Extended Practice / Module Evaluation

Extended Practice has been an exigent and dynamic module that has given me an insight into my specialism through a variety of briefs. This allowed me to determine which briefs worked well and which did not, through analysis and evaluation. The briefs varied in scale, meaning I gained experience with working with shorter, fast paced projects, alongside projects which took 6 months. 

Diligent time planning  ensured the projects ran smoothly especially when some of them overlapped, although there were many things out of my control that resulted in me having to think on my feet and adapt; such as professional services not printing samples in time, or content not being sent by the client for long periods of time. This allowed me to gain knowledge in planning ahead and being prepared. This is a skill that can be taken forward for industry, as there will be times where I will be working on multiple projects in the future. 

The module demanded skills within problem solving, such as when things did not go to plan, for example within the Ceramics brief. Many prototypes broke, which resulted in me having to discuss new ideas on how to approach the next set to try and produce something successful. This also included problem solving within other editorial briefs, for example producing the publications and considering stock, binding and other treatments to ensure all error was avoided. Experience with this is helpful for after graduation, when things may go wrong or not work, and I must approach the brief in new and more effective ways to generate a successful resolution in the end. 

Research and contact/communication was another crucial aspect within Extended Practice. A lot of briefs needed primary research and contact from other sources, for example contacting sources for the research brief, conducting surveys and research to establish aims/goals/things to avoid and contacting potential collaborators. This was especially apparent within Brief 05, when I needed external collaboration in terms of producing content for the magazine, and Brief 09 when conducting research and testing the successfulness of the branding resolution. These skills can be taken forward after university, as communication and contact is always a beneficial skill to have within the creative industry. 

Throughout extended practice I feel I have attempted to produce resolutions that are as professional as possible, whether that be through professional printing services or ensuring effort and time was put into producing high quality design resolutions. As a result I have predominantly been proud of the projects I have completed for the module, and feel they have allowed me to explore editorial design to a greater depth, along with other design practices such as branding and identity, another area which I am interested in. 

The module has also allowed me to discover an aspiration in producing my own magazine, something I have been wanting to do in the future, and allowed me to put this into practice in it’s first stages. Demon Magazine has become a passionate project of mine that I hope can be explored further and developed again after university to hopefully become successful in the future. 

Overall I am proud of the effort put into Extended Practice and feel I have evolved as a designer, communicator and creative thinker, and will hopefully be able to translate these skills I have gained into the industry next year.

Live Brief / Pink Magazine / Guidelines

We formulated some basic guidelines to keep our magazine consistent throughout as we were working separately on spreads, which will come together when finished into one publication. This included typefaces, weights, colours and logo/badges.

Live Brief / Pink Magazine / Evaluation

Pink Magazine was another brief which allowed me to work with another member of the class whom I am very comfortable with and feel I can work with efficiently. Both I and Charlotte have previously worked together without any problems and I felt in this instance it was exactly the same. We managed our time and responsibility well, by splitting the content between us. This was good experience in terms of setting guidelines and both sticking to them.

Time constraints were only an issue due to the client. Charlotte and I feel as though the project ran smoothly on our end when we had the relevant content to work with and was not waiting on receiving more of it. In all honesty, it appeared that there was  poor team management on the clients end, and unavoidable circumstances which did push back the completion of the brief. Communicating with the client was extremely important for this brief, as we needed to know when content would arrive for us. I feel as though this is an aspect I have improved upon through this brief.

The project was enjoyable to produce, but on reflection it is debatable that the design choices for this brief were easily communicated. The logo aimed to reflect that the publication challenged current stereotypes and existing teen publications, and we felt a more masculine colour could be a cliche. We could not avoid this as it was the client who created the content and wanted pink to be the dominant colour.

Live Brief / Pink Magazine / Final Product

Although Georgie would not have the images ready for the deadline due to unfortunate circumstances, we added placeholder images to add context to the final product and ensure it did not look empty for our own submission. We chose images that we felt were appropriate for the magazine and would be similar to what Georgie would include herself, using fresh feminine imagery that was not alienating or too stereotypical.

The publication was sent off to Georgie and clearly labelled where her images can go when she has them ready. Both I and Charlotte sent out invoices and were paid promptly, allowing us to sign off on this project.

Live Brief / Pink Magazine / Logotype

Georgie had been using a hand rendered style logo for her magazine but we felt this didn't really stand out and represent what she wanted to achieve, and looked too soft in comparison with the forward thinking serious content which is featured. We wanted to create something contemporary and minimalistic. Also something that looked professional and engaging.

We came up with a logo that utilised a heavy typeface, and flipped the 'N' to represent how the magazine challenges stereotypes and existing teen publications:

Live Brief / Pink Magazine / Research

According to our Client, Georgie, she wanted the magazine to be minimal, arty and gave us a lot of freedom basically. She  also said she was keen on my self branding for last year, so with this in mind we had something to go from.

The direction we wanted to go in was clean, bold and fun with a slightly feminine aspect stemming from soft spring colours, livened with a bold black masthead.

These were projects we found particularly inspiring:

Live Brief / Pink Magazine / Time Management

Since me and Charlotte would both be the designers in this brief, we decided to try and establish responsibilities in order to create an organised and structured project, maximising our time scale. We wanted to work efficiently but unfortunately, the copy for the publication was supplied to us sporadically, which hindered our process as we couldn't organise the spreads at once and had to keep waiting on Georgie to  send over more content. Me and Charlotte decided to split the content in half to keep the responsibility equal, speeding up the design process a lot and making it easy to know who's doing what. The project definitely helped my own time management skills, and working with unreliable clients.

Live Brief / Pink Magazine / Audience

Pink Magazine is a publication which helps to challenge the content of existing 'teen' magazines, offering content which may be more relatable to readers of this demographic (young females), who have reported a lack of relatable content for young girls. A lot of existing magazines tend to feature a lot of beauty/fashion/general appearance related articles which in some instances can place a lot of extra pressure on girls, especially in the current social climate. Young girls need appropriate role models and useful content in the items they read, rather focusing heavily on improvements to their appearance. 

In Pink, there are articles on self care, how to spot abusive relationships, and support for LGBTQ+ individuals. Not only this, but Pink still includes more 'lighthearted' content such as fashion and beauty related reviews, cruelty free make up on a budget and a spring music playlist. 

This is especially beneficial to young girls as there is a good balance including something for everyone to enjoy and get help and advice from. In having the audience established early on into the brief, me and Charlotte ensured we crafted an appropriate identity for it which was not too obvious i.e rejection of all things stereotypically girly, but also  did not just adopt the same stylistic choices as many existing adolescent magazines. We come up with a bold identity for Pink that we felt was suitable for the brief. It is loud yet still predominantly feminine without going too far, which we felt would appeal to the target audience.

Live Brief / Pink Magazine / Initial Spread

Working with a grid and a baseline to keep the publication organised, we agreed on a basic guideline for the magazine after creating the Masthead. We agreed on a colour palette and the choice of typeface is Univers Black, a bold font to demonstrate the vibrant and bold nature of the magazine. We wanted to create something contemporary to communicate how this magazine challenges others in the market, but not too contemporary that it alienates the audience. It needs to look aesthetically neat, pleasing with a slight edge.

Following receiving content from Georgie, we split the spreads into two to keep a good time management.

My spreads:

Charlottes spreads:

We then sent these to Georgie for a follow up on feedback and if we're heading in the right direction. 

Live Brief / Pink Magazine / Style

After discussing the brief, Georgie provided an email with information such as tone of voice and stylistic inspiration. She also said that she was keen on the personal branding I had done last year, so this was a good place to start.

"Pink is a brand new magazine created with young adults in mind. The content currently available on the magazine market does not directly reflect their needs, and we wanted to change this! Pink will contain articles about the LGBTQ+ community, safe sex and relationships, politics and world issues, as well as more traditional topics like fashion and beauty. It is an entirely student led publication, run out of their own pockets and with the help of talented contributors.

The name Pink stems from an ironic take on what is traditionally something for women, and the connotations surrounding who ‘women should be’. Pink will challenge these stereotypes. This will be the first issue of the magazine, and hopefully the first of many. Our target market is young people aged 15-22. We feel this is a real developmental age in young people, as they make the transition from child to adult. Pink aims to assist them in their journey.

As this is a brand new publication, official branding and colour schemes have not yet been set. We think this is exciting, as it gives graphic designers full creative control (in accordance with a few guidelines). We are currently open to ideas, so would love to discuss colour charts etc with you in more detail. We are leaning towards more pale, pastel colours- avoiding harsh reds and dark blues. The images and photographs used will be very vibrant so we do not want them to clash. We particularly like pinks.

The magazine will be very visual in its content- with large, glossy photographs adorning many of the pages. It is important any designs accommodate this. The magazine will be more like a zine in its design- several artists and poets will contribute and receive full page spreads for work etc.

The magazine, ideally, will look arty yet accessible. We want it to stand out from other magazines, but also don’t want to intimidate potential readers. We’re thinking bold design statements, as we believe the magazine should be as much about its design as the content itself. It’s not a lot to go on, but let your creativity too wild. There is no design style we will not consider. We have looked to the following publications for inspiration:"

Live Brief / Pink Magazine / Brief

A media student named Georgie McGowan needed designers to help produce a magazine for her final project. Charlotte contacted her to find out more and whether we could possibly work on this as a team:

Working with external content, we would aim to create a magazine targetting young adults, providing a new perspective on women's publications. Georgie did not have a clear guideline for the brief, so this offers us to have creative reign as long as it is appropriate. Since me and Charlotte have had prior experience in creating zines, we thought we would work well on this project together and combine both of our skill sets.

This will need to be completed in time with Georgie's deadline, and will depend on when the content is provided. 

Extended Practice / Statement of Intent

During the course of Extended Practice I plan to produce a variety of work, manly focusing on editorial and brand identity in order to explore the prospect of these areas being my specialisms for after university.

I will create a time plan to be as organised as possible, making it easier to complete projects by planning ahead. 

During Extended Practice I aim to create my own magazine as part of a brief, through research into potential niches and gaps in the market, and see if this can take route after the module is over. 

I plan to increase my confidence and skills within communication and contacting individuals for research and connections.