OUGD406: Design Is About Doing crit and evaluation

For the secret 7" live brief crit we had to create 5 final record cover designs as well as at least 30 thumbnail sketches of original ideas. we were assigned groups and had to crit each others work. I found it really interesting to see how other people had interpreted the brief. I displayed my ideas and explained them to the group, they came up with some useful feedback over all, but I am still undecided as to which final design I will pick.

Feedback:

• Add colour- The group expressed that they thought the design was a little bit flat and using coloured photography rather than black and white could really add some dimensions and interest to the design. Another way that it was suggested that i could add some colour is by adding tints and tones of a single colour.

•  Add a frame- One person in the group said that although i had tried to keep my design simple it was a little too simple. To improve this they said i could try and add a frame or border to the design. I will experiment with this, however i think it may detract from the cover.

• add new textures and layers- this will add new interest and dimensions to the cover.

Over all i think i have gained some decent ideas and useful feedback from this crit. I didn't find it as useful and other crits that we have had as my group were quite quite quiet. I think over all i have worked well in this brief. I have tried to work in a different more illustrative style in order to challenge my self and learn new skills. I am relatively happy with my final designs but still need to improve them over the weekend before the submission on monday. I need to make a final decision on what design to chose before I continue.

Final evaluation:

This is the final design I chose for the secret 7 submission. I took the critique from the people in my crit and decided to add colour. I am really pleased with the outcome. I think the simple design works well and suits the genre of music that i am designing for. I really enjoyed this brief. It was the first live brief i have participated in, it was exciting and challenging at the same time. I tried to use new and different techniques such as cut paper and illustration to challenge my self, although i discarded the illustrations i am happy that i experimented with them. I like the juxtapositions between the busy colourful forest and the crisp clean lines and negative space. Over all i am happy with how i worked in this brief, i kept to the time limit and created a design that i am proud of.