Evaluation
Abercrombie Housing Association
My
project consisted of the rebrand of Abercrombie Housing Association (AHA). It
included designing the corporate identity, stationery set (letterhead,
compliment slip and business card), sitemap and website visuals and a branded
item for a promotional or fundraising activity. The corporate identity I
produced reflects the ethos of the company, using a simple and visible style
with two colours: brown – which suggests security, stability and support; and
grey-blue – which has a similar meaning - security, reliability, integrity, responsibility
and care. I think the graphic style and level is appropriate for my target
audience – as well for the service-users, their families and the professionals
who work with them as for the decision-makers and funders. For the stationery
set I used an ivory colour paper that brings the colours out form the logo. I
chose to make key rings as the branded item because it has a symbolic meaning.
The
planning stage of the project went really well. The time schedule worked well too,
and I posted every finished stage to my blog. After the research and sketching,
the hardest part for me this time was to decide which logo I would take on. That
part took me more time than I thought initially. I sketched my ideas first, then
scanned them in and took them to Illustrator. I chose my final logo even before
I scanned the sketches in, but then I tried different varieties and colours and
it made it difficult to choose the ‘one’. Working in Illustrator was the
easiest part; I really enjoyed it because I have experience. I finished the
stationery set quite quickly, but I had to do more research afterwards for the
website visuals. I think that although I did not have a lot of experience in
web design, I produced fairly acceptable visuals.
Looking
back to my work, I think my strengths are in choosing the style, attention to
details and creativity of how to realize the initial idea. The style works well
with the objectives of the company as it is clear that it represents a serious
organisation. On the other hand, my weakness consists of my time management,
because it really affected my performance. As I started a few days later, I had
to work 6 days a week to finish everything in time. However, this time I
counted on difficulties that may occur at the end and did not allow keeping me
from finishing everything in time.
I
have learned really much while doing this project, in terms of using softwares,
working out a good style and organizing myself. One of the most important
aspects I would like to develop in is time management. I have learned that
every little thing takes time and I have to expect to spend more time and
effort with the project than I first count on. On the other hand, I would like
to develop my research skills as it determines which lead I would take. I think
it is very important to know my limits too because sometimes I plan too much
but can do less.
