OUGD603 - Abbie Howard - Evaluation

OUGD603 

Abbie Howard

Evaluation

I began this brief back in 2018 when Abbie approached me about creating an EP cover for her. In the beginning, development happened quickly and ideas went back and forth with immediate responses. However, as the project continued deadlines were moved back and communication dropped off. We were mainly communicating using Instagram direct message which was potentially too casual when working with a client. In the future, I will communicate over email as this is more professional.
The deadline got moved back as things weren't going well in the recording studio and the project fell by the wayside. I continued to develop the project and was able to spend much more time on it than I had originally expected. This extra time gave me much more opportunity to experiment and find an aesthetic that would work for Abbie's music and work across several covers. I have tried to create five single covers that are individual and work independently but also come together as a collective. Once the artwork was fully developed it was easy to apply the imagery to other collateral such as t-shirts and posters. 
The project had no budget so the t-shirts and posters could not be mass produced to sell at gigs. All t-shirts and posters created for this brief as examples and prototypes have been funded by myself. This began to add up quite quickly and is something I will not do again in the future. I will always make sure that there is a budget for creating mock-ups/ prototypes. I didn't charge this client as she is a friend from home and I know she is also a student. In hindsight, I should have charged her, even at a discounted rate as the project has been long-running and taken a lot of time. However, from this client, I have received several more DM's from musicians that are friends with Abbie asking if I would be willing to work with them. I will charge these clients for my work and continue to network in this circle to grow my client base. 
Other issues I have faced with this project is not being able to implement the designs across her social media accounts. Mainly Facebook and Instagram. This is not something we discussed, and honestly, not something I really considered. Since the finalising of the design, snippets/teasers have been poster onto Abbie's social media that does not follow the 'brand' of the album covers. For example, colour schemes have not been adhered to and different typefaces have been superimposed over the top of designs. I have had no involvement in this, but I also didn't set any rules for implementing designs on social media. This is something I will consider in the future.