Books posters...

I have managed to find these two posters advertising books online. It is proving difficult to find anything better than these, books advertising seems limited. Anyway, these are quite different in a. what they are advertising, b.who they are aimed at and c. what they are informing you of.

The Lost Symbol; is a very stylised poster. The type is mixed up, with at least 4 different type faces used, one of which is very stylised and swirly. The overall feeling is of something quite exciting, but it is all so over the top and a bit mashed together. The information is obvious and clear, everything is there, it just looks a bit crap.

Harry Potter is much more about the retailer. The promotion is made clear, the type is simple and clean. The book image is repeated, but that doesn't seem odd, it sort of implies popularity and wide distribution. I know that this poster is for Sainsbury's, but there is no Sainsbury's logo or information regarding the retailer. Very different from the first poster, but it is advertising a totally different aspect of the book.

Concept...

I visited a company called Concept yesterday. Concept are a paper product design company who work from an office in Brighouse (near to Halifax and Huddersfield) I was lucky enough to visit them for a morning and have the opportunity to see what they make and how they work. Concept are a small team, 5 permanent members of the studio, with freelancers being brought in to produce more diverse and specialist design work. They produce a wide range of gift wraps, gift bags and gift accessories for a number of high profile clients including John Lewis, Tesco and Paperchase. It was really inspiring to see this small team of people producing products that are sold in huge quantities all over the country.

I asked a few of the designers some questions, to get an idea of how they work and what they most enjoy about their part in the print industry. I was also allowed to help make some mock-ups and pack up some prototypes that were being shipped off to a buyer for approval. I think that the best thing about the whole day was being able to experience the initial stages of how gift products are designed and produced, because it is an area of design that isn't particularly well documented or exhibited.

Thank you to everyone at Concept for their help with my work and for being so nice!

Homework...

Homework are a Warsaw based poster design company. I found their work on Grain Edit and was impressed with the diversity within their design. They have an exhibition running in London at the Kemistry Gallery which is on until April 17th, which means I can visit during the Easter break. It is also free, which I like! I want to contact Homework for an interview about Print design because they have a very focused design practice (they only design posters). Hopefully I will be able to contact someone who speaks good english, otherwise I could be rather tricky!

Research...

I have been looking for designers to contact for interviews to use within my design context publication. I have found a great website called Grain Edit - their blog still site showcases work from current designers, as well as showing vintage design work. I have come across lots of interesting designers on this site, many of whom I am going to contact for an interview/email exchange. The great thing about the designers on Grain Edit is that they are so diverse and spread out. Most are based in the US but a few are UK based and I have come across several that work from Europe. I am looking forward to hopefully getting some good feedback from these people, and being able to use their opinions and experiences within my design context.

Book promotion...

I have been advised to produce the promotional material for the Orion book covers that I have designed. I have searched online for some hint of inspiration for the types of materials that I should be producing, but any has so far evaded me. I have managed to find a few photographs of various book shop displays, which provide a little insight into the types of design I should be working toward.

This display shows an illustrative images of the book in the centre of the window, with repeated banners either side in bright and eye-catching colours. The books are exhibited on the raised platform below, each relevant to their suspended banner. A very eye catching and strong display, showing the books and their content accurately.

This display is a rather more subdued design. The size makes these more difficult to make out, but the overall feeling is less exciting and more sensible. Still, the banner is large and easy to read from a distance, which is a necessity for any information displayed.

This window design is exciting and bold. There is no single theme here, but a variety of offers and genres of book displayed. The design is interesting and draws the viewer in with the mix and match sense of design. The signage is hand drawn onto blackboards, large and easy to read, but less regimented and styled. This allows the variety within the window to shine through.

This signage is shown within the store; varied and engaging. The designs show diversity, along with clear and defined information. The way the books are displayed is innovative to an extent, and tries to engage the viewer with more than just words or cover design alone. I am impressed with the humour and freshness of these designs.

End of Year Show 2009...

This is the promotional material from last year's end of year show. It was designed by a 3rd Year college student,Merlin Mason. His design has a theme - The End of the Beginning, which sums up the idea of the students ending their time at college, but moving forward into their careers.

His design is very illustration based, and uses a limited colour palette, which is quite striking.

He has designed a leaflet that folds out into an A2 poster, an invitation to the private view, signage for the outside of the college building, an exhibition guide and a web button for the college website.

The promotional material is well designed, but I think that it doesn't represent the overall college. The use of the paint brush is very limiting, and does not represent the majority of the courses that will be exhibiting at the show, which I don't think that the students were particularly happy about. I want to produce a design that is more general and represents the theme I chose, rather than representing an 'art college'.

Graduation Show Pro-mo...

I have found these examples of promotional material for degree shows. They are all quite diverse and different from each other, which is great to see because it will encourage me to do

something quite interesting and quirky.

Type seems to be the main focus of these designs, which is important because all of the information is included, and integrated as part of the design. Some of the shows have a theme or title around which the show and therefore promotional work is planned and designed. I like the idea of giving the show a theme or title to carry across all of the promotional material, and represent the essence of what the show is about.

The use of imagery seems to be limited in the sense of actual art work. The main idea seems to be to represent the show and all of the participants, rather than choosing an individual and putting their work on to pro-mo material. Obviously this is really important because the idea is that the show provides diversity.

Looking at these pieces here, I can see the importance of including certain aspects of information, and also the hierarchy of the information.