End of module Evaluation OUIL505

Tilly butters

End of Module Evaluation OUIL505

This module has been challenging. I didn’t get my time management right at all, and I really struggled because of this. My initial ideas were all over the place. I think, for me, there was too much free reign, and instead of having one great idea, I had hundreds of not so bad ones that just didn’t seem to work out.

I had every intention of incorporating ceramics into my practice during this module, but after giving this a go, and realising that it takes weeks and weeks for things to be done in the workshop, I realised that this wasn’t practical, and wouldn’t have been a good idea to be so reliant on someone else’s schedule.

This set me back a little, because ceramics was the only thing I was certain about. I thought that if the ceramics worked, everything else would fall into place.

Choosing my own topic to illustrate was really difficult for me, because at the start of this module, I wasn’t sure what I was passionate about, or what interested me enough to work on for a long period of time. If I was given the module now, after completing responsive and context of practice, I think my subject would have been completely different.

I tried to add my values in wherever possible, but the subject as a whole wasn’t something that interested me.

Over time, I started to enjoy what I was doing, but I spent a large chunk of this module kicking myself for being so stupid. I panic when given the option to take a project anywhere, that’s why I wanted to do illustration, its brief led and direct.

However, I’ve learnt so much about myself in the last few months, and I don’t think it would scare me quite as much anymore.

It took me a very long time to finalise what I was doing, but once I had, it was a lot easier to seek help and advice from my peers and tutors. Towards the end of the module, this was something that I valued greatly, and that pushed my work in the right direction.

I had avoided seeking help for so long that I became very lost and angry about my work. But after talking to the tutors, I felt so much better, and it gave me the inspiration I had needed the whole time. I shan’t wait in the future, I will ask for help as soon as its needed.

When it came to applying my illustrations to packaging and various other products, it all started to make sense to me. I was so lost in ideas prior to this, that the whole point of the module seemed to escape my brain. 

When I finally had some work that I was happy with, I started to make tea boxes, and started to think about how and where they would fit in the market, and what else could accompany them etc.  

Mocking these up was really enjoyable and quite exciting, as you envision it in the real world. I effectively created my own potential business, as I was creating packaging for loose leaf tea, which there’s a huge gap in the market for. I tried to use my skills from Life’s a Pitch to think about how I would promote the business, how it could grow, where it would work best and what the customers would want. These were all things that factored into my decision making, which was really refreshing and quite interesting to me.

Although I struggled greatly at the start of this module, I feel like I’ve come a long way, and I’ve learnt so much from my mistakes and my struggles.

Understanding myself and what I’m capable of is something that I’m slowly learning. I’m starting to have opinions and views on things as well as becoming passionate about things, and I think this will naturally feed into my practice in the future. The prospect of an open brief isn’t as daunting to me now as it was at the start, and I’m becoming far more confident within my work.

Project Report

Presentation Boards

Documentation of Final products

Tea cards

I decided to apply the illustrations to little tea cards as well as the the hot dog book. The purpose of the cards would be to give the customer something tangible to hold onto. each tea box will contain a card for that particular tea, and a 'why not try' card, recommending the customer to try another tea. 

Im pleased with how these came out, and its a little different to anything else which is a good start.  

The final hot dog book

The purpose of the hot dog book is to inform people in a little more detail of what they're drinking, where its come from and what tastes to expect. This could be used as little catalogue that can be looked through before purchasing, like a tea menu.

After the crit with the third years and editing the book a little, I am much much happier with it. It looks much more professional and clean. One mistake i made was printing it onto a fairly good stock, which made it difficult to fold it into a hot dog book. 

If the business were to expand, so would the range of teas, which would mean more tea menus. If this were the case I think I would go for a saddle stitch or something.

I would also categorise the teas and have separate menus for each type of tea available. 

Final Posters

Designing posters turned out to be quite fun. I am really bad at it. But I didn't give up, and I kept asking for peoples opinions on each and they would crit me quickly which was great. 

Adding texture and shape was a really good idea, and makes the creatures stand out a lot more. Use of colour is also very important, and think I managed in one or two of these.

Applying the posters to real life setting was a good indicator to whether they worked well or not. 

The idea of the poster sis to promote the release of the teas. Once realised, the posters could be altered for advertisement purposes. 

Planting the seed of the imagery in peoples minds is really important. They might not remember what its promoting, but if they were to see the illustrated tea boxes in a supermarket, the brain would make the connection. Visual imagery is perfect for doing this.

Applying - Tote bags

I don't want my range to be solely tea, because that limits my market massively. I wanted the illustrations to have the ability to be applied in variety of different places and still work as a collective. They could still be promoting the business, just in a different way.
These tote bags I've mocked up are eco friendly, and would be printed onto recycled materials. Keeping my values at the core of what I do is starting to filter into my practice.

Possible outcomes for these-

-Could be printed onto different coloured materials
-Could expand the range of illustrations
-The designs could be used on different kinds of bags, not everyone loves a tote.

Final Crit and seeking help

I really enjoyed the final crit, and people had applied their illustrations to things so so well. Everything seemed really well considered. I didn't receive any advice, just some nice comments when walking around. I know this is great but I really want someone to be critical with me, otherwise I'm never going to improve.
Presenting my work to the group was fine and I got much better feedback here, but I still wanted more.


Therefore after the crit I printed the first version of the hot dog book that id just made and asked 2 of the third years if they would crit me.

It was the best crit I've ever had. They were critical but about things that could easily be altered. I drew arrows and wrote notes on the book as they went through it with me, pointing out what would work better and make it look more professional. I went straight to editing it after and was really happy with the final results.

Making a Poster & Application

Making a poster isn't something I'm good at. Perhaps because I view it as a graphic designers job. Thats why I researched a bunch of posters before making mine, and tried to pick out what works and what doesn't. 

Overall I'm pretty pleased with this one. The colours work well together, its not too crowded and its pretty eye catching.

Things to consider when making a poster in the future...

- Colour palette is important

- Minimal works well

- Avoid putting heaps of information in it, needs to be to the point

- Texture gives it that little extra something

Making posters can be used as a great promotional part of my project. The images don't reflect the nature of what I'm promoting, which in some ways I think works better. It plants questions in peoples minds, and makes it more memorable. Going for memorable imagery on these, they're strange and eye catching which is a good thing.

Applying- tea box

These tea box designs took my a really long time to get just right. Im not great at this sort of thing so I wanted to make sure I have it my best shot.
Choosing colours was difficult, when I started out I was trying really bright colours, but the illustrations and type were getting lost, so I changed it to something more neutral.
I looked at many tea packaging whilst working on this in order to know where to position things and what works best.
Im really happy with how they've turned out in the end. Theres definite room for improvement, perhaps with the type, as its really not something I'm good at. But over all I think these could make quite successful tea boxes.

Packaging design

Material innovation-

What materials are used, why this is good for the environment, how it all works.

Because my idea changed so dramatically, from object and environment to product and packaging, I am having to back track and do as much research as possible. I know this has nothing to do with tea packaging, but this book is full of sustainable ideas for packaging. 

If I had more time to explore various methods of packaging, I would really look into the most economical eco friendly kind. Its something that really matters to me after completing Cop. 

How cool is this?!

WHY TEA?

GAP IN THE MARKET

The reason Ive chosen to apply my illustrations to loose leaf tea packaging is because I think there is a huge gap in the market for it. Tea is the second most drank beverage in the world. its something that seems to be a part of almost every culture in one way or another. The properties that loose leaf tea has and the health benefits are amazing. People are becoming more and more conscious of their health these days, and are becoming much more aware of what they are putting in their bodies, which makes loose leaf tea much more appealing.

There are hundreds of different kinds of tea, which means there must be something for everyone. I want to crank my own potential company, starting off with loose leaf tea and having the potential to expand to great coffee and healthy food, so essentially, my idea could be applied to a cafe as well as supermarkets and shops.

Typical. organization- Tea Ceremony for Elixir Tea

Ive been researching various designers that design packaging for tea just to get an idea of what I need to achieve. This particular design caught my eye.

What to take away from looking at this-

- Make something eye catching

- Colours are important, make sure I get them right

- Think about how my own tea boxes will work as a set

- Think about how they would look on the shelves of a shop, would you look twice?

Im so much happier now that I have a clear idea of what I'm doing, and I'm really excited to start mocking up my designs and applying them in the appropriate places.

Refining designs

After my talk with Ben the other day, I realised I just needed to draw. Get my ideas down, refine my drawings and then Id be ready to apply my illustrations in the appropriate places. 

Now that I have a good 4 designs to work with, I can start concentrating on the application.

I can't believe I worried and stressed about this module so much before hand.

Learnt from this module so far - 

- Talk to the tutors when I feel lost/unhappy.

- Don't overthink every little thing, just draw and something will happen.

-  Draw because I love to and keep this in mind.

- Avoid cute child like drawings, its not me, not one bit.

Rewritten proposal

Last change, I promise

I know I was feeling much better after my talk with Teresa on Friday, but over the weekend I started to make work in my new direction, and yet again couldn't get inspired. I think I hit an ultimate low today, and I felt ready to go home.

Ben knows my work and how I like to work really well and he came and had a chat with me this morning, and encouraged me to stick with Journey to the West, its more me, theres more edge to it and I can be more playful and weird with my illustrations, which is what I want. He told me to stop thinking too much and to just go for it, because theres something charming about illustrations that are made with a certain immediacy. 

Feeling inspired after this talk, I finally made work that I actually like today... 

Once i got going, I basically drew on every piece of paper available to me. I finally felt happy about my work again.

Its so so true, my work has a much better quality to it when there's immediacy. The lines flow better, you can tell its not over thought, and the illustrations are far more expressive.

These last two are my favourites of the day, and I plan to make a few more like this tomorrow before I begin to apply them to various items. 

I really need to stop over thinking my entire practice and start having more fun with my work. Lesson learnt.

The big book of packaging

The big book of Packaging- Will Burke, Lisa Baer, James Pietruszynski

Im trying to look at products that work well as a set/series. This particular book is full of companies that create beautiful packaging. Things I'm starting to notice that I hadn't before, are things like, use of type, will it be big or small, thin or fat. Use of colours, bright, bold, pastel?

These are thing I need to be asking myself throughout the process of applying my illustrations to the packaging. I need to consider how it will look on a shelf full of tea, will it stand out?

Looking at books like this is helping me to make my own decisions about what I think works and what I don't. Its also making me realise the breadth of packaging out there, and how much illustration within packaging can be pushed so much more. It might be a good route to go down in the future, as I think its something thats growing and expanding, which means there will be more demand and more jobs. Something to consider anyway.