Studio Brief 4 - Idea 2 outcome & evaluation

These were the mock-ups for idea 2. I liked this this idea because i felt it communicated my message in the most simplistic and contemporary fashion. It was a lot different from my other idea and i wanted a more striped down version. This idea is simple and straight forward, threes no hidden message or concept. What you see is what you get.

I decided to use a contemporary style though out all three posters. Using contemporary colours like bright vivid colours orange, blue and purple. Also using a modern typeface like Helvetica. All three messages are meant to communicate what a student is feeling. 

Three design are below:

After producing mock ups for both ideas and looking at them side to side I've decided not to use this idea and instead stick with my other idea, the David Carson inspired idea. This idea, even though it's modern and simplistic, I felt it wasn't interesting enough as a strong idea. The other idea was attractive and it had a personal touch due to the idea using the style which I'm into at the moment. I would enjoy myself at lot more with idea one and this idea isn't a representation of me as a designer.

Studio Brief 2 - Ideas

All the following designs are mainly focused from Vignellis book. His approaches and rules which informs his Graphic Design practises has been put into place in my initial ideas. Everything from colour, grids, type, layout & even aesthetics like timeless and appropriateness was all considered.

Below are a handful of some ideas.

1. Background will be bright bold colour in order to attract attention. Big bold type, possibly a modern typeface from Vignellis collection of 7. So either Helvetica or Futura. Modern type reflects Vignellis modern approach from the book.

2. Large 'V' and 'C' taking up most of the page. 'V' standing for Vignellis and C for canon. Vignellis most profound technique is using large type across the whole page to enhance effect.

3. The main focus of this idea was to have the Vignellis grid that he uses for books to take main focus. The grid will either be noticeable or subtle. The typeface will be positioned accordingly to the grid system.

4. Similar approach to the previous idea, using the grid & guide lines. However the grid will be broken up. The concept behind the idea would be for your eyes to follow the grid lines, which will eventually lead your eyes to the type at the bottom.

5. Very large type taking up the whole page. Maximising the use of 2 colours with the overlaying blending techniques to achieve more than 2 colours. Background will be vibrant to contrast with the type. However the colours may clash due to the design being extremely loud & busy, something i will need to investigate.

6. Looking more into modern and contemporary design styles, i noticed a lot of books were being designed extremely plain. Taking this on board, this idea reflects whats up and coming in contemporary book design within the Arts and Design categories. Small type above, positioning of the text still maintains a Vignelli approach. Background will be a simple, subtle gradient of white and soft grey to emphasis modern & contemporary aesthetics.

7. Looking at different ways i can approach the layout. Working with landscape orientation instead of just portrait. Working with landscape allows me to add more text and gives me the oppotunity of working within a bigger area to experiment with.

8. The 'V' will be taking up the whole front cover for maximum effect. Stripes inside will filled with different colours. Due to only being able to work with 2 colours. I will work with opacity's and in return this will allow me to have multiple shades of colours.

9. Changing ideas & concepts. As Vignelli died last year i thought it would be a great opportunity to create an memorial ( special edition) book cover. This idea is just simple the date he was born in the style of his work.

10. Same concept as the previous idea. Looking at the grid system, placing the date of birth and the date of his death in accordance to the grid. Type at the bottom will be small to allow the text above more exposure and will allow more white space.

11. Using one of Vignellis most famous work, the redesign of the New York subway. This idea is using the subway lines to direct your eyes towards the title. I can even use the lines to create letters or shapes.

Studio brief 1 - Ideas

1.  Song: Sledgehammer.

Double exposure, messing with 2 images to show a mans head being smashed by a sledgehammer. Linking with on of the scenes from the music video.

2.  Song: Reflections.

Showing reflections through mirrors. Having mirrors repeating over and over, while getting smaller and smaller creating an illusion.

3. Song: reflection.

Simple idea. Silhouettes of The Supreams & Diana Ross heads to subtlety suggest what the song is but also keeping the user guessing.

4. Song: reflection.

Having a lonely rose floating motionlessly along the river, communicating lose hope & heartbreak.

5. Having peter Gabriel standing, while holding 2 bags. However the shadow casting of Peter will produce a penis looking shadow. Therefore still making the link between the song with sexual references.

6. Using some kind of medium to create a river by either using ink, paint, dyes or marbling. The river would connect to reflections, as reflections are made from water and not just mirrors.

7. having clouds in a shape of a penis, Again testing out ideas which uses sexual immaturity and hints.

8.Incorporating the vinyl dish as a part of the reflection, while also looking like the sun at sunset.

9. vinyl in a shape of a boob. Will be illustrator based. Modern & simplistic approach while hinting at at a sexual references.

10. The biggest penises from the animal kingdom. The sledgehammer representing a males penis is the biggest as mostly every guy brags about the size of their penis.

11. Close up of an eye. From far distance the eye could look like the female genital. Playing with someones dirty mind, sums up the song in a nutshell.

Studio Brief 1 - Song choices

Song choices

Below are the 7 choices, all ranges from different decades to different genres. All songs will communicate a different feelings through the lyrics, tempo, rhythm and music video, which will have to be communicated through Graphic Design design.

St. Vincent - Digital Witness

The Rolling Stones - Dead Flowers

Sledge Hammer - Peter Gabriel

The Maccabees - Go

The supreams - Reflections

The Chemical Brothers - Let Forever Be

Underworld - Born Slippy

Studio Brief 4 - Mock-Ups | Idea 1

These are the mock-ups for the poster series for Brief 4. Each poster has a different set of words from my experience in level 4. These sayings are "Always Remember Cop", Don't be stressed" and "Keep blogging". Each poster is in a post-modern/type expression format and is mainly inspired by David Carson.

Always Remember cop - Big title being the main feature on the page. Typeface is Helvetica to show both styles together. Post-modern and modernist styles. Typeface is in red to contrast against the black and white in the background. Also red is used to attract and alert it's presence as red is a very demanding colour. Background layout and text is my own take on how i feel towards cop. Having a to do list is always important for every project but i found it difficult to stick to it with cop, so that's the reason for that section of the design. The two paragraphs of text, which say "nooooooo..." over and over is meant to  represent the essay part of cop. Sitting down to do cop, i kept finding excuses to not do the essay, so the saying "nooo" is like my procrastination side telling me not to do it.

Don't be stressed - This poster is about not being over stressed, no necessarily saying don't be stressed as it's not going to make someone instantly become calm. It's meant to be a tip to not take it to seriously, do your work but you don't need to become over stressed about it. When times are bad i want people to look at this poster and think that they should take it so seriously.

The layout is a contradiction off stress. Even though I'm saying don't be stressed the poster is designed to make you a bit stressed. The poster isn't meant to be a cure for stress, it's a bit of fun that i want to communicate in a post-modern style. The title and colour is the same style to the previous layout. However the words are upside down, therefore you have to spend a little longer working out what it says, making you more stressed. The type setting is a representation of me. Trying to tell some one who is extremely stressed to "don't stress, it will be okay" i sometimes feel like shouting. So the 'y' coming off the 'okay' is meant to communicate over stressed mind.

Keep Blogging - Blogging is hard for everyone at the start, a lot for people in level 4 didn't realise how much we needed to blog, so it's quite universal across level4 that keeping up with blogging is a challenge. What i wanted to show in this design, is how important blogging actually is but also showing the students side to blog. So the mix of academics and students comments mixed together.

In a David Carson typesetting, i started of by communicating that blogging is important and to keep on top of it then interrupts a comments, which says "fuck blogging" but has been crossed out to represent a students not wanting to publicly expresses their opinions to their tutors. Then another set of information saying that blogging is good for your development but if you're struggling then don't be afraid to ask for help.

Studio Brief 4 - Ideas

When coming up with ideas for brief 4. I kept to what i wanted to communicate to next years 1st years. This was to always remember cop, don’t get stressed and to keep on blogging. All designs were informed around this decision.

This idea is based around what feelings come to me when thinking about blogging, cop and being stressed, so in an expressive way with type i came up with how these words would look. Showing movement and character and keeping in mind what we had learned from the alphabet project in our first module.

To keep stress free and staying calm is all about surrounding your self with positive surroundings and people. I tackled this saying by using happy and stress-free design features. Decorative/curly typeface gives the impression of soft, fluid and motionless movement. Also using an info graphic of the sea and a sun setting sun links with the previous statement as the sun setting is mostly connected with meditation and in general a beautiful sight to see. Curly sea is to link in with the type and to communicate all the attributes, which the typeface has.

When i think of blogging, I think of it being a massive effort and something which i have to force myself to do. The type starts of as a normal sans-serif lowercase the starts to slump almost as it's an effort to write or someone beginning to fall asleep. 

Lastly, remember cop. When i hear this phrase, i think of a total brain malfunction, as there were stages that i thought i needed to start cop as time is ticking away. So having a thousand things going on at once was the top thing i wanted to communicate. The word ‘remember’ is a slab san serif font, it’s not shouting to be heard but the legibility is there to be known. Then ‘COP’ is huge on the page, announcing it’s self and overpowering the whole design, representing my over thinking brain.

The idea in an a3 poster

This idea is based on the title “remember cop”. Remembering something is trying to not forget something. The idea starts off with the word remember. Hopefully the user would get confused to why there is a random word. Then there will be a helpful tip to guide them to the bottom. The idea is meant to communicate finding cop and being reminded when/where it’s coming in terms of the project deadline.

This will be the longer version of the idea. Something which the user has to follow and also making the design more fun and interactive then just your basic poster on a wall.

This idea is based around post-modern technique, using styles from artist that i have picked up along the way in level 4. So i could use styles from David Carson, Marybeth Rothman and maybe even Barrie Tullett if i was to introduce typewriter text. This would showcase a personal touch and even show my development thought the course about experimenting and exploring different styles and not being afraid to go outside of your comfort zone.

The layout would have a post-modern style, so some of the text may be un-readable but I’ve introduced a title, which will be dominant on the page and clear. Therefore summing up the poster and avoiding confusion.

Idea here is extremely simplistic and self-explanatory. On the poster will be a word, in this example below it’s “shit” then with any of the 3 problems I want to communicate. So in the example below the one i used is “I’ve forgot to blog”. The title is meant to communicate what every ones instant reaction is to forgetting to blog. This idea is simple but also effective. Nothing more, nothing less.

One i explained above.

Fuck as the title and then I'm stressed for the phrase underneath.

Bollocks for the title and 'I've forgot cop' is the phrase underneath.

This idea is showing an over-powering mind. If you forget cop then you will end up with a million things to do and this is what I’m trying to communicate in this idea. Layout will be the page filled with words, so many word in fact that it’s running off the page, making the design interactive and more unique. The words off the page will be on vinyl to look like there actually running off the page.

Studio brief 4 - Target audience

My target audience will be the new level 4s who will be starting in September. Realistically my posters will be aimed at the whole class but i would say my target audience is all of Graphic Design, Level 4, 5 and 6. All what I’m trying to communicate is generic across all three levels. Being stress is global as we all get stressed at certain periods when work gets to much. Even i will need reminding in the second year to not make the same mistake and remember to blog. So remembering to blog will be a key reminder to all three years of Graphic students.

Even with this said my tone of voice, language and thinking would be aimed predominantly at level 4s as the brief is predominantly evolved around the new level 4s.

Studio brief 4 - Why a Post-modern style?

So a lot of people have asked me “why have you gone for a post-modern style?” and my answer is simple, to add a personal touch to my final resolution and to show that it’s fine to explore other styles.

Firstly, since coming across David Carson i wanted a project where i could experiment, with his style and create some work of that style; brief 4 was the perfect opportunity. At this moment in time, I have a massive amount of interests in David Carson, Expression with typography and also Typewriter art. Hopefully i can include all three of these elements in my mock-ups.

It’s to also communicate experimentation and differences of styles. The majority of people coming here next year would be only exposed to a modern approach of Graphic Design; even i was one of these people. Everyone is stick to this style, as it becomes a comfort blanket to, which they can feel comfortable to design with. Going above and beyond and breaking that seal is another matter that i would like to show. I’ve found the dark side (post-modernism) and I’m loving every moment of it.

Lastly, using this style will attract new first years students attention, as the work will hopefully be eye catching, demanding and something, which they haven’t seen before. Hopefully it will open their eyes for the first time about what they will be expecting in the first year.

Studio Brief 4 - Interim Crit

Today, we had the interim crit. There wasn’t much feedback on my design and idea. Everyone thought my idea was strong and it communicated the aspect about not being afraid to experiment with different styles and not just a modern style. The group thought my posters looked great as a set and was really attractive and strong.

The only feedback i got given was the message i was trying to tell. For example one of my poster said “Don’t be stressed” but the feedback was it need to be made clearer about not being stress because telling someone to not be stressed won’t necessarily make some become calm. This was a good piece of constructive feedback but these poster aren’t meant to make someone become calm, there simply tips and reminders to not take it to seriously, be creative and experimental is more important then grades in the first year. However i will still take this point into consideration.

Second piece of important feedback was on the “keep blogging” poster. Simon said that just saying to keep up to date with blogging doesn’t communicate the importance of bogging. Blogging is crucial for development and should be enjoyed. Also there should be some kind of explanation, more information explaining the message a bit more.

Looking back on the feedback, i will take this all on board and see if i can apply this feedback to my designs.

Studio Brief 4 - Final Crit

Today we had a final crit for studio brief 4. This crit was slightly different to what we are used to. Normally we go into crits and write notes about the feedback we got given. However in today's crit, we were put into pairs and in our pairs we had to write feedback for the other person presentation. This way the person could concentrate on the feedback and to talk and discuss with the group without worrying about keeping up with writing all the feedback down.

My crit went well, there weren’t much constructive feedback but more positive feedback. The main feedback was the legibility of the text. This was a great piece of feedback and something i will think about a lot. However my design was designed in a way that if someone couldn’t understand part of the text then the title is there to sum up the whole poster, so you wouldn’t necessarily need to read the body copy. Working with a post modern style and expression with type will make some parts of the text un-readable, but this is a form of my expression, it’s me expressing my self through type and if i create type for everybody then i lose the personal connection with the design.

Other bits of feedback was about what size and the kind of stock i will be printing on.

This was my feedback sheet.

Studio Brief 4 - Development

These are the development and experimental stages through the production of my final three designs.

I picked a dirty texture to linked in with a David Carson style. Also the grunge text gives a sense of depth and movement.

Up close shot of the body of text. At this point i wasn't sure if i should cover it up or not as it may looking a bit offensive.

I eventually did with a simple black brush. I didn't want to cover it all up as i wanted it to still be seen but not as vividly.

Layout of the title was an important decision. Trying to find the right placement for it which brings the design to life and works well within.

Top left hand corner. I felt this was to separate from the body of text.

I spread out the title to make your eyes follow the path downwards and onto the body of text.

Then i added the black mask to see how that looked. I wasn't overly happy as it may be heard to understand what the title says.

Tried it at the bottom, didn't feel like it worked, looked like the poster wasn't important enough to take centre positioning.

I like it in the middle but it didn't flow well with the body text. Post modern is about breaking the grid so having the title in the middle is contradictory.

Choosing what colour text was also an important choice, due to colour associates and what i wanted the colour to represent.

To feminine.

I felt like the blue clashed to much with the black.

Again, clashed with the background but worked well against the black text.

I really liked black, however i didn't want to only have back and white. I wanted another colour to bring certain aspects to life.

I also like white too but the visibility of the colour may confuse some people and the message.

Design 2:

Title in full, big and across the page. Strong and dominant.

Having "Always" small on the page, emphasising the rest.

Cutting of part of remember and always to play on the word 'remember'.

Playing with the placement of the body text.

Close up look at the body cope. Trying to cluster info together to represent a busy mind.

Introduction of the black bar, with a calming message.

I tried out the paragraph of information at the top, but i found it become over complicated and unnecessary.

Final version.

Design 3

Testing out another background but i didn't suit the rest of the posters. Plus it looked to fuzzy.

Seeing if the design could be easy enough to understand with out the title.

Playing with the placement of the title.

I liked having the title upside down as this would stress the reader, linking in with my message.

Text out a landscape placement instead of portrait. However readability and consistency across all the banner may be an issue,