Category: Branding

Independent study 

After completing the brief I am happy with the elements I have created and proud that I did go back and change the logo. This helped shape the new brand and become more elegant like the title.

With more time I would have liked to develop the animation adding in details – this would mean its less of a gif and more of an advert. Through making it longer shows my after effects skills and how they have improved from last year, being non-existent.

I would also like to develop upon the way-finding by creating an arrow from concrete instead of just an engraving. As well as designing a creation with the logo made from concrete showing the level the exhibition is at.

Overall, I am pleased with the printed word as I took my time and looked at the finer details for perfection. Where I will improve in the future is the digital designs.

Independent study 

The usual way to do signage is to have words/ symbols and an arrow on card mounted to a wall. To adapt this simple concept into my exhibition using concrete block as the sign would increase the appeal and showing diversity of concrete. This also allows the space to be changed and adapted if the viewers wanted to buy or to change up the space.

At first I proposed using spray paint on bollards, much like the outside promotions this is simple and a cheep option for the creators. Then I thought about the title elegance and how everything needs to show off the various art forms concrete can take to. So by engraving the cast of concrete the distinguished element becomes the art within the exhibition. A photo by “Hello I’m Nik” on Unsplash shows the simple elegance that concrete has.

 

Starting 16th October – Independent study 

The idea I had was clear – to have my logo spray painted across a well designed concrete wall/ building but this was too basic and wasn’t showing off what the exhibition is and how concrete can be pleasant and homely.

Moving forward  I looked into businesses that sell concrete objects in a unique way, suck as betonfusio – a German design and construction company. This gave me the idea that the staff can have necklaces and the viewers can buy them to be warm outside showing off the brand.

https://www.instagram.com/betonfusion/

Casting Thin Concrete Furniture with GFRC

https://www.instagram.com/arcflydesign/

To improve upon the spray paint stamp idea I thought that a concrete slab can be the banner. Much like a typical banner it will be placed up on a wall but be 3D with concrete plugs hiding the bolts. This also allows for more information and design. I only added 3 of these deigns in as I believe that the target audience would only react if it looked pleasing within the space, such as the underground train station.

Independent Study – Week starting 22nd October

The best, most professional way to communicate from a digital platform is through a website. When designing I used the simple black and white colour scheme with a 5 column grid so that the outer 2 columns allowed the space to breath making it professional. 

The target audience of younger current stylish people are always on a form of social or online media. After designing a website, I decided upon the use of instagram to show a modern visual that can easily get the name out with the use of hashtags and sharing.

With time I would like to fully complete the website, showing off the exhibition. Also gather more photos within the instagram page instead of just my work show off whats inside and how a personalised home can look.

Independent Study – Week of 21st October 

So far I have created individual spreads for a 12 page minimalistic leaflet. To help me along I looked up exhibitions and how they word and layout designs. #thisisconcrete is a great example of the exhibit showcasing the variants concrete can be used for.

https://rodicdavidson.co.uk/exhibition/thisisconcrete/

Refining my design even more the tutor suggested making both a 12 page and an 8 page design to complete the brief and add a little extra for the design decision to be placed on the company and their wants. I took away the “about us” page as this is an exhibition not just to sell the companies products but its about learning how far concrete has come to be personalised in a home.

To finalise the 12 page booklet I created the correct size sheet with margins outlining the pages within. Copy and pasting the designs in I changed a few variants so that the design had more uniformity. Placing it all together I noticed that the back and front were not the best in comparison to the other pages. So I changed the back typography details and the front cover for more impact.

Independent Study

From feedback I improved by making the new logo the focal point, changing the tone so it stands out against the black of the darker concrete blocks. I also toned down the white layer and removed it from the darker poster allowing the background to stand out for what it is as the main concept. 

The more toned down colour choices worked better not taking away any power from the background. Also the pinky almost skin tones are currently in fashion so will appeal to the target market of trendy people. 

Furthermore, adding the information helped in giving the posters a professional touch, giving the viewers the opportunity to understand what is going on. 

Starting Tuesday 8th October – Moving Identities Workshop + Development 

The workshop about using After Effects was extremely helpful. From last year I feel this was more in-depth and I am more confident in the software.

The most helpful I learnt was how to animate a vector so that it draws its self, creating visuals that are simplistic yet are so great to watch. My animation could be on repeat like a gif showing off the structure of the elements.

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I also learnt many other things such as motion blur – which I decided not to use as the design needed to be more structured  –  and easy ease – that I did use to change up the speed for a better flow.

The most complex part was the masking of a video. I found this hard to get my head around but it gives a great effect if you want to see the video behind that could be blurred out or in a different shade.

Wednesday 16th – Independent Study

After the feedback from yesterday I decided to trial development of both the existing logo and a new version.

Adding it with the type I decided to play around with the sizing and the white space between the letters and the image. Resulting in a more professional logo that fits in more with the theme on unison.

This is my favourite design as it is minimalistic yet has depth. When you look into the hexagon it’s as if you’re looking down at a tunnel or tower making you the viewer gain confidence and power. All of this leads the eye down to the name which has been adjusted for a better ambience.

 

 

Tuesday 15th October – Interim Critique Presentation

The feedback given was very helpful and progressive – making me want to change and adapt further. Through having a well thought out idea everyone was able to grasp the concept and made me think about wanting to really dive into the meaning to progress. The conversation lead to the name changed to ‘Elegance “IN” Concrete’, instead of using “of.” This should put more emphasis of having the exhibition show that these products can go “in” a home as well as being more eloquent and rolling off the tongue.

Moving forward the logo needs to be perfected by adjusting the white space of the hexagon and making sure they are ‘uniform’ and over all experimentation with the curvatures, thickness and placements.

With the posters I had sort of hit a stump and wasn’t a huge fan of them as they all fell into the background. The group decided the use of colours and opaque almost took away from the styling of the concrete and I should make the texture the main focal point. 

 

Few days beginning 10th October – Printed exhibition ephemera – Poster/ Booklet

For the posters I wanted to keep to the minimalistic style through adding a white opaque screen to a bold concrete layer – which all came from a from unsplash. I continued to use the hexagon shape not just for the cohesiveness but as a symbol. The hexagon is meant to be the strongest shape known, which is much like concrete – both the strongest within their field being man made. To add to this I will need information telling the viewers where and when to go.

Throughout this project we are asked to break away from ‘the normal’ and mainstream ideas. So I decided to create a one sheet paper with folds to make the faces. One side of the sheet will have information within the exhibition whilst the other has details around the exhibition, such as where it is, what times you can see it or the creators information and facts behind why concrete is chosen.

However the brief asks for a 8 page booklet and the aesthetics for this would not be best suited for the style. I will have to discuss with my tutors to see how I can go bout doing this.

Using InDesign I created a mock up of the booklet with a clear grip system linking the free images in. I used the same typeface as the logo – Prohibition – for the bold word ‘CONCRETE’ and an oblique version for the page headings. From trying many different fonts for the body copy, the best match was Oswald.

On the back spread I created a map of the area of a local smaller gallery. This was created out of concrete blocks but I am not happy with the finish so I might have one image cut up instead of multiple for a more professional aesthetic. For a Welsh exhibition I added bilingual texts out of respect and fitting in with the gallery itself.