Evaluation

For this brief, I was asked to rebrand the Dunstable College Refectory. My client was Wendy Gault, the owner of the Refectory.

These were her requirements:

She wants us to include:

-A logo

-Strapline

-Signage for advertising

-Opening/closing hours signage

-Signage for the menu's with all of the products on offer 

-Welcome signs

-Signs to show which way the Refectory is (directions)

-Signage promoting their healthy options/cold breakfasts/salad bar

-A quirky and colourful branding-Something like Costa/Starbucks, i.e. simple, effective, attractive, eye-catching

-Must be to fit in with the target audience for both teenagers and the adult staff

-Also need to think about students who have learning disabilities, how can we make the refectory better for them?

Restrictions and constraints:

-No covering of the windows, focus on the walls

-Low budget

Overall, I liked my final pieces; I think they look sophisticated yet simple and still well aimed at teenagers/adults because of the simple colour scheme of black and white, with the added college colours that then related it back to the college itself. I think my logo ideas and signage work well, I think they answer the requirements that I have been given and I have taken into consideration all of the concepts that Wendy gave us and put my own twist on the design part of it. 

I found some of it quite difficult as I had not designed any signage before so I did have to research quite a lot of other refectory’s/café’s to get a feel of what kind of signage is used/appropriate. I also found aligning everything quite difficult as I am not used to doing it, however I got the hang of it and was able to align everything properly so that it look professional. I also struggled with some of the software, the font I used would not install on my laptop and I had a few issues with the images that I had used, but in the end I made sure that the images I used had no copyright issues.

I looked at quite a few artists that really inspired me, but because I had to use a certain font, I couldn’t recreate some of the typographers work that I liked… However, in one of my logo’s I did decide to change the font to make it how I wanted (rubbed parts out). I also looked at artists who use type to make an image, which I used in my final wall design, which is one of my favourite parts of my designs. I also looked at some menu designs and really liked the idea of blackboards as they are a cheap and effective way for menus, however I used them for signage and if I was to go onto create menu’s then I would definitely consider using blackboards. Also, looking at Kate Morros, who designs logo’s that are mainly in black and white, or containing black and a brighter colour such as pink… I really liked her work and in two of my logo ideas I reflected on her work by using black and white and with one of my logo’s I decided to use black and the pink colour from the CBC branding.

If I were to do it again, I would take more care in getting all my final pieces finished to a high standard, because I took so much time working on the layouts and my ideas I didn’t have a lot of time to work on my final pieces, however I am quite happy with them. Overall, I think my designs meet the guidelines that the client gave and I have took into consideration all the beneficial factors. I think my designs are innative, simple and will hopefully be considered for the final design.