Logo Ideas...

Since my poster was decided upon as the show branding, I have been tasked with now being the head of branding (I don't plan to have much involvement with printing because of this now, I have no idea what else I'm required to do to help brand the show). Ive come up with the logo ideas below in an attempt to give something to all the areas that need it some little branding elements. I think having a relatively simple self contained design is the key to the logo since it has to be placed on a variety of items so I personally am swaying towards one of the square ones as the bottom of the page, I like the black and blue one in particular but they are all the iterations of one design so I don't suppose it matters too much. I played about with making the squares look more like stamps - the top 3 squares have frilly edges like a postage stamp (Im not sure if there too busy). I also add an experiment with circles but I don't think that the circles are quiet right. I plan on pitching them to the class tomorrow- I think I've provided enough options for the class to pick something out of them.

Branding Poster...

So after much discussion on Monday - Dan and I both ended up pitching posters- it was suggested that my poster could be used as some kind of catalogue cover and it was agreed that using two very different styles wouldn't produce coherent branding, so we both ended up pitching what we had. They preferred this design to the one pitched previously (I have since added very soft blue objects round the outside of the laptop since it was decided that the blank background needed something). I hope I haven't stepped on anyones toes- I didn't mean to even pitch this- I made it more for myself and as an extension of the branding previously pitched (I wanted to develop that style and this seemed like an extension of that) but Teacher Andrew seemed to like it and it was nice that its now a part of the show. A lot of the class seemed to like my idea- although Im a bit worried that I may have offended people by putting it forward- although I am glad that we didn't choose 8 bit because that style doesn't appeal to me at all (I had a lot of concerns about it previously which only grew when I googled the 8 bit style).

I also introduced a white smudged boarder above which I think would look really cool when printed- especially if we print small business/postcards with it on.

I have added squares in the background of this poster (although I'd need to put the boarder and the text on) this is the alternative background to the blue objects- I prefer the blue object one since it matched the busy theme. 

Additional Branding Experiments...

I've been playing around with some different designs and this is one of the ones that I have come up with - I took inspiration from the weapons of mass creation poster and opted to put my images within a recognisable shape (I felt the laptop worked best in the end because its one whole shape unlike the imac which would require a separate keyboard and mouse). I used the elements that I has already made and combined them together to form that shape. Since this is just a personal experiment Ive put in my name choice as well- Ive also done this just in case we get told that we have to pitch more ideas to the BA's if they dont like it.

I think the blue and red is my favourite colour combination- I think that its a lot softer than my previous posters because of this.

Black red and blue is another favourite colour combination I like the red on the black colour which is very striking but I dont think it works as well the blue.

Im not convinced on the orange and yellow- I think that the yellow screen colour is a little off on the rest of it and should be changed to match the tone of mustard round the edge.

This is my favourite of all my colour iterations- making the text a darker shade helps it to stand out more and adds a fourth tones that helps to soften the overall design. I placed the student exhibition time and place text within brackets so it looks like code- for all the coders on the course. Overall I much prefer this poster design, it utilises shape a lot more and I prefer having more of a vibrant colour scheme- I dont have any hopes in it being used after our group discussion since Ive used the same elements but I feel a lot better about submitting this that I did my last.

Branding Poster Pitch...

We all pitched our poster designs on wednesday - mine was well received a lot of the class voted for mine when it came down to overall branding (thank you guys!) and a some others voted for Connors. I think generally it was felt that our posters were strongest. After discussion my poster was sadly ruled out as a branding idea because it was deemed to personal, to complicated and not easy to use for the overall branding. Whilst I don't mind that my poster was ruled out (Im not overly fussed) I really don't like the 8 bit branding style pitched- I just don't think its what we as a class are about - we don't focus on games or make them and it feels very dated and horribly restrictive in such a way that I think it will look awful as branding. I think that people were keen to make something professional and sleek (something that I do not like as a style) and Im concerned that our whole branding for the student show will come across as boring and unoriginal because of it. I definitely don't feel that the poster should just be text based - I think that in order for it to be eye catching there has to be imagery and illustration something that really shows what we as designers are about. Pictures and imagery was present in almost all of my researched exhibition posters so I know that its an aspect that is a key element in regards to real exhibition advertising.

Also when Dan and Andrew went into Sue's class to ask the BA's something, they were told that the second years shouldn't be deciding on anything yet especially without the consent of the BA's so in order to cover myself I plan on designing a few other posters with different names just in case our name and concept are dismissed.

Additional Inspiration...

Found this propaganda style poster on Pinterest- I really like the idea behind it, arranging all the different pieces into a shape would help to give me design an additional level - something I am keen to experiment with - although I dont really have a clear ideas as to what that shape could be. Possibly a laptop,  or an imac with a keyboard and mouse something that relates to our course. Although of course it could also be something random.  I like the blue colour as the background which contrasts nicely with the black and cream central pieces although there is a sense of texture to the design- something that I should possibly add into my own to make it seem less blocky and flat.

My Design so far...

This is the design that I have come up with so far- Ive tried to place my collection of objects randomly together but in a way that fills most of the space. Ive incorporated some additional geckos to reference the Barcelona trip which I thought would apply to the BA's as well. Ive also included the 24 dots per inch and my slogan just to try and have a bit of fun with the name. This set of designs is very much inspired by Pattullo's black and white print although I have tried it with a reversed black and white colour way and in red just to see how it would look. Ideally the BA's would all have to pick and object to represent themselves as well to make it fair- I have hidden all our names in and left spaces for the BAs names just because I thought it was a more personalised touch! 

I much prefer the black on white- I think it looks a bit more striking and though Im happy with my design - the train ticket in particular is one of my favourite aspects- I do think that its missing something- perhaps a spongy dappled texture on the solid colours to make it looks more printed?

Since a lot of us get the train into college I wanted to include a train ticket but I decided that it would be a bit clever if I put on all the details about the show on it- I know for a fact that there are 13 of us second years hence the 13 undergraduates but I wasnt sure about the BA's I guessed 11 but I obviously need to check tis number!

I played around with different coloured backgrounds but I think that If a different colour is used then the objects have to be changed colour wise to match - which isnt too hard just a little fiddly in areas! Overall Im happy with what I have produced- Ive tried to include everyone- everyone has there little aspect- and if the design gets chosen then arguably each person could produce a little illustration of what they want to represent themselves and then these could be put together so everyone gets a little piece of the branding.

My concept for the Branding Posters...

After looking at lots of different posters I decided to try and come up with more of a concept for the branding posters I didnt want to focus on dots because I dont think that its a very original concept- Im also not a massive fan of the name (I dont think it offers much of an inspiring theme) so want to make a poster that works outside of it. I also dont think that whatever depicted in the poster has to match the name- I think its the only way I can try and be original with it.
So my initial plan is to make a black and white poster - much like Pattullos black and white prints- filling the design with random objects. I plan on including digital objects, as well as more random ones. As well as this I thought that it might be a nice touch to represent people in the class with their own objects, just to make it more personal and fun for us. Sticking to black and white keeps it neutral but Im hoping adding splashes of colour will add some vibrancy.

Thoughts for objects so far:

Digital Objects:

Laptop,
Imac
Keyboard
Mouse
Camera
Video Camera
Ipod
Ipad
Iphone
Logos for Photoshop, After Effects and Illustrator
Headphones
Chargers
Hard drives
Memory Sticks
Discs

People Objects:
Jake Guest- Superhero- his ycn project revolved around superhero's and I know he loves them
Chloe Honeyset- A charm bracelet - she really likes her jewellery and fashion and I've noticed that she has a pandora bracelet!
Alessandro Tesoro- Something Italian to highlight his Italian roots- maybe a plane ticket, a plan, a flag?
Glen Myers- Games Console or a Bandana - The bandana references the sunburn incident in Barcelona.
Dan Ellis - The bandana (again the Barcelona Bandana incident)
Liam Rhodes- A football - Liam seems to be football obsessed
Connor Mcnally- A woolly hat - Connor wears hats religiously - Im not actually sure what the top of his head looks like!
Dan Mole- A guitar- Dan plays guitar and talks a lot about guitars and amps
Ollie Whittaker- a camera or a car
Andrew Pledger- a toolbox- Andrew seems to have a Mary Poppins rucksack with a variety of tooks in and likes to build things
Gina Allen- pink, chocolate, Makeup, Hair extensions- Gina is a girly girl so I think that any variety of dainty objects will work well in the design- hopefully this will add contrast against all the different blockier shapes.
Ani Choudhury- a sketchbook or games console
Me- Some Dms with ribbon laces

Extras:
Pencils
Rubber
Sharpener
Sketchbooks
Paperclips
Keys (from the keyboard)
Bottles- we are student partygoers
Champagne glasses- in reference to the event
Pens