Neubau Talk

Five years in the forest. (2009-2014)
Stephan Gandal
Christopher Grindberger
Benjamin Gantt

Stephan. 
First album bought was 'Help!' by The Beatles, he decided to design his own vinyl cover for it.
This is when he started to enjoy type and the beginning of developing typefaces.
Moved to Vienna in 1989-1995.
Got a lot of inspiration from letraset.
Neubau studio formed in Berlin centre.
Postscript exhibition Neubau 55 typeface.

Christopher.
Neubau welt - vector illustrations
Developing more detailed illustrations
Using over 80,000 anchor points.

Neubau Modul.
2039 Grids and Patterns (2005-2007)
Found out that you have have that many anchor points in an illustrator file.

Neubau (ism) (2008).
Creating an exhibition of both books.

Neubau forst. (2009-2014)
20 designers, 60 months, 39,000 hours.
684 trees and tree modules.
Making of the book...
Found the trees through referring to the anchor points in the name Neubau. 72 anchor points.
The book creates awareness of things changing through time and space.
The numbers next to the trees in the book are code for each individual tree, height and season.

I am really interested in the two previous books that Neubau have published, Neubau Welt and Neubau Modul. These are two books I am interested in looking into and looking at. Although looking online to buy them I have found that they are really expensive, this is becasue there has only been one run of the books therefore the book Neubau Modul which I was looking to buy is about £315. This is slightly too expensive to buy, but I will keep looking as I really appreciate vector illustration, as it is the way in which I work.

Wide-Eyed Brief - Part 1

Wide-Eyed Record Company.
The Brief. 
Create a brand and the identity of a new record company called Wide- Eyed. Also the Promotional material for the launch party.
Background. 
Producing underground house music, showcasing the music made in Verbier and Ibiza. Not a regular household name.
Considerations.
Consider the audience and how to connect to them. Consider what printed ephemera will be needed, and the time scale so that its ready in time.
Target Audience.
Underground house music phenatics. Mainly not a brand that people will find by accident, found by people who know, and people who are looking.
Tone of Voice.
Eye catching, fit in but stand out, original, serious and relaxed aesthetic, to the point.
Mandatory.
Knowledge on underground house music and other record label brands. Presentation boards for client.
Deliverables.

• Logo
• Business card/Stationery
• T-shirt/Caps
• Stickers
• Logo Stencil
• Banner
• Promotional Posters

Why?
This is a live brief, and is a new record company that is going to be opening. Doing a live brief will be really good for me at this point, as there are more limitations, which means that I need to be more strict with myself with timings. It also means that I will be able to get real feedback and have more experience with working with an actual client rather than just doing loads of my out set briefs for no real purpose. Originally the client asked for ideas for the name also, but they then came up with Wide-Eyed, which is suppose to suggest wisdom, wonder and the idea of being fresh and new. This is perfect for the label in my opinion and think it will work really well, therefore they have bought the rights to that name.

I started to think about the different things that are asked within the brief. The client and I also started to think about what else he will be needing for the future for example the artwork for the digital releases, although when it comes to that I will have a separate brief, as there is a rush for the actually branding itself.

The Deadline.
The final deadline for this brief is the 28th November, although to have all the t-shirts printed and the banners ready, I will need to have really good time management o get this done, amongst everything else and the other brief I have at the minute. Therefore I am looking to have everything designed and ready for the 20th November, which will give me time to get everything printed, and time in case anything goes wrong.

Relationship with Client.
The client has said that they want to be a huge part of the designing of the branding and will want to have a massive input. As it is there business and are passionate about it, it will help me, as they know what they want and won't take anything less. This is an experience with a client that I have never had before, as I have previously just worked with people who don't really know or care about the design. I will be keeping in touch with the client throughout this entire process and will be meeting them quite regularly for suggestions and amendments.

Whats Next?

• Mind map of different ideas for the logo.
• Drawings of logos.
• Digital logos.
• Meet with client for suggestions - 9th Nov.

First Crit

The Crit.
We were put into groups for our crits, which is good as it meant that we would get different opinions than those of our friends and people we may usually show our work to. My group was very ranged which was also good and having the crit meant that I was able to see the work others have been producing that I wouldn't have seen before this point. Our group was quite big and we found that we couldn't hear the other side of the table, therefore we decided to split the group into two. We also decided as a group that we would give verbal feedback for the crit rather than writing anything down for others. The crit was very informal and between our group there was a wide range of quantity of work, as it was clear some people had produced quite a lot of work so far and others has produced hardly anything for the amount of time we have had.

What I took to the crit.

I decided to take my screen prints to the crit, also showing some of the original monsters that I have produced so far. For my "100 days of..." brief I decided to create a monster a day for 100 days, for the second part of this brief I am still unsure what I am going to do for it, therefore I decided to explain in my crit some of my ideas and see if anyone had any suggestions or thoughts.

My Feedback.

• Could create a series of screen prints and sell them, including all of the monsters, also some larger versions of a few of the monsters.
• Create a publication including all of the monsters.
• Top trumps and give each of the monsters different powers and strengths, this could be related to children or even childish adults.
• A campaign for people to be creative and take the "100 Days Of" challenge.
• Could tie the monsters to the brand 'monster' energy drink and create promotion for them.
• The two colour screen prints work really well and look good as a set.
• Send some of my prints and some of the monsters I have done to The hungry Sandwich Club.

All of this feedback is really helpful and I will think about this further as my brief progresses as I am only on day 27 at the minute so I have a lot more time to decide more of what I can do, when I have a better and more solid idea I will take it to a crit and see what people think, as I really want there to be a purpose and achieve something through this brief, rather than just proposing something. As for the comment about the hungry sandwich club, I am flattered that it got mentioned in my crit as I admire them so much, and will be getting in contact with them at some point soon.

What I took to the crit.

I also decided to take in my current brief of the Quentin Tarantino box set. A few days ago I was really stuck with the aesthetic of the box set and the covers of the films, although I am a lot clearer now. I think that the illustrations on the covers of each film should be clear enough without having to put the title of each film on them. I also think that the illustrations as they are look too standard so I thought I would try experimenting with zooming in on the images, so they are still identifiable but more interesting.

My Feedback.

• Definitely use the illustrations zoomed in as they are more interesting, they also clear about what film they are without seeing too much detail. This would only work though with iconic scenes.
• Love the colour scheme, works really well for Tarantino.
• Consider the stock I am going to use.
• Consider the packaging for the actual box set and the material used.
• Maybe have the name of the film on the spine of each film so that they are clear when they are all in the box set and you know which one you are going to pull out.

The feedback from this was quite helpful, although it just justified my ideas, although that makes me feel better. I have found that I have been spreading my time too fine, so I am doing too many different briefs at the same time, for example my '100 Days Of..', 'Box Set', 'Wide-Eyed', 'Pop' and extended essay research. This is something I need to manage better I am not getting as much done as I thought I would. I need to prioritise the live briefs as this is most important as it is for a client. Keep up to date with my '100 Days Of...' and set at least one day a week for extended essay only.

After the crit I decided to go back to the other half of the group to see the work they have been doing as our group finished slightly early. I think that this crit has been really useful as I got some feedback and was able to see other peoples work. Although the crit went quite quickly, and the feedback was all verbal and quite informal it was helpful. It was most helpful seeing what everyone else has been doing so far, I was able to see how much people have done and the range of the work that has been done. I was also able to see how little some people have done, and in some cases how much people have done which gives me more of a drive to do more. 

Design Manchester

Design Manchester.
I thought that I would attend design Manchester as it has many different talks from designers, it is something that will help me with my dissertation writing and will inform my practice, this will be of a massive benefit for me. To document this I decided to take pictures of some of the speakers and some of the memorable pieces of work, that will influence my design. It will also give me the opportunity to ask questions and make contact with some of these designers.

Attending Design Manchester was an amazing experience and I have learnt so much from this, being able to sit and listen to some amazing designers speak so passionately and tell their story was amazing, and will be something that I will remember. I will take a lot from these talks and it is something that I will bare in mind when producing my briefs and work this year.

What's Your Personality Type?

Career Track Tuesdays.
Myers Briggs Type Indicator.

• Myers Briggs Indicator.
• Understanding self
• Understanding others
• Understanding differences between people

-Team work
-Communication
-Planning
-Decision making

• Strengths and blind spots.

Taking the Myers Briggs type indicator will allow me to find out who I am. After answering all of the questions I found out that I am ENFJ. I then did a self evaluation test which also brought me out with the result ENFJ. I agree with the outcome and I think it is pretty much spot on.

These are the two different summaries of the kind of person I am, and I think that they are really accurate for who I am. During the session we also did experiments and different examples of how different people work. I have found the session really useful as it has allowed me to see not only who I am, but also how I will deal with other people who are different and work differently to me. Not everyone is the same therefore people should be approached and learn in different ways.

Level 6 Presentation Reflection

Making the Presentation.
When making my presentation I decided to use the blue honeycomb pattern which I made for my branding, I think that this will work well in my presentation as it will link my promotional pack to my presentation, it will also give a better aesthetic to my presentation.

What I wanted to include in my presentation

• My logo
• Designers statement
• Briefs for the year
• Collaboration
• COP3 proposal
• Studios
• Lectures/Talks
• Visuals all the way through

I wanted to make my presentation very visual because I think that it gives everyone a better idea of what I am planning on doing for this year. I am also a very visual person and work in an image based way, therefore it would reflect me more.

Reflection of my presentation.
I think that the presentation went really well, I found that even though I find presenting nerve wracking, I said what I wanted to say. Although at the end I could have spoke more about the studios I have chosen to put on my presentation. I think that the presentations were really helpful, we were able to see what everyone else has been doing over the summer, the briefs which they are doing so that we know if we want to collaborate with them, also where people have been looking for visits and placements.

Level 6 Presentation

Split Design Ltd

Split Design Ltd.
Split is a small agency based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, specialising in creative graphic design for print and web.

'We’re passionate about helping individuals and organisations to realise their potential through the design process.

Working closely with our clients to fully understand and appreciate their needs, we aim to produce work that is that is considered, has real heart and doesn't break the bank. 

To us, design is about creating engaging concepts that effectively solve problems and balance the many factors of a brief. Its about never having to sacrifice creativity in the process, and about executing these concepts in the most effective and appropriate way, with care and attention to detail.'

Working closely with clients is something that is really important to me, I think that you should have a positive relationship with a client to get the most out of each brief. I am also a very friendly person and like to have a close working environment, as I bounce off other people. Looking through some of the work that Split Design produces I have seen that I really like a lot of it. I am more attracted to the image based designs and the print side of their studio.

7 Deadly Sings.

Mum's Cooking.

I think that these designs are really good and are similar to the kind of designs I try to produce, in respect to the print aspect. Although the 'Mum's Cooking' brief is mostly digital I really like the design and can appreciate it. I enjoy doing branding and identity and this is something that I think has a strong brand and is aesthetically pleasing.

On the website it shows the team, I think that this is a creative way of showing everyone and some of their personalities and the personality of the studio itself. This is becasue a lot of studios have pictures of the team, whereas I think that this way is more fun and relevant for them as a studio. The method I would use to try and get a placement at Split Design Ltd is to send one of my new promotion packs to them in the post. This is becasue I think that it would be more appealing than writing them an email or ringing them. I would also include a letter inside explaining that I would like to do a placement there and really admire the work that they produce. Although before sending this, I want some advice on how to write to them, and what I should be saying.