I did write an entire blog showcasing the canteen display but I felt like I should write an entire blog explaining it as I felt like it was needed.

I think we needed a call to action. our display was very boring if im honest. Over the years of studying graphics I have learnt a lot and within project X I have especially learnt how to attract the audiences attention and I just felt like ours was missing it. The layout of the canteen was very cramped so it almost looked like everyones work was connected and it should of been like when we created in in first year. I feel like our group had nothing hanging up on walls and mixed in with everyone else’s. no one wanted to really play the game as they didn’t see the purpose. I think if we had a banner or something to draw in the audiences attention the entire message and feedback would of worked so much better.

I found group work this year extremely hard due to the lack of listening within my group. With project X I was extremely stressed due to the hand in of my dissertation and I felt the timing wasn’t amazing. Due to this my group didn’t really communicate with me and therefore I never really knew what was happening unless I asked. Due to their being another BA in the group I felt like no one actually listened to me but did listen to them therefore I stepped back. I did turn up most of the lessons, but when I did my group would be off doing something without communicating where they were and when I did ask them what’s going I hardly got filled in with anything therefore I grew a lot of frustration. I got told by my group not to worry about coming in early for the exhibition but then I almost got stabbed in the back as they turned it around as if I wasn’t actually bothering to turn up which wasn’t the case. When it came to sorting out who was doing what in the canteen I got told not to bother coming in until after my dissertation was handed it and I thought my group had understood that considering it was Tomas’ idea… we agreed as a group sam would be first then hand his dissertation in Tomas would take over then me an then Jacob. But when I turned up no one even let me sit there and I then gave up with trying. I had to then leave early due to my car not working therefore I couldn’t stay and needed Jacks help. I had tried emailing back and forth and I will demonstrate that – no one told me the final outcome and I had to work alone to create the cards and was my decision to even create them. I think overall the lack of communication was awful and more like a one person group. I feel like if they had made more of an effort our design could off been amazing. I am angry because my group turned it around like I didn’t bother but I actually did and as tutors know I always try my best and felt like I was let down on this occasion – as no group chat was made just back and forth emails without people actually answering me – and I had to bug for ages to get the finals and send mine.

FINAL DESIGNS:

With the final display, I created the icons where all I did was create a hexagon and put the different numbers within – this was then part of the game process that featured in the canteen along side that I also created the cards for people to take away with them.

Final cards: made by me and the logo by tom.

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Final hospital layout:

The day of dissertation hand in we also had to be in the canteen showcasing this work so it was a stressful day for BA and some younger years did not appreciate that. As a group we worked out timings, they told me as a group to turn up after my dissertation hand in therefore was not my fault if I was late as I followed group rules which I felt then turned on me for following their orders.

When I turned up the exhibition was already up, in comparison to other years the displays did not look appealing it almost looked a bit rushed. But as a group we tried to get people engaged which is a challenge within a college.

Images of the display in the canteen.

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Conclusion of the design:

The design worked well overall but personally it could of been better – it was not captivating when it was displayed in the canteen It did not stand out well at all and did not engage people we had no posters which I did suggest and people could easily walk pass it and not give out any attention. The design was clean and worked well and was a development of our game, but did it educate people? i’m not to sure it did.

My group never actually gave me the feedback we got from the group therefore cannot evaluate that but know majority of them was filled out by members of the class, and one did mention it was not that engaging.

A couple of weeks before the canteen display we designed our first set of outcomes and this then we would show case this to rest of the class to develop the idea further in time for the canteen project. I was extremely ill over the beginning of project X, I had to visit doctors with an awful chest infection therefore did not come in for I believe one day but I kept contacting my group where I did not get a reply therefore did not leave anyone in the loop. We all kind of knew the aim and the outcomes but I did participate to the bets I could considering the circumstances I was facing. We all sort of had alighted tasks to complete this outcome and that is what happened.

Jacob created the outline and the map for the hospital with names of the rooms and another one with no rooms on therefore people could stick the right ones on, a this would be the main focal point for the design. Sam created the small icons that people would stick on, and then when I returned from being ill I sat them all down and worked out a plan in order of what I had to to do next. I personally did not think this design was amazing and could be developed a lot due to the dark dull colours used.

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Sams icon

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We had no title or branding for the entire display therefore I suggested we create a title which could conclude everything together and I suggested that tom created that and he created the phrase named ‘the visit’ from this title I would use this to create ‘did you know cards’. When tom had created the logo I asked him to send them over to me and then I thought of how I could incoporate this within the cards. I thought about the cards as I personally think that are people actually learning from this display and creating something educational therefore thought it would be a great little additions. The actual purpose was for these to be double sided and to be printed landscape a5 so people could take them way but these actions did not fall through due to group decisions.

Logo: This is the logo I got sent and I love it think its a really good logo simple and effective. I got told to use the middle on for the cards as the front and that what I did.

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I asked what type face was used on this title therefore I could use this for the type within the cards. When we did project X the first year the main issue was consistency within the design and this was a big down fall with ours, therefore for this project I knew I wanted to make sure that we was consistent throughout.

The type faced used within the title was avenir bold and then I used light within the cards.

The card design:

Front of card:

I got told to use a certain logo for the front of the cards which I did, however I also added the small icon as I felt like this was necessary for the front of the card to link with all aspects within the design and to show consistency. I made sure the logo was centre and this would be the same on all the cards.

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The back of the cards:

The purpose of the back of the cards was anything to do with the wait time, the hospital on general and the A&E procedures.

Facts used: (taken from a variety of websites)

• the maximum waiting time for non-urgent consultant-led treatments is 18 weeks from the day of your appointment is booked through the NHS e-Referral service
• The NHS in England employs 1.5 millions people. It is the country’s biggest employer and one of the largest employer globally.
• Waiting times may vary between hospitals, and you should consider this when choosing a hospital.
• There are 137 NHS trust in England proving type 1 A&E department services in England.
• Since 2015 at least 112 Emergency consultants and 171 trainees have left the UK to work oversea/
• An A&E department deals with genuine life-threatening emergencies such as loss of consciousness, chest pain, and concussion.

These facts are general knowledge about NHS and A and E and some linking to wait times and hospitals in general.

The final card designs: (before editing)

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Before we presented this to the class this is what I thought the final outcome would be however this altered. The only thing that changed within the design for the cards was some typos and other than that it was all ok but the purpose of the design changed.

CHANGES:

We also altered the perspective of our hospital layout and made it clearer for people to understand – for a while some one in our group became very bossy and was making up rules for the design but the fact was they didn’t work, so we all suggested simple works better.

Project X is something that happens every year where we work each year in groups to conduct a final outcome for design for good and benefitting an issue thats surrounding the world today. Instead of writing loads of blogs dedicated towards this decided to write a blog on the journey then a separate one on the design process.

This year as a collective we decided to go towards the NHS as our chosen topic to pursue as a group. At first we had to create a game which would replica the topic we was going to use within the display within the canteen in a few weeks.

The first thing we did was write down a bunch of aspects that we felt were important within the NHS, Within the group we had to dedicate aspects we felt were important to the a and e and the NHS as a hole. We concluded as a group waiting time. then we just went of and found as much information as we could for waiting time and patient information that was needed to inform the public with the NHS and the A and E service.

Creating a game:

Within our group we wanted to create something for the display and the game to do with patient waiting – therefore came the idea of the ‘waiting game.’ the purpose of this game was for people to follow the instructions then this would follow through the game. Our game consisted of a plan of a hospital where each square relates to a hospital room therefore show casing a floor plan of what a general hospital looks like.

To make the game interesting for the audience we decided to go for a blue background sheet of paper therefore this would stand out and not come across boring to the audience. The purpose of this game was to use the colour tokens and move around the board using the spinner, when you landed on a room you either picked up a green card or a white card portraying a bunch of information about the game.

Feed back from the game:

As a team we actually worked together well and each did different parts of the game to make it come together one member wasn’t there therefore it was harder with three but we managed as we each took on important roles within the design process. I had to create the cards, the tokens and together we worked out the purpose of the game.

When we went round and we then got our feed back, people found it too confusing. Which is fair enough, I think through the game we lost he purpose a little bit but from this happening we knew what we needed to change in order to complete the designs for the final display.

project X is all about designing for good and being a social designer leading onto the idea of system thinking. I want to become a designer that’s all about design for good, meaning that I design work to help people, and change the world not just a pretty poster or a Mac monkey, design is more than that and some people do not understand that. With graphic design we can help the planet through our designs and through both the projects NHS and creative conscious I thought about ways we could do that.

How to save the planet through graphic design?

Graphic design is about making awareness and promoting or advertising aspects. It sometimes can have. negative impact, as companies portray the false interpretation of things. However, the purpose of design for good is designing for a positive impact and actually creating a final outcome that changes the world and goes against the norm, otherwise you are just adding to the issues already out there and not actually changing it. What I love about graphic design, is its your chance to add your own twist onto design and actually make a difference in the world. An example for design for good, is making people aware of bad situations in the world being homelessness, nHS issues etc, and changing it to make a difference and put an impact into society where it can actually make a difference. A lot of graphic designers are just Mac monkeys and do not plan their designs in order to create something that could be a design for good and its something I cherish from learning through my university days at the uni of Kent.

defintion: Design for Good is an ethos to use problem-solving and design thinking towards social change. … Design for Good sustains designers playing a catalytic role through community projects that create positive social impact.

For me, every project I make sure I think for designing for the good, making issues and awareness of issues that the world faces and using my skills and love to make a difference, its almost like your saving people in your own little way. I love it!

Examples of design for good: pROJECTS I HAVE DONE

throughout my graphic design journey, I have cerated a variety of designs that fit into the category of designing for good. When I was in level 3 this was not the case it was the final project of something ‘pretty’ when starting HND only then did I think and Strat to consider design for good and the development my work took since achieving that.

Within HND2 and BA I created a lot of work based on design for good. Such as…

• Homelessness campaign – This was a campaign and a comply I created to prevent the increase in teenage homelessness.
• Poverty UK – Making awareness for family poverty in the uK with personal stories and the ways in the UK can begin to help to decrease poverty for families.
• LFB – Currently making a project to make awareness of the daily life of fire fighters in London for schools to promote their daily live and what it takes to be a fire fighter.

All these have in common are making awareness of a subject and coming up with a solution to fix it and this is the best thing about graphic design! Making a difference not just a pretty poster! (and this is the most cherish thing I have learnt within my years of studying)

System thinking:

defintion: Systems thinking is an approach to understand, design, systemize the flow of value from various aspects of the organization across the value chain to ensure synchronicity, consistency, integration, and maximization between people, activities, processes, policies, places and resources

HOW I PLAN TO DESIGN FOR GOOD WITHIN THIS PROJECT AND FURTHER PROJECTS:

As the years have gone on within graphic design the man thing I have gained so much knowledge on has been designing for good and making designs benefit for people instead of adding to the issues. Therefore with the NHS project I thought the entire way through how I could potentially benefit people and design for the best which I did feel some people did not understand. When thinking as a group we had to think of ways to make designs better and the system better and fix issues surrounding the NHS.