At the moment the designs I am considering are focussed on foiling and stock choice, this makes the digital element of my designs difficult as it is hard to imagine what my designs will look like when produced. I have started basically, thinking about the shape, size, typeface and colours as well as the actual content.
EXPERIMENT PRIOR TO INTERIM CRIT -
I have begun some basic experiments with posters and postcard shapes. For a poster, placing all of my content would be inappropriate as the poster would not deliver the message quickly. So if I am to design a poster, I have considered just using the titles for each step that would be on my notecards. I feel that this needs to be broken down into something that is more catchy and easy to remember, rather than a long list that could be quite boring. For the post cards, I think that numbering the cards may be important to show the order of the process e.g. research should not be done last! So I have played around with the idea of a single number on the back, with the title and content on the reverse side. From my research I liked how the serif typefaces looked in foiling so I have begun using these for my cards as an initial experiment.
I began using a blue colour to imagine the stock, although I plan to use a more pastel shade similar to my research. I feel that I need to ensure the pastels I use appeal to both genders, as the first years will be a mix. I did try to represent the colour of the foil in the type, however this did not look realistic enough, so for that reason I am focussing on the form of the layout, as I can see from my research that pastels and foil are complimentary.
Now after the critique I have decided to only create posters to motivate students to use the studio space. This came across in the crit as a better idea judging from the feedback, I also feel that it is a stronger concept overall and looking back I have found briefs far more relaxing from using the studio space. I want to encourage students to see the studio as a work space, and home as a space to relax. By separating the two, you can relax without feeling guilty at home.
BRIEF
DESIGN A POSTER OR SERIES OF POSTERS THAT ENCOURAGE THE FIRST YEAR GRAPHIC DESIGNERS TO USE THE STUDIO SPACE MORE.
BACKGROUND/CONSIDERATIONS
WHAT WOULD ENCOURAGE OR PERSUADE THE FIRST YEARS TO USE THE STUDIO?
WHAT WILL GRAB THEIR ATTENTION? WHAT MATERIALS COULD YOU USE?
CONSIDER TYPE? WHAT SIZE? WHAT IS LEGIBLE?
WHAT SIZE IS APPROPRIATE FOR YOUR POSTERS?
MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS/DELIVERABLES
FINISHED POSTER(S) (MINIMUM A4 SIZE)
SUPPORTING BLOGPOSTS
Idea generation thumbnails -
I wanted to push my designs further for this brief, so I decided to attempt handwritten type. This will have a more personal feel which I feel will appear less intimidating to first years. I feel that the personal, less instructional feel will grab the attention of first years more so than type which can sometimes feel harsh.
I tried a variety of methods for creating type, firstly I tried sharpie as this is a quick and simple technique. This is also easy to live trace on illustrator. I researched hand written type as I drew to inspire my designs.
I also experimented with water proof ink. This was tricky due to the quality of my brushes, but I managed to create an alphabet which achieved the friendly feel I was going for.
 |
| I saw this friendly piece in on a graphic design studio website. I was inspired by the shape of the letterforms and this influenced the shape of my own. |
Hand written ink and sharpie experiments -
I was inspired by this ink letterform as the shape was similar to some of the type I attempted to hand render. I decided to try and repcliate this by cutting a stencil out of card and applying ink on top. Unfortunately this ink seeped underneath, meaning the shape of the letterform was not strong enough. This fiddly technique was not ideal for me for this project.
I then began to construct some rough posters using the a mixture of the hand rendered type that I created. Purely for testing I used "Reasons to stay in the studio, no 1" followed by a reason in digital type. I used digital type for the reason as I felt by having the separation the type was easier to read. The hand written type is designed to draw a first year in to the poster, the type at the bottom is secondary, to be read once attention is grabbed. If the poster was all hand rendered type I think it would appear too busy and there would be no clear typographic hierarchy.
 |
| Printed ready for foil testing |
After some experimentation digitally, I printed several words out in each style of hand rendered type, as well as a serif typeface(Didot)and a sans serif typeface (Futura). Once printed, I used gold foil similar to my research to foil the type. I was pleased with the professional effect. I feel that foiling is ideal for my posters for several reasons, firstly it is likely to catch the attention of the first years due to the shiny effect, not many posters use such a technique which would make the piece stand out. The foiling would also inspire the first years to be more experimental with their techniques, illustrating the possibilities available to them. Being graphic designers, the design is key so using such a technique is more likely to catch their eye.
 |
| Type testing with foil - some of this black ink was visible so I need to use a higher temperature and put the slip through more times to ensure the foil has bonded |
 |
| Test foiling some compositions for feedback |
 |
| Successful tracing Paper foil test, although the heat has faded the blue type |
 |
| The foil left over had an interesting texture. I would have used this if the shape had not been irregular |
I then asked a few students which type they felt was most successful and appealed to them most as a first year. The vast majority of students preferred my thicker, ink based type. Some stated that this type was more legible and would catch your eye from across the room. Due to the overwhelming agreement, I went forward with this typeface.
My next step was to tackle the wording of my posters. More feedback from students suggested that I should reverse my poster, placing my reason first followed by "stay in the studio", as by reading "Reasons to stay in the studio" many first years are immediately turned off to the idea. This made far more sense than my original designs, so I just had to work on how to phrase each poster. I did experiment with the wording in the original order but found that the impact was not as successful still. I spent a lot of time brainstorming with student in the class trying to work out the best way to phrase each poster. I decided to narrow my reasons down to 3 or 4, adjusting "use the studio" to each phrase, I tried to bear in mind a friendly and welcoming tone-of-voice as not to scare the first years away from the idea of doing work in your spare time:
- Stress reduction (Feeling Stressed? - Lower your stress levels by spending more time in the studio to reduce your workload.)
- Time to relax at home (Want Guilt Free Relaxation? - Separate your work and home life. Use the studio space in your spare time, then after some hard work head home to chill out and watch Netflix yay! )
- A chance for 1 to 1 chats with the tutors (Need Time to Chat to the Tutors? - The tutors are much easier to pin down if you use the studio in your spare time. Hang around later to get some great advice about your current projects. )
- A chance to develop closer friendships (Want to develop close friendships? - The best conversations happen in the studio. Stay later, get to know people better and get some work done at the same time - bonus!)
 |
| Brainstorming with other students |
 |
| Testing in illustrator |
No comments:
Post a Comment