The Design Process: Week 2

Day 1: Using InDesign/ Photoshop 
Aim of the day: To produce a film poster for the movie, 'The 33' to be displayed in the London underground by manipulating existing imagery and type.

I found this day quite enlightening as although I am interested in the movie posters as they are vital in communicating the important factors of a movie, I have never actually considered the designing aspect of it. Looking at the treatments of different film posters provided a great deal of insight and helped inspire my own design. Fro my research I found the 'Argo' poster one of the best designed as all the graphic formal elements complimented each other well and I found that it captured the movie really well.

In terms of designing my version of the movie poster I set out to make mine as different as possible by putting my own style into it. I made the decision not to use images of the miners as I felt the focus should be on the the other elements of the story, such as the families of the miners and the fact that the news could only tell the world so much, our knowledge about what the miners actually felt was quite limited. This influenced my choice to use two images, one of a young buy and one of a birds eye view of the mine at night which are quite ambiguous. I edited these images on photoshop which was challenging in terms of having to make a decision on how I wanted to layout my images as this is a crucial element of the poster as the images tell a story. I also found trying to incorporate image and type on InDesign difficult; as I experimented with different layouts/ typefaces I found that it proved to be a lot harder than it looked. The placement of typography is an essential element of the poster as it is what communicates the content of the poster to the audience. 

Overall, I think my poster was successful as it clearly captured elements of the movie and also exhibited my ability to manipulate images on photoshop and to work with layout on InDesign. If I had more time to work on my poster I would have created a photo montage using more images as I think this technique is quite effective. 

Fig.1 The 33 film poster (authors own, 2013)

Day 2: Study zone research 
Aim of the day: To research a chosen topic within the field of graphic design and create a penguin book cover as well as a double page within the book with the information gathered. 

I chose to base my research on the topic of advertising as this is the area of graphics that I am interested in. I found this task interesting as I found a range of books that covered different areas of the topics which was beneficial to not only my research but also my book cover as it helped me form my ideas on what type of book I would like to have visually. The main problem I had with this task was my time management as I spent too much time researching rather than thinking of ideas for the cover of the book. After speaking with my tutor I decided it was best to keep my cover simple both visually and conceptually. I then deiced to use an image of one of my favourite print advertisements of recent and title the book 'The best of print ads 2013'. The purpose of this book is to feature the best print advertisements visually as well as conceptually. I chose to take this approach to the book as I felt featuring all times of adverts is too broad. I struggled to decide on the content (back and internal double page). This was due to the fact I hadn't really thought about the importance of what the book actually says. This led me to consider if the book should be predominantly text or image based. 

Overall, I think this task was beneficial as it enabled me to consider the use of image and text in a given context and the importance of communicating certain pieces of information rather than others. If I was able to improve on this design, I would have spent more time on developing the book cover and would have taken a different approach by creating my own series of adverts for example. 

Fig.2 Advertising, book cover (authors own, 2013)

Day 3: 3D/Laser cutter
Aim of the day: To gather an understanding of the equipment in the 3D room and put this into practice by using the laser cutter to produce a final piece.

I found this day interested as I enjoyed being able to use different materials. I feel as though with the majority of my projects I am limited to using specific materials such as paper for a poster. Being introduced to other materials broadened my horizon as I will be a lot more experimental with my work in future projects. For my piece using the laser cutter I was unsure what design I wanted to create. I therefore chose to keep it simple by referring to a quote I used earlier in week from a book (A fault in our stars) "My thoughts are starts I cannot fathom into constellations". Initially, I  wanted to make this quite an illustrative piece, however due to restrictions on time I settled for a simple treatment using type. I think my final outcome is successful, to an extent. It works as a graphic piece nonetheless it is very boring and underwhelming which isn't something I would want to represent me as a designer.

Fig.3 Laser cutter design (authors own, 2013)

As a whole, these past two weeks have been useful as it led me to consider the basic principles behind the work I create and to look at the processes from a different perspective. It also taught me the importance of the process as although the final outcome is important the process determines the outcome. 

The Design Process: Week 1

Day 1: Colour and Illustration

Aim: To gather an understanding of the use of colour and to demonstrate this by creating illustrations for pieces of text/poetry using specific colour ways. One illustration then has to be put into context.

This workshop was focused on considering the importance of knowing how to manipulate colour in my work as it can be vital in areas such as illustration. To begin with, I thought the workshop was tedious in the sense that it was quite basic information. Nevertheless, I quickly discovered that I wasn't aware of a few elements concerning the use of colour such as some of the names of the variations of colours. The aim of the workshop was to illustrate pieces of text using each of the colour variations. I decided to take a different approach that I typically would by making my illustrations quite abstract and emotive. I found this interesting as I wasn't used to illustrating/communicating things without using literal text or image.  Overall, I enjoyed this workshop as it enabled be to be more thoughtful and expressive with my use of colour.

Fig.1 Book review illustration (authors own, 2013)

Day 2: Type Layout

Aim: To experiment with the layout of existing typography and to produce a CD cover demonstrating an understanding of typography.

I found this workshop useful as it made me return to basics and consider the graphic formal elements I tend to overlook whilst designing. Similarly to the colour and illustration task from the previous day I initially found it quite tedious and a bit restricting as I was limited to the use of 3 fonts: Helvetica, Gill Sans and Palatino. As I progressed with the task I later understood the lesson to be understood in the workshop as the point of it was to be able to successfully manipulate simple existing typefaces in order to go on to manipulate more complex type and drawn type created by me. 

For my final outcome of this workshop I chose to create an album cover for a band as I felt that it was better to create my own version of an already existing piece of work in order to have something to compare and contrast with. I chose the band Haim's cover for their album 'Days are gone' as I felt they would be interesting to work with due to their unique identity in regards to branding. 

Fig.2 CD cover (authors own, 2013)

Day 3: Poetry and Calligraphy

Aim: To experiment with calligraphy using text/poetry. To produce a wine label using a piece of calligraphy. 

Prior to doing this workshop I was really looking forward to it as I find the use of calligraphy quite effective aesthetically as it provides a certain finish. This is evident in the use of this style in several campaigns. I also liked the idea of using poetry with calligraphy as the two go quite well together. The problems I had with calligraphy as a medium was the control I had over the brush as compared to another medium like drawing, I didn't feel like i was completely able to incorporate my own style into what  I was designing. However, I feel to be able to accomplish this would take time as I will have to practice in order to feel confident. 

The set brief for the outcome of this workshop was to design a piece of calligraphy for a wine bottle. I decided to use the name 'Sacré' which is french for sacred as I wanted the name to blend with the style of my calligraphy in order to make it seem 'real'. In terms of the aesthetic I wanted to go for quite a different visual in terms of the conventional approach to the packaging of wine bottles by designing the external layer of the bottle to be blank and all the designs to be internal in order to create a more interesting effective and to encourage people to closer examine what they are consuming. This was however impractical with the given amount of time. I decided to not only create a wine label but to also stylise the wine bottle as well in order to create a complete aesthetic. I also chose to use all 3 colour variations to represent the versatile nature of the design as it can be used for all types on wine. 

Fig.3 Wine label (authors own, 2013)

What can you say?

Personal Manifesto

The aim of this project was to 'design a personal manifesto of information based on aspirations and experiences'. I initially interpreted the question 'What can you say?' literally by starting this project with research into manifesto itself, I then considered other factors like who I can influence, who I am and who influences me. This led me to look at some of the things that make me who I am. (my background, faith, environment, heritage, family and cultural history) I didn't find this research extremely beneficial as creating a manifesto based on the information gathered wouldn't be a personal one. 

In terms of research I looked at the graphic treatments by Hannah Viktorsson for her manifesto. This influenced the direction I took as it led me to consider how literal I want to be in terms of the content of my manifesto as well as how I want to present it visually. Conceptually, I decided that I wanted my manifesto to be a reflective and thought provoking one, not only for me but also for the audience. Rather than using statements I decided to use general questions as they reflect my character better. As an individual I spend a lot of time reflecting therefore I think this approach to writing my manifesto is the most suitable. 

Visually, I didn't want to simply create a poster as I felt that was too predictable. I decided to try something new and be more experimental which led me to choose to use a mirror for my final outcome. Initially I wanted to use handwriting for the text but as I began experimenting with different styles of type that the best outcome was to use an existing font and rather than create my own type I decided to use an existing typeface (Haettenschweiler) and scratch/etch it unto the mirror. This decision was also influenced by the feedback I received in my critique. In order to capture my manifesto and put it into context I decided to photograph myself looking into the mirror. 

Fig.1 Manifesto feature (authors own, 2013)

Fig.2 Manifesto feature (authors own, 2013)

Fig.3 Manifesto feature (authors own, 2013)

Fig.4 Manifesto feature (authors own, 2013)

Fig.5 my personal manifesto (authors own, 2013)

Overall I am pleased with the outcome of my personal manifesto nonetheless, I feel that it lacks clarity as a graphic piece as it fails to communicate visually that it is my personal manifesto in its own, without further explanation. In addition to this my time management was quite poor as I wasn't able to finish it in the set amount of time. This is due to my slow thought process in considering the possible outcomes. In order to avoid this problem in future projects I need to be quicker and experiment as I think of ideas as this is a skill necessary as a graphic designer. 

Manifesto readdressed*

Fig.6 Personal manifesto (authors own, 2014)

What does the group say?

Group film

The task for this week long project was to produce a film on a given word. My group's word was 'Ambidextrous' this is defined as 'the ability to use both hands with equal capability". Although I was fully aware some people are capable of using both hands with ease, this was the first time I had come across the term 'ambidextrous'. My initial thoughts in regards to the treatment of this subject was to explore the reasons as to why some people are Ambidextrous as only 1% of people are naturally ambidextrous. This led me to consider the cultural issues behind the left hand and the stigma attached to it. It occurred to me that some people are naturally left handed but are then forced to write with their alternative hand.

As this was a group task we had to brainstorm together in order to come up with a final, shared vision for our film. We decided that the purpose for the film was for it to be an educational one on the word ambidextrous and the target audience was to be young children. A part of the brief was to incorporate typography into the film therefore we decided to do this via several different techniques by drawing on paper and hands, as well as cut out computer generated type to create a more playful effect that appeals and intrigues our target audience.

Overall, I think our film response to the word 'ambidextrous' was successful because it treated the word in a manner which was predictable but at the same time unpredictable.  Although a big emphasis was placed on the literal definition of the word, the film was also purpose driven as it prompted the audience to try something different. If I was able to rework the film or to do something completely different, I think I would have looked into adding depth to the subject by researching into why there is stigma attached to being left- handed. I found group work in general beneficial as I think the ideas we generated were stronger as a whole rather than as individuals. This experience also allowed me to see things from the perspective of others as each member of the group brought something different to the table

Ambidextrous- a visual documentary 

Individual poster 

Fig.1 graphic film poster (authors own, 2013) 

My aim for my individual poster was to create something that had elements from the film in it but to put my own personal twist on it. I decided to take the fact: 'Only 1% of people are Ambidextrous' because it is quite ambiguous and would prompt someone who has unfamiliar with the word to search it up. In support of this I added hints to the meaning of the word by incorporating the hand writing of one individual (myself) which looks like it was done by two people as one half was done with my left hand and the other with my right to suggest the meaning behind the word. I also added the text at the bottom of fig.1, '*Unfortunately, I'm not one of them, it would be handy if I was' which is a pun in order to make the poster more fun/humorous. I think this was a successful treatment as it is a similar approach to that taken in the film done as a group but in this instance I am able to add my style into my design.