Digital artefact: Contextual essay

Summary:

Throughout the course of my #designthinking, I chose to incorporate the #FIST method, being aware of the fact that I already own the Adobe creative cloud softwares and a Wacom tablet. My first step was to establish a theme for my DA, which i decided to create various brand identity logos, and post regular logo designs on Instagram which would allow me to share the process. I am currently gaining most of my feedback from both twitter and Instagram highlighting to me any changes that need to be made, further more through these platforms I could further ask for the viewers opinion for what their favourite design was, allowing me to obtain an audience engagement. My digital artefact has mainly been aimed at other young design students that are interested in getting into the field of graphic design. I had decided to pursue this DA as it would allow me to build an online presence as a designer and allow me to further build upon my technique and skills while at the same time build a digital portfolio in which could be used for future career opportunities which is the main focus of this DA. Based on research of other successful graphic designers I had gained insight on the ways that they think when creating their logo designs and the way in which they use the tools such as the Adobe creative cloud and pen and paper to create their designs. My main inspiration was designer Aaron Draplin. I was instantly drawn to the way in which he designed his logos, they were clean and very vibrant allowing his targeted audience to see the fine details. After looking through some of his works I realised that to create a successful portfolio I had to keep my designs very minimalistic like he had.

Learning moments:

The process of making my logo designs for my DA is as followed;

Doing research on other successful graphic designers and what make their logos so unique are critical as it provides insight on what is trending and needed to create successful logo designs. This allowed me to experiment with various techniques allowing me to both learn new skills In the process, but most importantly create effective designs.
By doing rough sketches in my sketch book not only did it highlight my process, but it allowed me to create rough prototypes in a visual way allowing me to see what was successful and what was not, letting me to make any changes that are needed in a more time efficient way.

Rough sketches:

Afterwards I would scan those prototypes into illustrator where I could improve upon them and chose a final colour palette. To choose my colour palette I always use pantone colours as they ensure your branding colour is consistent throughout when it comes to displaying your designs both on web and in print media.
When creating an interaction between my audience I always posted my designs on twitter and the Signatti design Instagram page as it is crucial to gain feedback from other people in what they like and dislike allowing me to further change and develop upon both my skills and designs.
After being provided with feedback from my audience I finalised the logo designs by making any final changes and refining them, leading to the publishing of them on twitter and my design Instagram page, Signatti design, where I could obtain a digital portfolio.

My feedback varied throughout the course of my ideating, prototyping and making. By not promoting my designs enough and asking for feedback I became more alienated from other students DA’s. In week 6, I took the opportunity to collaborate with another student hoping to gain experience, learning what it is like to work with clients. This process was successful as the client was happy and I built upon my portfolio while also obtaining positive feedback.

During the ideating phase of the project I was originally creating short YouTube videos to share with other highlighting the process stages of my logo designs. However, After realising how much work I had to do to keep uploading weekly, which I was aiming at. I decided to take out the YouTube videos as I realised that it was not my strong point and it was not time effective for me. One of the first projects I had completed was a collaboration between myself and another student. This allowed me to gain experience and see what it is like to work with clients especially as a graphic designer. Furthermore I have created other logo designs which have allowed me to further build upon my skills and technique, providing me with a more extensive portfolio to provide for future jobs.

However after creating various logo designs and obtaining feedback from my audience, I wanted to present my work I a more creative way. At the start of my DA I had begun with just saving my logo designs as a jpeg and posting them on different platforms, including, Twitter and Instagram. After researching and asking other design students on ways on how to present logo designs to clients I have found a great app called ‘ Graphic burger’, through this app it allows me to put my designs in templates that can consist of objects like billboards, business cards and cars etc. After using this app I started to gain more positive feedback which left me motivated allowing me to feel confident in what was making.