Digital Skills - ABSOLUT

This was my first digital skills task and it was produced using photoshop. This design included using brush tool skills, quick selection tool skills and also layer masks.

Using layer masks is a technique I personally dont tend to do a lot throughout my work but is extremely useful can can help to create some really great designs so becoming more familiar with them throughout this was very useful to me. I liked this final design and would work well with a range of different flavours/colours and could easily be changed just by altering the hues. 

Digital Applications - SWOT Analysis

Strengths: 

Personal strengths lie within graphic illustration I'm rather 

comfortable with Photoshop which has been my main programme of choice to use for many years.

I have experience in a range of design areas including branding, illustration, 

typography etc. 

I understand the entire design process from the research to idea generation, to 

development and my final ideas. 

Weaknesses: 

I tend to neglect other programmes such as Adobe Illustrator and Adobe InDesign so my skills are lacking in those areas.

I also steer away from using mixed media throughout my designs. 

Lack of understanding with printing methods 

Idea generation and sketches, I tend to normally go straight into digitalizing ideas rather than spending time doing as many 

sketches I can. 

Opportunities: 

Chance to improve my portfolio to make it more industry 

specific

To challenge myself and improve my skills in other programmes. 

Regular feedback from tutors and peers. 

Threats: 

Time constraints due to other personal commitments.

Lack of equipment. 

Digital Applications

For my new module I was asked to have a look through the current briefs up on D&AD and choose one I felt I would enjoy most and which I could utilise to express my digital skills techniques I have learned. After a thorough read through each one I finally settled on one set by 'It's Nice That'.

‘It’s Nice That’ are looking for new and exciting ways to stay engaged with their original audience. This could be through a poster campaign, a publication, an event, an app or something so brilliant that no one has thought of it yet.

Throughout the process I am to consider how they can spread their commitment to showcasing great work in an information overloaded university world.

My final outcome should be ambitious, whilst still keeping in mind that ‘It’s Nice That’ is a small to medium business and this should be reflected in my response to the kind of budgets a business of this size can access. Another aspect to keep in mind is the tone of voice and any idea should fit in seamlessly with their existing identity. I am required to connect ‘It’s Nice That’ to a huge student population, including those who are aware of the company already and also those that are yet to discover it.

My target audience is students studying on creative courses, or those studying on other courses who are also culturally aware. 

Alongside my brief I will also be taking part in several digital skills tasks where I shall learn several more skills and techniques which I shall then try to tie into my designs. 

After choosing my brief I quickly set myself a time plan in order to keep myself as organised as possible with this project...

For this particular project I must show what I have learned from the digital skills lectures and use these techniques throughout my designs. 

A particular weakness of mine is my lack of skills with illustrator. I feel after the digital skills sessions that I have become a lot more comfortable and understand the programme a lot more, making it easier for me to incorporate it in my designs. Using vector shapes in designs was a new skill I have learned and I would like to really improve this and take it into my designs for this particular project. 

Another skill I developed was using layer masks, something I dont regularly do. I want to again, really improve this skill throughout this brief and create some really intricate and interesting designs. 

Alternative Techniques - Tyneside Coffee Branding

I approached this brief by brain storming a range of different logo designs which I could think of. I did some quick very rough sketches in my sketchbook at first then developed these digitally and experimented with different colour palettes to see which work more successfully. 

I wanted to challenge myself and my skills throughout this brief so I decided to go with a style I don't tend to use throughout many of my projects and that is the very vintage, shabby chic look. 

I chose a pastel colour palette and used vintage imagery such as the detailed birdcage and tree brushes. 

This style created a very calm identity for the coffee shop. I wanted the shop to take on this these as it is almost like it is a small calm area of serenity within the busy city centre.  Like a kind of retreat in the city which you can go to for a relaxing cup of coffee and a snack. The light colour scheme adds to this airy and serene tone. I feel this stands out against other coffee shops with similar logos and darker colour schemes such as Costa and Starbucks which seem to have quite a similar brand identity.

I enjoyed taking this project down a style I would not normally use as at first I immediately thought to go with a style similar to that of Starbucks with a very homely and warm tone. I tried to expand my knowledge with illustrator during this project as I am still not quite comfortable enough with using the programme. I did learn a few more skills throughout and I used this to create my logo when at first I would normally just use photoshop for the majority of my projects. This allowed me to learn about vectors and pixels a little more. However, other than that I didn't utilise the programme as much as I would have liked and still have a lot to learn.

Alternative Techniques - Research Task

My next module will be largely self directed and will focus on broadening and extending my skills. I have been asked to reflect on my graphic design practise to date and identify a preferred area of expertise, (editorial, typography, graphic illustration, branding, packaging, etc.) mine being graphic illustration.
I will begin by researching into developments of graphic illustration, then work of specialist practitioners, trend prediction/forecasting and job specifications.

My project will be structured around the completion of a negotiated live brief, a live brief, or a practice enriching self directed project. On completing this project/projects I need to concentrate on developing and documenting a complement of new skills. The project will be a host which I will exploit to the advantage of extending my skills set.


On the completion of my research I will complete a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats).

Strengths: My personal strengths lie within graphic illustration and I feel rather comfortable with Photoshop which has been my main programme of choice to use for many years.

Weaknesses: As I tend to be a lot more comfortable with Photoshop I neglect other programmes, such as Adobe Illustrator, which I feel restricts my work as if I had more skills on different programmes I would be able to utilise a range of different techniques and improve my work.

Opportunities: This will give me the chance to really improve my portfolio in order to show off my skills and make it more industry specific. This brief also gives me the opportunity to really improve my skills in other programmes and make myself more comfortable when using them.

Threats: Other personal commitments and time constraints could prove to be threats to me during this project. In order to try and avoid such threats I must remain organised throughout and perhaps create a personal time plan to follow.

Muffin Break Vouchers

I am currently working part-time at Muffin Break, a coffee shop. As a company we get approached regularly by charities requesting a basket of muffins to give away as a prize for raffles. This sometimes becomes an issue and my boss asked me if I could design a voucher which we could instead give to the winner so they could come in store and receive a free any size coffee and muffin for two. I came up with the following designs:

For these designs I tried to replicate the current, recent graphic design trends within the company with the colour scheme and hand rendered type.

Packaging Design - Urban Outfitters

During this project I began getting to grips with adobe illustrator, which is a programme I'm still not completely confident with as I always tend to use Photoshop throughout my projects. It was a good project to help me teach myself the basics as I approached my designs by creating each face of the box on illustrator, then putting them all together using the warp tools in Photoshop. It taught my the basics of vector shapes and the pathfinder and grouping.

I do like the final outcome of this however I would like to add to this project another time and create more designs using the packaging theme and perhaps make them a little more intricate as I feel this would really reflect urban outfitters as a brand.

This was my first ever packaging brief so my skills werent as good as they perhaps could have been and I have had fun learning new techniques and quite enjoyed the brief as a whole. I would like to work on more packaging brief as I feel there is still a lot more techniques for me to learn and improve on.