OUDG403// Studio Brief 02 - Interim Critique (Manifesto's)

Bodoni 

Prior to creating a manifesto for my own typeface, a group of us looked at Bodoni in more detail and created our own manifesto for one of the classics. We looked at the Italian origins of Bodoni in 1817, as well as the common uses for the typeface now. It seems little has changed within the connotations of Bodoni, as it seems it was created for a 'refined class', personifying luxury in a time of trouble.

Manifesto:-
"Bodoni epitomises Italian class and prosperity, focusing on elegance. Initially used to publish 'Dante le Vita Nova', a popular Italian Poem book, the characteristics of rounded ears/ descenders combined with sharp ascenders/ serifs have stead the test of time. Created as a transitional typeface between Foundries and Baskerville, the upper and lower cases contain individual structural qualities whilst maintaining a sleek consistent style*."

*This was massively important as few people at the time of creation read (generally only the wealthy), alongside type in general being mass produced for Biblical references and studies.

Other groups also had the same task of creating a manifesto for the other 8 typefaces, all of which are seen below...

This session also had us brainstorming ideas related to our given word for our own typeface, as well as creating design decision rationale.

 

From this it is evident I need to be looking at a Slab Serif and initially experimenting in upper case. Berthold bold stood out to my peers as the most suitable choice to take reference from, but it cannot be so fat/ in your face it is illegible when written regularly. We also discussed how specific Kerning would effect the appearance- yet John raised a valid point that the kerning comes later and shouldn't influence key design decisions within each letter form. 

I also found the below website which has got some really effective bold typefaces on which may influence my development
http://www.thetypefoundry.com

OUGD403// Studio Brief 02- Müeller-Brockmanns classic and lead typefaces

This Studio Brief tasks us with the challenge of designing our own typeface, based on one of Müeller-Brockmanns classic and lead typefaces and emphasising a given word. I was given 'Immense'. 

After researching the synonyms, antonyms and definition of the word, I started to get a clear understanding that my typeface needs to be bold and very in your face. I think this will be my hardest challenge as I am always drawn to lighter styles- however, it will be fun to experiment and see what works without being too illegible.

Berthold Bold - A more condensed San-Serif connoting simplicity and bold elegance. This is a strong typeface already and may be a good route to experiment down- especially where increasing weight/ width/ scale is concerned.

Berthold City Bold - Strong 'Western' connotations. The bold Serif is very immense in its blockiness, but I feel it is too childish  to be tampered with further and not fully right for this brief.

Bodoni Bold - A juxtaposition is instantly created within this typeface, due to the contrast of skinny lines and fat bowls and lines. This could be a really fun and interesting adaptation, as it is encapsulating both synonyms and antonyms of the word. However, as the connotations of Bodoni are more feminine this may detract from the 'immense' nature I am trying to achieve. 

Bodoni Regular- I just put this in to see the comparisons between bold/ regular.  The lighter version is definitely too immasculine for the word 'immense'. It needs to be bolder and more high contrast. On the other hand, I am a huge fan of how Bodoni writes as a legible font so will therefore try and replicate this ease in my developments.

Clarendon Bold- Similar to Berthold with the Western connotations and bold Serif style, but this one is slightly more gentle. I feel this would look more fluid when written all together, but it definitely needs to be beefed up to be truly 'immense'.

Caslon- A relatively skinny font so not appropriate in its given state. The Serifs and Arms have a nice flicky quality to them connotating a grounded/ planted view on the page whilst linking together really nicely in a written style.

Helvetica Bold- A classic for the legibility and one of two San-Serif within Müeller-Brockmanns's typefaces.  Naturally I chose bold to connote towards my chosen word, but still don't think it is bold enough. The way the bold line flows throughout the full letter form is sophisticated, but it would definitely need a new special quality to it to be truly 'Immense'.

Baskerville Bold- Similar to Caslon with wider bowls and collars, so far this one is standing out to me quite a lot. I can imagine this crossed with Berthold-esq ears would be very 'immense'.

Garamond- Too skinny and flimsy for my given word however very legible when written in large paragraphs. 

Univers Bold- The other San-Serif within the brief constraints, the adjoining lines (particularly for the crossbars) are slightly thinner than Helvetica bold, but not as thin as the other Serif fonts. This could be effective if I manipulated the widths to give a more intense view, whilst keeping the overall letter forms majority bold.    

Times Bold- I have personally never been a fan of Times as it reminds me of every boring presentation I have ever seen in my life, but looking closer at the construction of the letter forms the wider bars and ascenders are much more fluid and linear than its Serif counterparts. This is also standing out to me, especially because of the lower case letter R and F. Whilst being bold, the curvature isn't too sharp on the ends meaning it could be manipulated bolder and hopefully retain this quality.

Furthering from this research, I looked at further research from the below link investigating Josef Müller-Brockmann's practice as a designer. He has many philosophies where design are regarded, but I am going to try and stick to his 'key points' in reference to the brief. He believes arrangement, ambiguity, unadorned typography and mathematical harmony are things to be considered. Alongside this, appropriate colour and the ability of communicating a universal language is a focal in good design. With this in mind, I want my typography to connote the ideas of 'immense', whilst being appropriate in composition and geometric qualities to create a legible format. 

http://ilovetypography.com/2013/01/12/a-firm-turn-toward-the-objective-josef-muller-brockmann-1948-198

Illustrator Workshop

As part of a workshop advancing our illustrator skills, I created a cute piece of type in response to an exercise. I think the girly style and muted colours are really effective linking into the 'Cath Kidston' style genre trending at the minuet. I wanted to keep a bold outline to make it more graphical, contrasting  the muted tones and flower embellishment.

OUDG403// Study Task - Drawing the Detectives

As a homage to 100 years of Agatha Christie books, the Guardian opened a competition for redesigned covers of classic Christie books. I was allocated "Murder is Easy", a novel I had never heard of. After conducting research into the plot and watching the 2003 episode, I created these 3 covers.

A clean, crisp monochrome representation. I used vector symbols to identify with the methods of murder used within the book. As only 5 methods were used, I picked out the most appropriate line as a 'remember' point to aid composition and to act as a strap line.

Ambiguity and darkness is represented, as thought the novel the role of mysterious women and mystery in general is a huge theme. The cover points to a female murderer, I want the viewers to want to read on and find out if this is the case. 

A screen-print'esq style with 3 simple colours. I wanted to encapsulate a 1930's style with the off set type acting as a header and a footer. The dark navy and red replicates the colour scheme of the original novel, whilst being patriotic British colours- highlighting the setting of the book. The red is also intended to connote blood, contrasting and becoming vibrant behind the white. A typewriter style typeface is used for the streamline to relate to other novels with the genre, whilst the bolder text leads the eye into the linear map of Whitechapel.

Screen shot of 'Probability and Chance' book cover covered in blood

The above cover was created to look like the 'Probability and Chance' book which fell on the floor during the first murder, whilst acting as an underlying theme of the narrative. I do not feel this is as ambiguous as the others, nor referencing the genre/ intensity of the narrative quite as well- meaning it is not my first choice for submission. 

Three of my designs on the Guardian Website

OUGD403// Studio Brief 01- Logotype Feedback & Evaluation

// Logotype in Context

After finalising one logotype to a professional level and creating a range of experiments, I sought feedback from 20+ people in a critique.

// Feedback

I asked the following questions, next to my statement of intent that read...

"I wanted to make officers club more identifiable with the target audience of 12-24 year old boys. I also tried to introduce the Officers Club history and values of their military roots".

  1  // Can you tell that Officers Club is aimed at 'younger men' (12-24)?
In response, 10 people said "Yes, it is definitely identifiable with a younger audience". 3 people said "No" with no justification. 2 people said "No it looks as if its targeted at an audience below 12" and that it "was not appropriate for the older end of the spectrum"- but received no real justification as to why.

  2  // Can you see that the military is a underlying theme within the logotype?
In response, 8 people said "Yes, it is definitely identifiable with the military, without being too overbearing"- which is the response I wanted to achieve.  3 people said "No, I cannot see any military connotations within the logotype". When I looked at the written feedback it seemed the reason for this was the chevrons were not automatically associated with the military for them, whilst they thought the star was to emphasise the childish element.

  3 // Which looks more effective - White on black or Black on white?
The majority of 12 said White on Black, as it referenced a "masculine style, whilst being typical within the mens fashion industry". 4 People voted for Black on White, and to change the colour scheme of the website/ app thusly. It was interesting to ask this question as one person created a new column and stated Blue and Green together. Their justification was

  4 // If you saw the final outcome on the website/ in its intended form- would you want to look           further/ browse?
Fortunately 12 people said Yes. Many reasons were given, mainly "yes if they needed something from it/ fancied a browse". 2 people said "No, it doesn't appeal to me so feel i'd be wasting my time".

Written Feedback:

"It has the potential to be stuffy and old man orientated but the font has younger connotations"

"I originally thought the design was quite immature and childish, but when I read that the target audience was for 12-24 I think the aims were definitely achieved".

"Young men prefer more stylish fonts, I think this logo is not mature enough..." is contrasted with "It looks sophisticated and sleek".

"The simple imagery portrays the army uniforms and styles- I totally got it!" and "The chevron stripes are clear it is military/ naval but isn't too army suggesting negative connotations", is contrasted with "Do not see military at all in the design, too child like, need to be bolder and a serif font".

"Yes you can definitely tell that the Officers Club is aimed at younger men. The limited use of colour is effective for a logotype and the font, especially where the I and L are connected together. The text is clear and readable even from a distance. The use of the blue colour is suitable for the target audience".

"I'm not keen on the star" is contrasted with "The star is the main point that shows your target audience as you often don't see this in older mature brands".

With this feedback all correlated I will try and find a happy medium of improvements if I was to adjust my logo accordingly.


//Evaluation 

When considering if this logotype has been a success, I referred back to the intended brand identity and personal aims I set myself. As the target age group is 12-24, I tried to include this 'young mans' style through my branding. Despite these intentions, I feel I may have gone too young when assessing my qualitative feedback. I feel I have captured the younger end of the spectrum, and perhaps negated the 20's demographic- which means it is not fully a successful logotype. On the other hand, the subtle military connotations seem to have been appreciated well through my feedback, by incorporating the chevrons and like iconography, complementing the dark masculine colour scheme.

When placing the logotype in possible set ups and redesigning the website, I was very conscious about the composition in regards to the circular logotype as a centrepiece. I tried to keep the overall set up to a minimal, with simple crisp photography not detracting from the brands as a footer. Furthermore, blue was introduced instead of the red to indicate sale, emphasising the mission statement of Officers Club further. As the 5p tax has just come in on carrier bags, when designing the bags I opted for paper bags only- not only pursuing the 'indie' barber graphics trend I was inspired by, but also reducing cost as a 5p charge is unnecessary, thus complying to their 'low cost' philosophy.

In conclusion, I feel this brief could have been amended and extended in numerous ways by making the san-serif more mature and possibly getting rid of the star- making it appropriate for all age groups. Regardless, I am happy with this outcome and especially the app/ website which accompanies it as it is my first time experimenting properly with typography. I have learnt a lot about kerning, colour combinations and the feedback received has made me evolve as a designer for the future.

OUGD404 // Colour Relativity

In todays workshop on Colour Theory, we have investigated further how the contrast and positioning of a colour impacts on how we perceive it. With this in mind, we had to choose our least favourite colour and create a complementing swatch, appropriate for a children's book, in addition with black.

My least favourite is brown. Not only does it remind me of gross bodily functions, I also feel it has been over-used to death in suburban living rooms throughout my entire life...

As a response to this project I have chosen a mid brown which has connotations of milk chocolate and dessert indulgence. Pantone 8585C (from the Metallic Spectrum) has been chosen to replicate a river of chocolate with a shimmery tone once printed- identifiable for the younger child audience my book would target. As a complementary colour I chose a very pale, almost nude pink (Pantone 4755 U). As this will look more matte when printed, this can be used for the characters skin within the book; also, as highlights of bubbles within the chocolate river to provide the needed contrast within a graphical work of fiction. I feel the pink has friendlier connotations as apposed to the black it is next to, whilst complementing both in a lighter way. Furthermore, the pinky aspect reminds me (and some peers asked) of strawberry- making the chocolate river even more flavoursome.

Typographic Grids

For our upcoming Studio Brief, we have to create a new typeface based on Muler-Brockmans theory of classic and lead typefaces. When exploring the basics of how to undertake the task, I started exploring the use of Grids.
Typographic grids have always confused me. I understand the premise but how to go about constructing the letter literally gives me a migraine. With this in mind I have scoured the internet for the "idiots guide to creating a typeface"- and I was in luck! I found this image which relates to the simple construction of a San-Serif typeface which I intend to modify for my own typeface when the time comes.

I also found the below blogs/ slide shows who presents a narrative of type and clever idea's to help me understand.

http://www.slideshare.net/FrostSydney/modernist-typography-and-the-swiss-grid
...is about the history of the alphabet and how to construct a clean modernist typeface- an area of Graphic Design most interesting to me.

OUDG403 // Studio Brief 01- Logotype (04)

After picking apart the most/ least effective parts of my digital developments, the development process has continued further in an effort to refine a classic style. I have re-adjusted the kerning and made sure the I and L stems link up smoothly. There is still much to be worked on. Tomorrow I will ask everyone and anyone for critique, especially with regards to the questions above.

The next day// 

The first thing I asked was if the Lobster typeface needed to be change.. every person I asked said no as it references the Barber Graphics Trend and the older end of the age group- so I kept it.

 Introducing colour through the use of the the blue star (option 1)...

Seeing wether the army green worked better (option 2), which I feel it did to give a urban connotation highlighting the products. In addition, when I asked around boys (aged 19/20/21) for their opinion, it was a split vote for both colours. From this I intend to pursue the both more intently as the target audience have spoken.

(Option 3)

(Option 4)

  Experimenting with Teal (a mixture of blue and green on CMYK) (option 5), but feel it is neither here or there colour wise. I think I need to pick a definite colour to carry through and stick to it. As the logo needs to be seen in numerous different ways, I experimented with a change of background colour, with the white really standing out- but as this is a purely typographic brief I think having the square as a big componant is differing from the brief too much.

Experimenting with army based colours (option 6)- After asking around further it seems the premise of a clothing store identity is loosing us. The green is too outdoorsy for the store in question, meaning the colours need to be much more subtle. 

After asking some friends how they feel about the simple black and white logo with the simple blue/ green stars, Beth raised a really valid point that when the logo is really far away, the 'established...' and 'Sunderland'  is not readable. At first I thought this was a problem and considered changing the Lobster font to a Serif, but then realised my intention was to include subtle ambiguity. Hopefully, the customers will see 'Officers Club', come closer and then observe the rest. I want the middle to grab their attention, not the periphery. 

Resolving the colours //

I am very aware as a designer that i am NOT the target audience, in any way shape or form. Because of this, I feel I am not the right person to have the final say on what is identifiable with men aged 12-24, when there are men within the age group at disposal. With this in mind, I took my laptop around the room and created a tally of which designs were preferable. One girl who I was talking to about gender stereotypes mentioned that if we used green, the younger boys may pick up on too many army connotations and think that guns/violence and all related aspects are good and admirable- which is NOT the message I am intending to cast. After hearing this I have been totally turned off the idea of green and very happy the consensus favoured blue anyway!

Blue - //// //// ////

Green - ///

Final Resolution //

OUGD403// Studio Brief 01- Logotype (03)

Following on from my initial drawings and observations on military/ effective typefaces, I took to my computer and experimented typographically with new styles inspired by the previous compositions.

Mid ground Kerning

Loose Kerning- too tight around the FF making the left look heavier than the right.

Tighter Kerning with a bigger space between the F,F. I tried to keep the top line compact and spread out "club" to create a blockier dynamic.

I had the idea to create a subtle 'military inspired' san-serif typeface yet had no idea how to go about it. For inspiration I turned to DaFont and actually found a typeface I felt could really be identified with the brand called AG Stencil. I experimented with the burning and joined the I and the L to suggest companionship and a connection between the brand and the customers- referencing their mission statement. 

"Military Mars" - inspired by the idea of the Mars Symbol, yet adapted with military symbols and iconography

During this part of the development process I cast my mind back to Massimo Vignelli's theory that we only need 6 typefaces. With this in mind, I chose Bodoni- a serif with the most elegant reputation and flow. I introduced wide kerning but feel this is very very very boring. I feel structured layout is effective at suggesting a classier look, just don't feel its the most appropriate solution for the age demographic.

I experimented with the type face Lobster and widened its kerning slightly to elongate the letters and make them more readable from a distance. This was a response to the hand rendered style my peers and I found ascetically pleasing, whilst linking into the mens 'Barber shop' graphics trend really effectively. I really like the incorporation of the circle theme, still linking into the military aspect but in a much more subtle way. I feel the use of Lobster is too much for the 'established..' and 'Sunderland...', as they are on a curve the italic may become one blur if viewed from a distance. 

I have currently only been working in Black and White, as it is very important that the Logotype is recognisable in grayscale, thus not being to excessively reliant on colour. When I develop these ideas further I want to incorporate subtle uses of masculine colours. So far I have these Pantone shades in mind...

The green's and browns to reference traditional Army and RAF iconography, only intended to be used very subtly. 

The blues to reference stereotypical colour connotations for boys/ men, identifiable with the target age group of 12- 24. Furthermore, a key colour in the promotion of several armed forces including the Navy and the Marines. The below experiments have not been as successful as first planned. The first two do not pop for me, the flat mid colour is bland and boring- something I am trying to get away from. The mid two are experimentations with the same colour combinations, in a heftone manor. I was instantly drawn to these however, I feel I am differing away from my intentions as the logotype would not become iconic if it is only identifiable if the set colour is behind it. The bottom two are experimenting with the Lobster style on different coloured block backgrounds. As one of its main uses will be on the website, currently black (which is typical of mens fashion), it is necessary it must be versatile inverted.