Initial thoughts on YCN briefs.

Independent brief. 
Like the paper although not sure how I'd go about pushing it to a student audience.
Could be interesting to get stuck into.

Fedrigoni brief.
Love print and I like the idea of going back and working almost solely with that media. A few ideas for this brief based around promotional mail outs and paper crafting.

Graze Box brief 
Not a massive fan of packaging design as a whole but I like the simple visuals that Graze already have and can see how this could need a revamp.

Co-operative brief
Don't like this brief at all. Mainly because it is so badly written, it's drawn out massively and never really makes clear what it wants you to do.

OUGD202 Self-evaluation

What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?
The main skills I feel I have developed through this module have been software based and the ability to use an entirely new software package. Although not hugely competent in the production of work using After Effects, I think it is a very useful piece of software to understand and could have recurrence on future ability to gain jobs/placements etc, knowing something that a lot of other don't. Along with this comes put down skills, and drawing etc, getting back to hand rendering for story boarding was very useful and I feel I have gained a little in this sense too. I also feel I've gained a lot in terms of organisation, both during work on complex software packages like after effects but also in the production and presentation of that work. I've learnt to think much more logically and systematically when working on the computers, naming and organising files so that it doesn't become a problem in itself on top of the work. The collection and presentation of my work I think is also improving due to the use of the blog in this module being much different, with a lot of work going on that has the ability to look very cluttered and busy. Issuu and vimeo have both been abused however the outcome is a much more organised and clear blog than in previous modules.
Despite this, I think there's always room for improvement and by no means have I used these skills to their full potential, especially in terms of the software. I think moving away from working on a whole, and doing a lot of smaller tests may have benefited in the production of more effective final outcomes for both briefs.

What approaches to/methods of design production have you developed and how have they informed your design development process? 
Similarly to the last question, I feel the main approach to design production that I've developed through this module has been organisation as it has really helped speed up my development process. it also helps access work easily allowing you to see the development you're making. Furthermore, story boarding was very useful as it allowed visualisation of ideas on paper and gave much more direction moving through onto the software.

What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalised on them?
Strengths I could identify in my work, as normal tend to be the use of type. I really enjoy typography and it's something I try to get across in all my work, although I'm aware that the type in these sequences isn't anything special, I think it complements the visuals nicely. I also enjoyed making the packaging and took some time out of after effects to actually craft my sleeves. My design practice blog I think is also a little better than previous modules and I hope it will continue to do so throughout the rest of the second and third year.

What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future? 
Weaknesses I'd identify in my work from this module I'd say were my willingness to experiment and change the work I'd already produced. I felt I had something fairly strong visually and became a bit too focused on the images and animation of them, as opposed to the bits in between them, which is where I think my animation suffers, transitions. Had I been a bit more willing to experiment, I probably would have come up with something I was much more pleased with.

Identify five things you will do differently next time and what you expect to gain from doing these? 
- Try no to get caught up on producing what I had in mind, even if there is chance that I can better it. If it goes wrong it's not the end of the world I just need to be able to identify why it is and know how to change it.
- Try to keep on top of my context blogging, it has taken a back foot in this module where in the last it was almost a focus, I feel there can only be beneficial results from getting a lot of research.
- Aim to work more on paper in order to develop more informed and creative solutions to problems. I often find myself working on screen and not really knowing what I want to produce, taking a step back and working out on paper what I want to achieve always helps.
- As usual, time management, I feel I've become much better over the course of this module particularly because of the amount of work needed and the time spent on it, however it can always be improved. Especially towards the beginnings of a module.
- Write lists and be as organised in my approach to work as possible. These always help focus my effort and I think if I were to do this I'd be more productive with my time in the studio, so I will actually be able to go home and relax at some point.

Attendance  -  5
Punctuality  -    5
Motivation   -    4
Commitment  -    4
Quantity of work produced  -   3
Quality of work produced  -   4

DVD packaging photos

 The packaging with the simplified outer sleeve, just black stock with a ten cut out showing through the white of the inner sleeve. I also cut a little pull tab out in the shape of a plectrum, thought this would be a nice touch...

The inner and outer sleeve together.

 A little more detail of the ten cut from the black outer sleeve.

The inner sleeve showing through the ten cut from the cover.

 a bit of type detail from the inner sleeve.

DVD Packaging

Screens showing the digital development of my packaging for the DVD. Starting with the outer cover, I was looking to create something that would tie in with my idents and intro sequence visually, so for this I started with a black backdrop, using the type from my motion graphics. Although this was OK I felt it lacked something. After thinking for a while, I came up with the idea that I should use a pack of stings for the CD case, however on realising that the packet for strings was too small, I decided to create something that would look a little like it.
Although most people will never have bought strings, I feel that this is a good way to visually link my packing to my subject matter. Guitar strings tend to come with an outer sleeve, then all the strings are either bunched together in a foil packet or wrapped separately in very thin paper envelopes paper. I went for the second option because of the ease of actually producing this, and also the tactility of having multiple sleeves in different stocks etc.
The screens from the latter part of this document on white backdrops are for the inner sleeve. These I designed to look like string packaging and eventually had printed on a very light white stock that I think gives a really interesting feel. I then decided on reflection to simplify the cover, with the inner sleeve holding the bulk of the information.

Final Sequence.

My final 60 second sequence.

Smoke titles for sequence.

Really pleased with these titles, I think the effect created is strong visually and links well to the ideas I had on my original storyboards. It also gives the impression of a live atmosphere, which is the direction I intended for the animation.

Development of smokey titles.

Titles produced for my sequence following a tutorial based around the creation of smoke from still images. I am very pleased with the outcome of this and as is evident from the screens, the way that the effect gradually builds up. I then went on from the tutorial adding type on a 3-D layer and using an adjustment layer to give a different effect. More like the atmosphere of a live concert, which was the basis for my original idea. I went on and used this technique for the split screens between each of the guitarists within the sequence.

I really love the effect this creates and I think it fits brilliantly with the other subtle animations within my sequence. Using this for the very short number frames between the guitarists may make it a little difficult to read, but I kind of like this in creating a bit of mystery around the actual top ten.

Transition tests.

A test animating with a wah pedal that would be placed with Jimi Hendrix within my final composition. Although this is a little out of time with the musi it is easily rectifiable within the final composition. Surprisingly this was a fairly complicated animation to do as it required animating a mask with the moving parts to block out the parts of the pedal that would overlap.
Another test for a transition, this time using an effects pedal, although I did animate it to a part of the music I removed it to place it into my final composition, and I think it just shows the simple motion of the knobs easily enough without music.
A third test, this time with a wall of vox amps, something Brian May is renowned for. Again animated to music in order to help it integrate.

Transitions?

After a short discussion with Lorraine it came to my attention that the video I currently had was simply an animated slideshow. Although I was aware of this, and I had just put it together to show each of the separate compositions, I really did need to create some kind of transitions between them.

So I took Lorraine's advice and moved off the computer to get some ideas onto paper and think about ways I could transition between the different guitarists.

I started by thinking about what makes each of the players in my top ten great guitarists and why they are so influential, writing down the first few things that came into my head about each of them.

Jimi Hendrix
Hair
Wah pedal
Playing with teeth
Setting guitar on fire

Jimmy Page
'Riffmaster'
Playing with violin bow
double neck SG
Theramin

John Frusciante
Drug use/abuse
Flea
Wheelie bins

Jack White
Stop motion video - button to button
Traingles - seven nation army

Dave Gilmour
The Wall
Pulse
Fluid guitar

Kurt Cobain
Dying at 27 - shot
smashing guitars
energy - teen spirit

Omar Rodriguez Lopez 
Energy
Skinny legs
Effects
Guitar spinning

Tom Morello 
Kill switch
DIY guitars
Pitch shifting

Jonny Greenwood
Multi-instrumentalist
crazy drum machines
hail to the thief

Brian May 
Playing on Buckingham Palace
Wall of Vox amps

Transitions...

A happy accident when leaving a gap between compositions giving a white space led to this. I quite like how quickly the transitional frames are on the screen as it sort of gives an air of mystery about the top ten if you don't manage to read it...It also works to break up the animations and give a little speed/energy.

Final crit

Questions I wrote for answers in terms of feedback. 
 Is the text in the animation readable? on the screen for long enough? big enough? moving too quickly? etc.

Is my blog clear? is it evident what the top ten is?

How could the transitions between the each of the guitarists be improved? (at the minute I have an animated slideshow...)

Is the pace of the animation OK? or does it need to be more energetic?

Does the sound work on the idents?

any suggestions for alternative music/soundtracks for the title sequence (currently going to use the song Kashmir from the Jimmy Page ident.


Will & Frankie 

Strengths 
- Very well put together, transitions
- Idents match music perfectly. Especially the jack white one.
- blog very clear, good use of issuu and vimeo. evident what the top ten is.
-Vectors match imagery and compliment photographs.
Considerations 
- Song for 60 second clip, maybe use a track that hasn't been used yet, Nirvana? Could use audacity to fade tracks together.
- Consider transitions from frame to frame, gaussian blur?
- try stretching the 49 seconds to 60, or an introduction to the title sequence.

Alex & Claudia 
Strengths 
- Well done on getting so much done
- Idents are looking good - can imagine them being on TV
- Blog seems up to date
- Good picture choices, colour works well as links into the photos, well put together
- Type is a strength - brings everything together
- Guitar vectors - really well made.
Areas for improvement
- Need to show more storyboards to show how you've come to the final.
- Pace of animation does need to be more energetic
Considerations 
- text seems fine - is readable  and big enough
- Sound works well on idents
- 60 second one seems like what would be in the actual program - needs to be conveyed more as a title sequence - having the words 'most influential guitarists' would help to explain this - and speeding up the other actions to make room for this
- guitar vectors would look good on the packaging.