Final Major Project Proposal

DESIGN PRACTICE / RATIONALE

Within the Final Major Project I aim to work as professionally as possible. To me this means: quick turn around of work, consideration of audience and context, appropriateness and legibility of fonts and imagery and environmental and social accountability.

I want to create work that is ‘real’ – work that is useful in its own right or answers some kind of need as opposed to work that main purpose is to develop my design skills. However, while I want my outcomes to be ‘real’ and ‘professional’, this may be the last chance I have to experiment relatively risk free, and I intend to capitalise on this opportunity.

I also want to try and get an idea of where exactly I fit in within the graphic design industry. Although I intend on getting a job in a design studio as soon as possible after I graduate, I fully intend to set up my own practise a couple of years down the line. My Final Major Project could be a good chance to get in touch with other designers to inform my practise (but also as an excuse to show people my work).


DESIGN / CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT AREAS

The areas I wish to explore/develop are:

Branding – name, logo design, brand recognition, brand extension, strap-lines, positioning, etc.

Promotion and education – basic advertising strategy, audience, copywriting, mediums/formats.

The physical areas/outputs I wish to explore are:

Print – processes, effects, finishes, paper, sustainability, limitations

Type/layout – grids, appropriateness of fonts, legibility, integration of text and image, hierarchy, pushing limitations/boundaries.


PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

I plan to keep on doing small freelance jobs for free/little money to build up my portfolio and gain professional experience. I also intend to spend another week or two at Thompson Brand Partners, where I did a work placement during the summer and over Christmas.

I also intend to keep my personal blog and website up-to-date.

CONTEXTUAL REFERENCES / INFLUENCES

I have just ordered a subscription to Creative Review, making it easier to follow the creative industries – as I often find it difficult to keep up with what’s happening. As well as this I need to make sure I check design blogs/website.

Design wise, I would say my biggest influence would be Vince Frost. I can relate to, and look up to his intelligent and playful typographic approach to design, and see his work as something to strive towards.

I have found it hard, but would like to make more of an effort with my interests outside of design – BMX and learning more about the things I have been exploring or my dissertation. Not only do these offer a change from design, but inform my design by offering alternative perspectives. It was BMX in the first place that lead to my interest in video and, then afterwards, graphic design.


SUBJECT

I wish to practise design that promotes, informs and educates, exploring issues of ethics and social responsibility. My design should environmentally considered.

I do not necessarily want to promote a ‘cause’ (charities, etc) however I do wish to avoid the promotion of products/services that contradict any personal beliefs.


RESEARCH AREAS / RESEARCH ACTIVITIES

I wish to speak to other designers (possibly Frost) to ask how they went about certain briefs, print processes, etc.

Read design magazines and books, as well as current affairs ones – such as Adbusters, The Guardian, New Statesman, and the BMX magazines I read anyway (and that a lot of my friends contribute to) – Ride UK and Dig.

I aim to check design websites and blogs regularly – such as Type Neu, The Serif, Design Activism, Another Limited Rebellion, etc. As well as non-design websites such as the Guardian, Wikipedia, etc.

Whatever brief I decide to do I will obviously need to look at websites, journals, books, existing design, etc, to gather in-depth knowledge of the subject.

One very rough area I have considered looking as is asylum seekers as this is an issue avoided by the popular media. The majority of Britons don’t have a clue about what the difference between asylum and immigration, where asylum seekers come from and what exactly the tax-payers provide them. Due to the lack of information, this issue causes prejudice, and genuine concerns amongst British communities.

To research this area I will need to look at the limited informational material available, talk to organisations such as No Borders, Home Office, Refugee Council, etc., as well as research the oppositional organisations such as the BNP. I will also need to find out how much the general public knows about the issue.


INITIAL / PROPOSED IDEAS FOR BRIEFS

Rough brief attached.


COMPETITION / LIVE BRIEFS

I need to make some adjustments and collate my work to enter the ISTD competition in February.

I also aim to enter more competitions as they appear and when I have the time.


BIBLIOGRAPHY

Frost – Sorry Trees
The Advertising Concept Book – Pete Barry
Guerrilla Advertising – Lucas and Dorraine
Good – Lucienne Roberts
Conscientious Objectives – Cranmer and Zapaterra
100 Habits of Successful Graphic Designers – Plazm
Print and Finish - Ambrose and Harris
Special Effects – Allrightsreserved
Citizen Designer – Steven Heller
The Layout Book – Ambrose and Harris


JOURNALS

Creative Review
Adbusters
Computer Arts
IDN
Guardian
New Statesman


WEBSITES

Typeneu.com
Theserif.net
Worldstudio.org
Frostdesign.com.au
Designactivism.net
ALRdesign.com