In preparation of Level 06, over the summer I devised the briefs I would be undertaking over the course of the final year. I was most excited to work on projects I had complete creative control over, concerned with subjects that interested me and inspire me, creatively, such as interior decoration, creative print and finishing, and english language. I wrote briefs that aimed to solve problems which I encounter and experience as an individual, though I knew undoubtedly were shared notions. Feeling prepared in respect of the extended practice module, I held focus on Context of Practice until this module was submitted. It immediately dawned on me following the submission of COP that the list of briefs I had put together were much too ambitious, with more than half being books — something I now know are much more time consuming than I had anticipated when devising the original brief list, and therefore had to sacrifice some of the other briefs I had planned to undertake.
The first brief I completed was for the Student Starpack Awards, in collaboration with Shelley Huang, also on the course and additionally whom I live with. This made the project a pleasure to undertake as we had constant contact to discuss, develop and design a set of 3 luxury tea tins for a fictitious brand. It allowed us to bring our individual passions and specialisms for design together — Shelley as a packaging and pattern enthusiast, and myself as a designer wishing to work within the luxury sector in branding. Our art-deco inspired resolution to the brief, ‘Raritea’ has been shortlisted in the awards. This brief took longer than we had expected as we really wanted to ensure it was the best it could possibly be, motivated by a potential £500 prize.
Next, I re-opened professional connections I had made during second year through Personal & Professional Practice with paper merchant G . F Smith, printers Pressision & hot foil suppliers Foilco. This brief supplied me with the opportunity to have my first experience having a project professionally printed, this being ‘Printerview’ — an ‘in-coversation’ style publication discussing the power of creative print and finishing within the design industry and the companies themselves. As a subject which is a personal passion, it was greatly exciting to be working on this in such a capacity. Though I am most pleased with the outcome, this brief also led to my first time having to compromise on a more ambitious resolution due to budget and time constraints. It was also at times stressful and time-consumptive due to problems with missing type files and the multiple attempts trying to resolve the issue via email.
My research-led brief to provide interior decorators with a more functional, considered and informative means of choosing colours for schemes within the home was, as I expected, one of my most enjoyable briefs. I learnt a great deal through my research about the subject, and in doing so was able to produce what I believe is a much more immersive, creative and considered approach to choosing paint through ‘new’ brand ‘House of Theobald.’ This brief was by far the most comprehensive and time-consuming, though was a real labour of love (I would not have cut out 100 paint-brush shaped swatches by hand in any other circumstance).
A most personal brief, ‘The Dan-Air Diaries’ allowed me to work on another book, this time with my Mum as a client. A former air stewardess of the airline, the book reveals what life was truly like working for Dan-Air during the early 80s-90s. It was great to work on a project that clearly brought her so much joy in revisiting the memories and sharing them with me, and I believe will be a stand-out portfolio piece due to the personal nature of the publication. The only negative to this project was that there was at times some difficulty in ensuring that had all that I needed to produce the book and its content in a timely fashion — it is an odd reversal to be the ‘nagger’ and not the nagged.
The fastest brief I have undertaken this year was a live brief for Olivia Valentine, a graphic design student at Leeds University about to graduate and in need of an identity and business cards ‘ASAP.’ Though completed over only a couple of days, it was good to work on something slightly lighter after having slogged away at three publications consecutively. The resolution was something of a departure from my typical style, though was good practice for the future in not always having the luxury of designing as you would for yourself. The identity was underpinned by a strong concept that reflected both Olivia and her practice through a location-pin symbol representative of the journey we designers take when working on a project — with a start and end.
Undoubtedly the least enjoyable, and most stressful, brief I have undertaken this year is the identity, business cards and look-book for London-based fashion designer, Louise Jessup. Something of a ‘nightmare client,’ this live-brief truly demonstrated how difficult it can be to be reliant on client to send the necessary and required content to complete their work. Though this is an ongoing project that was always going to be close to the submission deadline due to Louise’s course schedule and upcoming deadlines of her own, it has been difficult to maintain contact and keep the project progressing — though I am sure the experience will be the first of many similar situations and therefore beneficial to my experience as a designer.
While working completely independently and self-responsibly throughout the year has been a significant change, and a shock to the system, I have enjoyed the freedom to focus on my work and follow my own instincts. Though not the most comprehensive list of briefs, the projects I have undertaken have most notably taught me that designing and producing books is a process that isn’t fast, nor the easiest of endeavours. They require a great deal of thought and planning, from the initial proposal of a publication to the end of physical production — though is most rewarding when complete. I have also discovered that branding is something I really enjoy working on having done more this year than ever before, whether for individuals, fictitious brands or publications. With minor exceptions, I have thoroughly enjoyed the module and the work I have produced throughout it and look forward to life post-graduation hopefully as a full-time designer.
