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My name is Lucy and I am currently in year 10 and studying at Ely College. I study both Media and Art and Design, as my option subjects as well as my core subjects. As graphic design is a common ground between Fine Arts and Media studies it has recently drawn my attention.

When looking for a work experience placement, I was particularly interested in finding a placement which would allow me to explore graphic design. When researching Infiniti Graphics I enjoyed looking through their portfolio and their colorful and imaginative designs instantly stuck out to me.

When receiving my placement I was excited to be given the opportunity to work at Infiniti graphics for a week.

When I first arrived I was excited to get stuck in, but first Luke showed me around and got me set up on the computer.

My main task throughout the week was to work on a live client brief which involved creating a new and exciting logo design for Re-Imagine Resource Centre, a small local community driven project that collects reusable materials from businesses which the local community can then use. By doing some research and from reading their design brief I was able to gain a clear idea of what Re-Imagine’s brand identity was. There key motives are to reduce waste and to create a community space in which creativity is encouraged.

Luke first went through there design brief with me and also showed me his initial draft for the logo design, to gain the best experience of what it is like starting a project completely from scratch, I decided to refrain from taking ideas from the draft for the logo design that Luke had already come up with.

I started by taking a quick trip to Pinterest, where I was able to collect some key secondary images based on some key words I picked out from the design brief as well as Re-Imagine’s Facebook page. With these images I was able to create a mood board on Illustrator, which contained some key words and images along with some colour palettes which I was looking at using.

When designing the logo I wanted to hold in mind some key elements which resonated with the resource centre. I created the logo in a circular format, to connote the earth - which creates a clear link to the fact that Re-Imagine is centered around being environmentally friendly and reducing waste which has a big effect on the earth. I also wanted to create a more clear link to nature and the environment so I drew out some daffodils which could be used as a border to contain the main elements of the logo.

I then moved on to web design, where Rian and I worked on the design and layout of a company's new website, which is still in its draft stages. We were tasked with tidying up different aspects of the website, one element which stuck out to me in particular was the below.

As you can see there were spacing issues between the days and the opening times, this occurred because of a restricted border around the text. Due to the boarder around the text we weren't able to just place a space in between the time and the day. To overcome this we decided that we would have to place a hyphen where we wanted the space to be, however we didn't want the hyphen to be visible. So by making the hyphen into a hyperlink (which if pressed accidentally would just take the viewer to the top of the page) and making the link colour the same as the background - we were able to create the illusion of a space between the time and day.  

I learnt that when designing a website there are lots of small problems that are very hard to overcome due to other restraints or coding within the website, and to overcome them you have to think creatively and outside the box to find a suitable solution.

On my second day I met Greg, and we sat down and worked on multiple tasks throughout the day. Our main task for the morning was to make some changes to some posters. We worked in Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign to make some small changes to the posters; including adding in more information and rearranging the posters layout to fit this information on in the best way possible.

After lunch we then moved onto looking at another client's website. We spent most of our time trying to fix the images on the website. At the top of each page we decided to place a large image behind the title and text. However, when we added the green overlay we discovered that the image was too light and the title and text became unreadable. To fix this we need to make the top of the image darker so the text showed up clearer.

To solve this we took the image into Photoshop. Greg then taught me two ways to place a dark gradient over the image. We decided that using Photoshop gradient tool would be the most efficient way to fix this. Once we had played around with the transparency of the overlay, we then saved the image and uploaded it in the space on the website. This allowed the text to stand out from the image and become readable.

I then moved back into working on my logo design for Re-imagine. I decided that it would be easier to draw out the flowers on paper and then scan the drawing into Illustrator, and use the image trace tool to change the drawing into a vector. I was then able to move and resize the flowers to fit around the main elements of the logo.

I then used the image trace tool again to create my own version of the recycling symbol from an image from Pinterest.

Through research into the resource centre I came up with the slogan “Reduce, Reuse, Re-Imagine” which I could then incorporate into the logo. I decided to place the words Reduce and Reuse at the top and bottom of the logo to emphasise the circular design.

I then found some watercolour vectors on freepik.com , to place behind each flower to make them stand out but to also add some more colour to the logo overall.

Originally I used the eyedrop tool on Photoshop to take the colours from the vectors - to then use in the text. I split the colors up through the text so it didn't look too uniformed, this helped to reflect the creative and imaginative side of the business. 

After choosing the vectors and the colours I placed all the elements together to create the finished logo, although I did end up making some small changes the next day.

On wednesday morning Greg and I carried on going through the website and making some more minor changes to the layout. We replaced some of the images and sorted out the borders and padding between the images and the other content.

After this I went and helped Rian set up a Google Ads campaign. I learnt about how a campaign works and is set up along with what makes the ads show in Google. After setting up the campaign we then moved onto the landing pages which the ad’s link to, we made some alterations sent over by the client. These included some text changes and edits to the contact form. 

I then moved back into working on the Re-Imagine logo, to see how the logo would work in another format I decided to make a mockup of a potential business card. I started by looking on freepik for a background which fitted with the theme of the logo. Once I found a background which fitted with the arty and creative side of the business, I downloaded it and brought it into Illustrator.

I decided to swap around the colours of the background, I also deleted some of the small dots so the logo would fit better on top. This involved repainting some areas of the business card.

I then placed the logo on top of the background, and cented it. I decided that I didn't like the way the watercolor vectors looked when placed on top of the background, so I removed them from the logo design.

However when the logo is on a white background it doesn't look right, so I ended up creating two versions of the logo. One for use on white paper and the other for use when being placed on top of a background.

Once the logo was placed on top of the background I realised that the colour which I used for the text ‘re-imagine’ didnt look correct, so I then changed the colours to match the colours used in the background of the business card.

I then moved onto the back of the business card. I created some simple shapes which came together to create the background of the key information I wanted on the business card. After this I went and looked in Re-Imagine’s website and Facebook page to find some key information such as their phone number and address.

I then found some simple navy blue vectors of icons, like the Facebook symbol, which I then used to illustrate what the details were for. Once aligning and grouping the symbols and the info together and placing them in the correct place I added a short paragraph about what the resource centre does at the top, and a friendly call to action at the bottom to complete the design.

I have really enjoyed my week at Infiniti Graphics. I really enjoyed working on my own logo design as I was able to express my creativity in a new way. I also enjoyed learning more about website design as well.

I feel I have learnt lots whilst on my placement, and also got a small insight into the graphic design industry and how it all works. I hope I am able to take the skills I have learnt this week and use them in the future, especially when moving into sixth form.