to read’.

As I was waiting for more feedback from the board of trustees I considered the icon as more or less ready to go.

When I eventually received feedback 3 months later, it felt as if too many people were disagreeing with where the direction of the logo was headed. Though we established in our first client meeting that the logo should be completely updated, complete with a new colour scheme and lettering, the board was now pushing for the same colour scheme as in the current logo. They also had comments about the icon that essentially meant the entire logo had to be re-thought.

At this stage I developed three icons based on the work I already had: a person in a wheelchair, a person with a walker and a physically abled person standing up. These were configured in different combinations, paired with different rounded sans serif typefaces and sent to the client. Though generally met with positive feedback, they also wanted me to use the typeface from their previous (Comic Sans). I was finally able to schedule a client meeting where I could negotiate different typefaces that would have a similar look and feel to Comic Sans, without the negative connotations of that typeface. A colour palette that was similar to their current one but slightly more harmonious was also agreed upon. Through reasoning of logic and gestalt-theories, we were able to agree upon the best organization of the icons and lettering within the logo. By the end of this client meeting we had decided on the finished logo.

The final stage of the process was to create brand guidelines. As my only deliverable was a logo, and the applications of the logo were not agreed upon, a few examples were included in the guidelines such as website, flyer and social media applications. A main logo and a social media logo were then supplied to the client along with the brand guidelines by the end of the day.

 

 

 

Reflection

The main obstacle in the design process was lack of communication with the client, and only one contact person. As months would go by without getting feedback or information from my client, I was left to my own devices. Though I suggested client meetings, these were ignored. However, I should have been more proactive in reaching out to my client, such as calling multiple times and leaving voice messages. The difficulties from no client contact for months could have been decreased if I actively pursued contact more than I did.

Another difficulty was how I only had contact with the manager of PALS, who also responded to a board of trustees. However, I had no contact with this board and my designs were passed through the manager to the board. This way, I had no opportunities to explain my designs and reason my decisions. If I were to do this project again, I would be more proactive to meet the board of trustees and present my designs to them directly.

Though several times in the design process the work took a different creative direction than I would have wanted personally, I tried my best to please the client while also delivering quality work in the end. Though the finished logo is not the one I would have chosen, I am happy I found a solution the client was liked.

In the end, the client was happy with my work saying

‘Many thanks for this and all your hard work in getting to the final end product’

and I hope they find good use for the new logo.

 

The brief

The CQSD teaching guide project was to design a leaflet/brochure that is easily accessible to busy lecturers to help them to effectively use the space they are teaching in. The client was trying to communicate different teaching methods and how these can be used in the room that they have been allocated to. Lecturers are often allocated a room that they are not familiar too and therefore may not know the best way to teach in that room.

I signed up to this job because I wanted to enhance my InDesign skills and work closely with a client who wanted to design this for an event. I was interested in working on a university branded project as it allowed me to work within set brand guidelines which is a fairly new experience, so I wanted to see the challenges and positives of working this way.

Meeting the client

The first meeting with a client sets up the tone of the new working relationship, to prepare for thisI thought of a series of questions I needed to know about the client and the project. This set a good foundation for what would be discussed in the meeting. During this initial meeting, I found out key information about the project such as the background, the concept, the target audience and any initial thoughts that the client envisioned the final outcome to be.

After the meeting with the client, I thought about all the skills I would need to be able to complete this task. I needed to master InDesign to be able to complete this well so I set about learning more about the editorial features (such as baseline grids) and how I could use these to benefit me and the finished design.

Restating the brief was a challenge to start with as I was not sure what to include. However, I did my best and got advice from my supervisor as to what was necessary and what was not at this stage. I was advised that I should reconsider deadlines to allow time for print and time for flexibility to meet with the client and work around other commitments. I soon realised that it was necessary to be flexible and more realistic about time scales by considering long-term obstacles that may pop up.

The design stages

I started off designing this project by creating exactly what the client had asked for – an A4 brochure with tables and photos.  I soon became to realise that this was not the most creative I could be, and although I wouldn’t be creating what the client was envisioning, I had to think that she is not a designer and might not know other paths the design could go down. This got me started on brainstorming new, more interactive designs. I had the idea of creating a flip book that would have each of the categories as a new page in it. I mocked up the version the client had asked from, and the new more creative booklet I had started designing, then arranged a meeting with the client to show her these drafts.

The second time I met with my client I first showed her the original A4 booklet, which she was happy with, until I pulled out the new flipbook design. Instantly, she was excited by this new design, she said that she had not thought of any thing like this before and said ‘but I guess that’s why you’re the designer!’. The enthusiasm she showed over this design, made me excited to go in this new direction and as soon as this meeting as over I set about requesting estimates and developing the design.

The initial estimate of costing for the project was higher than the clients original budget, however, once discussing this the client she was happy to increase the budget to get the higher quality product.

This design required a lot of accuracy and planning because of the different page sizes that created the flip book edge. I also found that after creating the big concept, a lot of time was taken perfected the finer details, such as, spotting n-dashes instead of hyphenation, editing line breaks and fixing widows and orphans. Throughout my experience with this project, I learned a lot about the features of InDesign and how to create an accurate InDesign file using features such as, grids, paragraph styles and layouts. This experience helped me to improve all of my projects as I was more aware of and able to use all the features available to me. Constant feedback from my supervisor was helpful as these InDesign techniques were things I was either shown or was able to work out with the features, once I realised I had to learn to do something new to fix an issue.

The problem I encountered

After signing off the job and sending off to print is where my main learning curve occurred. Although I had previously gotten an initial estimate of the design, I had forgotten that even the slightest changes in design can change an estimate quite dramatically. During the development of the flip book I had slightly adjusted the page sizes, this meant that it no longer fitted onto a B4 piece of paper, this increased the price by another £100. This was now way over the client’s initial budget. I tried to fix this by changing the page size but by this stage it was too late. After discussion with my client and the Real Job team, it was decided that the final print could go ahead with this higher price because there was a deadline to meet and the client was able to stretch the budget.  What I learnt from this was firstly, always get regular updates on estimates because they are very likely to change, and secondly, that clients are people too, they do realise that mistakes can be made an solutions can always be found.

Conclusion

Overall, I enjoyed working on this project a lot because of the final outcome as well as the support from my client, my supervisor and the Real Jobs team. From this project, I have become a lot more confident in using Adobe InDesign, as well as being able to communicate with clients, and I would look to take on more projects in the future that involve using these new skills. I have learnt that I have the ability to think of new concepts and what I need to work on most is remembering to pick up on the finer details to make an overall more accurate design to back up the bigger ideas.

Brief
The brief was to design and print promotional material for the Stenton Lecture: a prestigious history lecture that occurs annually at the University of Reading. The client asked for the design to reflect the momentous subject matter of the lecture.

The title of the lecture: 
Britain’s wars with France 1793­­­–1815­­ and their contribution to the consolidation of its Industrial Revolution.

Deliverables
The deliverables requested by the client included 10*A3 and 100*A4 colour posters. These were to be displayed around campus during the run up to the event.

Aim
The aim was to engage a broader university audience and increase overall attendance by creating a conspicuous and thought provoking visual that promoted the topic as stimulating and exciting.

Design restraints
The challenge was to distil a complex historical topic into a succinct visual message. At first, potential design directions seemed limited:

• Photography was not an option, as the technology did not yet exist during the Napoleonic wars.
• Appropriate high-res illustrations were scarce and only served to represent snap shots of particular battles: they did not encompass the overarching themes of the talk.
• There was little opportunity for typographic expression as the project had to adhere to university brand guidelines.
• The restrictions enforced by the poster templates pre-determined both layout and typographic styling.

My response to these restraints was to create original vector artwork that uses colour as the dominant design feature.

Design concept
The concept was to pictorially/symbolically juxtapose the themes of war, nationalism, and industrialisation. White smoke erupting from an industrial chimney divides the red and blue areas of the French Tricolour flag and leads the eye towards the lengthy lecture title. The flag’s colours dominate the design: an emblematic reminder of the French contribution to Britain’s Industrial Revolution. The iconic Nelson statue towers over the cityscape, representing Britain’s naval dominance at the time.

Fortuitously, red, white and blue are also the constituent colours of the Union flag: the posters is ambiguous, creating a sense of intrigue for prospective attendees. The strong use of red also helps to reinforce the UoR branding. The addition of an industrial texture overlay conveys the griminess of both war and coal fuelled factories.

The poster can be understood and appreciated on multiple levels. At first glance (and from a distance), the viewer may only see the unmistakable design of the Tricolour and immediately understand the ‘French connection’. On closer inspection, other details are revealed which communicate a narrative that explicates the lecture title. Multiple viewing levels may result in the observer spending more time with the poster and potentially engaging with the information to a greater extent than a poster with a single viewing level.

Feedback & lessons learned
The design was well received by the history department and I was pleased to satisfy both the client (Prof. Joel Felix) and the key speaker (Prof. Patrick K. O’Brien).

Here are some lessons learned on professionalism, design and print production:

• Agree on the exact copy at the start of the project (before the design process begins)
  This would have accelerated the process significantly as it would avoid waiting for email responses and repeatedly having to make small copy alterations.
• Discuss the hierarchy of elements with the client upfront
  This would have highlighted the importance of featuring the key speakers’ name in a more prominent position (and size) on the poster.
• Do test prints before going to press and, if possible, ask for a printers proof
  I’ve learnt that there is a discrepancy between the appearance of opacity layers onscreen and in print. I was disappointed with the finished printed product because the overlaid texture printed much darker than it had appeared on screen. Similarly, the contrast between the red type on a black background was noticeably inferior in the print version.
• Use a ‘rich black’ for large areas of black
  Since finishing this project I’ve learnt to enhance the density of printed black by underprinting 100% black with 50% of cyan, magenta and yellow.
• Avoid using light weights of type (unless used very big)
  In hindsight, I used too many kinds of type variation on this poster. The light faces were intended to sit back in the hierarchy but they look too scrawny and lack presence on the page. If I were to re-do the poster, I’d be more judicious with methods of type differentiation and rely on scale, case, colour and italics before altering weight.
• Try out the client’s design ideas, even if you think they won’t work
  At first I was dubious about adding a Nelson statue to the poster as I thought it might overcomplicate both the composition and concept: I only tried it out in order to appease the client. However, I see now that it is a crucial addition to the design, without which, there would be no reference to the British.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Restated Brief

As a team of four, we have been tasked with designing the promotional material for the Wynkyn de Worde Society throughout the year. As these deliverables are being made for a creative audience, the designs should be of a high standard and something the receivers will want to keep.

The outputs we will have been involved in designing include a series of booking forms, a letterhead template, a member’s handbook and menus. Each output is sent through the post (with exception of the menu which will be presented on the day of the dinner). This project is not limited by a budget, giving us the opportunity to explore different stocks and print finishes.

Designing

Booking Forms

The booking forms are created by different people of the team. As the illustrations and visual appearance of these are very different across the series, the same typeface (De Worde) has been used to create consistency throughout the series.

July

The July booking form was themed on a summer celebratory barbecue for the society’s 60th anniversary. This was not to be mixed up with the November anniversary or the previous booking form themed as a ‘Summer Outing’.

Since most of the booking forms before this used vector artwork, we decided that using watercolour as an artwork technique would give the booking form a fresh feel and contrast to previous work. Artwork was painted and scanned and arranged in Illustrator to achieve a seamless pattern that would divide neatly along the two folds as well as have perfect cutouts for the type.

The inside of the booking form also features a single panel of artwork that reveals the watercolour paper texture. The sizeable difference between the fruits on the inside and outside created a dynamic and fresh design for the summer barbecue.

August

The theme for the booking form was Benjamin Franklin and his time as a printer. Although extensive research about Benjamin Franklin, and his opinion on printing, was conducted it was obvious by the end of the design process just how challenging it was to visualise his numerous achievements.

The form went through a series of design iterations, and the most simple design was chosen in the end. A picture of Benjamin Franklin on the outside and some images of his printed works on the inside. The most important lesson learnt from designing this form was not to overcomplicate ideas.

This was integral to appealing to an audience with strong and varying design taste. The cropping of images, not too loosely or tightly, was important when designing the form as it helped to retain the shapes of the objects in the images, but not to compromise the structure of the layout. Editing the levels in the images made them to print well on the paper.

A change in typeface for the whole form, was appropriate for the theme and, proved that the design template we had created for the form was versatile.

September

The September booking form was the last of the Real Job and celebrated the 60^th Anniversary. This presented the challenge of differentiating it from the earlier forms whilst sticking with the existing format. The final design is a colour pencil artwork that features the current Wynkyn de Worde logo and a ‘6’, reading as ‘60’ when opened flat. The artwork was expanded on the inside panel creating a vibrant and punchy opening. This paired well with the keepsake and menu that had suns from previous years. We used two-thirds of an A4 for the last booking form due to the artwork’s dimensions, as well as the lack of content.

Menu

The menu measures 120 x 120mm and is a single folded menu. The design incorporated four different Wynkyn de Worde suns from past events, mirroring the keepsake that guests received.

These were made into a pattern with a cutout for the print and design credits. During the design process, we experimented with different colours and sizes of the suns and also considered using spot colours for printing. However due to time constraints, the menu was digitally printed on 160gsm paper.

Keepsake

To commemorate their 60th Anniversary, the society wanted a keepsake that reflected their history as an organization. This was achieved by going through their archives and scanning unusual iterations of their sun logo and choosing twelve for an A3 poster.

The poster did not have size limitations, but A3 was chosen as it is an easy size to frame and the aspect ratio works best with the layout. The suns were first arranged by “mathematical” values and later visually rearranged and balanced out. We also experimented with rainbow printing and mocked this up using gradients in Illustrator. The poster was finally foiled in black on Bockingford Watercolour 300gsm by R. K. Burt and Co.

Lessons

We learned both technical skills as well as soft skills during this Real Job. We shared files amongst team members as well as with Rob, our supervisor and client, which meant learning how to work with someone else’s documents. Through this we learned the importance and efficiency of having neatly sorted and labeled paragraph/character styles.

Another aspect of this project was learning to create a design concept and layout before receiving the copy. It was sometimes necessary to create booking forms that reflected the whole theme of the event rather than a specific idea within the theme. Our audience’s taste was also a challenge as designing for an extremely design conscious audience meant that our most obvious idea was not always the one our audience would appreciate.

By the tail end of the Real Job we had set up templates for the booking forms and only changed the necessary and relevant styles with each event. However, design is never a one-size-fits-all solution and typographic details always had to be looked over and refined according to how much copy we received.

Working as a team of four with Rob as our supervisor and client also taught me that picking up on subtleties of each others’ language contributes to better communication and better process overall. After a few months of working together, we had a grasp of how everyone on the team worked and communicated as well as their particular strengths, and this helped the design process and outputs.

The rare opportunity of working with the same audience over an extended period of time also meant that we became more familiar with the things they appreciate and find interesting. This allowed us to shorten the time needed to generate ideas suited to the audience.

Generally, it was said that members of Wynkyn de Worde liked the work we had done. However, given more time to experiment with a wider variety of ideas perhaps we could have created booking forms that were even more diverse in style than what we currently have.

Background
The department of Typography and Graphic Communication at the University of Reading have multiple different rooms that are needed to host different types of teaching. This means the furniture regularly has to be moved to ensure the teaching space is suitable. To make the process of moving the furniture easier and quicker, a set of room plans were requested to be designed and displayed in each room. University porters could then be brought in to move the furniture rather than students and lecturers doing it.

Brief
The brief was to make the layout of each teaching room within the typography department easy to set up in different states depending on the use the room is needed for. The room plans will be used by lecturers (both visiting and internal), students and university porters. The final deliverable is a clickable pdf that will be saved to the department sever and can be seen by all staff and sent out to visiting lecturers. The pdf of the room layouts will also be printed and displayed in each corresponding room.

In the brief we stated, the success of this project would be measured by the ease of use for both the lecturers and porters. As this project developed we discovered the ease of use was not just important for using the physical final deliverable to set up a room, it was also crucial that the files were all set up correctly and were understandable to ensure the room layouts can easily be edited and added to once the real job had finished. Although the porters have not yet tested the layouts for ease, we tested a member of staff within the department, Victoria Gifford, who will eventually come into contact with the porters directly about the room plans. Victoria found the files easy to navigate digitally and the files were easy for her to download and forward. On screen, she also understood what the elements within the room plans were showing.

Communication
Throughout the design process, we had regular meetings with our client as we saw him during the real jobs meetings. This allowed us not only to keep the client up to date but to receive consistent feedback on our designs from him, the building manager and other students. This process allowed our work to evolve into a usable system for all people who would eventually come into contact with it.

Schedule
The original deadline was not met because when the deadline was approaching, the client added on the task of doing room plans for the degree show. Therefore, the deadline was extended until after the degree show to allow us time to see the setup of it. The revised deadline was never finalised between us and the client. As well as this, we feel the deadline may have been missed because there was too much of a casual relationship between us and the client due to the client being one of our lecturers. For the majority, this did not impact the work negatively as we were getting much more regular contact and feedback from the client. However, it meant there was not a strict deadline to meet. We have learnt that we should have pushed for a deadline to be set that was realistic for us so we had something to work towards and so it would have felt like a project that would happen in the workplace.

Design process
Each teaching room has one main member of staff that we consulted about the room layouts. Through the process we continually asked them about suggested layouts for their room and we eventually gained sign off from each of them. The building manager, Geoff Wyeth then signed off each room from a health and safety perspective.

Before we could begin design work, there was a lot of data collection to complete. All eight teaching rooms that we were creating room plans for had to be measured. As well as this, all the tables had to be measured and the tables and chairs had to be counted. This was a time-consuming process as the tables and chairs were regularly moving around between the rooms. We then spoke to the lecturers to understand how many students would need to fit in each room when different types of teaching were happening. This was an important part of the process as it allowed us to understand the lecturers’ needs when teaching. During the process, we also spoke to our peers to see if there were any room layouts that would particularly help them with their learning. This was interesting as it showed us an audience we had not originally thought of as they would not use the room plans directly, but it would affect them.

We quickly realised the artwork we were creating required mathematical thought as the furniture had to be to scale within the room as otherwise, it would be difficult to replicate the design layout in real life.

The colour scheme for the designs was left up to us as designers, as it did not necessarily have to follow the University of Reading’s brand guidelines, however after discussing with the client, it was decided that using the department colour, orange, as the principal colour would match other printed documents within the department.  We used the orange to highlight the teaching rooms to represent the department and the red to represent the University of Reading as a whole for the lectures rooms.

However, this map looked too confusing with its similar colours. We introduced the University of Reading’s bright secondary colours to be used to highlight the importance of specific rooms on the department map.

Final design
Although we came to a clear, accessible design for the room plans reasonably quickly, the file organisation and making that easy to use needed some adjustments. This taught us to do a thorough job when setting up and working on complex files in future projects. When our client set out the layout for the degree show, he said ‘the files seem easy to update increasing the chances that we maintain the system for the years ahead’.

One of the main design deliverables was an interactive pdf for both the degree and all normal room states. This included a map of the department that allows users to click on the room they wanted to be taken directly, to see its states. This feature allowed the interactive pdf to be easily used by anyone and helped to quickly direct people through the volume of states. Creating this document was new to both of us and the skills we learnt while making it have been able to inform our work in other modules.

Feedback
We have not yet received official feedback on the main room plans however, we have had all rooms and states signed off by their owners and our designs for the degree show were used by lectures when setting up. Our client stated ‘the degree show room plans were successful as they were used with ease to set up this year’s show. Using these room plans to help set up the degree show this year was a huge help. In particular, the inclusion of the positions of poles and boards made a big difference.’

Conclusion
This feedback proves that the room plans are effective, useful and easy to use. it has shown that we have achieved the aims listed in our brief. We hope that the files we have created can and will be used by the department in the future. Overall creating the various different documents has taught us not only about the importance of file management throughout a long and lengthy project as this one but also has increased the level of knowledge of the programs we have used. This real job has been invaluable in teaching us the importance of being up to date and making our files right the first time so that the project can progress quickly and efficiently.

 

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