layouts

advert design

my problem......

the problem with me is im never updating this blog with the things ive been doing! so im making an effort to put every little bit of work i can on here and show more development. so heres a look at the first attempt of my spread done about 5 days ago! (see told you i dont put up enough work)

ill ill ill

been to the doctors, tell me i have a chest infection! boo hiss.
well anyhow this has meant ive had some more time to look at layout design. its actually something i might like to go into as a career. its intresting how placement can give context to text and images ( which already have their own context)  ive spent most of the day trying to undersatnd golden sections and fibonacci series,  im hoping to apply this to my final layouts.
 both my final layouts will be module based grids.

links to topics.

http://www.mackinnonandsaunders.com/ this is the puppet company im basing my first article about.

http://www.prideofmanchester.com/movies/films.htm a few filsm over the years that have used manchester as its backdrop.

my choice of grid.

this is a 5x6 grid system. i have chosen this for several reasons. the first being it lends itsself to a lot of diffrent layouts of text and images. the second being that the smaller squares will hopefully given the impression of small scale things ( puppets) . the baselines arent particularly set in stone. as you can obviously use more than a few columns for text,

some lovely words to learn......

Appropriation: this is the borrowing of a style used else where, as the basis of your design.

Baseline: type is placed to sit on the baseline of the grid. an examples of this would be lined paper. the use the line to wirte across and never go into the line above.

Dummy:  A practice layout that will show the placement of texts and images as they will appear in the final piece.

exquisite corpse: surrealist techinique that exploits the happy chance of accident in imagw/text juxtaposition.

Impart: the suggestion of ideas via the presentation ofinformation in a design. the viewer decodes the information to arrive at the required interpretation.

Impostion: the arragenmnet of pages  in the orderthey will appear when put together in its final format. (impostion plan) thumbnails of the impostion arrangement.

recto: the right hand page of an open book.

verso: the left hand page of an open book.

not posted in a while!

sorry if if seems a bit silent on the blog at the moment, this doesnt mean ive been slacking! no no ive been learning all sorts of things!  to start i will share my ideas for the two articles and advertisment.
the first article is about a manchetser based company that make models and puppets for tv and movie.  Mackinon & saunders have worked on films such as james and the giant peach as well as the corspe bride and enid blytons  'noddy' tv series.
the second article will be about locations used in manchester for movies. the new sherlock holmes film used manchester town hall as the houses of parliment, and some of the strrets where used as new york for the remake of alfie staring jude law.

my final piece will be about a fictional exhibition of models and puppets that would appear in the museum of science and industry- enttiled 'its a small world'

im going to post a tons of definitions i have descovered while researching layouts so keep reading.

final image

refined image

my process..

After coming back form media city feeling a little bit dissapointed in terms of ideas i couldnt understand what the fuss was about..... not being ever the optimist i plodded along with uploading the images i had.

after looking at my photos of media city i found a couple that reminded me of a fairy tale forest. so i began to imaging characters walking around the place ( bit like the take note video comissioned for media city) like a childrens book illustration.

mapping this thought i began to look at what illustration meant to me. im a big fan of ink and water colour drawings  ( Quentin Blake and Tim Burton) having never tried this before i went and bought a quill and some black ink to start sketching the ideas i had in my head.

once i had the characters i scanned them into photoshop ( i decided not to try actual water colour at this point after researching it, the prep time needed to strectch out the paper didnt allow)

however i did use water colour brushes in photoshop to try and recreate the best i could.

played about with several background photos until i found one i wanted which is featured on the final piece.

Quentin blake

please look at http://www.quentinblake.com/ his images are simple and elegant. best know as the illustratior for the roald dahl books, i think he captures the essence of what it is to be a child in his images. its because of him i wanted to attempt to use the medium of ink and water colour.

final image

The message i want to convey with this image is the fact there wasnt really anything at media city at current. but there will be something a bit magical and special. i thought about old bbc programme called jackanory and how they used quetin blakes illustrations for the narrated stories ( a memory thats stuck with me forever).

audience wise im hoping everyone can enjoy the image........ visiting media city at present leaves you feeling quite empty so hopefully this gives it a bit more magical feel. i want it to appeal to children and teens through its tim burton type style as well as its fairy tale appeal for younger audience. i originally intended the image to satire the bbc ( Big Bad Corporation) because i couldnt quite get what they were trying to achieve. but having read on the positive imapact it will have of designers in the area i re-read the images meaning to try and show how i now felt.

final image

letter head

bussiness card design.

after looking at playing cards as reference to my logo, i felt it made sense to create a bussiness card like this.
i researched alot into the possiblities of how a card could be created:
 raised inks produce a card that you can feel in your hands.
foiling gives logos and words a shimmer or glaze making the card memorible and proffesional.
embossing  allows the details of the card to be pressed in, depending on the thickness of the card it main mean only one side could be used.

dye cut  the card can be cut to any shape of have parts removed. this was the one i was intrested in. calling a company called print warehouse i asked the cost and set up if i were to get a card. Plates are created in the shapes you require this is the inital cost) then the cards are cut- ce the plates are created however you can use them again and again.

final logo design