Monday 29 April 2013

Foodbank campaign booklet


A booklet produced to outline a hypothetical campaign strategy for Wolverhampton Foodbank. The cover is above, and some examples of spreads are below:





The physical booklet is 180mm square, and each page appears as a single page, so turning pages with circles on reveal a different graphic in the same space overleaf. The booklet consists of 19 pages.


Thursday 25 April 2013

Shatter Effect

Firstly, apologies. I realise I haven't AT ALL blogged about this brief, despite it being quite a big part of my last six months. Essentially though, these images should explain the brief and my work in full. These are the spreads I put forward for presenting "new and innovative ways of promoting a pre-existent brand". The brand, in this case, was a local band called Shatter Effect. This project was much more about marketing and promotion than it was about design.




It helps to like the client you're designing for - and in this case I don't even have to lie about that! You can check out the band on my recommendation below. They're also at www.facebook.com/ShatterEffectMusic and www.twitter.com/ShatterEffect.


Saturday 13 April 2013

Foodbank posters

I posted a couple of weeks ago about a campaign I was putting together for Wolverhampton Foodbank. Well, I say for them - they know I'm doing it, as to whether it will really be used... It's unlikely! Regardless, the concept is still sound.

I don't want to bore you with the countless pages of ideas I've produced (these will be used later though!), so here's the main outcome: two posters used to highlight the main message of the promotion. 



The campaign hinges on two points. Firstly, it was important to make people aware of how much food they waste, and therefore, how much money they are throwing away. Second, it was highlighted how much that wastage amounts to in terms of the foodbank. The viewer is invited to make the link between the two.

The posters were designed to fit with each other to create a circular graphic, which is a reflection of the branding in general, and reflects the circular value of the new logo.

Saturday 6 April 2013

Re-Threading

I reckon it's always important to be aware of ways in which you can enhance a particular visual brand, and update the look and feel of a logotype. So, when we decided we wanted a range of new logos for sections on the Thread, I used it as an opportunity to refresh the whole look of the "brand".

The current "main" logo used.
We wanted iconic images to go with each section on the site (they're not actually in use yet, so this is somewhat of a sneak preview... yeah, I know that excites you...), and also to represent the newspaper and radio sections.

This gave the opportunity to slightly change the way we use the logo. The problem we've had with the logo above is its shape - it doesn't lend itself neatly to, say, a Facebook profile picture. This is rectified by adding a second logo.

The new set of logos - with a more rounded look so as to be more flexible, and fit into gaps the above logo can't!

Hopefully, both will be used alongside each other, just to achieve different things. As I say, these aren't in use yet, but will hopefully enhance what is already a fairly strong brand around campus, and make each section more accessible.

Thursday 21 March 2013

Growing a logo

As a part of a year-long project, I've been working on a semi-live brief which involves the promotion of a local charity - namely, the Wolverhampton Foodbank. I've mostly been working on a campaign strategy (which you'll see at a later date), but for now I thought I'd share the new logo I've been working on. First, the old logo:



This logo is a logo used by many foodbanks, and adapted. I felt there were many opportunities missed in the design of the identity here. I wanted to make sure there was a link between the old style, and the new, and so this old logo was a fairly strong influence on my "re-brand"




My interpretation is above. I took some of the same themes to do with nature and growth, but created something rather different. The two sides "food" and "bank" are connected in a smooth and organic way, and the addition of the leaf to this creates an apple graphic. The rest of the text is flowing, and represents the growth/vines present in the old identity.

Thursday 14 March 2013

Sounds like summer?

A wee little brief I managed to squeeze into my busy schedule. An enjoyable one, too. The slide below tells all about it, so I won't waste words by waffling on!



Monday 11 March 2013

Répondez s'il vous planes (3)

The RSVP exhibition finally came around! If you're not sure what I'm on about then check here. Here are a few photos from the exhibition, which was a huge success.




A trail of planes led the viewer to my work.  


The posters the viewer was faced with gave instructions on how to respond to this particular piece.

Many viewers responded to the piece by folding and throwing paper planes.


Wednesday 27 February 2013

A marriage of interests

This is a piece of work created for one of the toughest clients I've had to deal with. He's pernickety, awkward, and expects me to work all around the clock.

Of course, I couldn't get away with NOT designing the invites for my upcoming wedding, nor would I want to. A slightly different design to things I often work on - far much more emphasis on prettiness, pinkness, and girliness, really. A bow was added to the final invites, which was tied around the middle to hold the other bits which went with the invite. Here it is...:  


Please don't spend too much time analysing - I'd hate my client to notice a mistake, or a way in which is could have been improved...

Saturday 16 February 2013

Threading some more

As well as working for the Student' Union during my time at Uni, I've also done some volunteer design work for the SU newspaper and radio team, The Thread. I posted my logo design-y stuff a long while back, but for one reason or another haven't shared anything else! Here a some bits and bobs that I've created for the team to use. The first is a Facebook cover, and the other two were designs for 60x40in posters.




I've also done bits and bobs for the website, but most of the praise for how that's looking is down to my good friend Ash, who also volunteers and maintains the site. It's at www.the-thread.co.uk if you fancy a gander.

Wednesday 23 January 2013

Branding danger

A self-directed project which allowed me to try my hand at rebranding the Hazardous Materials department at West Midlands Fire Service, this brief took me to and from the drawing board more times than I care to mention... So I'll keep this brief.

The first problem comes with the issue of "branding danger". What these guys do is serious stuff, but is also about teaching and training firemen and women to avoid and diffuse dangerous situations.

The angular shapes come from the Hazardous Materials classic diamond shapes for identifying hazards, and the colours are (of course) representative of fire, with a cheeky flame shape thrown in for good measure.

Overall, the chosen logo is adaptable in a variety of colours and outlines, and an example of how it can be applied is shown below in some experimentation with business cards.





Monday 7 January 2013

Gentletude Typographics

Finalised typographics for the aforementioned "Gentletude" brief:





The designs are created for smartphone-sharing, so had to be fairly simplistic. I added an interactive element by linking the designs into Twitter - the idea being that the hashtag would be a link, and a blog reel of these "thoughts for a better life" could be easily accessed and shared hassle free.

Sunday 6 January 2013

Time management

Something that I spend my time doing is working with the Christian Union at University. Being a designer, I tend to take on responsibility for publications such as these:

January - May 2013

I've blogged these earlier, but thought it'd be nice to see them all together.

September - December 2012
September - December 2011