Kat Dunbobbin University of Huddersfield
12
A Conversation
Rebranding
23 4 You Can Now
Level Collective
Project
A Conversation
What is a Conversation For this project I have been asked to explore and visualise the idea of a conversation. The official definition of a conversation states that it is: “Conversation is a form of interactive, spontaneous communication between two or more people who are following the rules of etiquette. It is a polite give and take of subjects.� l would also describe a relationship or any transfer of information from one party to another a sort of conversation. This I think leaves the idea of what a conversation is up to interpretation. Given that this project is a very open in what you are required to produce I feel that it is aimed more at idea generation. Therefore I will treat it as an explorative task.
A Conversation with yourself? I look into the different interpretations of the idea of having a conversation with your own personal subconcious.
What have I been asked? In the first brief of this year we were asked to look into and conceptualise “A Conversation�. This could be as abstract or literal as we interpret it to be and the idea of a conversation I think could also contain the concept of a relationship or data exchange. This I think will prove to be a very open brief and therefore free but difficult, one of the most difficult aspects of an open brief is staying on topic and keeping your designs concise. Its all well and good producing a large range and variety of ideas but if they are so far fetched and distant from each other the likelihood that they will link back to brief is far more slim.
With this in mind, I aim to set out with a large expanse of ideas and then reign them back in as I develop each one, as I go eliminating those which I think would be unfit for the brief at hand or not interesting enough to fulfil it to its entirety.
The Micro Brief We started by acquiring a newspaper article and using it to ignite a conversation which we could then analyse, I chose an article which talked about the fragile nature of student life and how incompetent students are, safe to say this caused a slightly opinionated rant from most of the conversation participants, this
showed me that conversation can be broken down into subsections such as: - A Point, and its maker - An opposer and defender of the point - A voice of reason. From this micro brief I was able to analyse the use of language and think about possible ways of graphically representing them. After thinking about this for a while I quicky realised that I was more interested in looking at a conversation or relationship not between seperate poeple but rather between that of a person and their surrounding or objects or even between a person and their
own mind. This thought intrigued me to look in to how other people had described conversations and categrorized them; if a conversation doesnt have to be spoken then what is it and what is the difference between that and a relationship or a reaction.
My Plans I plan to research into how some designers have used multiplicity and the idea of combing people and ideas, this should be useful because at its core the point of a conversation is that more than one point of view is involved. Also I would like to experiment with
typography and colour. These are both brilliant ways to get across subtle indicators such as emotional transfer and a specific asthetic to designs.I hope that layout will play a small part in this project too, I enjoy making my work clean cut and I think that would give me the chance to produce something more client based because at the end of the day I like my work to have purpose therefore it should always be presentable.
Who has already researched this? Has anybody already researched this idea and if so what could I take from it that would be interesting?
Peter Crawley One designer who has looked at and used the idea of conversations in his work is a man named Peter Crawley, his work uses the the graphic representation of soundwaves as design pieces. I think that this interesting because obviously each conversation will be utterly unique and in a way create its own flow and emotional output. Not only this but his interesting use of textures adds more dimension to each piece, by sowing the soundswaves useing thread and a needle through card or canvas he makes the piece a physical object that can be felt through touch as well as by being seen or simply understood as a concept. In my opinion this extra interactivity makes
work more dynamic and I think the use of 3 dimentions in his work is something I would like to incorporate into my own designs.
Sophie Calle Sophie Calle on the other hand has used a massive extension of multiplicity in her work, she chose to use something specific from her own experiences to produce work based around a letter (“Conversation”) that her boyfriend had written to her in an attempt to end their relationship. She inspires me to take common place things and see how it changes from person to person, in her work, she chose to ask women all over the world to react to her letter as if it had been written to them, their responses
came in all differnt forms of design, from the poetic to the analytic and the scientific to the abstract creative. Each responded in a differnt way which she was then able to collate together to produce a hard hitting portfolio of work based around a single conversation which shows inatley that women will react with the same emotions to this no matter who they are but the way that they chose to expressit varies as much the people themselves.
Anthony Burrill Anthony Burrill website claims that, “Anthony Burrill is known for his persuasive, up-beat style of communication. His work is held in the permanent collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the
Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, New York and has been exhibited in galleries around the world including The Barbican, The Walker Art Centre and The Graphic Design Museum, Breda. Burrill is perhaps best known for his typographic, text-based compositions, including the now-famous “Work Hard and Be Nice to People”, which has become a mantra for the design community and beyond.” I think that his typographic work is so strong and powerful, his use of Letterform and layout really uses and emphasizes negative space. This is definatley something that would work well with a campaign of any kind. I might find it useful to incorperate aspects of his design practice into work based around the
environment and us, especially the Oil and Water dont mix project, by going out and finding differrnt resources such as the oil filled sand that he used. He found that by giving his designs a real purpose and reserching heavily into something that was important to him, he was able to produce highly skilled and emotive designs.
My initial Mindmap These mindmaps gave me a quick way to get down and sort ideas that I would then be able to pickthrough to find some more suitable ones to either develop or use as my final project.
Idea 1 My first idea consists of the conversation or relationship between us and the environment around us, how do we interact with each other and how do we change each other. It could be a very interesting subject to research further due to the many political and social issues that you could merge into with this subject matter. It could become an environmental propganda style Also you could branch into the more data controlled side of this subject, producing detailed data analysis posters, in the same way as an essay poster, using the data and making all sorts of designed and appropriate information representation charts. I like the way that this could be both very creative but clinical the issues that I have with this idea is that it has been looked at many times before and I feel like it is a typical and predictable route to go down.
Idea 2 Another Idea that I have drawn from my initial mindmaps based on the brief would be a conversation between man and his technology. Again this could produce a different style and interesting interpretation of the subject. I quite like the idea of either going very computer graphics orientated with it or flip it and produce a piece based on the idea of how can it be done without technology. Perhaps using the Oil and Water piece by Anthony Burrill I could imply how different work would be if we couldnt use certain tech, I would have to use other modes of prducing physical output such as screen printing, sowing, painting, drawing by hand or even letterpress. This would produce some beautiful work and could have really interesting message once put into a campaign to reduce technology and being more green, or a propoganda campaign to inform on the rise of robots. I would have the opportunity to go quite outlandish with this idea.
Idea 3 My third idea is to go down a more strange route with the interpretation of the word conversation. I will take it more in the sense of it being a relationship or a transfer or information between ourselves and each of our own subconciousness. I like the idea of sharing memories of the conversations but perhaps looking at how it is we remember them or recall them from our memory banks could be a more interesting and abstract idea and would transfer to a graphical representation more easily, I think the other part of this that I think works well is that memory works not simply on an audio aspect but also touch, visual and emotive, focusing on sound itself would limit this brief. If I were to go with this specific idea I think I could run into problems when it comes to representing the link between side of the visual transfer of the memory. I need to find what it is that links them and use that as my graphical output. It is an interesting project based on a language with no words and no one persons experience or use of memories will be the same.
Idea 4 A data orientated idea would probably also work well on this project. Again taking the word conversation is a much more simplified sense but using the relationships between people and how they physically interact. An infographic representing this would work like a map of the social situation in certain areas. it would be good research to find out and examine how people subliminally act and to notice patterns in people, how they categorise and link together, where are the hotspots and where are the dips in social activity? To produce this I would probably run survey and observations in and around town documenting where people are and when. Hopefully I would be able to draw some conclusions to produce a meaningful design using the data.
Poster Research
Final Concept Now I have my final concept chosen I am able to properly pinpoint specific aspects of the physical productions.
Summary The concept that I have chosen to continue looking into and producing designs for is the idea of having a conversation with your own subconcious, or more specifically the part of your brain that harbours memories. The way that we remeber things on a daily basis and thorughout our lives it to associate an event, person, object with a seperate external trigger. For example a smell might remind you of a person, or a sound might trigger a memory of when you last heard it. Pinpointing these triggers I think would be a brilliant way to summarize the conversation between our waking minds and the subconcious because it is those specific triggers that are the recieve and respond like the words that we use to communicate in simple everyday conversations.
How does this work Graphically?
such as colour and emotive typography to produce subtle differences between essentially the same output for each memory/story that I am supplied with.
In a graphic sense I would like to produce a physical representation of the link between trigger and memory, hopefully using examples from the people around me I will work in a simular fashion to Sophie Calle in that I will accumulate memories from outside sources then analyse and design according to how other people react to this subject matter. I hope that the different people that I speak to and use in this research would give me a variety of responses including, - Sad - Humourous - Strange - Meaningful It would be nice to try and use graphic language
Does it have a purpose? I would like to think that my work would serve the purpose of making people think, I would like people to notice the link between different parts of our minds and perhaps go a little way to understnading how we think a little more. Knowledge is an inexhaughstable source and I think that our only limit is our memories, understanding them better would be a brilliant purpose and I do hope that people will understand the link that I am trying to portray through my work or even go further themselves and contribute to it by listing their own memories and the trigger that recollects it for them.
Origami Why paper cranes? Different examples.
Robert J.Lang I have visited his website in an attempt to learn more about different ways to produce 3 dimensional objects. This is what he had to say, “Origami, like music, permits both composition and performance as expressions of the art. Over the past 35 years, I have developed over 480 original origami compositions. About a quarter of these have been published with folding instructions, which, in origami, serve the same purpose that a musical score does” He also claims that, “Origami can be used effectively in web, print, and television advertising and I have created commissioned pieces for several print, television, and animation projects.” This gives me hope that I could produce ‘Trigger items’ using this method. He also comission large works which he describes as, “Monumental origami is origami folded at large scale, from several feet to several meters in size.” This could produce some really fantastic extensions to the project.
Paper Cranes? Why are paper cranes used so often in raditional origami? Well there is a belief that if you should fold a new crane at each happy event in your life, and if you fold 1000 before you die, it is said to bring you joy and peace in the afterlife. It is also consideredto be a good luck gift to present 1000 paper cranes on your wedding day. These are some of the reasons that I believe cranes are a good link to my ideas; because if you are folding them at happy events in your life each one should trigger a different memory, just life the triggers that I will look into for the memories that I collect.
Example 1 Memory 1 - The Washing Basket The Memory I came home from Yorkshire carrying this wash basket full of my clothes, from my holiday, and my mum opened the door I was immediately annoyed it was my mum that opened the door, so I asked where my dad was and she took the basket off me, put it on the stairs, and took me to the kitchen, I was then sat down at the table, and told that my dad had ben killed. Why I Chose it? I have used this memory because I feel that it is so full emotions, a powerful memory like that is a brilliant example of how such a commonplace item like a washing basket can trigger a massive emotional transfer from your subconcious to your immedite
thoughts, hence the whole premise of my designs. Strong triggers can produce massive conversation between you and your subconcious. What I did Here I have chosen to produce a prototype of the washing basket design in both type and origami to see how well the final output would work, i am pleased with hte results so far and hope that the final products do emphasize the message that I want them too. My thoughts Now that I have attempted to make the typography poster into the trigger object for the memory I have realised some interesting things, such as: the way that the typography becomes a pattern
once folded until it is unreadable works very well and I feel fits very well with the metaphor of having something written all over your face. In this case your memory is literally written all over whatever the item is that triggered it. I like that this idea works on multiple levels, and although I am happy with how the concept is transforming into artwork there are some changes that I plan to make. Improvements? Firstly, I think that I could vastly imprpove upon the typography aspect of this piece by simply spending some more time researching into the typefaces that I am including and working out which I should use to give off the correct vibe for the memory that I have chosen to portray.
Another improvement that I would like to make would probably be to try and play with colours more effectively, although I do think that the purple works okay with this the black text on top does clash and i think distract from the message a little bit, also using my colour theory purple is associated with glamour and spiritualism or luxury; this memory is very sad and contains death and heartbreak a more suitable colour might be in the blue and green spectrum, perhaps teal or seafoam green. These to me are slightly more somber and still, this memory makes me think of time standing still and a large lack of warmth, that is why I will change the colour to one of the aforementioned.
Example 2 Memory 2 - Monkey Forest The Memory Me and my boyfriend were driving to Trentham Monkey Forest with his brother, sister and her boyfriend, on the way back, we had music on very loudly and we were dancing, as we did so, we rolled straight into the back of the vehicle in front. It makes me smile because it was an event that encompasses both happy times and the irony of life. Why I Chose it? I have used this memory because I feel that it is a lighter and more humourous story which gives me the opportunity to use a brighter colour scheme and experiment with more outrageous typography.
I think that this experiment of type has been more sucsessful than the last but again it could still use developments, there are areas where the readability has been diminished and I like the use of the circles and lines this could be more ephasized. What I did Here I have chosen to produce a prototype of the monkey design in both type and origami to see how well the final output would work, i am pleased with hte results so far and hope that the final products do emphasize the message that I want them too.
My thoughts
Improvements?
Now that I have attempted to make the typography poster into the trigger object for the memory I have realised some interesting things, such as: the way that the typography becomes a pattern once folded until it is unreadable works very well and I feel fits very well with the metaphor of having something written all over your face. In this case your memory is literally written all over whatever the item is that triggered it. I like that this idea works on multiple levels, and although I am happy with how the concept is transforming into artwork there are some changes that I plan to make.
Firstly, I think that I could vastly imprpove upon the typography aspect of this piece by simply spending some more time researching into the typefaces that I am including and working out which I should use to give off the correct vibe for the memory that I have chosen to portray. Another improvement that I would like to make would probably be to try and play with colours more effectively, although I do think that the red works okay with this the white text on topworks well in contrast, also using my colour theory red is associated with passion, hatred and love; this memory is more humourus and lighthearted a more suitable colour might be in the yellow and
orange spectrum, perhaps lemon or chocolate brown These to me are slightly more chilled and light, less vibrant also. This memory makes me think of time standing still and a large sense or warmth, that is why I will change the colour to one of the aforementioned
Example 3 Memory 3 - Romeo & Juliet
The Memory Whenever I eat fresh mozzarella and oil, I am reminded of the farm in Italy, when I visited the family for the wedding and watched my cousin serenade his bride by climbing to her window with flowers. It reminded me of Romeo and Juliet, I loved how happy and peaceful everyone felt that day and can still smell the Italian roses whenever I think of it.
Why I Chose it? I have used this memory because I feel that it is so full emotions, a romantic and peaceful memory like that is a brilliant example of how beautiful item like a flower or even its frangrance can trigger a
massive emotional transfer from your subconcious to your immedite thoughts, hence the whole premise of my designs. Strong triggers can produce massive conversation between you and your subconcious.
What I did Here I have chosen to produce a prototype of the rose design in both type and origami to see how well the final output would work, i am pleased with the results so far and hope that the final products do emphasize the message that I want them too.
My thoughts Now that I have attempted to make the typography poster into the
trigger object for the memory I have realised some interesting things, such as: the way that the typography becomes a pattern once folded until it is unreadable works very well and I feel fits very well with the metaphor of having something written all over your face. In this case your memory is literally written all over whatever the item is that triggered it. I like that this idea works on multiple levels, and although I am happy with how the concept is transforming into artwork there are some changes that I plan to make.
Improvements? Firstly, I think that I could vastly imprpove upon the typography aspect of this piece by simply spending
some more time researching into the typefaces that I am including and working out which I should use to give off the correct vibe for the memory that I have chosen to portray. Another improvement that I would like to make would probably be to try and play with colours more effectively, although I do think that the pink works really well with this the white type on top does creduce the readability and I think distract from the message a little bit, also using my colour theory pale pink is associated with children, romance, and sweet things; this memory is romantic and sweet but a more suitable colour for the type might be in the blue and green spectrum, perhaps teal or seafoam green. These to me are slightly more mature colours, this memory makes
me think of time standing still and a large sense of awe, that is why I will change the colour to one of the aforementioned
Final Design Analysis The final Parts all brought together from the memories and the final products. This is the final set of designs for this memory. I am happy with the outcomes so far but I fell like I could still improve these and I may still do so, but for now I am happy with the typography posters and the origami pieces I think that the way they work together is a beautiful but simple technique. The idea to produce a simplified poster of both of these aspects at work was one that I got after researching more into Anthony Burrill, his simplified poster were so bold and in your face I loved how they spoke to you so I chose to research some more into minimal poster design and started to produce more with my pieces and I think that they work well.
Project Analysis How did I find the project as a whole, what would I change? In this project I feel that I have extensivley explored the idea and many different iterations of what ‘A Conversation� can be and come up with some interesting observations and products to show them. I am proud of my organisation with this project, I kept my research varied and spent lots of time evaulating different ideas and how I would produce them and what the merits of each were. I am pleased that I did go with the more abstract idea that was associated with memories I found it to be a very interesting subject matter to try to portray and unique in the fact that I dont think other people would have necessarily thought to look into it. I was impressed with some of my other ideas and I feel that a couple of them would have been more interesting to complete but perhaps not have been meritable as a design concept. I found it challenging working on a 3 Dimensions rather than the 2 that I am used to but feel that I have learnt a lot about layout and thinking about your surface and situation rather than just the content of a design. I could further this project by collecting more memories or data and using them to produce more posters and artefacts.
Project
Rebranding 1 : The Brief 2 : Research 3 : Ideas 4 : Final Products 5 : Analysis
The Brief During this project the brief asked us to choose an existing company and reproduce and improve their branding. This would entail choosing a suitable company and franchise, looking into the pro’s and con’s of their current brand and evaluate what needed changing and in what ways I would be able to improve on what was already in place. I chose Coffeevolution a local coffee shop that was a student hotspot and who’s branding could use updating. This allows for a variety of design such as, logo, business cards, loyalty cards, Menu, Cups, Bags, Coasters and more which are all great platforms for design.
To start this project we conducted research in small group where we produced mood boards reflecting on different aspects of necessary data. The first mood board that we produced was based aorund Huddersfield the town, we looked at different elements such as industrial architecture, common colour, textures and asthetics.
Research
Our second wave of research was based aorund our chosen rebranding subject of coffee shops, I looked at some logos, some interiors and this gave me a small insight to the asthetic and emotive aspects that were involved as well as some of the colours and textures that I should be looking to include in my own work.
Lastly we looked at the branding and merchandise that was available in large chain coffee shops and more independent styled ones. I found that red was a common colour theme, especially at this time of year as it both festive and according to the phsycology of colour makes people feel hungry. The use of circles was also prominent and worked well.
This is a mindmap of some of the different aspects of independent coffee shops that I found to interesting and adaptable for my chosen company, looking at what style is common, which i found to be mostly vector based but with warmth and rich textures such as wood, leather and red brick. All of these could play a part in my design. I found it useful to do this research because I can now make a list of deliverable for my designs and know what style to start my work in.
Research
Experiments
I have experimented with the colour scheme that my research pointed me towards and tried to produce some simple logos. The difficulty with the shop we have chosen is that the name is very log, to make it large enough to read on merchandise means it will most likley have to be in a circle as you can see here in order to still be legible once re sized any smaller.
Experiments
I have experimented with different applications of how my logo could be used or put together. I can already clearly see what could work and what definatley wont, such as the white logo on a black cup most likley wont work. The coffee stained effect looks good with the logo but isnt a massivley bold graphic finding somewhere suitable for an image like that will be a challenge.
Production
These are some of the real application of both the pattern and the logo, how they would work on take away cups, bags and cards. I am happy with the way that the shapes are working but it has been pointed out to me that the reduced opacity has turned my red into a pink which wont fit with my theme. For a coaster design I wanted to use a more textured or real world appearance so I have used
Final Products Menu & Loyalty Card
Final Products Cups & Mugs
Final Products Business Card & Sticker
Final Products Takeaway bags
The Brand Guidelines I was asked to also produce a brand guidelines booklet for the use of my porduct designs. This is what I came up with, it isnt as extensive as some that I have seen but I believe that it covers the basics of usage and would be a workable document.
What colours can be used: Only stated Pantones
Which can be layered: Always dark at bottom, any colours on top of each other after that
Background colours: Page colour must be white or opacity less than 30percent Bottom Shape can be any stated pantone but logo must never be white or layered onto black
Inverted: Never
Opacity: Logo never used between 15percent and 85percent opacity
Effects used on colour: Never use effects on colour within logo
Colour
What size font can be used: A4 - Largest: 30pt - Smallest : 15pt Scaled appropriatley for larger paper no smaller for smaller paper
Which can be layered: Small logo can be layered onto only low opacity pattern Large Logo must not be layered
size of logo: A4
-Largest: 40mm x 40mm -Smallest: 25mm x 25mm
Scaled appropriatley for larger paper no smaller for smaller paper
size of patterns: Can be used a maximum of 4 times on one page. no larger than 35mm x 35mm
Size
What area around the logo cannot be used: 15mm square around the perimeter of artwork is to be left clear
Which can be layered: Nothing must cover the Logo Artwork. The logo artwork can cover everything.
Colours: any colour used near the Logo must either be left clear of the 15mm zone or match the background colour in both pantone number and opacity.
Space
Opacity:
wa
opacity for the artwork used as a water mark should never exceed 12percent
Colour: Only the specified pantone colours may be used in a watermark with the exception of white and black
Products: Watermarks may only be used on: - stationary - cups - Uniforms - Business Cards - Stamps for reward card
watermark
What can be Layered: The logo may be layered onto patterns or watermarks but nothing more
What Opacity: Logo must be at full opacity when layered on top of other artwork
What Colours: Logo must never be layered in white or onto black or dark red
On which Products: layering may only be used on: - Cups - Stationary - Posters/flyer - Business Card
Layering
Project Analysis How did I find the project as a whole, what would I change? During this project I feel that I have evaluated what was needed of me and the best ways in which to produce the products that had been asked for very well and in a professional and modern approach. I am very pleased with the way in which I conducted myself by researching effectivley and working well in a group to achieve useful and vital data collection that would go on to form different aspects of my deisgns. I found this project very useful in teaching me how to perform as a designer in reference to a live client and changing something existing rather than being asked to produce something new and innovatove. This has been an interesting challenge to both design something that would suit the company and their brand without being similar to the branding that already existed. The designs that I have come up with for this project vary in their succesfulness. I think that the aspects I spent longer deisgning and thinking out such as the logo, cups, bags and loyalty card are more refined and balance better than the coasters, napkin, business cards and menu this goes to show that you really shouldnt only focus on some products when designing a brand, every aspect of the products needs to be at an equal quality. I am pleased with the final result of my products but also I was asked to produce a document outlining the specific requirements and terms of use for the brand and logo which is something that I had never done before and think that I achieved well.
Project
You Can Now 1 : The Brief 2 : Research 3 : Ideas 4 : Final Products 5 : Analysis
The Brief When people think of Alice, they think of The Macmillan Alice: her blue dress, blonde hair and ‘Alice band’. Curious Alice, the iconic White Rabbit, the formidable Queen of Hearts and the Mad Hatter’ This tells me that the important parts to focus on are the characters and specifically the iconic appliances that they have. “The authentic and most complete range of Alice titles in print, digital and audio, for all readers to enjoy and love” They clearly want a complete range which opens up the brief to designs that need to be transferrable which could mean using more vector based work so that size and colour are more easily changed to fit the purpose of its advertising vehicle. “Sir John Tenniel’s iconic artwork, coloured by Harry Theaker” Use these as references on either what to take influences from or what to change. “John Tenniel, first as black-and-white plates and then with coloured versions of the original drawings. When his eyesight began to fail, Tenniel gave approval to Macmillan to ask Harry G. Theaker to complete sixteen new colour plates, and it is these illustrations” Completing colour palettes could be a good way to minimise the print costs by keeping it down to perhaps a set number of colours and also it insinuates that the illustrations were produced using line work then colour was added which could be interesting to attempt in a different illustrative style. “Her blue dress, blonde hair and ‘Alice band’” Keep some of the iconic imagery. “Pan MacMillan – It’s the original home of classics such as Alice in Wonderland” Try to include this fact in the design somehow make sure that the fact they are the original publishers part of the design or the advertising process. “publishes over 400 books a year” Good and popular Publishers “Julia Donaldson, Axel Scheffler, Rod Campbell, Emily Gravett, Eva Ibbotson, Judy Blume, Andrew Lane and Frank Cottrell Boyce. Macmillan Children’s Books also publishes Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy’s work for children and has an extensive poetry list.” Some of the other authors they publish – use these as more research and take inspiration from patterns between the designs to link publications together.
“Create a new cover and up to two wondrous interior page illustrations for one of our most precious pieces of heritage: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Your illustrations should enchant a whole new readership and although you must include a front cover, you are free to choose a couple of scenes from the book. These might be new interpretations of scenes that have been drawn before or entirely new ones – it’s up to you. We are entirely open to styles of illustration too.” Some instructions makes it clear that reading the book would be worthwhile to find interesting imagery to graphically represent. “Our primary audience is parents of girls aged 5-9. Our secondary audience is parents of boys aged 5-9 and gift givers, such as grandparents, aunts, uncles etc.” Important to remember the target Audience. “The cover design must include the Macmillan Alice 150 logo.” MacmillanAlice_150Years_CMYK 40mm Don’t forget this! “New cover design for Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland which must be 270mm (H) x 215mm (W), and supplied as a PDF. The Macmillan Alice 150 logo can act like a sticker on the cover so please supply one illustration with it included in the artwork and one without. 1-2 interior page illustrations from scenes within the book which must sit within a 270mm (H) and 215mm (W) single page, and be supplied as a PDF. Please also include the page number from the Macmillan Classics edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland along with your illustrated scenes” Important to design to the required size and proportions to be fit for purpose. Pan Macmillan as a compant are broken dow into many different departments that deal with different things, I feel it is important to know what books they deal with and the categories that they support. After reading these I feel I know the company better and perhaps better undertsad what they want from their anniversary special edition.
Originals Here are some of the original illustrations by John Tenniel, I would like to use tghem in some way for inspiration in the new work, I feel that for the anniversary I should include a nod to the begining,
The Target Audience
“Our primary audience is parents of girls aged 5-9. Our secondary audience is parents of boys aged 5-9 and gift givers, such as grandparents, aunts, uncles etc.� To me this means looking at what design that those groups of people come into contact with and how they are influenced by it.
For the male demographic it becomes a little bit more difficult, at those ages their interests could range from anything wether that be toy cars, action books, building blocks like lego or superheroes. This is something which I think could work, linking the princess with the superhero idea, both use bright and bold colour schemes and anthropomorphic cartoons.
For example for the female demographic you are looking at princesses and barbie and dolls, lots of which are useful in terms or character design, clearly what is appealing is the over emphasized beauty and the bright and bold colour scheme that go hand in hand with those things.
Target Audience
Here are lots of different ways in which Alice has been reproduced in different styles. Something quite common within these images is the surrealist approach where parts of the body appear disjoingted or overly proportioned. By reading the brief I think Pan Macmillan want to stay with the blue dress and iconic headband but perhaps a new style such as the effect used on the image where Alice is holding a flamingo of where she appears in the red dress would be interesting. It is more fitting of the style that would suit the book but trying to balance that to be suitable for both young boys and girls could be tricky. Another feature that I notice heavily features is that of the hyper realistic details, this is probably not something that I will personally be able to achieve as my skills lie more with the abstract but I could include a high level of detail within
linework so as to try to match up with what is clearly a trend. This trend could be due to the increase in game design that is readliy available and developing which is very detailed and full of 3 Dimension.
Alice
Here are lots of different ways in which The Mad Hatter has been reproduced in different styles. Something quite common within these images is the sway in which he isnt shown as particularyly kind looking man. Also the emphasis is fairly squarley on his hat, as it should be for his character.. By reading the brief I think Pan Macmillan want to stay with the Mad approach but perhaps a new style such as making him a much darker styled character, keeping it surreal but I would have to be very careful not to overstate this aspect though due to its target audience. It is more fitting of the style that would suit the book Another feature that I notice heavily features is that of the hyper realistic details, this is probably not something that I will personally be able to achieve as my skills lie more with the abstract but I could include a high level of detail within
linework so as to try to match up with what is clearly a trend. This trend could be due to the increase in game design that is readliy available and developing which is very detailed and full of 3 Dimension. I could try to produce more artwork based around an abstract centre, such as the image at the top of the moodboard the simple combination of inks and possibly line could be effective.
Mad Hatter
Here are lots of different ways in which The Queen of Hearts has been reproduced in different styles. something quite common within these images is the Vibrant red colour, her form doesnt as such have a uniform appearance but the deep royal love/hatred red is massivley in focus. By reading the brief I think Pan Macmillan want to stay with the colour scheme but perhaps a new character approach would be interesting perhaps making her look less evil and more lost. Her character could be a very interesting way to include the dream style that I think I am leaning towards with the other characters.. It is more fitting of the style that would suit the book being surreal and dreamlike. Of course when written the story was a prodct of almost a drug induced hallucination making it suitable to be odd and disjointed.
Another feature that I notice heavily features is that of the hyper realistic details. This trend could be due to the increase in game design that is readliy available and developing which is very detailed and full of 3 Dimension. I would like to experiment with some images like the on on the right in the middle of the moodboard, in the middle at the far left and the imddle at the top. These all intrige me with their abstract natures.
Queen of Hearts
Here are lots of different ways in which The March Hare has been reproduced in different styles. something quite common within these images is the sketchy approach where parts of the body appear disjoingted or disproportioned. By reading the brief I think Pan Macmillan want to stay with the mad feel a bit like the hatter, but perhaps a new use of colour as there isnt one set as a standard would be interesting. It is more fitting of the style that I am looking at using withh the other characters and taking this more masculine character I feel that I could make it appeal to the female demographic. Another feature that I notice heavily features is that of the details and the way that the hare has been produced in a more humanistic manner. This is probably something that I will try to achieve as my skills lie more with the abstract but I could include a high level of detail within linework so as to
try to match up with what is clearly a trend. This trend could be due to the increase in game design that is readliy available and developing which is very detailed and full of 3 Dimension. I particularly like the image of the hare in the second column third image down. The very simple linework would incooperate well with some specific artists styles.
March Hare
Here are different ways in which The White Rabbit has been reproduced in different styles. Something quite common within these images is the more animalistic feel with this character compared to the others. By reading the brief I think that this one of the characters that is less well known and therefore more adaptable in terms of illustration it would be interesting to give this character more of a stamp on the book making him iconic too.
I have noticed that lots of the images I like could be quite easily adapted to fit onto a paying card which is something I might experment with. I like the way that they distinguish between the hare and the rabbit by making one more animal like so I may inculude that difference in my work also.
Perhaps a new style such as the effect used on the image on the bottom right of the moodboard would be interesting. This layout style would be interesting too,
White Rabbit
Research
Turine Tran
Hannah Davis
Andre Bergamin
Andy Council
About : “Turine Tran, a Vietnamese born artist, takes inspiration from children, companionship, nature, Through nostalgic, dreamy images, Turine loves to invite children and adult-alike, to a world where a tiny wild flower could become a fantastic wonder.” What Works: Turine’s art often incorporates hand rendering and digital painting. She constantly explores new aspects of digital art to create rich textures, which partly set a whimsical mood to her work. What Doesn’t: I am not a big fan of Turine’s lack of the colour white in her work, she often uses beige rather than white making it look grungey rather than clean. What can I use: I could use her layout, it is always very unique and draws the eye around the page.
About : Combining illustration and pattern design,her work is compared to a sea of jewels, capturing Water, life and the environment in all its glory. She is fascinated by microscopic patterns and the extraordinary decorative detail that can be portrayed. What Works: The line work in her pieces is extraordinary. Her geometirc style and natural subject matter draws the eye. What Doesn’t: The level of detail in her work can be slightly off putting, although it looks mesmirising it can be offputting too. What can I use: I would definatley like to use linework in my project, perhaps layering it over another style.
About : The haphazard and texturised appearance of his imagery and the collaged effect of layering up his illustrations some of which appear hyper real while others are more stylised. This mixture gives a surreal and dreamlike feel to his pieces, What Works: The way that they are constructed lends itself to publication because of its flexible layout nature. What Doesn’t: Im not a big fan of his use of photography, although it works in his pieces I feel its not the style that I will want in my work. What can I use: I will definatley be incooperating the layering aspect of his work.
About : “Andy Council is an illustrator and graffiti artist from Bristol, UK. Dinosaurs combined with architecture are a common theme of his designs What Works: The cartoonistic style that Andy uses is definatley something striking and interesting as well as his subject matter. What Doesn’t: I dont feel like his work is feminine at all, this would be an isseu for my project.\ What can I use: I dont feel like I will actually use an aspect in particular of his work but I feel like it has shown me what I will stay away from.
Sarah Beetson
Florian Nicolle
Marta Spendowska
Raphael Vicenzi
About : Sarah Beetson’s work in my opinion is very striking and current, her vibrant use of colour is very postmodernist style and her illustrative linework almost cartoonish but more edgy and punk in appearance. What Works: I love her style for work based for the young adult age range, it would be great for use on a campaign as it is very distinctive. What Doesn’t: The punk style that she uses would probably not be easy to use for my target audience. What can I use: I will use the vibrancy of her colours, as well as he layering and linework.
About : He will try to create an image that retains its freshness of the first paint stroke, the expressions of the line have to be very free and spontaneous. While keeping a rigorous drawing. What Works: His subject matter of people always draws the eye and will help with character design, I also really like his use of layering line and ink. What Doesn’t: He very rarely prduces work from a different subject matter. What can I use: I definatley want to use the layering aspect, the colour and the subject matter.
About :
About : Raphaël combines traditional hand-drawing with new digital techniques, thereby creating immensely detailed images that are both meticulous and ethereal and sometimes carry a darker subtext. What Works: Again his use of subject matter and the use of colour and layering are brilliant. What Doesn’t: Some of the images taht he produces are too complicated, there is too much going on and becomes difficult to read. What can I use: Again I will use the layering, colours, and subject matter.
Marta Spendowska is Polish, US-based artist and illustrator who moves smoothly between fine art and commercial art “Color, rhythm, pattern and a lyrical atmosphere is my focus”
What Works: What I feel works in Marta’s work is the amazing use of colour and the way in which she captures form withough using linework. What Doesn’t: One issue that I have with this work is that her pieces dont often have much substance, they have a single subject and very little indepth meaning. What can I use: Someghing that I could use from her work would definatley be her use of colour.
Begining My Work
Here are some Watercolour and Ink works that I have produced in the hope of putting them into a design that would be vibrant and colourful like Raphael Vicenzi or Sarah Beetson’s work. The larger image I found went very well as I was able to manipulate the colours until I believe it looked to be a very abstract rose. This could tie into the story.
Water Colour
Here are some initail textures that I feel would be appropriate for this project all are slightly paler than what I would normally use and seem either very dream like in colour or abstract in nature. I particularly chose the two with flowers in because I feel like I could incooperate those into the design as part of the story from when Alice Painted the White roses red for the Queen.
Textures
Here are some initial first drawings that I have produced which could be enhanced and made more suitable then layered with other aspects such as texture, ink and water colour. I think that the smallest image would work well for the Queen of hearts or alice depending on the colours that I choose to use and what situational layout I place them into. I hope to produce more abstract style pieces with these small illustrations as a starting point.
Small Drawings
Here are some poses that I found that I feel would suitable for illustartions of Alice and the Red Queen and a male one that I could try with the Mad Hatter, I feel like it is important to draw from what is out there are working to produce the best results
Poses for Characters
I think that one very important aspect of any design will be the typographic choices you make not only which font to use but also the placement and how it balances with your image can greatly affect your design. These are some of the typefaces that I have looked at using and there are a few promising ones that I think will look suitable for my design. The floral effects and natural ones appeal more to me that then caligraphic old styled typefaces for the reason of we are trying to update the book, yes link to the original but make it new for the new generation of readers and it need to appeal to them .
Typography
My First Idea will centalise around the styles you can see in the research images. First I have tried layering the simple line drawing but making it look very sketchy with inks and vbrand colours in more haphazard arrangements. I am not fully happy with this style I feel like hte whole piece looks too haphazard
Idea 1
My second Idea was to take the scene of the Mad Hatters Tea Party and produce a single image that represents that Iconic scene. I like the more detailed look of this work to the others and I have included Alice in the picture small to keep the surrealist edge. I might add more to this or produce it as a line drawing instead to add colour too and see how it looks.
Idea 2
Project Analysis How did I find the project as a whole, what would I change? During this project I feel that I have succesfully taken a commercial brief and explored what was being asked of me to produce. I found my research very useful in telling me not only what would be effective but also inspired by some influential and some modern designers appealing to the people that I had hoped. Looking at different examples of what had been done before and being inspired by different styles made this project easier as I was able to experiment with different ideas and produce various outcomes. I am happy with the final designs and think that they look effective and relate well to the book, however, I have analysed my final designs and at least one drawback would be that the dark page being very dark looks slightly out of place, I also feel that perhaps the use of the inked flower although i know why it is there and what it is, once it had been edited to produce the look of the hole the shape had been lost and therefore may not be as sucessful of an image to use. If i were to do this again I would have experimented with more styles and produced more experiments.
Project
Level Collective 1 : The Brief 2 : Research 3 : Ideas 4 : Final Products 5 : Analysis
The Brief "This is an opportunity to create a design that could become part of our collection of apparel. This brief aims to give you clear direction, without hindering creativity. We want you to use your own style and skills to create a design that our customers will love which is also in-keeping with our brand identity.� The product values that they list within the brief are that they wish to be ethical, excellent quality an hand screenprinted giving a very distinctive feel and design criterea to their produce. They also describe themselves as being: Original, adventurous, authentic, positive, spontaneous, distinct, bold, care-free, natural, creative, energetic, raw, and inspirational. This brief upon first glance seems to me to be very open and lacking in a wow factor but by thinking about its possibilities I am able to see that the potential for this brief lies withing what original designs I can produce for such a wide and varied project. The company also intrigues me in the unique origins of its foundation and the ethos that they adhere to. I am excited to begin generation research and ideas to produce a suitable design for a unique company,
The Level Collective Who are the Level Collective? They list themselves as “an independent ethical clothing label about DESIGN | ADVENTURE | CHANGE. We work with designers and ethical makers from across the world to create; Ethical Apparel – Designed For Adventure. We are based in Sheffield, UK and have followers and customers worldwide. Our range of ethical apparel derives its original styling through working with a variety of creative designers and ethical makers. The designs for our graphic T-shirts and Jumpers are created by some of the finest emerging illustrators / graphic designers / Typographers. We hand-screenprint the designs onto our uber soft ethically-made Bamboo and Organic cotton garments using water-based eco inks right here in Sheffield, UK. Our extra chunky Beanie Hats are ethically handmade in Romania and then hand-finished in Sheffield with our hand-screenprinted cotton drill tags. We are all about living and loving life to the full – being out there exploring and experiencing new places whether on foot, wheel or board – on water, forest or mountain. We like to do things differently. We don’t see why clothing has to be exploitative, wasteful and benefit only a small minority, so we do our best to make it fair – or ‘LEVEL’ if you like – for everyone involved All of our clothing is made ethically and sustainably – our T-Shirts are Bamboo / Organic cotton blend, our Jumpers are 100% organic cotton and the working conditions, pay, working hours, employee rights of the makers have been formally approved by FairWear Foundation. Our Beanie Hats are custom handmade in Romania by a social enterprise that works to create opportunities for families to help themselves out of poverty. Men and women are trained, and employed to create our Beanies – providing the steady income and the support needed to move towards independence and to step out of poverty. We love to support independent design and our designers are paid a generous commission for every garment sold featuring their design – its part of our ‘collective’ ethos. We create original ethical apparel to the highest quality using authentic skilled processes. Our designs start with pencil sketches, which are then painstakingly refined through to final designs ready to be hand screen printed by skilled printers. In short: we do things properly – but this process isn’t fast and isn’t cheap. But the end result is apparel and a brand that we are truly proud of. That said, we do try to keep prices as fair as possible for our customers.”
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Colours I decided it would be a useful task to collate a group of colours that the company currently use frequently within their work, by doing this I will be able to deterine which work well together and make sure that my design works in a colour theme that is consistent with the company currently. As well as getting the colour references so that I can reproduce them in my own design I have also included black and whiteand placed these common colours on to them to see which will work together and which dont. This has been particularly useful as It has made my think of my ideas in more real terms and how they will be produced and what I need to consider as I develop them. I have noticed a common theme between them, and although I have no facts to say this, I find these colours are all inkeeping with a very natural theme, which brings me abck to their target audience who are “outdoorsy�. Subtle links like this will keep a design together and inkeeping with the brief.
Rock
Skyline
Sunshine
Rope
Rock Climbing
Harness Grass Tent
Walking
Walking Stick
Rucksack
Camping
Water
Fishing Hiking
Boots
Rock
Fishing Pole
Waves
Sports / Activities
Mountain Biking
Mud
Goggles
Swimming / Diving
Kayaking
Bike
Kayak
Cycling Mountain Climbing Hill
Mountain
Jacket
Birds
Oar
Flying
Clouds Plane
Fish
Mindmap These are two mind maps the first of which is to simply explore different sports or activities that my design may need to appeal to and images that could work for them, the second is a mindmap of the pharses tHat i could use as either a tagline for an image or on a typographic based design.
Wild Adventure Head in the Clouds
Catch a ray
Nature Nut
Phrases
I’m Exploring
Drawn to the sea Relax Hear the birds
Excersize the mind Dont miss out
Head in the Clouds The ambiguity of this phrase works well for the company and there are lots fo links that this could have to the audience that the company have specified. Head in the clouds resonates well I think with teens and young adults too, it gives the impression of ease, and happiness. Both of which are desirable qualities and should relay well through the design. I have experimented with simple line work and geometric shapes and also tried with solely typographic designs. I am happy with the outcome of these and feel that they would all be contenders for a presentable design upon development, however I also feel that there are other options that I could explore and so will continue to develop more ideas.
Im Exploring “I’m Exploring” resonates well with me and I feel that others like me would see it as a unique design that states a personal response to life and the world surrouding us. The exploring links back to nature as I had initially decided which I like but again is ambiguous as to its literal meaning which hopefully means that it will relate to lots of people within the audience that the company specified. I again have tried this idea in a few different Images, I like the typography as with the last idea but I think that the images using the leaves would be a nice addition and tie the design together. This typeface reminds me very much of the T-Shirt that the company already stock of the simple mountain line, hopefully this means that the design will be inkeeping with the company’s style.
Nature Nut For the phrase Nature Nut I decided that I wanted to focus on animals being one of the largest parts of nature, some of the species that I chose to focus on were a zebra, a Giraffe and a Frog, to me this encompasses safari, walking/hiking and peaceful animals which is what I think is a better message for adventure that danger. I have produced the animals in such a way that they could be screen printed using only one colour hopefully this will make the idea simpler to match that of the style that company currently uses but also making it cheaper and easier to print.
Head in the Clouds
Wild Adventure
Wild Adventure
Wild Adventure
Nature Nut
Head in the Clouds
I'm Exploring
Head in the Clouds
I’m
Exploring
Wild Adventure
I'm Exploring
Wild Adventure
Nature Nut
I'm Exploring
Wild Adventure This is the last of the three that I find work well as an idea, I feel that this phrase lends itself well to imagery using animals and possibly the trees. Again linking with the sounds of the wild t-shirt it could work well in the slightly grunge style, but I am curious as to what it would appear like if paired with a geometric style. I want this idea to have dynamic style because the word wild instills a notion of life and I think that the design should portray that. Some animals that I have chosen to experiment with are birds, and fish, both of which are common to find in places that you can go hiking, camping, fishing or flying.
My Favourites
Project Analysis How did I find the project as a whole, what would I change? This project was a unique experince for me to participate in a short timetabled brief and with an up and coming company. I like the idea of product design which is more how I see this project as it is based on a single graphic rather than a fashion based project. I found the company research to be important as it informed me of the style that they currently find succesful and which direction they would have wanted to go in. I am happy with the variety of designs that I have produced and feel that the amount I have produced should give the company a wide range of choice. I found the experimentation very useful in informing my final products as I was able to build a colour pallete which I could then apply to each of my designs and allowed me to see if what I was designing would fit with their current brand. If I were to do this again I think that I would attempt to do more hand illustrated designs rather than all vector based I think looking back that it would have given a more organic appearance. I am still waiting for a response to my designs but I hope that with feedback I will be able to improve on the designs that I have produced.
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