Graphic Design - Level 6

I got some feedback from tutors about the current state of the east village project.   the logo is good but could be more distinct, sort of looks like an existing logo for a club in leeds? The high quantity of black in the designs almost gives a nightclub vibe as opposed to a more refined cocktail bar. The hatch show print research was good, but its not particularly applicable to Dive Bars. Maybe dive bars need to be researched more. Add in some colour - this will steer away from the nightclub feel of the designs. Colour can reference neon signs from dive bars. Type spacing in logo - the type in the logo isn’t spaced within the half oval as neatly as it could be because of the “the’ could this be dropped from the name altogether? The star idea works well, but the 4 pointed star doesn’t resemble a star well enough, play around with some more designs. Thinking more about dive bars, how can the branding be more appropriate. East Village doesn’t want to be too well known...

With a new developed logo, I started coming up with ideas for a poster, flyer and business card.   The poster splits the modular logo in half, with type inspired by the Hatch Show Print posters. Likewise, the business card displays either half of the logo on either side. The flyer design is similar to some of the previous ones I did, except I had the idea to change the horizontal lines from hang lines, to lines that completely intersected the type. This was to highlight this idea of anonymity by obscuring the text somewhat.   The general visual identity for these designs is aimed to be as minimal and non-attention grabbing as possible, whilst still appearing well designed and refined. It does this by appearing on a black background with no colour. A lot of the type is either very thin, or it is outlined in an effort for it to not contrast the black background too much.  

After both completing sets of logos, we came together to discuss the successful elements. Some of the parts that we thought worked effectively were: Oval sign shape - This works as a nice way to contain the logo and also references the signage in Dive Bars as well. Stripes - Some of the more obvious uses of the stripes weren’t as subtle as we’d liked, however when used to give the logo structure, they were effective, whilst still referencing the Americans flag subtly. Star - We liked the 4 pointed star because its a bit different and more distinguished then a normal 5 pointed star. Also the more we thought about it, the more a star fits the tone off the bar; it symbolises the evening/night time setting of the bar, and also stars have had a navigational and way finding capacity, so we liked the idea of the star indicating the bar.   We did the next few logo designs together, combing these elements that we recognised. Compositionally we just experimented with the...

With some of the more successful logo ideas, I decided to mock them up with some flyer designs to see how they might look in context.   I like how this one creates the American flag yet in a slightly more minimal way, however its definitely still a bit too on the nose. We started using blues and reds when we experimented with colours to match the American flag. I then started using horizontal lines as hang lines for the type as a more subtle design reference to the stars and stripes. I like the structure it gives the flyer, and also just using a grey works quite successfully in not drawing attention to the flyer, maybe the whole rebrand could be monochromatic.   This design is similar to the last, except it incorporates this red triangle, this was a minimal geometric way of reprinting a martini/cocktail glass. We still need to develop the logo more so were going to discuss ideas for it, decide which ideas are the most successful and work ...

Individually, me and Jamie both came up with a sheet of logo designs, following the brief and inspired by the research we had done.   Looking at East Village’s existing logo design, because its dive bar inspired, its got this very old school American letterpress typography on the logo, which inspired us to look at letterpress posters from the 20th century in America. A great example of this is the work of Hatch Show Print, a letterpress studio based in Nashville who over the years have created posters for acts such as Elvis and Johnny Cash. Whats distinctive about the design style of these posters is firstly the application of colour, due to the method of production - printing them, but secondly the type arrangement is very interesting. Clearly they were limited by the physical letter blocks that they actually had, but also there are a lot of very narrow tall sans serif fonts, this is because with narrower type, you could fit more text onto a poster. The variation between ...

This D&AD brief calls for a typographic representation of a musical genre, song or movement that promotes or brings awareness of a good cause. You must use fonts from Google Fonts in your response.   I entered a similar D&Ad brief last year, using typography to represent a community, so from that I have more of an idea of what to do and how to respond to the brief effectively. Last year I don’t think I responded to the brief as effectively as possible, my idea was too convoluted, and although I believe my response was refined, I think they’re looking for a simple idea, performed successfully and effectively.   I think for this project to be successful, the artist/song/album I pick has to be fairly well known so that the majority of people are familiar with it. Here are some of my initial ideas for albums, songs, artists or musical movements that I could base may project on: The Wall - Pink Floyd - The wall by Pink Floyd is a concept album and rock oper...

Caracol - Sometimes Always - This visual identity for ‘Caracol’ a lively bar in Sao Paulo, created by designer Sometimes Always, is incredibly effective, simple and eye-catching. Caracol is Portuguese for snail, so from the snail shell, this circle was taken which became the basis of the identity. The variety of circles, some appearing like suns, and the large palette of bright colours, perfectly suits the tone of the bar whilst remaining individual and memorable. A very simple design idea, executed with fantastic effect. I like the variety of different collateral which has been produced, all lying within the visual identity; because its so simple and intuitive, it’s easy to apply to a number of touch points.   In general, the points that make this visual identity and re-brand so successful, are some of the ideas that we want to bring forward in this project - a simple branding idea and design solution, executed well and applied over a number of different end products. Thi...

I was really happy with the way the designs came out for the backs of my menu’s, so I’ve decided to keep them that way. They also fit in really well with the rest of the branding, using the same colours, type and shapes. From here I just needed to add on the actual menu information, so that the menus are ready to print. I kept the typesetting of the menus fairly uniform so that it was in line with the typesetting of the brochure; both use Benton Sans Wide for the display font, and Benton Sans for the body text.  

Preparing to enter the production process, I reviewed my brochure design, added in the copy from the website, and changed a few of the design aspects on some of the pages.   This welcome page was feeling a bit flat to me before, the type was not laid out on the page like it is on the rest of the brochure, so I centred the text boxes on the first page, and made the second page more modular and split in layout, with the line pattern coming in in the corner.   I had to add in another spread for the brochure to be printed correctly, then I realised I hadn’t added in contact info. Similar to some of the other pages, I really like the contrast between the facing pages on this spread, especially with such a large amount of negative space on left page.   Now I need to consider printing methods, formatting and stock.  

Deutsche & Japaner - Speicher7 - This branding campaign is clean and simple, its beast features are its production and documentation/photography. Elements like the different parts of the menu which are all different sizes and stocks, slot in nicely together and impart a luxury feel. However one criticism I would have, which is quite a big one, is I don’t feel a strong brand or visual identity. The logo is in an elegant serif font, which suits the tone but isn’t very distinct. A lot of the printed matter has similar type, centred, small and minimal.   Bulgari Hotels and Resorts - Pentagram - Alternatively, this branding campaign from Pentagram, offers a very distinct visual identity for Bulgari Hotels and Resorts. Along with an individual logo mark, images of leaves appear as a recurring visual theme in all the dark sophisticated products and printed matter in this rebrand.   While both these hotels are not that similar to Hell Bay, t...

We all need a website live by the time of PPP submission in May.   Must have elements- Consistent application of personal branding A curated selection of your work An engaging bio - W hat? How? Why? Structure Always include contact details and social media All links must function ‘Mailto links’ Give projects context with well written copy Take inspiration from other sites you like, see how they write bios and text, how is it engaging? Personal branding in email footer is good idea Website Platforms You can either build or continue to write a custom site Or use a template site Squarespace - nice user experience, market leader, ideal customer has a retail operation however, a lot of features that aren’t needed. persona.co - Smaller, less sites will use this,   Cargo Collective - older however better suited to portfolios, also quick and easy Adobe Portfolio - really bad a few years ago, doesn’t work too well, lots of people will use same template...