throughout the course of this module i've really become aware of how much pressure i put on my self, and what is actually realistic. Overall i completed 8 briefs, however i had to get rid of two at the last minute as i just didn't have time to produce the right blogs and design boards. I need to understand when to stop expecting my self to do so much work because at this point in time i just can't do it.
The briefs i've completed have been really interesting, particularly the publication feature for Ollie and Will as it was the first publication i've ever been featured in. The kirkgate brief was perhaps the most enjoyable, i set myself a limited time frame as i wanted to see what was possible to achieve and i was actually really happy with the outcome, i think because it was something i wouldn't of originally thought to design. Throughout the course of sb2 i've also learnt how to work in collaboration with people, although it continues to not be my favorite form of working it is becoming more and more interesting to see the process behind other peoples designs.
My main set back, as previously mentioned is over estimating how good i am at time management, i will take away from this a more realistic view of how much work i can do.
The Prawn Shop photoshoot was the most exciting brief for myself, i think this is probably because i've built the brand from the ground up and to see images of the t-shirts in such a high quality brand makes the brand kind of seem more real in a way.
This module has been very useful is giving us an insight in to the real life of a designer, as stressful as it is, it's very interesting to produce several pieces of work all for different purposes, it helped to push me out of my comfort zone a little bit when i comes to taking part in new opportunities such as the collaboration with students from Singapore.
Tuesday, 20 March 2018
EP Artwork (sb2)
Lizzie contacted be asking if i would like to work with her on an ep cover brief, with my role during the collaboration being the image creation where as hers would be typography design and layout.
Pharma is the stage name of a musician who required album artwork for his EP titled ‘I dropped acid and now my mum hates me’ which was to be released online. The 2 day response design was asked to withhold similar qualities to that of psychedelic acid house design.
RESEARCH (visual references above)
The client specified that he wanted the design to take influence from acid house/psychedelic design, my role during the collaboration was to create the imagery for the ep cover and so the research was heavily focused around looking for inspiration from existing designs from that genre. As seen above the designs are very clustered, the use of imagery is for lack of a better word, strange. The use of bold vibrant colours and imagery of eyes and figures really communicate the psychedelic nature.
Pharma is the stage name of a musician who required album artwork for his EP titled ‘I dropped acid and now my mum hates me’ which was to be released online. The 2 day response design was asked to withhold similar qualities to that of psychedelic acid house design.
The client specified that he wanted the design to take influence from acid house/psychedelic design, my role during the collaboration was to create the imagery for the ep cover and so the research was heavily focused around looking for inspiration from existing designs from that genre. As seen above the designs are very clustered, the use of imagery is for lack of a better word, strange. The use of bold vibrant colours and imagery of eyes and figures really communicate the psychedelic nature.
Research was also carried out in to acid as a drug (taken from the title of the song) to see if any of the common effects of the drug could be visually translated. As seen in the screen shot from ask frank, the drug provokes hallucinations, can speed up or slow down time and movement and the colours around you can begin to alter
INITIAL IDEAS
As the design style had already been established by the client, the initial ideas mainly revolved deciding what composition and imagery to use. The client specified some imagery he wanted on the cover including a mouth and a brain. There were many ideas at this point due to the fact that examples of similar styles use a very clustered composition.
The idea was developed of having the brain within the mouth, mimicking the way in which a tab of acid is normally taken.
Utilising the research in to acid as a drug also generated a lot of ideas, such as shifting elements of the design and overlapping them to give the idea of hallucinating and time speeding up.
Using human imagery felt to be the most appropriate response due to the title of the song mentioning the act of taking acid.
The above imagery shows the type of imagery that was decided to be used within the design, using the mouth, the brain, eyes and hands. In addition to this, patterns were felt to be an appropriate visual for the design also, having looked in to the visuals people experience form taking acid, they commented on the shapes and patterns that would appear.
In terms of the composition, a clustered design was agreed by my collaborative partner to be the most appropriate layout as it can be seen in so many psychedelic designs.
DEVELOPMENT
Using the imagery established during the initial ideas stage, above shows the clustered design. The use of the human imagery really works well in communicating the psychedelic nature of the design. Patterns made up of shapes have been included in the design to further the idea of the visuals mimicking those of what someone might see whilst taking acid.
The mouth with the brain was thought both by the client and my collaborative partner to work really well in providing a focal point to an otherwise busy design.
Although the design could of been more detailed, as it will be used for screen; particularly on music streaming websites such as spotify and soundcloud, the size of the artwork will be quite small and so the more detail in the design, the less likely people who view it on it’s primary platform are going to be able to understand it.
above colour variations of the final design can be seen, the colours used re very bight and vibrant; linking to the psychedelic influences behind the design
above is the final piece created during the two day collaboration. Although the final piece meets the requirements of the brief, if given more time it would of been interesting to try out different mediums of production such as painting the piece and adding small details in the block colours, this would of probably communicated the psychedelic nature more and made it a more stand out piece. This being said, the final design works well with the typography my collaborative partner produced, furthering the trippy visuals related to the drug. The imagery used within the design was appropriate and the way the key imagery as requested by the client gives nice point of focus for the viewer, in an otherwise very chaotic design
Redesigning Sustainability (sb2)
The opportunity came about to work in collaboration with animation and motion graphics students from Nanyang Polytechnic University in Singapore, to create an outcome in response to one of the United Nations 17 sustainability goals. The group decision was made to focus on raising awareness for gender inequality through a video campaign to be shared across social media. Although our contribution to the brief has been completed, the video campaign is still being developed by the students who are now back in Singapore.
RESEARCH
We researched in to the countries which had the lowest rates of gender equality against a range of criteria - including wage equality, number of women in parliament and life expectancy for both sexes It was found that countries in the East had the lowest percentage of gender equality and so our campaign shifted towards having more of a focus on Eastern culture, being from a Western culture it was very useful to have memebers of the group from the East as they had prior, first hand knowledge on gender equality in Eastern Culture.
Through research we as a group identified 3 key areas which our video campaign would focus on, the first area being education. It was found that girls are not given the chance for a proper education and upon graduation women are given redundant positions where they are denied promotions against their male co-workers. Another area of focus was unequal wages, we found that there is a stereotypical perception that women are less competent in the work place and that many women fear the backlash and harassment for speaking out about the inequalities within the workplace.
The final area of focus was unemployment, we found that companies have a preference towards men over women due to the possibility of women requestion maternity leave.
During the research stage we also identified the target audience for our video campaign being teenagers aged 14 years and up, we chose this age range with the aim of preventing the issue rather than combating a pre existing one in adults as teenagers at this age begin to think more maturely and are still developing their opinions and attitudes. The secondary audience is all types of people across the globe, as gender is not just a woman’s issue, it’s a human issue which affects us all.
DESIGN DEVELOPMENT
The role appointed to myself was image and typography creator, the group agreed that having hand drawn illustrations relating to gender and inequality accompanied by hand drawn type would make for a more visually engaging video campaign.
The design style that was used was quite playful in order to attract the key target audience, other styles were tried out, however these were felt to communicate anger in a way whereas the video campaign aims to educate on serious topics in a visually appealing and inviting way.
The typography designed was really liked by the group, however it was agreed that hand drawn type could only be used for some aspects of the design, due to the 10-15 second time limit, the text needs to be able to be understood quickly so the message can easily be communicated.
As the concept is a video campaign to be shared across social media, a script was made with the intention of voice overs being added to the 10-15 second videos. The voice over gives a deeper explanation of how big the problem actually is, juxtaposing the playful illustrations.
Another member of the group added colour to the illustrations and edited the compositions in a visually striking way, the colours were chosen in order to not conform with the gender stereotypes of using pink and blue.
As half of the members of our group have returned to Singapore to continue working on the project, the voice over has not yet been recorded and the video clips are not yet animated, however the general concept behind the design can be seen.
script - Gender is a kind of social construct, a way of seeing.
RESEARCH
We researched in to the countries which had the lowest rates of gender equality against a range of criteria - including wage equality, number of women in parliament and life expectancy for both sexes It was found that countries in the East had the lowest percentage of gender equality and so our campaign shifted towards having more of a focus on Eastern culture, being from a Western culture it was very useful to have memebers of the group from the East as they had prior, first hand knowledge on gender equality in Eastern Culture.
The final area of focus was unemployment, we found that companies have a preference towards men over women due to the possibility of women requestion maternity leave.
During the research stage we also identified the target audience for our video campaign being teenagers aged 14 years and up, we chose this age range with the aim of preventing the issue rather than combating a pre existing one in adults as teenagers at this age begin to think more maturely and are still developing their opinions and attitudes. The secondary audience is all types of people across the globe, as gender is not just a woman’s issue, it’s a human issue which affects us all.
DESIGN DEVELOPMENT
The design style that was used was quite playful in order to attract the key target audience, other styles were tried out, however these were felt to communicate anger in a way whereas the video campaign aims to educate on serious topics in a visually appealing and inviting way.
The typography designed was really liked by the group, however it was agreed that hand drawn type could only be used for some aspects of the design, due to the 10-15 second time limit, the text needs to be able to be understood quickly so the message can easily be communicated.
As the concept is a video campaign to be shared across social media, a script was made with the intention of voice overs being added to the 10-15 second videos. The voice over gives a deeper explanation of how big the problem actually is, juxtaposing the playful illustrations.
Another member of the group added colour to the illustrations and edited the compositions in a visually striking way, the colours were chosen in order to not conform with the gender stereotypes of using pink and blue.
As half of the members of our group have returned to Singapore to continue working on the project, the voice over has not yet been recorded and the video clips are not yet animated, however the general concept behind the design can be seen.
script - Gender is a kind of social construct, a way of seeing.
It is not set in nature like biology, it is something more.
For every girl we educate, we educate a family.
Maternal deaths would be reduced and 98,000 lives would be saved.
For every dollar a woman earns,
poverty rates would be cut in half and 26,000,000 children would benefit from it.
For every woman employed into the workforce,
global growth would increase by another $12,000,000,000,000.
Too often, gender equality is seen as a women’s issue, a feminist issue.
This is just as nonsensical as racism being an issue just for the minority.
Equality can become realised if only we believe and have the initiative to take action.
What we share is more powerful than what divides us.
Workin with the students from Singapore was a very unique experience, it was very interesting to see the different ways of working and how their process differed to ours. Although it would have been nice to have more time to work on the breif with them, we completed our part of the campain and we are excited to see the final animated version once completed.
The ideation process of this brief was the most valuable, personally. It was a great way to see how successful a concept would be in the real world which is something not normally considered within my practice. The topic we based our campaign on provided me with knowledge I had not previously known f, it was a very valuable experience in terms of meeting designers from a different country and merging together the different approaches to design.
The Prawn Shop logo - one hour warm up brief (sb1)
My clothing brand The Prawn Shop is yet to have a logo, the clothing mainly focuses around issues of body diversity in a fun and playful way, targeted towards women aged 18-25.
I want to create a logo which is simple enough that it can be incorporated on to the clothing designs and adjusted visually where needs be, and one which represents the brands message.
I have given my self an hour to create this logo as a warm up brief to see how quickly it would take me to produce one i'm happy with.
I began by sketching different possible logo shapes using imagery that can be found on most of the clothing designs as i feel this will allow the brand to be easily recognisable and make sense when applied to the clothing.
I began to struggle with the type placement as i wanted it to be incorporated with a line illustration, however finding the best way to do this began to be challenging.
Alternatively i could of used digital typography, however all of the clothing designs are hand drawn and so it felt that for brand cohesion a
hand drawn logo would be the most appropriate.
I began to experiment with negative space and using 'The Prawn Shop' to replace the use of line.
The torso style i felt although appropriate, was too busy, i feel that using a more simple line would be more appropriate.
I then incorporated a love heart shape in to the design
I want to create a logo which is simple enough that it can be incorporated on to the clothing designs and adjusted visually where needs be, and one which represents the brands message.
I have given my self an hour to create this logo as a warm up brief to see how quickly it would take me to produce one i'm happy with.
I began to struggle with the type placement as i wanted it to be incorporated with a line illustration, however finding the best way to do this began to be challenging.
Alternatively i could of used digital typography, however all of the clothing designs are hand drawn and so it felt that for brand cohesion a
hand drawn logo would be the most appropriate.
I began to experiment with negative space and using 'The Prawn Shop' to replace the use of line.
The torso style i felt although appropriate, was too busy, i feel that using a more simple line would be more appropriate.
I then incorporated a love heart shape in to the design
The hour was over and the above design is what was produced, i feel i needed more time to complete the brief as the intial idea stage took alot longer than expected, however i feel that it will be useful for later briefs as i now have a better idea of how long it would take me.
Monday, 19 March 2018
#LONDONISOPEN submission
As part of the submission a presentation outlining the concept behind the campaign was asked to be submitted, below are the slides which made up the presentation detailing what i was aiming to communicate through my approach.
Work In Progress (sb1)
the brief - A 24 hour visual journey and exploration of the word ‘ENERGY’ which shows the process of development through to the final outcome, with the freedom to be as conceptual as we please.
The 24 hours began by first generating ideas surrounding the word energy, at this point there was a particular focus in my own energy. As seen in figure two it was seen how long it would take of continuous drawing in order for my hand to run out of energy, figure 1 demonstrates another exploration of hand energy, but rather than shading, this one is an exploration of how long I could draw for before my hand started to hurt.
At this point there were many ideas such as looking in to what drugs provide energy and how to surive on no energy (see figure 1) however the concept which was found to be most interesting was the focus on human energy, and what is possible within a certain time frame
As the focus of the initial idea stage centred around human energy, research began looking in to time and what is possible within a time frame. As the brief is a 24 hour one, with a heavy emphasis on the process design, all development work was completed in a sketchbook in order to accurately document it. The above sketchbook scans show the exploration of 24 hours, seeing what makes up 24 hours. It was found that within 24 hours there are 1440 minutes, 86400 seconds.
Within the research stage, whilst looking the sequences of time which make up 24 hours, it was found that there are 288 sets of 5 minutes within 24 hours. The idea was then developed of using my ‘energy’ to create a visual exploration of type and the number 288, setting a time restriction of 5 minutes per illustration, I would eventually produce 288 versions of the number 288 using two pens; a thick black marker and a think black marker.
As the exploration continued, it was realised that there had to be a final piece whereas I had mainly been focusing on the process. After all 288 variations of 288 were complete, I asked the opinion of peers, asking them to choose their favourite type, I then developed the three most popular experimentations in to pieces of design which could then be presented within my feature in Work In Progress
The process of completing the 24 hour brief for Work In Progress allowed me to produce type which I would have not otherwise ever considered. Through documenting every stage of my process within a sketchbook it really helped to not only generate ideas but also to be able to look back and see what was working at an earlier stage.
Choosing a rather conceptual focus for this brief also proved to be the right decision, normally I would of tried to produce an illustration of some form however I thought I’d see what I could do with typography, as it isn’t particularly a strong point, and the results were experiments and styles I didn’t know i could produce.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)