evaluation

Units 4 & 18 evaluation

To begin with I had four ideas in a mind map, the one I chose to do was the festival because music is something I am very interested in, and I believe I have some background knowledge as I have been to a few. I also chose to go with the festival idea because I think there is a lot of money to be made in festivals: they are up and coming in relation to popularity and business. There are also a wide range of print products used in the production, pre-production and advertising of a festival. This gave me many interesting options for my four print products. I consider my festival to have unique selling points, this is because there is currently no other weekend festival in Sheffield, the closest one is in Leeds, and people will often not want to travel: this will be the only weekend music festival with successful bands in south Yorkshire.

My target audience is Young people aged 16-35 from Yorkshire/England, I chose the minimum to be 16 because I believe that not all people under the age of 16 are fully capable of looking after themselves. I chose this age bracket because I believe that this is the rough age of people who attend festivals, obviously there will be some people older or younger. The style of my festival will also mean that older people and families will not want to attend, e.g. loud music all night and drinking. The socio-economic group for my audience would be around the E group; this is because most of the people who will go to my festival will be students. The psychographics of my product are aimed at the strugglers and the explorers, because I believe these groups of people are looking for a break from reality and the norm for a good, fun weekend outdoors. I think that my choice and aims with target audiences has shown through into my products, for example on the wristband I think that the use of the burgundy floral brushes and the varsity font give the wristband a stylistic and modern look.

In the production process of my work I looked into current businesses, looking at how they ran and what makes them successful, but at the same time looking for a gap in the market or a unique selling point. After choosing my business idea I went into looking at the logos of the businesses similar to my own and how they represent the company and what they show. I then began to draft ideas for my own logo, doing sketches on my notepad and napkin sketches. Using Adobe Photoshop I then translated these designs into computer-generated images and decided on my favourite. I created my four designs also using Photoshop: a t-shirt, ticket, wristband and a 3D flyer. All of these images featured the same colours, fonts and themes for continuity and brand identity. After I was sure that all my work was exactly as I wanted it to be and proofread by me and a peer, I printed it all out. The print-outs I made used high-quality papers and inks to give a nice realistic edge.

Throughout the course of this unit I have learnt a lot of new skills and furthered some existing ones. For example during this unit I have done a lot of printing, which I had previously never really done much. So I learned the prices of printing, the papers used and when different weights are used and why. Fabric printing was another aspect of printing skills that I have learnt in this unit, I have learnt that printing on fabric needs a special kind of transfer paper called magic touch and a special T-shirt press to be carried out. I have developed on my more artistic and constructive skills such as 3D crafting, this is because to create my 3D flyer I had to blueprint and test how the product would look and which faces I needed printing on, I had to then physically cut the flyer out and fix it together multiple times before reaching my final result. Because I went wrong so many times with my printing I realised how important canvas size, Dpi and colour modes are. Through doing and practicing my PowerPoint I have learned many useful skills which will be very useful when I go to university and even when I get a job. Doing the presentation increased my people skills and my confidence, but I feel that I gained much more from the preparation of the PowerPoint. In this time I realised a method of taking notes which I can use to remember things more effectively and saves a lot of time. Throughout these units I have also expanded my knowledge of Photoshop even further, I feel very comfortable with it now and this will help me a great deal in university and later life.

Overall I think that the print process went quite well. All of the prints on paper and card came out exactly as I wanted them to, but because I had a white border around my wrist band and ticket images it was hard to decide where to cut around them. I think that the net for my cube turned out very well in print. The 3D box looked slightly poor quality after I stuck it together, this is because I made a few mistakes when constructing it as it did not have the cut lines or fold lines. I am also very pleased with my ticket because of how authentic it looks because of the authenticity in the typography and in the hologram-look I designed on the logo. My T-shirt however is not as aesthetically pleasing, but I think this is the fault of the quality of the paper used, there are a few minor smudge marks and the colours look a bit faded in places. If I was to do this again I would bring my own paper in to ensure the consistency of quality.

As I was both the manager and developer for my products it is not surprising that I will be better at some things than others. I believe that my strengths are aimed more towards the designing side of things as I am very pleased with my logo and the look of my products. I was not as successful with the time-management and decision making sides of this task, I quite often found myself leaving certain things to the last minute, but not the creative work, I was eager to do that.

I presented my work to the class by laying all of my printed products in a display on a table. After presenting my work to the class I gathered their comments and criticism on a comment sheet. Over-all the feedback was very positive and this made me feel happy and confident that my work was too a professional standard. For example Nat said ‘your ticket looks real and very professional’ I agree with this comment because I went to a lot of effort to make my ticket look authentic. The ticket, wristband and 3d flyer all got 3 votes, which is good because it means that all my work is of an equal standard which shows consistency. William said ‘a lot of effort has been put into the 3d flyer and it looks really professional.’ I like this comment because I did put a lot of effort in sorting out my flyer, making sure it all fit together properly. Jordan thought my wristband was the best one of my designs was the wristband, I do not agree with this comment because this was one of the smaller and easier designs to create and it didn’t take much thinking.

I am very happy with all of my work for this unit, over all I have enjoyed it and I would be happy to do things like I have done in this unit for a job. I think that I have taken care to cater for my target audience, and from my feedback I can tell that I have reached them and they liked my products. The only thing I would change if I did this project again would be to design a better t-shirt with a back print as well as a front, with the bands playing, the dates and the times.

Infographic

Before starting my print products i created two mind maps based on mechanical, hand and digital printing. In this mind map I included interesting facts, the date they came about, who created them and how the process was actually carried out. I then went on to put this information into an infographic, this is a form of research which shows work in a more interesting way. For my infographic I had to lay out words as well as text which flowed in a more user friendly way. I created the images I used in this document by using Photoshop effects and brushes to create illustrations which helped to explain my points on a long sheet.

Print products

After receiving positive feedback on my blog i began designing my different print products using Adobe Photoshop.

For my T-shirt I researched different T-shirts from different companies and what makes them successful. I also researched into the pricing and methods needed to do T-shirt printing.

For my ticket and wristband I looked at existing examples of theses and used the same layout and similar fonts to give the impression on realism as well as keeping my own house style and features. Also taking care to keep all the measurements right.

For my 3D design I used my research into the apple iPad packaging to help me create a fit-for-purpose box. I also used a templates book and looked through it to find a template which would be appropriate for my design.

Powerpoint

I created a PowerPoint explaining my company, business plan, costing and other crucial things. After presenting my PowerPoint to the class I received feedback from a focus group of three people. Overall the feedback was positive and encouraging.

Final logo idea

I chose this logo because I believe that the portcullis represents England as it is on the penny. The portcullis is also a gate which is used in castles to keep people in or out: this represents exclusivity. I also believe my design is simple but effective and easy to print.

Logo idea 1

This was the first idea I had for a logo, developed from my original napkin sketch.

Logo development 1

I began to research into different logos used by successful companies to gain an understanding of the use of logos. I created a mind map displaying some of my favourite and the most powerful logos. After deciding on the name of my company: outskirts, I began to draft my own ideas for a logo for my company. I did this by doing some napkin sketches and doing some rough designs in Photoshop.

Festival mind map

After thinking about the values of each business and how easy they would be to develop and expand I decided to choose the festival idea. I also received positive feedback on my idea from my peers. I then went on to create a mind map on this business idea, taking different things into consideration.

company mind map

To decide on an idea for my new business I created a mind map on ideas for print-based companies.

Production diary 1 - initial proposal

Unit 4: Creative Media Production Management Project.
This unit is the theoretical side to this assignment. In this unit I will research a media product, taking into account logos and products in order to create a company/ business idea. I will also do research into marketing and advertising techniques used. This unit will develop our management skills and make us able to control our own company and different products. In this unit we will plan the creation of print products which are related to our created business. In the business which I create I will act as the manager and all the work will be dependent on me so this will make me more independent and responsible. At the end of these units I will also present my business to the class.

Unit 18: Producing Print-Based Media.
 In this unit I will research different methods used in the print industry and how the actual printing process is carried out. I will also research concept for logos and advertising used by current companies. Using the company I created in unit 4 I will create ideas for 3 different print products which relate to my business e.g. T-shirts and packaging. In this Unit I will use design programs like Photoshop to create our product designs. In order to develop my skills with this programs I will use tutorials for these programmes.

The deadline for these units is 11/12/13

So far I have created a PowerPoint presentation about my company: explaining things like target audience, products, costing, location and business plans. I then created prompt cards for a more flowing PowerPoint.  After completing the presentation I then showed it to a focus group and gathered feedback using print-out feedback questionnaires.
After creating a name for my company I began to think of a logo. The first drafts of my logo where drawn on napkins, these where called napkin sketches. On completion of my napkin sketch I then created the final product in Photoshop, I am very happy with the outcome.
I then went on to research into the print press and different print products by creating multiple mind-maps. After I felt I had a good knowledge of these subjects I created an info graphic using photoshop.