1601074
INTRODUCTION 1601074. A journal based on my journey first year at Norwich University of the Arts. A place where I can reflect and document my design experience and display all of the work I have completed so far. The majority of people associate the word ‘university’ as being quite a traumatic and scary experience during many people’s lives. Besides, my first year at university has been a totally different experience for me. Yes it has been hard at times, trying to make new friends and adapt to a totally different surrounding. University is not meant to be easy right?
a degree. The design industry is very competitive, which is why I am pushing myself to get my name out there and get recognised. Since starting university I have started working part time for a small design company called Infographica. I have found this opportunity to be incredibly useful and has enabled me to integrate with the design industry by getting hands experience with client briefs and being able to work in a real life situation. It’s amazing how much you learn and how much work you complete in a year. Also, I feel as though I have been able to grow up not only as a person, but as a designer. The atmosphere at NUA is constantly jam-packed full of creative people with an extensive amount of knowledge about design. Hopefully I am able to successfully reflect my first year at NUA in this book in a visually interesting, yet honest and truthful way.
Personally, my experience has been considerably different to many other students. Fellow students have travelled tens and hundreds of miles, if not thousands away from home to come and study at Norwich University of the Arts. I consider myself being very fortunate, as Norwich is my local city and I know the area quite well. But all this stress and way of life might seem an utter waste of time and an awful lot of effort to obtain
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BA1a
HAND RENDERED TASKS WORD MOOD BOARD COMPOSITION AND MATERIALS FIVE FACTS TYPEFACE CLASSIFICATION ANATOMY OF TYPE
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DIGITAL TASKS TYPOGRAPHIC SIGNALS FINDING THE SENSE
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PROJECTS
11-12
1. ONE WORD POSTER 2. TYPOPGRAPHIC COLLECTION 3. TYPE AND IMAGE BOOKLET
13-15 16-19 20-23 24-25 26-28
TASK: BUILDING AN IMAGE
THE MEDIUM IS THE MESSAGE
WORKSHOPS POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE MODULAR TYPE TWO-SIDED BOOKLET
29 30 31
BA1A EVALUATION
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FAKE
WORD MOOD BOARD For this task I used a selection of magazines and newspapers that I didn’t mind cutting up to produce two contrasting mood boards. I was given the words ‘Fake’ and ‘Real’ which enabled me to produce a pair of mood boards as my personal response to the task. During this task I was able to discover a strength of being able to gather and categorise magazines and newspaper cuttings, as a strong form of visual evidence. As a designer, this task got me thinking about the choices I make with my design work.
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real
COMPOSITION AND MATERIALS Using coloured paper, a pair of scissors and a limited time of 30 minutes, I was required to produce a collection of compositions. As well as using coloured paper I decided to think outside the box and bring in a newspaper, which enabled me to explore the task even further with the use of photography and typography.
Opposite
Set
Parallel
Converge
Rotate
Busy
Positive
Break
Text
Stare
Explicit
Interupt
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FIVE FACTS Taking into consideration the effective use of hierarchy, different typographic weight and style, I had the task to organise five facts about myself, in order of importance. This task enabled me to gain confidence in type hierarchy and come to realise that different pieces of typography require a certain level of importance using hierarchy. As a learner, I have not been introduced to the word ‘hierarchy’ before, so I initially had no idea what it meant from a typographic perspective. Besides, after carrying out this hand-rendered task, I became to realise the vital importance of its meaning and how I need to strongly take hierarchy into consideration when working with typography throughout the rest of my time at university, as well as during my entire career in the graphic design industry.
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TYPEFACE CLASSIFICATION This task introduced me to the basic classifications of type. I was able to identify and understand the different between serif, sans serif, decorative and script typography. Initially I struggled to think of descriptive words to suit the two typefaces I chose for this task. I am considerably pleased with the outcome I produced for this task, as I feel as though I have determined the characteristics of basic letterforms, and reinforce compositional skills that would also help me in any tasks, workshops or projects in the future. If I were to improve this task in the future I would explore different colours and compositional layouts, which could make the poster design more successful.
ANATOMY OF TYPE I needed to begin the task by selecting a typographic character of my choice and identify as many elements of anatomy as possible. For example, stem, arc, foot and crotch. From this task I have learnt about specific elements of a letter from. As a result, I feel as though I would be able to identify these elements of letterforms if I was questioned in the future. I have been able to reinforce important compositional skills and introduce myself to the relevance of editorial layout skills. 8
TYPOGRAPHIC SIGNALS Using my imagination I was required to produce a series of typographic compositions that reinforce the meaning of nine music genres. Taking into consideration typestyle, colour, scale, positioning and format, I was able to understand the signals associated with different typeface choices, and the use of colour, size and weight. This task enabled me to learn about how the choice of a word is benefitted visually, mainly from the choice of colour and typeface.
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FINDING THE SENSE This specific task introduced me to ideas of expressive typographic design that emphasize and manipulate meaning. Considering the use of typestyle, colour, scale, positioning and format I had the opportunity to choose a sentence from a list on the brief, in order to manipulate digital outcomes. I was able to look at the manipulation of type and how the composition affects the understanding. 10
R E T S O P D R O W ONE C I H P A R TYPOG N O I T C E COLL E G A M I D TYPE AN ET BOOKL
S I M U I D THE ME E G A S S THE ME
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‘Design a typographic poster that clearly communicates the meaning of one of the words listed below. As part of the design process, you must also document and evidence the various stages of visual development that supports your poster. This assignment is designed to enable you to generate visual ideas and to select and communicate those ideas effectively. The brief promotes visual research skills and encourages lateral rather than literal thinking. Be imaginative. You are required to design a poster that promotes and communicates one of the words listed on the brief. Develop a concept with anything you consider to be appropriate’
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‘You are required to research, collate, document and evidence a typographic archive that will provide the basis of a personal resource for future projects. The collection should include an extensive collection of typographic forms, and be presented as a book. This assignment is designed to introduce you to the subject of Typography and help you to develop a basic appreciation of letterforms and typestyles. You will be encouraged to develop an understanding of the typographic basics including an appreciation of the diversity and application of typographic forms and progress your critical judgement in relation to the function of type’
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‘Following your trip to Great Yarmouth, where you will capture images, this assignment allows you to contextualise your imagery within the format of an 8 page booklet. Develop your skills as a designer to pair images with appropriate text and typography, effectively conveying your chosen narrative. Understanding the strength of type and image together, how the written word and the visual are combined to generate a narrative, tell a story, make a point. You are encouraged to develop an understanding of editorial design, the use of formats, grids, rhythm, dynamic, layout, balance, composition, space and typographic choices’
‘Working in a group devise or select a message you wish to communicate and choose a medium that is appropriate to that message. In an infamous lecture given to Playboy magazine Marshall McLuhan argued,“every human artefact can be seen as a medium of communication”. Anything that has been altered or intervened by human activity has the potential to be used as a medium. In turn, that media will significantly interfere with and affect any intended message or content. Hence the aphorism: “the medium is the message”. This assignment is designed to encourage you to explore alternative methods and media to communicate ideas effectively’
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ONE WORD POSTER The brief for the ‘One Word Poster’ project was to produce a typographic poster that distinctively communicates the meaning of a chosen word. As a learner I was encouraging to think more lateral rather than literal when generating ideas, as well as being creative and original. After producing some initial sketches on a range of words I extracted from the word bank on the brief I decided to hone in on the words ‘press’ and ‘drop’, as I was excited about these words in terms of creatively exploring how I could produce successful poster designs that effectively communicate strong meanings. I explored these two words both in a digital and photographic response. This enabled me to develop as a designer and tough upon one of my strongest strengths of photography. With the word ‘drop’ I wanted to introduce the idea of a pinball machine, as the ball is dropped at the bottom when you loose the game. I responded to this idea digitally using Illustrator, where I was able to begin expanding my skills and knowledge, because prior to this project I had not explored Illustrator in great detail as a piece of software.
From a photographic perspective I took the word ‘press’ and communicated it relating to print based media. With this idea I was able to push my creativity physically by bringing together a selection of newspapers to form the word ‘press’ with the large format letters displayed on the front cover of the newspapers. As a learner I found this task considerably challenging, as I had to hold all the newspapers together while taking a photograph of it at the same time. In the interim crit I received a vast amount of positive feedback from both the tutors and fellow student. My strongest design that received the most positive feedback was the photographic poster displaying the word ‘press’, because I had visioned the word from a creative viewpoint to generate a successful looking poster.
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As a learner I was extremely proud and appreciative with the feedback I had collected from the crit, as it made me feel more confident about the outcomes I had produced and the courage to develop grow my designs to an even higher standard. Resulting in the feedback I received, I just needed to tie up loose ends with both of my designs ready for the final crit the following week. From this project I have learnt about the creative thought process you need to take
into consideration as a graphic designer, as well as the reasoning behind why specific decisions have been made during the design process. It has shown me that the use of a single word can communicate a strong meaning with no other text or explanation on the poster. These thought processes are undoubtedly going to benefit me as a designer and help me with all future projects I am set to undertake during my time at university.
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TYPOGRAPHIC COLLECTION To research, collate, document and evidence a typographic achieve that would provide a personal resource that may come in useful for future projects. The collection needed to include an extensive collection of typographic forms and should be presented as a book for the final outcome of the project. This project enabled me to become more introduced to the subject of typography and the communication of type. It has helped me to develop a basic appreciation of letterforms and typestyles I had not been encouraging or inspired to investigate before. Throughout the project I was able to develop a greater understanding of the typographic basics, including an appreciation of the diversity of typographic forms and progress personal critical judgements in relation to the function of type, which surrounds us in all kinds of environments.
graffiti and vehicle number plates. I decided to produce my publication with a range of collections, as I wanted to be able to study the communication of type and how its visual form affects the communication of the words. This provided me with a broad typographic collection, which I am able to use as a reference source when exploring the function and development of type in my second and third year of university. This was a relevant project to photograph and introduce my grandparents Coca Cola memorabilia collection, which they have been collating for the last decade. From visiting and honing in on their collection I was able to identify that the transformation of typography had not been as advanced as I initially anticipated, as the Coca Cola typography has not changed massively dating back until the beginning of the 1900’s.
When collecting photographic evidence of typography I came to notice that typography is everywhere, not just print in books and magazines. Typographic forms appear on and off the page, which why typographic book on a range of small collections including; signage, A boards, packaging (chocolate bars),
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As my final collection at the end of the book I decided to hone in on the typography displayed on American number plates. As a learner I found this very interesting from a typographic perspective, as I had taken photographs of American number plates after visiting multiple car shows over the last three to four years and not specifically paid any interest to
the typographic forms used on different state number plates. As a learner of typographic forms I decided to categorize my photographs into different typeface styles. This enabled me to identify the popularity of certain styles of type and how they have been presented to resemble states of the United States of America.
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TYPE AND IMAGE BOOKLET The booklet I was required to produce for this project had to have a considered written and visual narrative, as a response to, and development of the images collated from the Great Yarmouth trip. Following our year group trip to Great Yarmouth, where I captured photographs of the town from a typographic perspective This project allowed me to contextualise my imagery within the format of an eight-page booklet. Throughout the project I was able to develop my skills as a designer, by pairing images with appropriate text and typography, which effectively conveyed my chosen narrative of missing type. I was able to understand the strength of type and image together and how the written word along with its visual appearances are combined to generate a narrative, tell a story, make a point.
narrative of missing type in my final outcome. I chose the narrative of missing type, because I was able to identify a variety of signage around Great Yarmouth that was aged, damaged and broken, resulting in the presentation of missing type. My intention of the book was to raise awareness that Great Yarmouth is in a decline as a Norfolk coastal resort. From this project I have learnt about producing booklet as a piece of editorial design, which closely links to a chosen narrative to make the viewer of the publication respond in a certain way. During the design stage of the booklet I have been able to build up my knowledge and personal confidence with using InDesign as a piece of software for editorial/publication design. This knowledge and experience will help me in future publications, especially when it comes to piecing together and designing my reflective journal towards the end of the year.
I decided from an early stage in the project that I wanted to produce a book based around song lyrics that have a clear connection and link to my chosen narrative. This enabled me to carefully document and evidence the various stages of visual development that supports the
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BUILDING AN IMAGE Following on from the trip to Great Yarmouth as a part of the initial development, I was set to explore the various methods and techniques of image capture and ideation in order to build and develop a range of visual imagery. Working in a group, we had to select one image from the trip to Great Yarmouth and use it to create a basis to develop a large scale visual outcome. After being briefing on the task, as a learner I was extremely excited about making a start and working together as a team to complete a successful physical outcome. As a group we came to the conclusion that Great Yarmouth is well known locally for it’s bright neon lights along the stretch of the sea front. Therefore, with one of the photographs I took of The Circus arcade and family entertainment centre, we decided that we could produce our own piece of typography of the word ‘Circus’ using recyclable materials and lighting. Working in a group, we had to select one image from the trip to Great Yarmouth and use it to create a basis to develop a large scale visual outcome. After being briefing on the task, as a learner I was extremely excited about working collaboratively
with fellow students to create a successful outcome. We individually contributed to the task by resourcing materials and producing the 3D lettering, while working to a tight deadline, but we were very pleased with the outcome we produced on this task. I was able to clearly demonstrate that I am a strong, confident team worker and I was able to communicate and work with other to produce a successful outcome for the workshop. I am pleased with no only my performance and work ethic during this task, but the entire group, as we equally contributed to tasks and challenges we all faced, as well as the cost of the lighting purchased. This workshop has been a learning curve, as I have been able to take on board the experience of working efficiently in a team, which would help me in future projects and workshops, as well as progressing as a designer in the graphic design industry.
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THE MEDIUM IS THE MESSAGE This brief was not compulsory, as it was set during two weeks of directed study, but as a keen learner I thought it would be necessary to take on the brief from a positive light and form a team with a few friends, in order to create a successful outcome for the project. Working in a group of our choice, we were briefed to devise or select a message to effectively communicate, alongside a medium that is appropriate to that message. Anything that has been altered or intervened by human activity has the potential to be used as a medium. Considering that form of media must significantly interfere with and affect the intended message or content. Hence the aphorism: ‘the medium is the message’.
audience. Throughout the research and design stages of the project we all decided to work individually at times, and then come together to incorporate our ideas to make sure we try and bring all our best ideas together, but most importantly stay on track and follow the brief correctly. The image in the top half of the page on the right hand side shows the collaboration between myself and my group members, in order to discuss and work on ‘The medium is the Message’ project outcome. Personally, I do not live in Norwich unlike my group members, so I have had to find time outside of university hours to meet up and work together as a group. By doing it like this, we made sure that everyone was contributing evenly to the group. Visually I am very pleased with the overall appearance of the outcome, as well as becoming increasingly confident working in group.
This project was mainly designed to boost my work ethic when working in a group. To encourage me to explore alternative methods and media to communicate ideas effectively, as well as understanding the connection between what I want to say and how I’m going to say it. As a team we needed to make sure the medium is appropriate to the message, and must be able to successfully communicate to its desired
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Frame 1
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Frame 3
Frame 4
Frame 5
Frame 6
Frame 7
Frame 8
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POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE This workshop was based around photographical evidence. I decided to take my DSLR camera into the streets of Norwich and photograph anything within the environment I found interesting, as well as having a clear connection with the workshop. For this workshop, I decided to base my final outcome with the thought process of ‘positive thoughts, negative thinking’ expressed from a photographic perspective. I merged two images together to clearly communicate how our minds can think both positively and negatively. Demonstrating the contrast between how different people express their feelings through art or typographical evidence on the side of buildings in an urban environment.
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MODULAR TYPE For my own pathway into the workshop I decided to base my modular type around a selection of geometric shapes. I used the selection of shapes as the roots to my typeface, which enabled me to explore the presentation of each letter in the alphabet using shapes. From this workshop I have learnt that typography does not always have to be clear and straightforward to read, but more diverse and a contrast to standard typefaces. As a learner I am happy with the typography I produced within the short time frame, but if I had more time on the workshop I would have explored and experimented with other possibilities. For example, I would have checked out the use of abstract shapes and dots to produce a set of distinct typefaces.
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TWO SIDED BOOKLET At first I struggled to come up with a solution, and I said to myself “I am not sure what to do?�. This line stuck with me for a little while and enabled me to come up with an idea. Considering the length of time I was allocated, I am considerably pleased with the outcome I have produced. Without interacting with a physical version of my two-sided booklet, it would be hard to understand the overall concept and idea process I had when producing this piece. As a form of development for my final outcome, I would investigate other possibilities by engineering the piece of paper further in greater detail, to make it a bit more extraordinary, resulting in feeling more curious about the design concept.
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EVALUATION At the beginning of Unit BA1a I did not know what to expect in terms of the projects I was going to be given throughout the year and how I was going to adapt to new surroundings.
skills even further as a designer compared to the previous project. Looking back at the booklet I produced, I am incredibly pleased with myself, as this is only the second time I have produced any type of publication.
This first term at NUA has been incredibly challenging from a design perspective, but immensely enjoyable at the same time. I have enjoyed how practical my first year has been so far, alongside the digital elements of the projects. For example, the range of hand rendered tasks at the beginning of the unit, which I was not entirely excited about at the time, but later found them to be a useful source of practise that helped me in future projects.
The initial thoughts of ‘lectures’ at university was very daunting, in terms of not knowing what to expect. Jack Renwick’s talk completely changed my perception of lectures and got me thinking about new ideas that I could introduce in my work, as well as showing us what it is like to be a graphic designer in industry and run your own design agency. Overall I have been able to take on board a lot of knowledge about graphic design in general over the last 10 weeks, including the importance of learning a lot contextually from the research report I completed on The Future of Newspapers. Unit BA1a has enabled me to not only develop as a person, but as a graphic designer. I feel as though I have adapted well and can’t wait to tackle Unit BA1b.
My favourite project in BA1a has got to be the Type and Image booklet, because I enjoyed the field trip to Great Yarmouth, where I aimed to capture photographic evidence of distinct typography that covers the streets of the seaside town. With this project I feel as though I have been able to develop my editorial
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BA1b
PROJECTS
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1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
39-41 42-43 44-47 48-52 53-55 56-57 58-60
VISUAL IDENTITY PACKAGING ADVERTISING THE CITY NEW PERSPECTIVES I WISH I HAD... INFOGRAPHIC EVENT MAGAZINE
WORKSHOPS ABOVE AND BELOW INSIDE OUT ADVERTISING COLLECTIONS MAGAZINES MY TOP 10
61-63 64-65 66 67-69 70-71 72
BA1B EVALUATION
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Y T I T N E D I L A U 1VIS G N I G A K PAC G N I S I T ADVER W E N Y T I THE C S E V I T C E P PERS
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‘Create a visual identity for a club or society listed on the brief without using a logo. The outcome will be produced as a set of stationery, and utilise the creative opportunities the stationery elements present. This assignment introduces you to stationery design and the idea of visual identity. It is designed to help you to continue to develop your knowledge and understanding of visual communication and the relationship between word, image and format. It also encourages you to expand your conceptual and realisation skills. We do not want you to give emphasis to a logotype, instead, try to make visual and physical connections’
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‘Design a pack as a response to one of the words listed on the brief. Consider physical form, metaphor, function and think laterally. This assignment introduces you to packaging design and the experience of working in 3 dimensions. The project requires you to be creative and responsive in the use of materials, structure and form of packaging, whilst considering relevance of appropriate application of graphic language used to support your intended communication. The form that this packaging takes is up to you – it can be invented or reinvented, i.e. using an existing form of packaging, which is relevant to your subject’
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‘Working in pair, promote one of the areas provided in the briefing as a fully realised advertising campaign. This project will introduce you to some of the fundamental skills relating to advertising practice and the exploration of the varied communication platforms available. You will be encouraged to consider how to design and communicate effectively to a specific target audience. This assignment introduces you to advertising design and the experience of working in groups. You will explore the roles of art director and copywriter. You will need to work collaboratively in the development of ideas and concepts’
‘The City has been a continuing source of inspiration for generations of artists, designers and filmmakers. These practitioners are irresistibly drawn to the life, mystery, excitement and even danger that a City inherently possesses. The main driver of this project is to push and exploit the potential of imagery to communicate an idea or theme. You will be encouraged to capture, review, develop and manipulate imagery in a range of ways, leading to the appropriate presentation of outcomes. Develop your ideas visually, you are encouraged to push and refine these and select an appropriate media to present them in’
. . . D A H I I WISH C I H P A R INFOG E N I Z A G A M T N EVE
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‘You are required to produce a response to the following prompt - ‘I wish I had...’ Your response should relate to the past year whilst being a Year 1 Graphics Student at NUA. Your outcome can be in any medium, but you are asked to carefully consider your medium choice and format to be outcomes appropriate to your design rationale and enhance your desired communication methods. This project is designed to enable you to develop an appreciation of communication design in its broadest sense. This project encourages you to look at different ways in which you can convey/communicate what you have learnt, to those who follow you next year’
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‘Choose a set of interesting data and from this create an info graphic that clearly communicates that data in a creative and impactful manner. For this assignment you are required to explore the processes concerning the research, analysis and organisation of data. Your challenge is to find a creative way to gather and present information to a targeted audience in a clear, concise and appropriate manner. Some suggested territories of study are listed on the brief. A successful info graphic makes complex data more readily understood, or more powerfully communicated, through the use of graphic content’
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‘Design and create a 12 page magazine in response to an event that you have initiated or attended, the content comprising of your own original images and copy. This task is designed to enable you to further develop an appreciation of magazine design in its broadest sense. The project encourages experimental approaches to typographic design, use of image and layout, whilst developing appropriate computer software skills and introducing you to techniques of folding and formats. You are to record an event (or series of events) in a comprehensive and exhaustive way. You are then required to edit the material you have produced’
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design is thinking made visible
- Saul Bass
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VISUAL IDENTITY This project has introduced me to stationery design and the idea of visual identity. It has helped me develop my knowledge and understanding of visual communication and the relationship between word, image and format. It has encouraged my realisation skills and enabled me to expand my conceptual ideas. I decided to challenge myself and produce a set of stationery for ‘The Recycling Association’ and ‘The English Spelling Society’. I was pleased with the outcomes I had produced within the first week of the project, but after some feedback in the crit, it was clear in my word that I had started off on the right track, but I was informed that my stationery designs appeared to be more corporate than visual and does not fit the brief as required. At this moment in time I felt myself lack in confidence and enthusiasm, as I had put a lot of thought and effort into these outcomes, and was not a good way to start off Unit BA1b.
pursue into my initial outcomes for the interim crit. At this point I had decided that I wanted to steer away from the previous two societies I produced designs for, and forward ‘The Assassin Society’ for my final set of stationary design and piece of visual identity. As a final outcome for my visual identity project I decided to use the idea of blood splats across the series of items. I wanted to keep the designs as simplistic as possible, because the audience of the stationery are individuals who have spotted by The Assassin Society and want them to join the team. The idea of having blood splats on the design was to encourage the individual to join the team, because otherwise they know someone will be after them as they have been watched. Other pieces of stationery like the pair of gloves and knifes are part of a start pack.
After sharply pulling myself back together I decided to refer back to the initial sketches I produced at the very beginning of the project. This enabled me to look at other clubs and societies I had some strong ideas for, but did not
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PACKAGING The project required me to be creative and responsive in the use of materials, structure and form of packaging, whilst considering relevance of appropriate application of graphic language used to support the intended communication. I came to the conclusion that I wanted to investigate smoking, as a concept from the word ‘issue’ in the word bank listed on the brief. The response I wanted to gain on this piece of packaging was to raise awareness of issue, in regards to the cost of smoking; you are essentially smoking away money that you could spend more efficiently on other necessities or luxuries.
connoting the dangerous effect on your body. I consider my final piece of packaging to be successful, as I was able to meet the requirements on the brief, in order to produce a conceptual design in response to my chosen word from the brief. If I was to revert back to the design stage of my packaging, I would investigate and explore other potential visuals I could have displayed on the front of the pack, in replace of the skull and crossbones. The minority of people stated in the final crit that it appears too harsh from an audience’s perspective, but my response to this was that smoking is a very difficult habit to get out of. Therefore, I felt that the packaging needed to be dramatic and strong, in order to get people to change.
My initial packaging design was very successful from the comments received in the interim crit, but it seemed slightly unrealistic, as the bank notes were not actual size. Therefore, I decided that I would take a totally different approach for my final outcome and conceptually generate a new design. Reverting back to the health effects of smoking I decided to create a piece of see through packaging, where the background turns red once you have consumed all the cigarettes,
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ADVERTISING A campaign is defined as developing one idea through multiple outcomes or directions, considering media, environments, ambient and social contexts. In my group, we were able to work to a creative and inventive application of visual and textual language, to solve advertising and brand communication problems. As a group we decided to produce an advertising campaign based around the area of ‘Waste Not, Want Not’ relating to food waste. Therefore, we promptly generated the name of our campaign, being ‘Waste Less, Save More’, as we wanted to get across the effect of wasting food, results in wasting money. In a group we worked relatively successfully, in order to promote a campaign, which gives the audience the opportunity to save money on the food they waste. The target audience for our campaign was very broad, as everyone has to eat, resulting everyone wastes a little amount of food on a daily basis. As a team we decided to allocate ourselves individual roles, in order to complete specific tasks during the beginning of the project, ready for completion to present in the interim crit. I generated the idea of producing a leaflet/flyer, which can be posted through people’s letterboxes. This
would give our target audience something to directly pick up and look at, rather than being distracted by other forms of advertisement or activities in the streets. I was rather pleased with the two-sided flyer I produced as my personal response, as well as the number of other outcomes my group members produce. This resulted in our advertisement campaign coming together much stronger as a whole, rather than individual pieces of work. I have found the advertisement project to be fairly challenging, in respect of working together on the same concept, as we began by working individually which was not a huge success. Besides, I am always up for a challenge and I have felt that advertisement is a form of design I am most looking forward too in my second and third year at university.
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Social media has becoming increasingly popular and is now part of the majority of people’s lives across the world. For example, There are 2.3 billion active social media users worldwide, after being risen by 176 million in the last year. With these kinds of statistics, as a group we decided that we wanted to use social media to our advantage in order to get our ‘Waste Less Save More’ campaign out there. As a
starting point we produced a Facebook page where our demographic would be able to look up money saving tips on how to save food and add a little bit back into your wallet. The Twitter feed on the right hand side shows the trending hashtag #WLSM2017 where the general public tweet about how much they are saving a year and how the campaign has helped them.
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THE CITY NEW PERSPECTIVE The City New Perspectives enabled me to investigate and document an element of Norwich, seeing it from a different or unexplored perspective. I was soon to identify that the main driver of this project is to push and exploit the potential of imagery to communicate an idea or theme. As a chosen theme for this project I decided to pursue the perspective and exploration of abandoned locations and buildings across the urban landscape of Norwich. Urban Exploration is a photography theme I am interested in and consider one of my strengths in my spare time. The introduction of my chosen theme enabled me to travel around Norwich from an unknown perspective, exploring the forgotten and neglected buildings that you would not see or take notice of on a daily basis. On my theme I decided to produce a square format booklet, as my response to viewing Norwich from an unexplored perspective. I was excited about producing another book as my response to this project, as I have become increasingly confident with editorial design, as I have gained solid experience in previous projects when using Adobe InDesign for the design of
publications. In this project I was adamant that I wanted push myself and improve upon my bookbinding techniques. Prior to this project I had never physically bound a book, apart from my experiment in a most recent book binding tutorial lesson, which taught me a lot about the tools and specific techniques required to successfully achieve a perfect bound book. Besides, I decided to produce a 4-hole Japanese bind for my City New Perspectives book to predominantly forward what I had currently learnt, as well as the guidance from YouTube tutorials on the binding process. In conclusion I was extremely pleased with the feedback during the crit on my final outcome, as I was advised to make some minor adjustments and experiment with the images over a double page spread, in order to make the publication less predictable by varying the presentation of imagery.
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I WISH I HAD... I had the option to produce an outcome using any medium, but to consider it carefully, so it is appropriate to the design and enhances the desired communication methods. This project was designed to enable me to develop an appreciation of communication design in its broadest sense. From this brief I have been able to look back and reflect upon my practice so far this year, looking at different ways in which I can convey and communicate what I have learnt, what I wish I had done or known about, to those students who follow next year. The main audience for the outcome(s) of this project is next year’s new Year 1 students. Therefore, I decided that it would beneficial to produce a set of outcomes relating to what I wish I had done differently as a learner in my first year.
stated the end of the statement anywhere on the poster. This was designed to get the audience engaged and make them work out what the poster is trying to communicate visually. Besides, it was evident in the crit that fellow students did not understand the intended meaning of the poster, whereas the tutor took a matter of seconds to understand what is being communicated. I found this project very interesting, in respect of being able to produce a poster in order to communicate a message through imagery. I have learnt that design does not necessarily have to contain the answer to a question or enquiry the viewer or desired target audience has, in order to get the general purpose and reasoning behind the design.
I decided to experiment with both physical and digital representations of my outcomes for this project, as I wanted the medium to appropriately fit the statement I had generated, in order for the design to have the right affect on the intended target audience. Personally I am most pleased about my ‘saved more energy’ outcome, as I had not
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INFOGRAPHIC For this project I was required to choose a set of interesting data and from this to create an infographic that clearly communicates that data in a creative and impactful manner. For this assignment needed to explore the processes concerning the research, analyse and organise the set of data I decided to communicate. My challenge was to find a creative way to gather and present information to a targeted audience in a clear, concise and appropriate manner. Some suggested territories of study are listed on the brief, but others could be considered. The information gathered will be achieved through a range appropriate research techniques, and the visual outcome needed to show a stage of development through the use of a variety of graphic languages and exploring compositional possibilities. An appropriate, effective and sympathetic communication to a considered audience in relation to your subject matter, enabled me to bring the audience to the core of my ideas.
large risk by not researching and sourcing my data from elsewhere. Therefore, I decided to produce my own set of data, which I thought would be relevant for the project and include levels of detail that I could later explore in the initial ideas and design stages of the project. For my data set I decided to focus on my journey to university. As I currently still live at home during my first year of studies at NUA, I decided this would be an ideal opportunity for me to incorporate my own personal experience in the form of an infographic. In conclusion, I am extremely pleased with the outcome I produced for my Infographic project, considering it was not resourced data. As a learner I feel as though I becoming increasingly confident with not only using Illustrator, but displaying an amount of information in a creative way, using the letter ‘N’ for Norwich University College of the Arts.
Regarding the chosen data to display for my infographic, I decided to take a relatively
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EVENT MAGAZINE For an event magazine I was required to produce a 12 page magazine in response to an event that I have initiated or attended, with the content comprising of my own original and editing images. The edited material will form the basis of a magazine designed under the title of ‘Event’. This project was designed to enable me to further develop an appreciation of magazine and editorial design in its broadest sense. This project has encouraged me to experiment with a range of approaches relating to typographic and visual design.
At this stage in Unit BA1b I felt myself struggling for motivation, as I have been working behind schedule on some of the previous projects. Besides, once I had a clear direction for the type and style of magazine I was aiming to achieve, I became increasingly engaged and motivated for the production of the magazine.
As an event for my magazine I was initially torn between a few events I attended during the Easter Holidays. Besides, a keen interest and hobby of mine in urban exploring, which consists of exploring unknown and abandoned places you don’t necessarily see in every day life. I felt as thought this would be an interesting event to document from a photographic perspective.
After producing and printing the magazine I am very satisfied with how it turned out. I spent a lot of time during the design process figuring out where the translucent sides would be located in the booklet format, which cause me to design the magazine around what paper stock each page of the magazine will have. As a learner I feel as though I am increasingly becoming more and more confident with editorial design, which is extremely beneficial for not only my university work, but it is good to obtain publication skills that I can use in the future.
During the designing stage of my event magazine I decided that I would print my magazine on two different paper stocks, which would help suit and benefit the visual appearance of my magazine.
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ABOVE AND BELOW the remote streets of Norwich, looking from a range of perspectives. The most strongest visual concept was the photograph the tree with fallen leaves during the autumn season. I am incredibly pleased with the other three images I captured after walking alongside the river in the evening to capture a set of strong reflections of the most iconic buildings and bridges along the River Wensum in Norwich.
The idea of this workshop was to broaden my perspective and encourage visual curiosity, sharpening my perception on the environment. Deliberately looking above and below my normal eye line, searching for what I’ve never noticed before, relish the old or unexpected by capturing images, making connections and exploring potential narratives. I grabbed my camera and began to explore
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INSIDE OUT The development of modern technology has always fascinated me, so I decided to de-construct my PS4 controller, as I was intrigued to see the internals of the controller. I then decided to distort a paper clip. From this project I have learnt that nothing has a use when it is turned inside out, and there is always a reason why something is a specific shape or size for example. I have become to realise that this is the exact same principle in design.
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ADVERTISING After producing a strong outcome with my chosen brand and audience, I was pleased with what I had produced in a short time period. This is a major aim I need to carry into the second and third year of university, being able to think quick and work efficiently. I consider myself as a bit of a perfectionist, so I am always visualising what the end result is going to look like. Therefore, as I progress through university, I need to let loose, explore and experiment, rather than sticking with my initial thoughts and heading straight to a final outcome.
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10+ PHOTOGRAPHY EQUIPMENT ITEMS I OWN
COLLECTIONS
My first collection was a selection of photography equipment I have in my photography bag. I have been doing photography as a hobby in my spare time for a good 4/5 years on top of studying Photography at A level for 2 years. My collection of items above shows a variety of standard kit I carry round whenever I go out on a photoshoot. As well as the standard elements like the main DSLR camera body and number of lens, I have thought about the internals of the camera. Mainly the smaller pieces of equipment that are needed to function the camera; battery and SD card.
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After getting a back ache from carrying at least 30 items into university for the ‘Collections’ workshop, I needed to organise and display three different collections in three different ways. I am happy with the three collections I have produced, but I would have liked to thought outside the box to make them more unique.
10+ ITEMS I PACKED ON MY FIRST DAY AT UNIVERSITY
As a graphic design university student I needed to make sure I had the essentials for my first day at university. Casting my mind back over 8 months ago I felt like a nervous wreck on my first day, as I did not know what to expect, even though Norwich is my local city and I know the area like its the back of my
hand. Besides, I packed my bag the night before and made sure I had everything ready to take (as well as my laptop). I can’t think of a logical reason why I took a knife and a cutting mat on my first day. I was probably just loosing my shit before everything turned serious and I officially became a ‘uni student’.
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10 ITEMS I FOUND DOWN THE BACK OF THE SOFA
My third and final collection of items visually appear to be an odd collection, but these are the first 10 items I found down the back of the sofa. I could not think of any other types of collection I could produce for ‘Items I’ve Found’, but I quite enjoyed pulling the sofa apart and taking all the cushions off just
to find all the items my family members have lost down the sofa. Well... I say that, but I must admit to slotting a few sweet wrappers down the side, as I couldn’t have been arsed at the time to get up and put them in the bin. I have organised the items found down the back of the sofa in hierarchy of size.
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MAGAZINES The NUA collection of magazines were on display for viewing and handling, which enabled me to take the opportunity to look around and photograph a variety of magazines. I found this workshop incredibly useful, as I spent a good half an hour going around, picking up and looking at the magazines in greater detail, because I wanted to gain inspiration ready for when I produced my ‘Event Magazine’ and the continuing process of my ‘Reflective Journal’. I have always been fascinated and intrigued by magazine layouts as a developing designer, so I wanted to make sure I took this opportunity to benefit my growing skills in editorial design.
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MY TOP TEN The purpose of the ‘My Top Ten’ workshop was to create a personal visual top ten, by considering the hierarchy to reflect the order. As a designer I had the opportunity to use any form of media or medium - drawing, photography, type, collage, animation etc, as well as considering the format. Initially I found myself struggling to think of an idea that I would be pleased about, in terms of being a successful outcome for the workshop. Besides, after some thought I decided that I would display my top ten chocolate/sweet brands. Instead of simply placing
them in an order from top to bottom of my favourite to least favourite, I decided to think creatively about the brand names. It took me a little while to think of a few sentences to put together in hierarchy order of my favourite at the beginning. I am incredibly pleased with the thought process I put behind this piece of work and the visual appearance of the final piece. Even though I spent £5 on chocolate bars and sweets, the most exciting part is yet to come when I can eat all of it afterwards.
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1. Double Decker 2. Yorkie (Raisin & Biscuit) 3. Smarties 4. Randoms 5. Twix 6. Malteasers Teasers 7. Mars 8. Boost 9. Starburst 10. Twirl
EVALUATION Unit BA1b has been a totally different ball game compared to Unit BA1a. I feel like I have come a long way as I have progressed from one project to the other. I have found myself working a lot harder compared to BA1a, but I don’t think I have managed my time and workload as efficiently as I would liked to have done, as I have fallen behind in some projects resulting in a lack of confidence and motivation. Besides, I feel as though I have picked myself back up and made sure all my design work is up to date.
projects in BA1b. Mainly due to the fact that I did not use it at all in BA1a, as I believe that discovering strong elements of inspiration from existing designers and their work is equally as important than working on my own ideas. As a designer I feel as though I have been able to work outside my comfort zone with the majority of the briefs in this unit. I have found each brief to be entirely different, which has enabled me to gain an insight into the different styles and areas of design, thinking about what design course I would like to take into my second and third years of university.
A strong element I have picked up upon in Unit BA1b is the importance of typeface choice. Depending on what is being designed, I think you have to sometimes relate photography to the typeface. A strong example of this in my design work is my Event Magazine, where I made sure that the typeface fitted in with the style of photography I was using, alongside the subject matter of the magazine.
My favourite project in Unit BA1b has been Packaging, as I thoroughly enjoyed generating concepts and ideas based on a single word. I am extremely pleased with my outcome, packaging smoking as an ‘issue’. Also, from this final outcome I have realised that complexity and quantity is not always what makes a design successful. Effectiveness and simplicity is the key to success.
I have progressively chosen to use the library more as a form of research for the majority of my
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TRIPS & VISITS GREAT YARMOUTH FIELD TRIP JOHN JARROLD PRINT MUSEUM
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LECTURES GRAHAM BIRCH HAMISH MUIR JACK RENWICK DAVID PEARSON
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GRAPHIC DESIGNERS STEFAN SAGMEISTER PAUL RAND
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DESIGN BOOKS KNOW YOUR ONIONS A SMILE IN THE MIND
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GREAT YARMOUTH FIELD TRIP
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“We took a day trip to the seaside town of Great Yarmouth to photograph typography within the environment” The purpose of the field trip to Great Yarmouth was to gather photographic evidence, in order to use it for Project 3: ‘Type and Image Booklet’ in Unit BA1a, as well as the workshop task ‘Building an Image’. I am familiar with Great Yarmouth as a Norfolk coastal destination, as I have visited multiple times in the past. After casually walking round the seaside town for approximately an hour, I began to realise that this is town in decline. This was evident in the typography that was visually scattered everywhere across the streets, as you can see from three examples on the left hand side. I found it incredibly interesting walking round different parts of Great Yarmouth, as it was clear that some areas are better look after than others, from a tourist perspective. As the result of identifying some of the typography at Great Yarmouth was missing and very run down, I decided to produce my ‘Type and Image’ booklet based on missing type.
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JOHN JARROLD PRINT MUSEUM
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From the invention of typesetting with moveable types by Gutenberg in the middle of the fifteenth century, until the advent of the computer some five hundred years later, printing had been a highly skilled but labour intensive process. The John Jarrold Printing Museum is a window on the many hours and variety of skills that were involved in printing before they were made obsolete by advancing technology. Less than 600 years ago, there were no printed books. Knowledge was passed on through the generations by word of mouth, by drawings and later by the written word. ------------------------------------------------On the day of the visit to the museum I was extremely excited to enter the building and learn about historic printing process that I had not known much about prior to the museum visit. It is understandable that as a museum it is important to keep alive the heritage of the past in order to better understand the developments of the future. I was thoroughly impressed with the level of detail the voluntary workers went into, in order to educate and demonstrate the variety of physical printing processes of the past. During the 3 hour visit to the museum I was able to explore and learn about the processes of letterpress, lithography, composing and book binding. As a learner, I was extremely pleased I went on the trip to the print museum, as I will be able to use the knowledge gained from the trip in future projects. 78
GRAHAM BIRCH
Graham Birch is an ex-student at Norwich University of the Arts. He found going our into the design industry considerably challenging at first, sending out a total of 93 CV’s and only receiving 31 interviews/chats. He started off working at Zulver&Co and continued there as a designer for 3 years in London. He later went into freelance work after leaving Zulver&Co for 5 years. A personal collection of his, is photographing a huge number of cars with the GB logo on them, because GB are his initials. I found Graham’s lecture to be the most fascinating, as he was able to guide us into realising how important university is a step up into the design industry. 79
HAMISH MUIR
Hamish Muir has had over 30 years in the design industry. He classes himself as a Graphic designer but he only works with typography. He was originally taught in Basel School of Design in Switzerland, but later began work physically in the 1980’s, as he had no access to computers or other forms of technology. He is the founder of MuirMcNeil (alongside Paul McNeil), 8VO and an editor of Octavo. Hamish has produced and published this own font called FFThreeSix (FF – Font Font). I was extremely intrigued about Hamish Muir’s work, as he is very unique and individual as a designer. Mainly because he is used to working physically and says that he ‘HATES MACS!’.
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JACK RENWICK
First of all, Jack Renwick is obsessed with red and white stripes! In all seriousness, She initially had no idea what she was going to do in her life, before being suggested to go to an art school by her parents. Her first graphic design job was as an apprentice to produce birthday/special occasion invites, but later got fired from the job, as she couldn’t fix the printer. Stupid hey? It was truly inspiring and inspiration to here that she has now set up her own studio in London, employing 9 people for creative problem solving, with now over 18 years of experience. Some of her most well known clients include Boots, BBC, heart foundation, Nokia and Royal Mail. 81
DAVID PEARSON
David Pearson is a London-based Graphic Designer working in all areas of print, but specifically book design and branding. Built a career around type rather than areas like drawing that he doesn’t like. This tells me as a developing designer at the end of my first year at university, that I need to do what I love doing in terms of making a decision on what design course to do next year. From David’s lecture I was able to take away a lot of key information that would help build up my career around Graphic Design, as well as my current work ethic at university. He also said not to have the same thing twice – e.g. Picture of an apple and the word ‘apple’, which is something I have not thought about before. 82
Sagmeister co-founded a design firm called Sagmeister & Walsh Inc. with Jessica Walsh in New York City. He has designed album covers for Lou Reed, OK Go, The Rolling Stones, David Byrne, Jay Z, Aerosmith and Pat Metheny.
In New York, Sagmeister briefly worked at M&Co studio, which sponsored his green card application. As the studio was closed and moved to Rome, he set out to establish his own. Having keen interest in music, he decided to work on music graphics but only endorsing the music he prefers. In 1993, he founded the Sagmeister Inc. At first none of the record labels approached him for the album cover designs. So when his friend was about to launch his album he seized the opportunity to design the CD cover for Zinker’s Mountains of Madness. 83
stefan sagmeister
Stefan Sagmeister (born August 6, 1962) is a New York-based graphic designer and typographer.
PAUL RAND
Paul Rand (August 15, 1914 – November 26, 1996) was an American art director and graphic designer, best known for his corporate logo designs, including the logos for IBM, UPS, Enron, Morningstar, Inc., Westinghouse, ABC, and NeXT. He was one of the first American commercial artists to embrace and practice the Swiss Style of graphic design.
His career began with humble assignments, starting with a part-time position creating stock images for a syndicate that supplied graphics to various newspapers and magazines. Rand’s most widely known contributions to design are his corporate identities, many of which are still in use. IBM, ABC, Cummins Engine, UPS, and the now-infamous Enron, among many others, owe Rand their graphical heritage.
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KNOW YOUR ONIONS I am not sure about the strapline, “How to think like a creative, act like a businessman and design like a God”, but I can say that this is an excellent book. Most of this book is filled with excellent information and tips that will genuinely improve the way designers approach creative design work. It is the kind of book that gives you a just little bit of basic knowledge on most important elements of Graphic Design, but is more of a ‘how to be a graphic designer’ rather than ‘learning about graphic design’. The majority of the book talks about design principles, layout, type and text. Lots of stuff that ends up being in most graphic design books, but explained simply, and also laid out as reminders and ideas rather than pages and pages of theory. He does the same with the next set of chapters, knowledge of paper, colour, reprographics, print and finish, again, full of handy tips, hints and useful bits of knowledge. My two favourite bits of this book are the magic numbers section – a set of numbers for margins, leading etc. that “just work”, and the 10 things section – where clients, art directors, printers (and more) list the 10 things they wish designers would do, which is handy to know when being a university student and wondering how designers work in industry. Whilst this book is fairly detailed, and very handy for designers like myself, it is not for a beginner. He tale as though his reader has some knowledge of graphic design. But this makes this a good book to refresh your memory and work out where you are going wrong.
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A SMILE IN THE MIND A Smile in the Mind: Witty thinking in graphic design by Beryl McAlhone, a writer with a special interest in design, and David Stuart, a founder member of The Partners. A Smile in the Mind focuses on the graphics which give the most pleasure - the ideas that prompt a smile. These are the jobs that people remember, the projects that make designers famous. The book selects the cream of witty work from designers across the world. It comprises the most comprehensive collection of graphic wit ever published. Humour is fragile under analysis, and this is not a heavy read that wipes the smile off your face. It has a light touch, even when explaining in business terms why wit works. The authors break new ground in analyzing the kinds of thinking behind the images, in showing the 21 different ways of being witty and making the case for witty solutions.
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