OUGD602 - Studio: Golden

Link

Behance

Golden is a multi-disciplinary design agency based in Leeds. They collaborate with companies including Nike, PlayStation and Google in the delivery of compelling, innovative brand communications.

Work

Warp Films

Nike Run Club

Shears Yard

I really like the aesthetic style that Golden have in all of their work. It's very contemporary and while each project is individual, the same sort of style is in all of them through their layouts and choice of typefaces. I like that they work for a variety of clients with different outcomes as it shows a range of work and how their apply their skills in different ways to suit the client.

OUGD602 - Studio: Söderhavet

Link
Söderhavet is a Swedish based design agency, founded in 2004. They work mainly in branding, and have established partnerships with their sister agencies - Äventyret (Innovation Artists) and Nansen (Web designers/developers).

I came across this agency while doing research for my COP3. I think their approach to design is really clean, professional and contemporary, with a mixture of a focus on both typography and imagery, as well as vector imagery and photographic imagery. This variety in design is something I really admire in one agency, especially the ability to do it very well.

Global Brand Sweden

Bisnode

OUGD602 - Studio: Cabin

Link

Cabin is a California based interdisciplinary design agency, with a focus on web and digital design.

Work

Pressed Juicery

Catchafire

Etsy

I like the work by Cabin because it is quite hard to come across a design agency which is good at both web and print design in an equal amount. Usually they favour one or the other, and Cabin's work is clearly strong over both. I really like the professional and clean styles they put into their website designs and how they manage to keep this in whatever website they design, no matter who the client is. It shows that there is a clean and contemporary style for a number of clients, all of which are adapted to the clients wants and needs, but not compromised.

OUGD602 - Intricate Hand Carved Paper

Just a small project which I found really interesting and cool. I think its really great that design can be as simple and small as this and still get attention and work really well.

I'd love to do something like this, but I definitely don't have the patience or skill. I really like that they used typography as well instead of paper cutting an image.

I think sometimes I get a bit wrapped up in all of the ultra professional design that I forget about small pieces like this which are really great and are pretty much what design is about.

Link

OUGD602 - Studio: Kind

Today I came across Kind, a studio based in Bergen, Norway. I initially found them on behance, but looked on their website at the work up.

Website

I found that I really loved the majority of the work and its clear that their style is something similar to what I would love to create and achieve to do. I particularly like 'Una' - one of their newer projects. I think it looks really great, and I have taken some inspiration from it to apply to my own brief around a bakery/cafe, as it is similar in the kind of aesthetic that I wanted to achieve.

Below are a couple of the projects I particularly liked.

Una

I really like the simple and sophisticated approach to this brief. The use of three different coloured stocks works really well together, and I love the small details such as textured papers and the style of binding the menus. It's these small details which really add to the sophistication. I think it all looks really professional, aided further by the photography of all the collateral.

Badaboom

I think the concept behind this branding is fantastic, and the way it has been applied across a variety of colours and medias is something which I really aspire to do. I think it shows that branding can be fun with a huge range of collateral, colours and packaging types used. Like Una, I love the attention to detail throughout every piece.

I particularly like the branding itself. The way it has been constructed is simple, yet effective and visually interesting. I like how they considered the brand itself and how it makes its clothing in bamboo and integrated this strongly into the brand identity.

OUGD602 - Una Kitchen & Microbrewery

https://www.behance.net/gallery/20651969/Una-Kitchen-Microbrewery-CIBranding

Today I came across this project which was newly uploaded to Behance by KIND, a conceptual branding agency based in Norway.

Una Kitchen & Microbrewery

I really like the simplicity of the identity and how it has been executed across a range of media. I think that the use of stock for business cards and menu really helps create a professional and luxury appearance. It's also a stock that I haven't seen used in this way before. I like the use of the three colours and how they represent three areas of the brand. This is a simple idea which is used a lot, but in this case I think it works particularly well, and the colours work very well, together and separate.

As I am currently doing a brief around a bakery/cafe this does influence my opinion of some decisions I have made so far.

OUGD602 - Studios

As I have 10 portfolios printed I have chosen the initial studios where I would like to send it.

Studios
Project 53 - Leeds
Here Design - London
GOLDEN - Leeds
Leo Burnett - London
Robot Food - Leeds
Pentagram - London
Cool Beans Creative - Leeds/Manchester
Socio Design - London

OUGD602 - Potential Client Brief - AirBnB Style

Today I was contacted about putting together a web app for an app like AirBnB. Little information was given initially but once I asked, more was given. I was a little apprehensive at first as the client said they wanted to use a Bootstrap Theme. This is nothing I have heard of before.

I asked Ant White what this was because he knows a large amount about building websites and it wasn't actually anything he'd heard of either, but he helped me in finding out what it was. It seems to be a website builder which uses HTML5 and CSS.

While it is great to be asked to be involved in a brief, I certainly don't have the experience to be able to build a web app from code for them. I explained to the client that I could certainly design a website for them but they would need to get a coder to code it for them. The client replied and said that their head engineer might get in contact. I'm not too sure what this means in terms of my involvement of the brief but I am hoping they might move forward with my suggestion, but we'll have to wait and see what happens.

OUGD602 - Studio: Here Design

Link

Here Design is a London based design agency which works across a variety of areas in design. They have worked with clients such as Bacardí, V&A and adidas.

Work

Bacardí

The Geometry of Pasta

Kiosk

I really like the aesthetic appearance Here bring to each of the projects, tailoring it to be specifically for that one project instead of having one very defined style and aesthetic for all their work. It shows that there have a variety of ways of working and clearly listen to the client and their needs. I also like that they do a variety of work, from book designs to packaging, showing they have diversity in their application.