Initial Ideas, Research and Links for 'No News Is Good News': Message & Delivery.



From recieving my brief, I have started to collect and gather a series of resources of inspiration for my design.:

card boy. introduced in a presentation by tutor, Fred Bates.

Cardboy has a wonderfully vivid and child-like array of wonderfully playful and innovative designs- a real inspiration in terms of how nets are constructed...thinking "outside the box"

 oxfam unwrapped- The Oxfam charity site, promoting the idea that your money can be put to practical, life-changing use.

must have gifts- world vision.- The 'World Vision' charity alternative to the popular Oxfam site, offering a vast array of beneficiary gifts available for purchase- TB Screening, School Textbooks, Mosquito Nets, etc.

present aid- christian aid.- Christian Aid website, afordable, with many unique gifts "womery", etc...

practial presents.- an unusual selection, with great varies in cost and afforability.

I have recently felt very inspired by the natural tones and design used in the promotional film poster for Mike Leigh's latest release 'Another Year'- perhaps consider using more natural colours- brown, white and green as oppossed to the high contrast black? Softer, more encouraging aesthetic- more likely to persuade people as oppossed to "bullying" with a bold, forceful design.

//

Through my initial design ideas and research, I am sure that I would like to delve further into the idea of promoting "alternative gifts". Originally, my question or statement that I was going to propose to my mail shot audience was:

"Entrepreneur James Caan recently offerd 100,000 rupees to adopt a baby. But what do you have to spare?", though in reflection, and even at the time, I realised how short-sighted this could potentially be, and with many people not necessarily knowing of this story, it could result in a very long-winded and exhaustive piece, therefore i require something much snappier and "to the point", as well, I believe, as being presented on a much wider topic.

I now hope to rephrase my mail shot, perhaps with a message relative to the charitable gifts you can purchase, and this will, of course, require more research.

Some of the most important factors to consider throughout this project are:

*Message

*Meaning

*Audience

*Context

In graphics, these will impact the success of your work, in design, and final outcomes.

*Inform

*Instruct

*Educate

*Persuade

*Promote

What are you trying to achieve in your graphics practice? These factors should always be considered when designing.

what is graphic design?

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Promotional Film Poster

(dir. Michel Gondry)

Now, I may be a little biased (Eternal Sunshine...being my favourite film) but I love the concept behind this design.

Three of the main characters photgraphically portrayed with their eyes concealed by a "ripped effect" poster text revealing the "spotless mind" thoughts that the characters hold throughout the film.

The idea is really simple, but perfectly executed, and I think that the tactile look of the "ripped" paper with the photographic portraits.

I also like the brightness of the text- the yellow really drawing you in and grabbing your attention, and, of course, relative to the "eternal sunshine".

Totally inventive and inspiring, one of my favourite promotional film posters ever!

"appropriate, creative, obsessive, frustrating, organised, structured...design lives in the detail."

what is graphic design?

Papercraft: Design with art and paper (by Robert Klanten, S.Ehmann, and B.Meyer)

available on www.amazon.co.uk



Such a brilliant book cover! This really jumped out at me- simple, clear, and direct as to the contents, perfect to "judge a book by it's cover".

I think this is a wonderful example of graphic design, not only complimenting my love of papercrafts and print-based media and books, but also a great solution to graphic design's main focus: resolution of a problem through visual communication.

Bold and brilliant.

"graphic design...simple and effective."

what is graphic design?

Penguin by Polly Dunbar

polly's website.

I will, I am sure, always find myself inspired and charmed by children's books, and, in particular, their illustrations.

I was lucky enough to meet a creator of this particularly wonderful genre, Polly Dunbar, during the summer, at an  under 18's local arts competition.

Polly talked to the entrants, along with friends and family, about her love for illustration, studies, and where her degree from Brighton University has taken her- and, in particular, showcasing her new children's book, 'Penguin'.

As a penguin lover myself, I was instantly drawn to the charming story of a little boy and his toy, Penguin, who "said nothing", with a simple, sweet and comforting short story.

I really like the soft pastel colours that Polly uses throughout the book, being very "child-friendly", along with the small point size of the text, which maintains balance with the illustration, thus, being suitable both aesthetically in it's composition, and for the young target market- to enjoy all the adorable illustrations!

"graphic design...simple and effective."

what is graphic design?

michael ciancio.

I really love this bright, colourful, simple, yet incredibly fun and creative typographic poster by graphic designer, Michael Ciancio.

I think this poster can communicate to everyone: lovers of language, "bright young thing" graphic designers, children, and adults- with a clean, concise message and typeface.

In the near future, I hope to be the proud owner of these silkscreen print- any wall would be proud to have this hanging upon it!



"graphic design...is the effective delivery of a message, idea, or concept through the use of visual language."

what is graphic design?

Dior Cherie perfrume advertisement for Dior

As a photography lover and very amateur participant, as well as a lover of all things girly, charming, and French, this may well be one of my favourite paper-based advertisements of recent years.

Again, I think this is a brilliant example of graphics in context- the 'Dior' typography crafted in a beautiful pink ribbon style which ties in with the balloon string and colour scheme of the entire picture.

I really love the pastel colour palette and white tones- a personal favourite of mine.

So sweet and delightful, I love the whimsy and genteel look of this piece.

"graphic design...simple and effective."

what is graphic design?

Si Scott for Adidas

breed london.

In my world, Si Scott can do little wrong- and after discovering this illustrative graphics work comissioned by Adidas, that opinion has certainly been cemented.

Usually, sports brands are direct, bold, and quite frankly, often a little boring (in my mind), despite being globally known.

Thus, I was delighted when I saw this contemporary and fresh edge that Si Scott has given to the Adidas logo with his hand-rendered, organic illustrative style that he is famed for.

I love how unique and youthful this makes the logo appear, and looks wonderful in the crisp and fresh blue and white colour scheme.

A great idea- a really good example of thinking "outside the box".

"appropraite, creative, obsessive, frustrating, organised, structured...design lives in the detail."

what is graphic design?

As an aspiring children's book author and illustrator, the hugely talented and versatile author and illustrator, Chris Riddell, has been a huge inspiration to me over the years, since reading and falling in love with the book 'Kasper in the Glitter', which he illustrated for Phillip Ridley.

Ottoline and the Yellow Cat is one of Chris Riddell's persoanlly written and illustrated book, and alone is a wonderfully quirky and fun "mystery" book for the 8-11 age range, but what I always loved was the front cover of the book. The gold leaf-like texture of the illustrated section upon the spine works wonderfully with the bold red, giving quite a luxurious and expensive feel.

Along with the wonderfully distinct and creative illustrations, the typography works really well, light in weight to compliment the fine lines of the illustration, with a hand-rendered, "kooky" design.

"graphic design...simple and effective."

what is graphic design?

her morning elegance by oren lavie.

Another undoubted favourite (in regards to music videos) of all time.

I was first introduced to this beautiful pixelation motion video whilst studying an animation project at college, at the start of 2010, and it has been a constant source of inspiration since.

The amount of work and patience that must have gone into creating this piece is phenomenal- as each fraction of a second is beautifully captured and lit, narrating the lyrics of oren lavie's song.

During my animation project, I was neve presented with the oppurtunity to create a pixelation animation, but have always loved examples that have shown (Peter Gabriel's 'Sledgehammer' as a notable inspiration) and really would love to experience and experiment with this technique throughout my time at university.

"appropriate, creative, obsessive, frustrating, organised, structured...design lives in the detail."

what is graphic design?

issuu.

issuu is an online graphics and digitial media publication site that i recently discovered, and have really enjoyed exploring.

the site offers self publication in an interactive and professional way, to introduce others to your work in the comfort and accessibility of their own homes.

The site has wonderful fluidity, helped by it's interactive motion graphics- such as the scroll panel at the bottom of each page (see image above) to navigate to specific pages of the magazine...

...as well as navigational tool, the site provides a close-up for ease of readability, with a range of zoom- really practical for scales of both illustrations and text...

Often with web design, and online 'e book' like publication sites, there is a lot of "one or the other" factors when it comes to navigation, readability, etc, but this site really does provide the whole range- a clear, concice site with real user-friendly service for both visitors and users.

A really great site- i will definately consider using it for my own publications in the near future!

"graphic design...simple and effective."

what is graphic design?

anthony zinonos for BLEUdeCHANEL.

Anthony Zinonos, half of super-couple with Gemma Correll, is an experimental, paper crafts artist who is notable for his use of abstraction and geometric shapes.

I have been fascinated with Anthony's work for a long time- always unusually captivating.

Anthony's almost mathematical and technical style isn't usually my first port of call in terms of style, but I feel that his work has been instrumental in opening up my mind to new ideas, and seeing art and design in a whole new way.

I love the way he has combined techniques and materials in this promotional design for mini magazine for a chanel's men's fragrance 'bleu de chanel'- i love the landscape globe posing as the man's head- to me, an expression of a mindset of adventure and travel.

Really innovative and inspiring, I really love how Anthony's mind pours out onto the page...

"graphic design...is the effective deliver of a message, idea, or concept through the use of visual language."

what is graphic design?

[d'awww.]

everybody's book of kittens by gemma correll.

Even as a cat-a-phobe, who could not fall in love with these adorable kitten illustrations from gemma correll's 'everybody's book of kittens' zine.

I have been both a fan of gemma's work, and a great admirer of fanzine's for a long time, so, for me, this really is the perfect combination. I cannot wait for the day when I have enough time and resources to create my own zine, and outpour my loves and interests into such an accessible and charmingly hand-made zine booklet such as this one.

I love the hand-crafted quality of zine's, often photocopied for mass production and distribution to the masses!

Due to this printing process, I think that gemma's sketchy, textures style works really well here, giving a really raw but charming aesthetic.

"graphic design...simple and effective."

what is graphic design?

laura marling-ghosts.

I really can't get enough of paper cut designs lately!

I really love this music video directed by James Copeman for Laura Marling's single, 'Ghosts'.



The animated paper cut craft pieces effortlessly, and beautifully follow along with the lyrics of the song- the screenshot above being my favourite, with "all the ghosts that broke my heart before i met you".

The song, both beautiful and poignant, works wonderfully with the motion graphics and looks entirely unique, original and magical.

I would love to experiment, as I have mentioned before, not only with paper cuts in the near future, but also with their application into other mediums, particularly animation and motion- this video has completely inspired me, and i'm sure it will for you too.

"appropriate, creative, obsessive, frustrating, organised, structured...design lives in the detail."

what is graphic design?

kate sutton.

I have always found one of the most interesting aspects of graphics (and art in general) is the application process- in which situe the design is best placed, how versatile the piece can be- and I believe this example of adhesive bandages created by one of my favourite artists, Kate Sutton, is a fantastic example.

Design need not always have a purpose or function, but I think that it is always a massive advantage when it does, especially in unique or diverse ways, such as this.

I love Kate's distinctively playful, child-like, and colourful designs, and when printed upon an adhesive bandage like this, they are sure to raise a smile among any person with a poorly finger or "bashed" elbow.

Sweet, simple, and perfectly charming.

"graphic design...simple and effective."

what is graphic design?

m.o.m public service announcement.

jan avendano.

Love this "moms on mannerisms" animation short by Jan Avendano- bright, colourful, quirky and "straight to the point"- a factor which is often so important within graphic design, as it communicates quickly and efficiently.

(great simplistic idea- the typographic illustration getting "eaten away" to suit the theme of the animation)

I really like the use of creative colour development throughout the animation is a charmingly child-like style, direct to it's target audience, yet universal among all age ranges for it's appeal.

This is a great example of community-based or driven art work- fun, full of character and immediate. It's short pieces of animation like these that are so positive, even a neccessity, into some of the difficult problems in modern society (in this case, poor diet and childhood obesity) and how we can resolve them.

"graphic design...is the effective delivery of a message, idea, or concept through the use of visual language."

what is graphic design?

jonathan chapman

For a long time, I have followed and been fanatical about the papercut craft works of Jonathan Chapman, again, just like aforementioned, Steph Baxter, previously unbeknownst to me, being a former LCA graphic design student!

consistently throughout art and design, I have always found myself extremely fond of paper cut crafts, and always have always been very jealous of the incredibly patient and talented people who create them!

I was really drawn to the ficticious Ikea promotion brief that Jonathan Chapman set about designing shown here- though of course I would be bias with an abiding devotion to ikea!

I love the bold simplicity, and the ikea colour scheme of royal blue and golden yellow is one of my favourite (representing the sweddish flag colours)- this is just perfect, clean cut, simple, but very, very effective.

ikea, take note! 

"appropriate, creative, obsessive, frustrating, organised, structured...design lives in the detail."



what is graphic design?



Undoubtedly one of my favourite magazine covers of all time, how could you not love the humour and charm of Esquire's March 1965, 'the masculinization of American women' front page?

The bold image is fantastic as an image alone, but with great context, and communicates this with wonderful humour and tongue-in-cheek.

The colour scheme of the logo and type above also works well with the colouring, and takes nothing away from the main photographic feature.

"graphic design...is the effective delivery of a message, idea, or concept through the use of visual language."

what is graphic design?

oatmeal.



this wonderfully chilling Josef Fritzl illustration was designed and drawn by "oatmeal" a wonderfully talented and distinctive 22 year-old graphic communications student studying at Farnham UCA.

I love his use of texture (which is found in the vast majority of his works) and the un-easiness that the shaky, haunted typography provokes, working perfectly with the interpretation of the notoriously infamous Fritzl.

Just brilliant.

Communicates simply but, I believe, very effectively.

"graphic design...simple and effective."

what is graphic design?

clare owen illustration.



Another example of wonderful graphics work from the abidingly talented Clare owen, this time, a parisian- inspired "j'adore" print for Tigerprint greeting cards.

Once again, this example was found through flickr, what a treasure trove!

There are so many things I love about this design- the natural pink and beige tones in contrast with the block boldness of the eiffel tower, along with the circus- inspired decorative typography, but, perhaps most of all, is the slight-faded screenprinted style texture that the picture has achieved- giving a slightly used/vintage effect, without being over-the-top.

Simply brilliant.

"graphic design...simple and effective."

what is graphic design?

Design Project Leeds

company website.

Last week, whilst at work in a great bout of luck, I met a part-time promotions woman, whilst chatting away, I discovered that she not only is a freelance photographer, (when not selling promotional goods to the masses!) but is also the wife to a graphic designer, and head of the company 'Design Project' in Leeds.

After taking her business card, I curiously went on to look at both her, but particularly her husband's work, and was delighted with what I saw.

Through a variety of graphic work available through the online portfolio, I was particularly interested in the company's work towards the 44th D&AD annual design and production work.

The 600-page annual is a map around the art works submitted from the creative minds the world over, particularly focusing in on adveritsing and design.

Of course, to showcase great artworks, the outer shell has to have a high and eye-catching quality, to compliment the creativity within, and I believe that this has certainly been achieved.

The bright yellow colour is delightfully uplifting and radiates optimism and happiness- you really can never feel like a pessimist when you are looking at yellow!

The book has a clear, structured layout with angular formatting which varies throughout the book, keeping the eye and mind busy- for constant ineraction through the book, thus little risk of the viewer loosing attention.

The bold, metallic font used for headers throughout is also really eye-catching, and works subtly with the page colours, keeping the whole aesthetic sleek and very professional-looking.

"graphic design...simple and effective."