Week 4

Make a presentation to evaluate the success of your self initiated project and its relationship to your own personal practice, interests and creative identity.
Design the final outcome for your self initiated project.
Communicate an evaluation of your final outcome, to determine its success at reaching your designated audience.

Lecture Notes

– On reflection, how have self-initiated projects helped shape your studio identity?

– What are the main differences between self-initiated work and collaborative, client led projects?

Outcome and Ambition

Christoph Miller – Offshore

Self-initiated projects are very important to Christoph and Offshore. They help them discover what they like to work on and how they like to work. He describes it as a ‘fictional paradise’ without boundaries. The only limits are your own to decide.

They also act like a ‘business card’. It shows people what you are capable of, what your style is and how you work. This may encourage people to approach you, if your style or work ethic is what they are looking for.

Offshore have seen returns from their Migrant Journal and ultimately, this allows them to create in the way they want to – but get paid for it!

Client led projects = Paid

Self-initiated = Not paid

Self-initiated projects are an investment where you don’t know the return in terms of finance or other ways. The positives are numerous, and you really are the master of your own destiny. You get to make the final decision and decide on what approach you want to employ. This can mean that you can stretch your skills and surprise yourself with the outcome.

“In the end they reflect your personality and the things you like, the things you don’t like, your needs, your desires, much more than a client led project does, which is really interesting and great and intimate in a way, and gives a lot of relevance to self-initiated projects.”

Veronica Fuerte – Hey

Veronica also shares in the idea that side projects can lead onto paid work. It is a way for you to get seen in the way you want to. She also describes how it is an opportunity to grow and that a lack of a deadline means you can carry on until you are fully satisfied with the outcome. I suppose this can be dangerous too, as you may never be happy! Luckily, in the course, I have only 3 weeks to create an outcome.

Self-initiated projects = no pressure

Vince Frost – Frost Collective

Vince says that he is unsure if the self-initiated projects have shaped his studio and rather, it is the problem-solving approach he applies to real life briefs.

Self-initiated = a space for procrastination

Sam Bompas – Bompas & Pas

Sam described self-initiated projects as, “crucial” to Bompas & Pas. It is how they put themselves on the ‘map’ and how they got clients. Having said that, Sam talks about how self-initiated projects can ultimately make more money or create more of a buzz around your studio then any commercial project can. It is risky though! Especially if you have to invest a substantial amount of money in producing the idea.

Sam’s final thought was about putting your name on everything. Eventually people will pay you to put your name on it.

Self-initiated = a need for a clear framework

“Honestly, the dream is if you can, to be really successful, you should work out how you can monetise only doing self-initiated work. Then all the client works just comes as a little bonus, a little like holiday money, hooray.”

James Stringer – Werkflow

James discusses how self-initiated projects are important in the early days. You have more time on your hands and the need to get your name out there in a way which represents who you are as a studio. By playing with new ideas and ways of achieving them you are in a safe environment to experiment with new tools and techniques to achieve the outcomes you desire.

Self-initiated = Creative freedom

Side Hustle For Good

“The Wayback is a tool we all wish we’d had when our own loved ones were living with dementia; a Virtual Reality film series that recreates positive moments from the past, to trigger memories and spark precious conversations with carers and loved ones. In order to create the pilot film, we crowdfunded on Kickstarter, with many backers featuring in the final film. The Wayback was awarded the 2018 Challenge Dementia Prize by the Alzheimer’s Society, recognising its impact in trials and enabling us to now create more memory films for more people.”

Restoring Lost Memories for Those Living with Dementia: The WAYBACK Project

The WAYBACK Project

Founder, Dan Cole, explained that his father had early-stage dementia at the same time he was looking into VR. He saw a gap in the market and an opportunity for the two to be combined for a great cause.

He initially asked for £35k but really struggled, only getting help from friends, family, and colleagues. His work was really supportive and were able to raise a fifth of the funds through a fancy dress day at the company.

Cost, accessibility and content were all carefully considered to make sure the project remained within budget whilst still being successful.

People really got behind the project in the end and around 500 people volunteered to make the first film for the device. It was the epitome of a side project as this was all done around day jobs and on a volunteer basis and received a side-hustle pencil from D&AD in 2019.

Measuring Success

https://www.designcouncil.org.uk/news-opinion/how-commission-designer-step-6-measure-your-success

Measure your success checklist:

Project delivery measures

Timing
Cost
Quality

Market measures

Customer satisfaction
Market share
Brand awareness
Differentiation

Company measures

Increased sales/profit
Reduced cost
New markets
New knowledge or skills
Improved processes
Improved staff morale and productivity

What have we learned?

Did we solve the issue we wanted to?
Can we see the value of our design spend?
Have we learnt from the project?

Design-Buyers-Guide Download

Workshop Challenge

This week you will finalise your self-initiated project and produce a presentation video to evaluate its success and gain a fresh insight.

Finalise the design of your self-initiated project.
Write short notes to evaluate the success (or failure) of your self-initiated project and ensure you articulate the project’s relationship to your own personal practice, interests and creative identity.
Gather feedback from your target audience and reflect on what worked, what didn’t work and what you would do differently. Engage in discussion on the Ideas Wall and add your reflective notes to your blog.
Record a five minute video presentation to evaluate the success (or failure) of your self-initiated project. We want you to reflect on the different stages, from concept development to final outcome, and demonstrate how your project has evolved over the last four weeks. We want you to evaluate your project and gain a fresh insight.
Record your presentation in the format of your choice (for example, a voice recorded Keynote or Powerpoint slide presentation, video recording or podcast).
Upload your video presentation to your blog

Following on from the finalisation of my storyboard I created a questionnaire which was the basis of my interview questions. The form can be seen below:

Feedback-Questionnaire Download

The interviews gaining feedback can be heard here:

Gary Philo · Feedback Gary

Cohort Crit

My fellow students reassured me that the solution I had provided was enough. They saw that I wanted to create something polished and ‘finished’ but also felt like the 4-week window for creation was put in place so that a complete and glossy final piece could not be realised.

They also said that it would be ok to collaborate with external designers over aspects of the design I was not capable of completing. For example, I would like to see the orb created in a 3D programme so I could insert them into real-life scenarios.

Armed with this information I was ready to begin creating my feedback presentation

Pecha Kucha? You what?

My Pecha Kucha plan was as follows:

Four options

In GDE730 I created a list of personal interests which resulted in four ideas for development. Out of these I had a real interest between the correlation of design, Christmas, and emotions.

Why Christmas

Christmas has always been an important time to me. A time to spend with family and make memories. Creativity around this festive period has boomed since the millennium, but, are we using it for the right messaging?

Emotion

Designs that hit you ‘right in the feels’ can make you remember them long after viewing. Do you remember the man on the moon? This comes with a real power and responsibility.

Mood boards – a little bit of each

The mood boards created for week 2 shows how Christmas is mainly used as a tool for commercial gain. Yes, a John Lewis advert makes you feel warm and fuzzy, but to what end?

Play and Explore

Going back to my own childhood I was able to develop two potential ideas which had the ‘heart’ of Christmas. Their ultimate goal remained unknown at this stage, but the concept was in place.

The Two Ideas

One idea was developed from an early project, GDE730. Whilst this had merit, conversations with a colleague highlighted that the second option had a more universal appeal.

Collaborating with a colleague

At this stage I had a brain storming session with my Junior Designer who helped to focus my thoughts about character creation and what would resonate most with my audience.

Refocussing the concept in a new domain

I still had to find a purpose to my idea. Creating for commercial gain in such an emotive way didn’t sit right with me. Instead, I decided to focus on an area I had personal experience of – mental health.

A new brief?

With this new direction in mind, I reassessed the brief. My audience had changed, as had my goals. Could Christmas be used as a springboard for discussion around Mental Health and goodwill?

From brain to page

Usually, I think about designs within my capabilities. With the safety of a self-initiated project, I decided to aim for something outside my comfort zone to see how far I could get.

A friendly Character

Starting with sketches and programmes I felt comfortable with I was able to create an initial concept. The idea in my mind was different to what was produced, however, so I used words to convey this to a reader.

To the drawing board?

With a character developed, I started working on a storyboard. My ability to draw the scenes as intended were not turning out as I had hoped. How could I realise a legible storyboard quickly, in an aesthetic way?

Technology to the rescue

Thankfully, technology provided a solution. Previs Pro is an app which allows you to create scenes with characters and lighting in a manner which is efficient and effective.

Does it work? – Time to evaluate

From feedback from my fellow cohort in the crits and from speaking with work colleagues the message is clear and important. Jade Martin, a member of the community said, “xxxx”.

My 9 year old daughter understood the concept and when asked if everyone was happy at Christmas, responded with, “xxx”

Feedback from peers and colleagues

My Junior Designer liked the idea but thought it could be improved, “xxxx”. I think I had my own personal experiences in mind, and it would be good to be more inclusive.

Does it answer the brief?

I believe it does. Mental health is important to me and can be particularly low around Christmas. My father said, “xxxxx”. The advert needed to start a conversation and I think it does that.

What would I change?

My wife said, “xxxx” and that is true. Any interaction, big or small can make a difference to someone’s mental health. Therefore, I would like to include some smaller examples and some from a variety of cultures and people.

Future developments

I had a conversation with my parents about the concept and together we surmised that the orb was actually a metaphor for mental health. With this in mind, it could be taken out of the Christmas arena and used at other times of the year to highlight the subject.

Summary

I think this initial idea does answer the brief. There are areas which could be improved and ideas for development. It is an exciting prospect of linking an emotive ad campaign with an important issue such as mental health and I believe this is a perfect way to start meaningful conversations.

To that end, I will let my 3-year-pass on some wise words we can all take on board. “xxx”

PechaKucha Download

The Script

The Script