Visual Systems by Ethan Wong

Arts University Bournemouth Wallisdown, Poole Dorset, BH12 5HH United Kingdom For the Arts University Bournemouth BA (Hons) Graphic Design Second Year First published in 2014 ÂŠ 2014 Arts University Bournemouth https://www.behance.net/YuxinHuang All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any other information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Printed and bound in England

Contents 06 Introduction 09 Visual Synthesis 10 Research & Previous Ideas 12 Final Idea & Design Process 17 Critical Evaluation 19 Industry Visits & Research

68 Final Idea 70 Design Process 75 Critical Evaluation 77 Display Book 78 The Choose of Grid 82 The Use of Grid

20 Research & Previous Ideas

88 Initial Idea of Cover Design

24 Interview

90 Final Idea of Cover Design

26 Design Solutions From Studio Morros 33 Critical Evaluation 35 Wayfinding 36 Research & Previous Ideas 38 Final Idea & Design Process 40 App Design 43 Critical Evaluation 45 Smint Cover Design 46 Previous Ideas & Design Process 48 Final Idea 53 Subvert 54 Research & Previous Ideas 56 Final Idea 58 Design Process 61 Critical Evaluation 63 Visual Crypsis 64 Research & Previous Ideas

Introduction

Visual Systems is the unit we were working on for the first term of the second year graphic design study in Arts University Bournemouth. The concept might be vague and confusing at the beginning to most of us but it is actually something specific and noticed by us everyday. A tree could be a visual system, so does a chair, a building and every objects around our life. What we were trying to do for this unit is to analysis different kinds of visual systems and try to built the system by ourself through the knowledge we learn of this term. Visual Systems is an in-depth study of the structural and organizing systems at work in graphic design such as grids, modules, classification, proportion, series, progression, symmetry and rhythm. Design problems are studied holistically through projects that stress dynamic relationships among content, form and context to gain a deeper understanding of systems at many levels. This book documents and tells the story of Yuxin Huangâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s creative process through a systematic and considered presentation. The elements will be selected as the content of the book including key research, insights, critical analysis, design thinking, development, test work, written critical evaluations from all the assignments of the Visual Systems unit and all materials that are relevant to my creative process. This display book also gives the opportunity to select, organise and structure information through visual systems using grids, typography, composition, hierarchy, colour, etc.

Andreas Lauhoff, 1999 Speech-recognizing letterforms

Visual Synthesis Assignment 1

This is an abstract and creative assignment of the visual system study and we were working as a group of six students. For this project we were required to create a portrait of the Arts University Bournemouth campus by using a visual system created by us. We would be working in groups to map, analyse and recreate the data systems of our surroundings within a set of synthesised visual systems.

Research & Previous Ideas

Research of colour system, from New Systems in Graphic Design by Kuster, C. and King, E. (2001)

Base on the research of art work in the book New Systems in Graphic Design and Information Is Beautiful we considered colours could be the key element to use for representing various data. Several various thinkings were considered at the beginning of the project and it was all provided by

different members in our group. The first idea was using smoking area in the campus as a visual system. The second idea was using the temperature of different studios. It was almost our final decision and an abstract chart was even designed but it was still cancelled by privous disagreements in the group.

Sketch of AUB campus: Data of the idea of steps: Sketch of the idea of steps. By Yuxin Huang, 2014

The third one, which was provided by me is about using steps to present the campus. It is about how many steps people need to take from the graphic design studio/University House to other locations in the campus such as library, lecture theatre, the Arts Bart and studios of other different courses. I calculated all the steps I took to all places in the campus

and I thought it might be present as different colours, shapes of footprints and sizes. Each colour represents a way and the distance for certain location in the campus. For example, 30 steps to reception, 45 steps to main car park and 115 steps to Uni Print department. But the idea was cancelled either because we came up with a better idea after that.

Student interactions became the theme of our final design. The concept of this idea is trying to present the unique of the AUB campus by actually collecting AUB students’ interactions inside the campus and using it as a visual system. The data of this system would be the amount of various interactions collected by us from different locations in the campus. We had several thoughts to present the our data. At first we were going to design an animation which is a stop motion digital time-line, with different colours represents different percentage of students’ interactions at different time. As the picture on the left side is the data collected by me at the courtyard in front of the library at between 12.00pm to 12.15pm. At that time in our colour system green means the interaction “Hug”, yellow means “High Five”, purple means “Laugh”, red means “Kiss” and blue means “Talking in Groups”. This four pictures shows how students’ behaviour changed in 15mins at the busiest time in uni. But the plan was cancelled because none of us in my group was capable to present the idea digitally.

Data collected and design of idea of student interaction, by Yuxin Huang, 2014.

It was convenient that we had set up a colour system to use for our visual system. We kept the colour system of the previous idea and carried on for the second idea which was to use books designed by us to present the data. The thickness of each book would be base on the percentage of different interactions. The plan was cancelled either because the content of the book wasn’t sure and we were looking for a way that causes interaction to the audience.

Final Idea & Design Process

Front side of postcards for the final idea. Designed by Harry Murr and Gemma Brett.

After the inspiration from the book idea, postcard became the vehicle we used to present the final piece of work. The similarity of postcard and book is that they could be touched and felt by the audience. Writing down a message and sending it to someone is also exactly the same as the theme of our system, which is interactions. This postcard visual system is not only be using for this project but also could be used at other places. It has been tested and it was completely workable and acceptable. There were two hundred people asked to write down what they want to say to the last person they had interaction with. For example the person who just waved to someone in the campus will be asked by a member in our group to write down words the on the green postcard (different colours represents different interactions) we designed. Then those two hundred people would be represented as one hundred postcards and a rough percentage of interactions which were observed by us will be presented as different amount of postcard with different colours which represents different behaviours. The colour system was slightly changed from the previous idea. The yellow postcards means “High Five”, the blue means “Phone Call”, the purple means “Hug”, the red means “Kiss” and the green means “ Wave”.

Yuxin Huang and Sarah Harrison were preparing for critic. Photography by Harry Murr, 2014.

The final art work as the picture was in a big glass box. There were postcards at the bottom of the glass box as well and it means those interactions happened between those three locations. The reason of using glass box was trying to represent AUB style, which is modern and minimalist . It was also for keeping distance from the audience to the postcards. We thought that creates a feeling as a stranger to look at what other people were doing. Which also emphasises that postcard is personal and private and the value of each interaction is unique.

Gemma Brett and Sara Harrison were preparing for critic. Photography by Harry Murr, 2014.

Gemma Brett, Harry Murr, Nischal Gurung, Sara Harrison, Yuxin Huang, 2014 Postcard Visual System of Student Interaction

Critical Evaluation For the Visual Synthesis project our work answered the brief by collecting studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interaction in campus of Arts University Bournemouth and presenting it as different postcards with different colours. Postcards were hanged in a big glass box by three strings which represented the data we collected from three different locations. Base on the feedbacks from the critique there are several strengths of our work. The theme we focused were interesting, creative and personal especially it was presented in a glass box. It also encourages people to involve and it presented the relationship between different people in a visual way successfully. On the other hand there were weaknesses of our work. First of all the reason why the postcards were hanged in the glass box was not explained completely. Secondly the locations of interactions were not presented on the postcard. People would like to see where did those interactions happen and maybe even more information of the people who was involved in the interactions. In my opinion the work we presented was interesting and attractive but more discussions and experiments should be done before our presentation. During the design process of this project I have achieved more experience of team working and bold idea development. A work base on graphic design knowledge does not have to be presented on a graphical way. What I need to improved was my team working ability which includes time management problem, idea sharing difficulty and language ability.

Industry Visit & Research Assignment 2

This is a group project with six students participated which provides opportunity for the second year graphic design student to have a general concept about how does the graphic design industry in UK work by interviewing different famous designers and studios. We needed to make contact with our chosen company and arrange to visit. After the visits have taken place we need to deliver a screen-based presentation of our findings.

Research & Previous Ideas

Wolff Olins design studio, Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 1965.

An industry visit list was provided by our tutor at the beginning of the project and it includes lot of famous design studios such as Pentagram, Johnson Banks, Interbrand, Why Not Associates, Wolff Olins, Kate Moross Studio, Us Two, The Walker Agency, Saatchi & Saatchi and Us Design etc. We focused on Pentagram, Here Design, Saatchi & Saatchi at first because those are big companies and their design work online is incredible. Personally my favourite visit object was pentagram. I was attracted by their work after I browsed their office website and I thought we might learn a lot things which are not only about design but also about how to really get into the industry at the beginning such as making contacts and attracting clients. After checking their client list I was really

surprised that they have so much significant clients such as United Airlines, Victoria & Albert Museum and San Francisco Opera. It must be sure they have enough experience in the industry which is exactly what I was looking for. But my mind was changed after a discussion with my group and we all agreed that we should go visit a smaller design studio because for those famous companies they may provide that much time and patience as we need. A smaller company, or should say a company which just set up and getting into the industry is closer to our situation which is that we will be graduated in less than two year. Their precious experience for getting in to the industry will be needed by us, indeed.

Official website of Pentagram Design studio, 2014.

Pentagram Design studio, London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1972.

Kate Moross (1986 - present), a British graphic designer, illustrator and art director.

Our final decision is to visit Studio Moross and interviewing Kate Moross . The reason is it is a young studio with experienced designers and we also admire the style of Morossâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work. Here is a brief introduction of Kate Moross. Moross is a graphic designer, illustrator and art director based in London. She has been profiled in Grafik Magazine, Dazed & Confused, Vice magazine and Creative Review, who selected her for a Creative Future award in 2007. Moross is also known for her typographic illustration. Her achievements include a nationwide billboard campaign for Cadburys, a signature clothing range for Topshop and illustrations for Vogue Magazine. She joined Pulse Films as a director in 2010 and has directed music video for Alpines, Simian Mobile Disco, and Jessie Ware. She regularly speaks at arts conferences, and has sat on the jury for the D&AD Awards in 2012.

Logo of Studio Moross, designed by Kate Moross in 2012.

About Morossâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s education, She attended South Hampstead High School for primary and secondary school. She studied an art foundation at Wimbledon School of Art, and went on to complete her BA Degree at Camberwell School of Art in 2008.

Interview

Kate Moross was introducing her employees in Studio Moross. Photography by Yuxin Huang, 2014.

Kate Moross was visited by my group on 22th October, 2014 and the process of the interviewed was successful. Studio Moross is a small and unconspicuous studio beside 9 Delancey St in London. It was surprising to feel the relaxed atmosphere there while we realizing how busy they were. Moross and other designers in her studio were being really kind by offering their patience and professionality .All prepared questions were answered and we were introduced about their design process for music album design by one of the designers in her studio. Most of the questions we asked are about Kate Moross herself such as how did she started her own business, what does she think about the work she did during university and what does she think about the importance of degree. She answered all of it and she also told us her own definition of a good designer. Before we met her most of us thought portfolio is everything for the industry but in her opinion

she thinks the interview of job is much more important than the art work. She claims that being a designer who is good at team working is essential because team work will be the working style after getting in the design industry. And she also said she refused designer who presented brilliant portfolio but has awful ability for social network. What she said helps us to consider what should we do and who should we be as a design student will graduate from university in two years and it was surprising to see how relax the working environment in Studio Moross is and how patient Studio Moross was. The shame of this interview is questions for graphic design industry in UK were not prepared enough.

Kate Moross was answering question in Studio Moross. Photography by Yuxin Huang, 2014.

Questions & Answers Industry Group: Which one is your favourite art work? Moross: I really don’t know. Industry Group: Do you think University work is important for industry? Moross: Once you have working experience you wouldn’t put any of your university work in your portfolio anymore. Industry Group: Is portfolio the most important thing for job interviewing? Moross: I don’t think so. Personality and team working ability are more important for the industry.

Industry Group: What is most difficult client you ever met? Moross: I think it must be music companies. We always have to finish works in a short period of time because they only send us the brief the day before the deadline. Industry Group: What do you think about the graphic design industry in nowadays? Moross: I think it is getting more difficult because technology is being improved and people can finish things earlier and quicker than before. Technical design is losing its advantage. From now on it is all about presenting unique ideas.

Industry Group: What kind of designer do you prefer to hire? Moross: Designer who is good at presenting works in various styles.

Design Solutions from Studio Morros

Music album (F For You) packaging design for Disclosure, designed by Studio Moross in 2013.

Music album (Voices) packaging design for Disclosure, designed by Studio Moross in 2012.

Music album (London EP) packaging design for Banks, designed by Studio Moross in 2012.

Music album (The Discovery Project) packaging design for Jazz FM, designed by Studio Moross in 2012.

Poster design for Banks campaign, designed by Studio Moross in 2014.

Kate Moross, 2013 Kate Moross x Super Eyewear

Critical Evaluation For the Industry Visit & Research project Kate Moross was interviewed by my industry group in Studio Moross, London on 22th October in 2014. The interview was processed in the morning and it was llast for an hour long. Precious answers and notes were taken during the interview. It was a rare opportunity to interview such a famous designer in London but it was to be regretted that most of questions were asked by other members from my group. Only one question was asked by myself because I was confident enough. Base on the feedbacks from Kate Moross and other designers who was working in Studio Moross the modern design industry is getting more difficult. With the development of technology design work could be finished easier than before which means the competition of creative idea is stronger. And as a designer the efficiency, creativity and quality have to be maintained on acceptable level base on the requirements of different clients from different industries. Also a good designer should be capable to present design work in various styles, which provides more opinions for clients. In my opinion this project really created a chance for students to learn more directly from designers and it helps students to know more about how the design industry works at the moment. If it is possible I suggest students to do this project more frequently. Personally what I need to improve is my ability to present work in different styles. My style at the moment is still too sole.

Wayfinding Assignment 3

This is a group project with three students participated to research and engage certain environments with which is required a navigation system. For this assignment we would build on our exploration and understanding of visual systems and begin to recruit your creative strategies to solve real world design problems. Wayfinding design involves the development of visual systems of signage, landmarks and mapping to facilitate the navigation of complex environment.

Research & Previous Ideas

Sketch of treasure hunt idea in park, designed by Yuxin Huang in 2014

Sketch of treasure hunt idea in park, designed by Charlotte Causer in 2014.

What we needed to do was to identify a specific location or sets of different locations and use the creative strategies within visual systems to produce a comprehensive wayfinding system. Treasure hunt was the first idea of my group. We thought about to do a treasure hunt game in campus of Arts University Bournemouth but then we realised that the campus is too boring because all the target user will be people in AUB and they are too familiar to the campus so the game may lose its fun. The treasure hunt idea in campus was cancelled. After that we were thinking maybe we can use a park or any place with lots of tree which provides a sense of forest in Bournemouth for this treasure hunt idea. As the picture on the left we thought about adding more than one treasures for creating more fun to the game but the idea was cancelled still because we couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t really find a rationale for the treasure hunt game. It seems like there is no connection between the game and our project. We suppose to design a navigation system to help certain users to achieve their destination but it againsted the concept of treasure hunt.

A Park near Bournmeouth town center. Photography by Yuxin Huang in 2014

All members from my group including myself went to a park which locates near the town centre square in Bournemouth and had an observation. It was surprising to see how beautiful and unpopular it is which is a shame. Base on the situation of this park we had a rationale for our design, which is encouraging people to discover their neighbour places. Also we saw many different types of trees in the park and we thought maybe we can combine a tree-learning content in our design. Finally there was a tree trail idea came up and

we decided to use it as our final idea. The target audience of the tree trail is the families have children and the rationale of this design is encouraging young people to feel the nature and exploring new areas which is near the place they are living and getting more knowledge of the trees planted around them.

Final Idea & Design Process

Left : Laser cutting process for Leaf Puzzle and introduction board; Right: Leaf Stand presented near trees in park. All designed by Charlotte Causer, Mia Jamieson in 2014.

We designed a puzzle board, a stand with leaf shape and a introduction board. They are all made by wood because we think it fits the theme which is about the trees. So whey people start this tree trail, they would see a introduction board and it tells them how many kind of trees in that certain park and the leafâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s shape of each different tree will be showed on the board and thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s how people can figure what kind of tree are they are looking for by the shape of leaf from the tree. The system is to find the tree by recognizing the shape of the leaf. The children would get a puzzle board for the leaf collecting fun. If they follow the shape of the leaf and finally find that tree then they would see there is a stand right next to the tree. Information of the tree will be

showed on the stand and also children can pick up a little leaf which is made by wood and hanged on the stand. By putting it in their puzzle board they can make it as their own collection or souvenir of this tree trail game. There is a QR code on the wood leaf on the stand and the parents or any other elder people who knows how to use smart phone can scan it and get more specific details of the tree.

Up: Introduction Board presented near lake in park; Down: Leaf Puzzle presented in park. All designed by Charlotte Causer, Mia Jamieson in 2014.

App Design

This is an app design for the tree trail idea and this is how it works. Basically when children find the tree there will be a QR code right on the stand as it was mentioned before which is right next to the tree and their parents are able to use their smart phone for scanning the QR code. The current location will show up on the phone with a little map of the park and people can get information of the tree they found by clicking the happy face on the

map. Parents can read those information and showing pictures to their kids from this app and at the end it encourages people to found more trees. We think this app will add more fun for this activity and it provides lots of knowledge such as showing the cute designed map and the introduction of different kinds of trees in the park. About the layout design of this app we made

About the layout design of this app we made it looks very professional at the beginning but later we thoguht it would be better if the sytle is childish because the target audience of the app is still the children, although it would be used by their parents or other elder people. We tried to make it looks childish by making it colourful and using funny shapes to present the trees and the current location on the map. Although most of the children may not be

able to use smart phone but our purpose is to let their parents to show this to their kids. We think children can remember these shapes of leafs earlier By getting involve to the tree trail activity because me design the shape of leaf as real simple image in the app.

Charlotte Causer, Mia Jamieson, Yuxin Huang, 2014 Leaf Stand design

Critical Evaluation For the Wayfinding project our work answered the brief by presenting a wayfinding system which includes a wooden stand with wooden nicely cut leaf, wooden puzzle board and a app design on smart phone of a tree trail activity. The target audience was focused on families have young children. The purpose of this activity is encouraging young people to explore new areas and to know more knowledge of trees. Base on the feedbacks from the critique there are several strengths of our work. The design of each wayfinding object was nicely done and the wayfinding system does work. Also the design of the app is attractive and funny. It was nice for children and it creates an appropriate atmosphere for the tree trail. On the other hand there were still some weaknesses of our work. First of all the wooden puzzle board was not totally necessary for the whole idea because people might prefer collecting real leaf instead of the wooden one we designed. Secondly the app idea did not match the concept of tree tail. According to some opinions from students in our critic it would be wired to use a digital tool for an activity which suppose to encourage people to feel the nature. In my opinion the idea was interesting and but it needed more experiments. The problem of time management was not handled nicely and we should have tested if the system works. The process of design reminds me how important and necessary to stand out and say something when you realize the whole team is not going on a right way.

Smint Cover Design Design Competition

This is not an assignment of the Visual System unit but it is a design competition suggested to join by tutors. There is not a specific brief and requirements for the competition which means it was hard to understand what the company want. But it is also interesting because it also mean that various options are available for the design.

Previous Ideas & Design Process

Sketches of Smint cover design, designed by Yuxin Huang in 2014.

At the beginning of this competition I was really unsure what I am going to design because basically there was no requests of the design and all the information Smint provided is to design something which matches the theme â&#x20AC;&#x153;Fresh To Impressâ&#x20AC;?. And at the beginning of this term the Walker Agency, a design company which was able to explain the competition to us by representing Smint came to Arts University Bournemouth did a lecture with us. They openly said we can design whatever we want but the Smint wanted something different. It was making me even confuser so I decided just follow my mind and do whatever I want as long as it is different and impressing.

I was quite sure about the background colour early even before I started to design, which would be a dark colour. I made that decision because the main design on the cover would be something bright and colourful and I thought with a dark background colour it would be presented nicely with a contrast. At first the reason of using colourful design was for presenting the happy feeling when people open a pack of Smint. For me it is not only a piece of Smint. It like something magic that you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to stop as long as you started the first one.

Different ideas of Smint cover design, designed by Yuxin Huang in 2014.

Final Idea For the final idea, I tried my best to keep my minimalist design style by only using the simple shape of Smint and only presenting it with four gradient colours and the logo of Smint with a small caption underneath, which says “Multiple Flavours”. Base on my former design I decided to keep the colourful Smint but with a better reason of it which is multiple flavours. It is also the theme of this design. Base on the research I have done Smint company have never ever produce a multiple flavours pack in their history and I thought that is exactly what they need for something new and different. They do have different flavours but it is never in a same pack and I thought it might be nice if people can taste various flavours by spending money for one pack of Smint. The interesting things of the original package design of Smint is that people can not take a piece of sweet by open the little box just like what they do normally. They need to press the top part of the box and shake it. Then a piece of Smint will drop out from the bottom of the box and that is actually a funny part for having a piece of sweet. So I was thinking how about make it even funnier? How about adding a expectation for flavours to people? I guess people would really love this especially for kids because it doesn’t only have an attractive cover design but also a new different concept behind the design.

Yuxin Huang, 2014 Multiple Flavours Smint Cover Design

Subvert

Assignment 4 This is an individual assignment and a brand need to be selected by us to promote or subvert the concept of it. The project would build on the deconstruction and analysis of the mapping brief at the start of the term. We would analyse and deconstruct the visual system of an existing brand. Repurpose the underlying visual system to produce an outcome that subverts or extends the brandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; s key message.

Resesarch & Previous Ideas

Research of subvertisting. Honest Logo, designed by Victor Hertz in 2009.

Research of subvertisting. Nike logo subvertising design.

For this assignment I decided to do subvertising because I thought promoting a brand is not as interesting as subverting it. So I did lots of research and studied different examples of subvertising and I found that the result would be powerful if redesign a slogan or use the original one but slightly redesign the logo then create an irony. But creating a new slogan is not the way I was keen on because I think it is more about advertising instead of designing, although it would be still subvertising. And for this project I think it is more important to learn how to subvert a concept of a brand by using our design ability. The subverting design of NIKE really let me think about the designing of subverting. The

big red tick in the logo represents all those labours from unknown or even illegal resource and when people read the logo with the slogan â&#x20AC;&#x153;Just Do Itâ&#x20AC;? there is a feeling of threat. I can imagine the picture that those poor kids were being shouted by the commanders in the factory. Another reason I like this design is it looks very simple and minimalist but also powerful as well.

Final Idea For the final idea I was inspired by the slogan of my favourite cigarette brand, Lucky Strike, which is an American tobacco and also one of the earliest tobacco companies in the world. Lucky Strike is owned by British American Tobacco groups. Often referred to as “Luckies”, Lucky Strike was the top selling cigarette in the United States during the 1930s. In 1917, the brand started using the slogan, “It’s Toasted”, to inform consumers about the manufacturing method in which the tobacco is toasted rather than sun-dried, a process touted as making the cigarettes

taste more desirable. According the research I did such as those old poster design it could be seen that the original idea of this slogan is trying to emphasise the tobacco of lucky strike is toasted and it tastes better. It is almost on every campaign and other things such as poster and packaging design which was for promoting Lucky Strike products. It is important to Lucky Strike and it is also a symbol of brave man. What I did was a poster campaign to remind people that smoking kills by using their slogan and that’s was how I subvert the whole concept of the brand.

Research of Lucky Strike advertising. Poster design of Lucky Strike in 1930s.

Base on the slogan “It’s toasted”, there was an idea came up with my mind which was using actual toasts which are over toasted. I could cut it into pieces and make it looks like the same shape of lungs. And then it will be photographed and presented on my design. The reason I was going to present it as the shape of lungs was because lung is the directest organ which is related to the concept smoking kills. I think it created an irony successfully because the name of the element I was going to use is the same as the word “toasted” in the slogan but the meaning and the purpose of the using of the word is completely different. What I wanted it has the feeling of shocking when the audience look at my design. I thought if I keep going with this idea then I would find an appropriate way to subvert the brand. At first I wanted to redesign their cigarette package by putting the picture of those over toasted bread on the cover instead of the big circle logo of Lucky Strike but I found it might be not creative enough because bad lungs or other organs pictures are on every cigarette package in nowadays. So I decided to do a poster campaign. The style of the poster will be minimalism and it is not only my personal interest but also match the style of Lucky Strike packaging design. The elements I was going to be presented are only the toasted bread which would look like lungs, the logo of Lucky Strike and the slogan.

Sketches of the package and poster design, by Yuxin Huang in 2014.

Design Process

Toasted bread made of lungs shape, designed by Yuxin Huang in 2014.

Process of poster design, experiencing different typographies. Designed by Yuxin Huang in 2014.

Yuxin Huang, 2014 Lucky Strike Subvertising Poster Design, Printed in A2

Critical Evaluation For the Subvert project my work answered the brief by presenting a subvertising poster of an American cigarette company called Lucky Strike, which is my favourite cigarette brand. The poster was designed simply by only presenting a picture of over toasted bread in lung shape, the original slogan of the brand and the logo of the brand. The reason I used over toasted bread was because the original slogan reminded me toast and the harm of lungs with smoking. The final design is a combination of both ideas and it symbolizes the harm of smoking. Most of the feedbacks from the critique there are strengths of my work. Tutors and other students love the concept behind the design, the idea of using over toasted bread and my design style in minimalism. On the other hand there were weaknesses of my work. According to opinions from some students the design of the cigarette which is underneath the slogan is not clear enough. It might be considered as a loading bar and it is not a necessary design either. And According to the opinion from my tutors there are space of typography improvement. The position of Lucky Strike logo was not considered enough and the size could be bigger. In my opinion my work is perfect including the concept of design and the design of poster. The reason why I designed a small cigarette under the slogan was in case some audience does not know that Lucky Strike is a cigarette brand. I enjoyed doing this project and I suggest students should do more project about advertising because it is useful.

Visual Crypsis Assignment 5

This assignment will allow an exploration of how visual systems collide, camouflage and interact. Within the context of Graphic Design an important aspect of understanding the functionality of a visual system is to explore how one system can interact with another. This could be an individual or team project and we would select at least two visual systems and try to combine them together and see how it works.

Research & Previous Ideas

Poster for Keio Department Store, designed by Shigeo Fukuda in 1990s.

At the beginning of this project I was going to work by my own and the first idea of the project was making an illustration which shows two different thing by the use of positive and negative space. This idea was inspired by my design hero Shigeo Fukuda’s work and I was obsessed with it. Fukuda was a Japanese graphic designer who created a lot of interesting visual illusion. I thought maybe I could combine something abstract and conceptive together and create some meaningful editorial illustrations which

really make people think a lot. For example I thought about combining politics and lie, politics and money or even politics and violence. Nothing actually done with this idea because I realized it wouldn’t work soon after. There were lots of research done and the idea was quickly cancelled because it wasn’t really follow the brief. Nothing new is created base on the idea of positive and negative space, although one space would be camouflaged in another one.

Poster for Keio Department Store, designed by Shigeo Fukuda in 1975.

Research of dazzle camouflage, designed by Dave Williams in 2013.

After this idea I decided to work together with my friend Adam Hassen and we decided to work with the theme of government surveillance. We thought about designing a umbrella which has dazzle pattern so when people holding it and walking on the road the pattern confused the satellite camera. Another idea was designing a case of newspaper and it was only for people reading newspaper inside the tube. A man or womanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s face will be designed on the outside of the newspaper case and the purpose of this is also for confusing camera.

Sketch of newspaper case idea, designed by Adam Hassen in 2014.

But after certain consideration we both thought it needed to be cancelled because both of those ideas did not have enough context behind it and it was just a rough image. There is another idea about global warming which is displayed by candle. The candle will be painted as the outlook of earth and after people light it on the melted earth impression could be seen. This idea was cancelled either because we couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t find a logical relation between global warming and the material we were going to use which was the candle.

Sketch of global warming candle idea, designed by Yuxin Huang in 2014.

Final idea

Photo research of surveillance camera.

Tempora surveillance program and binary code became the final idea. Tempora is the codeword for a formerly secret computer system that is used by the British Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ). This system is used to buffer internet communications that are extracted from fibre-optic cables, so these can be processed and searched. It was tested since 2008 and became operational in the autumn of 2011. The reason we decided to use binary code was because every computer program is wrote by different binary code and we consider it as the origin of the surveillance program. Another reason was the binary

code is an appropriate element to use for presenting camouflage because they all look quite similar and simple. We found an online binary code translator and then we got the binary code of the phrase â&#x20AC;&#x153;Tempora Surveillance Programâ&#x20AC;? . 01110100 01100101 01101101 01110000 01101111 01110010 01100001 00100000 01110011 01110101 01110010 01110110 01100101 01101001 01101100 01101100 01100001 01101110 01100011 01100101 00100000 01110000 01110010 01101111 01100111 01110010 01100001 01101101

We decided to copy this group of code and make it looks uncountable as a big group of number. We thought it emphasize the scale of the national surveillance program in UK. The word “Tempora” is going to be hidden in those codes by using different thickness of the type and people can only see the word by standing further. I also thought about to hide a image of surveillance camera in the code but my partner Adam consider it would be too obvious and cliché. The final piece of work would be considered as a poster design and the only elements which we were going to use is the binary code. We thought about using lots of profile pictures from Facebook but we found it was not necessary and we wanted to keep the work in minimalism. Sketch of binary code idea by Yuxin Huang in 2014.

Binary code from Online binary Translator.

Design Process

Combining binary code and the word â&#x20AC;&#x153;temporaâ&#x20AC;?, designed by Yuxin Huang in 2014.

Present the word â&#x20AC;&#x153;temporaâ&#x20AC;? by changing font and thickness of type, designed by Yuxin Huang in 2014.

Making the word more obvious by changing colour and type style, designed by Yuxin Huang

Idea of presenting the image of camera and the word together, designed by Yuxin Huang in 2014.

Yuxin Huang, 2014 Tempora, visual crypsis poster design

Critical Evaluation For the Visual Crypsis project my work answered the brief by presenting a poster which only contains lots of binary codes. The two systems we combined are Tempora Surveillance Program and binary code. The word â&#x20AC;&#x153;Temporaâ&#x20AC;? was displayed by binary codes which have different thickness and style and the word could be seen on the poster if the audience stand further from it. The crypsis system we used is the difference of thickness and style of typeface. Base on the feedbacks from the critique there are strengths of my work. The poster presents a visual crypsis system successfully and the systems we used have logical relationship. The awareness of using different ways to make difference of typeface proofs the learning result of this unit. Also the amount of numbers can emphasize how big the scale of the national surveillance program in UK. On the other hand there were weaknesses of my work. According to opinions from my tutor the way it displayed was too simple and obvious. Although the idea is good but more considerations and needed to be done for the final presentation. In my opinion my work the idea of combining surveillance and binary code is exceptional but the final display needs more depth indeed. There were some problems of time management because there was another project happening while design the Visual Crypsis project. Also the ability of thinking bravely needs to be improved.

Display Book Assignment 6

This project would give us the opportunity to select, organise and structure information through visual systems using grids, typography, composition, hierarchy, colour, etc. We would document and tell the story of our creative process through a systematic and considered presentation. Each assignment we have done for this term would be presented in this book including our critical evaluation.

The Choose of Grid A grid system is used to help graphic designers organise the information of a page into a logical and coherent format. For this display book I used different grids to design the layout including the grid developed by myself. On the right hand side is the grid I used for my cover design. It is a simple symmetrical grid based on a continuous division of the paper size in the ratio 1:1414, which is the proportion of A4 paper. Using the paper size as a guide we can retain the proportion throughout the grid, this will give my elements within the design a relationship to one another, the grid and the paper size. Personally I consider it is a very considerable grid and I was going to use it through the whole book and I did try but I found out it is very difficult to use especially for my book, which leaves lots of white space.

A Grid base on A4 size proportion and it was used for the cover.

The initial size of my book was A4 size but I changed it later because I thought it would be too big and the white space would be really difficult to handle. I decided to reduce it to 175*247.5, which is slightly smaller than A4 but the proportion is still the same. On the right hand side is another grid I designed which is for the main content of the book. It is much simpler than the last one I showed and it is also easier to use. It is a six columns grid and it is also the same proportion as A4 size paper, which means it is in the same proportion of the new size of paper I just mentioned about. I believed it created appropriate relationship between my elements, the paper size and the grid itself. The reason I chose six columns is because I wanted to have more options when I design the layout. In this six columns gird it could be also divided to a two or three columns grid. Many have said grid systems can stifle creativity, but I disagree. Grid systems can facilitate creativity by providing a framework.

A Grid base on A4 size proportion and it was used for the cover.

The Use of Grid

The use of gird of page 24, designed by Yuxin Huang in 2014.

The use of grid of page 25, designed by Yuxin Huang in 2014.

The use of gird of page 32, designed by Yuxin Huang in 2014.

The use of grid of page 33, designed by Yuxin Huang in 2014.

The use of gird of page 40, designed by Yuxin Huang in 2014.

The use of grid of page 41, designed by Yuxin Huang in 2014.

First Idea of Cover Design This is the first and the final idea of my cover design. As it could be seen clearly it is a colourful bar code and the title of the book. A very simple and clean design which is my favourite minimalist style, international style. The reason that I used a bar code is that I found the similarity between bar code and the unit I was studying which was visual system. After the learning of this unit I understand that everything around us has their own unique visual system as long as it is something count be visually seen. A tree, river or building can be a system, not matter it is colour system, light system or something else. I considered bar code as a visual system because each one is unique and it can be read by its own digital system. It is difficult too be noticed by people because it is too conmen in our life. And the reason I made it colourful was for presenting our colourful life. It is a combination of a dull bar code and how many different systems we can see everyday. But the interesting is not that many people pay attention on those visual systems, just like how they ignore the bar code.

The bar code idea of cover, designed by Yuxin Huang in 2014.

Second Idea of Cover Design This is the second idea of my cover design. It is an abstract design presented by using extreme simple shapes which are circle and rectangle. In fact what I designed is a sun with sunlight. The red circle represents the sun and those rectangles are the sunlight. I was inspired by my first idea which was the colour bar code design. The reason why I designed this was because I thought the bar code idea looks too messy. There were too many colours and some how it broke the rhythm at the beginning of the book. When I was trying to reduce the colours of the bar code I found it looks quite like the sun lights when I made it all orange and yellow. The concept behind the design was the relationship between the sunlight and visual system. The sunlight is the start of every visual system on earth and there will be no visual system without it. Human being uses sunlight to see everything and analyse all visual systems in the world. I thought it would be nice if the book which is called Visual System starts with the origin of visual system.

The sun light idea of cover, designed by Yuxin Huang in 2014.

Yuxin Huang, 2014 Visual System Display Book

Critical Evaluation For the Display Book project my work answered the brief by presenting an a hundred and two pages book which contains all finished work, experiments, design process and critical evaluation for each assignment of the unit Visual System. Most of the feedbacks from my tutors are strengths of my work. First of all the book I designed has wonderful typography, hierarchy and pace for reading. Secondly the use of grid was exceptional and the control of white space was adequate. It creates a good sense of luxury. Thirdly the use of picture and the contrast between pictures and topic colour was commendable. All initial ideas and design developments were presented nicely by using appropriate images. On the other hand there were still some weaknesses of my work. The whole style of the book is extremely controlled and according to the opinions from my tutors it would be nice to see more layout design which is breaking out of the grid. And more pictures of my sketch book pages need to be presented as well because they would like to see more initial ideas of my works. In my opinion my book was perfectly done. The reason I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t use much pictures of my sketches was because I considered it might gave negative influence on my neat layout design style. I enjoy designing a book because lots of typography knowledge and the ability to consider the work precisely were learned which I think is important for my future career in the design industry.

The End

Glossary of Terms Abstract, Abstraction A form of art which does not seek to represent the world around us. The term is applicable to any art that does not represent reconizable objects, but refers particularly to forms of twentieth-century art in which the idea of art imitating nature has been abandoned. Kandinsky, Mondrian and Malevich were among abstraction’s early pioneers.

in contrasting colours, interrupting and intersecting each other. Unlike some other forms of camouflage, dazzle works not by offering concealment but by making it difficult to estimate a target’s range, speed and heading. Norman Wilkinson explained in 1919 that dazzle was intended more to mislead the enemy as to the correct position to take up than actually to miss his shot when firing.

Camouflage

Grid Systems

Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard’s spotted coat, the battledress of a modern soldier, and the leaf-mimic katydid’s wings. A third approach, motion dazzle, confuses the observer with a conspicuous pattern, making the object visible but momentarily harder to locate. The majority of camouflage methods aim for crypsis, often through a general resemblance to the background, high contrast disruptive coloration, eliminating shadow, and countershading.

A grid system is a rigid framework that is supposed to help graphic designers in the meaningful, logical and consistent organization of information on a page. Rudimentary versions of grid systems existed since the medieval times, but a group of graphic designers, mostly inspired in ideas from typographical literature started building a more rigid and coherent system for page layout. The core of these ideas were first presented in the book Grid Systems in Graphic Design by Josef Müller-Brockmann which helped to spread the knowledge about the grids thorough the world.

Dazzle Camouflage Dazzle camouflage, also known as razzle dazzle or dazzle painting, was a family of ship camouflage used extensively in World War I and to a lesser extent in World War II and afterwards. Credited to artist Norman Wilkinson, though with a prior claim by the zoologist John Graham Kerr, it consisted of complex patterns of geometric shapes

Minimalism Minimalism in the arts began in post–World War II Western Art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and1970s. Prominent artists associated with this movement include Donald Judd, John McCracken, Agnes Martin, Dan Flavin, Robert Morris, Anne Truitt, and Frank Stella. It derives from the reductive aspects of Modernism and is often interpreted as a reaction against Abstract expressionism and a bridge to Postminimal art practices.

Modernism

Typography

More of an attitude than a specific style, Modernism was a phenomenon which first arose in the early part of the twentieth century, and was an affirmation of faith in the tradition of the new. From the Impressionists’ depictions of the fashionable bourgeoisie, to the radical new style of the Cubists, artists became more and more concerned with finding a visual equivalent ot contemporary life and thought. Modernism encompasses many of the avant-garde movements of the first half of the twentieth century.

Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language most appealing to learning and recognition. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point size, line length, leading, letter-spacing (tracking), and adjusting the space within letters pairs. Type design is a closely related craft, sometimes considered part of typography; most typographers do not design typefaces, and some type designers do not consider themselves typographers. In modern times, typography has been put in film, television and online broadcasts to add emotion to communication.

Swiss Style The Swiss Style is also known as the International Typographic Style. It is a graphic design style developed in Switzerland in the 1950s that emphasizes cleanliness, readability and objectivity. the Swiss Style does not simply describe a style of graphic design made in Switzerland. It became famous through the art of very talented Swiss graphic designers, but it emerged in Russia, Germany and Netherlands in the 1920’s. This style in art, architecture and culture became an ‘international’ style after 1950’s and it was produced by artists all around the globe. Despite that, people still refer to it as the Swiss Style or the Swiss Legacy. This progressive, radical movement in graphic design is not concerned with the graphic design in Switzerland, but rather with the new style that had been proposed, attacked and defended in the 1920s in Switzerland. Keen attention to detail, precision, craft skills, system of education and technical training, a high standard of printing as well as a clear refined and inventive lettering and typoraphy laid out a foundation for a new movement that has been exported worldwide in 1960s to become an international style.

Visual System Visual Systems is an in-depth study of the structural and organizing systems at work in graphic design such as grids, modules, classification, proportion, series, progression, symmetry and rhythm. Design problems are studied holistically through projects that stress dynamic relationships among content, form and context to gain a deeper understanding of systems at many levels.

Bibliography Introduction

Smint Cover Design

risd Graphic Design (n.d.). Visual System. [online] Avaliable from: http://gd.risd.edu/course/visualsystems.html [Accessed 26 Oct 2014] Lauhoff, A. Speech-recognizing. (1999). [online image]. http://interchangedesign.blogspot.co.u. jpg [Accessed 26 Oct 2014]

Smint Poster (n.d.) [online image]. http://www. thedrum.com/uploads/drum_basic_article/123507/ additional_media/Fresh-to-Impress-6sheetnecklace2_0.jpg, http://www.thedrum.com/uploads/ drum_basic_article/123507/additional_media/Freshto-Impress-6sheet-necklace2_0.jpg [Accessed 14 Nov 2014]

Industry Visit & Research

Subvert

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Saatchi Office (n.d.) [online image]. http://www. thewingsofhope.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/ saatchi-office.jpg [Accessed 11 Nov 2014] Pentagram Lobby (n.d.) [online image]. http://4. bp.blogspot.com/-rVpHTasbs2g/UcTSDo0Y8bI/ AAAAAAAAFyM/xPUviGUI51w/s1600/.jpg [Accessed 12 Nov 2014] Wolff Olins (n.d.) [online image]. http://res. cloudinary.com/athletics/image/upload/c_ fill,h_936,q_90,w_1170/Image-of-the-studio_WolffOlins_8x10_f0u36o.jpg [Accessed 12 Nov 2014] Disclosure F For You (2013) [online image]. http:// www.studiomoross.com/music-packaging.jpg [Accessed 12 Nov 2014] Banks London EP (2013) [online image]. http://www. studiomoross.com/music-packaging.jpg [Accessed 12 Nov 2014] Discovery Project (2013) [online image]. http://www. studiomoross.com/music-packaging.jpg [Accessed 12 Nov 2014] Banks Campaign Posters (2013) [online image]. http://www.studiomoross.com/music-packaging.jpg [Accessed 12 Nov 2014]

Subvertising (2011) [online image]. http:// thebeautifulist.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/ honest-logos1.jpg [Accessed 14 Nov 2014] Subvertising (2011) [online image]. http:// thebeautifulist.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/ honest-logos2.jpg [Accessed 14 Nov 2014] Subvertising (2011) [online image]. http:// thebeautifulist.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/ honest-logos5.jpg [Accessed 14 Nov 2014] Subvertising (2011) [online image]. http:// thebeautifulist.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/ honest-logos6.jpg [Accessed 14 Nov 2014] Subvertising (2011) [online image]. http:// thebeautifulist.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/ honest-logos8.jpg [Accessed 14 Nov 2014] Subvertising (2011) [online image]. http:// thebeautifulist.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/ honest-logos9.jpg [Accessed 14 Nov 2014] Subvertising (2011) [online image]. http:// thebeautifulist.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/ honest-logos11.jpg [Accessed 14 Nov 2014]

Subvertising (2011) [online image]. http:// thebeautifulist.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/ honest-logos12.jpg [Accessed 14 Nov 2014] Lucky Strike Old Poster (1970) [online image]. https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4083/5061149812_9aa 1d18e85.jpg [Accessed 14 Nov 2014]

Visual Crypsis Shigeo Fukuda poster (1975). [online image] Avaliable from: http://www.euemeuchapeu.com.br/ wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Fukuda-cartaz-jpg. [Accessed 30 Nov 2014] Department Store Poster(1970). [online image] http://36.media.tumblr. com/096da87d392092bdc74d5bc8bdea4dba/ tumblr_mwo83qE7Ms1qaz1ado1_1280.jpg. [Accessed 30 Oct 2014] Dazzle (2012). [online image] http://farm8.staticflickr. com/7006/6775336263_be9551bc82_o.jpg [Accessed 30 2014] Camera (n.d.). [online imgae] http://walls4joy.com/ walls/people/surveillance-516916-1680x1050.jpg [Accessed 30 2014]

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DESIGN BY YUXIN HUANG