Design Practice Blog: Responsive - D&AD Pantone Brief, Entry Guidelines & Problem analyses.

Responsive - D&AD Pantone Brief, Entry Guidelines & Problem analyses.

The brief - 5pm 31st March 2015 Deadline

Thoughts on the brief & Problem analyse

The D&AD briefs are pretty well written, giving concise information on whats required from the brief and initial considerations for undergoing preliminary research and idea generation stages and how to tackle conceptual and visual idea development, a nice precise insight to all these elements is provided in the brief.

The briefs final outcome itself is quite open in how I approach it but what I have gotten from this though is that I want to create a visual representation of my hometown, (in this case either Tingley [Village] or Wakefield [City]) through the use of color & color meaning and what it represents in terms of theory and connotations as well as the impact it makes.

I see this at current as an opportunity to be quite high impact and image based when it comes to the visual outcome as theres no real point in representing the color's within a subtle vestle, the main focus is color so presenting it through the use of subtle imagery or typography wouldn't really be fitting in this instance.

So a strong consideration of high impact imagery, color and typography is a possibility. I used to like producing quite illustrative work so bringing this back into my work may be quite nice and allow me to bring in old illustrative techniques within all the aspects iv learnt over the past year or so here(use of grids, hierarchy, color theory, layout, type design, digital design, considering target audience, considering tone of voice etc).

I also see the project as been an opportunity to be quite playful in the way I represent my hometown, thoughts at presents are to look into:

The Heritage & history of it.
Analyze whats most memorable to me based on childhood activities and my upbringing within that location.
Look into how it looked when it first became a town or village to how it looks now taking points from both stages to influence an idea maybe.
Consider digital and physical & print based outcomes to communicate my intended idea.
Look into branding my home town, look into creating a visual identity for it based on historic and contemporary elements (e.g. a modern day "crest" or "coat of arms")
A sense of pride needs to be maintained, the residents of this location need to feel proud of their community through the idea I create.
Consider emotion through use of image, type & color interactions; present a sense of pride, nostalgia, inform, interact.
Consider the use of depth within the use of color, is it going to be flat or something quite 3 dimensional.
Look into past work based on communicating a sense of heritage, nostalgia and informative tone of voice (based on information & history about something) to influence my idea generation.
Provoke memories.
Re imagine my hometown in the future based on where its been in the past, where it is now and where it could potentially go. Or just be completely ridiculous and re-invent my home town how I would have liked it when I was a child or how I would like it to be now. (Giant playground for example, theme park etc)
Promote the location to an audience outside the local area through advertisement considerations.
Consider re-inventing street signage, shop signs, and local amenities like post offices and corner shops to produce a reinvention or re-brand of the hometown but still using the basic structure & layout its used in the past & current.
How image & type, image, or type interacts with color, am I using it to be informative, am I wanting to draw attention, am I wanting to create a sense of nostalgia, is it just purely impact & aesthetic based, figuring out the starting point for how I want to visualize my home town through the use of color will help me make these decisions.
Create a map of this hometown, a guide on how to get around and the best things to see and do there.

Deliverables & Entry Guidelines

A maximum of 8 presentation slide images will be the main deliverables of the project. They must "clearly and effectively present your idea and execution" Include all essential information that helps understand the response within these. (Be concise and precise with the use of text, don't produced cluttered boards keep a focus on the images and presentation of the final response)

Supporting material can be provided but this will only be viewed if the main deliverables impress the judge, a 1 minute video, interactive/digital work & physical material can all be sent over to support the brief. Make sure all material is clearly labeled in order, (e.g. Main Deliverable 1 or Supporting image 3) and make sure all files are prepared and sent through in chronological order.

Supporting materialI needs to include anything essential to understanding my response to the brief within these main deliverables. (Similar to how I work now but a focus on the key insight & concept idea that lead to my solution, how I developed from this concept Idea to final solution, alternative conceptual ideas explored, scamps, sketches & prototypes for visual exploration and development of concept idea, mood boards and reference/source/influential images)

If I want to use music within the outcomes it needs to be acceptable Creative Commons License, www.endlessnoise.com/music is one good resource to use here.

All images must be sent as JPEGS.

To submit work make sure Im registered to D&AD and submit through the entry site.

Don't include any reference to my name or course within the work I submit, work is judged through an anonymous system.

Use ZIP files only for interactive and digital work, nothing else.

PDFs are only accepted for bodies of solo text, Images must all be sent in JPEG format.

All other information available for me to look back on these guidelines, the last 2 especially useful for guides on file formats for entry and how to create good presentation slides, also explains how to send off physical examples of work.