OUGD405 - Studio Brief 02 Public Service Leaflet Research

The task to create a leaflet using the information from public service videos and from other sources.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6U9T3R3EQg

My chosen video was 'Protect and Survive'. I liked the idea of providing information to do with nuclear war. It's a real possibility and not many people actually know about what to do in the event of one.

After listening to the videos provided I took down some key information about what supplies to take with you, how to protect your house, what to listen for and really just how to survive.

Some of the information I will have to look at maybe update for the modern day as a lot seems a bit outdated. For example warning sounds will now be sent by phone as well as radio and television broadcastings.
I will have to consider what stock I will use, the size of the leaflet and what content to put inside. The size and the stock is for costing not necessarily for the brief but I would like to see how much I could use form one sheet of paper and how much that will cost as it is being designed for a government public service information leaflet.

OUGD404 - Study Task 08 - Typesetting

The task was to reset Lewis Carroll's The Mouse's Tale. I set the type in a way I thought would suit it. 

Above is a post modernist style, instead of making it into the shape of cheese or an actual mouses tale I decided to set it to add drama to the text. The top is a story and should be written as so the bottom is a poem written line by line and gets more and more dramatic as it goes through. 

Below is a modernist style making the poem into the shape of a mouses face.

OUGD405 - Studio Brief 01 - Wayfinding Final Critique and Evaluation

Is the design legible and bold?

Definitely bold. The typeface is very clearly legible and appropriate for the environment. The numbers alone could be used with pictograms, rather than long text such as Block 1, it would add more simplicity to the design.

Yes, it allows for people to follow the pat accurately, avoiding losing their way.

Do you think the colour coding will work?

Yes, it clearly guides users to their locations and the red colour for other areas is successful. The colours add vibrancy to the environment as the interior of Liberty Park is quite dull.

Yes, because it will allow people to associate the colour with the certain block. E.g. Block 5 with Yellow.

Is the design too intrusive?

Possibly ton the colours down a little, however I think as a whole it works well.

No, I think the design works and given that there is so much floor space it isn’t overwhelming to look at. I would say that with the design being on the floor it may get work down easily and also may be obstructed by people. Maybe having the design on the walls would solve this.

The points I received back from the final critique were helpful telling me how my design would work but did not intrude too much on how I could improve on the design. The last point mentions that I could try putting my designs on the wall so it wouldn’t be obstructed by anything. This is a good point but I had already tried designs on the all that felt too intrusive, I hadn’t tried this style so it may work better than the last but I would have to look into it further. If I placed some of the design on the walls and maybe some on the floors to limit how much is displayed in one place may help but it may become confusing. 

Overall I enjoyed creating this design it was quite a hard task to re imagine my design in a new way but I am glad that I managed to do it. The colours are bold and eye catching, this helps you find your way around easily. The typeface chosen is clear and modern working for the target audience of students and to keep the company moving into the modern age. As for the costing of a design like this all you need to pay for is the paint and labour which isn’t at all overpriced. The design may still need a few refinements but as it stands I don’t think much needs changing, it’s future proof, cost effective and helpful. 

OUGD405 - Studio Brief 01 - Wayfinding Final Designs

This is my final design for Way finding. I decided to keep the idea of painting designs onto the floor or walls. From the beginning of my research I spoke about using colour coding to make it easier to find your way around. The blocks would all feature different colours and the 'other' areas such as reception, bin store and bike shed would be the same colour. 

The line from the entrance would split off and keep splitting off getting thinner and thinner. Something that could be considered is colour coding as you move onto the floor but the blocks could even change from numbers to colours meaning you wouldn't necessarily need to be able to read english for the words Block One.

Colour coding would work within the lift the panel behind the buttons would either light up or the wall would be painted and as you go past in the lift the colour would change.

The design overall is clear, bold and legible, this the criteria I set for myself. I have kept a sleek modern look and brightened up the complex, making sure I used colours that weren't too garish but could still stand. 

OUGD405 - Studio Brief 01 - Wayfinding - Critique

After producing a few initial ideas and then deciding that they would be impractical and harsh on the eyes I almost went into the critique empty handed.
I told the group I wanted to keep my design bold and keep the idea of how to get into and out of different rooms. I explained that my designs didn't have to feature exclusively on the wall and could even be put onto the floor.

I came up with the idea to have some wort of line that would split off as it moved along with labels next to the design so that you could follow where you were as you walked along. The line would start off quite thick and as you moved into different blocks and rooms bits would split off making the line thinner and thinner until you reach the room, it would only feature outside and within hallways.

When I spoke about colour the idea of using colour got thrown around meaning I could colour code each block so people would not necessarily have to be able to read english to navigate around Liberty Park.

After this session I am no longer panicking about the design having to be recreated instead I have been given a new lease of life about the project and think that these design will come across a lot better than my initial ones.

OUGD405 - Studio Brief 01 - Wayfinding - Initial Designs

Initially I wanted to present my design to look as if they had been painted onto the walls and make them bold so that they stand out and are easy to read. The designs cluttered the walls and made them too busy this became apparent quickly and I decided to change the idea.

I still believe bold text is needed within my design but I am also going to feature a bit more colour and not have so intrusive on the building instead they will feature in a much more subtle way. I may even include them in the floor somehow.

OUGD405 - Studio Brief 01 - Wayfinding - Further Research & Idea Development

I have been lazy and chosen my own student accommodation to do the way finding for. The reason I have chosen it is because I have I believe the designs need to be updated to make the place feel a bit more alive but also because the designs aren't very eye catching. I don't struggle to find my way around but the signage is quite small and even though there isn't that much to find you way around it is hard to navigate around blocks you don't live in. I want my designs to be eye catching and helpful so that people can navigate around with ease in a new age style.

OUGD405 - Studio Brief 01 - Wayfinding Signage experiementation

I thought it would be a good idea to experiment with different designs that I could include on the walls or the floor of Liberty Park.

The design needs to be bold and legible so that you can find things with ease in a glance. I have looked into using Helvetica but I am considering a range of san serif fonts such as Univers and Futura. The design aspect has been brought in because the majority of people staying at Liberty Park are studying at Leeds College of Art meaning it will be full of students who appreciate design. I am looking to expand on these designs maybe use colour coding or other means to help them stand out.

Pictograms Study task 2 - OUGD405

I took the Winter Olympic sport of Ski Jump. I wanted to portray the pictogram to show the action and movement of the sport. First of all I tried creating this piece that showed minimal design with the body parts but didn't want to show any gender.

In our group feedback sessions I was told the chest was puffed out too much and sort of looked a bit masculine so I took it in.

In the final group feedback I was told The design would look masculine as long as the chest was shaped as it was, it was also said that the chest did not fit in with the rest of the body shape. I changed it to more of a squared design but kept the chest leaning forward like a ski jumper would to become more aerodynamic. I was told the design may still need to lean forward further but I didn't want to over exaggerate and was informed people could still tell what sport it was.

Colour was mentioned in the critique so I experimented with a range of different monotone colours that I believed related to winter. Blue is a calm cool colour that reminds me of ice so that fit and although Red is a warm colour it is used in a lot of winter and ski wear to stand out from the snow.

Pictograms further research Study task 2 - OUGD405

I decided to look into some more pictograms other than just olympic ones.

These are a few I found when browsing through Pinterest; https://www.pinterest.com/ezekielyt/pictograms/

A lot of new icon designs have this interesting drop shadow featured within them or a bit of change in the colour to add depth to a simple piece. Each of the icons clearly shows what they're meant to signify.

I would like to attempt some of ideas used in this piece but also from some of the other posts I have looked at using simplicity to the highest ability.

https://www.behance.net/gallery/20316951/MIRACLE-MARKET

Pictograms Study task 2 - OUGD405

http://www.k2design.gr/en/project/366/athens-2004

I wanted to look into Olympic pictograms that featured a theme or linked to the country they were set in in some way.

The Athen's olympic pictograms (above image) fit a theme similar to that of the original Olympics in Athens. The idea is such a great one and ties old and new together keeping the heritage in the games.

http://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2009/october/2012-olympics-pictograms-launched/

London's pictograms are still on a theme but with a different meaning. The designer has stuck to one theme with the logos, pictograms and the whole idea of the games. The shapes have been brought into all the designs tying them all together to create one solid theme.

http://www.olympic.org/sports

Our task was to pick a sport and redesign the pictogram for it.

OUGD405 - Studio Brief 01 - Wayfinding Primary Research

These images are from around the city centre in Leeds. The maps I think are quite interesting, the colour coding is helpful but there is a lot of information being communicated at once which could confuse people. If the design was easier to follow then the viewer would be able to find their destination quicker. The colour coding idea is a good one as it defines different elements within the city helping them stand out. 

The trinity shopping centre in leeds has hundreds if not thousands of shoppers per day so an easy to follow way finding system should be priority. The boards contain a lot of information in a long list meaning you have to move around to fins out where you would like to go. Again a colour coding system has been put into place but this is on a smaller scale to a city so it would be easier to split the colours up again maybe to the style of shops. For example if you wanted a clothing shop you could look for yellow on the signage or for a games shop look for red and so on. I think there is a lot of potential with what has already been provided within trinity.

Tropical world is placed outside of the city centre in Leeds. The signage and way finding isn't exactly consistent, some of the signs printed on inkjet paper some branding the logo on what I would describe as proper signage, this makes it harder to find your way around. The building takes you around in a circle so it doesn't really matter to much on directions around but more for what you can find and see where animal wise. Tropical world has a good system but it needs more consistency within the designs of the signage.

OUGD405 - Studio Brief 01 - Wayfinding Initial Research

My initial thought was to look into different signage and way finding ideas that stand out and are different to the 'norm'. I believed this was key because if you're walking through a place you don't really know you want the signage to stand out to you so that you feel comfortable navigating around otherwise you'd miss or ignore it and become lost and confused.

http://www.damienrobache.net/01/?/objets/Akira/
http://www.edwhitephotographics.com/index.php#mi=2&pt=1&pi=10000&s=0&p=0&a=0&at=0
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/e3/83/b1/e383b1c1799c734ed3e6396a99331895.jpg
https://ndga.wordpress.com/2011/09/10/serie-referencias-%E2%80%93-sinalizacao-3/
http://www.fromupnorth.com/beautiful-signage-1022/
http://buronorth.com/projects/project/the-strand

Firstly I looked into different signage for WC facilities and things that could link to that as I believe it's one of the most important pieces of signage. No one wants to be waddling around somewhere they don't know looking for a place to relieve themselves. 

Like I said above I wanted to look at signage that maybe is different, some is simple and sort of minimalist but some bring a new class or feel to the place they are in. A lot of the images above use pictograms, this is to make sure it is translated for everyone who wishes to view them. One uses type to communicate the message on it's own but it works and like I said adds class to the toilets.

http://theultralinx.com/2015/07/20-awesome-optical-illusions-typography/
http://www.we-heart.com/2015/03/31/truck-deluxe-tel-aviv/
http://gerarddehoop.nl/products/lighting/arrow3.html
http://thechive.com/2010/02/22/funny-restroom-signs-14-photos/

I started to look into lighting being used within signage. The ones above rely on power and sun light which I suppose if you want to see signage most does but the ones that rely on sunlight to shine in a particular way means they wont always be visible. Lighting does throw you off and is eye catching but I think more problems can arise.

Cutting out a piece of signage is different and can look beautiful if done in the right way. The use of pictograms in the second image is amazing yet simple. The 69 for the house number stands out to be but not only is the cut out aesthetically pleasing the typeface has been chosen well to fit the style of the whole piece. Lastly the number 3 on the end has been placed quite cleverly but at the same time it could be confusing from the left angle and from the centre it would look to be a 3 but from the right angle it could be an 8 or a 3, anamorphic type can look amazing but isn't always informative.

http://manausbikelounge.tumblr.com/page/3
http://www.pidgeon.com.au/index/index/view/1/167
http://www.laseternas.com/sonarpro/
http://www.lostateminor.com/2014/02/22/best-2013-photos/

3D Signage is an interesting style to look into. Managing to incorporate the surroundings together is a hard task but just taking a sign out of it's comfort zone if you will can change a lot. Space is an issue with this method but it can also lend itself to the space.

https://www.instagram.com/p/tfJQeRwuLE/?modal=true
http://whynotassociates.com/branding-identity-2/glitz
http://newgrids.fr/2012/11/07/wayfinding-westerdals/
http://www.ok-rm.co.uk/slide/the-queens-house

One of the most used but I think one of the easiest to display and be creative with is painted signage, namely onto walls. Most of the time this method is used in floor numbering to create big bold statements so you can remember where you are or quite easily find out. Cost wise all you need is a wall and some paint maybe some stencils and a human with the skills needed and willing. I think this maybe the method I will look into the most.

Letter Press Experimentation

Setting up the chase for letterpress is a stressful task but once you're practiced you start to see it becoming easier. I had to set it up multiple different ways when I first started this piece as I couldn't get a hold on which way round the letters or words should be placed.

The reason I added larger lettering in and spaced the words out is because it fits to the way the song lyric is sung. The words 'Black Treacle' were a larger point size than the rest to add emphasis as it is the name of the song. 'Tar' has been printed in italics because the word is augmented to carry on the note.

I was going to drag the ink down on the word Tar as if it was tar on the page but thought there was enough explanation in the piece already.

Black was the chosen colour because of the song title, red was used as an experiment but I added to much ink so the prints didn't come out as well as I'd hoped.






The final product is below.

OUGD403 Studio Brief 2 - Typeface Design Final Outcome

I moved on from Berthold to Helvetica.The reason was one that I touched on in the last post, some of the letter forms didn't fit the design, forms like the X and Y were easier to navigate around. The C, Q and S were squared off to a better angle for my design but other letters like the J were harder to decide where to cut through.

In the end I decided to use a regular font and a special font called Blackout. The Regular font is based on a stencil design for army or military type, the Blackout I think could be used joint with the Regular as well as on it's own for special characters.

The Blackout font uses the same cut outs as the Regular, I added in blocks of black, removed the counters and extended some of the forms to fill the shapes. This is the reason why I've chosen Blackout as a name for the sub category.

Since my updated manifesto I said I think the type would work with short statements so I researched strong slogans like NIKE's "Just Do It". after receiving feedback from my work people seemed to agree the design might not fit companies like NIKE, and maybe better to use an all male target audience for this design. 

Below you can see I've added the NIKE tick to the design and adapted it to suit my type design. I have fit it to work for a specific campaign and as you can see I have used a mixture of the two fonts to make up the design and make it pop a bit more.

The slogans below are that of the American Marines. From my manifesto I stated I fit the design to suit army type using block, bold,lettering. My feedback reflects this others in the class agreed that the design is best suited for military design. It takes the original ideas of being bold and brave and pushed them further to stand out and almost make you work for the outcome.

Overall I have managed to bring across the design I wanted to from my manifesto. The design is bold, powerful and most importantly Strong. It will work with military design and others reflecting that. The fact that I created two separate fonts that can work together to create some interesting typography designs is a bonus to this task. My feedback states that people enjoy the design and think it reflects the manifesto well. Usually I do not like experimental typefaces but this design has grown on me, at the end of it all I have learned to push myself and step outside of my comfort zone a bit more.

OUGD404 - Study Task 04 - Figure/Ground

Empire is a film based magazine, film is based on image so it makes sense the publication focuses on it too. The figure on nearly every page is an image to draw in the viewers eye to the story and make them want to read it. the ground mainly the text surrounds the images to show what it is focusing on. The text itself is not justified and instead is aligned to the left making the readability more for the viewer. The ground also uses a lot of white space as not to distract you when looking at each page unless they are wanting to lead your eye like on the bottom right image with a luminous orange background. The double page spreads are used sparingly to show off big releases and the film that is featured on the over runs subtly throughout building up the excitement for the main story. Although the type is aligned to the left the figure is mostly centre aligned.

Like the last publication this uses the images as the main figure as your eye is drawn to them but the ground and the writing takes up most of the page. Some pages the font is justified making neat blocks of text and some is aligned left. There is less white but also more as there is more text but because there isn't too much going on on the page then you can read the text easier. If there's more content then use less design.

This particular magazine uses a lot of full pages for one image. This means the main figure on one page can be an image but on the page next to it you can feature writing about the image. This is using the space to a potential that might not be available all the time if you have to worry about costs or content. There is a lot of  white space as not to overcrowd the spreads and make it more pleasing to the eye.

The publication above is a local one for LCA. Based heavily around design images are key but because the publication is on a budget the sizing is B5 and pages are limited. Most pages use the images as the main figure and only use a small amount if any type. Some use a lot of text meaning the images are smaller or there are less of them meaning the text is the main figure. White space is used to free up the space and make it lighter but the opposite is used to draw your eye and change your focus in some areas.