In the beginning, the notion of the Responsive module was immediately daunting. Finding a range of briefs that I wanted to work proved difficult initially, and the pressure and expectation of the completion of 4 briefs weighed heavy. Previous to the module my ability to work on multiple briefs simultaneously had needed much improvement, with inevitable neglect on the briefs I felt most pressure from. With responsive, I anticipated this to be exacerbated as a result of the multiple submission dates and deadlines to consider, from the competitions themselves to academic, and the additional pressure of the competitive nature of the projects. All this considered, to my surprise I have thoroughly enjoyed the module and am proud of each of the resolutions to the four respective briefs that I have undertaken. Though at times it has been stressful, the module has supplied me with the framework and opportunity to develop my time management skills, understanding of commercial expectations, the student design awards industry and my own professionalism in regard to the fulfilment of brief requirements and timescales. Additionally, the module provided me with my first real experience of collaborative practice. The briefs I have undertaken include YCN - UK Greetings, Papyrus’ call for an adult colouring page, the Penguin Student Design Award for Adult Fiction cover design of Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ and finally YCN - Greenall’s Gin.
The first brief I encountered was YCN’s UK Greetings brief, calling for designers to create their own range of greeting cards and gift dressings. This brief immediately captured my attention as I love nicely designed greetings material and stationary; I knew instantly that this brief would be rewarding to me and my practice. Throughout my experience of university thus far, I have felt the need to produce serious, professional work in-keeping with my luxury-sector ambitions for the future. Through the UK Greetings brief I was provided with the opportunity to create work that was more playful — an indefinite change from other work produced throughout my journey as a design student so far. The collection I created, ‘British Biscuit Luxe,’ enabled me to design a collection that I am immensely proud of. The brief enabled me to ‘let go’ to some extent, and resulted in work that was still true to my luxury practice, though not as serious as previous works and was perhaps much more rewarding as a result. I enjoyed the entirety of the process of undertaking this brief, from initial research, idea generation, development to production and photography of the outcomes. In the future I believe I will find it easier to produce works that bring my style into question and take me out of my comfort zone without overthinking my practice — this thanks to the experience of the UK Greetings brief. Although it took me a little while longer than expected to create the collection, I believe the outcomes are of a high-standard as a result.
Next I produced an adult colouring book style line drawing, creating a visual representation of something that helps me feel calm and relaxed. This brief, set by the national charity for the prevention of young suicide — Papyrus — provided the opportunity to undertake a smaller brief with greater reward supplied from knowledge that the design was for a worthy cause. I wanted to complete the brief within a more restricted time frame to develop my ability in faster response to briefs, giving myself only a week to produce the drawing. Though I took just shy of two weeks to complete the brief/drawing as of other commitments and distractions, it has allowed me to identify that this is still an area I need to work on and will endeavour to do so in my future practice. Although my drawing was not selected to feature in Papyrus’ adult colouring book, I enjoyed producing the drawing and feel it would make for an enjoyable session of adult colouring-in.
Following this, despite initial reluctancy to undertake the brief, I responded to Penguin’s Adult Fiction cover design brief. While my interest within design lies with editorial design, at first the brief did not inspire my practice for reasons unbeknownst to myself. Ultimately, I reconsidered the opportunity to design for Penguin as a result of the calibre of the publishing house and its contribution to the design industry. I selected Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ as I had encountered the book previously and therefore had the greatest understanding of this title in contrast to the other two options. With this brief, I was determined to complete the project within a short time frame, still searching for the gratification that I was capable of doing so following my shortcoming in regard to the Papyrus line drawing. This time, I was able to complete the cover design even faster than I had anticipated, taking only three days of intensive practice. The project showed me that if you fully commit yourself to something, results can be achieved quickly and professionally — this being a skill I aim to try and develop further after the rewarding nature of the experience. While I am pleased with the outcome I created, this brief allowed me to identify that I much prefer design entire publications as opposed to stand-alone covers.
Lastly came the collaborative brief to undertake, for which I had YCN’s Greenall’s Gin in mind as it provided the opportunity to create something ‘quintessentially British’ — this being a notion I enjoy. When the collaborative brief was first delivered, I was immediately nervous about the prospect of finding a partner from another course to collaborate with as I find meeting new people difficult. After meeting Alice Garrard following the presentation of work from level 05 graphic designers, animators and illustrators I felt relieved to have found someone who seemingly shared the same enthusiasm for the brief and had a design style similar to my own — citing clean and considered design as a commonality between our practices. Alice and I planned to try and meet once-per-week to ensure we kept each other updated and involved in one another’s part in undertaking the brief. Where this was not possible, emails and messages took place of face-to-face meetings. The approach we took to collaboration was to each produce work relevant to our subject areas and practices — meaning Alice was responsible for all illustrative work and I was responsible for layout, packaging and other graphic design endeavours. The illustration Alice produced served as the foundation for all campaign items, becoming the core visual identity of the collection. With-out it I would not have been able to realise the concept on my own, showing how much collaborative efforts can impact a project and the outcomes produced as a result. Through working with Alice, together we were able to achieve more than we could have through working alone, whilst also producing a response that would not have come to fruition via solo efforts. The collaboration allowed for our different specialisms and skills to be used in harmony to create a Greenall’s Street party campaign. Despite pre-conceptions regarding the apparent difficulties many face in collaborative partnerships, I found undertaking the project with Alice a pleasure and has majorly changed my confidence in producing work collaboratively in the future. Collaboration does not have to mean all work has to be produced together, but is more about the sharing of ideas, feedback and discussions that inform design practice and result in resolutions that both/all parties are proud to have contributed to — which I believe both Alice and myself are in regard to the Greenall’s work we have submitted to YCN.
The body of work that the Responsive module has allowed me to create has unquestionably forced me to develop as a designer, attaining greater awareness of the commercial initiatives of the design industry and the importance in taking a professional mindset to any and all projects in the future. I have developed skills, knowledge and confidence through this module and in retrospect have enjoyed the experience as a whole. The work I have produced is true to my practice aims and ambitions and I look forward to responding to more live externally set briefs in level 06 and my potential/hopeful career in design thereafter.
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