Conceptual branding with an
interest in type and a specialisation in motion graphics.
(Umbrella statement 20/10/10)
Looking back to this umbrella statement, I still think it's shockingly accurate, though what I have managed to achieve within my practical work may not necessarily reflect this. Some of the points raised in my rationale have not been addressed due to lack of organisation and time management on my part, however they are still very much things that I wish to and need to explore during my 3rd year of study. Motion graphics and digital media are so essential to my future practice - and to completely disregard them at this stage I think is a mistake. On the whole I have gained a huge amount out of this module, in many areas - but the way I have gone about it has been messy and unorganised.
The first few weeks of the module was spent in utter confusion. I had spent much of the summer planning possibly too far into the future, in far too much detail - so faced with questions that could potentially ruin that plan made me feel quite unsettled. When trying to identify a set of briefs, I found that I was faced with too much choice, and everything seemed appropriate to what I might want to achieve in the future. The only thing I knew for definite was that I had to have a huge focus on branding and portfolio building. With this in mind I started a brief that allowed me to do this whilst I tried to figure out what else I wanted to get out of the module. This was perhaps a big mistake - adding to the confusion. This first brief went way over schedule, lasting about 4 or 5 weeks as I began to get really caught up in all the various aspects that need to be considered when developing a brand, things that had already been identified in my rationale. As time passed I decided to split this first brief into 3 briefs - which has had both positive and negative effects. On the positive side, it has allowed my to really and quite successfully explore all areas of brand development - type layout, print finishing, stock, and most importantly some of the many different ways a brand can be constructed. On the negative side it left me with 3 very similar portfolio pieces and not enough time to produce different resolutions to the same standard.
I also feel I placed too much emphasis on other briefs as they were exciting and allowed me to explore things that I hadn't ever had chance to - the main one being the graphic novel for Tony Sunderland. We agreed at the start that it was to be a group effort if it was going to be taken forward, and this was the reason I signed up for it. The experience of working as an art director with a group of illustrators still excites me now - and though the project is having it's problems, and will continue to do so throughout the next module, I remain optimistic and excited about pushing this to a resolution. It has been very difficult and stressful for everyone involved, but I have learnt a huge amount with regard to working as a team, taking responsibility, organsiation and working as a negotiator between client and illustrator.
Overall, I felt a bit stuck and uninspired by the process of building my portfolio, and such a focus on branding was eventually quite draining. I naturally wanted to spend my time on things that were less relevant or worth less in the module - though that doesn't mean that branding was a wrong choice, it just means I know which parts of it I find boring and unfulfilling. I want to take this further in the next module by combining what I now know, with a fantastic concept.
Organisation and time management are always up for discussion at the end of a module - I think that my organisational skills are really starting to take shape. All my digital files are named correctly, in appropriate files and putting together the boards was really very easy because of this. The graphic novel brief has been the driving force behind this I feel, the idea of being obviously unorganised in front of the team and the client is enough to keep me on top of things.
On a final note, the levels of stress towards the end of this module have been almost unbearable, and though I've been better equipped to cope with this - I'm going to place a huge amount of emphasis on organisation and time management in the next few months to stop this happening again.
