Some things to think about....

I had my meeting with Val in order to get a better idea of what was wanted for the brief, I am somewhat confused. But I feel a bit more confident than before.

Key Phrases that came up in our meeting:
red and white 

arrow

cool/quirky/high gloss finish/cuts closeups/ cameras in after effects?

sunset/ nighttime

journey shots close ups

animation

main entertainment - evening show 

lively 

girls and boy presenters 3boys 4 girls

specific order of landmarks

storyboard - duke of yorks legs

ending up latest music bar

red light live on air end up i the studio 

motorbike- mods and rockers

look up locations

variety of styles.

cuts closeups/ cameras in after effects? 

more slick- hand drawn but slick-

Issues that concern me

It almost sounds like whats wanted is a 3d animation which is obviously not possible for me since we have only explored 2d animation.

Using After effects cameras- never done it but a bit more confident in figuring them out

Not hand drawn - so it can be hand drawn cause I have no idea how to make animations otherwise but it has to not look hand drawn.- Im ok with this I'll just have to monitor myself because its my natural method of drawing.

Slick style- this really concerns me- the idea was for the opening sequence to be cool and quirky but quirky in my head doesnt necessarily correlate with slickness. Also I am not very good at slick I dont think I've ever successfully managed slick- every time Ive tried its come out bright and loud and quirky.

The plan

Val and I both agreed that its definitely going to have to be well storyboarded before hand in order to get all the shots in order. It was also decided that I have to explore some styles- and then Val said she would help pick out the preferred style. I have a few ideas revolving around drawings and photographs and merging the two together with like a map of Brighton in the background that I plan on presenting as well as some of the ideas that  discussed in our meeting.

The Latest TV Brief...

Part of our new assignment requires us to work on a live brief with a participating client. The new brief has us creating opening sequences, stings and indents for Latest TV. We have each been allocated a specific brief to work to so much like the YCN project we are all working on different projects. I have been allocated the program called Brighton Lights.

The Brief:

< "The hosts are a team of Latest TV’s friendliest presenters.

We will cover local stories of interest in a family friendly way, while also covering more serious issues, from politics to charity. The audience won’t get the chance to get bogged down though, as there will be a plethora of light hearted comedy sketches from the team, from puppets and interviews with celebrity guests. A regular feature of ‘Your Daily horoscope’ provides a spiritual forecast, as will the ‘Latest in Science and Technology’ expo give the viewers much to mooch over, we’ll even be educating our audience with a ‘Word for The Day’. So there’s every reason to stay tuned, because anything can happen in Brighton and everything will happen on Brighton Lights.
">Every episode crescendos with a performance by our guest Brighton Band.
It is filmed in front of a live studio audience, four shows a week. With the Best of on the fifth day".
The show sounds upbeat quirky and fun, its sounds like it embodies a quirky Brighton Culture. My task is to create 25 second opening credits, a 3 second advert break sting, a 4 second in between section sting and a lower third set that can be edited by the program.
The ideas stipulated in the brief:

It’s Evening! The team of BL Presenters are driving red and white bikes in tandem (Like the Red Arrows) From Patcham
Roundabout (where it says “Welcome to Brighton”) to The Pier. We see lots of Brightons
Landmarks such as ‘ Duke of Yorks, Pavilion, St Peters Church, The North Lanes, Clock Tower, Seafront’ adding lots of neon lights, so Brighton looks like Las Vegas.

Sting: a close up of a motorcycle.

The important part about this brief is that we have to communicate with our clients- making sure that we keep them thoroughly informed so that what we produce is what they want. I have been given Val as my main client/adviser/in charge of the program and have a skype meeting scheduled at 4 to fully discuss the brief and what road I should go down. Actually fairly nervous about this and slightly excited.  

Evaluation...

Overall I am really happy with what I've managed to create, I think its very feminine and dainty. I like the mirroring which makes my print look more balanced and I am particularly happy with the focal swan element which helps to break up the design. I started with the house design and although I like the house I think that my style got more like Kidston's with each element. The wax seal and his and hers stamps manipulate a bolder method of shading that is very Kidstonesc. I think that they are probably the more successful elements due to their simplistic shapes. Having said this since I based my style on Kidston's line/watercolour/ more detailed prints so I do think that most of my elements adhere to Kidston's style.  I really really like the swans positioning since it frames the chandelier and provides a more rigid element to the other more randomly placed aspects and I really had fun drawing them out.

I was initially concerned that my design was too crowded but after looking at other Kidston prints I found that they were fairly crowded in themselves. I also didnt like the more spaced out versions that I explored since they felt too empty. My pattern repeats as two elements to avoid putting too many houses together - so the houses and teapots repeat as one row and then the middle repeats separately from that so that the houses almost become anchors within the pattern.

 I was well organised with this project and rediscovered a love for Photoshop (I made my designs in Illustrator and made the pattern in Photoshop). Using Photoshop to make the entire pattern was easy and fun and enabled me to go back into my design and alter the positioning and angles of my specified aspects. I really connected with my chosen theme - I love Pride and Prejudice and think it will definitely appeal to 29 year old females. Its very British and something a bit different to any of the Kidston prints and other Ycn prints already researched. Im hoping that this more original concept will be noticed. Whilst I have tried to keep my design as Kidston as possible I think my own drawing style has crept in. I did try to keep it within Kidston's world but I think the peacock is a variation to that- I found it harder to draw something so complex in a more simplified style although I tried to ensure continuity through my colour use. The peacock is the only element thats not quite right because I think its too liney but it works as an aspect in the bigger pattern so I am happy to leave it.

I had issues restricting myself to the 12 shade colour palette which I did get around by altering the opacity of the brushes but I did have to constantly remind myself to keep to the colour shades. Despite this  I found the project very relaxed which I guess comes from being able to pick your own brief with and outcome that would allow for the use of preferred software. Im very proud of what Im submitting and can only hope that it will be considered by Ycn.

The PDF...

We found during our YCN visit that they liked to get a pdf with a sense of design process within it as well as the finished item so after crit I finally started to design my pdf. The Kidston brief required me to show my design as a repeating pattern in 3 different colours and my design as a single tile so already had 4 of the pages planned before starting. I reserved another for a display of my single elements, another for a break down of my theme and another introducing the brief. It was fun to make and although my pages were pretty crammed with stuff I did try and make sure that they looked designed by introducing small framing pngs throughout and the occasional background colour from my palette. Im really happy with my cover page and my end page which I've tried to make look like letters as a nudge to my design.

Changes and Colourways...

I made the changes- straightening up the chandelier in the middle and mirroring the wax stamp so they are facing in the correct direction. The pattern is much better balanced now which makes it look more successful. In order for it to adhere to the Kidston brief three different colour ways were required. The cream was always going to be one of my background colours but I didnt have any real ideas as to what my other two colours could be. I experimented with a few different colour ways but only 4 really worked.

I disregarded the grey because I dont think its a warm enough shade, although it doesnt look too bad against the pattern I dont think its quite right.

 The brown is actually one of my favourite background colours- it reminds me of brown wrapping paper which definitely suits the overall style. It provides contrast against the blues and pinks and gives the rest of the pattern a sense of warmth which coincides with my theme as well.

I'd already placed my pattern on soft pastel backgrounds  and I wanted to display how it would work on a brighter colour. I am actually really happy with the pink- the blue looks really vibrant against it and its dark enough to fully display all of my aspects. It really makes the frame of swans stand out.

The Crit...

I used this version of my pattern for crit, the mirroring of the design was generally well received, there weren't very many concerns although it was mentioned that the central chandelier should be straight in the middle and that my wax piano stamp should be mirrored on both sides since they all point in the same direction. Very easy changes to make which is a little worrying.. I was expecting there to be more issues. But I'm happy with it so maybe that comes across in the design.

Various Layouts of pattern....

Before creating my design elements I always had the notion that I would have to mirror my elements in order to create a more balanced pattern.  Although I created my elements in Illustrator I opted to make my entire pattern within Photoshop which made it easier to position elements. However it took a few different element placements before I found the variation that I liked.

I think the pattern above looks too crowded, theres too many wax seals and I think that they are too big within the space. I managed to create a nice frame using my mirrored swans but I think the wax seal within the frame detracts from the focal chandelier element.

 I got rid of the additional seals and made the ones left smaller which I think looks much much better, I also made the peacocks a wee bit smaller and placed the chandelier centrally within the swan frame, I am a lot happier with this positioning it gives each aspect some much needed breathing space.

I wasnt sure if my preferred style was a bit too crowded so I played around with a less crowded version but I think it looks too empty now especially since a lot of Kidston prints are also very busy.