Studio FourPlus
6/22/2021 1:37 PM
1. Take chances
As Ivaylo stated, ‘one simple act can lead to something big’. Studio FourPlus entered into the Sofia design week in 2011 and won the poster competition. From this exposure they got an exhibition the following year and further proposals down the line. In addition to this they went on to create the festival’s identity in 2012 which was the first complex design system the company worked on. This in turn shaped their path and wouldn’t have happened had they not taken the chance at the beginning and continued to do so along the way. [caption id="attachment_18386" align="alignnone" width="1110"]
Sofia’s 2011 Poster Competition Winner[/caption]
2. Build relationships
You need to ‘become more than just the designer of the business’. Do your own research and ‘go beyond the data’. Think of what the client may need but didn’t mention, something they may not even realise or have thought about yet. Even if the ideas may sound weird at first, through it all you need to be questioning and be respectful simultaneously. [caption id="attachment_18387" align="alignnone" width="1920"]
Bagri Restaurant‘s Business Cards[/caption]
The Bagri Restaurant was the first farm to table restaurant in Bulgaria and Studio FourPlus designed their branding. They decided to go for organic branding; using watercolour, watercolour paper cards and a stamp. In order for this to function FourPlus designed around eleven watercolour templates on the business cards so Bagri could finish the design by stamping the cards with the logo, which was also illustrated by hand. The branding however didn’t stop there. Studio FourPlus went on to create a wall quote mural of the restaurant’s menu, tying it all together. They then continued to keep in touch and foster their relationship with Bagri after the completion of the project. As a result, Studio FourPlus helped redesign the logo when the Bagri fell on hard times in 2020 and converted into a farm. As a farm they needed to come up with packaging design for their products which the Studio handled, as shown with the Bagri Farm dairy product labels.
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Bagri Farm dairy product label designs[/caption]
3. Make it personal
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Make&Take’s customisable pizza boxes[/caption]
Wherever possible Studio FourPlus incorporate personalisation into their designs, as you can see with the Make&Take Pizzeria. Designs always work better when you ‘bring people into the equation’. When the customer ‘makes’ their own pizzas by telling the chefs what they wish to have for toppings they are already engaged. FourPlus took this another step further and personalised the packaging. By placing the customer’s name on their pizza box, the pizzeria will gain a more loyal customer base as it is creating a more personal experience and the company will get free advertising when the customer takes the pizza home. Similarly, they designed the shop’s interior and staff uniforms to reflect this experience further.
4. Support meaning
By supporting causes and issues which are active you are not only advertising your beliefs, you are also helping to support the communities and causes which garners attention. FourPlus is very active in terms of supporting meaningful causes such as the Power Pops brand. The brand aims for social change, but its approach is different. It makes delicious and healthy ice creams that support causes and ideas. Made out of natural products and real fruits, the popsicles are limited and always linked to an idea. One can only find them at events signed by the brand. Power Pops’ social engagement strongly relies on supporting different causes. The first two brand missions FourPlus worked on were the establishment of a LGBT center in Sofia & gathering resources for a Bulgarian fund for women in arts and crafts. [caption id="attachment_18391" align="alignnone" width="1198"]
Designs for mission 1 - LGBT center in Sofia[/caption]
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Designs for mission 2 - Bulgarian fund for women in arts and crafts[/caption]
5. Share your values
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Studio FourPlus’s value cards[/caption]
As Ivaylo stated on behalf of Studio FourPlus, ‘It makes our work inspiring’. When sharing your values with others they are often inspired by you. Another way you can share these is through projects like creating your own Value Cards. For a ‘Brand and Stationary for print lovers’ event in Sofia, organised by Europaper and InkPassion, FourPlus created a series of four cards representing their main values.
"Honesty Rules” stands for honest and fair communications, “People First” represents the team spirit and value of the individual. “Quality is King” reveals the striving-for-excellence nature of the Studio and “Never Settle” captures its unresting desire and aim for growth and bettering.
All cards were printed on four different creative papers applying different printing techniques. Having a focus on motion branding, the Studio decided to add extra value to the print formats and used the Artivive app which allowed to bring to life the calligraphy and lettering in the cards.
6. Collaborate
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Postcards from Take Away Sofia[/caption]
‘We grow through the work with other people’ Ivaylo pointed out to us. So in order to ‘build something bigger than yourself, your skill and your knowledge’ you have to collaborate with others.
One project in which you can see FourPlus did this is ‘Take Away Sofia’, for which they collaborated with a multitude of artists, including a lettering artist who later on actually became part of the Studio PlusFour team. This booklet of postcards inspired by the capital of Bulgaria – Sofia, features different aspects which entice tourists to the beautiful and always surprising city – culture, architecture, art, food and beverages to name a couple.
7. Improve your surroundings
One of Ivaylo’s many great tips was to always try and work to improve your surroundings. This being one of the key values of the Studio allowed them to work alongside a group of architects on numerous projects to improve the city and country they are based in. The first project he talked to us about was the Pirogov hospital in Sofia’s Children's ward. Hospitals usually tend to be dark and gloomy and most people try to avoid them. Such was the case with this one. However, since there always are patients that need medical help. The America For Bulgaria Foundation aimed to change that. They started a project aimed at transforming the Children’s Ward to make the patients’ stay more pleasant. FourPlus partnered in the project to create the navigation system and illustrations and turn the ward into a magical world for the little children. [caption id="attachment_18396" align="alignnone" width="1197"]
The new navigation system & illustrations along the corridors of Pirogov Children’s Ward[/caption]
8. Go beyond expectations
When Studio FourPlus was invited to participate in the brand enhancement of Launchlabs – a business redesign studio, they were a bit overwhelmed by the big task. They started with an analysis of the current visual identity elements and the company’s performance, both digitally and physically. In a series of workshops with the Launchlabs team, FourPlus explored various approaches and scenarios for the brand’s future, until becoming in sync on the currently chosen path. As a result of these and numerous hours of research, they came up with an upgrade of Launchlabs’ logotype and symbol, colour palette, typography, iconography and illustration, layout, portfolio and print. They showed a lot of passion and know-how into both design work and presentation and this resulted in a great work environment and relationship with the company. The takeaway from this project, Ivaylo suggests, is to envision what might be when working with an important client and give it all you’ve got! [caption id="attachment_18397" align="alignnone" width="1209"]
The new navigation system & illustrations along the corridors of Pirogov Children’s Ward[/caption]
9. It’s okay to fail
Failure helps you grow, not every project will be launched, not every proposal will be chosen and not every competition will be won. As Ivaylo reminded us this doesn’t stop you from building your relationships and contacts. He showed us numerous projects Studio FourPlus worked on which were either not finalised or even chosen, however this never stopped the team from looking for more work and clients. Sometimes collaborations don’t work and that’s okay, as long as you can take something positive from it it’s not waste, it’s a learning curve. ‘Every project is a great experience, focus on all the positives you can out of it’. [caption id="attachment_18398" align="alignnone" width="919"]
A bunch of FourPlus’ ‘fuck-ups’[/caption]
10. Enjoy the ride
Like everything, being a designer has its struggles so it’s really important you ‘don’t forget why you went into design’. Studio FourPlus does work they are passionate about; motion design and branding mostly, but it’s also the work they find interesting. For years they worked with a Snowboard company based in Berlin where they had full creative freedom over what they did and were very pleased with landing this project. Make sure you remind yourself why this is what you chose to do, yes it’s hard work but it’s fun so don’t forget to enjoy it as well. ‘Experiment, search, fail, but do not forget to have fun.’ [caption id="attachment_18399" align="alignnone" width="837"]
Airtracks Snowboards collections 15/16 and 17/18 created by FourPlus[/caption]
Reflection
Upon hearing all these tips from Ivaylo Nedkov and Studio PlusFour it shows how important it is for you to take those chances, share yourself through your work, build those relationships, work with others and always look on the bright side.Students’ thoughts
‘Branding design is really something to be admired because you really have to have a certain *flair* – and Ivaylo definitely has that! The decisions he talked about in his work really show an attention to detail and it is so fascinating to hear. Really awesome work, especially loved the pizza one.’ – Robin, Part 3
‘Seeing amazing work from the perspective of a different country was very interesting!’ – Part 2 student
‘The tips and examples shown by Ivaylo were very useful.’ – MA student
Alumni talks: strive for progress
6/22/2021 1:36 PM
Nikki Ellis
'It was fascinating and challenging, the books I worked on were varied.' – Nikki EllisNikki Ellis graduated in 2007 from a four year undergraduate master MDes course which was then offered by the department. When she graduated Nikki also managed to get a job as a result of the degree show at the end of her fourth year. ! The company was called Quadrille and it was a small publishing company which worked on books on food and drinks. She worked in Quadrille as a senior designer for 13 years. Nikki started as a design assistant, learning the ropes of book design in style sheets and layout. She designed cookbooks which she says were remarkably 'challenging' but interesting in their specific typography and text hierarchy. Nikki shared with us a few fantastic examples. [caption id="attachment_18134" align="alignnone" width="1068"]
Chinese cooking book menu by Jeremy Pan, designed by Nikki.[/caption]
This is a Chinese cooking book menu by Jeremy Pank; he wanted to make Chinese cooking accessible for everybody. There were lots of bullet points used in this book and icons, as the example above shows.
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Another example of Nikki’s design of a cook book that included little art designs.[/caption]
Another example was a book called ‘Porridge’, which allowed Nikki to experience being part of the photo shoot and also help out with it, which in her words was 'amazing!' Annie, the author of the book, wanted to have her book include her ‘art’, in the form of the porridge bowls she created like the one shown in the example above.
Niki's experience in designing cookbooks made her better at typography, layout and page formatting, and the examples she brought in show her ambition in these aspects of design.
Nikki encourages designers not to force themselves to work within a set of rules and constraints but to have their creativity and ambitions go beyond limits and discover what their work without regulations and restrictions could be. An example of a principle Nikki uses within her work in designing books is making use of the colour black for fonts. Nikki also discussed another example: the line length in the text, which she tries to limit to no more than 13 words across, to suit comfortable reading. Some other things she looks out for are running feet, folios, subheadings, etc.
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A Cook Book designed by Nikki.[/caption]
However, Nikki has to comply with some rules, as the cookbooks are almost always distributed internationally, so there is a need to design in a way that is suitable for translation, and thus for different text extents.
Nikki's main challenge when designing cookbooks is how to arrange content (images, recipe, commentary, notes) to create balance on the page to make it a user friendly reading experience.
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One of Nikki’s examples of tight text, due to the big amount of bullet points or ingredients in text.[/caption]
Space can be used to both separate and connect elements in a design, Nikki explained. Wider spaces separate elements from each other and narrower spaces connect elements to reveal relationships between them. The meaning of space is more critical than some consistent lining up for the sake of rigidity. Nikki has a stage for starting points, as in headings and subtitles but does not like to have a sense of constraint in her work. Therefore this is why she makes her own set of rules when designing a master page layout.
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Cover of a cookbook (debossed title) – designed by Nikki.[/caption]
‘Textured materiality.’ – Nikki ElissCover design is also part of Nikki's work. The example below shows a textured book cover with a background of a debossed grey rusty grain that Nikki designed, creating a debossed finish in the title. These are some of the examples she showed in the session …
Anne Brady
'I took a slightly different approach from Nikki.' – Anne BradyAnne graduated from the department in 1994, describing her experience at Reading as invaluable. Throughout her career, there have been a lot of changes in the design world and she says she has been trying to blend and merge her work into the digital world and has become much more interested in the dynamics of what digital delivery allows. Still, she says it was a great privilege to come from the printing background of the letterpress studios in Reading and understanding how typography (and technology) have developed over the last thousand years gave her a great headstart in her career. Hired at the degree show by a studio called Jeffrey Design which only employed graduates of Typography and Graphic Communication, she considered herself 'very lucky’ . She also said she learned and experienced the outside world of graphics through the Real Jobs she completed while at the department. Therefore, Anne suggested it is essential for us all to put ourselves into opportunities and collaborate in real work experiences while overcoming the challenges that will stop us achieving. Through the studio she worked on a job at Cambridge University, with her boss back then – Sally. They designed the press sheet for ‘Cyclopedia Cambridge’. ‘It's hard to imagine’, as Anne explained, ‘it was a 4000-page book which was separated into a series of editions.’ ‘It was an excellent piece of typographic design.’ After working with Sally for a few years, Anne was moved on to a job at the Museum of London, designing all of the marketing material including all of their publications and sometimes even organizing exhibitions. Her main task was to create exhibition designs and promote them. Anne enjoyed this experience and learnt a lot from the challenges.
'As designers, we all have different skills.' – Anne BradyAnne returned to Dublin around 1998 and began working in a very corporate company – a design agency which worked on short films and TV shows. Anne was happy working there for about a year managing a team of 12 people. After that she decided to go solo and created her own design studio, called Vermillion, which is her focus to this day. It was hard at first when starting out but through the years she and her team started finding more and more clients and gaining their trust. Twenty-two years later, Anne's team is still going strong, currently working on a chair exhibition for the National Museum of Ireland, working with the Department of foreign affairs and trade–designing lots of materials in 17 languages for 80 embassies around the world, which is fascinating. They are now also working on a book for the National Gallery of Ireland, which showcases all the paintings and artworks acquired by the Gallery over the last 15 years. [caption id="attachment_18145" align="alignnone" width="1368"]
Photo of Anne’s team.[/caption]
Anne shared this image (shown above) with us and with great pleasure and respect explained each person's role in the team. Anne and her colleagues have worked as a team for ten years, creating a good collaboration, which is a very important aspect in the field of graphic communication. They are all different in terms of skills and abilities but working together makes a great team.
Anne’s ability was to always bring typography within a project but she also has some essential skills working with multimedia.
The National Library was one of their more significant clients as they have an incredible collection (National Library of Wales) Anne described the museum as one of the world's leading museums of Islamic, Western and Eastern manuscripts.
Anne also talked about her experience in exhibition design. She shared with us that it is quite difficult to work with a living artist and design a cover for their exhibition. She and her team had an interesting experience when they put type on one of the artworks to create a poster for the exhibition and they had to design around 80 different variants of the poster before they got approved and published because a lot of Anne's team’s designs were intruding too heavily with the artwork. As we all know, prototyping is always the key to success before launching. The National Gallery of Ireland was essential and one of the main clients they operated with, which made them have a good relationship with the studio.
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The exhibition of the museum.[/caption]
Anne's team also worked on designing Dublin's zoo map, as you can see in the image shown below. It was an exciting project the team worked on because most of the design decision were sensible, so they had to design the map and fix some of the icon errors.
These are examples of Anne's team's incredible work!
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Dublin’s zoo map created by Anne and her team.[/caption]
‘I have designed over 85 books for national and international publishing houses.’ – Anne Brady.
Ed Henry
Ed' presentation was interesting since he has taken a very different, and more digital, career path. He now lives in Berlin and works as a senior motion designer at Delivery Hero. His work at the company mainly centres around creating motion designs and other types of promotion videos. However, what keeps Ed going is his obsession with music and 3D motion design. He has worked a lot with games and other animation projects for friends and colleagues who also work in the music industry. Ed shared his experiences and passion for his work and his motivations, which were astonishing to hear. The majority of Ed’s work in and out of his workplace is focused on 3D and motion design, including animations. Here is are examples of Ed’s 3D motion work: Ed Hendry - Motion Designer‘I found out that I could push myself to go into different directions.’ – Ed HendryEd started his presentation explaining his experiences and flashbacks when he was at Reading University, which gave our students good ideas on how to use their time while studying. Ed had the chance to go out and discover what drives his creativity and what pushes him out of his limits. One of his interests he discovered was motion design, which has a connection to 3D design. Motion design combines animation and motion typography and other types of fascinating video styles. After graduating, Ed managed to get an idea of what he likes and dislikes, which helped him get into the platform he is in. [caption id="attachment_18149" align="alignnone" width="1594"]
Example of Ed’s work for a department project using 3D design.[/caption]
Living in Berlin, Ed now works for an international company called Delivery Hero – one of the leading global online food delivery marketplaces. You can find more about them here: Delivery hero
Ed also had the opportunity to promote the company and design a new identity , using his skills and inspiration in 3D design and motion design.
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Delivery Hero logo[/caption]
‘This was a huge project that took me three months!’ Ed HendryEd also worked on a very interesting personalised animation project which he spent months on! Ed Hendry - Motion Design Reel 2020 As we all know, every project goes into our portfolio. This builds our recognition and progression from project to project. However, unfortunately, it was not published by the his company due to technical problems. Still, Ed is very proud of his success in creating this type of motion design. The students learned a lot from his presentation including to even put work in their portfolios that did not get to be published. Certainly, this is for the sake of building your portfolio to show success ambition. Ed is currently pushing his 3D work in slightly new directions, revisiting lettering, focusing on music and planning to get into VR sculpting! These are some of Ed’s examples of 3D sculpting design.
Reflection
Nikki, Anne and Ed all inspire us to continue working and exploring what fascinates us – this will guide our way forwards! They suggested we all focus on building our social networks throughout our course, and seek internships and work experience wherever we can. We can also gain advantages by completing Real Jobs and getting a true insight into the industry of Graphic design, and especially client relationships.These things can empower us to develop a solid portfolio and be ready for full-time jobs. Sometimes, students may not specifically know what interests them or what they want to do when they graduate, and that's normal! If you have a dominant interest, you might aim to prototype your work project towards them during your experience on the course But it's not expected that everyone recognises their destiny within the field. Research and explore, talk with our amazing tutors about your interests. By doing so, you will truly find your way.Students’ Thoughts
‘Was really interesting to hear about different options for careers and the things past graduates have achieved!’ – Part 3 student ‘So many facets of design were covered, and it was so interesting to hear both the highs and lows of their projects. Just a nice reminder that even the big professionals have things go wrong sometimes!’ – Robin, Part 3 student ‘I really enjoyed learning about the guest speakers work and some of it was really inspiring.’ – Adam Powell, part 1 student
Design Print Bind: Working together
6/22/2021 1:19 PM
'We love to help people publish their work.'
Not only do Samantha and Flaminia work with collaborations like ‘United Voices of the World’ and ‘Designers + Cultural Workers’ to improve the lives of those suffering from discrimination and workplace injustice, they also predominantly help people who would not be able to publish books if it weren’t for them. More often than not these remarkable women help their clients create content along the way, getting involved as early as possible to help guide and challenge them as a project evolves. Design Print Bind offers client consultations, thereby 'minimising the back and forth between client and printer'. One way in which Design Print Bind manages to cater to clients with a lower budget is through the use of facilities at the London Centre for Book Arts, of which they are both members. This communal space allows them to produce intricate designs, such as the DPB book of poems they brought along to show us. [caption id="attachment_17331" align="alignnone" width="1494"]
DPB project for a book of poems[/caption]
The experience of working in DPB
Being part of such a community allows Samantha and Flaminia to learn as they go when working on design projects – from boxing posters to website branding and instructional booklets to name a few, but to also attend and teach workshops at the facility. Both have shown great enthusiasm for learning more from their students at the University of Kingston, each other and other members at the London Centre for Book Arts whether artists, writers or fellow designers. So, it comes as no surprise that Design Print Bind experiments a lot with their materials while being conscious of the client’s limitations. [caption id="attachment_17332" align="alignnone" width="269"]
Boxing poster Samantha Whetton created for a boxing club[/caption]
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An instructional booklet on book binding Flaminia created for the students of Kingston School of Art[/caption]
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A florist’s website Samantha Whetton and Flaminia Rossi rebranded based on printed experiments[/caption]
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A children’s workshop on letterpress[/caption]
While they work on a variety of projects, a lot of Samantha’s work is centred around A6 books such as the Reading Room project. If you are interested in creating your own book, Samanatha and Flaminia have suggested reading ‘Making books: A Guide to Creating Hand-crafted Books’ by Simon Goode and Ira Yonemura, sold by the London Centre for Book Arts. They also reminded us all to 'put in more time than you need, especially with print', so don’t expect perfection on the first try and keep on trying. From personal experience, they said they always experience setbacks when printing a project, just like many of the people Samantha and Flaminia deem experts at the London Centre for Book Arts.
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The Reading Room project, a series of 5 A5 booklets[/caption]
Samantha and Flaminia truly value the communities they are a part of, the opportunities to grow and get feedback from other professionals and gather further insight for the future from their many collaborations. They attribute a lot of their success as freelancers to the networks they have grown over the years through their many projects, experiences and collaborations. While both Samantha and Flaminia don’t hide the struggle which comes from being a freelancing graphic designer, they shared some tips with us to improve the chances for success.
They also suggested taking on some volunteering work to grow your experience and network. It can open new doors as it has done for Flaminia in the past, and they both suggest you should combine volunteering with causes you believe in so that even if it doesn’t evolve past that stage, you won’t feel as though it was for nothing.
Growing a network doesn’t happen overnight as, while word of mouth does spread and bring in some jobs for Design Print Bind, Flaminia and Samantha recommended nudging potential clients ahead of time; using a simple email means that when they need someone, they’re likely to think back to you and get in touch. Moreover, you should start building your network now, don’t wait – as a university student you come across many designers, so take advantage and start building your connections.
Reflection
Learning about the experiences and the process of Flaminia and Samantha at DPB was inspiring. As they explained some of the physical methods of designing and binding, it even made us excited to get back in the Department and test more! The workshops DPB outlined in the session allowed us to digest more about their goals and methods in designing, printing and binding; a skill every designer needs to have a background in! Here are links to Deign Print Bind's email and Instagram, which Samantha and Flaminia suggested you contact if you have any questions or want to get in touch. studio@designprintbind.info @designprintbind As well as some useful links about printing & binding:- kathyabbott.biz/bookbinding-a-step-by-step-guide-3
- iqbrandingsolutions.ie/articles/good-know-book-binding-styles
- blog.ironmarkusa.com/4-types-book-binding
Students’ thoughts
‘I really liked the presentation of their experimentation, introduction to the community freelancers use and their experiences.’ – Part 1 student ‘One of the things that drew me to the Department was its interest in printing and physical methods. So, having a guest that reminds me of that thing that sets Reading apart was really lovely. Some awesome work shown!’ – Robin Smith, Part 3
Seniz Husseyin: Shaping careers into the third sector
6/22/2021 1:19 PM
University and beyond
Seniz started her degree in 2017 and graduated in 2020. In the beginning she was nervous and doubting her capabilities, however she decided to ignore that and not let it get in the way. Trying to get the best out of her university experience, Seniz joined the Department’s diversity team in her first year when it was first proposed and each year, along with the increasing opportunities from the team, her confidence and passion to continue working for good social causes grew. That really changed her perspective as a designer and shaped her future career choices. It was no surprise for her when she found out that the designer industry is mostly populated by white males and a lot of the history that is taught reflects the same. Learning about the cultures and ideas within design outside of the western canon was an opportunity she couldn’t miss. For the years she was part of the diversity team, the team was able to help change the curriculum by incorporating more opportunities for diversity and inclusion to be taught such as the Design for Change module. The diversity team has since given presentations at the RUSU Partnership in Teaching and Learning Showcase and Baseline Shift. Being part of the team also allowed Seniz to meet people from all year groups and other departments, conduct two workshops at Tate Modern and create an annual diversity zine. [caption id="attachment_18369" align="alignnone" width="960"]
The diversity team at Tate Modern lead by Seniz (middle)[/caption]
Seniz believes that these major parts of her university experience have shaped her into the designer she is today and built up her desire to work on projects for good causes or that will help bring change.
‘I am now more conscious of the companies I want to work for or who I apply for.’
Launchpad Reading
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Launchpad Reading’s office in central Reading[/caption]
The inclusive experience Seniz had at university and her newly formed mindset towards work led her to apply for a marketing internship for the homeless charity at Launchpad Reading.
Seniz describes Launchpad as Reading’s leading homeless prevention charity. She said they provide information and support for individuals, couples and families who don’t have a stable place to live or are at risk of losing their home. They also provide temporary and permanent homes and rebuild lives through activities, supportive education, training and employment. Seniz was also pleased to find out that it was actually founded as a soup kitchen in 1979 by students at the University of Reading.
Wanting to be involved working for a charity, she thought that having new marketing experience would be really beneficial for her design work. Seniz found the internship through the Reading Internship Scheme, which she highly recommends for finding internships or even voluntary work since experience is extremely beneficial and can set one apart, especially at a time when employers are looking for staff with experience.
In the beginning of her career at Launchpad, she also completed a digital marketing and advertising online course because she wanted to make sure she had basic training while working with the Marketing Team.
Launchpad
Seniz initially started at Launchpad as a marketing intern through the Reading Internship Scheme but after three months of working with them she was offered a Marketing Assistant role. Even though it was marketing, she was hired because of her design background which provided a huge overlap between both industries. Being able to get this marketing experience really helped Seniz improve as a designer too. Seniz was the first designer employed at the small charity and working with them she helped with their website, fundraising campaigns, social media, email newsletters, video editing and other tasks. Even though her title was Marketing Assistant, she did feel more like an in-house designer. If you are a designer, looking to become more business savvy, Seniz suggests learning some marketing knowledge. ‘Design and Marketing are two sides of the same coin, and what binds them together is the primary focus of understanding and appreciating the user or target consumer.’ Design So Journ, ‘The relationship between design and marketing‘ in designsojourn.com, 2010.Big Sleep Out
The Big Sleep Out is Launchpad’s annual fundraising event and one of the major projects Seniz has worked on within the charity. [caption id="attachment_18372" align="alignnone" width="454"]
Photo from the 2019 event[/caption]
The event takes place on world homeless day – 7 October and 2020 was the fifteenth year the charity was running the event. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, the event was made virtual but this was a daunting new challenge for everyone in the team to adapt to a virtual event.
[caption id="attachment_18373" align="alignnone" width="711"]
Photo from the 2020 event[/caption]
However, because of that, Seniz felt that she was learning and contributing as much as everyone else on the team and created new digital materials that were specific to what people could use in their homes and plan new strategies. The 2020 event saw a big turnout of people from Berkshire which raised a total of over £50,000 that would go towards preventing homelessness in Reading. The sum was actually double their initial target. When creating the items for the event, Seniz worked with a logo created by an external designer to create all other materials for the event. Part of the promotion for the event was getting the word out to the public, so Seniz had to create large scale work with a visible call to action.
[caption id="attachment_18374" align="alignnone" width="960"]
Some of Seniz’s large scale promotional work at Reading Station[/caption]
Other materials she designed include the event programme booklet, flyer design and social media banners, all of which were vital. She made sure the text in these was easy and visible to read while keeping engagement throughout.
[caption id="attachment_18375" align="alignnone" width="960"]
Event programme designed by Seniz[/caption]
Seniz aimed to make all of these consistent whilst also adjusting to the specifications. She also designed downloadable content that participants could use to create more recognition and support for the charity, such as the event pack.
[caption id="attachment_18376" align="alignnone" width="960"]
Car sticker and selfie frame from the event pack Seniz created[/caption]
Working through a pandemic
A big part for Seniz within this role was working through a pandemic. While new, it did come with some advantages. Knowing that everyone is going through it together for the first time actually made staff grow as a team. They learned new skills such as how to adapt in constant changing circumstances and within unknown times. Working from home also meant she had to do less travelling. [caption id="attachment_18379" align="alignnone" width="766"]
Seniz’s work from home setup[/caption]
Some challenges included having most of the charity’s events cancelled, and when adapting to the new online way of doing things, there wasn’t enough time to plan it out properly. Starting a new job this way did feel overwhelming but Seniz never felt left out.
Recent work
Seniz is no longer working for Launchpad but some of her last projects for the charity included designing some of the external and internal signage at a new Life and Skill centre called Launchpad 135. [caption id="attachment_18380" align="alignnone" width="1024"]
External signage at Launchpad 135 designed by Seniz[/caption]
Another thing she was also working on was the charity’s brand refresh which included all publication materials. Overall she hopes to continue her career in the sector.
[caption id="attachment_18381" align="alignleft" width="644"]
Launchpad brand refresh[/caption]
Closing thoughts
Seniz said if there is anything she would want us to take away from her presentation it would be to make use of everything the Department offers and pursue our interests in designing for good causes. Being able to see first hand how her work helped people through feedback and client stories was so motivating and she certainly didn’t have this mindset in first year but the Department really did help introduce her into this lane through certain modules and projects. Her advice is to grab all the different opportunities we have because they can open many doors and she definitely recommends being a part of these even if it is out of our comfort zone.Students’ thoughts
‘It was nice to see how someone with a similar path and experience to me has gone on to do cool stuff and make a career. Very comforting especially that she managed it in this current chaos – shows how far hard work actually gets you!’ – Part 3 student
‘I always value the talks from past students because I feel like there's a bit of a gap between uni and working in my head so it's valuable to learn what others did afterwards to make that step.’ – Part 1 student
Achilles Gerokostopoulos: Design as a team sport
6/22/2021 1:17 PM
Working in a team is the alpha and omega of design at the moment
Achilles’ career path is a very interesting one. He graduated from The University of Reading’s Typography & Graphic Communication department in 2004 and found work in various aspects of design after that. At first he was very interested in editorial design; working for art directed magazines such as Esquire in Greece while also doing some design consulting for newspapers. In fact, one of the newspapers he worked on in Greece – Eleftheros Typos, was awarded Best Designed European Newspaper in 2007. After the Greek economy crashed Achilles decided to move to Amsterdam where he got into tech design. There, he worked as a design director in the gaming sector and a while after he began a freelance career in design consultancy which led him to Dublin. At the moment he has just begun working as a design lead for the Irish National Lottery. Through these numerous jobs Achilles gained a lot of knowledge on how teamwork happens and what it is like to work in product development – ‘One of the likeliest industries you might be absorbed in’, he says. That is why he decided to tell our students a bit more about design in product development as well as the inner circles and relationships between design teams, developers, businesses and users.With the rise of digital businesses, design is emerging again
From his experience, Achilles suggests that more and more businesses are going digital. During this process they realise the importance of design and how it will help them develop further in the digital sphere. He also mentioned that old companies have recently bought design companies to have them as in-house teams, the trend of working with or alongside designers when developing a business is on the rise. This results in an increase of designers being absorbed in the business industry early on in their professional careers and working with stakeholders, businesses, users and development commonly. Achilles continued with a graphic (shown below) of the core stakeholders in product design. He stated that any product starts with users and their needs. ‘In product development a lot of your work will be finding out as much as you can about the users.’ Then there is the business – it is set up to address a particular user or consumer need, and usually sells that as a product or service. And finally, development – they are the group of people that are called upon to implement and produce the business’s idea. ‘Design sits at the intersection of all these.’ Working in product development, Achilles says, there will be people whose needs you’ll be needing to address and you have to balance a lot of people’s wishes and needs. [caption id="attachment_18341" align="alignleft" width="960"]
Graphic from Achilles’ presentation to show the core stakeholders in product design[/caption]
Design has two major sets of functions
Achilles explained how digital product development design can be seen to perform two major sets of functions. [caption id="attachment_18343" align="alignnone" width="960"]
Graphic from Achilles’ presentation to show how digital product development design splits in two functions[/caption]
First are the exploratory functions which mainly deal with exploring and defining the problem space. Designers answer questions such as: What needs to be designed and why? Some common practices in the process feature creating workshops, conducting user research, collaborative ideation and process / journey mapping.
Second are the prescriptive functions which deal with translating the requirements into specifications and design assets that development can implement. This includes design specifications, graphic design, interaction design, and design system development.
Once you understand these functions, Achilles said, especially in larger companies, you get to the organisation of the design teams which perform these functions most effectively within the context of a company or organisation.
Two models
From his experience Achilles suggests that there are two broad models for design in product development. [caption id="attachment_18349" align="alignnone" width="960"]
Graphic from Achilles’ presentation to show the two models for design in product development[/caption]
The agency model: where the design resources are concentrated and function like an internal agency – centralised design organisation using waterfall development, and the embedded design model: where design resources are distributed across various product teams, using agile development. Of course, these are only two edges of a full spectrum of models since companies differ in their implementation of design teams and one can definitely recognise some that are in between but Achilles points these two main ones out.
[caption id="attachment_18350" align="alignnone" width="1006"]
Graphic from Achilles’ presentation to show how the agency model works[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_18352" align="alignnone" width="960"]
Graphic from Achilles’ presentation to show waterfall development[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_18354" align="alignnone" width="842"]
Graphic from Achilles’ presentation to show how the embedded model works[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_18356" align="alignnone" width="960"]
Graphic from Achilles’ presentation to show agile development[/caption]
Achilles thinks that both models have their advantages and disadvantages, and largely depend on the structure of the company – the larger the company with a number of development teams, the more likely they’ll be using the embedded model.
Communication and coordination
After going over the different models, Achilles continued by describing the methods we can use to coordinate design efforts. He suggested that in either model, there will be several kinds of stakeholders and the designer is in the center. He showed a graphic where these are displayed in concentric circles by proximity of concerns to the Designer. [caption id="attachment_18359" align="alignnone" width="962"]
Graphic from Achilles’ presentation to show the concentric circles of proximity of the designer and the stakeholders[/caption]
Design systems and common rituals
In order to communicate and coordinate with the stakeholders, Achilles recommended the use of design systems and common rituals. Design systems consist of a common set of approaches to particular design problems, a common repository of design assets for use by all designers, a well maintained design documentation and a fully developed pattern library. Being a rather old concept, Achilles said that from his experience they have been an absolute necessity for most editorial design, especially newspapers. He also mentioned that recently there have been a lot of new tools emerging to help the development and use of digital design systems. [caption id="attachment_18360" align="alignnone" width="748"]
Graphic from Achilles’ presentation to show how design systems work[/caption]
Common rituals, on the other hand, Achilles said, are one the easiest parts of the process, but also the one most commonly neglected. They, however, are very important in order to help the team and stakeholders with knowledge transfer, create a more cohesive team, promote spontaneous communication and avoid repeating the same mistakes.
[caption id="attachment_18361" align="alignnone" width="960"]
Graphic from Achilles’ presentation to show some of the different common rituals performed in companies[/caption]
What should you do?
To end his presentation Achilles decided to give some tips to our students if they ever find themselves being the new designer in a product development team. His three main insights were ASK, CODE, CHANGE. First is to never be afraid to ask questions, Achilles said. As a young designer there will be a lot of things you don’t know, and you won’t come out of university fully formed. He suggests that your first job should be a learning experience. Second, in a product design environment it is essential that you understand how technology works. Especially the closer you are to the visual design. You don’t need to become an expert but it helps to understand the underlying systems, but also some more abstract concepts. This will help with communicating with developers, but it will also greatly improve your design skills. And third is to not be afraid of change. Life happens, things get thrown in your way and you’ll need to adapt. When things don’t work, and your circumstances aren’t conducive to your happiness, change your circumstances. It’s not easy, it’s not always fun, but it’s better than staying still.Useful Links
Here is a document with some useful links Achilles suggested for students interested in this topic to look through: LinksStudents’ thoughts
‘I really liked the general view of the sort of workflow for designers in the future, the small bits and pieces that you can only get from a designer who has been in the market for a while with a diverse background.’ – MA student
‘It was great to hear such professional insight on the real models of businesses concerning designers.’ – Part 1 student
Reimagining the wayfinding project during the pandemic
6/18/2021 2:22 PM
[caption id="attachment_19701" align="alignleft" width="960"]
Mohammed Alhadab created this photographic mockup of his proposed design for an outdoor wayfinding system.[/caption]
Mohammed Alhadab created this photographic mockup of his proposed design for an outdoor wayfinding system.[/caption]
Information Design Pathway student, Fred Pena came to Reading because of his particular interest in wayfinding. He said: “The wayfinding project is a good opportunity to work on different aspects of design. Having to think about strategy, information architecture, user interaction, typography, and the development and application of physical objects in a three-dimensional environment really makes it a challenging endeavour. It's about more than just making signage, but developing a whole system that has to be functional and visually engaging.”
[caption id="attachment_19700" align="alignleft" width="960"]
An extract from Fred's wayfinding project showing specification of typographic elements within his indoor sign system.[/caption]
Siobhan Bailey (Graphic Design Pathway and returning alum from our BA programme) said: “I really enjoyed the wayfinding project as it was a completely new area of Graphic Communication that I was not able to study at undergraduate level. Coming from an art and psychology background before graphics, it was a perfect mix of the two and required a high level of critical thinking to meet user needs and solve problems. The skills I have learned throughout this project will be essential for me in terms of wanting to head into the exhibition design, events or wayfinding sectors, and in general for careers which require strategic thinking and initiative. Joan’s passion for wayfinding and user centred design really inspired me and he pushed me to achieve my absolute best at every step of submission.”
[caption id="attachment_19705" align="alignleft" width="960"] An extract from Fred's wayfinding project showing specification of typographic elements within his indoor sign system.[/caption]
Siobhan's synthesis of the wayfinding strategy and user journey to explain user interaction and touchpoints within the museum. This diagram demonstrates at what moment information is presented to the user and how this effects user experience.[/caption]
The project also includes a range of inspiring contributions from professional designers and agencies who are part of the Department’s professional network. Thank you to May Chiang from Applied Wayfinding (London), Hayley Branston and Elena McLoughlin from Maynard (London), Anita Meier from Moniteurs (Berlin) who shared their professional insights and Reading PhD graduate, Dr Andrew McIlwraith who shared his expertise on mapping.
Evgenia Vrentzou (Graphic Design Pathway) said: “Through the wayfinding project I learnt to have a more inclusive thinking by considering both the needs of people and the parameters of environment, in order to make an effective, creative and functional system. All the talks during the spring term were very inspiring and we gained important knowledge on how to develop our projects. Wayfinding combines both creativity and strategic thinking and is a part of design that I would like to emphasise even more in the future.”
[caption id="attachment_19693" align="alignleft" width="960"]
This diagram shows Evgenia Vrentzou's proposed sign family.[/caption]
Evgenia also chose to explore wayfinding for her professional practice assignment. In this self-directed project, she designed a new wayfinding system for the coastal city of Heraklion. Her project built on the findings from participant studies she conducted to understand people's mental maps of the area – a great example of how we incorporate user research into practical projects at Reading.
In his professional practice assignment, Fred extended his experience of wayfinding to consider a journey-planning app that responded to new considerations arising during the pandemic. His wellbeing and urban mobility app – Let's Walk – focused on supporting people, who might have anxiety about going out during the pandemic but also need to get regular exercise, to identify appropriate places and routes to achieve their goals.
The wayfinding project is open to students on the MA Communication Design Graphic Design and Information Design pathways and MA Creative Enterprise Communication Design pathway. We look forward to running this successful project again with our new cohort in spring 2022.
Think Rethink – our graduate degree show – REGISTER NOW!
6/16/2021 9:57 AM
Research Fellowship in Ephemera Studies
6/15/2021 8:57 AM
The Gentlemen Danes book illustration
6/14/2021 6:49 AM
Background
My client for this real job was an independent publisher based in Reading. The client is writing and publishing a new book that details historic events dating back to the early 19th century. The book tells the story of Danish prisoners of war, residing in Reading during the years of 1807 – 1814; mainly taking from the memoirs of one of the prisoners, who became better known in the town as the Gentlemen Danes (also fittingly the title of the book). The book is the first to detail the ventures of this particular group of war prisoners as the memoirs were recently recovered and have only been translated fully as of 2020. The story of the Gentlemen Danes follows the group mainly throughout Reading and different parts of Berkshire; describing their lived experiences that make for an interesting, historic read.Restated Brief and deliverables
The job originally started off as a commission for an illustrative font cover with a rather quick turn-around; it entailed that I create an illustration that works as an eye catching, historically accurate front cover that did allowed ample bleed and did allowed for the integration of text for the title to exist in the same space also. To begin with there were not many reference images to work from, aside from one sketch that my supervisor had quickly drawn herself. Ultimately the illustration was described to me as a somewhat realistic illustration for The Gentlemen Danes history book that displays one fete (‘Revel’) as described in the text (the text was provided for me also). After emailing my supervisor who was in direct contact with the client, I then found out more about the nature of the illustration and some possible additional deliverables on top of the proposed illustration. It was being discussed if the cover would also serve as a smaller sized thumbnail image on the inside of the book also. I was also told to consider using the colours that were see in the Danish flag and that the exact colour values I use would have to be noted for possible use elsewhere on the book; perhaps for the titles or other text on the cover. This meant that I also had to think carefully about which tones would work on top of the illustration for it to be legible enough. After going back and forth further with my supervisor and client however, we came to an understanding that the colour would be dropped as a deliverable and that the main focus was just the cover as an illustration. During this process the dimensions of the cover (275mm x 212mm) were given to me as well as how much bleed was required (3mm around all sides). From the start the illustration was set as being CMYK as it was definitely going to be printed, and the point was made that care would have to be taken to make sure all necessary detail was big enough to be see on a cover at the size it was. The other considerations that were very important that I think about carefully were the accuracies of not only the scene being depicted, but the clothing, hairstyles etc. of the time as well. There were only two reasons where the brief had to be changed in a substantial way; one being because of the change of deadline and the second being because the main deliverable changed. During around December time the client decided to change his mind about what he wanted for the cover. I was told that he came across an original painting that displayed the Danish flag on its sales and he thought it to be a very good cover for what he was writing about. This did not mean that I had been designing for nothing however, and he made the compromise to keep a space left in the book for my illustration to be displayed. The brief had to be updated from a cover illustration to a general inside pages illustration; which fortunately meant that I would not have to change much except fill in the space where I left empty for text to be.Schedule
The job to begin with was a rather quick turn-around of Around 5 weeks, of which I was confident in reaching on time. This did not go as planned however, and the level of accuracy and detail that my client required was more than initially expected. Not reaching the deadline I was given was not however a problem; I had warned my client before time that I may not reach the deadline I was given, which was originally the 15th of October and he explained that he truly wanted the illustration done by January. I assumed then that the original date given wasn’t entirely true to the sentiments of the client. Over the time it took to create the illustration, I believe that I have kept a steady, suitable pace, even when other commitments got in the way. In terms of communication with my supervisor and client this real job felt a little different than the average. My supervisor was a Masters student who was very busy a lot of the time, and it became apparent when her reply times were getting longer and longer. We came to a happy medium however where I would directly email and set up video meetings with the client instead of going to my supervisor first. This was agreed on by all parties and in retrospect made sense for this kind of job; I was making changes as per the clients request so the supervisor just being an extra messenger was not the most efficient. From this point in about early November, I would be meeting frequently with the client, and every so often emailing my supervisor with an update on the illustration process.Process
At the beginning the job ran like a normal real job would. I contacted my supervisor for feedback, and when given the green light I would get feedback from the client. Often times my supervisor would be medium between us, but after a while it was established that I was better off getting feedback directly from him as it was his specification I was catering to. It also meant that I wouldn’t have to go through my supervisor just to get to my client. From then we were in agreement that this be the process for communication. In the first couple weeks the interaction between me and the client was mostly to do with general styles of illustration and the composition of the scene. We settled fairly quickly on a style, but the layout of the scene took a while longer to agree on. At this time I was still working with barely any detail and mainly would move rough stickmen figures to signify where a person would be in the illustration; perhaps the lack of detail and didn’t allow for a true representation of what the layout actually looked like at this time. In this part of development we went over a lot of changes in a period of time, building up the composition piece by piece. [caption id="attachment_19242" align="alignnone" width="300"]
An example of the images sourced from the research visit to the MERL - image is from Pyne’s British Costumes (William H Pyne)[/caption]
After a while of talking about research for the kind of clothing they would wear at the time, the client requested that I visit the Museum of English Rural life to get a more accurate and confident look and feel for this aspect. The visit was very fruitful, and the notes I took were very helpful to the character development over time. The books where I got the most useful information from were British Working Dress – occupational clothing 1750-1950 (Jayne Shrimpton) – Shire Library, and Pyne’s British Costumes (William H Pyne) It was the first time that I would have to an extended amount of research for an illustration. It was also a learning curve for me in terms of illustrating from descriptions in text.
Design
The first sketches I sent to the client were in pencil and were to get a feel for the number of people in the scene how the scene would be generally set up. [caption id="attachment_19243" align="alignnone" width="312"]
Image of initial sketch used as template for graphic styles[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_19245" align="alignnone" width="436"]
Initial sketch of a possible layout of the scene[/caption]
I would also draw in pencil a template for the styles I gave to the client to decide from. I had already been told that the client liked some of the styles shown on my portfolio, and I had also been told that the illustration was to be somewhat realistic. I drew the same human figure and took it to illustrator to create a few different styles of which the client picked the one that incorporated shading made up of hatching. The reason was that it resembled engraving and gave historical connotations in of itself.
[caption id="attachment_19248" align="alignnone" width="300"]
One of the proposed illustration styles sent to the client[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_19249" align="alignnone" width="300"]
One of the proposed illustration styles sent to the client (chosen)[/caption]
From here we would simultaneously go through different characters and the accuracy their clothing, and the composition of the scene as whole. Up until the last one, every meeting with the client would result in either a major or minor change to the illustration.
[caption id="attachment_19260" align="alignnone" width="300"]
Initial digital sketch - use of stickmen for positioning of characters[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_19263" align="alignnone" width="300"]
Developed digital sketch - composition is more balanced and background is built up with detail[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_19264" align="alignnone" width="300"]
Developed illustration - composition nearly finalised and relevant detailing is coming more and more into the scene[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_19266" align="alignnone" width="648"]
Final illustration with all details added, sense of depth with blurred background, and etching style finish over the top of it[/caption]
For a while it was quite intense with the number of changes suggested, but I soon got the hang of it. I also learnt very quickly to work in a way that would allow for things to be moved easily around the illustration without any problems, i.e. ensuring each person was their own entity (by grouping their components) so if they were to be moved to the left or made bigger, it was an easy change. After a while colour was incorporated, many characters were changed around, taken out or added and the whole scene became a reality.
Reflection
The real job ended different to how it started in more ways than one. Firstly I didn’t realise how much detail and research was required for this illustration, and it came as a little bit of a shock to me how much time I would go on to dedicate to it; it stands to reason that the initial brief set false expectations due to it being advertised as a quick turn-around. Another area where there was a big change was the connection between me, the supervisor, and the client, with the supervisor eventually becoming an unnecessary step in getting feedback from the client. The final area was when the job illustration changed from being a for the cover to being for the inside content. At the start there were a few things that the client wanted to explicitly be in the illustration in some way or another. The list consisted of a black and white dog, some of the Gentlemen Danes in the frame, one of the main Danes being very tall and skinny, a large famer welcoming them into the fete, a line of fete banner across the field they were on and some kids playing one of traditional summer game. With all of these worked into the illustration, the client seemed very happy with what was achieved. A word from the client that further justified this; “Lewis put his name forward to do an illustration of a country event in Berkshire in the early nineteenth century for a forthcoming book. In order to be as historically accurate as possible Lewis had to do a lot of work in researching the costumes people were wearing at the time. After many online meetings, and a number of adjustments and modifications to the original brief, we finally honed it down to a picture that I was very happy with. Happy not only because it is an authentic reproduction of how the event might have appeared like, but also because it was done in Lewis' own graphic style. It was a very pleasant experience to work with Lewis and I wish him great success in the future” Overall I was very happy with how the job turned out, and although the prospect of having my illustration as a book cover was more exciting, I am still very glad and grateful that it even gets to be in a publication of some sorts. The end product felt deserved due to all of the time, research and effort that went into the work. Thank you to Libby Skipp and John Nixon.
Red Emerald Branding
5/26/2021 10:35 PM
Background
Red Emerald is a new business that aims to advise and support leaders in universities, colleges and government bodies on internationalisation strategies and activities. For example, supporting university students in achieving their goals to engage in an international experience indirectly through university staff. Red emerald also advises international students and their parents, wanting to study in the UK or UK students wanting to study/work abroad. The company with hold conferences with government bodies for which they will supply reports and other reading materials.Restated Brief
Our aim was to create a brand identity for Red Emerald, that would appeal to the company’s broad target market. The brand needed to be consistently identifiable across all design outcomes whilst complimenting the different formats required. Competitors currently in the market mostly have a typographic logo, with a fairly muted colour scheme. The few that have a graphic logo reference a globe illustration, which our client wanted to avoid for individuality. What we agreed to design:- Logo
- Business cards
- Letter & Report Template
- Presentation slides template
Communication and Schedule
We were able to keep in touch with Charlene for the most part throughout the project, but there were times where we would not be in contact for a while due to the success of the business. This meant the proposed schedule was delayed; however, we kept our supervisor and the Real Jobs team up to date by attending Real Jobs meetings and staying in contact via email. Delays in client meant that we could not meet the original deadline date for the project, we felt her feedback was crucial to creating successful outcomes that satisfied her expectations. However, the extended deadline allowed us more time to contemplate and make improvements to each of the design outcomes, so we do not feel that this had a negative impact on the work produced. An extension date was never finalised between the client and us, but our main priority was to ensure the client was happy with the final design outcomes. More consistent communication between Charlene and us may have enabled us to finish the project on time.Research and ideation
Red Emerald currently has few competitors. In our initial client meeting we looked through some of their logos and discussed why we thought they were or were not successful. This helped us later in deciding the approach we wanted to take to our own design work. Most of the logos used a single block colour which was extended throughout their branding material, while others chose more intricate designs that featured shading to create a 3D effect. We also considered how each brand had a slightly different target market which led us on to identify the different user groups for Red Emerald and create user personas to represent these. [caption id="attachment_9357" align="alignnone" width="370"]
Red Emerald current business competitors.[/caption]
We explored some of our design ideas by creating mood boards. We took two approaches to this, the first explored the more blatant theme of creating a brand related to the individual words in the name: ‘red’ and ‘emerald’. On this board we explored different emerald cuts and shades of red, combined with a contemporary approach to typography using sans serif fonts.
[caption id="attachment_9334" align="alignnone" width="439"]
Mood board exploring emerald cuts and different tones of red.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_9335" align="alignnone" width="449"]
Mood board following a floral theme with serif fonts.[/caption]
On the second board we explored a subtler approach covering a floral theme as our client informed us that red emerald is also a plant. On this second mood board we looked at floral fonts that also incorporated a vintage aesthetic as this was something the client has also expressed an interest in.
Design Process
Logo
The client had a lot of input in the design of the logo with regard to their own ideation. In our initial meeting she provided us with a few sketches which we later used to brainstorm an array of initial sketches for further development. Charlene had expressed interest in using a floral theme throughout the branding which we found quite tricky as we needed to ensure that the logo was not gender oriented, so the nature of the business was not misidentified. We created a range of initial sketches on paper and then Adobe Illustrator to explore the possibilities of combining aspects of both of styles explored on our mood boards. A range of graphic elements were explored in this stage of the design process including; textures, colour gradients and shadows, but initial feedback led us to decide that block colour logos had the most impact. Block colour also did not compromise the legibility or clarity of the logo when adapted to different scales for the required documents and interfaces. [caption id="attachment_9349" align="alignnone" width="411"]
Initial logo sketches presented to client.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_9348" align="alignnone" width="493"]
First development of initial logo sketches presented to client.[/caption]
Charlene always kept us up to date with feedback she received from her colleagues regarding our ideas for the logo. To ensure Red Emerald presented a brand image that was appropriate to be presented to Government Organisations we quickly veered away from the original classic vintage style with serif typeface and moved towards a more contemporary style with a sans serif typeface. Floral elements no longer felt appropriate and we required a deeper exploration of the emerald cuts and shapes associated with them. This enabled a clear direction for ongoing development.
We explored typographic logos using the initials of the company but later decided this could be confusing for clients so we concluded that having the full name Red Emerald alongside the logo image would be more effective especially while the business is establishing itself.
[caption id="attachment_9351" align="alignnone" width="438"]
Developing the logo, incorporating an icon with 'Red Emerald'.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_9350" align="alignnone" width="538"]
Final logo for Red Emerald, the logo is preferably displayed as white writing on a red background but there is the option to have red writing on a light background as we stated in the brand guidelines.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_9341" align="alignnone" width="451"]
How the logo would be displayed as a profile image on social media.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_9345" align="alignnone" width="459"]
Logo specifications in the brand guidelines document.[/caption]
Combining the text with image was one of the most challenging aspects but also helped to determine which was the strongest design. The design chosen provided us with a diamond graphic that fit comfortably alongside the name of the business and presented a corporate aesthetic which met the client’s needs.
Business cards
We initially took a more personal approach to designing the business cards and considered styles and patterns that Charlene had liked from our first logo designs. While dismissing the floral theme for the logo, we considered there may be an opportunity to incorporate it into the business cards to achieve this. However, we later decided, based on feedback from our supervisor and client, that while this was a valid experiment the outcome was not successful. [caption id="attachment_9343" align="alignnone" width="533"]
Initial business card design ideas.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_9344" align="alignnone" width="516"]
Development of business card designs.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_9346" align="alignnone" width="328"]
Final proposal for business card design. It includes a front cover and two options for the back cover that display different information.[/caption]
Developing the business card design involved exploring the possibility for a variety of layouts both portrait and landscape. As the project progressed, we began to think more about how the business cards could tie in with the other design outcomes. We ended up with a faint polygon pattern behind the logo on the front of the business cards which was then used on the report and letter template. The final business card design allowed for two text layout options on the back, one displayed the information that Charlene has available to her now and one shows the information that the business will have in the future once it is set up. The client decided to get the business cards printed using an external printer, so we created the appropriate files to enable her to do this. We discussed a variety of print finishes and in the end we chose a spot UV finish for the logo.
Report template
The primary function of the Report was to present information to a range of clients by aesthetically supporting the written content without distracting from it. We discussed with the client the kind of content that would be in the report to establish what components we needed to design. It was agreed that we would supply a range of paragraph styles to support hierarchy within the text and create a style for tables and charts, along with a colour scheme. [caption id="attachment_9347" align="alignnone" width="516"]
Final report template.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_9352" align="alignnone" width="516"]
Final report template showing table and pie chart style.[/caption]
The final report template allows the client to add an image to the front cover or keep the logo watermark as shown. The paragraph styles present a range of heading options using fonts that are available on Microsoft Word and Apple Pages on multiple devices, to avoid complications when the template is being used by Charlene’s colleagues.
Letter template
The letter template was one of the last outcomes we designed, it was easy to create a successful design once the final logo had been confirmed. The polygon design used in the business card was recreated in the form of a banner which was positioned at the top of the page to help form the consistency in the brand that was required. The main difficulty with designing the letter template was that it introduced typographic restrictions as we had to consider the traditional layout of a letter and consider that most of the information would ideally sit on one A4 page. As with the report template, the letter template included types that are available in Microsoft Word and Apple Pages on all devices. [caption id="attachment_9354" align="alignnone" width="345"]
Final letter template design.[/caption]
Slide show template
When designing the Presentation, the first consideration was to ensure coherence of the branding we had carried through the other documents. Using the red from the colour scheme and inspired by the geometric pattern used in the diamond graphic of the logo we began to create some slides incorporating the chosen serif typeface for the brand. In our first drafts of the Presentation slides the font was too small when we considered that presentations generally don’t contain large bodies of text and must be legible from a longer distance. Progression of the design in the other documents, gave headway to the development of the Presentation, elements such as the subtle watermark and red polygon pattern on the business cards were brought in to keep consistency throughout, as well as the logo. We were unsure for a while what the best approach to the presentation slides was, so we had a range of options for the client to choose. From our Supervisor’s feedback we decided there was too many variants of slide backgrounds, and this surplus of choice was unnecessary as well as confusing for the user who really only needed one maybe two options. Peer feedback also implied that the all red background was too overwhelming on the eye, especially when considering the slides are likely to be presented on a large screen. The slide backgrounds that were decided on was a combination of the watermark and banner which influenced largely to mirror the report design. [caption id="attachment_9355" align="alignnone" width="479"]
Presentation slides template, title slide.[/caption]
The final important changes made, included the placement of the logo which needed to obtain to the agreed bordering space outlined in the brand guidelines and secondly it had to be exactly the same size and placement on all the slides. The watermark felt too opaque and infringed upon the editable presentation copy, so the transparency was increased to amend this.