YCN - Current brand / aesthetic

Logo / brand

Sans-serif, lowercase word mark with subtle rounded terminals add a personal and friendly aesthetic. The tagline, 'nature delivered', fits neatly within the framing and as it is an online service,  '.com' has been added to the right-hand side of the frame. There seems to be too much emphasis on the letter 'g' despite having no importance to the graze branding. 

Box packaging

The graze box - 'just wood, vegetable ink and a bit of water'. Luke ordered the following (should be getting another soon). The front, on first glance, seems relatively dull. A couple of years ago I ordered my own and remember them using white ink as opposed to what they have used now which created much more impact.

The inside - colour, photographic print on the underside of the lid. There are 4 segments containing 4 plastic containers each with a different product. The nature photography, however, doesn't represent the produce you receive - though it does connote the natural and environmental aspect of the company.

The multiplicity of different styles (photography, hand-rendered type and illustrations, vector iconography etc) do not balance well and needs to be more refined. The box needs a refresh which is exactly what the brief outlines.

Website landing page

Once signed in, the first page you view is the following; outlining your deliveries, foods you may like and any other personal details in relation to your boxes. However, due to the many styles and approaches in terms of design, there seems to be an overload of information upon first viewing. Effective user interface is key and it currently seems fairly difficult to navigate.

YCN - Graze

Graze, put simply, is 'nature delivered'. It is promoted as a healthy and nutritious alternative to unhealthy snacking throughout the day. With weekly or daily deliveries, you can personalise your order to suit your needs online by selecting what products you'd like to 'try' or 'bin', for example.

The Graze box

Currently, they offer 4 different boxes - one entitled 'NibbleBox' and the other 3 focusing moreso on its health and nutrition benefits. Aforementioned, you can choose from a selection of produce - from breads and flapjacks to nuts and olives. 'We hand pick your box based on your tastes'.

There is no differentiation between the 4 boxes in terms of design aesthetic - only the produce is different. Maybe there should be some form of distinction in order to clarify what the Graze range is.

Approach / aesthetic

Throughout the graze website and on their products, there seems to be a range of different approaches in terms of design direction and no uniform brand aesthetic. The second image in particular, showcases how they use hand-rendered illustrations and type alongside quality photography but it doesn't seem to 'work'.

YCN - Brief Workshop

Breaking down a brief through questioning and analysis

What is it asking us to do?  

1. Make the Graze brand more distinctive and desirable.
2. Refresh the Graze box - Appealing to a wider audience.
3. Create a distinctive and unique brand identity that is versatile across a range of materials / deliverables.
4. Direct mail marketing campaign to increase customer base and audience.
5. Overall, be considerate about its impact on the environment.

Problems we are being asked to solve.  

1. Satisfy the customer.
2. Improve upon the existing brand.
3. Communicate what Graze does and has to offer.
4. Devise a promotion to entice new customers.
5. Revive the brand, and increase sales.

Below is a breakdown of what the brief is asking us but a more simplified version.

Content / Subject  
- Graze Box
- Nature
- Nutrition
- Health
- Online

Audience / Context  
- Office
- Work
- Female
- Premium
- Honest
- Environment

Media Distribution  
- Digital
- Direct Mail
- Promotion
- Internet
- Print

Product / Deliverables  
- Logo
- Box
- Promotion
- Brand
- Marketing

For next week

Research - look at competitors in terms of products, brands and general contextual research
Find out what problems you need to solve that are not necessarily outlined in the brief
How do you intend to solve these problems?

YCN - Contributions / Contract

After the pin-up workshop, we were required to (individually) fill in a sheet outlining why we chose our creative partner, what skills we can bring forward to the collaboration and what joint responsibilities we believe we should have. Subsequently, we then had to pair up and fill in a contract which listed our individual responsibilities, found below:

YCN - Workshop / Recruitment

After the semester briefing and presentation, we were told we had to devise 2 A3 ads within a 2 hour time limit in preparation of the YCN collaborative brief (Part 1). One had to list our individual skills - what we can offer and the other needed to consist of what kind of designer we wanted to collaborate skills, what skills balance our own.

I decided upon a minimal and structured approach (referencing a couple of skills I outlined) and my design practice as a whole. I used a few icons I previously designed for my 'design a day' (joedesignaday.tumblr.com) and devised a few others to reinforce the text due to the limited time limit.

ME - Own skills

After pinning our 'me' sheets on the wall (as anonymously as possible), we were required to tape 2 sheets to 2 different posters - one listing 5 reasons why the content appeals to us and another in regards to the design aesthetic. These are the posters I designed:

(Quality seems to have deteriorated when exporting)

And this is the feedback I received, really pleased (all based on design)

- Simple but effective
- Informative
- Good combination of type and image
- Clear
- Considered

- Simple / Minimal
- Clear
- Communicates
- Effective
- Stands out

- Minimal, crisp, clean design
- Good consideration of layout and overall design
- Simple monochrome colour palette
- Direct and to the point
- Considered illustrative style

- Simple, to the point
- Good visual communication of skills
- Clear understanding of some of my needed skills
- Considered layout
- Considered typography

YOU

We then had to put our 'you' posters on the wall and chose who we would like to work with based on the skills they outlined in reference to our own. We were told to ensure everyone had one note each so everyone had a response. We were also given a second chance if we missed out on our first choice therefore in the end, we each had 2 responses - providing an idea on who we could work with.

- Strong research / Broad range
- Well developed concepts
- Practical resolution of deliverables
- Partaking in image module
- Well committed to briefs
- Similar style of working

- Concept
- Committed
- Research
- Image
- Method

Me and Luke decided to work together based on the fact Luke is currently doing the image module whereas I am doing a type. We have similar interests in terms of design direction and as we have previously worked on the enterprise module together, we know we work well together. 

YCN - Briefs

"Since 2001 YCN has orchestrated and curated a series of educational and professional development programmes; aiming to stimulate, support and showcase emerging creative talent."

I downloaded and read through all of the briefs available on YCN in order to choose several which I believed I could engage with. We were required to choose 3 we liked the most or those which had the most potential and 1 that we would never work with.

scans

OUGD204 - Shape / Colour Task

Just using 1 Shape and varied tones of 1 colour, connote the following words simply by changing the placement, orientation and scale on the page. It was noted that this is what we need to consider when arranging elements within a publication layout, for example - there has to be a reason for everything - choice of font, scale, weight; everything has a voice.

- Dreamy
- Aspiring
- Powerful
- Calm
- Intense
- Relaxed
- Stormy
- Precious

OUGD204 - Type Session 5

Leaflet from last week

Gatefold leaflet with inner page listing the reasons why and how you start an allotment.

Other main content (regarding getting a new plot started) is listed on the page adjacent

Update for feedback

One image missing

Break up paragraphs in 'original allotments' paragraph

General spacing issues - alter leading inbetween paragraphs

Utilising white space to create emphasis

The size, the weight and the spacing surrounding the content alters the way someone reads the content. Utilising the white space is essential in breaking up content and controlling how it is read. Within my leaflet, I removed the line break between the later sub-headings and although the last 2 paragraphs are under the same subheading, it seems the content consists of 3 different paragraphs.

General notes

- Find the longest sub heading, enlarge it to a suitable size and use this as the format for all other sub-headings

- A page works when there is a geometric relationship

- Learn subtle skills to create white space

- Where should a line be broken?

- Style > Format for line indents

OUGD202 - End of module evaluation

Top 10 - Final packaging

Final packaging design with a perforated film reel that reveals the title, 'Top 10 Films of 2011' set against an orange background. When fully perforated, the two sleeves open out and inside is a roll fold insert that holds the CD. The number '10' consists of all the icons used within my title sequence.

Top 10 - Final sequences

Title Sequence
Top 10 films of 2011




Ident 1
The King's Speech





Ident 2
The Inbetweeners





Ident 3
Bridesmaids





Ident 4
Harry Potter

Silent Movie - Finals & Post-production storyboards

Post-production storyboards - Taking the most important frames / segments




Silent Movie 1 - Spinning yarn/wool enters the frame and forms the word 'spin'

Silent Movie 2 - Spontanous increase in size, rotation and speed. Final subtle rotation of the letter ‘S




Silent Movie 3 - Letterforms appear from behind the viewer and rotate into place in the centre of the frame




Silent Movie 4 - Spinning letterforms that consecutively enlarge towards the viewer




Silent Move 5 - Additional cursive characteristics slowly form

Silent Movie 4 & 5

Silent Movie 4

Each letter will consecutively enlarge towards the viewer and out of the frame. I therefore separated each letterform onto a different layer in Illustrator so I could transform and manipulate them individually.

Initially, I attempted to enlarge the letterforms towards the viewer and alter the speed graph so the letterforms spun fast but reduced in pace when they reached the 'front' of the frame. However, I couldn't get the timing right:

I altered the letterforms to leave the frame instead:

Silent Movie 5

Based loosely on my initial storyboards (featured below - a combination of all but 4), I wanted to manipulate an already existing cursive font and extend this with more exaggerated cursive characteristics. I created one layer - the 'normal' state and another with the added decorative features. I used the write-on tool to achieve this affect and spread the keyframes over the 5 second timeline.

Top 10 - Packaging - Digital

Although the box / reveal concept wasn't as feasible as I hoped, I still wanted to retain the film reel concept which revealed a design of some sort within the insert that held the CD. I looked at using the formation of icons into the number '10' aswell as solely using type.

I was initially going to have a monochrome colour palette but decided it would be more striking if the insert was a solid colour to create an effective contrast against the white outer packaging.

Top 10 - Packaging mock up

An initial mock up design based on the perforated film reel concept. When I got round to doing the insert - a mould containing the CD, it proved more difficult than expected as it was only 1cm deep to fit the CD in perfectly (whereas the packaging as a whole was 2cm deep). Although I won't go ahead with this idea, I will definitely retain the perforation concept.

CD = 120 x 120mm 

Mould = 170mm x 180mm

Outer = 210mm x 220mm

Perforation = 20mm in height

Top 10 - Packaging designs

I wanted to use the film reel I used throughout my title sequence and idents as a basis of my packaging design. One initial idea I had was to use this as way of accessing the CD - possibly perforated. The reel could be situated in the centre of a box which can be separated into two drawers by removing the perforated film reel. This reveals an insert underneath - maybe a perfect mould for a CD case? Or the CD itself?

Top 10 - Ident 4

(1) I decided that when the background appears, the Harry Potter glasses are already positioned in the centre as it seemed to fit in sync with the music moreso than if it were to appear from outside the frame.





(2) The scar appears on the 3 main beats in the track

Top 10 - Ident 3

(1) Final rollover appears from the top of the frame. As the backgrounds are exactly the same for both the bridesmaids sequence and the channel info, this transition does not work as well as the other idents (which  have contrasting backgrounds).

(2) Circular transition enlarging from the centre

(3) Background appearing from the right of frame

Top 10 - Ident 2

(1) Using the Inbetweeners Movie as the basis of my second ident. In this example, I have looked at solely incorporating the tie though the final outcome lacks substance. I have again used the scrolling text effect, landing on the inbetweeners instead.

(2) Added beer bottles in quick succession immediately after the film reel - possibly too fast? There are several timing issues which I need to resolve for the final ident.

(3) Bottles appear later and scrolling text appears mid-way through the beer bottle segment. The timing now seems more fluid.

Top 10 - Ident 1

I have chosen to do 1 film per ident therefore I chose the 4 sequences I believed to be the most effective and would work within the limited time frame. For the first ident, I chose 'The King's Speech' as I like the way the microphone pulsates in sync with the 3 beats of the track.

I used the following type sequences from Sherlock as inspiration for my scrolling text:

For the scrolling text, I simply used an extended paragraph which is hidden by shapes filled with the same colour as the background. There is probably a more efficient way of resolving this but as my video features solid backgrounds, I decided to use this process (I should really look into how to achieve this).

As I wanted to give the impression the text was scrolling on a wheel and ending on one line of text, the natural motion would be for the wheel to slow nearer to its end - quick entrance, slow end. I altered the speed graphic to try and achieve this, as seen below:

(1) Based on my storyboards, I started the ident with the film reel that is featured in the beginning and end of my title sequence. This is subsequently followed by red circle which increases in scale and forms the background for the King's Speech segment. Aforementioned, I incorporated the pulsating microphone and positioned the keyframes in sync with the track.

(2) A dark grey background appears from the top of the frame to form a uniform background for the channel information - this will be featured in all of the idents to create a consistent identity. This was based on my initial design ideas.

(3) I altered the speed graph of the grey background to create a more fluid and smooth transition. It enters at a quick pace and slowly reaches the bottom of the frame.