OUGD503: Responsive - Uber Critique

As this was the final point of contact for the first half of the responsive module before collaborative practice began, we were asked to bring along all the work we had produced for the various live and competition briefs for a 'uber crit'.

The feedback from the crit would ideally give us some final amendments to consider for the various briefs before the work was submitted to them formally. As well as the quality of the design itself we were also given feedback on how the work was presented through design boards.

So far I had worked on three competition brief for the responsive module, one significant brief for The Body Shop and two small briefs for the 'Love Your Body' Campaign and Secret 7" therefore I brought design boards which demonstrated the brief, concept and final outcomes for each of these briefs as well as questions which were specific areas I wanted to receive feedback on.

Overall I am extremely pleased with the feedback I received on the work that I presented, which was mainly positive and gave constructive suggestions on how the outcomes could be developed further before I submitted my work to D&AD.

One of the main concerns I had with the outcome I had produced for The Body Shop was whether the online campaign would actually work and be beneficial for the social campaign I had devised, I was reassured by the feedback that it was a strong concept which is appropriate for the target audience.

Although at this stage I had not quite finished the final outcomes for the Secret 7" brief, I brought along my concept board and a range of thumbnails of possible designs. From this the feedback I received was that my concept of using imagery of a 'cocktail' to represent the cocktail grounds for divorce as mentioned in the song was clever, therefore I will now begin producing this idea on Illustrator.

Following in the critique, we were briefed on the second half of the module which is 'collaborative practice' in which we are required to work with a partner on a D&AD or YCN brief. Once we had chosen our creative partner we were asked to choose three briefs to work with in our first session back and to fill in a brief questionnaire about our chosen partner.

OUGD503: Responsive Design Process 2 - Competition Brief 1: Love Your Body 2014, Evaluation

Evaluation

I chose to complete the Love Your Body 2014 Poster Contest brief as my first competition brief for the Responsive module as the purpose behind the poster is to raise awareness of an important issue I believe strongly in.

As the brief already had a strong message it was easier to design deliverables for the brief.  I personally believe that the concept of ‘what makes a girl feel beautiful’ which I devised was a successful aspect of the brief as it got the message of the campaign across without using the stereotypical imagery I had seen in the previous winners designs.

In order to improve this brief I was consider how I could extend the brief, perhaps into a larger campaign in order to challenge myself more, as the original brief only asked for one poster design which is a format I had designed for before and therefore was not particularly challenging.

Overall, I am pleased with the final outcomes I have produced in response to the brief. Within my design I used one image, which would not only portray my concept but also create an immediate impact on the audience, which is appropriate for the format of a poster.

OUGD503: Responsive Design Process 2 - Competition Brief 1: Love Your Body 2014, Design Outcomes

From the research I had collected into previous designs which won the competition, I was determined to use the competition as a opportunity to do something different instead of creating the same old cliched design. 

In order to derive a concept for the 'Love Your Body 2014' brief I began by producing a spider diagram  into 'beauty' what the dictionary definition of the word was, what I personally believe is beautiful etc.

Form this, I felt that the idea of 'what makes you feel beautiful' was the most appropriate as by feeling beautiful we love ourselves as we are which is the primary aim of the campaign. As simple as it may sounds, I personally feel most beautiful when I am told be it by friends or parents etc. As my target audience was young girls from 11+ I decided to focus on the idea of when a boy gives you a compliment or tells you, you are beautiful.

I then began producing some thumbnails of what the final design would look like, after experimenting with a purely typographic design, I decided hat mock-up how the quote would look as text message on a phone would be much more appropriate and engaging for the target audience.

As the format of my final design is a poster which will be displayed in schools etc. across the country the design needs to be striking in order to catch the viewers attention, therefore for my final design I have chosen to use the layout with one speech bubble.

Final Designs

Once I had chosen a aesthetic for my final designs I was then able to apply this design to more 'empowering' quotes to create a series of designs which I stated I wanted to propose in my final re-written draft of the brief.

OUGD503: Responsive Design Process 2 - Competition Brief 1: Love Your Body 2014, Research

In order to begin the research for the 'Love Your Body Brief' I visited the official website of the campaign in order to use it as a resource of more in depth information of the history behind the campaign, their beliefs and what they aim to achieve throughout the posters they have asked us to design.

I their website a particularly useful resource as the information on their was more in depth than what was detailed on the brief, and in turn inspired my initial ideas for the concept of my design.

NOTES

Previous Winner's

Another resource I was able to gain from the campaign's official website was a gallery of designer's who had entered work for the exact same brief in previous years and had won. Looking at this work gave me an idea of what had been done before, and therefore what to avoid.

Personally, I wasn't impressed with the designs that had been submitted for previous years, although they all effectively answered the brief they were quite 'obvious' in terms of message and concept, this therefore inspired me to create a concept and design which although meets the brief perhaps in a less 'obvious' way.

Dove 'Natural Beauty' Campaign

One of the contextual references I looked at for the brief was the advertising campaigns produced for the Dove products, I felt these campaign were appropriate as the advertisements are centred around the idea of natural beauty, using models which represent 'real' women in order to encourage women to love themselves as they are, a similar message I am trying to achieve with the 'Love Your Body' Campaign.

A particular like this simplistic concept, Dove has used within their campaign where the audience is questioned on their opinions of natural beauty, thereby getting them involved and creating something more interactive than the stand advertising campaign.

OUGD503: Responsive Design Process 2 - Competition Brief 1: Love Your Body 2014, Rewritten Brief

In order to fulfil the outcomes of the brief for the OUGD503: Responsive module we were asked to select one brief with substantial scope which we would be able to spent time on. I chose the 'Love Your Body 2014' Poster Contest.

Why did you choose it?

• The brief is to raise awareness / protest against an important issue which I personally believe strongly in.
• The brief already has a strong message which can be used to create a range of possible concepts / ideas for the brief
• The brief requires a poster as a format, which is something I have designed for before, and know how to design for, what to consider etc.

What do you want to get out out of it?

I want to create a design outcome which is to a professional design standard, something they, the client would want to use as their campaign.

What do you want to produce in response?

I want to create something which has a really strong visual message, and something that will be remembered for years to come.

What do you need to produce in response?

I need to produce a poster which is 'generally attractive' and which demonstrates that beauty is not limited by body size, body type, ethnicity, age to personal appearance.

What is the problem?

Nowadays the media is full of narrow, unrealistic, negative images or women and advertisers that profit from a woman dissatisfaction with their bodies, which in turn has a negative effect on young women.

What is the brief asking you do to about it?

Create a poster which counteracts the negative images and messages which are present in the media, and support the 'Love Your Body' Campaign.

What is the brief trying to achieve?

The brief is trying to raise awareness of natural beauty and encourage women to love their body for what it is.

Who will benefit?

It is the target audience themselves who will benefit from the brief as it is raising awareness in order to make them feel better about themselves and their body.

What is the message?

The message of the brief is that beauty is not limited by body size, body type, ethnicity, age or physical appearance.

Who is the audience?

The posters will be displayed in schools and other public settings, so as well as women in general perhaps their is a particular emphasis on younger females who are insecure about their bodies.

How will the message be delivered?

The message will be delivered to the target audience by poster.

Can you foresee any problems?

One of the main problems I can foresee with the brief, is the timescale I have in which to complete it, as the deadline is in less than a month, I am unsure whether this will be appropriate for the module.

LOVE YOUR BODY 2014

I began the design process for the 'Love Your Body' brief by highlighting the key information such as the message and target audience on the brief to enable me to know the main considerations I would have to make in terms of the brief and possibly start to create some initial ideas on how to approach it.

We where then given a 'Concept Statement' outlining what we are going to do, why we are going to do it, who we are doing it for, how we are going to do it and what we aim to produce, this will aide us when we are rewriting the brief for ourselves. 

Five Things You Need To Consider

• The target audience's feelings and opinions about their body
• How to create a dynamic message which is not immediately obvious
• How to counteract the media's use of unrealistic images
• How the design will work in public settings such as schools etc.
• How to encourage women to love their bodies

Five Design Products Related To Your Brief

• Advertising campaigns
• Inspirational images and posters
• Informative leaflets

Five Place Related To Your Product

As one of the main issues we had identified as a group was do you with target audience, we were then given a series of questions to answer to on this subject.

Who is Your Audience?

Young girls, still in school who perhaps are not confident with their bodies.

Who Should Your Audience Be?

Girls from the age of 11 (just started secondary school) feeling self conscious, not confident in themselves.

Who Could the Audience Be?

The target audience could be any woman who has perhaps had bad experiences, low self esteem or no confidence.

What do they do?

They go to secondary, they hang around with their friends, go shopping, go the cinema and they gossip with their friends.

Where do they go?

Their friends houses, shopping, the cinema and the park with their friends.

What do they buy?

They buy clothes, make-up, shoes, cinema tickets.

Who do they live with?

The live with parents, a family pet, and perhaps younger / older siblings.

We were then given some questions in order to start thinking about the concepts and ideas we would create for the brief we have chosen.

What can you do?

• I could create a memorable and dynamic campaign
• I could design a visually appealing poster
• I could create some sort of protest against the images used in the media 

What are you going to do?

• Create an campaign which has a creative take on the concept proposed
• Create a design which is visually eye-catching and memorable, and encourages girls to be confident in themselves

Why are you going to do it?

I am going to do it in order to raise awareness of an important issue I believe strongly in

What could you do?

Create a series of posters which follow the same theme, thereby having a whole campaign spreading the message instead of just one poster.

 
    1st Draft of my new brief

    Final Draft of my new brief