K.NOONE / Y2LEARNING AGREEMENT

INTRODUCE.

I believe that great design and effective communication should always be based upon good ideas and not by succumbing to visual trends. I believe to be inspired is to have lived and inspiration can come from absolutely everywhere and anywhere. I tend not to focus too hard on what restrictions I have in front of me but find a way around those restrictions. Versatility is a key ingredient in how I design, it allows the flow of work not to have too many similarities and avoids becoming a designer with a single style.

The main area of interest in design for me is typography and layout. I think that the arrangement of type is vital in any design, through careful choices and visual intelligence a great design can be achieved. I see my work improving massively in every assignment and hope to continue to improve to make my mark in the design world.

THE PITCH.

The ideas of what I actually want to achieve often change when deciding on a brief. Originally I had been working for a brand new fashion magazine based in Leeds City Centre and this module was a perfect opportunity to begin work I had been asked to do by the magazine. My job was to use creativity to create Urban Coco’s brand identity. Before I began the research process for this project relationships between me and the editors had became sour, this had hindered what I had intended to do.

As I had already decided on a YCN brief I decided I would prefer to design my own content for my own publication, so this is where I came up with the name Unlike.Unlike is a kind of zine/publication directed towards people particularly interested in design but it also could interest pretty much anyone as it’s designed to provoke thoughts through the use of Image and Type. It demonstrates the relationship between the two, how they work side by side and have purpose.

My overall goal during 5.4 was to take a different approach to things and think differently, most of all to take risks and not just play it safe. My thinking was to work in aesthetics with clever thinking and to see a good end result.

What does your work try to communicate?

My work is all pretty diverse in a sense. I tend to steer away from using similar elements within different projects. I like my work to say what I am like as a designer and how I work. My work often communicates how I think differently and take risks to communicate and idea, I try not to follow the herd.

How do you approach a design brief?

First of all I do research, lot’s of it. I find out what’s been done before and try to find gaps so I can create something different. The use of different media is a big help in the research stage as I find it a good source of inspiration. Then comes the sketchbook, I sketch as many ideas as I can as I find the computer hinders freedom in ideas. Then I may use processes such as screen print, etching, or paints, this allows me to have a bit more creative freedom. The last part is taking it to the mac from the sketchbook.

Give an example of work that best represents your practice to date?

A good example of my work would be my self initiated brief. I believe it refelects my thinking and problem solving. I’ve tryed to be quite subtle in the design side, I think this will communicate the idea more. I like to think the publication/zine will provoke others thoughts which was the whole idea, also being quite informative. The use of language and photography have purposely focused on quite controversial subjects to get a general interest from others. There’s no news like bad news would be a good quote to explain it.

What type of designer do you consider yourself as?

At present I consider myself as a designer for print, I find there’s nothing more rewarding as a designer than to get a piece of work back from press. Although, I would like to branch out a bit more and aquire some new skills which might help me become more desirable to a potential employer.

WHAT?

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YCN (GRAZE).

The first part of the brief required me to refresh the Graze logo, Graze liked there logo but thought It needed to say more about who and what they were all about.I immediately started sketching ideas as there was so many potential ways to go about it. I kept one idea in mind throughout all the sketches and that was subtleness. I didn’t want to steer to far away from what they already had, there logotype was subtle and honest and I wanted this to be clear in the concepts.

The second part of the brief was to re-design the box for Graze. They liked the subtleness of the box but also thought it could work harder. ‘We want people to jump for joy and shout ‘huzzah!’ (and other such exclamations) when their box turns up in their post’ I kept this phrase in mind throughout. I did a lot of research on what other people were doing but I felt I didn’t want to follow the cliche of using fruit as the selling point of the box.

I opted to use a retro style that screamed fun but also delivered the message what Graze were all about, a fun, young, digital business. Visual language was to be a big key in how I designed the box, using short words like ‘Still Hungry?’ and ‘Enjoy’ I wanted to keep it short and to the point. Also I kept in mind it had to appeal to both men and women, I think I did achieve this. There was also quite an exciting photo shoot which I used to my advantage to link it the language on the box.

BRIEFS.

SELF INITIATED.

For the first part of the self initiated brief saw me taking on a job for designing a poster set for the band ‘Drive There Now’. The band had been together for around 4 years and had quite a lot of success around Manchester and neighbouring cities. As a celebration to them playing their final show I wanted to demonstrate the word ‘Paths’ and how they were all going their seperate ways. I achieved this by using simple typographic elements. The first mark was a balloon which was intended to symbolise ending on a high,the second being paths going in different directions to symbolise moving apart.

The second part of my self initated brief was a zine I wanted to create to demonstrate a relationship between type and image. This was to be done in a way that would provoke thoughts from an audience. I chose the subject ‘Conflict’ as it can be seen as quite a controversial subject and often overlooked in media. This was also a chance to experiment in typography, layout and format, something I want to know a lot more about. The whole idea was intended to be directed at people interested in design/media. Also I wanted it to be informative and to the point, to demonstrate my way of thinking.

The third part involved me being commisioned to design a logo and flyer for a new fitness company called ‘MCR Fitness’ I wanted to represent cardio in a way that demonstrated tensile strength in the logo. The flyer was a very quick turn around job, I was provided with 90% of the content but needed to communicate the owners ideas in my own way. When it was to be posted through someones post box it needed to visually stand out.

BRIEFS.

I have always been creative in one way or another and I’ve never let the fact of me not being able to draw really good hold me back too far in my design work. I like to thing If I can sketch a simple idea I can bring it to life if the idea is strong enough.

I always aim to work as if I have no limitations, I think anything is pretty much achievable if I put my mind to. Life and the thinks around us are constantly evolving and I like to stay with the times, I believe this keeps the idea process fresh.Design is a journey, a combination of life experiences and processes, everything is inspiration.

With different briefs/assignments the process of design is quite similar but can also be quite diverse. I believe research is the most important part of the process , it’s the perfect way for me to have solid knowledge of what I’m about to do. Secondly I sketch a lot of ideas and get feedback from various people to understand what will work and what wont. Then come’s further research and finally execution. The execution part is always the simplest part for me if I have carried out the research stage correctly.

I’ve come to understand a computer is simply a technical aid, ideas can not be as easily communicated by purely using it. Processes like screen print, etching, and letterpress allow my work to become versatile and as a useful source of inspiration.

PROCESSES

The Hub: Complete with essentials such as the sketchbook; the mens mags; the paint; the old school phone; the spiritual buddah; the spray paint; the cutting board; the chair; the mac.

STUDIO

Graze Logo

This is the final logo design after 100’s of variations. The hierarchy being on Graze and Nature delivered. I wanted to logo to be a simple type treatment with two simple elements to signify ‘Nature Delivered’. The logo can used inside the binding circular shape or stand alone.

WORK

Graze Box

For the Graze box I wanted something that was fun, modern, and aesthetically pleasing. I was inspired by 50’s design and the empowerment of women but something that would also appeal to men. One to two word phrases were thought of to fit in well with the fun/witty side of things. I then conducted a photo shoot to work in harmony alongside the phrases.

Screen print was the only option available at the time and this was the most technical part of the brief. Getting alignment etc on the box was to prove hard work and quite a lengthy process.

WORK

THE WORK.Graze marketing strategy

The final part of the Graze brief was to create a mailer that would stand out from junk mail. The aim was to get people that were unaware of the brand to take interest in Graze. I did take a look at how other people were approaching this and again wanted to avoide the cliche’s. My thinking was everybody loves to win something, and if they were to win free Graze products this would encourage them to sign up to Graze. I decided to make a strong stock envelope containing a ‘Golden Graze Ticket’ where everyone wins something big or small.

The Formula.

GET IT / OPEN IT / WIN IT / SIGN UP / LOVE IT / RE-ORDER

WORK

Graze Photoshoot

WORK

UNLIKE ZINE

These are some of the spreads from what was going to be a publication but now a zine. It features quoutes that work appropriately with a certain image showing a relationship between the two. I have designed this to provoke peoples thoughts using controversial quotes and images. To bring it together I wanted to include some statistics of the chosen subject. The other idea I wanted to visualise was to show that conflict can mean different things, in different situations and different circumstances

WORK

UNLIKE ZINE

“Television brought the brutality of war into the comfort of

the living room”

The Battle of Hamburger Hill - Southern Vietnam - 1969

WORK

MCR FITNESS LOGO

CARDIOVASCULAR FITNESS TENSILE STRENGTH

THE END RESULT

3 KEY COMPONENTS.

WORK

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The concept for this one hour flyer was to stand out from junk mail by using a strong and direct message and using a strong colour pallete.

WORK

DRIVE THERE NOW

drive there now

the linesthe rainband

Manchester Academy 2VENUE

7pmT IME

WITH T IME

Friday 4 MarchDATE

£10.00PRICE

LA F INALE

In summer '09 Lee & Anthony were joined by bassist, Ben Hardman and drummer, Oliver Mcdaid. This was the birth of Drive There Now as a 4 piece rock band. Now, 3 years later, Drive There Now will be playing a one off show to mark the end of their run. Each band member will be embarking on different journeys in their life. So for now Drive There Now will be locked in the vault, Bon Voyage!

dr i ve therenow.co.uk

WORK

DRIVE THERE NOW

drive

04/05/12Manchesteŕ Academy 2

drivetherenow.co.uk

there

04/05/12Manchesteŕ Academy 2

drivetherenow.co.uk

now

04/05/12Manchesteŕ Academy 2

drivetherenow.co.uk

The concept behind this poster set was the posters could be used together as a set or as individual posters which would work alone and gather interest questioning what the letters mean.

WORK

MAKING CONNECTIONS & REFERENCES.

This is a piece of work from my zine that features another side of conflict.

The concept is to introduce the audience to a decaying city in 1981. This was a time of unrest in the city that saw racial tension that sparked the Moss Side Riots.I was influenced to look further into this by the events of August 2011 when further riots took place. These were sad times for the country especially Manchester.I was in Manchester the day this took place and saw most of the unrest and it’s something I have never experienced before. This is something I have always wanted to use in a piece of design but I could never make a connection towards it until now.

I found it appropriate to do something a bit different with this series of image and type. I wanted to give the type perspective as is was an actual object embedded into the city. I tryed not to be too tentative when composign the type as it needed to coincide with the subject matter.

Throughout the publication I have used one font family yet adjusted the family to fit where necessary. On this occasion I have adapted the type to a grunge/worn style to represent the crumbling relationship between society and higher powers.

I think the understanding of this page would come later in the zine when the subject is explained, this is when the relationship will become clear.

MAKING CONNECTIONS & REFERENCES.

DESIGN ANALYSIS

I have chosen to analyze the design agency ‘Purpose’Purpose is a brand communications consultancy/design agency who help clients to communicate more effectively.

After spending a month working on a placement at Purpose I found my self a lot more aware what design actually is and what it can be. They empower the thought of a winning idea comes from creativity, strategy and team work. Their work is so diverse and executed to the highest standard which makes them one of the top ten design agencies in the U.K according to design week.

The first piece of work I will look at is the wedding invitation designed by Purpose designer Phil Skinner.Jasmine and Tim. One is from the city, one from the seaside. ‘My other half’ stationery brings the two together for their wedding. The thing I appreciate about this is it’s a simple execution executed perfectly. Phil abandoned your typical ornate invitation and took something that was really close to the couples heart. It’s these sort of ideas that allow me to understand the less complex the idea is the more effect the design becomes.

The second piece of work I’ve looked at is EFFP identity. EFFP provides consultancy to the agricultural and food industry. They strive to build bonds between these two industries, to make both more efficient. Again simplicity strikes! Using strong, bold typography in the identity they are able to communicate and differentiate them from other consultants in the sector. It’s this type of design that really inspires my work and has made me realise less most of the time is more. In todays culture there is little room for failing to communicate an idea and this a phrase I plan to keep in mind.

ZEITGEIST

Looking further into unrest in the U.K I’ve chose one of the most harrowing articles in The Sun newspaper from 2011. Armed mobs took to the streets on a fourth day of violence that has spread across the country. The streets were ablaze, panic spread nationwide and the thugs appear with television in hand. Overlooking what was happening now it was what was to come next that touched the country most.

The U.K was to see something they havn’t witnessed since World War 2. The honest, hard working people of the U.K came together in protest against the mindless thugs that threatened to further disturb the peace. It was a protest of solidarity within communities, something to be proud of. A good example of this would be a Muslim community joining together with Police and other communities to protect their local mosque. This was inspiring to see, yet not often seen. This was demonstrating a solidarity in how multi-culturism works amazing well, and can continue to do so.

I chose to respond to this in a simple logo form demonstrating a mutual respect between different cultures. People tend to build bridges in relationships through their differences. I hope to show how the people rose from among the ashes to form a partnership and come together for the greater good.

THE FUTURE

In a land not so far away I hope to continue to improve in all areas of design. I understand what hard work means and half hearted attempts in design rarely pay off.

To achieve this my main focus will be in print design. I’m actively seeking a job in a print making studio to learn as much as I possibly can. Also I feel I need to branch out a little more and start experimenting with things like moving image and photography. I’m quite aware experience is pretty much vital when trying to break into the design industry so in the third year I’ll try to secure as many internships as I possibly can.I have a hunger for knowledge and I believe hard work and determination will pay off in the long run. I know what I want and I wont stop till I achieve my career and life goals.

BIBLIOGRAPHYBooks

Web

R.Fawcett / 2004 / Experimental Formats & Packaging / Rotovision SAG.Ambrose / 2007 / The Layout Book / Ava PublishingG.Ambrose / Basic Design Layout / Ava PublishingS.Heller / 2010 / Graphic / Thames & HudsonB.Mcalhone / 1996 / A smile in the mind / The PartnersD.Airey / 2010 / Logo Love Design / New RidersJ.Raimes / 2007 / Retro Graphics Cookbook / IlexA.Shaughnessy / 2005 / How to be a graphic designer..... / Larurence King

http://www.fromupnorth.com/2012/04/print-inspiration-473/http://www.typographydeconstructed.com/http://justcreative.com/2010/04/06/branding-identity-logo-design-ex-plained/http://thedsgnblog.tumblr.com/http://www.thephotoargus.com/inspiration/20-thought-provoking-images-of-our-impact-on-the-world-around-us/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hamburger_Hillhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_IIhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retro_style