OUGD502 - Studio Brief 01 - Thornville Haus

Introducing Thornville Haus, a personal project from myself and my housemates of Thornville Road. This idea all started off one day when we found ourself bored so we set the challenge to design a poster in under three minutes, once the three minutes were up we revealed our designs and we believed that a brewing concept was behind it all and took the oppurtiunity to start Thornville Haus. We created an Instagram account to spread the posters online and we try to add a few designs weekly, but the rules have changed a bit since we set it up as we no longer design them under three minutes. The concepts behind the designs are not to be taken seriously as we give our own spin on trends, events and happenings in our humble abode such as the boiler breaking and leaving us with beyond freezing showers for three days.

At this stage we are just enjoying stepping away from University work for ten minutes or so to let something else occupy our mind, Thornville Haus allows us to express and explore our own styles in any way we want without having restrictions in a humorous way, thats what makes it so enjoyable. We've lightly discussed how we could take it further in the future by maybe making a publication of all the posters or even hosting our own exhibition showcasing the best designs.

OUGD502 - Studio brief 01 - Collaboration

Recently I helped out a fellow LCA student with a photoshoot, the concept behind the shoot was a unconventional cookbook which helps students. The style in which they were shot was a simple composition paired with a pastel colour palette. My job during the collaboration was just helping out with the layout of the food as a photography tutor recommended that my fellow peer focused on graphical shapes to inform the composition of the food so I was asked to help, almost art directing in many ways. Also working in a photography studio environment was personally helpful as I also got the chance to use a Phase One camera which I'd never used before.

OUGD502 - Glug event

"Fuck London", "It's not all about London" These were the frequent outcries from the recent Glug Leeds event I attended which was all about championing Leeds and the norths creative talent. Each talk resounded each other by stating that London is great but the real creativity and passion is 'Up Norfff '. The night started off with a talk by Studio Builds creative director Michael C Place,  for me this was the main attraction of attending the talk as I find Builds work inspiring and very much so a studio I'd love to see myself being a part of, so it was interesting to see where Michael started from and how he got where he is today.

The introductory slides, which for starters I found inspiring already as he started his presentation with a quick dash video of all the work Build produce, I noted this down as a possible way to present my work for the end of year presentation as it cuts out many slides and gives a brief insight into work without giving too much dense information. He used acronyms and a slick contemporary typeface for the titling of the presentation which gave the presentation itself a strong visual identity which helped engage the audience beyond norm, well for me it did. He then went onto to talk about what first got him interested in graphic design at a young age, early recognition were pieces of Iron Maiden album artwork as he found the type fascinating and still does as he believes it holds a contemporary stature thats stood the test of time. Even though he found the Iron Maiden artwork fascinating he still didn't understand what made him intrigued by the type until one day his school friend introduced him to a Letraset catalogue, and this is where the love for graphic design started.

As he got older other influences included Neville Brody, Rod Clark and Music and this happens to be what he went into after graduating from Newcastle College where I studied for two years. At the time designing music sleeves was a big industry and one that paid well he stated but after a number of years in London and 9 years at the Designers Republic in Sheffield designing album artwork the work become tedious and the demand was decreasing which I assume was down to the emergence of the internet which effected the music industry massively. Michael decided take a break and travel the world for year then returning to London in 2001 to set up Studio Build, Build has went onto becoming a famous and acclaimed studio which recently moved to Leeds as Michael said himself at the Glug talk 'that everything we need is here and Leeds is great'. His talk was inspiring as his love for music echoed my love for music and it was insightful to see how he has incorporated music into his work throughout his career, he then finished the talk with the message 'Have a wide spectrum of work'.

Other talks during the night were from Studio12, She does digital, Alec Dudson from Intern and Only studio. I enjoyed the she does digital talk as they touched upon the booming digital demand in Leeds which is relevant to the current OUGD504 brief. According to reports, 3,500 digital businesses are in Leeds and employing over 72,000 employees which is encouraging for digital design and graduates in Leeds. Overall I really enjoyed the Glug event as it gave me a chance to get an insight into a studio I pay close attention but also to see other creative work across other spectrums like the Studio12 which was about filmmaking and app design.

OUGD502 - Study task 02

This study task started with a lecture talk titled 'Whats the big idea?'.

• The idea you come up with is a strategy, the concept and proposal. 
• Think about the product, range and distribution.
• The best creative solutions are achieved through open mind thinking.

As a smaller task we had to note down ways in which we create ideas as individuals.

The main task we had for this session was creating two ideas for a past YCN brief in which you had to make Yahoo! the worlds most popular homepage. In a group of three we read the brief, highlighting key words and aims of the brief then we went ahead with brainstorming ideas for Yahoo!, we tried to stick to the list of idea generation skills we previously made in the session to quickly come up with the ideas in a short time. 

Idea one

A playful and engaging hub that adapts to your personality, the target audiences love of social media will be integrated into the hub offering quick and easy access to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram which will optimise the users experience and let them fully engage with social media. Personal touches such as recommendations popups which showcase website that relate to your recent search history for example "Hi Tom, we noticed you recently visited Uniqlo for a spot of clothes shopping, why not try out this similar website?", having these personal touches such as recommendations will optimise the users experience while on Yahoo! but the experience isn't all about when your actually on the hub, the hub never sleeps. You may close the hub but this wont stop it subconsciously searching for your needs, it'll recognise  popular searches and interest then update you of its results; almost like a personal report. What makes the hub personal is its attention to yourself as a user, it'll pick up on language and tone of voice and replicate it to make visiting the hub enjoyable and most of all, to make it the worlds most popular homepage. 

Idea two

The specific target audience is 13-18 years old so as a group we asked ourselves what is important at this stage of your life? The gap may seem small between 13 and 18 but a lot change happens in a young persons life at this stage. We noted down social, education and employment as three main factors of a young persons life and after a brainstorming we decided upon employment to base the homepage off. Finding a job at this age is a daunting task, for many people it may just be a part time Saturday job or a full time job for a school leaver but the problems they face are often the same. Where do I look? How do I write a cv? Who's employing at the moment? these are just a handful of questions asked by youngsters eager to get a foot in the door. So the answer is that Yahoo! turns all its attention to a homepage that is specially designed to getting you a job, more laid back than LinkedIn but the same end result.  

OUGD502 - Studio brief 01 -  Valuing my work & Student Bite Logo

Recently I was contacted by a close friend about one of his friends at university who required a logo for his Business project. I was open to produce a logo for him as after initial talks about what he wanted, he added that the work would be paid. At this stage I was unaware of the payment as he had to discuss it with his group first, but I had the figure of £20 in my mind as I put into context that they were students such as myself so funds are low. Recently I had a lecture on how to value my work and thanks to this talk I was able to put into account ways in which to value my work, first of all my time had to be accounted then my skill set, as he already informed me of what he wanted then no research was required; if it was then I'd have to charge more than £20. I felt £20 was a fair price for the service I was providing and if they weren't students then I'd be charging much more.

As you can see above he offered me £5, which I found funny in all fairness. I understood that the group are students and funds are low but I'm a student myself and cant afford to offer my time cheaply. I contacted back telling him my price and within a day he was able to pay the price. He specified that he wanted a black, mustard yellow and dark green colour palette with type layered 'Student' then 'Bite' below it with a chef hat at the top. He made it evidently clear what he wanted, so I took it upon myself to create the logo in Illustrator which in total took me roughly 40 minutes to make.

The logo which I produced is nothing I'm entirely proud of, in fact I dont like it all but its what he specified and he was happy with the end result so this was an example of supplying the client with exactly what he wanted. If I had more time on this and was able to research and put my own spin on the logo then I believe the logo would come out much differently.

OUGD502 - Studio brief 01 - Only talk

We had a visit from award winning design and strategy studio Only, it was an interesting talk as they initially started by talking about common misconceptions of digital design and how people often think you have to code to be a digital designer, when you don't. 'It's not proper design' and 'its boring' are other misconceptions of digital design, Only made it clear that digital design gives the designer endless opportunities to create and allows no restrictions due to a constantly evolving area of design.

Digital design is now the primary way of consuming a brand as its the first point of contact, Only showed us their phases when producing a digital solution to a brands needs. The first being research, looking into the user of product and creating personas is a crucial part of research as many times it gives the answers to the problem. After research wireframes are mocked up to give the designer a feel of the work and to get a rough idea of what it'll look like in sketch form, then once this is completed Only develop these in the design process. Front end and testing follows to complete the stages, learning how a digital design studio work was helpful as it'll help me plan out my work for this brief.

Once the talk was finished they allowed the class to ask a number of questions, one of my peers asked the question 'Does the studio have an overall aim when creating a piece of work' the response was that Only create digital responses that are accessible for all audience and that anyone can access the content, so this would be classed an aim of the studio. I took this on board as an aim of my own for OUGD504 : Studio brief 02 as I want to create something that is available for all. Other helpful things I learnt from this talk was that space is important when creating digital designs because it helps you distinguish content more and Adobe have an app that allows you to view design on your handheld device.

OUGD502 - Studio brief 01 - OUGD504 : Studio brief 01 / Evaluation


Firstly this brief has allowed me to further my knowledge and practice in editorial design, this is something at this current stage in my practice I am extremely interested in and keen to further in my studies. In previous editorial design briefs, Ive never had to fully consider the audience and production of a book as I have in this brief, so studio brief one has allowed me to look at editorial design in a different scope. This has made me research differently and approach certain processes with more of a informed decision behind them, rather than designing something that is aesthetically pleasing with no underlying concept behind it.

When I was mildly briefed for this studio brief back in May, when as a class we were told to shoot type in context. My first interpretations of the brief were that we had to shoot the individual characters of the alphabet from A-Z, so I took the opportunity while in Amsterdam over the summer to shoot images for the brief. This was the first benefit of the brief as it allowed me to collect my own content for a book, something I didn't do much of in first year for editorial projects. I came away from Amsterdam with a string of images I was proud of, and happy they fitted the brief description of type in context within a certain location. Once I returned back to LCA in September I was fully briefed, and at first I was worried as I thought the images I collected were wrong and couldn't be made into a fully fledged concept for a book. After some initial thoughts into a concept I decided upon 'Amsterdam is misinterpreted by youth', from there the brief started for me as I was able to undertake some crucial research that would heavily inform the design and production of the book.

Research into book and publications was enjoyable for this brief, as for the first time I was looking at them from a different perspective. Looking at target audiences and why they've been produced like they have really inspired me and opened my eyes to the informed decisions behind design that is heavily influenced by the target audience. Researching into dutch design was profitable for the brief itself but also my personal practice, looking at inspirational studios and designers like Experimental Jetset and Wim Crouwel engaged me on a personal level which made the research more enjoyable.

When it came to the production of the book, I enjoyed putting the content into place in Indesign and stylising the book informed by the research. The design of the book was influenced by the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam but the outer design of the book (cover and bag) was designed in a way to catch the target audiences eye in a humorous manner. Each process was informed and I particularly enjoyed the screenprinting onto plastic bags process, as this was experimental and I wasn't entirely sure if the process would work but the final piece looked as I planned and received positive feedback. Learning how to use different equipment like the power guillotine and learning new things about commercial print in research was a valuable part of the development of this book as It allowed me realise my previous mistakes I'd made in past projects when coming to print the final piece.

In production I did come across a number of hiccups, including the cutting of the book. For the first test print I decided to use a stanley knife to cut the paper, as I rushed this process I accidentally trimmed it wrong which meant I couldn't perfect bind the book to test how it looks. This mistake seemed to repeat itself when I used the power guillotine for the first time, I forgot to place the pages in order which meant I accidentally cut page numbers off. These mistakes proved to be very expensive mistakes as I had to print the book four times to get it how I wanted it but one positive from this was I learnt from each mistake and learnt new skills along the way. I am happy with the finishes and process I went through as I know they were relevant to my concept, if I was to produce a book about the rich type of Amsterdam then it would a necessity to produce the book to a high standard in terms of finishes and binding, but on the other hand my book is about youngsters solely having the view of cannabis and the red light district when they think of Amsterdam so a cheaply produced book which attracts that audience is suitable.

Overall I am happy with the final book, I know if the book was to be commercially printed then a lot of things would be different but as it was produced with what I've got available here at LCA, I believe it is successful and desired. What I most enjoyed was the process of linking research and production continuously throughout the brief to produce a final piece that can be desired by a target audience.

OUGD502 - Studio brief 01 - Upcoming events

Claire Holdstock : Periphery @ Assembly House 24/11/16 - 26/11/16

An exhibition of clean edged architectural assemblages constructed from plastic sheets, concrete and plants. Claire constructs addresses high modernist design whilst alluding to the peripheral spaces in our cities.

Sweetshop @ Hyde Park Book Club 19/11/16

This event explores new outcomes for sustainable issues, designed to mix elements of sustainability with art, music, fashion and film in an interactive space.

Everyday Objects @ Munro House 1/12/16

A re-imagining of everyday objects that reside in our homes by designer Jason Tyler.

OUGD502 - Studio brief 01

Last year in my personal and professional end of year presentation I highlighted that in second year I wanted to increase my online presence for the chance of my work getting more exposure and possibly networking with other creatives. It was around May when I set up a personal Instagram design account, through Instagram it made it easy to reach out to other like minded designers and creatives who may like my work, initially I just wanted this to be a platform to showcase my work but as it developed it was a way of communicating and appreciating with other creatives.

Now I'm in second year the account has grown considerably due to work being uploaded and being recognised but the one piece of work that kickstarted it all was OUGD406 Studio brief 04, in which I had to create a response that would help the incoming first years to the course. My response was a nightlife freshers visual guide which informed freshers of the best clubs to visit in the city, I chose this as it was a big problem of mine when I first moved to Leeds. The guide was stylised in a modernist illustrative style, I illustrated each club in a line drawing style then designed the guide in a modernist grid. Personally I was very pleased with the end resolution for this brief, so I decided to shoot product shots in a studio then upload them to my Instagram account.

The response from this upload increased my followers overnight resulting in enhancing my online presence, I tagged each club which informed them of what I'd done. The first to repost an Illustration was Belgrave Music hall and Canteen, with Belgrave having 16 thousand followers it gave the illustration a wide audience unlike my own Instagram account did. Other reposts on Instagram followed, with Headrow House, Wire Club and Canal Mills all posting the illustration to their feed with links to my account. Another benefit from this was surprisingly making money, I was privately messaged with a request for a print of Belgrave. So I screen printed a small number of Belgrave prints and sold one for 20 pound, this was a new experience for me as I didn't know how to measure the price of my own work.


I was in contact with the people at Canal Mills and Wire, exchanging emails etc and letting them use my artwork as long as I was credited. Wire went onto using the illustration as a profile picture on Facebook as well as printing the print, and placing it in their head office. Akaplate was an account which showcased innovative graphic design uploaded an image of my work, the account doesn't exist anymore, most likely because they never credited the designer. Although it annoyed me that they took my work without asking or crediting me, it was still encouraging for a design account to appreciate my work.

Thanks to my Instagram account Ive been able to enhance my online presence massively over the last six months, and hopefully in the next six months it'll be even bigger.