THEORY WITH ANNA.

I have no idea what I am doing. I don't understand anything!

Help :(

THOUGHTS AFTER TUTORIAL WITH KIT.

I have decided to run with the whole relationship/happiness idea. There is a lot of research I can do both primary and secondary which could really enhance my project. 

I'm still very much at the starting point, I still need to pinpoint exactly what it is I want to do and how I'm going to approach this. However for now, these are my thoughts:

Think about past experiences?

Present experiences?

Other people?

Relative incidences?

Friends and family?

How to people handle different situations?

This isn't just about me, but my experiences = inspiration.

Do people really know how to ask for help?

Train your brain to think of the pros instead of letting the cons take over your emotions.

Happiness.

What makes people happy/sad?

Music?

Colour?

Words?

Environment?

Weather?

Emotion?

Survey 100 people on what makes them happy, makes them think differently?

Look at relationships between parents/teachers/teenagers?

Show that parents and teenagers think the same?

Self confidence?

Alternative ways of thinking when you are down/stressed?

Are children less happy now?

Where have the parents gone?

What do people think is a suitable age for the parents to start back at work full time after giving birth?

Look at how colour effects people's mood and reactions.

Weigh up pros and cons.

Life experience = value to the project.

Social workers > are they taking the blame for the parents mistakes?

Could the way of upbringing point children towards drug and alcohol abuse?

Experiment with different types of people eg. different clothing/music tastes?

Experiment with one phrase, different design/colour/layout?

Look at psychology.

The design of each page will become just as important as the content.

Colour with meaning. Why is it used?

I will be using my 1 minute presentation as research about how people respond to different images/colour. Hopefully people will take it seriously and this will be a good starting point for me!

RETHINKING THIS WHOLE BUSINESS.

After the tutorial with Sally and the presentation with Mike Ryan, I knew I needed to start fro scratch again and do some serious brain storming. Instead of settling for the first idea that came to my I realised that I needed to really think what is it I want to for this project as it's such a huge thing.

Initially I came up with the following:

• BUSINESS
• website.
• branding.
• identity > logo design.
• letter heads.
• business cards.

• EVENTS
• flyers.
• magazines.
• leaflets.
• tickets.
• merchandise > badges > keyrings > stickers.

• RECYCLABLE
• re-making.
• ways to persuade to recycle.
• re-using.
• materials > plastic > cardboard > fabric.
• clothes.
• packaging > what for? > minimal.

• WAYS OF INFORMATION
• leaflets.
• instructions.
• on the bus.
• billboards.
• books.
• magazines > content? > what about? > how big?

• WHAT TO DO IF...?
• you get lost > use imagination? > serious approach.
• you need to get less stressed? > stress ball.
• you want to travel?
• funny scenarios? > alternatives > things to do in situation?
• get more positive attitude?

• TOUR GUIDE
• theme parks?
• bournemouth > history? > things to see?
• bath > reasons to go? > why is it special?
• london > tube system > distance > best places > cheap option > never been before.

• EDUCATION
• are there more simple ways of learning?
• how can we understand visual communication?
• learning intelligences.
• look at statistics? > how long do people sit in front of the tv? > how often and when are educational programs on tv?
• realistic methods.
• how do people learn better? > generations > artistic/academic people > kids > teach themselves > images/colour/text?

• WHAT MAKES PEOPLE HAPPY?
• survey.
• feelings > actions > words > weather > environment > relaxation methods > colour > music.
• places to go?
• different people use different methods.
• make people think differently?
• look at depression?
• humorous approach? > genres/appearance > goth/skinhead/emo/chav.

I will now decide upon one of these subject matters and push forward with it. Some tie in with my initial ideas, some are completely new.

Thoughts at the moment are about the tour guide : produce something 'for dummies' or as if you have never been to that place before. Useful tips that are cheapest options (good for London).

I originally wanted to produce kits to bring children and parents closer together, almost like a relationship building exercise. It would only take 5 minutes out the day so never any excuse not to. I believe that what happens in your childhood reflects how you live and see things when you grow older. 

I am considering tying this idea in with what makes people happy. And/or what to do if you need to relax..

Any thoughts please?

PRESENTATION WITH MIKE RYAN.

To help give us a kick start, Mike Ryan gave a short presentation to demonstrate the sorts of things that have been done before in the professional projects. I found this really useful as I didn't know where or how to start really considering how to make my ideas work. So begin by asking yourself some questions:

• What are your ideas? What did you go for?
• What research and inspiration did you go for?
• Break down the research and organise? Is it relevant?
• How will you do this?
• What are your pros and cons?

You need to consider what you need to know.

• KNOW the problem.
• KNOW how to present your information.
• KNOW what I want to achieve.
• KNOW what you want to design.
• KNOW your competition. What's been done before?

In order to achieve what you want to achieve, you should be asking yourself questions to get the answers you need. In order for people to understand what you are doing, you need to know what you are doing.

PROFESSIONAL PROJECT : TUTORIAL WITH SALLY (05/02/09)

So, after having a tutorial with Sally this morning, things were put a little more in perspective for me. 

Points I picked up from this session was:

• BRAINSTORM > Branch out > Branch out further > Research > Find initial ideas > Pinpoint an idea.
• PROVIDE SYNOPSIS > Why? How? What?
• What is it going to be?
• What is your research going to be?
• Target audience?
• What's special about it?
• NEEDS TO BE REALISTIC!
• What do you want to do?
• Look for aims.
• CLEAR HEAD AND START A FRESH. CONSIDER DIFFERENT WAYS OF WORKING.
• Try to steer clear of live briefs, branding and identity.

I want to look at various different methods of working, like print, textiles, photography etc. I want my work to look professional and appeal to a wide audience.

FIRST IDEAS:

• Packaging for 'something' which can later be turned into something else. Re-used.
• Kit of some sort?

HOW ABOUT?:

• Kits for kids? 
• Education of younger generation?
• Art therapy?
• How long do people spend in front of the TV?
• Look at instructions?
• Understanding visual communication?
• Experimental learning?
• Learning Intelligences? (Howard Garden - Unschooled mind')

Lots of things to start thinking about, and this tutorial was much needed and productive! :)

NEW PROJECT // PROFESSIONAL PROJECT.

So after being away for a week, it's all a bit daunting. I feel like I've been gone ages and am new to everything all over again!

However, I need to come up with a good conceptual project that will keep me busy and result in good portfolio work and final piece for the next four months.

Initial thoughts have been about packaging as I want to make something, use lots of different techniques and it would require a lot of thinking. Other thoughts consisted of redesigning things (not sure what yet), after going to LA it was more like business cards and promotional material.

I'm not too happy with any of these ideas yet, they need a lot more working on and a tutorial will hopefully sort that out.

NEGLECTED..AGAIN.

Right, so I seem to have got in the habit of not doing a daily update again meaning I am falling behind in my PPRD when I convinced myself I would be on top of it from the start of the year! So am a little annoyed at myself for this.

However, on a lighter note I have just been Los Angeles for a week, not for a holiday but to go out there with my parents who were working out there. We stayed in Orange County for 3 days which was just down the road from the Anaheim Convention Centre, where my mum would be giving a talk about the work she does. It was a big craft fair called CHA, where a massive group of crafters, designers and illustrators came together to exhibit their work to find potential buyers and publishers. Nothing was on sale and unfortunately no photography was allowed as understandably they were very protective over their work. However, some of the work was amazing. Some, has been done plenty of times. All in all I was able to walk around this 14 miles of stands and get so many ideas as to how people work. Everything had been done and thought about, but approached in so many different ways which made me really consider that thinking outside the box was a much more important 'thing' than I thought.

I was able to talk to lots of different people, some were helpful, some weren't, but it was an amazing experience. I walked around picking up so many different business cards, some of which we're so imaginative, would have cost a lot of money but they looked great! This was a thought for a FMP however, I don't think it would be strong enough at all. I need a strong conceptual idea. 

I spent the last two nights in Hollywood, you can't go there and not do a bit of sightseeing. It was a lot different to how I imagined. I didn't realise it was so tacky looking! I thought it was this amazing clean and sophisticated place. Don't really know why, so it was even more of an experience for me to see something completely different to what I was expecting.

However, back to reality now. Need to get some ideas together!