Wednesday 25 March 2015

OUGD503: Evaluation of all briefs



As the first brief I completed for responsive I was intrigued by the competition to design the face of the new pound coin. One thing that appealed to me about this was to completely change the style of design that would be printed on it, and I was inspired by the newer two pound coin featuring typographic illustration.  I'm not particularly happy with my final outcome and feel that I could have done something  lot more illustrative than a simple geometric composition depicting the British isles. I also would have considered the placement of text a lot more if I were to re do this brief. As a competition brief it has taught me that entering briefs like this can take up quite a lot of time and have minimal chances of winning, however I'm still glad I submitted my design.





Concerning lettering and logotypes I have learnt a lot. Having completed three briefs in this area in the responsive module, I can look back and see how I progressed from the first to the last.  One major thing I would improve on if I did these briefs again would be to explore the possibilities much further, as I feel that I could have exhausted the variations for each design before choosing one that I and the client was happy with.  This is something I will make sure to do in the future as it only results in a much more informed and conceptual outcome which I feel the ones I have produced are lacking.  This is partially down to the clients needs, which will always be an issue that must be addressed, however I want to start creating lettering solutions that have a deeper visual meaning other than being aesthetically pleasing.

I realise now that looking back at my work for Munich from a few months ago, I could have made the final outcome look far more professional than it does. The image needs more depth than just the drop shadow behind the text; this is something I can work on in future projects and plan to develop within my design work from now on.  This was one of the first hand lettered logos I have drawn and my lack of experience and practice is evident especially in the final 'how many times' text. I'm happy with the solution for the logo but I definitely could have explored different ways of writing the word a lot more.
I kept an uneven outline to replicate the messy look of the Drive logo and the outcome answers the brief in that sense.

In the future I will create many more preliminary sketches and show the client more refined versions of the design to begin with so they get a better picture of what it could look like. I also want to send clients more mock ups of finished results so they can visualise what they are paying for.

These briefs weren't that specific and my only guide was from the clients showing me examples of the kind of thing they wanted.  This meant I had to clarify the briefs before starting work which is a factor I could improve when working on similar jobs.





I really enjoyed working on the wallpaper brief for Feathr as it gave me a chance to create something for a different purpose, while utilising a style I have been working on and want to develop further. Matching up the design on Illustrator was a challenge, but has made me consider the production elements and practical applications of design rather than just the visual image.  


I really enjoyed producing physical publications to document my photographs and time in Europe, but they lack commercial value without a stronger focus on the topics of architecture and lifestyle.  If I narrowed it down to just architecture from each city the booklets may work better as a set.
The typographic covers and format of the back cover are consistent on each zine which reinforce their collective value. Although I originally included the horizontal grey line as a hint at the horizontal format of panoramic photos, it represents the journey through cities of Europe at the time, and keeping this gives me opportunity to create more photos and booklets under this brand.  I have the scope to produce more A5 booklets for each city I visit in the future, if I continue documenting the lifestyles and architecture. For me this is an ongoing project to achieve a better understanding of self publishing and book design which is something I am interested in doing in the future.

Throughout this brief I have furthered my experience of how similar photo books are created and sold by speaking to individual self publishers and visiting/ speaking to book stores. I’ve learnt a lot in the area of book design and production and feel more confident in my knowledge of editorial design.



While working on the presentation of our solution to send to D&AD, we found filming in the studio was better using the correct lighting equipment which picked up on the print finishes and colours well. Collaborating with film maker Rees helped us achieve the best quality footage and allowed us to work together with another student at the college, increasing our collective area of expertise.  

Contacting print studio Pressision was the first time I've dealt with a professional company concerning printing my own work, and our communication with James has increased my awareness of what needs to be considered when designing for print.  It also gave me an understanding of how much it costs to produce publications with select print finishes such as embossing.



Throughout all the briefs I worked on in this module I have targeted my interest in lettering and editorial work. I feel that I've improved enormously since the start of Responsive and it's given me an insight to how I can commercialise my hand drawn lettering work which is something I want to capitalise on as a designer. Photography and editorial design have also been a key part of this module for me and I plan to take the skills I have learnt in these areas forward in my practice in to third year.

Tuesday 24 March 2015

OUGD503: Final Finished Product

AirBnB's mission statement is in a large point size on the inside of the front cover, opposite the ID card which is the first page.  This placement informs people straight away what the aim of AirBnB is, and gives you information about the person they've just met.   We added an extra spread at the back of the passport with a page for notes using the same structure of lines that are used on the illustration spreads.  AirBnB's philosophies - five of their aims - cover the second to last page of the passport which reinforces the connection with the brand.  On the last page is a QR code to encourage people to connect with Maurice (example) through his AirBnB profile.  







Using the vinyl cutter we were able to create several different Belos and print them on to transparent paper so that when each one is stuck down, the illustrations will be seen through.  We cut them into circles which maintains continuity through all aspects of the design.  We also designed the net and made the pocket to fit in the back which will contain the pack of stickers.




We received the publications back from Pressision, and unfortunately the textured stock we had asked for on the cover hadn't been used.  It was still a thick stock but we all agreed it would have looked better with the textured Morocco stock. The gloss lamination covering the ID card and QR code page creates a more official aesthetic which is what we hoped for.  The embossed logo on the front cover added a tactile value to the document, however out of the ten booklets we had printed quite a few of them were offset from the white area which was disappointing. It also would have looked better if the emboss was raised more making it more apparent, but the texture can still be detected through touch. 







The pure white stock for the inside pages was definitely a good choice as it fits with the white used on the brand logo and doesn't distract or alter the perception of colour use, which is a key part of the design.  We used a grey stock similar to the one AirBnB use to hand make the pocket for the individual's stickers, which fits on the back page leaving the rausch colour visible as a border, coinciding with the borders throughout the passport.  In the end we had the passports staple bound to lower the cost while still achieving a neat finish, although saddle stitching the pages together would have been a much better binding technique.

I'm really happy with the final outcome and have enjoyed working with Dan and Mo on this brief.  It's definitely shown me what working collaboratively can achieve, and in the time frame we had I think we have produced a well informed and professional campaign to empower the AirBnB community.

Friday 20 March 2015

OUGD503: Recording Audio and Video

We used the sound booth to record the audio with Ashley, who has helped us with the voice over that will accompany the video.  It didn't take long at all as we had already written out the video script, final version shown below with our visualisation for the shot next to it.  This is the final version of the audio:


1 This Is Maurice (Maurice walking into frame and turning) 

 Maurice has just signed up to AirBnB (cut to headshot, some movement)


2 Anyday now Maurice's AirBnB passport will be pushed through his letterbox


(falls through letterbox)

3 Maurice's ID card not only displays all the relevant personal details but also shows when he joined our community at airBnB.   (slow zoom)

4 Maurices passport includes a pack of stickers displaying his personalised Belo which he created upon sign up. His AirBnB belo takes pride-of-place alongside his photograph. (flicks through passport - show pocket and pulling stickers out - flip back to first spread - hand with stickers leaves frame)


4.1 Maurice is now ready to travel


5 His stickers can be exchanged with both airbnb hosts and fellow travellers. The stickers work in the same way that stamps work in an official passport, but rather than representing a country, they represent individuals.

(another hand sticks their sticker on maurices passport - maurice then slides his passport out of view left)
(other hand slides passport in from right and maurice sticks his sticker in)


6 Every traveller and every host has valuable experiences to share, and with the AirBnB passport this is easier to do than ever

(Maurice writes in girls passport - circles something at the end)

7 The blank pages offer a canvas for notes, doodles and travel tips, all of which can be carried in your pocket for the duration of your journey. (slowly turn every page to see just illustration on blank pages)


8 Every page of every passport will be completely unique (flick through in reverse (sped up) showing pages filled with notes)


9 Maurice also has the option of sharing the pages of his passport quickly and easily through our app  by uploading them to his AirBnb profile. (iPhone photo thing)


10 (nice shots of passport) The AirBnB passport will instil trust, create stronger connections and allow the community to grow. 

(foreground passport on table - background out of focus maurice putting rucksack on)
11 The airBnB Passport is the perfect way for Maurice to document his adventures.u 


(Maurice pick up passport, put in pocket and walk away - pan up to sky - airbnb logo and 'belong anywhere' fades in - fade to rausch)



We originally planned to use Riptide by Vance Joy as a background track for the video as well as the voice over, however due to copyright reasons we had to rethink the choice of music and used a happy, repetitive, backing track from incompetech.com which was royalty free.




Wednesday 18 March 2015

OUGD503: Good type illustration

I follow @goodtype on Instagram which has become a platform that I use regularly in terms of hand lettering and typography research.  This particular page has given me plenty of inspiration over the past year; it features lettering examples and designs from people all over the world and of all different styles.  Last month they posted about a call for submissions from their audience, with a chance that the submission will get chosen to feature in the book they're producing.





The brief states that the submissions must not be previously published, and for this reason I'm not going to post my development work to this blog (or anywhere online) - printed material handed in with my module submission will include all my work up to the final piece.

Thursday 12 March 2015

OUGD503: Video Script

In order to present our response to this brief to the D&AD judges, we are creating a short video which will explain our idea and the process of customers using the passport, consequently explaining all the features of the design.  The brief states that deliverables in video format should be 2 mins maximum, so we aim to create a film with audio to explain our idea succinctly within this amount of time, which I feel is possible if we cut everything unnecessary and try to use this time to explain the idea and catch the judges attention from the beginning, ideally within the first 30 seconds.

After sending off the final document to be printed, we began to put together a rough video script while waiting for the finished results to arrive.



This Is Maurice (Maurice walking into frame and turning) 

Maurice has just signed up to AirBnB (cut to headshot, some movement)


Anyday now Maurice's AirBnB passport will be pushed through his letterbox

(Flash and sound - Photograph goes straight to ID Card)

Maurice's ID card not only displays all the relevant personal details but also shows when he joined our community at airBnB. His personalised AirBnB take pride of place alongside his photo (slow zoom)

Maurices passport includes a pack of stickers displaying his personalised Belo which he created upon sign up. (flicks through passport - show pocket and pulling stickers out - flip back to first spread - hand with stickers leaves frame)

These stickers can be exchanged with both airbnb hosts and fellow travellers. The stickers work in the same way that stamps work in an official passport, but rather than representing a country they represent individuals.

(another hand sticks their sticker on maurices passport - maurice then slides his passport out of view left)
(other hand slides passport in from right and maurice sticks his sticker in)


Every traveller and every host has valuable experiences to share and with the AirBnB passport this is easier to do than ever

(Maurice writes in girls passport - circles something at the end)

The blank pages offer a canvas for notes, doodles and travel tips, all of which can be carried in your pocket for the duration of your journey. (slowly turn every page to see just illustration on blank pages)


as you can see very page of every passport will be completely unique (flick through in reverse (sped up) showing pages filled with notes)


Maurice also has the option of sharing the pages of his passport quickly and easily through our app  by uploading them to his AirBnb profile. (iPhone photo thing)


(nice shots of passport) The AirBnB passport will instil trust, create stronger connections and allow the community to grow. 

(foreground passport on table - background out of focus maurice putting rucksack on)
The Passport is the perfect way for Maurice to document his adventures. 


(Maurice pick up passport, put in pocket and walk away - pan up to sky - airbnb logo and 'belong anywhere' fades in - fade to rausch)


We also developed the story board so that the process of shooting the scenes will be a lot quicker and easier, as well as making sure we mention everything that explains the functions and purpose of the passport.  The storyboard links to the notes we have written in the script, so we just needed to work out which visuals would fit with the audio.




We're going to be collaborating with Rees Newnes who studies Visual Communication at LCA, who is filming and editing the footage with us.


Wednesday 4 March 2015

OUGD503: 'Ailish' logo development

Once I'd tried to create an outline using an unfilled image I went back and coloured the inside before scanning again so that the shapes became blocks rather than outlines.  From this I was easily able to live trace the image to create an exact replication of my original drawing.  I considered using the pen tool to trace round the composition manually, however I decided this would take too long to complete well and the live traced image worked just as well, especially at a smaller scale (original drawing was just under A4 size).



To finish the logo I looked back through some ideas the client had shown an interest in, and played with composing her creative status underneath the logo.  We spoke about including her full name 'Ailish Reaney', but concluded that this would just repeat the name in the logo and that it would be more appropriate to state what her area of practice is: surface pattern design.


We determined that the text underneath works best in uppercase, and the chosen font Futura is the client's choice as well, having used that typeface on other elements of her portfolio through personal preference.

I then asked for feedback from my classmates to judge what needed changing to finish the design.  I was advised to make the text underneath the line smaller and to make the stroke width of the horizontal line thinner, so that the main point of focus is the client's main logo/name.  It was noted that the text underneath is more balanced in the logo when moved closer to the line.

I also downloaded the light version of the typeface as it felt more suitable for the client and balanced out the design making it less bottom heavy.  Accompanied with wider tracking this made the design feel more completed and once I'd shown it to Ailish she agreed the lighter weight of the font worked best.  The final logo doesn't have the email address underneath as isn't necessary to include in that image, however it could be used in this way on a business card.







The logo will be applied to business cards along with a promotional pack cover, which the net for shows the logo alone on one side and the reverse covered with a pattern that the designer created.


I also mocked up the design on a business card, using Ailish's print as a pattern on one side.




Ailish has printed some cards displaying a full bleed image of her print on the front and the logo on the back, which shows the design in use without 'surface pattern designer' underneath.







OUGD503: Pressision meeting

This morning we visited Pressision print company in Bramley to discuss our print needs for the Airbnb passport.  Our intentions were to use spot varnish and matte laminate on the ID card (which would also be printed on thicker stock than the rest of the booklet), and embossing of the logo on the front cover.

After speaking to James, we concluded that within our budget it would be difficult to produce this with so many print finishes.  To lower the cost, we spoke about using a gloss laminate on the ID card rather than matte and spot varnish on the borders.  It would also be beneficial to keep the amount of embossing to a minimum as the larger the area, the bigger the die which in turn is more expensive.

We were given the option of printing white on to coloured stock which is possible with their Indigo machine, however we think it would be best to print the colour on to white stock as the Airbnb colour 'Rausch' is specific to the brand, therefore important we have the exact tone.

He also showed us an example of a similar product they had printed; a booklet roughly the same size that we want to produce which was staple bound.  This gave us an idea of the kind of stock that would be suitable, and led us to reach an agreement that for the best result for a low price, we would use debossed, textured stock for the cover (310gsm), and lighter stock for the central pages, dismissing the idea of having the ID page on card.  Kindly he has agreed to do the job on cost rather than charging us for services, which will help us enormously due to our lack of funds.


We left the meeting having decided to using white Colorplan Morocco embossed stock 175gsm, which will then have colour printed entirely on one side for the front and back covers, leaving the logo and text area on the front blank so they appear white against the coloured ink.  We also plan to have the logo on the cover embossed to create an additional tactile effect.  This was spoken about this morning as well, and we noted that a die for the desired embossing would cost about £35.

The gloss lamination will only be possible if the entire side of one page is covered, meaning a page at the back of the booklet will also be gloss laminated as well as the ID card situated nearer the front.  Because of this, we agreed to create an additional page suitable to be gloss laminated, therefore probably of similar importance to the ID page, or with a separate purpose to the inside illustrated spreads.

Tuesday 3 March 2015

OUGD503: James Cray Logo Development



I transferred the final sketch in to Illustrator where I carefully drew around the letterforms ensuring that the curves flowed seamlessly.  Originally, I tried to live trace the image but the connections between the curves and the general outline wasn't neat enough, so increased the accuracy and presentation by completing this process manually.  I also worked on the spacing between each letterform to create a more consistent and balanced overall visual, which required moving the 'a' and 'y' of the surname over to the right so it came past the larger 's' in James.




I played around with the composition of 'lens based media' and concluded that to balance out the composition it works best in the top right corner.  It also looks better closer to the name as it unifies the piece - same with 'by' which works better directly underneath lens based media rather than pushed right.





I have chosen the typeface Geneva for the additional text 'lens based media' and used uppercase to differentiate from the scripted variations in the photographer's name.  The sans serif face works best to inform clearly and works at a small size.  The final composition has the text aligned to the right in line with the end point of the 'y' tail.  This also works because the type is a lot smaller and lighter than the thickness of the photographer's name, which in turn makes this the more prominent feature of the logo.  After receiving feedback from others I decided not to use 'by' underneath even though it balanced out the design, as it didn't seem to fit comfortably in any position.








Overall I am pleased with this logo however I could have developed the logo far more than I did to make the frame concept more obvious.  I also could have experimented with different materials to create marks, such as paint, and I feel more exploration with different line weights would have helped me to produce a much more informed outcome.

I've applied it to a business card to see how it would work in context, however I'm not aware of every aspect of promotion he will use it for.