OUGD402 - Ineffective Branding

I have included this PPP post as it was influential on my OUGD403 Logotype brief. It really helps to dissect other professional pieces of branding in order to find out what makes a successful piece of branding when creating your own.

Walking home from University, I stumbled upon some branding for a couple of stores which, as a graphic designer, I was offended by. Even though the 99p store is a low cost budget store, I was instantly turned off from even entering the shop. I am a student and often shop a some pound shops but I doubt that I will ever enter this store just because of the branding. I understand that the shop doesn't really have the accolade of being extravagant however, it doesn't stop competitor pound stores from having far better branding. I feel that just by a re brand, this company can drastically boost sales.
After noticing that the brand had a disgusting logo, I started to think about what makes it unappealing. The fact that they have used a 'comic sans' font is obvious however, I also feel that the bright yellow, red and blue clash with each other too much, loosing the red could balance out the contrast a little. The yellow on blue could then work together whilst still making the brand stand out on the high street, Ikea have gone for a similar approach to stand out. They also have these beautiful sheeted windows which could be optimized with the branding somehow.

This second piece of branding is ridiculous. The salon was completely empty with the owner looking very bored inside. But does it come as a surprise? The owner has budgeted that much that he has reverted to printing his own lettering off on white paper. This shop is not branded at all and it showcases how important graphic design and branding is within a company for it to succeed. All this salon needs is a nice boutique style branding and i'm sure that it would have 10 times more customers.

OUGD402 - Time Planning

To help plan my time better, I have created an organisational list to give me a visual representation of my free time. It has given me an overview of what time I have available to possibly utilize the various events and gallery's around Leeds. 

The app Home Room is an app which I have personally found extremely beneficial throughout college. It allows you to add lessons, room numbers and teachers to a daily timetable. The design is very user friendly and easy to use due to the ability to colour code your lessons and gives you a great visual representation of your week. From a graphic designers point of view, the bright different colours really helps you distinguish between the different days, category's and lessons. The app has not been as useful at university due to our constant changing timetable however, the app also allows you to add events, notes and homework which is quite helpful.

OUGD402 - UK Barer Lab - Photoshoot / Event

This barbering event was to showcase some of the best Barbers work from all over the country. I was lucky enough to be hired by Ruger Barber to be the Photographer for the event and travel to London for the day, you can see me above the 'UK BARBER' lettering in the image above.

  The event was a collaboration of creative minds meeting up to share and network their work which, as a graphic designer, I found extremely inspiring. It was an opportunity to speak to other photographers and creative people and create contacts in the creative industries. After discussing the event with some of the barbers I found that they had all met using social networking sites and came from across the globe with some barbers from America and Canada attending the small event. It is amazing to think what the power of social networking can be when utilizing it to your advantage. Even though it was a barbering event, it was an opportunity to meet someone who could possibly want photoshoot or a logo designing which underlines the importance of attending creative events no matter what they are. This society of creative minded people can be translated across and can be related to collaborating with illustrators, photographers and animators as a graphic designer in a community.


I have included some shots from the day below

OUGD402 - Lesson 1 - Be a Sponge

This lesson focused on websites which we could use for inspiration when looking for influences in graphic design. These websites were a variety of blogs and posts from different other artists and designers i a similar field of work. The websites which the tutor raised was dazed and confused, radio 4, another, Instagram, The Plant Hunter, The Chicken Shed, Medium, Do Lectures, Chronicles and Ted Talks.
In groups of 5-6 we had to mind map various other resources which we personally found beneficial and document our research back to the class. Some of my groups influences were Pinterest, Eye Magazine, Visuelle, FormFiftyFive, Creative Review Blog, Behance. Design Milk, People of Print and 1 Minute Briefs which we then presented back to the rest of the class. After hearing the rest of the classes presentations we had to research into 10 which we had not looked into before.


1. Collate
Collate is a collection of different blog posts which seem to be very formal with a high standard of graphic design vocabulary. The work which is posted on there is very professional and looks like a legitimate source of respected designers from graphic design or similar fields of work. The website is mainly graphic design but it also focuses on graphics and logo coexisting with interior design and company branding as a whole.

2. Radio 4
Radio 4 is obviously a radio station however, I did not realise the potential for inspiration in creative fields. The website includes various podcasts which can be very beneficial when learning the theory's and philosophy's of graphic design and other creative fields.

3. Ted Talks
This website is a collection of inspirational talks and lectures from respected influential speakers. Ted Talks is helpful for not only graphic design, but every aspect of design or creativity as a whole.

4. FormFiftyFive
This site mainly features blog posts however, you can also access some books, job advertisements, interviews and events. This website also has a search bar which i have used to find a couple of events in Leeds which i intend to go to. The blog posts however, seem to be more descriptive than evaluative.

5. The Design Informer Group
The Design Informer is another blog page however, it seems to contradict the work instead of praising it. This is a respected website to view when looking how to analyse some bad points about my own work.


6. Pinterest - Camera Clicks
This is a group on Pinterest which specializes in tips and tricks when using a camera. I already know most areas of Photography however, this page is dedicated to tutorials on specialist and handmade camera extras such as a handmade light box and visual guides to things such as focal lengths.

7. Its Nice That
Another blogging website however, this site promotes artists work so there is very little mentioned which talks about an artists work in a negative way. It is a good source to look at when trying to identify what makes a strong piece of graphic design.

8. BlogLovin - App
This ingenious app allows you to follow different blogging sites and then converts the blogs into one news feed for you. It is a very clever way to keep on top of other artists blog pages when on the go.

9. What The Font
This website is a very hand tool when working with font and typeface. You simply copy a font which you like and insert it onto the website and its system will tell you the name of the font. There is also a what the font app where you can take a photograph of a font on a sign or a menu, and again you will be told the name of the font.

10. Instagram - goodtype
This Instagram page has various images of hand rendered and digital typefaces. When working with typeface and calligraphy, this can be a valuable resource from which you can identify artists work and use it as inspiration.

OUGD402 - Study Task 1 - Design Companys

The three slides below are our finished research on the 'Hey Days' design company. I found that it was really beneficial to learn about different design comapnys and what makes them unique. The main similarity which i found in these company's is that they all seem very small, they also all seem to have offices all over the world which shows that in this modern day of the Internet, design is a global network of opportunity's. The design of the presentation has kept to the same mismatch checkered design as their website.

I have noted down what i found most intregueing about each company and listed it in the text below the presentation.

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Ah ha Studios -

Created in 2011 by Carolina Cantante and Catrina Carreiras they are based in Portugal, Lisbon and use very tangible and minimalistic designs.


Hey Studios -

based in Barcelona, they have an online shop with posters books bags and t shirts. They have a very geometric design and create simple but bold designs. Lots of the designs are based around bright colour and work heavily with typography. They pencil sketch their designs and then use illustrator. They have a group of 5 which helps them really get to know their clients and have worked with apple Vodafone oxfam and penguin

Sagmeister & Walsh -

They do lots of commercials, signage, website design and branding. They collaborate closely with photographers and film directors. And they optimize lots of social media such as Instagram, Facebook and behance.

Lust -

The company was founded in 1996 which is based in the Hague in the Netherlands. They produce quite experimental and abstract work and seem as if they like to push the boundaries a lot. They work from two locations in two teams of about 8 different people. They like to push the boundaries of design by researching new technologies in their research lab names 'LUSTlab'

Studio Dumbar -

It was founded in 1977 in The Hague by Gert Dumbar. They were the first company from the Netherlands to go international and look beyond the boundaries of their own country. They also have offices in South Korea and China. The founder states that 'Our style is that we don't have a style' and what makes them unique is that this slogan is what they like to stick to.

Build -

They are originally based in London however moved to Yorkshire in 2015. They mainly work with larger scale company's such as Nike and Microsoft. The company only involves 4 members two of which are a married couple.

Elmwood

The company was founded in 1997. They are placed first in the historic effectiveness league tables and they have created their own design tools which allow them to work in a specific bespoke style. They have their own tea and beer brand. They are based in London, New York, Singapore, Hong Kong, Melbourne and Leeds

Bleed -

Based in Oslo and Vienna, they have won the European design awards and focus on identity.  Everything is created using inspiration from the company , They have worked for company such as Ikea and Diesel.

Face -

Face are a company in Mexico and label themselves as a super modernist design.

Dessein -

Founded by Geoff Bickford and Tracy Kenworthy in Perth, Australia in 1987. They do quite simplistic and flat work and tent to focus o type. They are quite illustrative but also use quite a lot of photography with their packaging. Their employees are Korean, Australian, Italian and Indian which is what they believe gives them a cultural edge over other company's.

Wolff Olins -

It was founded in 1965 and was created by Michael Wolff and Wally Olins. They did the London Olympics Logo and tend to like creating work which is timeless and lasts forever. The studio has a school and is based in London, San Francisco New York and Dubai.

OUGD402 - The John Peel Lecture

Brian Eno talks about how in our modern day, schools are teaching children to look away from art subjects as they are more of a nice added luxury. They are teaching children that if you want a successful career you should go down the path of Science, Maths, English or Engineering. He explains that art is not essential to live or function like many other areas of work, but people still spend a lot of their time, effort and money trying to style their selves or dress their selves. I believe that it is not what us humans as mammals need to do, but we do it because it is part of what makes us human. He talks about the ability to create imaginary worlds and it is this ability to do this that we can create fictional books and films on imaginary people and destinations. This ability is available to us at a very young age but it is the building blocks of becoming a creative thinker. He contradicts today's teaching that art in unimportant by stating that, as the world gets more wealthier and even more connected globally, there will be more need for creating the unnecessary, nice art and less need for the necessary subjects. He develops this idea that in the future, most of the jobs we have today will be controlled by automated beings or machines, this will then free up space for people to create art, write books or be creative in general.

He talks about his appreciation of the history of different cultures and the art which they produced. Brian mentions this word which has stuck in my mind, it is the word 'senious', it is quite a clever word which relates to a group or culture of genius's. The Renaissance is one example used where Da Vinchi, Raphael and Micheal Angelo all lived in the same lifetime in the same city. I think that in the modern age of the internet, we are more and more likely to come across periods of 'seniouses' due to being connected and sharing culture, art and knowledge on a worldwide scale. An example of how much we are expanding is the vast amount of music and cultures which now revolve around different particular genres. He explains that 50 years ago everyone knew the same bands and listened to the same music due to the limited amount of music being released each year, and the limited amount of radio stations there was. Now there are thousands of radio stations which are available using the internet and whole webpages dedicated to specific branches of a music genre. One thing which i found quite peculiar, was his approach on drugs and how in some parts of history, hallucinogenic drugs have been influential in artists work to open their mind to their child like state of imagination. It was quite strange to hear something illegal being talked about in a lecture, and in no way did he condone the use of drugs in art but he still appreciated what they have done and how they have developed some artists way of working. After all, art is being the unusual and thinking outside the box and he respected the way that some artists have used this, much like a paintbrush, as a tool to work.