Tutorial feedback

Today I had a tutorial with Tim in order to configure the development of my APP. I felt this was necessary as I wanted to share my ideas and come to more of a conclusion and direction to take.

After sharing my research and findings and the styles in which I like such as the illustrator Georgina Luck and decorative type, we discussed the importance of context and audience within this brief as to its appearance and design.

Therefore I have decided to recap on these elements in order to decipher who the campaign will be aimed towards. For example is the purpose of the posters to send a message to domestic users such to demonstrate plastic pollution in the sense of using micro-beads or is it for users who are visiting the beach or costal areas to tell them not to directly litter into the ocean. This choice therefore determents where the posters will be placed for example on billboards in a city or placed around beaches.

Going through these elements has given me new ideas whilst allow me to make firmer decisions on how I would like to portray and produce the posters, this being to focus upon typographic illustration, creating an attractive piece of design which has a deeper, darker and more serious meaning.

 

APP Thumbnails

To begin the design process for my APP campaign posters, I have began by sketching thumbnails which I will now show and explain in more detail.

In the above sketches I have taken a fact from the previous post made about plastic pollution and experimented with different ways it can be presented.

The top left shows the fact in a large type surrounded by both plastic and marine life illustrations. The purpose of this sketch is to make the type clear and easy for the audience to read whilst surround it with signifiers around the topic of plastic pollution.

The top right shows the type in the shape of an object such as a marine creature, this would then indicate how the words are being placed inside of the animal, similarly to how plastic is now becoming part their diet. The inspiration from this has come from my previous research of typography posters with the series of the lion king characters and their famous phrases. Its purpose is to create a dual meaning using the same space as the  it depends on how the audience reads the poster as to whether they notice the fact first or the shape it has been placed within.

The bottom left thumbnail shows the facts placed in bold lettering filling up the space. Its background would feature a photography affect using ink in water which would give the impression it is plastic floating with the ocean, similar to the example adjacent. However although you can purchase this effect online, it could be difficult to achieve myself without having a large container of water to place the ink within. Also it could be difficult for every type of audience who looks at the poster to see the ink as a signifier to plastic.

The last thumbnail on the bottom right features again the text taking up the whole space of the page however one of the key elements within the text being enlarged and filled with different vectors relating to both marine life and plastic. This idea has previously been explored in one of my research posters using a marine animal filled with plastic vectors. Using this effect on the figure within the sentence creates more of an impact and a volume due to it being made up of vectors.

The next set of thumbnails look more on how illustration and type can be interpreted together. One of the main factors that struck me when carrying out this research was the fact that as plastic is entering marines life food chain, it in turn is also entering our own as we consume the fish that are consuming the plastic within the ocean. Within these thumbnails I wanted to emphasise this and experiment with ways of how to illustrate this for example, replacing the fish with a plastic bottle on a plate of traditional fish and chips or creating a salt mill however replacing the seasoning with plastic. This would then provoke a reaction with the audience whilst also inform them of what they could be eating due to plastic pollution.

I began to look at illustrations that could be made to relate the harsh reality of plastic pollution on marine life and starting looking at how micro-bead could be presented. Within the thumbnail on the bottom right shows a happy turtle illustration wearing a micro-bead scrub. The type surrounding this would need to link the two together for example ‘Is this the real face of beauty?’

Having explored many different styles and compositions within my thumbnails I can now begin to experiment with the ones in which I think will be the most successful and have the most potential to develop.

 

 

House of Minalima Exhibition

The second of exhibition was to the House of Minalima which showcases fifteen years of creative collaboration of the graphic design duo Miraphora Mina and Eduardo Lima. These artists have worked on many productions such as all the Harry Potter films and Mysterious Beasts and where to find them.

The products in which the designers have made range from newspapers, wanted posters, packaging design, maps and book covers all used as props in the films.

Here shows the ‘daily prophet’ newspaper featured in Harry Potter, the design of which has developed from the first to the second throughout the film on purpose in order to fit the era and story behind it. All of the content with the newspaper have been written by the designers and often feature real life stories and names within them.

Miraphora Mina was responsible for all of the handwritten aspects within the Harry Potter films and used to interpret different handwriting to the characters in order to make it look like they had written it themselves. Within the letter to Harry Potter at the beginning of the films, it was Miraphora’s actual handwriting used, this meant she had to license the handwriting to herself otherwise she may have not have been able to use it again as all products immediately belong to the film once made.

Visiting this exhibition allowed myself to gain some knowledge into the work that goes into prop design and how it is linked to graphic design. Also to understand the amount of time and effort that goes into the designs for it to be show in a 1 second shot or in the background of a scene where it may not be even noticed by the audience.  This is a venture I would love to go down within the future and learn more about.

 

Berthold Wolpe Exhibition

The Wolphe Exhibition is a celebration of Berthold Wolphe, a designer as well as a master of calligraphy and type design who helped shaped design in post-war Europe.

In the 1930s Wolphe designed 5 dramatically contrasting typefaces these being: Albertus, Fanfare, Pegasus, Tempest and Sachsenwald. They were used on all publications from book jackets to street signs and packaging.

The typefaces have now been reissued and revived by Monotype as ‘The Wolphe Collection’ with type designer Toshi Omagari restoring and digitalising the typefaces, adding new weights, alternate characters and comprehensive language support.

Evolution of Albertus

It was interesting to see how the letters were formed by looking at Wolphe’s original drawings and notes to which was then fabricated and printed producing the whole typeface collection.

Albertus appeared to be the most known typeface form Wolphe’s collection being used on may different publications, for example books, packaging for Sainsbury’s and on London’s street sign to which it is still used today.

The style of Albertus is fairly minimal yet bold, this being a reason why it is so effective upon street signs as it can be read clearly and seen from a great distance. The serifs upon the letters are too minimal, using slight flicks and angles to add definition and decoration. Whilst the strokes on the letters are thick, heavy and bold, allowing the density to show power and importance when using this typeface.

 

The typeface Pegasus is one that breaks all kinds of type design rules as it is full of surprises and individual letterforms. For example as some details would share some details such as b, d, p and q, in this typeface they do not. Also every serif in the uppercase alphabet is different however it is this distinctiveness in the typeface that makes it so readable and there is a lot of diversity when reading the letters together. Pegasus worked effectively on book jackets because of thick strokes, accurate angles and straight lines allowing for easy reading at all sizes.

After viewing the exhibition, special access was granted to view the type press machines and test how they work.

The press above made the above leaflet using a collaboration of individual metal letters that had been placed together to create the above passage.

 

After this we had the opportunity to create our own bookmarks using the printing press show above. This was a great experience to be able to see and try first hand how printing was created however did take some muscle!

I found this exhibition very useful and informative through looking at how typefaces were firstly designed, developed and then printed to be used it all different publications. This can too be related to my APP work as I am looking into typography when designing the campaign posters, especially when setting type and making decisions on what type to use.

 

‘A sea of plastic’

Today I found an article in the Daily Mail showing the amount of plastic in the sea near Roatan, an island off the coast of Honduras. This evidencing that severity of plastic pollution within our oceans showing it is a current issue and awareness for it needs to be made.

It is thought the rubbish was washed into the sea from nearby Guatemala, carried on rivers swollen by the recent rainy season flowing through towns and villages.

John Hourston, of the Blue Planet Society that campaigns to protect the oceans said it was the worst example of plastic pollution he has seen. Plastic gets broken down into microscopic particles that enter the food chain when plankton and fish eat them. He added: ‘It is thought that 90 per cent of sea birds have ingested some sort of plastic, and there are many examples of turtles and whales mistaking plastic for food.  =’We all have a part to play in reducing plastic waste but manufacturers and government need to take the lead. It’s a global problem which needs a global solution.’

(Source)

 

Plastic pollution – David Attenborough

I came across this current article upon the upcoming series of Blue Planet II featuring Sir David Attenborough which applies to my APP research on plastic pollution.

Within the article, Sir David Attenborough has called for the world to cut back on its use of plastic in order to protect the oceans as his new series demonstrates the damage in which it is causing to marine life.

 

 

The Guardian carried some investigations into plastic production and established that consumers around the world buy a million plastic bottles a minute, this is set to double in the next 20 years and quadruple by 2050. Around the world, more than 8m tonnes of plastic leaks into the oceans and a recent study found that billions of people globally are drinking water contaminated by plastic.

Blue Planet II will include evidence that plastic has flowed into ocean waters thousands of miles from land and will show albatrosses unwittingly feeding their chicks plastic.

Attenborough stated rising global temperatures and plastic were the biggest concerns for the ocean. “What we’re going to do about 1.5 degrees rise in the temperature of the ocean over the next 10 years, I don’t know, but we could actually do something about plastic right now,” he said.

“We’ve seen albatrosses come back with their belly full of food for their young and nothing in it. The albatross parent has been away for three weeks gathering stuff for her young and what comes out? What does she give her chick? You think it’s going to be squid, but it’s plastic. The chick is going to starve and die.

Attenborough, 91, did not specify what could be done, but cutting back on plastic packaging and plastic bags in supermarkets would be a major step.

He said everyone’s actions had an impact on the ocean. “We have a responsibility, every one of us,” he said. “We may think we live a long way from the oceans, but we don’t. What we actually do here, and in the middle of Asia and wherever, has a direct effect on the oceans – and what the oceans do then reflects back on us.”

(Source)

Finding this article when not intentionally looking for it shows the severity of plastic pollution and its impact upon marine life and ecosystems.

Facts upon water pollution

Continuing with my APP research, I have begun to look closer into water and marine pollution as this is where my focus upon my campaign posters will be. In this post I will be outlining the facts I have found and could contribute into my posters.

• It is estimated that 86 tonnes of microplastics are released into the environment every year in the UK from facial exfoliants alone.

(Source)

• Plastic in the ocean breaks down into such small segments that pieces of plastic from a one liter bottle could end up on every mile of beach throughout the world.
• One million sea birds and 100,000 marine mammals are killed annually from plastic in our oceans.
• 44 percent of all seabird species, 22 percent of cetaceans, all sea turtle species and a growing list of fish species have been documented with plastic in or around their bodies.

(Source)

• Today billions of pounds of plastic can be found in swirling convergences making up about 40 percent of the world’s ocean surfaces. (Source)
• Fish in the North Pacific ingest 12,000 to 24,000 tons of plastic each year, which can cause intestinal injury and death and transfers plastic up the food chain to bigger fish and marine mammals.
• A recent study found that a quarter of fish at markets in California contained plastic in their guts, mostly in the form of plastic microfibers.
• It’s estimated that 60 percent of all seabird species have eaten pieces of plastic, with that number predicted to increase to 99 percent by 2050.

(Source)

• According to a study from Plymouth University, plastic pollution affects at least 700 marine species, while some estimates suggest that at least 100 million marine mammals are killed each year from plastic pollution.
• Separate studies from 2013 suggest as many as 50 percent of sea turtles are ingesting plastic at an unprecedented rate.
• An estimated 98 percent of albatross studied are found having ingested some kind of plastic debris. Once the plastic has been ingested, it causes an obstruction in the digestive tract and can puncture internal organs.
• A number of studies suggest that the fish humans continue to consume have at one time or another ingested plastic microfibers, including brown trout, cisco, and perch.

(Source)

• Plastic accounts for approximately 90 percent of all trash floating on the surface of the oceans.
• Plastic debris causes the deaths of more than a million seabirds every year, as well as more than 100,000 marine mammals.
• Fish ingest an estimated 12,000 to 24,000 tons of plastic per year in the Pacific Ocean, according to research from the University of California San Diego Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
• We have already lost 27% of the world’s coral reefs. If present rates of destruction are allowed to continue, 60% of the world’s coral reefs will be destroyed over the next 30 years.

(Source)

• Researchers at Plymouth University found that each time facewash is used, 94,500 “microbeads” can be released into the oceans.

(Source)

Following this research I can consider the context of my posters and how these facts and statistics can aid my outcomes.

Dissertation research – Interview

As I am continuing to research for my dissertation and question proposal, I was given the opportunity to interview Lightmaker, a digital agency that carried out the World of Tanks brief last year. As they work in the industry and are a successful global company it was of great interest of myself to be able to ask them questions in which will help with my dissertation question.

The questions I asked Adam and Lloyd were:

1. Would you say the development of self publishing softwares have impacted the company, if so how?
2. When did you begin to notice this change?
3. Would you say your client base has altered due to the self publishing developments?
4. Has the developments altered the methods of how you work as a company?
5. What are your own opinions of self publishing softwares, of you use them?
6. What are your thoughts on the statement ‘web design is dead?’
7. What do you predict the future will hold for the profession of web design?
8. Do you think the role of web design is developing of better or worse?

The responses for these questions show that the developments of self publishing softwares have hugely impacted their company as most small-medium sized business’ don’t want to pay agency rates anymore due to self publishing existing. Due to self publishing softwares it has become difficult to compete with and therefore lightmaker has developed their own template software to introduce to their clients.

The difference between lightmaker and template sites is the experience and expertise they have meaning they can offer human interaction along with advice and support to customers where as self publishing sites leave the consumer to make all of the decisions themselves.

The change in business due to self publishing softwares began around 10 years ago when all business’ began to realise they needed websites. Therefore with the introduction of template sites and people becoming more web savvy it introduced a change in the industry. Due to this their client based has changed as people are experimenting with building their own sites or getting someone they know too at a cheaper rate.

Adam’s and Lloyd’s thoughts upon the statement ‘web design is dead’ were reassuring as they believe it is never going to die and websites will always be needed, for example for e-commerce purposes and retail. However it is important that web designers and agencies become diverse and are prepared to do so as technology, software and trends are changing. This means that the role of a web designer has developed to more than just design meaning they often have to now look more into the back end of web building such as marketing, SEO and strategising.

Being able to gather this information has massively supported some of my research and helped aid direction for my dissertation.

 

APP proposal

Chosen theme

Typographic illustration

Topic

A shrinking world, in particular plastic pollution and its impact on the ocean

Outcomes

A series of posters to be displayed in and around coastal towns and seafront, e.g billboards, bus stops,

Audience

The general public/commuters, of both genders and all ages

What do we want the communication to achieve?

A message being delivered to commuters in order for them to consider the impact that pollution is having upon ecosystems. This in turn to generate realisation of the current situations and their severity in order for those to act upon it.

What is the Unique Selling Proposition?

Powerful posters yet with an attractive friendly tone to educate and inform all audience about our shrinking world.

Media requirements

Poster design

Mock ups

Useful links

https://www.greenpeace.org.uk

https://www.wwf.org.uk

http://www.georginaluck.com

http://www.ipadlettering.com

http://www.kateforrester.co.uk/info

Georgina Luck

Georgina Luck is an illustrator who’s work I have previously been influenced by, her work include advertisements, , typography, editorial design and publishing. I enjoy her style of illustration as she often works with ink and watercolour layered with a fine liner for detail.

I like the style of Luck’s illustrations as you can clearly decipher what each one is however they have not been perfectly coloured in. Although the shape, sizings and dimensions are all to scale, the outlines are not perfectly straight nor the colours boarder the lines. I also like how she uses flicks and splatters to add dimension, depth and decoration to the pieces whilst again give the impression of an ‘imperfect perfect.’

I think Luck’s work can influence my APP work as the medium in which she uses water to which creates a fluid, flowing texture on the page to which closely relates to the ocean along with its textures, and behaviours. Also the splats and roughness of the piece can signify that the current state of the ocean and its ecosystems are not perfect due to the production of plastic pollution.

Therefore a style that reflects upon hers is something I would like to experiment with when designing my typographic illustration posters as her techniques are attractive and eye catching whilst also convey a deeper meaning.