Gaining Momentum

It's true what they say: research is key, experience the brand, and get the "brands in your hands".

Then comes the core thoughts. Find one and push it out... but in doing so make sure that you have lots of fun!

Momentum taught us to explore where we can take our campaigns through experiential and guerilla modes of advertising, the importance of substance before visual style, and when you throw in a little of the kopparberg, maoam & cad's I think Leanne & I had our most enjoyable/successful workshop so far!

Briefed with Love:

Thanks to Love Creative for teaching us the ins and outs of solid thinking, how to develop ideas with heart and soul, and for the honest feedback & industry insight. For teaching us that we shouldn't be afraid to not be serious... to strive to identify the correct p.o.v - and in doing so appreciating the beauty of simplicity and in expressing it well. For making us aware that we shouldn't be trapped by social media. Thanks for making us understand what it takes to be memorable, to always have the BIG idea, and how to take that forward. Thanks for the beer & doritos.

From D&AD to D&AD:

Since uni ended in june, Leanne & I have been on the lookout for opportunities to take us from D&AD at MMU onto bigger and better things. Two single registration forms and some spent pennies later, Leanne & I received a brief from the D&AD Advertising Manchester workshops. To be judged for selection within a week, we have been spending our time meeting where and when we could... early mornings, all nighters, stress and 7am conference calls via skype... it's been tough, but good to get back into the swing of things. As successful candidates, we have been set a brief by LOVE Creative. Daunted with nerves and not a clue how these advertising gigs work, I felt we were slightly off the mark with our first pitch last night. Having come from a design background where everything is to be polished at first glance, it is refreshing to share scamps and the main focus being about generating ideas, next week we can relax a little and not worry about presentation at this stage of the game. Coming up with ideas can drive us insane at times and I found it ironic the setup dropped us in a circle with total strangers, sharing our experience of the weeks obstacles, achieving applause - we have definitely found the right support group. I suspect there will be highs and lows, but look forward to the journey ahead.

Having no communal 'studio' space anymore, we have claimed a table in the corner of our local wetherspoons as our own, all day, everyday, the tea and internet is on tap - what more could two budding creatives need?

Hopefully one day we will have our own studio with wifi that actually works, and where passers by don't stop to ask why we colour in...? why are we spray mounting outside the post office...? is my (Irish) friend American?

Hopefully, this is where it all starts....

Online Portfolio -

Hello folks, please click here to see my temporary online portfolio.  I shall be adding more examples of my work soon... I hope you like!  In the mean time I shall be trying to jump the hurdles that one may encounter when setting up a website, (jemmaconnor.co.uk is still under construction, but should be up and running soon!)

The Degree Show is Upon Us...

Come on down... here's a lovely taster!

D&AD &

10 Penneth:

I was up bright and early this morning, despite me not feeling so bright and the weather being miserable! I visited MUSIC in the NQ for my second portfolio surgery, this time being with Craig Oldham. I hadn't expected it to be a group feedback session but I found this really helpful to see how everyone else works, especially as it was a group whose work that I was unfamiliar with. I love the diversity of responses to projects and I found it useful to see how others layout their portfolio. Of course, everyone had done this differently and the primary point that Craig drove was that it is our own book. Unique to us, and to have the content that we feel best represents us. Not what tutors, or other professionals may advise. This past term at university I feel that I have learnt to trust my own ideas etc, and to do what I want to do, because who can have a portfolio that pleases everybody?

In response to my work, Craig said that my thinking is quite advanced for a student and I took this as a huge compliment. This is what interests me the most, and what I want to pursue after D&AD ends in june. I think he summed up my design personality quite well when he said I'm really interested in the concept, then I get "bored shitless" and want to move onto something else. I was also grateful for somebody saying it's okay to say you know your design isn't strong - so don't you folks put it down to sheer negativity on my behalf next time I have a mare. Concepts like mine can push me along, getting me about 86% of the way there, the rest for me will just come from hardwork and practice. This gave me optimism and confidence, as well as some much needed motivation to push myself.

I was pleased that I came across well in my initial contact via email and was also pretty chuffed with another free booklet full of tips on becoming a graphic designer.

You don't need your eyes testing...

Last thursday I did a brief post about the VW Polo campaign by DDB London. On sunday, they launched the accompanying print/outdoor campaign taking the "Unbelievable Value" strapline and pushing it further afield. The TV ad really got my attention, made me smile and acknowledge the beauty of the creative thought behind it... but the press ad doesn't seem to support it. I was really disappointed by the final execution of the message. This is something that I struggle with in my work and I think it is quite easy to let this final stage slide sometimes. But still, I can't help but think that the typography looks as if it has been directly lifted from a quick thumbnail. The desired look was to achieve an eye test aesthetic, a great idea to compliment and direct the strapline but I think that they should have used the appropriate type used in eye tests. Perhaps then the advert would have been more successful? I also only understood it because I had seen the 30sec TV advert, and I wonder how easily this would communicate with someone who hadn't. See what you think...

VW -

Eye test - only £9,7..
Watch the ad...

I've been working on a NISSAN brief with Anna recently as a small side project, and so i've had an extra watchful eye for car adverts. This new advert for VW's Polo is simple, but I think it's really effective and funny.

Keep Calm & Drink Tea:

Suitable advice to any third year student at this point in the year.

A new term, a new brief.  I want a project that will reflect my interest in copy based campaigns and this is why I have opted to do the Elmwood "Make mine a builders brew" brief set by D&AD.  The brief describes the importance of quality of thinking and language and not the visual execution.  This seems perfect for me and where I see myself trying to squeeze into industry.

Elmwood want to know who drinks tea, why they drink it, when they drink it - what do they feel about it?  They also wanted to know what kind of drinks they are up against... other teas? coffee? or cold drinks?  From my initial market research I believe that those who are tea drinkers are very passionate about their tea, and that they are very loyal to their desired brand.  I therefore feel that I should be focusing on a campaign that competes with other tea brands and that encourages people to try this "strong - no nonsense" cup of tea.

Existing promotional materials and example of brand language (above)

Their tone is informal, honest, fun.

I have looked at leading tea competitors and I really like Twinings copy based campaign (above) for their brand.  It confronts why people drink tea, that they usually do this to lift mood and unites tea drinkers in the way that I think Make Mine A Builders are seeking to do.

I have also been looking at general copy based campaigns and even though Elmwood are not so much interested in the final execution I think it would be nice to draw inspiration from these two adverts and art direct the text to suit meaning.  The two adverts below are both very different and I find it interesting that one word can have impact, yet a whole string of words can create curiousity and intrigue a viewer to read the full message.

All you lovely people...

Come on down!

We promise you a visual treat :]

http://panicnoiselab.blogspot.com/

Portfolio Surgery -

with Johnny Hardstaff.  To share my portfolio with a professional and get a totally fresh and honest opinion about my work was brilliant.  The questions that he asked me really made me confront what I want to be and where I see myself going.  Based upon this Johnny was able to offer me advice on the next stage after university - my desire being creative advertising.  To get into this field, I am going to have to ensure my concepts leap off the page, and crank up the pace of my work to produce a vast and varied body of work.  I was really pleased that he got excited about pieces of work that hadn't received good feedback at review - and this gives me confidence that I should trust my own instincts and do work that feels right to me.  Johnny suggested that I investigate a career in PR, something I had never thought about before, but sounds intriguing.  All in all the workshop gave me positive feedback and encouraged me to keep on doing what I'm doing and take it to the next level.  It was also beneficial to see other peers portfolios and witness what I need to do in terms of layout/content/aesthetic to pull myself up.

Can I please get some Lucozade?

Under Construction:

I have recently purchased jemmaconnor.co.uk
(Thanks to Anna for her help) :]

The Perfect Gift For Mother's Day:

Today was the day of our Mothers Day Fundraiser -

Anna, Leanne, Hannah & myself raised £66.80p for the d&ad piggy bank :]

(Above) Mother Hen Cards, my contribution to the stall!

(Below) Yummy  Mummy by Hannah Davies which I purchased for my mum.

Doing the stall was actually really good fun,

minus some very competitive photography students,

embarrassing attitude = poor representation of their course!!

Thank you to everyone who made a contribution or a purchase!!

Morag Myerscough

A-B development.

More Staycation experiments.  Feedback has been really helpful and I have been trying to develop clarity through additional copy.  Feedback suggested I highlight the movement of A-B so I have dropped the "beside the seaside" line as it was distracting and slowing down/confusing the message.  I have placed this within a web link instead, and hopefully by doing so this shows that there is supporting medias and creates a company identity that is intent on driving tourists to British coastal towns.

I am now beginning to experiment with text to create a different feel.

Fancy a Staycation?

Tourism is one of the largest industries in the UK, yet there seems to be little evidence of existing creative advertising and engaging campaigns to inspire us to holiday in our own country.  It was for this reason that I thought I would tackle the Roses Award brief "Staycation" - the only ask it had, was to reinvent the traditional British holiday through an advertising campaign.

The traditional British holiday is the seaside holiday and so it is this that I have used as a starting point for my content.  I am aware that interest in British coastal towns has dwindled over past years, becoming stereotyped as run down, old fashioned and tacky.  People may be cynical to hear what this campaign has to say so I have tried to be clear and focused in presenting a new image and voice.  I aim to use the traditional values as the content, whilst using contemporary design to freshen interest and resurge popularity.

My design will become part of a campaign that encourages people to travel the UK internally from one place to another.  My development ideas will utilise stereotypes presented in a way that encourage the viewer to see past traditional elements.

Below, is an experiment from my first set of concept/design ideas.  Instead of hiding my work as per, I'm posting it up in the hope of getting some constructive feedback.  I'd be really interested to know how quick the idea transcends.

A break would be lovely.

Please.

Thank you.

:]

Alan Fletcher:

"Fifty Years of Work (and play)"

Cube Gallery, Manchester

9th Feb

I had heard a lot about this exhibition from those who went down to CUBE on the opening night, and from reading the highly acclaimed blurb.  It has been described as an impressive, major retrospective of Britain's most celebrated graphic designer, "One of the giants of the 20th Century" whose legacy continues to influence global trends in graphic design.

It was a vast archive of original sketches, posters, objects and archive footage spanning Fletcher’s work from his student days at the RCA to the playful and more personal work he created after leaving Pentagram in 1992.  The amount of work and diversity was nothing short of impressive.

My favourite designs were the ones that had the ability to leap off the page.  The use of colour and placement created accurate dimensions and I would love to develop a technique like this in my work, I find it eye-catching and engaging, whilst aesthetically pleasing.  (Above).

I was also impressed by the simplicity of the slick graphic style in some pieces, especially when presented on zines and concertina formats.  These for me were much stronger and more appealing than a lot of the illustrative examples, which failed to impress me.

The only illustrative examples that really stood out to me, where the ones that were art directed well to show off concepts.  Such as The Shopping piece below and a series of posters.

Some other pieces that caught my eye:

And a contextual response to the loss of the WTC in NYC:

This was an interesting celebration of Fletcher's prolific body of work.  When I was at CUBE I don't think I fully appreciated what was on display, but upon reflection there were some fab pieces that really stand the test of time, a statement of its success.

D&AD degree show fundraiser:

March 11th @ the Holden Gallery Cafe >> Mothers Day Card Stall.

Be there or be square.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=326616622410