M&S Picnic - Evaluation.

During the process of this brief I feel I have improved my collaboration skills by working with another individual. I found that I really had to focus my organisation so that what I was doing was in sync with Beth. I also had to learn to compromise because even though we agreed on nearly everything there was the odd decision that we had differing views on. Because we relied on each other to get certain jobs to done it was very important that it was done on time. I also developed my skills in Illustration as this was a big aspect of the aesthetics. To help this progression a lot of research was done for reference material. Initial hand drawn experiments definitely helped.

The initial research that took place was gathering primary images of current products within the Marks and Spencer’s store so that we could have a strong idea of the aesthetic they are known for. I found this really helpful and we found that the illustrative approach really appealed to us and would link with our chosen theme. In regards to the theme we also had to investigate into food and design aspects associated with Scotland. We also looked into current picnic designs and general food packaging this was helpful in terms of thinking of interesting and relevant formats. Finally was illustrative research, this was extremely beneficial as our final style was strongly inspired by the examples we had found.

I think a strength for this brief would be the illustrative scene and how all the products fit together to create a composition. The logistics was quite hard to arrange but I am glad we persevered as I feel it really paid off and created and exciting and interactive format for the audience. I am pleased how the packaging works as a stand alone design as well as a whole scene. Another strength would be the overall style of the design. I am glad we didn’t go down the route of traditional Scottish aesthetics such as tartan and blue and white as the bright tones and contemporary illustration gives an up to date appearance.

I think some weaknesses within this brief was that the we could have incorporated more M&S branding such as a logo or specific copy, however I don’t feel this is a major problem as these could be added.