Tuesday 31 May 2011

I'm in the News!


Remember these wee guys? They were the characters I created as part of my Captain Kate's Juice packaging brief we received from Glasgow based agency Good Creative, original post can be found here.

I was completely blown away and very happy with the positive feedback I was given from Keith and Gale from the agency when they came to the uni to crit our work and was even more delighted to be offered a summer long placement with the agency. Which I start in just under two weeks! (very excited)

I have just enjoyed a week in Florence with my boyfriend and my parents and while I was away my dad received an email from a work colleague informing him that I was in the Edinburgh Herald and Post! It was a huge picture of my face and a short article about... "An Edinburgh student has landed a placement at Scotland’s top design agency after winning a challenge to produce a branding and marketing strategy for a range of fruit drinks" The article also included information on Good Creative and the real juice.


And since I got home I've had lots of friends and family call, text and tweet me to let me know where I'm popping up!

Here are a few from the web...



I was also in the Edinburgh Evening News, here.

It's quite strange seeing yourself in the paper, although it's not for the first time this year, I was in the Dundee Courier back in March! This time I'm much happier to be in the paper for my work though!

Wednesday 6 April 2011

Some of my work from third year

I thought I'd share with you some of my work from third year, I have really enjoyed this year (much more than second year anyway). This semester has just whizzed by, they've been working us hard, its been stressful at times and long hours have been spent at uni but I've really enjoyed it and have received some very positive feedback. Most importantly I really love graphic design, it was the best decision of my life to change to it from illustration and am really excited about my work placement at Good Creative in Glasgow in the summer, I also have an interview lined up for some more graphics work for the summer so will be interesting to see how that goes too, I am determined not to spend my summer working in a cafe!!

Yqueue:
This was our very first project when we came back after summer in September, it was a three week group project and was suppose to have a tie in or something to do with Wolf Olins, a design and branding agency in New York and London but for some reason that never happened and in fact despite pestering our tutors we are still waiting on feedback from this project! :(

If I remember correctly the brief was to take inspiration from positive aspects of online shopping and invent a service or product which would encourage people to shop on the high street. It was quite a tricky brief as not only did we have to brand and advertise a product we had to invent it too! It was also my first experience of working in a team solidly for three weeks which was... interesting.

The product we invented was, Yqueue, a service used within shopping centre which cuts out queues and eliminates carrying your shopping bags from shop to shop, allowing you to pick up your purchases at any time convenient to you. Through the use of an app and QR codes items can be scanned and added to a virtual shopping basket, once the customer has finished shopping they can then pay for multiple items from a different shops at a click of a button. A Yqueue employee then collects the customers purchases ready for the customer to collect at a time convenient to them.



The promotion takes inspiration form WWII posters, we wanted to creat a victorious message about our triumph over the queue.



Type and Layout:
The main objective of this brief was teaching us all about typography and layout, it was a 6 week project where every week we'd go to our tutor with our work and he'd give us corrections, we'd change stuff and then the next week we'd go back and he's give us different corrections and suggestions and we'd go away and change stuff... So slowly we refined and refined our work. I spent a long time looking for a typeface for this project and experimented with a lot but eventually settled on Museo which can be found here.







The Open University:
This is my YCN submission, I chose the Open University brief, I'm not sure why, I think it was because all the protests and debates about rising tuition fees was gong on at the time and education was obviously on my brain.

The brief was to encourage 16-18 year olds to study for a degree with the open university, I decided to tackle where, when and how students study and used bold colours and cheeky slogans to attract viewer attention.











Yuck 'n' Yum:
This was my Roses submission, the brief was really open and something along the lines of, "Create and promote an unlikely coalition." My idea was to open a diner which combined different types of foods which would be revolting together but aim it at pregnant woman with crazy cravings. It was a wacky but fun brief, I really enjoyed creating the illustrations, teh typeface I used was Market Deco and can be found here .



Tuesday 29 March 2011

Dissertation Proposal (part 2)

Title

How important is environmental type in shaping perceptions and altering the way people interact with their surroundings? And how can environmental typography be used to modify behavior, opinions and alter user experiences within an environment?

Summary

I have always had an interest in the design that surrounds us every day that we rely on to function but is often over looked or ignored, a good example of such design is environmental typography. Typography is an integral part of our lives it is a necessity that we rely on to function, it surrounds us everywhere we go, within signage, billboards, graffiti, posters and corporate identity. But what impact does it have on shaping our perceptions and judgments towards that environment, organisation or government? And can a place be defined and identified by the typography within it? Can type be used as a medium to express a place’s unique culture, values and style, to help enrich the quality of life and our visual environment? Or is the array of type that we are bombarded with desensitising us to our surroundings, visually polluting our cities and towns?

There are many different ways type can be used within an environment, each have a specific job to perform, although the main function, whatever its message is to communicate effectively and clearly. There are many technical aspects when designing with type, such as colour, composition; it’s location and typography choice. The tone of voice, or visual language is also an important aspect when trying to convey feelings or opinions though typography. Type can indicate attitudes and changes within a society or reflect the ideologies of the organization or government, for example a sign, which greets a traveller at an airport, might say, “You can trust me” “I am modern” or “You will be robbed” all through it’s visual appearance, without stating those actual words.

Along with people, sounds and smells, typography acts as essential component within an environment; helping to give a place it’s visual voice and identity. It provides a means of communication and has the power to produce an emotional response or influence the way an environment functions. By varying how type is used within an environment will alter the impact on the environment and in the way people interact within that environment. I wish to gain a better understanding if there is a difference in impact and influence of an environment based on it’s planed or authorised typography such as signage and advertisement billboards compared to unauthorised type such as graffiti and illegal posters? And when we rely on type so much to gain an understanding of our complex environments what are the consequences when it fails to help us?

Aims

I wish to carry out this research with the aim of having a greater understanding of the role typography plays in how we interact with our surroundings, and how we form judgments (subliminal or consciously) towards that environment, government or organization. I believe by having a good knowledge of this we can begin to understand how to design typography for specific areas, which will help modify behavior, opinions and improve user experiences within that environment.

Objectives

I wish to produce a comprehensive study into my chosen subject, I will do this by using relevant secondary resources such as books, academic articles and web sources but more importantly by carrying out my own primary research. This will involve organizing focus groups to determine first hand the impact typography has. I will do at least two different sessions with different demographics such as designers compared to non-designers to gain a broader understanding of how this topic affects different types of people. I will carry out surveys and questionnaires also looking at public reactions and attitudes to typography within the environment.

Keywords

Environment, typography, sign design, signage, user, exposure, perception, lettering, communication, interaction, function, visual language, values, surroundings, behaviour, legibility, public, efficiency, message.

Bibliography

Baines, P, Dixon, C. 2003 Signs, Lettering in the Environment, Laurence King Publishers.

The main purpose of Baines and Dixon’s book is to discuss the function and execution of the signage we encounter in our environment every day. They look at examples of signage, both contemporary and historical and explain how these pieces of design work we take for granted help shape our lives.

Bartram, Alan. 1975. Lettering in Architecture. Lund Humphrise Publishers Limited

Shows how lettering has been used traditionally in architecture. Bartram explains the differences in letterforms and materials used, and looks at how type and buildings contribute to each other’s success. Bartram discusses the importance of the visual language of each period of architectural lettering, looking at how character, quality and flavor all add to the environment.

Billings, S, 2008, ‘Paths to Safety’, Design Week, vol. 23, no. 32, pp. 16-17, 7 Aug 2008

The article focuses on the need of signage systems in public places in regulating the flow of people and minimizing the risks of accidents and loss. It states that designing public places will make people safer and may decrease the tension in the environment.

Bonnici, P.1999 Visual Language, The Hidden Meaning of Communication, Roto Vision SA.

The main purpose of Bonnici’s book is to provide an understanding of the Visual Language within communication, looking at how the appearance and feel of an item of design can communicate independently of the descriptive content of text and images. Bonnici addresses how elements of visual language, such as colour, type, shape, proportion, texture and imagery be used to create a powerful hidden medium of non verbal communication within an item of design to provide work that communicates more effectively

Burgoyne, P, 2005, ‘Clearly Better’ Creative Review, January, 46-50

In this article, Patrick Burgoyne introduces us to the new typeface that will be used for American road signs. Talks about redesigning the typography for the elderly population who due to ‘halation’, a glowing effect that causes the words to appear filled in which was causing accidents. Shows us sketches of the process from the original to the new designs helps us understand the value simple changes to the counters and x height and how those changes can make the typeface more suitable and readable for the general public. The basic idea to this article is that the small things make big differences.

Butler, J, Lidwell, W, Holden, K 2003 Universal Principles of Design, Rockport, USA

Provides a reference for design concepts. Useful for me, exposure effect, the repeated exposure to stimuli for which people have neutral feelings will increase the likeability of the stimuli. Legibility, the visual clarity of text, generally based on size, typeface, contrast and spacing of the characters used, picture superiority effect, pictures are remembered better than words. Wayfinding, the process of using spatial and environmental information to navigate to a destination.

Castella. T. 2010. Do typefaces really matter?. Available: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-10689931. Last accessed 15th March 2011.

Explores the impact a typeface can have on how a service, product or organisation is perceived. Gives example of how the typeface used in film Avatar caused outrage among type fans. Looks into how a typeface can convey different messages.

Crosby, T, Fletcher, A, Forbes, C, 1970, A Sign Systems Manual, Littlehampton Book Services Ltd, USA

Illustrates and describes a simple basic system for designing, contracting and displaying signs. It also dives into the history of alphabets and the development of type.

Dowdy, C, 2002 ‘Direct Methods’, Design Week, vol. 17, no. 36, pp. 22-25

This journal discusses the improvements being made to the signage on London’s South Bank. Dowdy believes in everything getting simplified down, and cleaned up to improve our London streets and if we don’t cut down, ‘Graphic Nosie’ will begin to take over the streets and it will become evermore frustrating to find your way around and use sign posts properly. The author is trying to make it clearly that we need to clean up our streets in order for them to feel safer, calming and more in touch with where you are.

Editors Of Signs of the Times Magazine 1997, Sign Gallery. ST Publications.

Looks at recent technical innovations and advances over the past few years and gives examples of how sign designers are taking advantage of the new technologies, in their designs.

Editors of Signs of the Times Magazine 1986, Sign Design, Contemporary Graphic Identity, ST Publications.

This book demonstrates the possibilities that can be achieved through sign design and highlights the quality and skill of an industry whose work often get ignored or overlooked. It looks at different categories of sign design, including, retail, professional services, corporate identification, real estate and experimental work.

Gibson, D. 2009, The Wayfinding Handbook, Information Design for Public Places, Princeton Architectural Press.

This book covers sign design and wayfinding as a whole, covering everything connected to the discipline. It includes a brief history on sign design and covers different aspects of typography including legibility, size, arrangement and line spacing.

Graham, L. 2002 Basics of Design, Layout and typography for beginners, Delmar Thomson learning, Canada

This book provides information on basic design principles for designing with type covering areas such as emphasis, technical terms and elements such as colour and alignment.

Hunt, W, Laberccque, E, Rosentswieg, G. 1994, Designing and Planning Environmental Graphics, Madison Square Press

This book provides practical information from environmental graphic designer’s, they give individual case studies and detailed annotation and documentation on real projects. This gives a good insight into the design process, including technical information and specific information.

Knapp, Stephen. 1995, Sign Design Gallery 2, Rockport Publishing

Explores the effect of ‘digital revolution’ on sign design, this book serves as a tribute to all designers who keep alive the craft of sign design. The fain focus of this book is on computer aided sign design. Covers, ground signs, projection signs, sing systems, wall mounted signs and specialty signs.

Kress, K and Leeuwen, T, 1996, Reading Images The Grammar of Visual Design. St Edmundsbury Press Limited. Great Britain

Kress and van Leeunwen examine the ways in which images communicate meaning. Looking at the formal elements and structure of design: colour, perspective, framing and composition. The authors demonstrate both the differences and the similarities between the grammar of language and that of the visual communication.

McClendon, C, 1982 Signage: Graphic Communication in the Built World, McGraw-Hill Inc.,US; First Edition

Schwartzman, A. 1998, Designage, The Art of Decretive Sign, Chronical Books.

This book provides an overview of a universal means of communication, through photography it captures and celebrates the artistry and imagination of sign design throughout the years.

Shmidt, K. 1996, Signs of the Times, Graphis U.S. INC.

This book includes a large collection of photographs of environmental typography from the last fifty years showing an overview of the type of signage we over look and take for granted every day. The author also provides a short history and introduction that is insightful.

Trulove Grayson, J. 2000, This Way, Signage Design for Public Spaces, Rockport Publishers.

Shows how new and traditional materials are being used together to create new vibrant signage designs. The book gives a behind the scenes look at real signage projects and explains the philosophy behind each.

Sims, M. Sign Design, 1991, Graphics, Materials, Techniques, Thames and Hudson LTD.

This book highlights the value gained by designers who understand the importance of sign design; this book acts as guide, covering process, materials and techniques along with other important information for designers to take into consideration such as cultural and aesthetic factors.

Vartanian, I, 2004 Graphiscape: New York City, Rotovision

This book covers Graffiti, posters, neon lighting, street art, colour schemes, perspectives and forms. The book is organized around structure, communication, problem solving and originality - all problems that drive design itself. Design is site specific; the flavour of the city is tasted through the vast variety of its visual elements that can be called graphic design in its widest sense.

Thursday 24 February 2011

Captain Kate!

Recently I've been working on a brief set by the nice people at Glasgow's Good Creative. It's to re-brand and repackage a kids juice which was originally called Kate's Magic Fruit Potions. A company set up by a mum who couldn't find a juice that didn't have added preservatives, flavours and sweeteners for her kid to take to school.

We had pretty much free reign with the brand as long as we conveyed the message of a caring small cottage industry with Kate, a trained natural therapist at it's core and showed the drinks unique qualities such as added vitamins and prebiotics.

Kate is central to the brand so I wanted to keep the focus on her however I knew I didn't want to keep the name or the magical theme. I chose superheros as felt children relate really well with them and thought it was a nice twist that Kate was acting as the hero of the lunch box world, fighting the evil additives and protecting our children!

And so Captain Kate's was born. But now thankfully it's finished. There has been a few late nights but I'm looking forward to presenting on Friday.










Sunday 23 January 2011

Assignment 1 of 2011

For our first assignment we are asked to fill out a personality test to establish our own individual learning style. By using this test I determined wither I am an... ...Activist...

Here is a list of each personality style and a brief outline.

A activist...

Like to be involved in new experiences and are enthusiastic about new ideas. They enjoy doing things and tend to act first and consider the implications afterwards. They are unlikely to prepare for the learning experience or review their learning afterwards.

Activists learn best when:

  • involved in new experiences
  • problems and opportunities
  • working with others in team tasks or role-playing
  • being thrown in the deep end with a difficult task
  • chairing meetings, leading discussions

Activists learn less when:

  • listening to lectures or long explanations
  • reading, writing or thinking on their own
  • absorbing and understanding data
  • following precise instruction to the letter

A reflector...

Reflectors like to view the situation from different perspectives. They like to collect data, review and think carefully before coming to any conclusions. They enjoy observing others and will listen to their views before offering their own.

Reflectors learn best when:

  • observing individuals or groups at work
  • reviewing what has happened and thinking about what they have learned
  • producing analyses and reports doing tasks without tight deadlines

Reflectors learn less when:

  • acting as leader or role-playing in front of others
  • doing things with no time to prepare
  • being thrown in at the deep end
  • being rushed or worried by deadlines

A theorist...

Theorists like to adapt and integrate observations into complex and logically sound theories. They think problems through step- by-step. They tend to be perfectionists who like to fit things into a rational scheme.

Theorists learn best when:

  • put in complex situations where they have to use their skills and knowledge
  • they are in structured situations with clear purpose
  • they are offered interesting ideas or concepts even though they are not immediately relevant
  • they have the chance to question and probe ideas

Theorists learn less when:

  • they have to participate in situations which emphasis emotion and feelings
  • the activity is unstructured or briefing is poor
  • they have to do things without knowing the principles or concepts involved
  • they feel they're out of tune with the other participants, for example people with different learning styles

Or a Pragmatist...

Pragmatists are eager to try things out. They like concepts that can be applied to their job. They tend to be impatient with lengthy discussions and are practical and down to earth.

Pragmatists learn best when:

  • there is a link between the topic and job
  • they have the chance to try out techniques
  • they are shown techniques with obvious advantages such as saving time
  • they are shown a model they can copy

Pragmatists learn less when:

  • there is no obvious or immediate benefit that they can recognize
  • there is no practice or guidelines on how to do it
  • there is no apparent benefit to the learning
  • the event or learning is 'all theory'
I found some of the questions quite awkward to answer as relating them to my day-to-day life was difficult, I found most of the questions were not directed at students and especially not arts based students, however I answered them as best I could and here are my results.

Activist: Moderate
Reflector: Strong
Theorist: Low
Pragmatist: Low

I am definitely not a perfectionist theorist and unlike pragmatits I occasionally enjoy a lengthy discussion or two, I relate with activists by being enthusiastic about new ideas and experiences however I do not see myself as a natural leader and although I'm not a shy and retiring wall flower I do not like chairing meetings or leading discussions.

So that leaves me with reflector, and I agree with almost everything except the deadline bit. Regarding any kind of written work I always need a deadline to stir up enough motivation for me to get down and write whatever it is I need to write, without a looming deadline approaching fast I continually put the work off. This is probably because I dislike writing and much prefer any studio based work.

I am meeting with my design studies group this evening to discuss our results and to guess what we think each others learning style is! This might prove to be a bit of a challenge as I have only met them a few times but will be interesting to see what the results are!

Wednesday 1 December 2010

Dissertation Proposal Part1

Student Name

Sophie D’Agostino

Course

Graphic Design

Supervisor name

Brigid Collins

Email address

Date

25.11.10

Working Title

What role does environmental typography and signage play in the way people interact and function with their every day surroundings?

Summary

I have always had an interest in the design that surrounds us every day that we rely on to function but is often over looked or ignored, a good example of such design is signage and typography. Signage is an integral part of our lives, it surrounds us but what impact does it have on the way we interact and function? Are signs a necessity? Or is the number of signs and abundance of lettering which bombards us overloading us with information, cluttering up our towns and cities and desensitising us to our environments?

There are many different types of signage, each have a specific job to perform, although the main function of a sign, whatever it’s message is to communicate effectively and clearly, different design process and techniques are required for designing different categories of signs, such as colour, composition, it’s environment and typography choice.

There are many technical aspects of sign design, however the tone of voice, or visual language is also an important aspect when trying to convey feelings or opinions though signage. Signs can indicate attitudes and changes within a society or reflect the ideologies of the organization or government, for example a sign, which greets a traveller at an airport, might say, “You can trust me” “I am modern” or “You will be robbed” all through it’s visual appearance, without stating those actual words.

The research I have carried out so far has raised some issues I would like to explore further, especially looking at the roles and responsibilities of the designer. Is it possible to create positive experiences and surrounds for the public while still making a valuable contribution to the environment?

Aims

I am interested in sign design as a subject as it is a tool of communication that is so often consciously unseen and not noticed yet unconsciously constantly communicating great quantities of information to us all the time.

I think this research will be primarily aimed at graphic designers as a better and more concise understanding of how our design decisions are impacting on the end user would be greatly valuable for creating more efficient and environmentally sound solutions.

Objectives

I wish to carry out research and analysis into my chosen subject, producing a well thought out and comprehensive study of what role signage and typography play in the way people interact and function in their surroundings.

I will do this by using relevant secondary recourses such as books, academic articles and web sources and by carrying out my own research such as questionnaires. Primarily looking at public reactions and attitudes to signage, including aspects of design and gathering opinions to the importance of signage in the environment.


Key Words


Environment, sign design, sign system, signage, user, lettering, communication, interaction, function, visual language, corporate identity, surroundings, typography, legibility, public, efficiency, message.

Bibliography

Baines, P, Dixon, C. Signs, Lettering in the Environment (2003) Laurence King Pulishers. ISBN: 1856693376

The main purpose of Baines and Dixon’s book is to discuss the function and execution of the signage we encounter in our environment every day. They look at examples of signage, both contemporary and historical and explain how these pieces of design work we take for granted help shape our lives.

Bartram, Alan (1975). Lettering in Architecture. Lund Humphrise Publishers Limited ISBN: 853313822

Shows how lettering has been used traditionally in architecture. Bartram explains the differences in letterforms and materials used, and looks at how type and buildings contribute to each other’s success. Bartram discusses the importance of the visual language of each period of architectural lettering, looking at how character, quality and flavor all add to the environment.

Bonnici, P. Visual Language, The Hidden Meaning of Communication (1999) Roto Vision SA. ISBN: 2880463882

The main purpose of Bonnici’s book is to provide an understanding of the Visual Language within communication, looking at how the appearance and feel of an item of design can communicate independently of the descriptive content of text and images. Bonnici addresses how elements of visual language, such as colour, type, shape, proportion, texture and imagery be used to create a powerful hidden medium of non verbal communication within an item of design to provide work that communicates more effectively

Editors Of Signs of the Times Magazine (1997). Sign Gallery. ST Publications. ISBN 0944094236

Looks at recent technical innovations and advances over the past few years and gives examples of how sign designers are taking advantage of the new technologies, in their designs.

Editors of Signs of the Times Magazine (1986) Sign Design, Contemporary Graphic Identity. ISBN: 0866360131

This book demonstrates the possibilities that can be achieved through sign design and highlights the quality and skill of an industry whose work often get ignored or overlooked. It looks at different categories of sign design, including, retail, professional services, corporate identification, real estate and experimental work.

Gibson, D. The Wayfinding Handbook, Information Design for Public Places (2009) Princeton Architectural Press. ISBN: 9781568987699

This book covers sign design and wayfinding as a whole, covering everything connected to the discipline. It includes a brief history on sign design and covers different aspects of typography including legibility, size, arrangement and line spacing.

Hunt, W, Laberccque, E, Rosentswieg, G (1994). Designing and Planning Environmental Graphics. Madison Square Press ISBN: 0942604350

This book provides practical information from environmental graphic designer’s, they give individual case studies and detailed annotation and documentation on real projects. This gives a good insight into the design process, including technical information and specific information.

Knapp, Stephen. Sign Design Gallery 2 (1995) Rockport Publishing. ISBN: 154961966

Explores the effect of ‘digital revolution’ on sign design, this book serves as a tribute to all designers who keep alive the craft of sign design. The fain focus of this book is on computer aided sign design. Covers, ground signs, projection signs, sing systems, wall mounted signs and specialty signs.

Schwartzman, A. Designage, The Art of Decretive Sign (1998). Chronical Books. ISBN:0811819620

This book provides an overview of a universal means of communication, through photography it captures and celebrates the artistry and imagination of sign design throughout the years.

Shmidt, K. Signs of the Times (1996) Graphis U.S. INC. ISBN: 1888000119

This book includes a large collection of photographs of environmental typography from the last fifty years showing an overview of the type of signage we over look and take for granted every day. The author also provides a short history and introduction which is insightful.

Trulove Grayson, J. This Way, Signage Design for Public Spaces (2000) Rockport Publishers. ISBN: 1564967522

Shows how new and traditional materials are being used together to create new vibrant signage designs. The book gives a behind the scenes look at real signage projects and explains the philosophy behind each.

Sims, M. Sign Design, Graphics, Materials, Techniques (1991) Thames and Hudson LTD. ISBN: 0500236186

This book highlights the value gained by designers who understand the importance of sign design; this book acts as guide, covering process, materials and techniques along with other important information for designers to take into consideration such as cultural and aesthetic factors.