AD109: 4Tomorrow Poster Live Competition

4tomorrow Posters

The last part of the Work Related module was to choose our own live brief/competition to work on.

I found it hard to decide on one in the beginning. At first I went for and urban art competition, where you create 3 pieces of mixed media artwork based on your city, which was right up my street. However, I came across the ‘poster 4 tomorrow’ competition, which reminded me of the Student Union project, so I decided to focus on this instead.

The quote for this year’s competition was ‘Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world’ which lead me to the idea of using the nuclear symbol/sign or nuclear bomb as part of my concept.

I used the shape of a brain to symbolise knowledge and education and then placed the nuclear sign inside, which was simple but looked modern and it was eye-catching, so I think it communicated the quote well, serving its purpose.

My second poster was the nuclear bomb, where I created typography ‘Education’ in the shape of the bomb and had it as though it was being dropped from a plane. This again spoke the message clearly in a different way than something more obvious. I learned from the Student Union project, that you should try and be ‘quirky’ with that kind of project, have a bit less of obvious and a bit more creative humour. Which is what I tried to do.

I also decided to use cut outs of paper, which I layered up with foam stickers and then scanned them into the Mac as the poster, as I thought this would look more interesting than in illustrator, and also because this style itself looked childish, tying in with education. Further more I added a handwritten font to the quote to emphasise that childish theme.

I will also submit these posters into the live competition, which I have the chance to win a work placement in Paris. So this negotiated project has been a great opportunity as it allows you the chance to expand your portfolio and gain some recognition for yourself by entering live competition/briefs.

Out of all 4 projects in this module I think this is my favorite. I enjoyed working on something I enjoyed doing and it gave me the opportunity to be more creative.

AD109: SPACE Logo Design

SPACE

As part of my Work Related module, we were given a series of live briefs to work on.

Space was the 3rd brief that we worked on, which is the HE bar and I.T centre.

Space turned out to be even more complicated than BlueBridge. The client didn’t want anything associated with outer space, no planets, stars or aliens. So it was hard to come up with a concept without thinking of space.

I also couldn’t get the MySpace logo out my head, as it’s really unusual and space also symbolises the fact its used as a place to get some ‘space’ and chill out, and the space can also be used for gigs.

So I tried to use this idea, and applied it to my designs.

I eventually decided to produce something simple, something that didn’t really focus on one area; it’s neutral in a sense. My style is always a more contemporary, minimalistic approach.

Therefore, I created a simple Typographic logo, where I focused on the shape of the lettering. I decided to leave spaces in certain letters, which would emphasise ‘space’. I also went for a light blue with a grey, its contemporary and ties in with the college too, but there are options of colour too if the client wanted another colour.

I wasn't as keen on this brief as I was with BlueBridge as I found it more difficult to think of ideas, I had the same problem when choosing a restaurant for the branding project. But I managed to get an idea in the end and I'm satisfied with the outcome.

Weekly Time Plan starting: 02.05.11 (Neg Project) AD109

Monday:

Develop Space Ideas. Look at the Design Competition Web sites to decide on a brief for Neg project

Tuesday:

Choose brief for Neg project, carry out some research and begin idea generation. Also catch up on PPD tasks.

Wednesday: 

Develop Ideas for Neg project.

Thursday:

Develop Ideas further, and catch up on PPD tasks.

Friday: 

Finish PPD Tasks.

Saturday:

Begin Essays for Digital Skills and Work Related Modules

Sunday: 

Continue Essays

Weekly Time Plan starting: 18.04.11 (Work Related) AD109

Monday:


Finalize Penguin book cover, and make sure it's uploaded onto the competition website.


Tuesday:


Catch up on PPD Blog Tasks


Wednesday: 


Continue with PPD Blog Tasks (Competition Briefs)


Thursday: 


PPD Tasks


Friday:


PPD Tasks

Concept Personnel Work Placements

http://www.conceptpersonnel.co.uk/blogMore.php?id=172

I found this website interesting too, showing current work placements, which I'm interesting in doing soon!

I may be doing a summer placement fingers crossed! So I will definitely check this website frequently.

Pentagram: Notes on a logo.

http://pentagram.com/en/new/2011/04/new-world-symphony-video.php

This video I found quite interesting, which shows the original drafts of logos which Pentagram has designed. I thought this was useful as it showed some insight into how they develop their work.

I constantly look on Pentagrams website for inspiration when doing logo design too.

AD108: Editorial Project (Newcastle and the Arts)

'Newcastle and the Arts'

What I enjoyed:

I really enjoyed doing this project, Editorial is possibly one of my favorite topics in Graphic Design, So I loved having the opportunity to do this.

At first I wasn't sure on my topic, but eventually once I got into it, the concept just came to me (Jim McElvaney style).

What I didn't enjoy:

There wasn't anything that I didn't enjoy about this project, I love Editorial Design, and I had fun working on the magazine spread. 

Problems encountered: 

The only problem I encountered, was developing an idea, as it's hard to think of something when it was 'Newcastle and the Arts' I tried to do something original, and in the end looked at lazarides and found Jim McElvaneys exhibition.

What went well:

Everything about this project went well, it was straight forward with putting it together, especially from the tutorials given on InDesign in I.T sessions. It really helped my understanding of the program and I was able to put a successful editorial piece together, and I'm satisfied with the outcome.

New skills learned: 

Creating a successful piece of editorial design.

SWOT conclusion:

Strengths:

Development, I'm very quick when developing an idea, and I produce lots of variations.

Weaknesses:

Idea Generation (sometimes!) it depends of the topic given, sometimes I find it hard at first to get into the project to gain ideas and concepts

Opportunities:

I will continue to work on Idea Generation

Threats:

Again, just Idea generation, but I'm continuing to work on this with every project.