Task 1
After identifying the different aspects of my chosen subject matter I set myself an investigational task, broadening my research and making it more coherent in terms of what I'd like to produce...
The task was to identify different examples of Branding & identity that somehow related to my direction and also bring in different types of print that I'd possibly like to incorporate in my design process...I brought in items that incorporated methods such as; silver foiling, embossing & spot varnish.
My direction at this moment in time was to promote & produce an exhibition that exploited the benefits of insects and their wonderful little lives through an event held at a museum, this meant I could produce and investigate signage/ way finding, publishing & editorial, promotional attributes & actually develop an identity for my exhibition through branding...business cards etc.
Publishing & Editorial
I'm really intrigued with this approach to design, although it lacks communication in these examples it produces something that makes you stare & try to decipher what it's all about. I really think a contemporary design approach would also suit my current concept.
Gradients, something I've always liked the look of, but never used! If I was going to incorporate gradients I'd need to consider my target audience and what I really want to communicate through my identity, this is because gradients can often be overpowering, stealing the show. So I need to think...is the focus more on the information I'll be collating or the visual side of my exhibition?
In terms of design, the photograph above and below have very opposing themes despite being the same book, so how has the designer achieved this mutual connection?
The front cover looks very illustrative, bright, exciting whereas the one below is very formal and clean cut...but in my opinion it's worked because of its contemporary aspect permeating throughout. The descriptive label is consistent with the inside type layouts and the curved edge of the pages compliments the exciting side of the publication through each page.
Museum exhibitions/ branding
Again, the contemporary aspect is prevalent in all of the museum branding I've came across. They're simple and to the point...often made more diverse through their use of photography and type decisions.
I thought this use of branding was very unique in the sense that it didn't have to change anything for its way- finding...apart from the aspect of colour. You can clearly see that they're all different areas/ types of a museum. I really think I should incorporate a similar approach for my way-finding because it acts as a constant signifier to the audience, making it easier for the audience to navigate and make sure they're still in the same exhibition.
Contemporary way-finding...
I undertook some research into design drawings because I really like the developmental effect and 'rawness' of them, as you can see from the images below, they'd look great produced through a programme such as 'Illustrator'. The developmental effect also lends itself to the content side. Making it easier for the audience to visually see each part of the insect in a sort of break down.
All in all this was a pretty good task for me, I didn't really have a solid idea as such, just an awareness of where I'd like to go and this really highlighted what I needed to investigate further in my design context. I also took on some advice from my peers and have thought about producing an exhibition around bee's as oppose to insects because of their drastic effect on our world that so many people are oblivious too, after sharing my research with my peers, they found all of the information about bee's and honey more valuable and interesting. This would make the exhibition more targeted specifically and means I'd have to develop a new string of research.
The print based items I'd brought along were a talking point for our products, even though none of this is set in stone, it was good to have an idea of what I'd like to experiment with.
At the end of this session we were given the task to go away and look into different formats of design which are appealing our professional practice. Now that I'd changed my idea, and made it more specific, it would be easier to find things that were more strongly related to my theme. The new idea also gave me stronger branding opportunities because of its specificity.
Task 2
Research/ 5 formats that appeal to me in terms of my personal professional practice...items such as packaging/ boxes...Japanese binding, DVD cases, way-finding possibilities...stock...
I also need to think about factors such as;
How long would it take to put together in the studio environment...
What production methods would you like to use with it?...
Feasible outcomes...
Analyse products in terms of:
Target Audience
Context - where
How people interact with it
Stock
Special Production Methods
Given the nature of my event I needed to decide on a target audience, the audience would dictate the attitude of my designs and I wanted to stay away from anything cartoony, I wanted the exhibition to be possibly aimed at both male and female, between the ages of 20-35 year olds. Honey Bee's is a strong subject matter which means it's been done before in different formats, I needed to do it completely different! Out of all my current research, the following publication was one of the stronger pieces of design I came across. A large majority of design work on bee's had a very young appreciation factor (as you can see from the screenshot below), it was more to attract rather than to inform and educate.
I've chosen to include this publication in my examples because it successfully demonstrates the contemporary and modern design approach I'd like to pursue. The editorial side of my concept would act as a book you buy from the exhibition that displays the most important factors of my research, it could also aid the viewer when they're walking around the exhibition...
Due to the fact people would 'buy' the publications, I could include different finishing techniques...possibly spot varnish...creatively tie in with honey?
Amazing concept; Would it be a feasible outcome in the time I've got to produce my deliverables? I'd love to take the raw concept of this idea and use it for a different purpose, it could act as a holder for various objects...
Proposal; Display all of my deliverables in a creative manner and give the viewer a real feel of the exhibition. Each honey slide could contain objects such as...the publication, way finding/ signage, creative hand crafted materials, the possibilities are endless but first I need to undertake a lot more research and organise areas I need to look into.
Although I've included these examples, I wouldn't be primarily supplying honey in my deliverables but products that promote honey, products could play on the principle of honey jars etc. Idea; for example, If I was to go down an info-graphic route, I could fill a jar with info graphic representations. People would interact with these during their walk around the museum?
Hand-craft// Due to my recent investigation of paper craft for the responsive briefs, an idea sparked when I thought about honey and the way the honeycomb is made up of layers. I could include a 3 dimensional representation of the honeycomb, displaying the bee's workflow or something similar, at this stage everything is just an idea.
Info-graphic cards/ quick turn-around, straight to the point, doesn't seem to be a relevant use for them in terms of how the audience would interact with them...feasible outcome; incorporate into signage, each section could have an introduction by the display etc...
In terms of investigation I really need to broaden my scope of investigation and see if they're are any pre-existing museums based around my subject matter just like the one displayed below....
This example displays what I don't really want to do; use basic info graphics that appeal to a large target audience, I want something contemporary but striking in terms of its delivery of information.
Binding...
Wooden arts exhibition, contemporary, unique...I've chosen to look at the wooden aspect because it could be a creative feature that could communicate the wooden hives beekeepers have developed to store honey...
Coptic stitch used along side a wooden front and back cover. A coptic stitch is used when a publication uses more than one signature, to create the stitch you put each signature on top of each other and then sew down the edges of them to join them together and join them to front and back cover. This is an open book binding technique and also leaves a nice pattern within the stitching that is shown.
Screw posts provide one of the easiest methods for binding documents, especially extremely thick ones. Sometimes called Chicago screws or Chicago screw posts, these small document fasteners are usually made of Aluminium.
The stock consists of mount board and a long horizontal piece of paper, probably quite cheap to produce because it would be a one print run for the inside content! Would be a pretty fast turnaround time because it's quite a straightforward process, could be used as promotional flyers? flight of the bee?
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