OUGD403 Studio Brief 4 - Message & Delivery: Types of Newspapers

A task in our studio session was to construct mind maps on how different news was delivered though different types of papers and other media. These ranged from broadsheets, middle market tabloids, tabloids, regional, locals, free papers, and other areas such as websites and TV programs.

I wasn't previously aware of all the types of newspapers we went through in this task so it was helpful to go through them all.

OUGD401 Visual Literacy - The Language of Design

Semiotics 

Semiotics is the study of different signs and sign processes such as their symbolism, signification and communication. Semiotics Semiotics is closely related to the field of linguistics which studies the structure and meaning of language. There is a much wider definition than the the study of signs however, and there are many different layers to it. 

Visual Communication

The process of sending and receiving messages, by the means of type and images. it is based on understanding symbols, gestures, signs and objects. It is affected by different audience, context, media and different methods of distribution.

Visual Literacy

Visual literacy is the ability to construct a meaning from images and type. It interprets images of the present, past and a range of cultures, and also producing images that effectively communicate a message to an audience. Visual Literacy is the idea that pictures can be read.

Putting a image in to context could alter the meaning of the image. For example a + or x could mean a number of things but when grouped together can be seen as a mathematical equation. 

Next to other symbols such as religious ones it represents a crucifix, the symbol for Christianity.  

Visual Syntax

The syntax of an image is when it refers to the structure and visual organisation of elements in an image. It is basically the building blocks of an image and how we read it.

Elements of a Visual Syntax:

Framing                             

Format 

Scale 

Colour 

Font 

Stroke  

Weight 

Composition  

Layout 

Motion 

Light  

Rhythm  

Space  

Depth

Texture 

Text 

Words 

Tone 

Shade 

Line 

Mark 

Direction 

Editing 

Manipulation

Simplification 

Emphasis Layering  

Hierarchy 

Visual Semantics 

The different semantics of an image is when an image fits into a cultural process of communication. It also includes the different relationships between form and the way in which meaning is created.

OUGD403 - Brief 3 - Alphabet Soup: Typeface

Brief 

Design a typeface for a full alphabet and 6 extra glyphs of your choice including but not limited to punctuation marks (a to z, !, ?, @, £, :, .) The typeface must represent the personality/character of your partner. You will discover their personality/character through a series of set questions. You must select an appropriate typeface from Adobe Font Folio as the starting point for your manipulations. 

Using your newfound appreciation of the anatomy of typographic forms and the wealth of research that you have already gathered, focus on the manipulation of your existing letterform in order to solve this problem.

  

Background / Considerations

Experiment with a range of possible line qualities, marks, colour and paper types. How will colour help the communication? What stock (paper) can you work with? Do you need to draw, photocopy, photograph, collage, trace or combine processes? 

Your final resolutions should read as convincing, legible, well crafted and clearly presented typographic forms.

Eva Clapham

When are you happiest? 

Road trips/Camping with friends 

What is your greatest fear?

Family member dying

What is your favourite place?

Festivals/General Atmosphere 

What is your earliest memory?

Picking up bumblebees and trying to kiss them

Most embarrassing moment?

Being sick in bath after drinking

What makes you unhappy? 

Falling out with people

Who would play you in a film of your life?

Jennifer Lawrence

What is your favourite smell? 

Sunday dinner

What is your favourite word?

Home

Fancy dress costume?

Elf

What is your guiltiest pleasure?

Gaming

How do you relax?

Drinking tea/Reading a good book

What is your dream job?

Festival organiser/Band member

Music?

60s/70s, Oasis, Rolling Stones
Trance/House 

Movies?

Tim Burton, Quentin Tarantino, LOTR, 300, Troy, King Arthur, Fantasy, Medieval

Favourite Colour?

Black

What kind of typography/lettering do you like?

Serif, Calligraphic

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Working in a design house or for a festival 

Favourite font?

Garamond

My Impressions when I first met her:

Calm 
Polite 
Neat
Cheerful 

These questions have given me quite a good idea of what typefaces to start thinking about as Eva seemed to be interested in Traditional, Medieval and Victorian themes which I gathered from the films she likes and rural calm places like camping trips and festivals. 

I have researched some work using these key words.

Festivals seemed to be quite prominent in her answers so I decided to look at some existing posters and focus on the lettering. Eva's favourite types of typography are serif and calligraphic which relates to the areas of design she is interested in (Victorian, Traditional, Medieval).

Medieval calligraphy relates to a lot of the themes in the answers Eva gave me such as the fantasy films and books she is interested in. I found this project on the website typography served where medieval calligraphy has been used to write months of the year.

The text has been hand rendered using a marker pen and sections of the letters have been drawn in separately. While I like how the letters look and how they relate to some of Eva's answers I think that it I too aggressive and for me, brings up connotations of violence and due to the time period the typography would have been found.    

A starting point for this project was to experiment in hand drawing letters. Here are a few examples.

I want the letters to connect to one another to match Eva's handwriting as it already fits the type of design I'm heading for and it is another link to her personality. Here are some fonts that I think fit her personality as they are all serifs and have traditional characteristics. I can take elements from the type I have looked at previously and create a combination of multiple typefaces.

My starting point for this project is to select a font from Adobe Fontfolio which represent Eva and incorporate other elements of the things she is interested in from the information I have gathered while speaking to her. 

OUGD403 - Studio Brief 2 - Alphabet Soup Visual Research

After thinking of words relating to my given word 'Speech' I began looking at existing type designs and images of speech and sound.

I visited Brighton University's graphic design open day last year and collected a book showing students work. One piece I particularly liked was a font designed by Bryn Mackenzie called 'Broadcast' where he looked at analogue recordings and combined them into a typeface. I like how despite the letters being distorted quite a lot the original letters are still legible, also I like the organic feel to the font how each letter is not specific and the randomness makes the alphabet as a whole flow well. 

  

 

Another image that came to mind was Joy Divisions Unknown Pleasures album artwork. The design is sound waves recorded from an exploding star. I like the minimal composition and the white lines on black background to me communicate space and distance. I also think the abstract shapes generated by the sound could work as letters in a font.  

OUGD401 (Study Task 3) 500 Word Comparison

Context of Practise - Task 3

Write a 500 word critical comparison of the two images below. Compare and contrast the two images regarding the following

• Choice of font and style of illustration 
• Purpose and meaning of the images
• Who the potential target audience of each image is
• Historical context 

Image 1

Image 2

Image one titled ‘The Uncle Sam Range’ is an advertisement for a cooker, which is not immediately obvious as the image of the cooker is pushed to the side and it seems that the main focus of the poster is to show wealthy American life. Image two is a propaganda poster from 1915 that is trying to encourage British men to enlist for WW1. Like image one this is not obvious at first and also has the same patriotic feel. Both images have clear elements of their nationalities through the details and objects such as the bald eagle and the clock showing 100 years since American independence, finding as many examples to portray the ‘American dream’ as possible. The boy playing with the toy soldiers in image two to the colour scheme used in both. A difference between the images however is everything on the design of the cooker advert is Americanised in a way which shows the importance of America. The western font used is in gold to again, show the wealth of the country and a reference to the Californian gold rush from 1848-55. The whole image is showing off America and the dream life, and advertising that if you buy this cooker you will achieve this perfect life. The world sitting at the table is suggesting other counties should come and experience the superior American lifestyle indicated by the list showing stereotypical foods degrading the countries. 

Similarly to image one, the second image is portraying British culture through the patterns on the wall and sofa and calling WW1 ‘The Great War’ shows it will be something you can be proud of being involved in. The fathers stare out of the image looking at the viewer instead of at either of his children is captivating and combined with the capitalisation and underlining of ‘you’ gives the impression that the reader is being spoken to directly and almost being guilt tripped into it. His children may want to hear things about it, which is why it is they asking the question and may be disappointed if he has nothing to say because of his lack of involvement. The image is also reassuring showing that the war has clearly been won even though it would have been during the war in 1915 when it was produced and you can still live the ideal life, much like the ‘Uncle Sam’s Range’ image.

Another similarity between the two images is the aesthetics, they have been illustrated and hand painted and both rely on image rather than text. They both also focus on targeting men due to the male characters in both images. In image one Uncle Sam is sat round the table with everyone’s attention directed at him, he is the man you should aspire to be and buying this oven will help towards that. Image two has the his (assumed) daughter looking up at him like a role model, much like the portrayal of his son playing with toy soldiers as if fighting in a war is something he aspires to do.

Overall, while both these images show strong themes of patriotism, their differences highlight the differences between British and American culture at the time, the British side seeming much more subtle, while America is flaunting how far they have come since gaining their independence.

OUGD401 (Study Task 2) Prospectus Analysis

Prospectus 2014/15

This is the current Leeds College of Art prospectus targeted at creative students looking to study a higher education course. The design is somewhat of an improvement from the previous years but overall is fairly uninteresting. 

The front page uses pentagons which are supposed to represent the mosaic of the original college sign but doesn't make that connection clear enough. They also obscure a good image of a students work. The pastel colours used are very bland seeing as it is supposed to attract the attention of students and does't make the college seem exciting. 

The type on the front page has been specifically created for the college. The foil letters are a nice detail, although at certain angles and lighting it can be difficult to read. One of the serifs on the 'A' is slanted which makes the typeface look inconsistent and causes the letter to stand out for no reason. 

Inside the booklet the text has been printed really small and there is a lot of body text on some of the pages which can put people off reading it. Also the type on the front of the booklet wasn't complete only the letters for 'Leeds College of Art' and the titles throughout the rest of the booklet a font as close as possible has been used which again is a break in consistency.  

Another element of bad design is the 'floating images'. They have been added to the page with what looks like not much thought in terms of layout and have used a stereotypical stock image of some paint tubes which was also in the previous prospectus. Changes that could improve the current design would be incorporating the pages into a grid and use a more balanced combination of students work to students working.

A thing which works well in the prospectus is the colour scheme used for the headings of the courses. This makes it easier for the reader to navigate the prospectus and clearly what information relates to the subject. The cream boarder against the white box the text and images are in give the page too many layers and the colours don't work together making the page not very aesthetically pleasing.   

OUGD401 (Study Task 1) 5 Pieces of Work

 

Florian Nicolle

I especially like these two portraits because of the use of the white space around the thin detailed pen lines and how there isn't an end point to the drawing. I also like how colour has only been used in the shaded areas and doesn't distract from the illustration but adds another layer.   

Website: http://www.behance.net/neo_innov

Chris Ozer

This pictures use of symmetry is something that appeals to me and the vanishing point adds and intriguing depth to the image. I also like the moody tone he has created through his use of lighting and editing and has managed to capture a normal scene of the new york subway which millions of people would see everyday and turn it into something different. 

Website: http://chrisozer.com/

 

Imeus

Last year I went to a screen printing exhibition called Pick Me Up where I first saw Antony Peters' (Imeus) work. He combines illustrations with his own prints to take images out of context and give them a new meaning. 

Website http://www.imeusdesign.co.uk/

Nico Bolacha (Neekoe)

Motion graphics is an area that I am not very familiar with and am constantly inspired by it. It takes elements of graphic design a step further through moving image and would be interested in learning more about it.

http://vimeo.com/29096514

Midnight Marauder

Freelance designer based in Los Angeles Midnight Marauder re-imagines movie poster designs into his distinctive gritty style. I prefer almost all of his alternative designs to the original because of his use of type, images and layout effectively set the tone for the films.

Website: http://www.midnight-marauder.com/