Goji Booket Evaluation

Jamie Mellors

This is how I would structure my email to potential client.

Finding a Client

My initial instinct when looking for a client was to find something I am interested in. I followed this up by looking for small, local bike shops in York. I enquired with a few shops including “Your Bike Shed”, “The Bike Rescue Centre” but I finally got he most interaction with the “Get Cycling” project in york. I spoke to the head of volunteering on the phone, there was several emails back and forth to no end. I also emailed the Railway Museum, The Press and The local Radio as I thought it would be able to offer something more than the usual shop/restaurant client.

In the email that I sent out I described the types of work that was most suited to my skill set. I felt graphic design/page layout was my strong suit although I also offered a service in photography.

After the period of time up until the point that production was due to being I was still without a client. I was able to make use of a pre-existing offer that had been issued by the owner of a vegan restaurant in York. The restaurant's name is Goji and the task set is a small booklet that is made up of “witty quips” that the chef who works there had come up with.

First contact with the client

Following on from this initial interaction with the client I organised to have a meeting to discuss what they wanted from the project. Certain information was lacking in the brief that I needed to know. Such as what the booklet will be used for once completed and specific typeface ideas.

Meeting with the ClientI met with the client at the restaurant…We discussed in detail how the general appearance of the booklet would look. We agreed that it was important to project a very casual and informal feeling to the customer. From a selection of fonts that is had brought as a demonstration Wendy selected a one that took her fancy. I have implemented this font on the front cover. We also covered the backgrounds an layout of the booklet. I suggested a wood texture as a background which she agreed was a good idea. She was very keen for there to be graphics and accompanying visuals to bring the quote to life. This set up seamed appropriate to have one quote per page to allow a high level of attention to be paid to the construction of the page and the quote. The booklet would be 6-7 pages long a come in multiple releases (in theory) I have created the PT.1 version of the booklet within college time. Wendy also said that she would like to background information and contact the the booklet and who mark is. Therefore on the back of the booklet I have included a space for small paragraph about Mark, we agreed that Wendy would email me this block of text. To connect the booklet to the restaurant I offered to include to Goji logo on the back page.

As Wendy and Mark suggested in our meeting I found some pictures of Mark skiing on his FaceBook profile. There image selection was very limited the one below was in the best quality (in terms of noise, lighting and resolution) and was the most appropriate. Using Photoshop I was able to adjust the image to a reasonable quality that also fits with Wendy’s description of the booklet.

I found a wood texture background on a copyright free website. It is very important that the image is copyright free as one that is not can be faced with legal action. It was also discussed in the meeting if the wood textured background idea lined up with Wendy’s idea of the booklet, she described how she would like it to appear and I chose an appropriate design.

I sent this front cover to Wendy for her to have an idea of how the booklet was shaping up. It also gave her the opportunity to determine if anything needed to be changed/heading in the wrong direction.

Wendy was particularly keen in our meeting to include various graphics in my work. This is showing the production of one of the elements of the first page. The components come together to create a full page. By using this method I was able to fully avoid any risk of copyright infringement. It also meant that the booklet could be completely original and unique.

This page shows the progression of creating the graphics used in the booklet. This specific one has been made using only the shape tool. Making the graphics myself ensures that no copyright infringement occurs. In the meeting Wendy was keen to get the point across that some illustrations should be included

On the left is a page completed with the text suggested by the client. I felt the text did not offer enough manipulation and therefore was difficult to stylise to fit the quote and the graphic. My proposed alternative is on the right. By using this typeface I could enlarge and adjust the ratios and boldness of words. This typeface was bolder as well which allowed the text to be clearer and standout more on the background. I had the idea to use a drop shadow behind the text to give the impression that the text is sitting on the background.

I began production without a digital copy of the goji logo. I found one online while I waited to receive a digital copy from the client. Wendy sent the logo through allowing me to include the official and high resolution version.

This back page is a template currently. I am waiting on a reply from Wendy regarding some more images to include and a small block of text about Mark. As we left it she was going to send through a small description about who Mark is and what he does. I have reused the same polaroid photo on every page where a picture is included this is only get a feel for the page layout. Without any further images being sent through for the client I might be forced to leave the booklet unfinished. For several weeks I have not had any replies from the client.

Wendy said she wanted the font to really match up with the illustrations. I have chosen a highly adaptable font that can change in size, thickness and other alternatives such as boldness, distance between lines. The font is highly adaptable which is well suited to the challenge set. The word “camouflage” is a good example of how the font can mirror the content of the word, sentence and illustration.

Copyright The content of the booklet is existing because of the quotes that have been said by Mark, the chef. This means that we will not infringe copyright laws in this area of the booklet as it is work that has come internally from the project. The area this is most likely to breach copyright law is through the graphics that I have used. I have made the graphics through combinations of shapes that I have put together and real objects that I have rotoscoped. For example the graphic of the lemon being squeezed is an image taken from Google. However I have been careful to edit and adjust the image enough that it is no longer the work of the person who took the picture. All that remains is the shape from the original picture. I also take care when choosing images I use to ensure that they have not been specifically listed for non-professional use. This is something I must look out for when finding and downloading fonts online. Da Font is the go to website for fonts. Fortunately a font will say if it is or is not available for professional use. I was careful to check this before showcasing them to my client (Wendy). I gathered a list of fonts based on her description in the brief. She said that she liked one of them as would like it including, this font is called “Luna” which was listed for professional use. This font appears on the front cover. The font in the rest of the booklet is not taken from the internet. I used the font named, “Cooper Std” which comes preinstalled with photoshop.