Project Report Joe Leadbeater
OUGD503
Contents
Brief 01
Brief 02
Brief 03
Brief 04
Brief 05
Organic
Hip Hop Art Book
Lakai
Domino’s
Opt. Ent.
Brief 06
Brief 07
Brief 08
Brief 09
Brief 10
LLCS
Londonaise
Scott Nash
Digital
36 Days of Type
Brief 01
Organic
Presen is every
ntation ything.
Brief 01
Organic
Organic by John Patrick Branding / Identity (Substantial Brief)
Creative Challenge
Competition Brief
Organic is a fashion range, by a high end, NYC fashion designer called John Patrick. As my individual submission competition, I took on the task of rebranding the current aesthetic. The brief instructed 3 -5 logos, 3-5 pieces of ‘collateral design’, and 3 -5 pieces of brand identity’. The brief instructed these could either be sent in or photographed and submitted as a PDF to ‘The Young Ones’ website. Winners receive a ‘One Show Young Ones Pencil, a similar award to D & AD but without the prize money.
Submission
What Did I Learn?
John Patrick prides himself on being highly ethical in his practice, and so his brand has been constructed in the same way.Very little ink is used, whilst an embossing seal leaves a mark but no mis-use of ink. The choice of stock varies for the estimated levels of production. Stock used for things printed at mass (eg. the labels) are printed on Lokta paper, from a Nepalese Lokta tree, which grows from the roots up after being cut. This allows John Patrick to be just as sustainable with his promotion as he is with his own fashion practice. With each sheet bought, 25% of the profit goes to a Nepalese charity.
Don’t half complete a project for too long. This project was the longest going project I have ever completed. It was started at the start of the module, and then put second behind much more urgent briefs I was going at the time. I have learnt that this is not a good way of working, as I often felt lost with the project.
The logo uses ambiguous organic form, being seen as contours, stones,etc. Neutral colours were chosen to reflect natural muted tones, whilst the use of embossing for all the stock, and laser cutting for the hangers and packaging allow John Patrick to leave a small carbon footprint.
Presentation is everything. I took huge consideration into the images for the final boards, and feel that the outcome is unique and probably vastly different to other entries to the competition. The result of such beautiful final images meant the boards were easy to produce. Much more about my interests in design. This project taught me much more about what I like; neutral tones, grid & layout, minimal design, high fashion branding. A range of new processes. I purchased an embossing seal, with the custom logo. I learnt how to subtly raster on hangers and a box, using the laser cutter. Finally, I learnt how to use an eyelet setter for the string bound envelope and clothing tags.
Brief 01
Organic
Brief 02
Hip Hop Art Book
Feature fun.
es are
Brief 02
Hip Hop Art Book
The Hip Hop Art Book - Ramsey Mullaney Poster Design
Creative Challenge
Live Brief
The brief was simple: Design a poster based around a Hip Hop lyric that you either really like or feel inspired by. The winning posters will be printed and sold on ‘The Hip Hop Art Book’ website, and also published in a book. 10 % of the profit will be given to the designer of the poster. Originally, this brief was on Talenthouse, but Ramsey felt the entries he received were of poor quality, and so he approached me. He had seen my winning entry to Secret 7’ the previous year, and trusted I could help.
Submission I submitted three entries: Notorious B.I.G The pastel colour scheme was inspired by the time in which ‘Biggie’ was popular, as well as the choice of typography. The typography was also made extremely bold to reflect the rapper’s personality. A textured overlay was added to give the look of an aged poster, as if it had just been recovered from the 1990’s. Adam ‘MCA’ Yaunch From the early days of rap, The Beastie Boys have been hugely influential. and were one of very few rap crews from the 80’s that performed together for over 20 years. This poster was made to honour not only MCA’s life, but also his impact on East Coast rap. MadVillain The combination of Mad Villain’s iconic mask with ‘grimey’ and ‘slimy’, resulted in an edit of the mask’s properties - as if the mask was melting. This was also done as a metaphor for Mad Villain’s work being moulded well into remixes and collaborations. (This can be shown by remixes produced by Four Tet & Madlib). What Did I Learn? Image manipulation is not for me. Although I could have done strictly typographic posters, I wanted to try out something more image based, specifically image manipulation. I found that it didn’t meet my expectations, and was also something i didn’t really enjoy. I don’t like designing to sell. When designing these posters, I found myself fixated on the fact that it could earn me money, meaning I ended up trying to design something that would sell. I have learnt that I would be much happier designing in a way that makes me happy over making money. Features are fun. I love the idea that my work is not featured on a website, meaning my name can get out more. It is also good knowing that my winning entry from Secret 7’ is still appreciated a year on!
“It was all a dream, I used to read Word Up magazine, Salt’n’Pepa and Heavy D up in the limousine.” Notorious B.I.G - Juicy
“Born & bred in Brooklyn U.S.A, They call me Adam Yaunch But I’m M.C.A.” The Beastie Boys - No Sleep Til Brooklyn
“Known as the grimey, limey, slimy, try me, blimey, Simply smashing in a fashion , that’s timely, Madvillain dashing in a beat rhyme crime spree” Mad Villain - Rhinestone Cowboy
Brief 02
Hip Hop Art Book
Brief 03
Lakai
Design isn’t jus print or
ning st for r web.
Brief 03
Lakai
Lakai - Lakai Skateboarding Company T Shirt Design
Creative Challenge
Competition Brief
A brief I’ve found on Instagram. Lakai (a skateboarding brand) posted a competition brief for a t shirt design. They instructed that the design can be ‘drawn, colour, digital black & white or collage’. The winner will receive a gift pack of Lakai products, as well as their design printed and sold in mass globally.
Submission
What Did I Learn?
A small slogan was created : ‘shoes that last’, as I feel this is one way in which Lakai set themselves from other skate shoes. They are extremely durable, proven by the fact that I have owned a pair of Lakai shoes for 2 years, and they are yet to look weathered or worn.
With competitions on social media, you never know how popular they will be. When I came across the competition, I thought that maybe a few hundred people would enter. By the time of the deadline, there were over two thousands entries. This meant I had strong competition, which meant my t shirt wasn’t selected.
The t shirts were designed in black and white, as applying colour could put the judges off. Instead, I explained that any colours can be applied if my design is picked.
One day briefs can be fun. I found this brief one day, and strictly spent 8 hours working on it. The result was satisfying, and also meant I hadn’t wasted too much time on a small brief. Designing isn’t just for print or web. This was the first time I hadn’t designed for either a website or something printed on paper / stock. I realized that there is very little difference, and many successful T Shirt designs involve typographic knowledge.
Brief 03
Lakai
Brief 04
Domino’s
Commu
unicate.
Brief 04
Domino’s
Domino’s - YCN 2014 Competition Brief App Design (Collab Brief)
Creative Challenge
Competition Brief
Domino’s, famous for their Two For Tuesday’s Pizza deal (buy one get one free on Tuesdays) feel their ownership of the deal has slipped. Other companies such as Pizza Hut and small takeaways are beginning to do the same deal. Domino’s want Two for Tuesday’s to be ‘like Orange is for Wednesdays’. The brief only instructed to produce a campaign, be it web, print or video. A selection of winners will be chosen, and given tickets to the YCN awards in July.
Submission
What Did I Learn?
Alex (Dyson) and I worked together on producing an app proposal, specifically a Two for Tuesday’s app.
Working with existing brand guidelines can destroy your creativity. Before starting the project. I had no issues with the Domino’s brand guidelines. However, after starting on the project, I found it was very difficult to come up with something truly unique, with such strict colours and fonts to use.
Our app aims to bring Domino’s customers together through social networking. Log in would be available through Facebook, Twitter & Google +. The use of the app will also allow Domino’s to market virally though social networking. As well as the app, Alex and I came up with pizza box packaging, and an ad-shell poster to promote the new app.
Designing an app is tough. We had to constantly check that the app would work well on a phone, in terms of point size and ergonomics. The pages also had to be kept consistent between them, as well as easy navigation. Don’t be scared to criticize your partner’s work. There were times when Alex would have spent a long time on a certain aspect of the project, and I wouldn’t see it communicating well or aesthetically pleasing, and vice versa. I thought it was good that both of us weren’t afraid to give negative feedback, as well as accepting it. This meant that we would always find a compromise which both of us could be happy with. Communicate. One major issue with our project. We were normally very organized and getting the work done, but neither of us would know it. At one point in the project, both of us felt dis-satisfied with each other’s workload. I had spend hours in university organizing print slots and constructing boxes, whilst Alex had been working at home. He didn’t see how time consuming the work I was doing was, and it was the same for the work he was producing. After working together at uni, we realized that we were both working just as hard as each other, but little communication meant this was not known.
Brief 04
Domino’s
Brief 05
Opt. Ent
Even yo friends w pay you
our won’t u.
Brief 05
Opt. Ent.
Optical Entertainment - Chris Roach Logo Design
Creative Challenge
Live Brief
One of my good friends is studying events management at university. He has put on a variety of events in the past, which I have helped organise since we were 16. He had decided to step up his business, booking out the HMV Forum in London, and was in contact with a US rapper who he wanted to perform. Chris needed an entire brand identity formed, but decided he wanted a logo and take it from there. Optical Entertainment see themselves as a refreshing, new events company, specialising in working with large clients.
Submission
What Did I Learn?
With me studying in Leeds, and Chris studying in London, we communicated via emails, with me sending him my logo ideas. With the company being called ‘Optical Entertainment’ I worked with the idea of optical illusions and optical experiments from eye tests. This is made obvious by the choice of typeface.
Everyone thinks that they’re a graphic designer. With over 30 initial variations experimented with at first, i urged Chris to look at each one and ask others what they thought.You can see (top left) the logo Chris chose, my initial sketch.You can also see (bottom left) variations which I much preferred, and other people he asked also preferred.
Unfortunately the project was stopped earlier before the logo could be developed further in terms of colour or fine tweaks.
In the future I aim to push my ideas more with clients. Even your friends won’t pay you. Chris just screenshot the idea he liked, and used it on his Facebook page without paying me. This was extremely infuriating, but it has made me consider some measures to take in the future: - I have written up a contract I could use. - Ask for 50% of the payment up front. Some clients are best to avoid.
Brief 06
LLCS
You hav design t you don
ve to things n’t like.
Brief 06
LLCS
Louise Leadbeater Commercial Surveyor Branding & Identity
Creative Challenge
Live Brief
Louise Leadbeater is a surveyor currently working for DTZ, a surveying firm based in the central of London. After over 30 years of being a surveyor working in the city, she has decided to go freelance, applying her city knowledge in a less formal way. Louise approached me for some branded stationary; business cards, letterheads & envelopes.
Submission
What Did I Learn?
I worked very closely with Louise on this project, with weekly meetings. The logo was inspired by the way in which Louise works: she is constantly inputting data onto spreadsheets, and also works with square space. The logo utilised her initials acting as corners, and measuring space.
Conceptual logo design can be incredibly effective. I spent quite a white looking into how I could communicate Louise’s work conceptually, and since this has been produced, I have had nothing but good feedback on it. In the future i intend on spending just as long on coming up with good concepts.
The colours chosen were ideal for Louise’s audience. She did not want to seem largely corporate, as this is what separates her service from that of a city - based firm.
A good technique to create an approriate identity. I asked Louise questions like “if your business was a restaurant, what would it be?’ and “if your business was a car what would it be?”. This way of working made it much easier to construct an identity for Louise. The cost of printing business cards in mass. I researched into printing business cards, and found there is a vast difference in prices. In the end, we managed to get 500 high quality, two sided business cards printed for £50, something which could have cost Louise much, much, more. You have to design things you don’t like. Although I was keen on the concept behind the logo, my stylistic preference was not suitable when designing with Louise. A lot of the work I produced I did not necessarily like, but I knew it was suitable for my client’s audience.
Brief 06
LLCS
Brief 07
Londonaise
Clients come fr anywhe
can rom ere.
Brief 07
Londonaise
The Londonaise - Alan Leaflet / Poster
Creative Challenge
Live Brief
Alan Badeau is a Petanque player, who used to live in France, and has brought the sport over to the UK. In France, there is a large annual contest on the capital, called ‘Le Parisaise’ There are currently a surprising amount of Petanque players in the UK, but no annual contest in the capital. Alan has decided to organise the first ‘Londonaise’, this summer in our capital city, London. Alan found my work on Behance, and contacted me via email. He wanted me to create a leaflet that could also be used as a poster, commemorating the first ever Londonaise.
Submission
What Did I Learn?
When I was younger, my parents always used to take me camping in France. Many of the campsites had Petanque competitions, so it was lucky that I knew how the game worked, so it could inform my design decisions.
Leaflets can be fun to design. Although it is something I really wouldn’t like to do for the rest of my life, I actually enjoyed designing this leaflet. I think it was because it was more of a poster, and the open brief allowed me to experiment in whatever way I like.
The design produced was inspired by classic, modernist Olympic posters. It was also inspired by posters for the 2013 London Olympics, and uses a similar London Underground typeface, giving the poster a classic and authentic London aesthetic.
Utilizing grid with image. I feel this ability was strengthened, through the use of a modular and baseline grid. I also feel that I learnt how to use Adobe Illustrator better, utlising soft gradients and the 3D wrap around tool. A large job doesn’t need to be stressful. Despite this leaflet being printed at mass and distributed all over the UK, working with Alan was easy. He gave me creative freedom, told me of a few changes to make, and payed me promtly. It’s clear that the only jobs which are stressful, are those where stress has been caused by the client. Clients can come from anywhere. I was so surprised by this job. It came from nowhere. However, this does show that an online presence is really important. In the future, I aim to keep this up to date, photographed and presented well, as this could be a great (and unpredictable) way of getting business.
Brief 07
Londonaise
Brief 08
Scott Nash
Fashion brandin great.
n ng is
Brief 08
Scott Nash
Scott Nash Fashion Designer Branding / Identity
Creative Challenge
Live Brief
Scott Nash is a 3rd year Fashion student, soon to graduate from Leeds College of Art. He specialises in high end, formal mens wear, strictly in black, white and greyscale. His influences are mainly architectural form. I met Scott through Andrea in 3rd year (BAGD at LCA), as I was told they needed work for their final year show. Scott needed promotional stationary, as well as a lookbook hangers & labels. He informed me that he was finding someone to help him with a website, which I could also design for.
Submission
What Did I Learn?
Having already worked with fashion branding, I was confident that I would do a good job working with Scott. We had regular weekly meet ups, where I would take him through a variety of options for him to choose from.
Contracts can be crucial. Roughly a month into the project, I had designed a logo, business cards, letterheads and an invoice that Scott was happy with. He kept putting off meetings to see me until over Easter, so him an email. He informed me that his tutor told him he was not being marked on the branding, so he did not want to pay for any of it. This was extremely infuriating, but I reminded Scott of the contract he had signed, meaning he was forced to pay me (and rightfully so!).
We had similar interets; monotone and minimal design, so it was easy to keep Scott happy.
Physical meetings with clients are much better than emails. It has been proven that it’s much easier for people to say ‘no’ in an email. I found that by meeting up with Scott in person, I could push certain ideas more. It also meant a better relationship was built up and creative an identity around his work was easier as I could see it in person. Fashion branding is great. This was my second fashion branding project for the module, and i’ve realised it’s something I really like. I like working with experimental grid systems, and minimal mainly typographic design. I really enjoy working with logotypes over logo form, and logotype is something very common in Fashion branding. I am excited about future projects, and would really like the chance to work with fashion designers and photographers to produce lookbooks or a website.
Brief 08
Scott Nash
Brief 09
Digital
I’m a cr not a ro
reative, obot.
Brief 09
Digital
Digital Club Leaflet - Will Duffy Promotional Leaflet
Creative Challenge
Live Brief
Digital is a club in Newcastle, recognised nationally as being one of the best clubs in the UK for House music. I was approached by a promoter for the club to design a leaflet for a specific night. The leaflet was to be A5, double sided, and digitally printed as a four colour print job.
Submission
What Did I Learn?
I had very little decisions in the making of this flyer unfortunately. I was given entire creative freedom at first, and told to just ‘make it summery’.
A lot of clients don’t want something unique, they just want to fit in. After Will showed me examples of what he wanted, it was clear the EXACT style he was going for. Being a student in Leeds, I see the type of flyers he likes the look of daily. It’s not what I like, but it was easy to design.
Will hated my first idea, and made me entirely start again. He instructed me on the colour of the typeface, the point size (he wanted main acts to be large text at the top, and smaller as they go down), he instructed the amount of rows and columns to use, and also the pictures. I was given some awful logo’s to use (one of which is the spitting image of the ‘Dr Dre Beats’ logo, which had to be plastered all over the flyer. I was given very little freedom, but the project did not take many drafts to complete, as he was so specific.
Clients surprise you. With Will being so specific on what he wanted, I doubted I would be paid by the date requested. However, Will paid me promptly, which was great after designing something I really did not like! Club night leaflets aren’t for me. They have a style which clients seem to want to stick to, and it’s not what I would perceive as well designed. I’m a creative, not a robot. As I have mentioned, I was given very little creative freedom. I think some people see graphic designers as ‘good on Photoshop’, not as people who have an eye for what looks good. There is very little that can be done about this, apart from learning from experience who can be good to work with, and who isn’t.
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Brief 10
36 Days of Type
Force yo to learn
ourself n.
Brief 10
36 Days of Type
36 Days of Type Daily Typographic Contest
Creative Challenge
Competition Brief
36 Days of Type is an ongoing typographic contest on Instagram, set up for over a month. ‘36 Days of Type explained how the contest is run, with each day designated a different letter. There is a date for each letter, as well as a day for 0 - 9, making up 36. The way in which you enter is by tagging @36daysoftype, as well as hastagging that certain day (eg. #36days_h, 36days_i, etc.). There are no specific winners, but 36 Day’s of Type (with thousands of followers) can feature your letters on their Instagram page, and also their website.
Submission
What Did I Learn?
Each day’s submission was different. Although the letters did not strictly have to relate to an appearance, I wanted to make each letter stand for something, eg. B for Black, C for Cut, etc.
Vast amounts about software I was previously a lot weaker with. I learnt a huge amount about the two software programmes I was weakest at: Adobe Illustrator CS6 and Cinema 4D (a 3D rendering software I hadn’t even touched before this brief). I learnt entire new ways of working, especially the use of different gradients. I have also learnt to organise my work better whilst designing, and work more efficiently on Illustrator.
A - Assemble B - Black / Big Caslon C - Cut D - Duplicate E - Eligant F - Fill G - Geometric H - Hand Rendered I - Isometric J - Jigsaw K -Kit Kat L - Light M - Modular N - Navy O - Optical P - Peel Q - Question R - Red S - String T - Teeth U - Umbrella V - Vintage W - Water X - Xenon Y - Yes Z -Zoom
How to use a tablet. I’ve owned a Wacom tablet for just over a year now, and given it very little use. This brief allowed me to experiment with it, and with my new found knowledge of Illustrator, (and it’s set of brushes) I could produce something really unique. How to construct geometric type. This developed from learning more about Illustrator, but I learnt the correct way to construct letterforms (circles & specific angled lines), which I feel will be utilised in future logo’s and logotypes. To use my imagination more. I was really surprised with the outcome as a set. It’s clear that some letters are similar, but there is a huge variations. I couldn’t ever predict what the outcomes would be like, and surprised myself with quite a few of the letters.
Force yourself to learn. Some of the letters would take me an hour, some of them took me up to 8. The reason why some took longer than others was the use of a technique or software I was not use to. I kept committed to teaching myself, and it was really satisfying when it payed off.
Brief 10
36 Days of Type