I found the the first few weeks of the semester quite overwhelming as we had to conduct research about banks, and come up with the name of our brand and it’s values. Initially, I didn’t understand why we had to do this, if anything, I thought it was an unnecessary task that didn’t need much attention I just wanted to jump straight into the visual aspects of the brand and come up with the name and the values later on. However, after 12 weeks I have a totally different attitude about why we did it in this particular order. This information helped me shape my brand and and helped me greatly when I started to design the visual aspects of the brand. You can’t design a brand with no information and supporting research behind it, as you can’t find any design inspiration if you can’t get the sense of the brand.

I found designing the visual elements of my brand quite challenging as I found it difficult to come up with a wordmark and logo as a lot of thought and time was required in order to come up with a good design. The selection of fonts and colour scheme was a laborious task, but crucial in setting the tone of my brand. The brand application process was the most challenging due to technical difficulties. However, seeing my branding applied to products provided valuable insight into how my brand appeared to the outside world, which I found exciting. Lastly, creating a brand guidelines document was another lengthy task, that I found challenging. I found coming up with the appropriate wording for the document quite challenging as it’s not something I’ve done before and I didn’t know how to balance a professional yet friendly tone. Despite all of these challenges I faced, I’m glad I faced them as I’ve learnt a lot and I’m a better designer because of it.

Much to my surprise, the app design process was my favourite part of the project. I felt that was the moment when I felt like I seen my brand come together. This surprises me as I thought I’d enjoy creating the brands visual identity more, rather than digital products. However, I found building the layout of the app incredibly satisfying as I got to see the product working. As well as this from my research, and the information I received from my survey, I tried my best to address their preferences and solve their reported issues. Designing the landing page was another aspect I enjoyed, as it was a slightly different task compared to the others as it was advertising my product. Both of these tasks were a pleasant surprise to me

Looking back, I can see areas in myself that I need to improve on. One of these things is my time management and how I need to balance committing an equal amount of time to researching and designing. I spent my time focusing on the design aspect of the branding and not enough time on research. As I mentioned earlier, I didn’t see the importance of good research and how it can effect your design decisions. This something I hope to improve on for next semester. As well as this, I need to learn how to use Photoshop as I think it’s a valuable skill I need to learn, and I intend to learn how to use it over Summer.

Initially, I wasn’t overly excited to design a banking brand as it’s not something I’m particularly interested in or know much about. However, after 12 weeks I can see that we were challenged to find the excitement in something that’s boring, which is something I find fascinating and will try to implement in more ‘boring’ projects in the future.

Overall, I found this module fascinating, and it exceeded my expectations. I have gained valuable skills and a comprehensive understanding of how to approach a branding project, something I'm eager to apply in my design career. I’m happy with how far I’ve come, I think I’m definitely a better designer now compared to when I started.