OUGD602 - 3/11/16 - First Extended Practice Crit

Today we had our first formal feedback session in a small group. I presented the work I have been getting on with for my current live brief; designing a set of posters for The Real Junk Food Project in Leeds. The session was useful in helping me to think deeper about the work and adopt a more critical approach the content. It also helped me to think about what I need to put in place to become a lot more organised.

Issues Raised:

The work has to be able to appeal to a very diverse group of people, as the aim of the Junk-Food project is to be inclusive of many different types people in society who find themselves in situations of food insecurity. At the moment, the aesthetic of the work is highly contemporary and perhaps not speaking to a broad enough audience - this has to be assessed

Needs to make people comfortable - when they enter the cafe's, this will be the first thing they see, so it needs to make them feel instantly welcome to the environment. The idea of eating 'waste' food could seem off-putting to certain people, therefore the visuals need to reassure them of the legitimacy of the project

Pay As You Feel means more than just money, so far the PAYF posters are pretty much completely focused on the idea of paying with money - consider moving away from this in order to strike a more appropriate tone of voice - the project caters towards people who perhaps don't have much money, so the emphasis needs to shift here

Perhaps consider producing some sort of conceptual business card which acts as an advertisement for the cause, encouraging people who are unaware of the project or maybe even embarrassed to use the cafes to engage and spread the positive message - a good way of extending the work past the initial outcomes agreed with the client

Action To Be Taken:

I need to set my own restrictions, deliverables and deadlines for this brief as the 'client' has pretty much left me to own devises. In order to be productive and efficient with this brief, I need to get more organised and put way more thought into the background considerations and the contexts in which the work will ultimately appear

Contact the project again and ask them about any specific problems that they are facing right now - what needs addressing and what can be solved through visual communication/ a graphic output?


General Feedback:

The designs needs to make the food seem a lot more appealing that it actually is. The designs have to reflect a certain atmosphere that will entice people to engage with the project.

Make appropriate production considerations - think about making it as cheap and sustainable as possible

Consider printing the designs using screen-printing or risograph techniques to give it texture and authenticity

The colour palettes needs assessing - currently they don't really suit the context, seem a bit random - also the outlining of the type and the illustrations cheapen the aesthetic and make it seem slightly childish