Time For Change

Time to start a fresh I think, so i'm transferring to Tumblr and going to start get on this. The link- http://mackenziestevens.tumblr.com/

Design For Digital

The other day we had a chap from smile come and give us a talk on how important the use of digital now is. After an interesting insight into the way he works, he gave us a small brief that challenged us to help a small chain of coffee shops go digital. The following is the steps I decided to take.


What The Criteria-
To design a phone application that allows the user to pre-order the items they wish to purchase. The application must allow the user to decide what type of drink they want along with any additions such as extra drinks and food. Other aspects of the system include the chance to save our order so you can come back to it in the future and also provide information on establishment. 


Strategy- 
The Following is a flowchart to show how the system will work. Click onto the image to see an enlarged version.

Design- 
Below are a number of sketches to give a basic idea to the design of the application. 

Self Study

Recently been given the task to produce two A4 pages about a couple of designers that we find inspiring. Just got a new Mac and not too familiar with indesign, so these are a working progress. 

 Gotta love the new Mac though, awesome piece of kit.

The Last Samurai

Watched "The Last Samurai" the other day and it got me going. This is the current stage, still need to do so more though.

ITAP Lecture 9- Production for Visual Communicators

The Experts-

In order to achieve your potential as a visual communicator, you must be aware of whats happening within your practice. An aspect of this, is to take influence from your design heroes, as they are at the for front design all across the world. I try to take influence from a wide range of artists in order to broaden my outlook on my own personal work. When trying to figure out an effective solution to a brief, I always feel I can be more productive when taking a keen interest in other design work. 

Within my field of work, it would be normal to take inspiration from other graphic communicators, although the images below are by the illustrator Ralph Steadman. I feel that I can take elements from work such as this in order to fulfil problems of a different nature in graphic communication.

I have always found Steadman Work extremely interesting, especially during my time at college, where I attempted to recreate similar work in a number of projects. His unique style, that is instantly recognisable are extremely detailed but also include aggressive strokes that add another dimension to his work. I have always taken a keen interest in the text he uses, as simple as his own handwriting, although it really gives a insight into his thoughts and emotions. His work defines the phase, articulate mess, but the outcome is an amazing range of images that a viewer can really feel a connection to.

Novice to Expert- 

Within this section, i will use the novice to expert scale provided to gage the standard I'm currently working at. In order to do this i will present an example of each aspect and state what level that is most equal to.

 Knowledge 

I feel that knowledge of your practice is something that you gain over a number of years as you surround yourself with it on a daily basis. In my case, I've only been fully concentrating on design since i left school over two years ago. Since then i have gained a fair amount of knowledge that I can exploit in my own work. Although this is only the tip of the ice berg as there is unthinkable amounts of knowledge of could gain over the next few years. 

My current level of knowledge has been gained by research, discussion, lectures, social networking, feedback, and taking into consideration what you tend to see on day to day life. 

The above are image i have used in a recent project to show that i have considered other pieces of work currently out there. I Knew of these due to the fact that i regularly look at a website called Coloribus, having this in mind, it makes it easy to incorporate it into your work.

Level I'm currently working at- Beginner

Standard of work-

I feel i can produce a decent standard of work as long as I'm working within an aspect I'm comfortable with.

 The above are example of a recent phone application I designed for the "Welcome to BIAD" brief. I feel that the overall look of the application is up to standard, although due to the fact that I'm not familiar with flash, i cant make it a fully functional application.

Level I'm currently working at- Competent

Autonomy- 

With my own work, I feel I need reassurance in order to move forward in a project. I only really need this when I'm considering any initial ideas and reviewing the final piece. The bits in between such as the research are aspects i feel I can easily do. An example of this is when we were arranged into groups for the "Inform and Invite" brief and did not have chance to run our ideas past the tutor. Due to this didn't hit the brief correctly, therefore producing a poor outcome. 

Level I'm currently working at- Beginner

Coping with Complexity- 

When given a brief, I enjoy trying to produce a outcome that i feel fulfils the brief and more. In order to do this you need to be able to understand what is being asked of you. I feel that I can cope with elements such as this, although not yet at a standard where I can produce a unique outcome. This is shown by the phone application I produced for new students as it wasn't the most exciting finished piece. 

Level I'm currently working at- Beginner

Perception of Context- 

When working on a project, you always need to keep the main elements in mind so you can produce a relevant outcome. This involves taking a number of steps such as thumbnail sketches to produce the best possible work. 

 The images above show the progression of ideas in order to produce a final outcome. This shows that i have kept in mind the main idea through the design process allow me to make a relevant final piece. 

Level I'm currently working at- Competent