OUGD503 Individual Practice, Leeds Christmas Print Fair - Final Prints (Studio Brief One)

To begin with, I started experimenting with different types of stock. I bought all of these from the library as I didn't want to go to Fred Aldous and spend a lot of money on stock when I might not even sell any prints. All of the coloured stock I bought is 125gsm, except for the water coloured stock, which didn't pick up the ink very well due to the texture. I think the coloured stock is really successful and the mixture of different colours works really well and makes both the paper and the design pop.

I have now also printed all of the designs onto a plain white stock. I think this made the colours of the inks stand out a lot more than the coloured stock. I'm really proud of all of my prints, and I think it's really interesting that each design is very different from each other. 

To finish this project, I now need to print out some business cards in digital print and then go sell some prints at the fair!

OUGD503 Individual Practice, Leeds Christmas Print Fair - Screen Printing (Studio Brief One)

Today I went and made my screen ready for printing my final prints. Unfortunately, one of the prints hasn't been exposed through the screen properly, meaning I won't be able to use that specific design as I won't have time to re-expose the screen and still have time to create business cards. I think, however, that this is okay as we really don't have a clue how much space we will have to fill at the Print Fair, and therefore we might be overestimating the space as it is. When I next get some free time I am going to go and screen print the prints. In theory, it shouldn't take longer than two afternoon sessions, as the only thing I will have to wait around for is the screen drying in between prints.

OUGD503 D&AD New Blood Briefing Lecture (Studio Brief One)

Hilary Chittenden - Foundation Manager
Ellen Ling - New Blood Content & Social

Non-profit organisation that was founded by art directors including David Bailey, Terence Donovan and Alan Fletcher.
Set up in 1962 to celebrate and develop creative brilliance.
Still recognised as internationally creative accolade.

16-21 april in London at judging week.

D&AD Foundation
1. Inspires the next generation of creative talent
2. Promotes diversity
3. Stimulates the creative industry to deliver a fairer more sustainable future.

New blood - awards - festival - academy

Break new ground in beauty branding - DesignBridge - Asa

Create a window into the brand - John Lewis - Howard Sullivan, Your Studio

Use the power of typography to activate your cause - Monotype - Craig Oldham, office of craig oldham

Capture dramatic narrative in everyday reality - shutterstock - lu bowan, making pictures

fortune favours the brave - d&ad.
4creative. E4 switch off.
"If you're not prepared to be wrong, you'll never come up with anything original"

does it have a great creative idea
is it well executed
is it on brief

which of these is most important? depends on the kind of brief
idea based briefs - the idea is crucial

creaft briefs: execution is key. but craft is at its most powerful when driven by a strong concept.

stage 1 - online judging
stage 2 - wood pencil selection
stage 3 - graphite pencil selection
stage 4 - yellow pencil selection
stage 5 - white pencil selection
stage 6 - black pencil selection

winning tips:
idea is king - bake the idea before you ice the cake - when im a dad
treat tech with caution - don't just create an app, still have a concept
tell a story - bring the idea to life for the panel. create a video - how you came up with the concept, how it will work etc.

futurelearn.com/courses/brand-storytelling

WORKSHOP O'CLOCK

From Meme to Meaning

Insight & a great creative idea IS KEY.

Homeless fonts - the inside scoop

OUGD503 Individual Practice, Leeds Christmas Print Fair - Feedback (Studio Brief One)

I asked multiple people what their thoughts are on the designs to begin with. People said that they liked them because they are eye catching and bold, and they said they might work really well on bright coloured stock - something I myself was going to experiment with. They also said that they would work on their own in black and white, however I don't want to go down this route as I find these quite boring.

I then asked which were peoples favourites. Four people said the one below as it is the most simple and yet it's very pleasing to the eye, however they weren't sure how it would work using multiple colours.

Two people said that the below design was their favourite, as they thought it would work really successfully in colour as there is a lot of black space to work with. I agree with this comment, and this is one of my favourite designs.

One person said that this was their favourite design as it reminded them of the impossible triangle with a twist. 

And finally, one person said that this was their favourite. This group crit worked out really well, as I was able to get rid of one of the designs, which to be fair was quite similar to the above design.

My next step with the development of these prints will be physically printing them in screen printing. I have 10 days to the deadline, which is perfect as it gives me a lot of time to screen print the designs, and to also create some business cards to go along with the prints.

OUGD503 Individual Practice, Leeds Christmas Print Fair - Development (Studio Brief One)

These are the shapes that I created using Illustrator. I think they're really successful as they do get across my preferred style of graphic design - minimal. They were actually a lot harder to create than I originally anticipated, as the measurements of each was really difficult to get right. I think that each is really successful in black and white, however I am excited to see them in full colour.

As the print fair is a PRINT fair, I don't want to just digitally print these. I am going to screen print them using lots of different colours. This is a method I have seen used before and makes each print very different - you use a spoon of ink to add blobs onto the screen, and then pull through the background colour. It adds really interesting patterns and shapes, which I think will make all of my designs pop. The only problem I really have now is which prints to use, as I am only allowed to use at a maximum four, and I have five. For this reason, I am going to ask some people which they think are the most successful when I am next in a responsive session. 

OUGD503 Individual Practice, Leeds Christmas Print Fair - Rough Sketches (Studio Brief One)

I drew some mock up ideas for how my own geometric shapes could look. These can be seen below. Below is the first idea that I had. I originally wanted to draw all of my shapes by hand and then scan them in to neaten them up, but it was an incredibly time consuming process as I was trying to use dot work.

Originally, I started drawing the shape far too big - it would've taken me hours, however I did want a lot of detail so I only minimised the shape a little. This was just as time consuming and unsuccessful in my opinion as the dots were far too neat. For this reason, I decided to use full colour instead. I thought that this would possibly more effective when I come to add colour.

I decided to go back to creating rough shapes, just so that it would be easier to get an idea of how to translate them onto Adobe Illustrator. These can all be seen below. As the table we have at the print fair is going to be shared between three of us, we all had agreed to stick to four different styles of prints maximum. 

 My next step is to create these shapes using Illustrator / experiment with other possible shapes.

OUGD503 Individual Practice, Leeds Christmas Print Fair - Initial Idea (Studio Brief One)

From researching into print designs, I have found that the prints that I find the most successful prints often use simple, geometric shapes and bright colours. I find these kinds of prints really aesthetically pleasing and inspiring and I think I will definitely have fun creating my own designs inspired by them.

I have been following a blog for a while on Tumblr called Often Minimal. It's basically a blog that posts geometric shapes once a day. They're really aesthetically pleasing, and I think I will create my own shapes taking inspiration from this blog. However, my development from this will be that each shape I create will be incredibly colourful - something that the website lacks. 

OUGD503 Individual Practice, Leeds Christmas Print Fair - Research (Studio Brief One)

As I visited a print fair at Munro House in first year, I decided to look at some of the prints that they sold there. I looked through my old blog and found the below images with the thoughts I had whilst visiting.

This is a photograph of one of the stalls selling prints. I thought this stall was really interesting as they were really good at up-selling - there was a small boy who questioned us which print we thought was the most important on the table, which of course was the print that portrayed the message 'never trust a Torie'.

I thought this stall was also really interesting as they weren't just selling prints, but sold little pins and badges which were really cute. The design of the prints were also really original and interesting to look at.

This stall was my favourite as it had a lot of different items for sale, including little notebooks with really cute patterns printed on the front cover. I bought one of these and it came with a little business card which I think is a really good way of getting the name of your brand out there. There were also business cards on the table to pick up so you could purchase an item later in the future.

This stall had prints for sale with little quirky illustrations on which I really loved. They were simplistic yet I think had been designed using Adobe Illustrator so were slick and neat at the same time. I also really liked the use of colour as mostly they were black and white outlines with just one block colour.

From looking at the comments I made, I think I found the stalls that had a lot of colour the most interesting, as these were the stalls that I visited first as they were very eye catching. I also think it was good the way that each table had created levels of prints, however I'm not sure how I'd achieve this as I don't own any kind of display case/shelf.

I have now decided to look online at some possible inspiration using the website http://designinspiration.net . I found the below print on there, and the source linked my to a website called http://darkshapes.com, of which I had a look through and they have a lot of colourful images and it is used basically as a Tumblr account. The actual print below is really interesting and acts as a kind of maze, as your eyes follow the negative space. The composition of the print is also really great, as the type is around the outside and it's really aesthetically pleasing. It uses geometric shapes to create patterns.

Below is a image from a magazine called The Apparatjik Graphic Magazine. I think it's absolutely beautiful. The left page shows some geometric shapes lined up beautifully and uses primary colours to really catch the eye. These are contrasted well with the right page, which is also a geometric shape that uses type.

I have now decided to look at prints that I have on my walls. I think this is a good way to do my research as the posters on my wall are things that inspire me, and as I want the prints to represent myself as a designer, I could get some ideas from them. Below is one of the prints that I have on my bedroom wall. It's designed by Supermundane, who have designed this print on the windows in Leeds train station. The geometrical shapes and colours are very inspiring and eye catching. I think that designing something along these lines would be really great. 

On the wall in my kitchen is a display of monoprints that Izzie created in first year. These monoprints also use bold colours and geometric shapes. I don't think these would be very successful at a print fair as they're quite messy, however I think that they work really well as a set.

After looking online and also on my walls, I think it's pretty obvious that I am personally drawn to geometric shapes and bright colours. I think this should definitely be a concept for my own prints. I think keeping simple within my design is more applicable as geometric shapes and bright colours are really nice to look at and work well as sets - meaning theres a chance people might buy more than one. 

OUGD503 Individual Practice, Leeds Christmas Print Fair - The Brief (Studio Brief One)

As there is no set brief for this project, I have decided that I will create my own. This way, I can work towards something with meaning and not get distracted. I want to treat this project as a real competition brief, as it is in a sense, as I will be competing with the other designers that will also be selling prints. The brief can be seen below. I wrote this brief by looking at briefs set by the course, this way it will aim to accomplish similar things, such as development, experimentation etc.

The Brief.

You will design and produce 3 poster designs that express yourself as a designer to a mixture of possible customers/clients. These poster designs should use skills learnt from the course and be targeted at a wide range of people, as the Christmas fair isn't just art-based. This assignment will allow you to explore your own design style and be experimental. One of the main aims of this task is to have fun!

The deadline for this brief is the 4th December 2015 at 3.30pm. For this reason, you will have to have all deliverables completed and printed by the 3rd. Through-out this task, you should ask multiple people their opinions on your designs (self-lead critiques). You should experiment with different stock and colours that could interest different audiences. Your progress, developments and creative decisions should be documented on your studio blog.

Background / Considerations.

• You are a graphic designer. Everything you produce should be considered.
• The prints should apply to a wide clientele range.
• You should consider things that may help you get your name out into the world (business cards).
• Make sure you leave a lot of time for printing (possibly analogue?).
• Consider what else you will need, for example price tags, petty cash for change etc.

Mandatory Requirements.

• All research, development and decision making should be documented on your studio practice blog.
• You must demonstrate that you have explored and considered a range of material.
• Your prints should be neatly presented and reflect you as a designer.
• Your work must be accompanied by an evaluation of at least 500 words.

Deliverables.

• A range of completed prints.
• Design blog.
• Experiments with stock.
• Design Boards.

OUGD504 Design Boards (Studio Brief Three)

OUGD504 Design Production & Evaluation (Studio Brief Three)

Design Production

To create my book, I used InDesign. As I wanted my images to be full bleed, I used a bleed of 3mm so that I could crop the book without losing valuable content.

I printed my book in digital print and it came to £30 including the cost of the stock, which I bought from GF Smith. I chose a stock that looked recycled as it gave a sense of the town that I did the content of my book was based on - quite old and eroded.

The book printing was so expensive as I only needed to print out one book, however if I were to use a local printer, such as Pressision or Evolution Print, it would've worked out a lot cheaper using a Lithoprinter, as with a lithoprint, you only have to pay for the stock, the plates and the ink used.

The ink was also took into consideration, as I used duotone images, meaning that only two Pantone inks would need to be bought instead of using full colour, which would cost a lot more as CMYK would need to be bought.

The binding method I used was a saddle stitch, as it's the easiest stitch, meaning it could easily be mass produced. Originally, I would've preferred to use staples, however I couldn't as my book was far too thick for the staples to puncture.

Evaluation

Upon reflection, I'm really impressed with my final publication and I think the colour scheme is incredibly relevant for Kalkan and fits really well with my content. I'm also glad that I added the gloss screen print to each image, as although it's quite hard to tell looking at the final publication, it did look a lot more glossy than the original printed image and in my opinion it was worth going the extra mile. I think it's also successful as it makes the front cover of the publication fit with the content even further.

A downfall of creating the publication was the fact that the publication was so thick, meaning when I folded all of the pages, all of the numbers got shifted, meaning I had to leave the crop marks on certain pages as otherwise the content would've been distorted. If I were to redo the publication, I would take this into consideration and shift the numbers, however it's quite a minor fault and it wouldn't happen if the publication was sent to be manufactured professionally.

A strength of this brief was definitely my time management, as in the first week I did a lot of research into photography books and managed to create a rough template of how I wanted my publication to look. In the second week, I created multiple indesign documents and asked for feedback on my publication. In the third week, I finalised my publication design and printed it in digital print. In the final week, I screen printed gloss over all of my images and also screen printed my front cover. I also went down the Vernon Street and bound my publication.

A weakness of this brief was the actual production of the publication. I found it really frustrating that the gloss that I screen printed onto each page is barely visible. This could've been improved if the stock I had chosen wasn't so thick, as I believe the gloss just got absorbed into it. However, having said this, I think the publication wouldn't of looked quite as professional as it does without the gloss, as the gloss matches the front cover and is therefore consistent throughout the publication. Another downfall was the cropping of the publication, as it was so thick that the crop marks can still be seen on some pages. Overall, however, I think the publication turned out really well and I'm not too sure how I could've avoided the crop marks without going to a professional printing company as university doesn't have the facilities to avoid this.

OUGD504 Final Critique (Studio Brief Three)

At this point, I was generally happy with my final outcome for my publication, however I wasn't 100% sure about the square format, so I thought it would be helpful to see what everyone else thought. I wasn't too sure if the book was successful as a square as all of the images I had originally taken were landscape, so I originally tried to create a landscape publication, however I didn't have enough content and it looked very odd.

People said that the front of the publication was successful with gloss, however there wasn't specifically any benefit to screen printing the images of the book, as it is time consuming and has a very minimal effect.

They also said that the images edited with duotone make the book flow successfully and the colours matched with the aesthetic of Kalkan. They said that the book is consistent, professional and engaging.

They said the square format works and doesn't take away from the images, it in fact adds interactivity as it makes it stand out from the other publications presented on the table.

People suggested that if I were to remake the publication, I could use a slightly thicker stock on the front cover to make the publication a little less flimsy.

OUGD504 Final Publication & Promotional Video (Studio Brief Three)

This is my final publication on the website ISSUU. I added the texture of the stock to the background of the type so you could get a feel of the publication both online and offline.

Click HERE to be linked to the publication. I have also taken some high quality images of the final publication using my Canon EOS 60D.

Dalton Maag Visit (Studio Brief Three)

Dalton Maag is a design studio that specialises in typography. They showed us a lot of typefaces that the studio had created, which were really beautiful. They also said that typefaces can take years to perfect - something I didn't know.

They set us a task to try to recreate one of their typefaces using specific letters. This was the outcome of mine, which I think went quite well, although it was very time consuming.

OUGD503 Individual Practice, Leeds Christmas Print Fair - Contact (Studio Brief One)

I just got a response from Ellie Andrews saying the following:

Hi Amelia, 

Yes absolutely!

I've copied in Natalie, who is organising the art / print side of the fair. Natalie has arranged I am Collective to have a stall, but I'd say there was definitely space for your work too!

I'll leave it to you and Natalie to arrange between you.

best wishes

Ellie

Before I even had a chance to email Natalie, I got a new email. This can be seen below:

Hi Amelia,

Ellie has passed on your email about getting involved with the Christmas Arts Market in Munro House and we would be delighted to let you have a space during the evening, we just need to consider how much space we have available.

Would you three be able to all share a space (you, Izzie and Florence?) and how much work do you think you will have to sell?

Also will someone be available to man the table between 4-7?

Thanks for getting in touch!

Natalie

I instantly fired back an email. I couldn't answer all of the questions, as I didn't even know myself how much work we would have to sell, but we all discussed and said we could manage with one table. I replied:

Hi Natalie,

Yes one table sounds perfect! Thank you for the opportunity,

Amelia

Now all of this is sorted, I can get on with creating my own self-led brief to create the prints that will be available to buy at the Christmas Fair on the 4th December.

OUGD503 Individual Practice, Leeds Christmas Print Fair - Discovery (Studio Brief One)

Whilst scrolling through Twitter, I came across the post shown below from Munro House in Leeds, in which they mentioned that they were having a Christmas Fair on the 4th of December. I was instantly intrigued, and spoke to both Izzie and Florence about it. We all decided that we wanted to have our own stall to sell some prints. All three of us have previously exhibited work at Munro House, so I already had the contact details for the owner, Ellie. 

I emailed Ellie with the following message:

Hi Ellie.

Izzie, Florence and myself are interested in participating in the Christmas Fair at Munro House (4th December). We were wondering if we could get some further details about it and possibly get involved by submitting some prints!

Thanks

Amelia Bramwell

I thought this would be a really good start for responsive, as it is local and really good promotion, but it also gives me the chance to get my artwork sold and hand out business cards. 

OUGD504 Binding the Publication (Studio Brief Three)

As previously stated, the binding method is a saddle stitch. This is a very simple stitch, which means it can be produced easily for commercial use. Before creating holes in my final publication, I decided to print a mock up so that I could see if I needed to change the method slightly so it could work more effectively. This is my mock up. I had followed the instructions on the board, which stated that all the pages must be folded at once, all together. I found that this method made my photographs not central, and therefore the full bleed of the images was unsuccessful as it was chopped off slightly to the right hand side. I also tied the stitch on the inside, which I decided I didn't want for my final publication as it distracted from the bleed of the image and made it even more obvious that it wasn't perfect. I cut this mock up down in the professional cutter, which was unsuccessful as it's very slightly not cut perfectly straight. I asked the lady working on her own book how I would solve this, and she suggested that I trim my final publication with a carving knife and a ruler and use the cutting board as a more precise guide.

After taking all these factors into consideration, I folded each page separately so that the bleed of each image was as close to the spine as possible. Instead of using the drill to punch in the holes, I used a binding needle to poke the holes. This was more tricky, however I did manage to get each hole exactly through the spine, which the woman suggested I would struggle with. I also put 5 holes instead of 3, as the book is a lot bigger and heavier as I have used a heavier stock. I then used a grey stitching to stitch the book. I cut it down using a knife, cutting mat and a ruler, which did make the book straight, however it left little curves where the knife couldn't cut straight as the stock was too thick. This is a shame, however it isn't too noticeable. 

OUGD504 Screen Printing The Gloss (Studio Brief Three)

As my publication isn't as glossy as I wanted and we don't have the facilities for UV Printing in university, I am going to screen print over my images with gloss. To do this, I simply need a black square the same size of my image. I am also going to screen print my front cover with gloss so it is flows with the book and reminds people of the ocean.

This is my screen now that I have developed and exposed it.

These are the screen printed images, contrasted with the original printed image. It's a incredibly subtle difference, however it's worth the extra effort as it makes the image pop out on the page more, and it symbolises the ocean.

This is my screen printed from cover. I think it's very effective and it stands out against the blue stock just as I had hoped. It's very subtle, similar to the screen printed photographs, and it can only be seen in certain lighting / at certain angles. This resembles the sun in Turkey, as it's very bright through-out the day and visibility is low compared to at night.