Me, Jordan and Joe had said that if we didn't win the pitch for Graphic Design, we would go for Printed Textiles instead.
I wanted to design the yearbook for this course because
- I feel they are one of the only courses in the college I really value
- Their exhibition last year was amazing
- Their work is of such a high standard
- Creating layouts with their bright work would be fun
Meeting with Duncan
I had a meeting with Duncan, the head of the course, to go through with what they had in mind for the yearbook. Jordan and Joe were at an exhibition in London, so I took lots of notes so that they had all of the information as well.
Avoid:
Laura Ashley
Floral
Feminine
Glorified business cards
They are more than this
They refer to themselves as tribes
Have a pack mentality, a community
They are very proud of their course
They are protective of their space - don’t like strangers in it
The book needs to sell the space, the hard work ethic and the course itself rather than the people - the people will sell themselves. It needs to show the course as a collective, rather than individuals. Identity as a course/team
Page after page of peoples work can get quite repetitive and may as well just send people a business card - really emphasised the idea of showcasing the culture, course, work ethic etc.
It needs to be relevant this time next year - so show a lot about what the course is about. Studio shots, quotes about the culture of the course etc
Looking through the previous yearbook, there was a full page with one piece of work on it and he said - you only needed a small portion of that to get the same idea across and if someone contacted them a few months later the student will have moved on by then and gone onto different seasons, designs etc
He’s given me a copy of the previous year book
When at an interview, this yr book could be used to support and show the amount of hard work it is and the kind of space they are used to working in
The space is very creative, messy, full
Seen around the studio:
Posters with quotes, motivational speeches and slogans on them ('you can do it', 'life after uni’, etc)
A crying tally - they want to show how much blood, sweat and tears goes into the course to show to employers how hard working they are
Work is hung up creatively - through washing lines, masking tape, mood boards, different materials stuck up, lots of different imagery and compositions
Plants!
Busy, conversational, music playing (Blue was on when I was in there)
Mood boards were colour coded
Compositions were stuck up rather than singular pieces of work (he liked that)
It was like a hub of creativity, very very visual (definitely puts our studios to shame)
They don’t create cushions and curtains - they have wallpaper, cards, ceramics, materials, lots of different things that they do
Maybe have a few layouts and let them choose the one they think their work would fit in best
I showed him the idea of our metal screw binding for last pitch and he was open to that
It’s a quick turnaround, will have all of the content by the end of the month and was even saying we could all have a chat by the end of next week about what we want to do.
Encouraged to go in and talk to the students, get a feel of their culture, but tell them ideas rather than ask them as there is a lot of them and won’t please everyone. Can go in and arrange photos etc - they will have promo shots by end of month he was saying. Can get more content if we need it
Summed Up
- Like graphic design, they value themselves highly and are very proud of their work and course
- To promote the culture, hard work ethic and course rather than individuals
- Avoid anything feminine
- Sell the course!
- Something students can bring with them to interviews to support the fact they come from hard working background
- They refer to themselves as a tribe
They really want to sell the course as a collective and team, which I think is great! To show their identity as a whole will be lots of fun because their space is amazing. The way the students have made it their own and filled it with so much work is really inspiring and its clear to see how much effort that they put in.
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