studio brief 3 - invitations

After printing out the invitation designs on receipt like paper, i began placing them upon surfaces within locations surrounding the college, to then be photographed. We chose to use a close to college location is it's a nice, subtle link to the place in which all the work for the exhibition was produced. 

Below are the contact sheets for the shoot i did, along with some particular images which i especially feel are strong. 

The original design idea was to have 5 various locations with the same image content to have some variety and to also project the idea of showing different leeds locations to represent the fact that the exhibition is based on locations in leeds where events have happened. However whilst editing the images i produced different colour variations of 2 singular images (used for the front and back of invite). 

I presented the above image to the group, telling them about the idea of using one location (this one is the most visually interesting) but different colours, for variety. They all really liked the colour idea and one person came up with the suggestion of the different 5 colour schemes representing the 5 different categories that thankyoucomeagain have set up to separate the exhibition, visible on the front (left) of the invitation. 

I took this idea forward and produced 5 colour scheme variations which we can use throughout the on going development of the exhibition branding. I tired i=out the same concept using another location, 

However both my self and the rest of the group agreed that these sets of images weren't as visually relevant as the previous location as you can't really tell that they were taken outside. 

Below are the 5 invitation variations, the group are still deciding whether their needs to be any text on the invitation.

studio brief 3 - crit - a more direct focus

During today's crit, the group sat down and discussed the designs which had been produced thus far and we were informed to have a more direct focus with the overall idea, it was said that there's too many ideas going on and one needed to be the focal point of every aspect of the branding. 

As a group we decided that the receipt idea was the strongest concept as theirs a lot of a lot which can be done with the subject it revolves around. 
As the receipt idea was now going to be used as the main visual for the branding, another name change needed to happen.
Stamped although it relates to the nature of the prints exhibited at the library, it does not reference receipts in anyway and so it had to go. 

We began brainstorming named that the public could easily associate with the receipt concept and imagery, names such as free were considered due to the fact the invitations offer history and culture for example, for free. 

I then decided to look through the receipts i had in my purse and found one which said 'thank you call again'(see below).
The name is catchy and has an element of humor about it. It relates to the receipt concept completely, and also plays on the fact that the exhibition isn't going to be there for long and so if you want to call again, you have to hurry. 

Due to the receipt focus of the branding, as a group we decided it best to change the logo type, we chose to use a receipt like type style to really push the concept (see below for the new invitation). 

After deciding on a clear direction for a branding, as a group we discussed new ides regarding the other aspects of the brief. 
The wayfinding; discussion was had about creating a wayfinding system using the pink lines you often find on the end of receipts, this is a subtle link but it still connects, and as the exhibition is about the prints, the system needs to not draw too much attention. 

As the exhibition space is quite an open space it seems right to have quite a minimal wayfinding system. 

Social media; The receipt concept has allowed for much more freedom when it comes to the exhibition social media, having set up a facebook page, instagram and twitter account; the next thing which needed to be considered was the content. 

I had the idea of placing the invitations on self checkouts throughout various leeds supermarkets near to the location; as a way to spread awareness of the exhibition whilst also adhering to the receipt concept behind the branding. Further to this we discussed setting up the hashtag #thankyoucallagain in the attempts of getting people to send photos of themselves with their last purchase or something to do with receipts as more visual references which we can use throughout the development. 

Exhibition catalog; The idea behind this is to make the exhibition involve the viewer, a concept for the catalog was to build receipt dispensers and place them next to different parts of the exhibition, containing different bits of information about specific pieces or bits of information, with the help of a perforated edge, the viewer can begin to dispense receipts from the dispenser and build their own catalog, made up of the information they're interested in.   

Adding UV details

After screen printing the orange and pink tones, i tested out green uv and yellow uv paint to add details to the print. 
Below are some colour swatches applied to a spare print, i did this to test out which colour would have more of an impact and flow with the existing tones used. 

The yellow uv paint is definitely more appropriate, the colour suits more and the consistency of the paint is much more smooth than the grainy green tone. 

Above is a section of the A3 prints where uv details have been applied, i think this adds another element to the piece and reinforces the theme of the event, ufo's. 

studio brief 3 - invitation idea feedback & group ideas

I shared the latest invitation/receipt design concept to the rest of the group and received positive feedback from everyone, they really liked the idea and felt that it really suited the fact that the invitation will be photographed around Leeds, and the exhibition is about and in Leeds. 

One member of my group suggested that the locations which the invitations are shot at should be around the external areas surrounding college or perhaps around the library location of the exhibition. I agree with this comment as i feel that if i was going to photograph the invitation on more tourist locations around the city it will not be appropriate.

Above are two copies of the invitation, on the invite the date, time, location, group name, contact number, post code and the college name have been positioned. In the centre of the invite are words such as history and culture, these relate to the curation of the exhibition and the ways the different prints will be separated and categorised. 

Whilst discussing the final concept for the exhibition branding i suggested that we linocut the logo type. 

Above is the current logo type, it was commented in a group crit that it resembles a varsity typestyle and so i believe that by lino cutting out the logotype it will be visually more appropriate and cohesive and also the printing method relates to prints made by using traditional print methods which the exhibition is showing. 

Above is the logo type beginning to be lino printed, below is an example of the finished exhibition title applied to the receipt invitation design. 

Tate Poster

"A1 Folded to A4 Print illustrating an exhibition for the following venueeither_ TATE MODERN V&A NATIONAL HISTORY MUSEUM Fold the card/paper to form a sculptural objectPhotograph the object to form the back drop to your poster/print"The above brief required me to experiment with paper folding techniques, something i had never tried before, for an A1 exhibition poster for one of the above venues. I searched online for tutorials on paper folding and found one which showed how to fold paper in to a love heart. I decided to name the exhibition 'luv' and attempt to fold paper in to a love heart shape. 

The word 'luv' was chosen to act as a modern term for the word 'love'; i was hoping to communicate the concept that the exhibition focuses on digital love and the impact of technology on modern day romance, i chose to go with quite a contemporary concept to suit the type of work the Tate Modern shows.

The above love hear shape was folded using tracing paper; a quality of paper which is very thin and fragile, i was hoping that this use of paper could reference the fragility of love. 

The folding technique is quite unfinished, it has clear imperfections but i believe this suits the concept behind the exhibition. 

I had the idea of having the title of the exhibition presented in a a hand made way similar to the paper folding above, however as the concept of the exhibition focuses around modern day love, using a modern, digital type face seemed more appropriate. 

  Above are two variations of the final Tate poster, i created a grainy texture for the background from using the scanner and picking up the marks on the screen (see below). 

 After trying out different compositions of the marks and editing the contrast i was able to create prints which look pixilated which i felt were appropriate as they relate to the modern focus of the exhibition, the marks created on the poster could also be seen as fingerprint marks on a screen, again linking to the digital concept behind the exhibition. 

Out of the two colour variations above, i believe the one on the right is the most effective in communicating the modern concept. 

The tones are vibrant yet the composition i have used; specifically the vast amount of space, make the colours really stand out. 

I am going to make some slight adjustments to the poster however, the venue is not correct and i believe the pink line diagonally going across the poster is not needed and distracts from the paper folding. 

The poster is quite understated, however i wanted to take this opportunity to create a piece of design that was restricted and not as in your face and busy as previous work of mine.  

The poster will be printed on tracing paper, furthering the idea of love, or rather luv, being a fragile thing. 

studio brief 3 - invitation development

"Receipt idea has a good sense of humour, but has been done before and the link to the exhibition is a little weak." 

"Receipt and GIF share no visual language."

Based on the feedback we received it's clear that the invitation and receipt idea need pushing more, as shown above one person mentioned that the gif an current receipt design share no visual language. 

In order to push the concept more i've thought of some ideas to further the idea: 

One idea is to have illustrations on the invitation receipts similar to the image i found below. The illustrations will be created by people participating in the exhibition i believe this will make a strong link between the exhibition, it's contributes and the branding. 

I have received several illustrations from contributes already (see below), i asked them to quickly  draw what they think of when they think of Leeds; in order to link back to the location and the overall theme of the exhibition. 

I'll run this concept by the group and then development may continue. 

Idea 2: 

The second development for the invitation and the one which i will be most appropriate is sketched above. The concept is to have the receipt with the event info on it, this receipt will be photographed against a surface. On the reverse of this image will be another image, a long shot of a location in Leeds; the same location where the invitation has been shot, only this image is zoomed out. 

This idea aims to show a strong link between Leeds and the exhibition, i also believe that using photography will work well with the type face we've chosen; on the reverse of the invitation where the long shot will be featured, you'll be able to see the receipt slightly, also the stamped logo will be on their- it will flow a lot nicely having the typeface over photography rather than on a block coloured receipt.

studio brief 3 - further feedback

FEEDBACK

Positive

- ‘Stamped’ name has a strong link.

- GIF is super strong.

- Like the receipt idea with the stamp concept.

- Receipt idea has a good sense of humour, but has been done before and the link to the exhibition is a little weak. 

- Strong colour palette.

- Good GIF - use peoples work as the images.

- GIF has a strong idea behind it, links to print (Stamped).

Negative

- Receipt and GIF share no visual language.

- Receipts are not stamped they are printed.

- Typeface for ‘stamped’ is too sporty.

- No relevance of receipt.

- Still quite basic and needs a lot more work.

Suggestions

- Softer typeface.

- Apply a tighter kerning.

- STAMPD.
- STAMPT.

- ’S’ on its own, doesn't need a shadow. 

- Use different photos to spell stamped for the logo.

- Create the logo as Stamp.

- Focus on the media used of the GIF, apply the idea behind the GIF to the whole work, using peoples work for the background of each letter. 

Comments

- Looks like an american varsity logo.

- Looks american variety style. 

- Stamped needs to be tied into the works, doesn't say ‘art exhibition’.

studio brief 3 - name and colour change

The exhibition was originally going to be called Grade 2, because Leeds Central Library is a grade 2 listed building. However, after receiving peer feedback we realised this name was not strongly linked to any of our design ideas and so we have made a group decision to changed it to STAMPED. This name was chosen  because it has a strong link to the fact these events have stamped a mark on the history of Leeds but it also links to the fact you will receive a stamp on your hand when entering the exhibition (decided after a suggestion by a peer during feedback on a  previous group presentation). A blue and yellow tone have been chosen as the colour scheme for the exhibition branding, chosen primarily to enforce a stronger link between the city and the exhibition which is intended to celebrate Leeds; as the tones are used for the flag of Leeds. 

Above is a gif made by a member of stamped group who is primarily working on the social media side of the branding, i believe the change in colour scheme is more appropriate than the previous one, also it involves the Leeds community more so than the previous one, as colours have been used which they're familiar with. 

studio brief 3 - initial exhibition branding presentation

Below is the presentation which the group presented to the class in which the initial ideas behind the exhibition branding were discussed.

Feedback:

• "Is it important that theirs a link to LCA? it should link to the community as a whole not just LCA students." This was said due to the link between the colour scheme and the LCA colour scheme 
  
• "The two colours you've used could be seen as suggesting male and female" 
• "Idea: print the receipt on actual receipt paper or newspaper print, also consider stamping the invitation which the receipt is featured on or the guests hand as they enter the exhibition."
• "The name and the link to the building is too obvious" 
• "Type logo looks too weapon-like" 
• "in order to appeal to local people include words on the receipt like historical/something that they can relate to" 
• "Receipts containing info on peoples work underneath pieces at the exhibition; force the use of the receipt for everything" 

studio breif 3 - receipt invitation

Whilst brainstorming ideas for the exhibition invitation, i came up with the concept of using a receipt within the invitation. Receipts are disposable, like the prints in the exhibition, all members of the public have received one before and i really believe it opens up the possibility for a lot of designs and ideas, it also creates a concept/piece of imagery which can be used throughout the rest of the brand; something i feel the previous branding (as seen in the presentation) didn't have, after explaining this to the rest of the group they agreed and were on board with the idea and so development began on the receipt. 

The designs here are just initial ones, very basic designs to highlight the concept. I began by taking a rather hand drawn approach as you can see in the first example however the other members weren't sure that due to the aesthetic of the rest of the branding that the brand would have cohesion, and so i began working with other members of the group to create designs more suited to the aesthetic. 

The designs however aren't anywhere near as successful as i believe they could be, however they will be developed after receiving some initial feedback on the ideas.

Instead of listing the costs of items, the receipt features emotions the viewer will experience at the exhibition such as excitement, inspiration and knowledge; in order to encourage people to view the exhibition, and seeming as though the exhibition is free the experiences have been listed as 'free', 

studio brief 3 - group exhibition branding

"Working as part of a creative team put together a pitch for the concept, branding, identity and promotional collateral for the Leeds Public Spaces exhibition. Create an engaging, identity and promotional campaign for the Leeds Public Spaces Exhibition. What is unique about this exhibition? How can the content, location, exhibitors potentially inform your design treatment. Who is the target audience? What do they need to know? How will you engage with them?" Working in a group of 7 for the above brief, we began by discussing our strengths within design, by doing so we were able to understand each other, and how to work together better. By doing this we were also able to distribute job roles within the group.  I favor working with illustration rather than computers, myself and the group agreed that i should focus on designing the receipt for the exhibition. I believe this was a good decision, as the majority of the group i'm in prefer to work digitally and so the branding for the exhibition may result in having a focus on more technical exploration, where as with the receipt i believe their is room for more creative freedom, allowing me to stray away slightly from the possible more digital approaches of the rest of the branding (whilst ensuring brand cohesion of course).

Evalutation

The collage based design approach to this brief is not one previously explored using images only, previous work created was very illustration based, it was interesting to create a design, and be proud of a design, that doesn't include elements of illustration. It was almost like having a restriction on yourself whilst creating the design, an unknown restriction; one that developed due to the quality of research and the fact that another element just wasn't needed.
The research that was collected during this brief was so interesting, exciting and in depth; it really shaped the whole project and lead to the development of a design that was not even considered before receiving the images, this brief has really shown how you should never run with the first idea that comes to mind as a week later you may receive exclusive access to content which will go on to shape the whole project.
This brief time using the process of screen printing, the overall process was really rewarding and pushed the design development in order to ensure the final design was one that was without error. During screen printing, the imperfections the screen made were often better than the crisp print previously printed, it was a really inspiring process which makes you appreciate the final outcome much much more than you would if you were to click print on a computer. 
Screen printing will definitely be explored again, however it's been learnt to next time print on a larger scale than your print size, to ensure the sizing is correct, due to not having this prior knowledge the prints may have some imperfections, however it could be said that these just add to the charm and thoughtfulness of the process. 

Ready for print

Using the colours from the 70s add previously discussed I've created the design which is ready for screen printing.

I used various images that i collected and also ones that i shot my self in order to create a print that was inclusive of various imagery. 

I chose to use an article clipping Mantle provided me with for the backdrop of the piece, the text provides slight context as to the nature of the print however i wanted it to be kept subtle and not in your face. 

For this reason i also intend to keep the colour scheme quite unexpected, basing it off 70s colours rather than Alien associated colours such as green and blue. 

The green question mark is produced using a 70s style font to link the design contextually to the time period as well. 

However the majority of the design will be screen printed, the green question mark will not. 

The question mark will be painted on to the finished print using uv paint, the glow in the dark effect of the uv paint is going to be used to give the print another element which links directly to the nature of the print, relating to ufo's shining bright in the sky. 

I'm really pleased with how the print has come together, i feel like the print really showcases the enjoyment had by members of the YUFOS whilst not making a joke out of it, which i was worried about doing in the first place. 

I've also included a recognizable symbol from today's society, positioned in the hand of a man in the center of the piece. I used an alien emoji recognizable to most iPhone users in order to further the Alien theme in a subtle way and also bring the society to present day, similar to the jacket i produced. 

The design is playful and fun yet not cliche. 

Colour

The colours I've been using so far haven't really been considered against any criteria except being clearly visible. 

There was temptation to use green tones to mimic the Alien cliche, however this just seems too obvious and too predictable. 

Due to the first YUFOS meeting taking place in the 70's i decided to look at colour schemes from the 70's in order to make a contextual link to the time period. 

I came across this ad for 'Zomp shoes' from Italian magazine 'Ars Sutoria' in which the colour scheme is bright and playful, I've decided to use this as reference for the colour scheme of the A3 print. 

Crop circle

The concept for these designs was based off of crop circles. 

I wanted the design to reflect the circular engravings made by crop circles on the ground- with the images I've collected and produced collaged together in a circular shape in the center of the page.  

This idea isn't working, the circle is too clean, in result making the design appear to rigid and unconsidered. 

I think a more organic, unclean kind of collage will work better than restricting the collage to such a clean shape.