Communication is a virus...Development...Monday 21st group crit...

Monday 21st March: Group discussion

We started to look at colour and scale of our posters/ ideas today, we decided to stick to a fairly neutral colour palette, as we didnt want our posters to be too 'in your face', we want them to be almost poetic and our colours needed to reflect on this. Because our posters are typographic based and some of us are hand drawing them we figured that they would all have a different style to them, so we thought it would be a good idea to design a logo which help give visual consistency throughout the poster designs, we would also have them the same size and orientation, and using the same colours.

As a group we thought that it would be a good idea to come up with 5 final posters each, which would give us 25 different designs in total, because we each had a category to work with (mine being fitness). Because we are designing the posters to motivate individuals in our class we wanted a variety of designs and styles that would appeal to a large percentage of people, we want them to have an individual feel to them.

Communication is a virus... Crit two Friday 18th March...

The Crit

We had another crit with Jo and numerous points came up about our ideas so far.

- Should we be posing a question to our audience to try and get them motivated?

- Do we need to use a statement to get them motivated?

- Do we need to try and trigger guilt to motivate them or use a positive approach?

- Does there need to be additional information on our posters, such as advice on the poster content?

- We need to think about the colours we are going to use, for impact and legibility.

- We should look at self help books.

- How do we motivate people, what key technique can we use that would be effective?

- Could we put our designs onto objects such as t-shirts, tote bags and posters?

- Could we frame our posters to make them more valued than just a poster?

- How are we going to print our work, screen print, digital print etc?

With the feedback given i feel that as a group we need to discuss how we will apply the feedback to our idea in order to develop it. With the idea of focusing on the individuals needs rather than for a practical purpose, i think we need to decide what technqiue we are going to use, will we pose a question or include a statement to try and motivate the individual? It's important that we know how we are going to approach this.

With the designs that i had done, the feedback was that at the moment they were too practical and needed to have some kind of statement about running on it, like how running is good for you or why you should go running or to the gym. I think in terms of applying my designs to objects, it could work on t-shirts (because the inividual could wear it when they go running); water bottles (this is where i could design stickers to be stuck on things like this); gym bags (could use transfer paper to print onto a small gym bag).

I think it would be really nice to personalise out designs for our peers, hopefully it could actually help motivate them and give more to themselves.

What is a line?... Action plan...

Action:

Research ways of documenting skylines- look at photography.
Try out different media- paint, pen (different thicknesses), stitching, digital

Deadline: 18th March 2011

Action:

Photograph Leeds, also maybe Newcastle and Sheffield (money dependent)
I need a good breadth of photographs with different skylines

Deadline: 25th March 2011

Action:

Monday 4th April i go home to Cambridge- take photographs of a smaller city, i can also go to Ely and surrounding smaller villages for rural skylines

Deadline: 8th April 2011 (when i come back to Leeds)

Action:

On the 11th April i am going to Amsterdam for 2 nights- i can take photographs of the skyline there.
During the same week i will complete all my tracings ready to take to uni and to scan ready for digital manipulation.

Deadline: 15th April 2011

Action:

Continue to go into uni and develop ideas- make a final piece and complete work.

Deadline: 24th April 2011

Communication is a virus...self led group crit...

Group Crit

We discussed our ideas, after researching our initial idea of getting people to give more and came to a slight dead end. Our idea was to create a swap shop event where students could bring their artwork, materials and books that they no longer needed or wanted and they could swap them with other students. But we weren't sure if the event would come together and we didn't know if our idea was original, once we had researched this idea we found that everyone was doing it right now, there is the Papergirl event where artwork is given out free around Leeds. There was then an event TK Maxx were holding for Comic relief at the Town hall where artwork will be given away for free and they were asking for artwork from people. We also found websites that were swap shops, one was specifically a student swap shop online.

Another idea we had was to look at time and how some students waste time that could be spent giving. For example in the time it takes to watch Holby city, you could have given blood, and between a tv break you could have gone online and donated your organs. The idea was to make people aware of the time they were wasting and what they could be doing within this time that would be worth while.

What next...

We spoke to Amber about our ideas and discussed ways in which we could approach our problem in an original way, she said about focusing on getting people to give more time to themselves to try something new. For example Amber wants to start making lunch everyday but doesn't know what to do, how can we help Amber to make her lunches? We could motivate her, enlighten her with ideas or just come up with really simple ideas that we know would be practical for Amber.

We asked people in the class to tell us a problem they had that they would like some advice on, or even solving. A lot of the problems were to do with being active, like people wanted to go running or swimming but don't have the "time" or motivation. Our problem is their problem and our aim is to come up with a solution that will help them to give time to themselves to do what they need/ want to do.

Communication is a virus...first pitch crit...

Today we pitched our idea as a group for the 'communication is a virus' brief, we made 3 boards to show our idea, one for the concept, one for the content and the other for method of delivery. The pitch went well, we were told that the presentation boards themselves could be altered in terms of their design.

The main points made from the crit were:

- If we are trying to get people to give more then for our research we need to take part in an activity that is about giving, for example i am going to give blood and we could take something to a charity shop just as evidence that it is easy to give and to show that if we can do it then so can everyone else.

- We should look at the current market and try and approach our idea in a fresh, original way.

- We should look at free cycle and Leeds volunteering websites to research other ways of giving.

- We could look at the time it takes to 'give', for example how long does it take to give blood and try and tech people that if you have a spare hour what could you do in that time that would help someone else.

- We need to find out how many students give already (what and how much), what would make them give more.

- Following the crit we discussed ideas and what we need to do next, we made a list of things we could/ need to research and then split this into manageable do to lists, so we each had an allocated job to do over the weekend.

I am going to research giving blood and donating organs and i will also research how many charity shops there are in Leeds and where they are.

End of module self evaluation OUGD102...

Time management...

When becoming a proffesional Graphic Designer, the mastery of time management will be a very important skill. To succeed in life you need to have the perfect balance between work and play.

We had a time management talk, and had to write down what we spend our time doing, the results were a bit shocking and i realised i need to learn how to manage my time effectively in order to gain the most out of my degree program and life in general.

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Activities:

College activities:

- coursework
- essay writing
- updating blog

Domestic activities:

- washing
- cleaning
- cooking
- re-organising my room
- sleep
- getting ready in the mornings or nights out
- food shopping

Social activities:

- shopping
- cinema
- gym
- going on nights out
- TGI Fridays
- free bus
- facebook
- texting
- phone calls
- bbm
- watching TV

Other:

- Argos part time job

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General activities in percentages: on a weekly basis

- drinking 15%
- practical coursework 5%
- computer based coursework 10%
- social networking 25%
- self TLC 10%
- organising 2.5%
- personal care (gym) 2.5%
- boring jobs (cleaning ect) 15%
- Argos 15%

College activities in percentages: on a weekly basis

- blogging 15%
- mac room 15%
- CTS 2.5%
- eating 2.5%
- taught sessions 20%
- self directed study 25%
- lectures/ seminars 5%
- talking with friends 10%
- using the lift 5%

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After reviewing my own 'time spent' i found that i spend a bit too much time on things like facebook or texting when i could be doing uni work, im not very good at time management but i always get my work done. Its a case sorting your priorities out first (which dont include checking facebook updates) and then relaxing, theres no point trying to relax when really you know you have work to do.

I now have to do a week planner recording everything i do with my time... could be interesting.

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Week diary of my time:

Friday (following the time management session):

- 2 hours spent doing nothing at all!
- Went home and done literally nothing, just sat there and listened to music.
- Went to sleep for an hour at 5.
- Woke up and rang my mum for 20 minutes.
- Made dinner took 30 minutes.
- Friend came round and watched films for about 4 hours.
- Went ot bed.

Saturday:

- Woke up at 08:30.
- Got ready for work took an hour and a half.
- Left for work at half 10.
- Jumped on the free bus took 10 minutes.
- Before work i ordered my mum some stuff took 15 minutes.
- Worked at Argos 11:15 till 4.
- After work caught the free bus and went home took 20 minutes.
- Got home and made dinner took 30 minutes.
- Went to the shop for a few bits took 40 minutes.
- Went to the cinema with flat mate for 2 and a half hours.
- Got in and went to bed about half 1.

Sunday:

- Got a day off work for some reason, so went shopping.
- Got up at 10 and took an hour and a half to get ready.
- Went shopping all day till 5!
- Had dinner which took 30 minutes.
- Friend came round and watched a film for 2 and a half hours.
- Went to bed at 10:30.

Monday:

- Woke up at 07:00 for uni.
- Got ready 7 till 8.
- Had breakfast took 15 minutes.
- Pottered around till 08:40 and then left for uni.
- Got to uni at 09:00.
- Sat and chatted with friends till 09:30.
- Had a talk by Fred which was very inspiring!
- Had a lesson with Amber all afternoon.
- Got home at 4.
- Chilled out for an hour.
- Made dinner took 30 minutes.
- Rang mum which took 20 minutes.
- Rang friend which took 30 minutes.
- Watched TV for a few hours whilst doing uni work.
- Went to bed at 10:30.

Tuesday:

- Got up at 08:30.
- Got ready which took 2 hours including having breakfast too.
- Left for uni at 10:45.
- Got to uni at 11:05.
- Worked in mac room till 1 (brief: collection 100).
- Afternoon workshop looking at grids.
- Went home at 4.
- Made dinner which took 30 minutes.
- Rang mum for 20 minutes.
- Went for a run for 20 minutes.
- Came back and had a shower for 20 minutes.
- Made card glasses for collection 100 brief for 1 hour and a half.
- Friend came round and we went to the cinema for 3 hours.
- Came in at 10:30.
- Done uni work till 12.
- Went to bed at 12:15.

Wednesday:

- Got up at 09:00.
- Done uni work literally non stop all day till half 3.
- Got showered and went to staples to buy card which took 15 minutes.
- Came back and made dinner which took 40 minutes.
- Went to Morrisons which took 1 and a half hours.
- Unpacked shopping and had a drink for 20 minutes.
- Done uni work for a few hours.
- Went ot bed at half 10.

Thursday:

- Got up at 07:00.
- Got ready for uni for an hour.
- Had breakfast and pottered around till around 08:40.
- Went to uni.
- Arrived at 09:00 and chatted with friends till half past 9.
- Had a moving image workshop all morning.
- Went homne at lunch time.
- Done uni work for 2 hours.
- Cleaned flat for an hour.
- Had a shower and done my hair which took about an hour.
- Done some more uni work for an hour.
- Made dinner which took 40 minutes.
- Went to staples for 20 minutes.
- Sat in my flat mates room and watched her TV for 40 minutes.
- Friend came over to watch a film and chill for 3 and a half hours.
- Went to bed at half 11.

Friday (up till second time management session):

- Woke up at 06:00 to text friend.
- Slept again till 07:00.
- Got up at 07:00.
- Got ready and had breakfast till 08:40.
- Went to uni and worked till half 11 for TM session.


After reviewing how id spent my time during the last week i found that i do a lot of faffing around and procrastinating, but i always get my work done on time, so its okay. I guess everyone has their own way of doing things and managing their time. I did used to write a to do list nearly everyday but since coming back after christmas i think ive become a bit lazy. After this session and talks with Fred and Amber i think its about time i got my ass in gear!

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Long term Goals:

- What do you want to achieve by the end of the course?

I hope that i will get a good grade for my degree and that i gain a wide knowledge of Graphic Design and just enjoy my time here at uni.

- Do you want to own your own business?

Yes i would like to one day have my own business, not really sure what i want to do after uni exaclty yet, but that is one thing i would love to do at some point in my life.

- What is your ideal job?

To be honest i havent got a clue right now, maybe something relating to my degree or maybe something within Art Therapy, who knows.

- Do you want to work in this country or abroad?

After uni i would love to go to Spain to do an internship, im going to take Spanish lessons at uni. After this and some point in the future i want to go to America to work and see how it goes. To be honest i want to travel everywhere!

- What special interests are important to you?

I think im the sort of person that finds almost everything interesting, but in terms of my career i would like to in some way do something that helps other people, like from different backgrounds and stuff. I really enjoy Graphic Design obviously, but i just dont know what i want to do yet!