Exhibition Branding Evaluation

For this brief, to say I had never once doubted anyone in my group and their efforts, and the fact we had consistent thorough communication I never doubted we wouldn't be successful in having a distinct well backed up exhibition identity produced.

During these few weeks, there have been many changes made which all derived from initial discussions which due to the amount of us and the varied talents were so many initial concepts! Choosing the 60s inspired theme was a strong choice as we had the colour scheme and personality to build upon that I felt would be very different to others and matched the exhibitions theme so well, turning the old in to new. A modern retake on a well known old design concept got me excited to start designing. As documented on the contrast, my main role within the group was to design the posters influencing the logo and identity of the exhibition. I was and still am very proud of my initial poster designs even though the typeface let this down.

A mistake I made due to personal time management issues of working on other projects was not acting fast enough in re designing these posters which needed to be stripped back and using a newer typeface, of which as a group ideas were shared and agreed on. Although I was always available for feedback and in communication, as this was agreed as my main role I should have put more effort in to produce ideas for a new identity despite our newer one being agreed on by us all.

The group is a very strong one with everyones strengths being put to use in the right ways, and at the point of turning our identity around I felt lost as my strength is making a bold design which wasn't appropriate for this brief as a whole, so I tried my hardest to contribute to ideas and discussions as much as I possibly could as I felt bad for not putting in as much effort as the others due to personal issues I have been facing.

Despite this, after our second presentation, we were picked and I am just so glad as everybody worked so hard! Our final identity as shown in this blog post matches my personal branding aims to modernise and create a branding that displayed variation and originality of art students skills and incorporating halftones and bursts of contrasting colours. The framing is also a technique I have used in the past which is a successful way of giving the branding it's stamp and framing the finer details and adding strong distinction between the frame and the art detailing. The typeface is also stripped back without being too thin which I was really worried about and tried to steer away from throughout thorough discussions on our Facebook chat which was used by us all daily, as well as meeting up most days throughout 2 weeks.

I would have loved the light box idea to have been pushed forward to use on the vents as a social media attraction and lighting effect within the exhibit, however the window covers will do this and were a very praised feature within our presentation feedback. Features such as this are crucial in making the exhibition more than average and as our definite audience will be students from LCA, i know art combined with light is a very popular feature to post on social media and hashtag events therefore promoting the exhibition such as Headrow Houses light boxes.

This experience has been amazing and I am admirable and content with my group, it is just unfortunate that I didn't pull the weight as much as I should have done and this is a crucial lesson. Despite being successful, I myself don't feel successful which I would not want to happen again in the future.

Bank Note Evaluation

Traditional print isn't dead but definitely is a lot more work and practice and craft are crucial in getting the result you envision. Looking back, using screen print would have produced more perfected results needed for the exhibition but due to bad time management and leaving the production quite late, my results are not perfect but are embodiments of my aims and research.

My outcome is opulent and looks royal and special, which I intended. I preferred my carved lino as I had the idea to describe that it was worth its weight in gold and I found the lino print process to be truly unique and satisfying to make. Printing both designs on varied stock was crucial as lighter stocks really didn't work and compliment the fine art detail of the linoprints effect. Knowing this could be a downfall, I had to make it work as an art piece that celebrates the speciality of such a grand currency and I feel it is fitting for an exhibition piece as it reminds me of a high valued fine art piece. Having the other side foiled seemed to be the technique that would work hand in hand with my opulent concept and other print method. This adds the cutting modern edge needed for the other side that celebrates the finer details and luxury detailing with foiled text radiant from all angles along with the 'real gold' gfsmith stock I chose to use for my final.

Another way I could have produced a more perfected outcome was to book the laser cutter to zigzag the edges in an acceptable way instead of trying to mock this golden ticket design influence with the craft scissors. The results were appalling and I have learnt in future if I am going to create a design inspired by so many grand inspirations I need to perfect and plan this properly to do it justice. Despite this, my final sides were cut to reduce printing gaps and the sizing is ideal a little larger than the standard banknote as this kind of currency isn't what would be put in pockets evidenced in research, but held in banks or framed to appreciate its extremely high value and tonal 'real' gold design. The currency was not added as this  amount would be grand and dreamt of in all countries such as the golden ticket in the film. This is the golden note of dreams, which could have been crafted a whole lot better with more practice and better time management but I think will stand out in the exhibition with its use of metallic tonal golds and fine detailing. The speckled foiling is definitely not ideal, and as it is present in the text may bring down the design but numerous attempts showed no change which I think is down to that particular stock which was the most ideal in its thickness and reflective detail. This is a redesign with the purpose to be designed to match the true value and desire context of the high currency, and has the fine details with the purpose to allow it to be admired like highly valuable fine art is the most prestigious galleries. Having the cut out/zig zag detailing added degraded the high value I am portraying through the design.

 

Studio Brief 4: Motivational Mantras outcome and Evaluation

I also asked fine art students before going to print, if they felt inspired or motivated by the colour choices and bold range of design advice aimed at undergraduate design students to reach beyond just graphic design and in to the arts itself as I want it to boost creativity and motivate. I mainly got the comment that its design was 'visually pleasing' and that they preferred it to a stripped back black and white/paler colour scheme as the eye is drawn to the advice, and that the overlay of my mono print on the cover combined graphic design with a layer of fine art that celebrated the unity of the two. Personally, I really enjoy combining graphic design with fine arts therefore this represents my style in one way, which I wanted to inject in to this brief and 'have fun with it'. Making it not too formal in it's style also appeals to the target audience of first years being inducted as it shouldn't be a scary experience and they should feel excited and look forward to the prospects of injecting their own style and fun in to design when they can. This design is intended to be welcoming and helpful in guiding first years in to successful habits and to act as a non boring reminder they can keep with them either pinned to their wall, on their shelves or on their desks.

The uplift format I arranged it in is ideal for making it easier to tear the pages out if they wanted to put some up on their inboard and despite really liking the glossier stock as it added a radiancy to the colours, I didn't think it particularly needed it as the designs are already quite bold and it would be cheaper to mass produce to hand out. The high gloss finish when I put it on walls to test, would get in the way of the wording in certain lighting angles.

The combination of structure with disperses of contrasting loud colour reflect upon what I have learnt this year; that in graphic design, you can have fun and inject your own personality and style in to your work but as we often work for clients rather than our selves we need the structure and order to justify and make our design the best it can be. This is a reason I chose graphic design as a degree, to organise and add some structure in to my often imperfect and messy art work which has been one of the most valuable lessons for me, and is important amongst our year group. Rules as such from the likes of Vignellis Cannon and learning through design principles is what inspired the structural design embedded in the colours. I overlaid this using the pink and blue combination (done for colour contrast and to be gender equal) from the front cover so that the effect would be consistent whereas affecting the other pages variety of mixes in an even way.

In production, what I would have differently is try and balance the colours and quotations order more effectively although I did try and do it so that no two similar combinations would be next to each other to keep the variation and visually pleasing aspect consistent and fresh. Furthermore, if I had managed my time better I could have really tried to get even more of the mantras from my year, although having a mix of theirs and my own personal perhaps fits the brief more as it is speaking from experience. Also, trying this design as a concertina to compare the difference in effect on production, or even finding a way to make the pages more tearable would be ideal. The design of the pages having to be lifted would be a lot easier for this purpose, however. For example, ripping posters out of magazines when I was younger in its standard orientation would often be really difficult and they would easily rip but if I turned the pages the other way it gave me more control. It would be easier as there aren't too many pages and it is only stapled, also. I feel it is a bold contemporary but cost effective easily produced piece that has my personality with organisation of graphic design contained within it, whilst being motivational and eye catching in its colour scheme and aesthetically pleasing alongside event flyers and posters freshers are bombarded with in their first weeks!

Money production

I intended to use letterpress as my second traditional print method that I would have the words 'one hundred million', however although I thought maybe a traditional serif typeface would fit the theme when I looked at the ones we had I felt they would bring down my design and not look very effective. Due to time running out acquiring others would take time and I am not that confident my work would look its best.

I have decided to try foiling the letters on just gold stock and have my lino print as its other side, as this matches the metallic luxury theme perfectly and having one simpler side with the detail on the other reminds me of british pound coins. I also considered embossing but again as I am running low on time and am unsure of how to do this I am going to keep it to the two techniques.

I really want to use the strong coliseum font of the updated wonka golden ticket as it is compact and strong but modern,and will be more legible compared to thin serif letterpress. As coliseum has to be bought, I tried a range of typeface that matched.

The first would probably go and would look quite great gatsby, whereas din or betas neue gives it the modern redesign element that is encouraged within the brief and is closer to the golden ticket redesign of the newer film. 

With this brief I really should have thought time management through, as this is more important than ever as it will be displayed to the general.

Motivational Mantras for the design student

I chose this catchy title as it links the bold zing and alert brightness of the colour palette used and the short, boldly put strong pieces of advice directly related to first year graphic design that are key points I have put together myself and through feedback of others in my year. Using striking shape overlays, a monoprint and adjusting hues I feel this balance has the electric energy of my art direction and I want this electricity to be felt by the students seeking guidance and a creative boost which this is intended for.

With this brief I followd mainly one of the mantras, 'have fun with it.' Typing it out I realised this was a key opportunity to work with my favourite use of colour which is bright and contrasting, and allow this to give off an exciting energy which was needed as I realised my quotes due to being in tall strong typeface Bebas Neue may look shouted as if they were orders. However, I wanted to turn around this affect of the typeface and make it a positive helpful but loud reminder that would stand out in flats/classrooms/halls of LCA students giving them an energy boost and reminder to have fun with it and not forget key points to being successful that could be overlooked due to distractions, in which I am encouraging them to know they are good enough to do it and this is a distraction due to colours but a reminder; productive wall piece/poster!

Before print tommorow I intend to put my designs all together and may adjust mantras to be more soft such as typical motivational mantras I have researched such as these

I did attempt to use a calligraphy typeface or one with a softer, more elegant tone of voice but as shown in my main inspiration of the wall design in Shoreditch of 'bad until you're good', the two contrasting strengths of the capital tight typeface and crazy clashing of colours work together. These types of mantras are more life mantras that work well with brilliant scenery backdrops of nature and buddhist imagery, but I have designed this to be specifically for the art student. I also feel calligraphy style is very popular in the graphic design community for self inspiration and motivation, but I want to try it in a more modernist style way decreasing the softness and adding power as personally I find bolder statements/more boldy designed statements more motivating as I feel it has truer intentions. Just like I prefer constructive criticism as it helps me improve my work as i've learnt, rather than just being told my work is 'nice' or 'good.'

Studio Brief 4 Initial Designs

Colour contrast basic use of betas neue a modern striking contemporary typeface similar to the one used in the piece I am using for my colour palette

A typeface dedicated to gridding, fits in with how the students will be first introduced to type height and layout design

Fitting the quote more, having fun with the tones of the colours I am contrasting displaying the variation of tones and colour mixing and the gradient is soft but striking and doesn't make the text illegible

Using this with the grid typeface doesn't have the same modern contemporary effect and I feel it doesn't fit the popular more modernist style that first years if not already will be introduced to through each other which was new to me.

I feel like the 3d effect is too much with the gradient background which I am really loving creating due to the soft tones, and the white would be more preferred due to contrast and legibility and will be safer to print digitally...

A very early stage of a guide to design board order I used the colour palette within and contrasting colour. At the start of the year many people were unsure of which order design boards went in probably due to sheer panic so this would be a useful part of my design. I am still unsure of the production outcome and don't know how I will fit this all in and have issues fitting the type and finding another I think fits within the consistency.