my learning journal

October 30, 2019

Picking a theme + Research

Out of all the theme that were given to us, I decided to choose Codification as I was drawn to that theme more than the others and I felt like I could do a lot more with that theme than the others and I’m more interested in this topic and as a graphic designer, you need to be fully interested in what you decide to choose as a theme for the future and it is vital that you research and delve into this theme and enjoy what you are designing.

Firstly, I looked into the different definitions of Codification, doing this is a vital part of creating a brand as you need to get a better understanding of what you are designing for. I looked into various coding definitions and different areas of where coding is used such as the Police Force, Military, Hospital, Computer Coding etc.

From all the research I gathered on Codification on a wider scale, I decided to narrow down my brand to computer coding, matrix and police mental health.

I chose the title Hidden Reality for my exhibition is because Mental Health in particular within the police force isn’t really discussed within the news and through the public, so this is why my exhibition will be called Hidden Reality, as it is a reality for current past serving police officers but is hidden and not really discussed in depth within the public.

October 12, 2019

48 hr Re-branding Project

We were given the task of re-branding the Student Voice In Cardiff Met to use across a number of various campaigns such as the Student Voice Week and for promotions of surveys.

The key objectives:

to increase awareness and engagement with campaigns for both students and staff across both campuses on Cardiff Met and Partners.
Provide a ‘brand’ for Student Voice at Cardiff Met
To produce ideas that identify how we work with students (engagement) and how we listen to their feedback (voice) for promotional activities.

So as a group we all created various things such as a mood boards, logo, posters, banners, freebies etc.

As a group we wanted something that relates the teen/young adult academic, and we wanted to use the neon colour scheme as its colours that are ‘in’ at the moment and are also quite striking which would catch students attention. For the logo we wanted something that would relate to everything throughout the re branding project and we did this by the colour scheme but also using the Vans trainer texture which would have different neon colours that would relate to the 3 aspects they want to showcase.

We then decided to create posters for both English speaking students and also bilingual students. We decided to incorporate the neon colours within the typeface and again within the footprint, we felt like using the photography made it more personal to students as we us as the ‘models’, as we are students. We also created banners, and with the photography we different poses to showcase the different types of surveys, for example the post graduate survey, we decided to have a static image as we felt that the students have finished university. Then created some mock ups to show freebies in context for the client to see what these freebies would look like.

I felt like this experience was a very valuable learning experience for myself as I had a very short deadline to re brand the Student Voice within a group. As a group we worked extremely well together, communicating our ideas, coming together to create design ideas for logos, banners, posters etc. Having this experience has definitely given me an insight to a graphic designers day to day workload but also to the working practice by having shorts deadlines, working with a live client and presenting our ideas to them.

A link to the presentation is linked below

Untitled presentation

October 12, 2019

100 Marques

We were given the task to create/design 100 logos, I could design what I liked, the options were quite broad.

In the beginning it was quite easy to smash out the designs but once I got to around the 60 marks, I was then struggling to come up with more designs, so I took a break and did some research on current design logos within the graphic design field. Doing this is an important part of my design field as a graphic designer to research and take inspiration from existing art, logos etc which helped massively for me to generate more ideas which I then eventually got to the 100 marque design.

The dot process was also a good form of designer practice as it was a quick and fast way to pick out logos that were creatively and professionally done, so in the real world this would be an effective way to look at various logo designs and narrow down the strongest professional and creative designs and then they will be taken forward to develop further if this was to happen.

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September 23, 2019

Summer Branding Project

Bifan 2016 by Studio fnt, South Korea

This brands celebrates world cinema: specifically those dealing with the themes of love, fantasy and adventure. The typography is sans serif based which gives the tone of a less structured/serious but more of a relaxed tone of voice which showcases what the festival is about which is about the cinematics and the themes of love, fantasy and adventure.

The visual metaphors are quite softly shaped yet with structured borders which gives a sense of playfulness and an adventurous theme to it in the they have been placed strategically to showcase the smooth curved lines with the harsh structured horizontal and vertical which I find it plays tricks on your mind which again is what the festival is showcasing which it shows the adventurous and fantasy like designs and visual metaphors.

The communication that the brand is showcasing is quite playful, adventurous in the imagery and quite structured in the typography. The is due to the colour palette that has been chosen by the brand, which is primarily a variation of dark and sea blue and soft pink, all these colours work very well together and are strategically placed to where the viewer will want to look at it. The brands choice of typography fits into the professional standing of a festival but also informal enough for a cinematic festival. If they were to change the typography, I personally feel like people wouldn’t be able to relate the festival to the typographic choice, personally I can always relate a certain type of typography to a brands as its known worldwide.

2. ITV Rebrand Project

From what I have read about ITV, as a brand they wanted to have a logo that would set them apart from other brands on television etc. So from what I can see is that the logo has a hand written quality to it which makes the brands tone of voice look approachable ad gives a friendly vibe to the brand.

With the colour choices, I can see that whatever show is on the TV, the logo colours match the theme of the TV show that is being broad casted, for example ‘Broadchurch: A Town wrapped in Secrets’ uses quite earthy dual tones such as grey and variations of blues which can showcase the atmosphere and mood the the TV show. Another example is ‘Celebrity Juice’, uses the colour red which gives the visual metaphor of something exciting, as you can see colours play an important part in a brands logo as it sets the tone of the logo, visuals etc.

3. Pentagram ‘Building Cycles’

At first glance when looking through the imagery, the tone of voice is quite organic and free flowing, this is shown through the typography, it changes from free flowing and organic with natural curvature ranging to quite structured and rigid typography.

From looking at the typography, I can see and interpret the visual metaphors the Pentagram brand is all about architecture, structure and linear lines, the typography represented by the typography ranging from organic and free flowing to structured and rigid, this to me represents the environment, the organic, natural side to the man made rigid buildings and this is represented through the typeface, which changes from both free flowing to structured.

The identity of this brand to me primarily focuses on the typeface which changes overtime, which sounds like the evolution of the planet showcasing how it went from a completely natural Eco system then it slowly started to develop and man made buildings, objects etc were then being introduced.

June 11, 2019June 11, 2019

Final Outcome + Reflection

Rachel Portfolio

This my portfolio for this years work that I have completed.

Doing this has given me the confidence to create a portfolio containing all the work I have completed over the year and showing all of these in context such as showing the online campaign and app on a phone which shows what it would look like in context in the real world, which for example would show clients what the app for example would look like in context. I have gained knowledge on how to create a portfolio that is professional and shows all the work in context which would later show future clients and companies projects I have created.

Over the past year I have learnt so many new skills that has improved my working practice as also improved my skills as a Graphic Designer. Learning how to use programmes such as Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Adobe After Effects and Adobe XD has enabled me to use these programmes, some more than others on a daily basis to create various projects has helped me in the future as I have gained more knowledge on how to use these programmes in the present and future. Having to do presentations has improved my confidence considerably to discuss and promote my ideas to future clients as doing this through out the year has given me practice and the confidence to do this in the near future. I am pleased with the progress I have made over the past year, my work has improved considerably from the start of the year to now.

June 11, 2019

Transferring ideas digitally

I have transferred my hand drawn ideas digitally, transferred these hand drawn ideas using Adobe Illustrator.

I created different variations, using a varied colour theory as I wasn’t too sure of what colours I wanted to use through out my portfolio. Looking at these digitally rendered ideas as the ideas look differently when hand drawn and when digitally rendered. From this I developed these even further taking certain aspects through into the final outcome.

title

I decided to go with the hand drawn typography as most of my ideas are hand drawn so I thought this shows my design aesthetic, and also using the colour purple as it looks quite professional and clean.

Doing this has helped me as a graphic designer to make quick decisions about my work which then will benefit me in the long run for future projects and clients. As this shows that a quick decisions can benefit in the long run when doing projects.

June 11, 2019

Logo + Development

I created various ‘logos’ for my portfolio. I experimented with various typefaces, different weights, angles, colours and placements.

These show development and my idea process for the ‘logo’, creating different options for myself.

Creating ideation and development shows my idea process and progression for my portfolio and also plays an important part in a graphic designers practice as it is vital for a graphic designer to show ideation and the developmental process. The ideation shows variety to a client and gives more choice to a client, so showing development of ideas plays an important part of a graphic designers work ethic and design process.

June 11, 2019

Portfolio design + Development

From the research I did, I took inspiration from all of the portfolios I saw and started to do quick drawn ideas to see what Layout looked best.

I drew out some quick layout ideas for my portfolio experimenting with the placement, creating pace, playing around with white space and most importantly creating a portfolio that shows off who I am as a Graphic Designer. Also from these ideas can then be transferred digitally using InDesign showing all of the projects I have done over the past year within context.

Doing development and research plays a massive role in my practice and for future practices. Having research enables a designer to research into a specific subject and gaining knowledge and information from that specific which will then interlink with the current project and span into research, ideas and from that development of ideas. Development plays an important role in a designers practice as you need to be able to develop and create ideas that don’t already exist or if they do exist, improve upon and make it better. This enables a graphic designer to improve upon there practice and working skills as it shows that a graphic designer can adapt and show improvements to there working practice and working ethic.

June 5, 2019

Graphic Design Portfolio

A solid graphic design portfolio is your ticket to professional success. It is your calling card and your way in – the visual representational of all you’ve accomplished so far and a symbol for where you hope to be in the future.

Different Portfolio Layouts

Steve Wolf Designs – Uncomplicated designs, showcasing new work. very mono tone, typographic based, clean polished and professionally done.

Josh Miller – Uncommon colour combos with simplistic designs, Bold in your face designs that draws you in.

Nathan Riley – Elegant, colour combos are interesting, professional layout.

Denys Nevozhai – World traveler designer, easily tells his story through interactive timeline.

Built by Buffalo – Honeycomb-like design with small image detail for each project. Aesthetically pleasing and functional.

Lotta Nieminen – Clean, simplistic layout/design, sans serif typography, complicated colours, typographic heavy, clean crisp designs.

Matt Pamer – Geometric graphic deigns, colorful/bright colour ways, high details, very inviting, playful layout.

Researching into different graphic designers portfolios helps myself see how things have been placed and laid out, keeping up with pace throughout each page. This shows me how every graphic designers aesthetic is different from one another, this is showing there personality and aesthetic. It shows a sense of development. Researching is a vital role in a graphic designers practice as you need to see what is out there in the graphics world to see what aspects you can take inspiration from to then carry it out into your own work but by putting your aesthetics into it.

June 5, 2019

Final Outcome

Creating a final editorial outcome, I had to develop my editorial even further to create hierarchy, pace and most importantly attention of the reader. From the advice of my tutor , I created stronger hierarchy, experimenting with call outs etc. So from this I created a final development which then led onto the final editorial outcome. I have added page numbers, the appropriate margins, suitable page size, more consistent sense of pace and hierarchy.

development new

Having the feedback is an important part of a graphic designers practice as it enables the person to improve upon there work and working practice, as it shows that you can take on feedback and develop from that to create a much stronger piece of work. They have a fresh pair of eyes so they can spot things you may not necessarily see so I would say this is a very important part of a graphic designers practice and work ethnic.