How to...//5

Presentation
Whilst finishing the packaging Sean made the powerpoint for our presentation. We ran through it a couple of times as a group & made sure it said everything we wanted//needed to.

Kept it simple & clear and also had the visuals of the poster, and handouts in the form of the three packs of tablets and the flyers. We all spoke and I think we covered everything - see evaluation on PPP.

How to...//4

Group Crits 27/09

1. Prepare
2. Present
3. Listen
4. Clarify
5. Reflect
6. Evaluate
7. Feedback - Opinions, Audience, Suggestions
8. Discuss

Main points of feedback:

• Limit purchase of lecture boost so there is control//no overdosing
• Black doesn't make sense as mint flavouring
• Include nutritional information//ingredients >> makes the product more legitimate

From this we decided straight away to eliminate the fourth//black flavour, and instead of having blue as blueberry make the blue mint flavour. We also added extra information to the packaging about dosage and ingredients etc. Daisy researched ingredients of standard energy tablets as well as side effects and dosage. We added the information to the sides of the packaging:

Sam also suggested we add a cheeky barcode.

Final Packaging Nets

Mint, Strawberry & Lemon flavours (CMY). 

Final Posters//Leaflets

We decided to have the poster which tied in with the back of the packaging as a smaller handout flyer as a quick and fun way of targeting students. Although we could have simply had an enlarged version of this as a poster the group felt we needed a poster with more information about the pills on, so we returned to my earlier simple design. Sean wrote the base info to include and explain the product, and then as a group we refined it. Tristan had the poster printed on A3 and the flyers A5.

Photos by Sam

Final Packaging

How to...//3

Packaging

The tablets need to come in packaging which is representative of the inside product as well as fitting in with the rest of the branding.

Daisy measured out some pill boxes and made nets:

When constructed they fit two layers of pills in. There are a lot of options for the design but they have to include the logo, and information such as content and ingredients. We considered colour-coding the packaging to represent different flavours - e.g. cyan blue for blueberry, magenta for strawberry, yellow for lemon and black for mint. It would also make sense to have the same design style as the poster//fliers so the product works as a whole.

Putting the logo on the front of the packaging was straightforward but struggled with the rest of the design. I liked Sam's earlier poster designs and Sean also was making use of overlapping circles and having the bold minimalist design. Flavour//colour coordination was a big part of it:

We also had problems choosing the main typeface outside of the logo. We tried Thonburi to pick up on the 'boost' but it didn't really work. In the end I looked back to the vintage-style poster and used Helvetica CY in Bold oblique. We spent a lot of time trying to decide on different designs for the packaging. Everyone had liked the second poster that I had made so I produced a mock-up of packaging in the same style:

I think this needs refining - the writing on the back was just an example and things like ingredients and contents might need to be added.Is the white background is too plain - on the back this is fine but the front might not be eye-catching enough. I am going to print a couple of nets out to construct mock-boxes and as a group re-evaluate tomorrow.

How to...//2

Posters & Continued Branding

We need to produce posters//leaflets//general info to get our product across. Sam had been working on some posters earlier in the day which incorporated the circles and had quite a clean and modern design. I created a simple one in the theme of the logo:

 

Maybe too simplified and a bit juvenile. Need to consider what information to have on the posters - could have a lot i.e. side effects, when to take the pills, where they are distributed etc. or could keep it quite simple and more eye-catching. Although this works well it's maybe too plain. More comical, loud approach:

Most of the information on it without presenting blocks of text.  Loud but stylised & not medical//clinical - more aimed at students. The group suggested adding the lecture boost logo into the poster.

How To...

Problems//Challenges of being a first year Graphic Design student at LCA

1. Graphic Design expenses
2. Not enough money
3. Fred time
4. Not familiar with the institution
5. Food shopping
6. Powerpoints
7. Freshers' flu
8. Lack of a variety of sports
9. Budgeting
10. Unhealthy eating

How to not fall asleep >> How to not fall asleep in lectures >> How to stay awake in lectures

We need to come up with a product to help students stay awake in lectures - could give out advice in a leaflet format but for students with a lack of concentration these might be too boring, need something more instant.

Physical products - caffeine tablets, reactants within the lecture theatre//used by the lecturer might be an idea. Soon settled on energy tablets to distribute to students before//during their lectures as a stimulant. Must make them completely specific to students in lectures so they have an individual place in the market. We started to brainstorm name idea which used play on words or puns related to this.

University      Caffeine

Lecture     Buzz

Student      Alive

Awake    Boost    Energy   Long life

Tried combining words >> 'electurific'

Settled on Lecture Boost as our product name. Not that witty but instantly and obviously communicates the message. We need to consider product branding - logo, packaging, posters, fliers - where to place the product and advertise it, and the specifics such as what is in the tablets, what information comes with them, what sort of tone of voice we will use. Need to target students in a fun and creative way.

Research

Conducted a quick & simple survey of other students in the studio:

1. Have you fallen asleep in a lecture before?
2. If yes, would you take a substance such as energy tablets to keep you awake?

We asked 23 students. 13 (57%) had fallen asleep in a lecture before. Of those 13, 11 (85%) would consider taking a substance such as energy tablets to stay awake. 

Designing

Need a cohesive branding style so we started brainstorming Lecture Boost logos.

I like a combination of typefaces which represent the style of each word. Moved on to working digitally with Illustrator:

Someone in the group suggest a CMYK colour scheme for the tablets representing different flavours and perhaps even different strengths. In the designs above I used Zapfini & Chocolate Dealer typefaces to represent the punchy energy of the word 'boost' and plain sans serif type for 'lecture'. I tried a simplified approach using circle imagery:

Has a more medicinal feel about it & is perhaps more iconic as a logo. The rest of the group liked the circle idea. Redesigned once more when I went home:

The top font is Branboll Fet and the 'boost' is Thonburi, edited with an extended 't' and using the pen tool with Branboll Fet. It has the CMY circles and the K is represented by the black type. I think the positioning and layout works well.

Summer Brief

Creating a typeface that reflects me as a person & a designer, and works as a set//series.

I created my alphabet on Illustrator using uppercase Helvetica as a base to work around. All of the letters represent something which I like or an aspect of my personality - i.e. B for Bee Stings because I'm allergic to them, T for Tattoos & W for Wu-Tang Clan, my favourite hip hop artist. I used the letterform as the image and kept to patterned white background for consistency. Working with the alphabet improved my capability on Illustrator, and I think it does reflect my style of Graphic Design and me as a person as well.