Studio Brief 02 - Print Inspiration Research

Marcroy Smith

Marcroy Smith, the director and founder of People of Print, a collective of creatives who come together to host workshops, produce events, and fulfil briefs for clients such as The Design Museum, Protein and the V&A. Smith is also the author of People of Print: Innovative, Independent Design and Illustration, and the Editor of the self-published magazine Print Isn’t Dead. 

Ali Hanson

Ali joined It’s Nice That as an art director in early 2015 after stints at Wieden + Kennedy, Wonderland and Wednesday. He works across the visual sides of both the editorial platforms and commercial partnerships.

Founded in 2007, It’s Nice That has grown across many platforms and reaches over a million people each month. These include the website which is updated daily, a bi-annual magazine Printed Pages, a summer symposium Here and the monthly Nicer Tuesdays talks series.



Pat Bradbury

Pat is an image maker and artist who works across a range media to create dynamic and contemporary print. He has been featured in exhibitions throughout the world, most recently with Jack Clayton in Vietnam and in as part of a group show at the KK Outlet in London. Printed By Us run screen printing workshops for homeless and vulnerable people in Sheffield who want to learn new skills and move forward towards employment. They create artwork in collaboration with some of Sheffield's finest designers such as Ian Anderson and Nick Deakin.

Studio Brief 03 - Interim Crit

After we presented our initial ideas, feedback came back, that they liked the chosen word, of 'Substrate', as it was unique and different, however also related to the process of screen printing, keeping up with the purpose of the exhibition.
 As a group we were told to look at Lee Goates work, which was relevant about circles, and an investigation into their meaning, which is conveniently placed within the library as another exhibition. Therefore we were told to visit that and look into it for further inspiration.
 The idea of using a circle was liked, as it had so many different possibilities, we were told to look into the break down of a circle and all it's possible meanings to different people.
 The CMYK four colours, an idea which we are going to follow up on is to place the different colours with different themes and stages of the posters, such as social, cultural, political etc. Therefore each has a meaning, and then this could be applied to a catalogue, the way finding, to make it easier to categorise the different prints, instead of a timeline. Which makes us stand out to other groups, as many are using the idea of a timeline, therefore it makes our idea unique.
 To develop upon our ideas, we need to develop a clear visual rationale, that as a group we can then all stick to, and begin to create and experiment with different applications, making a cohesive look easy enough to strive for throughout.

Studio Brief 02 - Sketchbook Research

Moby Dick
Slung Low
Stick in research
Highlight and notes

Studio Brief 02 - Final Piece Development

The colours which were experimented were those that would create the best three colours, when the two colours overlapped. Feedback showed that the blue and pink colours worked best, as it represented the contemporary, fresh feel of Slung Low and their motives. Also the purple showed up much better than the green did. The blue and yellow, was also too cliche, to choose the colours of Leeds. Also the colour blue is used within the logo of Slung Low and also is found on their website. 

 The decision to use two colours, and more white space, was to keep the attention on the main print, whilst also keeping some form of repetition throughout the piece. The placement of the  shapes is also a design decision, therefore every person who takes a ticket has a piece of a puzzle so to speak; therefore playing on the ideals of Slung Low again, to bring people together, and giving a performance that everyone takes something away from.

=

Studio Brief 02 - Interim Crit Developments

One idea is to perforate the page into sections, therefore it can be ripped up and shared as tickets, involving the audience.

Studio Brief 02 Research - Photography

Below are photographs that were taken as part of research, into the spaces that Slung Low have used as spaces for their performances. Leeds Dock, has many interesting spaces, buildings, sculptures and textures. The White Whale was performed here, alongside the canal, the audience used headphones to hear, and the actors were actually on boats on the water. 

Studio Brief 03 Research

This is branding from The Beautiful Meme for this year's annual D&AD awards. The meaning and concept behind these designs and animations; they have been designed from archived material from the awards from previous years. It has been intentionally subtle, therefore only few will recognise the historic and celebratory references to the awards. The colours have been made much brighter and colourful than previous years, as to add a hint of celebration, of previous winners, and creating new from old. The animations are able to be used across a breadth of media including onsite, online and marketing and signage material. Ideas which can be taken to influence our own designs; are the use of archive material, maybe use images and artwork from previous exhibitions from previous exhibitions, but also the idea of using a repeating object and theme such as the animations and pencils across our design. The animations also bring the design awards up to the 21st century. 

This branding by OK-RM, which was initially designed for a large scale exhibition of contemporary art from Latin America, which was shown in the South London Gallery, Guggenheim and UBS. The repeating patterns, shapes and grid format are a continuing theme throughout the branding. The bright colours contrast against the usual industrial backgrounds where the exhibitions are held, and in the public spaces that the exhibition is advertised. The shapes and colours have also been inspired by the artwork held within the exhibition, therefore represents and shows a glimpse of the exhibition out and about in outside spaces. There is a strong use of both colour and typography, which therefore makes it appropriate for many different mediums and applications.

Designer and artist Morag Myerscough and Luke Morgan installed a new design for the Pavilion of Birmingham Library, which was completed by Dutch studio Mecanoo. It is aimed at challenging people's perceptions of what libraries can offer. The pavilion is meant to be interchangeable, interactive and versatile, therefore it is slightly different everyday. The brightly coloured words originate from workshops the designers held with youth art groups. Myerscough stated "We wanted to greet visitors with a smile and a celebration of the word, it encourages conversation and fun." The design has been entirely handcrafted which gives an idea to completely make the exhibition in Leeds Library by hand and using traditional print methods and not use digital design, therefore fitting in with the theme of the posters. The Pavilion was erected on site in just two weeks, and was designed to make best use of a space directly opposite the Library's main entrance. It snugly fits between concrete pillars, working within tight spatial restrictions imposed by the Library's fire protection system.

Studio Brief 02 - Interim Crit

After feedback from the interim crit, it became apparent that the strongest ideas were the chalked stage on the ground, as it added a third dimension, also the images made on excel, that represent the places around Leeds, where the shows have been performed. Ideas to develop this idea further was to maybe merge these two ideas together, experimenting with photocopy overlays, to create more of a puzzle, and interesting design, to make the audience think. The idea was to experiment with the photocopier, taking single colours from CMYK and experimenting with overlaying. 

 Further feedback was about the colours, and that the blue was too subtle, due to the industrial nature of their building they practice in and the areas they perform in, to change the colours to more industrial, rural colours, more dark and dirty colours.  Experiment more with the excel drawings, trying out different sizes and zooming in on parts of it. 

Another idea which was favourited was the texture of the water, maybe to overlay textures that are found in the places they have performed, and overlaying these on the photocopier, using single colours and using photoshop to mock what the screen print would look like up. The compass could be made bigger to show how diverse they are in their performance. 

To develop these ideas further, I will experiment with overlaying existing images and different colours and textures and also experiment with different colours, therefore portraying more of the grungy, industrial environment of Leeds and the environments that Slung Low perform in. 

Foiling was also an option to try, adding and creating new textures, and adding a unique aspect to the design, making the text stand out. 

Also the material in which the design will be printed on, exploring different materials, such as discovering materials that are found within the areas outside, and maybe printing on or over existing posters found in and around Leeds. 

Other ideas to consider, are creating perforated edged paper to create free tickets, to the event or celebration, due to the nature of Slung Low's performances.  Therefore the posters can be found in and around Leeds and tickets can be taken by anyone for free, for people from all different ages and background. Therefore the audience become apart of the show and also the poster then becomes interactive.