One of the main things this module has taught me was how important it can be to make graphic design appropriate to the 21st Century in order to communicate issues of politics, ethics, etc and how these could fit into the market for ethically driven design. Such approaches to design were highlighted in Studio Brief 02 and was something which was quite enjoyable to work towards. This allowed me to put my own issues, concerns and ideas into my design work and helped show me the importance of creating work which means something to you. Despite getting off to a bad start in the initial ideas production process, as a result of focusing on my own concerns, this helped to better motivate and push the boundaries of my work to produce a series of outcomes which would have a clear purpose in the world of design.
Studio Brief 01 presented similar ideas to some degree, however made more specific, in aiming to present issues of 21st Century society that some micro-genres of music are concerned with. The micro-genre which I decided to focus on for this brief was Vaporwave, a form of electronic music which emerged in the early 2010's. It was found that this genre had become something of an art movement and internet meme, with its typical visuals being something which did not match my usual style of work. It was decided to pursue this idea however in challenging myself further in terms of my work, and this actually became to be quite enjoyable as a brief whilst also being a steep learning curve in regards to my practice.
In developing a series of stickers to be used for bubblegum packaging and floppy disk labels through Studio Brief 01, representative of the sense of nostalgia which Vaporwave is concerned with, allowed me to work closely with design for packaging, something which I have not done previously. Although the full objects were not made, careful consideration had to be taken in designing in the correct formats and making sure that all relevant information is present on the designs, some which can be challenging to work with such as barcodes and nutritional information. However, due to the nature of this brief, this allowed me to work more playfully with the designs.
The making of recycled paper was a process which was worked with in response to Studio Brief 02. Handmade approaches to design have always been of particular interest to me, however, this was a method new in my experience. Although the process worked in itself, the idea was to use this paper to print on, however the thickness made for difficulties in the process. This could have been considered more carefully initially and meant that the final production of my outcomes had to be reconsidered. If more time had been allowed, I would have experimented with making this thinner and softer in texture so that it could be printed on. Despite this, the method allowed me to show how there should be a clear link between what sort of message you are communicating in your designs and the production method which should be used to show such ideas in practice.
Both briefs, although more specifically Studio Brief 02, allowed me to critically engage with research and showed the importance of this in providing clearly informed design decisions that work effectively to communicate a chosen message. Research I feel is something of a strong point already, however this module allowed me to think on a much broader scale - work which could potentially have a huge impact in the world and is something which I shall attempt to use more to inform my design work and creative practice, particularly a sustainable one.
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