OUGD403: Group Crit: Message and Delivery - Mail Shots

Mail Shots Development and Printouts

The Crit Feed back sheets which I received 

I am moderately happy with the feedback I've received, the text seems to communicate the message correctly and the intended audience is also correct. However, there are alot of things which need adjusting. Firstly, most importantly, is adjusting the variables to fit the brief, the sizing of the mail shots is wrong, it should be 220x110mm, mine is not. The original document in Illustrator is the correct size, however, due to the printer size adjustments and the crop marks being squeezed on the page, the mail shot as reduced by around 1-2cm, which I didn't notice. I'm pleased this was pointed out in the crit, otherwise I would have not met the criteria asked. 

Another error which was pointed out is the colour balance, in the illustrator file, I use two different shades of blue, and their half tones.  However, due to a printing error, again, some of the colours appear purple or grey, not looking like a half tone of one of the original blues, so, I must make this more clear in the improved mail shots. 

Another adjustment which needs to be made involves the sonar wheel, which can be found inside the leaflet, although I think this is a nice concept, It is hard to achieve, and it didn't work effectively. It was flimsy and it made some of the text hard to read, I also had difficultly obtaining appropriate split pins, so the ones I ended up with had a glittery texture, which do not fit the theme of the mail shot, so I'm going to remove it and only use the text under the sonar wheel.

Another dilema, I'm not longer able to access the digital print room, which means I'm limited to A3 paper only, so, I'm going to have to alter the fold of the page, so it fits on A3, rather than having a vertical crease, so it folds out horizontally which would exceed the page size, I'm going to have to have an horizontal crease, so the page folds vertically.

See further designs for the re-edit

OUGD403: Group Crit 9/11/12

Today, we had group crits. The crits were different to how we usually have them, we are split into two groups, and then asked to Crit three piece of work in 45 minutes. Which is unusual, although I enjoyed it! The Crit enabled us to get a wider range of feedback, getting feedback from three different people.

The crits not done in person, we were out of the room, whilst other people critiqued our work. This meant people could be more 'brutal', than they would be in person to you. Getting more honest feedback from the critiques.

The feedback I received was generally good, The three people, whom critiqued my work, all understood what I was trying to communicate, which was great news. As you can see below I have images of both sides of the critique paper, which they gave me following the crit.

Insert images here.

A couple of suggestions, which the critiques had, was to experiment more with colour, which I will try, However, the brief instructed only two colours, and stock (the paper) was to be used. Which, does not leave much room for experimentation, as the two tones of blue which I used and the White stock fore-fills. Another suggestion, which I was given, was to add some facts to the text pages, As the subject of Wales been affected by Sonar is not a common topic, so, not many people know the statistics. So, I shall try and include this in my next designs!

Apart from that, all feedback was generally positive. They said my images work together, and they communicated the message very clearly and easily, this I'm happy with.

OUGD403: 26/10/12 Group Crit (Newspaper)

For the group crit today, I presented the information from:

Research Post  | Research Post II

The research seemed to intrest the group whom I presented it to, the following discussion on which would be the best area to do extended research into would be sonar, and how marine mammals use sonar to detect obstacles and life forms without the use of sight. 

OUGD403: Group Crit

My work being displayed in the centre of the board here.

OUGD403 Alphabet Soup, Task 2, Group Crit

Today, we had to present our work so far in a group crit, we had to explain what we have done, why and what we hope to achieve - standard crit stuff. I saw some really interesting work for other members in the crit, and I really enjoyed seeing what over people came up with. 

When it came to my turn, I explained what I was doing so far.

The main focus of my delivery was this, the design sheet for the font. Based on Neville Brody's Industria, I explained how I've modified it to fit Lizzy's personality, in a subtle manner. 

I stated why I chose Industria, based on the work by Noma Bar, and how the two are similar.

The first thing I explained, was the most important, the exaggerated ascenders and descenders on the letter forms, which are there to represent Lizzy's style of speaking, adding the word "so" to empathises things. 

I also went to explain some of the smaller details I've added, such as the slightly rounded edges to the letterforms, instead of the shaper edges to represent Lizzy better, as she doesn't have a sharp personality, as she's a nice person.

Finally I explained some of the stuff I'd like to do with the font, in the week to come. The first of which is the add some of the shapes into the negative space, in the style of Noma Bar, which was also suggested by the Tutors in the progress crit. 

3 Things I need to do

Add the shapes into the negative space, in the style of Noma Bar

Fine tune the shapes letter forms

Work on the badge, as no work has been done as of yet

Alphabet Soup Self Evaluation

What I was asked to do

Produce a set, series or sequence of ten letterforms that explore and communicate your interpretation of the word that you have selected from the randomisers.

Using your newfound appreciation of the anatomy of typographic forms and the wealth of research that you have already gathered, focus on the manipulation of existing letterforms in order to solve this problem.

What I've done

I created 10 letter forms based around the word "Layer", I used a range of techniques and styles, manipulating letter forms, for the desired effect. I then was asked to narrow these down to five letters, which I believed communicated layer the best, those are displayed above. They were then assessed in a group crit, where, along with 25 other letter forms were narrowed down to the best. Sadly, they were unsuccessful.  

Was it successful?
I believe I've completed the task to a good standard, I finished the work on time, and I had all the letter produced to a good standard. The general feedback I gained was, for the most part, positive. I am very happy with the work I've produced, although there are always improvements to be made. 

What worked?
The layering of some of the letters, such as on K and Z worked really well, and really communicated the word layer effectively. 

What didn't work?
Some of the letters, which I tried to communicate the "layer" by using shadows. For example the T, didn't work, as it required very intricate shading, which I didn't have time to do.

If I were to re-do the project, what would I do differently? 
I would try to using the black and white layering technique in more designs, and scrap using technical drawings with shading.