APP Words: Design Brief Analysis

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As the proposal is the main brief (with the APP brief as the background/overall brief) I shall have to analyse it to ensure that I hit all of the right spots so that I could produce a successful product. The learning outcomes for the APP has already been done, so click here to see it.  

To make things easier I shall copy and paste the whole brief again to analyse.

"Background Information

Tea and coffee seem to be rising in popularity; it isn’t unusual to see a person stumbling into work or class with a mug of coffee or tea in hand to wake them up. It is also an easy way to relax with friends after a hard day of work. We often look upon inspirational quotes to boost our motivation to get us through the week long of reports or essays we have in our workplace and yet they can even go to the lengths of providing us with the courage to pursue our life long dreams.

Twinings is a British-based company that specialises in tea, and due to their interest in the environment they would like to have a travel mug that would appeal to students. Their aim is to help students cut down from continuously buying paper cups and save money by using their own tea bags. The student could always have a part of home with them in their travel mug, even when they’re far away from it.

The Brief
You are to design the outer design of a travel mug using inspirational words integrating illustration where possible. To reach a wider audience you may design an appropriate unisex design, as the company (Twinings) that would be supplying this product could maximise the potential to sell. You should associate this project with the idea of “Words” theme that is outlined in the learning outcomes."

Background Information

As stated above, my "client" (I say "client" because this is a made-up university brief) is Twinings which is a British-based company specialising in tea. The fact that they're interested in environmental factors would mean I would probably have to create a design that's environmentally friendly but then again my design would be for a ceramic travel mug which will be used more than once. This would give me more freedom, nevertheless I would still like to look into environmental issues.

Recycling is still very expensive and actually uses a lot more energy and this might be the reason why it's ideal to use a ceramic travel mug because it won't use as much energy... I would need to do some more research to confirm this though.

Breaking Down the Brief

I will highlight the part of the brief that mentions 'inspirational quotes' as that seems to be one of the most important factors. I need to do something light and amusing to brighten up a student's day, so this might mean that I'll have to use bright and bold colours or intentional puns. To make it easier for me to break this down I shall list all of the main aspects as bullet points.

• The "client" - Twinings

Need to look at their company information - logo, design, environmental factors, existing mug designs or even travel mug designs.

• Inspirational quotes

Could be really long or even short quotes. The longer quotes could cover the whole of the mug and could be the main focal point. I would therefore need to look for inspirational quotes or find out what makes words inspiring, because I could simply do something like, "Good morning sweetie! You can do it!"

• Target marker - Students - Unisex

I am part of this target market so I would need to find designs that I would find appealing as well as asking my fellow colleagues and friends who are also students or around that age group. I need to produce something for men and women, so I should avoid fully 'feminine' and 'masculine' designs. 

• Travel Mug Design

I need to have a look at travel mug dimensions, possibly purchasing one of the ideal size so that I could measure it up. I would also need to look at existing designs to see what's in fashion and on trend because I want my design to appeal to the target market. This emphasises the thought of having them take pictures of their own mugs so that I know what designs they have already purchased. I shall also look at Twinings mug designs and see if they do travel mugs. 

• Illustration

It mentions that I could mix up the typography with illustration, and this is ideal for me because I love illustration. I've already listed some typographers and illustrators in my proposal so I will be having a look at their work to see how they do it. 

Conclusion:

By breaking up the brief into simple, short bullet points I'll be able to draw up a successful design more easily because I if I ever needed to refresh my mind on what needs to be done I could just flick back to this post and quickly read through everything.

I've noticed that I've got quite a short deadline to work with so I shall have to make sure that I only do relevant research so that I can dedicate my time to experimentation, unlike my last APP where I seemed to have run out of time for this. 

[n] Learning Outcome

APP: The Overall Brief and Learning Outcomes Analysis

Project: Advanced Professional Practice
Level: Honours
Date Set: 30.09.2013
Date Due: Part 1: 16.12.13 and full submission 23.01.14

Preamble
This module is designed to encourage and enable students to use graphic design and the 'client' to expand and develop their professional style and to produce bodies of work for public scrutiny and evaluation. The module will enable students to synthesise theoretical, conceptual and technical skills gained during the programme to manage projects in a variety of areas of design practice and produce appropriate practical solutions.

The brief is designed in such a way as to allow open interpretation within the given theme and allow flexibility within chosen pathways. To ensure clear direction and intent from the outset of the course, you will need to determine and agree with the teach staff, your chosen pathway, i.e. typography, illustration, etc.

The Brief
The 'weight' of the dissertation that you have chosen will determine how many of the themes you will have to cover. The following indicates how many themes you are to choose:

Title
Pathway Option A -
Dissertation - 15 credits (3000-4000 words)
Advance Professional Practice - 60 credits (4 projects)
Major Project - 45 credits

Pathway Option B
Dissertation - 30 credits (5000-6000 words)
Advanced Professional Practice - 45 credits (3 themes)
Major Project - 45 credits

Pathway Option C
Dissertation - 45 credits (7000-8000 words)
Advanced Professional Practice - 30 credits (2 themes)
Major Project - 45 credits

Choose theme(s) from the following:

Arrival
Identity
Words
Conflict
Adventure
Home

Conclusion:
With all of this in mind, I will now need to decide which of the themes to choose which I shall do by creating mind maps of each one. Luckily the brief is allows for open interpretation so that I could create something that I'm interested in.


Learning Outcomes
Here are the learning outcomes for the APP, and I have analysed each one just beneath it.

[1] Gain an understanding of the needs and requirements of professional practice.

I am doing this by analysing the design brief and learning outcomes so that I aim to meet each point made. I know that it might be impossible to cover absolutely everything but I shall try my best! I would also like to look at existing products to see how other designers tackled similar briefs.

[2] Develop effective communication skills through the medium of [specialist] graphic design.

This is quite new to me as I haven't had this learning outcome before, so I'm assuming what they mean by "effective communication skills" is asking for feedback from both my classmates and the public and to write them down so that I can show how they have helped me through my designing process.

FMP: The Brief & Learning Outcomes Analysis

The Brief

Unlike all of my previous projects I came up with my own brief, and so I picked out a few points that I thought were very important to achieve a successful design.

• Fairy tale themed wedding
• Wedding invitation – possibly R.S.V.P, dinner cards & directions card as well
• Consistent theme

Okay so I would definitely need to research into different fairy tales by reading books such as Grimm fairy tales, and possibly look at Disney films as well. I would also need to look at how invitations are designed, what words they used, and what I would need to include in it.

Conclusion:

This brief isn’t as demanding as my other ones although I do feel that it has a strong structure, which is helpful as it ensures that I do relevant research. I would definitely have to design a wedding invitation but I’m going to aim to do all of the other counterparts as well.

Learning Outcomes

These learning outcomes are slightly different to those of my previous projects, so I am going to analyse them further so I know exactly what I’m going to do. I shall do this by listing the bullet points from the learning outcomes and then write how I am going to overcome each point below.

• Developed their awareness of the needs and requirements of professional practice, manifested in the ability to produce practical work of good technical quality.

There is a lot of emphasis on the final product in this learning outcome, as it asks that I “produce practical work of good technical quality”. This means that I might have to spend more time creating my product as well as designing it to ensure that everything turns out alright e.g. the printing is at it’s highest quality.

For this I might take a look at paper suppliers to see if I could use a material other than Lustre (something I always use in my projects) as well as printing companies to see how much they’ll charge. This then links in with another learning outcome further on.

Portraits: Design Brief, Learning Outcomes & Analysis

Design Brief

University of Kent at West Kent College

HND Graphic Design

Year 2,  Term 1

Modules: Option Module Illustration

     OR    Option Module Photography

(please note that whichever module you pick you must also use for the second project in this portfolio for Options)

Preamble

At this stage of your HND you are offered the chance to undertake further work within a pathway – these are illustration or photography.

In answer to this brief you must produce outcomes that conform to ONE of the options. You should check the appropriate learning outcomes and work to achieve these.

The Brief

 New Scientist magazine is running an article about the psychology of faces. You are asked to design an editorial image made in any format that you like (providing it can be assessed against either the Illustration Module or the Photography Module).

Design the editorial image to fit one page of the magazine (using the proper format).

You should also include on the page in any way you feel is appropriate a small label that details the name of the sitter and no more than 20 words describing them.

Specific Learning Outcomes

Please see Moodle and your course handbook for the specific learning outcomes for each module. Please note that the pathways options (photo and illustration) have different learning outcomes.

Live Music Brief & Learning Outcomes Analysis

As usual, I have taken parts of the design brief and the learning outcomes that I find are the most important key points. I would have to abide to every one of these key points in order to come out with a successful project.