GRAPHICS PATHWAY - 3 PROJECTS IN 2 WEEKS

From a choice of 6 projects we had to choose 3 to complete over the next 2 weeks. The projects I have picked are 1) Subversive Design, 2) Type Transformers and 3) Illustration Covers. I have picked these three because of the variety, at the end of the two weeks I should have some solid design work, typographic work and some illustration which I feel covers the breadth of graphic design and my capabilities well. I look forward to working on these projects further and developing final outcomes throughout the two weeks.

GRAPHICS PATHWAY - DATA TRANSLATION

This week's project was focused around ways to solve visual design problems in an effective way. We had to communicate information and data in as visually interesting and graphic a manner as possible. We tried to represent the data in a fresh, imaginative and unique way avoiding the obvious but nevertheless being clear and effective. I had many ideas at the very start of the project and was unsure which path to follow. I wanted to make the project unique to myself so I thought about ways I could do this. I looked at data in my passions: music and football. I thought about representing the most popular genres of music in current times, best selling albums and artists. In relation to football I looked at the highest goalscorers of all time in the premier league. It was then a question of choosing a way to represent this data and importantly how I could make it interesting and clear for football enthusiasts as well as those who are not so interested in football.

 I researched into infographics and a lot of what I found was circular or involved circles in some way because of their natural shape and versatility, I looked into this further and eventually decided to base the top ten goalscorers of all time in the premier league around a circular design. I experimented with width and colour which helped me discover that I could represent the number of goals scored by the width of the circle in mm or cm for example. Centimetres were too big however millimetres were perfect as 1 mm could represent 10 goals, I then realised that I could use the same system for appearances so the goals/appearances could both be shown together. I made the appearances circle slightly transparent as they are not the main focus of the data and the goals circle a solid colour to show clearly the amount of goals scored in comparison to the appearances. I thought this worked well as it was a clear comparison, making the background black I feel also makes the colour stand out even more. 

Overall, I feel it is a simple but clear and effective design, I also wanted to try something different to what I usually do as I tend to favour more illustrative imagery, this is something slightly different and somewhat out of my comfort zone. However, I have enjoyed this project and I am happy with my final outcome.

Final Design, original size A2

Images - Author's Own 17/01/14

GRAPHICS PATHWAY - WAYFINDING & MAPPING PROJECT

For this project we were tasked with trying to find a new and fresh way of mapping and wayfinding a particular location. We only had a week for this brief therefore ideas generation and development had to occur quickly. I choose to map out Greenwich park in a new way. Initially, I highlighted all the most significant landmarks, roads and points of interest of the park. I also researched a little into the history and heritage of the park for instance what it is known/famous for. Using an existing map I played around with the shape of the park and sketched its layout in some different ways.

Following this I found some patters in the layout and found it was quite linear. This immediately made me think of star constellations, I decided to research to see if there were any start constellations that had a similar layout to Greenwich Park and there were a few. I thought this was a good idea because in the context of the Royal Observatory in that it was unique to the park's astronomical heritage. After some further research I found the Phoenix and Cepheus constellations which both had similar layouts however the Cepheus constellation was nearly identical. I therefore decided to run with the Cepheus constellation and researched it further.

I then made some comparisons with the constellation and looked for the patterns in the park, marked in red pen. From this I used Illustrator to create my final idea or piece which consisted of the Cepheus constellation in the background with the mapping of the parks points of interest and entrances in relation to the starts, for instance Errai = Blackheath Gate and so on. I found this worked well and the white stood out from the background well. I used Arial font initially but on reflection it was a safe choice and lacked a bit of interest, it was fairly plain in relation to the rest of the imagery. I think in future I will experiment with different fonts a bit more. In addition I and others felt that I could increased the size of the piece to allow more space for the text and imagery to work as the general view was that it was a little cramped and some of the text sizing was disproportional.

Final piece/idea roughly an A2 square

Imagery - Author's Own 12/01/14

GREENWICH PARK - WAYFINDING PHOTOS

Here some photos that were taking in advance of the wayfinding project. I went to Greenwich park the weekend before the wayfinding and mapping project to do a photographic survey of the area before beginning the project. Most of these photos will serve as a reference for my own design process. I took photos of the surrounding area, the mains roads/avenues, existing maps, and landmarks in Greenwich Park. I choose to survey Greenwich Park because of extensive space and different features, it served as one of the 2012 Olympic venues and it is the home of the Royal Observatory therefore I thought this would be interesting to investigate.

Images - Author's Own 04/01/14

GRAPHICS PATHWAY - PASSAGE OF TIME PROJECT

Over Christmas, we were set a number of different briefs to choose from. I choose the  'Passage of Time' brief because I felt it had the most potential to expand and become a number of different things. I first began by brainstorming a number of ideas in relation to time and the passing of time for instance, ways of measuring time, units of time, the seasons, the sun and so on. I researched a little into the earliest ways of measuring time which included sand-timers or hour glasses, quartz clocks and sundials, I found interesting the natural ways of measuring time and so decided to pursue this a bit further and maybe incorporate an element of text into the final piece.

Following this, I looked at some quotes in relation to time as I feel quotes can be a powerful way of summarising an individual's opinion of time. The most striking quote I discovered was from Benjamin Franklin, he stated that 'You may delay but time will not' and this I feel applies to everyone, the inevitability of time passing is something we cannot control. This inevitability of time is something I wanted to go with. After some experimentation in illustrator I discovered that I could incorporate the quote into maybe an hour glass or sundial. I found it worked well in the hour glass because the quote gets physically separated by the two different sections. The sand that flows through to the other side is the past and represents the time we have lost or cannot get back, on the other hand the sand that is yet to flow through represents the present and the future. Therefore the quote can be separated, 'you may delay' representing the present and future 'but time will not' representing the past.

To elaborate further on this idea I used a collage background which consisted of a ripped up calender/diary symbolizing the loss of time or lack of organisation of time. I scanned this into illustrator and added some filters and adjusted the contrast levels and then placed the sand-timer on top of the collage. I also made the overlayed design slightly transparent so that you can see some of the background coming through. Overall I was pleased with this project however on reflection I think my idea was maybe a little bit too safe and predictably about time, I like how the sand-timer clearly represents the passage of time and the quote is strong however I feel it is a little safe. I would maybe in the future like to do something slightly less obvious maybe even something in 3D as I often do 2D final pieces which gets a little repetitive after a while. I t was suggested that maybe I could have done some engraving into wood or maybe thin metals which could be a possible alternative. In conclusion, I didn't enjoy this project as much as some others, I feel I didn't get immersed into enough although I am fairly pleased with my final outcome.

Final piece, A3 poster

Images - Author's Own 10/01/14

GRAPHICS PATHWAY - STREET FOOD BRANDING PROJECT

I picked the street food branding project initially because I thought it had the most potential in terms of where I could take the project and the number of possible outcomes I could have. I personally enjoy street food and visiting different street food markets therefore I was already interested in the topic. In addition, the prospect of picking my own style and type of food was inviting. We had two weeks to complete the project which gave us time to research thoroughly and tweak ideas throughout the project. I firstly brainstormed a number of ideas, foods and cultures that I wanted to follow regarding my own background. I went for exotic, tropical Caribbean food classic such as Jerk Chicken, Curry Goat and other stereotypical Caribbean dishes. However on second thought, after having done a bit of research I realised that there are already a lot of Caribbean street food outlets so I thought I would go for a slightly different type of cuisine. That's when I opted for creole cuisine which is inspired by Caribbean flavours and spices but also has influences from Spain, France and resides in Louisiana, USA. For this reason I thought I could raise awareness of this vibrant and exotic cuisine because there is a 'gap' in the market for this type of cuisine.

I started to then think of some names and colours that I wanted to use in my brand. I came up with Colourful Foods, Caribbean Taste, Creole Culture and Creole Cuisine. For a large portion of the project I stuck with Colourful Foods because I believed it suited the vibrant nature of the food itself as well as the national flags of where the food comes from. However, I changed my brand name several times throughout the project just through a lack of direction and feedback from tutors which influenced my decisions.

At this stage of the project, I decided to use Creole Cuisine and experimented with
type, layouts and trialed different logos that I would possibly use. For this I used
illustrator mostly and gained inspiration for typefaces using 'Dafont'. I wanted to mix
upper case with lower case lettering as I found this had a unique effect. I initially used
different present fonts on illustrator which were good but I preferred drawing out the
lettering myself as it had a more natural feel. I was also told at the end of the project that
the handwritten fonts were much more appealing than some of the manufactured
typefaces which, on reflection, I agree with.

To supplement the project and broaden our knowledge, we were asked to pick a
 popular contemporary brand and research it to find out what makes the branding
successful in terms of the logo, colouring etc. I choose to focus on the brand 'Adidas'
as I have long been interested in the three stripes and the logo itself. I broke down some
of the essential building blocks of the brand such as the stripes and the text to determine
what makes it stand out. In my view the logo is one of the most instantly recognisable
which I think is the sign of good branding.

Following this I moved on to my own branding and experimented a bit more with the handmade fonts on Illustrator using 'Creole Cuisine' as the title. To do this I used the shape draw tool Illustrator which makes a shape out of what you draw therefore its easier to colour and outline shapes. I choose to follow the upper and lower case combination with various letters mixed up for example, cReoLE CUisINe. I then tried applying the logo to various coloured t-shirts to see how it worked. After the project in the crit session I was told that this design worked the best because it appeared natural and handmade. I think in the future I will use this technique more because I find its more rewarding than using existing fonts and its much more personal as its crafted by the user.

After getting some feedback during the project from my tutors, I thought that the title 'Creole cuisine' was maybe too vague and also after the visit to Whitecross street food market I discovered most stands only sold one signature dish rather than a collection of dishes which was what I was intending to do. This is purely because its more practical. Therefore I selected one dish that is most commonly associated with Creole foods which is a dish called 'Jambalaya'. Similar to a spanish paella this can be cooked on a large scale in one big pan suitable for a street market. Consequently, I re-thought my brand name and called it 'Jambalaya'. I then began to research the dish and find some fonts that best portray the dish and the culture. 







Once I had found a typeface that I liked and which fitted the brand identity, we had to make an A2 poster/sheet that was effectively an at-a-glance guide to our brand. I made this below on Illustrator highlighting colour ways with CMYK values, application of the brand onto t-shirts etc, some background information and a few images. We also had to create our brand guidelines including typefaces used, how to apply the brand and kerning values. This I have not completed as yet. Overall, I thought this was a successful project but also the most challenging project I have done yet because of the quantity of work needed to create a brand. Naively, I thought that a brand was maybe just a logo with some other elements but in reality, a brand is a lot more and it takes thorough planning and research to create a successful appearance. I like the appearance of my own brand however there could be room for improvement and revisiting of previous designs as my crit group preferred some of my earlier logo designs. I was also impressed by the work of my peers. In conclusion, it was a meaty project with a lot to get into and retrospectively, I could have done with an extra week.

Images  - Author's Own 06/12/13

VISIT TO THE BARBICAN - POP ART DESIGN EXHIBITION

The purpose of today's visit to the Barbican Art Gallery was to supplement our research for our street food brands created earlier on in the week. As pop art features heavily in different aspects of graphic design and branding in general, we visited the Pop Art Design exhibition which featured work from Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein amoungst many others of that post war period in the USA. Not only was there successful branding in the exhibition, there was clearly evidence of successful way finding and branding throughout the Barbican's interior. It utilises an orange theme throughout their space which really stands out with the Futura typeface making navigating the Barbican very easy. This gave us all an idea of how to make our branding consistent across all medias. I was also quite surprised at the variety on offer at the Barbican as I had never been before. The buildings and architecture are one of a kind in their concrete nature, there is a greenhouse, cinemas, theaters and overall great places to work creatively in. 

The Pop Art Design exhibition itself was very good in my view as it displayed a large amount of work that I felt was relevant to me and my own style with bold colours and clear statements. I enjoyed studying original merchandise and packaging designs from that era. There was also a pop art film which was higlighted different forms of media inspired by pop art such as the traditional Chevrolet adverts and the title sequence for Ian Fleming's 'From Russia With Love'. In addition there were many posters from the 20th century culture such as the 1986 Olympic games in Mexico and subway maps in New York which I thought was interesting.

A few sketches and artist names I recorded whilst in the exhibition

Some street art around Whitecross market

Following our tour of the exhibition and the Barbican space, we went to Whitecross market offering us a collection of street foods from around the world. This was frankly an overwhelming experience because of the amount of great aromas in the air and delicious food displayed. However the aim of this experience was to gain some inspiration and expertise from real street food brands in order to inform our own design process. This I feel did help me and I now have a idea of what successful branding looks like and how it functions in the real world. In conclusion I thought today's trip was extremely beneficial to our current project and in general because of the variety of things we experienced. The Pop Art Design exhibiton, touring the Barbican space and visiting the street market were all varied experiences and the fact did this in a day was great because we got a little taste of everything on offer in and around the Barbican.

Images - Author's Own 29/11/13