OUGD503 Responsive: Design Process 2: Venue Hair Company (Appointment card development)

I have been asked by my hairdresser to design appointment cards for them to give to their clients. The ones that they have at the moment don't really fit in well with the colour scheme of their salon as they have recently had it refurbished. At the moment I haven't really been given exact details as to what they would like, however I have a rough idea. 

Venue also want me to organise for the business cards to be printed. I am looking forward to organising this for them, as it will allow me to gain more experience with dealing with the printer. At the moment I think I will be using Flexipress who I dealt with before I started college when I worked for Pandora's Box, mainly because I know that they are reasonable and reliable.

I first of all wanted to experiment with the logo. At the moment they have one but they aren't bothered about applying the same one to their appointment cards, which means that I can try and develop something new. 

Below is their existing appointment card design. I personally think the colours aren't strongly representative of the salon at the moment. So I am looking forward to almost re branding the salon for them.

Below are some of my initial ideas. I have used lilac/grey and purple because these are the same colours which have been used in the salon. I also drew some scissors and want to try and incorporate them into the logo as subtly as possible.

I have also experimented with the back of the appointment card as well. I quite like the idea of repeating the scissors and placing them in the corner. 

I have been dealing with Charlotte, one of the hairdressers at the salon, and she is very quick at replying to me which is helpful. She has been able to show Donna, who is in charge, all of the design ideas and this will enable me to then have a better understanding of what they want.

I have been fortunate enough to be able to organise a small meeting with Donna to discuss some of the ideas. I presented them via email and so when I visited the salon she was able to run through the ones she liked on her iPad. Interestingly, she chose the designs which I also preferred which made it easier for me. She also mentioned how she wanted the back of the appointment card to be reusable.

This is the final design which my client is extremely happy with. I altered the back so that it was separating into a grid format, as I felt this was necessary. My client is really looking forward for these cards to be printed now, as she is in desperate need of them!

I decided to contact Flexipress who I have previously dealt with, as they are local and reliable. I sent them an email asking for a quote for various amounts of different print outs. 

I received a response within a couple of days and was really please with the quote they gave to me. I got in touch with the salon and they were happy for me to get it printed, so I got it all sorted for them. 

Evaluation

As this was another piece of commissioned work, I found it extremely rewarding when I had completed it all. I am going to keep in contact with Venue in hope that they ask me to do more work for them in the future. I know that they are wanting to sort out a website, so when  I feel more confident designing websites, this is something I am going to try and do for them.

Thankfully, as an indirect outcome of this brief, I have been fortunate enough to gain a three month paid placement over the Summer period with a packaging designer, and have also been offered a job when I graduate. This all came from Donna putting me in touch with the packaging designer, who I showed my work to. I am so pleased that this has happened and I am so excited to start work already. I feel as though I have gained a lot of skills during this brief and look forward to what the future holds!