As the first brief that I have done that I set myself, I really enjoyed the freedom of direction I had with it. One of the main things I learnt was the importance of experimentation when using images and visuals in the branding. I found that I needed to spend a lot of time experimenting with layout, incorporating other imagery and involving the type to pull the whole brand together, as, at times, it was appearing very thrown together without much purpose. I also tried to make more of a point of mocking up the designs in context, as sometimes it resulted in me changing elements of the design for the better, and being able to do this before final print also saved me doing lots of printing with slight changes.
A difficulty I did face was the decision I made to not use any photography for the rebrand, as this resulted in a stark difference in my designs from that of the previous branding. There were some parts at which I struggled to keep this up, but the middle ground I found (scanning in watercolour and ink) was able to compromise the geometric shapes without using actual photographs. I felt that I was able to tie this rebrand in with the previous branding via the colour scheme, which remained black, white and gold, however I feel that using the gold to emphasise different aspects of the brand makes it appear a bit more upmarket than before.
I was pleased with most of the printed materials, however I feel that I should have given more consideration to choosing stock of the box for the bottle, which I printed several times as I was unhappy with the quality of each I tried. Giving this more thought earlier on would have saved me time and money spent on the printing, however, as my first brief this is a mistake that I will remember and benefit from in following briefs.
Given the chance, there are some aspects to this brief I would have done differently, one being that I would have liked to take it further into a campaign. This brief has very much reflected my dissertation, and could have been appropriate as a counterpart for it, and with that in mind I would have been interested in tying this in with a campaign that would draw attention to the unnecessary tricks used in the previous advertising, which sells the lifestyle of fast cars, excessive cash and loose women to teenage boys. In terms of the actual designs I would have liked to spend more time experimenting with colour and with my stock options. However, in spite of this I am pleased with the outcome and I achieved my goal of making the brand seemingly gender neutral.
