Core Concepts Part 2 Learning Log 2 by katiesmithdesign

Assignment two

exercise: working to a brief

My main questions are usually about formatting. Due to the open offer to investigate various formatting styles, I think it is mroe about experimentation of different methods for me at the start of this project and then having the discussion with the project leader to look over the initial ideas. Their responses will then highlight what kind of formatting options there are. Equally, you would want to establish early on whether there can be two styles of advertising, one for parents and one for the children. Or whether they want to go for the shock value with this campaign.

which would I like to tackle out of these? Out of these three briefs, I know that I would struggle most with the second brief. For me, it is too open ended. Although I can already think of some ideas of designs, I am unsure whether they would be what the client is after or whether they would advertise whatever I am supposed to be advertising clearly. It is clear from assignment one that I do like to experiment, which this project would let me do, but I like to experiment within boundaries so that I can look at a design and know clearly whether it fulfils the criteria. The other two briefs are similar yet different in their own ways. Brief 1 would already have a brand identity and guidelines that I would need to follow so it wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t allow for as much creativity as perhaps brief 3 would. However, it is clearer to see what the client is after. Brief 3 conveys a very different message, it isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t about selling a product but sparking up conversation about quite a serious topic and you have a wider range of people to target with this advertising. For this reason, I think the final brief would be the one that I would like to tackle the most as it would offer me the chance to try and spark up conversation about a different topic and in a very different way. It would challenge my design skills with a very different style and also, with the suggestions I made on how to target the different audiences, it would require me to look at consistency across different mediums. 6

Research point: what have i collected so far?

All of my sketchbooks from the past 4 years have been kept and stored so that I can look back on artists, research notes and visual structures that have inspired me. I always know which sketchbook something is in which also really helps! Although storing these can be a pain, it is definitely something worth doing. I have a book of artists and designers who inspire me, I try to keep this up-to-date adding in any extra people or companies I find. It is also important to keep looking at the work being produced by each one instead of just looking at the work I have shown in my book. I wanted to keep all of these because I know that at some point there will be something I know I have read before and need to look back on. Also, I always forget names so keeping the book of artists and designers close to me can often spark up new ideas, help with the development of projects and whenever someone then asks me the work that I like I can show them the varied styles of the people who inspire me.

Exercise: Book Cover Design

Who is hg wells? A Science Fiction writer who influenced the way in which we thought of the future. But he was born in 1866 so designing these covers 150 years later will look very different. Also, although I havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t read the books, the way in which we now think of the future could also be different to how he portrayed this - but is this something to consider when designing the covers? I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think this will effect it. He seemed to write quite a few novels that covered various topics but also various genres. It would make sense for me to pick 3 covers of linking books to create the series for. What started as science fiction novels soon turned into comic novels and then changed again later in his career to be discussions based around social and political issues at the time. This was less about a novel and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s literary content but more about the issues he could see within society. The idea of Utopia was something that featured mainly in his earlier works.

All share a similar design in terms of focusing on the tripods however, there is no common theme in terms of colours used. You would expect violent, clashing colour combinations to be used and instead the tones vary quite a lot. This suggests that the typical use of red for danger and a demanding colour does not work with this cover and it will be interesting to see why this is the case through my own development. Typographically there are multiple similarities between the covers, they are all very harsh fonts with no embellishments. This allows for a contrast to take place between the font and the image which has a lot more curves in terms of the tripods. Compositionally, this works as the eyeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s focus is taken to the softer elements of the cover, this being the tripods, but soon they realise that these are not the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;softerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; elements of the cover as these are the aspects that cause danger. 11

Using the Tripod statue that is in Surrey in order to update the perception of the Tripod. However, this now looks less like a sci-fi book as it exists instead of being imaginary.

Unlike ‘The War of Worlds’ these covers vary a lot more, no similarilities can be drawn between the images, layout or typography used. This may be partially due to the film being released (the fourth cover references this directly) as well as the fact that over time the concept of the time machine changed a lot more. Other programmes, such as Doctor Who, adopted this concept and therefore, the perception of the subject changed a lot more. In ‘The War of Worlds’, the concept of the tripod didn’t change in the same way, the Tripod always remained a fictional concept of this book which is why the form of this always remains largely the same and why the covers are very similar as well. Perhaps the only similarlily that can be drawn from these covers is the red tones. This is interesting as the association of danger is more present here than for ‘The War of Worlds’ which as the title suggests, already has more danger in connection to the book. Red obviously doesn’t just have the association to danger but it is also a commanding colour that contrasts well with the black. The secondary connection with the red is in regards to the film. The way that they designed the time machine for this film, red focused heavily in how the machine would function. As it started to work, the lights would all go red. This is something to focus on as the cover doesn’t need to directly link to the film, they are their own two separate elements, but this doesn’t mean that references can’t be made. I don’t want the cover to have to have this link as readers will think that they have to know the film to read the book but this isn’t the case so making small references like this could help eleveate the visuals but not dominate them.

As none of the books are actually connected I feel like there shouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be a style that features on all three. I could do the same fonts just to provide this kind of link however, I feel as though doing the same kind of editing would make the books seem like a series when they arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t.

Having looked at previous covers for Wells’ books, I thought that it would next be logical to look into book covers that I personally find intriguing. It is fair to say that upon first glance, these all look very different however, when looking closer, there are some key elements that draw out an individual style. One that perhaps I could use. Firstly, the typography, especially in the above two examples. Interestingly, ‘The Idiot’ is a Serif font, with a smaller Sans-Serif, and the ‘How to Murder your life’ book uses a combination of two Sans-Serif fonts. Although it is the font that is the main focal point for the Cat Marnell book, it is more about the tones and effect these tones have on the appearance of the font that makes it so effec. Equally, with ‘The Idiot’ book, the textures and tonal contrasts appeal to the eye and using purely harsh Sans-Serif fonts with this would contradict the soft merging and blending of the tones. ‘The Queen of Hearts’ book is slightly different however. Using block colours alongside an illustration that intertwines with a strong font creates less textural and tonal interest. However, the eye is now drawn into the texture of the illustration. The detail in some of the flowers is particularly appealing so using a Sans-Serif font at this point means that there aren’t too many intricate details that the eye can become engrossed in, the title is the title effectively. Compared to the other book covers created for Wells’ books, there is less of the textural and tonal contrast that can be seen here. This could be something to experiment with as it is important to stand out on a book shelf when the audience is deciding what book to purchase. Updating the appearance of these covers is always something book lovers want, especially if they are intricatly designed. 17

The Penguin Clothbound Classics

Although the books have no relation to each other, the covers bring them together to create their own series by using the same materials and appearance to each cover. By using different tones and illustrations, Penguin have given each book itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own identity. But the consistent appearance and layout of each book (the title and author is always in the same place and in the same font) means that the audience can immediately identify that these books belong together. What is actually a really simple design is elivated by the printing method. Foil printing is used on to tacile cloth which provides a new sensory experience with the book cover. You want to cherish it and look after the book so to help do this, they are only printed in hardback copies so that the spine doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t break depending on how you read a book. Looking at these, I now need to consider what approach I want to take with the covers. Do I want to create a high-class cover like these in order to produce a collectorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s edition? Or do I want to update the covers in a different manner whereby they are encouraged to be read and passed around, like a usual paperback is?

Although the covers have obviously worked, as the books have become widely successful, this is mainly due to the writing instead of the design. Instead the design lacks consistency that, as a designer, is important to feature in every book of a series. They all need to link clearly and although these do, upon closer inspection, there are elements that do vary quite a lot. For example on the covers, the image goes in front of the top banner, whilst others it is placed behind. Furthermore, the bottom banner to the book varies on each design and this isn’t just the colours but the design has changed in terms of the position of the author’s name and the background colour, on the first few it is black but towards the end it is linked to the top banner in terms of colour. Although these are minor differences, once you notice them, the impact of the series changes. The Penguin Classics didn’t have these kind of differences between each cover however, this may be due to the fact that the covers were all designed at once, the Harry Potter books were not.19 This meant that the design developed throughout, seeing what worked and didn’t during print.

Black is too dominating on any of these covers and having so much detail is too much for a cover. A book cover is supposed to be an easy read and highlight the concept of the book, having so much detail within the cogs is too much but the Tardis reference is too specific to a different concept and the detail isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t enough. It is too confusing and has no focal point to attract the eye. Although the title needs to be bold, this can also be achieved in other ways instead of this dominating black band, it is too much for the design and contradicts the lighter more delicate lines of the drawing.

Breaking down the black with other tones is working better, still not sure that using a blue cover is the best link to time travel. This is more of a colour linking to Doctor Who again instead of the Time Travel movie. The machine itself from the film has endless possibilities of colours that could be used so would be effective to use these. Looking into the film more could be beneficial in terms of working out an image to use as these images are stil not working. The link needs to be subtle so the details that I pick up on should be looked at in this way. The use of thin lines to break the cover down into segments works effectively. The black block previously didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t work as it was too heavy but using thinner lines creates these different areas without being so commanding as they previously were. This would have to be used carefully though as at this point it isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t the most effective layout. This will also help to create a visual heirarchy within the cover in simpler ways.

Images taken from http://colemanzone. com/Time_Machine_Project/Bromham%20Time%20 Machine%20sale.htm no specified details of photographer, owner or artist. [30 October 2018].

What have I learnt at this point? Simplified designs work more effectively but by making it simple, donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t lose textural elements of contrast and depth. A limited colour palette could work to my advantage however, the colours have to be chosen carefully. Symbols are the best way to build up connections for the reader, making connections to outside sources adds depth that cannot be emphasised by the human eye. Explicit imagery lacks these connections so having something more implicit could work to my advantage, this will simplify the design but also bring in outside references to the film. These donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t need to be fully understood in order to fully understand the coer but it does bring a new dimension that the other covers were lacking.

Designs inspired by the Time Machine film, adding in the motion on the second image means the link isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t as direct and still open for some interpretation.

The black and white images highlight the motion but lack any depth and adding in colour seemed like an appropriate way to elevate this design. The colours are also taken from the film version of the machine.

7 8 Although it was easy to identify which fonts were working and which weren’t during the selection, it was harder to work out exactly why these weren’t working. So what have I learnt abou visual communication through my selection? Using Gestalt’s theory of continuation, your eye traces round this cover following the motion that has been created for the background, it continues to trace this until something breaks this up. Instead of using a stark bold font like in example 5, the font choice of number 11 brings some similarities between the two components, in terms of suggested movement, however, it isn’t so close that this is perceived as one whole component, Gestalt’s theory 10 of Figure and Ground still applys.

11 29

To further enforce this theory of Figure and Ground, lines were placed around the title as it provides separation between the two elements but by leaving the background of the text clear, there is still elements of continuation that are visible between the text and background. The reason this final cover works better in comparison to these other covers, isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just due to the fact it looks better (the composition works better and all confusing elements of the graphics have been eliminated) but also it highlights how my eye has changed to trialling new methods. From my photography background, the traditional or expected compositional method that I would normally employ is the rule of thirds or the Golden Ratio. And although these methods can be applied within graphic design, doing this on a vertical document is something that I find becomes out of proportion. It becomes either top or bottom heavy, especially when using the Golden Ratio. Instead Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve concluded that visual communication doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t always have the follow the rules, it needs to create balance on some occasions and on others, this balance is there to be challenged. Symbolising movement within this cover helps to build up a connection between the title and image. The concept of a time machine changes between each reader however, the one similarity that each reader will now have in regards to their interpretation is the idea of movement. Using symbols like this works to my advantage within visual communication as connections can be built up through both individual elements but also as a collective on the cover. 32

By repositioning the base image so that the spiral graphic was central, everything else still seemed quite skewed. Originally everything seemed like it needed to be central however, this isn’t always the way with design. As long as the visual hierarchy works then it doesn’t always have to be central. The author’s name here isn’t easy to read and the text, in my opinion, should all be one colour. Therefore, the order needs to change again, or at least the positioning of a couple of elements, so that every element within the cover can be fully read and understood without compromising any other element. Equally, without the red tones, the cover is quite boring, the movement is difficult to fully understand and the red elevates this in a way that highlights that there could be some danger within the story line, just like the original covers hinted at, whilst also inting at the film and the patterns and tones involved within the film version of the machine.

Points to consider in my other designs:

- Gestalt theory helps me to explain why a design works or doesn’t work in terms of visual communication. Sometimes I just know it doesn’t work but can never work out why. Understanding these theories in more depth will help me to build stronger designs that draw on these theories. Having a design that ‘just works’ makes for an easier read for the audience, there isn’t too much for the eye to interpret but it also draws on outside, more personal influences to help the reader connect with the design. - Book covers need to be kept simple and consistent. Different designs have different purposes and a book cover is there to entice the reader, interest them without giving away too many details, and this is supposed to be something that is more of a visual stimulant than requiring any individual, deep reading. Therefore, to do this, it is important to keep the design simple. Overcomplicating this requires extra reading. Reading that an audience member will not want to do and this will not encourage them to read the book. - Particularly within this design and the Gestalt theory, the combination of Figure and Ground is important. Both elements on the design are important however, I didn’t want the title to get caught up in the motion of the background, there needed to be something to distinguish the two without it being entirely separate. The elements needed to be considered both separately and together at the same time. Not all designs will need this direct separation but it will be interesting to explore this through other designs as the simple addition of two lines worked really well. - Colour also cannot be over complicated. Although origianlly I didn’t think this could create too much noise, in some of these designs I realised that it is easy to over do the colour in combination with the background so it is important to carefully select this after confirming the design otherwise it can be hard to tell what is creating the large amount of visual noise.

Originally, I commented that doing a set of book covers wouldn’t work. However, whilst designing, I continued to research different covers. Ths was one of the few series of books that I found that employed a similar style across a set of different H.G. Wells books. The cover for The Invisible Man, compared to the other covers, actually makes hints towards the title and visually representing this. Although this isn’t the intention for every book cover design ever, take the ‘How to Murder Your Life’ cover for example, however, with these covers and how they have been portrayed previously, the focus is definitely on illustration instead of typography. These covers, I find, stand out for the wrong reasons, especially the War of Worlds covers. If the Tripods had been included in this design then the link to the book would have become more apparent however, these are a little abstract for the classic writing style of Wells. Using silhouettes, like that used on The Invisible Man, could have been a lot more effective. A silhouette of a Tripod and the silhouette of the time machine could have worked really effectively on these covers. But instead, the company opted for patterns. These do have a tendancy to work more effectively, take their clothbound classics for example. The difference is though, that the clothbound classics had a clear theme, here the theme is changing, the consistency isn’t there like it is with the other series. 39

The Penguin covers on the opposite page also miss out on portrayig what genre the books are. These books by the Folio Society hint at more of an old classic, Sci-fi theme. Whereas, the Penguin books have tried to take a different approach and have disregarded that these were Sci-fi books when they were first written. Despite seeing how successfully this layout works for the set, I still donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think that it would work for the way in which I want to portray the books. The stories do not link in any way apart from the author, there is no story line that runs between the books. If there were, I would see some logic in using the same style covers (like the Harry Potter books). However, as these donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t share a link, they need to be viewed individually and the best way to do this is to design each cover individually without considering how the next one will be designed in the same way. 40

Having looked at the covers that I created for The Time Machine, I decided that designing a cover for The War of Worlds was perhaps not going to test me in the way I had hoped. Most covers feature the same drawings and therefore, redesigning this would go against all of the research that I have done. Equally, using this drawing has referencing implications and the image itself contradicts the modern approach that I am aiming for with these covers. I want to look at a title that perhaps doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have the same limitations and will let me experiment with different styles that I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t normally work with in order to develop my skill set and knowledge.

A very short summary of the plot for The Invisible Man goes like this - The Invisible Man doesn't get along with anyone in society: he didn't get along with anyone before he was invisible and now things have only gotten worse. He thinks the laws shouldn't apply to him and eventually he gets killed by a mob. A full version (which I did read for assistance in my design) can be found at https://www.shmoop.com/invisible-man-wells/summary.html.

Much like The War of Worlds covers, the covers that have been printed for The Invisible Man have all featured the same style of graphic. Obviously each one is going to feature this invisible man in some manner but it never feels like you are reading a different book. This is evidentally going to be benefical as nobody wants to start reading the book to find it is the exact same, however, I find them a little uninspiring that each one has to feature this manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s presence in the same way. There are alternative ways in order to show the presence of this man without having to show the fact that continuously appears, one wrapped in bandages. The final cover on the top right of this page starts to play with it a little more however, the imagery does require some reading to obtain a connection between the graphics and the title. Something that highlights this presence but not becoming too ambiguous will work effectively for this cover. Maybe encorporating a couple of the other elements mentioned within the summary could add intrigue to the title, something that is currently lacking in my opinion.

How can you show someone’s Objects lying presence around can suggest that without there has been someone there. If them these are untidy and looked used actually this will help. being there?

Shadows. In order for a shadow to appear, there needs to be an object. I could create a shadow but not show ‘The Invisible Man’. This will suggest something is there and show that it is a person but it gives away nothing more about the story.

Footprints. These will show that someone has been around but it doesn’t suggest anything. Whether it is a man or woman, doesn’t give a description at all which allows for Wells’ work to build up an impression that will be different for each viewer. 44

Although aesthetically I liked the shadow being blurred, I wanted to work out why this was the case. What actually makes the shadow blur the way it does? Looking at artwork created by Tim Noble and Sue Webster, each piece had very strong a definitive lines, even when the shadowâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s original form was rough materials. In order for this to occur, the light source had to be very close to the artwork. My initial reaction was that it had to be so close that it would be seen in this photo however, that would have created some distortion in terms of skewing the perspective. This light source had to be the same height as the structures and shining straight on. The most common way in which we see shadows is on a sunny day when we are outside. On this occasion, our shadow is always blurred. This is because the light source is the sun and due to our distance from the sun, the edges of our shadows blur. The effect of this can be simplified down if you use a light source and move your hand closer and further away from it to see how sharp or blurred the shadow is. Although I am not showing the light source in my front cover, I felt it important to understand this and understand where the light is coming from. The one issue with using this example of a hand from a light blub is that one side of the shadow is going to be more blurred than the other. Holding your hand at one angle will cause the base of your hand to be more in focus than the tips of your fingers whereas, if you now rotate it 90 degrees it will be the other way around. This suggests that the shadow that I am using needs to be more in focus at one end than the other. From looking at other shadows of someone standing, it is clear that the top would need to be more blurry than the feet but also in its formation, the shadow would need to become wider at the top. As the light spreads out around the person blocking the light, it distorts the figure both in terms of perspective and blurriness. 47

What’s working? What isn’t? -Feet work more successfully, not as harsh. - Distortion isn’t quite right just yet and not having this right will shift the focus of the design on to my errors instead of the intrigue of the design. - The play of the typography on the concept of being invisible is a little different to the shadow but it works well in combination to give the perception of being invisible, as obviously the title cannot just be completely disregarded.

This design was a little different, it encouraged me to learn new skills and approach new technologies as part of the design process. I have never been the strongest drawer or illustrator, it is something that I want to build up and this project was a good starting point. Trying to create the simple illustration of a man was something that took a lot of work throughout the design process, it took up more experimentation that the actual design of the cover. Although this isn’t always the best way to approach a project, by sticking with your first idea, it was an idea that I knew once I had mastered, would work effectively. It is a design that isn’t too different to the other covers in terms of completely disregarding ‘The Invisible Man’ however, it plays more on the perception of this instead of how the character is actually displayed in the book. This doesn’t mean my drawing skills are where I want them to be, but it has encouraged me to experiment with it more in future projects instead of just using digital tools. Doing this, let me play with a drawing tablet and the capabilities it has to make something less digitalised. When shooting photographic images, everything in front of the camera has a certificate of presence, it is real because it has to be to be in front of a camera. This often makes me overlook how something is actually formed so once again my perception was changed and improved as I had to start identifying how a shadow would be formed in this position, how the figure would become distorted as well as looking as the signs and symbols that I am employing to make it be perceived as this shadow in the door frame. I knew when the design had worked, when it was perceived this way but trying to reverse the thought process so that I could identify which symbols were needed was something that I had to start identifying through my drawings.

More so on this book than any other book, the covers vary so much! Normally there was a theme between each one however, with this particular book there is no theme apart from the colour red. This is expecting however, even this features in different quantities. This may be partially because this is a short story that was never seen in a full book form like The Time Machine was when Wells first published it. The story line of the book goes like this: “It follows a confident young sceptic—the unnamed narrator of the story—as he attempts to spend the night in an infamously haunted room in a castle. Owing to the black and red décor of the room the narrator finds it necessary to light several candles to see his way around, but a draft keeps extinguishing the candles faster than he can keep them lit. Eventually, the candles go out, he loses his sense of direction and trips over the furniture. He freaks out, falls down, and knocks himself out. In the morning, the narrator concludes that the room is haunted by no ghost, but by fear itself. The ambiguity of the narrators ending is the story’s enduring legacy—is the room haunted by a supernatural force of pure fear, or did the narrator simply spook himself in the dark?” Sparknotes.com. (n.d.). SparkNotes: The Red Room. [online] Available at: http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/The-RedRoom/ [Accessed 17 Nov. 2018]. Without giving too much away, the potential for this cover allows for a lot of experimentation, how much can you do with the colour red? A lot of the covers keep it simple for this reason, to highlight the red, however, I feel like there needs to be more than there is in the 3rd and 4th covers, the simplistic design creates no interest and the tones are kept very minimal. Although the final cover doesn’t highlight the red, there is still some kind of interest created through tones and textures.

What’s working? What isn’t? -Block colours hasn’t got the depth that I was hoping for. They are incredibly flat and need some textural elements to add intrigue. - Texture needs to be carefully considered before the colour. The colour combinations are no longer important and I think red will always be perceived as red so using the textures, building these up should be my first priority and then just use one shade of red for the final cover. There won’t just be one shade though as red will interact with the textures in different ways to create varying shades instead of doing the obvious as I first did. -Texture cannot be added so quickly or simply, it needs more consideration in to how it interacts with each element. -Separation lines may not be needed here, texture examples on the last two designs already have the difference between Figure and Ground and this only makes the separation further, they seem like they shouldn’t be there together instead of there being any possibility to be seen with some similarities. 57

The importance of texture within graphics This design for the cover of the Life of Pi is something more intriguing from a graphics perspective. The use of just three/four tones, yet the designer’s ability to create something with so much depth is something that I need to focus on in my work. In order to create depth there doesn’t need to be loads of tonal contrast, it just needs to be carefully integrated. Here, two separate images are created whilst being created inside of one another. By doing this, the eye is constantly able to intertwine with both images and there isn’t too much differentiation apart from the tones. The constant reading of both images that therefore occurs is subtle yet effective. Although texture isn’t the main priority here. Through the shapes formed some element of texture has been thought about. This small consideration transforms the cover as it no longer seems like a flat image but you can picture the rest of the creature, extending beyond the cover. Being able to do this, proves that the cover has been designed successfully and with a lot of consideration to the few elements that have been used within the final selection. 58

These examples taken from Niessen & de Vries’ portfolio highlight exactly what I have been trying to do; combine texture and colour to portray a message. The continuous layering that occurs on the top example builds up an intriguing, but slightly caotic, example of type. On the home page of their website it states that “Instead of straightforward concept, Niessen & De Vries seek longevity through richness in layers, to emphasize the materiality of the work and avoid references”. By repeating, altering and deforming various other images, the studio is completely reinventing what was originally used. This reappropriation of images reflects the current state of the internet, however, it is never completely reappropriated, just no one can now find the original source of the media. Mixing so many bold colours and textures isn’t the aim of my work however, it works effectively here. Instead of focusing on the tonal changes, I need to focus on the textural changes that I can employ in my work. Each line of the typography has a different focus and when combining patterns, the studio hasn’t focused on trying to use different horizontal and vertical patterns away from each other. There is a combination of diagonal lines with dot work on one line. However, the next line, features both horizontal, diagonal and vertical lines. Theoretically, this sounds like it would be too much. However, with this example, it is clear that it has been carefully structured. In order to break down the vertical lines and horzintal lines that feature on the A and V, there is a block colour. The strong black tone here separates the two. This could have also been solved by changing the stripe pattern. Instead of using red and white on both letters and patterns, this could have been changed to a different colour to add more of a break. However, Niessen and de Vries do not take the easy option and decided that visually boldness and texture could be added differently and perhaps more interestingly by keeping the tones the same. Therefore, I need to not just take the easy option of changing the tones so that they aren’t the same (or using a complentary colour) and instead play with how I could balance this in other ways. 59

Interestingly, the examples of texture that I have selected for the covers use minimal tones whereas, Niessen & de Vries in their graphics example use something a lot more intense within their colour choices. This highlights that texture can be created with as many or as few tones as you would like. Even with this limited tonal range, as can be seen from this book by Carol Ann Duffy, enough texture is created from the limited colours. By switching the colour swatches around for the lines within the star, a definite shape is creates that distinguishes from the background. Also, by having lines of different lengths all layered up, the emphasis is placed on the blank space, which is where the key information has then been placed. By doing this, every line is now leading back to the centre as well as when the eye wants some blank space to contemplate the pattern, it also goes to the important information. This has evidentally been carefully constructure to always lead back to the same point creating a very simple but very effective visual structure.

What have I learnt through building up textures in this way? - Tone should be considered throughout but it doesn’t have to be immediately added, it can be added after other components have been considered. Adding red in part way through my experimentation helped me to work out how the red would interact with the textures in different ways but this wasn’t the ‘official’ way to add in the tone. I wanted to fully add it in at the end when I could manipulate the colour more effectively as the design had been confirmed. However, adding in the colour part way through helped indicate a better direction to take the texture. Main learning point - even if you are considering tone and colour in separate ways, sometimes reintroduce them to each other so that you can monitor their interaction part way through so the design will work more effectively at the end. - Building up textures has to be considered in terms of both the horizontal and vertical plane as the textures here will shape the way the book is read, weirdly it will create a sense of movement through the symbols indicated so it is about balancing this so that the symbols juxtapose themselves and don’t portray this sense of movement as hinted by the Gestalt theory. Unlike ‘The Time Machine’, the idea wasn’t to portray movement but indirectly these symbols refer to movement which wasn’t the intention. - To portray red, the whole cover doesn’t have to be red, the cover can feature different colours that don’t always have to have a red base. This adds tonal depth and highlights the varying shades and tints that can be featured under the one term.

Without doing the typography assignment, what have I learnt about fonts so far? - The weight of a font obviously changes what is dominant in the frame but as a result it changes what your focus is on. Although there needs to be separation between the background and the text, here it is important to consider what you want the focus to be on for the background, so that when the elements are brought together they do work together instead of compromise one another. - Capitals or lower-case? Sans Serif or Serif? With these I have become more observant as to the effects of each embellishment, the directness of capital lettering and the combination between the two. - Combining fonts to have the title in one font and the authorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s name in another font was more of a challenge than I expected. The second font changes the perception of the first font so much and the spacing not only between the letters but between the two fonts needs to be considered.

The fonts were something that I had to continuously keep changing and experimenting with and it was about making small changes to work out what needs changing next. These small spaces didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t look much between each design but once I looked from the start to end, it was clear how much of a difference each choice has.

What have I learnt from this process?

- To create a design that flows over the front cover and the spine, the design, or background of the front, doesn’t always have to carry on to the spine. Sometimes this doesn’t look right and that is ok, there are other ways in which the design can work. - Always remember to consider all elements from the start, even if it is just to see how they fit but trying to add in the publisher’s trademark at the end was something I had forgotten about so adding this early on just to consider positioning would have been beneficial. - I was able to learn how to develop my drawing skills more with this task. I struggled so much to start with, trying to get the proportions but it was key to see that I started to work out what would work and what wouldn’t when trying to develop the structure. The structure of a drawing is very different to a photograph or a digital manipulation and this is something that I hope to continue to develop in other tasks and future projects as it is a skill that I need to develop. - Lines are an effective way to separate elements, create a visual heirarchy in the most simple way. It isolates the eye but makes it easy for the eye to go to different elements of the frame. I often try and pick more complex elements to do this instead of just opting for the basic idea of a line.

exercise: visualising your ideas

I was told in the exercise that this brie specific so I want to try and create a volunteers to help with a local charity. of a blueprint that could be used by a specific charity but it needs to be a age participation. The leaflet will be handed out within certain spaces and racks. This means it needs to cater

ef could be made more leaflet that encourages y. I want to create more anyone, instead of for appealing and encoursent via post but also d placed within display for every eventuality.

Through a very quick good search, it soon becomes apparent that there is a style that emerges across all of the volunteering leaflets and there is always a lot of information. The one on the left is about joining the Police Support Volunteers and there isn’t much to catch the eye before throwing a lot of information at the audience. The way in which this leaflet will fold means that the information is hidden to start with but the audience of this leaflet appears to be for those that already have an interest in joining the Police Support Volunteers instead of gaining new interest like my brief. Therefore, it is important to consider this in regards to restricting the amount of information within the leaflet or how this is presented.

This leaflet doesn’t appear to have any folds included which means everything you see now is everything you will have to read as part of the leaflet. In a way this is an advantage but once again it isn’t part of my brief, I need to include the folds in some way. But here the bold ‘We want you’, quickly outlines the aim of the leaflet and would be the first thing that any reader would see if this were placed in a stand with other leaflets. The strong use of colour and graphics is something that I can take from this design. Although I am not expected to create this, it is something that needs to be considered as part of my design process to make sure that each component can be balanced based on the segments that are created through the folds. Equally, using a combination of images and text means that it appeals to different visual learners.

Once again, this leaflet uses colour and different typefaces in order to stand out, however, I don’t think it has been done as effectively here. I understand why the hands are used but they look a little odd and add too many tonal variations on to the one leaflet. They would have been better to use the questions in the centre, as this stimulates a thought process within their audience, along with a different graphic. Or, they could have just put ‘Want to make a Difference?’ on one side of the leaflet and then put more information on the other side. This would then become something that could be posted through people’s doors. Of course this could be posted as it is, but if it is double sided there is this idea of a postcard instead of a leaflet coming through your door. Leaflets immediately get thrown away, by most people, whereas, postcards, because they are usually from a loved one, there will be more reading involved which is needed with something like this. What makes a leaflet more successful to put through someone’s door compared to putting in a stand with other leaflets? How do you stop someone from discarding this leaflet? Questions are a strong stimulus not only for me during the design process but for the reader as well.

All of these designs seem very simple and almost predictable. The layout of a leaflet seems to be the same from one to the next, rarely with any variation. So when it was mentioned that the leaflet needed to fold within the brief, I wanted to look at more origami structures as these can provide so much more interest and will create a completely different visual focal point to interest the viewer. The below designs folds out revealing different information at each layer. The changing of folds can provide a really good way to introduce some geometric designs. This also provides an easy way to divide up the information without it being in one block like the policing leaflet.

The form of these leaflets would make little sense on a plain structure, however, this interesting structure has created a really interesting focal point and they encourage visitors to engage with the information that is needed to understand aspects of the museum. My focus on these leaflets is the way they are presented. As they are such a unique form, it wouldn’t be right to just put them in a rack at the front door, which is why, a whole other display and focal point is made through the collection shown together (below). Doing this means that each leaflet can be fully viewed, something that wouldn’t happen with a typical leaflet rack. With my leaflet, I don’t need to consider it as a series just yet, however, I do need to think how it will be displayed. Hanging them up in this manner is unlikely but this doesn’t mean they can’t be displayed in something more unusual than just a leaflet rack. If this were the case, the leaflet can easily get lost with others when you want it to be easy to find and stand out.

How did these actually fold out?

What works and what doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t work? - There is a lot of surface area with this leaflet, plenty of space to put information without it remaining too big, it manages to fold up quite small. - It is quite hard to store in order to refer back to. It cannot be pinned on a noticeboard unless it is folded up and then trying to quickly reference it becomes harder. - It would also be quite bulky to post if this is the presentation method but similarly, if this were put in a leaflet rack, it would easily unfold inside its segment. - Surface area is a massive advantage but ideally it would only require one sheet of a regular paper size instead of having to cut and stick different sizes together.

What works and what doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t work? - Not enough surface areas to fill with text. - Larger focus on images but there is no space for text then. - It does fold up small and effectively but still there is difficultly for it to stay folded up if it were placed in a rack and in the post it would again be quite bulky.

What works and what doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t work? - Intriguing design but there is the association of an envelope being linked to an invite. - Able to reveal information in a specific order so the audience is guided around more specifically in regards to what you want as a designer. - Not quite got enough space for all of the information - the digital copy shows that the text would have to be quite small to fit into even the largest segment of the leaflet. - Complicated for the audience to try and fold back up.

How much does 120 words really look like?

Using Lorem Ipsum, 120 words would look like this: id nibh tortor id aliquet lectus proin nibh nisl condimentum id venenatis a condimentum vitae sapien pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas sed tempus urna et pharetra pharetra massa massa ultricies mi quis hendrerit dolor magna eget est lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas integer eget aliquet nibh praesent tristique magna sit amet purus gravida quis blandit turpis cursus in hac habitasse platea dictumst quisque sagittis purus sit amet volutpat consequat mauris nunc congue nisi vitae suscipit tellus mauris a diam maecenas sed enim ut sem viverra aliquet eget sit amet tellus cras adipiscing enim eu turpis egestas Having this at a legible font size will take up quite a bit of room so the previous designs could struggle for space and any bigger, the larger the paper would have to be and the larger the envelope to post it in. May have to revisit some of the less interesting designs as this will allow me to fit all the information on and be the most practical for posting any promotional material. Also, the more folds created, the smaller the space to work with so these need to be kept at a minimum.

What works and what doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t work? - Less like an invite here but now it is too linear, there is less interest and it is quite boring with no focal point being created. - When unfolded this structure becomes even less interesting and doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t create the geometric design that some of the others have achieved. - However, there is enough room for all of the text.

What works and what doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t work? - This design is getting there, it brings together the different ideas that have worked on previous designs as the leaflet is easy to open and close for the audience after they have read it once, the information can slowly be revealed to the audience in an order created by the designer and in doing all this, it doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t appear like an invite. - Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m not sure that the text is big enough so that 120 words can fit into each segment. - The order may need reconsidering so that the front and back of the leaflet is both equally as intriguing. 92

What works and what doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t work? - Similar to the last design just a slightly different layout. It means the text can be placed into larger sections so the text can be larger but it also needs to be small in some other sections. In some ways this creates an effective visual heirarchy but in others, it needs to be reconsidered so the text isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t too small. - Can reveal information in a particular order again so that the information is structured for the reader. - Easier than any other design to fold back up and not too bulky for the post whilst still remaining interesting if it were to be placed within a leaflet stand.

Why would I pick up a leaflet? - Bold colours and interesting patterns - Grabbing Title, not something generic - Intriguing layout (only something that I have been focusing on since my own interactive work but you don’t realise how much this effects someone’s interaction. If they are having to change the positions of their hands it becomes more interesting as it isn’t just a quick flick through, you are being forced to engage with it, change the orientation etc) - Strong font - It needs to be different to the rest but still fulfil the role

Why would I put a leaflet down? - Looks like too much reading, suddenly hit with a large volume of text instead of it being slowly revealed to you. - Nothing interesting on the very front, looks like it won’t interest me or effect me. - Spelling mistakes! - If it doens’t look professional I will still give it a chance but if they don’t look to have taken their advertising seriously, how do they expect me to be serious about volunteering with them.

Colourful but not too overpowering

Make sure that the folds are easy so that they can also fold it up when finished.

Interesting images and graphics (doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just have to be photography work)

How can I make this Leaflet more appealing so that people pick it up to read? Balance out the reading Bold and interesting title (not my choice of title with this brief but the positioning of it will be important) What if this wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just a case of unfolding something....what if there was another component like different paper types combined?

and graphics. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want them to be hit by too much reading or too many images at once. Slowly reveal new information with each unfolding instead of all at once. 95

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ail em

id nibh tortor id aliquet lectus proin nibh nisl condimentum id venenatis a condimentum vitae sapien pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas sed tempus urna et pharetra pharetra massa massa ultricies mi quis hendrerit dolor magna eget est lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas integer eget aliquet nibh praesent tristique magna sit amet purus gravida quis blandit turpis cursus in hac habitasse platea dictumst quisque sagittis purus sit amet volutpat consequat mauris nunc congue nisi vitae suscipit tellus mauris a diam maecenas sed enim ut sem viverra aliquet eget sit amet tellus cras adipiscing enim eu turpis egestas

the back once it is opened up

VOLUNTEER WITH US id co nib vi nd h tri tae ime tort s fa ti sa nt or ph me que pie um id a id liq q ar s a s n ip uis etra c tu ene pel ven uet el sum he p rp ctu len en lec se it p d ndr hare is e s e tesq ati tus n u s a pr eg e el olo eri tr ge t tri est ctus lent r si t do a m stas net e h con oin b sti as et esq t a lo as se us ab di nib di land que int net ue me r m sa m d te et itan me h n vo ctu it m ege us h t co ag a m m t ntu isl vi lut ms turp agn r e et m abit nse na ssa pus ales mor m t se ae pa t q is a ge ale an ct eg ult u ua bi te d e sus t co uis cur sit a t al sua t m etur et e rici rna da llu ni ci ns q su m iq d o a st es e s c m pit eq ue s et ue a fa rbi di lo m t ra ut te ua sa in pu t n m t pis rem i s a se llu t m gi ha ru ib es ris ci di m s m au tti c h s g h ac tiq ng pi viv a r s t sc e u is pu abit rav pra urp ue in rr ris nu ru as id es is g e a a a n s se a en ni liq di c c si pl qui t m ue am on t a s eu t e m gu am tea g e tu et ae n et rp si ce isi is t a na eg m s es et ta s

once opened up

More effective layout compared to the last design however, some of the text is still too small in order to fit into the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;textâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; segments that I created.

id id nib h v h ac abit ene tor m tu an na tor ip ass rpis t m tis id h sum a u eg orb a aliq l ac abi d tr es i tr co ue m tu tant olo icie tas isti ndi t le a ha gn rpi m r s s m sed que me ctu o i s c vo h a e rb t a i q te se nt s p te lu ab sit ges i tr me uis mp ne um ro eg llus tpat itas am tas isti t co he us ctu v in n et m c se et in qu n nd ur s e ita ib sit au on pl pu teg e s sec rer na t n e h n am ris a sequ atea rus er e ene tetu it d et p etus sap isl et di at di gr ge ctu r a olo har et ien con te am m ctu avi t al s e dip r m etr ma p dim llu m au m da iq t n is a a le el u e c g p s le e r s s cr aece is n t qu qui et tus ing na har uad nte ntu as n u is s ni et e eg et a sq m ad as s nc qu blan bh m lit p et e ra fam ue ip ed co e s d pr ale el st ma es isc e n ag it ae su le lo ss in nim gue itt tu sen ad nte re a g i r a s m en ut nis s pu pis t tr fam que c i im sem i v ru u sti e eu vi itae s si rsus que s tu verr su t am in rp a sc e is ali ip t eg qu it es et ta s

The portrait version works more effectively and although everything is basically in the same position, the size is more appropriate for the previous design.

The last two pages have trialled slightly different layouts however, they havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t worked as successfully. Adding in acetate into the designs also hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t proved as effective as I had hoped. The expectation was that this would elevate the design, create something that the reader would want to cherish more and they would be less likely to throw away. Howver, the acetate confuses the design even more and makes the folding too difficult, especially when it is attached to the plain paper. 100

101

Two separate designs here, each identified by the change in background. 102

The acetate wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t working in the originally intended form but I wanted to still see if this could act as a way to reveal the information inside. Originally I thought this could work and it had great potential however, I am not sure it will work as effectively as I had hoped. Putting the important information on an aspect of the leaflet that could get easily lost is not a clever idea as what happens if this does get lost? What does the reader do then?

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There were two main paper types that I wanted to try as part of this. One was a heavy card but not as heavy as the other paper type I had been using in experiments, whilst the other was more of a poster paper card type that would have folded easily and stayed closed. (For reference the top photos are going to be paper 1 and paper 2 is the bottom paper type). Paper 1, although being a thicker card, seemed to fit the purpose better. It wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t going to get ruined in someoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bag after receiving the leaflet (possibly being handed out on the street or in leaflet racks) whereas paper 2, would easily get ruined and the effect of the design would be lost. However, paper 1 is slightly off white, paper 2 is stark white. Although this shouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be an issue, I had wanted to create this band around the design that highlighted the name of the organisation, and an off-white is hard to match if I were to use a thinner paper type for this. This is where it is beneficial to have created the mock-ups but it is important to translate these designs to digital elements so that you can see if it works in practice. 104

I think using paper 1 would be more effective for this client. They want something that can be posted and handed out or displayed in relative spaces. It needs to be stable whilst not being too thick and not able to be printed on through a standard printer. Although paper 1 is off white, I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think that it will need the banner around it. It has enough space for all of the information without the text being too small but also the banner becomes something that easily gets lost. It is quite difficult to make this stay on without making it so tight that it doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t come off. Equally, it the name of the organisation is on this banner, and the banner gets lost, although the name will feature in other elements of the text, it needs to be clear on the front where the leaflet has come from.

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This brief was an interesting one for me. I have always loved playing with more practical elements of design, as evidenced in my first assignment as well as my photography degree. However, being tasked with designing a leaflet was a little different for me. It had to be read in a certain way and function as a leaflet, previously I didn’t have the same concern, the paper folding element came into my work naturally instead of being a feature that had to be considered from the start. Despite this, I was able to start experimenting with more unique ways of creating a leaflet. I didn’t want to do the bulk standard folds as these are often quite boring and don’t stand out when they are being displayed or when you receive them in the post. Doing a more unique fold like I have done, provides a different focal point. It also enables for a more interesting read as the designer can control the exact way that the information is read. However, once again I learnt that I try and overcomplicate the task. This time I also had to consider the structure with text, instead of images like I usually do, which made me focus on how successful the structure with different criteria. Overall, I do think this design works effectively as the information clearly fits on the design without having to be too small in font size but also there is enough room for extra details, images and at no point does it look over crowded. The design is playful and intriguing which creates a strong focal point and is different to other leaflet examples that I looked at. And for this reason, it will stand out when received by potential volunteers.

What have I learnt with this project?

- There is always another way to arrange the information, it is interesting to see how these small changes change the visual heirarchy as they have quite a large impact, something that I often overlooked. - Paper weight can change not only the literal feel of the laeflet but it can also change the way it is considered. - Always remember to print digital mock-ups during the process as this can influence a choice, just writing ‘text’ in a section isn’t enough as you don’t get the impression of how big the text it has to be and this is important in developing the design.

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How do you approach being self-critical? What issues does it raise? Do you have friends, family, colleagues or a group who will critique your work for you? Being self-critical isn’t always easy because I often like a design but deep down I know it isn’t the best that I could do or it doesn’t fully fulfil the brief. Therefore, I try to look at it from a different perspective. I make myself the reader and decide whether this will work for the purpose that it is supposed to be for. If it doesn’t fulfil the brief, appeal to the right people or the client will not view it as successful, I rework elements so that this all works. I do have a group of friends from my degree course that I can ask about these elements and see if they think it works. Sometimes this is really helpful because they will make effective pointers in terms of things to try and why something isn’t working. What I have found though, is they look at it in a photography perspective instead of a graphics perspective. They will say something looks great but I know a couple of things still need changing to that the images can be read and understood properly. Once they see these changes, they agree but they do give me helpful pointers that often change the way I’m looking at my work. If I am adament that it looks good, yet they say I’ve overcomplicated it, I believe them and realise my errors.

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exercise: too much or not enough information

At this time of year there are a lot of events going on so I had a lot of choice of which one I used for this exercise. However, I wanted to look at one of the exhibitions from my local gallery so I decided to experiment with this task using the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;The Shadow Artists: Risingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; exhibition. There were some photos and information on the Modern Art Oxford website which is what I used for these posters. I could have used a lot more of the information but I chose to just use the introductory 3 paragraphs about the work instead of using all of the artist biographies as 109 well.

Although on occasions exhibition posters can all look very similar, this approach works. Having one single image and the details surrounding it shows you everything you need to know about a potential show that you could go and visit. It is important with these to create a sense of visual hierarchy through the size of the text as this emphasises the important pieces of information for the audience. Sometimes it can be difficult though to distinguish one identity from the next. As they all use the same structure, just using their own logo, it can be quite difficult to notice the differences which is where the designs on the right create more interest because it is kept simple like the other designs but there is more intrigue surrounding the concept.

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111

Looking at other singular posters, these seem to play a bit more with the structure and layout. There are no guidelines that they have to follow in order to fall in line with gallery guidelines however, they do still have to communicate clearly the main details of the exhibition and what the audience need to know. The poster to the left works really well in terms of using the graphics to reiterate the information. Although it only says 2016, it brings the focus on to the text as it is clear what the graphics are saying and doing so you have the time to digest the information instead of spending ages digesting the imagery. Similarly, using the same typeface throughout but changing the weight and size creates a really clear visual hierarchy that is easy to follow. With the important information at the top, it works effectively in making sure that even if you have a quick glance at the poster, you get the main information and aren’t distracted by other elements of the poster, unlike the top left poster on the next page. This poster for the OSU Design Exhibition appeals to me for its design but when I realise what I am actually looking at, I am mainly looking at the geometric form that is taking over the poster. It is only once I realise that I don’t know anything about the exhibition in order to go that I begin to read the other information. It is a tough balance to achieve as the top right poster is interesting, it grabs your interest but I don’t think it has enough content on there for me to be interested in going to the event. The middle image on the bottom row however, has my interest. There is the same amount of information as the other poster however, the broken text for the title, the text within the graphics and the limited colour pallete, muted but with an acent colour, is really appealing to me. This is partially because this is the design style I like but I feel like I know more about what I can see at this exhibition whereas, the ‘Explore the Hidden Interest’ poster doesn’t quite sit right for me.

112

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Looking at previous exhibition posters for the Modern Art Gallery in Oxford, it is clear that there is no style that is repeated over multiple exhibitions. The first two hinted that there could be a theme however, it was soon discovered that this isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t the case. This highlights that no two exhibitions are going to be the same. It also makes it easier to follow for the audience members as if they saw the same poster but different backgrounds, it is going to be harder to remember what exhibition they have been to or want to visit. Similarly, some posters have more details than others however, it seems to be two different ends of the spectrum. Therefore, it will be interesting to see what the poster will look like at the different stages of this exercise.

I thought it would be interesting to use the style of the logo to create the poster however, I quickly established that it looked a little odd considering that the logo would also have to feature on the poster. I wanted to try something more interesting and unique instead of creating this style.

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The Shadow Artists The Shadow Artists

19 October 11 November 2018

30 Pembroke St, Oxford OX1 1BP

Rising

Film Oxford presents the latest work by The Shadowlight Artists, a group of six artists with learning disabilities based in Oxfordshire. A group show across two venues, Arts at the Old Fire Station and Modern Art Oxford, this exhibition showcases work spanning installation, painting, digital media and theatrical production. The exhibition celebrates the group’s creative growth since their formation in 2009 with an artistically ambitious body of work that re-frames disability arts. The exhibition alongside two

features a new ﬁlms

series of dynamic produced by the

new wider

works by the core Shadowlight Associates

group, group.

Mark Hemsworth’s prints represent a move into large-scale works, reﬂecting his obsession with collecting images; while a new installation by Richard Hunt expands his painting practice into the realms of multimedia installation. A new animation by Tom Breach merges autobiographical experience with fantasy; and Lucy Skuce’s video installation blends her obsession with construction and the domestic environment. Danny Smith’s new ﬁlm expands his interest into ancestral memory and the cultures of prehistory.

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Rising 19 October 11 November 2018

30 Pembroke St, Oxford OX1 1BP

The Shadow Artists: Rising 19 October 11 November 2018

30 Pembroke St, Oxford OX1 1BP

The Shadow Artists: Rising

19 October 11 November 2018

30 Pembroke St, Oxford OX1 1BP Film Oxford presents the latest work by The Shadowlight Artists, a group of six artists with learning disabilities based in Oxfordshire. A group show across t wo venues, Arts at the Old Fire Station and Modern Art Oxford, this exhibition showcases work spanning installation, painting, digital media and theatrical production. The exhibition celebrates the groupʻs creative growth since their formation in 2009 with an artistically ambitious body of work that re-frames disability arts. The exhibition features a series of dynamic new works by the core group, alongside t wo new films produced by the wider Shadowlight Associates group. Mark Hemsworthʻs prints represent a move into large-scale works, reflecting his obsession with collecting images; while a new installation by Richard Hunt expands his painting practice into the realms of multimedia installation. A new animation by Tom Breach merges autobiographical experience with fantasy; and Lucy Skuceʻs video installation blends her obsession with construction and the domestic environment. Danny Smithʻs new film expands his interest into ancestral memory and the cultures of prehistory.

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Mark Hemsworth’s prints represent a move into largescale works, reflecting his obsession with collecting images; while a new installation by Richard Hunt expands his painting practice into the realms of multimedia installation. A new animation by Tom Breach merges autobiographical experience with fantasy; and Lucy Skuce’s video installation blends her obsession with construction and the domestic environment. Danny Smith’s new film expands his interest into ancestral memory and the cultures of prehistory.

30 Pembroke St, Oxford OX1 1BP

The exhibition features a series of dynamic new works by the core group, alongside two new films produced by the wider Shadowlight Associates group.

The Shadow Artists: Rising

30 Pembroke St, Oxford OX1 1BP

19 October -11 November 2018

30 Pembroke St, Oxford OX1 1BP

19 October -11 November 2018

The Shadow Artists: Rising

19 October -11 November 2018

30 Pembroke St, Oxford OX1 1BP

19 October -11 November 2018 Film Oxford presents the latest work by The Shadowlight Artists, a group of six artists with learning disabilities based in Oxfordshire. A group show across two venues, Arts at the Old Fire Station and Modern Art Oxford, this exhibition showcases work spanning installation, painting, digital media and theatrical production. The exhibition celebrates the group’s creative growth since their formation in 2009 with an artistically ambitious body of work that re-frames disability arts.

The exhibition features a series of dynamic new works by the core group, alongside two new films produced by the wider Shadowlight Associates group.

The Shadow Artists: Rising

30 Pembroke St, Oxford OX1 1BP

19 October -11 November 2018

30 Pembroke St, Oxford OX1 1BP The exhibition features a series of dynamic new works by the core group, alongside two new ﬁlms produced by the wider Shadowlight Associates group.

The Shadow Artists: Rising

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Generally what has worked and what hasn’t?

- The large quantity of text is too much, there is too much information to process and it could almost be viewed as more of a leaflet than a poster. However, the poster with minimal text isn’t enough, you need more information to base your decision upon as to whether you will attend the exhibition or not. - The white background highlights some images better than others whilst the black does the same, I could create a set of posters that varies the colour choices however, this will make it harder to create an overall identity for the exhibition as this will cause some changes to other elements. - Putting four images on one poster is not effective, it gives away too much information within the one poster and it is interesting to create a set so one image on 4 different poster variations. This adds some slight variation to each design and as more posters are seen it allows the audience to be reminded of the exhibition whilst also building up their perception of it. - Ideally I don’t want to have to put a background on the text as this adds another tone into the mix and it can create confusion between the elements. Keeping this to a limited palette is going to be important in order to place emphasis on the work instead of on the text. Although this is important it is more there as an optional read. - The issue with changing backgrounds means that the logos that also feature on the designs have a white background on some of them and changing the colour of the logo obviously isn’t suitable as this is something that changes too much between the designs and colour associations linked to a logo are important. - The font needs some work as the choices have a varying impact but the playful nature of changing the orientation of the title works to my advantage as it changes the dynamic of the poster and makes the title

Personal Critique Personally, I think that using one image works best, this allows for a set of posters to be created that all advertise the same exhibition but use different highlighting images in order to attract a wider audience. Having all the images on one poster didn’t work very well and would give away too much. If a set were to be created, this way, the work will be seen as a collection but also as individual works as there are multiple artists within the exhibition. In regards to the text, I think there needs to be a bit of information about the exhibition and who the shadow artists are as this is an important bit of information that the audience needs to know before visiting the exhibition. This small bit of information will transform the posters that needed something else whilst also minimising those that became too overcrowded with information.

Critique from others There needs to be some information but not an overwhelming amount. If people want to find out more information they can go on the website.

Using an accent colour with the black and white works really well but the font on a couple of the examples needs considering. You don’t want the image to be overpowered but there needs to be enough text for people to understand what the exhibition is about.

Definitely doesn’t need to be as much text as the full text version shows. Try and cut it down. The logos seem to be quite large in comparison, espcially when put next to the images on the 4 picture poster. I don’t think this works as well as the others, there isn’t potential to create a series and it feels like you’re trying to reveal too much. Colours work well but logos need to be on a different background. Too much text but you need a little more than the address and dates.

The Shadowlight Artists: Rising

30 Pembroke St, Oxford OX1 1BP

19 October -11 November 2018 Film Oxford presents the latest work by The Shadowlight Artists, a group of six artists with learning disabilities based in Oxfordshire. This exhibition showcases work spanning installation, painting, digital media and theatrical production. The exhibition celebrates the groupâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s creative growth since their formation in 2009 with an artistically ambitious body of work that re-frames disability arts.

I decided that, from my own critique and others, that these two designs worked the best. The image is made the main focus on both but the details are all clear alongside the small selection of information. In terms of the layout there are changes I would have to make, especially with the sizing of some of the text. Also if these designs are going to feature alongside each other, the typefaces should be the same and the sizing of the text should also be the same. This way, there is an identity created across the poster designs instead of audience members expecting two different exhibitions. 122

The Shadow Artists

19 October 11 November 2018

30 Pembroke St, Oxford OX1 1BP

Rising

Film Oxford presents the latest work by The Shadowlight Artists, a group of six artists with learning disabilities based in Oxfordshire. This exhibition showcases work spanning installation, painting, digital media and theatrical production. The exhibition celebrates the groupâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s creative growth since their formation in 2009 with an artistically ambitious body of work that re-frames disability arts.

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How will these be considered as a set?

19 October -11 November 2018 Film Oxford presents the latest work by The Shadowlight Artists, a group of six artists with learning disabilities based in Oxfordshire. This exhibition showcases work spanning installation, painting, digital media and theatrical production. The exhibition celebrates the group’s creative growth since their formation in 2009 with an artistically ambitious body of work that re-frames disability arts.

30 Pembroke St, Oxford OX1 1BP

The Shadowlight Artists: Rising

30 Pembroke St, Oxford OX1 1BP

19 October -11 November 2018 Film Oxford presents the latest work by The Shadowlight Artists, a group of six artists with learning disabilities based in Oxfordshire. This exhibition showcases work spanning installation, painting, digital media and theatrical production. The exhibition celebrates the group’s creative growth since their formation in 2009 with an artistically ambitious body of work that re-frames disability arts.

124

19 October -11 November 2018 Film Oxford presents the latest work by The Shadowlight Artists, a group of six artists with learning disabilities based in Oxfordshire. This exhibition showcases work spanning installation, painting, digital media and theatrical production. The exhibition celebrates the group’s creative growth since their formation in 2009 with an artistically ambitious body of work that re-frames disability arts.

30 Pembroke St, Oxford OX1 1BP

The Shadowlight Artists: Rising

30 Pembroke St, Oxford OX1 1BP

19 October -11 November 2018 Film Oxford presents the latest work by The Shadowlight Artists, a group of six artists with learning disabilities based in Oxfordshire. This exhibition showcases work spanning installation, painting, digital media and theatrical production. The exhibition celebrates the group’s creative growth since their formation in 2009 with an artistically ambitious body of work that re-frames disability arts.

The Shadow Artists

19 October 11 November 2018

30 Pembroke St, Oxford OX1 1BP

Rising

Film Oxford presents the latest work by The Shadowlight Artists, a group of six artists with learning disabilities based in Oxfordshire. This exhibition showcases work spanning installation, painting, digital media and theatrical production. The exhibition celebrates the group’s creative growth since their formation in 2009 with an artistically ambitious body of work that re-frames disability arts.

The Shadow Artists

19 October 11 November 2018

30 Pembroke St, Oxford OX1 1BP

Rising

Film Oxford presents the latest work by The Shadowlight Artists, a group of six artists with learning disabilities based in Oxfordshire. This exhibition showcases work spanning installation, painting, digital media and theatrical production. The exhibition celebrates the group’s creative growth since their formation in 2009 with an artistically ambitious body of work that re-frames disability arts.

The Shadow Artists

19 October 11 November 2018

30 Pembroke St, Oxford OX1 1BP

Rising

Film Oxford presents the latest work by The Shadowlight Artists, a group of six artists with learning disabilities based in Oxfordshire. This exhibition showcases work spanning installation, painting, digital media and theatrical production. The exhibition celebrates the group’s creative growth since their formation in 2009 with an artistically ambitious body of work that re-frames disability arts.

The Shadow Artists

19 October 11 November 2018

30 Pembroke St, Oxford OX1 1BP

Rising

Film Oxford presents the latest work by The Shadowlight Artists, a group of six artists with learning disabilities based in Oxfordshire. This exhibition showcases work spanning installation, painting, digital media and theatrical production. The exhibition celebrates the group’s creative growth since their formation in 2009 with an artistically ambitious body of work that re-frames disability arts.

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I would have said these posters worked really well however, after rereading the brief, it became apparent that I have done the very generic idea for posters and I wanted to do something a little different so I think more development is needed. “Posters generally, have an image and one main line of text, most often the title, followed by additional essential information.”

Time to try and change it up a bit...As I Can’t play with the term ‘Rising’, I thought it could be fun to play on the term ‘Shadow’ as part of ‘The Shadow Artists’. 126

The Shadow Artists

Rising 19 October 11 November 2018

30 Pembroke St, Oxford OX1 1BP

Rising

19 October 11 November 2018

30 Pembroke St, Oxford OX1 1BP Film Oxford presents the latest work by The Shadowlight Artists, a group of six artists with learning disabilities based in Oxfordshire. This exhibition showcases work spanning installation, painting, digital media and theatrical production. The exhibition celebrates the groupâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s creative growth since their formation in 2009 with an artistically ambitious body of work that re-frames disability arts.

127

19 October 11 November 2018

Rising

30 Pembroke St, Oxford OX1 1BP

Film Oxford presents the latest work by The Shadowlight Artists, a group of six artists with learning disabilities based in Oxfordshire. This exhibition showcases work spanning installation, painting, digital media and theatrical production. The exhibition celebrates the group’s creative growth since their formation in 2009 with an artistically ambitious body of work that re-frames disability arts.

19 October 11 November 2018

Rising 30 Pembroke St, Oxford OX1 1BP

128

19 October 11 November 2018

Film Oxford presents the latest work by The Shadowlight Artists, a group of six artists with learning disabilities based in Oxfordshire. This exhibition showcases work spanning installation, painting, digital media and theatrical production. The exhibition celebrates the group’s creative growth since their formation in 2009 with an artistically ambitious body of work that re-frames disability arts.

19 October 11 November 2018

Rising 30 Pembroke St, Oxford OX1 1BP

Film Oxford presents the latest work by The Shadowlight Artists, a group of six artists with learning disabilities based in Oxfordshire. This exhibition showcases work spanning installation, painting, digital media and theatrical production. The exhibition celebrates the group’s creative growth since their formation in 2009 with an artistically ambitious body of work that re-frames disability arts.

19 October 11 November 2018

30 Pembroke St, Oxford

Film Oxford presents the latest work by The Shadowlight A disabilities based in Oxfordshire. This exhibition showcas digital media and theatrical production. The exhibition cele their formation in 2009 with an artistically ambitious bod

19 October 11 November 2018

30 Pembroke St, Oxfor

Rising

d OX1 1BP

Artists, a group of six artists with learning ses work spanning installation, painting, ebrates the group’s creative growth since dy of work that re-frames disability arts.

Rising

rd OX1 1BP

Artists, a group of six artists with learning ses work spanning installation, painting, ebrates the group’s creative growth since dy of work that re-frames disability arts.

19 October 11 November 2018

Rising 30 Pembroke St, Oxford OX1 1BP

Film Oxford presents the latest work by The Shadowlight Artists, a group of six artists with learning disabilities based in Oxfordshire. This exhibition showcases work spanning installation, painting, digital media and theatrical production. The exhibition celebrates the group’s creative growth since their formation in 2009 with an artistically ambitious body of work that re-frames disability arts.

19 October 11 November 2018

Rising 30 Pembroke St, Oxford OX1 1BP

Film Oxford presents the latest work by The Shadowlight Artists, a group of six artists with learning disabilities based in Oxfordshire. This exhibition showcases work spanning installation, painting, digital media and theatrical production. The exhibition celebrates the group’s creative growth since their formation in 2009 with an artistically ambitious body of work that re-frames disability arts.

19 October 11 November 2018

Rising 30 Pembroke St, Oxford OX1 1BP

Film Oxford presents the latest work by The Shadowlight Artists, a group of six artists with learning disabilities based in Oxfordshire. This exhibition showcases work spanning installation, painting, digital media and theatrical production. The exhibition celebrates the group’s creative growth since their formation in 2009 with an artistically ambitious body of work that re-frames disability arts.

What’s working and what isn’t? What have I learnt? - Well first off I have learnt that I still like to overcomplicate things! - The idea of reflecting the imagery meant that the whole space was utilised and the text no longer had the strong contrast that challenged the eye, where we you going to look first the text or the image? However, the reflection is complex and doesn’t highlight the work in it’s original intent. - I’ve learnt from this task, because it is quite simple in terms of structure, that I do like to overcomplicate something to try and make it seem more interesting or different to everything else that I have seen however, sometimes simple works best and trying to add more to this has just proven that. 129

The Shadow Artists

19 October 11 November 2018

30 Pembroke St, Oxford OX1

Rising

Film Oxford presents the latest work by The Shadowlight Artists, a group of six artists with learning disabilities based in Oxfordshire. This exhibition showcases work spanning installation, painting, digital media and theatrical production. The exhibition celebrates the group’s creative growth since their formation in 2009 with an artistically ambitious body of work that re-frames disability arts.

The Shadow Artists

19 October 11 November 2018

30 Pembroke St, Oxford OX1

Rising

Film Oxford presents the latest work by The Shadowlight Artists, a group of six artists with learning disabilities based in Oxfordshire. This exhibition showcases work spanning installation, painting, digital media and theatrical production. The exhibition celebrates the group’s creative growth since their formation in 2009 with an artistically ambitious body of work that re-frames disability arts.

The Shadow Artists The Shadow Artists

The Shadow Artists

19 October 11 November 2018 19 October 11 November 2018

30 Pembroke St, Oxford OX1

Rising

Film Oxford presents the latest work by The Shadowlight Artists, a group of six artists with learning disabilities based in Oxfordshire. This exhibition showcases work spanning installation, painting, digital media and theatrical production. The exhibition celebrates the group’s creative growth since their formation in 2009 with an artistically ambitious body of work that re-frames disability arts.

The Shadow Artists

19 October 11 November 2018

30 Pembroke St, Oxford OX1

Rising

Film Oxford presents the latest work by The Shadowlight Artists, a group of six artists with learning disabilities based in Oxfordshire. This exhibition showcases work spanning installation, painting, digital media and theatrical production. The exhibition celebrates the group’s creative growth since their formation in 2009 with an artistically ambitious body of work that re-frames disability arts.

30 Pembroke St, Oxford OX1

Rising

19 October 11 November 2018

30 Pembroke St, Oxford OX1

Rising

Film Oxford presents the latest work by The Shadowlight Artists, a group of six artists with learning disabilities based in Oxfordshire. This exhibition showcases work spanning installation, painting, digital media and theatrical production. The exhibition celebrates the group’s creative growth since their formation in 2009 with an artistically ambitious body of work that re-frames disability arts.

The Shadow Artists

Images in colour or black and white? Black and white allows for some mystery when the reader visits the exhibition however, the colour elevates the work. This did still have some reflection on the posters, it is simplified reflection but it still doesn’t work. It almost makes it try and look 3D when it isn’t. 19 October 11 November 2018

30 Pembroke St, Oxford OX1

130

Rising

Film Oxford presents the latest work by The Shadowlight Artists, a group of six artists with learning disabilities based in Oxfordshire. This exhibition showcases work spanning installation, painting, digital media and theatrical production. The exhibition celebrates the group’s creative growth since their formation in 2009 with an artistically ambitious body of work that re-frames disability arts.

19 October 11 November 2018

30 Pembroke St, Oxford OX1

Rising

Film Oxford presents the latest work by The Shadowlight Artists, a group of six artists with learning disabilities based in Oxfordshire. This exhibition showcases work spanning installation, painting, digital media and theatrical production. The exhibition celebrates the group’s creative growth since their formation in 2009 with an artistically ambitious body of work that re-frames disability arts.

The Shadow Artists

19 October 11 November 2018

30 Pembroke St, Oxford OX1 1BP

Rising

Film Oxford presents the latest work by The Shadowlight Artists, a group of six artists with learning disabilities based in Oxfordshire. This exhibition showcases work spanning installation, painting, digital media and theatrical production. The exhibition celebrates the group’s creative growth since their formation in 2009 with an artistically ambitious body of work that re-frames disability arts.

The Shadowlight Artists: Rising

30 Pembroke St, Oxford OX1 1BP

19 October -11 November 2018 Film Oxford presents the latest work by The Shadowlight Artists, a group of six artists with learning disabilities based in Oxfordshire. This exhibition showcases work spanning installation, painting, digital media and theatrical production. The exhibition celebrates the group’s creative growth since their formation in 2009 with an artistically ambitious body of work that re-frames disability arts.

The Shadowlight Artists: Rising

30 Pembroke St, Oxford OX1 1BP

The Shadow Artists

19 October -11 November 2018 Film Oxford presents the latest work by The Shadowlight Artists, a group of six artists with learning disabilities based in Oxfordshire. This exhibition showcases work spanning installation, painting, digital media and theatrical production. The exhibition celebrates the group’s creative growth since their formation in 2009 with an artistically ambitious body of work that re-frames disability arts.

A combination of both colours? Does this work? I don’t think it does because it doesn’t create an overall identity and instead confuses the issue.

19 October 11 November 2018

30 Pembroke St, Oxford OX1 1BP

Rising

Film Oxford presents the latest work by The Shadowlight Artists, a group of six artists with learning disabilities based in Oxfordshire. This exhibition showcases work spanning installation, painting, digital media and theatrical production. The exhibition celebrates the group’s creative growth since their formation in 2009 with an artistically ambitious body of work that re-frames disability arts.

131

19 October -11 November 2018 Film Oxford presents the latest work by The Shadowlight Artists, a group of six artists with learning disabilities based in Oxfordshire. This exhibition showcases work spanning installation, painting, digital media and theatrical production. The exhibition celebrates the group’s creative growth since their formation in 2009 with an artistically ambitious body of work that re-frames disability arts.

30 Pembroke St, Oxford OX1 1BP

The Shadowlight Artists: Rising

30 Pembroke St, Oxford OX1 1BP

19 October -11 November 2018 Film Oxford presents the latest work by The Shadowlight Artists, a group of six artists with learning disabilities based in Oxfordshire. This exhibition showcases work spanning installation, painting, digital media and theatrical production. The exhibition celebrates the group’s creative growth since their formation in 2009 with an artistically ambitious body of work that re-frames disability arts.

132

19 October -11 November 2018 Film Oxford presents the latest work by The Shadowlight Artists, a group of six artists with learning disabilities based in Oxfordshire. This exhibition showcases work spanning installation, painting, digital media and theatrical production. The exhibition celebrates the group’s creative growth since their formation in 2009 with an artistically ambitious body of work that re-frames disability arts.

30 Pembroke St, Oxford OX1 1BP

The Shadowlight Artists: Rising

30 Pembroke St, Oxford OX1 1BP

19 October -11 November 2018 Film Oxford presents the latest work by The Shadowlight Artists, a group of six artists with learning disabilities based in Oxfordshire. This exhibition showcases work spanning installation, painting, digital media and theatrical production. The exhibition celebrates the group’s creative growth since their formation in 2009 with an artistically ambitious body of work that re-frames disability arts.

Whilst proof reading, I realised that they are called THE SHADOWLIGHT ARTISTS and not The Shadow Artists so I corrected this!

final Critique from others These posters are brighter and more eye catching because the tones are generally lighter. The colour choices of red, white and black flow well. The simple font works better and the landscape is different to what ‘normal’ posters are.

Flows better. Seems more established. Successful set of 4 without revealing too much before visiting the exhibition. The varying orientation works better and the text works better with it being landscape, seems more credited.

Reflections look effective but would be more effective on something else, almost too artistic when you’re trying to advertise something instead of creating artwork. The final designs achieve this aim a lot better. They advertise the event and the work that can be seen without trying to create artwork out of another piece of artwork.

The fonts don’t stand out so much this time, they are an addition instead of a focal point. The orientiations of the font make it more interesting and encourage more engagement with the information, therefore, someone is more likely to remember it.

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Research point: Identify the software you have available to deal with desktop publishing, image manipulation and graphics/ illustration. How familiar are you with it? What do you need to learn? I am fortunate enough to have access to the full adobe Creative Suite and I have been able to experiment with different programmes during my time at university. I am very comfortable using Photoshop, Indesign and Lightroom for desktop publishing and image manipulation. However, I am not as comfortable on Illustrator. This is a program that I want to be able to develop my skills in as vector graphics remain at higher quality to a file created on Photoshop. Although it is possible to create high quality imagery, it can be difficult and easy to reduce the quality by editing it in the wrong manner, therefore, I need to learn how to create the same style imagery on Illustrator. I am not familar with any other desktop publishing, image manipulation or illustration programmes. As a minimum, I have always had Photoshop to experiment with. I know it is common for companies to now use MacBooks and the Creative Suite however, if I were asked to create something using a different program, I would struggle so this is something I need to develop. Even if it is just the basics, this is all I need to get started.

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Exercise: Point of Sale Display

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The M&S food adverts have taken a new turn within recent years, the style of advertising is so clear to identify on video adverts and I wanted to see how this style is then employed within stores. A lot of the time the TV adverts have moving food elements showing the food coming together as well as a stark black background that highlights the bold, colourful tones of the food. By doing this we want to eat this food, it looks tasty and appetising which will drive sales.

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The style from the adverts does resonate in store in some ways however, the colour contrast doesn’t seem to be as impactful. There are various different styles that are used for the advertising which works to the companies advantage. Some signage has prices on and wording, whilst others have purely images. These images are enough to guide the eye as to where they need to go. In some cases this wouldn’t be enough, however, because there are other signs with words and phrasing to lead the audience around, it works well to have signs that work for different types of readers. Some prefer words, and some prefer images. This is something that I will have to consider. Obviously as I am only designing one sign for each, I do need some text. Unlike these signs, I don’t think it needs marketing phrases or prices, it just needs the words ‘Fruit’ and ‘Vegetables’ because this will guide the reader where they need to go, too much writing would cover the image and would therefore, make it really hard to navigate the shop. This doesn’t make for a pleasant shopping experience.

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The two designs on this page perform this exact function. They tell you where everything is, and they make the food look appealing. With the image below, it is obviously important to show the variety of products that are available to the consumer. If just one piece of fruit was used, it would suggest that that section didn’t have fruit in general, perhaps just apples if this is what the picture depicted. Interestingly, these both use illustrations compared to photography. This isn’t to say that photography shouldn’t be used but with illustration, it is easier to show the ‘perfect’ apple for example. Trying to find one, or often multiples, that all look perfect in terms of shape and tones can be quite difficult so by using illustration, this eliminates the issue.

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Lindsay takes something very flat and basic and transforms it into something more tangible, 3D and much more visually interesting. Depth is very clearly added to each piece through the spacing between each page, but the limited tones also are benefical for this. The tonal changes as you get further into the piece, help add to this depth, even though the colours have a very limited palette.

Polly Lindsay

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In order for each piece to be the most visually appealing, Lindsay selects the opposite colour on the colour wheel in order to create the highest amount of contrast. So with the above piece, green and pink are at the opposite sides of the circle. Although variations occur slightly between tones, by using this theory, she is able to make sure that all her pieces have the highest amount of contrast but also in this selection, Lindsay has picked the complimentary colour to the main subject.

Although every composition is the only thing featured on the page and there is little chance of getting distracted by anything else, Lindsay still positions everything centrally within the frame. In part, this would make it easier for her to create each piece but it also makes for an easier viewing. The emphasis is in the middle of the frame, which may be considered the basic option but it works perfectly for this. By doing this, it maximises the impact as everything builds outwards and allows the audience to easily focus on the contrast, form and structure that Lindsay has carefully constructed.

jessica fisher

Other than just looking at illustrations, I realised how important it is to look at the inclusion of text. With this piece by Fisher, the text isn’t viewed as a separate feature, instead it is intertwined with other elements so that the whole graphic is viewed as one, here it is disregarding Gestalt’s theory of Figure and Ground and instead trying to use the theory of continuation between elements that I have separated on previous occasions. The choice of font here is also important. It isn’t a block font which works really nicely as it also creates it’s own texture within the work. The dot method of adding fading and texture here is then repeated within the veg used to mimik the way texture is created. The choice of brown as a background colour is an interesting one. Although it is often overlooked, the association it has with fruit and veg is very natural. To some it would suggest dirty but it is actually highlighting the origins of the produce. It came from the ground, it’s fresh. This could work really nicely, however, as can be seen above, it will need to be balanced well. This time, as the brown does appear quite flat, it highlights the texture and depth of the subjects. The tonal variations, which have been very carefully considered, help to bring depth. 141

nanna prieler

Prieler’s work takes on a very different approach to Lindsay and this isn’t just because one is paper and one is traditional illustration. Firstly, I notice the background colour of of Prieler’s work. Instead of using complementary colours like Lindsay, Prieler has used the same colour as her main piece but in a different shade. Although this still works and highlights the illustration in the foreground, there is less contrast created and therefore less depth. This begins to drag the foreground and background together and lessen the elements of contrast. It isn’t imperritive to have high contrast elements in every illustration however, the contrast helps in many ways. It draws your attention to the foreground, something you need in these pieces; it helps to highlight texture and contrast on the main parts of the illustration and it creates more of a visually stimulating piece. On this second fully coloured illustration for an example, each leaf is given varying textures, however, because of the background sharing a similar tone to the foreground, this texture is not as significant until darker, harsher lines are used on the leaf. I found that my eye was immediately drawn to these black lines on the leaf. This shouldn’t be the main focus of the illustration and instead the background should be an alternative colour in order to make the whole cabbage the focal point, not just two leaves.

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By having no background on these two illustrations, Preiler is allowing the audience to notice more of the textures. The tonal changes that occur within the rhubarb become something to focus on because these small textural elements arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t overpowered or blended in with any background. This simple change of not having a background greatly helps with this as blending in a similar tone would blend everything together. Whereas, having very small tonal changes on a white background, emphasises these small changes more because they still stand apart from the background. This shows how different methods can create depth in different ways. Previously, limited tones but successful complementary colours created depth really successfully. Whereas, here, depth is created through the texural changes and the tonal changes that are used as part of this. They donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t necessarily always have to have a background other than white, it depends on how depth is being created in each individual graphic.

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Georgina Luck The designs in terms of the paint are very rough, there is minimal blending and instead, she uses a fine liner over the top to add extra details. By doing this, she is building up the mediums as well as the textured elements that help to identify what she is portraying. As a result, depth is created in some ways, however, as these products already exist, the colour choices aren’t exactly her own. This means that the elements of contrast are minimal. Although other artists don’t get to chose the colour of the fruit, the combinations that they use for tones and background colours is. Here, there is minimal blending between tones due to the way Luck has chosen the media in which she uses. Similarly, she hasn’t used any background colours. The blending that she has used on some of these other images obviously add more depth. The raddish’s have to look 3D and life like, which they do due to the tones used. Whereas, the marmite jar is a little different, there isn’t the need to make it look as life like in this illustration.

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As mentioned before, the style difference between photography and illustrations of fruit and veg is very different. These examples here want to highlight a variety of different types of fruit and veg and most of them use a wooden background to portray the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;wholenessâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and earthy textures in regards to the origins of the food. Using these tones within illustrations could be really benefical and begin to tie the two styles together. However, as can be seen from these examples, the shade can vary a lot and this would have to be something I experiment with. 145

Remember to consider the style of shop and the audience whilst creating these POS displays. It needs to fit with the type of client and what they want to see whilst also guiding the customers around the shop.

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What have I learnt from my research? As can be seen from the visual research that has been undertaken, trying to balance everything within one frame it going to take a lot of work. Balancing the tones and the different forms whilst still creating something that showcases the work is doing to be a complex task. Making sure that each piece also looks good and the textures are all correct is going to test my illustration skills. What I liked about the illustrations is that they seem to have more to them, the textures and tonal differences highlight the unique qualities to each piece. Whereas, the photography tries to show too much within one photograph. I established early on that whichever method I use needs to show varying produce in order to show that a range of products can be bought instead of just the oe piece that is on the sign. With the photography it is already proven that this works, whereas, the illustration struggles with this. This is something that I can explore through my development. When you photograph something there is the element of death. What you see in the picture will never exist in that exact form ever again. The element of death is something associated with photography and the illustration doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have this link. Although many viewers wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t understand this link, I think there is some association. It is clear in the advertising I have seen for other food stores that this isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t always the case however, I do think that illustration would work more successfully for what I am trying to achieve.

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What have I learnt from creating my own illustrations? - Texture is a lot harder to build through these illustrations, especially when Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m not the strongest drawer. Using the geometric method breaks down the large amount of content into small manageable sections whilst creating depth and interest. - Size needs to be considered before I start. The size depends on how texture is built up not only in terms of methods but how scale effects the way it is built. 149

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An issue that I had during shooting was that I often cut off edges of the fruit, when I then placed the image on an A1 document, I realised that the proportions that I shot in, did not line up with the proportions of the required document size. Therefore, the image I had hoped to use needed adjusting slightly.

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Once again the fonts caused a few issues for me but I was able to draw on what I learnt in some of the other exercises to help me here. - Mirroring the effect of the image on the text doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t always work, although I had hoped it would because it does look effective in some ways, it doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t fit the purpose. - In the previous covers, combining a harsher font with a slightly softer font worked well in terms of a Sans Serif and a Serif font. Although there is only one font here, I wanted to treat the image like a Sans Serif font (quite harsh with little no embellishment) so I needed to use a Serif font here. Bringing these lessons forward helps me develop future designs however, each one will be slightly different depending on the purpose. - Complimentary tones or contrasting tones often work well however, here, because there are so many options, it is hard to pick one so sometimes it is best to go with the one that has the most associations to the 155 subject matter.

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Although I wanted to avoid going with the typical choice of red and green to be with Fruit and Veg, it worked well with the other colour combinations. Trying to find the right shade was important as there was already a lot of green within the Vegetable image. I often overlooked the colour choices, just quickly trying different ones and not processing why a certain one didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t work or why it did, but here I am starting to realise it isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just about the colour itself, it is about the shade that is selected and the associations that we have to each colour that makes it successful or not.

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As the high street is becoming less popular, with a lot of shopping being done online now, it was intriguing to go back to stores and have a look at the Point Of Sale Displays that they create and how they try and attract customers. Of course these could also feature digitally, but these designs also need to guide customers around the store. They need to stand out and show exactly what a customer can expect to find in this section. Although my original intention was to try and create a traditional illustration of this, I quickly found that this wasn’t working in the way I had hoped. A lot of the designs were very similar and I wanted the client to be able to have displays that stand out for being a little different. The designs do exactly that. I needed a base image to use for these images and it was best to take my own because I would be able to change elements as and how I pleased. The way the visual hierarchy was then created would be entirely in my control and I could constantly reposition elements to see what would work and what wouldn’t. By taking these photos, I was able to quickly establish that doing a flat lay style image wasn’t going to work and I liked the way the shadows and reflections form on this surface. By photographying them in this way, the reflections and shadows soften the harsh edges that feature on the rest of the display. As I had decided on a font that was quite strong and forceful in some ways, I thought that it would be best to keep these elements in from the original photo in order to soften the overall look. I didn’t want the wrong impression to be given with this display. This style of work isn’t typical for a POS display, having looked at others, I was sure that using an illustration would be enough to make it a little more interesting. However, the style of illustration I had tried, lacked any depth and it had been done so many times before that it would be expected of an illustration. Therfore, combinining the photography and illustration in a slightly different manner, creates more intrigue to the work. From afar this work would appear to be some very nice food photography, however, once the work is looked at closer, it becomes more interesting. I believe these designs work successfully, even if a little unexpected. The designs are appealing and a little more visually stimulating than other displays I looked at. There is a variety of fruit and veg to look at, it isn’t suggesting that only a couple of varities are available. The pair of designs work well together but can easily be separated at different parts of the shop. They do not have to be seen together to work successfully as both clearly identify the subject and will direct the customer to the correct place in the store.

But what have I learnt?

- It isn’t just about combining different forms and tones, it is also important to consider hard and soft elements so that nothing is too harsh for the eye, there needs to be balance in terms of these elements. - Sometimes it is best to stick with tradition (in terms of the colours used for the fonts) as these have particular associations with them but also twisting tradition is good as it makes for a more interesting viewing when the client is trying to reach new audiences. - I was able to learn how individual colours build up as well. My initial illustrations didn’t work on the tones as well as these do but splitting the fruit up into segments made me think this wouldn’t work, how could the fruit still look like what it was supposed to? but here it is clear that using the right size segment helps to build up the image and build up my understanding of how something is formed through varying159 tones.

Assignment two

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Congrats you survived freshers! You just ran your first exhibition - quite a limited audience though. Passed your first uni assignment You survived your first girls/boys holiday! Have you shrunk your clothes yet? One to check up on University students. You haven’t burnt the house down yet then? - Again checking up on University students. Loosing your hair/going bald Being fab at being you - cheering someone up who has had a bad day. Happy Travelling! Loosing your first tooth Happy Half Birthday! Surprise

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What I’m thinking with some of these cards is that the results could be very generic. In order for these cards to stand out, there needs to be something a little different about the,. There needs to be something that will contrast to the rest of the shelf. For example, on the ‘Surprise’ card, the graphics are very limited as it is so generic but also the graphics that I could use would be very predictable. I want to create a set of cards that are a bit more playful and make people want to celebrate these occasions that aren’t currently catered for by other card manufacturers.

What events are currently not covered by card manufacturers?

In order to see what card manufacturers actually cater for, I thought it best to visit a few card shops in order to get a better idea. Many of the shops are split into sections to make it easier for the buyer to find the card that they are after. A lot of the ideas that I had come up with were not catered for within these card shops, however, there were some that were already being designed. It was important for me to see what kind of styles are already out there. Many are very stereotypical and I want to create something more interesting. Something bold and graphical that will fit into this area that isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t currently being catered for. By making the designs in this way, it will make these cards stand out and will therefore, make people want to celebrate these occasions when previously they may not have thought about them.

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This double page spread has some very stereotypical card designs in my opinion, however, it does also show a range of different ways in which cards are presented to us. Recently I have seen more motivational quotes appear on the cards. The way these are done with multiple fonts and an idealistic background has got to the point where it is overdone in my opinion. Although this isn’t a motivational quote, it applies the same style. If I do design the card in order to cheer someone up, I am going to avoid this style! It does obviously sell, otherwise the designs wouldn’t still exist, however, there needs to be something a little different as you don’t want to receive multiple versions of this kind of card. Similarly, with the above photo, there is more detail and texture created with different patterns and tones being used. But, with this design, I don’t understand the connection between the stamps and the text. If an image is going to be used, there needs to be a clear connection, not just something that looks nice and is a little different for the occasion.This issue is something similar for the card to the left. Marble patterns also went through the trends and became something that everyone loved, you could get anything and everything in the pattern. However, how does marble link to ‘thinking of you’? Although I am unsure on the link, I do think that by using a surround to the pattern, instead of making the image full bleed, the balance is more effective. There is a better break between the elements and a blank space to add thought before the receiver reads the inside message.

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These cards employ more of an illustrative style, although they seem too cliche for my liking. Emphasis on the typography that links a word and image together is very generic for a card, the pun isn’t funny and it doesn’t require too much effort. In some ways this is benefical, however, I know if I got this card that I could receive it 10 times over. There are some really thoughtful cards, something that sounds more personal than this. Obviously as a receiver, we understand other people will have this card, but with all 3 of these designs, well actually all 6, you know that this card, although the intention is there, that maybe it isn’t the most personal choice. The words inside a card are the aspect that makes it personal, but sometimes it is nice to receive a card that doesn’t look this generic or expected. 165

In order to avoid some of the more generic illustrations on cards, some manufacturers just focus on typography. Combining different fonts, with different embellishments can also make for an effective card. It clearly portrays a message, and the illustrations don’t interrupt or confuse this message. However, by doing this, the card can have a lot of text. Even something like the bottom right card, it does seem very simple, however, if the sender wants to put a lot of text in the card, then suddenly it can seem quite a lot. For this reason, the text embellishments work well as they break down the text. This is espeically effective for the card on the right. The extra details are the last thing you focus on as you read down the card so when you are met with more text inside, it doesn’t seem like there is so much. It isn’t like you have gone straight from one lot of text to another.

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Some cards may be generic, however, they bring a smile to your face because they use humour! Both of these cards have a very well established style, the card manufacturer is known for creating humerous cards around a wide variety of events. In some ways this means that you are quite likely to receive at least one card from them each year but this doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t matter! The simple ways that they add humour are something that I need to focus on, even if the card itself isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t supposed to be humerous. The effects of the phrasing are going to be really important. Keeping the reading simple, yet effective is ideal as you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want too much writing when the sender has the option to add this inside. You want the personal message to be longer than the generic one, therefore, making this the most simple and effective that I can is something that I will have to play with.

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Mood board for card idea 1 - Well Done you survived Freshers! We need your rent money for next Friday. You mean that student loan actually is for rent and not Freshers Week?

Summary of Freshers Week: Lots of alcohol Freebies Take outs Bonding with flat mates Freedom Lots of student promotions No Text books

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Who would send this kind of card? A parent wouldn’t want to admit to their child drinking a lot, they would often send a ‘Good Luck at University’ card. So maybe this is aimed between friends. It can have more humour and they will know more of what has happened during the week. A teenager isn’t likely to tell their parents what happened during that week!

Inside message ideas: “I will take the events of this week to the grave with me, no one will ever know the mess that you were!” “You survived...just....crawling over the finish line looks like you right now!” “I think your liver deserves a break...for a matter of 5 hours before it all starts again!” “The drunk friends you made this week will forever remember the day they met the human we all love” 169

I was a little concerned about the message that these cards could portray if I do one based on surviving freshers. It could be a good alternative to use phrases like this. Simple but humorous cards like this, that make references to broader events would be subtle enough without just having alcohol bottles on the card.

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All these adverts use block colours with varying shades and dimensions in order to create something with more depth.

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What have I learnt at this point? -Where typography previously wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t my strength, I am slowly starting to understand the importance of it and how to utilise it. In order to elevate the background, I knew a focal point needed to be made from the font and using the previous research I was able to find a way to do this. - I also knew that the background needed to be broken down in some way, it was incredibly flat and I was able to realise that this is where the importance of tints and shades is important. Grounding the graphics with a simple box in a different shade adds depth to the whole card. I have been going on about depth for this whole learning log and I am starting to realise how many ways this can be added through my own experimentation. - Typography although creates a strong focal point, it canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be used on its own on all occasions, it needs to be aided by everything else. Just like it did in the book covers, the text needs to work in unison and trying to balance all the elements, when there are quite a few flat, block colour, is something that I still need to work on.

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Feedback from others

I asked a few people for opinions on what they thought about this card. They didn’t share the same concerns as me in regards to the alcohol bottles however, this is something that I still think needs working on. Something that they did bring up within their feedback was that the font worked really well but maybe the phrasing needed some work. For an occassion card, very few use rhetorical questions. Some do inside the card but it was suggested that maybe I should change it to a ‘Congratulations’ theme. This way it seems more positive and there isn’t the association of alcohol already. Someone had said that by suggesting that fresher’s got too much, it implies that a lot of alcohol was consumed. Whereas, by saying congratulations you survived, it can mean not just making it through the week of alcohol but also living with new people, cooking, cleaning and washing. Once this has been pointed out, the card made more sense to me. I was able to once again play with the typography more and I realised that, the way I had arranged the font methodically was going to work best. On the right, I tried to change the positions of the other coloured text however, I thought this was a little odd. Although it does create an effect when you look it, the more structured approach of the text works better in my opinion. This is something that I would like to gain some feedback on though. This is something I will do towards the end by creating two final versions and seeing which is preferred by my peers as the effect on the right may be a little too much for some viewers.

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What have I learnt after these experiments?

- To reinforce a message, the text doesn’t have to constantly be repeated, it can be done through different components such as the combination of both text and image. - How to layer colours and add depth to something that is intentionally supposed to seem flat. These block colours aren’t going to have multiple textures built up over the top, it goes away from the intention and instead other colours need to be used to help elevate each other. The silhouettes are also supposed to be flat and in comparison to the other components, it does seem quite flat however, along with the background, it helps to ground the card and not make it seem too busy in comparison to the traditional card. - The purpose of a greetings card is similar to that of a book cover, it needs to have an easier reading, however, with the greetings card, there is an expectation to read a little more. Although this can be experimneted with, with long sections of text, for this card it doesn’t suit the occasion.

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The Final Design

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Mood board for card idea 2 - Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re fab! No one is better at being you, than you

- Connotation of Yellow being for happy and cheerful occasions -Focus on typography and the phrasing instead of any overpowering illustrations - Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want it to be condescending

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All of these cards seem to be very nonoffensive, there is nothing overly bold about any of them and instead they seem like they are trying to tred carefully in case they could offend the person they are being sent to. Although it is nice to have cards like this, sometimes, for something to make an impact with the reader, it needs to be bolder. I want to make something that challenges this to see whether I can make it work. It doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t always have to be botanical either, this makes it seem very feminine. There should be cards that can also be sent to men to say the same message. The phrasing of these cards also seem a bit cautious.

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The Bebas Neue type face is one that I always find myself using. It has the strong bold lines that I love using as part of my geometric work but it is never too heavy. Equally, due to the quite simple nature of the font, it is easy to manupulate the font to be wider or taller without it looking out of proportion. Although it works, I wanted to find something a little different, one that still had these same qualities but it wouldn’t make every card that I design look the exact same. Creating a set of cards is one thing but constantly using the same features can get a little boring. Bold colours, interesting typography and the square are all qualities that are being reflected in the last two designs and I don’t want the typeface to be the same as well.

Bebas Neue GoBold Beer Alegre Sans

All of these do look slightly similar but they do have their differences between them. Although the GoBold font has thicker lines, it also has more height. Every letter is in capitals but the actual capital letters do have more height to them which adds a bit of variation to the Bebas Neue font. When I downloaded each of these fonts, I did try them with this cover but the GoBold font had more fonts to experiment with. There were so many variations including the option to just have an outline of the lettering. This did work in some aspects but the reason I was using a bold font was because it grabbed the reader’s attention. Without the block lettering being filled in, the impact was lost and the writing becomes an afterthought, second to looking at the tonal contrast. With everything becoming so block like on the card, using an italiscised font worked really well in the third example, it starts playing with the perspective and this is something I want to carry on doing with this card. It’s aim is to cheer someone up and therefore, they need to change their own perspective of something that is happening. So it seems suitable to change the perspective of the reader from the start by playing with these aspects. It may be that this doesn’t work alongside the graphic but it is something that I always forget I can do and by choosing the GoBold font, I have so many variations to chose from whilst maintaining the same font style that works for this format. 188

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These two designs below were both working for very different reasons and I was still unable to work out which was the most effective. Having the bolt in the middle produced a more balanced card however, the text is quite difficult to read. This issue is resolved with the right hand design. The bolt was bold and striking and so was the text. It fitted nicely around each other so the elements were balanced and not competing with each other. But the card was more dominant on the right than the left and that didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t sit well visually. I asked for some feedback from my peers and they too preferred the layout of the left design but thought the text wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t clear enough which makes you think that the design on the right should be the final one. Every

letter

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Feedback from others

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What have I learnt at this point?

- Even if every letter apart from one is clear to read, it still needs working on, everything should be clear without question and easy to understand because 1 out of 10 people won’t be able to read it and this creates for too high of a percentage. - The square that I had previously used was becoming more and more effective in grounding the imagery. - Like my cover for ‘The Time Machine’, the use of italics was really effective, it mirrors the slant of the image but also similar to this book cover, this card brings connections from outside references. Using a reference to David Bowie, a man and performer that was known for being different and wanting to highlight our own differences in order to make the changes he wanted to see in the music industry, strengthens the card. Showing someone that has already done what the text encourages, ‘Be yourself ’, makes it seem more possible. - This association relies on accuracy to the colours of the lightening bolt but also the possitivity relies upon other references to colour theory. Yellow is perceived as the positive and happy colour so making this all work in unison works to my advantage as the yellow needed to be included in some way to make this all seem a more positivee, instead of focusing on perhaps the negatives like his death. - Check how the colour appears on different programmes! This isn’t just about the colour profile as this was always the same but the yellow on my screen didn’t have the vibrancy that it did on others.

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What have I learnt from this? What worked well?

- Utilising high contrast elements always packs a punch! I shouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be scared to use black within the design just because of how this colour is perceived because the other colours that are used contradict this, they create a lot of contrast that draws attention to this bold colours and the message they are trying to portray instead of the connotations of black. - Using a drop shadow helps to make all the words visible as long as the colours are selected well. Here it worked well because the background is black so using a black drop shadow effectively creates blank space on the graphic so that the main text has the impact that it is intended to have. Unlike the black and white with the yellow background, the yellow has a stronger contrast. This isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t necessarily about the colour wheel here, there are no complimentary colours, instead I rely on colour associations and complimentary shades of colours in order to create a successful design. - So basically - black and white doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t always work! - Once again it was important to consider each element individually however, bringing the elements together during the process allowed me to realise what worked well individually but maybe not as part of the whole design. For example, I started with the text, then added in the graphic, considered how they worked together before working on the text again to make sure that it was successful when working in unison with the graphics.

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The Final Design

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Mood board for card idea 4 - happy travelling!

Think it is safe to say that this card is definitely catered for by card manufacturers therefore, I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think it would be suitable for me to design it as this would not be working towards to brief. However, I do have a few ideas that I would just like to play with and visualise.

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None of the designs for this concept had the depth that I had hoped to achieve with the card and it was clear that this concept had already been done so it didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t fulfil the brief.

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Mood board for card idea 3 - Happy half birthday!

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The visual representations of half are very generic. There isn’t much that can be played with in terms of how it is represented. Using this within my design will be important, however, I shouldn’t feel like the element of ‘half ’ should dominate the card. There are other ways to include this including representations of 50%. Although cards are available for this occasion, they are not in any major card retailers. The only ones that I could find were from an online company. This suggests that the occasion isn’t one that main card manufacturers think worthy of any money hence why, I want to create a card for this occasion that could start to question this.

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What have I learnt during these developments? - Trying to be too clever with some designs doesn’t always work (creating the half typography). Although it may have an obvious link to the message I am trying to get across and be an obvious symbol in terms of the audience understanding the concept, it doesn’t always work so it is best to just use typography. This is the opposite of what happened with the first design for the Freshers card as I couldn’t just use the typography. Here a simple half circle does the job. - The weight combinations of different elements changes your focus massively and although I knew this for a visual heirarchy in text, changing the weight of the square surround changes it a lot more as you look for something similar, so where the focus was previously lower down the frame, now the eye starts at the top and works its way down. The different tones don’t influence this and this is due to the fact that the red text is only an outline instead of a full block font. 210

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The Final Design

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Process and justification for the designs: These cards, like the covers, were something that I struggled with to start with. I always pick cards that I like and I never consider the elements that make the card successful in terms of design that make me want to pick it up. Starting with initial research was really helpful for this as I was able to look at the designs in a different manner. I was able to quickly establish that I liked cards with big bold graphics and typography, I didn’t want anything dainty as cards can often air on the side of caution instead of creating a bold impact like I wanted my cards to do. After conducting this research, I found I had some starting point for my designs. One of the pointers within the brief was to consider pop-ups or another form of card. I did have a brief discussion to myself about this however, I soon concluded that a pop-up card would not suit the occasions that I had decided to design for. I always like pop-up cards to be quite childish designs and although this could be challenged and overcome, I thought that the traditional set up of a card is better suited to the purpose of each card and it is easier to display. At university for example, you don’t have much space so it is easier to display a regular card instead of trying to put up a pop-up card. The three occasions I decided to design for were: ‘Congratulations you have survived freshers week!’, ‘Happy Half Birthday!’ and a pick me up card. The freshers week card has not been catered for by any card manufacturer however, the other two have to a degree. Although I know that the brief said that they needed to not be covered, I did realise that there were still some gaps in the market despite these being catered for, to a ceertain extent. The half birthday card is only done by an online retailer, these cards do not make it to card shops and are not made by major card retailers. This suggests that they do not think that the occasion is worth celebrating and I wanted to challenge this. There was only one design style available for this and I wanted to design something a bit different, something that played with the idea of a ‘half ’ more as it is an occasion you want to celebrate and the card needs to reflect this. It needs to encourage a change of perspective on this over looked event. Similarly, the pick me up card in some ways has also been covered, however, these are very feminine. My research shoes that current card retailers do not make a card that could be sent to men as a pick me up, they were very dainty, flowery and sympathetic. In some ways this is effective however, I wanted a card that would promote action, encourage someone to start taking the first steps to change. I think this is a society expectation that men don’t need a pick me up and something that has been covered a lot in the media recently. I wanted to change this expectation with just a small step and my way of doing this was to design a card for the occasion. Using references to David Bowie seemed an appropriate reference to make as his character and persona was always bold and someone that everyone admired as he didn’t worry about what others thought as he continuously test the boundaries.

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Encouraging the receiver to be the same through these references is just a small step in the design. The designs of each card do create a series, I wanted there to be a link between each card. Using similar fonts was something I wanted to do, I didn’t want the font to be the exact same but the similar style brings together an indirect link. A more direct link is brought in through the addition of the square. The square in each design brings something different to the background. Initially the background seemed very flat because I decided to use a block colour, however, with the addition of the squares, it doesn’t make the background seem as intense at this point, it also creates a smaller space to contain all the information so the remaining space isn’t so vast. I believe that each card works successfully and encourages the audience to start celebrating these occasions and sending the cards.Through the 3 designs I have been able to create an identity that can be carried on for designs for other occasions. One other pointer that was made in the suggestions was about designing the envelope. This was something that I did consider however, I decided that envelopes are never too bold because the writing needs to be clear in order for the card to be delivered to the right place. Equally, the envelope is never kept as they can be torn and ruined so easily, it is part of the purpose after all. Therefore, I thought it would be best to use a single coloured envelope for each card. I did think a black envelope with a white text box would work effectively however, the ink stamp that gets put on the postage stamp wouldn’t be visible therefore, I concluded that it would perhaps be best to leave the envelopes white. Although this isn’t as bold and impactful as the card, this isn’t the purpose of the envelope. The purpose is to keep the card protected and provide a space to write the address on.

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But what did I learn?

- A series can be created in the most simple way, the use of a block colour for the background and a square surround isn’t the most traditional way of creating a series but it works and using fonts that have similar appearances without being the exact same also help with this identity. - Black doesn’t always have to be a dull colour. Colour associations are helpful in order to understand the way in which the audience will understand it but equally, the colours and boundaries are there to be played with. - Stylising fonts doesn’t have to be gimicky or bold, they can be done in the most simple way to enhance the choices that have already been made in terms of the base font. - Yellow doesn’t always have to be bold! Yellow wasn’t a colour that I was ever drawn towards, I tried to avoid the colour more than anything but when used correctly, and in the right shade, as can be shown by my experiments, the colour can be bold, striking and effective. - Greetings card require a certain approach that is a bit different. They need to be more explicit and encourage someone to celebrate an occasion, that with this brief, they may not celebrate already. Changing my approach took a bit of time as it needed to be elevated whilst typically the elements would have seemed flat on their own.

This part of the module has started to make me experiment with styles and techniques that I perhaps wouldn’t have encountered in the typical approach that I would have taken to a project. One very key example of this is through the different intentions of the brief. Having to communicate something to an audience has obviously always been important however, with book covers, posters and greetings cards, the message needs to be more condensed and easy to read. This relies on the use of signs and symbols to enforce the message in a more cohesive manner without anything requiring too much reading. When there is a high level of reading required from a book cover, it distracts the viewer and they are going to expect the book itself to also be a heavy read. This isn’t the impression that any book should give, there are other written aspects that are made for this. Instead the cover needs to entice readers which relies on visual communication instead of written communication. One skill I can therefore say that I am starting to develop is my ability to pear things back and not necessarily simplify everything to its basic form, but make sure that I am more effective in my use of signs and symbols. This is something that I won’t just be able to solve after one part of a module, it is something that I will continuously work on as knowledge and understanding of visual communication develops. However, the steps taken in this part of the module form a strong starting point for this development to take place. Alongisde this, I have started to develop my skills in illustration. This is something that I wanted to work on as I have never been a strong drawer and I am unsure of some of the techniques, techniques that I know would help me as part of my graphic design. Encouraging myself to draw the silhouette on the book cover task was a small step as part of this, as well as doing some digital experiments during the POS task as well. Although this wasn’t a technique that I ended up using, it is clear from the comments made in my learning log, that I was still able to learn more about the technique from the small sketches that I did. I still want to be able to improve these drawing skills but like I mentioned before, this will take time and isn’t something that I can quickly fix. It is going to take a combination of both digital and physical experiments to understand the composition of such elements. This is something that I am going to try and encourage myself to do on further tasks or even just on the side of this to make sure that I can understand the principles for future projects. In terms of what I have learnt about visual communication here, once again, as each task is designed to do, it helps me to consider the different ways in which text, image and colour are all combined in order to portray a message. The poster task was one that definitely made me consider how easy it is to change the perception of something not only depending on if text is added, but also the quantity. The image here was supposed to be the main focal point and although it always was, the effect of the image was lost when there was too much text. Equally, trying to make too much of the photograph, by creating the reflections, turned the image into something it wasn’t. This isn’t how the images will be presented at the exhibition so why should they be presented like this on the poster? Researching in Gestalt theories in some brief depth helped me to understand these visual communication techniques a lot more. Often I was able to say to my peers that I knew something didn’t work but I wasn’t sure why it didn’t and after researching into these theories, it explained a lot.

I don’t want to continuously use theories to explain my work because sometimes I will become so engrossed in this that I will forget to have fun and experiment. However, I do want to research more into these theories as having these at the back of my mind will help me develop more successful designs in the future. This research needs to not only look at basic analysis of each theory but in depth, academic research that explains the effects of each theory on design, finding ways that these theories can then be combined in different designs without becoming over complicated. These tasks are helping me to discover how the use of text and image in different combinations and scales also effect the way in which you read the information. This is something that I know that I can continue to play with throughout different tasks and my own personal work but, when designing the inside of the greetings cards, the way in which the text was highlighted inside in comparison to the techniques used on the front varied so much, and this was because of something as simple as the background colour. Throughout these assignments I am building up a list of techniques that I know I can trial in the future in order to develop my designs further and find solutions to any problems that I may come across. However, it is important for me to note that these techniques aren’t a universal solution, each project will require different solutions and this is where the importance of experimentation comes in. I always do enjoy experimenting but sometimes I don’t experimnet as freely as I perhaps should. I give myself a limit, whether this be how many responses I need to create or how much time I have to do this and working under these constraints is not the best way to approach a task. Perhaps what I am more concerned about is the way in which this experimentation will lead me. Often when I am given free reigns like this, my designs get out of hand, they become too much and a lot harder to read but this is something that I will work on further so that my experimentation is still controlled in some way. Therefore, these assignments aren’t just making me think about visual communication and the way that I am learning to communicate better with an audience, but it is also making me consider my own process more. We all learn in different ways and I always thought that I understood the way in which I work however, during this process I am learning what I need to leave myself more time to do. Writing down my whole process is sometimes helpful but this is more as notes to myself. Using post it notes was a great way that helped me during previous courses so maybe I should start using this again. Quick notes on what did and didn’t work against various mock ups is a simple way of reflecting on this. These are easy for an audience to read if they need to see this but equally they are helpful to move around and keep small amounts of information on. Reducing the amount of time I spent on this reflection, although it does help me, it isn’t reflection in an effective manner, means that I can spend more time on experimenting. Some projects in the industry will have tighter time constraints and being able to work to these is effective however, I don’t want to become so tight on this that I cannot have time to fully develop designs to their full potentional. For example, I will not be able to fully understand the Gestalt theories under short amounts of time, and I won’t be able to develop my drawing overnight. Maybe instead of doing experimentation that has to be involved with a project, doing random experimentation that doesn’t link to a project could help guide my skills more.