Crit/ Feedback with Lucy

 I took my friend Lucy (another student on the graphic design course) and showed her through my entire project start to present to get her ideas and feedback on my ideas/ what I've made so far. 

Her first suggestion when looking through my research was to look at how drugs associated with rave culture affect the body. This is a really good idea, and would produce some amazing visuals. I think that the concept of blood cells and other scientific imagery/ textures would feel appropriate. I've been focusing on my one idea of visualising happiness at the moment, and it would be really beneficial to at least explore another avenue. 

I then went on to explain how I've been focusing on hedonism and the happiness associated with rave culture. This really resonated with Lucy as she goes to a lot of raves herself and it was amazing to hear her confirmation. She described how when she goes to a rave she feels the most 'in the moment' than any other time, and said that for her and many others there's a lot of connotations with mindfulness.  This was great to hear as it really backs up my ideas and thoughts so far. 

Furthermore, when discussing the article I read titled "Working Weeks, Rave weekends: identity, fragmentation and the emergence of new communities" Lucy talked about how this correlates to 80s/ 90s culture in a more general sense. Culturally, our generations tends to have a lot more worries and issues with anxiety, where as back then (when rave culture was prolific), society had more of 'not caring' attitude - working a five day week to rave all weekend. This links to how our generation is 'nostalgia-obsessed', and I really enjoy this correlation as nostalgia is something that I love to explore within in my work. 

Next I showed Lucy my graphic notation and she was much more positive about it than myself. At the time I thought that it was the completely wrong tone of voice. However, Lucy assured me that they felt fun and engaging, which is vital. In their current form - they don't work. The digital development that I did with them was not extensive enough - simply adding a title didn't work. Lucy gave me the idea to take those shapes and perhaps texture and utilise them in more developed work. I'm now really excited to take these graphic notation shapes and use them within my grid posters, pushing them further.

When I showed her my digitally developed posters, I asked what she thought of my 'controversial' colour scheme. Surprisingly, once again the response was positive. I was really worried about the combination of orange, green and yellow but it just seems to work. Lucy pointed out that the other colour schemes were 'samey' and that she felt like she had seen them before. The warm, earthy tones we're like a breath of fresh air for club night posters. I'm definitely going to lean into using them. This analysis of colours went further - the dark grey background works, but would work a lot better with the warm colours on top. 

In terms of the type experimentation so far: Neue Machina feels really relevant. This was great to hear as I wasn't so sure myself, so it was good to get an outside opinion. Initially, she liked Noer, as did I. But when she saw Neue Machina she realised that it worked a lot better. Noer is very typical, and doesn't bring anything new or exciting, Whereas Neue Machina is clean and intriguing. 

Furthermore in terms of the logo-type, Lucy explained how it wasn't 'fun and bold' enough. I tend to do this a lot within my work, I over-professionalise things that need some fun pumped into them (and Lucy is usually the one to pull me back and remind me). The idea of the smiley is fun and the shape is bold - but the type needs to reflect that too, otherwise it feels too disjointed. 

Lastly as me and Lucy are from the same city, she told me that she's really excited to see some good graphic design in Hull! This was lovely to hear, and it reminded me of my conversation with my client when he said that "all of the events posters in Hull look the same, I want something different". It is true that there's not really any brilliant examples of good design within the nightlife scene in Hull and being reminded of this has further encouraged me. 

In short: 

Look into how drugs effect the body, pull imagery to use with grids from there. 

The idea of hedonism is really strong, justified, and relevant. 

Go back to the graphic notation and pull some shapes/ textures to use within your grids. 

Create some new colour pallets - the warm colours (orange, red, yellow) mixed with green do work! Try putting them on top of the dark grey background. 

Find another bolder typeface to use for the logotype. Focus on making it more fun.