OUGD405: SB1- Design Process:Frame

Picture Perfect

The task we've been set is to re-imagine and re-design the backing paper that comes with photo frames. As a rule of thumb they tend to be unimagined pieces of imagery and so it's down to us to try and make them a little more interesting.

To begin with I took a trek into town gathering examples of different types of backing paper, they all have to tick a few essential boxes. They need to display information; frame size and the company who made it, and give the buyer a taste of what the frame could be like in action without distracting from the product itself. From my examples I identified a few key design categories that most frame backings fit into.

The Store Brand
Tends to be plain, minimum pattern and design, mostly text. The idea for these is that one backing paper design can be produced for all types of frames.

Wilkinsons

 Ikea

The Cheesy 'Family' Moment

These backing papers are for showing off what the frame can/will look like when in use, they pose couple shoots and family group shots, all of which look idealised and 100% distorted from reality, I think this is why they get on my nerves so much. The frames are not always of the greatest quality- it's more about the picture/memory that the buyer will end up putting in the frame rather than the frame itself.

 

 

 

The 'Vintage' Look

Usually going hand in hand with a similar styled frame. The frame itself will be a new product trying to look older than it is and trying to create a history it doesn't have, the backing paper supports this concept and will often be in an old school pen and ink style illustration. Old style frames reaching out to the eclectic/hipster market who can't get enough of objects with history. 

The Sepia Dramatic Scene Shot/The Black and White Arty/Still Life
Similar to the cheesy family photo styled backing paper these images want to show off the frame in action, however instead of the heartwarming approach of family they show arty images in order to create dramatic impact. The frames they advertise/back are themselves usually more arty, the intention of their purchase will be so they buyer can have a nice frame rather than being all about the photo going into the frame. On a side not adding black and white or sepia filters to make shots more brooding and deep is stupid. 

 

  

 

Text/Plain

A single colour with the basic information, you can't get much simpler. Visually they look so much better than the photography backing papers, where they feel like the design is trying too hard the plainer backgrounds just feel more relaxed. They're comfortable with the frame they're in and they're not going to do much to try and grab your attention- the product can do that for them. 

Patterned

Similar to the plain designs, the patterned backing sheets aren't jumping up and down for your attention- but they are styled and thought over and not over complicated- I like them a lot. With plain and patterned backing papers usually comes a high class frame- the lack of detail in the paper is so the customer can view and enjoy the frame with minimum distractions.

 

 

OUGD403: Evaluation

The first module. How did it go?
Overall, pretty well. There were of course moments where I stressed myself out, cried, over loaded myself and stayed up far too late to be fully awake the next day but I feel like this first module has given me a good understanding of the kind of person I need to be for the next three years. We all have ideas in our head on how to be the perfect student- organised, good work ethic, finding a balance of social life and studies, but becoming this person isn't always an easy transition, this first module has shaped my character closer to the design student ideal and hopefully I'll be able to balance briefs and projects and home life a lot more successfully for the second module. 

I've certainly progressed in illustrator- that much can be said. From not really understanding the programme at all I now feel confident and happy when using the software, hell, I even look forward to messing about with it now. And the success doesn't end with illustrator, the whole process of creation feels a lot clearer thanks to the first module. From research to sketching to production I can't say I feel completely comfortable with it, but I certainly feel a lot less awkward about coming up with ideas, developing them and producing products and prints- though whether I'm good at it or not I still feel unsure. 

What never ceases to amaze me is the difference in work, comparing things I produced over the summer to my posters from studio brief five. September feels like years, not months ago and I can already feel my designs changing and progressing towards an unknown brighter future. So despite the late nights and the stress and the money spent on supplies I can honestly already see a difference, it's comforting, it makes all the effort worth while and it's a genuinely satisfying feeling that I live for. 

OUGD403: SB2- A, B, C

Alphabet Soup- Continued
Moving on from studio brief one, we were to take our strongest concept and produce- digitally- an entire alphabet. Out of my final 10 letterforms I chose to develop my periodic table idea, so here's a brief re cap of the concepts behind it.

I started with helvetica and the word evolve. For my research and visual inspiration I looked at examples of text and type based around evolve- e.g. Charles Darwin's handwriting, the text using in On the Origin of Species, types from the Gutenberg bible and type used in the periodic table of elements. 

Fun fact! The type used in the table is actually Arial not Helvetica. 

Original Manipulation

The table of elements inspired the layout of letters, placing lowercase next to uppercase, the challenge was making sure they looked like separate glyphs, like in the periodic table but yet merging them to make a single letterform.

OUGD403: SB5- High Impact Posters

The Story Continues...
Our newest assignment- we were to design and create 3 high impact posters using the information we'd gathered for Studio Brief 4. So as a means of inspiration I gathered examples of conservation posters and campaigns specifically focusing on shark conservation and protests against finning. 


Yao Ming's Awareness Campaign
Having the global celebrity influence that comes with being an NBA star Yao Ming teamed up with WildAid and Richard Branson in 2011 to help raise shark awareness and to bring attention to the cruel practice of finning. (Ming had sworn off the soup by 2006 after learning about the barbaric and bloody way the fins are gathered.)

He appeared on posters and even starred in an advert informing the Chinese public of where their 'fish wings' came from.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGAXq8Xq6p8&list=PL_hxifbAcawbKnvM5EJSncH2mzq62POis&index=2

I'm FINish with Fin Campaign

Celebrities from China and Singapore  gathered together to create a series of very high impact posters with an incredibly catchy slogan. The classic pose- a hand or arm over their mouths and the caption: I'm FINished with Fin- even Jackie Chan posed for one! 

Despite wanting to search for solely Chinese examples of shark conservation posters- seeing as my target audience would be the Chinese public- I also felt it important to see how the rest of the world was making a stand. I had assumed due to the cultural connection China has with shark fin soup their adverts would be tweaked to represent that (and in some ways they are), however what I was surprised to find was a lack of 'shock' factor- they focused on informing and gaining publicity rather than disgusting their audiences. 

Non-Chinese Conservation Posters

Target Audience

At some point (I can't remember exactly when) during my research I had settled on the idea of creating a poster for the Chinese public. From what I could gather from my information England and Britain weren't appropriate audiences for an anti-finning campaign, the EU closed loopholes in their finning regulations in early 2013 and Britain had banned finning all out in 2011- so I would be informing a country that already made very little to no impact on the species and whose populations hadn't even heard of shark fin soup.  China however still has no finning regulations and is the worlds greatest importer of shark fin, shark fin soup is entwined in their culture and has become part of tradition- if an anti shark poster has the chance to make a difference anywhere, it would be there. 

I also thought it important to sum up my research from studio brief four taking with me a condensed form a research to inform my poster designs. I presented this as a design board.

On a final note...

I found that Lush in China started producing Shark Fin Soap as a part of the campaign. An effort in conservation, design, hygiene and excellent punning, it made me smile. 

Seriously how cute is that?!