Industry-comes-a-calling : FD2

Picture this . . . the editor and course leader from Pre-degree Foundation scurrying around the corridors and receptions of a local 6th form school, but have come to the conclusion no matter what, they can't find any pop-up stands, any literature . . . not even a 'gonk' pen as a freebee to entice pupils at their schools open evening on to the Wigan & Leigh stand (empty space).

If it hadn't been for their wit and 'roll your sleeves up' attitude it may have been a disaster. But as it was the three hours just flew past and as a result the editor met an industry professional, there with his son and the start of a mutually beneficial relationship began.

Cleverly (editorial comment) at the start of the year, the course leader asked FD2 to indicate which of the several pathways through the University of Salford they intended to follow. Graphic communicator, illustrator, advertiser,  new media . . . and then built the first brief for the Design & Production module to include team working.

In groups of three with each student following a different design discipline five design consultancies were formed. Their task was to select a product/company/service and rebrand. The start of that rebrand required a proposal as to why the group had decided to tackle a new look and what they hoped to achieve.

In no particular order the selected projects aim to rebrand Henney's Cider, RyanAir, Bose, The Woodland Trust and a Powerade 6 Pack.

It's essential in the learning process that students put their professional heads on and there is no better way of achieving this than suggesting that their proposal will be inspected by the business and their final solution will be presented to a design practitioner.

Each group submitted their proposal to the editor, and once happy with the content forwarded to the design professional met at the school open evening. Enter Tony Lythgoe.

From the left : Matt, Tom, Chris, Tom, Emily, Emma, Melissa, Jemma, Tony Lythgoe, Danny, Josh, Dec, Adam & Ryan. Missing from the grilling Anthony, Natasha & Josh.

Via a slightly dubious lunch break in a local hostelry, on his return, Tony invited each group to present their ideas and commented upon their proposal asking some very searching questions. With some surprise at his knowledge of their work so far, each of the group discussed their proposal, took into consideration Tony's industry reasoning, on the move forward and to answer questions that some have over looked.

The following day the editor caught up with the groups to gauge their reaction to the previous days presentation. Every one acknowledged the benefit of talking 'shop' with the business.

Time to develop the rebrand further - to make those 'calls', to get tighter as a group - one of the issues Tony identified was in places the glue was a little thin - and as a Team consider all the debated actions.

Tony will be back in mid December to judge the final solution - in the meantime, his 'door' is open should any of the group wish to run further suggestions past him. Brilliant.