OUGD502 - Studio Brief 2: A Design Presence (1)

As part of this studio brief, there are three areas of branding that I must do:

• Branding for myself - put across a range of stationary etc.
• Promotional Pack
• Website Design

Self branding is something that I found quite hard last year and the outcomes I created for last year aren't anything I am particularly proud of. I felt that what I did wasn't really representative of me as a designer and I would like to create something I like, not what I think should be created.

I looked at my last years outcome for this self branding in an attempt to see what I did and how I can improve on it.

Last years self branding brief link

Something I could see straight away was that there wasn't really much of a cohesion with all the elements I had. It seems a lot more like a lot of ideas put together instead of a concept. This is certainly something that I want to do this year and make everything very branded, very similar and very me.

I also noticed that the sizing of last years pack was very small. While I have no issue with creating a small pack, I do think that this pack was too small and doesn't work well at all. I also don't like the fact I've got all the elements separate. I would rather have something that works together in a proper pack instead of separate pieces put together in one case.

I then looked at some branding online that I like the look of, and like the concept behind.

Twee Branding
http://www.brandingserved.com/gallery/Twee-Branding/12118647

I really like the use on colour on this branding. As well as this I like the use of few elements put together in a variety of different ways to create a variety of designs. The contrasting colours and photographic images makes it very bold branding.

NowPix

http://www.brandingserved.com/gallery/NowPix-Branding-Identity/12183393

I like this one because of the use of illustrations in a very simple form. Also there is a very standard branding range where the branding is applied in different ways. I like the idea of little memo booklets.

Portfolio

https://www.behance.net/gallery/14137823/Portfolio

I'm not too keep on the actual content, but I do like the use on the blue and neon yellow and how these are used together.

Flavinsky Self Branding

https://www.behance.net/gallery/11331703/SELF-BRANDING-F_

I really like the way this branding has been put together, from the colour to the layout and different elements which are individualised for each piece of media they are put on. The logo is also quite individual and everything works together cohesively.

To start off with I thought about how I was going to brand myself. I knew that I wanted to use my name/initials. This is because I am a straight to the point person so using a pseudo name of some sort isn't really me and isn't appropriate. I also started thinking about things that defined me as a person and a designer. I am very straight to the point, am enthusiastic about design in general, and love doing digitally printed work. I think these are the three points which I will focus on throughout this brief.

I started by looking into all the work over the past year that I have done and for trends in how I go about designing, as well as typefaces and colours that I really like and can use in this branding.

I chose a typeface very quickly: Avenir Next. This is one that I have used quite a bit this year and really got to know well. I think that it is the perfect typeface to use to brand myself with.

I also decided that I want to use red as the main colour to start with. I'm not sure what shade of red yet, but I don't want anything too dark.

I typed my initials out in Avenir Next Bold and edited them to they all had even edges.

From here I tried out a couple of different ideas. After a few experiments I decided on the idea of having a box and an arrow together.

My first version of this:

While I like this, I didn't really think there was much meaning to it for me. I tried it where the arrow was facing the other way:

I thought that this direction relates to the idea of 'onwards and upwards', which is how I do like to design - continue on, develop skills and don't look back at previous projects with regret. Always try something new and expand as a designer.
While I really like this concept, I don't like the way this logo looks at all. It looks a bit like a price tag - not saying that that is a bad thing - but I don't like that it is a rectangle. I much preferred the logo before where it was more square.

I decided on trying it without the 'L' so I could get that shape back.

While I like the shape, the letter at that angle just doesn't sit right with me at all. The original angle of the shape is the one that I like best, however with the concept of moving forward, the angle is detrimental to that.

With this in mind I tried it at a straight angle.

I much prefer this to the previous shape as the 'E' looks a lot better straight than at an angle. I then worked on choosing a colour of the red, also trying the logo in black.

I tried the three reds and decided that the last one is the one I want to go for as it is quite strong, but not so bright, and the previous two were quite flat colours, which isn't something I want.

With this logo sorted I moved onto creating a business card. I didn't want to make anything too over the top as it is only a business card. While experimenting with this, I decided that I wanted to use red and white as the two primary colours, and only use black for body copy on letterheads or official documents. I think that the white contrasts the red well and better than black will, and it keeps all the design light.

Business cards:

At this point, while I do think that the cards show the logo off well and the colour scheme, I do think these are really quite boring. They have all the information I need on, but there isn't really much personality to the designs. This is something that I really wanted to avoid. I have found recently that my initial designs are quite clinical and like this, and I then develop them to give them a bit more context and personality. However, with this branding, I think this style is a bit of a dead end.

I moved onto experimenting with different logo ideas, which I think are a bit more fun and a bit more representative of me.

I created the following:

The logo above was my favourite from the experiments I did. While I like this, I do feel it is a bit too bold and almost looks like it needs a rosette attached to it. I do feel it was a good exercise to experiment with a few different ideas and colours, and loosen myself up as a designer and think about me rather than creating for a certain audience.

I decided that I really liked the red and the blue working together, so applied it to the logo design I did previously.

Instantly I feel much better about this design. I feel it looks a lot more approachable and friendly. With it all in red before it was a bit clinical, whereas with the blue mixed in, it is much more contemporary and fun.

I then went about creating a business card which I felt was a bit more representative of me as a designer and person.

The first thing I did was create three small icons to go with the contact details. I think that this is a bit more informal and relaxing than just having the straight details.

I then decided that to contrasts against Avenir Next - which I liked in the Bold weight - I needed another typeface. While I had the Avenir Next in Ultra Light, I felt that another completely different typeface will help bring a bit of a playful side to the branding. While I don't usually use script typefaces, I decided to search for one, and quickly found 'Yellowtail', which isn't such a swirly script typeface, more of a hand written one.

Business Card:

Like the original business card I produced, I wanted the front to be very bold, and just have the logo on, while the back would contain all the information.

As I thought the initial business card was very plain and bland, I decided to add in a bit more text, a bit of an introduction to me as a designer. It was also an opportunity for me to see how the text and colours work together and to develop the brand identity.

I am much happier with the business cards now and feel that they are much stronger, more playful and much more representative of me as a designer and show off my enthusiasm for design.

Something I particularly liked was the use of the dotted line. Initially I wanted to just use this as a bit of small decoration, however I had the idea of using the shape of one dash to create a pattern, twisting it round to different angles.

I did this, and after a bit of experimentation, came up with the following pattern:

While I did it as a bit of a playful experiment, I feel that it is really quite strong and is something I definitely want to use in the branding. The layering of the two together took a while to get right and I think that it really does make it stronger than if it was just one colour. I'm not entirely sure where I can use this yet, but I will definitely try incorporate it where I can.

I then moved onto creating my promotional pack. I thought about the elements that needed to be included in this:

• Business card (done)
• Portfolio
• Skills/CV
• About me
• Contact details
• Manifesto?

I decided immediately that I wanted these to be displayed in a way which represented me as a designer, and what I love to do is make books/booklets, so I feel that this is the best way to show me and what I can do. I also think that if this were to become something I send to possible studios/clients, it is something where everything is together and sheets aren't loose.

I initially went through my work from the year and decided on the projects which I liked and felt were strong enough to include in the portfolio. I didn't want it to be a million pages long with everything. I only wanted to choose a select few that show off a variety of my skills and designs.

I decided on the following pieces of work:

• YCN Domino's Pizza - Promotional Design
• How To Design For Print - Information Design
• The Evolution Of The Alphabet - Web-based Design
• Ampersandwich - Branding/Packaging Design
• An Exhibition on the NBA - Editorial Design
• 'Courtside' Typeface (From NBA) - Typeface Design
• Secret 7" - Music Sleeve Design

I feel that these are by far my strongest pieces of work and show off a variety of my skills and working in a variety of different media and with different media (vectors/photography etc).

With these decided I moved onto working on the information about myself that I wanted to include in the pack. The first thing I did was write myself a manifesto. I've never really been one to do something like this, however I do feel that writing one would be interesting and would help me strengthen my brand and the manifesto is how I design, but written down instead of just thought about. It means I can refer to it throughout designing the remainder of this brief and in the future.

I used this manifesto as a way to further experiment with the colours, typefaces and my branding in general. Taking my business card design, I used this as a starting point and developed it from there.

Manifesto:

I am really happy with the way this has turned out. While I had initially wanted to make it a bit more visual by including illustrations down the sides or something, I do think that there's already enough going on, and printed on the right stock, this will look really great.

I like the way I did the heading with the bold font and the dotted line, and this is something I want to carry across the branding. I also decided that I will use the Avenir as the main body copy typeface, and the Yellowtail for sub-headings as this will be much better used in a smaller amount, and in a larger size.

I then went onto creating two designs about me and the pack. These are introduction pages to me, and what the pack is. I felt that doing it this way was much more informal and will help me break down the idea of a CV as such. I think it makes it more friendly and readable.

Once again I kept with the simple layout of just using text and lines to create the designs. I do think that this is actually quite representative of me as a designer as I much prefer working primarily with text over image. I am happy with these designs and feel that they keep in with the branding I've developed so far.

I then moved onto creating the 'Skills/CV' side to the pack. While I want it to be informative,  I don't want it to be boring to read. I want it to stay within the branding I have done so far, so want to keep it quite simple with not so much text on it. I decided on adding some visual elements to it, as I feel it will break up the text a bit.

I feel that this works really well. It's simple, laid out from top to bottom with not so much information, but enough to understand exactly where I am as a designer and explain that to the reader. I especially like the way the two images work at the top. I think that these are definitely what this design needed.

Happy with these designs, I added these to the portfolio to create my promotional pack. This was also where I used the dashed pattern, which worked really well.

Promotional Pack Book:

While doing this book, I thought about the presentation of this and how this would be packaged. I decided on creating a bellyband to go around the book to keep it shut when packaged, and have the logo on, which I didn't put anywhere in my promo pack apart from on the back page.

Belly Band:

I then thought about how this would be packaged. I thought that it would be interesting to have it wrapped up in a sheet of paper covered in the dashed pattern, held together by a sticker of the logo/something similar.

On top of this I needed to think of if it was going to be sent in the mail, I would need something to hold this so it wouldn't get damaged. I decided on creating an envelope to the bespoke size of my promo pack, and branded.

Envelope:

At this point I reviewed everything, as well as the studio brief, and am confident in the fact that I have created a promotional pack which represents me as a designer and individual, as well as shows my skills, work and style.

With this pack done and ready to print, I started to think about the first side of the brief, which was about applying the branding to a range of appropriate stationary.

The first thing I did was create a letterhead as I felt this was a good place to start.

Letterhead:

I decided that this was something that was best kept simple as I would use it as something official, like a letter, not anything to promote myself with.

To go with the letterhead I decided on branding a standard DL envelope. I decided to make it the same layout and design as the previous envelope I designed for the promotional pack, this way I am keeping it in with the branding.

At this point I have a printing slot and will be printing the following:

• Promotion Pack
• Promotional Pack Packaging
• 2 X Envelopes
• Letterhead
• Business Cards
• Logo Stickers
• A3 manifesto poster

I decided on using Watercolour paper as the stock to use. I originally wanted to use bulky newsprint as I really like this stock, however when I went to buy some it was a yellowy colour, and I really wanted it to be a clean white, so chose the watercolour paper. This has quite an interesting texture to it, so I really do think it was the right decision and could make my designs look really good printed.