The document summarizes the final evaluation of marketing materials created for IRN BRU energy drink. It discusses the technical and aesthetic qualities of the work, opportunities for further development, whether the pieces are fit for their purpose, and what areas of planning and development worked well or could be improved. The key pieces created included designs for an IRN BRU can, posters incorporating cartoon characters like Garfield and Winnie the Pooh, and a web banner. Planning stages like mind mapping ideas and testing fonts helped guide the work, but initial ideation and research could have been strengthened. The final products met the purpose of advertising IRN BRU but some pieces may have benefited from more refinement.

1. Final Evaluation
IRN BRU

2. What are the technical qualities of your work?
I have used Photoshop well to create my products for IRN BRU. I used these skills the most
when I was designing my can as I used tools like free transform, rotoscoping, warping, and I
also changed the layer style to make the design look more 3D and realistic when I put it on
the can. I used the warp tool to make the design “bend” around the can so it looks better
fitted to it. Adding different effects to the text and also manipulating the imagery I used on
the designs are other ways in which I developed my ideas. Creating my posters using
Photoshop required less tools but it still tested my knowledge of Photoshop because,
especially in my second poster, there were times when I had to think about how I could
make my way around something and make it look its best. On my second poster I used the
clone stamp tool, which is something I haven’t used properly before. I used this tool to
erase some of Garfield’s teddy so that I could cover the remainders of it with the IRN BRU
can. This worked well with the rotoscoping I did because it looks like Garfield is holding the
can of IRN BRU. As for my web banner I rearranged the layout of my second poster to make
a smaller comic strip. I took screenshots of the parts of the comic strip I wanted and then
placed them onto the template. I was going to change the colours of some of the letters in
the title to blue, so that the title would fit in with the colour scheme of IRN BRU but when I
attempted to change the colour I could not get it to turn blue. This may have been because
of the colour behind the new layer I made.
What are the aesthetic qualities of your work?
Out of all my products I think that my Garfield poster and my second IRN BRU can design
look the best, and they are the two products I used more of my Photoshop skills on, so I
believe that they look more professional than my other products. In all of my products I
have aimed to use the same colour scheme as IRN BRU because this will make it clear which
brand the products are for and will also provide a look which is recognisable to customers
or other people who are familiar with IRN BRU. By using the warp tool and by changing the
layer style on my can design, I have made the can look 3D and this gives you a good idea as
to how this product would look if it was actually made. Giving the can a 3D look also makes
it look professional. I have rotoscoped around the can to make sure the edges are smooth
and to make sure the design fits the shape of the can perfectly. I have used a good quality
image for the background of my design so it doesn’t blur when you zoom in and this also
makes the overall design look better, rather than it be a low quality image and it be
constantly blurred in contrast with the text. I have used quite blocky texts on both of my
can designs which gives a dramatic feel as they are bold and they do stick out more than the
other texts I have used. To add to this I put an effect around the text which made it stand
out more and generally made it easier to read against the background of the design. I used
effects like stroke, drop shadow and outer glow to achieve this. With the Garfield comic
strip that I used I kept all of the main aspects of the original comic, but I adjusted some
parts to make it fit in with the IRN BRU look I was aiming for. Changing the colours of some
things, and adding or erasing pieces of the comic made it suitable to be an IRN BRU poster.

3. Are there opportunities for further development in your work?
I think that a few of my products could use some further development, as
well as the planning I did beforehand. I didn’t have much luck in thinking of
ideas at first but I did come up with few that were all related to cartoons or
Children’s programmes. With my actual products I believe that I could
develop them a little further as some of them are quite simple and are
mainly based off of my original template, which was only meant to be a
draft. I could of tested my Photoshop skills a bit more when I was creating
my Winnie the Pooh poster, or I could of even managed to find a better
image to work with which didn’t have Piglet in it at all. I should of stuck to
my original idea of having Pooh sat eating ‘hunny’, but because I was behind
I was trying to come up with something quickly and I didn’t think about what
would look good and what wouldn’t. My first can design was also very
similar to my first template. I don’t think that this was a good idea because I
could of developed my original idea further and therefore I could have had
the potential to design a better can.
Are your final pieces fit for purpose?
I believe that my final products are fit for purpose because they all advertise
IRN BRU, but I think that some of my products would be better fitted to be
used more than others. For example, I think that my second IRN BRU can
design and my Garfield poster and web banner would do a better job and
are more fit for purpose than my other products. I think this because I have
put more thought and effort into these pieces and I think that they are the
products that actually look the best and would do a good job of advertising
and promoting IRN BRU. My products are fit for purpose because they
clearly show which brand is being advertised and they are also recognisable
because I have used the same colour scheme as IRN BRU and have used bold
text to make sure the audience knows exactly which brand the product is
for. Using bold text also helps the text to stand out and really grab your
attention. I have used this on my second can design. Including IRN BRU in a
well-known comic is what I have done with one of my posters. This is a more
fun and interesting way of advertising IRN BRU, as Garfield is well-known
and some people may have grown up reading the comics so having Garfield
associated with IRN BRU is a different and maybe more risqué way of getting
people to buy IRN BRU.

4. What areas of planning and developing worked well?
When I created a mind map of all the ideas I had come up with I
expanded it quite well and ended up thinking of more ideas while I
was making it. I think the mind map really helped me as before I
was finding it difficult to think of ideas. Although I didn’t use the
majority of my ideas, they were good to have because if I ever was
stuck on what to do next then I could of looked at them and found
inspiration. I also managed to find lots of possible fonts to use on
my products. I chose most of the fonts because they were blocky
and bold and some of them looked quite cartoony, which I thought
would be great for the ideas I had come up with. I did a lot of font
testing which helped me decide which colour and which effect
looked the best and which of the fonts I had chosen looked the
most appropriate for my products. I used the colours orange and
blue and swapped the colours round so that the actual text was
one colour and the stroke was another. I found that the original
colour style of IRN BRU looked the best, with the text being orange
and the stroke being blue. Using the different variations and
experimenting with effects, I eventually found a style that I liked.
The style on the far right is the one which I thought would be more
attractive to the audience since it is already similar to the current
IRN BRU colour style. I also liked the one that is second from the
bottom, but I thought that the larger stroke might be a bit too
bulky so I decided to try something less prominent.
What areas of planning and development could be worked on?
Although my mind map was much more developed, my initial first
ideas didn’t go very far. I found it hard to come up with anything I
could use for my products, so maybe I could of looked up and
researched other energy drinks in more detail, especially looking at
how the design of the can is presented and how they advertised
the energy drink. Also, I could of developed the work I did on the
mood boards, with the colours and pictures I could of used for my
products. I didn’t have many ideas to start with but I could of
added some extra images to my mood board which were similar or
to do with my original idea of using a Snoopy image.

5. What effect did the development stages have on your final
products?
My final products did turn out slightly different to what I
expected. My original ideas didn’t include Garfield, as I was
meant to be using Snoopy, but I couldn’t find any suitable
images to use for my poster. I came across a Garfield comic
and I started scrolling through different ones and eventually I
came to the one that I have actually used for my poster and I
thought it would be perfect for IRN BRU because it includes
batteries and energy, which is something that IRN BRU 32 is
meant to give you. Having quite a few fonts to choose from
that I collected in the development stages meant that I was
able to test them and experiment with lots of different styles
which helped me find one that was ideal for my can design,
but also meant that I had other suitable fonts that I could
use in other areas as well. I used about four of the fonts that
I tested in the development stages in my products, and if I
hadn’t of collected as much as I did then I may of ended up
using the same font in all of my products and that will have
affected the content because not all of the fonts I found
would be suitable for use in a comic strip, and it may have
been slightly boring if I had of used the same font in every
product. I think that making the mind map definitely helped
me to come up with more ideas, even though I didn’t use
them all. I did actually plan on using Pooh Bear in my
products but how the poster turned out was not how I
originally planned it. On my mind map Pooh would be sitting
on a log eating “hunny”, but instead of the pot being full of
honey, it would be full of IRN BRU instead, but I ended up
with an image of him lying in a field. I think the poster still
turned out okay, but I do think that my original idea may
have been better.