OUGD502: Make Yahoo! The World's Most Popular Homepage

Idea generation is the initial thing you do when you are given a brief. This is done by mind mapping, research, focus groups, discussions etc. 

This brief was about idea generation. The brief was to try think of ways to make Yahoo! The World's Most Popular Homepage. The target audience was 13-18 year olds.

Idea One
The first idea was to create a homepage which featured everything. This was so that it was visually engaging to 13-18 year olds and would keep their attention on the homepage.

Idea Two
The second idea was to make a very clean homepage so that it wasn't over complicated to use and easy to navigate. This also meant it wouldn't look cluttered.

OUGD502: Glug Leeds #7 - The Careers Clinic - Developing Leeds Talent

Glug talks started from 6pm it included Studio12, Alec Dudson of Intern Magazine, the ladies from up and coming movement SheDoesDigital, Matt Essam of Creative Life, brothers turned business partners Matthew and Daniel Tweddle of Only, and author of the Human Freelancer - Chris Kenworthy.

Studio12

Studio12 based a lot of their talk on the issues of design being they have to solve an issue. "Everything is about solving an issue." "The biggest word in the industry is standard you can be the best until you work with people in this competitive realm you wouldn't know you need the level of exposure of people doing it to this scale which is what made me up the game and make it real." "We're all creative people we're just presented to the world differently." "It's all about your vision solving a problem, a real life problem always been an entrepreneur." John always tells us we should never limit ourselves or think about budgets. One of the guys from Studio12 said something similar "you don't have to limit your creativity to the resources you have around you." They also said you don't have to go to London to gain lots of opportunities you can go out and meet new people but Leeds is a great creative hub. "Go out and meet new people and exploit new opportunities come back and offer something to this city." When people email them or approach them they always think its about what the person can do for them but they said they should "tell us what you want."

Alec Dudson

Alec Dudson and Only Studio have previously come in for talks with in the Graphic Design at LCA. Alec visited in first year during a hijack week and he told us the journey he went through with starting intern. Only Studio also have humble beginnings, they work innovatively. 

Alec talked through starting intern and discovering what he wanted to do. He is an advocate in making sure young creatives are credited and paid for the work they do fairly. "You're the only person who sets the boundaries of your career." He believes "young people are the future so we should empower and invest in them as the creative youth." "Whatever you do not under play your value."
"Passion and determination will drive you." Alec went and got a degree then realised it wasn't for him so he worked in a bar to make money to be able to do an internship "The hardest thing is deciding what you want to."

Only Studio

"Only is an award-winning strategy and design consultancy helping organisations to use design to innovate and grow. In close partnership with brands, we identify new ways for them to connect with people. We help clients to articulate their vision and design the products, services and experiences that bring them to life.

Our approach to design takes inspiration from real people and has its ultimate goal in the clarification of purpose and meaning. By better understanding who we are designing for, we create experiences of real value."

"Received a phone call from a french number soft spoken dutch accent read about his logo on a French Graphic Design blog they had lifted the words from their journal and shared their insight with their readership the man on the phone was a well known fashion designer he was so pleased about what he read about his logo and gave him visual identity system."

Only Studio gave us 5 tips on working in the creative industry. This was backed up by examples of their work.

Be nice to people.

Maximise every opportunity.

Share your passion.

Be brave.

Do good work.

Matt Essam of Creative Life talked honestly and deeply about happiness within the creative industry. 
People spend time chasing things that ultimately make you unhappy.  Takeaways from Matt's talk were:
1. Change your perspective to identify what you really want
2. Ask yourself why you want these things to uncover your values
3. Find ways to live these values within the parameters of your current situation
4. Use them to live an authentically creative life

Finally,

Key points from Chris Kenworthy talk were

• Always do a good, honest job
• Write, talk positively about what you learned
• Do friendly favours
• Know your limits
• There's no such thing as the right price
• Relax, something always turns up
• There's no shame in small
• No one really knows what they're doing, we're all just taking it up as we go along.

"Earn a living doing what you enjoy, honestly and responsibly. Make just enough to live sustainably then spend the rest of your life having fun."

At the end of the talk we were advised:

"Listen Simon Cynic ted talks."

"Do what you love and fuck the rest."

OUGD502: It's Not How Good You Are, It's How Good You Want To Be - Paul Arden

This book was read for my cop project but found the book influential to my general graphic design practise. It's a good book for regaining inspiration for graphic design. Last week I had a mental block with the course and think I ended up getting creative burn out which is what any person in the creative industry gets and it is hard to get yourself out of it. I find listening to talks or podcasts, watching videos or reading books helpful to give me an insight into why I enjoy doing this course. It's Not How Good You Are, It's How Good You Want To Be discusses key concepts behind interpretation of briefs and mental blocks. A few quotes I favoured are:

"Here are some common excuses for failure:

1. It was a terrible brief.
2. I need a better partner.
3. There wasn't enough money to do it properly.
4. The director didn't listen to me.
5. I was too busy on other projects.
6. I wasn't given enough time.
7. The client took out the best ideas.

Most of these grievances are every day on every job. That won't change. The point is that, whatever other people's failings might be, you are the  one to shoulder the responsibility. There are no excuses."

It's so easy for designers to blame external factors. When they are all small issues that can be resolved or we just use as excuses as to why the brief or job wasn't done to how we expected or wanted it to be.

"If you can't solve a problem, it's because you're playing by the rules."

Design is all about being innovative, all options must be considered and speaking to other people helps.

"We ALL get mental blocks. We need to get unblocked. The way to get unblocked is to lose our inhibitions and stop worrying about being right."

A mental block is something everyone in the creative industry has to deal with. We are constantly having to engage and think of new ideas but sometimes we get blocks where our brain can't produce anything new. This is when we need to take breaks and find inspiration somewhere else so we don't prolong the mental block or get creative burn out. 

OUGD502: Leeds Events Within The Following Months

Make a list of what's going on and what you could engage with in the next couple of months or are interested in engaging in.

November 16th -
The Scientific Method Talk - 6pm - The Tetley - Free, limited spaces

November 19th -
The Winter Market Leeds - St George's Church, Great George Street

November 24th -
Glug

November 30th -
Interns 4th magazine launch @ Village Bookshop

December 1st -
Everyday Objects Exhibition Launch - Cafe 164 & The Gallery at Munro House

December 3th-4th -
Etsy Made Local - Leeds City Museum - Cookridge Street

Etsy Made Local will be having some talks and workshops based around selling on Etsy and setting up an independent shop so that your items can be seen on Etsy. 

December 3th -
Etsy Made Local - Leeds Kitsch Tree Decoration Workshop (£7 ticket)

December 4th -
Etsy Made Local - Leeds Make Your Own Fun: Zine Workshop (£7 ticket)

OUGD502: Only Studio

Only is an award winning strategy and design consultancy organisation. They focus on Strategy design, Brand design, Digital design. It was set up two and a half years ago with a large client base such as Lost Village music festival since the beginning and work with sony music. Range of sectors, lots of non-profit valuable things and luxury stuff helps pay the pills.

Some of their clients:

Goldsmith University
Primarily art, needed to strike the balance of international and master students. Needed a new rebrand and new colours. 


University of Suffolk
Solution references core proposition of change. Change being the only constant and preparing students for an ever changing world. Neatly tied a reference into their place, the yellow is taken from their flag. Modern take on that. Clean, minimal, easy to apply on different assets. Keeps it on a neat format. 

Lost Village
Music festival focuses on the experience side. Wanted something the audience could take on and own themselves. Space that's lost in time. References their old language and it's adopted by the people that attend. Based on a bespoke hand drawn typeface. Represents ancient languages. Is another brand people come into contact with it on instagram. A lot of what they do uses 15 second videos and social media aspects to promote Lost Village. 

Sony
Bring me the horizon - sony open to ideas. Can look editorial and drawn from print or a graphic design background. Take it a step further with how does it move. How does it feel.

Helberts
His first brand where he moved out of Louis Vuitton. Sells in Mr.Porter and Barneys. No limitations to how it looked.

This talk was beneficial because they spoke about the common misconceptions of interface design and that there are actually endless possibilities with ideas within these types of briefs. They work with a lot of non-profit organisations and luxury brands because it's something they're interested in and helps support them financially. They did a Q&A at the end where they answered questions from students and offered pieces of advice for the current OUGD504 brief. They were very confident during their presentation because of their opinions and showed a lot of examples of their clients and work which is something to be considered in future presentations for PPP.

OUGD502: Visiting Professional - LCA Alumni - Harrison Park

Harrison Park is a Graphic Design alumni. During his presentation with us he explained that it is so important to network with build and "build relationships." This is because one contact can lead you to many other contacts. Jobs and work after university is not handed to you on a plate. You need to "work hard for it, be passionate." Harrison gave an anecdote about how he worked in retail jobs after university then realised he shouldn't take that route because he had spent time on getting an education to do what he was passionate about. Another one of his points was "sell yourself" and "don't be a dick, be humble." because no one wants to work with someone that is arrogant or difficult as this also gives you a bad reputation. "Don't be afraid to ask questions" and "rejection happens." He worked at a studio with his friend as convinced himself he loved it because his friend did but he didn't. "Stay true to yourself." If it's not working out try something else. "Your as good as your last project."
"No ones ever looked at what grade I got." The portfolio and how you are as a person is so much more important than what you graduate with. It's also beneficial to "collaborate - use people around you and on other courses." If you are contacting professional's "make it personal", talk about one of their recent projects, boost their ego or do something different. Go trial in different places and see what environment works for you. You don't have to take the first opportunity. Make sure you know what is right for you and if it isn't working, leave.  He spoke about how different everyone was in terms of gaining placements and what events you would go to. This talk was beneficial and gave a strong insight on what starting your career and life is like after graduating university.

OUGD502: Nicer Tuesdays - Sam Pilling Talk

Sam Piling is a director and is giving an insight on his music video. His key topics he discusses in the talk are:

Influence and Research

He takes inspiration for his music videos from different scenes in films he likes. This helps with colour schemes and themes for the music video. The considerations for lighting. "Become a complete circus" shows how the ideas escalated and became interesting. He researches places and old locations, for this specific music video Ukraine and Russia. He created mock ups of the music video to see what it would look like before creating it.

Filming

"Lighting a huge space is difficult. He used a balloon light so he wasn't continuously moving the lights in and out of shot and he used wires to shape the light relatively quickly for differ close up moments.