Evaluate the problems that you identified and had to resolve
Communication is a virus
During this brief, one of the main problems that we faced was getting our product out there in the environment, and making sure that we got feedback. During a crit, we had to change our audience in order for us to be able to test our results. Our initial idea was to target the products at office workers, however with the time available this wasn't going to prove to easily. We would struggle to measure a response, therefore it was suggest that perhaps we could move on to creating products for other places, for example cafes.
In order to get things rolling, we made a move straight away. After our crit, we had a bit of a re-think, and then decided that we needed to get out there and try and promote our product to someone else. Although we were nervous, we took our boards to a number of cafes near the college, and pitched our ideas to them. They were extremely happy to participate in our project, and it was going to allow us to measure the response.
Rain Posters
With the rain posters, the main problem that I encountered, and I think many other people did also, was thinking about the positives of rain. It's not every day that you get people coming over to Britain purely for the rain, it's normally something that keeps people away. At first, I admittedly got stuck, and definitely got stuck looking at all the cliche reasons as to why someone would love the rain. I wanted to look at something that was maybe a little bit different, or special, something that wasn't obvious. After a bit of research, I uncovered something called an upside down rainbow, and focused my ideas around this. Although this is something quite rare and special, and is something that people would certainly want to see, I'm not sure if I should have just stuck to something simple and done a good job of it.
Stamp It
One of the main problems that I felt the Stamp It brief was making it appeal to a general audience. It's quite hard to promote environmental changes on such a small scale, therefore the concept had to be something that was going to catch people's eyes. In the crit, I received really good feedback about my concept, and it was agreed that it was something that would appeal to many. It was easy enough to get stuck in looking at the usual environmental changes such as recycling, and turning the temperature down on your washing machine, however the cycle to work project was something a lot more exciting with a lot of benefits.
I took the brief and was able to find something a little bit different that I felt would appeal to people more.
As well as this, I'd never really worked at such a small scale, so it was a nice challenge. I had to make sure that the illustrations weren't too busy, and that the colours were simple and bold.
Evaluate the key considerations that you had to take into account when investigating briefs during this module
Audience is a big consideration when it comes to investigating briefs. It certainly played a major role during the communication is a virus brief, which was a group brief. Audience means a lot, and it's something that we had to really start thinking in depth about, in order to make it relevant and to also get results. All the concept has a lot to do with how the product looks and functions, audience plays a major role in things such as colour scheme and how people are going to react to the product. During this brief, we had to re-consider our audience have way through in order to make it much more appropriate and in order to get real results that would allow us to measure whether or not our products were successful.
Another key consideration was scale. The briefs during this module, offered us the opportunity to work at a number of different scales, from small to large. I really enjoyed the stamp brief, as it allowed me to work at a set scale, that I haven't necessarily worked at before. Working inside of a template was an interesting boundary within the brief, yet we still had the opportunity to explore further through the use of a first day cover. Scale is a whole different thing when it comes to designing a poster.
As well as this, experimentation had to be taken into account, in order to get the best out of the brief. It's easy enough to just get stuck on your first idea, instead of pushing it, or looking at other possibilities. Changes may even come half way through.
Evaluate the research activities that you had to undertake in order to resolve the brief
Research came in a number of different formats during this module, looking at primary, secondary, qualitative and quantitative.
The main research activity that occurred has to be going to the cafes and observing how our products functioned within a real environment. It was interesting to see how people reacted, and how something little could have an effect on people. It allowed us to measure how effective it was, if it was working, if we'd chosen a suitable audience and what exactly could be improved on. It gave us the opportunity to get feedback from people that weren't part of our course.
As well as this, we also completed a survey beforehand, in order to get a better idea of what exactly it was that would make people react in a positive way to our products. The results that we got from this survey were extremely useful, and they gave us focus. It's easy to become involved in what you think is going to be successful, however you need to remember to get the opinions of other people.
Secondary research also played a major role during my briefs. With the Stamp It brief, because the considerations were of great importance (recycling, the environment etc) it was easy enough to find credible websites and sources that would offer an insight. Trusted websites offered a lot of information regarding this subject, allowing me to find the cycle to work scheme. As it was a government scheme, it allowed for a strong foundation to my work.
Evaluate the examples of secondary research that informed your resolution
When it comes to look at secondary sources, it's always best to look at credible and trusted websites and/or books etc. so that you know your information is going to be correct as you don't want to be delivering the wrong information. For example, wikipedia has a reputation of not being the most reliable source out there.
I tried to stick to sources that I knew were going to offer me the right information, this included the BBC website, and also the government website which offered me a lot of information on the cycle to work scheme during the Stamp It brief.
dft.gov.uk
direct.gov.uk
cycle2work.info
Halfords is also a well-known and trusted company that works alongside the Government in there scheme, therefore I wasn't just relying on any old concept.
Evaluate the examples of practical research that informed your resolution
'The main research activity that occurred has to be going to the cafes and observing how our products functioned within a real environment. It was interesting to see how people reacted, and how something little could have an effect on people. It allowed us to measure how effective it was, if it was working, if we'd chosen a suitable audience and what exactly could be improved on. It gave us the opportunity to get feedback from people that weren't part of our course.
As well as this, we also completed a survey beforehand, in order to get a better idea of what exactly it was that would make people react in a positive way to our products. The results that we got from this survey were extremely useful, and they gave us focus. It's easy to become involved in what you think is going to be successful, however you need to remember to get the opinions of other people.'
Evaluate the breadth of initial ideas and visual ideas that you generated in response to the briefs
This is something that I feel I am progressively getting better at, particularly during the Stamp It brief. Admittedly, I struggle when it comes to getting my ideas down visually, and this is something that I say every time. However, I try and mind map out my general ideas before I get to designing, which is usually very useful. It's also helpful to talk to the people around you, and discuss your ideas in order to generate a better understanding of what it is that you're doing. I find that a good way to start is to get a load of general imagery down, that way you can use it on thumbnail designs. The use of thumbnail designs was incredibly useful when it came to designing the stamps, as it also gave me an idea about scale and what it was that you could fit on there.
I still feel that I could be producing a lot more design ideas before each brief, however I also enjoy getting my ideas down in writing. Working in a group during the Communication is a Virus brief was something I enjoyed. Although discussing ideas can sometimes become a bit conflicted, it's a good way of working out the different problems and resolutions. If you don't talk about it, you can't sort it. Bouncing ideas off of each other helped us reach the best decisions.
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