“The act or practice of navigating, the process or activity of ascertaining or plotting one’s position and planning or following a route.
Navigation systems are a fundamental of communication design. Maps, signage, pictograms, information graphics —even pagination or the humble contents page—are all design features that help people navigate space and information. The need for navigation tools has only increased in the digital era. Not only do new digital spaces now exist, with people spending more and more time in virtual environments (computer desktops, Internet browsers, smart-phone interfaces, social networks), but digital mapping tools allow users to navigate their physical world digitally”
Navigation in design is something that doesn’t interest me in the slightest. It may seem close minded for me to say this, but I think that Navigation is something left as simple and easy as humanly possible, with little tweaking else confusion occurs. I find it difficult to wrap my head around the more abstract parts of navigation in design, so I mostly looked into the straight forward, “show people the way to something” part of navigation design.
With that being said, here are some fun examples of navigation that remain clear, whilst still being exciting to look at.
mcdonald’s wayfinding
McDonald’s French roadside campaign wherein they used the iconic french fries packet to denote to drivers where their closest McDondald’s is and how to get there. It’s easy, clever, whitty and bright whilst remaining clear and simple; perfect signage in my book.
RSM Design’s, monet avenue
RSM Designs are experts in creating interesting outdoor spaces. They were commissioned to give Monet Avenue a new lease of life, and did so through statues, signage, paving and unique wayfinding. My favourite example of their wayfinding is how they designed bikestands; cleverly shaping them as bikes to show exactly where they go, and a sign to match.
Place marking as wayfinding
A good way to navigate is the use of landmarks, and often sculptures and statues are used as ways to denote an entrance or the front of a building to pedestrians. A notable example is the huge number 9 outside of The Solow Office Tower in NYC. It’s placed in front of the entrance to show passersby how to get in, and doubles as a note of the street placement, as the building is on 9 West 57th street.
“The act or process of supporting or recommending a particular cause or policy.”
“The tools of visual communication design have been used in the service of many causes, from political propaganda and charity fundraising to grassroots movements and fringe activism. Just as brands employ graphic design to help win consumers, so campaigning organizations use it to win supporters, contributors, or fellow activists. Over decades, a wealth of campaigns have been supported by graphic design work—for civil rights, gender equality, nuclear disarmament, wildlife protection, and sustainability among many others.”
Advocacy can be used in :Branding, identity design, posters, magazine/zine, interventions, video/film, infographics, typeface design, exhibition design, environmental design, guerrilla advertising…and many more.”
Advocacy is an important aspect of design to me as I feel that communicating thoughts and feelings about a topic is one of the main reasons for design in the first place. I want design that I create to mean something, and to stand for something worth while. I find advocacy design extremely engaging and powerful, so it was easy for me to find a lot of examples that I could be inspired by.
Advocate
Advocate is the ethical design agency of Mark Epton. Since 1996 I’ve used the power of branding and design to help purpose-driven organisations make a difference.
Advocate is a design studio dedicated to ethical design and only promoting brands and projects that they believe will make the world a better place. They’ve worked on projects such as “Becoming Adult”, wherein they worked with Oxford University to promote education about immingrants.
Another example of their work is poster work for Ecotricity; a project working on building more sustainable energy for the UK, and they even match the price of your current energy supplier.
Whilst the design itself isn’t particuarly revolutionary, the cause that the design stands for is important, and I can appreciate and look up to a design studio dedicated to bring good about in the world.
“Where are the black designers?” A design conference
This example is interesting as it’s advocacy for a problem within the design world. This conference took place on June 27th online to discuss the fact that less than 3% of designers are black, whish is quite obviously disporportionate to the percentage of black people in the population. The design used to advertise and raise awareness for the conference itself is what is interesting me here. It’s bold, brash, and unapologetic, which I adore. It’s purpose is to ferry people towards education on the topic brought forward by members of that margianlised community themselves. .
A particularly poignant and creative example of Advocacy in design that’s stuck with me for a while is this specific magazine spread by the International Labour Organisation. They made this spread to be interactive, thought provoking and really quite clever. When the reader opens the page, they tear through shackles on disembodied hands, bringing to light the prevalence of modern day slavery. The interactivity of this piece of design is really what draws me to it .
Mucinex “back to normal is up to you” campaign.
Mucinex recently launched a very prevalent and culturally topical campaign encouraging viewers to wear their masks in the light of the recent pandemic. It’s effective in the fact that it promotes personal responsibiltiy and teamwork as a society, whilst also using just a little dash of guilt. which is always healthy in advoacy design. I also love these posters from a design standpoint, as their bold colours and clever use of symbolism is engaging and visually exciting.
Peter Kennard
Peter Kennard is a well known photomontagist who uses polarising and ethical debate in his work to bring awareness about important issues to the public.
Mandela, 1990, Peter Kennard
He’s covered topics such as racism, anti-war efforts, thatcherism, poverty, capitialism and fascism. I agree with all the points put across in Kennard’s work, and his strong visual identity and gritty methods of photomontage make for quite a punch. I admire Kennard’s career as an artist and designer, as he’s used every opportunity to bring the publics attention to things that he stands for. He uses art to make people think, and that’s the sort of weight that everyone should design with.
God Save the Queen, 1994, Peter Kennard
Goodvertising
Advertising is a social experiment that for the most part has gone wrong. An old model that seems unfit to serve a changing world with mounting environmental and social challenges. Yes, you guessed it right: Goodvertising is a word play on ‘advertising’ and ‘good’. For an ad industry most commonly known as Madmen, quack doctors and suits selling cigarettes, liquor and gas-guzzling cars without any moral reservations, putting ‘good’ in there might seem like a paradox or at worst hypocrisy. In many ways it is, but there’s a fundamental shift happening in business.
Goodvertising is a movement and we want you to be part of it. Let’s together charter a new way forward where it’s about serving real needs instead of creating wants and where brands move from being part of the problem to part of the solution. Let’s be honest with ourselves – people create brands and if they’re created for us and by us then they need to care – just like we do.
Goodvertising started as an idea by ex-adman Thomas Kolster one of the early pioneers in the do-good space. The idea turned into a book turned into a movement with the aim of inspiring us all – advertisers, marketers, NGO’s and brands alike – to spark new and better solutions. Essentially, Goodvertising is set out to prove that doing good for people & planet is good for brand and bottom line, it’s that simple a correlation.
Thomas Kolster, head of Goodvertising.
Goodvertising promotes ethical and moral choices in advertising, an industry with a not unearned reputation for being cutthroat and morally bankrupt. Goodvertising hosts an annual awards show, rewarding ad campaigns in the year that had good morals and ethics at their hearts, and impact the world to make it better.
trans happiness is real
Trans Happiness is Real is a collaborative guerilla campaign that I’m sure everyone has noticed littered around Oxford. Whether made with spray paint and a stencil, or a simple sticker sheet and a marker, this group of people are committed to letting the public know that Trans people can, and will be, happy. Being trans isn’t a curse as most Cis people see it, and it’s larger acceptance that will help make the statement even more true.
I like the gritty, in your facedness of it all. There are some main contributors, and this then encourages other people to make their own signs and stickers to slap around town. It’s such an important message- and as a member of the queer community, seeing such bold statements of joy in public makes you feel like you belong – it’s a true selfless action of affirmation.
A design trend that really interests me at the moment is metallic embellishments. I realise that this has been around for a long time, so whilst not exactly contemporary, it is still used often in design. I find that it is most successful when used in moderation, as using it sparingly can push design into luxury, but too much metallic finishing can seem gaudy and ingenuine. I particuarly enjoy its use in packaging design, or book cover design. Metallic finishing in packaging design is also shown to more effectively draw customers eyes, thus making it not only aesthetically pleasing, but also scientifically a better choice when selling products.
A more modern design trend is the limiting of a colour palette. Monochrome and duotone make for extremely inventive and aesthetically pleasing designs. Limiting the colour pallette means that colour doesn’t distract, but rather accentuates, espescially in duotone designs. The sanitary products from Yoni shown below are some that I own and find very compelling in terms of design. The logo itself is a fun nod to the body part it’s used for, but I more like how the tones are used. In real life, it’s much easier to see how the subtle shading on the box actually matches the accent colour. A particular part of the product market that is really embracing limited use of colour is alcohol packaging. I’ve noticed this trend whilst looking in the aisles in supermarkets (I don’t drink, but I think that alcohol design is usually at the forefront of design trends, espescially with canned drinks, so I like to peruse reguarly.)
Sustainability
Sustainability is a design trend that is gaining more and more traction as society becomes more conscious of it’s impact on the planet. This can only be a good thing. A lot of companies use their sustainable packaging as a marketing tool for younger, more aware audiences. There are even awards that are given out for sustainable packaging design, such as Bulldog’s revolutionary sugarcane based bottles for their products: https://www.cosmeticsdesign-europe.com/Article/2018/05/10/Bulldog-scoops-sustainable-packaging-prize . I often get targeted ads about sustainable products, such as this one that came up on my instagram yesterday shown below, advertising sustainable coffee pods and putting emphasis on their previous impact on the environment. I think that this trend can only be a good thing, as hopefully more and more companies will realise that it pays to be green, and younger consumers are more likely to buy their product if they think it is good for the planet.
Bold, Thick Lettering
It’s been a very noticable design trend in recent years for most logos and designs to ditch thin lettering and move towards bold. A particularly obvious example is fashion companies logotypes shifting, as shown in the image below. I think that this is a sign of the times in the fact that most of the time, logos are now shown in digital formats rather than print, and it’s easier to see thicker writing on screens. Also, in packaging design, it just makes more sense for writing to be more eyecatching and bold than it does thin, delicate and easily missable.
Authentic Representation
Designers, in my opinion, have not been portraying the world as it really is for quite some time. Espescially in markets such as fashion and beauty, as people obviously gravitate to impossible beauty standards. So the more recent move into authenticity is refreshing to me, across all aspects of design. Rather than pretending that everyone they’re catering to are the “default” straight, white, young, conventionally attractive people, brands are realising that being more inclusive can only spell out good things for sales and customer feedback.
Another trend is acknowledging social issues rather than just sweeping them under the rug, exemplified in the anti slave labour campaign shown below. Advertisers are often tasked with selling things as perfectly as they can, so seeing graphic design being used more and more for social change and real issues is a refreshing and important utilisation of the artform.
Minimalism/ Plain Backgrounds in Advertising
A very contemporary design trend is minimalism in advertising. If you think back to billboards in the 90’s or early 00’s, very rarely would you see something to blank and empty. However, designers have been embracing the fact that minimalism serves to bring focus to the important aspects of a design. Which in advertising, a lot of the time, is a product. I think that minimalism is extremely effective in drawing the eye and the attention to the most important thing in a layout, and I would like to utilise it more myself in the future, as I acknowledge that I tend to get carried away in my own designs.
The prompt for this essay was extremely open to interpretation. To write a thousand words about propaganda in one particular instance. This could be historical examples or a more modern one. Initially, I wanted to write about historic use, as I had already written an essay on the subject of Russian and Chinese war propaganda back when earning my diploma. However, I then decided to challenge myself and write something completely different instead.
I decided to go more modern with it, and chose a matter that I had been thinking about quite recently. The debate as to whether or not modern advertising counted as propaganda. Though this felt like a very broad scope, which led me to look at in a smaller capacity to start with; The Kardashians, and the recent public backlash to their sponsored posts with various diet tea companies.
I started by just looking around the internet for articles that would support my point- finding many in the daily mail online alone (here, here, and here). But I quickly realised that in forming an essay, I would need more scholarly sources.
I also needed a more nuanced argument, as I had only been trying to bolster my point rather than also knock it down. A well structured essay argues both sides, regardless of what you personally believe.
I used the “treesoning” method to start thinking about arguments on both sides of the equation. Unfortunately, the big sheet of paper I did this on was nicked off of my desk and used to protect the floor from paint when my mother was redecorating the hallway, but it’s still fairly legible.
The two boxes on the left are additional questions I want to answer. The “roots” are the arguments AGAINST my main question, and the arguments pressing against the trunks are the ones FOR. And the main question at this stage had been “Do the Kardashian’s Perpetuate Modern Propaganda?”.
At this point I also had a word document ongoing detailing all of my research and ideas thus far.
Then it was just a matter of compiling all of these jumbled thoughts into an actual essay.
I found that my sentence structure tends to be confusing, as I type how I speak, and my speech can be needlessly convoluted. So I put my text into a text to speech program to see if there were any sections that sounded awkward and needed adjusting.
I found this incredibly helpful! It also helped me get my wordcount down (as I had gone over a fair bit), as it was easier to HEAR if something had already been said, versus just reading. I went from over 1,300 to 1,094 in just my first read through using this method, so I definitely found it to be an invaluable tool.
Another helpful element was an example document provided that showed how referencing should be formatted both in and outside of the essay body itself. As this is my first essay in a properly marked capacity, I was unfamiliar with how referencing should be used, but I’m sure I’ve done it correctly now!
With the materials and processes I was going to use mostly decided, I made a more accurate flat plan following the actual dimensions the packaging would need to be to fit all of the products, whilst not being too large for the boxes that would only hold the Whiz itself.
I measured all of the components separately, and then all together being contained in the travel bag, and decided on 12cm by 20cm by 10cm for the box itself, not counting the euro slot tabs.
I made a document with the flat plan in indesign (at a half ratio to keep the file workable for now), and then transferred it over to photoshop to do quick initial designs as I find the program more intuitive to start. Using my sketches from my sketchbook, I filled in something vague to get the process started.
(folding tabs not included as designs wouldn’t be included on them apart from bleed|)
The client suggested a barcode sticker so the same box can be used for all of their products, which I felt worked really well, so I decided to roll with it for now.
I then developed this specific design further into colour and with the chipboard texture I’m hoping for it to be printed on, to better see how the actual product would look. I also decided to focus on the “every woman should have one” aspect highlighted in the description on their website, as I realised that the average consume could assume that this product is just not for them, when it can be utilised by all women.
Even though I spent so long on the logo I developed earlier on, it didn’t fit a finished package. I used American Typewriter with adjusted leading and kerning throughout, as I felt that it suited the print method and fits with the rustic feel of the cardboard. This design was just from off the top of my head with no implicit references, so I decided to take a few more cracks at it with different
–
I wanted to experiment with repetition in my next try at a design. I wanted to kind of go for a retro-ish vibe with the coloured squiggle, and I wanted it to be the only bit of colour on the box. I layered the brand name under the colour, but left one bold and uncovered in the left third where the eye is naturally drawn.
I took inspiration from the packaging for Easy Peasy. The bright colours weren’t what I was aiming for, but I really enjoyed the overlaying effect with the colour and the type.
The middle design is also what inspired me to use repetition when it comes to the brand name. Repeating the thing that you want the customer to remember is always a smart move in marketing.
font: PT Serif Caption with an adjusted vertical scale.
I repeated this concept in my third pass whilst also trying to be a bit more effective with my negative space. I decided to keep to using a serif font, as I feel that it fits with the material I’ve decided to use. However, I decided to keep using American Typewriter as the body text, as the readability works well. I also decided to make it black to assure that the customer would be able to parse the information.
Whilst these designs technically looked fine in a flat plan, I knew from experience with designing the Rebel Talk book cover that when things are actually printed out, proportions and text size can be inaccurate and differ from what you thought they would look.
However, as the only printer I have access to is maximum A4 size, and the only stock I have on hand is quite low gsm A3 paper, I was stuck on how to make a physical prototype to better judge the sizing. I decided to just half the sizing, try my best to make an accurate approximation of the flat plan on the A3, and hope for the best when it comes to construction. I then hope to print out the design aspects separately at the same half size to judge the layout.
I made a small prototype at half the size it would need to be for ease – it proved quite the hodge lodge mess, but it did the job. I learned a few things – one being that you should apply glue to ALL the tabs before assembly – and the second being that I had the exact measurements a bit wonky on the digital file, resulting in some misaligned bits. When I pick my final design and assemble properly for a further prototype, I’ll make sure that the alignment is absolutely perfect , and that the measurements are exact.
Another thing I noticed is that as I had been designing at a half size, the text was perfectly legible for this size, but would probably need to be halved for the final packaging as then it would be comically large.
The final note from making the first prototype is that the top euro tab slot should probably be longer than the bottom to make the seal more secure.
Second post to follow with physical prototype pictures and market research.
Print finishing refers to the actions performed on your print once the ink has dried. From making your product more visually pleasing to simply wanting to give it that little bit of extra protection, there are plenty of print finishing techniques to ensure you get the effect you want.
To better understand choices I’d make throughout the design process for Whiz, I needed to research more into how packaging is printed and finished. I started my research on a broader scope, looking at finishing across all print.
Die Cutting
A type of finish I was already aware of thanks to my Design Diploma was Die Cutting. A method that produces quite striking imagery. The die is a metal shape specifically made for the print needed, and cuts out a specific portion of the paper, creating a window or unique shape that can be used to frame things, or even be used in lieu of ink for text. This could be used in Whiz to mesh with a method of packaging I’ve seen a lot, wherein a portion of the packaging is cut out to show the actual product.
Whilst I think it would be effective to cut out the name Whiz with die cutting to reveal the product inside the box, I do think that this method of type is more suitable for books rather than packaging, as the delicacy of the letters could easily be damaged on the shop floor or in transit.
Embossing/Debossing
Embossing and Debossing is another finish that can be just as effective, but less likely to cause unnecessary damage in packaging. Embossing is when the paper is pressed in such a way that a portion of the paper is raised, and debasing is the same process, but to create a sunken in portion. One problem with this process however is that it is quite expensive, on most printing services equalling double the price of what would be a non embossed print of the same design. Because of this, usually only luxury brands emboss their packaging, so whilst it is an interesting route, it will probably prove too expensive for Whiz; which is a comparatively smaller business.
Blind embossing is the example on the left, wherein only embossing is used and it isn’t coupled with ink.
Foiling
In foiling, a metallic foil is applied using heat, providing a level of contrast and shine that normal printing simply cannot achieve, It is usually done in metallic colours, but can be done in any. I’ve used this process myself with screen prints before, but was mostly unsuccessful due to the lack of proper heat press. The process on a larger scale can be quite pricey, but is extremely effective design wise.
Spot UV
Spot UV is similar to normal varnishing, but it is only applied to certain areas of the paper, creating a design. From what I can see, this is most effective on black or dark paper, and is quite pricey to do on a large scale. I think that it can offer quite an editorial tone to something, but I think is a touch too serious and “classy” for the product we’re aiming to depict. And I think it’s something best reserved for book covers or similar design to that, as it is something that can be easily missed, and the whole point of packaging design is to get a consumers attention quickly.
Coatings
Coatings are a type of finishing wherein the finish is applied to the entirety of the surface area. This is a cheaper way of making something look a little more snazzy. The three main types are matt, gloss, and laminate. Matt is exactly what it sounds like; and is good for showing contrast and details well, as there’s no shine to distract from the viewing and allows for greater depth.
Gloss is a glossy sheen applied to the entirety of the design. However, this can make it difficult to see what the designs details are, but does have the appeal of making images more shiny. It is usually used in cosmetics and hygiene products, and doesn’t quite fit the vibe I’m going for.
Laminate is very similar to gloss, but has the added bonus of being more durable. Laminate is the process of a thin layer of clear plastic being applied to (usually) both sides of the paper. However, I don’t think this level of protection is needed for packaging that will be discarded upon opening – it’s more suited to products that need to be used again and again, such as menus.
Matte laminate is probably what I would opt to choose in this situation, however matte is considerably pricier than gloss. I do think it could be worth the price point, simply because I feel as if gloss looks cheaper, and isn’t commonly used for what we’d be using it for.
Whilst all of these finishes are fun and fancy and have their place, something I’m more looking into is a purposeful lack of finishing. I love the look and feel of “cardboard” packaging, something which is becoming more and more popular nowadays, cropping up more regularly in design awards such as the pentawards.
I think that considering all of Whiz’s products and add ons (bar the hand sanitiser) are reusable, it makes sense for the packaging to equally ecologically aware. Plus, it brings a more modern feeling to the whole design. A specific material I’d like to look more into is chipboard. Chipboard is a type of paperboard that is made from recycled materials, and is extremely affordable. Chipboard with just a splash of colour in the ink and typography is something I really enjoy the look of, and is something I think would fit the Whiz brand well. One of the only problems with chipboard dis that it cannot be used for heavy products, but the Whiz products are extremely light weight, so I believe it to be an effective solution.
Plus, with the money saved on a cost effective chipboard, options such as foiling or embossing would be more within price range. Such as the design here by Crude Chocolate:
With all of these in mind, I decided to move forward with the design phase knowing that the imagery I preferred was a more natural feel brought by chipboard, with just a splash of colour brought in with inks, and perhaps an embossed logo. I’d like to stick to the Whiz purple, as even though we were given freedom to change it, I believe the colour suits the product and brand well – being subtly feminine without following the easy out pink route.
This brief immediately caught my attention due to the artistic nature of the designs we’ve been asked to produce. English Weather began as a knitwear brand, but has since developed into rather exclusively a luxury scarf brand. All of their designs are made by the brands founder Gohar Goddard in physical mediums, so I want to stay true to that somewhat by not relying on digital means to create a print.
None of English Weather’s prints thus far have been repeat patterns, so I’d like to honour that and create something unique enough to fit into the brands previous designs, whilst still bringing in a new perspective.
We need to design for the Summer/Spring 2021 collection in a silk modal fabric, to a 140cmx140cm square. With this in mind, I’d like to use quite light colours with a white backdrop, as the fabric isn’t entirely opaque, so when it naturally drapes I want the bolder colours to still be seen.
Stuck on how to start, I began to make a mood board with suggested artists and some general images that I want to take inspiration from.
Art from Anselm Kiefer, Patrick Heron, Rauschenberg, Matisse, Grayson Perry, Cy Twombly and Gohar Goddard.
Also taken into account was the typical customer of English Weather and what they’re looking for, found in my blog post here.
My partner on this project is Phillipa, and she suggested that we perhaps take influence from Oxford’s architecture in our work, as it is a unique take that we could use to put a spin on our designs.
Stuck on what colours I wanted to use, I decided to take some illustrations I had completed earlier in the year that I felt had successful colour palettes, blur them, and then repaint over in an abstract manner.
I felt that some of these worked quite well whilst others were definite “no’s”. The ones I liked most were the ones that incorporated blues, pinks and some negative space. In particular, the last two in the gallery above. With this new idea for colour palettes in mind, I started to do some traditional swatches and experiments with watercolours and markers.
I really liked the combination of the hot pink and the bright turquoise. Whilst it brought an almost 80’s aesthetic, I felt that it still felt somewhat unique and modern.
My partner Phillipa had gone around Oxford taking High Res images of the architecture to influence the shapes I would use – which I did in the following images. I used a method wherein I placed the colours with rough watercolours first, waited for them to dry, and then freehanded with loose charcoals. The main tone I really wanted was one of liberation and freedom with the marks I made.
I was then planning on taking these ideas and producing them again but much larger in a traditional medium – but when I started experimenting with the images I had already produced, I realised that the carefree nature of the tests was exactly what I needed in the final product anyway. So I used what I had already produced to experiment in a digital medium for the final outcomes.
For the initial tests I worked to a 72dpi canvas of 70x70cm, just for the sake of ease.
I began by just seeing how some of my compositions would work in a square canvas – and then I started to incorporate other elements, such as hue shifts and freehand text from one of my tests. I really liked how the text looked over the free lines and charcoal, so decided that I would definitely incorporate this into the final design. I wanted the writing, however illegible, to actually say something of worth, so I took a few sheets of paper and began to write.
The writing includes various street names from Oxford (fitting with the Oxonian theme suggested earlier), the materials used to create the images, various buzz words that fit with the English Weather brand, and some filler to pad it all out.
With this new asset, I moved onto making potential final designs in Photoshop, in a document that fit the measurements and dpi necessary.
The process was quite tedious at times, as the way I was changing the colour of the very high resolution texts involved a lot of clipping masks and effect layers; however, I really like how these turned out. I’m planning on presenting at least two of these as options, and I am very open to feedback from the client when it comes to any changes that they would like to be made.
I think that the use of text adds a slight intrigue to the pieces without relying heavily on recognisable imagery. I’m happy with how vague and abstract the designs are whilst remaining somewhat architectural; and I feel that in an ever so slightly transparent, draping format like a silk scarf, my colour and texture choices are going to look incredible.
One thing I would like to do, ideally, is print these on some scrap fabric to see how the colour distribution works on legs around a neck when worn, but unfortunately I have neither the time nor facilities to do so. But from looking at examples of English Weather spreads, I think that I’ve done a passable job at making sure there’s no large blank areas that will look bad when worn.
From the presentation we were kindly given, I garnered that the typical customer of English Weather is the wealthy, older ladies of America. These women want to stand out and have luxury items – wearable art, if you will. My immediate thought as to what woman we’d be aiming this at is Prue Leith, well known as an uniquely dressed celebrity baker.
She is the person I have in mind throughout this process, just to give myself something concrete to work towards. I also looked through the websites of some of the listed retailers for English Weather to get a better idea of the kind of stock these scarves would be among, and found some to be incredibly helpful.
Ann Harlty’s boutique provided great imagery in the form of their instagram feed. These images work together to encapsulate the mood that this boutique works on presenting, and gives me a much clearer image of who would be wearing the scarf I’m designing.
Betsy Fisher was also helpful in the fact that they have a section on their website of looks that they have put together. This gave me a better idea of how a scarf would work with a full, well put together and expensive ensemble that the customer would most likely be wearing.
The second image here is something that I’d really like my scarf to work with – and even has similar colours to what I’m thinking of in the preliminary design stage.
Meanwhile, Patricia, a boutique in in Southern Pines, has the English Weather scarves stocked on their website, alongside a few competitors, most notably Sabina Savage.
These designs are noticeably much less abstract, with more focused imagery. However, as lovely as these are, I feel that an English Weather scarf is more visually interesting when worn, as the imagery is abstract to start so doesn’t lose any of its effect when obscured by fabric draping. Having a better knowledge of the competitors, I see that what makes English Weather truly unique is the fact that they don’t have to rely on motifs and animal imagery to be visually engaging – which is something I want for my own design.
Using all that I had learned, I made a moodboard to summarise the customer profile I was aiming to please.
This brief focuses on developing layout and typographic skills through InDesign and letterpress. We need to develop a book jacket design and several inner pages for the upcoming Poetry Book “Rebel Talk” for Extinction Rebellion. This brief immediately excited me as book cover design is something I’ve always wanted to try; and Extinction Rebellion is an organisation I follow closely and have supported before.
We began by typesetting the words “Rebel Talk” in various fonts last semester (a session I was unfortunately absent for), and after brief feedback from the client, we were told that Playbill and Condensed were typesets that they liked the look of. With this in mind, I set some experimental type.
I like messing around with type as much as the next guy, but my main concern was legibility considering it’s for public consumption and needs to be easily recognisable. So rather than mucking about with the placement of the type, I decided to get more experimental with the textures used. I did this by using the roller in a less than perfect manner, purposefully omitting certain chunks and then using scrunched up paper afterwards on the typesets to create a noisy effect.
I set my type to a portrait configuration considering that it would be on a book cover. I wanted there to be a subtle twist though, so I aligned it to the right rather than the left, with the vision of filling that negative space with a logo or text in the final design.
Another thing that the client said they wanted was the use of texture. So I used the same scrunched up paper on the inked up roller to make an interesting noise once it was rolled.
With these assets, I then moved on to designing digitally.
Working to a standard A5, I laid out the text and integrated one of the logos they had given us to use. However, I didn’t like how clean it looked next to the more rough and ready letterpress text, so I overlaid one of my remade textures over it to make it fit in better. I wanted texture all over this thing, so I filled the entirety of the back cover with one of my roller textures.
Page size: 148x210mm Spine size: 10x210mm (no margins)
It was starting to come together, but was still very evidently in the early stages of design development. To get a better idea of how books are designed, I googled book cover designs to just see what the convention actually was; and thus how I could twist it.
My main takeaway was that my cover was simply too empty. Even covers that didn’t have imagery had some major texture going on to make up for the simplicity, so I inputted one of the less solid roller prints I had.
I think that it nicely filled the previously overwhelming negative space whilst not distracting from the focal points (thanks to implementing a loss in opacity). Then, at the suggestion of my lecturer, I tried tilting the text in a way that would match their logo. It really elevated the composition in my opinion, lending it some individuality that it was lacking beforehand.
I briefly experimented with colour, since we had been informed that the client was open to brief splashes of it, but found that it didn’t hold the gravity I was expecting it to, so didn’t continue down that route for very long. I initially wanted to include the bright green of their signature logo and designs among their protests, but the client was more drawn to a bright red, which I didn’t feel suited the tone of their point of view.
After that, I began to play around with the spine and the back cover more. The initial, springboard design included a plain black spine and transparent shapes on the back as a placeholder for information I thought may need to be included.
However, it was brought to my attention that the functionality of the barcode matters far more than the aesthetic of it does, so the opacity would need to be brought way up, and that I had blocked out place for text that would never exist. I think I had confused this with a DVD case in my mind, and had stupidly blocked out room for runtime and things like that. With these things in mind, I switched it all around a bit and added some placeholder text.
These developments took me from a very plain idea to something more full and interesting. Whilst the client didn’t mention or provide their more shape based logo, I felt that it wouldn’t harm anyone and would include a more instantly recognisable motif for their brand if it was included somewhere. To keep it subtle, I kept it mostly cropped and on a low transparency over the back cover and a portion of the spine.
The text started at a 12pt size, but upon printing I realised it could do with being a lot smaller. The new 9pt text suited the size of the book much better and made it seem more mature. With two options for configuration for the client to choose from, I felt that my shot at designing the cover was mostly complete, only to be tweaked more if given direction (as any other choices made here would be reflecting my wants, not the clients).
“This series of workshops offers an introduction to bookbinding. You will explore various construction techniques using folded as well as single sheet pages and will learn 5 different sewing methods to produce different styles of books. You will follow a series of step-by-step practical demonstrations covering the basic principles of bookbinding techniques to build up your confidence and skills in simple bookbinding.
Over the 2 sessions, you’ll cover: • Basic principles of bookbinding • Simple handmade books using various binding techniques • Working with some of your screen prints, create one-off books or limited editions. • Dependant on time, the types of binding will include: simple pamphlet binding, pamphlet sewing onto a W-fold cover, stab binding, a maze book, and concertina/ leporello.”
This workshop was, by far, one of the most informative, and the one I can see myself utilising most in the future. There’s something about creating an object that you can hold in your hands and interact with that is just so satisfying.
We started with a simple method called Single Pamphlet Binding, wherein we used our screenprints made in previous workshops to create the covers. The process was an easy one. Only one signature was required, so you just have to fold a relatively small amount of paper in half and leave it to the side. You then cut a strip of much larger paper to fit the width of the unfolded paper and then some. After folding the cover in half, all that is required is a simple stitch to keep it in place within the cover, and to fold the excess cover over to create an inside cover.
We then moved onto a slightly more complicated method, the W fold, which is basically two pamplets in one divided by a part of the spine. I liked this one as I felt it allowed for more detail and volume of pages. I also incorporated papers that I had already printed on inside to make it a more interesting flip through, rather than a sketchbook waiting to be filled.
We then moved on to the lesser book like folds, such as the maze fold and stab binding.
Each of these were less impressive in my opinion, but quite fun for a few experiments. The stab binding is something that I immediately thought would be nice to use for swatches or scrap pieces from future experiments, such as photogram test strips and the like.
Susie Wilson is an artist that comes to mind after these workshops. She works primarily with prints and binding them into books like the example above. In future, I’d like to use her unique techniques (such as pop and cut outs) in my own binding. In particular, I’d like to play with the shape of the books, as I feel so much more than the average rectangle can be done, as shown by Wilson in the example below. I plan on asking Ruth how this could be accomplished soon.
Overall, I feel that being able to make books of your own design is an invaluable skill for Graphic Designers. What better way to bring your vision to reality than to make, by hand, the way in which it is represented? A method that was shown and explained to us was dos-a-dos, meaning back to back, in which two pamphlet books share one cover back to back. I intend on using this method to make my Zine alongside illustration, photography and letterpress.
Prosaic Vocabulary 