Studio Task 1: Critical Analysis

5 Reasons why critical analysis is useful

1. It helps you to understand why you have done something wrong or right, therefore you can learn from it.
2. Analysing other peoples work lets you see what they have done, and to see what is good or bad about their work and also you can gain inspiration from them but learn from their achievements or mistakes
3. You can also learn what is effectively communicating its message and what isnt in other peoples work, this is a key part of being a designer and you can use this knowledge to evaluate whether your own work communicates and if it doesn't then why not.
4. When you analyse your work you start to learn terminology which is more appropriate to graphic design, and this will help you in industry and amongst other professional graphic designers.
5. Through looking at your own and others work you are building up reasons as to why something works or why it doesn't, it also helps you to discover what your interests are, and your intentions within graphic design.

5 Reasons why a critique is useful

1. It can point out things in your work that you may not be able to see, and so you might need to correct this
2. If you don't think your work works well, other people might and this may give you a lot more confidence in your work and yourself
3. Its a chance to see other peoples work and see how they have interpreted the same or similar brief, its also good because you can give them feedback and you could also learn something from their work which you can apply to your own, or not.
4. You become more at ease with speaking to a group and talking about your own work in a professional manner which will prepare you for similar situations in industry.
5. Also from talking about your own and others work you will again learn your likes and dislikes, personal interests and intentions.

Choose five criteria, explain what you like and dislike within that choice

Colour
I really like simplistic colour schemes , e.g. two or three colours. I like black and white, and neutral colours. I really don't like bright colours, colours that clash or lots of colours used all on one page.

Layout
I quite like central layouts especially in typographic terms. I also like the use of negative space, I like clean simple layouts , nothing busy or chaotic. 

Concept
I really like designs that have meaning and clever concepts. I think its good when the message influences the design and it isn't obvious at first. I also like designs that have a purpose or a strong/ important message. I don't really like design that has no purpose or no message. I also don't like it when you cant understand it or know what it is trying to communicate.

Visual Content
I would say I like typography, and I do like digital illustration and collage. I don't really like character design or animation. 

Media/ Method of production
I prefer media which provides a cleaner look e.g. I like more digital work rather than hand drawn. I also like it when the designer has considered where there work is going to be, they have considered there stock. 


For the session we had to choose 4 pieces of design, 2 we did like and 2 we didn't, using the criteria above I am going to explain my choices.

Dislike

• Colour - I actually don't mind this colour scheme as it is minimalistic and simple, however it could be considered as boring and drawn as there is a high content of black.
• Layout- There isn't really many elements on the page and I feel it is perhaps too minimal. Although it is top right which immediately grabs your attention.
• Concept- I don't understand this piece at all, I feel that it has no context and not enough content to explain what its about. To me it isn't communicating well at all.
• Visual content- I think that the font is very plain and doesn't really give off a feeling or characteristic and so there isn't a clue to the tone of the piece. As well as this there is a lot of negative space and no other content it is perhaps to minimal.
• Media/ Method of Production- This work seems to be purely digital, however the print doesn't look too considered or of a high quality, it is quite hard to tell.

• Colour - I also think that these colours are okay, they work better than the colours above and I think they give of a sense of threatening and strong.
• Layout- The type is more towards the bottom of the page, which I don't know if it is intentional or not. Also it is more towards the right hand side of the page which again I don't know if it is intentional but the whole layout makes it seem very down.
• Concept- Again I can not connect to this piece as I don't understand what it is about, the letters also seem quite random and do not read as a word, and so this makes it unreadable and so you can't gain anything from it.
• Visual content- Again this piece is purely type, which I do like,  but it is very chaotic and I feel that it doesn't look professional or finished, also there seems to be different fonts used and they seem to stick out to me and they don't work with he piece e.g. the B at the top of the page.
• Media/ Method of Production- This piece has been digitally printed, and the paper doesn't seem to be a good quality but this may be intentional to the piece. However I'm not sure what the purpose of this piece is and maybe on paper isn't the best format.

Like

• Colour - I like these colours as they work well together. They are monochrome but they are soft looking and simplistic which I like.
• Layout- The type is in the centre of the page and there seems to be equal space around the page and so it is very finished and professional looking.
• Concept- The concept is about being loud but they have communicated this in a less stereotypical way. They have used detailed and decorative type which isn't an average font and so this makes it loud. 
• Visual content- The type is very illustrative and detailed, it is interesting to look at and catches your eye.
• Media/ Method of Production- The type has been created digitally, and I think it has been printed onto a high quality matte paper, it also has context as it is in a book. I think it has been digitally printed and i'm not sure whether it has been de bossed but this would add to its eye-catching attention to detail.

• Colour - I like the black and gold colours they are rich and indulgent and fit the purpose/ concept well. Also the two colour scheme is minimal but effective.
• Layout- I like the way the illustration works up from the bottom of the packaging and the type 'enhance' fits into the illustration and it has the same landscape orientation as the illustration. Although I don't really like the logo at the top which is a different orientation.
• Concept- The feel of the product is luxury and indulgence. I also think it looks sophisticated and this reflects the ideals of the product itself. I also think there is an element of nature and natural in this message and the image shows this.
• Visual content- This piece is type and image, again I like the way the type fits into the space at the top off the illustration. The image is vector and it probably has been created on illustrator. The weight of the type matches the very light intricate lines of the illustration. And the image is very detailed and the type is a simple sans serif and so they balance each other.
• Media/ Method of Production- This has also been printed digitally, and it is clear that the designer has considered that the design is on a 3D surface as the illustrations carry on around the box.