‘Keeping it real’ Exploring methods of humanising the e g a u g n la d n a s ic t e h aest in graphic design. in Rachel Irw
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ated as This book has been cre g my ntin me cu do of d a metho t and jec journey through this pro use to ers oth also as a guide for w ho nd rsta de un so they can n work to humanise the desig aesthetic d through language an details. Enjoy.
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Contents 04
Background Research
16
Language
30
Typography
48
Handmade Influences
62
Photography
72
Using Angles
78
Aesthetic Extras
86
Illustrations
92
Case Studies
104
Initial Ideas
120
First Idea Development
146
Final Idea Development
166
Rationale & Bibliography
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Background Research What Do You Mean? Personal Goals Previous Work Who and Why Hyper Reality
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Humanising the Aesthetics and Language In Graphic Design
What do you mean? This project is exploring methods that are used to humanise the aesthetics and language used in graphic design. To humanise something is to make it human, kind, or gentle, this project will be in exploring the concept of becoming more friendly and authentic design. graphic This style often includes handmade looking graphics, which are inspired from crafting traditions. The raw quality of this design style is a reaction to the over polished, clean and slick image has associated with graphic design. This reaction to the mainstream ridged generic the from created a new look, which moves away Swiss design which we have become used to. Since the 1990’s grunge era, designers have been deconstructing design, as the general public has become more and more aware of design, the quality of design has also increased, and this massproduced high-end design has lead to a homogenisation of similar looking brands and commercial design. And so, rough and ready design is increasingly being favoured over slick design for its individuality and uniqueness. So sought after is this look that big brands, such as McDonald’s and Sony are starting to realise the appeal of this style, and are applying its visuals tools and language to their brands to make them more visually and verbally appealing, as they appear more authentic and friendly than flat computerised styles. This project is exploring how a combination of graphic elements and informal language is creating this new humanised style in ed graphic design and trying to understand how it can be recreat es. outcom and used to suit a variety of design Overall I’m interested in design that wants to come across as friendly to its audience and has a verbal identity between the design and the audience.
Background Research
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Personal Goals Why am I exploring this? Well I have always been interested and and how intrigued with designers and brands that talk to their audience ulates encaps which years recent over ed develop a style seems to have design me wholeso and honest with along ess, friendlin fun, of a sense if they and brand identities. I’m interested in if people like this style and rs designe that agon bandw style ic connect with it. Is it just a an aesthet on? and brands are jumping look. To start the project I collected word that’s I felt summed up this which word one just not is One of the problems I’ve found is there one. encompasses what I’m looking at, it is many things all rolled into
“As the digitalisation of the design process has resulted in the ironing out of many of the inevitable imperfections of predating craft-based processes, so designers are beginning to build flaws into their work in an attempt to counteract the ‘slick look’. Often they adopt methods that force unpredictable things to happen, exaggerating the ‘errors’ to create a greater sense of ‘authenticity’. In some instances this is a strategy with which to generate ideas; in others the mistakes are introduced purely to provide a particular kind of aesthetic.”
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Humanising the Aesthetics and Language In Graphic Design
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Previous Work I have noticed that work I have created in the past has borrowed from this style of humanising design. With the Blue Monday website the aim was to make it friendly and easy to use and so by having the notice board as the main body of the website, I created something which is familiar and people would relate to real life. With the coffee posters the typeface used was worn looking and along with the colours gave the brand the natural organic vibe it wanted. With the Feel Good Drinks posters the main images were hand drawn typography cut out and photographed. In each of the cases the style fitted in with the message the brand was trying to get across, in all of these pieces the brand wanted to appear friendly, assessable and down to earth and this was done through relaxed language and bright and handmade looking visuals.
Coffee shop promotion posters.
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Humanising the Aesthetics and Language In Graphic Design
Blue Monday noticeboard website.
Feel Good Drinks Posters. Background Research
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Who and why?
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Humanising the Aesthetics and Language In Graphic Design
There are two main groups creating work like this. Firstly, you have the more commercial side, where you have brands trying to create a particular tone of voice and aesthetic, which gives their company the credential undertones they are looking for. Often these companies are promoting food or drinks, with an ethical/sustainable/ organic or healthy unique selling point.
Some examples of this would be Abel and Cole, Muddy Boots Burgers or Tyrell Crisps. Secondly there are Graphic Designers, who are either exploring more craft and handmade styles of design or designers who are interested in bold typography and playing with language and words in their work.
Background Research
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Hyper Reality Hyper Reality is to do with people not be able to distinguish between what is real and what is not. It is an increasing phenomena, as today’s technology and culture allows us to spend more time in states of hyper reality. Often hyper reality involves reality by proxy, where you take on someone else’s version of what is real. It is used in advertising, with advertisers promoting the idea that a certain type of lifestyle can be achieved through buying the right products. Hyper reality is like having a real world that is enhanced in someway, usually to appear better than it already is. It relates to this project because I am exploring how graphic designers can
create enhanced images that relate to reality but have usually been put together on a computer. What is different about humanising design is that instead of removing all the faults, messy layouts and mistakes on a page, designers are in fact doing the opposite. By adding hand written looking type, textured backgrounds or post it notes into an image they are creating a fake version of real life, which has been selected to look overly real and add in all the extra bits that previously would have been seen as to make the design look untidy or undesigned. This is especially obvious in web design and games, where virtual worlds have been created and made to look as real as possible.
An example of a website which borrows very much from reality to create a virtual hyper reality.
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Humanising the Aesthetics and Language In Graphic Design
“The world we live in has been replaced by a copy world, where we seek simulated stimuli and nothing more� Background Research
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Language In Design Talking to Your Audience Talk to Me Let’s Have a Conversation Once Upon a Time Copy Writing Brands and Logos
Talking to the Audience
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Humanising the Aesthetics and Language In Graphic Design
I have looked at how the written text on pieces of design can communicate a tone of voice to the audience; increasingly brands are attempting to become friends with their consumers by using their verbal identity to talk in a fun, witty and approachable way. This method when done correctly can help
create brand loyalty and affection. The examples here are from coffee brand Pucinno’s and frozen yoghurt company Snog, whose have used play on words and humour along with bold typography to create a strong verbal identity.
Language in Design
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Talk to me Too often business gets lost in a world of jargon, and forgets about people and personality. But this is changing, tone of voice and verbal identity are becoming more important, as companies want to speak to their customers in a assessable way. This can then lead to a better relationship between the customer and the brand, leading to
a greater sense of trust and loyalty. The brands who are trying to come across as friendly and approachable tend to be involved in providing people with a service, they are companies which are about people, there is also a strong tendency for food and drinks brands to want to appear natural and real to their customers.
A small seclection of Innocent Drinks adverts, with their conversational language to talk to customers.
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Humanising the Aesthetics and Language In Graphic Design
Burger King packaging, where they are trying to create a more friendly tone of voice.
“Don’t get me wrong, starting a company and aiming to be like innocent Drinks is no bad thing. It’s just that when people say “We want to be like Innocent Drinks” what they really mean is “We want fantastic, consistent, witty, clever branding. You know like Innocent.” Which is a different thing entirely.” Here we have an example of Innocent Smoothies talking to their consumers, they have built up a rapport with their customers over the years and have a very clear tone of voice that reflects the values of their business, such as keep it natural, stick to your principles and think about the mess you leave behind you. The success of their tone of voice has led to big multi-national companies such as Burger King trying to attempt something similar with their packaging. Language in Design
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Let’s have a conversation
There should not be a big difference between the written and spoken word. If you bring yourself to work, and show your personality through the way you write it will help reflect a brand with personality. This can be done by having a light touch and humour, if too much internal jargon and abbreviations are used then it depersonalises the voice of the brand. Why use the word purchase when you can use the word buy, why use the word beverage when the word drink is equally as good. By talking in a way that people talk in real life you are able to get away from sounding impersonal and business like.
One of the most successful brands of this style is Innocent Drinks, their adverts use language that sounds like a conversation between the brand and the customer, this along with using humour, has been highly successful in making them stand out from the crowd. This has lead to other drinks brands like Feel Good Drinks who have started to follow suit. Designers have a habit of using dummy text, instead of seeing words as words they see them as a resource that they could use to influence their design and layout, they treat it as a lump of matter. It is important to rediscover the impact of words and think about how the visual and verbal identities work together.
For a long time brands were wary of using humour as they thought is was risky and unconventional, but then brands like Ben and Jerry’s started to appear and grew a strong fan base who not only liked the brand, but also liked what it stands for.
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Humanising the Aesthetics and Language In Graphic Design
Write as if you are speaking, There should not be a big difference between the written and spoken word. Language in Design
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Once Upon a Time...
In the books The Invisible Grail and We, Me Them and It they talk about the importance of storytelling to promote a brand. Brands such as Guinness have recently used the story of their founder Arthur Guinness to help re promote the brand, and show it as a family owned company with heritage. A lot of new brands such as Jordan’s Cereals and YeoValley have a page on their website about how they got started, these truthful and often interesting stories help emphasis the humble beginnings of these companies, which gives them a more human feel. The mix of humour and honesty seems to bring out the best in these companies, it helps customers relate to them in a way that was never possible with bland meaningless branding jargon.
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Humanising the Aesthetics and Language In Graphic Design
The about pages of Jordans and Yeo Valley both talk about family heritage & show photos to help reinforce the sense that these brands are small family run businesses.
Language in Design
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Copy Writing
If Stuart Jones was ever to appear on Mastermind, Malted Wheat would be his specialist subject. Is Stuart obsessed with finding the finest ingredients to go into Warburtons bread? There could be a grain of truth in that. We care because our name’s on it. A recent newspaper advert by Warburtons, which is using imformal lanauge to communicate and create a conversation with their customers.
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Humanising the Aesthetics and Language In Graphic Design
A copy writer is someone who writes the words used to promote an idea or advertising piece and it is often applied to the content that is printed as part of a promotion or advertisement. Words can be a strong way to create humour and humanity in design. By creating a verbal identity you can communicate a tone of voice and style to the audience, and by using word and visuals together you can effectively create a stronger message. The copy on any outcomes should match and compliment the visuals and project the style the brand wants.
I created friendly and fun copy writing for the posters I created when doing the Feel Good Drinks project. Feel Good Drinks friendly tone of voice is similar to other brands such as This Water and Innocent Drinks, all these brands use informal language and humour to appeal to their customers. This is an increasing trend and brands that previously wouldn’t have used friendly copy are changing their tone of voice to join in on this friendly design style.
Language in Design
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Brands and Logos The brands who are trying to come across as friendly and approachable tend to be involved in either providing people with a service or product, they are companies which are about people or providing food and drinks. As the general public become more aware of health and the benefits of natural or organic food these brands want to appear natural and real to their customers through their design.
well loved, because people assume that being a global brand means they are immoral and have too much power. These big brands have started borrowing these more friendly and approachable ways of talking to their customers to sound more like they still have personal touches and are a local not global brand.
Some people are very dismissive of big American brands like Starbucks and McDonald’s. These are some of the worlds biggest brands and are easily recognisable but not always very
The Espresso Room - an example of a brand who has embraced using friendly language.
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Humanising the Aesthetics and Language In Graphic Design
Language in Design
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Typography Typography Distressed Type Hand Drawn Hand Writing Serif Sans Serif
Typography This typology collection contains examples of typography, notice there is a lot of type either hand drawn or made to appear hand drawn, there is a lot of use of bold serif typefaces, imitating letterpress and handwriting.
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Humanising the Aesthetics and Language In Graphic Design
Typography
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Distressed Type By adding texture or marking to typefaces you can give the appearance that it is either worn, hand printed or been on the surface for a long time. This appearance happens naturally on letterpress and on typography that has been in an environment where is has been exposed or used. But increasingly the look is being copied and needs to be created quickly. This has led to typefaces being designed that incorporate this distressed look and designers create a similar look in Photoshop with layering and brush tools removing parts of the solid letter form to reveal the layer below.
An example of hand painted numbering that has distressed naturally over time.
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Testers created showing how you can recreated distressed type in Photoshop.
Humanising the Aesthetics and Language In Graphic Design
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz These are some of the typeface examples that I have found that could be used as a distressed looking typeface. Typography
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Hand drawn Hand drawn typefaces can be split into two categories, they can be typefaces, which have the appearance of handwriting, or they can be typefaces that have been traced and re drawn so they aren’t as neat as the original and have slight variations. One example of hand writing in design are the Alfred Wainwright guidebooks which were created all by hand, with hand written annotations and drawn images of the Lake District. This hand written approach gives the guide a much more personal look to them, and has made them stand out from most other guide books which are made using computer programs.
An example of Alfred Wainwrights guidebooks
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Humanising the Aesthetics and Language In Graphic Design
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz Typefaces that I have found on the computer that look like hand writing or hand traced typefaces. Typography
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These pages show where I have started to experiment with testing my own skill by tracing and filling in various typefaces. The end result is a much more organic and Illustrative typeface.
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Humanising the Aesthetics and Language In Graphic Design
Typography
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Humanising the Aesthetics and Language In Graphic Design
Typography
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Handwriting Hand written words can have a more personal quality to them, similar to hand drawn and traced typography. But handwriting can be even more unique as everyone has a different handwriting style. With the rise in computers, handwriting is seen less and tends to be used only for informal notes and reminders. This makes it appeal to those who want design work to appear friendly and Informal.
Examples of handwriting that I have collected from books and print work.
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Humanising the Aesthetics and Language In Graphic Design
Examples of handwriting that I have collected, from fellow students.
Typography
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Serif
From the typologies of typefaces that I have collected I have noticed a trend for brands to use Slab Serif typefaces when they are trying to appear more friendly and this often works well when used with friendly language. Serif fonts tend to be used in print work, titles, logos or large size text.
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Humanising the Aesthetics and Language In Graphic Design
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz Selection of Serif fonts that could be good to use with friendly language. Typography
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Sans Serif Fonts
San Serif fonts are seen to be easier to read on a screen and are often used more for body copy text. Some Sans Serif fonts look friendly and are used for logos and on posters, with neutral fonts like Helvetica Neue being popular because they don’t distract away from the content.
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Humanising the Aesthetics and Language In Graphic Design
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz Exampls of Sans Serif fonts that could be suitable.
Typography
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Handmade Influences Handmade Influences Websites Web Design Backgrounds Collecting Textures Setting Up a Scene
Handmade Influences To make something by hand implies it has been created using skills beyond knowing a computer program, it is often more time consuming and laboured, and is a reaction to the homogenised look created by just a computerised design.
Handmade looking elements of design have been associated with design that can be trusted, and so by exposing the process or showing the imperfections and small variations in a piece, it makes the design more intimate and personal.
Computers have a tendency to clean and smooth over everything but people are increasingly becoming tired of this look, and instead some designers are actively adding imperfections to their work to give it a greater sense of realism.
Average Man - A book that uses handmade styles.
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Humanising the Aesthetics and Language In Graphic Design
Examples of webpages which have taken influence from handmade design styles.
Handmade Influences
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Websites I’ve looked at handmade influences in digital design, particularly Web Design. This is done by recreating a scene that is familiar to people. When web design started it was very flat and digital looking but as technology has improved, web design has taken advantage of using design programs to create virtual hyperreal versions of scenes and images that we recognise. These examples show everyday scenes such as a sign pinned to a tree, notes on a desk or fabric and ribbon laid out have been used to enhance the aesthetics of the design. By bringing outdoor environments, bright colours, paper, interesting textures and familiar everyday objects into the design it gives it a more familiar, DIY, natural and genuine feel to it.
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Humanising the Aesthetics and Language In Graphic Design
Handmade Influences
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Web Design
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Humanising the Aesthetics and Language In Graphic Design
These example show the webpages I designed for the Blue Monday Project, part of the concept was that the background or scene would change each year. So the first year the design was based around a notice board, with post it notes, pins, masking tape and other everyday home stationery items on the pin and magnet board. For the next year it would be on a fridge and whilst the content was more or less the same, the visual elements and layout adapts to the environment they were set in, for example there are more fridge magnets on the fridge design.
Handmade Influences
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Backgrounds In terms of background and textures there is a strong use of layer and textures created by printing, photographing or scanning things such as untreated cardboard, textured paper, fabric and wood. Basically any surfaces that has a pattern or rough quality to it can create an interesting background. This is often used in webdesign to give the normally flat clean world of websites a different look. In the 1980’s bright white paper and board was seen as a must have, but now the fashion is to have uncoated, handmade looking paper. This type of paper gives prints a more organic, natural and tactile look with Imperfections and inconstencies. It is these inconsistencies that are attractive; as people are no longer seduced by high quality finishes.
3D desktop background created by Daniel Shufflebotham which has imperfections added to the surface.
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Humanising the Aesthetics and Language In Graphic Design
Handmade Influences
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Collecting Textures
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Humanising the Aesthetics and Language In Graphic Design
Collecting your backgrounds and textures is a simple way to gather backgrounds. Photos and scans of anything with interesting tactile qualities cam become backgrounds and help add an exra testure to design. These photos are of textures I have found inside and outside my house.
Handmade Influences
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Setting up a Scene With these scenes that have been set up to look like something familiar it is interesting to notice that they are created digitally, they are hyper real and reflect an ideal version of reality. This led to me thinking about if hyper reality is more attractive than reality. To test this theory a scene was created by hand, with the scene laid out by hand, the type all hand written and photographed. This scene was then recreated, by photographing the elements individually, and putting it together on the computer using hand written looking typefaces. The results show that the one created on the computer looks neat, whilst still having a handmade look and the writing on it is easier to read. When shown to other people the comments were that the bottom image was clearer, easier to read, neater and yet still managed to retain all the handmade qualities of the image above. This shows that people can find hyper real images more appealing than reality itself, because the hyper real can be tweaked to look exactly how we want it too look and because so many pieces of design these days rely on hyper reality we see hyper real as the norm.
Examples of hyper real environments used for websites.
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Humanising the Aesthetics and Language In Graphic Design
Image created by laying elements out by hand.
ns
Real Desig
This type of design work is all about creating something real and believable, but is the real as lovely and wonderful as the hyper real?
per Is hy ity more e real than th ? real al real actu
Image created by photographing elements separately and putting them together in Photoshop. Handmade Influences
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Photography Use of Photography Poloriods Black and White Cut Out Frames
Use of photography From looking at the treatment of photos I have noticed a trend of putting photos into Polaroid frames and use of black and white photos,. There is also a trend where there is a white border around a cut out photo, this is done in a rough fashion making it look like a scrapbook. Other extras are used alongside the photograph such as sellotape in the corners and putting photos at an angle.
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Humanising the Aesthetics and Language In Graphic Design
Photography
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Poloriods
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Humanising the Aesthetics and Language In Graphic Design
To test out the techniques applied to photographs I have collected a set of my own photographs and applied a variety of techniques to them. Firstly I tried putting a frame round them and using Poladroid to apply a Polaroid photo effect to them.
Photography
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Black and white
Turning the photos black and white gives them a vintage feel, whilst cutting out the photos roughly gives them a scrapbook look.
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Humanising the Aesthetics and Language In Graphic Design
Cut It Out
Photography
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Cut out
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Humanising the Aesthetics and Language In Graphic Design
Frames
Putting the photos into frames puts them in a recognisable context and would work well with having them on a wall background to look like they were in a house.
Photography
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Using Angles Using Angles Types of Angles
Use of Angles
Another common trait is the reoccurring use of putting type and image at an angle, which gives work a more scrapbook and DIY appearance. It is a simple and yet very effective way to make design look more dynamic and create more movement on the page. It is often most effective when used with interesting backgrounds and aesthetic extras. Usually the angles are quite subtle and the items are only tweaked by a few degrees.
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Humanising the Aesthetics and Language In Graphic Design
Using Angles
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Types of Angles
A very common grid with horizontal placement of images and text.
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Swiss inspired diagonal grid
Humanising the Aesthetics and Language In Graphic Design
Humanised approach with images and text all at slightly different angles.
To experiment with the concept of angles I took some images and text from a book and played around with the way it was laid out. The first image uses very structured horizontal and vertical lines; the second image moves all the page at a 45 degree angle borrowing from traditional Swiss design.
Using Angles
The last image shows how you can use lots of smaller angles in one design, which gives a more “undersigned� and humanised effect, as if the images have just been roughly placed on the page, this gives a much more relaxed look to the page than the other two, which are very regimented.
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Aesthetic Extras Aesthetic Extras Collection Extras Using Extras
Aesthetic Extras This collection of aesthetic extras are the little things which help add a sense of realism to the designs, such as Tape, paperclips, pins, coffee cup stains and notebooks. These visual elements often do not serve an information role within the page, instead they are purely there to create a visual effect, help enhance a look, put the design into context or create a more interesting dynamic on the page.
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Aesthetic Extras
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Collecting Extras
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Everyday objects make the best kind of aesthetic extras, as they are easily recognisable and people are able to relate to them. They can help create hyper reality and make a digital content look more realistic.
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Using Extras
Postcard Agathe Jacquillat and Tomi Vollauschek at Fl@33 Tester using a noticeboard to create a scene.
Adding the background, pins, paper and masking tape to these pieces, helps them reflect real life scenes. The mix of lots of small angles helps them look more “real� as if all the pictures and writing was straight it would look very computerised.
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arudillat c t s Po Jacq he Agat omi T d k at an sche u a l l Vo 3 Fl@3
Mixing textured backgrounfs, angles pins and a hand drawn typeface.
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Illustrations Illustrations Own Illustrations
Illustration Hand drawn looking Illustrations are not overly clean, mark making and outlines are visible and these impurities give illustrations a genuine feel to them. They are often used to back up or emphasis a point being made in the copy, and to show visual examples of humour. Often these types of illustrations intend to look very much drawn by hand and have a rough, sketchy or unfinished quality to them which is a style associated with more relaxed and friendly brands.
Illustrations on post it notes by Marc Johns
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Illustration
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Own Illustrations
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I have attempted to create my own illustrations; I limited myself to using biro and paper so I wasn’t able to rub anything out. I am not naturally an Illustrator and so found it hard to think up what to sketch but can see how the intimacy and imperfections that you get from drawing by hand could help make a piece of design feel more “real� and less computer driven.
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Case Studies Britishness Dorset Cereals McDonalds Step by Step Irony and Purpose
Britishness One thing to noticed about humanising design is fact that so many British brands seem to be using it, especially those involved with food and drink. These brands are realising the appeal of being British and how this look can be an attractive selling point, to British consumers and globally. Focusing on tradition and idyllic imagery of the British countryside seems to be a popular choice to make brands appear natural and wholesome. Designers like Cath Kidston, focus on a bright and colourful vintage look have seen massive success in selling this idealised view of Britain to the public. Other brand s such as Tyrrells Potato Chips and Belvoir Drinks, take a more
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subtle approach but still touch on their British roots,. They see being British as something which is at the heart of their products, and which give a sense of handmade craftsmanship and quality to their goods. Whilst Made in Britain might be more expensive than cheap imports, it is a desirable stamp and is increasingly becoming a powerful branding message that consumers are willing to pay more for. ‘There is a yearning for all things British. It’s that Union Jack imagery and the whole “Keep Calm and Carry On” mentality. People take comfort in the idea that “a local farmer grew that potato.” Anya Pearson
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Case Studies
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Dorset Cereals Dorset Cereals is British brand that produce natural cereal products. They focus on producing natural and tasty products and emphasis the natural qualities of their food in their language and visuals. Their website uses and packaging uses friendly and informal language, to appeal closer to their consumer. The packaging allows the product to speak for itself but having clear panels allowing you to see how natural looking the product is and uses earthy and yet bright colours printed on natural looking cardboard.
They manufacture the packing produce the cereal in the UK and visit their suppliers. They also work with the Woodland Trust to help plant trees in the UK and have set up an initiative in school called the edible playground, which teaches children about where food comes from. All of these elements help make the brand appear very wholesome and ethical, which is very important to certain consumers.
The brand really focuses on ‘authentic’ and ‘real’ products which are as natural as possible, this is strongly reflected in their tag line which is “honest tasty and real.” These words bring positive connotations to the brands image.
Dorset Cereals bright and natural packaging fits in with their website, language and overall branding.
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Case Studies
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McDonalds McDonalds is a global hamburger brand who is often criticised for its menu and global expansion, despite its global popularity, in recent years there have been negative connotations associated with the brand.
To match its new emphasis on natural and healthier food there have been television adverts featuring rural scenes, new adverts in newspapers and their website talks about lovingly nurtured, home grown potatoes.
Recently McDonalds have been attempting to counteract this negativity by making changes to the business. Consumers have become more interested in the quality and sourcing of their food and so McDonalds have swapped to beef sourced entirely from British and Irish farms, eggs free-range, organic milk and coffee beans Rainforest Alliance-certified.
Fortunately for McDonalds this new menu and style seems to be working with the British public as ÂŁ465million has been added to their sales. McDonalds have really been homing in on this humanising design style, this newspaper ad at first glance does not look like an advert traditionally associated with McDonalds, if their
The newespaper advert by McDonalds, its style has moved away from the tyoical adverts assocaited with the company and is focusing on its natural side in terms of colour, lanuage and imagery.
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logo wasn’t in the corner it could easily be an ad for any number of coffee shop brands. The language they use is friendly and conversational with the reader and the use of the coffee beans, Rainforest Alliance logo, the coffee bean typeface and beige background help to give them a more down to earth look to their design. Overall this new branding strategy that McDonalds is using shows just how effective aesthetics and language can be to help a brand focus on the areas it wants to show off to its consumers.
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Step by Step
1. This is the original ‘plain’ layout with text, images and a quote.
2. The first adjustment was to add a textured paper background to the piece.
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3. Next the photos were put into Polaroid looking frames and the typeface was changed from Time New Roman to Handvetica for the quote and title and the Helvetica Neue for the body copy.
4. Next the images and quote were put at slight angles..
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5. Lastly aesthetic extras were adding in, with pins holding the images and paper behind the quote.
This step-by-step process shows how this method can be added to, with one end having only one or two changes to the original design to the other end of adjusting every element on the page to humanise it in some way. Graphic designers could use this technique to give their design work a friendlier look use the right amount of techniques and changes as are suitable for the type of piece they are working on.
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Irony and fit for purpose Humanising design methods were first used techniques to get away from the homogenised computerised looking pieces of design. But ironically a lot of these styles just mimic more handmade processes and still use a computer at some point in the design process to product their effect. With more and more brands using this mimicking techniques it is very possible that humanising design could over saturate the design market, especially in the food and drinks industries’ where it is very popular. It can now be seen being used to promote products and brands whose ethics and qualities don’t really fit in with the overall message behind humanising design. A few years ago the techniques looked at in this project were limited to either designers wanting to try something different or
brands who were small and trying to seem less corporate. But now the big corporate brands are copying these techniques, and it could just end up with too many brands doing this and it becomes so commonplace that consumers become immune to this type of branding and communication between customers and brands. Some brands are unlikely to fully adopt humanising techniques, but already we have seen banks and building societies try and move away from their serious roots by appear more fun in their Television adverts and use a more down to earth tone of voice. This doesn’t really fit in which their overall branding, which is very corporate and rigid and full of corporate jargon.
One of the Google Chrome promotional videos, all of them use very handmade and humansied looking design to promote a very computerised product.
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Initial Ideas Ideas Generation Initial Ideas Postcard Inspiration Postcard Mock Up Outcome Ideas
Ideas Generation Formats Book Postcards Digital Leaflet Broadsheet Cards Flyers Packaging Business Cards Interactive T Shirts Mural Decorating Objects Stickers Posters Methods Overlaying Cut out Re creating the real Collection Series Extremes Campaign On off This page shows the initial thoughts for possible final ideas.
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Useful Quotes “I suspect that the welcoming of constraints is, at the bottom, the deepest secret of creativity.” “A story is a tightrope between two worlds” “If we don’t let go, we make prisoners of ourselves.” The trouble with words is you never know whose mouths they’re been in.” “Often it is true that one picture is worth ten thousand words. But not necessarily worth one word. The right word” “The simulation of something, which never really existed.” “The authentic fake” “Hyperreality is no more than the technological capability to intermix virtual reality with physical reality and artificial intelligence with human intelligence in a way which appears seamless and allowed interaction.” “The false reality creates an illusion and makes it more desirable for people to buy reality.”
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Initial Ideas Guidebook
Create a guide book which explains the various methods of how to use and create design in this humanising style. Thoughts and Feedback “Could end up being very similar to this PDF as it shows examples and tester of trying out the technique.�
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Postcards
Create a set of postcards each with a piece of advice on how to use a particular type of design or language style to make design more humanised and friendly. Each card would use its own advice to create its style. Thoughts and Feedback “A more bite size version of information you would find in a book, but could there be a more innovative way of communicating the message of humanising design.�
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Postcard Inspiration Advice to sink in slowly is a series of posters and postcards designed by recent and established graduates of University College Falmouth for the purpose of passing on advice and inspiration to first year students. This postcard book shows a collection of the postcards, and I could create a similar thing for my outcome. The postcards I create could give advice on how to humanise your design, and each one could focus on each of the different areas of design that I have looked into, for example, typography, aesthetic extras, background, textures and photography.
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Images from the Advice to Sink in Slowly Postcard and Posters.
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Postcard Mock Up
An example of what the Typeface postcard could look like.
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This postcard design could relate to using friendly language in design.
To test out the postcard concept I created two mock ups of how the overall look for them could work. The Typeface example shows that the message is about using hand drawn typefaces and the way it is visually displayed also uses the style it talks about. The idea would be to have type and image on the front of each postcard with a more detailed explanation on the back talking about what the project is about.
Initial Ideas
This concept was shown to peers and tutors and the overall response was that they were focusing too much on telling and showing people how to use these various methods to humanise their design and weren’t focused enough on projecting the overall message on the project and making people realise that this is just a design style often used to get people to like or think more highly of a brand.
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Outcome Ideas Mini Guidebook Broadsheet
The next step was to think out some new ideas and try to focus more on showing humanising design being done rather than showing people how to do it for themselves.
A shortened version of a book, with main points and tips in, with a poster on the inside, this would help combine a few ideas into one piece. On the poster there could be a quote relating to humanising design or hyper reality. Thoughts and Feedback “This is still focusing very much on teaching people how to use this method and maybe more needs to be done to make people realise that this is a design method rather than being a tutorial on how to do it.�
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Layered Poster
The concept behind this poster is that each digital layer that would be used to normally create a flat poster would be printed on acetate and layered on top of one another with a gap in between each layer. This would allow the viewer to physically see how the layers build up and all the different elements used in humanising design and how they look separately and together.
Initial Ideas
Thoughts and Feedback “What would showing the layers really show? Would it be revealing something new the more you look at it? It might not be the best way of communicating the message.�
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Double Sided Poster
This double-sided poster could show how we mix and confuse reality with hyper reality and how this humanised look that is so popular is actually just a variety of style techniques rolled into one.
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Thoughts and Feedback “Would people know to look at the other side of the poster? What would actually be on the reverse, would it be showing behind what we normally see, like how things are pinned back or stuck down.�
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Creating a Brand and Promotional Items
Using everything learnt from the research and experimenting, this piece would create a fictional brand and products that uses these techniques. It could be done in a tongue-in-cheek way to show that people are being seduced by a look and language style and that in theory this look could be applied to any brand to make us think it is friendlier. Thoughts and Feedback “Would creating your own brand be too time consuming to do for this final piece, maybe it would be easier to take an existing brand, which maybe doesn’t have the best ethics and showing how language and visual tools can make them appear better.” Initial Ideas
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Progressive Concertina Foldout
This idea relates to the concept of having humanising design on a scale, at one end none of the techniques are used and as you more along the piece more and more of the techniques are used. The one quote on the piece would become more humanised the further along the piece you look. Thoughts and Feedback “This type of piece could really show how this style can build up, and could really showcase everything you have learnt in a progressive item. Instead of having someone else’s quote you could create your own that sums up your message.”
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Overall Thoughts on Feedback Generally tutors and studnet think its probably best to try an outcome that focuses on the overall message of the project rather than teaching people how to use these techniques. Focus on exposing and showing people that this is a collection of visual and language tools that make brands and design appeal friendlier. As opposed to using a quote from someone else, think up own quote that sums up this project. Need a design that visually shows the message of the project.
Initial Ideas
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First Idea Development Thinking up a Quote Size and Format Type and Layout Backgrounds Text and Background Mock Up Moleskine Idea Moleskine Tester Set of Books Feedback on Idea
Thinking Up a Quote To get ideas for the quote or statement that would appear on the piece I’ve looked over things I have written earlier in this project to pull out themes, ideas and words. Language Reality Aesthetic Craft Friendly Tactile Handmade Anti Glamour Hyper reality Authentic Authenticity Approachable Real
Next I started trying to come up with some quotes. “The power to influence your audience is in the visual and language tools you use.”
“Design is changing, a sense of authenticity is needed to make design feel real again.”
“Customers have started to seek out authenticity and so the visual tools we use in design have had to adapt to appear friendlier.”
“Language and visual elements are all you need to convince someone that you product has the authenticity they are looking for.”
“People are increasingly attracted to rough textures, friendly language and authentic looking design.”
“Todays consumer craves authenticity and so give them an rose tinted view of reality.”
“Believability comes from design using friendly language with familiar and friendly aesthetics”.
“Slowly this fake authentic design style is dominating our view of reality.”
“Increasingly, believability is at the forefront of the customers mind and so design is adapting to create work that mimics reality.”
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“Todays consumer increasingly craves authenticity and so we give them a rose tinted view of reality.” or
“Slowly this fake authentic design style is dominating our view of reality.”
“reality through rose tinted glasses”
“People are increasingly attracted to rough textures, friendly language and authentic looking design.”
These quotes were narrowed down to the three on this page, the quotes were then shown to people who knew about the project and everyone who was asked agreed that the quote “Today’s consumers increasingly crave authenticity and so we give them reality through rose tinted glasses.” was the best quote to sum up the message of the project.
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Size and Format
An example of an exisiting concertina folding book.
A concertina fold is a way of folding so that each page opens in the opposite direction to the ones either side of it, giving the paper a pleated effect. The height of the piece like this is normally a lot smaller in relative size to the width, as the width is long and contains all the folds of the piece. I have found an example of a concertina book, which also folds to make its own wrap around cover. This concept is going to be the initial starting point for the size and format of the outcome, with each page in the folded piece being 148cm x 98 cm.
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A sketch considering if the peice had short wdith for each page but this would create a bulky piece due to the amount of folding.
A sketch showing how the cover can be added on to the start of the piece and how it looks unfolded.
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Type and Layout
Sketch of how to lay out the quote on the folded pages.
Originally I thought of having a word per page, but this idea was soon scrapped as each word from the quote is a different length it would mean there would be bigger gaps in between certain words and this would make the type look unbalanced and badly considered. So instead the quote will just flow from one side to the other.
Two suitable typeface for this were Georgia and FFF Tusj, FFF Tusi is a hand drawn looking version of Georgia, so the idea is that at one end is Georgia and the other end is FFF Tusj and they blend together in the middle. lTo do this one typeface was laid on top of the other and adjusting the opacity of each letter, so you reveal FFF Tusj.
As the piece needs to develop and become more humanised, I need to use a typeface that could become more hand drawn looking the further along it you went. This would involve overlapping the typefaces and merge them to make them appear as if they are morphing.
This was then printed and folded into a mock up, one thing noticed was that the transition between the typeface was not obvious enough and so that needs to be emphasised in some way.
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The frist mock up, giving a sense of scale and seeing what the type looked like printed.
The three stages of the quote on the mock up, starting with Georgia, then Georgia and FFF Tsui and then just FFF Tsui.
First Idea Development
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Backgrounds
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From the collection of backgrounds and textures I’ve collected during my research I’ve put together some images which would work well in the concertina book to create a background that progressively becomes more humanised. At the start the background will be just white and this will then become a white paper texture with texture in it, this will more along through other textured and crumpled paper and finally to wooden textures. First Idea Development
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Text and Background
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The next stage for these elements is to be merged together in Photoshop, so it looks as if they are morphing into each other.
quote was then adjusted, so it morphed from being written in Georgia, to FFF Tsuj to my own hand drawn one. The type and background image were then put together on the same piece.
In order to make the change from computerised to hand drawn looking font more obvious for the quote, I traced and filled my own version on Georgia. The First Idea Development
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Mock up
Birds eye view of the piece, showing how the folding can create a cover.
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An upfolded view of the mock up.
A mock up was then printed with the background and type on, one thing that needed to be adjusted was the darkness of the hand drawn type as it looked a bit pale against the background, this was darkened to make it more legible. The next area to tackle was to think up what to go on the cover of the piece and to add more objects to the page to show it becoming more humanised.
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Moleskine Idea
An original Moleskine noteoook.
A mock up for how my version could look.
Throughout the project I have been keeping notes in a Moleskine notebook, and it occurred that the cover of the book could mimic a Moleskine notebook. This would work well as a concept as the project is all about how we buy into brand because of their authenticity, and people buy Moleskine notebooks because of the history surrounding them and because they are seen as a fashionable product. The cover of a Moleskine notebook was scanned and put on the cover of the concertina book. 134
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Whilst the mock up looked ok, it wasn’t very convincing that the cover was a Moleskine notebook and so the next stage was to try putting the book inside an actual Moleskine.
First Idea Development
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Moleskine Tester
Inside of the notebook with the pages removed.
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The piece unfolded to reveal the image and writing.
The inside of the notebook was cut out leaving the empty shell and the pages of the concertina book scaled down to fit in the Moleskine notebook, this was then stuck inside the notebook. This piece, when folded away, looks like an ordinary notebook and when opened up unfolds into a concertina piece of design.
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Moleskine Tester
Screenshot of the wrap around sleeve.
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To give even greater “fake authenticity� to the item a wrap around sleeve like you get on Moleskine notebooks was created. Typefaces similar to those on the genuine notebooks were used and additional information about the project has been added to this sleeve.
Front and Back view of how the sleeve could wrap around the book.
First Idea Development
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Set of Books
The background and aesthetic extras version of the concertina piece.
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Another concept along the same theme would be to print the layers separately, so there would be a book of just the background, a book of just the type, a book of just aesthetic extras and then a book with all them in. This could help show the viewer how the piece has been constructed of different layers and that it’s the build of these layers which make the design become more humanised looking.
First Idea Development
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The type based and mixed versions of the concertina piece.
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The overall measurement of the piece is 140 mm x 720 mm. There are a few different ways this piece could be printed. It is printed from a roll it means the piece can be printed continuously on the same
piece of paper. But there isn’t always as much of a selection in paper that is on a roll compared to flat sheets. It is was printed on flat sheets the pages would need to be either A1 size or tiled and printed on a few sheets that are smaller sizes.
First Idea Development
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Feedback on Idea
Drafts of the previous concertina outcome, which is now being put to one side, so the book outcome can be concentrated on.
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Notes from the tutorial
Final Idea
Maybe use an existing quote as opposed to writing your own.
After speaking to Catherine and other students it was decided that the current outcome seems to not showcase the vast amount of research and development that has gone into the project, and tries to squash too much into one flat piece. As my strengths are in researching, testing and explaining ideas I am going to attempt to use all the research gathered so far to create a book, as it would showcase the project better.
Does it need to fold into a book, could it not just be a long poster piece? An outcome like this needs to be poetic and beautiful and at the moment its not quite there yet. Maybe try writing about it with friendly language. Eg. “hey, you there, did you realise that this is just a language tool to make brands seem more friendly.� Maybe leave the Moleskine notebook idea, as people might not get the irony of the piece using a fake Moleskine notebook. Try writing a book about humanising design as your outcome, as it’s hard to fit in and explain the project as a conceptual final piece.
As there is only 9 days until the deadline, the book will be able to be designed in that time but there would not be enough time to have it professional printed. Instead the book will be printed and bound by myself for the deadline and a professionally printed copy will be printed for the end of year show.
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Final Idea Development Size and Format Book Inspiration Design of Book Book Development Cover Idea Printing and Binding
Size and Format
Choosing the size of the book on the Blurb website.
In order to get the book printed professionally after it has been designed I have decided to pick a size that could later be printed by Blurb. The size was also appropriate to be printed by hand. I chosen to have a hardcover perfect bound book with a matte wrap around cover. A matte cover would suit the project more because it would look more “real� and wholesome that an overly shiny cover.
book will be printed and bound by hand. The paper chosen to print the book on, 140gsm Cyclus recycled paper by Paperback. This paper is slightly off white, and you can see small specks in it giving it the characteristic look of recycled paper. It is suitable for printing the book on as the recycled paper has a more natural look and feel than bright white paper.
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Creating a grid that would be suitable for the book.
Final Idea Development
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Book Inspiration
Using paper on a desk as a setting for a spread.
In order to make a clear distinction between the pdf and the book, I researched and looked at existing design books, to see how they layout out text and images, these following images show books where I got inspiration to do something similar in my own book.
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Setting up Scenes These examples show where books have used photography and scenes to mock up scenes to look like reality and something that people relate to. As I have already explored this area I think it would be worth mocking up scenes within the book.
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These book are past prospectus books from UAL. Final Idea Development
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Book Inspiration Chapter Opener This book used a double page spread with a large image with a strip running through the image with the chapter opener on, I would like to try something similar with photos relating to each chapter in the background.
Page numbering These books have the page numbers at the top of the page and put them in a little rectangle, I could imagine doing something similar with my book and making it appear like it is ripped paper or masking tape. 152
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Book Cover This book uses an image wrap for the cover, and puts the title of the book on a wooden background that makes it look like it has been drawn on the wood, a similar effect could be done on my cover with a textured background, as it would fit in well with the research on backgrounds and textures. Text After looking through many books I found that having black text was probably best against a white background but would like to have some kind of colour in with the text as well. I think like this book I am going to have titles and captions in a colour and the body copy in black.
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Design of Book
Chapter openers
The book uses information gathered in the research and development stages of this project. In order to give the book continuity certain features of the book would be needed to be kept 154
consistent, such as typeface choice and size, page numbers, chapter openers, captions and widths of body copy.
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Example of using aesthetic extras in the book, by having a grass lining to one of the oages.
For the opening chapters, a scene was photographed which related in someway to the chapters subject. Ripped paper was photographed separately and this was laid on top and the chapter heading was put in that area. Each chapter openings layout is the same, with a different ripped paper length and a different photo in the background. For the page numbers I decided to put them on a masking tape background, that are at the top of the page.
page numbers on masking tape
Final Idea Development
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Design of Book
Desk and photo frames scene.
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Using textures in the background.
These spreads show where I have used the concept of creating a scene within the book. It helps put the information that it is talking about in the spread into a context that relates to the subject matter.
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Book Development
Making corrections and notes about changes on the draft copy.
Punching the binding holes to check the position of them.
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Checking that the full bleed and cropping is correct.
In order to get a greater sense of the development of the book it was printed at full size in black and white to see if there were elements of it that didn’t translate from screen to print. It was easier to notice mistakes and things that needed adjusting when you could see the book at its actual size. The spiral binding holes were punched into a few of the pages to double check that the gutter was wide enough and none of the body copy and images weren’t in the binding when it wasn’t supposed to be.
When I first printed a mock up of the book I realise the typeface being used was too heavy and so I swapped it to a lighter version of the same typeface. At this stage I also checked that when printing full bleed on both sides of the paper that the 3mm bleed was wide enough so that when the pages are cropped there would be no white edges where the image is suppose to go to the edge of the page.
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Cover
Version of the cover that was made in Photoshop.
Going back to one of the earlier concepts for a final idea of having something that reveals how hyper reality can look better than reality, this concept could be applied to the cover. This could work by having a version of the cover being mocked up and put together by hand and having another version created in Photoshop, one could be used for the outside cover and the other one could be used for the inside cover, or visa versa.
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Version of the cover that was made physically by hand and then photographed.
Example of image inside the cover of the printed book.
Final Idea Development
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Printing and Binding
The pages were bound together using a Bind-It-All machine.
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The cover was made out of one piece of cardboard that was cut, folded and scored to the correct size.
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The book pages were punched to have holes along the spine and were bound using brown metal spiral binding. The cover is a hard back cover which covers the binding. The cover image fo the outside was attached first and then the inside cover was done. The last page in the book is cardboard, as it would be stronger than paper and this was attached to the back of the book.
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Final Book These images show a few examples of how the finished book looks externally and internally.
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Background Research
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Rationale & Bibliography Rationale Website Bibliography Book Shelf
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Rationale The aim of this project was to gain an understanding of what brands and designers are doing to make their graphic design aim friendly and aiming to customers.
something that they buy in to. I found it very interesting that brands are trying to re create past techniques and add a sense of hand made or hand printed styles to their design work.
This project has taught me how to thoroughly research and investigate a subject and I really started to understand the simple tools that could be adjusted to influence the perception of the brand or piece of design. I found it interesting that in my research I did not find a design book that really covered this subject, whilst there were business and language books that talked about this phenomenon, I couldn’t find much which covered it from a design perspective. This made it seem like my project was hitting on a new area that not many people have explored before
I have enjoyed researching the subject, as I have found the idea of making design appear friendlier fascinating and I want to continue extending this research beyond this project. I have listened to my peers and tutors throughout this project and they have helped me explore areas that I wouldn’t have thought up by myself.
I found the book I read on language in design very interesting and it has made me understand the importance for having good copy writing.
I think I have managed my time very well over the course of this project as with every weekly tutorial or crit I had something new to show or a development on previous weeks. The last 9 days were the busiest of the project as I needed to design the book, but once I had decided on the look and design style of the book, the pages were reasonably manageable to design as I already had the images and text from the PDF. I think my PDF documents the process of the project well, and I have explained decision, thoughts, analysis and influences throughtout this document. I am going to have a pritned version of this document as a I have designed to be both suitable for on and off screen.
I have learnt that hyper reality plays a huge role in graphic design and how customers perceive a brand and product and it is this idealised view of
The one area where I felt I struggled with was deciding on an outcome, this was because the project was very explorative and I was looking into
I have deconstructed existing designs and brands to really understand and get to grips with the various visual and language tools used to humanise design. The typologies of all the different areas really helped me to break down and look for trends within the designs.
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so many areas of design, that there wasn’t a clear or obvious outcome. I am pleased that the outcome was changed to the book idea because I think Catherine was right about the concertina outcome not showing all the research and development that had gone into the project.
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I am pleased with the overall quality of the book outcome and think that the Paperback paper worked very well with the book as its matte, off white recycled quality really reflects the handmade quality that the project explores. If I was to do the outcome again would spend more time on designing the book and would also like to write more copy for it, because I feel some sections are lacking in writing and that affects the design. I would also want to remake the cover as I feel that could have been made to look neater, and re shoot the images on the inside cover as they could be clearer. I am looking forward to having a professionally printed version of the book for the exhibition, and I’m pleased that I have taken this consideration into account when designing the book.
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Web Resources Designers Marc Johns has a blog draw.vox.com/ Yulia Brodskaya : News www.artyulia.com/index.php/News/2 Bartle Bogle Hegarty www.bartleboglehegarty.com/#/ europe Advice to Sink in Slowy www.advicetosinkinslowly.bigcartel. com/
Design Matters Âť Blog Archive Âť Authenticity in Design lenovoblogs.com/ designmatters/?p=806 Brands Muddy Boots Foods www.muddybootsfoods.co.uk/ Dorset Cereals www.dorsetcereals.co.uk Jordans | Breakfast cereal, bars porridge and muesli by Jordans www.jordanscereals.co.uk/products
Authenticity and Britishness Go on, fly the home-made flag celebrate British brands | Mail Online www.dailymail.co.uk/home/you/ article-1279441/Go-fly-home-flag-celebrate-British... Add Custom Printed Pages to Your Moleskine lifehacker.com/5195753/add-customprinted-pages-to-your-moleskine Authenticity Book by Joe Pine and Jim Gilmore authenticitybook.com/ Faking Authenticity advertising/design goodness - advertising and design blog www.frederiksamuel.com/ blog/2005/12/monday-rant-7-fakingauthenticity.html
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Kerrygold www.kerrygold.co.uk Real Crisps www.realcrisps.com Tyrrells Hand Cooked Potato Chips www.tyrrellspotatochips.co.uk/ Yeo Valley www.yeovalleyorganic.co.uk McDonalds www.mcdonalds.com/uk Bestival www.bestival.net/ Google Chrome www.youtube.com/user/ googlechromeuk
Humanising the Aesthetics and Language In Graphic Design
Articles About Branding The brandgym blog: Brand launcheswheresthesausage.typepad. com/my_weblog/brand-launches/ The brandgym blog: Kit-Kat’s clever “packvertising” wheresthesausage.typepad.com/my_ weblog/2007/10/i-posted-last-w.html Coke: Campaigners demand action against feelgood drinks firm www.independent.co.uk/life-style/foodand-drink/news/coke-campaignersdemand-act...
stilllive.net/blog/english/brands-andbranding/brand-and-consumerperceptions-in... adliterate: Why we love Innocent www.adliterate.com/archives/2007/11/ why_we_love_inn.html What we’ve been up to: Mind Your Language: Learning from Innocent Drinks. www.thewriter.co.uk/news/?id=359 Hyper Reality
Advertising www.whois3.com/blog/2006/10/
Hyper Reality en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperreality
Noisy Decent Graphics: Innocent King noisydecentgraphics.typepad.com/ design/2006/04/innocent_king.html
Research Essay Hyperreality « iquiteliketype brendonodwyer.wordpress. com/2009/10/04/research-essay— hyperreality/
Growing Small Brands | Broadening Distribution, Consumer Base and Awareness | Innocent Drinks, Tyrrells Potato Chips, Hill Station Ice Cream Brands | www.brandchannel.com/features_ effect.asp?pf_id=268
Other www.blurb.com www.lulu.com
Innocent Smoothies brand decline? « Word of Moss wordofmoss.com/2009/01/31/innocentbrand-storytelling/ Brand and consumer perceptions: innocent smoothies
Bibliography
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Bookshelf
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This book shelf shows all the books I have looked at and used throught this project.
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