End of placement

I completed my time with TileyWoodman on Thursday the 11th of June having spent the entire week beginning the 1st through to the 5th. I then returned on the 11th to finalize and print my concept boards. Overall I am very happy with the work I have produced in such a short space of time. I feel that the visuals reflect my current way of assessing briefs and overcoming tasks of this nature. The feedback throughout my time in the studio has been very constructive and helpful in tweaking and refining my work. I was at first, despite being confident in my abilities; a tad apprehensive about how well I would cope with being thrown into a studio based environment. However the combination of a year's study in graphic design, and a room full of friendly designers made me feel completely at ease and prepared to do some design! 

My time with TileyWoodman has reinforced my belief that I am heading towards a exciting career in graphic design. Work experience can daunt and put people off of career paths, but the past week has done nothing but make me more passionate and eager to make a name for myself in the world of design. I have made some highly useful contacts that I intend to keep in touch with, as I would relish the chance to return and work on more projects and build on what I have already learnt.

Final Concept boards

Concepts montage

Skull Candy bag o' Sweets

This was a concept that I attempted to include with the Composer idea to attract the youth market. Playing on the idea that 'Candy' though an American word refers to sweets, I decided to draw upon the nostalgia of the pink and white stripped paper bags synonymous with old fashioned sweetshops (But emblazoned the Skull Candy logo). visually I like what I have produced here, but it conflicts with the Composer idea and therefore will just go down as development in this project. 

Queen concept - revisited

I decided to alter several aspects of the initial idea I had as the 'Best of British' title wasn't working. I feel this version is the strongest of this idea as the coat of arms is emphasized more as everything is contained within the crest. I feel this is one of the strongest ideas I have had during this project both aesthetically and conceptually. It was the first thing that I began to visualize upon receiving the brief, and as the saying goes; 'your first idea is usually the strongest'. I am now in the difficult situation whereby I have four ideas, each with their strengths and weaknesses, but only one can surely be developed further.

Violin/Flag concept

I decided to run with an aspect of the last visual to see if it developed into an idea in itself. I took the flag from the composer idea and combined it with one of the violins from 'Destiny's Music Dings'. I created an outline from the character which enabled me to alter the anchor points. I removed the majority of these as I wanted the image to only be the suggestion of the instrument. I then included several characters from the 'DaddyO' font family, which I used in the Bulldog concept to give the piece a sense of movement. I also changed the 'T' from 'The' to lower case so that the eye was drawn more to 'Best' and 'British'. I like this concept allot, and feel it hits all the criteria of the brief. Its just whether I want this to be the end of the road for my other concepts. This decision will undoubtably be up to the client. 

Classical Music (with integrity - alteration)

I made several alterations regarding the copy aspect of the piece yesterday, as despite it being produced well, the anchorage was lacking. It would have been hard to differentiate my concept with one aimed towards the general market that classical music appeals to. I therefore decided to include the suggestion of an urban British flag. The only problem that this idea faces is whether there is too much going on, and the simplicity and crispness has been lost. It is possible that there are more than one ideas on this page, and it needs to be taken back to its simple form. 

Best of British - (with a little more integrity!)

From the feedback that Dan gave me on my original concepts, I decided to produce a piece that differs considerably from the initial two. This piece is simple in the way the silhouette interacts with the swirling patterns and copy, but intricately complex upon closer inspection. I produced every single aspect of this design using characters from different typefaces. All of The instruments are members of the 'Destiny's Music Dings' family, but only comprise of five characters. The swirling pattern is similarly made up of around five characters, but from the 'Dalliance Flourishes' family, which I feel work well to illustrate a sense of movement. The typeface I deiced to use for the copy is 'Dante MT' as I feel it works to convey the elegance of the classical music genre. As a whole the design is aesthetically strong, but its whether it works to draw in the 16-25 year old target audience. Perhaps a compromise of visuals needs to be established for my final design.

Bulldog concept

Running with the theme of the heritage that Britain exudes with its iconic traits; I decided to produce a piece that both reinforces the existing visual whilst aesthetically works as a stand alone piece. Whether this piece works to sell the integrity and ambience of classical music is questionable, but I feel it would appeal to the target audience of 16-25 year olds.

2nd Day

I set about touching up yesterdays work as soon as I stepped in the office this morning. My first alteration was to change the typeface of the copy. I felt that the original choice did not suit the effectiveness of the visuals, and therefore needed a change. 

Here is the latest version:

1st Day

I had a 2 mile walk from the summit of Reigate Hill to TileyWoodman's HQ in West St. I was dropped off at around 8, with a very feasible 10 o'clock start decided over the phone with the owner Mark (Tiley). Having made a reasonable time down the hill, I resided in a cafe for an hour or so with a coffee before heading to 20 West St.

I arrived 10 minutes early and awaited Mark's arrival. We got on from the moment we were introduced, and spent around 2 hours talking intensely about design. Mark showed me a portfolio presentation of their work which included clients such as:

-Cannon Europe

-Royal Bank of Scotland

-Several Unilever accounts

-HSBC

-Several local Borough councils

I was then introduced to Dan, who worked in the creative account department. We chatted over coffee about our design interests and his career experiences to date. I was shown round the rest of the agency and its designers before we sat down over a brief that they had planned for me. 

The brief was an account which they had worked on over a year ago, with the aim to simply see my thought process and ideas generation. Dan gave me complete freedom to express my ideas with no issues of cost or other limiting factors. The brief itself was to give an identity to a new classical music compilation CD targeted towards 16-25 year olds. 

I had several initial concepts that I decided to develop, including an idea that focuses on the theme of a coat of arms, but with a modern slant. I wanted to focus on the idea that listening to a powerful piece of music should be as much about the experience that you go through as the music itself. The majority of 16-25 year olds listen to music through personal products such as IPods etc, therefore I wanted to suggest the possible collaboration of CD's brand with a piece of electronic hardware; Headphones. Headphones are now more than ever accessories to a person's image, with brands such as: Aerial7, Bongo, WESC, and SkullCandy very popular with youth culture. The use of headphones also allows people to keep the music that they are listening to private. This I felt could be appropriate considering that the majority of 16-25 year olds do not appreciate classical music, therefore you are able to listen to the genre without being judged. I feel this collaboration would benefit both parties, as SkullCandy would be seen to pioneer the association with classical music for the youth market. This concept could easily develop and utilize numerous media forms, and I intend to explore those avenues as the week goes on.  

Here is what I came up with so far...