Speaking from experience..post-crit2: design development...

On friday 13th May i had another crit where i showed the development i had made from the week before concerning my initial ideas. My progress received good feedback and i was given some more ideas or things that i could develop for the final crit on the 20th May.

Things that were mentioned were:

- try out different colour themes with my branding to see what effect it has visually.

- using my created brand for this brief to brand graphic design as a whole, such as doing things like using my logo on the studio labels etc.

- trying out my branding on objects such as lanyards/ hoodies/ badges.

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From the crit feedback i have experimented with different colour themes on my hotdog books.

I dont think that the blue on this layout works particularly well because the greyish background makes the colour seem dull, also because of the red logo, the blue just doesnt seem to work in this layout.

Using the same blue as the layout above, i changed it to a background colour overlaying the pattern. This one seems to work well with the blue and i think this is because the use of white makes the blue seem brighter, which then also exaggerates the red in the logo.

This is the same as the above layout but i have changed the colours in the logo, but i dont think this works because the logo no longer stands out against everything else, it has been lost within the rest of the design. The logo needs to be clear and make a statement.

This is taking the same elements from the design above in terms of having the blue overlaying the pattern, but only in a small block. Im not to sure if this one works or not, it may seem that it has become too complicated, because the black boxes have a blue outline too.

This has had a grey overlay on the patterned area, there isnt really much difference between this and the original.

The orange in this design looks a bit tacky and too bright, but if i made it any duller it would probably look even worse, orange just doesnt suite the other elements of the design.

The green in quite refreshing and works better than the orange, but because of the red in the logo, im not sure if its a suitable colour.

The brown is something that really works, it is a subtle colour that doesnt take away any attention from the information on the design or the actual layout, but then im thinking maybe its too boring and dull?

With this one i just thought id see what it looked like using all the colours of the rainbow, but it looks tacky again, theres just too much going on. Im glad i experimented with the colours because it has allowed me to justify why i have chosen the colours and designs that i have.

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Below i have changed the colour of the packaging to see what it looks like, some work whilst others do not. I think if i were to create this package for the masses, then it would be nice to have a choice in what colour box the GD students could have, i guess it makes it more personal if you can choose the colour.

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Below i tried to design a different sort of packaging after researching kits online, but it doesnt have the same effect as the box.

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I decided to change the design of the box slightly because i felt that the striped pattern would be too much for the eye, so i added in black squares to tone it down, i have also changed the blend mode of the logo on the lid to normal, so it no longer looks stripy. I did this because some of the letters became lost in the pattern and i didnt feel it was legible enough.

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In the crit i was told to try out my branding in different contexts, so i tried out my designs onto badges, some of them are just my original logo or elements i have consistently used and others are new ideas, purposely for the badges. I think in most cases, badges like these have funny and quite simple designs on them and a lot of people put them onto their bags or pencil cases. I think there are 3 or 4 designs that i would consider using as a final outcome, including the 3 bottom designs and the middle design on the second from last row. They are simple and some light hearted designs. The badges need to be something that a GD student would actually want to wear or use.

I also tried out some t-shirt designs, i tried to keep them simple. I thought about whether i would wear them and when i would wear them if they were a real product. On some of them the logo is too big and to be honest i wouldnt wear it to uni! But maybe as pj's or scruffs. The grey design on the top row would be ok because the logo is quite small and subtle, another one that i wouldnt mind wearing is the bottom right red t-shirt. It may not be as obvious what it is, but if your a GD student you would understand the abbreviation. The logo could be on the back or on the inside label, just to fully brand the t-shirt.

Below, i started to add branding to GD related items, such as lanyards (because we will have to start using them next year, i thought the GD students could have their own design), also added the logo onto a usb stick (because we get one when we start the course, it also helps if you lose it because whoever finds it would know your a GD student), i then put it onto a portfolio case to see what it looked like.

After the crit and Amber saying that my box could be an ice breaker for the new students, i thought about creating something that would be funny and a chance for the newbies to talk to one another. So i made a card polar bear and he holds a card saying:

'How much does a polar bear weigh?

Enough to break the ice!'

Yes i know, a bit cheesy, but hopefully it would make people laugh and talk about its awful cheesiness!

I took some photos of the things that will be going into the pack, including the hotdog book and the pen case with a matching pen. Below is the same set of things but with the cute polar bear too! :)

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A few months back i emailed a Graphic Designer called Stuart Eaton, who is the director of Mothership Software Limited. I was actually meant to be emailing the Argos Graphic Designer, who has the same name. But through a case of mistaken identity, i managed to get some really helpful and quite inspiring advice from the incorrect Stuart. The advice he gave me really inspires me and when im feeling like i cant be bothered, i read his email which motivates me. I picked out one particular piece of advice that i thought could help the first years and i have turned it into a poster to put inside my GD pack, i am also going to print it onto a tote bag.

I have kept the design of it really simple and to the point and then added the branding i designed to link it all together. I think this quote pretty much sums up how we should all be working on this course, and fits with the whole thing of ' you will only get out of it what you put into it!'

Speaking from experience..post-crit1: designs...

After having my first crit with Jo and Amber and presenting my initial ideas, i have started to develop my ideas and designs to come up with something original.

Crit feedback:

- i have a strong concept, which has the potential to work well.

- they don't see the relevance of the 10 small boxes that i wanted to make, this is because i wanted to make these purely because i wanted to do packaging design.

- packaging/ method of delivery needs to be thought about more and more original and relevant to my product.

- an idea was to create a survival pack for 1st year students, that they would receive within the first half hour of starting the course. It would be something that they could look at together in the group, kind of like an "ice breaker" pack.

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 For my pack i wanted to create branding, such as a logo and a specific 'style', so i had visual consistency throughout my designs. I started off by designing a logo. I wanted the logo to be kept simple and straight to the point. Below are some of the designs that i came up with.

This logo above is the logo that i decided to use in my work, i felt that it represented well what i was trying to communicate. I have used century gothic as the typeface, as it is simple and san serif. I didn't use a serif font as i thought it was too much detail. The heart was created on illustrator and is meant to represent the love for graphic design. I chose to use these colours as to, again, keep it simple. The black and white help bring out the red which emphasises the heart. The logo just looks really crisp, i think that this is the style that i enjoy working in and is similar to my own logo which i have also included in the designs.

After designing the love heart, i tried other logos that incorporated it. Most of the elements from this logo are in the one that i am going to use, they have just been slightly moved around. I liked how the heart has been intercepted by the two larger letters, you can still tell that the letters are G and D and you can still see the shape of the love heart. Im not really sure if the black text underneath works, i couldn't use red or white if i wanted the logo this compact because it would be lost in the centre or at the sides, depending on which colour i used.

I really like the simplicity of this logo, although maybe it doesn't have enough information on it. People may not understand what the GD stands for, which is bad communication. I just like the slickness of it and the colours.

I tried just using the same concept as the one above and just change the typeface and angle. the type face doesn't work at all, i think it makes it look cheap and unsophisticated.

This is using a combination of the one i have chosen and the one above this, the logo nearly works apart from the crap typeface. The two typefaces clash and it just doesnt look good.

This is like the one above i have just changed the typeface again, this one works slightly better, but it just seems a bit too jagged. i dont like how the letters are joined, they are one line that do not come together.

This is another favourite design, it works well because of the angle that the heart is at and also the line of diagonal text. It just makes it look more visually interesting to look at. The typeface that has been used in the centre of the love heart also works better than previous because it is a san serif that is bold and smooth and it fits in with the shape of the love heart.

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After deciding on my logo, i started to design things that could go into the pack for the newbies. When you first start somewhere new with new people and you have to talk to people it can be hard to remember names. The last thing you want to be doing is making a friend then forgetting their name  and calling them anything. So i thought that something useful that would prevent embarrassment and awkwardness, would be to create name stickers.

I cant remember if we were given one of those white stickers at the start of the course so we knew each others names, but if we did they were just plain boring ones. I have designed stickers that look fun and cool for the newbies, something that will make them want to wear them and look at them, rather than feeling like a complete donut wearing their name.

I have used a similar style to the logo as to keep visual consistency. I have reversed some designs out to see what they look like. I prefer the black designs, although i am going to print all of them out, so that the newbies have a choice. It makes it more exciting if you get to choose which sticker you want to wear.

I also designed a batch that have a hand drawn pattern behind then, but it makes it hard to see the text, so i wont be taking them to print. They do look really good though!

The hand drawn pattern below came from me doodling, i just drew lines and patterns started to emerge. I have used this in my designs because i think that a hand drawn element makes something feel more personal and special. I hand drew the whole thing onto large A4 and then scanned it in and live traced it in illustrator. I didnt use the whole thing in my design as some parts looked a bit odd and random. I picked a part that had a consistent pattern.

Below i tried out my logo on the selected part, i think it looks quite good but the small text at the bottom is slightly lost because its stroke is similar to the pattern. I wont be using my logo with the pattern to this extent because i feel its just too much.

Above is the full logo on top of the original pattern, it looks groovy but the right hand side of the pattern is really bugging me because it isn't the same as the other side.

This is another experimental design where i have used my original logo over the pattern and then changed the blend mode to multiply so that the pattern shows through the type and heart. At this size it works really well, as it subtly adds detail but at a smaller size there would be the same problem where the smaller text would be lost and illegible.

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As i am wanting to make a box i figured it would be a good idea to start designing packaging. I went for a simple net for my box, which will be a square box. I have used the pattern to cover the box and the logo is on the bottom. I added red shapes with the multiply blend mode, i don't know why the shapes are relevant i just thought id see what they looked like. I havent used this design for the final thing because the shapes are too random.

I then moved on to just circles, the circles as a shape aren't relevant but i feel that they don't need to be, it just breaks it up a bit and makes it a little easier to look at. Everything else has been kept the same.

On the design below i have changed the blend mode of the logo to normal, but i feel it sticks out like a sore thumb.

Below is the design that i have chosen to use, including the design for the lid. I have changed a few elements of the design to make it look more visually interesting. The logo has been put onto the lid instead of the bottom of the box, as this is the only part that indicates what the box is. I have replaced the logo with my own logo but scaled down. I want to include my own current logo because i want to show that i made this, i feel that it fits with the subject of the brief which is speaking from experience.

Above is my personal logo and the logo for the pack.

I made my box up and took photos of it with the 10 white boxes that i had made (for reasons i cannot remember). This is just to see what it would look like "finished".

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After the crit, Jo suggested i have an object for each commandment that i had written, that would be useful to the newbies. With my commandment 'make mistakes', i thought it would be a good idea to design a pen case. It would only be designed to hold pens because you cant erase pen, therefore if you make a mistake you cant try to conceal it, you can keep it as proof that you have tried it.

I used similar visual aspects as the other designs. The case is long enough to fit a standard size pen in it and wide enough to fit a fair few. The front of the case is the left hand side, this has the two logos and the commandment in a simple design. On the back of the case is the commandment, an explanation of the commandment and a small 'diagram' saying "pen=permanent=good", basically saying that using pen is good because most of the time you make mistakes with them and cant erase them.

The design above also has a 'crumpled brown paper' effect on it but i dont think that it works very well. I decided to try out in the first place because i thought it might give it an even more hand rendered feel.

the design below has kept to the 3 colours that i have been using. It looks more sophisticated and clean, the brown became too fussy and over the top.

After having a funny five minutes thinking the brown looked good, i also added it to my packaging design. It looks crap and will not appear on my designs from this point forward.

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Trying to create something for each commandment proved quite difficult as im not sure what i could design for ' laugh a lot'? So i thought it would be a good idea to design a small book with all the commandments in, just so they are easily accessible and clear. I decided to go for a hotdog book, because i have fallen in love with them since the book fair! I also think that the space they provide is just right for the content i shall be adding.

I have came up with a few designs that i will take to the next crit, where i can receive feedback on which one to take forward for the final one.

Thursday 5th May..FUNSHOP :) ...

A group workshop to incorporate and trial:

1. collaborative working in larger 'team' and the associated organization and interaction/ controls.

2. task allocation and control, regulation and responsibility.

3. time management and planning to outcomes.

4. decision making toward deadline in relation to considered outcomes (will what you show communicate the ideas?)

5. presentation of the project and rationalization of chosen concept.

This is meant to be an enjoyable experience but the outcomes should be creative and consider ALL potential mediums you feel can be relevant to achieving the desired outcome.

The Brief:

'Lovin' Leeds'

A summer 2012 event in Leeds that will recreate the percieved  harmony and social interaction that was seen in the 60's USA (ignore political areas please) and the associated cultural experimentation and 'summer' feelings. Emulation? Futurization? Consider the experience of a summer event in Leeds and how you communicate this, and to whom?

Day one Thursday May 5th

Morning 9.30: Briefing and questions
9.45: start on research and intitial concepts (all day work)
4.00: review and questions

Day two Thursday May 12th

Presentations to have sheets/ boards that fulfill your ideas in a consise and interesting way. Choose the presenters and who does what/ when.

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My group AKA Group 2:

Me

Sophie

Kirsty A

Lewis

Joe Warbo

Chris Lawson

Sarah R

Max

Dom

Alex

So we all got together and started the idea generation. We started by thinking of events that already existed so that we didnt create something that has already been done. Things like music festivals (Reading, Glastonbury, Leeds fest etc); social events such as the technology festival and the tomato festival in Spain and the powder paint festival in India. From these we thought about other things that brings people together.

We want our event to be memorable and welcoming to all, so we thought food.

Everyone likes food, whether you like your local fish and chips or a nice curry, everyone has to eat...perfect.

As Leeds is a very multicultural place, we thought of the idea of holding a MASSIVE street party with a HUGE variety of multicultural dishes from around the world for everyone to enjoy.

When we say massive street party, we literally mean it. Like having the whole stretch of the headrow and briggate filled with tables, chairs and marques! Covered in food! Not just small dishes but giant pieces of food like on epic mealtime...giant cakes as tall as me, big yorkshire puddings that you could sit in..cocktails that would fill a swimming pool! Lets feed the world because food is love.

We tried thinking of a cool, original and light hearted name for our event, here are some ideas we came up with:

- Meet feast: this one was quite clever, when you hear it you think oh meat, but no its a feast where you 'meet' new people and come together and enjoy some good food. But when we said it to people they said 'what about the veggies?' and 'isnt that a pizza?', some people also thought it had some sexual connotations!

Which is not what we were heading for.

- Culture vulture: this one was a random idea of mine, it sounds a bit grim but i liked it because it rhymed. I thought that culture represented the multicultural food and the vulture represents how everyone can pig out at our event and share food. It didnt really catch on though.

- Food is love: This name was very 'hippy' but we thought it would work better as a tag line rather than the actual event name.

- Fud (which is meant to have the two dots over the u): This is the name that we decided to go with, the U makes an oo sound. It worked really well and we felt it was original. We then came up with the tag line: Make food not war, going back to the whole hippy thing.

After finally thinking of a name for our event, we began to think of countries that were well known for their cuisine, places we came up with were:

- UK

- USA

- French

- Spanish

- Italian

- Portugese

- Mexican

- Caribbean

- African

- Russian

- Japanese

- Chinese

- Vietnamese

- Belgian

- Indian

- Australian

- Greek

We each chose two countries each to go and research, things we researched included: popular cuisine, history of the food and famous chefs in that country.

I decided to research African and Caribbean cuisine. I have been to Jamaica on holiday when i was younger and the food they eat is really interesting and tasty and i would love to go to Africa so they were both places that i was interested in anyway.

I looked at dishes that were famous in both places:

Jamaica:

Jerk meats/ tofu, black cake, ackee and saltfish, rice and peas, green bananas, pattys, plantain tarts, curry goat, crab crusted grouper, grapefruit and milk, banana bread.

I had a go at making banana cake, which turned out perfectly, i had had it before when i went to Jamaica when i was like 13, so making for the first time myself made me appreciate it a lot more, it was really yummy!

Chefs: Brian Benjamin and Collin Brown

African:

Flat bread, chapati, groundnut soup, plantain porridge, curry meat loaf, artichoke salad with oranges, milk tart, bobotee, coriander bread, sadza, african vegetarian stew.

Chef: Austin Leslie

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The images below are research that John had put onto a disk, i selected images that i thought were eye catching and colourful. These helped inspire our ideas and understand what had happened in the summer in America, i guess its what we now call hippy style.

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The images below are research i gathered myself about the two countries i was allocated within the group to research, i looked at foods from that country that were delicacies.

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I really enjoyed Johns Funshop, it really opened my mind and inspired me a huge amount. I really do feel now that anything is possible if you really want to make it happen. It was very different to how we usually work with a brief as there was no boundaries, which at first i think a lot of us found difficult to get our heads around. It was also nice to have a break from all the hard work and just have fun. Johns a really cool guy and very inspiring, it was interesting to listen to his stories, it sounds as though he has been every where and done everything, which again is really inspiring! Thanks John!! :)