Working with Craig went well. We both had similar ambitions going into this brief and also for the future. Our common interests are typography and corporate identity. We applied our skills with type and layout together to an extent however we each generated our own outcomes and drew them together to make conclusions. We worked mainly in college but also at each other’s houses. In fact most of our good ideas came from being out of college, perhaps because it was easier to focus on our brief without others working on their briefs around us.
The contract that we wrote and the roles we applied ourselves didn’t always stay as we had planned. It worked out well in that way, because we worked so well together that it seemed as though we should spend as much time working together as possible. We generated lots of ideas while together but almost always agreed not to test them, on account of them seeming weak from the beginning. If there is one thing I have learned it is to at least develop any idea to a point where it can be clearly seen to not be effective.
The work produced was good overall. We should have tested a wider variety of concepts and also generated far more visuals. Though the final designs were strong in my opinion. The concept was strong although to really have the desired effect it would need to be produced at industry standard, as the scratch and sniff process is impossible to actually achieve. But for the sake of proposing a concept it works.
My personal involvement within the brief was to be the photographer, layout designer, re-touching photographs and organisation. This worked well, with Craig being the main visualiser of initial ideas, as he has a very good eye for drawing quick ideas of anything you throw at him. Concept and idea generation was always done together because we figured if one of us didn’t understand the direction as well as the other, the work would not be balanced. As the brief progressed the role of organiser and time manager became more important as it was my role to make time for printing and photo shooting.
The typography module helped with some of the layout issues although I feel we could have refined it further and looked at some more interesting layout ideas. However this was an advertising brief, so the overall outcome had to be accessible at a glance.
Overall I am happy with this brief acting as a segue from second year leading into the FMP. I am definitely more confident with my own designs and believe in the choices I make. Working as a collaboration is something I want to look into over summer. I have several very talented friends, who study a variety of media production including photography and film editing and shooting. This will give me a chance to practice my editorial skills in both digital and print media. Looking forward to it.
