FMP - WEEK 4: DRAFTING THE LOGO DESIGN

Towards the end of this week, following the mid-point reviews, I started to design the first draft of the logo in Illustrator using the hand made in drawing I completed in the studio as a template. I found this method was a lot easier than trying to start from scratch in Illustrator in my opinion. I had to increase the contrast of the drawing a little as it was quite faint and doing this made it easier to trace. I started by outlining the basic shapes and playing around with the perspective and adjusting the lettering. Once I had completed the basic cube shape with the letters W, I and P I started to create the custom typeface. I didn't use a default typeface because I wanted to put my own personal spin on the design. I wanted to keep the same type of font that is on the cube to create unity between the cube and the text. This process was difficult because I often changed my mind about the size and positioning, to combat this I trialed various other fonts along side the one I created to contrast and compare. I think this design may change slightly over time and I am open to some other ideas and suggestions from my tutors to see what works the best. 

I like how the cube's perspective works and I believe that the typeface compliments the cube. To be sure, I contrasted it with some other more recognisable fonts such as Futura (light and bold), Arial and Masterplan. I would also like to know what my peer group thinks also but for now I think I will stick with the font I created. Following this I started to experiment with some colour and created some alternate versions with varied colours.The reason for choosing to use a cube was because of the experience I had in the various different record shops I visited. The record 'crate' itself which holds the 12" vinyls and CD's in is a large cube and I wanted to try and represent this sort of 'crate digging' record shop feel with the cube shape. This design may change and alter slightly over the remaining weeks of the project, however I am happy with this draft.

FMP - WEEK 4: LOGO DESIGN

Throughout the course of this week I have began to draft out some rough logo designs for my record label. I have made a few sketches and trials in Photoshop/Illustrator to give me an idea of works well and what doesn't. I plan to ask my peers and tutors what designs they prefer in my coming crit which will help me to finalise the design. I liked the idea of playing with perspective and using the 'skew' tool in Photoshop to adjust the perspective and viewpoint to create something that is seemingly 2D but in fact 3 dimensional. I looked at using shapes such as cubes and rectangular prisms to, in theory, create a multi-perspective logo. 

I have also been playing around with and trialing various different typefaces that I may potentially use in the logo. There are many different styles of font to choose front from, from websites such as DaFont. A 3 dimensional logo is more interesting than a flat logo in my opinion although I will no doubt experiment with both styles. For now though I think I need to complete the logo drafts and pick a final design by the end of this week to give me enough time to do all the things I need to do. I still need apply the brand identity onto t-shirts, CD covers and album covers to present in the exhibition as part of my final outcome.

I decided to stick with the cube design and the name 'WIP Records' as I received some positive feedback from my peers in the review session. The name was praised however there is an existing WIP Records in Spain although I feel that my whole idea and brand concept is different. I may have to alter this at a later stage but I think I will continue on with this idea as I think it has potential and time is running out.

At this stage of the project (just over halfway) with three weeks left, I would say that I am slightly behind schedule but not to such an extent that I would fall too far behind with the workload. With some hard work over this coming weekend and in the following weeks, I think things will start to come together.

Images - Author's Own 25/04/14

FMP - WEEK 3: DECISIONS AND IDEA GENERATION

Throughout the course of this week, I have began to wrap up my research and started to get on with idea generation and outlining the vision, audience and, most importantly, the name of the record label. I started brainstorming a number of names that sprang to mind using my own name as inspiration in places and also general musical terms as I discovered in my research. For instance the brand 'Blue Note' refers to the characteristic blue notes that are found in jazz and blues, perhaps I could use something similar with my own label. I also used a thesaurus and other musical terms to increase the variety of vocabulary. 

I decided to make the genre of the label underground hip-hop/soul as I feel I know more about this genre in comparison with jazz. This decision was important as for a while I was undecided which affected my progress, however now I feel I can really push on.  I established that the record label's purpose will be to help young producers and musicians, theoretically the record label would provide a platform for young and unsigned producers to expose their music to the public as often they would get rejected by other more established labels. I think this gives me more of a specific focus.

In the end I narrowed it down to three potential names: SOS Records (Secrets of Sound), TBC Records (To Be Continued) and WIP Records (Work in Progress). I liked the idea or abbreviating the phrase to just three letters as this sounds a bit more succinct and snappy. After researching the phrases and investigating their meanings. Eventually I decided to go with WIP Records as the work in progress concept applies to the vision of the brand and refers to the development of the producers on the label, in the sense that they have the potential but they have room to develop and improve with hard work. I also find the abbreviation itself 'WIP' to be short and punchy. This could potentially change in the coming weeks but for now I feel this is the best choice.

I have now started to sketch out some potential logo designs and styles playing with shape, colour and type. Initially, I made these doodles in my sketchbook but following this I will transfer my ideas onto Illustrator and Photoshop. 

Images - Author's Own 19/04/14

FMP - WEEK 2: FURTHER RESEARCH

This week of the FMP consisted mainly of library research, I rented out three design books on logo design, commercial art and colour graphics. All of which were very useful. I scanned a few pages and pasted them in my sketchbook to refer throughout my design process. The books provided me with a lot of information on commercial art the basics of logo design. I enjoyed researching the typography and colour combinations. All this will come in handy when I start to generate ideas for my record label logo and then brand it.

I focused on the typography and the colour mainly and made some of my own observations, sketches and analysis of what works and what is less effective. I felt this helped me a lot and allowed me to extract information from the research rather than just have it in my sketchbook on its own without any notes.

At this stage of the project, I feel I need to start making things happen now in terms of naming the brand, generating ideas and trying to work on final outcomes. My research has been thorough but I need to start making something of it and now is the time otherwise I may fall back a bit. I don't feel worried about it, I just now that I need to increase my work output slightly to make the most of the time. I have allocated some major decisions to make over the Easter break such as the name of the record label, the genre of music and its vision/motif. Once I have decided these, it will kick-start the idea generation and son on.

Images - Author's Own 16/04/14

DESIGN MUSEUM VISIT

Following the creative making week, we visited the design museum to see Paul Smith's exhibition and the designs of the year exhibition. Having previously known relatively little if not nothing about Paul Smith, I found the trip to be very enlightening and I truely got a sense of what makes Paul Smith such a good designer. Heavily influenced by fashion and graphic prints, I also thought that I wouldn't enjoy his woks as much as I have no real interest in fashion however, I found it did still apply to my own interests. The colour he uses, the processes and his design outcomes as a whole grabbed my attention. I particularly enjoyed his collaborations he did with other brands such as Evian, Rapha and Pinarello putting his own unique mark on existing brands. It shows that you can always recognise a designer by the mark they leave on their work and this was evident in everything Paul Smith had worked on, something which every designer should strive for in my opinion.

The second exhibition we visited was the Designs of the Year. This displayed all the most creative and ingenious designs across several design disciplines including product, fashion, graphic and architectural design. This was another great exhibition for a number of reasons. Firstly, the variety was personally greatly appreciated, sometimes looking at graphics all the time gets a bit boring but there was enough different designs to keep me interested. I particularly enjoyed the 'Whitney' branding as it directly applied to my own final major project and I could appreciate how the design came together and how it works across different platforms. Something else I looked out for was the layout of the exhibits and how they were arranged as I will need to layout my own exhibit space eventually. Obviously I won't necessarily have the same materials to work with however I want to create something that works in a similar way and has the same feel.

Overall, I thought the visit was worthwhile as frankly, the previous times I visited the Design Museum I was slightly disappointed as I didn't enjoy what was on display however this time I enjoyed it. The break from studio monotony is also greatly welcomed as getting out and about can be refreshing, inspiring and motivating for when I finally get back to studio practice.

Images - Author's Own 16/04/14

CREATIVE MAKING WEEK

Over the course of this week, we had to create and make something out of some everyday random objects like a sock, a sponge and paperclips. The main difference was that the graphics students had to collaborate with the lens based students which previously we had never done. We quickly formed a group of six, three graphics and three lens based students, and brainstormed some ideas. 

At first, working with the lens based students was a bit strange and we didn't immediately click but after we exchanged some ideas, the group quickly got moving in the right direction. Initially we thought about making a physical thing out of the objects, we thought about sock puppets and creating props, however our main collective thought was that we should try creating a little character out of the objects and showing it in some kind of film or animation. The lens based students suggested making a short a stop-motion animation which would be simple but effective, the graphics students agreed and we began to think of storylines and a plot. As this was a lens based task us graphics students suggested creating an illustrated storyboard and a poster to accompany the animation. As both groups of students are in on different days, we allocated roles and divided the tasks, which would enable us to complete the three outcomes by Friday without meeting in between. 

Illustrated storyboard to go with the film. I did the 1, 2, 5, 6, 7 frames using felt tip whilst
a fellow graphics student did the 3rd and 4th. I found this process quite enjoyable and
we were able to complete it successfully in one day. We also only planned to do 7
frames and leave the eighth blank just in case we needed one extra.

A3 Poster made to promote the film

On the Friday we met up and put our outcomes together and presented them to our crit group. We presented our short stop-motion animation, our poster and the storyboard which I feel went well. The animation was received well by the others, they found it humorous and original which was partly because of the way the audio and the visuals were edited. 

Overall, I thought this week might of been waste as I wanted to continue on with my FMP as soon as I got back from Easter, however the break in the routine wasn't bad and working with the lens based students was another way of breaking the monotony. At the end of the week I feel like our group have done very well in producing three solid outcomes using the random objects, everyone made a worthwhile contribution and we made something of the short space of time combining our lens based and graphic design skills

Images - Author's Own 12/04/14

FMP - WEEK 1: GALLERY VISIT

To further support my contextual research, I visited the Tate Modern to have a look and research the use of colour in art and design. I wanted to purely find colourful works then photograph and anylise them. For my FMP I feel that colour will be an important element in the design process and in the final outcomes. I found some great examples in the Tate which didn't really have much design work as such but I could still look for the colour in works and read how or why it was used. The intentions were sometimes clear but in other works I was not sure why certain colour schemes were used. 

Ellsworth Kelly's 'Blue, Black and Red' 
showsthe artist's interest in form, colour, 
shape and sequence. Kelly's works are often
 known for being enitrely composed of just 
primary coloursbut this piece goes beyond
 that range. The colours chosen are likely to
 reflect the artist's direct visual experiences
 be it of the man-made or natural 
environment

Ellsworth Kelly's 'Mediteranee' is similar to 'Blue, Black and Red' in the way that the 
colours are solid blocks however, this piece is a relief as certain segments of the piece 
are elevated across different levels. This literally adds another dimension to Kelly's work. 
I find the colour schemes used are mostly warm with a few cool colous to contrast 
although overall, I believe it works well.

Saloua Raouda Choucair's 'Composition in Blue Module' uses subtle tones of blue 
and purple which delicately shows the shift in colours across the piece. I like the way
 the shapes and colours overlap which in turn creates quite a geometric and graphic image.

Images - Author's Own 03/04/14