Design for Print & Web Research

I started this brief fairly late, but had a good idea of what I wanted to produce for it. So I knew where and what to research. I started with looking into things which I was planning to create through this brief. I had compiled all of my images onto a pinterest board. 

Design For Print and Web Board

Considering that this was the final brief of the module I decided to use some of the processes I did not get a chance to use in the previous ones, or use things that I simply had not done before.

This next image interested me as I have always wanted to use holographic card and have always been intrigued with how you can see so many colours in different light.

After having seen this I wanted to try and get hold of some card which was similar or foil maybe.

Considering that I had included to brand the cafe as part of the gallery I also had a look into branding for cafes, which is when this next image really caught my attention.

I liked how they had broken down what fonts they had used in the branding the different variations of logos and colour schemes, along with any patterns that they had used.

I also looked into corporate branding as I came across images as such which gave me a few ideas of how I could go about doing it.

I also saw a few images of banners which gave me ideas on what I could have as inspiration, my trip down to london to the galleries tied in with this very well, which I have documented on my Design practice blog.

I was also thinking of some things like bags if the exhibition had a shop?

I searched for galleries and info and wayfinding and found some interesting approaches to how it had been done.

Now that I knew what I was going to be producing I started to look at booklets and things I was going to be producing like posters and corporate branding.

Study Task 5 - Triangulation

This task was to use the triangulation of text method of academic writing. I ended up writing more that I expected so I chose to continue this piece on into my essay.

In the 19^th century advertising and promotions of products did not need as much branding as is used now. This is mainly down to the fact that during that time the only things being advertised and promoted were new things which had been invented, one of many authors have commented on this, N Klein best explains this point, (2000)

‘The first mass-marketing campaigns, starting in the second half of the nineteenth, had more to do with advertising than with branding as we understand it today. Faced with a range of recently invented products – the radio, phonograph, car, light bulb and so on – advertisers had more pressing tasks than creating a brand identity for any given corporation; first they had to change the way people lived their lives. Ads had to inform consumers about the existence of some new invention, then convince them that their lives would be better if they used, for example, cars instead of wagons, telephones instead of mail and electric light instead of oil lamps. Many of these new products bore brand names – some of which are still around today – but these were almost incidental. These products were themselves news; that was almost advertisement enough.’

It was the products which in fact sold themselves and the newness of the idea which was what people were buying, mainly due to the fact that the products there were selling actually would have made your life easier not how now in the present time when it is in fact the brand which you are buying into. Klein has commented on this as well, (2000)

‘The search for the true meaning of brands – or the “brand essence” as it is often called – gradually took the agencies away from the individual products and their attributes and toward a psychological/anthropological examination of what brands mean to the culture and to the people’s lives. This was seen to be of crucial importance, since corporations may manufacture products, but what consumers buy are brands.’

One of the main reasons as to why now advertising and marketing is such a lucrative business and plays such a large portion of selling anything these days is because of this, and how in trying to brand your product is not only about the product but is more about what benefits you would get from buying into it. It was this crucial moment when companies and large brands had started to think about what Klein was describing as ‘brand essence’. Berger in Ways of Seeing supports this as he states that (1972)

‘It is important here not to confuse publicity with the pleasure or benefits to be enjoyed from the things it advertises.’

This is also further supported by Olins in On Brand as he states (2003)

‘Branding has moved so far beyond its commercial origins that its impact is virtually immeasurable in social and cultural terms. It has spread into education, sport, fashion, travel, art, theatre, literature, the region, the nation and virtually anywhere else you can think of.’ 

Purdeys Research

History

I did some basic research into Purdeys as a brand just so I knew all of the facts and figures about them. With it being such a small brand, they did not even have an official website which was something which I could potentially propose as part of my submission as a website is one of the best ways to expand your audience and profits. But with that in mind I could not find a lot of information on the brand.

Some of the things I did find out about the brand was:

• It is produced by Orchid Drinks LTD
• The parent company is Britvic, which is quite popular
• It is only sold in UK, Republic of Ireland, Netherlands and Belgium
• It has 2 different drinks, Purdeys Activation (which was previously known as Active Body) and Purdeys Rejuvenation (Was known as Active Life) 
• Both drinks are made up of fruit juices and contain vitamins and anti-oxidants

Looking at social media I also discovered that the target audience currently is 25-34 year olds, as their facebook shows

The Drink (Ingredients)

Ingredients: Fruit juices from concentrate 57 per cent, (grape, apple), carbonated spring water 42 per cent, botanical extracts (damiana, bayberry bark, prickly ash bark, Chinese ginseng), natural flavourings, citric acid, Vitamins (C, niacin, B6, thiamin, riboflavin, folacin, B12), glucose. Free from caffeine and artificial sweeteners.

Nutrition

Ingredients

Fruit Juices from Concentrate 57% (Grape, Apple), Carbonated Spring Water (42%), Botanical Extracts (Damiana, Bayberry Bark, Prickly Ash Bark, Chinese Ginseng), Natural Flavourings, Citric Acid, Vitamins (C, Niacin, B6, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Folacin, B12), Glucose.

Dietary Information

Free From Artificial Colours
Free From Artificial Sweeteners
Free From Artificial Flavours
Free From Artificial Preservatives

Nutritional Data

Nutrition

Typical values				per 100ml	Per 330ml serving
Energy				137kj	452kj
Energy				32kcal	106kcal
Protein				0.2g	0.7g
Carbohydrate				6.8g	22g
of which sugars				6.8g	22g
Fat				0.1g	0.3g
of which saturates				Nil	Nil
Fibre				Trace	Trace
Sodium				Nil	Nil
Thiamin (B1)				0.14mg	0.46mg
Riboflavin (B2)				0.16mg	0.53mg
Vitamin B6				0.2mg	0.66mg
Vitamin B12				0.1µg	0.33µg
Vitamin C				6mg	19.8mg
Niacin				1.8mg	6mg
Folic Acid				20.3µg	67µg

This was a review from the Daily Mail of the drink:

The active ingredient here is damiana, which is linked to weight management. A study on the herbal remedy Zotrim, which contains damiana, yerba mate and guarana found significant weight loss. The herbs are believed to stimulate metabolism and increase feelings of fullness.

The Chinese root ginseng - which is less active than the Siberian form - is thought to reduce stress. But is there enough here? You need between 0.3g and 2g a day of ginseng to have any effect on stress. Folacin is good for women who are planning to get pregnant, but the rest is all fluff. There might be a study on a mouse somewhere to say bayberry bark is good for you, but it doesn't mean it's any good for humans.

Bottle Design

In terms of the design of the bottle, with the drink only being around for a few years they have only changed it once, even then only very slightly.

On the left is the original design and on the right is the current design.

I personally dont like either of the designs, but I guess I am not the target audience for the drink, but I do not think that the current design is actually doing anything for the drink or brand in terms of sales and showcasing what the drink and brand is about. I think the overall style that they have gone for isn't working along with the colours they have chosen, the only actual purpose of the silver is so that it blocks out the light, but I do not see the point of the glass bottle as some would think that it shows a level of class or that the drink is some sort of luxury or high end drink when in fact it only sells for £1 in most supermarkets. I also think that it does not contribute towards their brand values as they pride themselves on being a completely natural energy drink but I think that this should be reflected through their packaging as well.

This was a limited edition Gold version of the drink which they must have released.

The glass bottle might be seen to be 'signature' for Purdeys but I will not be using it as we do not have to, and I personally do not think it contributes to the design, ethics of the brand or the drink it self.

Competitors 

Having a look at some of the drinks which are in the same category as Purdeys and what their designs are like.

From looking at most of these the use of colour is a lot more prominent than in the Purdeys packaging but This is another reason as to why I think a simpler colour scheme would make it stand out.

Essay and Topic Research and Ideas

In the last seminar we had with Richard, along with the task we were also asked to choose and look into a topic of your choice (something related to the lecture programme which we would be using for the rest of our Context of Practice this year and final, we could also do something similar for our essay questions.

Initial Ideas:

Some of the first few topics which I wanted to look into were related to fashion, brands and streetwear.

But I was not so keen on doing something so similar to what I had done last year.

I found the lecture and seminars on consumerism quite interesting, which are still quite closely related to what I was proposing to do as it links in with brands, brand culture and thinking about it I could also use this topic for my essay and I had started to look at what I could produce as the physical element. I also think that the First things First manifesto grabbed my attention from the lecture programme so far, so I could also look into ethics.

The main idea throughout all of these examples are consumerism:

I like what they have done here with the title, as I have recently become more interested in Chinese design and calligraphy, and what it is about is the main reason I chose this example as a lot of things we consumer and buy into is made or manufactured in china.

This is publication based around the First things First manifesto. 

This was another publication on consumer culture which I looked at for an idea for what I could do with my physical element of cop.

I found these examples of design to do with consumerism quite interesting as I get the message they are trying to say, but at the same time they are contradicting themselves as it is at the end of the day selling another product, which I think is getting at how some people would debate the consumerism will never end, or is inevitable.

Tutorial

After my tutorial with Richard he gave me a few things to look into as he liked the overall idea for what I was proposing to do.

He suggested that I read the book 'No Logo' which would help me to come up with questions for my essay along with give me something a little more specific to look into. 

Seminar 5 - Ethics

Seminar 5 - Ethics

In todays session we were looking at what the Lecture was going to be on, but was the last of the kind. 

We were split into 5 groups and were each given a section or version of the either First things First (1964 + 2001) Manifesto and the Revisited version, along with The footnotes to a manifesto.

My group was allocated the 2000 version of the First things First manifesto. 
The main points and differences we had found compared to the original were:

• The items which were being sold were no longer things which would be seen as necessities, they were luxury things or items would could live without.
• The previous one was broader in terms of who was actually designing the adverts, this one had changed as over time specific roles had been created for this sort of thing, such as visual communicators and art directors, along with graphic designers.
• We also picked up on the fact that they thought that people would improve and not give in but had only got worse.
• The blame is now more directed at the actual designers and not the adverts or companies they are promoting
• Designers now also know that they could be doing a better job or something else, but are happy to do these sort of jobs for the money.

We then as a whole, went over the points we got from each of our allocated sections,here are what the other groups got:

First Things First 1964

• Growing sense of Youth Culture
• Anti-War movements
• More Useful to use skills elsewhere such as to benefit society or contribute towards national prosperity instead of trivial purposes, 
• Design to Inspire
• Mainly a reversal of Priorities

First Things First 2000

• Consumerism has grown, developed and the overall situation has worsened
• Change of time, more pressing times
• Anti-Consumerism
• Self-Perpetuating system
• A call to Action

R.Poymer

• Consumer system develops
• Synergy between advertising and design
• Lack of Diversity in Design
• Published by AdBusters

Michael Beirut (2007)

• Who can be against all of this?
• Designers are used as Stylists for hire
• Over-Emphasized
• What happens if designers opt out?

Lecture - Cities and Film

This lecture looked at:

•The city in Modernism
•The beginnings of an urban sociology
•The city as public and private space
•The city in Postmodernism
•The relation of the individual to the crowd in the city

Georg Simmel (1858- 1918)

•German sociologist
•Writes Metropolis and Mental Life in 1903
•Influences critical theory of the Frankfurt School thinkers eg: Walter Benjamin, Kracauer, Adorno and Horkheimer

Dresden Exhibition 1903

•Simmel is asked to lecture on the role of intellectual life in the city but instead reverses the idea and writes about the effect of the city on the individual
•(Herbert Bayer Lonely Metropolitan 1932)

Urban sociology

Lewis Hine 1932

• the resistance of the individual to being leveled, swallowed up in the social-technological mechanism.
• Georg Simmel The Metropolis and Mental Life 1903

Architect Louis Sullivan (1856-1924)

•creator of the modern skyscraper,
•an influential architect and critic of the Chicago School
•Guaranty Building was built in 1894 by Adler & Sullivan in Buffalo NY

•Skyscrapers represent the upwardly mobile city of business opportunity
•Fire cleared buildings in Chicago in 1871 and made way for Louis Sullivan new aspirational buildings

Charles Scheeler 

Fire cleared buildings in Chicago in 1871 and made way for Louis Sullivan new aspirational buildings

Fordism: mechanised labour relations

Charlie Chaplin: Modern times 1936

Stock market crash of 1929

•Factories close and unemployment goes up dramatically
•Leads to “the Great Depression”
•Margaret Bourke-White

Flaneur

The term flâneur comes from the French masculine noun flâneur—which has the basic meanings of "stroller", "lounger", "saunterer", "loafer"—which itself comes from the French verb flâner, which means "to stroll"

Walter Benjamin

•Adopts the concept of the urban observer as an analytical tool and as a lifestyle as seen in his writings
•(Arcades Project, 1927–40), Benjamin’s final, incomplete book about Parisian city life in the 19th century
•Berlin Chronicle/Berlin Childhood (memoirs)

Photographer as flaneur

Cindy Sherman Untitled Film Stills (1977-80)

Cities of the future/past- Fritz Lang Metropolis (1929)

Ridley Scoot - Blade Runner 1982 LA

Postmodern City in photography: Joel Meyerowitz Broadway and West 46th Street NY 1976

]

Study Task 4

Today we were set a task similar to a previous one where we need to use at least 5 quotes from 'The Look' By Coward,R., to analyse an image which utilizes the gaze.

In this analysis I will be looking at this image which is promotional material from a D&G Ad campaign for the release of a new series of aftershaves and perfumes for men and women. In this particular example the ‘gaze’ is actually being returned where as in more traditional and dated images of similar content the women or rarely men would not be looking at the camera or at you, which would imply that they are allowing you to look at them. One of the main reasons they have got the models in this advert to gaze back is due to historically when the gaze has been returned is has been deemed more sexual or provocative, this links into what Coward,R. says; 'The emphasis on women’s looks becomes a crucial way in which society exercises control over women’s sexuality.'(Coward, R., ‘The Look’ in Thomas, J. (e.d) (2000) PP.35). Backing up what he said and in relation to this image, all of the people in the advert are in fact models so from that right there they are saying that this is what beauty and in conclusion all women should look like. 

‘Advertising in this society builds precisely on the creation of an anxiety to the effect that, unless we measure up, we will not be loved’ (Coward, R., ‘The Look’ in Thomas, J. (e.d) (2000) PP.38). Looking at this quote the way that this is shown or used in this image is the through what they are selling, as they are trying to get you buy the products by suggesting that you will look like the models or have that level of appeal to the opposite sex along with being loved, which is what the couple in the top right of the advert are suggesting. 

‘For looking is not a neutral activity. Human beings don’t all look at things in the same way, innocently as it were. In this culture, the look is largely controlled by men’ (Coward, R., ‘The Look’ in Thomas, J. (e.d) (2000) PP.33). This quote is backed up through this image but also contradicts it at times as the quote is suggesting that people do not just look at things with an innocent sense of mind or thoughts as we once used to, but mainly directed at males. But in this image there are also men who are posing which would suggest that it is going to get women as well as men looking.

“The saturation of society with images of women has nothing to do with men’s natural appreciation of objective beauty, their aesthetic appreciation, and everything to do with an obsessive recording and use of women’s images in ways which make men feel comfortable. Clearly this comfort is connected with feeling secure or powerful” (Coward, R., ‘The Look’ in Thomas, J. (e.d) (2000) PP.34. Looking that the image above, it remains true to what Coward,R is trying to say as even though there are men in the advert one of the males is grabbing onto one of the women, which would suggest power over her or more obviously objectification in the slightest. 

In conclusion the current times we live in, we are surrounded by images of pretty much naked men and women which are all selling products we don’t need along with false hopes of looking like them and being loved, but mainly what beauty is and should be, this is backed up through one final quote; 'There’s no simple matter of men imposing these meanings on women who can then take them or leave them depending on what they had for breakfast. Women are, more often than not preoccupied with images their owns and other peoples. However unconsciously most members of this society get the message that there’s a lot at stake in visual impact. Most women know to their cost that appearance is perhaps the crucial way by which men form opinions of women. For that reason feelings about self image get mixed up with feelings about security and comfort.'(Coward, R., ‘The Look’ in Thomas, J. (e.d) (2000) PP.36).

Seminar 4 - The Media and the Gaze

Seminar 4 - The Media and the Gaze

Todays session was again picking up on topics from the previous lecture.

some of the points raised in relation to the lecture were:

• A lot of traditional paintings have a sexual undertone
• Women like to look at themselves being looked at, which somewhat makes it okay for you to look at them
• System of images, ideas of what beauty is and should look like?
• Male orientated ideas of beauty
• Naked or Nude?
• Naked is to be yourself
• Nude is to be seen - objectified

From this session we were set a task, which I have blogged as a separate post on this blog.

Design For Print Research

I started to look at images and things which I thought we related to print in order to get ideas and inspiration for what to do.

I have linked the pinterest board (link) which I used to compile all of the images I thought were appropriate. I have also linked a few here which I thought stood out to me the most.

This image below came up after I looked in to some of the processes I wanted to look into as part of this brief. One of them was foiling and this was one of the images which came up when I had searched it using designspiration 

I found this image interesting as I had never thought to use foil as a form of stock and I think that it works very well for a single colour image like the one above. I also like how it has been folded.

This next image was one which I found as I had said that I wanted to use florescent colours as one of the things I hadn't done before.

This image I thought made good use of florescent colour as I think that it can be done very well and also very bad and I think the selective use of the colour in this works very well.

This next image was one which interested me a lot as it gave me the idea of using holographic foil.

This next image intrigued me as I had never done anything using odd paper folding or binding, so that was another thing which I wanted to try during this brief.

I started to do workshops for things I had not done before. I have documented this on my design practice blog.

From looking at these initial images and after the crits I had on the brief, I started to look into things which I knew I was going to be doing, which I have pinned on to the same board. But these images below are some more which stood out too me.

This image was what I imagined when I was still proposing to do belly bands around each type of poster. Also the use of florescent colour.

The next image was one which was very crucial to my design decisions as it was after seeing this I knew what format I was going to have my posters in, in terms of folding and overall structure.

I like how this shows only a small snippet of the design but then folds out into something bigger but has been designed to work with the folds.

I had also created a separate board (link) for the style of info graphics I was thinking of using for my posters. 

This final image was what really influenced how I had the image side of my poster as I think the halftone photo and text on top worked very well.

For all of my poster all of the contextual information was found out when I was doing the processes or from last years inductions, I went and asked the technicians what and how things were done.