Design Industry

Apprenticeship in Design:

Having an apprenticeship in design is always a good step to becoming a designer, because you are learning and earning. You will be learning from someone one to one on different things needed for design or maybe in a team. Even though you are earning whilst learning the pay isnt great, you start on £2.60 an hour and it stays as low as this for a year then you go to the minimum wage. Also its only on a temporary basis they may not keep you on after the apprenticeships finished but you work on the basis that they might.

Internship:

An internship is good for experiance to put on your C.V to take to a place of work, but you will be working for free you dont get paid for this. So you need to be very commited and know what you want because it will be just like having a normal job just without pay. This is also temporary, depending on how long the probabtion period is, so they may only keep you for a couple of week.

Assistants:

Working as a design assistant usually means you are on salaried pay, which is better than the apprentice one but still only a minimum wage. This will always be a perminent depending on the probation period which could be two weeks or longer after this period it should be permanent. Just like the Apprenticeship and Internship you will be getting experiance and learning on the job.

Key Job Roles:

Creative Designer Jobs - These jobs are for the more creative graphic designers, they apply a greater importance on the ability to generate highly developed creative concepts. Jobs like this are found in agencies where there are normally three designers.

Illustrators - Illustrators provide illustrations for a variety of jobs such as computer games, magazines, cartoons, adverts even clothing. Normally illustrators are freelance or work for really big agencies.

Web Designers - Web designers have the ability to design websites, their normally very creative individuals with a good knowledge of programming skills. Flash, video or mulitmedia designers all fit into this category.

3D Designers - 3D Designers are very higly skilled in using 3D programmes to produce visually accurate presentations and animations of 3D characters, products or even house viewings or buildings plans.

Factors that may have an impact on the design industry:

Globalisation - This is where designers can have contact with other designers and companies from across the world due to tecgnology and software such as e-mail, internet. This makes it easy because you can send PDF's and proofing of work from one side of the world to another in a matter of seconds. Also you can always find cheaper work in other parts of country so it may mean making more money on materials and manufacturing of products may be cheaper.

New Technology - Designers need to keep up to date with new technology such as new designing software because if they dont some new designer could come along with the new software or better software and be able to produce a final product quicker so they might lose work due to older technology. Also due to new things on the internet such as 'VistaPrint' its a lot easier and quicker to make things such as business cards. This will always be a competition for designers.

Convergence - This is the merge of distinct technologies into a new form, maybe requiring new software or a new look. These sort of things are smart phones such as android or iphone they constantly need updating by designers to beat the competiton. Also with the social networking websites becoming a bigger hit everyday web designers will constantly have to be designing new things for it.

Working across disciplines - This could be a graphic designer designing for a web, they must understand the workings of a website and whats needed for the website this is so they can be top of the list and a website that will catch the eye of any other designer and maybe even set a trend. They must know what will be good for the website and what will work well such as using text where text is needed and imagery where that is needed.

Things that influence the design process

Copyright: Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. The copy right law gives the creator of dramatic, musical and artistic work all the rights to control the ways in which their material may be used. This basically means their work is covered from being copied, adapting, issuing, renting or lending to the public. Also in many cases the creator will be recognized for the work that he or she has created. Copyright arises when an individual or organization creates a work, and applies to a work if it is regarded as original, and exhibits a degree of labour, skill or judgment.
Copyright is related to the independent creation rather than the idea behind the creation. Which means that somebody can create something of the same idea, but not create something that is the same or identicle. For example somebody could create the same idea of a book, but not copy the content that is in the book.
Source: http://www.ipo.gov.uk/types/copy.htm

Moral Rights: Moral Rights exist alongside Copyright. The Moral Rights are, The right to be identified as the author of a work, the right to object to derogatory treatment of your work, treatment is derogatory if it amounts to mutilation of the work or is otherwise prejudicial to the honour or reputation of the author. This may arise if the artwork is subjected to addition, deletion, alteration or adaptation for example, the right not to have an artwork falsely attributed to you, the right of privacy in certain photographs and films commissioned for private and domestic purposes. The Moral Rights belong to the creator of the work, the rights can be passes onto the designers estate after death, but cannot be passed onto another person.
Source: http://www.ipo.gov.uk/types/copy/c-otherprotect/c-moralrights.htm

Ethical Considertations in Design: Whilst some designers focus on equality, others just cause offence and break the law. Designs that are undesirable are when they are seen as being socially unnacceptable. Another thing that can cross the social barrier is where fast food for example market their food for children no matter how unhealthy it may be. Another ethical consideration can include enviromental resources used in the process of design, if the product can show its friendly to the enviroment it may give it a boost.
Source: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/559/02/

Intellectual Property: intellectual property is all about the legal protection of an idea. Its the area of law that enables designers, innovators and other creative people to protect and exploit their work and to prevent misappropriation by others. Intellectual property protection involves granting exclusivity to the rights holder in relation to protected property. This can stop third parties from copying, manufacturing or adopting features of the relevant designs or technology. But if you dont get this protection you could leave your self open to anybody copying your idea or creation.
Source: http://www.ipo.gov.uk/

Sales of Goods: The Sale of Good Act 1979  protects the buyer in four ways:
- The Seller must have the right to sell the goods
- Goods sold by description must correspond to the description
- Goods must be of satisfactory quality.
- Goods sold by sample the goods must correspond to the sample in quality.
Source: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1979/54

Employement: Employement Act 2008. Equality Act 2010. This is a legal binding contract that is set when the terms and conditions are agreed on the job. This can be agreed in a few different ways such as verbal or in writing. This is something that is entitled to every emploee once starting a job, this should be in the first two months. You would have an ongoing contract of employment if you were emplyed by a company or person rather than as a freelance designer.
Source: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees/index.htm

Health and Safety: Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. You have rights as an employee to work in a safe and healthy enviroment at work, this is given to you by law. Because this is given you by law it cant really be changed by the employer. The main rights are.
- If you have any concerns about your safety, you can leave your work area without being disiplined.
- You can tell your employer about any health concerns you have.
- Provide you with your safety equipment that is needed, free of charge.
- To make sure all the health risks are controlled properly.
you also usually have to work in a safe manner and not endanger yourself or others as an employee.  in design you need regulare breaks from screen if you are working on computers.  You also need to be health and safety conscious in the studio and in production and manufacture of you are dealing with scalpels or other sharp implements.
Source: http://www.hse.gov.uk/

Working as a team

Working as a team plays a big part in the work place, you have to understand and be able to compromise with your work mates, and they do you.
One of the agreements i have had to do at work is agreeing on the work that i am going to undertake in that day, and compromise what i will and wont get done in that working day because your a required to work to deadlines.
You always have to be open to others input and ideas, i do this when I'm designing i always ask my colleagues for there advice on my design. I ask them if they was to change anything to it what it would be and why? This doesn't mean i always have to change the design but its good to have varieties of ideas.
We are required to give helpful support and feedback to our workmates, a good example of this in our work place is when something is printed for not just one person to check that the print is okay to finish and send out, but for one or two of the other people to have a look at the print and make sure there is no change in colour, or any scuffs or marks. This is very helpful support.
Because i am the apprentice i am assigned the role of being the 'Main' finisher of all banners and all of the cutting up, so a normal day for me is to be assigned of cutting all the banners up, finishing them and then sending them out on the courier. I also am required to keep the workplace tidy, i do this by just tidying up after myself and trying not to leave things out.

I think at the workplace i always give my best performance day in day out, this is because if i go to work and don't work my hardest the work wouldn't get finished and sent out so we would have unhappy customers. I think this performance is the same throughout production, we are all required to do the same thing all day, we know whats required for the day and you always aim to achieve to finish the day and dig in to the next days work so we can bring more jobs in for the company and make more time for new jobs.

The ways we verbally communicate is to tell each other what needs doing for the day, this helps us decide what jobs need doing first and who will be doing them, we also ask each other to load machines up with different material being verbal with each other is vital here so that we can tell each other what material we need on the machine and which machine will need to be used. If we are to communicate non verbally we would maybe right down on a piece of paper what design has been printed on which machine and what material was used. This is so if we have to go back to that design we would always use the same machine and material so we don't get a mix in colours or finish on the design or print.

Since staring my apprenticeship at Victory Design, i have always appreciated my other colleagues positions because i have always known the my Manager Neil is the highest person in Production, so if i have ever need any help with anything i always approach Neil first, or if i want to book a holiday off or talk to anyone about anything i always approach Neil first. But if Neil is away or very busy Jason is the next in command, id then treat Jay the exact same as Neil, the only difference is that Jason cant sign my holidays off id have to wait for Neil to be back in work.

At work you have to constantly have to compromise because even though you have work set for the day and you know what you have to have achieved, there can always be rush jobs coming down into production or some sort of design that needs doing urgent. So this can either mean trying to rush other jobs through by getting them done as soon as possible. It can mean working all the way through your breaks so the work gets done or even doing overtime. But doing this makes the company run more freely and makes sure that all our team goals are achieved.

How Design has evolved -

Vehicle graphics come from the days of horse and cart when they painted the company name on their vehicle to advertise themselves. This was done by skilled crafts men who did this for a living.  Designs were limited to certain colours and more traditional fonts.

These designs continued with companies realising the real potential of the use for advertising in the 1950, so they were far more common and detailed. Vehicles started to be wrapped in the 1990s.  This process was new but it took a lot of hours to apply as each colour because had to be applied separately and they couldn’t use photographic images yet.With material and digital technology now any image of any size can be put on a vehicle.  Because of new processes now the vinyl wont stick and make air bubbles in the vinyl until it has been squeegeed on properly.  This is really popular with businesses and is a very effective way to advertise themselves.  It also means that logos and designs can be reproduced exactly.

Trends in Veichles -

3D Graphics,

Because things have gone a lot further with materials and technology, trends can make a veichle look like something else, like a street scene or even a sandwich. Food companies tend to make the graphic a piece of food from their company and incorporate their logo into the design

Wrapping also allows vehicles to be transformed into the appearance of other vehicles.  Like transforming 4x4 into older models of vans and wagons.

Veichles can also be wrapped and made into fine are pieces, this is a lot easier because images, logos and colours can just be scanned in or designed very easily. Then this is printed onto the vinyl wrapped and applied.

There is also a trend where you wrap large veichles, you wrap them with very memorable images which can be seen my all angles on this veichle so this means it doesnt matter if your stuck behind the veichle because you can still see the image. This process is possible due to having a lot larger printers to print the large print to a good standard.

Mock up or Proof

Mock up

Proof

A mock up or a proof is used before you send a finished piece of work, this can either be a snipet of the work or even a full sample. It is used to send to the client so they can see what the final outcome will look like. So they can compare colours, see what the detail will be like. They can make sure the image wont be pixalated and that its okay for printing. If the client inst happy with the proof they tell the designer what they dont like and then they can make simple changes rather than doing the full piece and then the client saying there is something wrong with it. 

Also if you send the proof and the custormer signs it off and says its alright to finish, when you send the final piece of work if they complain there is a mistake with it, or claim something isnt right like colours or text. Its not the designers fault because they have sent the proof and the client has said its all okay and there isnt any problems. 

Creative Thinking

Creative thinking is different methods that you might use when designing something. This will help you get your ideas and start to develop the project. There are a few different ways of creative thinking.

Mind map - This is where you will write a word in the middle of a page and then all the ideas you think of what are to do with that one word you will write on the page.  This is helpful for coming up with logo's and themes for the project, and just any imagery for the project.

Wishful thinking - This method could be used for creating a name for the business or client you are designing for. You have to set your self a time limit of 10 - 20 minutes, and in this time limit you have to just keep writing or typing for the whole of the time limit. This could create some new names or even new imagery.

To generate more ideas you could look through magazines, newspapers or even books. These could just give you some inspiration for your design or help you along the way for the design.

You could do some research on the internet for things that relate to the thing you are designing, and maybe even do some research on the business doing this could give you ideas for colours, themes and imagery.

The Design Process

The key features:

First feature:

Discover - This would be the start of the whole design process, it would be where you get your inspiration for the project. You would start by writing down your first initial ideas and thoughts that make you think of that company or client you are designing for. You could get these ideas from the internet, magazines other people you know or maybe work with and for the broad ideas you would brain storm these down.

Define - The next step to the design process would be define, this is where you take your initial ideas that you have just come up with and pick the ideas that are suited better for the business or client and that meet the design brief. This could mean it being of a certain colour, shape or size.

Develop - Develop is where you have chosen your final ideas from your initial ones. From here you start developing these ideas into a product or what is required for the custormer. You would normally develop a few different ideas to keep some variety for the design and give the client a wide range to choose from.

Deliver - This would be the final process of the Design process, its where you deliver the final piece of work to the client. You should be showing them the final design, this final design should be a build up of where your initial ideas started. But this final piece of work should meet all the requirements of the design brief and any of the client.

These are the four main parts of a Design Process, if these are followed in the same way or a very simliar way the designing of the product should run smoothly, and you should be able to look back at your process and see where you have gone from one step to the next.

Designers use of Formal Elements

Saul Bass

In this poster for a movie Saul Bass uses Asymmetrical balance by using a few larger objects to balance out the small objects which there are more of. The proportion of the poster makes you look towards the top where the main information is of the movie. This has been done by a small image near the top but with a larger scale white text. This draws the eyes to the text. Rhythm in this poster is used by the steps repeating them selves further up the book, even though they are getting smaller and smaller this is still rhythm. The emphasis of the book is the name of the film 'Rocky' this is made to stand out by making it slightly larger than the image it is next to, and making it white, making it white to stand out works because there is only a little bit of white on the whole image. So the eyes are drawn to the change in colour.
I think Saul Bass has 'Unity' with this poster because he has took all of the Formal Elements into consideration, and the image flows well and looks like it all goes together.

Neville Brody

In this design Neville Brody uses Asymmetrical balance because if you put a line down the middle of the design, the colours would all be the same but the letters of the text wouldnt mirror each other. The proportion of the design is in the large text. This is what catches your eye most on the design because of its size and bright colour. The Rhythm in this design is in the text because of the use of bold text and the bright yellow colour repeating its self, even though the letters arent the same the flow of the rhythm is still there. The Emphasis of the design is the simple but bold text 'Genius' this is emphasised very easily with the use of a full black background and then using very bold bright yellow text. Because of this it stands out a lot and the eye is drawn to this and no so much the smaller text at the bottom of the design. Because Neville Brody has taken all of the formal elements in to account in his design there is Unity. This is where all of the formal elements have been used and they all flow together and design looks like everything is supposed to be there. Even though the design is simple it works very well.

Formal Elements in Design

Balance: In design there are two types of balance, Symmetrical Balance or Asymmetrical Balance.

Symmetrical (formal) : Symmetrical balance is a mirror image balance, if you was to draw a line down the center of the page, all of the images on either side of the line should mirror each other, they don't have to be identical objects but they have to be the same shapes, objects and colours. They can be exactly identical this is seen more in architecture.
Asymmetrical (informal) : Asymmetrical balance occurs when a number of smaller items are balanced out by a larger item on the other side, or if the smaller items are placed further away from the center of the image than the larger items. Or if it inst balanced between larger and smaller items, it can be by shades. If there is a very dark item, it can be balanced by a few lighter items.

Proportion: Proportion refers to the different sizes and scales of various elements of the design. These have to to be spread out evenly to evenly distribute the viewers attention.

Rhythm: There are two types of repetition available to the designer, regular repetition and syncopated repetition.
Regular: Regular repetition is where a visual element is repeated in regular intervals, by doing this repetition in the visual element multiple times you create a relaxed piece of work.
Syncopated: This repetitions involves more complex patterns. By repeating a element several times and then repeating the pattern several times. This creates a less relaxed piece of work. It doesn't have to be the same element that is being repeated, they can be different weights. This creates a more complex and dynamic design.

Emphasis: This is the focal point of the design. It is the way you make one element of the design stand out from the rest of the work. In a piece of work there should only be one element that you are trying to emphasize because if you try and emphasize to many elements of the work it will look too busy and ruin the design.

Unity: Unity is where all the elements look as though they belong together, achieveing this means you must understand all of the other formal elements first and understanding the principles. Basically the designer should understand the elements and be able to establish a bond between them. There should be a flow in the design, so one element links to the next.

Digital Portfolio

Advantages & Disadvantages of a Digital Portfolio

Advantages:

If it is a digital portfolio, it is very easy to update and very easy to go back and change things without having to change masses of the portfolio.

It is also a lot easier to show what software you are capable of using by just taking simple screen shots, and annotating the screen shot.

Disadvantages:

If it is a online portfolio and they dont have access to the internet they cant see the portfolio so this means they cant see your work.

Because the work is digital the person who is viewing the portfolio wont be able to get a real feel for the work you are presenting to them.

Reasons for uploading a digital portfolio:

If you are always uploading your new work that you are doing if anyone checks your portfolio and comes back to it again they can see all your fresh work, and if a client is looking for something specific they can see everything you are capable off, then your portfolio wont get dated.