OUGD503 Module Evaluation

This module had been for me had been quite challenging, but also enjoyable.

The individual briefs I worked on were the RSA Moving Pictures, the penguin 'A Brief History of Time' book cover and the Leeds nightline logo.

The RSA Moving Pictures brief was the most challenging for me, as I needed to learn a new software, After Effects. I wanted to do this brief because I felt very strongly about the content of the audio clip, and what Tiffany Dufu was trying to communicate. The animation I did was based on the manipulation of typography. Even though I found the use of a new software challenging, it was also very enjoyable. I liked how I was able to apply the Adobe software skills and knowledge I already have, to create an interesting outcome. As this was the first time using this software, some lack in knowledge is I believe noticeable in the outcome, and the technical skills is something I can improve and work on for the future. Overall, I do feel that even with the basic skills that I learnt and used, I was able to portray my concept successfully, and created an outcome of a quality and standard that I wanted it to be.

The Penguin book cover design for ' A Brief History of Time' by Stephen Hawing was very interesting for me, as I enjoy looking into space and astronomy as a hobby. This brief allowed me to apply the knowledge I already had about the subject, and to give the design of the book cover my own approach. I mostly enjoyed working with the idea of making the cover unexpected, and unlike something that had been done before. I think this is what made the book cover successful.

The Leeds Nightline logo brief was a quick brief, on which I spent only a limited number of days. I found doing this quite challenging, as it didn't leave room for my ideas to sit with me and be considered more in depth. However, this process also taught me that the initial quick ideas can sometimes be the strongest, after they have had the right amount of development applied to them. Although the logo outcome has been effective for the brief, I do think that if I were to do the brief again, I would have a different final outcome.

The collaborative briefs I worked on were the D&AD Adidas and the collaboration with students from Nanyang University.

The Adidas brief I found to be challenging as it was lightly out of my comfort zone. I am not used to creating commercial designs, and was at first unconfident in my ideas. However, I approached the design for this brief with my own perspective, and found that I can use my skills that I feel are the strongest, and apply them to the brief, this way leaving a sort of signature on the designs. After getting into it, I found designing for this brief quite enjoyable, and learnt that brief outcomes do not have to follow strict rules, and cane be adapted to your style of design and your perspective. Working in collaboration, I found for this brief to also be slightly challenging. This was due to some instances of mis-communication, and not agreeing on a consistent and cohesive visual language to follow. Although this made creating designs for the brief harder, in the end I believe the brief came together, and even with issues with communication, the outcomes were successful.

The Ocean Heroes brief I found to be very enjoyable, as we were given the opportunity to work with students from Nanyang University in Singapore, as well as given free reign on how to respond to the brief. Working with the other students opened up our groups skill set, and allowed us to be more ambitious in our concepts and designs. The outcome we produced for this brief I believe were very successful because we paid a lot of attention to the target audience, and had fun whilst designing.

Overall, I believe this module for me has been a learning curve. I worked in collaboration with different students, learnt new software, and was able to create designs that I myself liked and enjoyed. The biggest problem I faced during this module was time management, I found myself rushing to complete work and blog posts and because of this I feel like some of the quality of my work may have suffered. However, in the end I am still very happy with the work I have produced, and am confident in continuing to develop and utilise all the things I learnt.

Studio Brief 2 - How I felt about it?

The 'Life's a pitch' collaborative project I found to be very interesting and exciting. I mostly enjoyed how we were given free reign over the development of our ideas, and that there were no limitations in how we could imagine the new Leeds Arts University building to be like. 

My personal involvement included coming up with ideas, fuelling our groups excitement and visualising the ideas. As far as the final outcome looks, I created some of the interior drawings and Wayfinding mock-ups that allowed us to communicate our ideas.

As a team we worked very well, everyone connected and contributed ideas equally, and we all showed great engagement and excitement with our ideas. We spent more time discussing and finalising our ideas that we did visualising them, which I believe made us more successful, as by the end of it we were all very clear on our concept and were able to individually work on our delegated roles and still bring it together into a cohesive whole. 

I believe our final outcome and presentation was fairly professional and successful. Our presentation had a clear flow of ideas and a storyline which took the viewer through our thinking process, starting with our initial inspiration and ideas, and leading to the developed 'extreme' final outcomes. Three of us from our group presented, Myself, Dan and Finn. Having 3 us present made it less stressful for each of us, and gave us all more confidence, especially since we were all very excited to present our ideas. I believe we presented with good energy and enthusiasm, and through that made it seem professional and engaging for the viewers. 

Overall, I found this project beneficial as not only did it improve my skills of working in a collaboration and learning how to at times compromise, but also made me more confident and comfortable with presenting my ideas. 

Studio Brief 2 - Feedback

Studio Brief 2 - 'Life's a pitch' Presentation

We discussed and thought about what was missing in this building, what makes us feel so trapped by it, what deters us from coming in to work here everyday, and what can we do to make the environment better.

We looked at universities and studios that we liked the look and feel off, ones which we are jealous of because we would want our university to look like that. We looked at what those things we liked were.

This quote by Paula Sher was something that really resonated with us, we wanted to create an environment that we love and felt inspired and motivated by it.

Initial ideas were about adding lots of plants, natural elements, light, wood and aesthetically pleasing textures and materials to our surroundings/atmosphere.

We thought our initial ideas were too weak and expected, so we wanted to take the idea of creating an 'outside-inside' to the extreme, and give the university not one but several environments.

We came up with the environments - Marine, Rainforest, Desert and Arctic. 

Main Entrance on the Rainforest Floor - has a memorable and impressive plant covered wall.

Cafeteria/ Main Hall on the Rainforest Floor - has lots of hanging plants, wooden/bamboo elements and light. This would be the socialising/eventful floor.

Study Room on the Marine Floor - has glass/water walls, coral/sealife elements, and a calming atmosphere. This would be the peaceful, private study floor.

Hallway on the Desert Floor - has cacti, sand/rock elements and textures, warm and fun atmosphere. This would be the adaptive floor, allowing lots of elements to be moved and shaped according to its use/need.

Hallway on the Arctic Floor - has snow/frost, fur, ice and a cold and soothing atmosphere. This would be the exhibition/gallery floor, showcasing student work.

Main Entrance Wayfinding Sculpture -glass sections contain materials to represent each floor.

Main Entrance - two set of barriers/entrances, one for students and one for visitors to control the flow of people traffic.

Floor Wayfinding - glass letters contain materials that correspond to each floor. Room naming also corresponds to each floor. eg. A100 on Arctic Floor, D125 on Desert Floor, M45 on Marine Floor and R301 on Rainforest Floor.

Room Naming Wayfinding - back-lit white board and marker pen that allows the information for each room to eb adapted for its need/use.

Studio Brief 2 - Idea Drawings/Visualisations

Focus on the natural and sustainable. 'Gold' is one of the natural metals, the university strives for sustainability, and students enjoy nature and what it has to offer. We will look into creating a 'outside in' experience, with lots of natural elements such as plants, wood, natural lighting etc.

My Drawings:

Hallways. Full with couches and carpets to create a relaxing and cosy atmosphere. Walls covered in posters/design work to inspire creativity and motivation. Plants set on tables, covering walls to bring natural elements. Also, large tall windows that run through multiple floors to allows the maximum amount of light in. Walls covered in wooden panels, to further create a natural and refreshing atmosphere.

Main Entrance. Two different barriers, one for visitors and one for students to control the flow of people entering and exiting the building. Receptionists situated in the middle to provide a welcoming feel. Walls are covered in wooden panels, and plants to create a natural feel. Also, large windows that allow lots of light. Posters/design work hang on the walls to show off students creativity as well as to inspire and motivate.

Cafeteria/ Main Hall. Large windows on the walls and ceiling to let in as much natural light as possible. Walls covered in wooden panels, plants and students work to create a motivating and inspiring atmosphere. Hall is full of comfortable soft chairs, couches, carpets, ottomans and bean bags to create a cosy and homey feel. The furniture layout allows both individuals and groups of students to find a comfortable spot to sit.

Other group member drawings:

Cafeteria/ Main Hall. More jungle-like use of plants, gold elements and light. Round couches allowing group work and socialising.

Main Entrance. Large part of the walls covered in jungle-like plants.

Cafeteria/ Main Hall. Another version, also a jungle-like theme but more subdued. Round group tables for socialising and hammocks for relaxation. Lots of plants and vines for a natural, inside-outside feel.

Study Room. Walls made of running water and sea plants, creates a relaxing and inspiring atmosphere. Studying would be cosy and more motivating.

From here onwards our ideas developed into making the university a presentation of different environments. Lower Ground Floor - Ocean/Sea Life. Ground Floor - Jungle/Rainforest. First Floor - Desert/Safari. and Second Floor - Arctic/Snow.
We thoughts this would make the university more unique and interesting, each floor would provide different inspiring and intriguing elements, and therefore the students and visitors would be able to discover lots of interesting things and never get bored of the building.


Further Developments:

Desert Floor - Sand, cacti, rocks, warm elements.

Arctic Floor - Water, fur, ice, cold, frost elements.

Ocean Floor - Water, sea plants, blue, coral, pebble elements.

Rainforest Floor - Vines, plants, trees, bamboo, wood, green elements.

Colour Swatches:

Desert Floor

Rainforest Floor

Marine Floor

Arctic Floor

My Wayfinding developments:

In the main reception area, we want to add a sculpture like piece that would show to the students, tutors and visitors how the new layout of the building works, and which floor contains which environment. We thought a sculptural piece would be both effective and impressive. It would be made from glass, and each panel would be filled with the material that represents each floor, so Arctic would have ice/snow, Desert would have sand, Rainforest would have jungle leaves, and Marine would have water. 

Previously and here are simply explorations of how the typography could be applied to the sculpture in order to label each floor/environment coherently and legibly.

Each floor will have fairly simple Wayfinding, with the first letter of each floor name being assigned to all the rooms in each floor. So if a student, tutor or visitor are looking for say, room A100, they would know to go to the 'Arctic' Floor because the room name begins with 'A'.

To mimic and continue the idea of the initial Wayfinding from the main reception area, on each floor there will also be that floor names' first letter displayed in a similar glass sculpture for. And also be filled in the corresponding material to that floor. This simply continues the visual identity of the Wayfinding system, as well as makes impressive and unique elements.

Wayfinding Mock-Ups:

Main Entrance Sculpture Wayfinding

Marine Floor Wayfinding

Rainforest Floor Wayfinding

Desert Floor Wayfinding

Arctic Floor Wayfinding

Mock-Up by another team member. Room numbers displayed on back-lit white boards, that allow the room information to be changed according to what and who it will be used for each day/session.