Brief

The Brief

Produce a logo and application of, for the newly established music label, MTA(More Than Alot) Records.

Concept/Proposition

Although just being launched the label can rely on the track record of the founders and newly signed artists.

Considerations

Understand nature of the company via defined values and attributes in order to create an appropriate solution.

Target Audience

18 - 35, Male / Female stereotypically male with an interest in electro / dnb / alternative music. Appropriate to labels defined audience.

Tone of Voice

Authentic, Iconic, Hedonistic & Confident.

Background

MTA Records are a newly established record label, founded by the critically acclaimed D’n’B duo, Chase & Status.

Running of the succes of their debut album the label was created,

Signed artists include, Nero, Redlight, Sam Wire & Cotti.

Mandatory Requirements

Logo must be / include ‘MTA Records’

Varying applications of designed logo.

Deliverables

Organised research

Development sheets

Final Logo

Example of applications

Studio Deadline

Week beginning 19th May

Statement of Intent

Rationale (200 words)

I want to create pieces of design that are typographically based whether it be in the form of editorial, or in the form of type as image. This is what i am mostly interested in and enjoy working with, this means when working with what i am interested in i become a lot more comfortable and the end result should represent this. Although I do prefer working with type using image is not a problem for me.

I want to work with content that I like and am fond of, in a perfect world i would only work for companies within the music industry (specifically for labels and brands within alternative and electro music) & the ski and snowboard industry. Besides design these are my two other passions in life and if i were to work within these fields of business my passion for the three areas would result in success, I believe.

Furthermore as the industry of skiing and boarding is a seasonal thing it would essentially allow me to split my year into two. During the season I could work within the industry and during summer i could turn my attention onto designing for music, for example designing work for the many music festivals around the UK or even worldwide.

Statement of Intent (200 words)

Product/

Produce a new logo as part of a visual identity.

Range/

Various exciting & innovative applications of the logo, taken to different environments and media.

Distribution/

The distribution of the product is essentially the range as taking it to various contexts reaching new people and new places.

I intend to produce a new logo as part of a visual identity, then take this logo into various applications. These applications will range from promotional materials to websites, seeing how the logo works across a range of media, furthermore taking a more innovative approach to getting the logo out into the world and different environments.

Primary Research

Do my best to get in touch with the management of the record label. By having direct contact with the client i can make sure i know exactly what they want, find out their specific values and beliefs and how they want to be seen. By doing so I can then portray the label correctly. Get a clear understanding and knowledge of the signed artists, again with this knowledge it will help me to design appropriately and effectively.

Secondary Research

Find any existing designs that already exist for the record label, is it effective and is it appropriate?

Collect any and all existing artwork for all of the signed artists. From this I can find how they are being portrayed and get hopefully get a good idea of how they want to be portrayed. Research into existing record label logos and visual identities, ones of similar genre and non similar. Get a good understanding of whats out there, what works and why, what doesn't work and why.

Practical Development

I will use constant research and analytical methods to gain an idea of what i need and could do, aswell as idea generation and design development skills. Making use of already known knowledge on software, Adobe Creative Suite. I also intend to make use of the Flash workshops currently working and if appropriate make some animations with the designed logo.

Recording

I will document my design process on my blog, using it as a means to record all my work and self evaluate it, thus understanding what needs to be done next.

www.mta.co.uk

www.giveupart.com

www.myspace.com

www.hospitalrecords.com

www.codaagency.com

3 Briefs into one.

What/

Ministry of Sound.

: Application of logo in new and innovative ways. Considering alternative environments and media.

Why/

: Fond of subject in general, Music / dance music / electro.

Logo and visual identity product.

Existing logo to use is strong.

Closed brief.

Agree with brand attributes and values.

What/

In The logo.

: Logo & Brand Identity.

Why/

: Interest in creating logo & visual identity

What/

True Stories: True Geographies.

: Create a typographic narrative within city/landscape.

Why/

: Scale of product

Typographically based

subject is essentially up to me

Content/

: Technology, Fashion, Engineering, Public Sector, Not established companies, Strapline, Ministry of sound, Music, Chosen logo, Defined ethics.

Product/

: Logo, Web stings, Logo application, Typographical resolution, Visual identity.

Context/

: Branding & identity, Promotion, Motion graphics, Web, Land & cityscape.

From here I can take that my content will be Music orientated, with i having defined ethics that i agree with. The product will be a logo as part of a visual identity and varying applications of that logo. The context of it falls under commercial Branding & identity.

What makes a perfect brief...

1. Clear Content

2. Enjoyable

3. Defined audience

4. Specific outcomes

5. Appropriate tone of voice

6. Scope for development

7. Clear deadlines

8. Typographically based

9. Content revolving around snowboarding

10. If includes use oftag-lines or names, they must be given. Not for me to make up.

20th April / New Brief

First session on the new brief, went through a few tasks to clarify what we wanted to do as a designer, what the briefs state and whether we would want to it or not. The reason for doing so is to get a broad idea of what our next brief will be as we are to write out our own. I found the task helpful as it outlined specific areas that i am interested in and seeing them all in one area made it possible to string a few areas together which in turn produced a short hand version of a brief. What i personally found was that the three briefs i chose were maybe not the right ones for me to base my own written one on so i went away and went through the same tasks again however with different briefs i feel are more appropriate to my clarified interests.

Collaboration Evaluation.

Rhyming is fun.

What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have

applied them?

I feel i have developed my typographical skills through the collaboration. As i was reliable for any type within the project, a fair amount of my time was spent playing and experimenting with typography, specifically the use of type alongside imagery. I feel that I used my skills in type effectively to portray our message / tag-line in the right way.

I also feel that my skills in coming up with tag-lines were tested and developed, through research into tag-lines as a hole i also feel more knowledgeable about them. The application of this i found hard, however through communication with my partner i feel we got it down to the best we could.

Another skill i have developed is thinking conceptually, coming up with bigger and bolder ideas. However the application of this through the module was put to one side after various crits and joint decisions made with my partner.

What approaches to/methods of research have you developed and how have they informed your

design development process?

I feel as though my methods of research have vastly improved, taking a more keen interest in what already exists in terms of design. Looking at such examples that greatly relates to the work I am producing and others that don’t.

This helped inform our design development in terms of style and possibilty. Although i feel that, that part of research was successful our knowledge on the BME itself wasn’t what it could have been if we had visited, or if it was a more established attraction. With a vaster knowledge our whole design development process may have been a whole lot easier.

What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?

One strength i felt i showed was my on-going documentation of the collaboration and work produced on my blog, This helped clarify what we had done and at what stage i was at, however even with this the project did get a little lost along the way. I do feel without it though i would have been really rather lost.

Another strength i can identify is my perseverance, as we found more and more problems and our ideas fell apart i feel i showed some strength in carrying on and finding a resolution we could produce within the deadline.

In the work produced i feel the typography is quite strong and dominant, this being due i feel to the partnership, having someone else with an eye and mind for good type helped me to sort out the experimentation and design development. I plan to capitalise on this by referring to my partner or other like people on any type decisions.

What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these more fully?

I think one main weakness within my work was that it wasn’t strong enough to be a portfolio piece yet not strong enough to win the competition. I think the cause of this was that as a partnership we didn’t fully decide on what we wanted to get from the project as a whole. Winning wasn’t a main concern for us however we wanted to make something quite exciting and conceptually based, which didn’t lean to the end product being portfolio worthy. To address this and stop it from occurring again I always need to establish what i want from the project.

Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing

these?

. Figure out exactly what i want to get out of the project. This hopefully realising my full potential

. Gain as much knowledge as possible on the subject i am designing for. Thus resulting in something that represents the subject truthfully

. Maintain the process of research throughout the entire project

. Document my design process as fully and clearly as possible on my blog, as to do my best not to get lost on the way, keeping it apparent what i have done so far and what i need to do.

. Keep the shit fun. Feedback i got back from a California based designer. Works for me!

Attendance 5

Punctuality 4

Motivation 4

Commitment 4

Quantity of work produced 4

Quality of work produced 3

Contribution to the group 3