Learner Survival Guide: iPod Classic

Firstly I took pictures of my own iPod and using illustrator I created my own version of the iPod.

(My first design, in the original colour of grey.)

(Here I have changed the colour to purple to make it more eye-catching.)

(Here I have changed the colour to blue so it is not gender orintated.)

For one of my ideas for the Learner Survival Guide, I have based it on Apple's iPod Classic.
I have chosen Apple's iPod as music is very important to teenagers(students), the type of music you listen to can set the foundation for the social group you are with , which in return can help shape you as person/the type of person you will become in the way you dress and the choices you make.With this all happening during education it also could alter your future and your career choices.

Another reason I choose the iPod in particulare is that Apple are known for their simplistic and minimalist designs therefore my outcome would be clean, uncomplicated and easily recognisable.

When initially making this I stuck to the colours of my own iPod which consisted of different tones of grey though this is more of a relism approach I felt it was dull and not very eye-catching. To improve it I firstly asked my peers their opinions before deciding to create two more designs,changing the grey to purple and blue. By using colours that are vibrant the guide is much more interesting to look at and eye-catching.

Overall I am happy with this final design because of it's simplicity yet effectiveness. I feel this will stand out to students because the design is so easily recognisable and because of how popular it is among young people.

Learning Survival Guide: Lightbulb

   

  

Here is another idea for the Learner Survival Guide. This is based upon my surrealism research and the metaphor of a lightbulb symbolising a 'bright idea'.

For this I took photos of my friend holding a light bulb against black paper then, using photoshop I inverted the image and merged the original and inverted images together.

To do the 'bubble' imaged I layered the original image over the inverted one and using the eraser tool, erased parts of the original revealing the inverted one beneath it. 

I decided for my final outcome to do the 'merged' effect however I positioned the normal and inverted images like reflections.

Overall I am happy with my final design, I feel it communicates a message to the target audience whilst being aesthetically pleasing. However one problem I have with this is the quality of the image isn't as high in resolution as I would of liked it be and if I was able to redo I would take a closer photograph of the lightbulb so it wouldn't be as pixelated.  

Learner Survival Guide: Idea 1

This project involves creating the front and back cover for the North Notts Learner Survival Guide 2015/16. For the first idea we had to manipulate an existing food or drink logo.The logo had to be both popular and well known but easy to replicate.The logo I chose was the Starbucks logo. I chose this logo because it is popular and well known with a wide age group in particular students/ the current generation and it is also applicable to either gender. Another reason for choosing this logo is that it has an uncomplicated design and layout which is easy to reproduce and also makes it is easier to change and modify to fit the criteria of the learner survival guide.

Overall, seeing as though this is my first attempt at creating the Learner Survival Guide cover I feel like I have accomplished creating a simple yet innovative design.  

LSG: Armin Hofmann

Hofmann was a teacher of typography at the Basel school of Design. His students and collagues helped with work and theories surrounding the Swiss International style: 

The International Typographic Style( known as the Swiss Style) is a graphic design style developed in Switzerland in the 1950s that emphasizes cleanliness, readability and objectivity.The style boasts asymmetric layouts, use of a grid, sans-serif typefaces and flush left, ragged right text. This style also uses photography. Many of the early International Typographic Style works featured typography as a primary design element and it is for this that the style is named.

Hoffman is most known for his posters which emphasized economical use of colour and typeface which he referred to as the "trivialization of colour". 

His work as well as others such as Emil Ruder, Max Bill and Josef Müller Brockmann assisted modernist inspired graphic design without which contempory graphic design would be unrecognisable.

LSG: Evaluation

The aim for this project was to create the front and back cover for the new North Notts College Learner Survival Guide( a student handbook). I made 3 final main designs(not including the variations of colour/layout of some).

Initially I started my research by creating a mind map of things that are popular among the target audience and jotted down the first ideas which came to me of what the Learner Survival Guide cover could look like, this then transition into further ideas.

Next I took this forward and did online research: For my first design I looked into existing food and drink logos before deciding on Starbucks as it a popular brand among the target audience.I then manipulated the logo to say LSG 2015/16 with the North Notts college logo in the centre.

For my second design I looked into: Firstly surrealism(Mainly Dali) and secondly surrealism photography which is where I discovered the thought of incorporating a lightbulb onto the cover as it is usually the idiom for a 'bright idea'.Which I thought fit well with with education and learning. For this is also found inspiration in Neville Brody's typography for the text on the cover and I used sans-serif text with black and grey boxes around the bold font. 

Last, for my final design I looked back to my mind map where I thought of the idea of having a music based cover. I originally was thinking of the idea of having vintage headphones on the cover but instead I decided to make it more modern therefore I based it upon Apple's iPod Classic, which I own myself, for the final design.I liked the idea of having this as I feel it stands out to the target audience as they will associate it with the brand Apple which is now very mainstream.

Next I researched into graphic designers: Alan Fletcher and Neville Brody (as well as their inspirations for example art movements such as Dada which I wrote about on my blog).I looked into the Magazine 'The Face' which Neville Brody designed for and the Pentagram which Alan Fletched founded. I found their work very inspiring , I particularly liked the way Neville Brody used different sizes and colour of text to make words stand out and the bright water-coloured effect of Fletcher's work and the logo he created for the Victoria and Albert Museum. 

However I feel I didn't incorporate this enough into my own ideas ergo so I would of liked to create another final piece  based upon this.

After looking at graphic designers I decided to look at Univeristy prospectus ,one reason for this is that they are to deign to not only stand out and catch the eyes of people but to convey a message to the reader about the Univeristy. Upon looking at many different prospectus which I have I saw that they to were inspired by graphic designers and art movements. I then took this inspiration to my own work looking at composition and typography.

In retrospect I found that in the beginning stages I was lacking in inspiration therefore, if I was to re-do this project, I would do more preliminary research into existing booklets to think of more innovative ideas. Then perhaps I would find myself with more then 3 final designs which, though I feel are strong designs which communicate a message to the tagert audience, could be altered to create more final designs which are stronger.

LSG: University Prospectus

Here I have photographed some of the many Univeristy prospectus' that I own , i have focused on the front covers off each prospectus, rather then the actual university. Looking at the graphics that each prospectus has on its front covers.

Looking at these I can see how graphic designers have influence modern day designs for example Neville Brody's technique of different sized/colour font to make words stand out can be seen in many of the prospectus'.

When looking at each prospectus I can see how some Univeristies went for a simplistic and minimalist approach (Norwhich, Westminister, Bath Spa , Liverpool and London college of contempory arts for example) using just a few words or small images against white or brightly coloured backgrounds. Royal holloway , Falmouth , Southhampton and Leeds college of arts however, used photographs/artwork scaled to the full size of the booklet as to capture the attention of the viewer with only a small amount of text (normally just the Univeristies logo) which strongly contrasts the minimalist approach.

The Univeristy of Essex and London Met used just text on their front covers. Both uni's took a very different approach to it however with Essex using white text against a black cover and the same font and size was used through out most of the cover with certain words or phases highlighted in silver( some of these Include 'Challenge inequality' , 'You're a member' and 'Courage and Energy' ) Which shows they wanted to convey a strong meaning. 

London metroplitian Univeristy however used bold colours( bright pink, purple and teal) with bold sans-serif typography in white and yellow saying simply "Under Graduate Prospectus 2015-16". 

Both Falmouth and Leeds college of art used (what I assume to be) artworks of the students for their front covers (this makes sense as they're art based universities). Leeds went for a collage effect while Falmouth bold paintings.

LSG Research: Neville Brody

Neville Brody is a graphic designer, typographer and art director. His work during the 1980's helped revolutionise the look of album covers, magazines, advertisements and packaging. He is most famously known for his design and typography for the magazine 'The Face'.

Brody was strongly in influenced by art movements such as Dada, Futurism and Constructivism.

He is very well known for his typography especially for the magazine 'The Face' in which he created  .

Brody used contrasting sizes,shapes or colours of the type to highlight the lost intresting parts of an article.

 

Surrealism in Advertisement

This advertisement for WWF is quite horrific to look at and I think it's genius. It's pratically shouting the hidden message at you; that global warming is happening, sea levels are rises and if we don't change we'll be living in underwater cities and we'll subsequently evolve to grow fins. Genius.

This is more comic advertisement for ladies razors. To Landscape is to improve the aesthetic appearance of an area normally by adding plants and ornaments though in case the landscape is your body and to improve it is by shaving your hair (like mowing the lawn). Clever.

Here is an advertisement for bottled water. It boats that it is mineral water( hence the mountain) with the tag line 'Dicover your oasis' an oasis is typically an isolated area of vegetation in a desert surrounded by a water source. I do love the quirkiness of this advert though with the bottle coming out the mountain with plush greenness and turquoise water ,which contrasts the dry desert in the background, and the strategically placed rainbow and birds: it's definitely gives the impression that it is freshly sources water

These 3 clever surrealist advertisements by Harvey Nichols show 2 opposing objects, with one being the dominate. moths to a lightbulb(flame) , pin to balloons and blowtorch to ice cubs. 

The first one is for beauty, suggesting that the men(moths) are attracting to this women(lightbulb) for her seemingly good appearance as she applys makeup

The second is for Womenswear as the men (the balloons) are delicate in the eyes of the women(pin) whom feels powerful in her new outfit.

And lastly the Menswear advert which suggests the women(ice)are quite literally melting in the presence of the man(flame).

 

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