LA: A Personal Survey (week 13)

A personal survey

Having read the basics of surveys in detail, choose someone you know (other than yourself) and create a logo for that person according to the two steps below. The person may be a family member, a friend, a fellow student, a celebrity or anyone you could physically interview and who would be able to participate in your interview.

Step 1

Look at the Core Interview Questions on page 103 and conduct an interview with your chosen individual. Make sure that you get the data on what the person’s persona is: Who are they? What are their personal goals? How do they define success? Etc.

The edition of Designing Band Identity that I have I found these questions on page 121, I take it that these are the same questions as in earlier editions.

Step 2

Now use this person’s name to create a logo for him/her. Remember to keep the previous criteria and guidelines we’ve covered on logos in mind. For the purposes of this assignment, you should create three logo options (of which at least one should be in full colour). There are no restrictions such as type-only, etc. so be creative! It is important, though, to treat this as a professional logo execution, which the “client” may wish to use in his/her own capacity.

Step 3

Publish the answers/data from your survey as well as a rationale (a document in which you explain and interpret your ideas) for your logos, based on this research. Also hand in the three options of the logos as PDFs and tell me which one is your favorite, as well as which one your client preferred.

The PDF for lolly

PDF

LA: Front Cover (week 7-8)

This weeks LA says:

Question 1

Practical assignment (Two and a half days)

Have a look at all the tasks and lessons you have done over the last few weeks. Your task now is to make a cover (a front page) for your very own magazine.

1. Go through the Graphic Design history timeline and choose a style and designer that you feel relates best to your personality.
2. Using that designer/style as inspiration, use your name or part of your name and create a title/name for your magazine. Feel free to be creative!
3. Add your own pictures, text, illustrations, elements as well as the proper typography and titles for your cover.
4. The expression must represent your personality (remember the color choice regarding this).
5. Remember to include what kind of magazine it is, for example cars/bikes, fashion, design, weddings, etc.

 

Style and designer

I have chosen Swiss design, as the style I feel relates most with my personality. I have also looked at post modernism, and finding it difficult to choose between the to. The Swiss style is clean and minimalist. While post modernism is more chaotic and colorful. I went with swiss style, in the end, because at least that’s how I want my personality to be like. The designer that I found was Max Bill, the design I could find from him was colourful, and I love colors. Lots of them, and I have since I was a child.

Title and Name

I named my Magazine DASE it is the two last letters of my first and my middle name linDA eliSE. DASE is a danish word, also used in Norway (long time ago) it means something like relaxing in an easy way, or being lazy. Which I ca relate to.

The photo is taken by me, it is of my dog, looking tough, and arrogant, even though he is kind and cute, and a big softie. Which I feel is a little how I am too.

The colors is mainly blue, with some orange, purple and green. Blue is for calm and trust. Purple is for spirituality and mystery, orange for creativity, and green is for growth and harmony. The line of pink is for femininity and sweetness. I have made the shades lighter by reducing the opacity. This I feel also fits better with my personality.

 

 

Here is my design:

LA: Typography (week 5 – 6)

Week 5 – 6 has been about typography! In this post you will find the answers to the three questions from these weeks learning activity.

Question 1

Written assignment (observation and analysis) (4 hrs)

1. Define the term “typography” in your own words
2. Write a few sentences explaining what typography is not

3. Find a case study on typeface development on the Internet (similar to the ones in Addendum A). Explain which medium (small format printing, large format printing, mobile devices, etc.) the font developed is best suited for and why. Keep legibility, size and style in mind.

1. Definition of typography:

Typography is the visual arrangement of designed letters, or type, in space. F.ex. on a website or on a book cover.

 

2. What typography is not:

Potato printing or graffiti.
It is not individual letters created by hand,  it’s not handwriting, all forms of letters and writing is not seen as typography.
Its not lettering or carved out letters, its not sign writing.
Typography does not involve producing unique and individual letters by hand or tool.

 

3. Samsung Sharp Sans

I have looked into a case study of Samsung Sharp Sans, a typeface developed spesifically for the Samsung corporation. It is a modification of the typeface Sharp Sans Display No. 1. Samsung was first drawn to the Sharp Sans Display No. 1 for its clean and contemporary aesthetic. The Sharp Sans Display No. 1. Is as said clean and contemporary and is inspired by Herb Lubalin’s original photo-lettering for Avant Garde magazine. Samsung wanted its very own custom font developed, with the Sharp Sans Display No. 1 as the foundation,  the developers have raised the x-height and made changes to some of the letter forms construction. The developers describe it as “friendly, sleek, contemporary, and distinctly Samsung.”

Both the Sharp Sans Display No.1 and Samsung Sharp Sans is clean, contemporary and legible. The style fits well as a font for a major tech company.  It fits well for large billboard sizes and small screen platforms. As a typeface for use in Ads and smaller commercial texts. It has three font wights regular, medium and bold.

This font would perhaps not be a good fit for longer texts such as books (Or Samsungs quarter report?) as it is said that Sans serif fonts are harder to read for a longer period of time, here serif fonts help the eyes to glide smoother along than sans serif fonts.

Source for the report on Samsung Sharp Sans and Sharp Sans Display No. 1

Question 2

Research and written assignment  (observation and analysis) (1,5 days)

1. Document one day of your life acting as an observer of typographic design. Produce a comprehensive diary of the typographic experience of your day from first thing in the morning to last thing at night.
2. Keep this diary within a research folder or sketchbook. You should be prepared to use photography, photocopying and other means where necessary to evidence what you find, as well as collecting first-hand examples of typographic design.
3. Make notes or comments to reflect on what you have collected and documented. Your notes should help you to consider what kind of design it is that you are recording. For example, a cereal packet may have some large obvious lettering / typographic device on the front of the box, but there will also be typography in the form of information design within a “nutritional information” table on the packaging. So are you looking at promotional design/branding or information design? Or are you looking at typography? Is it lettering?

Choose two examples of design that you have collected that you consider to have either good or bad qualities. Try to analyze these further in terms of their typography. Can you identify the typefaces being used? Does the typography communicate successfully? If so, why? If not, why not?

1 + 2 . A day of documenting typography

I have made a folder on my computer and one on my phone for collecting typography. I had one day when I was very active looking at all the type around me from the morning trough to the night. Now I have trouble NOT noticing all the different type around. I found great inspiration in the Linkedin Learning video by Ina Shultz, and have had fun trying to be a type detective. Here are some of the things I have collected for my typography diary folder:

3. Note taking and two examples

Throughout the day I have noted on my phone app google keep, small tings that came to mind during the day of typography documentation. I have registered that may of the typography on food has brand design on the front and information design on the back. The signs on the beach is also information design, but it has typography, and uses different weights of the same fonts to emphasize words or show hierarchy. On the internett news papers and on books I see that there is more thought put i to the typography. That it should be nice to look at and easy to read, while on the packages of cookies the backsides have alot of text cramped in, and the choice of font doesn’t seem to be chosen for sending a message or create a feeling with the consumer, it is chosen because its readable at a small size.

I have chosen to examples to look into. The first one is the front page of this book: Sapiens, En kort historie om menneskeheten (A brief history of Humankind)

I think the use of typography on this book cover communicates successfully. It is a book about history, so a serif font fits well. It is elegant, and serif sends a message of integrity, knowledge and time.  Besides the nicely placed fingerprint over the i in sapiens, there is only typography on the cover of this book. I have been on WhatTheFont.com and uploaded a picture of this book, and they tell me the font is Dante pro Regular.

The other example is a sign by a Cafe and bar beside the beach here in Spain where I am at the moment.

Here I would also say the Typography used communicates successfully, to some degree. The sign is quite large and shows the menu, in 4 different languages. I don’t think its very good, since it feels to me like it is from the 90s. That the sign has been here since the 90s and that the menu have been the same since the 90s. It is readable and the font is not bad. It is a sign for a beach bar and it has the beach bar vibe. Their main source of customers is older travelers, and I cant say that the font and look don’t speak to them.

Question 3

Practical assignment (2 days)

1. Complete the exercise files that came with the Lynda video Indesign Typography. Upload them to WordPress.
2. Use your design software to design a newspaper front page. Pay special attention to typography (size, leading, column width, etc.).
3. Use your design software to design a double-page spread (DPS) for your favourite magazine.

 

1. Exercise files

I have seen the video and here are some screenshots of notes I have taken and changes I made while following the video.

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2. Newspaper design

PDF of newspaper globalreport

3. Double page spread

I don’t have a favorite magazine, but since I am traveling, I have looked at a the traveling magazine VAGABOND. I have looked trough many of their Norwegian publications on my subscription on MAGASINpluss. Here I can view the magazine as an e-publication online.

Their spreads are dominated by pictures like most travel magazines. The fonts they use as a header for some of the spreads I could not identify. WhatTheFont.com did not find the exact font they use, and I could not find it on IdentiFont either. So I have used the closest thing I could find on Adobe Fonts.

Exsaples of the font used in headers I could not identify:

Example of double page spreads in the magazine:

 

My design of a double page spread:

PDF of the spread DPS Alhambra

LA: Sketching Techniques (week 04) Part 1

This week we have explored sketching techniques, and the fundamentals of illustration. The learning activity is as follows:

1.  Define, in your own words, the printmaking terms

2.  Find examples on the Internet to represent each of those terms

 

Printmaking

Wood engraving

Wood engraving is a printmaking technique in which an image is carved into a block or a plate of wood. After the image is carved out the artist apply colour to the wood, and uses it to print one ore several prints of the image or artwork.

Examples of woocut prints

“Anna” A wood engraving by Paul Landacre

Man rolling ink onto a wood engraved image

“Okto” woodcut by sami artist John Savio (1902-1938)

Source

Source for Woodcut by John Savio

 

 

Linocut

Linocut is a printmaking technique where the images is carved into a sheet of linoleum. After coloured ink is applied to the sheets carvings with a roller and is used to print the artwork. Sometimes the linoleum sheet is mounted on a block of wood.

Exsample of linoleum print

“Wolfs” by Gro Rønneberg, linoleum print on Japanese paper Source

 

 

 

Drypoint

Drypoint is a printmaking technique in which an artwork is scratched out on a soft metal plate. This is done with a sharp metal needle or a diamond point. Traditionally the plate was of copper, but now zink, acetate and plexiglass plates are also common to use. After the image is scratched out ink is applied and the image can be printed.

Christ Crucified between the Two Thieves: The Three Crosses by Rembrant source

Etching

Etching is a printmaking technique where wax is applied to a metal plate (usually a zink, copper or steel plate). The artwork is then carved into the wax, exposing the bare metal where the artist wants the lines to appear in the artwork. The plate is then placed in a bath of acid. The acid bites into the parts of the plate that have exposed metal. The depth of the lines created is dependant on the time spent in the acid, and the strength of the acid. After the acid bath the wax is removed from the plate. Ink is applied to the plate and then put in a high pressure printing press together with paper.

 

Example of print design made with etching

“Western Bonerbird 2” by Lydia Paton, hand inked etching. This is the first of the edition which has been produced by the aluminum plate. source

Engraving

Engraving is a printing technique where the image is carved into a metal plate with a burin, a steel-cutting tool. The tool is hold steady, while the plate is moved to produce the lines. Ink is then applied and printed off.

“Gloucestershire views” by T. Bonnor (c. 1726 – 1801), from: Samuel Rudder’s New History of Gloucestershire Copper engraving print. source

Lithography

Litography is traditionally a printing technique where an image or artwork is drawn with oil, fat or wax on a a smooth stone plate (limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. Then the stone is treated with a chemical mixture, the parts of the stone that is not protected by the oil, wax or fat is then etched away by the acid mixture. Then ink is applied. After the procedure of etching in the image in the stone moisture was added, and would stick in the etched areas, the water would reject ink that would be applied to the stone and then the image would appear and could be printed off.

In modern lithography the image is created by applying a polymer coating on a flexible plastic or metal plate.

Example of lithography

“Røyk” (Smoke) by Ørnulf Opdahl, Litography. source

 

Screen Printing

Screen printing printing technique where the image is transferred trough a tight fine-mesh cloth. The subject is designed with varnish as a stencil with open or dense portions. The ink is then pushed trough, with a blade or squeegee, imprinting the image on to the chosen surface. Screen printing is suitable for textiles, ceramics, glass, metal, plastics and most substrates in addition to paper.

“Locomotion” by Christopher Lee, color screen print on 100c French Construction Grout Gray

Silk-screen printing

Source Locomotion by Christopher Lee

Source Silk Screen printing

Monoprinting

Monoprinting is a printmaking technique where the image or lines can only be made once. The artwork is unique and unlike other printing techniques it can not produce several identical copies.
There are many techniques for mono printing, and the way I understand it is that the print is either made with one of the techniques described in this post, and then painted or inked uniquely so that it is only possible to create a single print, and creating an identical copy is not possible, or very difficult. Monoprinting is a good technique for creating spontaneous and expressive print work.

Monoprint by Delos Campos source

 

 

Digital Printing

Digital printing is modern printing methods such as ink-jet and laser printing. In digital printing an image can be sent directly to the printer using digital files like f.ex. PDFs, and those form graphic software like Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign. In digital printing there is no need for printing plates. Digital printing technology can be used in innovative ways to produce interesting and unique fine art prints.

Digital print by Sander Wassink
1984, hanging on the wall at  museum boijman van beuningen source

Truepress Jet W3200UV HS High-Speed UV Flatbed Inkjet Printer source

 

 

 

First year is over!

Now I have completed the first year of Graphic Design Studies (GRA1) at Noroff! I still haven’t gotten all my grades yet, but the last one is just around the corner, so fingers (and toes and everything) crossed.

Now I will start my second year, GRA2 at Noroff and I’m very excited!

Check out my project exsam at seventy29.com/vava

and my portfolio for the second semester at seventy29.com