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GO TO CONTENTS Department of Media and Communication EXTENDED PROJECT PORTFOLIO Academic Year 2016/2017 1 Billy Simmons Year 1 – Studying semiology and portraying messages and meaning for branding in logos Unit 8 – Extended Project

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Department of Media and Communication

EXTENDED PROJECT PORTFOLIO

Academic Year 2016/2017

1

Billy SimmonsYear 1 – Studying semiology

and portraying messages and meaning for branding in logos

Unit 8 – Extended Project

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CONTENTS

CONTENTS.........................................................................................................................................2

LIST OF FIGURES.............................................................................................................................5

LIST OF TABLES...............................................................................................................................5

DEFINITION OF TERMS...................................................................................................................5

Unit 8 - Project Proposal.......................................................................................................................6

.......................................................................................................6

Project Action Plan and Timetable.......................................................................................................9

....................................................................................................................9

CHAPTER 1...........................................................................................................................................11

Introduction........................................................................................................................................11

..............................................................................................11

The Background of my Project........................................................................................................11

Who am I?...................................................................................................................................12

What did I learn on my course?..................................................................................................12

What is my project about?.............................................................................................................12

Why my project is important?........................................................................................................13

CHAPTER 2...........................................................................................................................................14

Literature/Resources Review.............................................................................................................14

........................................................................................14

Introduction....................................................................................................................................14

Media sources, literature search and evaluation...........................................................................14

Requirements for my creative media production project..............................................................15

CONCLUSION - Who/what was my inspiration? /Contextualisation of my study.....................15

CHAPTER 3...........................................................................................................................................16

Research Design and Strategies..........................................................................................................16

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AC 1.1

AC 1.1 2.1

AC 1.1 2.1

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.......................................................................................16

Introduction....................................................................................................................................16

Research Questions........................................................................................................................18

Research Design Evolution..............................................................................................................19

CHAPTER 4...........................................................................................................................................22

Writing and presenting my research findings....................................................................................22

..................................................................................................22

Findings/Data analysis....................................................................................................................22

Conclusion - How did the research help me with my project? (Interpret Research).....................22

CHAPTER 5...........................................................................................................................................24

My Project...........................................................................................................................................24

.................................................................................24

Introduction....................................................................................................................................24

Pre-Production................................................................................................................................24

Production.......................................................................................................................................24

Post-production..............................................................................................................................25

CHAPTER 6...........................................................................................................................................26

MY EXTENDED PROJECT - FINAL PRODUCT........................................................................................26

.................................................................................................26

CHAPTER 7...........................................................................................................................................27

Project Evaluation...............................................................................................................................27

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APPENDICES........................................................................................................................................28

Extended project in creative media production Learning Outcomes and Assessment.................28

1. Understand the requirements of a creative media production project...................................28

2. Be able to use research methods to inform ideas for creative media production...................28

3. Be able to use skills, knowledge and understanding in the completion of a creative media project.........................................................................................................................................28

4. Be able to evaluate a creative media project...........................................................................28

REFERENCES........................................................................................................................................29

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AC 2.1 2.2

AC 3.1

AC 3.1

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1- What is research...................................................................................................................15Figure 2- How to ask good questions...................................................................................................16Figure 3 - My exercise 1.......................................................................................................................16

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1 - Project Proposal......................................................................................................................6Table 2 - Project Action Plan and Timetable..........................................................................................9Table 3- My research Plan...................................................................................................................11

DEFINITION OF TERMS

EP – Extended ProjectUAL – University of the Arts London

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Project Action Plan and Timetable

This section provides you with an opportunity to outline your planning and organisation over a period of weeks and the activities you will need to carry out to complete your project in the agreed time frame. The more time and thought you give to planning your project the more successful it is likely to be. It is important that you consider how you will balance ambition, time and realism in the realisation of the project. You should also include what you are going to do, how you will do it and by when. Remember to include: time spent sourcing materials and other resources to conduct research, seek feedback from tutors and peers, and identify when you will carry out independent study.Back of the Learner’s Progress Tracker Book, is an academic calendar. Please refer for dates.

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Name Billy Simmons

Pathway UAL Digital Design and Animation: Level 3

Project Title Studying semiology and portraying messages and meanings and branding in logos

Section 1: Rationale (Approx. 100 words)Throughout the duration of my course, I have gained skills and techniques in a range of applications. My favourite area in media is graphical design and more explicitly logo and brand identity design. This is the area I want to work in the media industry, by doing freelance work for companies or individuals. I am fascinated with using logos as brand identity, for example; how logos define what type of business it is from hairdressers to shipping companies and the use of colour to convey a particular emotion/feeling. This is why I want to do this as my final major project.

Section 2: Project Concept (approx. 200 words)For my project I intend to study brand identity through the use of logos as well as discovering the many ways to create a recognisable logo, I would do this by creating a few logos each based on different types of businesses I would be showing my knowledge that I gained through my research by creating some logos which I plan to be easily recognisable what type of business the logo is created by using colour theory, typography, shapes.

The target audience for my final major project will be for a company that will be creating board games as well as the consumer of their product. With the target audience in mind, I will conduct research of the demographic and psychometrics of the consumers and will use this info to create my end product which will be a logo for that company that fits the needs of the company and their consumers.

I will be taking the role of researching techniques and methods as well as creating the logos.

Some of the technical requirements I would need applications like; Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effect to create logos and branding.

Section 3: Evaluation (approx. 150 words)After my work is finished I would present it to people to see if my logos were effective in presenting the right messages. After I am given this information I will make a plan for my evaluations with questions to ask myself about how my processes and research was, on what went well and what could be improved. In my evaluation, I would also describe many of the processes or research I used to help create my final product.

I will comment on how I thought the entire FMP turned out if it either was successful or not. After that, I will take a more in-depth look into my project.

When addressing what I could have improved I could recollect on what I did throughout the entire FMP and see the issues I had, how they were caused and resolved.

Proposed Research Sources and Bibliography (Harvard Format)

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BibliographyCompact Creative. (2003, unknown unknown). Design Shack. Retrieved from Design Shack: https://designshack.net

CreativeBloq. (2012, 06 27). CreativeBloq. Retrieved from CreativeBloq: http://www.creativebloq.com/

Inspiration Feed. (2010, 03 unknown). Inspiration Feed. Retrieved from Inspiration Feed: http://inspirationfeed.com

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Project Action Plan and Timetable

Week Date WeekBeginning

Activity / What you are intending to do - including independent study

Resources / What you will need to do it - including access to workshops

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29/03/17I plan to create the “Who am I?” and “What I learned” infographics.

Photoshop, computer.

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19/04/17

During the 2 independent study weeks and this week I will make 3 project ideas as well as a proposal for one of them.

Microsoft Word, Computer.

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26/04/17This week I will be working on criteria 1.1 for my final project which consists of 5 tasks

Computer, Microsoft Word

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03/05/17This week’s work will be on completing criteria 2.1 and 2.2 which is based on my research resources.

Microsoft Word, Internet Browser, Computer.

5

10/05/17Week 5 will be me conducting the research for my project by making surveys and searching my resources.

Microsoft Word, Internet Browser, Surveys, Computer

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17/05/17This week is for finishing off the remaining work in criteria 1.1, 2.1 and 2.2 if we have any.

Microsoft Word, Internet Browser, Computer

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24/05/17I’m going to be planning the production of my product this week.

Photoshop, Microsoft Word, Internet Browser, Computer.

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07/06/17This week’s work is me doing my practical work.

Photoshop, Internet Browser, Computer

921/07/17 I will be doing the evaluation for my

project this week.Microsoft Word, Computer

Table 1 - Project Action Plan and Timetable

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CHAPTER 1

Introduction

I will be studying creating and studying logo and graphics design by use of branding which would include Identity for a business, communication and . The brief on which my project is based on is that I was approached by a board game producer called Endless Games, this company currently creates board games based off television shows as well as producing classic board games like chess and backgammon. Endless Games are looking to get a rebrand because they are planning to change from making board games on television shows to create modern recreations of old/classic board games, they are doing this so they can reach a broader audience so they can get more sales. They want me to create a new logo for their company representative of their new business model, they also want a new logo because the current one they have is out of date and is not up to par to other company logos.

The Background of my Project

I am doing this project because I have most fun with the graphical elements of the previous projects I did throughout the year, I also have experience in graphics design before the start of the course because I want to have a job doing graphics design.

The idea of my project is to learn the key features of logo design and demonstrate what I learned from my research by creating a logo for a client I made up.

I plan to achieve this by researching the key features of logo design and utilising that research to create a logo which is appropriate for the audience I am making it for.

Who am I?

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For this part of the project I needed to create an infographic on my previous experience as well as my background, values, influences and inspiration. These pieces of information help inform people of who I am and why my project is based off who I am.

I used Photoshop to create this infographic, I could of added more in the my influences section of the infographic.

I feel like the data shown in the infographic was well spread out, but it left out a bit on the left of the infographic.

What did I learn on my course?

For the first week I was tasked to create an info graphic of our last year spent in college and what we have done and learned throughout my year. This will serve to show how I have progressed and learnt.

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I used Photoshop to create this infographic, I felt like I did a good job creating this graphic since all the information is laid out in a neat way and it’s easy to read.

I managed to put in a lot of my journey into the infographics, but it has a lack of more specific details of what I did in each project.

What is my project about?

In the internet age branding and logo design are essential for communication and getting out a message. Logos are everywhere from highstreets to websites to letterheads. one of the first things you see about a company is their logo, if the logo was good it would represent a strong company or if it had a bad logo it could also damper on what others thing of the quality of what they do. This will be the main focus of my project by making a logo for a company that has a mediocre logo to a better logo.

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Why my project is important?

I wanted to do this project because I have previous knowledge in graphic design and logo design, I want to learn new techniques and methods to expand my current knowledge of graphic design. I also want to learn about how demographics work. It is important to me because I am interested in pursuing a career in logo and graphic design and this project will help solidify my skill in those sectors where I need it.

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CHAPTER 2

Literature/Resources Review

Introduction

This chapter will show a big amount of resource I will be using for my project and how I plan to do it, I will be breaking down what I will do for secondary research and what I will do for primary research. This could be from looking at articles on websites for secondary research to making surveys for the public to answer for secondary research.

Media sources, literature search and evaluation

For my research I will be studying the key features of logo design which include colour theory, negative space, shapes and more as well as researching the target demographic I am aiming my product towards.

For researching things like colour theory I will likely be using secondary research by looking at resources on design websites like Creative Bloq, Design Shack and similar sources. This will be secondary research because it is made by someone else and will use that research in my project.

The target demographic in my project is a demographic I am likely to be able to make a survey to get answers and research from, making it primary research. This is primary research because I will be conducting the research by making the assets for the research myself like surveys.

For my project I will be using multiple research sources to collect needed information on the key elements of logo design and incorporate the thing I learned into my design.

One of these research sources is Creative Bloq. Creative Bloq is a website/blog suited towards designers, this site gives insight to uses of skills and techniques and it also has guides as well as inspiration for graphics design like showing examples of good design.

Another research source I will be using is Design Shack. Like Creative Bloq, Design Shack, this site teaches a broader spectrum of things, from Business to Graphics to CSS. This site give tips for improving your graphics design skills and knowledge. One thing that Design Shack has which Creative Bloq doesn’t is a section on freelancing/client service.

Inspirationfeed is a site where you can find tips and tricks for graphics design, web design and more. It also contains inspiration pieces where they would show things like creative logos. This site would be good for finding inspiration and techniques.

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I will also be using a book called Design basics index by Jim Krause for my research, this book contains tons of info on graphics design and covers most topics in graphics design extensively like shape theory, colour theory, semiology, typography and more.

The UCreative design blog contains a lot of information on graphics design including tip and tricks and shoes multiple aspects of graphics design, like comics, logos, web design and more. This site will help me with inspiration for my project.

Spoongraphics contains many tutorials for making things like vector art, and free goodies like font or effects. This will help me find some good free typefaces and some of the tutorials maybe helpful for what I am doing.

These sites and books have inspired my project by showing me all the creative ways you can create a logo through their design inspiration posts, they have also taught me techniques to use when making a logo.

One of the key things I learned about graphic design is the use of negative space, negative space can be used in logos to make shapes where there isn’t anything. One key example of this is the FedEx logo.

I will be deconstructing this later in my research to see how it uses negative space.

I also learned about colour theory and the types of colour combinations like; Complementary, Triad, Shades, Analogous. I will be using my knowledge of colour theory to deconstruct some more logos describing why companies pick those colours to go with their logo.

Another key element of colour theory is the meaning of colours. This can be used to convey meaning, for example if a company was eco-friendly they would use greens and blues or even a mix of them, since they would mix in a triad or analogous scheme.

Typography is another one of the things I studied. Typography can be the typeface used, the size and weight of the font and the kerning of the letters, changing the amount of space between each letter. Logos can entirely be typography, these are called “type logos”.

From the design basics index I looked at how you could use components to make something more by making patterns with it or changing its style.

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Requirements for my creative media production project

Industry RequirementsHow is your industry organized/structure?

In the Digital Design and Animation industry is structured into many categories, such as platforms, employment and sectors. The platforms are put into sub categories like social media, web video, videos on demand and more. The sectors are sectioned into graphic design, Marketing and advertising, animation and interactive design. Marketing and advertising are linked to graphic design and animation. There are two types of employment in this industry, freelance or permanent. Freelancing is when you work for other companies, but you aren’t part of a team. Permanent employment is working as a part of a design team.

Here is a mind map I made to visually represent the structure of my industry.

How does my work fit within this organisation structure?

My work would fit in the organisation structure by making logos for companies from Gyms to hair salons, Game developers and more. Logo design would also be used in creating logo for their products as well like movie and game logos. Logos are important to the industry because it give the company/item an identity by an image.

Explain whether your work is independent or mainstream. Why is this the case?

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My work will be independent, this is because what I would be doing is freelance by creating the graphics individually not as a part of a design team where I would contribute towards 1 aspect of designing a logo or making graphics.

Provide examples of organisations that would: Produce/publish your work and why (consider specialist production houses/publishers)

Depending on if I go freelance or go part of a design team, it will either be produced/published by myself or the design team I am working on.

How/where it could be distributed and why (online, hard copy, exhibitions, festivals etc.)

My work could be distributed in many ways through 1st party or third party, 1st party for example is when I do freelance work where I distribute the work to my clients directly via online. It could also be distributed through a site, where I can put designs up for sale and if someone were to buy it the website would send them the design via email.

How it would be regulated? By whom?

The work I would be producing could be possible be reviewed and regulated by OFCOM, they would check if the logos I created would be appropriate for what I am doing. This is because they need to check if the imagery is suitable for the audience I am making it for.

Whether it is for a niche/mainstream audience. Why is this the case?

My work would be for a niche audience, since I would be creating a logo for a specific company, which is a company that makes board games. Therefore the audience for the work would be the company itself and the consumers of their product.

Specifications

For task 2 of Criteria 1.1, I will be detailing the requirements of my project from consumable to the technology needed to do my project.

Consumables

I need a pen to write down notes on paper which I would use for research.

Pencil, I need this to sketch up designs and ideas that come up in my mind

Blank Paper/ Drawing pad, I need this to write and sketch my ideas on

Technology

Graphics tablet/Pen, this would be used to draw my work digitally in application such as Photoshop and illustrator.

Mouse and keyboard

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Computer, I need to have a computer to run all the software and peripherals to create my work

Software

Photoshop would be needed in the creation of my final product

Illustrator would be needed for my project to create vector image and will be essential in the creation of my final product of my research and work.

I would need Microsoft Office to document all my research as well as make write up for all my work.

Specifications

I would need to have an up to date OS to be able to run the latest versions of Photoshop and illustrator, this would be Microsoft Windows 7 – 10 since windows 7 is the oldest supported OS the latest version of Photoshop/illustrator use and windows 10 is the latest operating system.

To be able to run the software I plan on using I need a computer that is capable to run it, this would include having 8 gigabytes of ram considerably DDR4/5 or more to make sure the software runs smoothly.

As well as that I would need a processor capable of running it as well, as long as it is a multicore CPU that supports 64 bit preferably from the Intel core range the performance of the software won’t drop.

A graphics processor is needed to enable some features in Photoshop, including certain effects which could improve the quality of my work. The recommended spec is to have a graphics car with at least 2GB of VRAM.

For this work I will need a monitor which has accurate colours meant for graphics design, it should also be 720p minimum, but a 1080P would be better because you get more work space on a 1080P screen.

Storage is also important to keep all my research/work in as well as install all the software I would be using, the minimum size hard drive I would use for this project is a 240 GB SSD and a 1TB hard drive

The rest of the parts don’t have a specification needed, like a power supply, motherboard or case for the computer, but the motherboard would have to be compatible to the parts I get, as well as making sure the case is the right size to fit everything in. One thing you can check a case and motherboard for is the amount of USB slots it comes with, since that will limit the amount of peripherals you can use on the PC at one time. The power supply is needed to power the pc and all of the components inside, I’m going for a 450W power supply which is more than enough to give power to all the parts in the computer.

Services

I will be using Adobe Creative Cloud as one of my services, this contains all of the programs I need for creating my logo as well as making infographics.

Prices

8GB ram £60

Intel core i3 Processor ~ £100

1TB HDD £42 + 240GB SSD £75

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2GB VRAM graphics card £40-£130

Motherboard £50

Case £21

Power Supply £35

1080P monitor W/ accurate colours £250

Photography (Includes Photoshop) £10.10 a month + Single App (Illustrator) £20.22 a month = £30.32 a month

Total: $631-721 + £30.32 a month

Audience ProfilesFictional profile 1My first fictional profile will be of a Male who is 47 years old, he owns a Small real estate business who earns an average of about £70,000 a year and has a business degree.

He is direct with what he wants to do in his sector of work, being demanding because he wants his company to succeed.

47 Year old Male, Small real estate business owner

Someone like this would be interested in my work because if he needed a new logo for his company I would be able to create that logo for him that would be representative of his business.

Fictional profile 2My second fictional profile will be a Female age 21. She is currently creating a business for making greeting cards for online sale. At this point she isn’t earning any money and lives with her parents.

She is open to change to help benefit her starting up company, she is usually very positive about things, this trait could be identified as “Agreeableness”.

Someone like this would be interested in my work because she is starting up her company and would be in need of a logo for that new business.

Job RolesFor task 4 I have to research job roles that would be relevant to my own job role as a Designer as well as identify key team members who I would work with in my job role.

One of the relevant job roles is the Client Services Director, I will now identify the Qualification, skill, knowledge, experience and personal attributes needed to be a Client Services Director.

QualificationsThere are no set requirements to be able to become a Client Services Director but some qualifications in customer service would help get the job.

SkillsThe skills required to be a Client Services Director would be to have good/great communication skills, having the skill to multi-task as well as keeping everything organised.

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KnowledgeHaving previous knowledge/experience in client service would be a key part of being a Client Services Director.

Also extensive knowledge of what the company you are working specializes in would be needed so you can work with the clients efficiently.

Personal AttributesBeing caring is a good personal attribute for being a Client Services Director because the client won’t be as engaged with someone who doesn’t sound caring.

Self-control is also a big personal attribute to have since there will be times when the client will be hard to deal with.

 One of the Key team members I would be working with is the creative director

The requirements to be a creative director you would have to have a bachelor’s degree in graphics design, marketing or something related as well as 7 to 10 years of experience.

Some of the skills you would need would be being familiar with design software as well as graphics design, you would also need to be good at management.

The creative director would be a part of all production, overseeing the entire production the creative media products.

Legal Requirements Identify and explain the legal requirements of the project

 

The legal requirements of my project pertain to keeping mind of Copyright, Trademarks, Health and Safety and more, this is to make sure my project is safe and legal

 

Identify paperwork you will need to produce

 

The paperwork you need for logo design is paperwork for the transfer of your designs from having it as your property to the client.

 

Copyright

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o Explain how copyright law is relevant to you, your work and the work of others in the context of your project:

 

If I were to create something original, like a logo I would instantly have the copyright of that logo if it was made during my own time. If it was made during my work time it would be under the ownership of that company.

Also if I were to make a logo for a client, the logo would belong to me until the transaction for the logo is made, after that it would belong to the client.

 

Use of trademarks

 

The use of trademark is used to protect the identity of the product you are making, to stop other people making things too similar to confuse others that it might be your product. It also works the other way, I have to make sure I am not making anything too similar to an already established.

 

Use of music

 

Music generally isn't used in music design, but if there was a circumstance where music would be used, I would have to make sure I brought the licence to use a particular track or use a royalty free music track.

 

Use of intellectual property

 

Intellectual property work similar to copyright, you own the logo when you make it, but when a client pays for it, it is then theirs’.

 

Health and Safety

 

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Health and safety is when you make sure your workplace is safe from any danger and potential harm, this could be more obvious things like not having any tripping hazards to sitting correctly at a computer and taking regular breaks.

 

Identify relevant health and safety risks

The health and safety risks I could come into contact within my work area would be.

Unorganized wires, which could trip someone over. Using too many extension cables for power, since it could overload the plug socket. Not keeping a proper sitting stance, this could hurt your back if you are sitting improperly. Not taking regular breaks on the computer, this could potentially damage eyesight if you

keep your eyes on a screen for too long.

 

Explain what you would do to minimise any risk

I can minimise risks by organising my work space to make sure there is nothing that can harm you. Make sure you are sitting upright and your eyes are aligned to the top of the monitor Also taking regular breaks would decrease the risk of damaging your eyes.

 

Explain what you will do to ensure that your production and your final outcome is legal and ethical

One of the precautions I take when creating my work is using the reverse image search option in google with images of the logos I create, from there I can see if any pre-existing logos look like the one I have made.

CONCLUSION - Who/what was my inspiration? /Contextualisation of my study

The inspiration for my project were other company logos and how the way they use imagery of objects that are in board games to show that they are a board game company.

The requirements of my project would require all that I said above in my specifications.

I learned a lot about the skills and techniques needed for logo and graphic design and all the this information will be used so I can make my product better.

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CHAPTER 3

Research Design and Strategies

Introduction

This chapter will be about me explaining the research I will be doing for my extended project. It will contain my methods of research and research design for my project as well as what I have learned from secondary sources.

Figure 1- What is Research

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Research QuestionsThe intent of my project is about to learn about the techiniques and methods used to make a logo as well as researching demographics and how to design a logo based off the demographics.

The key aim for the extended project is to make a suitable logo using methods I learned through research and studying the demographic which my project is based on.

The key characteristics are based off the key components of logo design such as; Colour theory, Shape theory, typography, negative space and more.

The questions I am giving myself is about who my audience are and what would be suitable for that audience. I will also be seeing how I can improve my work.

I want to find out what creates a good logo and what makes a bad logo, I want to learn how I can use multiple techniques to create a good logo.

Figure 2- How to ask good questions

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Figure 3 - My exercise 1

Research Design Evolution

• Target audience

My target audience will be male and females in the age range of the 10’s to 30’s

The audience I am going for is an audience that don’t play board games often, this is because my project is based off the company in my brief wanting to get more people to play classic board games.

I could find information on my target audience from YouGov to find out the existing demographic of board games like chess or board games in general.

• Skills and techniques

I would need to have skills with search engines to find the right resources for my research. Like finding articles on the techniques and key features of graphic design. I would also need to have skills with making surveys to conduct my primary research.

• Production research

For the production of my research I needed social media to share my research resources.

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I would need the internet to carry out research that involves social media. I also needed media books for part of my research

The research activities I will be doing would be making surveys and document analysis. I would also be showcasing my work for feedback from others.

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CHAPTER 4

Writing and presenting my research findings

Findings/Data analysis

What strategies did you use to analyse your data?

To create the data for my research a made a couple of surveys on survey monkey. I created 2 different surveys, one based on logos and the other based on logo design. I asked some main question that were in both of them, like the age and gender of the people taking the survey.

I also went around my class with four different logo designs relevant to my project and asked them which one they preferred. I did this by putting the four different logos on a piece of paper and asking my class to tally which one is the best.

I will be looking at currently existing logos of big companies and breaking them down to describe why they used the colours, shapes, etc. and how it comes out with all the elements combined.

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What did you find out?

From my research by showing my class the multiple concept logos I gathered the majority of people voted for the 3rd design I made which will be shown below.

The reason the class voted for this one the most is because it is the simplest way of symbolising the Endless part of endless games.

For the surveys I got 19 responses on the survey about board games, and 23 responses on my survey about logo design.

On the survey about logo design the majority of the people who took the survey were 10-19 year old males.

When asking for their favourite colour these were the results I got, some of the responses had multiple favourite colours.

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These results show me that green is the most popular colour amongst the people that took my survey.

On the question asking how familiar the people taking the survey are to graphics design, the majority of people chose the familiar option.

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I also wanted to know what type of design the people taking the survey prefer, Flat or Material design, I gave them 2 examples of a company logo, one with flat design and the other in material design form. After that I asked them which type of design they preferred and I collected the answers in a chart.

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From my research on existing logos I have looked at and studied multiple logos that already exist and seeing what skills and techniques they use.

Colour theory is a relevant skill to my current interests which is logo/graphics design, it is used to convey meaning because colour is associated with feelings where a colour like blue could stand for calmness or on a more negative side sadness, but the meaning can also change depending on culture.

The people who picked flat design said they liked it more because of its simplicity and it’s more modern looking. Whereas people who picked material liked it more because of its detail and textures and how it is more complicated.

For my second survey I based it off of board games, studying what board games the people within my target audience prefer and how often they play board games.

Again, in this survey the majority of people taking the survey were 10-19 year old males with 90% of the people taking the survey being male and 68% of them were in-between the age of 10-19 which is in the demographic for my project.

I asked how often the people taking the survey play board games, I used 4 different options from not playing board games to playing it often. The results are on this chart.

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To find out what their favourite board game was I made 2 questions. One asked what their favourite board game overall is and the other one is what their favourite traditional board game is like chess, backgammon, etc. Chess was the most common answer across both tied with monopoly on the favourite board game overall.

The last question was a text box question asking why they play board games, the most common was to play with friends and family.

The McDonald’s logo is a really good example of colour theory the reason why it is red and yellow are due to its influence on customers. The red colour gives off the feeling of hunger, stimulation, as well as appetite in this scenario and the yellow is for friendliness and happiness which is a more generic feeling associated with the colour yellow.

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Colour theory isn’t the only thing to look for when doing logo/graphic design. The shape is also a big player in logo design since that’s what every logo is comprised of. In McDonalds’ case the shape of the logo is meant to represent the golden arches which would be on two sides of McDonalds’ stores at the time. The logo of McDonalds used to be quite different.

In this old logo, the arches used to be further apart and weren’t fused at the bottom, instead the arches meet on the way down and go through each other. Another big difference is the arrow going through the “M”

FedEx is a key example of making a shape in negative space between the E and x in the logo which creates an arrow, this is a genius example of shapes because even though it is hidden the arrow represents the company’s business as a delivery company. As well as being a good case of shapes, it is also a good use of typography by changing the spacing between letters as well as choosing the right typeface it can create some happy accidents, just like the FedEx.

The twitter logo is a really good example of shapes used in a logo, because the logo can be created by using just circles, this shows you don’t need multiple shapes to make a good logo. This also means that the logo has no straight lines in it.

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Conclusion - How did the research help me with my project? (Interpret Research)

What did you learn from your research and how it informed your project?

Present explain and contextualize findings

I wanted to do this project because of my previous experiences and skill, I also want to work in the area of graphic design.

The basic premise of my project was to make a logo for a company that is relevant to what tat company does.

I seek to achieve a good logo which will fit with the target audience for my project.

My work correlates to other logos in general on how they are made from using techniques like using shapes a colour to utilising negative space to create an image in the spaces that have nothing.

They shaped my project by giving me a source of inspiration for my own project to help with the creative part.

I learned that it’s not about having one element of logo design in a logo, it has to have many of them to be able to create a good logo, if a logo lacks too much features, it won’t be a very good logo.

I had 2 ideas for a logo, one of the ideas I had was the infinite symbol but part of it would be replaced with a horse head to represent a horse chess piece and the other idea was a king chess piece combined with a hourglass to represent the concept of time.

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CHAPTER 5

My Project

Introduction This chapter will be for my production of my final product and will explain my processes throughout the making of the logo.

I decided for the logo I am making for Endless Games I will be going for a mix between a King chess piece as well as an hourglass. I chose these because the King chess piece represents traditional board games and the hourglass would represent time which fits in with the company’s name “Endless Games”

I created a mood board of different King chess pieces and hourglasses as well as other board game company logos.

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One of the previous ideas I had was to combine the hourglass idea and combine it with the infinity symbol since the infinity represents something never ending and the hourglass represents time, combined they would convey the idea of Infinite time which is endless, just like the name of the company.

In the typeface of the logo I want to use a font where I can edit the lettering so I can turn one of the letters into an infinity symbol. I found a typeface called neuropolitical which would work well with this concept.

I made multiple concepts of the same logo experimenting with the ideas of infinity, putting an infinite symbol inside or making it so sand is falling up and down creating an endless cycle. One of the more interesting ones I made was one that had an endless cycle because of the way it was shaped it looks like there was another hourglass inside the hourglass.

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I conducted research by printing of 4 design concepts and asking my class to tell me which one are better through tallying their favourite. Through this I discovered that the logo with the infinite symbol in it was the most popular in the class. This is probably because it works best with the name of the company better than the rest.

When creating my logo I needed to find a way to visualize the idea of my logo in a simplistic and easy way, which can be used on the products I am making the company for.

I decided to make the hourglass quite simplistic and angular and using only lines that go horizontal, vertical and at a 45 degree angle, but would also need to work well with being able to fit a chess piece somewhere in it. This is the result of my work.

The only element that I decided not to go by those rules are the triangle pieces in the middle, this is so I can represent a hourglass better and it would look as visually pleasing if the angles were going at a 45 degree angle.

The next part I was going to do was put a king chess piece in the design I Looked at the design of multiple king chess pieces since they sometimes differ in size and shape, with a king chess piece getting slimmer near the middle I thought that this would be a good match for the current design, I emulated the look of a king chess piece by putting the crown on top of the design as well as a longer base on the bottom which are used for chess pieces to help balance the piece and stop it from falling.

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After coming up with the shape I wanted to experiment with the typography in the logo, I wanted a typeface where I could put an infinity symbol in to represent the “endless” part of “endless games”. The typeface I used for this design is called “neuropolitical regular”. An example of the company name in this typeface is shown below.

The way I incorporated the infinity symbol into the type was by creating an extra line in the letter N of the name and turned the opacity down to show it is something separate from the main text.

After I did the typography for the logo I put the logo and the type together to create the first full concept of the logo.

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After I showed off my design I was given some constructive criticism to help improve my design, instead of having the “sand” part of the hourglass being normal I could change it so it could represent the concept of infinity, from this I made 3 more concept designs changing just the sand part of the design to see what I could improve about it.

For this first concept I visualized the concept of the way the sand flows, in this design I made it so each pile of sand is pouring into each other making it an endless loop.

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The second concept was more to the point having the infinite symbol turned sideways, like this it is much easier to tell that this is infinite.

Finally the third concept I made was an extension of the first concept but instead of sand pouring in a direct line to the other side it all goes to the middle. I got an unexpected result of this making the sand seem like it’s pouring in the shape of another hourglass, inside an hourglass.

After I made the 4 designs I took it around my classroom asking people which design was best in their opinion. The favourite among the class was my 3rd design with the infinite symbol followed by the 2nd design with the 2 lines of sand and after that my original design.

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The reason the 3rd design did the best was because of the simplicity of it and the concept of it was easy to understand, this is what made it the best design to my fellow classmate and this is the design I will be expanding on to make the final version of the logo.

The only change I made to the design was making the infinite symbol more symmetrical so it matches with the rest of the design.

One of the thing I had to consider is how it would look on the products the company I am making the logo for creates. In this chase board games, so I made a mock-up of what the logo would look on a board game case.

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In conclusion, I used my skills I have learned to create my logo concept as well as conducting surveys to get feedback from others and using that feedback to improve my design for the final version of my logo.

CHAPTER 6

MY EXTENDED PROJECT - FINAL PRODUCT

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CHAPTER 7

Project Evaluation

Critically evaluating your final media project against the agreed requirements and parameters.

Answer the following questions:

Introduce the project in your own words My project was about studying semiology and key features of logo and graphic design whilst researching demographics who consume certain types of media

What was the purpose of the project? o What did you hope to learn?

The purpose of my project was about learning the many key features of logo /graphic design and gaining skills and techniques to further my experience in graphic design.

How much reference material did you find? o Do you think you could have done more? If so, explain what you think

you could have doneI definitely could have done more by spending some more time away from college working on my extended project and would have increased the quality of my project and or research.

How did you develop your ideas?I would develop my ideas by looking at inspiration and by researching what I can do for a logo for the company keeping in mind the name of the company to make something that will work with the name.

List five strengths and five weaknesses in your final designStrengths: The experimenting with typeface came out with a good result. The logo I made was very sleek and would fit well with the products they make. The logo is easier to see from further distances. Another strength would be that I combined elements well to create the logo, like the mix between a king chess piece and an hourglass.

Weaknesses: I could have incorporated colour into my design, I could have experimented more with my design by completely changing the design. I could have done more research that could have affected my final design. I could have done more research on techniques of logo design.

Was there a theme for the design ideas?

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o Can you describe it?

The theme for my final design was based off board game for a company called “endless games” who would be making revamps of classic board games, the design reflects this with the king chess piece and the infinite symbol included in the logo and the infinite symbol in the typography.

What experiments and exploration did you do?o How did it affect your development?

I experimented with what was inside the hourglass part of the logo from making it normal sand, to having it in an infinite loop to just having the infinite symbol inside. This effected my development because I needed to make multiple drafts of my design.

Find a similar type of design publication - place it next to your own - what comparisons/difference can you identify?

I found this design is similar to my final design, I feel like it is similar to my design because the logo fits the name of the company well. Where my design is “Endless Games” where it is a chess piece and the hourglass and infinite symbol represent the idea of infinite time which is endless, whereas fun forge has a smiling fireball where the smile would be the “fun” part and the fireball would be the “forge” part since forges use fire.

What were the key areas of development in this project? - use your daily reflections to help you with this

The key areas of my development were based of the key elements of logo design using shape theory and typography to make the logo.

Which technical skills, processes, methods and techniques did you use?

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I used Photoshop to create the logo, I used a 2000x2000 canvas to make the logo from there I made the shape of the logo by using the pen tool to make it a vector shape which means I can resize it without any blurring or having no reduce in quality. After that I experimented what was inside the shape and my final design had the infinite symbol inside. For the typography I used a free for commercial use typeface called neuropolitical, I realised I could make an infinite symbol from the N in “Endless games” and created a shape with a lower opacity to give a sense of depth.

Review your proposal - what changed, what developments did you make, did you manage to complete everything you set out to achieve?

My final design wasn’t too different from my proposal with the premise being the same that I was making a logo for endless games who plans to revamp traditional board games.

What did the client/lecturer think of your original concept/idea? o How did that make you feel?

My lecturer changed my project from making a logo for a video game company to making a logo for a board game company. I felt alright about this, since this would take me out of my comfort zone which would be a better learning experience for me.

What could you do to adapt the work produced to improve and develop it?

I could of further adapted my design by asking other people how I could improve it, since they could see it differently than I do.

Is the final work appropriate for the needs of the project? o Does it sufficiently answer your brief? (Project Proposal)

The work I produced fit in with the brief I made for my project incorporating information from the brief and putting it into my design.

Reflect on your pitch to the board; how did you feel about it before? o Did the pitch go better or worse than you expected? o What was the feedback from the client/lecturer about your pitch?o What do you think you could improve next time when doing a pitch?

I felt like the pitch went better than expected since I was able to get a good amount of information to describe my pitch with the brief.

My lecturer liked my pitch and suggested to include demographic research into my project.

I think I could improve the presentation of my brief and lay out the information I was presenting in a better way.

Did the project as a whole, go better or worse than you expected?

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The project went as expected I didn’t feel like anything went better or worse than I thought. Everything went smoothly.

What was the feedback from the client/lecturer on the project as a whole?

I was given feedback for most of my project some of the more significant pieces of feedback were experimenting with my design to incorporate the infinite symbol in the logo and to make surveys for my research.

What do you think you could improve about the project as a whole, if you did it again?

I think I could improve with the research by doing more extensive research in demographics as well as experimenting more with the logo since the final design didn’t change much from the original design I planned.

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APPENDICES

Extended project in creative media production Learning Outcomes and Assessment

1. Understand the requirements of a creative media production project.1.1 Analyse the requirements of a creative media production project.

2. Be able to use research methods to inform ideas for creative media production.

2.1 Review a range of research sources to support a creative media production project. 2.2 Interpret research to develop ideas and effectively communicate to an audience

3. Be able to use skills, knowledge and understanding in the completion of a creative media project.

3.1 Apply practical skills, knowledge and understanding to complete a creative media project within an agreed timeframe.

4. Be able to evaluate a creative media project.4.1 Critically evaluate a creative media project against the agreed requirements and

parameters.

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Smith, c., 2017. Fun with Flags. 5 ed. canterbury: media.

study.com, 2017. How to Become a Creative Director: Education and Career Roadmap. [Online] Available at: http://study.com/articles/How_to_Become_a_Creative_Director_Education_and_Career_Roadmap.html[Accessed 24 5 2017].

sublimerule, 2015. What's a really good monitor for graphic design and illustration. [Online] Available at: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-2629140/good-monitor-graphic-design-illustration.html[Accessed 27 04 2017].

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