Sunday, 27 March 2011

Leeds Loves Creativity (Colour Pallet)

After finally getting to a stage with the type and the image as i want them. I had to experiment with the colour pallet. In the PDF sent out, they had a suggested colour pallet (which they had been using for the majority of their current identities). However in the PDF they said feel free to bring in your own colour pallet.
Below i have experimented with several colours. It is key to know, on a colour backdrop, the areas in black (including the type) will be white, minus the word 'Creativity). The colours below, although common work well with the design, and the blue inparticular, really lifts out.
The blue was a suggested tone, which i changed ever so slightly to make it brighter and less dull, because i wanted the piece to be bright and fun, much like the creative community.
Next stage - The final boards.

Leeds Loves Creativity (Type and Logo Dev)

As mentioned in the previous post - the type was an issue at that stage, however i was set in using a paint brush as my focus image (pictogram). The existing range of logos for 'Leeds Loves' are very minimal, lack of detail in the imagery and a limited colour pallet.
The designs below have pushed the detail in the image to a strong point, although i am still unsure this would be appropriate - as mentioned the other logos do not include much detail.
Saying that, here they are, and i must admit, i do like them. The details i added include the paint dripping from the brush, and the type broken down a little bit, just to add some creativity to the design. I sat the type outside of the image, and i feel this works better for the design, but it is still not at its final point as of yet.


Leeds Loves Creativity (Logo Development)

The Leeds Love brief is interesting. Although at first it seems you have a lot of freedom in terms of design, the reality is, your restricted with colour pallet, imagery and typeface. Looking throught the brand guidelines PDF sent out - it was obvious to me rite away that the pictorgram was the focus of the design, and had to give the audience some sort of idea what they are looking at. For example the 'Leeds Loves Shopping' indentity is the type set inside a label - simple yet effective design.
Below I have taken my design in the same direction. I wanted an object (tool of the trade) which people would immediatley assosiate with the creative industry. As you have seenn ,my initial concepts were based around digitial art, using a mac as the pictogram. However i did not want 'creativty' to be linked with the digital media as a whole.
The design below show my initial concepts in a digital form, without the use of colour at this stage. Because the existing identitys hold the type inside the image, i was scared to go away from this technique, although it seems to make the piece stronger, and that little bit more creative when i do so.

I liked the idea of using a pencil as the image, as most great art start with pencil / pen to paper. Although i found the design left a lot of white space, which you do not see with the other designs. The paint brush seemed a stronger direction, although i feel the location of the type needs to be experimented with.


Thursday, 17 March 2011

Yearbook - Stock

Obviously the choice of stock was a fundamental and costly option for the yearbook budget. After contacting the printers (Duffield) of Leeds. We spoke to Clive Elston, who gave us great advice and guidance for choosing the stock and explained the print processes in great depth to us.
We showed Clive the pantone colours we had so far selected, and were immediatley told that the orange (when printed) would not match the Papago Tangerine stock we had selected, if we were to get close to this stock, we would have to printed the yearbook using the CMYK processes plus a spot colour, which would make the printing more expensive. Least to say, this is a problem.



Tuesday, 15 March 2011

Yearbook - Pacing Sheet

As a requirement for the next yearbook meeting, we were asked to produce a pacing sheet - which demonstrates the layout of the publications spreads, in a flat none detailed form. The purpose of the pacing sheet is to inform the viewers / clients where images will be placed, the colour of the back-drop and extra details including the placement of our visiting professionals pages, student pages, class shot etc.
The first pacing sheet has a key, which informs you of the stock choices, along with the swatch colours that will be given to the printers, once the printing stage arrises. Issues that we have addressed include using the pantone orange for the student DPS's. We have decided against this idea, as it may drown out the colour in some of the students work, and draw the viewers attention away from what is on the page.
On the last pacing sheet, we have shown the concept for a triple gate fold, which will be placed on the inside cover of the publication. We have already received a quote from the printers, and this concept is within our budget.






Monday, 14 March 2011

Boost - Experimenting with the Logo

The tutorial with Lorenzo was extremely helpful. I went prepared with several questions concering each brief. For the Boost re-brand, i needed to know how to test my logos, and his answer was simple, print the logo, while experimenting with the colour pallet, stick it on the can (using the Golden Third rule) and photograph it to see how it comes out.
Below i have taken one of my developed identities and experimented with limited colour pallets for each.
At this stage, im pretty pleased with the identity - i feel it works well on the can, and is different from all its current rivals products and logos. Although these design use minimal colour, i am still getting a better impression for how the design is developing.

Sunday, 13 March 2011

Boost - Final Logo

After all the experimentation with colour etc so far, I have decided this is the best logo I have developed, and this is the design I will be using in the developing stages of this brief.
Its clean, bold, fun and unique. The typeface is hand rendered and the 3d backdrop adds impact to the design. These are the details which can be changed in terms of colour pallet and scale.

Saturday, 12 March 2011

EOYS - Type Dev

After the initial stages of choosing a typeface to work with etc, i finally found one that i felt represented my concept, and communicated the tone of voice effectively.
Again working with the strapline - as this will be the main point of focus and recognition for the show, i experimented with different techniques on illustrator to make a more unique identity.
I had the idea i wanted the colour to be made up of a gradient which could (potentially) fade into the backdrop colour. Further to this, i started using lines to break up the text, and make (as mentioned) a unique identity for this end of year show, I wanted the strapline to be produced in a 'better way' to relate to the strap line - apposed to standard serif typeface titles.

And this is where the design has come too. Where the title can be placed on its own, or each word in a rectangle, again to add another design technique to the process. The design has come out well, the lines break up the heavy type, and yet the rectangle makes it that bit stronger and more eye-catching to passers-by.