my last post....

Well we had our final class last night...we discussed detales (he he) about different ideas for our exhibition. I am definately quite excited about our last idea- which is mainly type treatment stuff. Back tracking slightly last friday we all had our 'mock' interview, which was a good learning curve; I definately need to work on talking about my work and how to translate my ideas and concepts etc. My folio is in desperate need of attention but I think I have a good idea or feeling on where I want to go with it. So apart from that farewell, im signing off for the last time...thank you heaps dion! Will see everyone in the new year...hopefully with the exhibition sorted! :-)

green.

Well, this will be one of my last posts...so sad..anyway I have been plugging away with my 'green' budget airline. Its going quite well, the posters are clean, simple and quite bold. There was a suggestion to use gill sans with my little slogans as well- ( used it for logo) which I have done, think it is working well. There was also a suggestion to manipulate the type with the green logo which I still need to play with. The website homepage is coming along as well, slight issues with fluro green type/ rectangles, legibility etc. I just need to come up with a colour combo that works and doesn't hurt the eyes too much.. Well after that, its back to previous briefs; making corrections and improvements; wish me luck!

green air......or should i say fluro air

Well after last nights class, i am in for a bit of work... or maybe just a bit of a re-think. The all green airline thingy is cool, but I need to push it a bit further. The emphasis now is being not so literal or maybe even not so green. Im kinda of excited on the whole fluro thing, which was discussed, its just how to do it and try to do it well. I think I might work on my poster campaign and see where is takes me..I am contemplating just calling the airline green?? Not sure, maybe need to sleep on it a bit more...

brief 7- budget airlines...

Well I have started to think up names for my budget airline. I have decided to go with a totally 'green' airline, so every flight is carbon offset...they also use recycled materials- ie, for advertising material & any packaging on the plane- food and drinks etc. I haven't spent too much time on the name, as I wanted to get a few different id's underway. I have been centering around the idea that the airline appeals to a younger or at least conscious-minded people. Obviously its cheap, but I also wanted to convey a 'clean' aesthetic, green is clean and efficient....I thought of something quite organic- the whole green thing but thought otherwise.. Well better get back too it.

the chosen one....

Well, here is my indigenous poster with font changes. Took quite abit of tweeking with the sand, used photoshop clone tool- subtly to slightly change the colour where the text would be positioned over. I also cloned out some of the shell pieces as it was quite hard to read. I experimenting with putting a box underneath the text but it really didn't suit. The font i chose after much delibriation was eurostile... I wanted a sans serif font, as I believed this worked more effectively with the hand drawn type. I tried serif fonts but they looked way to formal. So here she goes all up and pretty......

narrowing it down...

During the crit session in class, there was a clear favourite amongst the group with which poster was the most successful. It turned out to be my original idea of drawing the letters in the sand. With a few changes, ie; the type along the bottom, I might try using a different typeface as well as scaling it down. There were two different paragraphs of info, in which I will experiment with joining together or at least confining more to the botttom of the page. I will also fit the info in the confines of the page and not crop it off...Here are the five different versions for your viewing pleasure.....

brief 6- the notorious poster re-design....

well, where to I begin....what a challange it has been to re-design this crummy poster I chose off the web. There were lots of info which isn't too bad but the only way I could deal with it was to totally strip it back. During my travels I got really enthusastic about close up photography and got rather obsessed with textures. This train of thought worked kinda well though, as I wanted an earthy approach to my poster with just text. I attempted the writing in the sand bizo but that proved rather difficult- as clumps of sand formed around the letters. It was also hard to control spacing, forming the letters and keeping some uniform size- I know this approach was defiantely alot more organic but to have some control would of been nice...Anyway I took a photo, manipulated it slightly in photoshop then added type in illustrator. Im not really happy with the result, but got me thinking of using type with a textured background. I took some more photos of sand and rocks at the beach as a second thought which worked out well. I tried a few different versions, experimenting with distorted type and also handrawn with the mouse. I think I have worked solo for a bit long and know feel a bit confused as to which is working the best?? I also did a poster with just handrawn type- no background and it stands out quite alot?? Anyway I will leave it up to you to decide. Here are some pretty textures.....

brief 6.....

During class we discussed the 2 artworks- one good one bad. We spoke about correct terminology and how to discuss your work properely and effectively. We then had to re-design the bad artwork; mine being a poster about indigenous film and media, bla bla bla. It is proving quite a challange as the amount of info on the poster is substantial. I have thought of a few ideas to play with; one using a beautiful image, laying type over the top- simple and nothing complicated. The moment I found this poster on the net, I immediately thought of how poorly executed it was and how I wanted to strip it back and totally simplify it. Anyway getting back to my ideas....the second idea was to play just with type- maybe all computer generated with a touch of handrawn, thirdly to use type but completely handrawn in the dirt...twigs and stuff leaves etc

ixl jar last time I promise.....

Last night we presented our 'ismi briefs. From the discussion, I have decided to add just a hint more colour. The jar lid I think will now be a deeper blue. Dion had a great suggestion of adding graphiti to the brick wall in yellow...was thinking of using the de stijl stencil font again- or interpretation and maybe write something in dutch...? The other suggestion was to remove the jar altogether and just put instructions on the glass as to get inside...as de stijl was known for instruction, regulating....etc etc

new typography and paul rand.....

End of last class we ended our ism's with The New Typography'
(1958)
This was an international platform for not just the creation of art but a discussion as well. New typography dealt with strong/ objective use of grid (diagonals) and photography. The grid appeal was unification/consistency and signified order back into society.
(1964)
Icograda debate:
Is this commercial art or professional design?
This was a time for graphic designers truely to be recognised as professional designers. Photography and reproduction was an important part of graphic design, as well as particiapting in the printing and production processess..
Joseph Muller Brockman was the pioneer in graphic design, with is contemporary being Paul Rand.
Paul designed the iconic IBM logo in 1956. He was one of the first to create and implement 'the style guide'- which produced the art director. He was at the forefront of corporate identity- the importance of understanding the consumer. The need for consistency for displaying logos over varying uses, and how important it is with branding- (keeping colours, scale and implementing an overall guide as to how to effectively using the logo in different applications.)

labelling......

The barcode on the jar further emphazies the unemotional nature- as well as showing horizontal lines- sort of a double whamy. I also designed the 'ixl' in de stijl style inspired font, which is very blocky and geometric. I wanted the label to be very minimal- with the hint of colour only being in ixl- the three primary colours of de stijl.

ixl jam jar re-visisted.....

Further from last class, whilst gaining some feedback on my ixl jam jar I decided to push the concept alot further. I kept focusing on the confinement, regulations and strict rules imposed on de stijl. I came up with confining the jar in one of those fire alarms sort of thingys.. you know 'in case of emergency break glass...' They are always red and very reconizable for that fact which works perfectly with de stijl. The box also signifies the confined rules on de stijl, the restriction, and the artists really 'broke down' the images they portrayed, the abstraction and simplicity.

russian constructivism

Russian constructivism was active from 1913-1940s. it was created by russian avante garde constructivist art and is commited to complete abstraction with a devotion to modernity. The themes were often geometric, experimental and rarely emotional.
Whilst researching the net, I stumbled across this great site- flickr, it was purely pictorial but had some great examples of russian graphic art of that time.. Quite a lot of collages, with bold shapes and strong type..

brief fourism- looking at de stijl.

Further from our modernism and typography storyboards, we are now upon our 4th brief fourism. We are to take an everyday object, research a particular 'ism' and reconstruct the graphics for that particular movement. I have chosen an ixl jam jar and am toying with the idea of either de stijl or maybe russsian constructivism... I am really attracted to de stijl, mainly because it is really broken down, basic forms and the strict lack of colour; Black/white and just primary colours. I think the restraint in style and colour could make for an interesting jam label.
De stijl was founded by architect and painter Theo Van Deosburg in 1917 in Leiden.
'Proponents of De Stijl sought to express a new utopian ideal of spiritual harmony and order. They advocated pure abstraction and universality by a reduction to the essentials of form and colour — they simplified visual compositions to the vertical and horizontal directions, and used only primary colors along with black and white.'

storyboard visuals....

Well I have been working away diligently, yay for me. Got a little stuck though on how to execute my visuals for my storyboard. Drew a complete storyboard- rough and sort of liked what was going on, then I tried to do it properly and didn't know which method to use. I thought about freehand drawings then scanning them in, then I thought about drawing purely in illustrator then eventually went back to one of my original ideas- well round about which was photographic images- where I converted them all to b/w and hand drawn elements on top. My little 'a' character is in yellow which I think acts as a nice contrast. Got the last scene to do then kinder on my way, obviously will be open to constructive criticism on tues with the class etc, but at this stage I think I am quite happy with the progress I have made.

some of gills artwork.....

As we all know from last week in class, Mr Eric Gill is one kooky character. I thought it necessary to have a religious twist throughout my storyboard; he supposedly would express his Christian views any chance he could get. To my alarm though the guy was also a pedophile?? or was very kinky, and even did erotic engravings. I thought to leave this sexual side to him out of my storyboard, but thought why not share it on my blog. I definitely chose an eccentric weirdo. Makes for interesting reading/viewing....

more on sanserif....

Well I am back, spent much of last night scrolling pages on the web, read some really interesting essays on sanserif fonts etc. Thought I need a bit more of a lead up to the characteristics of my font so started to delve into the beginnings of sanserifs. What I can gather is that it was created as a means to compete with the serif fonts. Modernism was a time for change and new,with 2 new forms of typographic communication- poster and the handbill. Sanserif were created for ease of legibility for the viewer- as opposed to the reader. They were also very effective on posters as you could display much more information. Edward Johnston created his own typeface for the London Underground, with a very mathimatical perspective, creating a very even and balanced typeface. Gill came along though and improved on johnstons typeface, by adding varying thick and thins, allowing a more humanist look and feel, thus creating better legibilty. Nothing is ever perfect or perfectly balanced, or so they say, and by stripping back this need for balance our eye tends to view it more effectively....

thurs arvo

Well I thought I better not be a blogger virgin for too long, so here goes! I started the day all ready to go...went for my walk did the washing, bla bla bla. Finally got stuck into my homework, started off by surfing the net again, trying to gain some more info on modernism. Found some really good info- the V& A exhibition in london- all about modernism- designing a new world 1914-1939. Great site, heaps of pics and even a pdf to download with great info. Was feeling on a roll by this stage and started sketching some ideas for my stroy board. I am thinking on the lines of a religious journey- my little 'a' character will be born on the subway- london underground reference, then progress through the city- machines, factories etc. Eric gill had strong opinions on modernism- as I found out, his 'two worlds' theory from his essay.. so all should tie in quite nicely. He was sort of opposed to the 'machines' taking over, and was afraid of the human element being lost. So basically my little 'a' will go through the city on his little journey- and then maybe got out to the country- will show eric gill making the fonts by hand- ie; maybe chiseling them etc, then back into the city- to show on traffic signs and billboards the characteristics of the font. Still contemplating the last 2 frames- need to show the usage. The last frame, I was going to end with a group of people worshipping the font- or about to go to a mass etc. This heavy religious stuff I think is important to show who gill really was. His famous essay he wrote on typography was said to have social and christian doctrine all through it, and at times didn't talk all that much about type, does sound like a fascinating read though. I think at this stage my story board may be quite detailed, but plan on finding photographic images for the background and maybe just sketching the 'a' and some other details over the top- sort of montage/collage thingy??
Although I am finding this subject and particually this assignment challanging I am enjoying it greatly- no guys or dion I promise I am not trying to be a suck. Just great to go behind the scenes of design and broader the intellect etc. Well getting back to it, I said I started, then I got busy tring to play with this blogger- customizing colours and etc- we are graphic design students after all. My progress with my homework has sort of fallen in a heap, I will get back to it after this, I love to procrastinate. I think I also use it for ideas to float around, sometimes it can be benefical to sit on ideas, let them form etc.