W3 - Graphic Design Process

The Graphic Design posts are a bit jumbled up, so this blog is about the whole week of work in general.

 I was quite looking forward to Graphic Design as I've done work experience at two graphic design companies before and I'd enjoyed designing. But what I didn't realise was how much drawing would be involved this week and I was very pleasantly surprised about this. We began by drawing mind maps on what we thought graphic design was before pooling everything together as a group and discovering that a lot of us made the mistake of assuming that almost everything designed, particularly for advertising purposes, was graphic design, which it wasn't.

We spent the rest of the day focusing on drawing in graphic design looking at typography in particular, which meant first creating backgrounds using ink and collage and then finding text on products (packaging). We were each given one product and we had to find 3 pieces of interesting text on it, though it could be just a letter or the whole word. To plan how we were going to use the text we did thumbnail sketches which meant drawing 3 small rectangles to plan out the composition and making 3 different designs so you could pick your favourite to go on one of the backgrounds. I'd never done thumbnail sketches before, but I loved drawing them as you could work on the composition and possible ideas without pressure. After we had designed 3 ideas for the one product we then replicated this process on another 3 products. Below are all of my thumbnail sketches.

We then selected our favourite design from each product (I tried to select totally different ones to make it more interesting), ready to add to one of the 4 backgrounds that we had made earlier.

But instead of just adding them however we wanted we had to use a different process each time. First we had a graphite stick and we had to do a continuous line drawing, then we had an oil pastel and we had to draw not using our writing hand (so using the left hand for me), then we used ink and a long stick which we had to hold at the end to draw with and finally masking tape and shoe polish. I'd never tried to draw in most of these ways, particularly with shoe polish and masking tape, which I thought was an unusual idea but such a brilliant use of materials and it looked great. I think this was to get us used to thinking differently about drawing and to use different techniques and initially I felt a bit of trepidation because of how permanent the materials were and I didn't want to ruin my backgrounds, but I loved experimenting with drawing and learning some new techniques. This exercise also gave me a greater appreciation of the text all around us and how varied typography can be on a single item. Before I'd never really consider text that much, but now I find myself looking for it and the different typefaces on products.

The final image

From then on we focused in Graphic Design on our typography project which involved creating 4 A4 designs bade on different words. The whole process seemed to be about shortlisting, of designing and then deciding on the best design afterwards to give us more options on the route we could take. We started with 7 words and created mind maps on them all on our thoughts and feelings towards them and then we took the words and drew at least 6 thumbnail sketches for possible typography designs that reflected the words' natures. Below are my designs.

Fuse

Cascade

Isolation

Rattle

Cascade

Migration

Balance

  Leaving the designs for a while, we thought about what colours we associate with the words, illustrating this with small shape based collage pieces.

This was to help with creating backgrounds for the designs, which we then moved onto. We had to create 2 different backgrounds using collage for each word, ready for the words to be applied to later on the computer. Initially I was a bit confused about this process, but when I realised that we were shortlisting the backgrounds down, it made sense to me although I sometimes found thinking of different designs difficult as I wanted them to be visually interesting. Below are all of the backgrounds:

Fuse

Fuse

Isolation

Isolation

Cascade

Cascade

Balance

Balance

We were encouraged to play around with the photocopier and printer where colours could be changed and I tried this several times and the results were quite good. I did change the complete colour of one of my designs for Balance though and I was really surprised by the results. By just using black and blue the colours of the image became quite dark and vivid, but the only way I thought that I could add this piece to my original design would be to cut pieces out and stick them over the coloured images. When seeing if the colours would work together by placing the designs next to each other, the colours looked too different to work for me. It looked like the composition would be off and focus would be on the images, not the typography, so although this experiment looked good, I left it out of the design.

After completing all of our designs we selected the 4 final backgrounds which we would add our text designs to. I chose these designs mainly because I thought they were more interesting, offering greater ways to position the text as well as providing a background that as well as supporting the words, was also good to look at itself:

Fuse

Isolation

Cascade

Balance

 To test out the designs, to see if the typography would fit with them we duplicated the images, creating thumbnails of them really and then drew the text on. For example:

Balance Thumbnail

I found these thumbnails really useful for planning, especially for the Balance design as I hadn't planned the text for the background. But with the thumbnails I could see how the text would interact with the background and consequently I decided to change the position of the text so that it became a part of the background, resting on the shapes, which I think looks a lot better and ironically balanced in terms of composition.

After this we scanned the backgrounds into the computer and then edited them using photoshop to enhance the colours, using the Hue/Saturation, Brightness/Contrast and Levels tools. I never knew that an image could be improved so much just by using Photoshop as the images seemed to look quite professional after editing them as the colours were brighter/ darker and the tones deeper - I was really impressed with what you could do. Finally we added the text on Photoshop, allowing us to use different fonts, colours and to position the text how ever we wanted. The only image that I didn't add a typeface to was the Cascade image as I wanted a hand drawn look to the text. So I drew the text out, scanned this into the computer, edited it to make the text darker and easier to see and then positioned it onto the background using Photoshop, which meant that my original background could remain clean.

The final images can be seen in this blog post.

This process was a lot of work because of shortlisting everything, but I really enjoyed it and I think my final images are better for this as I had to select the best designs each time, not settle for my first idea.

W1 - Final Fine Art

Friday was our last day on fine art, which I found a bit of a shame as I was enjoying the free, loose working style, which was such a break after A-Level Fine Art in which everything had to have a relation to your project.

In this session we had to combine the loose working style and techniques that we had picked up, together with metaphors to make at least 2 final pieces in 2D, incorporating 3D elements as well.

I began with the Fleet Foxes White Winter Hymnal metaphor as a starting point, focusing on the elements of walking and travel in the song, which are quite outmoded when you consider them. Why walk through the snow when you can take a car or another easier mode of transport?

I'd brought with me a Tron Lightcycle toy and so I thought I could use this to signify travel. I thought of creating a pattern with it and so began to trace around it onto paper. The plan was to cover the paper and then fold it up so that the yellow back of the paper would create a glowing centre of this folding object, signifying how we aim to protect ourselves with objects in various ways, again and again aiming for protection or warmth in the song's case. But this changed as I progressed with the piece. I started to think about manufacturing and the process of tracing the Lightcycle and then painting them all in blue. It was taking forever and the results were inconsistent, much like hand made manufactured products. But machinery allows a much quicker process. I replicated this process by creating a stencil and repeated the pattern. Admittedly the stencil wasn't very good, but the colour was far more consistent and the process incredibly quick.

The Hand Drawn Pattern

As I applied the paint it started to fade, which I liked, it added more meaning to the piece, so I decided to consciously make the paint fade as the pattern went on.

The Stencil Pattern

The stencil print didn't turn out as clear as I wanted it, but the process seemed more important than the actual print in a way.

The finished stencil print

Final Piece (1)

The metaphor for the piece was related to manufacturing, of by hand vs by machine. By hand is now old fashioned, it's fading into the past and is slow. While machine manufacturing is quicker and more efficient and is more prominent then ever. Hand manufacturing is being lost and people can be sentimental over this but both processes are still just manufacturing (hand made goods are usually a lot more expensive as well) and as shown by the colour, both are just as cold.

Object Envelope

I began by thinking about the White Winter Hymnal lyrics again and how there is a strong emphasis on being warm, of using scarves to warm and protect ourselves. I thought about our use of objects - that probably one of the most basic uses of man-made objects is to keep us warm, yet this message has become muddled over time as we focus more on owning more objects, not their practicality for survival as such. These objects have little substance yet they appear useful (colourful), so I thought a good way to show this would be to use outlines of objects like I'd used before.

The flat image

But then I thought to bend the paper to represent our still present need for warmth that we try to fill with these objects. The paper bends to try and be warm, but it still has jagged cold edges - these objects can't help.

The final image bent into shape

 A pleasant side effect of the piece was that because the outlines were drawn with pastel, they smudged when the paper was folded. I liked the idea that their message has become distorted.

Overall, I enjoyed Fine Art this week as after the structured approach at A-Level, it was nice to be able to just experiment without having to worry as much about an end result. Mixing this with the conceptual, metaphor side of things provided a working style that I imagine a lot of Fine Artists use where accidental pieces and effects are created and where the process is just as important as the final image. For the first week it was a great introduction to moving from A-Level, which the thought process of the project did remind me of, to the experimental exploratory stage.

W3 - Graphic Design: Final Images

Below are the final A4 designs for the 4 words that I chose for the Graphic Design project this week which were: Cascade, Balance, Fuse and Isolation.

I'm really happy with the final designs especially after photoshopping them to highlight the colours and contrast as I think it has made them look more professional. I had no idea that you could achieve these kind of effects in photoshop and by adding the text in photoshop it had made the designs look clean and bold, so I'm quite surprised at how well they have come out. I think though that if I could change anything it would be to perhaps look at the colours again on the Balance design. I'm not entirely sure what's wrong, whether the colours are too bright and sections need darkening, or whether the composition of the images and text could have been organised better, but something feels off about it compared to the other designs. If I'd had more time I think I would have spent it looking at the background design to perfect it, despite this though I still think the design works with the text.

It's been a really rewarding week as everything has led to these products from designing using thumbnail sketches, to shortlisting the designs, backgrounds and words. By combining sketches, collage and photoshop this week it's made me realise how impressive images can be created and how different processes can be used in Graphic Design, not just computers.

W3 - Graphic Design Evaluation

From looking at Graphic Design this week I think that I will be more aware of design that is all around us, especially the use of text, like it's typefaces and connotations. Before I thought that the text was always second to the image, but I realise now that it's just as important. By focusing on typography on this project it means that I'll now observe text more closely, particularly on packaging as I never knew that they contained so many different fonts.

I was inspired also by the work of Barkley for the Johnson County Library as I think the designs are an amazing piece of advertisement that not only creates a fun, modern impression of the library but of the selected books as well. I love the use of puns and bold designs and that it's possible that the series can be continued by simply selecting a new novel.

The discipline that I find the most interesting in Graphic Design is the drawing aspect of it. I've really enjoyed creating the thumbnail sketches as they allow you to plan ideas and sort out compositions before committing to one idea. Before having to specify down, it's a fun and free way of working that encourages development. I've also enjoyed looking at how design is applied, especially on book covers. I always love looking at different book covers and designers' takes on material and I found it interesting to see several examples of how designers apply a style to a series. I found this useful to see as they provided good examples of when design can develop, forming an obvious series tied together, yet each design was different. After focusing on typography I also realised how a series can be tied together simply through text and that text is crucial sometimes in conveying the tone of the book.

Overall, I think this week in Graphic Design has taught me a lot about the medium, changing my outlook on design so that I'm now more aware and appreciative of the different aspects of it.

W3 - Graphic Design Homework

This blog focuses on answering the questions set by Graphic Design this week.

1. The 6 main disciplines of Graphic Design are Advertising, Packaging/ Promotional, Branding, Editorial, Corporate Identity and Web Design.


2. The graphic design magazines in the library are Creative Review, Eye and Computer Arts and I chose the article The shape of a pocket from the Autumn 2011 edition of Eye.

The Shape of a Pocket Article - Eye Magazine

 I chose this article as I was aware of the Penguin book cover series before and I love looking at that series and book covers in general, so the article immediately appealed to me. I didn't know that there was almost a French version of this series for philosophy books, which seems a greater challenge than designing covers for novels because of the lack of tangible concepts in these books. Consequently, I'm amazed at the appearance of each cover, at how different and imaginative they are in terms of look and their actual process of creation from everything down to the insistence of text placement in the middle of the page. It seems a shame that the designer of the covers, Henry Cohen, isn't well-renowned for this work.


3. The Design Museum is a museum dedicated to showcasing innovative design from worldwide designers and architects that was founded in 1989 by Terence Conran. It's currently based on the South Bank in London, but will be moving to the Commonwealth Institute in West London and hosts exhibitions, educational programmes and collections. The museum also holds every year the Designs of the Year Awards which celebrates designs of the past twelve months, where a judging panel of design experts select the best designs from a range of categories: Architecture, Transport, Graphics, Interactive, Product, Furniture and Fashion. This year's overall winner was for the London 2012 Olympic Torch designed by Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby and commissioned by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG).

Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby with their winning design

Image from www.designboom.com

The graphic designer/ illustrator Alan Aldridge has exhibited at the Design Museum in the past, holding a retrospective of his work between October 2008 and January 2009 titled The Man With The Kaleidoscope Eyes, which references his influence in the 60's and 70's. He has designed pieces for The Beatles' album covers, the Penguin book cover series and Heineken adverts among others.

Penguin Book Cover

Information from www.designmuseum.org and www.alanaldridge.com

4. Stefan Sagmeister

Aiga New Orleans Jambalaya poster, 1997

Image from www.sagmeister.com

I like this poster because of the mix of different type faces and how it's arranged so that the text changes sizes, spacing and position considerably, but the poster doesn't seem messy. It creates a fun impression, yet it isn't overbearing by looking too busy. I think this is down to the great composition as the strong image and the text I think could have overpowered each other, but they are kept in the balance.


Wim Crouwel

Typeface New Alphabet, 1967

Image from www.wikipedia.org

I really like Crouwel's typeface because initially it reminded me of the fact that people can still read words if the first few and end few letters are kept in the same place, but the middle letters can be mixed up. The typeface is made up of only straight lines so sections of letters can't be seen, but you can still tell what they are and I found it quite fun to decipher some of them when I first saw it. It was originally made for computers and I like that it's probably easier for a computer to generate/read than it is for people, fitting the client almost.

Information from http://www.design.nl/item/wim_crouwel_on_his_80th_birthday

Alan Fletcher

Visual identity of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, 1989

Image from www.designmuseum.org

I really like this logo because of how clean and simple it is, but it conveys so much about Victoria and Albert. I love that the 'A' is cut in half but connected to the '&' as it portrays to me Victoria's devotion to Albert and that they were complete together, yet his life was cut down and Victoria had to stand alone. Even the colour black to me shows the sustained mourning period of Victoria where she wore only black. Plus the formality of the text shows how they had to remain regal at all times. I think it's a great logo because it's clear but possibly conveys meanings beyond branding.

Kris Sowersby

Version 1.0, 2009

Image from http://www.vllg.com/KLIM#panel=news-gallery

I like this type face because of it's appearance - it looks just like a stencil effect. You wouldn't think that just by leaving a slight gap between sections of a letter that it would convey the appearance of a stencil so well and so instantly. But I think it does while combining the practicality of a typical type face in that's it's still easy to read, Sowersby doesn't let the stencil motif overwhelm it.

Pep Carrio

Identity for Marain Moliner, 2006

Images from http://www.pepcarrio.com/filter/Identidad/Maria-Moliner

I loved this design initially because of the clever imagery, which suggests the nurturing effect of books on our lives and relates to how Maria Moliner wrote the detailed dictionary Diccionario de uso del español. The image is kept simple in block colour and by using this same colour on the text it really highlights how prominent Moliner is and what the image is related to. The type face as well,which is slightly informal, helps to make the whole design contemporary.

Noma Bar

IBM Poster

Image from http://www.dutchuncle.co.uk/system/pictures/2334/large/IBMOutcomes_Poster%206.jpg?1285587316

I looked at a range of Bar's work and I really loved it as a lot of his pieces are minimalist and simple in design yet conceal hidden elements, which are quite often comical, like the poster above. Particularly with the poster above you get the initial image and then after a few seconds you recognise that the plate, knife and fork actually make a pig's face - I really do enjoy the moment of realisation with the works. For this poster the flat bright colours really help to make a subject that can be quick dry into an entertaining piece, helping to improve IBM's image for me. The placement of the text and typeface I think are also important, as it's quite informal and they let the image do most of the work, which again makes IBM seem more relaxed. This placement gives the pig a surprised look on his face as well highlighted by the brown text colour, making the poster even more comical. Overall, I think it's very effective.

5.  After looking through some of the graphic design books I found these designers whose work I liked:

Saul Bass

Seven Samurai Poster

 Image from www.rllmukforum.com

To be honest I was already a fan of Bass' work as I love looking at film posters and so had seen examples of his work before. However the latest book containing most of his work was in the library and it reminded me of all the different areas of design that Bass was involved with, from movie posters to logos. One of the pieces that I saw in the book was the Seven Samurai poster which I think is beautiful and quite visually arresting - it's incredibly simple, but it tells you everything that you need to know about the film by the use of red and the tally that it involves violence and from the brush work that it's set in Japan.

I also saw the Girl Scouts logo that Bass designed and this reminded me of how since his original design all that had been done to update it was to change the hair styles. It signifies how great a designer Saul Bass was that his logos don't need changing much, when other organisations have to keep updating their logos.

How the logo was changed

 Image from http://www.mediabistro.com/unbeige/saul-bass-iconic-girl-scouts-logo-gets-bangs-nose-job_b8370

Nicolas Bourquin - Onlab Company

Map of Dubai's art scene for Wallpaper magazine, 2011

 Image from www.onlab.ch

I couldn't find online the exact piece that I had seen in the library but I found this piece just as interesting in it's portrayal of figures which can often be quite dull to look at. Here the information is still prominent but the appearance of the page is just as engaging. I think the colour scheme is also a strange choice for an art related page - you'd expect bright colours but it mixes the bright yellow with the more statistical looking grey with the dark black to create a design that is in perfect balance between art and statistics.

Nathan Burton

 English Journeys Cover Series - Penguin books

Images from http://bookcoversanonymous.blogspot.co.uk/2010/07/nathan-burton-english-journeys.html

I found a selection of these in a graphic design book and although they perhaps lean more towards illustration it's the use of a standard layout and different typefaces for the titles that I think makes the series, though the illustrations are also beautiful. The oval shape gives the books a more traditional feel, which fits the material perfectly just like the different typefaces used which suggest the tone of the books. My favourite example is of SOME COUNTRY HOUSES and their Owners because the text starts very rigid and formal before becoming more softer in lowercase and then returning to upper case for Owners, with a slightly bent w that creates space between the w and n. Just through the text it suggested to me about the authority of the owners, although I can't confirm whether it relates to the material as I haven't read the book before.

KNARF (Company)

Design for School of Visual Arts

Image from www.adsoftheworld.com

 I liked this work because of the initial idea of it of turning the environment into different objects related to education by playing with scale. I couldn't find a picture of it but my favourite from the book was of a set of bike stands turned into a piece of paper, with the stands acting at the margin holes in the paper. It looked amazing and so professionally done, that it promoted the school just by being clever with design, showing that the school was a bit out of the box and it didn't even use any text.

Barkley (Company)

These advertisements for Johnson County Library by Barkley were featured in a design book.

 

 

 

 Images from http://osocio.org/message/trucks_as_part_of_the_message/
 I love these as they have an immediate effect because of the clean, bold design but also from knowing the novels and realising the puns. It's a great piece of advertising because it engages you instantly as well known novels are mixed with less well known books, appealing to avid book fans and the general public. When the realise that it's for a library it seems even cleverer and promotes a modern impression of the library.

Goodby Silverstein & Partners Promotional Agency

Screenshot of GS&P's work for the anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge

 Image from www.goodbysilverstein.com

This wasn't the piece that I originally saw in the books in the library, but it included the same feature that I liked in the other piece, which was the use of block colour to create a simple but visually striking image that grabbed my attention immediately.