Writing my negotiated project learning agreement

Writing my negotiated project learning agreement

I've finished writing up my proposed learning agreement, explaining what I'm planning to do for this term's brief, what my ideas are, what my sources of research will be and how I'm planning to create the products I'll be designing for my project.

I've explained my ideas and what I hope to achieve in my synopsis of study, as shown below:

Synopsis of study

For my negotiated project, I will be aiming to design an overall look and aesthetic for a fictional cafe/patisserie that mainly sells cakes, ice cream, baked goods and other dessert based food. This will include interior lay out, wall paper prints, cafe logo, designs for in house coffee cups and mugs, employee t shirt designs, self advertisement posters and flyers, menus, in store prints and also promotional mascot designs.

Stores that specialise in selling cakes and other similar food products have become popular over the recent years, after the surge in popularity of things such as cupcakes, specifically fancy cupcakes that have been creatively decorated with large amounts of butter cream icing, sprinkles or wafer flowers to 'look cute'.

I decided on this idea after thinking over what different kinds of businesses could hire a free lance illustrator to create art work for their shops, projects and businesses, either for promotion purposes or for display purposes to create an individual 'in house art style'. I thought creating images and print designs for a small cafe would be a great challenge for me and also a chance to develop my creative skills. Designing something for a client who is based in a retail or catering business is something I've always been interested in trying and I believe this project which I've devised for myself will be a great way to gain some experience in product design.

All the art work I'll create for this project will be digitally drawn and will be coloured with a sugary, pastel colour palette to reflect and represent the cafe/patisserie's 'sweet' aesthetic. Most modern day cafes or patisseries that specialize in selling mainly cakes and dessert based food like to use soft colours, usually sugar pink, to reflect their 'sweet' products. They also like to decorate the interior of their store in a 'vintage retro' fashion, using light coloured floral wall paper and found 'shabby chic' furniture to give their shop a kitsch but welcoming and homey feel. The Japanese alternative to shabby chic is the term ‘Wabi-Sabi’, which means ‘finding beauty in the imperfect’, which I’ll also be integrating into my artwork.

I will be adapting the quirky vintage style into my overall design aesthetic for my project but I will also be using some Japanese Fairy Kei and Decora influenced style design in the art work which I'll create. Creatively presented desserts such as fruit parfaits and small cakes that have been made to look like animals are very popular in modern day Japan and I think using these creative dessert ideas along with the pastel colour palettes that I'll be using for this project will result in some unique and eye catching prints and art work. I’ll be aiming my cafe project at both adults and children, preferably people who would like a ‘different and quirky’ cafe experience.

My aims for my negotiated project are as follows:

Aims 

My aim is to create and present a professional collection of digitally drawn art work for a fictional client based in a small cafe that specializes in selling cakes and other dessert based food. This will include an original shop logo, a full interior layout sketch of the cafe, promotional posters and flyers, in house cups/plates/cutlery designs, employee t shirt designs and promotional mascot designs.

Research sources, including books and websites, are as follows:

Research Sources and References

Field/secondary research -

Cafes, restaurants, bakeries, patisseries, ect. that either have an over all unique and interesting visual look in both interior and design aesthetic or that sell food that's presented in a creative way.

Books -

‘Wabi-Sabi: for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers’ by Leonard Koran, a book about the meaning and principles about the Japanese term ‘Wabi’sabi’

‘A zombie ate my cupcake!’ by Lily Vanilli, a spooky cupcake recipe book !

Websites -

‘Ichigoocakeu’, tumblr photography blog that is dedicated to Japanese dessert foods ( http://ichigoocakeu.tumblr.com/ )

‘Lottie McPhee’s’ Cafe in Whitley Bay that sells specialty cakes and pastries (official website : http://www.lottiemcpheescupcakes.com/ ) ( Facebook page : https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lottie-McPhees-speciality-cupcakes/111379192222155?fref=ts )

‘fuckyeahfairykeifashion’ tumblr blog dedicated to fairy kei style fashion ( http://fuckyeahfairykeifashion.tumblr.com/ )

‘Pet Lamb Patisserie’ Small shop in Newcastle market that sells speciality cupcakes (official website : http://www.petlambpatisserie.com/) ( Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Petlambpatisserie?fref=pb&hc_location=profile_browser )

‘@ katherine_sabbeth’ Instagram blog belonging to ‘cake artist’, Katherine Sabbeth ( http://instagram.com/katherine_sabbath )