Gdes3003 Blog - Green Design

Monday, 4 December 2017

GDES3003 PROTOTYPE WORK REVIEWS

We've had a discussion with all the students on the module this week and fed back on their prototype work ongoing. Here's a few examples of work at this point in the module (unfinished and with final user test feedback to incorporate in to them).

Thursday, 30 November 2017

GDES3003 PREVIOUS STUDENT WORK ANALYSIS

Here's three sets of effective visual solutions to recent student briefs on this module.. It's really useful at this stage in your process to look these over and to examine and analyse them to see what factors 'work' and potentially what factors (in your mind) could still be improved upon.

Understanding why these pieces were effective could then help you build in some of these key factors in your own final work too..

TASK
(To run in parrallel with my 1-1 tutorials - but must be finished by end of the session please)..
1. Look each set of student solutions through and choose ONE example from each brief to analyse further.
2. Save the image(s) chosen to your desktop by (PC) right-clicking them or (Mac) control-clicking them from this post.
3. Create a new post on your learning journal blog titled 'Past Student Work Analysis'.
4. Bring each of the 3x examples of student work chosen into this post and then answer the following questions about each of them underneath each image..

Questions(Please write a minimum of a sentence answer for each, simply writing 'I don't know' or leaving the question blank isn't acceptable here - we need your considered thoughts down here please..).

A. Having read the 'In a nutshell' summary of the brief that relates to your picture choice, how successfully (or otherwise) do you feel this solution fits the brief? Please explain your answer.

B. What colourschemes have been used in this solution, why do you think this is? Please explain your answer.

C. What visual 'art style' or treatment has been used here (i.e. diagrammatic, pictograms, loose illustrations and/or maybe photographic, vector/flat colour or template mockups maybe)? Do you feel these are appropriate (?) - please explain your answer.

D. What type styles have been used here? Do you feel these are appropriate (?) - please explain your answer.

E. Each solution chosen will have a form of corporate ID across the various elements normally. These may be 'given' ID's or colourschemes/refs as part of the brief (or) ones developed as part of the brief by the students. Do you feel these are appropriate (?) - please explain your answer.

F. Elements on the page or design board.. Some solutions are better as simple but effective solutions, looking at your chosen item do you feel it's 'complexity' of visual elements is appropriate, too complicated or maybe too simplistic? Please explain your answer.

G. Does your chosen element or design board use a mockup or photoshop template to help show it in different scenarios in the real world? These can often help best present visuals and (depending on source used) can either be freely aquired or for a small fee. If 'yes' then please explain how these are used and how effective you feel them to be, if 'no' then do you think using these might improve the overall presentation of the final student work?

H. Improvements. Looking at the work and having a summary of the brief, do you feel that your chosen element or board could be further improved still? If 'yes' then please suggest how this might be. If 'no' then please explain why you think they've supplied the optimum solution(s).

Final Overall Q: (Answer this after you've worked through all 3x examples)

I. Looking at these examples of final student outputs on each brief, do you feel that analysing these further has given you further ideas about final presentation of your own work on this project. Please explain your answer whether yes or no.

Live Project No. 1: Friends of the Earth - Sustainable Comms Brief
Set by live client Friends of the Earth in London. The aim was to get students to explore, understand and then best create a system of visual communication (poster examples here only..) that helped put across visually the challenges and dangers of climate change. As well as this the posters were to provide proactive ideas or phrases to help solve these.

Students could suggest solutions that were one poster or a set of posters if they felt this better conveyed their ideas.

Audience: General UK public

Click individual images to enlarge.

Dan

Emma

Georgi 01

Georgi 02

Milly 01

Milly 02

Sophy 01

Sophy 02

Sophy 03

Live Project No. 2: Worcester eBike System Information Manuals & Supportive Artifacts
Set to students by a consortium of local and regional organisations (including the University via it's internal 'Sustainability' section) to explore, understand and then best create a system of concepts for user manuals, new ID and promo campaign elements to best support the new eBike scheme that would be taken on by Worcester in the near future (these bikes are now available at UW on a trial scheme). Students were asked to put all of these concept artworks on to one single design board for ease so the client could easily review them.

Audience: Local to Worcester public and businesses.

Gabi

Cristina

Katie

Alex

Live Project No. 3: Lea & Perrins' Worcestershire Sauce Bottle and Containers
Set by Heinz UK's marketing dept (Lea & Perrins is a sub brand). Heinz has been an early adopter of a sustainability strategy in it's core businesses and it's 'Corporate Sustainability Charter' obliges it to work with sustainable solutions at all levels now.

This concept-based packaging project asked students to think about key themes: lessening the weight of items (saves on fuel costs en masse), second use/re-use of materials, possible new ways to use the sauce in cooking, alternate or innovative materials uses..
Audience: General UK public.

Chris 01

Chris 02

Chris 03

Chris 04

Add caption

Roussouw 01

Roussouw 02

Stephen 01

Stephen 02

Monday, 27 November 2017

GDES3003 ROUGH WORK REVIEW

Students review and feed back notes on prototype work ongoing on the FOE Poster brief.

Green Design students have been reviewing each other's 'prototype' work this week linked to the FOE poster brief. There's been a range of different approaches and ideas with some students taking an illustrative approach, some photo-montage, some diagrammatical and some typographic.

Students were able to explain each other's progress on their projects to peers who then examined the work annd fed back their thoughts and suggestios to help improve progress further.

Friday, 24 November 2017

GDES3003 STUDENT SUSTAINABLE PRINT PRESENTATIONS

Green Design students presented different facets of 'Green Print' techniques found via research.

Some good talks this week from students on the Green Design module. They were set a session task to research and then deliver to their peers updated information on a particular facet of Green Printing practices.

Here students Dani and Georgi talk about sourcing raw materials for paper-making and how this is now being done much more sustainably via new methods made available. Students Aaron and Sophy won the student 'vote' at the end and went off with the spoils: two large choc chip cookies (which I'm told they very carefully shared between their peers too!).. Well done all.

Friday, 20 October 2017

CAT Trip 2017

Some quick ref pics of the group over at the Centre for Alternate Technology (CAT) this year. Always a good day, we had a welcome talk with Chris McLennan and then a lecture/workshop with Paul Allen - CAT's 'Zero Carbon Britain' project Co-Ordinator..

"This trip was a big eye opener to me as it made me aware to things that I had very little previous knowledge of. It was definitely a large inspiration to me and my work."
Student on the module taken from the submitted report.

Some of our group for the day en route over there..

The amazing water-powered cliff railway at CAT.

Students inside one of the cliff railway carriages on the
way up to the main site..

Our group for the day and design lecturer Andy

Paul Allen's talk on 'Zero Carbon Britain'..

The amazing Sheppard lecture theatre - made from 'rammed earth'..

CAT's head of education, Chris McLennan gives an overview talk..

A large slab of vegan cake that we 'user tested' in CAT's canteen.. :)

Monday, 16 January 2017

Gdes3003 Final Creative Concept Submissions for the Worcester eBike Project

Here's a selection of this semester's student submissions for the Worcester eBike project. These will now be passed out to partners involved in the eBike scheme and will be looked-over with making a shortlist of potential design treatments in mind. Katy Boom, UW's Director of Sustainability visited the student hand-in and explained the next steps in the process. Students were told that one or more of their visual solutions will definitely be used in any final project - amazing news!

"(the) Green Design module and the Worcester Cycling Network Project was very beneficial to me as I look at design (now) from a different point of view... I have also developed my skills from the 2nd year in terms of map-making and navigational design which I really enjoy doing... I believe that this project has a great scope and in the future it might bring something wonderful to Worcester.. I'm more than happy that I got a chance to work on it for a couple of months."
- Student comment on this project (sanctioned, from report).

“… Green Design and this brief has helped me develop as a designer.. Being more self-aware of all these (sustainability-related) factors in how we look at the production and design of projects, advertisements, print is definitely beneficial to how I look at potential briefs in the future.. Big brand companies are becoming more eco-aware, which in turn provides work and opportunities for people with the knowledge to make their products sustainable and have less impact on the environment.. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about different developments..”
- Student comment on this project (sanctioned, from report).

Joe Baber