Design Practice: May 2013

I started the project by answering the questions given on the brief which enabled me to generate quite a lot of informative content about myself.

After answering the questions featured on the brief I made spider diagrams to define exactly what information I want my pack to communicate about me. I used the answers generated for the initial questions to help me outline the most definitive aspects of my personality and personal and professional beliefs.

The main points I want my promotional pack to communicate are;

My love for printed outcomes and different printing techniques.
My new found fascination with typography.
My love for illustration and craft.
Showcase my work.
My technical skills.
What I have learned in my first year at uni and how I hope to progress.
Introduction to my personal interests and what makes me me.
Quality.
Hand made.

Next, I created a spider diagram to help me define what I will produce to help communicate the points made above. While collecting my initial research I looked at self promotion packs that included interesting prints, posters and promotional material such as business cards. I want to create a similar pack and use specific design elements such as the poster to help communicate points about my beliefs as a designer.

After completing the spider diagram I decided to explore each idea further, giving thought to form, function, stock and how all the elements of the pack will interact with each other.

The logo needs to be personal to me, and communicate a characteristic of my work/personality.

The logo also needs to be aesthetically engaging and memorable.

I will look at producing a typographic version of my name or initials.

The business card will showcase the logo and display my contact & website details.

The business card will be one of the first items the viewer will interact with, so it will set the standard for the rest of the branding. Therefore the card needs to be original and aesthetically appropriate.

The card will also need to reflect the stock choice used for the rest of the branding. Consistency is key to the success of the pack.

The booklet will introduce me, who I am, what I do, my interests and beliefs.
The booklet will also have a spread on my skills, and what I have learned in my first year at university.
Additionally, the outcome will also introduce my passions, enabling the viewer to get an idea of who I am on a personal level.
The booklet will also have a selection of my work, presented alongside a small body of text explaining the brief and my outcome.
Finally, the book will finish with a thank you message and present my contact details.

It will be the job of the posters to visually communicate my skill level and love for illustration, typography and print.
The print poster will be screen printed and A3 in size.
I am unsure at the moment what the content of the poster will focus on. However, I believe it should aim to further support the message the poster aims to communicate.
The self portrait poster was inspired by the lino cut prints created by illustrator 'John C Thurbin'.
Therefore, the poster will lino cut and have A4 dimensions.

As mentioned earlier, I want to produce some promotional mat
erial for my pack. However as I am already producing quite a few different outcomes I am unsure as to whether I will have time to create and produce the materials.
The stickers would be printed in the digital print room at university.
The stickers could showcase the logo and could be used as an addition to the pack.
I could produce a set of icons that use semiotics to communicate things that are important/define me. The graphics would then be printed onto a series of stickers.
The postcards could showcase some of my work.
The postcards would be held together with some sort of belly band.
Finally, the stock used would need to be relatively thick and reflect the stock selected for the rest of the design elements.

The packaging needs to hold all of the design elements together.

Furthermore, the packaging also needs to be suitable for the post. Therefore the stock selected needs to be fairly durable.

The packaging needs to protect its contents from getting damaged.

Additionally, the stock will need to reflect the stock used for the rest of the design elements.

Finally, the packaging will also need to have graphics reflecting the visual theme used for the rest of the project.

TIME MANAGEMENT

As in past projects I have struggled with my time management I have made time sheets to help me stay organised throughout the duration of the brief. In past projects I found the sheets useful as they allow me to check the progression of the project and see what specifically needs completing before the deadline.

The module deadline for the 'Creative Practice' brief is the 29/05/13, which is a Wednesday. Unfortunately, there is a bank holiday on the monday so all elements of the project need to be finished and printed before the 24/05. Using the sheets should help me finish all aspects of my project in time for the deadline.

VISUAL THEME

For the pack to be aesthetically engaging there needs to be a recognizable, consistent visual theme running throughout all elements of the outcome.

I will define my visual theme by listing the main points of my design ethos that I want to be communicated, the pack will focus on promoting my interests as a designer. Therefore, I will use design decisions regarding typeface choice, color scheme and stock to visually reflect my design practice.

HAND RENDERED

Firstly, I love creating things with my hands and working with printing techniques such as screen-printing. Personally, I think this is a very definitive part of my design practice and personal interests so producing a self promotion pack that reflects this ideology is very relevant. Moreover, I could use a visual theme that reflects this, all of the design outcomes could be printed using different printing techniques, and the logo and graphics created for the book could be produced by hand, scanned in and then used digitally to ensure that the theme is consistent.

TYPOGRAPHY

CHOSEN THEME

HAND RENDERED FEEL

As a designer my practice is very craft driven, I am fascinated by

DESIGN DECISIONS

DIMENSIONS

Various sizes will fold down to A5.

TYPEFACE

Museo

Collator

COLOUR SCHEME

Pantone CYMK Colour Codes

C-28 Y-22 M-22 K-0
C-33 Y-90 M-56 K-22
C-42 Y-75 M-49 K-22
C-5 Y-4 M-3 K-0
C-48 Y-40 M-40 K-4
C-58 Y-49 M-49 K-17
C-78 Y-42 M-68 K-29
C-9 Y-6 M-7 K-0
C-22 Y-18 M-18 K-0
C-60 Y-47 M-69 K-29
C-67 Y-58 M-70 K-56
C-4 Y-2 M-3 K-0

STOCK CHOICE

Business card - Firstly, the business card will be produced using lino, I want the cards to reflect my print based practice but to also be aesthetically engaging so that I am set apart from the crowd. Therefore, I will screen-print my contact information onto the back of the sheet of lino and then individually cut a print out of each one.

Posters - To keep the elements of the promotion pack consistent I will produce all the posters on the same stock. After reviewing the stock choices I decided to use an off white, 120gsm, matt paper.

Booklet - The booklet will utilize the same stock as the posters to ensure a strong consistent aesthetic theme. However, I will create a front and back cover for the booklet made from a grey chipboard with a thickness of around 3mm, this makes the book more durable and creates a nice contrast to the pale paper.

Packaging - Finally, the packaging for the outcome needs to be durable, as the pack will be send through the post to different design agencies in Leeds. Therefore, I have decided to use a 3mm thick, single walled sheet of corrugated cardboard.

IDEAS DEVELOPMENT - LOGO

IDEAS DEVELOPMENT - BUSINESS CARD

Before producing the lino business cards I wanted to check that they would fit into a wallet, the thickness of the uncut lino meant that it was almost impossible to fit into a wallet. I used a spare, scrap piece of lino and cut a small letter into it to reduce the thickness.

After cutting the lino into a neat square I slotted it into my wallet, the lino removed when cutting the print reduced the thickness enough so that it was easily to slipped into the card pocket.