181 An amazing awards prize!

2009-06-01T16:55:00.002+01:00

for Sarah Jane Coleman sponsored 'Illustration - New Directions' category...she posted this on her blog the other day....

"This week the Birmingham Institute of Art and Design, from whence I carved my degree in illustration, rang to tell me they were naming their new annual illustration prize after me.

My first thought was, 'Oh, my God, how wonderful', followed immediately by 'Don't you have to be dead to have a prize named after you?'

Well not so, it seems. I was not only a student there but have taught there on and off for over sixteen years, delivery seminars, workshops, Q&A sessions and just good old-fashioned illustration tutoring. So perhaps it isn't so surprising, and I am, of course, completely floored to be asked (for a second I was welling up).

The prize giving is in June and as I'll be away, my best friend Melanie Tomlinson a fellow BIAD post-graduate and maker of magical metal things, is handing over the award on my behalf. The award isn't just a certificate - oh no - I've organised a handsome trophy in the form of a one-year subscription to Bikinilists, a consultancy with my good mates at The Design Conspiracy, a portfolio surgery and a signed limited print. They also receive an Association of Illustrators' membership, so whichever fortunate student I choose as the recipient will exit the course armed with a fearsome set of tools to make their way in the illustration world.

Damn - I wish I'D had the Sarah Coleman Prize when I graduated! 'Must try harder'...

You can get information on BIAD's degree shows here."

181 breaking news poster format :

2009-05-11T14:17:00.001+01:00

possible cd packaging aesthetic

2009-05-06T14:52:00.005+01:00

Here's a (very) quick design I've just put together just to get a feel of how the cd packagaing could work. More info needs to go on there (like BIAD, graduating year of 2009 etc etc) Is there a CD inlay booklet too? Not sure if people already have designs for it , so just thought id throw this out there .

Also, do you have any measurements to work with ? and can we print onto the cds?

ps. the 'willkommen, bienvenue, welcome' bit is a famous lyric from cabaret

thanks x

Gallery Space

2009-04-28T17:17:00.002+01:00

Ok, any suggestions for what we could put up in the gallery space? This is such a good opportunity!

Think we should collect all the posters that are/ have been put around uni regarding 181 (like the poster comp, the events poster, intro poster, logo poster and put these up. Also the Funday graphics would be good too - if we print the funday one A1 and use Holly's signs she made. Also, creature would look ACE in the exhibition ....

along with a montage of how we finally got to the brand idea, mount the mood boards ( has anyone got print outs of these we could use to save on printing costs?), and even stick up the new handouts/ signup sheets just as a record.

Was thinking of going into uni early on Friday and sorting the space/ print anything we need.

Oh yeah, put up 2 new posters yesterday - the poster comp one and a nice logo one .... they've come to £10 each, the foamboard was £6 and the mounting of it (using the machine at uni) was £6 .......

so don't think we should mount everything otherwise it would cost the earth!

Help with the Roadshow

2009-04-26T21:06:00.002+01:00

Hi guys,

so far it's me, Tommy, Kipp and Holly presenting the roadshow to some of level 5 tomorrow at 2pm. If anyone else is up for helping out then do come along. We are presenting at 2pm in the Phipps building and are gonna meet at half one just to go through the slides etc. Also, we'll need your help during the week presenting to level 6 - perhaps tuesday would be a good day to catch the advertsisers and photography people. When are film/moving image in?

my mobile number is 07525615320

thanks

Sarah

woohoo this is our 100th post!

2009-04-24T18:20:00.002+01:00

Ok, so here's a sign up sheet for L5 volunteers ...we need to give this to them when we present our roadshow ...

2009-04-24T10:32:00.000+01:00

Road show handouts (front and back)

2009-04-23T21:46:00.003+01:00

Here's a preliminary mock up of the hand out we could give out on the 'roadshow'! I still need to confirm some information - does the Creature 'blurb' sound ok? Also what are the details for the donations? I will need the number of the online account that students can pay into and also times when treasury people will be around in the gallery area to collect donations.

Also any ideas on the wording are welcome !!!

Thanks guys, hope its ok

181 Presentation

2009-04-18T12:33:00.006+01:00

Hi guys, thought it would be a good idea to put a presentation together for the 'road show' idea .... are people still up for presenting to different SIGS? (this is just a rough outline, needs to be tweaked design wise)

I tried to steer clear of using bullet points and what not ....cos I reckon that would come across as a bit patronising to some people..... I've kept it simple ... and for each slide, we basically give as much info as poss on each thing/issue .

... it would be good if there was a representative from each team on the committee to be part of the presentation - someone to talk about the publications, awards events etc -

Slide 1 : 181 logo
- introduce the concept of 181/how it represents every one of us on the course/ cabaret glitzy flamboyant theme

Slide 2 : 181 Awards/oscars still

- Explain the idea of the awards ceremony - categories/ guest award givers/ scripts/ presenter/ industry presence / large screen/ paint a picture of the evening, atmosphere, refreshments entertainment ....................>>

Slide 3 : The Midnight Cabaret photographs

- Introduce the Midnight Cabaret as our entertainers for the evening/ atmosphere etc

Slide 4 : Past events

- (I've put the funday in as past events because I'm not sure everyone will have time to do it next week...) - here we could talk about past events, how successful they were ....and stress how important it is for everyone to come to make it a success.

Slide 5- 6 : Creature - Open Beats vs Rehash flyer design

- Explain & promote the event / details / Theme of creature/ give info on exhibition and how to submit work

Slide 7 : 'Please donate'

- As for a donation of atleast £25 from each student / give info on donation collection points

Slide 8 -9 : Poster Competition poster

- invite everyone to take part in this brief/ give info, deliverables and deadline date/ emphasise that winners get great prizes and that the winners are announced at the awards ceremony - and will be auctioned off on the night (and the winning student get the profit)

Slide 10 : '181 publications'

- publications team - tell students that we are working on promotional material to give out/ a dvd including a snippet of everyones portfolio/ possible mini booklet

e-flyer

2009-04-18T00:33:00.003+01:00

Thought I'd make an e-flyer of the poster aswell, just really simple ....and landscape so it works alot better on screen. So - there will be one (or more?) A1 poster to be the main focus .... and perhaps 4/5 A4 versions to put around each specialism room ...and this e-flyer to send around to everyone too. Will be printed this week (as soon as the deadline date is confirmed ...cos i made it up !!! wasnt sure when it should be?? and also where to hand it in ....)

Poster Competition Poster

2009-04-03T19:05:00.005+01:00

Hey everyone, heres a poster I've been working on this week. This is gonna be a large scale A1 poster ...and perhaps a smaller A4 more formal brief could be sent out to all the specialisms - with a bit more detail. But just as a main brief snappy to the point poster do you think it works?? Its alot like the Fun day poster but I've make it look specifically cabaret- the grid structure is made out of a pattern that references lace etc and the side angle makes it more dramatic and showy .... also, I cant remember whether we decided on A1 or A0 for the poster comp??? any more details needed???

181 on Twitter.

2009-03-31T23:22:00.005+01:00

Hey guys,

In case you didn't know, 181 is also on Twitter.
It's important to network in different avenues in order to get information out to as many people as possible.

So if you 'tweet', you can follow us here - http://twitter.com/VisCommGradShow

181 friends on facebook!

2009-03-28T18:55:00.003Z

In just over 24 hours! If you're not one of them, search for' VisComm GradShow' now!

Join 181 on Facebook!

2009-03-27T15:32:00.002Z

VisComm Graduate-Show's Profile

Create your badge

Please email any news updates or photos from fundraisers to gradshow181@live.com and i will update accordingly!

2009-03-21T14:17:00.003Z

few colour way variations (the green doesnt work as well as its not strong enough ...the others are nice and vibrant...) - and at the end : if the poster needs to be printed in black and white - this is how the info would look.....

Holly/Sunil - I was just wandering how many youd like printed? Are some going around the halls in Perry Barr? Think it would be good to get a quite a few done cheaply if thats the case - then some could go up in computer rooms/ classrooms at uni

2009-03-20T21:22:00.001Z

with more emphasis on getting people to volunteer to help with stalls.

181 Sessions - Change of venue!!

2009-03-20T20:37:00.002Z

Hey Guys, in case any of you don't know, Sunil heard from Bash Bar today and they have shut down, so the night (next Wednesday) has been moved to The Red Baboon in the Jewellery Quarter. I'm not too sure of any more details but if you can spread the word it would be a great help.

I have put a map on the facebook event, and changed the address and sent emails... I just thought if everyone can let people know that would be great too.

Also we will be in the Vis.Com. reception (by the office) collecting donations and selling tickets on Tuesday between 1 and 2pm.

Thanks

Holly

(I'm signed in on Tommy's account)

Possible Fun Day Poster :

2009-03-20T19:25:00.003Z

this is just a rough draft of a possible poster design... what other details need to be on there? Not sure if you've finalised ticket prices yet?????

Any more info need to be added?? How about the format of the poster? I think these posters would best suit A3/A2? That way, colour could be used - and as theres not much ink covering the page (like the previous posters with a background block colour) they should be cheaper.

If not, this could still work in black/grey and white - and then so on a larger scale. Though, I thought colours would be fun for the fun day!

ps. the cabaret band looks great hehe :)

The Midnight Cabaret Band

2009-03-20T15:02:00.003Z

This is the band i am going to approach for a quote to play at the show.

If you would like to hear their sample tracks visit their website

New Poster printed :

2009-03-17T17:18:00.003Z

Hey everyone, just to let you know the new posters are up at uni now...... though, not as good a quality print as the others. I went to Prontaprint in the end - but their cheapest A1 colour was £30 ...!! So I opted for black and white instead which came to £10 for 4 A1 posters. Sorry about the quality of them - they're a bit blotchy and liney - should have asked them to re-print it but they really needed to go up today really - with info about the cake sale etc.

Ooh also, all the advertisers have been putting in a pound a week each to their fundraising pot!!!!! And now the word is out about donations hopefully some more money will be coming in. Yippee!

final poster ?

2009-03-16T12:55:00.003Z

Decided that it would be nice to have a little blurb of each event etc - Eventhough there is alot of copy - this poster can be a point of reference - instead of just listing events, it perhaps makes the events alot more real etc .

ps. there is a mistake on the time of the Bas Bar event that I have just changed!!

Poster - events, donations and recruitment ...

2009-03-16T11:20:00.004Z

Here's a design I made last night - though it was getting rather late so the copy really isnt up to scratch yet . Was more interested with the layout - think there might be way too much copy on this one - needs to be much short and sweeter. And also, the logo needs to be incorporated too. But ones I get rid of some words, there will be space!!! The format is meant to echo a theatrical program print ... listing points as if they were separate performances ...

mood board for poster comp launch ...

2009-03-14T12:52:00.002Z

very much like the cabaret board from before - but with more of an emphasis on performance and places - music, the concept of being in the spotlight , theatre signage etc

2009-03-13T11:12:00.001Z

2009-03-13T11:07:00.002Z

This idea is based on a 'spotlight' concept which might be a nice addition to the brand - i can see this working for introducing different categories of vis comm 0 like: introdicng: photography , illustration etc all in spotlights.......

possible poster brief templates

2009-03-13T10:51:00.002Z

The copy is just dummy text at the moment - just wrote something quickly as the details havent been confirmed yet .The design on the right perhaps works the best out of the two - its structured like a formal letter kind of format and has more converstaion communication about it maybe - the left one just looks too much like the poster ....

Printed posters!

2009-03-09T21:37:00.002Z

Hi everyone, just to let you know, I printed the introductory posters today. Thought they needed doing asap- they are A1 and look really nice. Though, I thought we should only print three for the moment - as they are £10 each and the mount board all together cost £9 - is it possible to use money from the 181 funds? Hope thats ok...! Hopefully it will pay off with donations and more awareness of the show .....

Didnt think I should print anymore as that's quite pricey - as long as the 3 posters are put in 3 prime locations then it'll all be fine! I'm going into uni to put them up tomorrow.

cheers,

Sarah:)

2009-03-08T17:08:00.003Z

final poster concept 1 - very balanced, centered and symmetrical to create an elegance and sense of occassion....

Feathers needs to be adjusted ....
have adjusted the lightbulbs with a slight fade so they look alot more rounded and glow-like

alternatives ....

2009-03-06T10:43:00.006Z

just been working on encorporating texture into the feathered idea (the background is the papery texture but its a but difficult to see) ..... perhaps the blocky ones with the fishnet background are a bit too war like? It looks like barbed wire ...and the colour schemes and everything all seem quite sinister ...and direct - almost like a command. Perhaps we need to communicate something more positive/neutral? Also came up with the cinema sign idea .... a development from the lightlbulb idea with the feathers .....

Copy...

2009-03-02T18:19:00.002Z

any ideas on the copy???

Should we have an introductory poster ...and then a poster after thats asks for donations? Or just do it all in one poster ??

Also, I was thinking, perhaps a stall should be set up in the canteen for a week to collect money... if its just meeting someone in the canteen to give money to, its a bit too informal ....if theres a proper stall to give money into it would maybe be much easier? Perhaps fundraising could look into setting up a collection point ? Just an idea.

2009-03-02T12:53:00.000Z

2009-03-02T12:09:00.001Z

181 - the newest designs by Kim! Wow!

2009-03-02T09:55:00.006Z

8 Comments

Holly Joynes said...

I love it, especially the feathers on the logo. I like the approach to copy. Although you needs to put third year into the donations bit. I like the display text but I'm not sure it would work on posters around uni.

Hope that helps.

March 1, 2009 4:36 PM

Anonymous said...

Wow Kim, I think this is the look we're after, in my opinion. These look wicked! They seem to be the right mix of all the best bits of the previous posters and moodboards, awesome stuff! :D

Yeah, the only thing that needs tweaking is the type/copy, but I think you've nailed the visuals!

~V~

March 1, 2009 5:02 PM

so_hypnotic_1 said...

Thanks guys! Glad people are liking it! Yeh copy definatly needs tweaking. Also needs to tell people where/who to give the money to, but we still need to finalise those details.

March 1, 2009 5:44 PM

thefjk said...

I think the graphics are spot on! Got my favorite colours in there.

The title font is readable on the second one, but a little less on the slanting ones I think.

Fraser

March 1, 2009 5:47 PM

Nikonu aka Nixon said...

First all wow!!! It has the style of elegance and the mixed media texture that we wanted.

I think it fixed the problem with looking good at screen and print.

March 1, 2009 7:51 PM

Anonymous said...

Yep, I definitely agree with the screen/print aspect, which was one of the main issues that needed sorting ASAP.

I personally prefer Sarah's typeface Blick Block, as opposed to this stencil one because I think the blocky letters fit better with the overall propaganda poster style and edgy burlesque theme, but that's just my opinion.

~V~

March 1, 2009 8:53 PM

Rosemary Knowles said...

Hey these are great! I really like the middle one. I think it's great to get away from vectors and the diagonal slant! The lace is cool too... ooh fishnets. I love the stencil type too.
Rose

March 1, 2009 10:40 PM

Alec Chalmers said...

I really like the designs, the centre one especially, as the text has a really hand rendered feel to it.

I think it's important that we show a hand rendered look like this in the promotional media, as that's the look that a lot of students are trying to achieve anyway. I don't think clean smart graphics represent the majority of students work really.

It's good that we've broken away from russian constructivism as well as it looks a bit cliche.

I can't be at the next meeting when we finalise the brand so I'd be more than happy for these designs to go ahead as our brand!

March 1, 2009 10:53 PM

2009-03-01T23:13:00.002Z

This kind of print effect would be achieved with screen printing.....

- example of the kind of colour effect from using newsprint...

more ideas...

2009-03-01T21:16:00.005Z

Heres a few ideas that use the papery texture idea - I'm not sure if printing an entire background with a texture is a good idea - if texture is important - perhaps we could print onto texture instead of printing out texture - i.e. print on newsprint?

2009-03-01T20:49:00.000Z

New Poster Designs

2009-03-01T15:19:00.005Z

Hello, seeing as everyone seems to like all of the posters produced so far, i have tried combine elements from all of them into one design, and added extra things we talked about like background texture and stamp-like text. I have tried a new approach with the copy - but writing isn't my strong point, but you get the gist anyway. What do people think? Any ideas for improvement?

2009-02-27T17:19:00.002Z

Hey Guys,

Hope you're all thinking hard about those awards.

Here's some visuals for a treat for readin all of that last post.

Its a very crude mock up but I hope you get the idea of using hand rendered techniques such as paint along with digital printing.

Any Ideas/Comments?

Cheers,
Tommy

2009-02-27T16:24:00.003Z

Hello Grad-Peeps!

Thanks all for attending today.

I've just had a little think about award categories as it seems that people will be more willing to contribute to something that already exists...fair enough really.

So here's the initial idea. Sorry for it being a bit of a long, text heavy post:

Draft Award Catagories

Best in Fashion Photography
Best in Documentary Photography
Best in Fine Art Photography

Best in Live Action
Best in Animation

Best in Children’s Book Illustration
Best in Fashion/Lifestyle Illustration
?

Best in Editorial Design
Best in Visual Identity
?

Best in Direct Response Advertising
??

Best in Web Design

Other Ideas (less serious)

Most industrious/entrepreneurial student
Most Entertaining Work
Biggest Party Animal
Student’s Student Award
Biggest Mac Geek/Poser
Energy Drink Consumption Award
Person you’d most want to bump into in 5 years Award

The question marks indicate where i think there is room for another category within the relevant SIG but am not sure what that could be.

I wont include ideas of who we could ask for Donations/Presentation, let's get this sorted first.

Any ideas about extra categories or changes welcome. I will raise them at the next meeting. Post on here or email me at tommy.morrison@hotmail.co.uk

Cheers,

Tommy

P.S: spread the word about Awards, Show, Blog etc amonsgt your SIGs.

copy writing....

2009-02-27T00:25:00.002Z

It would be good if we all worked on the copy writing in tomorrows meeting? I'll bring in all the digital files so the wording can be easily changed!!! I just think we need a discussion about the tone of voice from everyone - after the meeting last week, a few of us discussed that the first poster (the introductory poster) should introduce the brand to the year ....and then the poster after this introduction could ask for donations..... what does everyone think? It just might be a bit too much information to include on one poster ...and perhaps seem a bit too direct asking for money straight away although it is very important..!)

2009-02-27T00:03:00.001Z

This design is obviously much more neutral - the blank background perhaps gives the design more definition and space to breathe. Makes it less heavy - and ofcourse - uses alot less ink !! The body copy is set in Eurostile - fitting with the square like-european esque feel of the compisition and blocky type

:

2009-02-26T23:49:00.001Z

:

2009-02-26T23:38:00.003Z

Not sure if this style is a step forward?? I've used a typeface (called 'blick block') I have designed - so perhaps this would give the show a sense of freshness and individuality?.....the quite retro blocks relate to the angular application of the dada type

development:

2009-02-26T23:13:00.003Z

Nixon Leung (animation) is working on producing an ident for our gradshow!

2009-02-26T14:50:00.004Z

Based on Sarah's original design for a trophy Nixon is going to be producing a little animated sequence to introduce the awards at our show! For now it is similar to the Oscars or the Baftas as a starting point; but I've directed Nixon to the new moodboards so it will become edgier!

Thanks Nixon!

French Cabaret.

2009-02-25T14:22:00.005Z

Here is my moodboard inspired by the theme 'Cabaret'. There is a distinct French 'flavour' to many of the images, referencing back to traditional posters.
I've also added pictures of 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show' and an example of 'Dada' that were mentioned as examples of the type of style we might be swaying towards in the meeting.
Not sure if the selection could be described as 'edgy' though, but hope that they help in some way.

Repo - The Genetic Opera

2009-02-23T17:15:00.004Z

I have been searching for examples of 'edgy cabaret' as discussed in the last meeting, and discovered 'Repo - The Genetic Opera' - a rock opera/musical film which combines classic cabaret with comic-book graphics and a good helping of goth. I think the films artwork definitely represents a lot of what we are looking for, as it has a dramatic over-the-top feel which i think our theme/branding needs. The website also has a pretty cool introduction!

Another idea

2009-02-21T19:24:00.003Z

This is just something I thought of. I really like the idea of the feathers, and I feel the red is very strong in the last few posts. This is taking the 181 logo and creating it into an award. The colours need changing to more gold like, but what do you think? Just an idea...If you like this, I will edit it to suit the backgrounds that have have already been created, Do you think it would work?

2009-02-21T16:10:00.000Z

blue tones... less 'girly'?

2009-02-21T16:02:00.002Z

Blue tones make it look rather royal....perhaps black would look striking too, with grey feathers??? Sorry about the copy in the last one, it was just a quick filler I wrote.

poster idea....

2009-02-19T21:35:00.002Z

The 181 logo is outlined in circles - referencing theatre signs covered in lots of bulbs - the 181 name up in lights kind of idea.....with the showy, cheeky and flamboyant peacock feathers Rose refrenced earlier.

more experiments - logo

2009-02-19T20:58:00.002Z

cabaret theme....

2009-02-19T20:53:00.002Z

Inspired by the idea Rose had of peacock feathers - thought Id just experiment with patterns and colour ....

inspired by the retro board ....

2009-02-19T18:13:00.002Z

Really love rose's designs inspired by the cabaret theme - they have a real sense of occassion and a certain elegance about them. Heres some initial experiments inspired by the retro mood board thats been posted - these ones that Ive made are missing the wow factor though I think. The textures of the cabaret one are so lovely - this geometirc vector style isnt saying enough perhaps??

Some booklet ideas - inspired by Burlesque/Cabaret theme

2009-02-18T20:56:00.006Z

Above are some quick ideas I threw together this evening. I was mainly inspired by the Burlesque/Cabaret theme. I tried to keep the stripe theme going to maintain some similarity to the original 181 design. There is lace on the 181 as part of the stripes, you can't see it very well on this low res version.

I think it would be an idea maybe to try these designs as an actual collage and photograph it; maybe print out the design and then use a real peacock feather to lay over the top.

I think I'm liking the bottom right design the most. What do you think? I think they could be a bit brighter, like the mood board though?

Mood Boards for the Grad Show Theme from the Events Team

2009-02-18T17:07:00.010Z

The Events Team have put together some exciting mood boards to visualise the themes we could have for the big night! There are four themes; Burlesque/Cabaret, Contemporary Retro, Modern Gallery and Edwardian. Any comments and feedback would be much appreciated!

See larger versions of the images on Flickr.

BURLESQUE/CABARET

CONTEMPORARY RETRO

MODERN GALLERY

EDWARDIAN

donation booklet idea

2009-02-17T18:46:00.006Z

Heres a quick idea for the possible look of the booklet. The writing needs to be tweaked and info (such as where and when to donate) needs to be added.

If any of you guys have any ideas, please do post them up.

Fundraising idea - to create a booklet asking for a donation

2009-02-17T14:35:00.003Z

Just spoke to Kipp and the fundraising team are talking about creating a book (181 books to be precise) to give to each student in our year - hopefully this way, more people will be inclined to give £40 (is this still the amount?) as its more personal, shows off the brand and is basically a really good idea - better than a poster asking for it or through word of mouth - this way, its personal!

Would be great if people posted up or emailed any ideas.

My email is glittery_sparkly_rainbow@hotmail.com

A message from Tommy:

2009-02-15T20:21:00.001Z

Hey Guys,

As some of you will know, one of the focal point of this year's efforts is an Award Ceremony at the Final Show. We plan to invite Industry and Professionals to donate prizes for awards (such as a placement or a piece of work). We are also hoping get these very kind people to come along to the show to judge an award and present the prize.

I have been appointed 'Cheif Head Award Coordinator Person' but I needs your helps in two main areas.

The first area is ideas for the award catagories. These could be serious or silly, wacky or wonderful, or just something that you think you might win.

The Second area is ideas about who we might be able to get to come in and present work. This is crucial to the success of the whole idea. I suggest that we are ambitious in trying to contact the country's top professionals in each field of practice, but also utilise our existing networks of people/organisations that we already have contact/affiliations with. Remember we have nothing to lose by asking people and it is also an interesting way to start dialogue with Industry.

So if anyone has any ideas, contacts or quieries, please contact me at;

tommy.morrison@hotmail.co.uk
thomas.morrison@bcu.ac.uk
07989935314

Cheers,
Tommy

posters?

2009-02-13T10:07:00.005Z

Hi guys. Here's a few posters I think would be an appropriate format to introduce the brand ... Kipp suggested that we have one lrage poster with just the logo on - I think this is a great idea as it establishes the full log ....then following posters could be slightly abstracted and experiemental.

Think we really need to get posters out introducing the brand now - lots of people are asking about 181 ...so this is the chance to tell everyone! Especially as more events are coming up - and we need to ask the donation question soon!!

I'll bring some copies along to todays meeting (ill bring the original files too incase they need tweaking). Hopefully, we could decide today and print them - get the word out!!

It's so difficult deciding on colour - I've kept to these colours again (they can be easily changed) but I think their hues and tones work well together - and both colours can be used as prominant text colour on the black backgrounds. (ps. theres not meant to be a geyish bit at the bottom of that one!)

the brand - set colour or set shapes?

2009-02-07T21:12:00.004Z

Perhaps the brand should have either - a set brand colour pallete (where the shapes behind can change) or have a set shape where the colours change?

The brand should still be open though - it would be nice if different events could put their own mark on the brand etc - but the final show to be very refined and focussed....just as long as the logo is what is recognised?

and more:

2009-02-03T23:39:00.000Z

Some colour and shape experiments

2009-02-03T15:33:00.003Z

I started off by playing the the stripes, and then thought about squares and circles. There are 3 colours overall, but with the over-layering and opacity changes, some lovely colours and tones have come though.

I think that we should maybe get a set of 6 colours or so, and then play with different shapes. We could even go further and use photography or other medias but the blackbackground should stay - that is really strong.

yellow blue/ orange blue

2009-02-03T12:04:00.003Z

Heres a quick experiment.... Blue and orange do always work quite well together - alot of my practical work has used this combination alot ... but when the colours are placed next to each other, because they are just so contrasting, the lines between them are a bit blurred - you cant really tell where one colour begins and one ends ... and as they are the same kind of hue theres no definite strong colour so they conflict a bit perhaps? Though they are very attention grabbing. The yellow is much more toned down with the blue and easier on the eyes perhaps?

within context:

2009-02-02T16:39:00.002Z

Possible colours for the final brand :

2009-02-02T15:38:00.003Z

ust a reminder to people who couldn't make the meeting: 181 is the chosen brand and we are just in the process of finalising the brand guidleines which will be posted here and then sent to you all individually in a PDF format (once it has been decided). I have emailed Paul a preliminary vector logo design (the one shown in the meeting) that he will send to you all incase you need the logo for current promotions etc.

Any preferences on brand colour?

The brand could either stick to a fixed colour palett or promote a mixture of the above ...... Lighter colours sit better on the black background - especially when text is being used. Please do post any preferences or comments etc

cheers

Today's meeting ....

2009-01-30T10:44:00.002Z

hello, if anyone has come up with any designs, could you bring them along to todays meeting? If not, email them to me at glittery_sparkly_rainbow@hotmail.com and I'll print them out for you. Cheers

quick poster ...

2009-01-28T18:10:00.007Z

Example of how the brand could be integrated across poster designs and leaflets

Kipp has already put up some great posters, spreading the word about the committee etc that work really well - this is just an example of how one of the brands (181) could be applied in certain contexts.

more logo experiments ...

2009-01-28T14:52:00.002Z

one 8 one

2009-01-27T14:49:00.002Z

playing with the forms of words and turing them into numbers ...

181 compositions

2009-01-27T14:39:00.005Z

2009-01-27T00:15:00.002Z

2009-01-26T23:47:00.002Z

2009-01-26T15:17:00.002Z

181

2009-01-26T15:03:00.004Z

This number represents the estimated number of creatives working in our year (number is estimated by the vis com office). This is the visual development of the idea brought forward by the fundraising team.

Perhaps the number could be a logo in itself - merging into an object

2009-01-26T01:41:00.001Z

2009-01-26T01:32:00.004Z

2009-01-26T01:32:00.003Z

2009-01-26T01:31:00.005Z

2009-01-26T01:31:00.004Z

Generate

2009-01-14T21:09:00.003Z

logical?

2009-01-14T20:27:00.003Z

more words ....

2009-01-14T20:15:00.004Z

here's some more .....

HEAD ROOM

2009-01-14T00:06:00.004Z

Here's an idea I thought of today. Head Room could be a place where people's ideas have room to grow and develop. It could represent our vis comm building itself: The Head Room. Or, similar to paying for extra leg room on a flight, finishing the course could be our way of getting extra head room for more ideas... nonsense. I've tried to give a handmade aesthetic, similar to a hand-drawn gig poster.

periodic table idea...

2009-01-14T00:03:00.003Z

This is what your previous post reminded me of... it was an advert in National Geographic.

Relativity....

2009-01-13T17:01:00.003Z

Starting a conversation

2009-01-11T17:04:00.004Z

On the interactive kind of theme, I was thinking that the identity could include quotation marks of some sort perhaps - showing that we have something to say ...starting a conversation etc.

Perhaps this could be a successful viral kind of brand - where we could send out invitations and quotes to people ....the quotation marks could also be applied to the exhibition - the work could be framed by the quototation marks - giving everyone a kind of ownership of the brand ..... big 3d polystyrene quotation marks would be cool too as installation peieces ....

Lovemarks: sisomo idea

2009-01-10T16:58:00.007Z

I'm not sure if we'd be allowed to use this idea because it was a word developed by Saatchi& Saatchi ....

anyway heres a quick explanation - I came across this idea whist reading ' The Lovemarks Effect' . During the book, Kevin Roberts uses the word sisomo as a new word for the world of the Attraction Economy. Sisomo is about sight, sound and motion and how the media of screen based design is increasing and is allowing the consumer to take control ....

''sisomo brings life to the Attraction Economy... the word sisomo can talk in any language. It's a noun. It's a verb. It's an adjective'' - Kevin Roberts

alot of this is talking about design for screen .... so perhaps the actual show could have an emphasis on using screen to communicate to the audience in some way ie. involve the audience and set up interactive screens, making it an experience to remember ...etc.

But this is just an idea I came across in a book .... and I'm not sure if we'd be allowed to use this?? Unless it is an actual word in the dictionary ....??

and more ...

2008-12-29T15:18:00.003Z

more word experiments...

2008-12-29T12:24:00.003Z

word experiments ....

2008-12-22T14:43:00.002Z

Museum of Arts and Design - MAD - By Pentagram

2008-12-21T19:05:00.004Z

Ideas for our gradshow name!

2008-12-18T19:09:00.006Z

Please feel free to suggest some ideas for what word we could brand our graduation show with! Just leave a comment on this post. The more the merrier.

We need something with positive associations to what we are about but it doesn't harm to be a bit quirky. Something that will attract people's interest and create a buzz would be good, so try and use those creative strategy skills you've acquired and come up with something imaginative and expressive.

We look forward to your proposals!

Hub development #2 - more organic forms

2008-12-18T12:02:00.001Z

Here is a more realised design. I have changed the typography to red and orange hues because these colours jump out at you and are more positive than blues. The fluid, organic forms suggest collaboration, activity, a network and a celebration of creativity.

Hub development #1

2008-12-18T11:52:00.000Z

Here I added some hand drawn 'doodle' elements. I think it drowns the text a bit. I could enlarge the text and make it a colour that will make more of an impact than blue? I think the most interesting area is the the bit I'm just going to dub 'spaggetti-like' for now. This eludes to some of the brand values we were discussing surrounding the concept of 'Hub':

-core focus of creativity,
-bursting with activity,
-progression and collaboration,
-origin of influence
-a fluid network

I will try a simplified design incorporating these fluid, bursting forms.

Good Wives and Warriors

2008-12-17T12:39:00.000Z

Kate Moross

2008-12-17T12:38:00.000Z

more Rhubarb

2008-12-16T18:39:00.000Z

Also, I have heard that if people object to a comment in the House of Commons, they shout 'Rhubarb!' - it's almost like a profanity .... causing controversy

I've refined the vector type (top) and have made it more rounded/ rhubarb like. The lower one is made out of Plasticine (from a plasticine typeface I have made) ..but it may look better being made out of actual rhubarb ....although a vector version would perhaps work better for legibility and print applications?

ps. If this idea doesn't get used, I might use it for my negotiated project brief as it really fits in with the company I'm branding!!!!

Rhubarb!

2008-12-16T17:46:00.000Z

Here's another idea - it's more fun than the previous one ....

Ok so the idea behind Rhubarb:

Rhubarb starts a conversation, Rhubarb is a discussion. Rhubarb is controversial, Rhubarb has opinion, has a goal.

And its yummy too.

Also, Rhubarb, ironically, is used to refer to irrelevant chitter chatter - 'what aload of Rhubarb!'

Hub

2008-12-16T16:38:00.000Z

Ok, so this is just a quick idea - the idea of the word 'Hub'

- hub is the core focus of creativity, hub is bursting with activity, hub is about progression and collaberation, hub is the origin of influence ...

is 'Hub' us?

It's looking a bit corporate at the moment - but the nice round letters have something special about them - and the fact they are all attached - like a fluid network

Ofcourse, this is just one quick idea I'm just throwing out there :) what d'ya think?