YCN / / THANK YOU

Today we submitted our final presentation boards for YCN.  Inevitably we encountered more than one problem in a process that we thought would take a few minutes.  

Firstly, we had to re- size all of our images to fit within our InDesign document.  This took some time.

Secondly, because we had used locked images from the internet, we were unable to export the file as a PDF to submit.  For a long time we were trying to work out what exactly the problem was.  We messed around with exporting as a Jpeg and print screening the pages, but nothing was working.  After some time we realised it was these images.  To combat this we print screened said images and wrote on the additional copyright section that the images were taken from the internet.  After we sorted this out the file exported with no problem.

Overall, I am generally happy with the consistency of the presentation boards.  The work has been photographed to a professional standard and the layout is considered.  There is a visible level of skill.  However, I think perhaps our message is lost somewhat due to a lack of relevant content.  This lack of content meant more type, describing what our idea was about.  The point of presentation boards is to communicate successfully with as much visual aid and as little readable type as possible.  I think this is our weakest element.

I think the only was to address this problem would be if we went back and created more content that communicates our concept effectively, i.e. leaflets; wayfinding; posters in context etc.

YCN / / Final Crit

Today we had our final crit.  Here we had to produce multiple boards that we would send to YCN detailing our concept and proposition for the competition brief.

In all, the crit was extremely helpful.  Firstly we had to leave our presentation boards for our crit group to give us feedback on without us actually explaining.  The point of this being that for YCN we are not going to be able to explain ourselves, the boards have to communicate successfully our ideas, concepts and proposals.  From this we basically got that our boards really didn't communicate effectively at all what we are producing and what we are proposing- we needed to show what we'd been doing all this time.
After this we then explained our ideas / / concepts / / proposals for the Fedrigoni brief and the message became clearer.  The conclusion was that we have to now mock everything up, digitally as well as physically to give a clearer indication of what we are doing.  Our concept is strong, we know that- this is what we have got from our feedback- we just need to communicate it much more clearly.

Invitation / / Design development

Exhibition / / Space

It's important to think about how we would set out the exhibition / / event space.
The main aspect of this exhibition is that the 'guests' are not only viewing, but 'experiencing' the work.  
The majority of the time when visiting an exhibition the work will be placed on a plynth, a platform whereby you view and make a judgement.  The way the audience will come to a conclusion on the 'imaginative colours tool' is through the exhibition. The idea is that the work exhibited has to be tactile.  YOU HAVE TO BE ABLE TO TOUCH IT / / smell it / / bend it etc.  

Branding / / Design direction

Experimentation with gradient.  Need to capitalise and emphasise on the concept of forcing the viewer to think about what they are reading.

Different directions of gradient.  Gives the type depth, bringing forward and pushing back different areas of the letterforms, generating the feel of movement that we want to achieve.

Experimentation with varying degrees of gradient exposed.  The whole point of this was to text readability- to push as little visible gradient as possible to force the reader to think.  The smoothness of the gradient is dreamy and calming which reflect the idea of 'imaginative'.  However, the stems and counters of the serif 'Times' give the design the edge

 

The whole idea is that the word 'imaginative' has a gradient that starts at the top of the X - height and the word 'colour' has a gradient that starts at the bottom of its X - height.  The two words will have different colours- this gives a feel of flow and movement / / for static design to appear 4D it gives an imaginative aspect that is needed to be relevant to the concept.  The change in gradient makes is relevant to the subject matter of the brief. 

  

Branding / / Typeface

Typeface choices for the branding of the promotional exhibition:

Exhibition / / Name & progression

The main idea behind an exhibition is the idea.  Making people see something in a different light. 
In relation to the brief, our thoughts were that Fedrigoni needs to be seen in a different light by designers / / target audience.  An exhibition that showcases the possibilities of coloured ink on coloured stock would refresh the brand, giving them an edge.  It would also give the viewers an insight into how far they can take their designs, the possibilities using Fedrigoni holds.

For a long time we were trying to come up with a name that reflected the concept behind the exhibition- things that relate to the relationship between ink & stock along with colour.  This proved very difficult and seemed to steer too far away from Fedrigoni as a band and the 'imaginative colours tool' they were trying to promote.  We cane up with the name 'Imaginative Colour' (or, perhaps, Fedrigoni did).  By taking off the 's' it becomes more of a name of this idea we are trying to communicate rather than an object that can be replicated.  

  

Paper making / / Research

I thought that seeing as this project is for a company that create paper, I would need to gain a better understanding of paper and the process involved in its production.

Seeing as I must have missed the lesson in year two when it seems everyone else had a go, I thought it was time for me to try and create some paper of my own.

Results and process were as follows:

Firstly, we looked at the initial process, got the basics down.  A fairly simple process.  However, once you learn the rules you can start to manipulate them in accordance to the brief.
 

There was someone in the studio with some wood shavings, so we decided it would be a good idea to chuck them in the mix.  I think the outcome (especially from a colour scheme aspect) was almost interesting considering we had only just learned how to create paper.

From  this there is a lot I want to do.  Most ideas include self driven side projects that aren't relevant to this brief.  I need to keep it in mind for a time when I haven't got so much on.

INTERESTING STUFF.