mbeck-graphicdesign

[mbeck-graphicdesign]

ARTG 310 - P2 Proof 3

Graphic Designer: Grei Orser Brand & Produce: Hazelnut Hills (Hazelnuts) Publication: Reader’s Digest Best Health

This week, Grei and I reviewed the progress she had made since our last briefing session. I had asked her to refine a few elements of the designs, but keep the taglines the same. We've also been working on the nailing the colour palette down. Last week the designs felt a little bit too red, rather than a warm brown.

First, let's take a look at the banner ad:

This one probably needed the least work out of the three, as it is a fairly clean and simple design. We narrowed down the tagline, and I asked Grei to zoom in on the bag of hazelnuts more. For next week, I wanted her to place even more emphasis on the product, potentially by enlarging the image even more, or darkening the background. I wanted her to see what it would look like if just the top of the bag was in frame, and then the "Crack Me Open" was centred above it (as seen in one of the rough sketches later on in this blog post). I think this design is effortless and elegant, and is just in the fine-tuning stage now.

For the half-page ad, I had asked Grei to find a different image for the background. The one she included last week (left) felt a bit distracting, and didn't match the orchard style look I was hoping for. This week she presented me with a much stronger orchard picture with a deeper brown overlay. She also blended the corners of the paper textures so that there wasn't distracting edges anymore. The deeper brown colour creates a lot better contrast for the type to stand out. I asked Grei to move the bottom ripped paper texture up slightly so it didn't feel so tight to the edge.

Finally, the full-page ad! During our last meeting, I asked Grei to change the background image to a wooden surface or desk to help ground the paper. This also places more focus on the typography and hazelnuts in the foreground. I also suggested that she move the logo onto the paper and render it to look like it was stamped right on the page. She did move it, but I think we will change the colour of it so it doesn't blend into the paper as much. I think another way we could bring some dynamism into the piece, is to have some of the hazelnuts off the page as well. This will lean further into the "spilt" look that is working well in this design. It will also help lead the viewers eyes up towards the tagline.

As you can see from the image above, I didn't have a ton of notes for Grei this week. Most of my feedback was discussed verbally, and noted down by Grei. Now that we are going into the final refinement stage of this project, I am excited to see how my graphic designer will bring it all together! I would still love to see some of her illustration skills used in some form for this project, but given the time constraints, that might be an element that we sacrifice. Since we haven't been fully sold on the typefaces, I also might challenge Grei to handwrite the taglines herself. The current ones just feel too static and not swoopy and loose enough. Since neither of us will be in class tomorrow (fieldtrip day!), I am hoping to either meet up with Grei at some point during the day, or just do another phone call session. It definitely feels like the homestretch, almost there!!

[mbeck-graphicdesign]

ARTG 310 - P2 Proof 2

Graphic Designer: Grei Orser Brand & Produce: Hazelnut Hills (Hazelnuts) Publication: Reader’s Digest Best Health

I was very excited to meet with Grei in person this week! After our brief phone call catch-up on Wednesday (because this week it was my turn to be sick), she had a bit more direction from me. I told her which layouts and taglines felt the strongest to me, and which images I'd like to see used. I also asked her to keep hunting for photos and expand her search to other "free" photo websites. She then tied all of this feedback together to produce this week's proof:

I was so impressed how much work Grei put in this week. To go from essentially just ideation, to fairly refined proofs is a big jump, especially when recovering from illness. The way that she refined the original Hazelnut Hills logo really gives it a more elegant feel, and almost a seal or stamp-like appearance. I did suggest that she add the full "Hazelnut Hills" to the logo on the full spread piece since there is more space. She also picked a lovely cursive typeface that aligns with the rough-but-classy tone I was going for. However, I did feel it might be a tad too rough, so I requested she source a few other options for next week.

As far as the taglines go, Grei nailed it. During our meeting on Wednesday, I told her the ones that I thought were the strongest, and she refined them for our Friday meeting. We both agreed the "crack me open" design might be too inappropriate for print, so we will dial that one back. One of our classmates also mentioned that the nut in "nut your average hazelnut orchard" should have quotes around it, so it doesn't look like a typo.

Grei brought in some ripped paper elements to a few of the designs (she knows I love a paper texture). I felt this worked well to create the hand-written letter look that I want to explore some more. I suggested she change the background of the full page design to look more like a desk, to help ground the "letter", as right now, it's just floating. This will also help ground the hazelnut image she used for that design and create the illusion of nuts spilled on top of a letter. I'm also hoping to utilize some of Grei's illustration skills to bring some more depth to the designs. On the full page, we discussed adding small hazelnut leaf doodles. We can then use this doodles to create some interesting texture to the banner and half-page designs by enlarging the illustrations and lowering the opacity. I think this will create visual interest and the use of a repeating element will help develop cohesion between the designs.

I'm looking forward to seeing the changes that my graphic designer made, and am excited to bounce more ideas off one another. I definitely found collaborating in person leads to much more ideation. I would sketch a concept and then Grei would counter it with another idea, and the ball would start rolling. I hope I was clear enough with my feedback and articulating what elements I want changed. I suppose we will find out on Friday!

[mbeck-graphicdesign]

ARTG 310 - P2 Proof 1

Graphic Designer: Grei Orser Brand & Produce: Hazelnut Hills (Hazelnuts) Publication: Reader’s Digest Best Health

Unfortunately, Grei was sick for this week's briefing session, so she sent me her documents digitally instead. My checklist for Proof 1 was:

Layout Thumbnails

A collection of photos (and sources)

Tagline Concepts

She provided all of these on-time and had a good variety! Grei did mention that finding photos was difficult, which was an issue I figured might arise. However, I was still impressed with the images she presented me.

These were some of the layout options she shared with me. I am leaning towards the designs that feature a close-up of a hazelnut, as this feels more "elegant" to me. When I think of advertisements for high-end products, they tend to focus on the textures or details of the product, so I want to imitate that. However, I was also drawn to the one with the orchard scene with the house/farm in the distance. This concept would work well for the full page spread and create a more personable feeling and create context as to who the "we" is in the taglines.

This was the collection of photos Grei compiled for this week. As I mentioned before, she struggled to find imagery for this project. She did, however, nail the warm colour scheme I was hoping for with the photos she chose, and some nice close-up shots! Some of the photos she selected contain a mix of nuts, which I think could still work with some editing to make sure the hazelnuts are the focus.

Last week, I tasked my graphic designer with creating some potential taglines to use for our advertisements. I requested a few to be a little bit cheeky and inappropriate. She definitely delivered! I was giggling reading through these, and I think they will be even funnier when they are in a beautiful cursive typeface.

Once Grei brings all of these elements together into a design, I believe we will be off to a great start for Proof 2. Her and I agreed to meet after our class on Tuesday to go over the progress she's made before next week's in-class briefing session. I am looking forward to seeing what else she has come up with!

[mbeck-graphicdesign]

ARTG 310 - P2 Heading to Proof 1

Graphic Designer: Grei Orser Brand & Produce: Hazelnut Hills (Hazelnuts) Publication: Reader's Digest Best Health

I was very excited to get Grei as my graphic designer! She was very onboard with the creative brief I provided her, and we immediately began bouncing ideas off one another. I expressed my vision of wanting an elegant and warm design, with fancy typography, but not-so-fancy content. Grei also seemed excited about this concept. I'm excited to see what she comes up with! I'm hoping that she doesn't have too much difficulty finding images for this project, but in that case, I might ask her to lean more into her illustration skills and place more focus on the typography. Before our next meeting, I asked her to start coming up with taglines, compiling possible imagery, and sketch a few thumbnail layouts to choose from. I think whatever she brings to our Proof 1 briefing session will spark many more concepts, and we can build off each other's ideas once again!

[mbeck-graphicdesign]

ARTG 310 - Make it Matter!

This project really forced me to reflect on my design process and made me very aware that everyone works differently. I found it difficult to explain the vision I had for the project. I think this mostly had to do with the way in which i typically design. Often, Ideas come to me once I actually begin working on a project, so to conceptualize an end product without doing any work on it myself, felt quite unnatural. However, It was satisfying to give my GD a fairly loose plan, and see the places he went with it! It also made me realize the value in working collaboratively in person. Being able to see a design and jot notes and suggestions directly on top of it makes explaining things a lot easier. I'm sure this correlates with being a visual learner, as I take in information best when I can see it. When my AD gave me notes on the design, I had an easier time remembering the edits I had to make since he had drawn them on the paper, rather than just explaining them to me.

In this next term, I want to be more clear and confident with what I want as an AD. I want to be able to guide my GD without second guessing the decisions and suggestions I make. I am going to try and narrow my creative direction and focus on one design solution, rather than thinking about ALL of the other possible solutions. I also want to continue to be open to feedback and push myself out of my comfort zone. I think some of my best design work came out of me trying something new that didn't align with my typical style. Another thing I'd like to work more on is my ideations stage. In first year, I had good habits of "quantity over quality" when it came to generating ideas. In the last two years I have been struggling to set that ideation time aside. I have felt forced to just quickly choose an idea and run with it given the tight time constraints.

Here's to the final stretch!

[mbeck-graphicdesign]

ARTG 310 - P2 Creative Brief

Below is the creative brief I put together for project 2, U-Pick magazine advertisements. I chose a local Vancouver Island hazelnut farm called Hazelnut Hills in Chemainus. For this project, I am hoping my GD can create warm, visually appealing, advertisements that bring viewers in with lovely typography and toasty colours. I think a fun juxtaposition of elegant and raunchy could really make these designs stand out, such as an inappropriate tagline written in a fancy script typeface. I was a little hesitant to choose hazelnuts for this project, since they are not nearly as common as fruits and vegetables, but I think that is also what makes it a unique subject. I am hoping this "unique-ness" won't create too much stress for my GD when it comes to sourcing images. Ideally, it will be a fun challenge for them! (which, in my experience, often creates the strongest work)

[mbeck-graphicdesign]

ARTG 310 - Proof 3

Graphic Designer: Tyson Schofield Article: Moving the Goalposts for Plant Intelligence (by Derrick Jensen) Publication: ADBUSTERS

The final proof! I was very pleased with the progress Tyson made this week. He made most of the edits I had requested last week, although there was still some issues with orphans and hyphenation. These issues will be resolved after Tyson has the final layout designed. Since we have been moving the content around a lot, it makes more sense to finalize the layout and then format the writing accordingly. Another element I really want included is a handwritten pull-quote. This week, I realized I hadn't actually provided a pull-quote for Tyson to use! So I chose one that is a tad bizarre and out-of-context: "Did the yogurt respond again when the cat started to eat?" I felt this would catch the attention of readers and aligned nicely with the unorthodox quotes that Adbusters typically uses.

Another request I had for my graphic designer was to integrate the pieces of paper more seamlessly with the backgrounds. At the moment, they feel quite disconnected with the rest of the design. I suggested adding subtle shading behind them and perhaps some more feathering along the edges, or bleeding some of that glitch effect onto the paper.

Now that this project is nearing the end, I've been reflecting more and more on my role as the art director. I think I could have provided a lot more direction for Tyson at the beginning of the assignment. I wanted to leave him with a lot of creative freedom, but I fear that may have been more of a hinderance than it was helpful. I struggled to create a creative brief for this project as Adbusters really follows no rules, so my creative brief also had very few "rules". If I put myself in the role of the graphic designer, I think I would've felt pretty lost. So, with that in mind, Tyson has created a great and unique piece, despite a lack of guidance on my end.

[mbeck-graphicdesign]

ARTG 310 - Proof 2

Graphic Designer: Tyson Schofield Article: Moving the Goalposts for Plant Intelligence (by Derrick Jensen) Publication: ADBUSTERS

This week, Tyson and I were able to go over printed versions of Proof 2 in the studio together. I found getting to see a physical version, rather than just digital, really helped me get a better feel for the composition and overall design. As much as I love the glitch effect Tyson has applied to the visual elements of the spread, I felt it could be toned down slightly. I suggested having the glitch effect only occurring on chunks of the composition, almost like a "gap in the simulation" sort of aesthetic. I think the paper pieces are a nice addition, but need to be altered to blend in with the backgrounds a bit more. Another key element I want Tyson to include in the next proof is a bold hand-written typeface. This is something that is frequently used throughout Adbusters magazines, and will help break up the concentrated body copy. There was still an issue with hyphenation being used in this Proof, so hopefully that will be resolved by next week.

This page (pictured above) is the one I felt needed the most work. I appreciate the visual components Tyson chose (ones I had suggested last week), but they lack cohesion. I am hoping he will use a more realistic looking polygraph test in the next proof, as well as leafier vines.

I have a good feeling about what Tyson will create for Proof 3. I hope that I was able to articulate my vision to him in a clear and concise way. Art director is no easy job!

[mbeck-graphicdesign]

ARTG 310 - Proof 1

Graphic Designer: Tyson Schofield Article: Moving the Goalposts for Plant Intelligence (by Derrick Jensen) Publication: ADBUSTERS

Unfortunately, Tyson was unable to make it to this weeks briefing session due to a cold. However, he still provided me with a lovely first digital draft! The style is very on-brand with Adbusters' look. I was very pleased to see how well he was able to create a sort of psychedelic, brain-melting, aesthetic through his photo-manipulation and use of textures.

These were a few of the notes I received from Tyson regarding his design decisions:

Going for a magazine cutout collage style as suggested in the brief, surreal, raw, captivating, distressed, and grungy. In line with a lot of the examples I was able to find of the adbusters aesthetic.

I used vines/ivy on a cement wall as the backdrop and applied some effects to give it a sort of psychedelic and flowy feel.

A mix of bright vivid greens and pinks to contrast the grungy muted colors.

I plan to add some callout sections for quotes drawn from the article.

I feel that the first page of the spread is by far the strongest (Tyson also mentioned the same sentiment in his email). The typography used for the title really reflects the unconventional and grungy look I was hoping for. I did feel that the rest of the design could use some refining though. I want to see more depth to the layout through the use of layering and multi-media.

Below is the feedback document I emailed back to Tyson:

I did find it somewhat difficult articulating my feedback digitally and not being able to scribble on a physical copy of the spread. I also think it would have been nice to chat with Tyson in person to bounce ideas off one another, but unfortunately the cold that has been going around had other plans. I hope my Graphic Designer is feeling better by next week so we can continue to bring this spread to life. I am excited to see what else Tyson can come up with!

[mbeck-graphicdesign]

ARTG 310 - Heading to Proof 1

Graphic Designer: Tyson Schofield Article: Moving the Goalposts for Plant Intelligence (by Derrick Jensen) Publication: ADBUSTERS

Tyson was a tad late for the first briefing session, but after he arrived, we hopped right into things. I've seen some of Tyson's other work and he is quite a talented designer! I'm confident that he will be able to capture the Adbusters style with his composition. I went over the creative brief with him and emphasized Adbusters' lack of typical magazine structure. I also mentioned that imagery should be the focus of the layout, and the body copy and other type should work around the visuals. I suggested using multimedia to create depth and to use lots of textures. Tyson's first thought was to incorporate vines crawling around the edges of the spread. I really liked that idea and urged him to pursue that, and maybe consider intertwining wires with the vines to represent the wires of a polygraph test.

I look forward to seeing some of the concepts Tyson brings to the briefing session this week!

[mbeck-graphicdesign]

ARTG 310 - Creative Brief

Here is the creative brief I designed for my graphic designer. ADBUSTERS magazines are rugged and unconventional, and I really tried to imitate this with the brief. The article I was given is a unique and interesting topic, not one that would typically be found in these magazines. I think this will create an interesting challenge. I'm excited to see what my assigned GD will come up with!

[mbeck-graphicdesign]

ARTG 310 - File Structure 

I am a big fan of organization, which has certainly proven to be a useful skill throughout this program. Naming conventions, however, have been a new skill I've developed in the graphic design program. I always used fairly detailed descriptors, but including the class names and version numbers has really made a difference in finding certain files quickly. I always use a LOT of folders-within-folders. This helps my digital space feel less cluttered when I'm working!

[mbeck-graphicdesign]

ARTG 310 - What is an Art Director? 

Throughout my research into defining Art Director, the word that kept popping out at me was strategy. It is an Art Director's duty to analyze a design problem and strategize a creative solution. They are the foundation of a strong design. Art Directors are then responsible for conveying their solution in a clear and precise way. It is imperative that the direction they want the design to go in is mapped out and explained so that the designer can make that a reality. If the foundation is chunky and scattered, the design will likely crumble. They lead designers through the ideation stage and set the parameters for the designers to create within.

Inspiration (MYOM)

I chose MYOM (Make Your Own Mylk) as my inspiration. I was immediately drawn to this design simply because it aligns very much with my own personal style! The bubble letters and vibrant blue caught my attention right away. After reading into the project further, I was even more intrigued by the mission behind it and the clever ways the team was able to incorporate the guiding principles into the design. The way that the letters compress and stretch are a direct representation of the texture of the packaging. The typography is milk coloured and drippy looking. They further incorporate the compressed look into the cheeky squished milk trucks, cartons, and recycling bins. This design also caused me to pause and reflect on my usage of milk alternative products and how much waste is produced every time I finish a tetra-pack. It's exciting to see more and more sustainable package designs being developed!

I also have to include an honourable mention of my second choice because it's also so great! (Figma)

Guiding Principles

The guiding principles behind this product are:

Compact - small package with a big impact

Expansive - a new product that will revolutionize the "mylk" industry

Transformative - changes the way milk alternatives are consumed

[mbeck-graphicdesign]

ARTG 371 - Project 2 Closing Thoughts

In a way, this project felt easier than project 1 as there was lots of room for creative freedom, and we didn't have to necessarily make a package from scratch. However, creating a whole brand proved to be its own challenge. I found this challenge quite gratifying. Coming up with a company and creating the identity of the brand was fun! It was even more rewarding to see that brand come to life in the final products. I wasn't completely pleased with the way my branded series turned out, and I can't specifically pin the reason why. They just felt slightly unfinished. Nevertheless, I believe I was successful in producing a unique and fun product that would stand out on the shelves in a store, which was my main goal with this project.

Below is a photo of the balsamic vinegar section of a local grocery store. I can confidently say, PÅLEG would catch the eyes of shoppers.

[mbeck-graphicdesign]

ARTG 371 - Project 2 Final Application

The final week! Printing the final design elements for my branded series was quite stressful, because I wanted to make sure it all worked. However, my friend Sam has a pretty great printing setup that I was fortunate enough to use. This allowed me to do a TON of practice prints before committing to using the sticker paper (that Sam also had on hand!). This ended up being a 6 hour process involving a lot of trial and error, a lot of error. (pictured below)

After getting feedback last week from my classmates, and some of the first-years, I had a clearer direction that I wanted to go with my package design. I tried a few different layouts with my prototypes (pictured below). Overall, most people agreed that the pattern worked best on the bottom of the bottle. When it was higher up, it got lost, and on a store shelf, the product wouldn't catch consumers' eyes. Having the pattern on the bottom also helps ground the package and give it a base. It was also agreed upon that the logo with just one accent colour used in the "å" was most effective.

I next made the decision to put the product information, UPC code, ingredients, and nutrition facts all on one sticker element, rather than separating them all as I had originally planned. When they were all separate, they appeared to sort of just be floating around the bottle. Including them together also gave me another opportunity to implement the accent colour!

When printing the final stickers out for my product, I ran into a few issues. After doing quite a few test prints to figure out sizing and placement for all the elements, I printed the final copies on the matte sticker paper. Unfortunately, we only had two pieces of this paper. This meant when the stickers had some errors (more errors!) I had to decide between using them or opting for other paper options. I ended up using the matte paper for the wrap around elements, despite some minor mis-prints. For the other elements though, I ended up having to use glossy paper. I felt that this created a bit of a busier design since there was so many paper textures on one product. This was one of the areas I was disappointed in for my final outcome. However, I think the paper texture for the patterns turned out very lovely! (process images below, wine included in the process)

I used Mod Podge to secure the patterned paper to the bottles (pictured above) and held them secure with rubber bands over night to dry. While I waited for them to dry, I began concocting the "glaze" that would be going in the bottles. My vision was to create a thick dark liquid with subtle colour differences to represent the different flavours. I originally thought using glue would work well for the texture, but did not want to buy a ton of liquid glue just for this project. Instead I opted for water, food colouring and cornstarch.

This is where another error was made. The cornstarch and water didn't really combine and always ended up separating. After leaving the "glazes" out over night, I decided that I preferred the darker colour of just the water and dye. I then dumped the coloured water into the corresponding bottles, and disposed of the cornstarch sludge. The texture certainly isn't "glaze-y", but I think the colour of the product will work a lot better for pictures and presentation.

The final error in my process was accidentally getting a piece of a pour-spout stuck inside one of the bottles. I poured the "glaze" in hoping that it would hide the piece, but, lo and behold, the piece floated. I then poured out the liquid and assessed my options. I had already tried using tweezers, scissors, and needle-nose pliers. After a quick internet search, I pushed a plastic bag into the bottle, blew air into the bag to expand it, and was able to use that tension to pull the plastic bit out of the bottle. A great life hack to add to the repertoire.

For the amount of time and effort I put into this project, I wish I could say I was totally stoked with the final outcome. I feel that the products are visually nice, but they feel somewhat unfinished and incohesive. I'm also struggling with the amount of negative space on the bottles (the urge to fill negative space is something I need to work oon) and feel that they are missing a final design element to balance it all out. I think I will print some single illustrations of the flavours tomorrow to see if adding those helps me feel better about the design. Time will tell!

[mbeck-graphicdesign]

ARTG 371 - Project 2 Application

This week I worked on bringing my prototype concept to reality. I started by creating the logo and wrap-around patterns I wanted on each bottle (pictured below):

Next, I printed these out so I could get a feel of them on the bottles I will be using for my product.

After seeing it on the bottle, I decided I wanted the pattern to be a little bit thinner. It also needed to longer since it didn't fully wrap around the bottle. I also think that have the grapes oriented down/hanging looks better. Seeing it all together gave me a stronger direction of the changes I needed to make. Below is the newest version of my digital file:

I simplified the logo colour schemes to be more consistent and only have one accent colour. I then decided to pull these accent colours into the other bottle elements, including the Påleg backstory, and seal stickers (bottom right). I still need to add UPC codes. I am currently trying to decide if I want to include them somewhere in the design, or put them on the bottom of the bottle for easy scanning. Holding the prototype in my hand got me quite excited about the final product. I hope that the final print looks the way I'm picturing in my head!

[mbeck-graphicdesign]

ARTG 371 - Project 2 Planning (Part 2)

Here is the first draft of my project rationale:

Challenge

This project requires me to create a brand series. The product can be food, beverage, health, or cosmetic. I've decided to create a balsamic vinegar brand from scratch. The biggest challenge for this assignment is creating distinct flavors, and how to do that in a way that is cohesive with the branding. Variety, but consistency is key. Since I am creating my own brand, I also need to consider my brand identity, and what that means for the design.

Approach

I am creating a balsamic glaze series of three different flavors: Classic/grape, Strawberry & Fig, and Blackberry & Ginger. I am going to differentiate these flavors from one another through the use of colors and illustrations. This will challenge me to figure out what elements of a brand can be altered, and what elements need to stay consistent. I'm also going to challenge myself to use a vibrant color palette instead of my comfort 'earth tones'. I think this will also help my product stand out from the competition.

Outcome

My goal for this project is to create a final product that is unique and more fun and modern looking than many of the other balsamic vinegar brands (that tend to look quite traditional). I want to take a home-y feeling product and take it to a slightly sleeker level. Traditional taste, with a modern look. 

Below is my Visual Design Brief: