New Project! [& DESIGNER RESEARCH]

My new project is a typography-based task inspired by the inventor; Thomas Edison...

Please see my Pinterest board for the images I have collected in response to the brief:
http://www.pinterest.com/emmawel4d/light-project/

So far I have focussed on the creative use of light - for example, in photogaphy; light trails using long exposures (which can be used to generate typography), low key lighting (involving the use of only one light source to creatively illuminate certain features in portrait photography) and the use of natural lighting and shadows.


ALAN KITCHING

Stupid Girls

I came across this video a while ago because it was produced my one of my favorite youtubers of all time - Vlogger and Entertainer; Jenna Marbles. And having done some thinking about the types of girls P!nk is targetting with her song Stupid Girls I thought it'd be appropriate to share...



College Creative Exhibition Review

This week, to provide research, we were asked to review the art block's exhibition of final pieces for this years' A level graduates and file reports on two pieces we found interesting...

The first piece that stood out for me was a project by Alice Luscome; based on a small vintage clothing shop Beyond Retro. Her aim was to re-brand the store to make it stand out amongst other clothing retailers - due to its' evident lack of advertising.

 What I really love about this work is it utilizes smart ideas rather than loud, flashing graphics to make the design stand out. Even the colour scheme is simple and there are no complicating textures in the background - which is nice because I feel it reflects the vintage style of the shop perfectly (and was therefore most likely intentional!). Finally, the idea behind the animal heads on the models is just brilliant! And I love the way they're linked into both their own posters and to each others' through the tag line "Stand out from the..." followed by the appropriate mass noun to represent the group formed by each animal. I think this is a really fun idea which has been well executed.

This campaign was followed by a range of merchandising - including T-shirts, canvs bags and multi-purpose tags. Again, there are some really smart ideas behind the merchandising - particularly the tags; which I LOVED! They've been printed with messages, again following the same simple, vintage style, reading "You look lovely today DON'T HIDE" and "Stick this on someone you think looks lovely". I thought this was such a fun and friendly idea for an advertisement campaign because not only is it innovative in reaching out to potential customers on a more personal level, it's completely practical, cost-effective and just generally a really lovely idea!


The second project I really loved was by Beth Dobson aimed at re-branding first aid in order to promote its' usefulness to the younger generations of today. Her inspiration stems from her experience as a lifeguard; and while learning first aid she realized its' importance to young people.

What she came up with is a really smart series of photographic posters. Firstly, I think these are great conceptually because they target young people instantly with their strong images and captions since they depict common problems that people at this age can identify with - then they provide the essential information of how to solve these problems to prove the importance of first aid. Secondly, I really love the colour scheme; a muted, low contrast image under white and red text to make the tag line stand out and a black bar along the bottom to deliver the serious information combined with an appropriate, and well-placed, typeface to create a vintage style.

 

This campaign was also accompanied by a brilliant set of business-card-style handouts and leaflets containing both innovative and creative visuals and helpful information.

NEW PROJECT! [intro]

As you'll see by the new layout, I've started a new project based on P!nk's Stupid Girls...

My project is aiming to highlight the many pressures on the teenage girls of today through celebrities, fashion & the media and the increasing influence of social media. I'm also planning to investigate the roles and perspectives of women and how they are commonly portrayed  in society.

To get a better feel for the mood of this song, here's the album cover of I'm Not Dead:

(featuring Stupid Girls)



This album represented P!nk's comeback to the music industry after a three year break - and, as the graphics suggest, it indicated a new, loud, rebellious side of P!nk including critical singles such as Dear Mr. President. The graphic style, while featuring a loud and disruptive edge, still follows her signature vintage-look.



"I'm so glad that I'll never fit in - that will never be me"

Stupid Girls - although the song follows a humorous tone, particularly depicted in the music video, there is an underlying seriousness to the lyrics as P!nk tries to shout out to girls across the globe that they have the right to just be exactly who they are. This is a recurring theme and appears in several of her songs including her later single Raise Your Glass.

TYPOGRAPHY [Designer Research contd]

I've been working on some typographic creations for my project and when I remembered seeing Tim Marrs' 'typography' tab I thought I'd update here with some of his work...

His style, again, is still hand-rendered (which I love!) and gives his work his usual sketchy personality:

I think the typeface he has created is perfect for this book because the text itself appers confused and muddled - it's sketchy edges and rough shapes, also unmatching letters, give the words an unnerved quality. This, of course, reflects the distressed nature of the novel. Furthermore, the colours of the typography have been well thought out and kept simple - black and white - allowing the image of the dog to become the main focus of the page.

IMAGES: http://www.timmarrs.co.uk/

Designer Study: Tim Marrs

Tim Marrs is a British graphic illustrator, commonly recognized for his work with Nike. He studied at Central St Martins, leading art school, and has since produced work for international brands such as Pepsimax, KFC and Radio Times.

It didn't take much for me to fall in love with his graphic style... I took one look at his website and that was it - just look at this background!

I really love his ability to seamlessly merge typography with his hand-rendered images - he selects typefaces carefully to compliment the style of his illustration, as well as combining some computer-generated shapes. This is a style I've always loved - especially this montage of urban images with colours that work really well together.



This image is one he produced for Top Gear Magazine including some really nice photography. I particularly like the vivid colours and the abstract representation of the car's past exploding from the back of the car. I actually find it somewhat difficult to take my eyes off this one - I can't put into words how much I love it!



This image was printed in the music section of The Guardian, April 2007
Really I just love how well this image fits together; he always manages to give his work a simple feel while not leaving empty-feeling space! I like all the little textures he uses here and there to make his work look complete and to personalise his style.

Album cover for Appeal To Reason by Rise Against - an American punk rock band.
I love the slightly chaotic layout as I think it portrays the mood and feelings of the band itself, being punk rock! But my favorite part ever is the little silhouette of a foetus whose umbillical chord runs into an electrical plug - mostly because the idea is so genius but also because, after a little research, I think it represents what the band is about really well! And all the subtle parts... so small but equally so important and well thought out!

IMAGES: http://www.timmarrs.co.uk/

Packaging Research





from: http://www.thedieline.com/blog/2013/1/31/delhaize-soup.html



 I've chosen to analyse some soup packaging I found on www.thedieline.com a while ago, and collected it because I loved the idea so much! It's a design created by Lavierna & Cienfuego Design, Spain, earlier this year. 

"The brief was to bring to life the principle ingredient, preferably through the use of photo-realistic images, with something that adds a touch of good humor before serving. The romantic image of the waiter's hands gives positive connotations of good service and quality." 

This design really stood out for me because of its' creative and imagintive use of the combination of the waiter's hand in its stereotypical stance (in black and white as not to detract from the main ingredient of the image and adding uniform to the range or products), adding class, and the enlarged ingredients to clearly state the flavour of the soup (as well as emphasising the high natural vegetable content with a lovely touch of humour). This over a muted background, in coordinating colours dependant on each soup's flavour, is really effective in creating a style that looks elegant and high quality. Furthermore the simple typeface, in a matching colour to the waiter's jacket sleeve, is a really nice way to bring the packaging together as a whole image. These concepts, accompanied by the form of the packaging itself (an on-the-go style cup) suggest this design is aimed at an adult, possibly business-end audience.

A few more of their designs that I found fun and interesting...

I really loved this piece for it's creative use of a cork to represent certain famous Australian attributes - it says Australia and it says wine... Australian wine, genius!

Really simple graphics - but just such a cute, smart idea to make the design feel more natural.

IMAGES: http://lavernia-cienfuegos.com/

The Benefit-s of Having a Great Friend [Graphics Geek-Out]

In my last post, I expressed my love for the vintage graphic style of the make up brand Benefit. I've been collecting images from their campaigns for a while now; and when my friend gave me the packaging from a product of theirs she had bought the other day, I thought I might as well update my research into their work...

The packaging she's given me is from their concealer Fake Up which, again, is a really smart and cute idea! And what I really love about Benefit is the way their advertising campaigns feed into the style of the packaging for their products - notice the subtle swirly pattern running through the background of both the above and below image (in different colours to suit the mood of each piece, clever ay?!) :

I loved this advert when I saw it! I thought the purple tweed was a really classy way of depicting a traditional detective-style image - and the magnifying glass works perfectly too. It's placed right in the centre where it can attract all attention to the product name Fake Up. And, as usual, the captions are just brilliant; THE GREAT HYDRATING CONCEALER COVERUP - The Curious Case of Hydrating Crease Control. Here they've used an ingenious play on the word coverup, since it's a concealer - don't you just love it?!

I really love this concept of leaving behind an imperfect world - and is there even a more perfect way to depict this than your very own foundation space shuttle to Lift off to Complexion Perfection?! Complete with a 70s glamour style model to complete the look -
LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT!

Really loving the colour combination (black and white featuring a strong orange; to create that 50s gangster feel) and that stereotypical typeface. And there's so much more I could say!

Company-Look Comparison

Benefit and Chanel are a pair of top-end cosmetic companies – both well-known for their class and quality. However, their brand images have been crafted with different creative methods to hit the right target audience...

Benefit’s vintage style is one I really love – their use of fun, clever ideas combined with a clean graphic technique makes their campaigns attractive to a younger audience. I think this is style is effective because the entertaining ideas portray Benefit as a friendly company – not one of the types that sell you a half-empty bottle for twice the price! Furthermore, the vintage feel implies reliability and quality thanks to the classy graphic style.

This set of images is a sample of the ads they used to promote the release of a new range of skincare products. Their use of the titles “HELLO BRILLIANT” and “LET THERE BE LIGHT” followed by the tag line “Skincare solutions so radiant, you’ll need a dimmer switch” combined with the vintage-style image of a woman with an illuminating lamp shade over her head, her fingers clasping the switch creates a really fun twist on cosmetic advertising.

Chanel, on the other hand, uses a much more obvious, yet classy style – often featuring sleek photography in quite a generic ‘fashion photography’ form. However, this style works well to draw in an older audience than Benefit aims for; since usually only upper class women can afford to buy their products, not teenagers! Also unlike Benefit, Chanel is very limited with its’ use of text and uses only very simple fonts when necessary. Personally, I really love the photography because the shots are carefully planned and brilliantly executed – I love fashion photography! But, in context, the professional quality to the images helps represent the value of their products. 

 

 These images are a few from Chanel’s campaign for their perfume ‘Nº 5’ featuring actresses Audrey Tautou and Nicole Kidman. Both with a smooth, black and skin tone colour scheme to give a stereotypical fashion model feel and both with softened images; making them feel more elegant. Combined, these factors help to create silky, professional commercials which reflect their products. An image of the perfume bottle is positioned in the bottom right corner of both images, and its’ name ‘Nº 5’ is printed at the top in a simple font s not to distract a viewer from the main images.

Welcome!

This is my new blog featuring graphic design - here I will be posting interesting and inspiring graphics. I'm interested in music videos and object manipulation...