Social Media

 

Social Media is an extremely powerful tool and used globally across many platforms. When promoting work or a brand it is vital to get it right in terms of presenting the work with a clear navigation and accessibility for users. Viewers need to be guided directly to the key purpose of your work and should not have to search around a website or app in order to find things. Connecting different social media platforms is also very important, this allows the viewers to be guided in ways which explore the work further and find more information about the brand or artist.

On my WordPress site I edited the menu to link to my Instagram, where there is further images of ideas and work that has been done in the past. It makes the work more accessible to a wider audience as everybody has preferences over which social media platform they use regularly, so it benefits the artist and viewer. The images on my Instagram are taken using my iPhone 5s, another form of modern hardware, and using Instagram as software allows me to manipulate the images to create a more interesting presentation.

Being able to transfer the idea of luxury onto an online platform can be highly beneficial, with precisely thought out presentation of images and design aspects,  a website or even Instagram page can look luxurious. To be able to portray this online to audiences is going to sell or promote your work in certain directions, so when I create my own professional website to sell my work I will consider this carefully, down to the colour schemes, typeface, and image layout.

 

Menu on my blog with link to Instagram

 

Postcards or Greeting Cards

Moo.com is a website that can be used for printing professional designs onto business cards, postcards etc. Here you can see how simple it is to upload your own design on to the postcards, they allow you to have different designs within an order so I can choose my best designs and purchase a group of 20/50/100 with a matte or gloss finish. It also allows me to have a logo design on the front.

Photoshop Edited Drawings

These are my first two attempts at editing drawings on Photoshop, by simply filling in colour it accents certain elements and creates a mood.

 

As I did more of these I learnt how it worked and could draw more purposeful lines. The way the colour filters through different sections where two ends don’t quite meet creates some interesting outcomes, and presents a more thought provoking image, so I was much more aware of the way I was drawing the original images to use the colour editing successfully. The drawings are mostly of a domesticated subject matter, I attempted drawings of other environments but didn’t find it as appealing; perhaps due to the personalised, intimate aspect of my own belongings and habitat.

 

I experimented with presenting my drawings as grouped pieces. I started to see a theme emerge among the colours being used and thought of the option to have a range of repeated images.

 

 

Scanning/Editing drawings for Screen Print

To prepare my drawings for screen print, I used a scanner to import them to the computer and in turn Photoshop for editing.

I needed to remove all the marks on the image such as the paper and leave only the pen design to get a clear image. Using the magic wand tool you can select areas to remove based around your image, using tone and colour it detects and groups areas together. For my images this worked well in removing everything but the black pen.

This left me with a much more accurate image to work from. I also used the levels tool to make the lines darker, this will leave me with clearer lines on the screen.

I then printed this on drafting film, this is similar to acetate but has a matte finish and allows me to put it through a printer, considering i will be working with many different designs it is more time efficient to be able to print my designs in preparation for screen printing as opposed to redrawing each one individually, however the drafting film is quite expensive, around £5 for an A1 sheet.

Climb Every Mountain

As our task is to complete a poster for commercial use, I chose to look at a new phrase with basic modular imagery. The phrase ‘Climb every mountain’ is often displayed in a light hearted, uplifting manner, but i realised with my font I could create it with what could be perceived as sarcasm.

To create the idea mountains along the bottom of the page, i used the rectangle tool and adjusting anchor points created various sized triangles, colouring them as i went along.

I then began placing my phrase onto the poster in different ways, and came up with the idea to have the word mountain as if its fallen down from the sky and leaning on the mountains, so it is slightly ironic as it’s opposing its meaning by having fallen.

It felt too dull and I realised I hadn’t coloured the background correctly, so I created a new background using the rectangle tool which brought the light into it. I think aspects of this idea work and it is a good starting point, however it needs to be of a higher quality.

 

Scanning

Scanning and printing are dynamic and useful tools for artists and graphic designers.

Here I simply printed my typeface design onto a piece of wrapping paper, and immediately it gives it a more appealing look. It adds another dimension, especially seeing as I didn’t colour in every module within the typeface.

I then printed out the first design i created onto a piece of white and pink paper, screwed it up into a ball and reopened it, and scanned it. The way the crinkled paper appears is a great texture once printed and i would definitely consider using this in future work. This could be pushed further if the font was larger, to make the letters appear more disfigured.

Phrasing 2

I began a new phrase which allowed me to play with the visual meaning of being lost, starting to use colour and adjusting size and placement.

 

 

 

I looked at professional examples from- http://typeonly.tumblr.com, and used them for inspiration for my design. I liked the use of horizontal and vertical positioning and also the spaciousness of the designs. It doesn’t feel overcrowded or misguiding.

 

These inspired me to use the space more and play with the word meanings to further the effectiveness of it. The right design is slightly harder to read from a distance as its smaller which I think is more eye catching as you want to be able to read it.

I then placed the phrase in the shape of a question mark, to give more imagery to the design, and turns the phrase into a question rather than a statement.

Using words within a shape draws the viewer in as they want to be able to read it.

Type development

 

Here I continued to develop individual letters to a stronger design. So you can see changes I have placed the before and after versions, I have tried to maintain the interlocking shapes in every letter, in a modern, rectangular style. I particularly like the second version of the A because of the diamond/triangular top section.

I then created a new V using the updated A and removing the bar going across, which is a more appealing version. Also I decided to remove the inner circle of the O as it doesn’t exist in any of the other letters.

 

I then wrote the same quote with the developed lettering, and began experimenting with simple block colour to emphasise the typeface.I think it looks quite mechanical due to the interlocking, and is  clear to read.

5.2 Phrasing

When using type and text in advertising such as posters and magazines, the golden ratio plays a part in creating a visually pleasing layout.

The picture below describes the mathematical formula of the golden ratio, which suggests symmetrical proportions and how their relationships matter. It is similar to the rule of thirds which is another formula to create the ‘ideal’ beauty.

Image from: http://www.creativebloq.com

Below I’ve created a phrase using my typeface, and placed the word ‘broken’; which i consider to be the key word; in the position of the main dividing line on the golden ratio. This draws your eye to the word immediately. I have evenly spaces the words and lettering to create a clear, direct message, which is what advertising is aimed for.

I

 

I have now placed the same phrase but moved the words around so there is no consistency on spacing or grid layout. Immediately it causes distraction from what the text says as your eye is confused by the layout and doesn’t have a clear focal point.

 

Creating slogans or phrases are extremely reliant on layout and design. The reason I chose this phrase to work with is because of the crossed over shapes in my typeface, which reminds me of building or fixing things together. I’ve formed a typeface which to me suggests being able to see the skeleton of how a fully formed shape was made.

 

Modular Type 3

 

I then modified the typeface design to prove more consistent, so removing many of the thinner lines and replacing with chunky, rectangular styles.

I think this is the most consistent I have managed to achieve as of yet, however I struggled with the ‘S’ due to the joining curves.

I began creating words and phrases here, placing the letters very tightly together for “Im stuck”, and falling down for “Help me”, and some basic colour filling for a more attractive look. I think this particular style is great for colour fills because of the way the shapes overlap creating a mosaic type effect.

 

After revisiting my typeface, I made a couple more changes to certain letters to create more consistency. So as you can see below I extended the horizontal lines to show the continuation of the overlapping modules. It gives it a neater finish.