Mockups

Before it's closure in April 2015, Fab Cafe had a wall painting above the bar that had a lot of reference to pop / geek culture icons. I thought that this could be a cool basis for my mockup, as I am into that kind of stuff, plus I miss Fab and so it can be with me in spirit through this design. (Though there is still one in Manchester).

I used the same pink colour they used on the walls for the background to give it the pre-existing old sci-fi feel. I envisioned this being a whole room rather than just one wall, so I did four designs. - When I drew them on paper they all connected but this was harder to line up digitally, but theoretically they would all blend together. I did small paintings of each element and brought them all together in photoshop to create a more final design. There are lots of other elements and references I could have added but I didn't want to make the images too overpowered and busy!

Here I have made a bit of a mockup by editing my designs onto the walls of Fab Cafe Manchester. (My editing skills are not the greatest but I think this gets the point across)

Visuwallise : Communication & Presentations

Since we all have different commitments and stuff to do we communicate a lot Via a Facebook chat, where we can send in what we have done and get some immediate feedback (if the others are online). This helps us keep up with stuff at different times when we may be ill, or not in college but still contributing to the group.

We have been discussing logo's, Tom sent some designs into the chat. I quite liked one as I thought it was easier to read but also it's shape was not as ergonomic as our original design. The design was based on two walls meeting and "wall" is the meeting of the walls.

 The chat has been good for discussing ideas on the presentation too!

I also used the chat to put forth a mockup website. I knew that we liked the idea of white on black but I wasn't sure whether that would be too overbearing for the whole website - so I kept the logo white text on black as a banner at the top but made the rest of the page white, as I thought this looked slick - and also broke up the page a little, making it easier on the eye. (Though I believe Tom is going to edit this so it fits better with the presentation). We have a running theme of triangles in our presentation, so I thought it would be nice to keep that element (using George's mockup)

OUIL504 Evaluation

This module has been such an exciting but challenging module, and I feel as if I've really pushed myself and developed my working style a lot throughout the project. A big plus about this module is that I was excited about it from the beginning, there was no point where I thought “wow this is boring”. Being a cliché goth I chose Edgar Allan Poe as my author and I definitely went to town on the research, I found out so much about his life and works that I didn't know! I think the depth of the research I've done really helped me to have some insight into Poe’s work and made me more able to capitalise on key features of Poe to translate into my own work. The research was on-going through the module as well so it really informed the development of my work, which I feel took a big turn in the middle of the project. 

I think that this brief has enabled me to think a little more outside the box, in the beginning of the module I was making quite dark, spooky, predictable imagery in response to Poe’s work. Through crits and more exploration of sudden, seemingly random ideas I was able to come to a final product that was much more interesting than anything I would have initially made. This has made me realise / think that I should be doing this kind of thing for EVERY brief, and I am definitely going to try and be generating more ideas and breaking away from the cliché. However I've also found that it’s good to do some cliché stuff just to get it done and out of the way so you’re not tempted by it later on in the project. 

Through this brief I have been able to try out loads of different processes that I don’t think I would have bothered with before. I feel like I'm now more open to experimentation and trying different things to find out what’s really appropriate for what I'm doing. I came into this brief assuming I would probably do screenprint, because that was a printing process I was comfortable with. Although my end publication was screenprinted, it was not to accommodate my comfortability (or I would have digitally printed it and saved myself the struggle!). The workshops were really useful for me as I found a love for lino printing in this module. I did not really enjoy lino printing prior to this as it’s a long process and usually I do not have the patience for all that cutting.  The images I was making were coming out pretty successfully and matched the tone of the work I was doing so eventually the positives for my screen prints were derived from my lino prints. I feel a lot more comfortable in the print room, and with print processes in general, I definitely want to continue and do more lino and other print based work! 

I am really happy with how my final print work came out, though I made some minor and quite stupid mistakes I think overall my final outcome is good. Since I have managed to keep my blogging (mostly) up to date I think it’s easy to see the development and thought process that’s gone into this module. I think this is almost definitely the most work I've ever done on a module so far and the happiest I've been with any of my work. 

Although I do not feel like I've been stressed for time, and I've gotten most things done in good time I don’t think my time management and planning have been the greatest. I only ever made plans when there were definitely only certain times I could do things such as print drop in etc. We were even given timetables to fill out and I didn't, though I have been trying to get things down in my diary. I've found in the two weeks I did plan out and make lists for things ran quite smoothly and I got stuff done with time to spare, so I am going to start making comprehensive lists and plans for the weeks, as it seems to work.

If I were to approach this module again I would definitely dedicate more time to After Effects and sting as I feel as if I didn't try as hard as I could on it. I would have liked to have done some more experimentation but instead I just put off the whole process, as I was not particularly thrilled about having to make an image move. I did make a sting that I am mostly happy with though, I worried that it would be too simple but it’s better than nothing. 

Overall this module has been equally amazing and stressful. The whole project was so exciting for me and I loved doing it. I never got sick of my author or the work I was doing I just got more enthusiastic about the project the more I learned about Poe. I think I've come out of this module with more skills, better work, and a healthier mindset towards completing work and best of all I'm happy with and proud of what I've done!

SWOT Analysis : Visuwallise

SWOT ANALYSIS

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats

*identify strengths of both your product/service and the competition

*identify weaknesses

*can you see any opportunities?

*potential threats?

Personal:

What are the strengths of your product?

The service we offer is bespoke with a variety of working styles to contribute to the design process. 5 collaborative brains, and different approaches to art. 

Weaknesses

Our practice may be mis interpreted as just mural artists, when really we're going for something more fresh than 'murals'

Any Opportunities?

Festivals, venues, events, cafes, bars, interiors, charitable work/events

Threats? 

Other artists offering a similar service

Global: 

What are the strengths of your product?

Our service is personal and bespoke, since there are 5 of us it is versatile and each of us have different approaches to the service. We also have means of creating good quality mock-ups that we can show the customer before they commit to a design.

Weaknesses?

A lack of experience in doing walls themselves. (larger scale stuff to go on walls, perhaps but walls themselves not so much). 

Could be misinterpreted as just mural artists - May also be interpreted as too vague a service - (What is space rejuvenation? should we narrow it back down, to something more understandable and focused). 

Not equipped for building, if people want their walls sanded down and prepped before we slam some pictures on them?

Any opportunities?

Festivals, venues, cafe's& bars, exposure through live events, start simple, local businesses

places your work can be seen, people see-people want

Threats?

Adverse weather, imitation by mega corporations, members of our team could be unreliable

Marketing

but what is... Marketing?

You have an idea, how do you convert it into a business from here? Understanding what consumers want and creating something for it.

Functions of Marketing:

• identify customer needs and develop new products through market research
• promote and introduce products to a target market
• monitor and assess the performance of the product
• develop an appropriate pricing strategy
• identify distribution networks 
• value added, improve customer experience through value added benefits

Marketing is time consuming and very expensive

What can be Marketed? EVERYTHING (with the right tools)

 4 P's of Marketing: Product, Price, Place, Promotion 

Product: A tangible good or intangible service

Price: The price paid for a product or service

Place: The arena or context in or through which the consumer can access the product

Promotion: Promotion encompasses all methods of communication used to inform about the product

- The Marketing mix can help to identify your target market. 

Your business should have a USP - but if you don't have one, MAKE one!

Marketing can help understand what unique needs your product or service meets

delivers message and philosophies underpinning your product

helps differentiate your product/ service

identifies a range of audiences to advertise to

informs existing and new consumers and customers about new and developing products, how and where to access them. 

(Think Steve Jobb's marketing of apple products, announcement of the product but making the customer wait for it! )

You can do the market research via primary (new information you have collected yourself, perhaps through a questionnaire) and secondary data (data that has already been collected by someone else)!

 Quantitative data - Facts, numbers, objective data

Qualitative data - opinions and such, subjective data

SWOT ANALYSIS

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats

*identify strengths of both your product/service and the competition

*identify weaknesses

*can you see any opportunities?

*potential threats?