End of Module Evaluation AD5403
During this module Tommy and I have worked together on all aspects of each brief, except the typography brief, which we did not realise was also a team project. We received the brand John West and developed a product that linked with their value; the traceability of their fish.
The first part of the brief was to research our given brand and determine their core values. To do this we decided to first look at their history and background. This enabled us to see how they became the brand leader in their industry, and what was the founder's beliefs when he established the company. Next we looked at the successes and milestones within the company, as well as their product range. This gave us a clear insight into the depth of the brand, and we learnt that they really pride themselves on their dedication to quality and innovation. We then moved onto their advertisements, both historically, and more recently. We wanted to know how John West have and do like to portray themselves to the public, and we discovered that they are lighthearted but still convey their passion for their product. Finally we came up with a list of 8 values, and decided to focus on two that are particularly unique and interesting. Most of their values are along the lines of 'quality' or 'expertise', but we thought that these are too generic, and their pride of 'sustainable and traceable fish' was unique to them.
The next stage was to come up with a strong idea for a product that was based on this important brand value. After a couple of days, and a lot of ideas, we came up with our final idea. We found it difficult, to find an idea that was strongly linked to traceability, and that we thought we could carry through this long module. From a teleportation device to an indoor GPS tracking system, and from medical research to orienteering, there were loads of ideas, but the one that we felt was strongest, and most interesting, was a child development kit. This product allows a parent to track and take note of their child's progress and development, both medically and behaviourally. We both felt that this idea had a lot of potential for various products and designs.
Next was some visual research, to help with our design process. We looked at John West's product design, looking at their colours, and how they distinguish between different ranges. We also researched brands that target parents and children, to learn how they communicate to these markets. This was useful, as we learnt that they need to be engaging, and most of the time they will try and get the attention of the child, so that then the child needs to convince the parent to buy it for them. We started designing by altering the existing logo, to fit with our new product. We came up with a few different icons, that represent different stages of a child's life and inserted them into the current wave form that John West has as a logo. Then we decided on what our Child Development Kit would include. We tried to make our logo's icons part of the product, for example, in the photo frames and the sweets designs, the icons become the product. We both improved on our illustrator skills during this process, with all of the designs being made in here. I (Carys) also improved on my photoshop skills as I learnt how to use masks and various transform tools as I made our stickers look more realistic. Some feedback we received, was that we could have stretched our designs to reach a larger target age group, and this is something that we thought our product would actually do, and the kit is intended to grow with the child, into their teens at least, but we didn't have enough time to design icons and specific products for each age range.
The last part of the brand extension brief was to make a 20 second TV commercial, selling our product. The first stage of this was to decide what exactly we wanted to communicate to our audience. We listed a few things that we thought integral to our product, such as memories, growing up and showing a scale of time. We looked at some other adverts that we thought also conveyed these messages, as some research into how exactly they do that. After some ideas, we finally settled on an idea that would express the growing up and journey of the child through its teddy bear. We listed about 13 scenes that progressively show the child/toy growing up. We decided that we wanted to animate/illustrate our advert, so that it appealed to children and adults, and also so that it was feasible to finish. The problem with filming the advert live, with actors, is that we would have needed a child actor, and realistically this would be hard to obtain and also to authorise with the University. While I (Carys) started illustrating the scenes, Tommy filmed a live action toy, so that we could mix the two worlds together. This played to our strengths. As I feel more confident drawing in illustrator than Tommy, and he feels more comfortable setting up and filming on a DSLR. We then needed to compile everything together in After Effects. Tommy had edited out the white background of the footage to leave a clean bear that could easily be put onto any background. We discussed what kind of feel of music we wanted; nostalgic but happy-go-lucky, and Tommy found a great instrumental online. We both started to edit the scenes and the footage together, opting for a 1 second pause on each scene, to ensure that the viewer can easily gage what is going on.
In conclusion we are both happy with the results of our product's packaging designs and TV commercial. If we were to improve on our efforts, we would definitely have liked to have more time to design icons and products for the older age ranges of our kits. We also would have liked to maybe add some more scenes to our advert, to make the story more complex. However, as always time isn't always on our side, and the illustration process especially, took up a lot of our time. We also think that we worked well as a team, with each of us playing to our strengths. At times, our communication could have been better, in terms of knowing what each of us was doing and when, but overall we have done well as a team.
The final part of this module was a typography brief, which we completed separately. I, (Carys) designed 7 cards that instruct students on how to change a lightbulb. Firstly, I researched into how other people have instructed people on this topic, and wrote my own version, opting for a lighthearted tone of voice, aimed at students and young adults, after discovering a shocking statistic on the matter. The typeface I used was Cooper Black, as I found it to be easily read, but also is fun and youthful. I used standard for most of the body text and then italic and small caps to emphasise certain aspects. The colour of the text gradually darkens as you go through the cards, to simulate a bulb going from dim to bright. I also decided to create my own tri-plex card by cutting and glueing three layers of card, white, black and white again, to make the cards more sturdy, and work as a set without needing to be bound. The execution of the cutting wasn't the best as it was very thick, but overall, I am happy with the presentation of my work.
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