Tuesday 1 December 2015

OUGD503 - Brief 01 - Monotype - Decoding the Brief

Decoding a brief is something I enjoy doing, and aim to apply to each and every brief I receive as a practising designer. It is a very important part of any design process, and whether I do it consciously or subconsciously, it is always worth while considering. The second that I read the Monotype brief, I realised that it was extremely open to personal interpretation. The brief is asking me to created an integrated graphic design campaign, focusing on a cause that you believe in, using typography as the main creative output. I saw this as a fantastic challenge to develop my typographic skills and general communication. 

The brief says: 'Design for protest can be visceral as response time is short. Protest is both active and reactive. By its nature, its messages are often hurried, scrawled and raw. This translates digitally too, into transmissions that are often quick and immediate'

How does this affect your cause or movement? 

Commercial campaigns for equality are often pretty slick, and appear to have been considered and developed over a long period of time. They don't usually appear to be rushed or hand made and this is something that I am going to consider throughout this project. I want my campaign to look slick and well thought out rather than makeshift. My cause is very important and always relevant and isn't going to be solved over night. The solution will be a campaign that is consistent and has lasting power, my message will be carried through the years and therefore needs to have a sophisticated aesthetic that can be translated across media and accepted by the general public.

What kind of typeface would suit this type of messaging? 

I have noticed from initial research into campaign design that bold, sans serif fonts are usually the most effective in communicating messages of this nature. I appreciate this and can understand their value, however, I want to give my campaign a much more conceptual edge, and I know that I can achieve this through my typography exploration and execution. I want to use a range of typefaces, rather than relying on one to carry my concept through to the public. I think this will give my designs an edge visually and aesthetically. It will add a sense of diversity, keeping it fresh, contemporary, allowing it to appeal to a wider range of people in the general public. 

How would a typeface enhance its impact?

Using a variety of typefaces will increase the campaigns impact on a number of levels. Each of the typefaces I choose to use will bring their own style and flavour to the aesthetic of the campaign and should entice people in because it will appear eclectic. Campaigns that use one typeface are successful because they are uniform, minimalistic and functional, but I want to really investigate the potential of mixing very different typefaces together. 

Remember your end goal. Make it bold. Make it powerful. Make a difference.

I appreciate that a number of campaigns and protests that happened in the past were underpinned by graphic design which was hand rendered, rushed and scrawled together. This gave the posters, picket signs, banners and so on a genuine authenticity, something that I usually am all for. However, for this brief, I want to really take my time when selecting appropriate typography. I already know that I want to use a combination of digital fonts to communicate my campaign's message. I know that using hand rendered type would not be appropriate in terms of my message and tone of voice.Having said that, I do have a lot of appriciation for well executed hand rendered lettering. 

The brief gave me a clue of what sort of material to produce for this brief. I can see myself producing most, if not all of the suggested collateral from the list. 

A typography-led integrated graphic design campaign including:
• At least one poster
• At least one digital element
• At least one other touchpoint

Your touchpoints could include: banners, badges, moving image ads, newspaper ads, website banners or other online promotions – anything that could raise awareness and get people engaged. The
more innovative the better.

I decided to write up my own list of material I plan to produce for this brief:
  • A small guide book for dealing with society's labels
  • A range of A3 posters communicating various messages
  • A4 Leaflets, similar to the poster series
  • A set of positivity badges
  • Tote bags
  • GIFs – Moving internet banners – done for mobile and desktop
  • Animated posters for London Underground/billboard
  • Bus banners, telephone boxes, static billboards 
  • Desktop and mobile campaign websites to support the other material
  • Social media campaign supporting the hashtag – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
All of these things can be produced to a high standard in the time frame of the brief and within the college, using a range of materials and tools that are available to me as a student. 



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