Wednesday, February 28, 2018

OUGD603 Brief 06: Shortlisted

Shortlisted:



We received and email confirming that we were through to the next stage of development. This also meant visiting Peter & Paul studio in Sheffield to receive feedback on our concept. This is a really exciting opportunity and gives a little taste of the real working design world. I am really looking forward to working on this brief further and developing our idea with a creative professional.

OUGD603 Brief 06: Feedback & Submission Boards

Feedback:
Before we submit our concept we decided it would be a good idea to get any feedback on the idea to improve our chances. We asked Simon to have a look at what we had done so far, his main point of feedback was that the name 'Diffuse' needed to change. He felt that is had too many potential negative connotations with its meaning. However, he did like the visuals that we had done and liked the focus on colour. 

We began by looking at other potential names that we could use that would still work with the concept we were going with. 

We decided to change the name to 'Radiate'...
- (of a person) clearly emanate (a strong feeling or quality) through their expression or bearing.
- (of a feeling or quality) emanate clearly from.
- diverge or spread from or as if from a central point.

We felt that Leeds Arts University is the central point where creativity is nurtured and emanates from. Radiate is positive and highlights the good things that come from the university such as the community feel, innovation and diversity. 

Due to the name change we had to make adjustments to the visual media.

Postcard:




Posters:






Submission Boards:









Thursday, February 22, 2018

OUGD603 Brief 05: Internal Play Testing

Internal Play Testing:

We created another rough prototype to ensure the game play works effectively. We made 50 word cards, 50 image cards (using stock images/emojis), and 30 consequence cards. We wanted to use words/imagery that would provoke a response that could be potentially controversial, funny or stupid.

Prototype:






Adjustments:
- Words/imagery needs to be varied and reflect current trends and popular culture.
- A word or phrase needs to be said by the player placing the card down to act as a 'go'. This helps to make the speed element of the game more prominent and adds more excitement.
- Consequences need to be more refined take out some of the more immature ones as we want it to be accessible for an older audience. They also need to be simplified so that more players will take part and no one will avoid doing their card.

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

OUGD603 Brief 05: Concept confirmed

Concept Confirmed:

Today we met again to choose a concept we wanted to work with, sticking to our time plan. We decided to base the game on the card game 'Through the window'. This was because it was a simple game that could be easily adapted and acted as a good starting point to build on that hasn't been done before.

Initial ideas for adaptation:


We decided to make a very quick prototype from torn up paper with words scribbled onto them just to see if the game worked. We didn't include the consequence cards only a few cards for the main deck. 



We then wrote down any problems with the game-play that we found and how we could improve.


After we had discussed through certain points we decided that the main deck would be compromised of words and picture cards where associations could be made. We also discussed through the problem of the game possibly being more orientated to a younger audience and how we could get around this - we decided taking out the beginning phrase. It was suggested to add in popular culture references and things that would provoke different responses which could cause shock/laughter. Adding in certain rules also increases the difficulty of the game which would make it more appropriate for a more mature audience.

Based on this we needed a more playable prototype which incorporated all elements of the game as well as general outline of the rules to play to. We are in the process of creating some rough cards to be able to play the game with. We also drew up the rules to act as general outline for the game.






OUGD603 Brief 05: Further Research

Further Research:

After our meeting we thought about what we had discussed and decided that it was quite a lot to include in one game and that we may possibly be over-complicating it. Pictionary and charade type games have been over done and there are lot's of variations on the original which make it harder to come up with something new. We decided that looking at card games that we could possibly reinvent and make more relevant would be better so that we didn't over-complicate things.

Kathryn did some further research into the card game 'Cheat' and thought about how that could be developed.



I then found a card game called 'Through the window' which I had never heard of before.

The Object 
Win the most cards.

What You'll Need
A standard deck of playing cards and three or more players.

Setting Up the Game
3 to 13 players sit around a circle facing each other. The dealer shuffles the cards and deals them face down one at a time until each player has 4 cards.

Playing the Game
The dealer begins the game by saying "I looked through the window and saw...", just at that moment they turn up one of their four cards so all players can see it.

Each player including the dealer must try and say an animal, object or place that begins with the same letter as the card shown.  For example if the card is an Ace players might call out apple, aardvark or Arksansas. If the card is a 4 they might say freckles, frog or Florida. 

The first player to call out a correct word takes the card.  The turn now goes to the player to the dealers left. The player follows the dealers lead and says "I looked through the window and saw..." and flips over one of their four cards for all to see.

Each player creates a captured card pile separate from their original dealt cards.

Play continues in the same way with each player taking a turn until all the cards originally dealt have been turned up and captured.

During play no player can use the same word nor can another person use a word that has already been used to capture a card.

Winning the Game

The player who captures the most cards is declared the winner.


The game was quite simple and easy to understand and I think that it has the potential to change and be more engaging. Me and Emma created a mind-map to help us see how we could work on and change the game.



Initial thoughts:
- Penalty cards
- Themes - Movies/Books/Theatre/Music
- Customise deck to prompt words
- Using symbols to confuse starting letter - 'C' for circle
- Word association

Sunday, February 18, 2018

OUGD603 Brief 03: Initial Ideas (Sketches)

Initial Ideas (Sketches):

I decided to do some sketches of my initial ideas.




The pigs are the most dominant characters within the book and I thought about how they are effectively walking all over the other animals. I thought about a pigs hoof and the impression that would make - having it large scale will provide a strong, striking visual.


Within this design I wanted the pigs legs to be seen front to back cover, this would hopefully wrap around the book quite nicely. Type would need to be large and bold to attract attention in a dramatic way.


This idea represents the changing name of the farm - a literal concept, could potentially be a little too obvious / cliche.


Another concept which is more obvious, making use of the windmill which is a strong symbol within the book. The text in line with the arm of the windmill.

Saturday, February 17, 2018

OUGD603 Brief 03: Five graphic design ideas from the Russian Revolution by Steven Heller

Animal Farm represents the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the early years of the Soviet Union. Looking at graphic styles could help to inform the overall design.

Five graphic design ideas from the Russian Revolution by Steven Heller:

(https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/article/five-things-graphic-designers-owe-to-russia)

Minimalist Colour



'The Modern colour palette was minimal, primary and bold. Red was the primary colour – the colour of the proletariat, associated with working class revolutionary forces since the French Revolution of 1789. When paired with black, it creates a startling visual combination (see El Lissitzky’s Red Wedge, below). In addition to that pairing, yellow, blue and green were also frequently used alone or in combination. Colour ink was at a premium, so the use of just one or two colours was common; full or four-colour reproduction was expensive, and other stocks of colour were limited.'

This will be something to take into consideration when working out what colours to use, I think that I should try and stick with one or two colours. Red is also an important colour.

Abstraction and Geometry



'Among the progressive art and design groups were the radically abstract Suprematists, founded in 1915 by Kazimir Malevich. They introduced a formalist combination of pure geometry – the reduction of content to symbolic shapes and forms, along with a limited palette (see below). That unprecedented combination was the foundation upon which Constructivism – aiming to make art that reflected a modern, industrial society – and other European modernisms evolved. Anti-antiquarian works that proffered graphic revolution were the paradigms for waves of similar aesthetics in Germany, Holland, England, Eastern Europe and elsewhere. Many of these were, in turn, embraced by commercial designers and promoted by printing and typography journals in the capitalist world as codes for machine-age modernity.'

"Agitprop"



'All kinds of artistic viewpoints, from Cubism to Realism, became accepted expressive tools in the years that followed. But it was the unprecedented symbolic abstraction of Malevich and his contemporaries that became the recognised “revolutionary” art genre and the foundation of “agitation art”, or agitprop. In 1919, the Society of Young Artists was set up to produce posters and banners for social elevation and illumination, and a year later the Institute of Artistic Culture was founded in Moscow to train artists to produce design for proletarian use.'

Constructivist Typography



'Soviet graphic designers saw their work as a challenge to the old typographic order, and before Socialist Realism came to dominate the visual landscape (see below), avant garde typography was a defining element of the new Soviet aesthetic. Modern Constructivist typography was a melding of disparate typefaces in varying sizes. Typefaces were readable, but they were not composed on a page in the tradition manner of one or two typefaces in logical columns; instead there were multiple sizes and shapes within the same word or sentence.'

OUGD603 Brief 03: Time Plan

Time Plan:



I have done a revised time plan where I would ideally like to complete the brief within the next 5 days, which should be doable. If I work hard and stick to this plan I should be able to get it done within the time constraints.

OUGD603 Brief 05: Time Plan

Time Plan:



This is an outline of what we hope to achieve with the progression of the game. We hope to finish the brief a week in advance of the deadline.

Friday, February 16, 2018

OUGD603 Brief 06: Finalising Concept

Finalising Concept Ideas:

We met up as a group to talk through the new concept ideas that me and Emma had explored as well as going through any further research we had found. We looked through previous end of year show from other universities and colleges to see what worked well and what didn't, as well as seeing what we could do differently.



Mind map of EOYS'S:



Kathryn's idea mind map:



We decided that the idea to take forward would be working along the lines of movement and progression - looking at the words associated with that and how it could be visualised.

Visuals:



Name Exploration:

Diffuse
- spread over a wide area or between a large number of people.

Diffuse thought
- Diffuse thinking happens when you let your mind wander freely, making connections at random. While your conscious mind is relaxed, your brain is able to form a creative solution to a problem or finally link ideas that had been eluding you.

Disperse
- distribute or spread over a wide area.

Circulate
- move continuously or freely through a closed system or area.

Fluid
- a substance that has no fixed shape and yields easily to external pressure; a gas or (especially) a liquid.
not settled or stable; likely or able to change.

Flow
the action or fact of moving along in a steady, continuous stream.

Finalised Concept:

Diffuse, spread over a wide area or between a large number of people. This allows the mind to wander freely and make connections. This represents how creativity is spread throughout the university and the individuals that are apart it.

As part of the the presentation we need to do some potential mock-ups for posters, postcard and e-invite. Visuals were created using images we had found - none of the artwork is our own.

Postcard:




Posters:





E-invite:



The concept hopes to make use of bright colour combinations to provide a strong, striking visual.

We have begun to put together our concept boards for the submission and we will further finalise this on Monday.

Wednesday, February 14, 2018

OUGD603 Brief 06: Brain-storming Ideas

Brain-storming Ideas:

Today me and Emma decided to think of some new concept ideas so that we had more of a variation to work with. 



Main themes:

- Movement
Showing how we are moving forward as creatives and the progress we have made. As well as the visual actions that we do within our work.

- Connect
Showing the links between the courses and the connections we have made, creating a network / family of creatives. 

We wrote down some visual ideas that could be related to these themes, we tried to remain as broad as possible so not to be too specific right now.

We then created a Pinterest board with some visuals which would help to inspire us along the type of theme we wanted.



To progress any further we need to meet up as a full team to further discuss and finalise a concept that we want to run with.

Tuesday, February 13, 2018

OUGD603 Brief 06: EOYS Examples

EOYS Examples:

Looking at previous EOYS will hopefully give inspiration on how they are presented and the type of themes that are chosen.

Falmouth University - Foundation EOYS



The theme for this end of year show was "we all think differently", the design aims to focus on diversity and the way people see things differently. They have tried to show this through different coloured images within the brains. The design does look busy, but I like the theme and what it represents.

PolyU Design Annual Show 2013 Hong Kong



The theme for this show is "Moves", showing how young talents are moving forward in their creative endeavours, and the vision for design to drive positive changes in our lives. The design is simple which helps it be representative of a range of disciplines.

IADT Gradshow 2015



Designed in a “slap-up” style, vinyl signage—smaller call-to-action speech bubbles to reinforce the message.



I like how the use of colour and diagram show the link between the different courses that will be exhibited.

Leeds College of Art - 2011



The use of humour helps to add more interest for the show.

Bucks Art and Design Show 2017


Leeds College of Art 2015


University of Leeds Degree Show 


 Nottingham Degree Show 2010


Edinburgh College of Art Degree Show


Liverpool School of Art and Design Degree Show 


University of Northampton - Fine Art Degree Show


University of Brighton 2016