Doodle/ Develop/ Display

Really exciting- myself and two other local graphic designers will be exhibiting in October in a unique exhibition. The take on the show will be- Doodle/ Develop/ Display- An exhibition celebrating the design process through the work of three emerging graphic designers. My section of the exhibition will be 'portfolio on a wall', the entire contents of my portfolio displayed in an interesting and accessible way.

We are really excited about the opening night- Thursday 8th October 5-8pm, where we are hoping to attract lots of local businesses as potential freelance clients.

Rough idea for the branding for the exhibition:

The Big Weave= Success.

I am pleased to inform you that The Big Weave has been launched successfully over the last three weeks.  Armed with it's very own identity, posters, flyers, website and blog; they set out over Reading to bring weaving to the masses.  They appeared in local newspapers and even had a slot on the tea-time 6 O'clock news!  The project was a huge hit, and the 6ft x 3ft tapestry was finished ahead of schedule with people clambering to weave their bit.  The next step for The Big Weave is to spread out beyond Reading, and create more wonderful tapestries.  Will post up some pictures soon.  In the mean time, an exhibition will be going up within the next week or so at the Mall Gallery, Wokingham documenting the project.  

Stickers!

I've just sent out an order for some stickers- very exciting!  I think stickers would be great to hand out to people once they have taken part in a Big Weave event.  They are designed around the 'under-over' concept.  This is the idea I am taking forward from this point. Bold under and over weaving patterns, created in an experimental manner.  My big typographic statements will be used to break up text in the leaflet.  Anyway, here are some of the designs which will be on the small stickers - very simple.

To letterpress or not?

I have got myself into a little pickle!  I have had the idea in my head of how lovely it would be to do letterpress, but now I am realising I have not much time left and still need to get things signed off by the client.  I don't even have the proper words for the poster and flyer yet!  I think I might have to abandon the idea, but it seems such a shame.  I don't know what to do!

Letterpress?

Thinking it would be great to do some letterpress to enhance a purely typographic based identity.  Also it would be a nice way to compliment the handmade and traditional craft element of the weaving.  Rather than just churning out posters from computer to printer it would be lovely to spend the time creating limited edition posters/ leaflets for the pilot project launch.  The hard part will be convincing the client that a typographic identity and campaign will be powerful enough to attract and inspire people to come to a weaving event. 

Getting my hands dirty

Fed up of spending so much time staring at my computer screen, I decided it was time to get my box out!  In the box I keep every sort of artist's material I have ever used and when I get stuck I try and free myself up by going crazy and seeing what I can experiment with.  Mum had given me some pieces of weaving, so I set about creating rubbings of the texture, with lovely results.  Then I did a bit of experimental drawing (eyes closed, left hand continuous line etc) and finished up with some mono - printing of the patterns in the weavings.  Overall a very satisfying morning and a book full of gorgeous textures and inspiration to push through into the next development stage.

Interviews

Yesterday, I attended an arts wokingham event and gained insight into what the Big Weave will be like.  I spent time interviewing children taking part in a weaving activity, and professional weavers who were demonstrating.  The information I gained was invaluable and I am off today to interview some mums about how I can attract them to take their children to weaving events. 

Concepts

I have been thinking a lot about my research over the weekend and the three main concept ideas have emerged.  I like the idea of using very strong, bold, perhaps condensed type maybe in capital letters.  This could form a really simple yet striking typographic identity, giving the impression of impact, scale and power.  I have been really inspired for this by leaflets and information design I collected in Berlin which are very simple yet beautifully balanced.  This typographic style would give me lots of opportunities to use letterpress to create really special pieces for the launch.  Through speaking to the client it has become clear that they would like some really special bespoke design pieces for the launch, but simple enough that they could carry on creating something similar as the Big Weave continues after the summer.  This option would suit very well.  

My second idea would be to take inspiration from weaving manuals and instructions in some way and use them to create a fresh and humorous tone of voice.   Perhaps by drawing abstract and experimental drawings of warped up looms, contrasting this with blocks of text or bold type.  This option would convey more of the history and heritage of weaving and show it's technical side, but may not be so appropriate for trying to get young people involved and excited about weaving.  

My third possible thread is to create big bold colourful patterns inspired by the patterns in woven cloth.  I think something like this could be really successful at grabbing people's attention and getting them buzzing about weaving.  Imagine how great big A1 posters would look - not sure yet how you could incorporate type but at this stage these are only initial thoughts.  

Client meeting

Had a meeting today with the client, just to clarify exactly what it is each side is expecting!  So far, before having really thought of any concept ideas we are looking at some sort of flyer (hopefully will be more exciting than standard A6 flyer), big A1 posters, letterheads, and a simple website that the client can update with news and events.  The flyer needs to be aimed at people who have potential venues for the big weave,so when the loom is out in action, the flyer will provide more information if somebody is interested in hiring the big weave to take place at their venue.  The posters will be used for more general advertising and information purposes for the public out and about in our local area.  

Val (from MAiden Erlegh School who is funding the project) is keen to also have a letterhead with a big watermark and "belly" posters as she called them that she can edit.  I think she is expecting me to design a logo and just plonk it on everything.  So we will have to see how we get on at the next meeting! 

I can't wait to get started on ideas!  Through my research so far, three concept ideas have emerged so will being thinking about those next week after a bit more research.

Research research research

I am trying to research as widely as possible so that I keep my options open and get inspiration from as many sources as possible.  I am thinking blogs and interactive websites would be a very good way of spreading the word about the Big Weave.  So I have been looking at these and identities for other similar organisations to the Big Weave.  I love the identity created by Hat-Trick design for the Sumatran Orangutan Society.  It is simple, flexible and playful and has great impact.  This is what the Big Weave needs.

I have also become excited about stamps and chunky typographic prints.  Below is an example from a local Reading artist called Sally Castle, she uses lino cuts to create bold typographic work.  Great stuff, could work well for The BIG WEAVE.

   

THE BIG WEAVE

Today I start my new project, which is very exciting and also terrifying as it is my last project to complete at college!  I have found the client myself; three ladies (one being my mother) from my local area who are setting up an organisation called The Big Weave.  They are launching the project in the summer, when they will take a big weaving loom into different towns in Berkshire and encourage people to interact with one another and create a community tapestry.

It will be my job over the next four weeks to create an identity for The Big Weave, and some sort of campaign to raise awareness of the launch project.

Let the fun begin!      

Helvetica v Rockwell: battle of the fonts!

We are currently trying to design the logotype to represent our forum.  The method we are working on is to develop ideas ourselves to see what we can come up with, and then come back together as a group to see what works well.  We are going for strong, bold type.  Initially I had thought a solid sans serif would work well, but after trying out different fonts I am quite keen on Rockwell.  Helvetica neue is just a bit plain, but is my second favourite.  The group is divided as to which font to choose, so we will all do more experimentation and developments of the logo to see what will work best.

We had a very positive tutorial with Sarah, which lifted all our hopes and revived our excitement for the project.

group work

It was interesting to hear, during a talk by Steve from ico design consultancy how people work within a team at his studio.  He described how in a recent job, four people had worked together and he had managed them.  They brainstormed and researched in a group to begin with, then went off individually to develop the research and initial ideas.  They then came back together to share further developments and work towards the final outcome as a group.  All this was overseen by Steve, who decided which angles to take and what ideas were working well.  

Last week I attended a presentation and talk by Jack Renwick from The Partners.  They work in the same way.  Multiple heads are better than one it seems.  She stressed the importance of not struggling alone.  In her studio, they post ideas up on the wall and then people can come and add to them, or alter them.  I think this is when interesting things can start to happen.

I am finding this is happening in our group now too.  If I suggest an idea, it is exciting to see how the other group members put their spin on it.  It is refreshing, if I get stuck I can talk to the guys and we help each other to develop our ideas.  I already feel I have progressed much further with my ideas than if I was working alone like in the past. 

interesting article on collaboration

update

So far, we have all been researching individually to try and get the most exciting and varied research we can.  We have met as a group a couple of times to share and discuss this exciting research.  The group is working well, we all come up with different ideas and share them when we meet, this helps as it gives us new and interesting things to research as individuals. 

I feel the pressure is laid off a bit working in a group.  There is no fear in me this time (the fear I may not get everything done/ come up with a solution), less pressure to come up with a good idea by myself.  I think this is because we can bounce ideas off each other, it becomes a much more exciting process.

Had initial briefing today for the new branding group project.  We need to design a campaign for a creative forum used by graphic design graduates.  Seems quite a challenge, but the first thing is to really research any aspect I can think of!