Open Garage // Day 3 - Development

Today we made huge leaps forward in terms of developing the concept behind this project range.

Yesterday we had the idea of allowing the drinker to customise their bottle for amusement using stickers. To do this, we had to have a minimum of visual information already on the bottle, but essentially it should act as a blank canvas.

We needed to heavily consider our use of type on the labels and how this would support the tone of the imagery. Exploring a few option, we settled on the stylistic but affordable VAG rounded. The soft, chunky curves fit the thick rounded lines used in our initial illustration

We both experimented with compositions of the characters on the label, referring to our sketches and allowing space for stickers to be applied. 

We found that the huge difference between themes made it hard to connect the two different beers and make them feel like a true range. We decided to strip back the characters to just eyes and use colour to distinguish different drinks. We moved back to paper and started to get much more interesting results:

Even just in producing these mock-ups, we had fun trying to find alternative uses for stickers each of us had designed. A hat could become a beard upside down, and sunglasses could be a mouth. We could see the potential of a product like this to engage consumers and spark conversation. 

We moved on to digitising this to imaging what a blank bottle would look like:

With the concept now fully established and the logistics of the label considered, tomorrow we will start to design each of the components. 

Open Garage // Day 2 - Rapid Idea Generation

The aim of the

In day 1 we gained a really good understanding of the design problem and opportunity, hoping to brand Open Garage as having a geographical connection Cumbria, while embracing interest in craft beers amongst younger drinkers. Today, the focus was on generating as many solutions on paper as possible. We identified the main areas of focus for the day:

1-Names
2-Logo
3-Label
4-Packaging

We began the day with a 5 minute round of brainstorming names for the two beers. We had identified that it was important that the names we chose could easily be extended as the range of beers increases.
Independently we produced lists of suggestions. Many of mine focussed on farming concepts.

After marking the names we liked from each other's list, we did some research into Cumbria and Cumbrian Dialect and found some potential names that we thought could work really well. Calling Rob from Open Garage to run these names past him, we settled on:

Jinny Spinner - This means Daddy Long Legs in Cumbrian dialect.

Fodder Gang - This is a passage for feeding cattle.

Both of these terms will be recognisable to Cumbrians but do not exclude those outside the region. We felt that these both had a playfulness to them that could run through to the graphics and provide a system for naming future beers in the range.

Having decided on the names, we conducted a round of 7 minute 'crazy 8s' to sketch ideas for the Jinny Spinner label. 

While some interesting ideas were proposed, nothing jumped out at us as a definite solution. We decided to come back to this after having a round for the Fodder Gang. This was much more fruitful:

We were drawn towards options that made use of faces or facial features. Exploring this concept in a further round, we started to adopt the separate themes of insects and hiphop and looked at some key features we could extract from these themes to create faces on the bottle.

In discussions off the back of this, we came up with the concept of each face being different as, due to the flexibility provided by the short run, each of the bottles could be hand-labelled with different stickers. Developing this further, we decided to take a different approach and allow drinkers to apply these different elements themselves, adding to the character on the bottle with sticker accessories - similar to children's sticker books. This social activity could work hand-in-hand with a culture of instagraming newly found beers. Different compositions could be uploaded by drinkers and celebrated on the Open Garage website.

Open Garage // Day 1: Investigation

Day 1: Investigation 

The aim of the first day of a design sprint is to really identify the design problem as thoroughly as possible. As Andy has experience with brewing it was important that we clarify the things that we already know in order to put us the same page. Next we identified What I am Looking For (WILF), these were a list of areas of research we need to explore in order to understand the design problem. 

After this was clarified, we made a list of the essential research topics and independently conducted 10 minute sprints on each, sharing our findings and discussing after each round. 

Round 1 - Audience:

hf I looked at the expanding market of ale drinkers and foudn some interesting statistics:There are 1000 breweries in the UKAverage pub stocks 1-2 permanent ales and rotates 3-4 (A potential market for Open Garage)53% of adults have tried real ale50% of pub-goers agree that good cask ale is an important reason for visiting a pubThere are now more female beer enthusiasts as it combines 3 trends:Natural IngredientsBritish Industry More taste variety than lager99% of kegs are aluminiumExporting abroad is a good market for British beers"Thirst for discovery and experience they can introduce their friends to""People are fed up of walking into pubs and seeing stuff they can buy in supermarkets for a premium price. They want something unique." 

Beer Labels:

I found that I was drawn to the more experimental bottle designs - in particular those that used one colour on the brown of the bottle or which used alternatives to the traditional label such as a patch or direct illustration. 

Packaging:

Brewery Websites:

Most of the brewery websites we looked at were extremely 90s and definitely miles behind current web design expectations.  These were some that caught my eye for being above the crowd:

The kernel has an unusually clean aesthetic for a brewery website. This reflects the visual simplicity of the label. However, it is very text heavy and non-responsive. 

Partizan brewery in London make great use of their tumblr page to promote the beer through artwork. 

Camden Hells was one of the most modern and fresh-looking sites I came across, I love the illustrationf of each of the drinks and the smooth dynamic UI which is provided throughout

Brew by numbers have a very simple website, but the clean design makes it somewhat unique in the world of beer. 

Experimental Websites:

We felt it was important to look outside of beer and into great web design in the wider food and drinks markets. We found exceptional examples of strong image-based design combined with cutting-edge HTML5 animation which really made the content pop and engaged the user:

Great use of colour and stripped-back flat graphic animations lead the user through a fun explanation. 

This site uses an incerdible visual scrolling effect which mimics slow-mo cameras. 

This Japanese fruit drink website used two characters to represent the range of drinks and this is something we found to be really fun and inviting. 

This farming website had striking flat graphics and a long parallax single-page site to tell a story. We would look to incorporate the same bright and colourful approach to presenting the brewing process. 

This unusual mcdonals site gives a grid of 100 animations to support the 100 moments campaign. 

Open Garage // Brief + Methodology

Brief 10: Open Garage Brewing Co. Brief 

Collaboration with Andy Foster 

The Brief / background : 

Hoping to start stocking our ale in bars and pubs across Cumbria, we will need to produce the relevant packaging and promotional products needed. 

Providing the beer is well received, products such as tap signs and beer mats will need to be designed.The beer will also require promotion for events such as beer festivals where a banner or sign will be necessary to promote the brand. 

The Open Garage Brewing Co. does not currently have a website. This may be a useful platform for people to find out more about the brewing process and how the different beers are made. 

The craft beers produced by The Open Garage Brewing Co. are usually bottled, so you will need to design the packaging to transport the bottled beer. 

Concept / Proposition 

We will design all of the packaging and promotional products needed to effectively transport and promote the Open Garage Brewing Co. beer. 

The packaging I design will need to be innovative and memorable so that the beer attracts attention which is very important due to the large amount of bottled beer on the market. 

I will also produce a website and leaflet / zine that will contain information about the brewery and how the beers are made. The website will be a very important platform as it will be most people first port of call if they wish to contact the brewery about stocking the beer. 

All of the products I produce will have to work as a set which will help to create a strong brand. I will also try and push the product range am much as possible to provide The Open Garage with all the products needed to help the business succeed. 

Innovative – different to other beer labels

Eye-catching – if it was on a shelf it should stand out and have a presence

Memorable – people remember the brand so next time they come to the event they recall the label and branding

Contemporary – modern, up-to-date, it should reflect the nature of the events 

Deliverables 

Beer bottle packaging

Open Garage banners / promotional products Beer mats & tap signs

Open garage information leaflet

Open garage website 

Methodology: 

We will once again be using a Design Sprint methodology based on the Google Design Sprint and incorporating elements of other sprint and Agile Methodologies. This is my third brief approached using these techniques and I have felt that while I have had a different experience both times, they have been equally efficient design processes, forcing me to develop ideas thoroughly on paper before entering a digital workflow. As we approach the end of the year and time becomes more precious, it is becoming essential to develop more time-efficient ways of working. Collaboration allows us to produce twice as much work in the time-frame and I feel that sprint methodologies give us that time saving again. 

Colours May Vary // Submission Boards

Colours May Vary // Evaluation

I felt that this was a fantastic project, as it really challenged me to learn new skills within a tight deadline. I had very little experience with either vinyl or video before this project and they are definitely processes that I would love to use again as a result. It was great to leave the studio for this project and engage with real people and physically install the work ourselves.  This sparked conversation with those in and outside the shop and allowed us to meet people we never normally would. This ties in with the course ideology that real life is better than graphic design, and being able to work in a public space was exciting and very different to my usual way of working.

We were worried about the outcomes and spent a long portion of the brief on preparation as a result of our inexperience. I have learned through this project that you shouldn't be afraid to take on a challenge as we got more enjoyment from this process than many others this year because we could approach it as amateurs and learn on the job. I found it really gratifying to have work displayed in a public place, and it was great to know that people will be walking past it every day and that it is always promoting us. We tried hard to make sure the documentation of this project was to a really high standard as the photos and video will have a wider visibility than the window will. I was satisfied that, even though the deadline was short, we were able to achieve a lot in the time and managed to exceed the client's expectations.

Colours May Vary // Video Editing

Eve and Greg had kindly documented our installation through film and a timelapse. We used these clips to edit together a behind the scenes video. Neither of us had experience using video editing software but found it to work really similarly to AfterEffects. While we found it simple to cut the video clips and sync them  to the music, we struggled with having Final Cut insert the intro and end graphics and ended up switching to Premier Pro which was much more friendly with the Adobe suite and allowed us to easily create our end credits in After Effects and add them to the video.

Here is the final edit of the video. We were really pleased with the results and the clips that Eve and Greg had captured. It will work really well as promo on our website as it captures a lot of the spirit of the day and the Hungry Sandwich ethos is communicated really strongly through it.