Updated pdf mock up of pages.


108pp + 4 cover

Students have 2 spreads each, 23 students = 92 pages
Leaving us with 16 pages

Title page: 1 spread
Foreword: 1 spread
Contents: 1 spread
Course philosophy: 1 spread
Acknowledgements: 2 page spreads

I've also added in two blank end pages.

We've still got one spread spare (At the moment situated at the end of the students work section and before the course philosophy).

Ideas for spare spread:
Quotes page - tutors, sponsors, photographers
Photo of their work space/studio
Class photo
Course details

The Consult case study.

One of my favourite design studios who I really admire, not only for their style of work but they specialise in brand design and apply it to a variety of medias including exhibition design.

They also have this minimal approach to the majority of their work. I particularly like the typographic experiment on the 'Stack' architects identity, visually communicating the meaning of the word.


"The Consult is a brand design agency. Our work is focused, crafted and considered, but above all it's effective."

A simple concept?

A Devon based design and branding agency recently rebranded themselves as 'Believe in' which has been taken through to the stationery with a complete language based approach.

Work purely based on a concept, is this also simplicity?


‘After 14 years in business, biz-R as a name no longer represented who we are and said little about the business we’re in’, explained Blair Thomson, Creative Director, ‘After a lengthy renaming process ‘Believe in’ was chosen for its clear and creative brand appeal and its ability to be integrated into a unique language-centric approach. i.e. Believe in branding, Believe in the tooth fairy etc. Our aspirations for the agency have continued to heighten and we can now concentrate on taking the business to the next level in Exeter’.”

Experimental Jetset interview.

http://blog.iso50.com/13625/experimental-jetset-interview/

I have always loved your name, Experimental Jetset. I know the origin to be a Sonic Youth album, but I’m curious how your opinions and conception of the name may have evolved over the last 11 years.

It’s funny, when you choose a name, as a studio, you have no idea you’ll be stuck with that name for the rest of your career. And while you are evolving, as a studio, the name remains the same. So yeah, it’s an interesting question. Indeed, the relationship between a studio and its name is a constantly shifting one. First you love your name, then you hate it, and then you realize you better embrace it. Then there are times that your name seems to exist completely independent from yourself: whenever we read the name ‘Experimental Jetset’, it usually takes us a while to realize people are actually writing about us. It sometimes feels like a completely different entity, something that exists almost separately from us.

Sonic Youth has always been one of our favourite bands, so we’re still very happy that our name specifically refers to them. At the same time, we realize that the ‘Jetset’-part in our name might come across as a bit tacky, in a sort of ‘lounge lizard’ way.
But then again, there is something to be said for tacky, silly names. Think of the name ‘the Beatles’: an extremely silly wordplay, in no way describing what the band later grew into. Or ‘the Beach Boys’: great name for a mediocre surfband, but not really fitting for Brian Wilson’s brilliance. But at the same time, these names are excellent, exactly because they reveal the beginnings of these bands. It ties these bands to their roots, which is great, we think. Likewise, the name ‘Experimental Jetset’ says something about our own beginnings, whether we like it or not.




What are some of your favorite names of other companies (within the field or not)? Given your answers, what do you think it is that makes for a good name?

Well, ‘Total Design’ is the first name that springs to mind. In many ways, it’s the ultimate studio name, isn’t it? It’s so brutal, so merciless… It would be impossible to pull off a name like that in this current era. In general, people have become a bit too squeamish to handle such an absolute, authoritarian gesture, we guess.

As for contemporary names, we really like ‘A Practice for Everyday Life’. It’s so smart to use your studio name as a semantic bridge between the ideas of Michel de Certeau and the practice of graphic design. What we also really like is the fact that the acronym is a word in itself: APFEL, which is German for apple. And what’s cooler than an apple?
Some of our former students just started a studio called ‘Our Polite Society’, which we think is a very good name as well. And we recently came across a studio called ‘The Luxury of Protest’, which is also quite cool. There are actually loads of very interesting names. ‘The Designers Republic’, ‘Graphic Thought Facility’, ‘Life of the Mind’… It’s impossible to mention them all.

It’s actually a very good subject you brought up. In ‘The Arcades Project’, Walter Benjamin wrote that “through its street names, the city is a linguistic cosmos”. So maybe we can regard graphic design as a sort of cityscape as well, as a linguistic cosmos of studio names. We very much like this idea.

Khoi Vinh wrote an article not too long ago about the state of honest criticism in design. At one point in the article he asks, “are we really having the kinds of meaningful, constructive, critical discourses that we really should be having?” I’m curious to hear your thoughts on this issue. Do you find there is a dearth of honest and effective design critique happening in the field? How does your studio approach criticism when it comes to your own projects?

This theme, of criticism and graphic design, is a subject that we find very interesting. Although, we have to admit, the way we approach it is quite different from the approach you suggest in your question. We’re much more interested graphic design AS criticism: the idea that a piece of graphic design is a manifestation of a certain way of thinking, a certain way of ordering the world, and that, by functioning in that way, that piece of graphic design is effectively critiquing the dominant way of thinking, the existing way of ordering the world.
Or, in a similar way, we also very much like the fact that two different posters, hanging next to each other in the street, are in fact critiques of each other. To refer again to ‘The Arcades Project’: at a certain point, Walter Benjamin describes the flaneur, walking around in Paris, being confronted by the posters, signs and slogans in the streets of the city: “Under these conditions, even a sentence (to say nothing of the single word) puts on a face, and this face resembles that of the sentence standing next to it. In this way, every truth points manifestly to its opposite. Truth becomes something living; it lives solely in the rhythm by which statement and counter-statement displace each other in order to think each other”.
So that is the sort of critical discourse that we find most interesting: the dialectical exchange that exists between designed objects. We’re much less interested in this whole sphere of graphic designers publicly criticizing and attacking each other on weblogs and forums.

In a way, we even think that this brand of online peer-to-peer criticizing might be hurtful to what we see as the true critical potential of graphic design. In our view, aesthetic languages should contrast as sharply as possible. Two posters, hanging next to each other in the street, should be as different from each other as possible: the viewer should resolve the tension between these two posters him- or herself. The tension should not be prematurely resolved in online forums, in discussions between designers; it should be resolved in the head of the viewer, by a ‘third party’, so to speak. Only then, to speak with Benjamin, “truth becomes something living”.
We understand this probably sounds pretty abstract; it’s hard for us to explain it in a better way. But we can give a very personal example. We grew up in Dutch cities like Amsterdam and Rotterdam. We can still vividly remember the contrasting aesthetic languages that were surrounding us towards the end of the 70s, in our pre-teenage years. On the one hand, buildings were carrying signs designed by typical ‘late-modernist’ design groups such a Total Design. Those same buildings also carried punk graffiti, band names, anarchist signs. Precisely because these two languages contrasted so sharply, they collapsed in our heads, and we were able to formulate a ‘third position’, a sort of synthesis of two opposing languages. And it is this synthesis that became the foundation of our own graphic language today.
Now, imagine that the ‘late-modernist’ designers, and the anarcho-punks, would have resolved that tension already for us, in some kind of premature discussion… Where would that leave us? There would have been no tension for us to solve, no synthesis to strive for. There would have been no room for movement at all.

We think this kind of online peer-to-peer criticism is counterproductive on a very practical level as well. In our view, what this whole subculture of small, independent studios really needs is a sense of solidarity. It could do with less bickering, less backstabbing.
We think this whole international scene of small studios is really special, and we should try to protect it as much as possible. The independent studio is pretty much a threatened species. The catastrophic influence from branding-, marketing- and PR-people becomes more and more visible every day. Large advertising conglomerates are taking over the kind of territory that was usually covered by smaller, more cultural studios. The world has gone mad, and even the smallest client suddenly wants to work with pitches and competitions, because they believe this is the way it should be. We really think that, in the middle of all madness, we should stick together. We should use our combined energy to defend this whole subculture of small studios. We shouldn’t be putting energy in complaining about each others work. “I would have kerned this logo in a completely different way”… well, of course you would have kerned it in a completely different way. But what’s the point moaning about that in public? We all have different graphic languages; that’s the beauty of it. Why spend so much energy on what are basically small stylistic differences?

We did enjoy Khoi Vinh’s article a lot though. It’s interesting to notice how people perceive things in completely different ways. At a certain point, he writes that “it’s not hard, in design, to reside in a frictionless environment”. We couldn’t disagree more. In our own day-to-day practice, design pretty much equals friction. As a studio, you constantly have to expose your work, protect it, defend it, alter it, repair it. You have to deal with clients, curators, editors, printers, etc., and on top of that, you have to deal with a design industry that can be quite hostile towards smaller studios. It’s pretty much an uphill battle. So the last thing you need are your peers, attacking you from behind.
It’s also interesting how Khoi Vinh, elsewhere in his essay, makes the connection between criticism and honesty. While, in our personal experience, there is a really strong link between criticism and dishonesty. A lot of the people who have publicly attacked us (calling us lazy, cynical, false, nihilistic, whatnot), have later contacted us, to ask us if we wanted to contribute to their design book or little art project, or if they could drop by at our studio, to visit us. In their mails, some even described themselves as “big admirers” of our work. This phenomenon has always struck us as very bizarre. Publicly they attack you, but privately they admire you. To us, it shows that criticism is often a pose, a facade. It’s certainly not always honest.

The above remarks refer pretty much to peer-to-peer criticism. The professional critics, well, that’s a whole other can of worms. Don’t get us started on that. For now, it might be enough to quote Brecht, who described critics brilliantly: “They are, to put it bluntly, enemies of production. Production makes them uncomfortable (…) They want to play the apparatchik, and exercise control over other people. Every one of their criticisms contains a threat”.



Visitors to your portfolio are immediately confronted by not only a massive amount of work, but also in-depth descriptions about each project. What was the rationale behind this, as you say, “neurotic description of everything”? Personally I am all for it, but I wonder if you could elaborate on your opinion of this style of description-driven portfolio.

You know how people sometimes say that “the work should speak for itself”? We never really bought that phrase. The point is, we are quite traditional, old-school graphic designers. We design objects to function within very specific contexts. So the moment you present those objects within a totally different context, as flat digital images on a website, it’s only logical that you need some words to at least sketch the original context.

Added to that, we really enjoy ‘background information’. We love reading about artists and their methods, watching documentaries about the making of movies, listening to writers being interviewed on the radio. We like the idea that behind every artifact, behind every designed object or piece of art, there is a complete universe of ideas, references, stories. So we like to add to this ‘background genre’ by creating, on the internet, a small hidden gateway to our own micro-universe. We are not saying that everybody should read it, or like it; on the contrary, we really created our archive for the small group of people really interested in it.

We were recently reading ‘Tropical Truth‘, the autobiography of Brazilian singer/songwriter Caetano Veloso. At a certain point, he explains a couple of his songs. Now, these are songs that we already loved, even though we couldn’t understand the Portuguese lyrics. These songs were already ‘speaking for themselves’, as it were. But in his book, Caetano explains these songs, line by line, and shows all the references, all the symbolism, all the hidden meanings. And we love that. It shows that things that are already speaking for themselves, can still contain all these references, all these ideas. And even though you can’t understand them, you can still sense them. It’s pretty much like a meal. Even though you sometimes can’t really recognize the exact ingredients, you can still taste them. After the meal, you can choose to read the recipe, or not. But either way, the meal ‘spoke for itself’.


What was one of the most valuable lessons you learned at Gerrit Rietveld? What advice might you have for current students looking to get the most out of their design program?

It’s not really a tactic or strategy, just an observation: a lot of the things we learned at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy only made sense after we graduated. We were late-bloomers, we guess. It took a while to let it all sink in. Also, in retrospect we have to admit that we were pretty mediocre students. It was only after graduation that everything clicked, that it all made sense.

Apart from being students, we also have been teachers at the Rietveld Academy, between 2000 and 2009. As teachers, we have seen all kinds of students. Mediocre students, who turned out to be late-bloomers, and became brilliant designers long after graduation. But also brilliant students, who just peaked too early, and burned out even before graduation. It’s not a general rule or something: we have also seen brilliant students who turned into brilliant designers. But the point that we are trying to make is that every person develops in a different way. The way a person is as a student doesn’t necessarily predicts the sort of designer he/she will be after school. So let’s hear it for the late-bloomers!

How often do you travel? Any locations that are currently most appealing and/or inspiring to you?

Last year, we travelled quite a lot. Peru, New Zealand, Ireland. And we visited the US a couple of times: Miami, Minneapolis, New York, etc. All these trips were related to either lectures or workshops. While, as a matter of fact, we are not really good public speakers at all. We feel really uncertain about doing lectures. So it’s a weird trade-off: you go through one hour of pure hell, and in exchange you get to travel, you visit exotic places, and meet friendly people.
People ask us to do lectures quite a lot, and in most cases we have to turn down those requests. It just takes up so much energy, to write and prepare a lecture. We are extremely nervous weeks before the lecture, and we feel very embarrassed weeks after the lecture. It also takes up too much time; we cannot afford to spend all our time travelling, while we actually should be in the studio, working. It can be also quite expensive: obviously, your flight and hotel are being paid for, but there are always lots of other expenses, especially if you want to stay a couple of days longer, which we usually do.
So yeah, in general we turn down a lot of requests. But sometimes people approach us at just the right time, and in those cases we accept the invitation. There isn’t really a logic to it: sometimes we accept the invitation, sometimes not. It’s all a matter of timing and luck, actually.

A recent lecture we did in Minneapolis, at the fabulous Walker Art Center, can actually be seen online.
(As you might notice, we were incomplete during this lecture. This movie shows only two-third of Experimental Jetset. Erwin managed to escape).

Anyway, to get back to your question. We really like Los Angeles. Driving around in the hills, looking at the bizarre houses, listening to KXLU on the radio, looking at record sleeves at Amoeba, browsing through zines and books at Ooga Booga and Family, eating incredible good vegetarian food, seeing bands at The Smell, not to mention the beautiful weather. It’s relaxing just to think about it.

Experimental Jetset, 15.11.2009

Really interesting read, spotted some of their criticism, especially being called lazy. Is this because of their minimalistic style? Definitely something to investigate further.

Experimental Jetset case study.

When I thought of basing my context book around the idea of simplicity and minimalism, the first visuals that came to my mind were experimental jetset's work.

Their purely typographic approach to their work is exactly how I think of simplicity. No unnecessary imagery and all information is considered and necessary.


Their use of colour is kept to a minimum, very rarely using more than one.

Case study.

Interview with Build

Established in 2001 by Michael C. Place, Build has since forged an international reputation as a forward-thinking Graphic Design studio with an exceptional eye for detail and a sense of style that transcends popular trends of graphic design. They believe good ideas can be applied to anything. Michael took a moment to answer a few questions for AisleOne.

How long have you been designing?
Left college in 1990, so 17 (and a bit years).

Who or what turned you on to graphic design?
I first heard the term in school, my art teacher saw the way I drew and asked if I had heard of “Graphic Design?, he lent me a book on the subject, I thought it was interesting. Then when I left school I did a foundation course, one of the modules was Graphic Design, I liked that the best and went on to study it at OND & HND.

Who or what are your influences?
One of the first was a guy called Rod Clark who designed a very forward thinking music magazine called “Underground?, an amazing proto-swiss-punk design. Malcolm Garrett for his Buzzcocks sleeves, but one of my biggest was Vaughan Oliver, his work for 4AD Records was (and still is) breathtaking.

What is your favorite typeface?
I’m not sure, that changes from day-to-day.

What is your favorite color palette to work with?
Black & White (is that a colour palette?).

Can you explain your creative process from brief to completion?
I’m guessing it’s really no different from most peoples, read the brief, think, sketch, think, procrastinate, sketch, think, procrastinate, present, refine, finish.

Do you use a grid system when designing and how do you feel about them?
Sometimes, depends on the project.

Who do you feel is currently doing innovative work?
I’m really enjoying the work of Stockholm Design Lab.

What are you working on now?
A set of 3 EPs for Flying Lotus, identity for Generation Press, planning for 2 book projects, 1 pitch, 3 big projects we can’t discuss and trying to shift a flu-virus.

What is your favorite color?
Blue or Black.

What is your favorite album?
I don’t have a favourite album, I have hundreds of favourite albums, I would feel that I would be letting someone down by singling out just one. At the moment I’m really enjoying ‘Pop Ambient 2008′.

What is your favorite movie?
Anything that contains the following–
Dinosaurs, spaceships, time-travel (backwards & forwards), aliens, cowboys & indians, vampires, vampire hunters, robots, laser-guns, light-sabres, submarines, flying cars, talking animals & Robert DeNiro.

Photography yearbook boards.

* Will come back and write about later, along with all the other posts.

Specs.

General:
210x210
Pages: 108pp + 4 cover
500 copies
4 colour process

High budget spec
Text: 150gsm Premium Silk
Cover: 350gsm uncoated matt board
Finishes: Emboss, White foil
Bind: Lay flat bind with fabric spine

Mid budget spec
Text: 150gsm Premium Silk
Cover: 350gsm uncoated matt board
Finishes: White foil
Bind: Lay flat bind with fabric spine

Low budget spec
Text: 150gsm Premium Silk
Cover: 300gsm Challenger Edixion
Bind: Lock bind

Cover digital mock up

Spec examples.

Fabric spine:

"Lay-flat' bind:

Deboss:

Foil:

Colour ideas for cover.

Acknowledgements development.

Cover ideas.

A definite grid.

Introduction development.

Experimenting with ways to seperate 'introduction' to fit in with our concept.


What Is Simplicity When It Comes to Logo Design?

A logo design of an organization is the element of its recognition in the market. Its importance cannot be undermined in any way since it has become mandatory for every business in order to mark its presence in the market. Organizations strive hard to get a good logo for themselves. Many of them even spend a huge amount of money for it and some of them don't. A repeatedly asked question is that whether a logo design should be simple or not? It is a much discussed topic and loads of different views are found among individuals regarding it. Many consider that having name of organization alone in the logo is simplicity while others think that incorporating any graphical illustration in the design is mandatory.

What simplicity is for a logo design? Is it regarding the expenditure? Is it about having simple colors or images in the logo? Well, we will analyze it one by one. Thinking that expending less amount of money will restrict your design to simplicity isn't correct because utilizing less money can also make you to compromise on its quality and other features but won't fulfill the requirements of a simple logo design. It can make the image of your organization to suffer greatly. This even doesn't mean that only a huge amount of money can get you a perfect logo for your business. One should know all his requirements well before getting involved into the process of designing so as to utilize the optimum amount of money with proper strategy.

Loading up your design with loads of colors, images and fonts will make it extremely complex for your target customers to understand it. Simplicity is all about how well your customers are able to understand your logo design. A logo which can communicate your business vision and your corporate message easily with optimum colors and image induction into it makes up a simple logo design. Some businesses are required to extend an artistic image through the logo design asking for some big illustration or comprehensive image but as far as it is understandable, it can be termed as simple design.

A design has to build an identity of a business therefore it should be unique so as to stand out among competitors. Making the features to revolve around your corporate vision and limiting it to your corporate fundamentals only will smoothly add simplicity to it. Simplicity doesn't at all mean not to use the latest technology or trends for a logo design in fact it is necessary to keep the logo up to the mark of latest demands of the market otherwise your customers will not be able to regard your business or product as of high standard.

Simple logo designs are easy to understand and memorize for the target audience. Only a glimpse over it grabs the attention of the customers. The more easily your customers understand your logo, the more they are able to understand your business and can relate to your products. It also helps in gaining the trust of your target audience.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5628623

What is minimalism?

A movement within the arts that took place in the late 1960's and the early 1970's.

"Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is stripped down to its most fundamental features."

"Minimalist design has been highly influenced by Japanese traditional design and architecture. In addition, the work of De Stijl artists is a major source of reference for this kind of work. De Stijl expanded the ideas that could be expressed by using basic elements such as lines and planes organized in very particular manners."

"Architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe adopted the motto "Less is more" to describe his aesthetic tactic of arranging the numerous necessary components of a building to create an impression of extreme simplicity, by enlisting every element and detail to serve multiple visual and functional purposes (such as designing a floor to also serve as the radiator, or a massive fireplace to also house the bathroom)."

Minimalist design or are we being lazy?

Minimalist Designs – Is it a trend or are we just being lazy?
http://www.graphicdesignblog.org/minimalist-design-trend/

"I know what you guys must be thinking…how minimal designing could be bad? But don’t get me wrong here, I just wish to explore the negative aspects of a trend that is roaring in the graphic design world for past decades. Although, I completely agree when said "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication" but not every design venture can survive minimal designing.

Minimalism is a trend in graphic designing that involves stripping down the design to its most basic features. Although minimalism is percieved as an effortless task but only graphic designers know it isn’t that easy. Minimalism involves extreme conceptualism and abstraction. But then again, there are pros and cons of everything in this world.

Minimalism or Laziness – Is it all the same?

Minimalism if adopted without any relevance and purpose can be very damaging. Sometimes, just to get the thing off our shoulders, graphic designers pass off a mediocre design as minimalism. SO let us see how minimalism can become harmful?

1. It’s the ‘IN’ thing, so I MUST go for it:

The most common motive that we hear for minimalist design is that, they are the ‘IN’ thing. While I completely agree to the fact that minimalism is a popular trend, but it has its limits. Consider this business card. Don’t you think there are too less details on it? No contact number, no address, not an email id. What is the point of a business card if your client is not getting the complete information about your business?

2. Its easy for novice web users…Is it?

So it is true that a novice web user would find difficulty in accessing a detailed website, hence minimalist website design will be easy for them. But keeping it too minimal fails to convey your business purpose and creates a false impression on your customers. The purpose of a website is to facilitate customers and inform of your services. What’s the purpose of a websites if it does not clearly explain what services your business has to offer?

3. Details create clutter…even the important ones?

Anything excessive is damaging, be it minimalism or adding details to a design. While it is true that too much clutter in a design can create a messy design, but going too minimal fails to reach targeted audience. Have a look at this package design that shows nothing but two alphabets denoting the flavor of a salt, which are inspired from the periodic table of elements. I know my Chemistry is horrible, but how can one expect a common man to understand this concept?

4. Explanation creates confusion…really?

There is a difference between cluttered and content-rich design. Sometimes, designers simply opt for minimal concepts because it leaves very less chances for them to be wrong. Although it is true that unnecessary design elements can create a mess, but an informative design is also necessary in explaining the clients about your business. Have a look at this minimalist print ad…it is so minimal that I’m sure most of you might not recognize the company who is advertising in the first place.

5. Simple is creative – Is it always?

As I said earlier, I do agree that simple is sweet and it is considered as creative. But what is the point of minimalism if it does not accurately communicate the purpose to the target audience? Observe the logo above and decide is it really a creative logo? To be honest, I didn’t find anything fascinating about it. You can’t tell what industry this logo is for, what company is it made for or what does it signify.

You decide – Is it Minimalism or Lazy Designing?

I know designing minimal things is not an easy task and takes a lot more effort than designing normal designs. But don’t you think when the message is not properly conveyed, it looks as if the graphic designer has been lazy not spending enough time on the concept. What do you think?"

This post caused quite a debate:

"I think when done well, minimalism looks good and is easy to comprehend without all the clutter."

"I really think it depends on the situation. For some clients a minimalist design might convey the simplicity/elegance of what they offer. Some designers, however, never branch out from this approach and use it for all their creations regardless of whether it works for the client or not. I think it would be fair to label such designers as either lazy, or just ill-prepared for the work they are taking on."

"I’m a fan of minimilist design. I care about the content, not the design."

"Yes, simple is better! It always looks more professional."

"They say good writing is re-writing. Well, good design is refinement. What’s doubly-disheartening is how this post overlooks the incredible amount of work that goes in to producing a harmonious, clear, and intriguing minimalist design. There’s nothing “lazy” about it. If anything, I find the desire to throw whatever comes out of you on the canvas and call it finished to be more lazy than anything."

Note to self.

Possibly a good book to look through.

Minimalist Graphics: A cutting edge less-is-more approach to graphic design
Maia Francisco

Starbucks case study.

Quoted from Creative Review

"US coffee giant Starbucks has unveiled a new identity created by its in-house design team and studio Lippincott. It centres on the Siren logo and does away with the words "Starbucks" and "coffee" altogether...

The 'Siren' figure has been part of the Starbucks identity since the company launched in 1971 and this latest redesign ties in with their 40th anniversary. The new logo essentially takes the Siren out of her ringed frame (see previous iterations of the identity, below), changes the background colour to Starbucks green and removes all text – perhaps a nod to the fact that the company now sells a range of other products in addition to coffee. The identity will be rolled out across all branches in March.

"From the start, we wanted to recognise and honour the important equities of the iconic Starbucks logo," writes 'Mike P', the company's senior creative manager.
"So we broke down the four main parts of the mark – colour, shape, typeface and the Siren. After hundreds of explorations, we found the answer in simplicity. Removing the words from the mark, bringing in the green, and taking the Siren out of her ring. For forty years she's represented coffee, and now she is the star."

The next step was to bring in a "more sophisticated stroke width and spacing and a smoother line flow." The Siren's hair and facial features were apparently also refined.
The question is, in light of last year's most infamous logo debacle could the new Starbucks ever 'do a Gap'? I very much doubt it. Despite the dissent already emerging on the company's website from largely negative commenters – not to mention the need to monitor their 1.1m followers on Twitter – one thing that stands out is that Starbucks has ensured the big reveal is shown in context; on a paper cup.

It sounds obvious, but when the Gap identity announced itself to the world online, it was the same old decontextualised jpg that people were posting, emailing and generally taking apart. Starbucks has already countered the 'you have to see it in the flesh' argument by simply showing it in the way most people will engage with it. And doesn't it seem all the better for that?"

Yearbook digital mock up.


Open publication - Free publishing - More cover

Ignore spreads, intro, contents etc. Though the general ideas are there, they aren't final.

It was mainly just to see how everything would come together. We've been working on everything separately, layouts, cover etc, and just thought it was time we started to see it all together.

Yearbook photos.

Struggling with this. Could do with someone just picking out what they thought were the strongest.


Crit feedback.

Really good crit. Was great to see where everyone else is up to, and got some good feedback.

Art ward feedback
Possible scope for expansion: Mag ads, leaflets, publication with work to buy, exhibition guide
Possibly move '+' up to the ascender height to make it look more like a 't'
Are the arrows around the exhibition unnecessary

End of year show feedback
Play with how it folds - french fold? - push 'take a peek'
Use teaser images rather than the full images

Type design feedback
Make sure research comes through more
Show typeface in context and put in publication
Convert to shapes rather than strokes - weights
Colour?

To clarify.

Things have been a bit hectic these past few weeks and I felt I needed to re-evaluate where I was going / what I was doing (just for my own sake really).

Significant briefs:

The Art Ward (D&AD brief)
- Pitch completed and submitted for competition
- Range completed: Logo, 3 posters, signage, exhibition space, badges, van, website
- Needs the range expanding for module submission - possible exhibition guide, not sure what else

End of year show pitch (turned into a significant brief)
- Pitch completed and submitted for competition
- Range completed: Invite, poster, foyer, interior/exterior signage, website icon and page
- Maybe develop design direction for module submission
- Happy with the range, though maybe an exhibition guide to tie it all together

Typeface design brief
- Have 1 typeface designed out of the 3 proposed
- Need to get other typefaces done and complete promotional material to go with them

Cafe branding brief
- Have initial ideas
- Need to get logo clarified and applied to menus, signage, interior graphics, etc a.s.a.p

Photography yearbook brief (collaborative)
- Concept and design direction almost done
- Possibility for fundraising events material, end of year show material etc

Other briefs:

Flatland brief
- Have initial ideas
- Will be a quick 2-3 day brief as a break from significant briefs

BAGD Yearbook pitch
- Done

Questions for tomorrows crit.

D&AD Art Ward brief
Obviously this has already been submitted to the competition, but i'd like to develop/expand it further for the module submission. Any thoughts on how I could do this?

End of year show brief
Again, something I want to develop for the submission. It turned into quite a substantial brief for me. Though I like the concept, I'm not sure the design is suitable for the college. What do you think?
Any ideas how I could make the concept come through stronger in the interior signage?

Type design brief
(Typeface has been printed but please find the rest of development, i.e spreads, on my blog)
Thoughts on the typeface?
Any ideas how I could make the type specimen more 'creative' rather than just a publication?

* Please note DA&D brief is on a separate blog due to privacy restrictions (opened in my tabs)

Another timetable.


Possible final logo for Photography yearbook.

Carl made the final adjustments and so we're now just waiting for their approval.

More photography layouts.

(Again, considering decisions at the last meeting)

Above spreads have a 30mm margin at the top, below spread is 20mm. Both with 12mm margin on the sides and bottom.
Initially started with 40mm which was definitely too much. I have been pushing for the larger margin at the top, it's just a personal preference. It might make sense to maximise the space for the images, though.

Decisions decisions.

We met today to make as many decisions as possible on the layouts.

Decided upon

Try 10pt title.
Pg number in bold and size of bodycopy (7.8/9.5).
Bodycopy is regular, 7.8/9.5 Helvetica Neue.
Contact details have no title and just a dash pre information.
Contact details, in order – phone, email, website. Phone = international formatted as such +44 (0) 7653 789 324.
Title of body of work is bold (maybe italic/needs testing).
Dashes appear after name and before contact details (test on image captions).
Information on images appear on left hand side formatted as such, ‘Clockwise from top left:' Or maybe ‘From left to right:’. Currentlty we are unsure if any additional information is going to be added such as camera details.
Pg number sits in first column, centered/aligned left/right – thus needs testing.
Preliminary borders for right, left, base = 12mm

Still to decided upon/test

Name in light/bold or regular/bold?
Alignment of persons name – in line or on two lines?
Top margin size?
Positioning of information in terms of height on the page?
Does all image detail remain on the first page? Or does relevant image names appear on the 2nd page?
Could pg numbers look better moved down to the middle?
Does a dash go at the base of the first column that has the page number in?
Where the contact details sit – same page on each page to add legibility when you flick through, or same distance from statement and photograph names so it will look nice on each spread?

Photography layout development.

Taking into consideration what was discussed in the last meeting.