MODULE EVALUATION

The final design practice module has gone very well. What I particular note in this module, is the quality of work I have produced coupled with a more focussed direction. While I have had a few setbacks, with cancelled briefs and the inability to complete some briefs, I feel that I have stayed true to my personal statement that I am a designer driven by concept with an focus on the culture sector. This sector includes events promotion and brands. I have perhaps deviated slightly with a few of the briefs that were done more as exercises. The Staaay brief was very successful, the brief start as a collaboration which I later developed independently. The work I achieved, the clarity of the concept, and the level of the execution has surpassed anything that I had done prior to the course. Similarly the Leeds College of Music brief is another brief that has been stand out for me. The production of the brief was of a quality I have never attained and the visuals and documentation have definitely been one of the most successful of my college career.

In addition to the quality of work improving, I have liaised with Leeds College of Music officials in the Marketing Department, I have held meetings for the yearbook and concept presentations, and I have helped to orchestrate a professional print brief in the form of the Yearbook. These experiences will be capitalised on in my interviews for placements or jobs. I will be able to discuss about these experiences that come from a focus to do Live briefs, which was a decision I made earlier in the year. I will be able to draw upon these experiences as experiences of project, time and people management and I will be to discuss how I worked with a marketing department, as well as presenting concepts at a design studio. 

DRIP was a brief that I am not proud of at all. The quality of the design is poor and the visuals are not to my taste, and I am not proud to say they are mine. The design took a turn due to me not being able to assert my own decisions, plus I am not cut out to create visuals for that particular style of film. It was a shame to get the year off to such a bad start however I feel that I pulled through well, and produced some great work prior to this period. To ensure nothing like this happens again, I will be far more particular about the briefs I take on in a professional capacity. I will now be able to identify when I will be able to compliment and answer a brief, rather than taking something in the hope they I will be able to do it well. 

Briefs such as Suilven and Rudimental Drums were not briefs that I can see being a source of income in future. Designing for bands is a tough industry to crack and I feel that this type of work will be limited to my spare time, especially if I have vested interests in the band. Rudimental Drums is not something I will take on again. The result was good, but the industry placement and it's context in my overall design practice was difficult to justify.

Moving through the year I found that my practice was not particularly specialised to print or digital and that this is something that needs addressing. I thing I would prefer to be orientated around the digital, but it is perhaps because I do not fully understand my context well enough yet to say that I am one or the other. I think that this is something that is becoming less relevant. I like to think that I am capable of creating concepts and ideas that can be applied in a multitude of different ways whether it be print, digital, or experiential. I think that in order to fully realise my context, I need more experience in the industry to figure the full extent of my practice.

My personal statement has not particularly changed, however I feel my ability to manifest my personal statement in my portfolio of work this year has perhaps made my personal statement look untrue. I am still very driven toward the culture sector, and I like the idea of working across print and digital with a special affinity to branding, and advertising. I have found that I am extremely focussed on Copywriting, which is something that I have realised this year. While, I do not see myself as a copywriter I am happy to have this skill as a string to my bow as I think it broadens my capabilities as a designer. 

As I come to the end of my degree, I will look to take on briefs that are with my interests highlighted in my design context publication. I will look at the precedents I have identified, and have a more calculated approach to design. From my progression the three years it is clear to see that I have developed a vast majority of skills that prepare me for professional practice, however I certainly need to ensure that I improve my consistency and my ability to choose briefs that are suitable to my context. 

DESIGNCONTEXT

SUILVEN_PRESENTATION&EVALUATION

Similar to the Rudimental Drums brief, this brief was completed earlier in the year as a short brief ‘in-between’ collaborative briefs. I enjoyed working on the type design for this brief as I tried to achieve a bold typeface without using bold shapes. I wanted something easily identifiable with a distinct natural character. In addition to this, I wanted the typeface to be clear. The name Suilven comes with a difficult pronunciation, and I wanted the letters to be clear and stand in their own space.

This work was done earlier in the year, and I feel that since conducting the brief my ability to design, and the quality of my work has greatly improved. While I do not remotely consider myself a type designer, I enjoyed creating the typography for the band. I do not have an interest in creating the everyday functional typography that is created by foundries such as Dalton Maag or Colophon. I feel these typefaces need to be created by people who dedicate their life to the world of type design, and that is something that I am just not willing to do. Despite this, I enjoy creating one off word marks like this one. This is due to the quick turnaround of the marks, and I can focus on the letters work together immediately. I find this particularly interesting when text becomes more flamboyant and each character physically interacts with the one next to it. This is something I have done outside of this module and I found it very therapeutic. I think I know have the abilities to create a desired effect through the use of software and my own design ability. This is something that has been nurtured throughout the three years, and I feel confident in my ability, and I will capitalise on it in future by taking on more briefs.

I am not particulary too interested in making a habit of doing design for bands, however the wider music industry in terms of events, businesses, and organisations does interest me greatly. I am personally in the band I have carried out the work for, so I felt that I had vested interests in this brief. I think it is important to use my design abilities to help myself out from time to time, and this is definitely something I will carry into the future. I am very interested in the idea of creating design for my own personal ventures, outside of my day-to-day graphic design practice, perpetuating my own contexts for my design and experimentation.

CANCELLEDBRIEF_LIFF

I cancelled this brief due to unforeseen circumstances taken on by other briefs. I did not plan on doing briefs such as the Yearbook, which has taken a lot of my collaborative time up. The meetings and the presentations take time which I had not accounted for and I have had to give up this brief.

I am very disappointed with this as this is the type of brief I would like to do and I think it runs perfectly with my personal statement. I planned to do a campaign for the Leeds Independent Film Festival, however it has turned out that I would not have enough time to completely the brief with the level of integrity that I wanted.

RUDIMENTALDRUMS_PRESENTATION&EVALUATION

Rudimental Drums from Ross Franc on Vimeo.

This brief was conducted earlier in the year so that I had conducted some briefs from start to finish independently. While I have worked quite solidly in collaborations throughout the year, I have still felt that I have done a substantial amount of independent work. I have often found that working in a collaboration can lead to more independent work than working on a brief on your own.

This brief was completed rather quickly. I spent time working to a brief and pleasing a client, however I felt unfulfilled in myself. I feel like I answered the brief well and I effectively applied my own written copy to a professional and engaging standard. The design isn’t particularly bad, but something was lacking for me. I feel it was the application and context of the brief, and perhaps even the audience.

I think that I need to be working to a larger audience. I feel that this brief was not substantial enough for me to find particularly interesting. While the client was happy with what I had done, I feel that working in the sector of music and education is something that I need to be careful with. I was certainly not interested in the education side, purely because it does not appeal to me as a career, and the music thing is something that I need to be careful with. I need to find a broader context if I am to work within the music industry.

FAYEARBOOK_PRESENTATION&EVALUATION

The first thing that comes to mind when I reflect on this brief is that it seemed to consume a lot of time. From the initial pitch, to the multitude of planned and impromptu meetings with the Fine Art committee. While this time can definitely be attributed to the success of the brief, it was difficult to manage interms of following our collective and personal work flows.

One thing that was very successful about this brief was the way in which we conducted ourselves as a design team. In the first meeting the Fine Art committee asked us to bring us colour choices and fonts to the next meeting. I felt like this was an injustice to what we had learnt over the past three years and I urged the rest of the design team to take a pitch to the next meeting. I felt this was necessary for 2 reasons. Firstly, I felt we needed to put across to Fine Art committee that we were confident in our ability to design, in order to garner a level of respect from the committee. Secondly, I thought it was better to take a starting point with justifed design decisions, in order to gain a level of authorship over the design. The pitch went down very well, and although the book has been developed a lot since the original pitch, I feel that this was a vital step in our development. It allowed us to gain more constructive feedback, and move forward with the brief in a considered and organised way. The pitch allowed a point of reference for the Fine Art Committee, and the feedback allowed us to take away parts that weren’t right and quickly replace them with problem solving design.

The book was a thorough grounding in managing a lot of content and displaying it with an element of respect that would make the students feel proud. We organised the photographers so that everyone would have the opportunity to have their work taken as professionally as possible, this gave the artist a level of ownership and direction over the way their work was displayed. This also minimised the amount of chasing up we had to do, as the photographer’s had a level of responsibility to get all of the photographs that they signed up for.

In addition to these elements, we created a 3D type sculpture with the help of 3D modeler Luca Calabrese. We created a 3D rendered sculpture of the word SUM that was made up of a number of physical sculptures. The type face became a physical rendering of the concept. This was something that I have never given myself the opportunity to do. To apply type in this way has been a fantastic experience that opens my mind to the scope that typography can have. The type became a model that then became image, and informed the overall aesthetic direction of the yearbook and exhibition branding. This process of working with a 3D modeler was quite difficult due to the amount of time he could dedicate to our project. We were very conscious that he did not have a lot of time to be making amendments, so this part of the project could have been executed better in a professional environment such as a design studio, where there may be an inhouse 3D modeler. This time would have allowed us to make a greater statement of the type, and tightened up some of elements. The process was not made easier by our own inexperience in working in 3D. It is one thing to work with photographers, but working in a 3D piece of software comes with it a whole new level of opportunites and problems simultaneously. I would like to work with this more in future as I expand the focus and the range of possibilities and applications of my practice. I think that 3D software can play a huge role in the day to day of graphic design, and I would like to acquaint myself with it a little better, or atleast the people that work with it.

Overall this brief went very well, and the feedback we have received has been great. Working collaboratively became easier as we developed the brief, on the whole we worked well collaboratively in terms of us giving each other feedback and getting a final result we were all happy with. We all had significant input into the book and I feel like the decisions that were made were shared, and a true reflection of our collaborative practice.

COINS_PRESENTATION&EVALUATION

 There is not particularly too much to evaluate about this brief. The brief took 2 days to complete. I have a lot of silly ideas that I can execute as a graphic response, and I think this could be added to the list. What sets this apart from the other ideas I have had, is that this idea has been executed.

Being influenced by Daniel Eatock, I took the role of producing a piece of design as an art object. While I am glad I executed the idea, I think I need to be careful having ideas like this. They have very questionable value to my practice. I do not particularly want to make my living exhibiting prints, or making pretentious statements like this one and they have little value to people other than myself. I have a tendency to critique and I love the world of satire, I feel that this particular brief reflects that, but has also allowed me to realise that there is a time and a place for it. I’m unsure that I will be conducting many briefs like this in future, as I am beginning to find that there needs to be a more useful context for my work.

LCM_PRESENTATION&EVALUATION

LCoM Steinway Showcase from Ross Franc on Vimeo.

This went reasonably well. I was very happy with the final product and the presentation, however the brief seemed to last a lot longer than was necessary. The concept stages were long and drawn out, and the layout of the poster seemed to go through various stages of development, and although it was quite an arduous process, it seemed like it paid off in the end. I feel that to be fully happy with this brief I needed to work and act on the development stages far quicker.

In addition to the development stages taking longer than expected the print and production of deliverables also took longer than expected. While the development stages were down to poor scheduling and slow design development, the print process took longer due to the problems that occured during printing. The design was difficult to produce using screen print, and would be suited to a more professional process. The registration was difficult to master and the inexperience with such unpredictable paper stock meant that we spent a longer than expected getting the desired result.

Since the beginning of the year I have started to gain a renewed confidence in my layout abilities, my copy writing, and my application of typography, I think the visuals produced for this brief have set the standard for my future work, and I feel like I have started to develop a consistency between the quality of the idea and the quality of the final work. I am aware that I am still a bit hit or miss with my briefs as a whole, but with this realisation it provides a platform for future work post university, where I will be continuing my personal development with freelance and self-set briefs.






I engaged in a lot of correspondence with the marketing department at Leeds College of Music in order to make sure they were happy with the direction of the brief. This meant I had to produce industry standard mockups to propose to the marketing department. This engagement came with benefits and allowed us a budget for the print. This allowed for more expensive stocks to be used and allowed us to gain experience selecting, ordering and working with more exclusive paper stock.

SECRET7_PRESENTATION&EVALUATION

Once again this was a very process led brief. Similar to the SHED brief, I meandered through different stages of development, from developing an idea for a visual and running with the first thing I thought of. Once again, a very visceral and intuitive response, which can not be relied on to produce good work, but nonetheless it worked for me very well here. As I conducted the photography I realised that the image would need some heavy post production in order to acheive what I had in my minds eye. It turned out that this informed my concept and made it stronger.

When conducting the work for the brief, I thought about the context of what I was achieving. No, the design direction and the overall product was not something that I thought would become a reality, and no I do not want to be known as a record sleeve designer (as if there were a bigger cliche in graphic design). However, yes, I do like the idea of exhibiting work, albeit not strictly design work. This is why I tried to layer the concept and play with the context and meaning of the cover to provoke opinions on the song. If I was to submit this as an art piece I am sure there would be a multi-level concept referencing the potential for a fourth wave feminism in contemporary culture. I have always been fascinated with the push and pull relationship of art and design, and I would like to make this a wider context for my design practice later in life. I like the notion that art is designed, and you can apply many of the same concept building principles in the creation of art. For example, I think it would be interesting to use the Google Product Design Sprint, to create an exhibition. I find it interesting how an image like this can quickly be devalued by design by putting it on a poster and adding some typography relating it to a saleable commodity.

I was happy with the image, and the brief has allowed me to think about design from a fine art perspective. Having a previous background studying art, I think it would be nice to reintroduce this into my practice whether it be personally or professionally. However, this is something I am not looking to do for another few years, but I think it is important to be aware of the potential contexts and future application of my work.

SHED_PRESENTATION&EVALUATION

Shed New Music Sessions from Ross Franc on Vimeo.

This brief was very quick turnaround, going from research/concept to print in less than 3 days. The brief was very refreshing, the previous briefs relied heavily on concept, which made for a slow and testing design process. The frustration at not finding the spark immediately was completely averted in this brief. The concept arrived from being completely process driven, and seemed to mature as we made quick and instinctual decisions. The quick choice of content and flippant decisions made over stock seemed to compliment the design direction rather than compromise it.

I was happy with the design process, I was happy with the design, and I was very happy with the direction feel of the poster. If I could change anything it would only to be push the brief further. To consider that this is a for an event I would have loved to have a wider input into the art direction of the event itself. Bring the feel of the print to the broader context of the event. Similar to the BLADE brief, I feel that my job as a designer has only been half done. I am starting to think what good is it to design a poster or visual appearance for an event, brand, or institution without following it through to it’s live context. As graphic designers, we create and manipulate form, colour, tone, usually within 2D space, whether it be within a print or digital environment. It only seems to make sense to me that my natural progression as a designer is to take these sensibilities and follow them through to the 3D contexts. While I realise this is not for the case for all designers, I think that might prior experience as an architecture student gives me a desire to move into the 3D environment to create the visual consistency of a brand or event’s tone, shape and form.

I think the visceral and natural process of this brief has allowed me to think about the context of my design. I have realised that I like to think about cultural events and brands as a defining part of my practice and this is something that I want to capitalise on with my remained briefs, and my practice after college.

ELMWOOD_PRESENTATION&EVALUATION

Staaay from Ross Franc on Vimeo.

This brief has been another exercise in applying copy to a brand. I think I have fully exercised and nurtured my interest in copy here and improved the ability to apply appropriate copy and within promotion that compliment a brand tone and aesthetic.

Presenting the brief at Elmwood was a great experience, especially as I thoroughly believed in the material I was presenting. The presentation went really well with Chris, the design director at Elmwood, saying that the brief had the potential to be award winning. This was particularly nice to hear, and I think it was down to the simplicity of the idea and relationship of each of the brand elements that helped it be so strong. A part of the crit Chris gave concerned a couple of visual elements that did not quite work overall. The presentation won a chance for a placement at Elmwood, which I will be engaging with after I leave university.




After the crit, I returned to the brief to tighten the visual appearance of the brand and expand some of the deliverables that I had not had time to execute before the presentation at Elmwood.

The context of this brief in my overall design practice is an interesting conflict of interests. While I have no intention in pursuing the industry of dog kennels, or indeed anything to do with animal hospitality, I had to rise to this challenge in order to have the opportunity of presenting my work and myself infront of a design agency. Through working on the brief I have refined a set of skills that focus on the appropriate application of my design practice. The design itself will not win any awards, however, I have understood that the effectiveness of a brand and more generally a concept can not rely on the design itself, but the overarching relationship between content and design direction, and a will to step back from being a designy designer.

As I move forward from this brief and into the wider world, I will focus what I have learnt from this brief toward a setting of more geared toward the cultural sector.

FLAG/TBM_PRESENTATION&EVALUATION

This brief was particularly interesting as it has absolutely no possibility of becoming a reality. I think for some members of the class this meant that they could be more creative. However, my pragmatism led me away from the designing of the flag as such, and led me down an alternative path. Due to the speculative nature of the brief, I did not feel bad for changing the course of the brief, even though this is a luxury that most designers are not accustomed to in reality. I decided upon a minimal change in the flag, and instead wanted to introduce a campaign, or at least a tool for a campaign that would change the perspective of this loss from a negative to a positive.

I find it quite difficult to measure how successful this brief was, as it is very difficult to put into context, however the affect it had on me was positive, as it allowed me to think about how I tackle a brief in a new way. It opened me up to the idea that I could respond and hope to solve a problem by coming at it from a different angle. I think this is a tool and frame of mind that certainly gives a designer an edge. Put into a real world context, answering a problem from a unique angle in a design pitch setting, could mean the difference between losing or winning a pitch, or at the very least, being memorable.




After we had pitched the response to The Beautiful Meme, they were very interested in our approach to the brief. They did mention that the brief was to re-design a flag, but they said our concept had been unique and well thought out, as well as having an element of surrealism.

In terms of the context of this brief in my wider design practice, I like the idea of speculation and thinking about what could be, but I feel like a brief like this is a bit too far on the speculative side for me, when in reality, the flag is unlikely to change even if Scotland do leave. I think the brief was at the very least, a good excerise in answering a difficult brief. While it feels like my role in this brief was just to open doors to possibilities rather than actually design anything too intensley, I think that the experience has been worth while and I am happy with the way I responded to it.

BLADE_PRESENTATION&EVALUATION

This brief has been very satisfying to see through to completion. This is the first brief of the yar that I feel very confident about. The brief has allowed me to understand and apply my interest in copy writing to create a stronger brand and identity scheme.

I have worked very efficiently on the brief and I have felt that I could take the brief even further if I manage to secure it as a live brief after college. I would like to improve it in a couple of ways, that have been out of my power to complete on my own. I would like to collaborate with a photographer to get some promotional photography for the brand deliverables so that I do not fall into the trap of duo-toning everything. On reflection this looks rather amateur, however my own photographs would have definitely looked worse.

I enjoyed working to an agenda and solving the problem of the brief through a range of different creative processes, from creating a more modern and adaptive brand identity, to creating bold and high impact calls to action. The fact that the barbers is in direct competition with others in the area pushed me toward a more tenacious response, which I have felt is a real turning point for me. Having this type of confidence in louder design is something that I would like to follow on with post university. I have a tendency to let my design fade into the background and become uninspiring through a fear to commit. Having a more audacious approach and the confidence to be bold and loud is definitely something I have taken from this brief.

I personally quite liked the context of the brief and although I am not particularly into packaging, I respect that a brand must work across these deliverables in some circumstances. While I do not think I will be making a habit of designing for barbers, I like that, in some ways, the brief had elements of fashion, and could potentially invite a more cultural context.

In order to extend the brief I would like the brand to be applied to a more 3D context, in terms of the shop interior. This is something that I think may play more of a role in my practice post university and will be something that I will look into. It is either my obsessive personality or my overall outlook on design that would want to carry the brand identity through to this context also.

FLAG/DR.ME_PRESENTATION&EVALUATION

The DR.ME brief was very worthwhile for me as a designer as it allowed me to implement design in a new way. Curating design has been something that has been on my radar for a while, and it seems to make for a visually diverse exhibition. I think that it has made me aware that I am not particularly interested in pursuing a career in curation, especially of design objects. The idea of exhibiting design is a practice that is absolutely fine for those dedicated to the cause. However, I feel that the insular nature (design for design sake) of this type of exhibition is not particularly for me to co-ordinate.

Despite this, I very much enjoyed working on the brief itself as it allowed me to respond to instinct and work in a visceral and less pragmatic way. This is something I have not done in 4 years since my art A-Level. It came to me that I still would look for rules and restraints, as per graphic design education.

I had never printed onto material before and this is something that I now know is a possibility at college. The colours were far more washed out than I had wanted, and I feel we picked the wrong material. If I was to do it again I would have liked to screen print the flag onto a heavier canvas.

The design was highly process driven, which was a welcome change. The majority of my work comes from arduous concept stages, and I feel that conducting this brief may push me to work in a more organic and process led way. I enjoyed this working method and I will perhaps use this as a tool, depending on the brief in future.

DRIP_PRESENTATION&EVALUATION

The brief started out very well. I personally had to pitch to get the brief, to do this had to put together a personal portfolio of work, and respond to a set brief from the film director.

Having been successful with this I thought that this would give me a level of ownership and garner a certain respect as the graphic designer. However, it became apparent that the director had a very particular idea about the film’s graphic design elements. While some ideas were kept, such as the child like scrawls, many of our ideas were at the mercy of the director. I feel that this lead to a very average and immature response. The design process became very difficult to navigate through as a multitude of amendments came through for a range of different deliverables. This meant that the design became a mash of initially good ideas followed by bad and unimaginative executions. The issues arose due to a lack of planning , a forced aesthetic, a failure to take control of the design direction and as a result, a mundane and difficult design process.

Working within the context of film is something that initally excited me and was something that I was interested to be a part of, however I did not particularly enjoy the brief, and it has helped me realise that I do not want to design for film directly. I think the industry is highly intriguing, however I think my own interests and skills are more directed towards the wider contexts of film, such as, theatres, production companies, as opposed to the film itself. Perhaps this is too quick to right off, and it may be safe to assume that my next experience will be better after learning so much from this brief, but as far as I am aware, I will be steering clear of working within the context of film directly.

Ultimately the director was very happy with the work that was done, however, I personally was left very unsatisfied with the brief itself. The design work completed struggles to be called graphic design, and reminds me of a photoshop project done by a 14 year old.

TBM PORTFOLIO SURGERY

I had a portfolio surgery with The Beautiful Meme and Ben told me that my work was very promising. He likened one of the briefs to their own English National Ballet project. This was one of my own favourite briefs and I am glad that it got some recognition. Ben said that my work was strong but needed a couple of tweaks in order to make better. Ben identified that one of my strengths was in my copy writing and that I would fit in will due to my ability to be responsive to both. Another thing that was mentioned was my attraction to fun and wit. Ben said that I should look into writing screenplays if I hadn't done so already. I think this is a particularly interesting thing to tell a graphic designer, and I am very interested in how that could impact my future career. While I have no interest in becoming a screenwriter right now I think that if I nurture this skill in my own time and capitalise on it, then I could potentially open a wider variety of doors for myself later on. 

I would be very honoured to work with the Beautiful Meme and I think that I have a synergy with their practice. They work for the culture sector and I know them for conceptually driven work with a vibrant and engaging visuals. 

I was surprisingly relaxed talking to Ben and I think this came across well. I would like to try and maintain this temperament when engaging with professionals as I think it will help me and the professional part feel at ease with an interview or crit situation.

I will take the feedback that Ben has identified and act on it accordingly.