Name generation

Part of the brief for the magazine I am designing requires me to come up with a name for the publication,
I have created a mind map based around typography to help generate some ideas...

I like post script, language, face type, what typ? ... Another possibility that I came up with after creating the mind map was typ Ed... Like typed but with emphasis on the 'ed' as in editorial. I have been experimenting with these names and some ideas I had inspired by my logo and typography research.

Development

I have been researching logos and typography over the past couple of days to gather inspiration for the branding of my typography magazine, I have found some brilliant examples in Los logos: compass...

Time plan...December

Skills action plan

This is an outline of the skills I will be working on during this module...

Time management (time plan)
Develop a range of editorial design skills in line with current trends. (pinterest, self directed tutorial, editorial analysis)
Develop a range of proffesionally executed design options.
Apply traditional methods to editorial design.

This will improve my personal practice and professional development. My progress will be evident through my blog and final submission.

Edinburgh Visit

This week I attended a trip to Edinburgh during which we visited three design agencies. 

The first of these agencies was New Haven...
The layout and interior of New Haven had a great, relaxed feel about it but you can tell that, operating within, is a highly professional group of people. There are examples of work, past and present, everywhere. In the entrance you are greeted by a huge perspex bin filled with awards that the agency has won, they are on view but the method in which they are displayed exudes very little importance. We were told that this is because the don't care about awards just good work... a little cliche but a good motto to work by. The 'living room area' features a pool table, sofas, and a box of props used in previous ad campaigns, walking up the spiral staircase you arrive on at the open plan work space, everyone was  engrossed in the task in hand and as we walked through admiring the pleasant working environment, everyone was conscious not to disturb the creative flow of the designers. New Haven produce a lot of work for the Scottish government, Tennents lager is also a well known client of there's. 
Tips on getting a job right for you from Gareth of new Haven...

*look for an agency where your work fits in
*be persistent
*make yourself stand out
*be enthusiastic
*show them you want that job

Leith Agency...

For our meeting with the Leith agency people we boarded their boat and enjoyed a presentation of some of their recent TV ads including this rather amusing one for Irn Bru...n
We were advised of the process and different stages that go in to making an advert like this including ideas on paper, scripting and storyboards right through to direction and set design. My experience at Leith made me wonder if I would enjoy working in advertising. The Leith guys were really friendly and quite down to earth, they strongly advised networking and using social media such as twitter to get yourself known in the design world. I loved the fact that it took place on a boat and was looking forward to the unveiling of our final studio visit so I was a little disappointed when it was just a regular newly refurbished building on dry land, 
This was our final stop on the trip... Story,
My disappointment with the building was, however, short lived as we had work to do! We all squeezed in to the room and positioned ourselves at the large table where we were divided in to teams, we were given a brief to come up with a name and advertising campaign for a midge repellent, apparently quite a problem in scotland with walkers, campers and festival goers in the summer months.

First of all we began with name generation, mind mapping everything we could think of to do with the product. We came up with quite a few potential names... BudgeMidge, Smidge, Midgeaze, I really liked Smidge until we thought of Scotch Mist and we all decided to go with that. Once the name had been decided we needed an ad campaign, we decided that we would advertise in walking/camping magazines, festival flyers, newspapers and also on the websites of festivals and events. 
We sketched some ideas based on occasions when the repellent would be used. One idea as a crowd of people at a festival and a person with scotch mist in a pool of light creating a sort of shield against the midges. Another was similar to this but with a group of walkers. For the internet campaign we came up with 'fight the bite' we sketched out a quick picture of what this would look like...

we presented our ideas to the other groups and story, story weren't keen on the name but loved the fight the bite campaign, It was good to see what the other groups came up with, I liked some of the ideas they had, it's interesting to see other people's take on a brief. 

After we had all presented Story showed us what they had produced for the client... they had chosen the name smidge! Coincidence that we had also come up with the same name as a possible choice, they also had a similar style campaign to ours. I genuinely believe that we could have produced a better poster than the one they did despite it being a low budget project but I thoroughly enjoyed the task and it was a great end to the Edinburgh trip.

Visiting the Edinburgh studios was a valuable experience as I gained an insight into industry life and got a feel for the type of place I would like to work, I can see the benefits of interesting / open plan surroundings with a view to creativity as no one wants to be staring at four blank office walls all day. I can see that the trip was geared towards advertising students more than graphic designers but I enjoyed in nonetheless and it made me consider a broader spectrum of opportunities for the future.

Editorial Design BRief

I have been set a live brief for a new magazine based on type. The magazine will be aimed at graphic designers and typographers.
Competitors include are fuse and eye magazine. It will be a quarterly magazine retailing at around £16 - £18.
The brief requirements include;
name generation,
branding,
front cover,
double page spread on a typographer of choice and a double page spread on a typeface of your choice.
Lorem ipsom will not be used so an article relevant to the feature will be required.

Alternative techniques module

I have been set a new module in which I have to choose a live brief in my chosen area, I have decided on editorial design as this is the area I would like to specialise in. The aim of the module is to improve knowledge and understanding of Graphic Design through the study of alternative techniques. I have started by creating a SWOT analysis...

New brief SWOT analysis

Strengths:

I enjoy editorial design, learning new techniques, and looking at magazine trends.
I have inDesign knowledge from previous briefs with layout, pages and columns etc. I am confident with a lot of the basic principles of inDesign.


Weaknesses:

There is a lot to learn with regards to rules of editorial design, I don't yet feel fully confident with tracking and kerning etc.
I have very little industry knowledge.
I feel that on previous briefs my research has been too computer based.


Opportunities:

This brief will give me the chance to create an industry specific piece for my portfolio.
This is an opportunity to improve my inDesign technical skills in areas that I am not yet confident in and to learn new skills, rules and techniques.
I would like to get back to basics and look at non computer based editorial design and the basic disciplines.
I need to continue to improve my time management, I am going to introduce a daily task time plan.


Threats:

Time, external factors and other commitments.
Organisation, leaving things too late and not sticking to my time plan.
Procrastination!

Time plan...

This is my time plan for the week ahead...

Monday:
Complete swot analysis,
Fill out action plan for alternative skills module,
Continue research. Update blog.

Tuesday:
Finish off initial research annotation,
Complete task one.

Wednesday:
Research grid systems and look at trend forecasts.
Update pinterest research.

Thursday:
Compile research and update blog