OUGD603 - Extended Practice - Identifying My Audience

In preparation for today's crit, I was required to write a statement about 'who I am as a designer'. This exercise was useful in helping me to articulate and consider my current concerns and interests within my own graphic design practice. I wrote that I am:

'An interdisciplinary designer with broad interests and concerns within the fields of graphic design and visual communication' 

I deliberately made this statement broad, because I don't like to place myself in a box so to speak when defining my practice. I believe that a contemporary graphic designer can have wide ranging skills and concerns and doesn't have to label themselves as being interested in one singular aspect of graphic designer. I almost feel that it is impossible nowadays to conform to a label as graphic design practice continues to expand past its traditional values and roles.

I am confident with my statement and feel that it reflects the creative that I am currently.

Obviously, if I wanted to, I could write a more specific statement about my particular interests within graphic design, but for the time being, I am enjoying being broad.

We also spent a while discussing target audience and its relevance/importance to the briefs we have written for ourselves for Extended Practice. I found it difficult to express a target audience for my work, because I don't like to think of myself as catering towards a very specific group of people. I think graphic design speaks to everyone in one sense or another, and I like to speak to varied groups of people in the work I produce. However, I can see the importance of identifying a target audience for extended practice, as it will ultimately allow the briefs to be more successful.

I have identified my target audience as being between the age of 5 to 50, because throughout Level 06, I know I want to target a range of audiences within this wide age demographic. For example, I know I am going to be undertaking a project targeted at young school children and another brief that will target young adults. I also see myself doing a brief aimed at people 30+.

I found the session very useful in helping me articulate my practice and concerns in a more conscious manner; I feel this is going to be an entegral part of becoming a well rounded designer throughout Level 06.