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.
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