WORKING WITH DBA
CAPITAL NORTH
Working with the DBA Panel was a really great experience, as not only did we get the chance to work with one studio, but we were able to work with 5 different ones together. it was a great way to see how different studios would work with the same brief, but to also understand which studio I work most alike to. From the studios we met I feel that I connected most with Thomson brand partners and Something more as they do a lot of branding work, of which a lot is print based.
We worked with Ian from Arris, a brand consultancy in Whetherby, and he was one of the nicest, kindest and easy going people I had met within the design industry and I felt that he really gave his all to our group... especially when emailing us with personal feedback, even after the DBA panel had left. Ian also opened my eyes to the world of brand consultancy, and although it might not be up my street because I love 'making the brand happen' and come to life, he showed us some really interest skills including his how to make a successful brand diagram that they use at Arris, which I will take with me and apply to my own work.
Our outcomes:
My Thoughts over the whole project:
Working with the group:
I think the group worked well together, with most of the progress and success coming towards the end of the project. I found it quite frustrating in the beginning as I seemed to be taking on most of the work, creating a set of logos and coming up with the brand/illustration style by myself. I felt that the work we presented to the 5 different studios could have been a lot better if there was a lot more differentiation and input in the beginning from the rest of the group members. However I feel that in terms of hard work, my group were prepared to put the work in where it counts, towards the end of the project where other peoples work schedules freed up. There were members which I thought were more frustrating with others, in which I had to fix work they had sent, not formatting it in the way that had been asked, aswell as minimal work and input being given.
Our outcomes:
In the end I was quite happy with the outcomes and know that I have given as much as I could towards the project. I feel that the work produced ticked the boxes of what DBA were looking for. I think the results were engaging and thoughtful, and really tried to bring something new and refreshing to the table. I really liked our campaign idea of 'less is more, less is North' and felt that this really helped to set us apart from the other projects, communicating what the North is less of, but in a positive way. I also think that our range of outcomes was really appropriate for the brief and the design team I was working within. Together we created 5 posters (4 were required) which we then also animated to display in cities that had opportunities for moving posters - I think this really helped to distinguish us as a team and also allowed myself and a couple of other members of the group the opportunity to developed our Adobe After effects skills. I was also really pleased with the mock ups that I created for each of the printed posters and felt that these really helped to relate the posters which we had created back to the cities in Capital North. A panelist from DBA commented that at first they thought the illustrated mock ups were part of the poster and that, that was somewhat charming. I also think looking back at the designs that I created for the mock ups that they would have worked well as part of the posters, and if I could redo the project I would probably include the backgrounds as part of the poster designs.
What could we improve on?
I think as a group we could have definitely worked on timing a lot better as this was off towards the start with everyone having different things to tend to. I also think that although our 'campaign' was very strong and successful, backing this with a more concrete brand would have taken the outcomes even further. Whereas I feel other groups had more of a branding focus, our work was more so centred around marketing. I think that with more research we could have established a strong brand to go alongside our campaign, but I also understand it was very difficult working on a project with such a vague subject, to brand the whole North of England together when all the locations are extremely different. I also think we could have improved a bit more on planning, as previously mentioned I felt like a carried a lot of the project at the start, whereas looking back on hindsight, I could have probably dedicated myself to other projects and we could have tackled Capital North from the beginning as a group. But overall although we did a lot of research into what makes the North a great place, I feel that more research into the North as a whole would have provided us with a base for a 'North' brand which would have boosted our campaign.
What did I learn?
Personally and practise I learnt that in order to try and lead a group in projects I need to change my approach and attitude. I have learnt that as of right now, I do not like to take on leadership roles and much prefer working as an equal within the team. However I was also able to pick up some really great skills throughout the project, one of them being talking to industry professionals. This was something I really enjoyed throughout the project, and helped to make the brief seem that little bit more real. We worked with Ian from Arris, and he provided us with some great help and advice, and allowed me to realised that Industry designers are people just like me. I was also able to better my technical skills involving Adobe after effects where I produced my own animation. Animation is something I would like to work with, within my design career and so having the opportunity to work on bettering these skills is always useful. Again I learnt about how to work on and apply critique especially within this project working with a large group of designers and the DBA panel.
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