OUGD503 - Responsive Session 1

Introduction to Responsive Sessions

For the first part of the module in the run up to Christmas, you need to obtain and complete a minimum of 5 substantial briefs. Within this there needs to be 1 brief that has a longer deadline and has a good body of work required to keep you busy that you can use in sessions up until Christmas.
Document EVERYTHING!

Extra websites to look at for competition briefs:

• Talenthouse
• The Dieline Awards
• YCN

What do I want to get out of this module?

A sense of time management and discipline 

• Time is money - use it wisely!

Using effective professional communication

• understanding realistic time scales and be able to estimate them for a client, know how to bring it to a close when the time is right. 
• do what I say I'm going to do for a client and not drag out the worktime.
• Working out how much to charge a client.

How not to get exploited!

• Charging people
• being firm with clients that this is your PROFESSION not a favour!
• Creative compromise

Be a more confident designer - have the reassurance that I'm not just a student.

• Improve my analysis of new briefs

Develop myself as a designer

• Develop my portfolio
• Find more out about my personal interests and strengths
• Start to network and get contacts in industry

Why do you think live and competition briefs are useful?

Getting professional work experience as a freelancer

• Practice for working quickly and to a high standard
• Gain confidence in my work
• Developing a clearer / more effective working practice

Real World Benchmarking

• See real world demands of clients
• Gain feeback from real world audience
• Be able to gauge the standard of work of the real world in the same projects as me as opposed to just my peers

Gaining professional practice skills

• Emailing language skills
• Pantone referencing

Exposure and networking my work

Why did I choose the briefs I chose?

• My style could be applied
• My skills could be used
• I am familiar with the target audience
• Offer a feasible challenge with an opportunity to grow as a designer
• Creative scope/ freedom to do something I want

The 8 questions of brief analysis:

For the dissection of a brief, the following 8 questions need to be asked in order to understand it more clearly:

1. What is the problem?
2. What is the brief asking you to do about it?
3. What is the brief trying to achieve?
4. Who will benefit?
5. What is the message?
6. Who is the audience?
7. How will the message be delivered?
8. Can you foresee any problems with this?

In groups, we applied the 8 questions to a brief we were given. Ours was a campaign request from paper supplier Fedrigoni.

• What is the problem?

The company feels that they are perceived in a way that doesn't suit them.

• What is the brief asking you to do about it?

Create a campaign that changes the current feel of the company to be more fun and playful to potential customers.

• What is the brief trying to achieve?

To transform the current identity of the company to appeal to their customers more.

• Who will benefit?

Customers will be offered a range of services they weren't aware of.

• What is the message?

Fedrigoni is fun!

• Who is the audience?

'Printers across the UK'

• How will the message be delivered?

'Campaign' - not specified.

• Can you foresee any problems with this?

Are they asking for a concept or final product? 

How can we obtain samples - the brief says we're not allowed but can have some if our design is chosen?

Does the concept of 'fun' actually appeal to the target audience?!

Task for next session:

Pick a brief that is substantial and that you're willing to happily work on for a long time.

This task can be found here.