Competitions

I have been looking at competition winners and have found some really interesting work.

Northern Design Competiton

Graphic Design

The title of this work is 'Postcards for an English Summer' and I think this was captured perfectly. The set, created by Sam McClusky of Leeds University, fit together really nicely due to the stye and colour palette chosen. The theme of rain on the examples runs through, showing an ice cream cone made from a cloud and rainfall. It is a really witty concept and has been produced beautifully.

Illustration

This idea came from Adam Hindhaugh, for Kleenex tissues. The concept of being able to 'blow your nose on irritating celebrities' I find brilliant. The whole look of the brand has been changed to a really modern, quirky style which fits in with the idea perfectly.

____________________

Just Us

By Luke Jinks

I just love the style of this piece. The collage effect is really interesting, and all of the subtle elements of pattern in the background really compliment the piece. I love the use of different paper and how the muted palette looks together.

____________________

D&AD

By Julian Harriman-Dickinson, Jethro & George Wu

This illustration/poster campaign really reflects what style of design I'm interested in, it resembles tattoo art but has a real quirky edge to it. There are so many colours involved but it still manages to work well. It is bold, vibrant and interesting.

____________________

YCN

These are a really fun way to bring home the message that people need to exercise to keep their hearts healthy. This ad campaign for the British Heart Foundation I think would be really effective, it's humour grabs your attention and still manages to bring home the serious point. I love the illustrations and how they have been used on phoneboxes to show their versatility.

Identity

I have created my very own corporate identity for myself as a designer, which will be used on my business cards & website.

I went for a hand drawn feel, by adding the little doodle onto my name.

This will be carried through my website, also.

The colour choice was made after a lot of experimenting, and asking my peers opinions over what worked well. I think it's quite modern and ties in with my identity well.

Wonderland

One of my favourite design companies is Vault 49 I think their style of combining beautiful photography with really complimentary and interesting illustration is really unique and unlike any other work i've seen.

When looking through their newest work I came across their 'Ford in Wonderland' campaign, obviously inspired by the Alice in Wonderland story.

"A magical introduction to the new Ford Fiesta. Vault49 created a drive-through mixed-media Wonderland full of detail, narrative, and pixie dust. Photography by Joe Windsor-Williams."

________________________________

Here are some other examples of Vault 49 work

The Making Of...

While doing some research to create my own corporate identity, I looked at books relating to typography to get some inspiration. I came across "All Access: The Making of Thirty Extraordinary Graphic Designers". It was a really interesting book full of really interesting and exciting work from typographic designers all over the world.

Here are a few examples of who I found most inspiring.

Margo Chase

Ed Fella

James Victore

Eike Konig (Hort Design)

Camden

I recently visited Camden in london and was really amazed by the unusual, quirky signage designs featured on the vintage shops.

This example has a real antique/classic look to it.

I love the name of the shop 'What goes around, comes around' as it represents the secondhand shop in a subtle way. The banner and illustrations make the sign look as if it could have been there since the stables market opened, many years ago.

This sign has obviously taken inspiration from Litchenstein, one of my favourite artists. Pop art mirrors the era of the clothes the shop sells. I think the boldness of the sixties style really stands out, and catches your eye.



The use of pattern and typography is what I like about this design. Normally I wouldn't think it works well at all but for a vintage shop the clashing of all the elements and the use of posters has a really nice feel to it and I think is welcoming and appeals to the target audience.

Quaker Oats & other things

Here's a few briefs I've been working on recently.

Vision

This was a live brief set by fifth events to promote a club night they were putting on at world head quaters, entitled vision. A poster and flyer was to be produced. When first brainstorming I came up with an idea of night vision, and I tried to recreate this by using the crosshair and a futuristic, quite technological typeface. I think this works well as it looks modern and the green stands out from the black. The client was happy with the work produced and seemed to like the idea when I presented to them.

____________________

Turkish Delight

For this brief, each of my classmates were given a different chocolate bar to rebrand, to my dismay I was given turkish delight. I didn't know how I would make the chocolate bar appeal to a new audience as I don't know very many people who like it, however, after looking at the existing packaging I found it to be quite cheap looking and unappealing. This led me to the idea of designing a luxury version of the product. After researching turkish delight I came across a lot of traditional style boxes containing the original recipe of the sweet, and thought this would be a nice way to reintroduce it.

I kept the colours purple like the existing packaging, but kept to a matte finish and lighter tones to make it look a bit more like a luxury product. The typefaces I used worked well together I think, I like the modern font combined with the script. I chose to base my design on traditional turkish patterns, as I thought it would fit in nicely and bring it back to the roots of the product. Overall I am happy with how my packaging design came together.

____________________

Quaker Oats

This is my response to the Quaker Oats brief set by D&AD student awards. The brief was to package a new product, aimed at young, health conscious, women. It was to be an oaty version of mullar rice, and had to be seen as a healthy snack that can be eaten on the go. My idea was to base it on typography and to use words associated with the product, and to advertise it's goodness.

I was quite happy with the outcome, but I feel it still needs a bit of work regarding the final touches (barcode, ingredients etc.) I think the vibrancy of the colours works well, and they look quite effective as a series. After being given feedback from peers & tutors, it was suggested that I take the stroke off the type. I will try this out and see what works best to put into my portfolio.

Christmassy stuff

Since we've just celebrated christmas, I had a look to see if I could find some more unusual christmas cards, compared to the more traditional ones you see a lot of today.

This was my favourite of the designs I found, the use of black is totally different for any christmas card I've ever seen, and the use of typography and illustration sat quite small near the bottom is a totally unique composition. It's a really striking design, and would appeal to a large audience of modern, design conscious people.