Originally in October 2008 my aims for this project was:
‘I wanted a project which projected a form of professionalism the project must be collaborative, and work to incorporate a number of skills required by the industry for example understanding the operation of TV studios, Radio, animations, and the virtual room. Equal to this is the importance of the content and its ethical meaning.’
Around this time my idea was based on graffiti, which was provoked by the thought of using graffiti as the channels graphics. However the subject matter graffiti seemed to take more emphasis on the channel content meaning it would confuse the audience about the channels objectives. As stated in my learning plan October 08
‘Realistically the concepts of the project could change completely. I am already starting to question how I would get the research, how will I approach the right people, how and what does it mean to be a part of this project, why is this project important, will this project make an impact on the people involved and is it important to me that it makes a difference’
These questions have stayed at the forefront of the project. Referring to my first and second learning log entry I notice that my work ethic is engineered to work in groups as I feel it create motivations. However I have learnt not to rely on people, people can be extremely unpredictable.
Reflecting back to my practical approach on the project I followed the same structure, which was communicated in the literature review. This structure was to research and implement design, technology and content in a chronological order.
Through conducting a literature review certain authors influenced me to take a particular approach for instance Faimon, Peg, (2003) breaks down the ideas of brand identity into a logical structure. The author explains the importance of emotional connections that a brand can have with an audience whilst also looking towards customer’s behaviours and the company’s visual identity. This example alone led me to develop a deep
understanding of branding and how this would translate into the other areas.
However even though I had developed confidence within my literature review, January was a time of extreme confusion as I was unfamiliar and unsure of my role within the project. It has taken collaborations with undergraduate student to find my niece helping me to grow and move forward.
Approaching my project involved me having the ability to think logistically by trying to organise each sector of the project so that it complimented the next stage. Before I even started to approach branding I needed to understand it so I arrange a meeting with Liz Friedman, subject leader for moving image. Luckily around this time Rave on Air pitches for branding were due to take place so Liz invited me to join the meeting.
Attending these pitches really gave me an insight of how to approach branding and how to pitch ideas. It was clear that the students shortlisted had followed the brief to try and meet the client’s needs. To my surprise before discussions I had shortlisted the exact same three groups than the panel of judges.
After this meeting I was also given suggestions for certain authors. I also arranged regular meeting to discuss arranging a branding team. Before I had confirmed a branding team, Ethan Champ Ames helped me understand what was needed to write a design brief whilst also providing research material on the meaning of branding and how you approach branding to work. The research explained the important of having a clear idea of the product structure before moving on to understand a brands core values. Contained within this research was to understand as to how stings could also be used to project and carry the brand forward.
In additions to this I was looking at different IPTV channels and questioning how these channels present their brand successfully. I found that understanding both the IPTV markets and approaches to branding really helped me to assess the directions of my project. Through looking at IPTV channels, hightv seemed to be the one that offered the most inspirations; this was due to the channels ability to use both the brand and the technology to compliment each other. The case study of hightv gave me practical inspirations for the channel.
Before finding a branding team to work with I was influenced by Ian Willingham from firsthand (http://www.firsthandexperience.net/about/the_team/) to build a customers profile. This was achieved by conducting some focus groups to find what the audiences emotional perceptions are on the channel. As Robert Chapman suggested an idea that is successful is one that plays on the emotions of the audience. Again this opinion was enforced, by Andrew Monk’s a branding designer form Nokia.
‘It’s also really important to understand the cultural influences and attitudes of the individual within their environment.’ Andrew Monk’s 2009
He talked about his work and the processes he took:
Look
Listen
Absorb
Think
Plan
Discover
Discuss
Form an opinion
Translate
Evaluate (Road Test Prototype)
Simplify
Communicate
Understand the Client
Another key point to consider is how your brand fits international branding. This point is valuable in the context of my 360 channel and its current affairs content because the content could be perceived differently depending on the culture.
From the research gathered I found my self-panicking at the amount of research stages required in order to make a successful brand. However I wanted to take the suggestions seriously so I conducted further research to find an audience this enforced contacting a verity of contacts including Concord Youth Centre, Hoxston Hall, Aim Higher, Tag Rugby and local school in Eltham.
From various phone calls I was lucky to make contact with Concord Youth Centre who agreed for me to visit and ask the relevant questions needed. The Centre encourages the young people aged between 9-25 to debate about current affairs and moral dilemmas. From the debate subjects I thought this youth group would provide the ideal audience.
Through out the evening I observed the youth group and the interactions between different characters before moving on to sit with them in a circle and ask a verity of questions such as, what name represents young people? what colour represents the topics illustrated on the channel?, what’s there favourite brand of clothing and what issues are important to them and why ? It was the answers to these questions, which provided the channels name Be real tv.
I found this visit extremely important as it unlocked my creativity and turned ideas into reality. From the audiences suggestions I transcribed a few word associations into a branding script, from here this script was sent out over the college next work to hopefully find a branding team. At first there were a few people I could have worked with Amy James and Michel Ding. However Amy James was too busy to help and Michel Ding lost interest after one meeting. Luckily I received a contact with Oliver Leake who was excited by the project however I had been warned he could be unreliable but at this stage I needed to progress forward as I anticipated I would not have any branding to present if I continues to wait for people to come forward so I gave the working relationship a chance.
Through out the process there were moments of frustrations however we both worked through this and found that between discussions the brand was developing. Oliver was good at encouraging me to state exactly what I wanted on the channel, so I provided the concepts and sketched out the way I wanted the channel to look, from this point we would discuss the sketches before developing in illustrator. Often from these discussions I found that we would justified our reasons for why we were creating this certain type of visual identity and develop the original ideas further. This was an extremely effective way of working as the reasons for my design were being enforced. Adding to this I developed confidence to use illustrator and towards the end I helped Oliver with certain graphics. This working relationship lead to further positive effects when thinking of generating content material as at this stage I had tried to film at the Concord Centre only to have the filming day cancelled by the youth centre. Even though Carl and I had agreed that I could film another time when I tried to contact Carl concerning another date he would not pick up his phone or emails. I tried to arrange filming with the other contacts gained however the logistics were not possible so Oliver provided a contact which lead me to film about ethical fashion in Oxford Street. I found the filming process difficult as my directions were continually being questioned by Oliver. I have learnt I need to be more forceful and insist on my opinions otherwise you lack respect and credibility.
Working with Patrick Allen could have been better, however I found the process of getting people to work together and scheduling frustrating, for instance if one person let you down it would affect the whole working process with other key members. For instance I found my self-waiting on Oliver for a file which Patrick needed, this effectively slowed Patrick and myself down.
Adding to by collaborations with undergrad students I was luck to gain a contact with an industry standard animator who is looking to develop the product. For my formative assessment he generated a sting, which promoted the Be real tv brand.
Reflecting back on the business module I found the guest lectures interesting to meet and exchange views on. Adding to this the process of generating marketing material and analysising a current business was stimulating and has given me ideas for the future.
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