OUGD603 - Secret 7 - Final Critique, Final Outcome, Submission and Evaluation

I brought my developed ideas to a final small critique to help decide on my final outcome. After showing all my designs, the critique noted they liked the single illustrations as record sleeves however when placed next to the album covered in illustrations there was no comparison between the two and that the cover with all illustrations worked best.

When looking at the colour examples of the final chosen design, my group agreed that the red design stood out the best however, the black cover with white illustrations was easiest to see. Although it didn't stand out as much, it worked best to convey depressive themes. Because of this, it was chosen to be my final design. This can be seen below.

For my submission I was required to include a short bio to describe the inspiration behind my outcome. As my design includes so many different elements it was essential that I was concise but could explain my idea thoroughly.

I'm not down's underlying themes based on mental health and depression and coupled with the punk ideas expressed by the clash in the 1970s. The repetition of downward arrows links to the song title whilst the recurring London theme relates to the album from which it originates. Other iconography and illustrations are used to describe the lyricist, Joe Strummers mental health in 1978 and pushing through this into 1979.

Evaluation

Considerations such as experimenting with previously unused mediums, working within a short timeframe and produced ambiguous outcomes were set at the start of this brief so the visual response would stand out against the competition. Sticking to the original considerations also helps to improve the design practice and will be useful when producing work in a short timeframe in the future. These ideas at the start of the brief were stuck to consistently throughout the design process and influenced many of the decisions that were involved in producing the final outcome. This was especially useful when experimenting with initial ideas, understanding what would be possible in such a short space of time was crucial for this project so the final outcome would be submitted in time.

The illustrations created linked to the ambiguous ideas stated at the start of the brief however also helped to add a more personal touch to the project. This was also essential to relate better to the punk visuals found within research. The illustrations were well thought through and all related to the song and or band in some way or another. Including typography was an element that was essential to the overall design of the cover. This added to the overall look of the cover and brought it away from being a completely illustrated piece of work. The text used in the quotes were taken from lyrics of the song and research into what members of The Clash had said in regards to the song. This worked well alongside the drawings, especially as