On a blog called "Confessions of a design geek" I found a post on Twelve for the Stockholm Furniture Fair, an edit of established independent, Nordic designers. I was drawn to an image showing the branding of the show, in particular the bright yellow colour and the typographic title. This used large drop shadows filled with pattern. I liked the geometric feel of this and I think this style could look great if it was hand rendered. This typographic style is used consistently across the branding - I feel a similar typographic style could be used for the titles of my cards/posters.
As foiling is a technique I would like to experiment with, I decided to explore some designs using this technique. I found a quick tutorial on how to create foiling at home, I liked the examples of typographic foiling used in the tutorial as it is evident how good foiling can look in a variety of typefaces. I feel that foiling shows that more thought has gone into a piece of work, it encourages people to feel the work and engage with the design. I feel it adds value and professionalism to a design despite the simplicity of the technique.
As I have considered creating my designs in a postcard format these designs stood out to me, although they are business card size, the shape it still similar. I feel that the pastel colours really work well with the foiling and the combination of embossing with these really pushes the cards. The stock choice is also textured, which improves the look even further. I would like to experiment with a similar style of stock, hopefully this would get the first years excited and interested in graphic design and how they can push their work further. In this case the foiling has been scattered like powder or glitter, this has shown me that typography is one of many shapes that foiling can be used for.
The poster in this image stood out to me as because of the stock colour and the foiling colour. I would not expect copper and pale pink to compliment each other. Copper foil and pastel stocks are now what I am considering for my final outcomes. I have also been inspired by how sucessful foiling is using a serif typeface, this adds to a professional look but I must consider whether the foil will bond with the thinner strokes of the typeface, or any thinner strokes in my designs.
Looking at the design, I have also thought that if I wanted to create something that would last longer I could frame the work. Perhaps a similar style using a quote would be successful, this quote could potentially relate to issues with the first year such as stress or homesickness. Or perhaps I could make my own quotes which are a play on other well known words e.g. design, blog, repeat - research, design, repeat - Blog Hard Play Hard -Design Hard Play Hard etc.
I then went on to looking at stationary shops, in particular their notecards and postcards. Paperchase was particularly helpful as their stationary range is stylish and creative. I found a postcard which already has foiling on which was great for inspiration, this was also used against a pastel colour - which shows how successful pastels stocks and foiling are. I also found a postcard which used a brown paper/cardboard stock, this texture was a great contrast against the bright pink ink used for the type and speech bubble.
Other notecards took a different feel, this Thank you notecard features a simple pencil shaded type design against a simple white background, this contrast is really successful and makes the simple design appealing.
In John Lewis' range of stationary was this patterned design of silver anchors against a similar brown paper stock, featuring a bold strip of blue. This is a postcard and bracelet set, so I feel I could potentially include something extra with my postcards - however I am unsure as to whether this would be appropriate for the aims of the cards.
I am now considering what patterns I could create and foil for the backs of the postcards, whilst the other side would contain the information.
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