Wired. Design Process

Just a few images to show the process taken to come up with a quick flyer design for a clubnight called Wired. This will now be worked up properly and all text and imagery added before it is printed soon.

Packaging Design

Upon researching packaging design for my last project I have come across lots of brilliantly executed designs. I don't see much of this type of design and I can't understand why. Here are a few examples of what we found above.

3D Design- University Project Products

Here are some images of the products we designed including the dispenser, spray and keyring battery/light.

3D Design- University Project

For one of our university projects this year, part of the brief was product design. We came up with our ideas and mocked them up to a good standard on Illustrator. However, we decided to go a step further and learn some 3d software. This gave a whole new dimension to our designs which stopped them looking flat and unreal. We were shown how to use the software by Paul who works in all aspects of digital design and he was a great help. It is a platform for us to be able to use this software in the future on other projects and it is good that we have got the chance to learn these different programs before we enter the real world of industry. You can see the designs mocked up in 3D above. The product is also shown over the existing logo to show the idea we went for.

Olympic Logo 2014

As the furore over the Olympic 2012 logo dies down attention is moved onto the logo for 2014. The top logo came second to the final choice designed by Interbrand which you see underneath. At first I was drawn to the top design as it is colourful and attractive but then I realised why it was not chosen. Too often people go for the pretty choice. I have learnt all about this through my critical journal and research into marketing and branding. Attractive design does not mean that it will do it's job as well as a less attractive piece of work. This was the same case with the 2012 logo which in effect did it's job tenfold by getting people talking. Logos are now being designed to be dynamic and move in animation. This makes the second logo the best proposition as the top logo appears flat and static. I agree with the choice made for the final logo.

Comic Sans

Found this great diagram on when to and when not to use the font Comic Sans. Look at it carefully and you will realise when it should be used.

AdGoodness

The site AdGoodness is a fantastic source of inspiration. It is an archive of all the best ads across the world and shows all types of medias including print and ambient media. All of the ideas are of great quality and no mediocre work goes on the site. One of the adverts for Coca Cola was very similar to an idea I had for the Berghaus YCN Competition brief which I didn't enter. Its nice to see that an idea that I didn't view as my strongest was good enough for such a big brand. See the site here http://www.frederiksamuel.com/blog/

Xtranormal

After finding out about Xtranormal via the last blog post I did, I have been testing out the site to see what you can do. It is extremely easy to use with a wide range of characters to choose from and you simply type in what you want them to say. Camera angles and animations can be added to make it more professional. I would recommend the site to anyone and I am going to create some videos on there myself modelled around friends. I will post the videos soon. Try it for yourself on http://www.xtranormal.com/index

Graphic Designer vs. Client

Recently I keep seeing this video appear on various blogs. It is hilarious and definitely worth a look. It has been made on some easy to use software on http://www.xtranormal.com/. The storyline of the video is an initial discussion between a designer and their client and, although dramatised to the extreme, shows how difficult a designers job can sometimes be. There are numerous copies and different versions on YouTube and it has gained a big following. You can see the video here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfprIxNfCjk or see the sequel here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCjcwBGQtiw&feature=related.

Wordle

I have been found a website that creates designed 'word clouds' from words you type in. It is a quick and easy way of creating a visual representation of whatever it is you want to say. They could be used as mood boards for research purposes as they stop you looking at a sheet of black and white text for inspiration. They could even be used as part of a design although this look has been done too often. It is a really useful tool which you can find here : http://www.wordle.net/

I have done one with words about my business NE-Design to see how it works as you can see above.

The Lynx Non-Effect

I have just been reading this on a design blog which is an article on a man who is suing Lynx for false advertising. Lynx really do show that using their product makes you irresistible to the opposite sex which is a very thin line between good and false advertising so I am actually not surprised by this story. I personally think the adverts are great and work really well. The article is below:

A luckless Indian romeo is suing Lynx after he failed to land a single girlfriend during seven years of using their products.

Vaibhav Bedi, 26, is seeking £26,000 from parent company Unilever for the "depression and psychological damage" caused by the lack of any Lynx effect. Court officials in New Delhi have agreed to order forensic laboratory tests on dozens of his half-used Lynx body washes, shampoos, anti-perspirants and hair gels.

Lynx - marketed as Axe in India - is famous for its saucy ads showing barely clothed women throwing themselves at men. But Bedi says in his court petition: "The company cheated me because in its advertisements, it says women will be attracted to you if you use Axe.

"I used it for seven years but no girl came to me."

When contacted Unilever declined to comment on the case. But India's leading compensation litigator Ram Jethmalani warned: "There is no data to substantiate the supposition that unattractive and unintelligent men don't attract women.

"In fact some of the best looking women have been known to marry and date absolutely ghoulish guys. I'd suggest that the company settles this issue out of court."
(credit: Ananova)

The Brand Gap

I came across this presentation on a blog recently and it is the most concise and to the point piece of work I have seen for a long time. It has definitely left an impression on me and taught me a few thinks about the link between strategy and creativity. I am currently editing my Critical Journal which is all about creativity linking with strategy and I hope to include reference to this presentation. Unfortunately we have already performed our own presentations which is a shame as I could have included points from what I learnt here which no doubt would have got me better marks. I love the way the presentation is laid out as it has a good mix of words, typography and some good imagery. A good point of the presentation is that I get it without anyone having to speak about it. I aim for my own presentations to do this in the future.

See the full presentation here : http://ptgmedia.pearsoncmg.com/images/0321348109/goodies/The_Brand_Gap.pdf

Spoof Apple Ad for The Sun

I was sent the link to this youtube video by my brother and it is really funny. The idea is that the advert for The Sun newspaper is a spoof of the Apple iPhone adverts. I can relate to it as I don't see the point in reading information on a tiny screen. I would much rather read through a magazine or newspaper. It is a very clever advert done in the same style as Apple. You can see it here at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gk2brfbSG2g