Blogging Workshop
Blogging for Level 05
Task 01 – Re-writing in third
person
OUGD504 – Brief 02 – Further Development
of Ideas
Original blog post: After hearing back from the
client, I decided to make some subtle adjustments to my logo design. Tim
mentioned that he wanted the logo to feature a cartoon like sheep illustration,
preferably standing on a patch of grass. I took these points on board and went
back to the art-boards in Photoshop. I scanned in a lovely piece of ink
marbelled paper and converted it to monochrome. I used marbelled paper to complement
the existing ink work. I then selected a section which was pretty dark in order
to compliment the very dark ink drawing of the sheep's body. I then used the
lasso selection tool to cut away at the section of marbelled ink to create a
sharp grass effect. I then placed the new section of grass underneath the sheep
so it stood nicely on top of it. Prior to experimenting with the scanned ink
work, I created a section of grass using the pen tool on Illustrator which
provided me with some basic effects, satisfactory for the vector based design
but not for the more organic, rough and ready ink design.
I am quite pleased with the way it
has turned out. I think adding the grass adds a sense of balance and harmony to
the design and it is also an ideal place to position text should I choose to
place it there in the final design. I also experimented with making the sheep's
face black and inverting its facial features. That point was raised in the
crit. I am still undecided whether or not to keep the face black at this stage,
but for the purpose of development I think it was a good design decision to
make, I am still very much unsure of which typeface I am going to use in the
finalised design, or whether I am going to design a bespoke collection of hand
rendered characters myself. I will wait until I have received further feedback
before I make that decision.
Re-written blog post: After
hearing back from the client, some subtle adjustments were made to the logo
design. The client mentioned that he wanted the logo to feature a cartoon like
illustration of a sheep, preferably standing on a patch of illustrated grass.
These points were taken on boards and implemented in the form of developmental
art-boards. Marbelled inked paper was used to complement the existing
illustrative work. The piece of paper was scanned in, edited appropriately and
formatted to fit in with the existing design. Adding the grass into the mix
allows the design to feel more harmonious, making the logo feel more balanced
in appearance. The face of the sheep has also been darkened slightly, an
improvement that was suggested in the final crit session. Type decisions are
yet to be fully made, as there are uncertainties surrounding the choice between
hand rendered type or web fonts that attempt to replicate hand rendered
typography. At this point, further feedback is required to move any further
with the brief.
Task 02 – Design as entity
OUGD504 – Brief 02 – Type Decisions
In the later stages of my
development, I experimented with various typefaces to see how they would interact
with my illustrative hand rendered design. I was primarily seeing if web fonts
that are designed to look like hand writing would work well with my designs. I
played around with Amatic SC for a while, but after receiving some feedback
early on I decided to move away from it and try out some more 'solid' sans
serifs. People said that Amatic reminded them of cheesy posts that you would
stereotypically associate with Tumblr photography posts. Amatic does have some
redeeming qualities, but ultimately didn't really integrate well with my
illustrated sheep.
I decided to see what Bebas had to
offer my design. I quite like its contemporary feel, and I also liked the way
it contrasted quite dramatically with the roughness of the illustration.
However, after receiving some quick feedback I realised it wasn't suitable for
this design. People made the point that it looked like an animal cruelty
campaign, it is just a bit too harsh, especially when underlined. I agreed with
these points of critique, so I moved on to look at other typefaces and
experimented a lot with hand rendered type.
Re-written:
Continuing with the development, I
experimented with a number of typefaces to see just how they would interact and
compliment my illustrative hand rendered designs. I did this to see if web
fonts that are designed to emulate hand rendered type would actually function
and integrate with the existing designs. I tried out Amatic SC, but decided to
abandon it rather quickly after receiving some feedback from peers. Amatic SC
is a highly stereotyped typeface. Culturally and aesthetically, it has immature
connotations that reminded a number of people about ‘teenage Tumblr posts’ that
are basically unprofessional and clichéd. I don’t want my logo to communicate
in this way, and if I had stuck with that type decision, it probably would have
sent out messages along those lines. Having said this, Amatic SC does have some
quite charming qualities to it. It reminds you of hand rendered type but
ultimately it did not integrate enough with my illustrations.
So, I moved onto a more
contemporary, rather trendy sans serif named Bebas Neu. I was drawn to its contemporary,
solid aesthetic. It contrasted perfectly with the rough aesthetic of the
illustration. However, after receiving further feedback I realised it wasn’t wholly
suitable for the design aesthetic that I wanted to achieve and communicate with
the client/audience. Bebas is a striking bold font that has associations with
strong messages/campaigns. It is harsh especially when set quite large and
underlined. I agreed with the feedback and decided to experiment with my own
hand rendered typography.
Task 03 – Summarise & Evaluate
After acting upon feedback given
in the crit and listening to the requirements of the client, I decided to
refine my design even further. I am still experimenting with typeface decisions
at this current time. In these experiments I opted for Akzidenz - Grotesk
purely because it is such a classic modernist sans serif. It is purely
functional and I think it actually integrates really well with my illustrative
centre piece of the design. I also decided to subtly separate the head from the
body with a thick white line, which adds an extra sense of depth to the image
and also uses the idea of positive and negative space to create the illusion of
dimension. I am going to show these designs to my peers and the client to get
further feedback.
Summarise: Taking
feedback on board, I continued experimenting with type decisions. Firstly, I
looked at a number of classic sans serifs ranging from Akzidenz Grotesk to
Helvetica to Gill Sans. These sleek, timeless sans serifs are reliable and
compliment my design beautifully. However, peers in the crit mentioned that
they thought the contrast was too much and a subtle hand rendered typeface would
complement the illustrative design more effectively.
I searched the web for some
digital fonts that replicate and embody the essence of traditional letterpress typography
and hand rendered typefaces. I placed with within the logo to see how they
function. I was fairly pleased with the results but it still required pushing
around and experimenting.
Task 04 – Blogging with Purpose
OUGD504 - Brief 02 - Collateral
Designs
The brief specified that I need to
design a minimum of two pieces of collateral that feature the logo design in
some way or another. I already had a few ideas of how the logo would work in
the context of collateral; however I still conducted some brief secondary
research in order to inspire further design development. Below are a few
experiments for collateral designs.
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