Only Studios - Guest Lecture

Only Studios came to Huddersfield to speak about their design process and what they look for.

Design For Screen - Common Perceptions Debunked

When working on a project such as a website re-design it is no longer the case that you need to know graphic design and coding as you are part of a team and work together to create the final outcome. It's always good to know a bit of code but you don't need to know it. Involve the client through the design process, it engages both yourself and their attention and helps to ensure the outcome is to their liking.

Design Process

Research:-

First you need to research, identify your key users, your target audience.

Wire-framing:- 

This is a way of ensuring the product is fit for purpose before the graphic elements are brought into the piece.

Visual Design & Front End:-

Only Studios displayed their work for Goldsmiths University as an example of their website work. They explained how their ideas evolved throughout the development process and about how the final product works through using a combination of basic image boxes with text and a clear framework to guide the user around.

Something important to consider is that the design of a website doesn't just apply to the homepage but also needs to be transferable across the whole site. In this case their initial idea would have been just too overwhelming, when taking into consideration the thousands of pages it would need to cover.

An important step in ensuring the client can understand and implement the designs, in particular website frameworks, they produce a branding guidelines document for the client. This ensures that in future instances their own web development team can quickly, with ease implement the design across new areas for the remaining lifespan of which they keep the design.

Design For Europe

For the challenge of creating a branding strategy for Design For Europe they looked at the European flags and using this as their inspiration built the visual identity. They talked us through their thought process surrounding the project which I found really interesting. The idea behind the final outcome was based upon the said flags in combination with photography and textures. The flag element was incorporated through the use of abstract shapes formed around the star which appears within the european flag.

Sourced from Only Studio's website

Sourced from Only Studio's website

Above are two images from Only Studio's website which display their idea in action. On their website the first image appears as a Gif demonstrating how the shapes were formed.

Lost Village

The branding behind this festival is underpinned by a narrative of which carries the brand. The narrative is around a lost village which appears only at the time of the festival. This branding example was very interesting to me and I found the ideas behind the logo to be simple and clever by involving user adaptation. The logo is easy to replicate with the hands and therefore creates a sign for the festival goers to identify with. The branding goes deeper then the website and incorporates "Characters" which appear at the events for followers to look forward to meeting, as many different types of media and entertainment converge upon the festival. Indie and mysterious in design the brand has a feel of mystery and intrigue which entices its audience to join the experience. The typeface is bespoke for the event and has an array of variations which creates for an interesting mix when mixed and matched. This mixture of type allows for future promotional material to have a fresh new feel with each year's mix of elements. Although the website design is "messy" in terms of visual layout though in a way which attracts the target audience, the posters are designed in a more rigid format which works due to the hand-drawn elements which are combined.

Social Media has a big part in promoting the brand as it is through social media networks that they are able to reach their target audience quickly and effectively to create a hype, leading up to the said event.

Q and A

What type of skill set are you looking for in placement students?

We want to see what your strength is and for you to keep an open mind about what you are doing. Keep your practise open to other areas, you could be doing illustration one day and website design the next.

Portfolio - What do you look for?

A strong design sensibility which could range across disciplines. People who have pursued an area of design and expanded upon it, for example having created a flat graphic and then spent time developing it to enable movement. Experiments in animation or apps is a good thing. Personal projects as well as University projects. But don't show us everything. It takes 5 or 10 seconds to get an impression of a person. Show us 3 projects that you are most proud of and keep it at that.