Brief - Encounters

Encounters requested a photography booklet and identity, for an exhibition event, this experience allowed me to create another logo and apply a set of accompanying page styles to the booklet.

Other promotional pieces could swing the balance on the final idea selected, my promotional idea was snap shut wrist bands, however i failed to provide the sample, i was organised enough to have the sample but missed the opportunity when the work was being taken away.

Being more organised and having the ideas well thought though will be an advantage in future.

Brief - Knife Crime

The objective of the knife crime campaign is to educate and promote a safer environment using visual communication, with each designer on this project submitting a different style and approach, i wanted to target the general attitude to the stereotypical person who might feel the need to carry a knife.

It was useful to my skill set to create a poster element and logo, this allowed me to further experiment with design, i found it difficult to draw my ideas and then apply them to the mac software with enough accuracy to get the results i wanted, this was down to poor drawing skills, and little previous use of illustrator, at this point i realised i was out of practice with drawing, and will improve in future.

Brief - National Trust

The class was given verbal instruction to create innovative out of the box designs for a brochure, this was an opportunity to explore new ideas and techniques.

My design ideas were thought out and created digitally, however i reflected on my work too late and would of made changes, that could of enhanced the overall quality of my work, also being part time and unable to present my work myself, tho was a disadvantage as i was unable to explain my concept, however a good piece of design, need not be explained?

The experience was good as i had to create vector formats that i could use for print, obtaining quality support material such as logos at print standard was difficult so it was re-created.

After completing this brief and many others i think i would produce better and more efficient work in future.

D&AD - Competition Brief

The D&AD competition brief i selected was called Little White Lies, as this was to create an Illustration for cover of Little White Lies magazine, i chose this brief because my i had never before produced illustration, and saw it as an opportunity to practice.

My first draft was visually ok, but on reflection the brief was requesting something a little more creative, and out of the box, with that in mind i created a second piece of work after discussing my work with a tutor i produced a far better result, this taught me to fully understand the requirements of the brief or client and carefully selecting the right idea or solution well in advance.

Upon further reflection of the competition winner this year, i have an even better understanding of the competition, and the elements that helped success, i will bear this in mind for all my future projects.

YCN - Competition Brief

This brief was to create a piece of visual communication for a manufacturing company, although i was not entirely satisfied with my submitted design, i picked up a great deal of insight working on this project as initially i wanted to great a design beyond my ability, and soon found out when i ran out of time to compete the project, eager to apply myself and submit a piece of work i change my idea to a more viable and achievable solution within the time scale i had given myself to complete the brief.

I explored my idea and produced a piece of work within four hours before the deadline, this showed me how well i worked under pressure and how much work i can achieve, whilst also outlining areas where i can better myself for similar instances in future.

A high points was submitting work and a low point was realising better ways in which i could of got the intended message across in hindsight.

Self Promotion - McCammon Designs

The self promotion brief is my first project i have researched, this is a fantastic challenge, i will have to find out exactly what is required and rise to the required standards, looking at other students work has helped me to realise ways i would approach presentation of my work and understand that every designer has a different style and method of working, my styles and method are being tested as i try to produce my first brand identity for myself, I'm thinking i want a clean look that invites the customer with some elements of design but not over designed, just simple but effective is my goal at this stage, i hope for my work to stand out and show prominence with a clear brand, many online designers with high quality work in there portfolio have some sort of identity this will be considered during design processes, does a highly designed website of brand offer more opportunities than a simple site with great work? sometimes quite the opposite could be what the customer feels more comfortable with.

What is my goal? from logo brand identity and company ethics as a graphic designer in a highly competitive industry it simply must stand out be memorable and offer clients the design services that drive business success, i understand the importance or corporate identity and its strengths.

Consideration of domain names and what i will call myself? i like the idea of not being James McCammon designs, i think a name like Bullet Designs or Swift Studios seems more professional however mccammondesigns domain is available i have searched domains using heart Internet and made a decision to go with mccammondesigns and i will incorporate the letters M and D into my logo shape (see sketches in PF).

Upon researching other graphic design specialists i really like the high end quality of this company attitude design and their own logo being a simplified shape, this is like my own design style my logo designs will also start out as a simple shape demo the many sketched ideas ref (my sketches in PF)

Ref - [online] http://www.attitudedesign.co.uk/ - 19/10/11

I'm finding it difficult using illustrator for the first time, but what is more frustrating is taking my sketched designs to the mac and not quite getting the same results, but i know its just practice using this system and the benefits of vector formatting is a great asset to know the artwork will be looking its best, in eps. or ai. file types. Its similar to Indesign where I'm most comfortable working. However finding my way around the programme and getting used to working at the correct standard required should be challenging and offer the development of essential skills.

Feeling more confident creating logo designs in illustrator now, however i have realised I've taken too much time working on logo designs and found it more difficult to choose one i really like, the opinion of others has been very helpful, but ultimately it will be my final decision and i will be sure i know how and why I've mad my choice and feel confident in sticking to my guns.

Hands on Hygiene

As i understand this brief is to help create a strong awareness of the importance of washing hands within a hospital environment, i have obtained copies of the 2011 clean you hands campaign and researched online different ideas that have been done before, my first initial ideas had been done before so i decided to take a different approach, after speaking with a nurse currently working at the NHS Burton hospital with regards to how she felt about the hands on hygiene campaign, it became apparent that it was not a new concept and the campaign has been around for some years, after reflecting on my discussion, my design ideas changed to deliver a more simple message by creating a characters called 'Drip' and one called 'Drop' i have made my series of posters and campaign identity based on these characters, with the basis of forming a memorable campaign with a brighter message than previous years.

During this brief i have created my first character and series of posters, i feel my computer design work is getting stronger and further development of my characters could be advantageous by making them more 3D and adding lighting effects. However the simple design shapes used will create a more catching effect, i have understood my change in designs and approach after speaking to NHS staff looking at the walls within the hospital, as this differs from my mind maps and sketched concept ideas.

Mario's Brief

Mario's Salon, I went to see Mario and check out the feel and look of his existing salon, as the brief is to increase customers and produce a new logo, so i found myself looking at other salons in the area and compared their designs they all tend to have a classic black and white or black and chrome style using calligraphy style fonts

I want my designs to stand out and be memorable, avoiding the typical trend also using some custom shapes and super impose my final choices onto a photograph of Mario's salon frontage to indicate where i want to go with it.

I learnt how white space can be used to create an interesting design in the example above i created by drawing the facial shapes using the pen and path tool was a great exercise and i learnt how to use this tool much better that i could before hand.

Although the primary objective of Mario's brief was to create a new logo design for expansion and development of a secondary salon, i wanted to see what effect a simple colour change on the existing design could achieve as this would be highly cost effective.

All the designs created are block colour with out any fine details or textures, although effective for its intended purpose, it became apparent to me working on this brief my time management would have needed to be better to develop my initial sketched ideas or a decision made early on to develop one idea rather than many, however more design ideas at an early stage is also advantageous to explore more possibilities for the client.

During this brief i gained a better understanding of logo design and improved my skills using Adobe Illustrator, I've understood the importance of putting the client first and how essential it can be to encapsulate the vision of what the client is trying to achieve and working with them to provide the desired results.