Considering branding in general allowed me to understand how us as humans buy into certain products to fulfil our often subconscious desires - from expressing our own identities and personalities through what we consume, to signifying group memberships to feel like we belong within society. It was intriguing to then see how all of this was directly adaptable, to more specifically, the craft beer industry and to analyse how the approach of brand identities for this more artisanal and exclusive community has changed the market for the more commercial lager brands. Through the consideration of a brands portrayed tone of voice and personality this allows the consumer to align themselves with a brand and engage at an emotional level, which is what sits craft so far away from commercial lager, I thoroughly enjoyed taking this concept and trying to recreate something of similar meaning myself - especially cause its beer!
I think it is fair to say I have achieved what I set out to, through the production of a spin-off craft beer concept which has been added to the Carling 'Black label' line. Through taking an existing successful commercial brand and spinning it on its side, I was able to understand in more depth how the branding approaches differ dependent on the market you are designing for. By taking the main concluded points from my essay I was able to apply these values of craft to the commercial brand and produce a convincing and enticing identity for the new IPA - supported by real life concepts connecting us at a global scale, whilst still being politically sound and gender neutral appropriate!
I have noticed how my ability to produce mass volumes of work and options has improved whilst still remaining at a professional quality, increasing the scope of my projects and allowing me to consider and highlight more and more routes to achieve the final desired output. This is essential for when designing in the real world, as the client wants to know the designer has considered it from every angle to find the most efficient and pleasing route around the problem which will boost their product/service in the most effective way.
This year, I do feel as if my time management is slowly improving with credit to how self-directed this year has been. It has given me a better taste of what working at a professional level will be like, having to mange and prioritise briefs in my own time. Once I got past the initial hiccup of pinning my concept down at the beginning of the project I was able to build my arguements in the essay and then respond to it practically accordingly and simultaneously - this was down to my contextual and practical research supporting both sides of the project, really strengthening my understanding of branding on a whole and applied to craft vs commercial beer.
I have retained my ability to produce top quality mockups which could be used in the professional world to showcase anything from ideas to a client, to the final output on a billboard. This, in turn, has allowed me to appreciate the importance in this day and age of ensuring designs can be adaptable across a huge range of products. Online presence and design for screen plays such an important role in design and advertising today as that is the most direct route to the developing target audiences. And this links nicely with my re-occuring interest in motion design and social media.
I loved how, not even in this project in-particular, I let myself be inspired by an array of different mediums - it doesn't have to be specific to graphic design, I always let my passions come in to play and influence what I am doing creatively which I think allows my work to naturally develop alongside me and build this picture of me as a designer on a whole for my portfolio. In this project it was through the consideration of tattoos influencing my illustration style to end up with a justified and bold piece.
In terms of what could have gone better, I think I could've pushed the physical deliverables slightly further by actually letter-pressing the typography on the bottle, emphasising the craft process through other processes such as embossing, etc. I could have even used a higher quality stock, however I did not think it was entirely necessary for what I was portraying - I still produced it physically to test if it would fit into the real life environment and that is reflected as well as it needs to be.
To push the project further I could've got in touch with more of the local breweries I initially stated - I have definitely learnt for next time that I shouldn't be afraid to make these connections as it will only strengthen my work and concept, as well as my contact list! - most people want to be helpful too, the worst I'll get is an abrupt no!
One thing I constantly evaluate is my ability to remember to pre-book print slots! I am useless at this and it needs to change as this is what will allow for as much physical experimentation as possible (money dependent!), and it will provide a more developed structure to my project on a whole.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed designing for craft beer and I will definitely be pushing my work for this project online as far as I can to open up some potential opportunities within the industry!
No comments:
Post a Comment