OUGD505 Licence to Print Money - Development, Rough Sketches (Studio Brief One)

Initially, I thought it would be a good idea to get some rough sketches of possible ideas down. Here are the rough sketches drawn for Save The Bees. I think the concept for these banknotes is actually quite strong, as ideally, the banknotes would be printed onto acetate, and the bee and leaf/honeycomb would be visible through both sides. This is a strong idea, however I think Saving the Bees is a concept that could definitely be developed a lot further, and is therefore something I am going to consider for Studio Brief Two instead.

I think drawing the migrant crisis is quite insensitive, so for this reason I haven't. However, these are some images of what is currently happening across Europe, and it's very shocking and worrying. This is the issue that I am going to take forward and develop, meaning within my own bank note I will have to be very careful not to be insensitive, however put across a clear message in favour of accepting immigrants into the UK.

OUGD503 Individual Practice, Brompton Bikes - Idea Generation (Studio Brief One)

To get an idea of how people have already responded to the brief, I thought it would be beneficial to look at some of the entries already submitted. This was quite frustrating, as most of the people entering the competition already had a Brompton bike, and therefore they had extra points, as it was a lot easier to film.

However, I did manage to find some interesting responses that were created from an artists perspective, such as the videos below.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BCA_waOIRkx/

I particularly liked this one, as it's very colourful and the music fits really well with the style. I think the illustration could've been a little more interesting, as this particular video didn't really have a clear concept other than the concept already given by the competition. The actual execution of this animation is really interesting, however, and it would be incredible to be able to do this. However, I myself don't actually have any knowledge of how to go about making an animation, so I can't really respond in this style. This is something I would love to learn, and it's something I plan on exploring over summer and I will hopefully teach myself how to create beautiful illustrative animations.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BAMTnHXxBMg/

This is another entry where the final video isn't created using a real Brompton Bike. I think this video response is really artistic and expressive of the city, as the paintings used are all very colourful, and it's very intricate as it's also created using paper folding techniques. I think using paper is definitely an area I want to explore with this project, as I think it's quite accessible to me, however it will be very time consuming.

OUGD505 Licence to Print Money - Further Research, Migrant Crisis (Studio Brief One)

The number of people driven from their homes has risen by 40% since 2013. In 2013, 33 million people had fled their homes in order to avoid war and devastation, however since then, the number has risen an extra 13 million, making the total 46 million people. The immolation of Syria was the biggest cause, but on the other side of the world, two million people fled the path of Boko Haram's pitiless offensive in Nigeria, and another 2.2 million escaped civil war in South Sudan. In this terse phrase of the Internation Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), while complied the figures, this amounte a a "quantum leap in force displacement".

Today's wars generally create far more refugees than previous conflicts. It may sound strange, but that is not necessarily bad news. After all, the  biggest reason is simply that even the most volatile countries have also experienced rapid population growth. If civil war had broken out in Syria in 1970, the refugee crisis would have been a minuscule fraction of today's catastrophe. Back then, Syria had only six million people, compared with at least 20 million today.

Put simply; there are more refugees because there are more people - and, in turn, there are more people because the world has broadly succeeded in reducing infant mortality and raising life expectancy, even in the poorest countries.

The volume of migrants heading for Europe is not solely because of war and poverty. The affected countries also have many more people than in the part - partly because Europe did the right thing by, for example, eradicating smallpox and immunising children against polio. All this means that our understanding of the 'migrant crisis' will need to change. The very word 'crisis' is misleading for it implies a passing moment of danger that will eventually come to an end.

The IISS also urges 'better access for humanitarian relief in the country of conflict' so that people are not compelled to leave simply to find food and shelter. Again, some chance. The likes of Boko Haram or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) are never going to allow a free pass for aid workers in their bloodsoaked domains.

Wars will always force large numbers of people to flee. Populations are generally growing, so future conflicts will create even more refugees than today. If 46 million people are now living in camps or other sanctuaries, the conflicts of the 2020s are likely to displace still more.

Instead of being a passing phase, the 'migration crisis' is part of the fabric of the world.

OUGD505 Licence to Print Money - Further Research, Bees (Studio Brief One)

I recently read an article online which can be found HERE. Save The Bees is a campaign across Europe and North America, "many wild bees and butterflies have been declining in abundance, occurrence and diversity at local regional scales in Northwest Europe and North America," - An assessment by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).

I also found this website below.

http://sos-bees.org/

This website explains that since the late 1990's, beekeepers around the world have observed that bees are starting to disappear, and have reported an unusually high decline in the number of honeybees. Bee killing pesticides pose the most risk to pollinators. The main reason for global bee decline is linked to industrial agriculture, parasites/pathogens and climate change. The loss of biodiversity due to monocultures and the wide-spread use of bee-killing pesticides are particular threats for honeybees and wild pollinators. To protect our bees and agriculture we need to shift from destructive industrial agriculture towards ecological farming. First and important steps are: Ban all bee-harming pesticides, Adopt a bee-action plan and promote ecological farming.

OUGD505 Licence to Print Money - Further Idea Generation (Studio Brief One)

The main two issues that stood out are: Environment and Refugees.
For this reason, I am going to look more specifically into these two issues. Originally, I highlighted a lot of different issues that could be developed, however this would be a lot of work, so I have chosen to research the two issues that interest myself the most, and are close to my heart.

Environmental Issues:

- Human overpopulation
- Hydrology
- Intensive farming
- Land use
- Nanotechnology
- Nuclear Issues
- Ocean Trash
- Animal cruelty (on a big scale)

Effects:

- Climate change
- Degradation
- Health
- Energy
- War
- Pollution
- Resource depletion
- Waste
- Toxicants
- Endangered species / extinct species

Refugees:

I already have an idea for what I could base this on if I were to create a bank note on refugees, as I would base it on the current migrant crisis. Lots of Syrians are currently fleeing from their homes in Syria and seeking refuge in Europe. There have been hundreds - even thousands - of news articles written, some in favour of taking refugees into our country, others not so accepting of this factor.

"The migrant crisis will never end. It is part of the modern world"

- David Blair

For the fact that there are so many different views on this particular issue, I would have to be quite impartial if I were to design something for this specific issue, and it would have to be something discretely aimed at migrants.

OUGD505 Licence to Print Money - Research, Global Issues (Studio Brief One)

This is a list put together, naming all of the issues faced on a Global scale. The topics and issues that I find the most interesting / relevant to money are bolded, and are issues that will potentially be researched into in more detail.

Aid
Arms Control
Arms Trade - a major cause of suffering
Biodiversity
Poverty
Climate Change
Global Warming
Conflicts in Africa
Consumption and Consumerism
Corporations
Environmental Issues
Fair trade
Food and Agriculture
Food dumping (Aid) Maintains poverty
Foreign Policy - projecting power
Free trade & golbalization
G8 too much power?
Genetically engineered food
geopolitics
Health issues
Human population
Human rights issues
International criminal court
Iraq Crisis
Mainstream media
Middle East
Natural disasters
Nuclear Weapons
Palestine & Israel
Sustainable Development
Third world debt undermines development
Trade, Economy & related issues
War on terror
World Hunger and Poverty.

OUGD503 Collaborative Practice, Desperados - Research (Studio Brief Two)

Before we delegate who will be doing what for our collaboration, we thought it would be important to do some more detailed research into Desperados as a company and the way they advertise their product. Desperado refers to an outlaw, particularly in the American Old West. I think this is definitely key to note straight away, as Desperados stand for people who break the rules and like to party. 

Fischer Brewery in France were the original brewers of Desperados, however it is now brewed elsewhere. It is still brewed in France, however it is now also brewed in the Netherlands (since 2012).

This is the newly created Desperados UK website. It's a very simplistic website design, which is something I should definitely incorporate into my own website design when I come around to it. I originally went onto the website to find out a bit more about Desperados, however didn't come across a lot as the website is mainly links to Tweets/Facebook posts and then a range of products available in the UK. These products are: Desperados, Desperados Red and Desperados Verde. These are also the only flavours I have seen available in shops and bars.

However, a quick search on Google made me aware they have other flavours available abroad. These are cranberry, lemon and amber (can be seen in the below photograph). It's key to note that all of the different flavours branding is incredibly similar - they have a very specific, kind of wild west theme to all of their branding. This is something that we will have to work with for our own packaging design, as the task requires us to make Desperados more appealing to people aged 18-24 - I think it will be important to add a party element to our concept, as Desperados tag line is "Follow the Party".

This is an advertisement I found for Desperados. All of the posters I have found generally feature the same colours - red, green and an amber colour. I think this works for the brand as a whole, however for this particular brief my collaboration partners and myself want to make Desperados seem fun, which is something I don't think is achieved by sticking to this colour scheme.

Having said that, however, I think alone that this poster looks very dull/boring, but when in a collection of lots of different advertisements (pictured below), it looks really successful, fun and bright. The posters as a collection are very eye catching. This could be something to work with; making multiple posters to be advertised as a complete set.

I also found this advertisement. It's important to note that the typeface used for all of their advertising posters is very obscure, hand rendered, and every single letter used is original - this could be very important when creating our own packaging. A sans serif is used for all of the letterforms except the D. Again, there are a limited use of colours, which we don't specifically have to stick to as I think it will be a new development for the company to use different colours - and in theory, it would still be very recognisable. 

I also thought it might be helpful looking at some television adverts created for Desperados. Even though I knew I wouldn't be doing the animation, theres a chance it might give me an idea for another aspect of the design. This is one of the adverts that I found. The main message is that you can break down the boundaries of partying - I think it's a very strong concept and it's filmed very well. Obviously we could never create anything on this kind of scale, however it may be inspiring for Gavin to look back on.

This is another advert/animation I found. I think this particular animation would be a lot more doable, and it is still interesting to look at - the only thing I would change about this particular video is the lack of sound - it's not very engaging because it's silent, although it looks like it was potentially originally posted as a gif. 

OUGD503 Individual Practice, Brompton Bikes - Research - Instagram (Studio Brief One)

Instagram is an online mobile photo-sharing, video-sharing and social networking service that enables its users to take pictures and videos and share them with other users. Instagram was created by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, and launched in October 2010 as a free mobile app. The service was bought by Facebook in April 2012 for approximately $1 billion in cash and stock.

Videos on Instagram are limited to being 15 seconds maximum, and generally are limited to a square format. I will need to take this into consideration when designing my own video for the competition.

OUGD503 Individual Research, Brompton Bikes - Research (Studio Brief One)

Brompton Bicycle is a manufacturer of folding bikes based in London.

The brompton folding bicycle and accessories are the company's core product, noted for its self-supporting compact size when stored. All available models of the folding bike are based on the same hinged bicycle frame and 16 inch bike wheel tyre size.

Components can be added, removed or replaced by titanium parts to form the many variations. In reviews of folding bicycles, Brompton is often the winner.

Approximately 40, 000 bicycles are produced by the company each year.

The Brompton is an award winning folding bike made for a modern urban environment, designed to last and be taken anywhere. A Brompton will easily fold up to a compact size that can be taken onto any public transport, fit in any boot and even stored under your desk at work. This hard wearing steel framed style icon isn't just nice to look at, its design was first released in 1979 and over the years modified slightly to give us the rugged hard wearing urban bike for cyclists that we see today. Its modular design is based around a curved frame with a hinged main tube allowing the 16" wheels to swing round when folded and the handlebars and seat post both fit inside the compact block with a quick locking of the saddle keeping the whole compact shape in place.

OUGD503 Individual Practice, Brompton Bikes - The Brief (Studio Brief One)

Create a 15 second (or less) film about a part of your city we haven't seen, then:

1. Upload it to Instagram
2. Use the hashtag #MyUnseenCity
3. Geo-tag the city you're in
4. Tag and follow @bromptonbicycles on Instagram
5. Share your film

Terms and Conditions:

A. Contest Period. The contest period runs from 02/10/2015 until the 31/03/2016.
B. The contest is open to anybody with Instagram. No purchase is necessary to enter the competition.
C. There is no charge for entering this contest. The only requirement is internet access, as the competition can only be entered online.
D. To be eligible, you must hashtag #MyUnseenCity in the caption or on the comments.
E. Brompton will review the videos submitted and select a shortlist of ten based on the number of likes received. Three winners will be chosen who best showcase the mission. The three winners will be selected by 08/04/2016.

The prize will be one special Brompton Bike Edition bike, which will be given to each of the three winners. The overall winner will receive return economy flights and two night accommodation from their home city to London, departing on 29/07/16 and returning on 31/07/16 to attend the Brompton World Championship on 30/07/2016. Delivery of the prizes will start after the winner is announced and the prizes will be shipped by 01/06/2016.

All winners will be announced via Brompton's Instagram account.

Contest Promoter
Brompton Bicycle Ltd, Kew Bridge DC, Lionel Road South, Brentford, Middlesex TW8 9QR

OUGD505 Licence to Print Money - Research, History of & Issues Around Money (Studio Brief One)

HISTORY OF MONEY.

9000 BC - 6000 BC

Livestock - particularly cattle were used as forms of exchange. This trading was an initial step towards the notion of standard pricing, for example, a cow was thought to be more expensive and was worth two goats rather than one.

3000 BC - 2000 BC

Banking - originated in Babylonia (present day Iraq) with inital deposits of grain, cattle, agricultural implements and precious metals. During this period, there was a belief that temples were a place of absolute refuge. Due to this, gold was placed in temples for safekeeping, leaving priests as acting 'bankers' as they became the gatekeepers for gold and issued loans where necessary.

2250 BC - 2150 BC

A guarantee - the state of Cappadocia (present day Turkey) guaranteed the quality of silver ingots, increasing their acceptance of money.

687 BC

First to mint - King Alyattes of Lydia was the first to mint coins. Lydians were the first people to open retail shops.

640 BC - 630 BC

Electrum - The Lydians coined the first modern form of money by producing metal coins made out of electrum, a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver.

550 BC

Separation - Lydians began producing separate gold and silver coins.

390 BC

Cackling geese - In Rome, cackling geese alert authorities against thieves stealing the cities money reserves. Romans built a shrine to Moneta, the goddess of warning. The words 'money' and 'mint' originate from this goddess.

118 BC

Leather money - it was made from white deerskin and was issued in China. Many people believed this to be the earliest form of a banknote.

30 BC

Caesar reforms - Caesar Augustus reformed Roman monetary system by issuing gold, silver, brass and copper coins.

806 - 821

Paper money - paper money was invented in China.

1232 - 1253

The florin - a gold coin minted in Florence, Italy, became widely accepted currency throughout Europe.

1275 - 11292

Marco Polo - Europe learns about paper money from Marco Polo's travels in the Far East, including China.

1452 - 1519

Milled money - Leonardo de Vinci's drawings were used to create a press for producing coins using a water-driven mill. The new money was called 'milled money'.

1661

Bank notes - Europe's first bank note was issued in Sweden.

1792 

Coinage - The US issued its first coins under the Coinage Act.

1860

E-money - Western Union marks the beginning of electronic money with electronic fund transfer (EFT).

1908

Fifty-cent - The official opening of the Ottawa Branch of Britain's Royal Mint is commemorated with a fifty-cent piece.

1935

Bank of Canada - The Bank of Canada is established.

1950

Diners Club - The era of credit cards begins with the Diners Club card.

1967

ABM - The first Automated Banking Machine is introduced in England.

1981 

Videotax - Online banking begins when four of New York's largest banks offer home banking services using the Videotex system.

1990

Age of the smart card - New technologies include electronic cheques and embedded smart cards.

1999

Mobile banking - European banks begin offering mobile banking through primitive smart phones.

2002

Euro - The circulation of Euro bank notes and coins begins.

2012 

Penny for your thoughts - Canada stops minting the penny for circulation.

ISSUES.

The main issues surrounding physical money is theft, as it isn't safe to keep large sums of money out of the bank. This is a minor issue, however, as banks are (generally) a safe place to keep money.

The main issues surrounding online banking and money is also theft. Hacking is possible, however banks work very hard to make it more and more difficult for hacking to occur, and also have security measures in place for large sums of money leaving peoples accounts.

OUGD505 Licence to Print Money - Research, Other Bank Note Designs (Studio Brief One)

This bank note was designed by Dowling Duncan and is a redesign of the US Dollar Bill. The use of bold pantone colours make the notes really eye catching and interesting and also make the notes desirable as collectibles. The imagery used is all relevant for America, for example, the President Barack Obama, and the symbol of the golden eagle. These designs are much more relevant than the current Dollar bill, as they are current and not solely about politics. 

These Norwegian Kroner bank notes are designed by Alask Gurholt Ronse. The concept of the notes is that on one side would be a detailed illustration of something specific to Norway, for example, the fish, and on the reverse side of the bank note would be a child's drawing of the fish. It's a really interesting concept, as it shows that Norway know that children are the future.

These notes were designed by The Metric System and Snøhetta for the Central bank of Norway, Norges Bank. The concept for these notes is really admirable; it is a beautifully illustrated design on one side of the note, and on the reverse is a pixelated colour scheme. They're very minimal bank note designs and really aesthetically pleasing because of this factor. 

Barbara Bernat designed these bank notes for the Hungarian Euro. One side of the designs feature an illustrated image of an animal that is found across Europe, and the other side is an illustration of a plant that is found across Europe. The colour scheme of the bank notes make them really pop out and they are a lot different from anything that exists today. The use of negative space is also key, as it makes the designs even more eye catching.

This note was designed by Lili Koves for her idea of the future, The United World Bank. The notes feature universal values on the front of the note, such as nature, and on the back of the design is the inside; what matters the most. For example, this particular design shows the inside of a tree.

Orhan Okay, Turkish Lira Currency Design. This design is quite similar to regular bank note designs, however it has a key focus on other important people of Turkey, not just political. The design is a lot more up to date with current design and has a lot of negative space and use of colour in order to keep the attention of the viewer. The designs are very consistent through-out each bank note design, as the type is kept in the same place, and the same style of design is used for the different illustrations. 

OUGD505 Licence to Print Money - Research, Travis Purrington (Studio Brief One)

”An updated banknote proposal created for the United States of America within the Master thesis design project “WORTH: The Aesthetics of Global Interest” while attending the Academy of Art and Design / Visual Communication Institute (Basel School of Design) in Switzerland. It was printed for the Diplom Exhibition in 2011 in Basel.

Inspired by the Swiss Franc’s (CHF) ambitious redesign process (the currency is thoroughly redesigned every 20 years by way of contest) The goal was to develop a similar updated iconographic system better representing the advancements and culture within the American society.

This particular series plays on themes of human discovery and endeavors to connect achievement, theory and the fundamental properties of life.

This is of course not a conspiracy to trivialize or shun the great deeds of the past, but to communicate principle rather than effigy permeating through the spirit of industrial, organic and elemental systems.”

- Travis Purrington

The design of these dollar bills is incredibly complex, however each follows the same grid format. These designs are incredibly modern, however don't specifically follow the rules of modernism, as they don't have a huge amount of negative space. All the type is left alligned, however, and there is a small amount of negative space.

They are all very interesting designs, however they are kept consistent through the use of the shapes and the grid used. The use of colour and imagery makes each note stand out from the next, and they are really impacting and memorable due to this.

OUGD503 Collaborative Practice, Desperados - My Tasks & Timeline Plan (Studio Brief Two)

So today I finally met up with my group, and I found out they had come up with a concept for the brief. I'm kind of disappointed that I wasn't involved in this decision making (although it couldn't be helped), however I really think the concept that they have come up with will be very successful and is an incredible idea.

The concept that they came up with is glow in the dark bottles. This is such a great idea, as I was thinking myself how we could incorporate a successful event into a bottle design, and I did mention the lighting plays a huge part.

They showed me their mind map from yesterday, which listed a number of ideas they had covered, such as drinking games with specific packaging, board games, and notches on the bottle (which I didn't quite understand).

Today we decided it would be a good idea to hand out roles in the group so that we could all get on individually with our own design.

Gavin - Animation
Dan - Bottle design & Packaging
Me - Website, Posters

I'm not a huge fan of creating websites, however as a group we felt that I should definitely do this task as I'm probably the person that knows the most about design for web. I also volunteered myself to design posters for the event, as I think I will be able to make the website and posters consistent.

I thought it would be useful to create a timeline of when I will have specific parts of the design finished by:

5th Feb - multiple web designs (without incorporated packaging)
29th Feb - poster designs (potentially with incorporated packaging - depending whether this is finished by that point).

OUGD505 Licence to Print Money - Research, Current Bank Note Designs (Studio Brief One)

These are the current banknote designs for British Pound Sterling. The designs are quite similar through-out, mainly using an image of the queen with an intricate pattern in the background. This is key for bank notes, as it makes it a lot more difficult to replicate them. It is also noted that it is possible to see through the note, and when held up to the light, an image will show from the other side. This is another way to tell that a bank note is real/fake. Finally, There is silver vinyl down the side of the bank note, which is impossible to rip. This also helps people discover if a banknote is real or fake. 

The actual design on the banknote is very outdated, even though the notes aren't that old. The queen is portrayed very young, however this isn't the case. Having the queens face on a banknote is a very outdated idea, as a lot of British people don't really support the Monarchy. However, it does have its benefits, for example, tourists come to London to 'see the Queen'/visit Buckingham Palace. The tourism in London is supposed to benefit the British economy financially, however it has been apparent that a lot of money isn't distributed across the country well, and a lot of the money stays in London. This is another reason a lot of people don't want there to be a Monarchy in England anymore. This is something I will definitely focus on within my own designs, as I personally don't believe the Queen should be the representative of money in Britain.

OUGD505 Licence to Print Money - Research, Coinage (Studio Brief One)

The history of coinage.

The history of coins goes far back to ancient times and to the present, and is related to economic history, the history shown by the images on coins and the history of coin collecting. Coins are still widely used for monetary and other purposes.

All western histories of coins begin with their invention at some time slightly before or after 700BC, in Aegina Island, or according to others, in Ephesus, Lydia, 650BC. Ancient India in circa 6th century BC, was one of the earliest issuers of coins in the world.

Since then, coins have been used universally. The first coins were made of electrum, a naturally occurring pale yellow mixture of gold and silver that was further alloyed with silver and copper. Also, the Persian coins were well known in the Persian and Sassanids era. Most notable in Susa and in Ctesiphon.

Some of the most famous and widely collected coins of antiquity are Roman coins and Greek coins.

The Byzantine Empire minted many coins, including very thin gold coins bearing the image of the Christian cross and various Byzantine emperors.

Some of the earliest coins were beaten at the edges to imitate the shape of a cow, in indication of their value. Most coins are circular, however some were rectangular. Also a lot of coins, especially in China, had a hole through the centre so they could be tied onto string.

Some of the earliest coins were made purely from silver and gold, which were the silver Dirham and gold Dinar in the early Islamic Caliphate from the 7th century.

Silver and gold coins are the most common and universally recognised throughout history, even today. Mints around the world still make millions of gold and silver coins, including the Canadian Silver Maple Leaf, the American Golden Eagle, and the Australian Nugget. Copper, nickel, and other metals are also common, but in lower denominations.

Coins were first made of scraps of metal. Ancient coins were produced through a process of hitting a hammer positioned over an anvil. The Chinese produced primarily cast coinage, and this spread to South-East Asia and Japan. Relatively few non-Chinese cast coins were produced by governments, however it was common practice amongst counterfeiters. Since the early 18th century and before, presses (normally referred to as mills in coins collecting circles) have been used in the west, beginning with screw presses and progressing in the 19th century towards steam driven presses. The first of these presses were developed in France and Germany, and quickly spread to Britain. Modern minting techniques use electric a hydraulic presses.

The mintage method (being hammered, milled or cast) does limit the materials which can be used for the coin. For example, antimony coins, (which are very rare) are nearly always cast examples, because of the brittle nature of metal, and thus it would break if deformed, which is a key part of the milling and hammering process.

OUGD503 Collaborative Practice, Desperados - Idea Generation (Studio Brief Two)

I am yet to meet up with my group to decide on a concept as of yet. It's quite a difficult thing to do when we are all scheduled for responsive on different days, so I thought I would begin my own idea generation to discuss with my group.

I began by thinking about what makes a successful club night.

1. Lighting - I thought this, as it's always a great experience when you go out and the club you are in has incredible light shows, for example Projekt in Leeds. It would be interesting to incorporate this into a part of our product.
2. Concept - A club night is always a success if there is a theme of the night, for example I really enjoy going out on Halloween/Boxing Day where people dress up. There are also some really interesting events around Leeds, such as the club night 'Donuts', which is a big kids club night that often have bouncy castles, ball pits etc.
3. Music - The music is a key part of the night. It's good to have a huge range of different types of music, for example I don't like going to events that only have one room, as if I don't like the song I tend to go outside and chain smoke.
4. Alcoholic Drinks - This is quite obvious for someone aged 18-24 who struggles to have a good time in a club environment without alcohol. It's good to have a range of alcohol available as many people will drink pints, spirits and alchopops all in the same night.
5. Prices - Paying entry to a venue is often a good advantage, as the drinks inside are generally cheaper, and therefore attract a lot more people.
6. Props - It's always fun having props at an event, whether it's a big sign for the club night or cardboard guitars, which leads me on to the next point:
7. Photographers -Having photographers at an event is very successful, especially when there are props, as the people in the photos often tag themselves on Facebook, and therefore the event/business gets a lot more exposure for a very cheap price (the photographer)
8. Finally, souvenirs are great at club nights, whether it's a wristband, cardboard glasses or what have you, people generally take them home with them after the event.

Next I thought it might be interesting to look at things that are specific to Mexico. Even though Desperados isn't brewed there, their whole aesthetic is very Mexican as their beer has tequila in, which is a Mexican drink. Below is the Mexican flag, which has three main colours: green, white and red. The bird on the flag could be something to consider.

Sombreros, Siestas, Moustaches, Tequila, Ponchos, Chilli (hot food), Maracas, Donkeys, Tumbleweeds - these are all things I think about when I think of Mexico, which aren't really helpful at all as it's just generalising a country, and I obviously know it's nothing like that there.

OUGD503 Collaborative Practice, Desperados Brief (Studio Brief Two)

This is the brief for D&AD's Desperados brief. It's a very informative brief, so I am going to go through and note the main points that my collaborative team will find the most useful. 

Background:

Desperados is the world's first tequila flavoured beer. It's created in France and attracts a lot of young adults that are bored by other beers. Even today, Desperados continues to push boundaries, bend the riles and celebrate those who embrace their inner tequila and dial up the daring.

Party is their playground; not party as a one-time event, but as a state of being; a party can happen anytime, anywhere. Desperados is on hand to enhance the party spirit, spicing things up with the daring edge its hint of tequila brings.

The challenge:

Connect younger adults with the Desperados spirit, through an experience that will help them release their daring side and push creative boundaries. Show how Desperados can help create that party mood wherever and whenever people are preapred to release their inner tequila.

Who its for:

18-24 year olds building their own identities.

What to consider:

Experimental marketing, building emotional connections, experience as a word, a range of media and channels, what the audience needs, what you can do to add value to their lives, authenticity - true to the brand, surprise the audience and take them out of their comfort zone. 

What's essential:

A campaign, whether it's an event or activation. Must consider your audience.

What and how to submit:

present your solution using either a video (max 2 mins) or up to 8 presentation slide images.

supporting material can include a video (max 1 minute), html and physical material.

OUGD505 Licence to Print Money - Research, Banknote (Studio Brief One)

The first ever recorded use of paper money was in the 7th Century in China. However, this didn't become widespread in Europe for nearly 1, 000 years.

In the 16th Century, the goldsmith-bankers began to accept deposits, make loans and transfer funds. They also gave receipts for cash, that is to say gold coins, deposited with them. These receipts, known as 'running cash notes', were made out in the name of the depositor and promised to pay him on demand.

Many also carried the words 'or bearer' after the name of the depositor, which allowed them to circulate in a limited way. In 1694, the Bank of England was established in order to raise money for King William III's war against France. Almost immediately the Bank started to issue notes in return for deposits. Like the goldsmith's notes, the crucial feature that made Bank of England notes a means of exchange was the promise to pay the bearer the sum of the note on demand. This meant that the note could be redeemed at the Bank for gold or coinage by anyone presenting it for payment; if it was not redeemed in full, it was endorsed with the amount withdrawn. These notes were initially handwritten on Bank paper and signed by one of the Bank's cashiers. They were made out for the precise sum deposited in pounds, shillings and pence. However, after the recoinage of 1696 reduced the need for small denomination notes, it was decided not to issue any notes for sums of less than £50. Since the average income in this period was less than £20 a year, most people went through life without ever coming into contact with banknotes.

The first printed bank notes appeared in 1853 relieving the cashier of the task of filling in the name of the payee and signing each note individually. The practice of writing the name of the Chief Cashier as the payee on notes was halted in favour of the anonymous 'I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of ...', which has remained unchanged on notes to this day. The printed signature on the note continued to be that of one of the three cashiers until 1870, since when it has always been that of the Chief Cashier.

The Bank hasn't always been the only issuer of bank notes in England and Wales. Acts of 1708 and 1709 had given it to partial monopoly by making it unlawful for companies or partnerships of more than 6 people to set up banks and issue notes. The ban didn't extend to many provincial bankers, who were all either individuals or small family concerns. However, the Country Bankers' Act of 1826 allowed the establishment of note issuing join-stock banks with more than six partners, but not within 65 miles of London. The Act also allowed the Bank of England to open branches in major provincial cities, which gave it more outlets for its notes.

In 1833 the Bank's notes were made legal tender for all sums above £5 in England and Wales so that, in the event of a crisis, the public would still be willing to accept the Bank's notes and its billion reserves would be safeguarded. It was the 1844 Bank Charter Act which was the key to the Bank achieving its gradual monopoly of the note issue in England and Wales. Under the Act no new banks of issues could be established and existing note issuing banks were barred from expanding their issue. Those whose issues lapsed, because, for example, they merged with non-issuing bank, forfeited their right of issue. The last private bank notes in England and Wales were issued by the Somerset bank, Fox, Fowler and Co in 1921.

OUGD505 Licence to Print Money - Initial Ideas (Studio Brief One)

This comes across as a really interesting brief, however it will also be quite challenging as the prints will have to have a clear message portrayed over a finite amount of space.

These are the initial concept ideas:

- Social Injustice
- Blackfish
- The Migrant Crisis
- Death of the bees
- Homelessness
- Contrast between the rich & poor
- Notes designed for specific cities
- A note for the whole world.

All of these ideas are incredibly vague, however a couple will be able to progress further once more research has been done into the history of money and coinage.

OUGD505 Licence to Print Money - "Show Me The Money" Exhibition (Studio Brief One)

This exhibition was a really interesting exhibition that explored what money stands for. 

"The exhibition charts how the financial world has been imagined in art, illustration, photography and other visual media over the last three centuries in Britain and the US'. This included a wide range of media, such as paintings, prints, photographs, videos, artefacts and instruments of financial exchange both 'real' and imagined. 

OUGD505 Licence to Print Money - Briefing (Studio Brief One)

Brief.

This brief is posing the question 'is there a future for 'real' money, with the likes of PayPal, Apple Pay and contactless existing'.

Undertake research into the development of coinage and banknotes while exploring the cultural understandings of legal tender. Following this initial engagement (including the research trip to the People's History Museum 'Show me the money' Exhibition), begin a developed interrogation of financial transactions in order to complete your own proposal for the future of the banknote.

Your bank note should be presented as a finished print that makes use of any of the varied analogue print processes available within the college's workshops. Submissions should be created using a minimum of two colours or finishes. Paper size for completed work will be 21cm x 26cm, with banknote designs displayed landscape. (The size of the actual banknotes are to be determined by the student when based on their design rationale. The choice is given whether to display one or two sides of the banknote on the print.

The deadline for the prints will be the 21st April 2016 for inclusion in a Level 4 and 5 group shouw that will run in May 2016.

Finished prints for this brief are NOT DIGITAL.

Background/Considerations.

Think visually. Explore both literal and lateral responses.
Explore working with text and image combined and seperately.
Consider the various techniques and processes that are available to you and their suitability for conveying or re-enforcing the ideas that you are trying to communicate.

Mandatory Requirements.

An analogue print on 21cmx26cm stock for completed designs.

Deliverables.

A final print.
2xA3 design boards submitted as PDFs that provide condensed overview of your research and design decisions.
Documentation of development on SP blog.

OUGD503 Individual Practice, Eurojust - Design Boards (Studio Brief One)

OUGD503 Individual Practice, Eurojust - Evaluation (Studio Brief One)

I found this brief extremely challenging, which is the reason I wanted to take part in this specific competition. I found it challenging due to the requirements of the brief; the European flag had to be used within the design. This made doing any illustration look really out of place, so in the end I just had to stick to type and the flag symbol. Along with this, the flag has very specific dimensions which needed to be met; for example, all the stars had to be upright. 

To add to the challenge, the actual submission of this brief was incredibly complicated. It required around 12 different file sizes and file types to be submitted of the logo design. This doesn’t sound too challenging, however the fact that Eurojust had mentioned the file must have a specific name complicated things, as they didn’t supply a name for each file type or size. 

The actual design, however, I really enjoyed creating. I played around with multiple different ideas, however the task was very challenging due to the inclusion of the European flag, as any illustration involved looked really out of place. This is the reason I decided to submit a type design. 

A strength of this project was my time management. Even with the submission being incredibly challenging, I still managed to submit my final design on time and with all of the specific file types required. I also think the actual design side of this project was a strength, as I am really fond of my final design and I think it works really well for Eurojust’s aesthetic, or on the website anyway.

A weakness of this project was my experimentation side. I did experiment with different logo designs, however I believe they were all too complicated to be any success. This could’ve been improved if I had spent more time on the project, however I simply didn’t have to time to spend before the deadline. 

OUGD503 Individual Practice, Eurojust - Submission (Studio Brief One)

This is the email of my final submission. The brief required the logo design to be submitted in a lot of different formats, such as black and white, greyscale, CMYK colours, full colour outlines and then a lot of different sizes - hence a lot of files attached the the email.

OUGD503 Collaborative Practice, Creative Partnership Contract (Studio Brief Two)

One of the first tasks was to create a creative partnership contract. I couldn't find the tutor handing out the sheets by the time we had sorted out our group, so I created this document using the file uploaded onto estudio. In the document is basically outlined my specific interests and skill set, and it's a contract that binds all three of us to work together for this project.

OUGD503 Collaborative Practice, 'Speed Dating' (Studio Brief Two)

This evening we all took part in a task that was in the similar style of speed dating. Different tables with different briefs from D&AD and YCN were scattered around the canteen, and we all had to go around and find the briefs we were interested in. In those groups, we then spoke to people wanting to do the same brief and decided if we would like to work together or not.

I chose to go onto the D&AD Desperados table, as this the brief that I thought would be the most interesting. There were only two other people on this table; Gavin Rae and Daniel Gilmartin. We all decided it would be a good idea to work together, especially as we are all on different specialisms;
Dan is on illustration, Gavin is on animation and I am on graphic design.

OUGD503 Collaborative Practice, "Pitcha Pitcha" Slides (Studio Brief Two)

Below are the slides I have created in response to the 'Pitcha Pitcha' task. I tried to make my slides very legible and easy to follow, as I knew they wouldn't flash up on the screen for a very long time. I tried to incorporate a wide range of work, for example, I have included logo design, screen printing, digital publication design and leaflet design. I also included art work and artists that I really admire, these are: Toilet Paper Magazine, Joan Cornella, Tame Impala animated music video and Alphabet Studios in Leeds. Finally, the briefs I decided I would really enjoy creating were Desperados or Dazed. I chose these briefs are I thought they were the most open to interpretation, and I think they would be the funnest briefs to respond to across multiple different specialisms, for example, Desperados could be very illustrative - something I'm not particularly talented with, however an illustrator obviously would be. 

OUGD503 Collaborative Practice, Researching into D&AD Briefs (Studio Brief Two)

To research into the briefs, I decided not to download any full briefs to start with and solely focus on the shorter description - this would save an awful lot of time, and also it will be a lot easier to recognise which briefs jump straight out at me. I have decided that I would like to enter D&AD, as I have wanted a yellow pencil ever since I heard about D&AD and I have followed them on Twitter for years. I think this would be a great opportunity to really get my work out there, and submitting work to D&AD is something I have always wanted to do.

DAZED:

The Creative Challenge

In an age when everyone is a broadcaster, where mediocre content thrives and technology has truly democratised the art of filmmaking, can true creative voices still cut through the noise using short form content? Can you inspire, inform and capture the independent spirit of Dazed in 15 seconds?

Using short-form social video (think Instagram, Vine…) as your only medium, make a series of four 15-second films that embody independence.

This brief seems incredibly interesting and is definitely one to go on my slide. Dazed isn't a magazine that I follow myself, however this brief seems like a really interesting creative challenge, however it will require an awful lot of research into the company and the aesthetic.

MONOTYPE:

The Creative Challenge

Take a cause you believe in and use the power of type to make a difference. Design with typography to agitate, educate, and organise, the world and your audience. Use typography to help people believe in your cause and its purpose; to motivate and inspire people, in a relevant way, to your cause; and above all, to make an impact. Typography is the soapbox for your rallying cry. Used at its best, it can empower your words, evoke meaning, set tone, and inspire ideas. Without it, your message could be drowned out.

Where would the students in Paris of ’68 be without their screenprinted stencil type? Where would Revolutionary Russia be without its condensed, sans serif gothics? And would Occupy have inspired the collective imagination without democratic digital design and ‘desktop publishing’? The right typeface, used in the right way, gives a cause, movement or change its true voice.

This brief sounds really interesting, however after reading the shorter brief, I don't think it's a brief I would like to do for collaborative, as I would really like to work with someone from a different specialism, and this particular brief sounds very graphic design orientated.

WWF:

The Creative Challenge

How can WWF turn their members into the world’s most active global conservation community? How can they modernise their membership and enable their existing supporter base to become more active?

Design an innovative membership offering to galvanise existing members to action and drive the recruitment of new ones.

This particular project is one very close to my heart as I really hate the mistreatment of animals and I think it's a shame that so many animals are becoming extinct. However, this brief doesn't really resinate with me in the fact I wouldn't know how to get someone to purchase a membership as I don't myself. I don't myself because I have barely seen any change in the way animals are treated, so for this reason I don't think I'd enjoy this particular brief.

DESPERADOS:

The Creative Challenge

Connect young urbanites with the Desperados spirit, through an immersive experience that will help them release their daring side and push creative boundaries. Show how Desperados can help create that party mood wherever and whenever people are prepared to “release their inner tequila."

Please note, you must be 18 years or older to enter this brief.

This brief sounds incredibly interesting and is definitely the most inspiring that I have come across. I think this is definitely the most relatable brief, as I'm a student and love to go to club nights and events, and actually have quite a few ideas of how events could be made even better.

OUGD504 Module Self Evaluation

This module was a really interesting module, as I had only ever explored design production on a smaller scale and never really considered my designs for mass production. I found this particular task really challenging for each module, as each module had a very different final product, meaning a lot of research had to go into finding local printers and print finishes that could make my final designs the highest standard possible.

I particularly enjoyed the modules that involved printing final outcomes, such as Studio Brief One, which required me to print out my final leaflet. I found it really interesting researching into stock, colours and also experimenting with typefaces to make the my leaflet more engaging and enjoyable to look through.

Another project that I really enjoyed was Studio Brief Three, as from previous modules I found that I appreciate publication design and I wanted to experiment with this area further. Within this brief, I also got the opportunity to learn more about spot colours and printing within InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop. These workshops really helped me when designing my publication because these skills learnt were transferable. My time management within this particular brief was excellent as I already had all of the content for my publication, which is the part that I usually struggle with because it is tedious, so I could get straight to designing my book and considering print finishes. This was the brief that I spent the most amount of money on because I wanted my final outcome to be worthy of my portfolio, which I believe I have achieved.

As a whole for this module, I particularly enjoyed researching and outsourcing different stock that I have never experimented with before. This was particularly relevant for Studio Brief Three as I visited Fred Aldous and purchased some stock from G. F Smith. Experimenting with different stock really worked in my favour as the publication was very different from any other publication I had previously created.

A project that I found really challenging was Studio Brief Four, as I haven't experimented with web design for a number of years. It was particularly difficult creating a website that would serve its purpose on multiple platforms, such as the computer, mobile and tablet devices. However, as a whole, I feel like this particular challenge was completed to a high standard as I really pushed myself to achieve this.

Another project that I found challenging was Studio Brief Two, as I found time management really difficult as I really struggled when settling on a Kickstarter to brand. The website is full of many different areas of business that interested me, however I think that I chose the perfect project for me as I can relate to the business idea. I particularly enjoyed branding Lokables, as a strong concept and idea came to me straight away and I feel as though I developed this really well within the logo design. I also enjoyed creating multiple different products based around my logo design, as in previous projects I would simply stick my logo design onto a blank slate, however with this brief I pushed myself further to actually create the products and I am really pleased with my final outcomes.

A strength of this module was creating my final outcomes to a high standard, as I managed my time well for most of the briefs and made sure that I left enough time to consider and actually produce my final outcomes. The printing processes of each of the briefs final outcomes have been thoroughly considered to be possible to produce for mass production and also to produce on a smaller scale. Litho printing was the main resolution for each of my briefs, as it's the most cost effective way to create multiple publications and keep the cost to a minimum.

A weakness of this module was decision making, as I spent a lot of time in both Studio Brief Two and Studio Brief Four contemplating which kickstarter and band to design for, meaning that my time was cut shorter than it could have been. However, my time management wasn't too disrupted with this, as I pushed myself further and harder to create my outcomes, meaning I still had a lot of time to consider my print finishes. Once I had picked a project, I considered my time scale and booked printing sessions in the print room, so that I had a limited time scale to work to.

Overall, I think this module went really well and I think I have learnt a lot of transferable skills that will help me in later modules, and they are also skills that I would really like to develop on further.

OUGD504 Design Boards (Studio Brief Four)

OUGD503 Collaborative Practice, The Brief (Studio Brief Two)

Working as a partnership, submit a response to one of the D&AD/YCN student awards by the deadline states.
1. Choose a creative partner based on the creative possibilities of your collaborative practice. Complete the collaborative practice form provided in order to identify your individual and joint interests, abilities, roles and responsibilities.
2. Visit the competition websites and find out about the organisations, opportunities and resources available online.
3. Select a brief from the downloadable briefs section of the site. Download any general information and specific brief related resources.
Complete the creative partnership form, project rationale and initial action plan before starting work on your selected brief.

Background/Considerations

Consider the following questions:

- Why should I collaborate? Two heads are better than one as long as they communicate.
- Who will I work with?
- What brief will we choose?
- What do I need to submit?
- How will I be assessed? You will be assessed individually on your own ability to plan, negotiate, manage, record and evaluate your individual contribution to a collaborative project. Maintain your own thorough documentation of research, development and production activities in response to the brief as well as your own on-going evaluation of your joint decisions working practices.

Mandatory Requirements

Your submission work should be presented on 5xA2 boards (digital .pdf format), summarising the research, development and resolution of the brief. These should be documented on your blog. You should clearly articulate your individual contributions to the brief. These submission boards will be different and in addition to any deliverables specified and produced for the D&AD/YCN submission.

Your work should be supported by development on your blog.
You should include a screenshot of your submission to your chosen competition.

OUGD503 Collaborative Practice, Briefing lecture (Studio Brief Two)

In groups of 2-4, focus on the role of the creative team and collaborative approaches to solving creative problems.

Combine your technical, practical and theoretical skills and respond to one of the available national competition briefs.

Check the terms and conditions of the briefs. Don't enter into a contract with any party unless you fully understand what you are committing to. All competitions are entered into at your own risk and expense. Keep copies of all work and development work through-out this process - upload them to your blog.

1. Document all work on studio practice blog.
2. Products, proposals & presentation boards - demonstrate the ability to identify and present successful practical solutions to identified problems.
3. Project report - demonstrate your ability to select, evaluate and communicate informed opinions on the development & resolution of your work.
4. Evaluation (750 words)

TASK

- Read the brief
- Sign up to YCN or D&AD
- Explore content of their websites
- Read the t&cs
- Select max of 2 briefs you're interested in
- Write a summary of why you selected these briefs
- Create 3 slides about you

DUE: Monday 11th January.

- 1280x720 (landscape) 72dpi - save as flattened JPEGs. File must be named ABramwellGD1.jpg
- Slide 1: Name, college email address and 4 images of work that you have created
- Slide 2: 4 images of professional work you admire
- Slide 3: Name the D&AD briefs you are interested in working on

OUGD503 Individual Practice, Eurojust - Mock Up on Website (Studio Brief One)

Here is my logo design mocked up onto the Eurojust website. I think it fits with the design of the website really well as the colour scheme works, and the actual style of the logo design seems to fit well with the content of the webpage. Finally, I am now going to submit my design. 

OUGD504 Design Production & Evaluation (Studio Brief Four)

Design Production

To produce a website, it's beneficial to create wireframes before going on to create the actual website. This saves a lot of time when showing the concept and layout to a client, as the client can get a rough idea of how to website will look and can tell you if they think they will be happy with the design or not. It is also beneficial as the web developer can tell you from looking at wireframes whether the website will be possible to create or not.

The web developer will require the size of the fonts used to create the website. For my design, I used the typeface Futura Condensed, as this is the typeface used on CryBabyCry's album cover. The font sizes I used were 36 and 60.

H1 size font = 60
H6 size font = 36

The developer will also require the colour codes and swatches used on the website. For my website, I used the following colour swatches.

Finally, to make coding the website easier for the developer, it helps to have a very ordered layers palette on Photoshop, as this means that finding each layer is made a lot easier. It helps to label things - such as body copy, title, logo, navigation bar etc. This is what my Photoshop document of the homepage looks like.

Evaluation

As a whole, this brief went really successfully. I made the correct choice in changing my chosen artist half way through the brief, as it wasn't going too well and I think this band went a lot more successfully. This was down to the fact that I couldn't of replicated Grimes' album artwork myself, and therefore the best idea I had was close to impossible. I did, however, enjoy using film to record scribbles. My time management for this brief was successful after the first critique, however before that I struggled as my ideas weren't too great. However, once I had found a concept for Cry Baby Cry I found this project really enjoyable and fun to do.

I particularly enjoyed creating the About page for the website, as I haven't used a lot of the skills that I have within Photoshop for a long time and I got the opportunity to experiment and utilise the skills that I have to create one striking image using three photographs. I thought it was really fun considering what I would desire from a bands website and trying to recreate my own ideas using my own design skills.

A weakness of this project was picking an artist, as I decided to change to Cry Baby Cry half way through the brief, meaning I had a lot less time than most people had on the project, however I worked really hard over Christmas to catch up with the amount of work (and quality of work!). It would've been nice, however, to create the website using the software 'JustInMind', however I had already used the free trial a couple of years ago, and therefore the software was very limiting to use.

A strength of this project was the concept of getting more users to visit the website, as I think my ideas are really strong (Exclusive discount for users and the video streaming idea). I also think a strength of this project was my actual design work, as I tried to keep the design very clean and minimal as the bands album artwork has a focus on negative space and geometric shapes, and I believe I achieved this as on each platform there is a great focus on negative space around the content.

Another strength of this project was my time management, as once I had chosen an artist, I worked to a very tight schedule to make sure that I got a solid design for each device. If I had more time (and money), I would've liked to extend my trial to JustInMind and create an actual working website. I think it would've been really interesting to see the website operating, and it also would've been really great to send the website to the band and see what their thoughts are.