End of Module: Creative Networks

Can not believe I have finish my first year at Nottingham Trent University. This module has been hugely inspiring and I have enjoyed the opportunities to work on a large scale project and with industry. Guest Lectures have been amazing; Colin McDowell confirmed that I am studying the correct course and that this industry is certainly where my future lies.
I have found Si an amazing module leader- always having our interests at heart, he has addressed every issue and worry immediately. It is evident that he went out of his way to create a very nourishing and valuable module.
Without a doubt, I have learnt the importance of both team work and collaborations. The power of connections within and outside of the industry are crucial to your success and even your employability.

I aim to continue to develop my software skills over the summer. I am also keen to continue writing, as I have developed and improved greatly over my first year at university and therefore am keen to maintain this. I am looking forward to starting my internship in the capital and feel like I know have the knowledge and confidence to take my first big step into the industry.

Final presentations

Yesterday we presented our final concept to lecturers within our seminar groups. We were very nervous as we were first to present of the day! Our final presentation followed a similar layout to our first presentation; with several adaptations to create better visual consistency throughout.

Lucy mentioned two areas for improvement.

1. we claim to have designed the bottle shape around the idea of a door- does the bottle fit the door accurately in our imagery?

• In theory- yes, however, we appreciate that there is slight difference in scale in our imagery. Firstly, we choose to enlarge the bottle slightly and bring it into the foreground of the image, instead of in-line with the dolls house. Secondly, we struggled to achieve a professional image with the use of a computer generated bottle. Hopefully, when working with a final model of he bottle, we would be able to create a more accurate piece of imagery.

2. “you must be more sensitive with your analysis of the asian market… use of the word detrimental is over-dramatic.”

• We totally respected lucy’s comment and later researched further into this area. Published yesterday was an article on Drapers online, that there is potential for niche markets in the Chinese market. We can include this opinion when next discussing the point.

We were all pleasantly surprised to be invited back to present to the industry panel earlier today. We made several slight adjustments to the presentation and script, in consideration of Lucy’s comments. We all felt that this presentation was delivered with more confidence and enthusiasm than our first! It was highly rewarding to be told by Katie Puckrick, that we had the most realistic and marketable product and concept. A great end to an amazing last module! Thanks Si!

Packaging and Illustrations

Embossed with original illustrations from the artist Vivien Goddard-Stephens, our packaging is a gift-box with added ornamental qualities.
Charlotte Lo, a lecture at CSM and packaging expert; suggested that we added an element of excitement to the opening experience.
We were also aware of the importance of female appeal of male grooming products- we believe that this packaging design addresses this.

Final Bottle Renders

Final Bottle Renders- collaborating with Product Design students.
Possibly one of the hardest stages in our development, was creating the visuals of our final bottle design.
Our focus group helped us decide that 100ml was the preferred shape and rectangular the preferred shape. Working to develop this, we designed our bottle to fit with similar proportions of a door.
After fixing the numbers and logo onto the bottle ourselves, we had achieve something we never had before- working with 3D visual imagery.

Cad Render of Leather Case

St. George St.- extension products.
Collaboration with Graphic Design student @ CSM

We are all very pleased with the final image. We would like to improve this design, by trying other combinations of  leathers and metallic plates.

Advert Design 2

This image composition works particularly well for a double page spread. The gutter of the magazine will remove no essential imagery and the main focus of the advert (the bottle) is situated on the right hand page.

We were all really happy when seeing the images of the studio shoot. We all believe that we selected the correct lighting to create an image in the style of a  ‘still-life’ image.

Advert Design 1

We used a black background to juxtapose any feminine or child-like suggestions of a dolls-house; with the strong intelligence of our masculine brand.
Using a combination of illustrator and Photoshop we imposed a computer generated bottle onto the image.
We were very happy with how we managed to replicate the single dolls house, to create our own street using photoshop.

Project Collaborations

Throughout this project, we have organised several collaborations with professions, other students and the public. This is something I have never done before and in doing so, I have learnt several skills. Firstly, the importance of knowing exactly what you want! As a polite character, I am always open to suggestions or even constructive criticism- however, when working with someone new to the project and concept it can be hard to achieve exactly as imagined if not 100% clear with your ideas. Moodboards, Pinterest and other visuals are great way to share my thought processes. We ended up using a moodboard when first meeting with product development students and a photographer.

The huge advantage of collaborating with specialists is the high level of ability they already have! In addition, other’s opinions proved vital- especially in our focus group. During the visual development of the concept, when finalising bottle and packaging designs, CAD software proved very valuable! As having never used this before, my group was very thankful for the help from graphic students.

First Logo Design- Graphic Designer and Branding Expert

We had decided how we wanted our logo to look; however, it was great to talk to an industry expert and get our attempts professionally finalised.

Freelance Illustrator

After deciding to use a similar presentation layout as before; we contacted an illustrator to produce some original images. We then also included one of these sketches on our packaging design.

Graphic Design and Product Development Students

Visualising our bottle design was one of the hardest points of the project. Conveying our brand aesthetics and values into a 3D model was not something we were used to! We were very grateful for the help we received in this department!

Studio Photographer and Photography Students

Working with different photographers gave us different results, therefore we are currently looking at how to successfully merge the two styles to be visually consistent.

I would most certainly be keen to collaborate with these specialists and any new contacts on future projects. Although it is hard to hand the responsibility of your own concept over to somebody new; yet we have found that it is nearly always worth it!

Final Logo Designs

Logo designed in collaboration with Graphic Designer and Brand expert in America- Paul O’Keefe.

We feel that the Optimus Sans Serif font adds a classical quality.
Abbreviation of both the word ‘Saint’ and ‘Street’ creates visual balance, echoed in the use of the line– connoting the street origins behind the brand.
The use of a modern and minimalistic monochrome palette is coherent throughout our brand.

Progress Review 16.05.2013

I have found the past couple of weeks very stressful; eager to achieve an equally high grade as before in my next presentation, I have battled with lack of communication and commitment between my group.

We decided to collaborate with professionals and other students at this stage of the project. This would allow us to concentrate on the presentation and concept development– whilst still having computer renders and graphics of a very high quality. This has been a very good experience however, it is strange to not have control over many elements at this stage. Although, I am sure they shall all deliver very worth while final products, I am slightly worried as the deadline creeps closer. Again, communicating with professionals as been very valuable to understand and make connections in the wider industry.

Last night, we met as planned with our organised focus group. This was hugely beneficial and great to hear an outsider’s suggestions for development. They felt very positive towards the product and clarified several uncertainties we had. Hopefully this should look very good when presenting next week- showing organisation, initiative and enthusiasm. We followed every step in the ethnical checklist, to make sure that our findings could be used and valid throughout our reports. This was slightly time consuming, however, very good practise.

I am currently finding it quite hard to juggle both the team presentation preparation and the individual writing brief. I am eager to stat writing my report and it is an element I know I must take longer to achieve to the best of my ability. However, I can not help but feel that not every team member is pulling their weight and relying on a few members to carry the team. I think it would be best to mention this at the next meeting and politely recap on all the individual deadlines set previously. Hopefully this should help.