Edinburgh Visit

Yesterday the graphic design and advertising courses went on a trip to Edinburgh to visit 3 different advertising agencies in order to gain and insight on the design industry.

Our first stop was Newhaven. One of their biggest and main clients is Tennents Lager and they also created work for the Scottish Government which was nominated for a D&AD yellow pencil. We were invited for a tour around the agency which was a very helpful insight and the agency itself had a very positive and friendly atmosphere. It was clear that after receiving a talk from the creative director and some of the currently designers at the agency, that they were all very enthusiastic and passionate about their work and careers.

The second stop was Leith Agency which was actually located on its own boat. We were invited into their boardroom which we were then shown a whole range of their very successful work, including a set of adverts they had created for Aldi and Irn Bru. We were then given a talk from themselves about their journeys into the industry which was of course very inspiring.

Our final stop was at Story. Here, we were given  short talk about the agency themselves and a bit of background information before being set our own mini brief. We were split into small groups and given an hour to come up with a name and advertising campaign for an insect repellent. This was an interesting task and allowed me to improve my group work skills and gave me the opportunity to work with new people I didn't know. We then had to pitch our idea to everyone else and the end of the hour, which was in fact my first time actually pitching an idea in front of a group of others. This was an interesting visit and although it was focused on advertising, rather than graphic design, it was a positive experience and helped me to think outside the box and learn new skills.

Packaging Design - Urban Outfitters

My newest brief is to develop and produce a shipping packaging design for one of the following online stores: Phonica Records, NET-A-PORTER/MR-PORTER, Urban Outfitters, Fortnum & Mason or Space NK Apothecary.

The packaging should inform, inspire the imagination and also articulate the nature of the products sold by the company. I am to consider things such as boxes, sleeves, tubes, plastic bags, branded tape/ribbon, envelopes, branded tissue, bubble wrap/other alternative, stickers/ink stampers, and a 'documents enclosed' solution.

After briefly researching a little about each of the different companies I decided to choose Urban Outfitters. This appealed to me most as I am personally interested in the company and I feel I could really have some fun with this particular brief as I love the style of the brand.

I began to tackle the brief by conducting some research. I first found images from a company magazine and took images from the website and of a range of products which they sell. I then went on to research current packaging designs as well as competitor brands and their packaging. A lot of my images I put into my sketchbook and also on my Pintrest account, http://pinterest.com/alisonwaltham.
I continued to carry out research by looking into the brand logos and a range of different typefaces which suit the brand and its personality then dived in to some initial ideas.