In order to meet each of the aims of the brief I made a slow and considered approach to my label’s composition. I explored many types of imagery, typefaces and colourways until I came to this conclusion. I even experimented with many types of bottles, containers and jars to find an appropriate context for the label. Finally, I chose to place my design on cider bottles. This was appropriate because they are sophisticed, sexy and create a mature mood, much likes the themes communicated in my concept.

My concept for the shampoo bottles was ‘Adam and Eve’. I took this biblical story and made it contemporary and entising for my target audience of young adults aged between 18-25. I thought about what stage people of this demographic were in, in their lives. I came to the conclusion that they are looking for boyfriends/ girlfriends and are very interested in themselves. Young adults can often be perceived as vain and self obsessed. I wanted my design to feed into their psychology and apply my design to this sort of person. To narrow down the demographic to interests, these people would typically be interested in their appearance, designer goods and fashion. Most likely to have a medium to high disposable income.

I structured my label around the serpant. The serpant enabled me to create a fluid shape with enough surface area to properly express my theme. The serpant is the core character of this story and joins and deceives the two protagonists. The sly and somewhat sinister character has an alluring nature that makes me think that young people would be drawn to this on the boutique/ department store shelf. The snake itself makes the shape of an “S” to rerfence the first letter of “shampoo”. If I was to extend the product line, the snake would make a “C” for ‘conditioner’ also. I extended my core imagery to include an apple. The apple too has an alluring and mysterious nature. I wanted to play on the risk taking nature of young adults and add this to my imagery. I made the shampoo apple scented to build on this concept.

As far as colourways, I wanted to step away from the traditional ‘pink for girls’ and ‘blue for boys’ ideaology. Looking at class notes and the previous task I knew that dark hot pink and red are important to young women. On the otherside, I knew that boys would be drawn to the rustic earth colours of brown. I thought that they’d be less ashamed and insecure about their masculinity when purchasing the product if it were brown. These strong colour combinations allow for a tailored approach to communicated to these audiences whilst also staying true to the gender stereotypes of the theme. I chose green apples as they really pop against the core colours of the labels. A simular contrast has been used when looking at the colour of the typography.

When choosing my typography I wanted to only make small changes in the typefaces chosen. I branded the name of the shampoo company in Unisect because it has a contemporary flavour whist still being gender neutral. Unisect was also used for the name of the project ‘Adam’ or ‘Eve” for this same purpose. For the women’s design I chose to use Akko Pro and Greyscale Basic because they have a slightly more feminine look whilst remaining harmonious with Unisect. For the male design I used Carplates as my point of difference because this is a masculine and strong typeface. The angular typeface is highly geometic and assists with the strong character expressed in the concept of Adam. I was cautious to only have small differences in the typography to keep the branding strong across the two designs.

Reflection:

What I learnt from this project is how to manipulate the small nuances of different typefaces and colourways. I have progressed throughout doing this project to now know how to create consistent branding whilst tailoring small choices specific for different genders. I have further developed my skills in creating a visual identity that is appropriate to the target audience. I feel as though this project has been a positive step towards my own development in creating fresh designs, appropriate to the theme and demographic. I have extending my application of shape from what I learnt in semester one.

I feel as though I am starting to become more independent in my thinking. Not being at Uni whilst working on this project has really taught my to push through difficult creative blocks and obstacles. I got really stuck at one point when I thought that my designs were all really plain. I couldn’t find a happy medium between busy and too minimal. I thought about advice that I received in class and how adjusting my use of the elements and principles of design can really turn a design around. I have now developed a strategy for when I get confused in my creative direction. I now know to explore shape to its furthest extent, choose a colour palate and set out my text in appropriate typefaces. Once these things have been decided upon, building upon imagery and creating harmony is much easier.

The fringe festival that I conceived for this brief is named ‘Aural Avalanche’. My concept for the festival is that spontaneous sounds would be played throughout the Melbourne CBD. I didn’t specify an exact location from which people could come to hear the sounds because they are meant to surprise and alarm people. The date I chose to host the event is on the 21st of December 2012; the date that the apocalypse has been predicted on the Mayan calendar. The playing of weird and foreign sounds from speakers in train stations and out of sewer vents would alarm those who are particularly superstitious on this day. The slogan ‘is the world ending or is it just us?’ plays with people’s uncertainty for the day.

In order to communicate the events that would occur on this day, I chose to create my poster too, in a spontaneous manner. I strategically set out my type in Bebas as it is a bold and loud typeface. The use of only capitals emphasises the message to expect loud sounds. From this, I took to treating my typography in a very unconventional way. I wanted to express the ‘feeling’ of an avalanche without actually reference the literal image of one. In order to do this, I printed off my type composition and rescanned it into my computer. From this, I took a very ‘fringe’ approach and did something not seen in typical designs. I distorted the letterforms by means of moving and scrunching the paper as the scanner was photographing it. The indecipherable set of large characters towards the bottom of the poster seem to reference a hybrid of Mayan and alien coded writing. This technique produced many interesting effects. After over seventy scans, I was able to create the image that was most appropriate.

For me, the process of taking type and distorting it to a point where it becomes an image was an interesting approach. I came to understand different strategies of how to move the paper and what sort of image it would create. The melding of text and image is something that isn’t often seen in typical festival posters. I really wanted to push the boundaries and play with peoples senses. I think that this poster has been effective in this as I have been able to communicate the feeling of the rumble of the ground, havoc and rush of an avalanche.

The main inspiration for this poster came from the idea of sound-waves. I didn’t know how to draw the ‘sound’ or the ‘feeling’ of an avalanche. However, I knew that sound-waves related to the ‘aural’ aspect of the festival. Sound-waves depict  the frequency and pitch of sound. In my poster, I aimed to make it look as if a sound-wave is rippling through the poster and distorting the text. The format shape came naturally. In order to remain ‘fringe’ and ‘underground’ I wanted the poster to echo the form that the scanned piece of paper takes. This distorted image of the page works perfectly in the context of a poster because when cut out, it looks as if the sound has had an effect upon what was, a normal poster. The warping of the paper as if it’s creating a vortex references perhaps another dimension or portals – sucking the text in. Flashes of light and differing layers of luminosity create a very surreal aesthetic. The colour choice of a myriad of shades and tints of green against black references a typical sound-wave. Often we see this colour scheme in hospitals, mapping out the BPM of a patient. This dramatic tension of watching the line peak and troth is something that I wanted to evoke in my poster. The strange distortion, blurs and patterns created by the scanner really mirror this uncertainty that I wanted to communicate.

The large A1 format was chosen to emphasize the communication of “BIG SOUND”.

What I learnt from this is that it’s so important to think beyond what we already know and expect. It was interesting to go through the process and keep hitting walls of conventional thought. The way my mind is wired always pushes me towards literal symbolism and representation of the theme at hand. In this brief, I walked away from the designs that I would have done otherwise, no actual avalanches or typographic representations of one.

Being prompted to think of the ‘feeling’ of an avalanche and it’s surrounding connotations was the most challenging thought process I have gone through at University yet. Thinking in such an abstract way was so difficult to me, but I managed to stew on the concepts for a few days and come to the most appropriate solution.

I now know how important it is to really expand my thinking. Brainstorming is crucial. Being able to write down all the connotations and emotions that would be associated with the intial concept allows for wider thinking. By thinking broadly and not just of conventional subject matter allowed me to create such a fresh design. Allowing the viewer to participate in the design and not just feed it to them is something that I want to keep doing.

Eliminating the distinction between ‘typography’ and ‘hero image’ was something that I really enjoyed. It was nice to be able to step away from the image vs. text confrontation that usually exsists in design excited me. Being able to completely abandon this battle and create a design where the two becomes one was something really innovative and interesting. The colour of the typography was so unusual that the line between text and image was blurred. This is creative strategy is something that was so appropriate for this application. Thinking beyond what we normally expect can be so valuable.

I chose to experiment with a fixed-width typeface in this composition (above). I chose Futurist Fixed-Width and I found it to be the most suitible and visually pleasing in my Font Book. To complete this version I had to use two styles of the one typeface. I chose regular and italic and the difference between them can often be really interesting when used together. I wanted to really spread out this design so I tracked all my letters very loosely. This enabled me to create a type of subdued energy as the eye can weave through the space left black. I wanted my viewer to see the two tones expressed by the two styles and hence I drew them close together so the difference between the two letterforms can be easily noticed. I also chose to vary my scale so that I could play with the voice that is expressed when words are set as small and large. I made the smallest text that size so that it could act as a small whispher at the end of the design.

I chose to experiment with Helvetica Neue in Condensed Black (above) as I have seen many interesting compositions in this typeface and I wanted to try it myself. I really like the Swiss style of design but I had never attempted it until now. I chose to start with big building block letters to begin my composition. The bold shape of the black letters allowed me to create a strong framework to work with later. The brief said that I could work with only black on white & white on black. With this condition, I decided that I would work with this rule to the best of my ability. By cutting into the black letters with white letters, I was able create “Lorem” with what I think is a good sense of movement. I added apostrophes as well as I think they give a sense of balance to the design that was lacking without them. I chose to place the subheading ‘ipsum’ and the body text into the shape of the “L” to echo the movement that flows in “Lorem”. From this, I created a sort of full circle of typography as the first apostrophe directs the viewer into the composition and down from there to the ‘m”. The second apostrophe directs the eye again to turn inwards into the composition to the ‘ipsum’. This leaves the viewer to read the body text which is left last in the hierachy of the type.

In this composition (above) I was interested in exploring paths. I wanted to do something really different to what I had done in my other designs. I played with the repetition of sentences and their expressive nature. Although this seems really busy, I also think there is some sort of harmony though the use of two typefaces. Avant Garde (oblique) and Code Bold have been used in conjuction as contemporary and clear typefaces. Them having these qualities allowed me to really experiment with their nature and how they can be used to create lines. The different line weights helped me explore depth along with reducing the scale of my paths. It interests me to think about at what point a sentence stops being a sentence and more a line. This explores that. Although it borders on figurative, I believe this design is an abstract experiment with the posibility of paths.

I chose to experiment with Baskerville for this design compositon. I played with both the roman and italic styles of the font to allow me to properly explore the colour of type. The manipulation of the two voices or tones that are expressed in these styles create a formality and warm nature to the typography. As I am trying to build on my compositions within space, I wanted to direct all my type to the bottom right corner as I haven’t often see this done. I linked the beautiful serifs on this typeface together to create a fluidity and movement to the typography. This allowed me to communicate them as linked worked rather than a jumbled mess. I again created a three-tier hierachy with a heading, subheading and body text. I again played with positive and negative space when the subheading crossed over the heading. I changed the type colour to white to cut through the form below it. By trapping the body text into the space I did, I was able to concentrate the content into one space. Although for editorials this wouldn’t work as the legibility is compromised, I think it works in this context. It’s as though the heading wraps around the body text as it really embodies the essence of what lies within it.

Here are my designs mounted on posterboard up on the studio wall along with other classmates.

Strangely enough we had a brief to create timing with Adobe Acrobat and Illustrator. Unfortunately I cannot upload the .pdf  here and have it move. I have uploaded some screenshots so you get the ‘picture’, so to speak. The brief was to take a quote and then add timing to expressive typography. To do this I created one full screen of my typography and graphics (above) and then gradually delete backwards, saving a .pdf each time. After this I combined all the files and added a page transition of fade and appropriate timing on Illustrator.

I took this beautiful quote from the most beautiful poem I have ever heard. Or best thing I have ever heard for that matter – Andrea Gibson’s “Birthday”. It was so hard to do this poem justice. I don’t think I was really able to communicate it in the way it deserves with the limitations of using Acrobat. My goal for the summer if to purchase After Effects and create a video of kinetic typography with the full poem.

To create my blog theme for Bokardo I made sure that there was the typical elements of a blog present within my design. I looked at various WordPress themes for inspiration. This enabled me to create the structure for the blog in which the content would be placed. The content was supplied from an existing blog entry upon the existing site.

I decided to go with a familular format so that if this was to be created, the user would be able to interact with links in the conventional way. I used conventions such as underline for a hyperlink and bold and larger for heading. I chose to make keep my use of typography in the blog post itself as conservative. I thought about how the blogger would interact with the site and how he would publish. In contrast, I used Greyscale Basic as my signature typeface which I would be embed into the CSS for the heading and author details. The header and buttons down the side, set in Greyscale would be .jpegs embedded into code.

I wanted to ensure that the body text was as legible as possible. Therefore I chose typefaces that were clean and sans serif. I think that Avenir LT Std was a wise choice because the variety of line weights and styles allowed me to get a lot out of the one typeface. In using a widespread selection of roman, roman oblique, black and heavy, I was able to express many tones.  I understand that expression is essential in blogging and that people often skim read. Therefore I selected core points from the text provided and have them particular emphasis. My strategy for that I would hope that people who stumbled across the blog could read the few sentences that I directed them to, and if they were impressed they’d stay longer.

I added a comments section and various buttons and navagation so that the user could interact with the many facets of the blog and get the most out of it. I put all the essentialial information above the fold so that it wasn’t hard to find, no matter what screen or web brower the user would have.

These two designs were a task I had to do for my Type on Screen class. I had to create a composition for two blogs. One that was loud and one that utilized white space.

Sources: Erik Spiekermann’s Typo Tips

10 Web Typography Rules Every Designer Should Know

This is a task I completed for my Type on Screen class. We had to establish hierarchy using the dummy text ‘Lorem Ipsum’. There were certain things we had to include such as a title, two heading sizes, a caption and body text. I decided to place my content within the context of a blog. I really enjoy designing the templates for websites. I really hope to learn web design in my summer break so I can get an understanding of HTML and CSS coding. It’s something that I’d definitely like to be proficient with in the future.