Typography Experiment (Hands On)

Critical debates Task 3 - Computer Generated World

After researching on Kyle Cooper the title sequence designer for over a 100 different movies. His work is very popular; take for example the title sequence for ‘SEVEN’ “the title sequence was seen as new art form”. Also the title sequence was haled by New York Times as one of the most important design and innovation of the 1990’s". Cooper has a very unique way of looking into a movie and deconstructing it to the audience, making the audience forget everything else influencing them to finding out more. “The Title sequence is the most important part as it sets the tone of the entire movie”.

The trends at the moment are to use either motion graphics, and hand made compositions, these are what lead the market at the moment, these innovative idea exist across a range of communications such as, advertising, movies, digital billboards website and many more.

For example I have looked into VW Commercial (Hand made Compositions)

Another example is from the work of Creamy Orange.com (Motion Graphics)

http://creamyorange.com/#1535294/3D-Dynamics-Sketchbook

I believe the aim of the future in moving image based arts, is to add more simplifying touches, not being so heavy and big footed. Give things more meaning but also having a very delicate approach.

For example the video below convey how effective movement can be implemented by using shape, typography and most importantly composition, which all inter links with the sound.

Critical Debates in Design Task 2 (Wayfinding)

The signs I have chosen to look into are the signs and symbols in a car, i.e. the dashboard light, oil lights, petrol lights, indicator, etc. so purely focusing on the interior of a vehicle, how they could be improved, enhance the information and become more visually pleasing.

Believe it or not, but my car plays a major part in my life, having noticed these signs from a creative and engaging aspect, to me they do not all work well.

The simplicity of the signs works well but still very blunt and boring. The car manufacturers still use the conventional signs, and their idea of moving forward in time is to add different colours backlighting.

The signs in the dashboard are to indicate warnings, visible to the driver and only the driver, the sign itself self is not alarming, only until the backlighting appears, why is this! Why isn’t they’re more to the signs, what could make them more informational.

Here is the basic sign system for a vehicle and some can be applied to motorbikes.

Here is another example of signage being used in a vehicle, with a simple change in backlighting trying to show they are moving forward in time, to me this isn’t pushing the boundaries of designs,

Here is another example of warning lights working in a conventional way.

Below is the BMW 2005 dials.

Head - up - display

Here is the BMW M5 2005 edition, this is where the boundaries are pushed in the direction I wish see more. Cars will always be apart our lives, this being said, there should be more futuristic concept, as the head-up-display, shown in the above image. BMW idea behind this was to create the ultimate driving experience. In my eyes they have succeeded. The display indicates a range of information, such as km/h, petrol level, green, orange and red rev count. This is BMW’s way to enthuse and embrace the drivers every need.

The Making Of The Good Journey T-Shirts

Critical Debates in Design

*Choosing two fonts
*One I like - Helvetica
*One I dislike - Times New Roman

The Designers for this well-known typeface, Helvetica, Have played a very influential part in the design industry. Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann created this font in 1957. This font took the world by storm and was titled overused and easy.

To me, this font works well in any circumstance, whether you trying to loud, quiet, small or big, Helvetica to over the serif fonts and stood alone as new class of modernism. Modernism being the key influence to creating this Swiss typeface. People see Helvetica as being dead and overused, but to me it is very much alive, and is still going strong, used on a range of different mediums, everything from shop, website, logo’s and posters. The front is clean cut which makes very legible compared to other fonts i.e. Serifs !!!

Here is an example of Helvetica working well as a logo (The North Face).

The font I dislike the most, Time New Roman create by Victor Lardent who was commissioned by The Times in 1931. I dislike this font due to the fact of Helvetica attracting my eye first. Not being designer friendly and not having the same impact that helvetica has (borring). For me, this font would deffenantly fall in the overused category. To many, it has just become a font which is ordinary and has no impact.

Below is an example of Time New Roman not working well. Article on (South Africa)

Image below shows the two typefaces - Helvetica and Times New Roman

RSA - The Good Journey -Critical Reflection

Ma Design For Communication

Design Research Method – Critical Reflection

Identify a daily journey - either your own or someone else’s - and improve it in a way that improves it for many people

Make People look forward to their daily commute.

When starting my research for my RSA projected headed “The Good Journey”, I looked into daily commuters journeys. My main focus was to see how journeys could be improved for people on a daily basis. I undertook many different methods of primary research such as group brainstorming, online and verbal questionnaires, class criticism and site analysis, enabling me to focus on a potential target audience.

Whilst researching into the issue's daily commuters have during their journey, I observed a common occurrence, that commuters struggled to interact with others and the media around them. It was made evident from the survey, that the majority of commuters had at negative attitude towards commuting. Majority of the research gained, verified that commuters tend to travel alone and have very little to do whilst on their travels. Findings from the survey showed that the majority of people would read the newspaper, listen to music, read books or prepare notes for work. Evidently seen from my site analysis (on the underground), conveying the London Underground as not a very friendly environment, where people can converse with one another. In regards to this project, I feel that, commuters need to focus on more positive aspects of life, aspiring to build greater communication skills whilst en route their daily commute.

The research gathered from the survey, had great effect on my project. This helped me with constructing specific focus groups and getting suitable feedback from the potential audience. At this stage I decided to either build a social networking platform for commuters to interact with each other, making it a more friendly and welcoming environment to commute in, or choose the route of self development, enabling people think different about their time spent during their daily commute, becoming engaged in self help, making slight changes to become a better being.

It was evident from my research, that there was a need for change, bridging this divide created by commuter’s persona's. It was evident from the findings that the self-development route would be more suited, as it would be engaging and challenging peoples minds further into thinking about positive attitudes.

The questionnaire I created, helped me decide what age group the project would be aimed towards. My findings showed that only 18-29 year old's answered the questionnaire, therefore I felt that they were more open to the idea of talking to strangers during their daily commute.

I felt at this point I had enough research, to start developing my design concepts. When coming up with a company name and logo, it became difficult as I needed to create something that made a bold enough statement in ones mind regarding self-development.

A typical scenario would be, where one would be on the platform, waiting for their train to arrive, being surrounded by fellow commuters, listening to music, reading newspapers etc. After careful thinking I came about with the name 'Positive Platform', this links in well with the briefing of making ones traveling experience better, so that instead of being glued to either news papers or listening to music, it makes people see that together everyone can achieve more. I wanted commuters to consider the possibility’s of self-development, such as the ‘Law of Attraction’ 1(Secret) and ‘The Past does not equal your future’ 2(Robbins).

[1]  The Secret, You Tube, 18 Jan 2007, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b1GKGWJbE8.

[2]  Anthony Robbins, you tube, 25 Feb 2010, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxS731BtTsQ.

The logo for 'Positive Platform' is followed by a strap line, ‘Idea’s Worth

Sharing’. The logo is aimed to commuters; which incorporates the London tube line colours, this indicated a link to commuters that there was a relevant purpose behind the colour theme, making it more recognisable. I felt that the logo was only completed when after researching; I noticed that it sent out the message that was intended.

My next step was to put across a series of posters, this being the central hub of the Concept, which reflects self-development to passing commuters. These posters would work along side a website, iPhone App and T-shirts, all helping 'Positive Platform' be noticed across different mediums. My first attempt of designing the poster was considered, however due to class criticism and feedback I was made aware that it was not showing the intended purpose, there was a poor use of layout and it was not aesthetically pleasing enough.

After finalising my concept, I successfully created a series of posters. Each poster is numbered, so if one poster were viewed by a passing commuter, this would encourage them to look out for the next one. This method helps create a step-by-step action for self-development. Commuters are able to follow with a gradually, treating the posters as a beginners guide, which helps keep the target audience engaged.

The 'Positive Platform' posters consist of words that are associated with self-development, conveying an attitude to change passing commuter’s personas. Each poster was themed with a central phrase for example; “Get Off To A Good Start”; surrounded by up lifting words that help build the imagination in the audience, such as; 'exercise', 'alarm bells', 'breakfast', 'healthy body', 'no snooze' and 'communication'. This helps put across a more positive attitude. Another was “Be Free And Break The Chain”, whereby the related words here are, 'be free', 'chain of thought', 'lose patterns', 'be spontaneous', 'broaden your horizons' and 'just try it'.

The iPhone App and website both consisted of the same objective, to give more information about 'Positive Platform' as a whole, letting people keep up to date with the latest self help tips, Iconic positive quotes, merchandise and a page where the user would be able to register and exchange tips with a fellow 'Positive Platform' members. Both the iPhone and website, are user friendly and can be used on the go, as most commuters have stated they have access to smart phones.

To test if my concept worked well, I held a focus group with my target audience; this helped me achieve my intended goal. They showed great enthusiasm to self-development as a whole and were pleased that it would help commuters be more positive about there daily travels. The target audience discussed how the t-shirts worked well to put the message across. The visualisation is striking, making the passing commuters interested, wanting to read more. The posters have a very unique approach, as they do not show conventional techniques. Most posters have imagery, however, 'Positive Platform' focuses on typography, capturing the audiences minds and influencing the chain of thought, helping to build there own personal mental image.

Building this project from ground up, allowed me to become knowledgeable of how important research is. Looking back at the project, this was one of the most important processes. Choosing the target audience and finding the right tone to convey the concept is crucial. The benefits of creating a project like 'Positive Platform', allows me to visualise the future potential. I would consider other mediums, such as a Blackberry App, potential jumper and jacket designs and also transport for London uniforms. Further development could lead to the passing commuters across the whole world, therefore showing the potential of being successful worldwide.

Bibliography

Listverse. top 10 tips to self improvement. http://listverse.com/2007/09/28/top-10-tips-for-self-improvement/ .

Robbins, Anthony. you tube. Feb 25, 2010. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxS731BtTsQ.

Secret, The. You Tube. Jan 18, 2007. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b1GKGWJbE8.

Survey Monkey. 1999.  http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CGPXHNZ .