Gary Nicholson MISTD // Graphic Design // Semester 2 Overview
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Semester Two // Overview Type of brief: What type of project do you feel you best respond to – is it a “tight brief” with very clear guidelines and demands or an “open” brief where the outcomes are far more open and unspecified? I feel that I work best when given more restrictions as I can work to push against these as far as I can to create a more interesting design, whereas without restrictions I have nothing to push against, and the resulting pieces aren’t ass effective as one with restrictions in place. Integral elements: Are there integral elements that often form key elements within your work – in other words how do you best generate and create your own designs/imagery? What have you identified and how do you wish to develop this? Typography plays the biggest role in my work, featuring in nearly everything that I design in some aspect. I feel this typographical use creates a much more structured design, drawing together the features to create a more refined piece. Success: What are your strengths? Where have you been most successful? What do you think was the reason for that positive experience? One of my strengths is the ability to utilise typography creatively for effective and engergetic composition. I have a high attention to detail, and I belive that my most successful work comes from this combination of typography and observation. Problems: Where have the problems arisen; have you been able to overcome them? Because of my focus on typography my skills in illustration were lacking, but because of my work for Club Concrete, I have been given more frequent experience in illustrating, which has been very useful in expanding my skillset. Personality: What are you interested in, what are you about? Do you feel you have been able to introduce your personality and interests in your work. In what creative direction do you want to proceed? I feel that my personality is evident in every piece of work that I produce, although I range from very structured and clean to more experiemental, my ‘style’ is apparent through the similar use of grids, hierarchy and type use.
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Semester Two // Visual Project Summary
1. Typographic Joke Posters
2. Dynamic Radio // Advertising Booklet
3. Watermark // Words by the Water
4. Concrete // Faux Furs’days Posters
5. ISTD // The Waitress
6. The Brickyard // Posters
7. D&AD // Annual Report 2011
8. Google // Product Packaging
9. Flyweight Hydraulics // Identity
10. La Vouloir // Avidité & Pouvoir
11. F O U N D E D // Placement
12. Margret_ Is 5 // Poster
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Typographic Joke Posters What was the background to the brief – if it was a competition/ISTD/ D&AD brief you can quote from the actual brief itself. The brief began as a self-initiated project to design a series of humerous typographically focused posters. Upon reading the briefs for the 2012 Roses Awards, I realised that one brief was close to what I had already outlined. Self Initiated To design a series of posters with typographically focused puns to lift the spirits of fellow designers. Limited by using only typography, the aim was to make designers laugh and smile through the effective treatment of the jokes/puns. Competition (Roses Awards 2012) Brief 1. Alternative Therapy Laughter is the best medicine. Package it, design posters, go viral - anything goes. Convince the public and make them smile. What was the communication problem/issue that had to be addressed and resolved. The issue was that of trying to find the most effective method of portraying the jokes/puns without loosing the humour, or becoming too complex. The idea was to be qucik, funny and relatable. Who was your target audience? Fellow designers who needed their spirits lifted.
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Typographic Joke Posters SOURCE TRANSFORM GARYNDESIGN.COM
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Dynamic Radio // Advertising Booklet What was the background to the brief – if it was a competition/ISTD/ D&AD brief you can quote from the actual brief itself. Client (Dyanamic Radio) The client required an 8-page booklet to promote their advertising scheme on their radio station. The wanted the booklet to look professional for the potential employers yet provide them with the atmosphere, ethos and style of their radio station and subsequential shows. What was the communication problem/issue that had to be addressed and resolved. Because the publications content was quite factual and relatively straight-forward, the aesthetic of the publication had to be engaging to keep the reader interested. Who was your target audience? Potential advertisers on their radio station & teenagers who listen to their shows.
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Dynamic Radio // Advertising Booklet SOURCE SOURCE GARYNDESIGN.COM
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Watermark // Words by the Water What was the background to the brief – if it was a competition/ISTD/ D&AD brief you can quote from the actual brief itself. Live Brief (UoC Journalism Students) Working with designers Mica Connelly and Sarah Gill, we were required to create a 12-vpage publication for Keswicks’ ‘Words by the Water’ festival. The UoC Journalism students required an eye-catching design to promote the event. What was the communication problem/issue that had to be addressed and resolved. The clients liked how the previous issue was styled but felt that it was too formal, and they wanted this issue to have a design which was more complimentary to their target audience and the events themselves. Who was your target audience? Exisiting attendees and also teenagers/youths who would have been previously uninterested in the events.
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Watermark // Words by the Water SOURCE GARYNDESIGN.COM
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Watermark // Words by the Water TRANSFORM GARYNDESIGN.COM
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Watermark // Words by the Water PRODUCTION FINALISE GARYNDESIGN.COM
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Club Concrete // Faux Furs’Days Posters What was the background to the brief – if it was a competition/ISTD/ D&AD brief you can quote from the actual brief itself. Client (Club Concrete) After working with Club Concrete on the ‘Faux Furs’Days’ branding beforehand, the club decided to change the direction of the weekly event from a posh night out to a more welcoming, enticing and less confusing night out. What was the communication problem/issue that had to be addressed and resolved. A large ammount of information was needed to be displayed for the audience to understand what the event was about, so short labels were added to tie in with the illustration’s attire for clarity. Who was your target audience? University of Cumbria students & student night-life.
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Club Concrete // Faux Furs’Days Posters SOURCE GARYNDESIGN.COM
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ISTD // The Waitress What was the background to the brief – if it was a competition/ISTD/ D&AD brief you can quote from the actual brief itself. Competition (ISTD 2012) Use the text of The Waitress*, a tale by Jack Zipes, to invest the book with the invention and experimentation of the magazine. Consider the current format, nature and pacing of a book; the half-title page, title page, dedications, colophon, chapter headings….How might this change and develop into something new? …Everything we ‘know’ about the conventions of book design and typography demands to be re-invented for the new kind of writer, reader and designer. Use print, screen, combined media – the choice is yours – as long as it expresses a solid idea, informs us and shows your typographic skills. Remember that words and language are our collateral and that your submission should be essentially typographic. What was the communication problem/issue that had to be addressed and resolved. Due to the introduction of iPads and Kindles, many ‘new readers’ prefer to read books digitally and because of this, the publication had to grab the attention of these readers. Many eBooks utilise interactivity within their digital publications, so the use of interactivity within a printed format was a must as it immerses the reader into the narrative. Who was your target audience? The new reader.
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ISTD // The Waitress SOURCE TRANSFORM GARYNDESIGN.COM
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ISTD // The Waitress PRODUCTION FINALISE GARYNDESIGN.COM
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ISTD // The Waitress PRODUCTION FINALISE GARYNDESIGN.COM
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The Brickyard // Event Posters What was the background to the brief – if it was a competition/ISTD/ D&AD brief you can quote from the actual brief itself. Client (The Brickyard) Over the past year The Brickyard msuic venue have required individual event posters. On most occasions a photo and logo was provided and I was required to create a visually enticing poster which would make the viewer interesting in attending. What was the communication problem/issue that had to be addressed and resolved. Each poster contains a lot of information, and also provided a realtively clichÊ band photo. This information needed a governing hierarchy, and the photo needed treatment to provide these posters with an eye-catching and engaging aesthetic. Who was your target audience? University students & locals interested in attending live music gigs.
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The Brickyard // Event Posters SOURCE GARYNDESIGN.COM
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D&AD // Annual Report 2011 What was the background to the brief – if it was a competition/ISTD/ D&AD brief you can quote from the actual brief itself. Competition (D&AD 2012) Create a report that presents the story of D&AD from 2011, and positions the organisation as an integral resource for the creative sector. The report needs to document D&AD’s activity, inform of their accomplishments and most importantly entertain some of the most opinionated creative professionals in the world. What was the communication problem/issue that had to be addressed and resolved. The information provided was uninteresting and provided in a cluttered format. The publication had to be visually engaging and relevant, collating all of the information into compact and easy to understand forms to keep the reader interested. Who was your target audience? D&AD members; the creative industry – from junior designers up to Executive Creative Director’s; university and college tutors; students.
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D&AD // Annual Report 2011 SOURCE TRANSFORM GARYNDESIGN.COM
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D&AD // Annual Report 2011 TRANSFORM PRODUCTION GARYNDESIGN.COM
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Google // Product Packaging What was the background to the brief – if it was a competition/ISTD/ D&AD brief you can quote from the actual brief itself. Competition (YCN Awards 2012) Imagine all of Google’s products came in boxes. What would that line of packaging look like? How would you show the different product families, the features, the benefits and bundles? What might a physical shop look like stocked with Google products? How would you design point-of-sale for Google Plus or Chrome? What was the communication problem/issue that had to be addressed and resolved. Google required a clear, coherent and striking visual identity/brand, and because their products are primarilly based online, this had to be packaged effectively. Although a range of bright colours were used to differentiate the packages, the aesthetical styling gives of the products provides a familar and easilly recognisable identity. Who was your target audience? Primary: The mainstream user (you, your friend, your mum) who uses the internet but doesn’t use all of Google’s products. Secondary: Any internet users shopping for Christmas stocking fillers.
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Google // Product Packaging SOURCE TRANSFORM GARYNDESIGN.COM
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Flyweight Hydraulics // Identity What was the background to the brief – if it was a competition/ISTD/ D&AD brief you can quote from the actual brief itself. Client (Flyweight) Flyweight required a professional looking identy comprising of a logo, letterhead, compliment slip and a business card, but were also looking for branded items to use within their work environment. The identity needed to portray their efficiency and reliability, whilst providing an approachable atmosphere for clients/potential clients to feel welcome to. Required: Company Logo Letterhead Compliment Slip Letterhead Additional Products What was the communication problem/issue that had to be addressed and resolved. As Flyweight required an approachable yet professional atmosphere, more than often the two compete with eachother and either one dominates the other, or the design is ineffective. The use of the bold orange and the creative business card gives the structured identy a more welcoming character. Who was your target audience? Employees and potential clients of the business.
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Flyweight Hydraulics // Identity SOURCE TRANSFORM GARYNDESIGN.COM
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La Voulior // AviditÊ & Pouvoir What was the background to the brief – if it was a competition/ISTD/ D&AD brief you can quote from the actual brief itself. Self Initiated Working with designer/photographer Hugh Leoidsson, we sought out to design a visually intriguing fashion editorial for the iPad. As many exisiting fashion publications are very similar in tone, we sought out to create a more diverse and experiemental aesthetic which would challenge the pre-concieved notitons of how fashion editorials are designed. What was the communication problem/issue that had to be addressed and resolved. Whilst designing we realised that we were designing an editorial inspired from already existing publications. Once realsied we re-worked the typographical styling in a more experiemental way to create a more visually impactful publication. Who was your target audience? Those interested in discovering a more expressive method of portraying fashion.
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ISTD // The Waitress SOURCE GARYNDESIGN.COM
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F O U N D E D // Placement Placement (F O U N D E D) Whilst on placement at Founded, I was asked to work on a number of different briefs: Baltic: To create an iPad PDF document, create a colour scheme and appropriate infographics for each subsection of the document workplace. Tastsuya Akita: To design a website utilising their logo design and repeated grid structure effectively and creatively, whilst looking contemporary and easy to navigate. Harrient Hare: To design bedspreads using the already designed logo with a combination of contemporary and vintage colour schemes and patterns. To design a typeface utilising the hares from the logo. Cotton Love: To design an eye catching and simple emailer graphic for their weekly newsletter. To design a graphic for their website on their clothing offers. To create two animated, looping .gif files for use on their website. Yorkshire Sculpture Park: To place and crop photos, and choose a colour scheme for their 2013 calender. Dead Good: To illustrate infographic/illustrations based on the already exisiting digital sketches, and edit/expand upon the ones started by Founded. Eastern Airways: To illustrate the iconic buildings of Bruges in a 2D format based from angled photographs
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F O U N D E D // Placement
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Margaret_ Is 5 // Poster What was the background to the brief – if it was a competition/ISTD/ D&AD brief you can quote from the actual brief itself. Competition (Margaret_) To celebrate their 5th birthday, Margaret_ launched a design competition based around ‘Margaret Is 5’ - MI5. Submitted designs must be in portrait format, one colour on a plain background (for screen-printing) and contain the word MI5, but beyond that, the brief is open to the most imaginative and crafty of interpretations. Whether you find inspiration in the letters themselves, or the national security connotations - from the serious to the silly, we’d love to see what you come up with. What was the communication problem/issue that had to be addressed and resolved. Because of the limitation of the inclusion of the letters MI5, the communication of the event was crucial. Graphics which related to the event, such as computers and pencils relating to the design agency, pistols and spy glasses for the MI5 reference, to cake and presents for their birthday. Who was your target audience? Fellow designers and those who attend graphic/illustrative galleries.
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Gary Nicholson MISTD // Experience & Networking Work experience/interships:
F O U N D E D // Newcastle Blog Features: Abduzeedo Daily Inspiration
(1)
Abduzeedo RAWZ
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
Design A Emporter
(1) (2)
FFFFound!
(1)
Grillust
(1) (2)
Imagine That
(1)
Pixel Logo
(1)
Serial Thriller
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
Student Show
(1)
We and the Color
(1)
Youth Does It
(1)
Zeixs
(1)
Print Features: Imagine That (Issue 2; February 2012)
Competition wins: ISTD 2012 // The Waitress
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