By actively seeking new designs and inspirations I have widely increased my awareness of the design world. As a university student it is very easy to become caught up in a bubble where you tend to forget about ‘the bigger picture’. With little contact from the outside world, we begin to think that we will finish our degree as a fully-fledged designer and with a complete understanding of the subject of design. This brief allowed me to question my existing design knowledge, and has given me the confidence to criticise work in a way that I was not capable of before.
Design is purely subjective, and something that I found through blogging and commenting on others blogs was that it was often the case that people’s opinions would differ. Whilst one person found an advert for Cadbury’s to be incredibly stimulating and innovative, another would question its relevance to the product. Thus one would consider it a success, whilst the other would not. From a number of my own posts that focused on rebranding going wrong, and from the different opinions of others in specific posts, it is clear that when designing something it is not necessarily the designer’s opinion that will make the product be a success. It’s important to ask others, your target market. Using social media like blogging is a good way to give your opinions on a design, but you cannot always assume that you will be right, which is the same when creating your own designs.
Although I was aware that the purpose of this brief was to lead me to a rough topic for my independent project, I chose to start this blog with an open mind. I did not want to automatically limit myself to one subject, and therefore chose to see what my natural trail of thoughts would bring to me. My style of blogging was completely sporadic. If I saw something I liked, or visited somewhere of interest then I would post about it. Therefore my posts ranged from a sculpture I found in Norway ‘Telemegaphone”, to the new Argos Christmas advert. Whilst on placement I was also encouraged to regularly visit design sites such as Creative Review and Campaign Live, which I now check everyday out of habit, as well as some lesser-known design blogs from which I have drawn inspiration. This not only benefited me in my day-to-day design work, but also continued to increase my knowledge of the industry.
Being faced with advertising everyday, whether I choose to be or not, it was not entirely surprising that most of my posts were centred around this aspect of design. The diversity of the subject from online to television adverts has not only given me a broader awareness, but also allowed me to begin to think about what type of design I would like to focus my independent project on. From a design point of view I have always swayed towards advertising within module briefs, and having focused on this during placement I have become increasingly aware of its importance to make a brand successful. Without realising we subject ourselves to advertising in our daily lives, and that is something that I have found to very interesting. Advertising is literally everywhere. My blog posts have only strengthened my choice to use advertising within my independent project.
I was initially concerned from looking at the wide range of topics that I had shown interest in that there would be no thought pattern in my posts. However part way through the brief I became aware that I was unintentionally focusing a number of my posts on British culture. Whether this is because I am faced with it every day so it cannot be avoided, or if it is something I am genuinely interested in I was not completely sure, but I would like to believe that it is a mixture of the two. These posts have so far ranged from looking at the ‘This is England 86’ television series featuring British punks, to Cath Kidston’s quintessential English fabric prints, to the culture of Notting Hill Carnival. The diversity of British culture is clear from these posts, traditional England mixing with a modern multicultural England, something I found particularly interesting in my posts concerning Notting Hill. Without realising it we subject ourselves to British traditions everyday, whether by having a cup of tea or by going on a country walk. From this blog I would be very interested in looking further into the revival of traditional England, or of an area concerning today’s British culture. The subject is expansive, and through further posts I hope to be able to narrow my interests down into a more precise topic.
In conclusion writing a summer blog has been an invaluable experience. Not only has it opened me up to a new way of analysing designs and questioning other’s opinions, but it has also allowed me to develop my interests into a subject that has the possibility to be used for my independent project. Although the brief is now finished I hope to continue this blog in the future to allow me to continue to broaden my design knowledge, and continue to be aware of current issues within industry.
