Colours and Fonts

Colour Scheme

This is the colour scheme that I came up with. Again, rather than looking on the internet for the colour scheme, I made my own one from the mood board that I came up with. I made this is in Illustrator, I used to the colour pick tool to pick out these different colours. Like with previous colour scheme,  I don't think that I would use every colour in my design, however I feel if I was to use this style that I would not be limited as to what I can use and I would able to expand more with my designs. 

Font

After looking at colour schemes, I moved on to have a look at different font faces which relate to Pop. Above is a screen shot, which shows the different fonts that I found, I got these from dafont.com. Compared with the ease of finding of fonts for Art Deco, I struggled with finding fonts which best suited the style of Pop Art. I think these fonts suit this style and will be easy to read and will look good on a poster. The fonts in the middle are pretty similar, but for me I think the 'Agent Orange' font stands out the most.

Pop Art - Brainstorm

This is the brainstorm that I made for Pop Art. I struggled to come up with ideas, compared with Art Deco, however I used the mood board that I made to help with colour ideas and different characteristics that are related to Pop Art. On dafont.com I was able to find some font faces, I am not overly sure whether they are to do with Pop Art, but I think they sort suit the style and I think would look alright if it was incorporated with Pop Art style images.

Art Styles: Pop Art

After looking at Art Deco, I then moved on to have a look at Pop Art. At the moment I feel that I am going more towards the Art Deco style, because I think it would fit in with regeneration idea and would also fit in with the location of the project, as Brighton has got quite a lot of Art Deco architecture which means the poster designs would be recognisable and people could associate the style with the city. However I think the research into Pop Art will help to decide which style I would be most comfortable with and could get the best out of.

The screen shot above shows the words that, for me, describes Pop Art.

"Pop art is an art movement that emerged in the mid 1950s in Britain and in the late 1950s in the United States. Pop art presented a challenge to traditions of fine art by including imagery from popular culture such as advertising, news, etc. In Pop art, material is sometimes visually removed from its known context, isolated, and/or combined with unrelated material. The concept of pop art refers not as much to the art itself as to the attitudes that led to it.

Pop art employs aspects of mass culture, such as advertising, comic books and mundane cultural objects. It is widely interpreted as a reaction to the then-dominant ideas of abstract expressionism, as well as an expansion upon them. And due to its utilization of found objects and images it is similar to Dada. Pop art is aimed to employ images of popular as opposed to elitist culture in art, emphasizing the banal or kitschy elements of any given culture, most often through the use of irony. It is also associated with the artists' use of mechanical means of reproduction or rendering techniques.

Much of pop art is considered incongruent, as the conceptual practices that are often used make it difficult for some to readily comprehend. Pop art and minimalism are considered to be art movements that precede postmodern art, or are some of the earliest examples of Postmodern Art themselves.

Pop art often takes as its imagery that which is currently in use in advertising. Product labeling and logos figure prominently in the imagery chosen by pop artists, like in theCampbell's Soup Cans labels, by Andy Warhol. Even the labeling on the shipping carton containing retail items has been used as subject matter in pop art, for example in Warhol's Campbell's Tomato Juice Box 1964, (pictured below), or his Brillo Soap Box sculptures."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pop_art

Above I have found a description about Pop Art and some images that represent Pop Art. I think that this style is quirky and fun and I really like the imagery, however I'm quite sure how I can incorporate this style into the regeneration project.

This is the mood board that I came up with. This will help to start to come up with ideas, from this I can clearly see the characteristics that are to do with Pop Art and it helps me to begin to think about how I can use this style for the idea of urban regeneration.

Colours, Fonts and Images

Colours

This is the colour scheme that I came up with. Instead of searching for a colour scheme and finding one on the internet, I decided to make my own which is based on the images of posters that I found. I made this is in Illustrator, I used to the colour pick tool to pick out these different colours and shades. I don't think that I would use every colour in my design, however I feel that I am not limited as to what I can use and I'm able to expand more with my designs. I would use a red, blue, green and black in each design, but with the colour scheme that I have made I am able to choose different shades which will help to when it comes to making buildings.

Fonts

After looking at colour schemes, I moved on to have a look at different font faces which relate to Art Deco. Above is a screen shot, which shows the different fonts that I found, I got these from dafont.com. There was quite of Art Deco style fonts on this website, however these were the ones that I picked out as they caught my eye. I found that these were also easy to read, which is helpful for being on a poster. There are four fonts in particular that I like, 'Riesling', 'Andes', 'Bellerose' and 'Park Lane', I think these look most like an Art Deco style and at the same time I think they would still look clear on a poster and even a leaflet.

Images

In my sketch book I have started sketching images in this style. I have copied a few posters that I liked and will develop these to potential designs for the project.

Art Deco - Brainstorm

Above is the brainstorm that I made. From coming up with mood board I had a good idea of the colours that I could use, mainly black, red, blue, green, purple. I then looked on www.dafont.com for potential fonts and managed to find quite a selection, all of which fitted with the Art Deco idea perfectly. I then wrote down words which for me described the idea of Art Deco, the types of things that I put down was 'quite jazzy', 'sophisticated', 'simple', 'long/tall', 'lines - straight'.

From here I am going to have a closer look at images, fonts and colours, which could be used for designs for my posters.

Art Styles: Art Deco

After coming up with a brainstorm, I looked more into the art styles that I came up with. I focused on two in particular, Art Deco and Pop Art, these were the two styles that I was more interested in and thought would be the best choices when coming up with potential designs.


The first style that I had a look at was Art Deco. I really like Art Deco, I think that it looks sophisticated which would be good style to help promote the regeneration project in London Road.

The screen shot above shows the words that, for me, describes Art Deco.

"Art deco or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era.The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and jewelry, as well as the visual arts such as painting, graphic arts and film. The term "art deco" was first used widely in 1926, after an exhibition in Paris, 'Les Années 25' sub-titled Art Deco, celebrating the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes(International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts) that was the culmination of style moderne in Paris. At its best, art deco represented elegance, glamour, functionality and modernity. Art deco's linear symmetry was a distinct departure from the flowing asymmetrical organic curves of its predecessor style art nouveau; it embraced influences from many different styles of the early twentieth century, including neoclassical, constructivism, cubism, modernism and futurism and drew inspiration from ancient Egyptian and Aztec forms. Although many design movements have political or philosophical beginnings or intentions, art deco was purely decorative.

Art deco experienced a decline in popularity during the late 1930s and early 1940s, but had a resurgence during the 1960s with the first book on the subject by Bevis Hillier in 1968 and later an exhibition organised by him in Minneapolis in 1971. It continued with the popularization of graphic design during the 1980s. Art deco had a profound influence on many later artistic styles, such as Memphis and pop art."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Deco

Above I have found a small description about Art Deco and some images which represent some aspects of Art Deco. From most of the art styles that there is, this is one that I can easily identify through buildings, fashion and font faces. 

To help me to start thinking about potential designs, I made a mood board. With these posters I can see the type of characteristics that I could include and incorporate into the idea of urban regeneration. The next stage is going to be making a brainstorm, so that I can break each section and research each part to ensure I follow the style well.

Brainstorm: Urban Regeneration

Before doing my design research and looking into London Road, I came with a brainstorm which had some potential ideas that I could put forward for my leaflet and posters. I came up with different art styles, like 'Pop Art', 'Art Deco' and 'Post Modernism', which helped me to think about the types of fonts and colours that I could use. I also started thinking about layout styles and the different leaflet folds that I could use and the location which is the focus and the types of shops and places that are available.

Current Regeneration Projects

I had a look a current Regeneration Project. The one that I have chosen to look at is for Brighton Marina. The idea of this Regeneration is to help and improve the Marina, by making the area safer for pedestrians, having more parking which will reduce traffic and a better connection with existing retail areas.

http://www.brightonmarinaregeneration.co.uk/index.aspx

 

These images on the left and right are part of the advertising of the project. The image on the left is of a map, which shows the area where the project is going to take place. The part that is coloured in green highlights the sections that this project is focusing on. The image on the right is the poster which is advertising the project. By looking at the poster you can see it looks clean and bright. From having the blues it looks fresh and very new, it stands out and looks pretty interesting to people looking at it. I also think that the use of blues instantly makes you think that the project will be taking place by the sea, as it doesn't give any indication in the words that have been put on the poster.

Included on the website that was made for this project, it has a section which shows the proposals of what is going to happen to improve the area. I think that is pretty effective that it has been displayed by using a table, this doesn't look as daunting to read and there is a higher chance that people would take the time to have a look as it isn't text heavy. It is also a clearer way of showing what is going to happen.

The image above is another section from the website. These black and white images show what the parts from the marina, they are focusing on, currently looks like. It looks effective that they have taken the pictures in black and white, this is because it shows these areas/ pictures are old and soon these will be improved and will look different.

On the other hand these images from the website, shows what the area will look once the project has been completed. Compared with the previous pictures, which were in black and white, these images are a lot brighter and look a lot more refreshing and look new.

What is Urban Regeneration?

After receiving and looking at the brief, I found that I wasn't really sure as to what 'Urban Regeneration' actually is.
Urban Regeneration
"Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of reconstruction. The process has had a major impact on many urban landscapes, and has played an important role in the history and demographics of cities around the world.
Urban renewal may involve relocation of businesses, the demolition of structures, the relocation of people, and the use of eminent domain (government purchase of property for public use) as a legal instrument to take private property for city-initiated development projects.
In some cases, renewal may result in urban sprawl and less congestion when areas of cities receivefreeways and expressways.
Urban renewal has been seen by proponents as an economic engine and a reform mechanism, and by critics as a mechanism for control. It may enhance existing communities, and in some cases result in the demolition of neighbourhoods."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_renewal 

"The improvement of urban areas which have been in decline."

www.tuition.com.hk/geography/u.htm

"The re-use or redevelopment of decaying or run-down parts of older urban areas to bring them new life and economic vitality."

www.lawsonfairbank.co.uk/planning-glossary.asp

Above I have found three different definitions as to what 'Urban Regeneration' means. From reading the definitions, I now have a better understanding as to what it means. Urban Regeneration is the redevelopment/ improvement of old urban areas, once they have been improved it means more shops, restaurants, clean areas, more things for people to do and also a more appealing place for people to visit.

Project Three: Branding and Promotion - Urban Regeneration

The Brief 

"Inner cites changed enormously in the 90s and 00s, with run down areas of disused buildings and land, and in some cases substandard housing, being redeveloped into pockets of urban cool, featuring flats, shops, hotels, restaurants, venues and conference centres, with the intension of breathing new economic life into the previously derelict.  In Brighton, two examples of this are the area around the Jubilee Library and the New England Quarter at the back of the train station.  Further afield, the work of Urban Splash has redeveloped areas of English northern cities.

This kind of regeneration has slowed right down in the current recession, but for this assignment you have to imagine that London Road Brighton is being redeveloped into a gentrified urban centre attractive to the young and single or couples without children.  Flats, bars, restaurants, shops, a hotel and a club / music venue are designed to be attractive to the target market of 18 – 39 year old well off students and professionals. 

You have been commissioned to create the graphic design for the promotion of the London Road Brighton project.  You need to develop a consistent visual language across a range of print pieces, using typography and a graphic style in a way that creates a visually coherent campaign.  You need to produce a folding leaflet which promotes the project overall combining text and images, and a series of at least three magazine ads or posters which focus on a specific aspect of what’s on offer in the zone (such as a bar, the hotel and the flats).  The ads are for distribution as full page ads in relevant magazines including Time Out in London and Latest 7 in Brighton.  The posters are to be placed in London and Brighton bus stops and train stations, and London Tube stations.  You will need to create these print pieces at suitable aspect ratios and mock them up into a photo of a location or magazine to show their impact in situ. 

You will start this project by undertaking visual research.  As well as looking at existing posters, magazine ads and leaflets for their design characteristics, you will look into the visual presentation of architectural and urban regeneration projects, and you will also explore the work of artists, designers, design movements and images to select a visual language that will inspire and inform your work.  This research needs to be reflected in your blog. 

You will devise the concept for your campaign (inspiration, imagery, tag line, colour, font, layout etc) from research and design development processes including brainstorms, mood boards, sketches, mock-ups etc and pitch this concept to the group and your tutors for discussion.  Your design development work must be shown in your sketchbook. 

You will use any combination of Photoshop and Illustrator to produce the artwork for this project.  The leaflet must be laid out and typography incorporated in InDesign. 

You will show your completed artwork to the group for critique, justifying your design decisions and looking for potential improvements.  The crit feedback needs to be written up on your blog.  Once improvements have been made in response to the crit, you need to print your artwork to put in your sketchbook.  These do not have to be printed at full size for the poster; you can print at A3.  The leaflet printed double sided and folded.  You need to get your printing done externally at a print shop (Blow up in Brighton and The Print Room in Lewes are recommended)."  

Evaluation

I think overall the project was pretty successful. I have enjoyed this project more than the previous one and I think that enabled me to show of my designing ability. The outcome of my poster was better than imagined it to be and I am pleased with what I achieved.
Using Illustrator was really good and I found it easier than Photoshop. As it was the first time of using it I found the tutorials really useful and helped me to develop my skills for making my own.
At the beginning I tried to keep on top of blogging, which worked but meant that I neglected doing very much in my sketch book. I think that my use of time was better than in the previous project and I managed to finish the presentation and poster by the set deadlines of pitching and criting. Near the end of the project I spent most of time focused on the practical side, which meant at the end it was quite a rush to catch up on the blog. For the next project I will definitely make sure I am more organized.

My Propaganda Poster

Crit

After showing my finished poster to the group this was the crit that I received:
- Age the poster
- Add a sepia effect
- Make the face bigger
- Make the beak look more 3D
- Move the beak up and more central
- Add a gradient on the face
- Sort the white bits
- Perhaps there could be a gradient on the background
- Text executed really well
- Like the idea
- Make the whole image bigger
- Can easily identify the chosen period
I was really happy with the points that I got back and they were really useful in ensuring I end up with a great finished poster. There was a balance of really positive points and points in which I could improve on. Now that I have received my crit, I can now make the changes that I need.

Above is what my poster looks like now that I have applied the points that I received. I have tried to make the poster look more aged, which I think has been pretty sucessful. In this new version I decided to colour over the yellow bit that was on the front of the bird's hat, I think that it does look better with out although it still looked good with.

The screen shot above shows the two things I changed after receiving my crit. The first thing that I did was make the whole image bigger so that it filled up most of the page, I am pleased I did this because it made the whole poster eye catching and it also looked clearer. The next thing that I went on to do was make the page look aged. To do this I used a gradient to change some parts to darker colours, which you can see the result above. I then went on to make the page look as though it has been ripped. To do this is used to the pen tool to make a straight line, then warping it to that it made a triangle shape, I then filled it with a lighter which helped to create the ripped look. 

Making My Poster in Illustrator

This is what my final poster looks like. I found using Illustrator really good and I found that I was at ease with using it considering it was the first time I had.

The screen shot above shows the first stage of making my poster. I placed the original poster in the centre of the page and using the pen tool, I drew around the hat, eyebrows, moustache, neck and sleeve, which you can see above.

I used traced around the eyes and beak of the bird on the right and the wing of the bird on the left. I struggled with finding a bird which was pointing, but this is the closet image that I found. The screen shot of the bird on the right is what I used to draw the head.


After getting the outline of the image, I then went on to colour in the image. I chose quite a light blur for the head and face, whilst using a slightly darker for the shading on the hand. I then decided to use the dark blue from my colour scheme for uniform and then incorporating the using of the red in the band of its hat. 

The screen shot above shows the three stages of doing the bird's face. 

From the colour schemes that I chose, I then picked these five for colouring in the hat and the birds face. I decided to pick the lighter of the blue colours for the birds face, this is because in the original Twitter bird the colour of it is pretty bright, however for my poster I wanted the colour to be slightly darker so that it fits in well with the period that I am basing my idea on. It was quite hard to decide what colours to use for the hat and moustache because the original poster that I was copying from wasn't in colour so I had to make the decisions that I felt looked right. I picked the dark blue for the hat, I thought it fitted in with the army look and would stand out. With most of the WWI posters that I looked like the majority of them have the colour red in them, I thought that it would look effective if the band of the hat was the colour red. From the screen shot above you can see that the result was successful and the whole thing stands out. 

After drawing and colouring in the face, I then moved on to draw the rest of the image. I used the image of the owl that I found on the internet and traced round that, I then moved it so that it was slightly over the birds face. From there I went on to use the 'Your Country Needs You' poster and traced around the sleeve of the man, I resized the image and then moved it so that it was in line with the pointing wing. I used the same blue as the face for the top part of the page and then a slightly dark shade for the bottom half to make it look as those the wing was pointing. I used the same blue for the sleeve that I used for the hat, and coloured in the detail and cuff with a yellowy colour, which you can see in the colour schemes above. I decided I didn't want it to be white because I thought it wouldn't really look as though it was from my intended period. The gap in the middle of the wing and sleeve, I coloured in grey which I think works well and looks better than if I had chosen to use black.

After making the bird, I then went on to make the text. I used the text tool and changd the font to Lucida Fax and typed in 'YOU'. Because I wanted the text to look pretty much exactly the same as the original and I couldn't find any font that was similar I decided to make it myself. Once I had typed in you, I switched the fill of the text so there wasn't any and instead was just an outline. I then went out to draw inside the letters that it was filled in the centre of each but still had the white outline. The screen shot above shows the results, which I am really pleased with and think that it looks close to the original.

This is what the text looks like next to the image. I am pleased with the outcome and I happy with the fact it is clear and easy for people to read when they come to look at the poster. I think the size is just right and doesn't really distract from the image.

The final thing that I went on to do was try and make the poster look quite old. The screen shot above shows three different ways in which I could have it. I decided to go with the third image, which is just a brown box in front of the image and just having the opacity turned down slightly so that you could the other images.

This screen shows my layers bar. I tried to keep this fairly organised so that if I needed to go back to a certain layer it would be easy to find. I labelled each layer which was a great help as I found myself going back to different layers once or twice. I also made separate layers for the fill of each shape which was another thing that I felt was useful.

This is what my poster looks like along side the original. I am really pleased with the out come and I think that it fits in well with the requirements of the brief. After making the text I placed a brown square on top of the image and changed the opacity down, I did this to try and create an old look for the poster so that it looks more like my chosen period.

Proposal

From all the research and designing that I have come up with, I now have an idea for my Web 2.0 Social Media Propaganda Poster.
I have chosen to promote Twitter based from the period of WWI. I have chosen to base my idea from the 'YOUR COUNTRY NEEDS YOU' poster. I picked Twitter because I felt this would be the strongest social media to use as it gradually overtaking Facebook and the others with its popularity.
What I am planning on doing is replacing the man with the Twitter bird, which I think will be an effective design and would be appealing to people who use Twitter and people thinking of joining it. In my sketch book I have come up with a mock up of how I want my poster to look. 
I have chosen to use the three colour schemes that I boxed in the previous blog and I am going to use 'Lucida Fax' as my font choice because I feel this will be easy and clear to read.

The main images which will be used in poster is the Twitter birds face and pretty much everything that is in the 'Your Country Needs You' poster apart from the hand and face. I am going to use the letter 't' on the hat which will resemble the badge on the band of his hat. I am thinking of using the blue colours for the bird and for the uniform. Perhaps the darker blue for the clothes and a lighter blue for the bird which will fit with what the original looks like. I want to incorporate some red in my poster as I have noticed it is a common theme in the propaganda posters that I have looked at. From looking at the original poster I think the red would fit in well on the band of the hat. The lighter colours will be used for the shading and detailing of the bird. The 'Lucida Fax' is fairly similar to that which is used in the original and it is clear and easy to read, I think I will stick to the black font so that it stands out on the page.

Generating Ideas: Sketches

In my sketchbook I have been developing ideas and coming up with brainstorms to help me with my design. I have been copying already made posters and then practicing ideas before going on to draw it up in Illustrator. Above are a few screen shots of some sketchbook work that I have done.