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Internship - week 4

This was my last week here and I found it quite enjoyable.

The last project I was given was the most interesting one, because it was closer to my personal interests. It was a Dreamworks project, through which they wanted to promote their characters but in a new and fun way. 

They came up with a ‘Dumplings’ project and asked us to develop the idea. Essentially, they want to create some sort of toys/apps or ways to promote Dreamworks characters but especially in Eastern Asian countries such as South Korea or Japan. Given the fact that I am personally interested in the Japanese language and culture, I found it easy to try to come up with names for their ideas, so I made a list with different words or phrases that might go with it, and I was happy to see that people quite liked some of them. 

I found out that quite often clients would come to the designers with an idea (sometimes only half developed or not developed at all) and ask them to develop it further. It made me realise that the actual briefs I will get as a designer won’t be similar to the ones I am currently getting at university. The clients will 99% of the time have no experience in design so they won’t be too sure about what they want. It won’t simply be a matter of them asking us to do one thing and us doing it by the agreed deadline. Although I didn’t realise that before, I think it’s quite an interesting thing because I enjoy trying to develop an idea and I think it’s even more pleasant when you are working with people with a similar mindset, as it makes things work faster.

Another interesting thing about this project is that it made me realise we often have to understand exactly what our target audience might want (in this case, children). Sometimes it might be rather difficult to understand what that is, especially if we talk about a big difference in age, culture or race. It made me think of how much can we really understand about our audience, especially if the difference is so big in some cases. Is there a limit or is it possible for us to understand these differences and provide people with what they need?

[aneirene-blog]

Today we have received the first draft of the magazine from our client, as well as some more pictures to add to Benjamin Zephaniah’s interview. Most of the content is completely new to us so there are quite a lot of changes to be made. I have made a plan so as to keep track of all the sections and who has to do what. They still have to give us the Fred Holland Award pages but we will work with what we have so far and I hope we will manage to finish it by Monday.

[aneirene-blog]

Internship - week 3

Although I wasn’t so sure I’ll like this project, as soon as I understood what they want I started to find it quite enjoyable.

I took part in a few meetings with some of the designers here and it was quite an interesting experience. It made me realise that graphic design is not just about sitting in front of a computer for hours but it’s a lot about brainstorming and coming up with different ideas. It seems like such an obvious thing and we’ve been told this for years, but it’s different when you experience it on your own. It was interesting to take part in a phone conference and see how they discuss their ongoing projects and what is the general process they go through before the completion of the said project.

We tried to come up with about three or four different fashion styles to go with what the client might want and although we had to change it a few times I think we’re getting closer to a final idea. I’ve made lots of fashion mockups with various designs and it was quite enjoyable because it was more about playing and exploring various ideas, coming up with different concepts so as to see what works and what doesn’t.

I think it’s quite difficult to look at so many types of ideas and projects coming from six different people and then trying to find out which one is the best for the project. 

[aneirene-blog]

Internship - week 2

This week I kept working on the previously assigned project for which I have designed various sketches and ideas. We had to think of a way to promote a VR headset, which was quite difficult because this is not something extremely popular yet and there are many people who don’t know what it is. It’s not as easy as simply displaying a smartphone or a tablet, which people are more familiar with. 

I think the most challenging part of this was that, as I said before, the client wasn’t very sure as to what they wanted. So I started by doing some research and developing some ideas.

At the end of the week I was given a new project. The client for this project is MTV and it is quite a big one. Compared to the previous client, they have given us a lot of details as to what they want, but I’m afraid most of them aren’t exactly helpful. They generally want to promote the TV show Lip Sync Battle through fashion and they are looking for a new way of doing so. It’s difficult for me to come up with ideas because the style they are aiming for is completely different from my personal style (which is quite simple, minimal and calm, as opposed to theirs which is rather dynamic, colorful and cheerful). But I think it is important for me as a designer to try out new things rather than just stick to the same style and the same type of projects. It is quite challenging but I think it would allow me to learn more things about design. And in the end, I assume that once I start working I won’t be able to only work on projects I like or only do things I like (not in the beginning at least).

[aneirene-blog]

That is what I have realised so far. 

I am slowly starting to develop my own taste and style in design, but while taking part in this internship I’ve realised that you don’t always get projects you love, projects that make sense, projects that match your style. Most of them aren’t like that. And quite often, you have to sort of guess what the client wants and maybe guide them by making different suggestions and seeing how they reply.

So far, I’ve done things I never tried before (packaging, standee and banner designs) and now I’m working on a project that promotes a very colorful, energetic style, which is the complete opposite of my style. But I want to be able to put as much passion in it as I would if it were something more to my taste.

[aneirene-blog]

I have just finished my first week of internship, and it was quite different from what I’ve expected.

It is a rather small studio with about 10 people, so the atmosphere was quite similar to the one I’m used to at university, which made me feel quite comfortable. I’ve soon realised that, as I expected, working with clients isn’t easy; many times, they are not quite sure about what they want and they come to you with an undeveloped idea (or no idea at all), somehow expecting you to develop it for them, come up with new ideas or give them advices. At times, it’s quite difficult to do this because the client doesn’t even provide you with enough information.

I found out how it is like to work in this kind of studio. I’ve always wanted to have my own studio with around 10-15 people, prefferably people I know and who have a similar design style as mine, so this opportunity allowed me to experience that kind of atmosphere.

So far, I’ve only been given one project which is not that entertaining and it’s quite difficult to work on it because nobody is quite sure about what the client wants. I am trying to do what I have to but in the same time it feels like I am not really learning too much about design. I’m thinking of asking them to allow me to work on another project as well, as I usually work on two or more projects in the same time, even at uni. I find it tiring to work on only one project the whole day, as I usually work on one project for a few hours and then move to the next one and so on.

I’ve realised it’s important to do your best in order to complete your tasks. It can sometimes be rather overwhelming to work with people who have much more experience than you and are more skilled than you because you inevitably think that you are not good enough. But I’ve realised that I am not here to boast about my skills and show everyone how good I am, I’m here to learn. And when you learn, it’s okay to make mistakes and ask questions. It’s quite necessary, actually, in order to learn as much as possible.

[aneirene-blog]

Yesterday we just found out there will be three interviews included in the magazine, one with Dr. Benjamin Zephaniah, another with Coventry’s Award winner Ian Dunn and another with Daniel Bowen, a former Coventry University student. Once the Spring vacation is over, all the submissions will be closed and they will start filtering the work they have received so far. They said we will get the first draft with the checked and edited content somewhere at the beginning of May, so that is when we will start to put the text in place and make any necessary edits to the layout we have so far.

Alyson also informed us that the Uni Design team have some specific requirements regarding the exporting of the PDF files, such as:

Removing all unused colours and images from the file

All colors converted to CMYK

All images converted to CMYK and resolution 266lpi or higher

All fonts embedded within PDF

Supply print ready PDF with all printers mark

I usually have problems when it comes to exporting files because I never knew exactly what needs to be done to ensure a high quality file for print, but these requirements made it a lot more clearer and now I know what I have to do so that my files will be print ready and in a high quality.

[aneirene-blog]

We sent some rough layout ideas to the client today and their feedback was quite good. It was quite difficult for us to make them without any content as they still haven’t provided any text or pictures, but I’m quite pleased of the outlook. I will soon have to contact the photography team and remind them that we are in need of their pictures so we can start designing more layouts.

[aneirene-blog]

The client has given us the B&W (with coloured covers) quotes for the magazine as well as design guidelines. We will have to design the new format of the magazine as well as the cover. The layout is going to be used for the all the annual issues but the cover will only be used for the 2016 issue.

According to them, they want ‘fresh, bold, original ideas’ that can appeal to students. Editorial design is one of the fields I am mostly interested in, which is one of the reasons why I wanted to choose this project. I think it will be quite interesting to find a whole new style for a literature magazine, something that will appeal to students and would make them want to pick up the magazine and read it. The magazines will be distributed around the campus so we were asked to not use anything that may offend or upset the various cultures, which is a very important aspect that I haven’t considered before.

[aneirene-blog]

Today we had another meeting with the client regarding the CovWords magazine. We decided to go with my proposal for a clean / minimal design for the magazine. They also showed us a photography book produced by students at Coventry to use as inspiration. We discussed the process of things and we will shortly start working on the design.

[aneirene-blog]

The Greatest Story Ever Told | Typography 

This has been by far one of the most interesting and pleasant projects. Most likely because it was a combination between two of my favourite things - books and science. 

Although at first I wanted to write the text myself, I realised I would not have enough time to do that and also do the design. Making the Big Bang Theory more accessible to people with little to no scientific background is rather difficult and time consuming. Since that was not the point of the project, I decided to go with an already existing text. I chose ‘The Greatest Story Ever Told’ by Neil deGrasse Tyson for multiple reason. I have always admired him as a person who wants to raise awareness about the importance of being scientifically literate. He might not be such a great scientists as Stephen Hawking, for example, but he is great when it comes to explaining science to the public. I think he makes it extremely easy to understand and that’s what I was looking for in my book - a simple and entertaining way to explain the beginning of our universe.

[aneirene-blog]

For the Design in Context module I wanted to only focus on my internship projects, but when I found out that one of the projects given by my tutor will involve a magazine design, I knew I had to do it. 

Editorial design is something I have always been interested in. I love everything that has to do with books, magazines and printed work in general. I like technology and I enjoy web design as well, but there is something special about paper and print design that can never be replaced by technology. 

Although I am interested in this field of graphic design, I never had the chance to explore it more or try to design for a magazine until now, so I am quite excited by the opportunity. 

Today I met with the president of the CovWords magazine society to discuss some more details about the new design of the magazine. Before starting to work on the magazine itself I will first have to design a flyer asking people to submit their works so I am currently trying to come up with some ideas for that.

[aneirene-blog]

This year I want to make a better book cover for the Penguin Design Awards. I was pleased with the one from last year but I feel like I can do a lot better. 

This year’s adult fiction book is A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. I’ve read this book some time ago but I wasn’t too fond of it, as it didn’t make much sense to me at that time. But now I started re-reading it and I honestly love it. The first few pages are a bit strange (as you would expect from a book written in a language that uses a lot of made up words or words from a foreign language) but after some time you get used to it and you actually start loving it. It’s a strange book, but the message is a clear and important one. 

I already have a few ideas for the cover but I’m only happy with one of them so far. I’ll keep thinking and I hope I’ll be able to come up with something better by the deadline. I would really love to at least get shortlisted this time. 

[aneirene-blog]

New briefs

This week we got two new briefs - Design in Context and Typography.

The Design in Context one is quite big, as it has multiple projects in it - an essay, a live brief, creating a digital portfolio and an optional B-hive project. In a way, I feel as if it is just an extended PDP module, as it’s related to what we had to do before (CVs and thinking about what we want to do in the future), except the live brief. I find it rather strange, as we have to design three folders and a case in which these folders would be put. It’s mainly because usually people simply use plain folders, they don’t really design them, so I can’t really see the point in doing that. But as I came to realise, when studying graphic design, you often have to do things that don’t really make sense to you. And that’s ok. 

I did not enjoy the Typography module that much last year (it was interesting and a good experience but it wasn’t exactly enjoyable to me), so I was afraid it might be the same now. But give me a brief that has anything to do with book designing and I’ll most likely enjoy it a lot. Allow me to create a book from scratch about a subject I’m passionate about, and it’s even better. I’m quite excited about this project. Not only because I get to present one of my favourite subjects (astronomy) but also because I have to produce a book - and I absolutely love books. 

I don’t want to make a book about astronomy in general because that would be quite challenging (and there would be so much to say) and I think it’s much better to just choose a specific subject. And for now, I’m thinking about the Big Bang theory. During the past few years, I realised that many people are scientifically illiterate. Not meaning that they are stupid or they cannot understand scientific principles or theories, but simply that they either don’t know about them or didn’t understand them properly. I think that is a shame because knowing more about science (and particularly astronomy) means knowing more about the world, the universe and well, us. It’s a shame to live in this world without trying to understand it. I don’t expect everyone to be a pro in physics (I’m not - I don’t even like physics, nor math) and you don’t need to be. As Neil deGrasse Tyson said,  “ [Science] is distrusted not because of what it can do, but because people don’t understand how it does what it can do — and that absence of understanding, or misunderstanding, of the power of science is what makes people afraid” and that is, sadly, very true. I think the reason why people are scientifically illiterate is not only because some of them don’t pay attention and don’t try to understand (because that happens as well, let’s admit it) but also because this kind of information is often not explained properly, in a way that people without a scientific background would understand it. 

The Big Bang theory is one of the best examples - I have seen so many people who did not “believe” (a rather silly choice of words but I’ll just go with it) in this theory but honestly, most of them don’t really know what it is about. It’s not simply saying that there was just an explosion all of a sudden for no reason at all and then, there you have it, the whole universe with all the stars and the planets in place. And then there are those who agree with the theory but still, they misunderstood it. There are many things to be clarified about this and I am thinking of beginning with the actual meaning of the word “theory” when it comes to science (many people are not aware that ‘theory’ in terms of science is quite different from the term we usually use in other contexts). 

I am quite lucky because I already have a lot of research (I just need to put it in the sketchbook) - I have been reading books on this subject for years and I have about two or three notebooks full of notes. I’m planning to write down all of them and then write the content of the book. I feel like it will be easier to think of things such as format, colours, typefaces and size once I have the content. 

[aneirene-blog]

Update

I feel behind with my Integrated Design project (which usually happens when I have a project I’m especially interested in - I tend to forget about the others project I’m working on) but since this week was the last opportunity for us to get feedback from our tutor, I had to start working more on this project. Even though I did most of the work in only two works, I received a rather positive feedback. It’s far from done, but at least I know I’m going in the right direction and now I know exactly what I have to do. 

[aneirene-blog]

While working on my 254DVA presentation for next week, I decided to finally work on my logo. I’ve been thinking about making one for a long time but I never got a good enough idea until yesterday. I can’t say I’m extremely proud of what I’ve done, but I am quite satisfied with it. 

I didn’t want to make anything complicated or detailed because otherwise it would not fit with my designing style, so I just went for a simple shape in which I tried to put my name (Ana). It’s quite abstract so people might not realise from the beginning but after they see my name under the logo, I think they will notice the letters in the hexagon. 

[aneirene-blog]

A brand is not your logo or ID system. It's a gut feeling people have about you. When two or more people have the same feeling, you have a brand. You get that feeling via smart design, which creates the experiences people have with the brand. Everything you do creates the brand experience, ergo design IS your brand.

Robert Brunner