Development

 I needed to redo my spins with more vibrant and colourful paint to make them stand out more against the black paper. I also wanted more variations to work within for the cover.

I began a full layout of the design including my spinning to the back page. When the spin art was to big it made the cover look less space themed and more arty which I felt took away from the subject of the book to much.

Multiple spin art made the design more ambitious and I felt made it look much better however the busy background took away from the long blurb and reviews. I also originally had the text aligned differently to make it stand out and after a critique many people gave me the feedback that my design would be more effective if the sizes were more consistent along with the alignment and if there would be more darkness. I agreed with this comment and the more dark space the more it related to the outer space theme.

Experimentation

I bought a spinner to be able to create some paint spin patterns, when I scanned them in and added vibrance in photoshop I felt they fit well with the theme and I am going to experiment more with them until I get the best patterns to represent the science and space elements of the book. Looking at typography I wanted the type to look scientific but also be clear and easy to read. I felt like the font Futura works well because as it is an older font like the book but has a more modern feel to it due to the weight of the lines. It is also a font commonly used within vehicles and engineering which can have a scientific feel. I want to experiment with the layout of the type making it interesting and eye-catching against the colourful and textured cover. I am also experimenting with colour within the text.

I have came up with a plan of layout, as looking at the requirements there is a lot of text that needs to be included. I want the cover to be internally made of type but using the spun together colours inside to make them bold and eye-catching. On the back I will use of of the spun pieces along with white easy to read type for the full text. I feel this will work well as the requirements asked for strong typography and imaginative and I feel my paint idea will stand out from others.

Fingerprint Critique

When I got to this first outcome within my project I felt like it was time for some feedback. People felt the outcome was a great quality and engaging and fun to look at however it did not portray the disability concept within it. The liked the two colours as anymore colours would be over whelming and they felt there was a good balance between faces. The layout is a good idea however the gaps need to be more consistent.

To further develop my outcome I need to play around with adding my buzzwords, quotes or symbols to portray the disability element.

I started by looking at symbols I felt like symbols worked well however they only really represent people with a physical disability that is in chairs and I want to represent people who have all types of disability therefore I felt that the symbols should not be included within my piece.

In the idea generation stage I came up with some buzzwords I felt should represent disability such as, educate, empower, embrace and respect. I tried using these words within the image but I felt the message would be better put across with a quote I made myself. The quote I came up with is

'Disability is identity, it should be respected, embraced and empowered' 

I wanted to use a font that looked serious but also friendly and easy to read. I liked Baskerville as it is an older font that is clear and academic. However I felt digitally it did not fit with the overall aesthetic of the piece therefore I decided to line draw the font and scan it. 

Cosmology research and initial ideas

Cosmology is the evolution of the universe. Nasa describes it as 'The scientific study of the large scale properties of the universe as a whole.' When looking at images of Cosmology there was a strong theme of space and a use of circles and ovals. Within my design I can go along with the theme of stars and space and have a colour scheme that works with this.

Stephen Hawking is a English theoretical physicist, he is a role model to many as he is successful and pushes through his disability ALS which is a motor disease.  

Scientific design

Looking at space theme design that isn't on books is also important as I want to look at space as an overall design theme as their are many enthusiasts who collect space themed items and I want to see the full characteristics of space, science design.

Two of the major companies that explore space travel and science is Nasa and SpaceX.

Nasa's logo is more retro that SpaceX using more curved edges but still feeling block like. SpaceX feels more futuristic and is newer than nasa however both logos have a similar feel when they add details such as the long swoosh on the X like a shooting star.

The websites are both dark relating to space and has some dark spaces which makes their writing easy to read and navigate. Dark colours is something that I feel makes something seem serious and that there could be more experimentation with use of brighter colours.

You can buy space food from places like amazon and science museums they are targeted at adults and children to give people a new experience of eating like an astronaut. The same type of curved but blockish font is used along with a lot of silver. This gives and space feel as it links with technology and metals etc.

http://cosmaschema.com 

Cosma Schema is a global brand strategy, design and experience agency focused exclusively on servicing the new space economy. We help aerospace companies of all sizes reach new audiences to advance the future of spaceflight and further humankind’s movement toward the cosmos. They look at how similar the logos of space companies are and how they can be improved and made different.

Initial Ideas

For my initial ideas I am concentrating on representing Cosmology as some readers may not understand what it means. Looking at others representations of Black holes and the Big Bang shows lots of lights and circled images. This brings me to the idea of representing this in a more artistic and visually eye catching way. There is no way to make a realistic image as there is no real images of these theories. A common look of both is the circle which I want to represent using spinning. I want to try spin painting. 

I don't want to carry on with the stereotypical darkness, I want to include fun and engaging colours bringing a new younger audience to science.

Choosing a book Penguin

It is the time of year again when the Penguin competition books are released. This year the three categories include. George Orwell's Animal Farm, Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman and  brief history of time by Stephan Hawkins. After doing some research into each book I decided I want to design the non-fiction cover 'A brief history of time'. I came to this decision as I thought that would be most interesting to design and research and also I designed a fiction cover last year. I want to do Penguin competitions as I love book cover design and this is the last year I can enter as a student and get myself noticed by the company.

The judges are looking for a cover design that breaks boundaries and does not look like a school text book. They want it to appeal to a new generation of readers since it was first published in 1988. The book is on the subject of Cosmology which induces theories such a black holes and the Big Bang.

I initial thoughts on the design is to create something that relates to science and theory or that celebrates Stephan Hawkins as a person. He is a important historical figure that should be known by all.

Past Covers

Past covers have all followed a similar theme either including photography with bold square type or historical serifed type. I find the covers not very appealing to younger audiences and they need to be modernised. I also feel like the colours are very dull and not very eye catching.

Penguin state that a winning entry will

• have an imaginative concept and original interpretation of the brief

• be competently executed with strong use of typography

• appeal to a contemporary readership

• show a good understanding of the marketplace

• have a point of difference from the many other book covers it is competing against

therefore I will keep these points in consideration while designing for this cover.

First Outcome

Scanning all of my drawings and prints I created this outcome. I like the style but it does not yet portray my message and still looks unfinished. I need to get some feedback from others on some ideas I have.

• Could Include a disability symbol so the message is more obvious. Maybe I can use the colours and layout of the prints to do so?
• Could I include a powerful word such as Embrace, Educate, Empower or Respect?
• Could I think more about the pattern of the colours and faces, maybe having more blank prints and less faces would be more impactful?

This is all ideas I need feedback on in order to continue experimenting.

Art Piece Development

Why am I doing this brief? I want to make sure that my attended outcome for the project has a true meaning and will make a difference or impact someone.

• The world needs to know that even though people with disabilities look different they are still humans and need to be treated with the same respect has anyone else.
• It needs to be a art piece that people enjoy and can maybe relate to.
• I want the message to be obvious so that a large audience can understand it as it would go in a public place.

Using ink I printed my fingerprints to use in the project. I picked the colours scarlet, cyan, Narcissus and Charcoal. This is because I wanted to use Primary colours, however the yellow colour did not work well so I put the black prints onto photoshop and changed them using a colour overlay and that worked well and means I can experiment with all colours. 

I wanted to turn my finger prints into characters by using line drawings. I wanted to base the characters from my photography and memory of disabled people I met this summer. I thought it would be best to use illustrator to create the faces as it would look more accurate. However after trying this I felt the contrast between the ink and and the digital drawings did not work well as it looked to clear. I felt maybe it would be best to draw using a fine liner onto the fingerprints. This would make the work less detailed and I could not edit them however the images should not be perfect because that is not what the piece is suppose to represent.

Drawing straight onto the prints worked well as they looked better as a whole however the black prints did not work as well as you could not see the line drawing so well. I thought that I could do males on blue and females on red but then decided to mix things up and not separate gender. I am going to draw a lot of characters and then scan them in and work on how I am going to lay them out to show my message.

Embracing our differences Competition

I came across a Creative Competition online which I loved as its theme is Embracing differences which is what I wanted to work on this year after my summer experience. I am love creating things that will make a better difference in the world.

The competition is asking for a piece of art that is inspired by the theme 'Enriching lives through diversity'. If you win you work is featured in an billboard exhibition and you could win 1000 dollars. The competition is American but anyone can enter. The deadline is January 9th therefore it is a brief I would like to start straight away.

                    Research

Looking Back at Embracing our Differences they have held this competition for many years, I feel although their is a lot of creative freedom in this brief I should go back and look at what winners from the past themes were. You can see the artists are many ages and come from many different places. Common themes are Racism, Bullying, Poverty, Diversity and all are trying to portray a positive message. There are many different platforms used to create the artworks.

Since at summer I spent time living with disabled people I want to create something that is dedicated to showing that people with disabilities should be embraced for their differences and not set back.

My initial ideas for the project is to create a playful and lighthearted  illustration style piece as I don't think that something more hard hitting would work well with this exhibition as looking at past winners they are all more fun pieces that seem to be aimed more at a younger audience.

I want to play around with using fingerprint. Finger prints to me resembles a persons identity, every single person in the world has a different fingerprint which makes a person unique. I want to mix fingerprints and line drawings to show peoples unique looks and celebrate that.

Tell a lie convincingly

This week our challenge has been to 'Tell a lie convincingly' with a graphic design outcome. My group was made up of Sammy, Connor, Nicky and Emma. We decided our lie was that the new build on the side of our building was going to include a olympic sized swimming pool.

Within this brief we wanted to convince students by the use of posters and social media.

Together we created posters to show an opening event for the pool and advertisements for the LAU swim society and lifeguard job positions. We also created some blueprints and photographs of what the new pool will look like.

The idea was that we could show that we lied convincingly by the evidence that people had joined the fake society and thought about applying for a job at the pool. 

We set ourselves some rules for the group these were;

• Don't tell anyone about the lie
• Stay consistent
• Follow LAU's existing branding
• make work seem realistic

We worked well together as a team to create graphic design outcomes for the project and we were all able to contribute. 

We also felt like we lied successfully although we had some problems with the Union. 

I found it interesting to do this brief as we didn't just solve the problem but create it. Also it was fun to have a project that I couldn't tell my other peers about as it made me become more independent within my design.

Module Evaluation

In this module within the first studio brief I was able to learn more about Leeds as a city and explore a way to celebrate it. I enjoyed this brief as I was able to do embroidery which is something that I have never done before and I had the excuse to create something using solely traditional methods. I also enjoyed this as I was able to create something for an exhibition thinking less about it practically and more about how it would stand out and work in an exhibition space. In the second brief we were given more creativity which I loved as I was able to pick a subject that I was passionate about. I created a campaign with printed design and social media. Due to my time management I was also able to not just plan a video but also film it. I felt that this video really brought my work together at the end. I enjoy making videos however don't usually require them within my design work so it was good that I was able to do this and get a better knowledge of editing. Overall I found this module beneficial to my practice as a creative as I was able to fit to a brief and make them my own with successful outcomes.

Final Outcomes

My Collection works well together and makes the designs stronger. I feel like the use of blank space and colour strengthen the feel of the campaign not making it seem weak like what people can consider people who feel suicidal. It is consistent with its information and style which makes the branding effective at drawing an audience. Along with the advertisement and social media aspects I feel like this campaign could work towards getting more awareness of suicide and its raise as an issue.

Inside Booklet

Talk to me tuesdays Gif

I thought it would help to promote the campaign by making a gif as gifs are used a lot on social media by a wide audience. The people who I used in my advert held up a sign I created with the hashtag on it. Seeing this gif could encourage people to use and explore this hashtag which will ultimately get people talking which is what the whole aim is of my campaign.

Survive Advert

I felt the outcome of my advert worked really well. I used the royalty free music to create a contrast and enhance the shock factor of what the people were saying. The shots make the audience focus on what is being said and gives a strong message. This video can be distributed and consumed on social media, youtube and maybe on tv. Seeing this video puts out the campaign name which will lead people to the rest of the content such as the booklet.

I wanted to get some feedback from people on what they think as I didn't want the advert to be to extreme with its mention of suicide. This was the feedback I received.

• I structure of the video has a natural progressive nature to the main cause leading the viewer on the subjects journeys.
• I think it is effective and has a really good emotional journey 
• The video will hit people and give them emotion to the cause.

Better Quality - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-teiYKkuzM4

Filming an advert

I decided to Film my advert I hired out one of the larger studios to get full body filming. I set it up very minimal using a white background and a stool. This was so the footage would focus on the people and what they are saying rather than the audience being distracted. I used two cameras so I could get two angles, which I felt would make the video more interesting and professional. I asked for my participants to describe a loved one (who was a male) in a sentence. I also tried to get a variety of responses. If I was to really create this advertisement I would have a range of actors with different ages to make it more relatable to all audiences.

I created the video using iMovie as I am most comfortable using that software and it is good at editing film clips and audio. I also created text slides between the clips that have the same font and colour as the rest of my campaign. This showed the necessary information and helped create the tone of voice I was after. I also took some photographs to make a gif.