Lab
Lab
The lab is full of experimentation with critical materials that I’ve utilised for my final major project; Crit-me. It focuses on experiments with the UV printer using different types of paper for the booklets to create different outcomes. The lab also presents experiments from the process of coding Community Consensus and playing around with the Crit-me posters. Experimentation is the only way I can produce great design, it’s an intergal part of being a designer and usually some of your best work can come from experiments or happy accidents. Processing is a great tool for experimentation because the slightest change in code can completely change the way the code operates and the visual outcome.
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Experimenting with the UV Printer
Testing different print materials with a few interesting outcomes
The images on the right are photographs of my various UV print experiments. The first image is of my first booklet, it was a test to look at different print finishes and paper types. I like the shine that this effect gives, glinting in the light. It also helps the ?! stand out, making the cover more effective. I ended not using this paper type subsituting for gold card since it matched the colour scheme of the book. My Special Study booklet; Void’s front cover has raised lettering that resembles lines of code used for creating my rating system. This effect was created from layers of print from the UV, I tested it on black and white prints respectively and really liked the way the black text looked when it was printed, the letters glisten in the light making it more visible than on white. For my actual cover I used the same effect but the raised lettering was in the same colour as the code and rests over white letters. The bottom image is a UV print that went wrong, Adding crop marks to my illustrator file and then centering it took the colour out of alignment, creating this effect. While the intention was always to have the colour in the right place but I learnt to be careful when setting up a UV file, it has to be perfectly aligned or design is noticeably different.
Experimenting with Coding
Testing experiments to create Community Consensus
Once I had designed my icons for Community Consensus I decided to do some testing on using the tint effect in processing. I wanted to see the effects of various different tint strengths had on the icons and images. It ended up creating some pretty interesting effects where the icons merged to together to give a sort of rainbow-esque colour scheme. Most of these tests were done using the random command in Processing, once the code is activated the icons immediately start filling the screen in random positions. I had to adjust the curves on the image so that you can see the icons, they were easier to see when you ran the code but this had a little to no change to the image which wasn’t what I was going for but I still really liked the effect and could potentially use it in the future.
(Adjusted the curves in PhotoShop so the icons are more noticeable)
behance.net/gallery/63533187/nenae
Early version of CC- finding the right opacity for the icons
Added constructive icons + experimenting with a darker image
Coding Experimentation With Website Brand
When I started designing my final website concept I didn’t have a homepage image so I thought about how I could use Processing to generate one, or potentially have one that’s constantly spawning icons in the background. After testing the effect I decided against it because the icons interfered with my slogan text and there’s a little too much going on which detracts from the logo making it less effective. I then tried making the icons black and white to solve that problem but it was still too convoluted. So I decided to abandon that approach and use a static image instead.
Community Consensus Experiments
Once I had created and coded all my icons it was imperative that I test them on a darker image to see if they’re still as effective. The work shown is an old scan I created in college, The icons interact with the work nicely. I’m really pleased with the outcomes it has the potential to create.
Poster Experimentation Using Images, Changing Opacity
Opacity Experiments
Trying to keep my final outcomes as consistent as possible I set about creating my posters with the intent of using the same effect the community consensus uses to vandalise designers work. The difference being that each poster focuses on one of the icons used. I also brought in the image from community consensus to explain the idea further but felt the posters were more effective with a clean background. After creating the opacity versions I didn’t like the outcome as it wasn’t as effective as I wanted it to be, so decided to keep the same theme but use full opacity versions of the icons so that they could be easily recognised while still retaining that random placement element.