Thursday 29 September 2011

'GOOD IS' Studio Workshop.

Todays workshop was a follow up session from yesterdays, we were focusing on logo generation and producing as many as we could as quickly as we could.

We begun by picking out 32 different words or variations of a word to work with and from there we were set the task of writing them down visually in response to the examples of brands, logos and identities that we had collected. The examples were collected in relation to the 9 questions that we were investigating in yesterdays work shop.

We had 30 mintes to come up with 32 different visuals before moving on to doing just 8 visuals of the same word in 10 minutes. Afterwards we did the same but with one letterform from that word and finally the same process but with image generation.

It was evident by the end of the workshop that I wasn't working quickly enough and i wasn't making the most of the space that I was working in. It was pointed out that I should be using tools to creat neat and presentable ideas whilst keeping up the pace.

The task for next week is to produce 150 logos which combine two of these three elements WORD/LETTERFORM/SYMBOL
using the words that we picked out at the start and changing them completely each time.

This is something that I will find challenging.

Wednesday 28 September 2011

'GOOD IS' - Studio workshop.

THE UKULELE.

1. What makes it good?


It's relaxing.It sharpens your mind and memory.
It has a bright and happy sound to it.
They're cheap to buy.
They're easy to learn to play.


2. Who would find it good?


Musicians.
Music lovers.
Hawaiians.
Holiday makers.


3. Who wouldn't find it good?


Fans of heavy metal.
Music haters.


4. Whats it better than?


Other instruments.
Watching T.V.
Not having a hobby.


5. If your good was a profession what would it be?


Entertainment.
A musician.
A session artist.
An event performer.


6. If your good was a celebrity who would it be?


George Formby.
Israel Kamakawiwo'ole.
Arthur Godfrey.
The entire Great British Ukulele Orchestra.
Spongebob Squarepants.


7. If your good was a place where would it be?


Hawaii.
Portugal.
A music shop.
A beach holiday destination.
Bikini Bottom.


8. If your good was an event what would it be?


A jam session.
A Hawaiian cultural festival.
A gig at a venue.
A society social.


9. If your good was a product what would it be?


Ukulele.
A felt plectrum.
A packet of nylon strings.
A shoulder Strap.
A gig bag or flight case.


We the compiled one answer for each question and displayed them on a different sheet of paper for everyone to see. From here Fred began to unpick certain points about what we had written down, the use of words like 'people, someone, anybody' are all too vague and generalised. We need to be more specific with our answers.

The task now is to review the answers we put down and go back over the questions to develop the answers and make them more specific and to give each answer a reason as to why it is the best one.

Further more we have to collect an example of Branding, Identity or Logo to do with each question and answer in relation to our 'good'.

1. It's relaxing.
2. Acoustic Music Lovers.
3. Music Haters.
4. Other Instruments.
5. Entertainment.
6. George Formby.
7. Hawaii.
8. An open air gig or mini festival.
9. Ukulele.

Some of the answers I selected I thought were good and just needed explaining but there are some in here that need to be modified as well as justified through further investigation.


REFINED ANSWERS

1. What makes it good?

I went back and researched further into the benefits of playing the ukulele and found some more helpful websites with lots of points on how it can be healthy and relaxing.

Sunnier disposition
Relief from stress
Promotes musical tendencies
Impulsive socialization via song
Release of inner child

This website also provided a lot of valid points as to what makes my 'good', good.

From this further research I've decided that my answer for this question is...

...it makes you and happier, healthier person because it relieves you from stress, broadens your minds capability and gives you a positive social aspect.


2.Who would find it good?
3.Who wouldn't find it good?
4.What's it better than?

For this one I'm sticking with my original answer of 'other instruments'. I play a range of instruments myself so and I don't believe the ukulele to be superior to them but more practical and fun than the rest of them.

Guitars for example, as a first instrument it can be rather intimidating and overwhelming but the ukulele is small  and the strings are soft so its doesn't hurt your fingers and you feel in control of what your doing.

The ukulele is cheaper than most instruments, only the vintage ones control a lot of money. You can buy a ukulele for as little as £12.99. Consequently, the ukuleles size means that gig bags, flight cases and strings are all cheaper than it would be for any other string instrument.

They are easily transportable as don't take up much space, so you can take it anywhere you want and it wont be any trouble.

My refined answer for this question is...

...other instruments, because of its practical, financial and spacial benefits.


5.If it was a profession, what would it be?

Easy, ENTERTAINMENT.


6. If it was a celebrity, who would it be?

George Formby hands down. He was an entertainer from 1921 for 40 years until his death in 1961. He pioneered the ukulele's popularity boom with his tongue in cheek songs and his quirky northern accent. People to this day of all ages have picked up the ukulele purely because of Georges example.


Below is a website for the George Formby Society where they review his life, his films, his music and any other topic to do with him. They celebrate his life and works in full and hold conventions throughout the year to bring people together to appreciate him.


7. If it was a place, where would it be?

Hawaii was my first choice of answer because it's the country that the ukulele is most commonly related to and it has a great reputation for being a place with a happy culture and also to be a popular holiday destination. However there is more to Hawaii than the instruments they play so I've revised this one and changed it to...

...a minor/vintage music shop. Mainstream music stores don't often stock instruments of such low retail, and if they do they don't have the best range to choose from. They tend to be more commercial selling mostly, guitars, pianos, drums and bass guitars.


8. If it was an event, what would it be?

my first answer was very vague for this one and I realised a had a few gaps in my research into Hawaiian culture. I went back to my research and began to look into Hawaiian events and festivals. An discovered a few websites aimed at tourists mostly about the islands and what they have to offer.

My refined answer for this question is...

...the Honolulu festival. Because it's a true example of the Hawaiian culture that the ukulele is associated with which brings together art and dance as well as music. The festival culminates in a vibrant parade through Waikiki.



9. If it was a product, what would it be?

My 'good' already is a product so it would be difficult to say it would be anything else other than itself for this question. I did however list as many other products that relate to it.

nylon strings
steel strings
felt plectrum
tuning keys
electronic tuner
capo
gig bag/flight case
varnish
shoulder strap
grass skirt
flower necklace
package holiday
surf board

'GOOD IS' - Proposal

I've had a few ideas but none of them are really appealing to me and I don't think i'll a good creative response out of my self if i choose to do one of them. My ideas so far are...


1. make ukulele's more popular as an instrument.
I could do this through any of the four methods but I think I would carry it out through Branding and Identity or best. Using existing brands I plan to create an event that would bring people together and show them the best qualities of ukulele's and the music associated with it. The branding would take a vintage poster/minimalistic print aesthetic as I feel that would keep within the instruments character. The work wouldn't be sophisticated but would take a fun and possibly humorous tone. The audience would be people that play music and who perhaps don't know much about the music of the ukulele.

2. inform people about the benefits of playing the ukulele.
I think this concept would be best carried threw by investigating Information and Wayfinding. I would gather statistics, facts, opinions and also carry out a personal test to get my information and move on to produce a series engaging pieces of infographics and/or posters. The audience would be people who don't play a musical instrument already.

3. promote the ukulele as an instrument and encourage people to play/buy one.
This would be done through Package and Promotion. Current packaging for musical instruments are very bland and straight forward, I would be aiming to achieve a more engage and aesthetically pleasing package. In terms of promotion I would create a series of posters, leaflets, cd giveaways, string packets, plectrum designs and 

Tuesday 27 September 2011

Design for Print - Mac induction 1 - Illustrator

The mains focus is colour

when creating a new document one of the choices you can make in the advanced options is the colour
colour mode - CMYK, RGB

CMYK - process colours

what are the different ways we can apply colour to the artwork
shapes - select the shape, apply fill or stroke colour
double click the fill or stroke box to bring up the colour picker and choose your colour ten click ok

the top left on the options bar will show you swatches as well as in the swatches palette down the right hand side of the screen. The swatches are preset.

the third way to apply colour is to use the CMYK colour slider in the top right palette.


which of these methods allows me o consistently apply colour? the quickest and easiest way is to apply the swatches palette.

if you dont want to use the preset swatches you can make your own, First delete the preset swatches.
you can use the palette menu to get rid of all the unused swatches quickly and you should be left with 4 swatches white black stroke and the target, the target is just for print marks as it is a purer and richer black.

registration marks are used to line up the colour layers properly, like using the true grain when screen printing.

if you use the register mark black instead of the standard black then there will be too much ink, as it has 4 layers of ink.

making new swatches - the first way to do it is you use the colour palette to set some ink percentages using the sliders or by typing in the numbers yourself. Then using the menu on the right hand side you can create a new swatch.
you then get a small menu where you can change the percentages again if you need and you can even name your swatch, but its best to leave it as it is.

the next way is to use the swatch menu and select 'new colour swatch' it will bring up the same window as the previous method.

you can change the view of the swatch palette using the menu to show it as a list, this will give you more information on the swatch such as the ink percentages and a symbol indicating the colour mode that the swatch is in.

you can use any of the methods to apply colour and then create swatches of these afterwards in the swatch palette menu by selecting 'add used colours'. the swatches that you have added will have a little grey box next to them in the list view option. the grey square signifies that the swatch is 'global' when the swatch is global and you edit the swatch, it will automatically update every shape or part of your work that is that colour. This can be really useful with complex pieces of work.

you can also create tints of swatches by selecting a swatch then using the colour slider to change the percentage of the tint and then use the menu to 'create new swatch'


SPOT COLOURS

a spot colour is a colour applied using its own printing plate.

where would you use a spot colour? when you need to print something that is outside of the CMYK colour range such as silver, gold or metalic colour or flourescent colour.

spot colours will be used in brand and identity as a corporate colour. Heinz baked beans for example will have the same colour blue on the tin wherever they are being sold in the world.

Saturday 24 September 2011

'GOOD IS' - Concept Development.

Sub topics of the Ukulele...

History
Musicians
Science
Facts
Songs
Websites
Opinions
Statistics

Topics in relation to Branding and Identity...

Ukulele brands
Hawaiian association
Jumping flea story
Famous players of the ukulele

Topics in relation to Packaging and Promotion...

Ukulele size and type
String packets and companies
Old posters and artwork
Events
Accessories e.g. felt picks, flight cases, stickers

Topics in relation to Publishing and Editorial

Helpful guides
Articles
Reviews
Manuels/Instructions

Topics in relation to Information and Wayfinding

Websites
Guides
Info packs


I'm a bit stumped at the moment for a finalised concept so I need to go back and review my findings and my developments in relation to these four questions...

What are you trying to communicate? (An idea, a concept, a message, a lifestyle...?)
Who are you trying to communicate to? (Why and what do you want to achieve?)
How will you use print design and production methods to achieve this?
What is already out there and how can you adapt, modify, reuse or respond to it?