OUGD601 - Planning the Project

Questions I want answering within my essay:

• What is sustainability? what does it mean?
• Why should we be sustainable?
• Could there be a completely sustainable future?
• Can packaging be sustainable?
• Is recycling sustainable?
• Do we need packaging?
• Is packaging imperative to keeping food fresh?
• What packaging is unnecessary
• What materials are fully sustainable?

Based on these questions I think that I will split my essay into chapters on: 

Sustainability, Packaging, The Future of Graphic Design.

However I do feel like there should be more to focus on than just sustainability and packaging design. 

My working title:

Is there a future for packaging in a sustainable world?

OUGD601 - Dissertation Research - Cradle to Cradle

Over summer I have been reading some books on sustainability and the one book that has really interested me was Cradle to Cradle by William McDonough and Michael Braungart. They explain how we have come to put ourselves in this situation as well as suggestions of how to solve it. 

What I found particularly interesting, which I previously didn't know, was that recycling isn't always the best solution especially for paper. They state that the amount of chemicals used to bleach the paper again and make it suitable for re use is actually pumping more toxins into the environment. This completely changes my view of sustainable packaging as I was under the impression that recycling was the way to go for a better future. However they suggest that biodegradable things may be better for the environment in the long run.

OUGD501 - End Of Module Evaluation

I feel like I have struggled with Context of Practice this year. I am not sure whether this is down to the question that I had chosen for myself or the subject matter. Towards the end of the essay I felt uninterested by the topic. It has certainly made me realise which aspects of graphic design I enjoy the most.

When it came to the practical I feel that I let myself down as I struggled coming up with a good concept. I aimed to make something that was quite experimental yet I think that my final outcome is far from that. For the final result I created packaging because this is what I enjoy doing the most, yet I twisted it to fit my essay. I am not sure whether it successfully portrays the idea of the ubiquity of a logo. Also because I was so indecisive about what to do in the initial idea stage I felt like I lost a lot of time that I could have spent further developing the designs that I had to create a much more engaging campaign.

Though I may not have enjoyed writing this essay I feel that my writing and researching have improved from doing this essay. Also I realised the importance of feedback within the module in order to keep on track with both the designs and the essay itself.

My time management through out this brief has been good though, I managed to reach all of the interim deadlines. A part from perhaps the draft submission deadline in which I didn't have enough words but I felt what I submitted was of good quality.

Overall though I am pleased with my essay as I feel that I have explored some really interesting topics and challenged my original perceptions of logos. I feel like I could have explored the principles of logo design more however I enjoyed exploring other aspects.

OUGD501 - Study Task 9 - CoP 3 Proposal

OUGD501 - Practical - Design Boards

OUGD501 - Final Poster Designs

These are my final 4 posters showing off the campaign celebrating 125 years of Coca Cola. I am really happy with how professional these poster look especially when put into context. I feel like they represent Coca Cola’s values as well as showing the consumer that they indeed are a part in their success.

If I had more time on the practical I would have liked to do a more widespread campaign emphasising the logo. Like I mentioned before perhaps with some sort of motion graphics to further advertise the campaign. 

OUGD501 - Practical - Digital advertising

As well as having some printed posters for billboards and other places, I thought that creating some advertising on digital platforms would be beneficial to emphasise the saturation of these branded advertisements within our society. 

Using peoples interpretations of the coca cola logo from memory I created a gif compiling the best ones. Here this is trying to portray through the use of the personalised versions of the Coca Cola logo that whenever you drink it, you drink it your way. Kind of putting the ownership in the hands of the consumer. 

Additionally I wanted to promote the create your own bottle design feature on their website so I asked some of my friends to design some bottle designs that could have been made using this tool. Once again I simply animated this in a gif to use for advertising on digital billboards or on social media.