A design presence - Business cards research

I decided to gather some examples of business cards to familiarise myself with size, shape, colour and stocks that could be used when designing 'brand me'. 

I like the idea of producing a brand with the colour scheme black and white, it low in cost and some effective designs can be produced through type or image the example below shows this well. 

Flyer announcing a party at the club Zukunft in Zurich. The give-away was a diamond, laser-cut from fabric by Jakob Schläpfer, which inspired us to experimenting with light refractions on typography, using our typeface ‘Kasparov’. Printed on 45 gsm white and metal coated paper.
Fonts: Kasparov

Here is an example of using stock and colour choices to create an identity for a brand, the business cards are very simple and provide a well crafted logo which shows the circle of unity.  

Corporate identity for Made In Europe. The visual element of the new identity builds an analogy to the 12 stars of the Flag of Europe. Given 12 as a symbol of completeness and perfection formed to a circle of unity, it stands for both the careful craftmanship in every detail and the responsible treatment of natural rescources and the individuals involved in the process.
Fonts: Custom logo typeface and Baskerville

Corporate identity for London based menswear label Hopper & Lace. Reading the name, Edward Hopper played one of the main roles in influence to the labels work and philosophy. Whereas nudity and clothing form an important part in his figure paintings, the emotional expression of his characters, his use of color, light and shadow and the emptiness and simplicity in every scenery have been incorporated into the first collection. (Work in progress)



Markus Mostrom 

Turnstyle

The Ubiquitous Manufacturing Co.

A design presence - Branding research

To get my self familiar with the type of branding I would like to do for myself, I have collected work from other designers to show the style of designs I would like to produce for 'brand me'.


Cocolobo

Cocolobo is a high-end shopping boutique that caters exclusively to strong women with a confident and in vogue fashion sense. For the naming, we played with the shop's main patrons' characteristic duality, in a catchy and fun play with words: "Coco" (coconut in Spanish) and "lobo" (Spanish for wolf). The Cocolobo woman is not only feminine and sweet, but also independent, aggressive, sensuous and daring. The color palette also invests in this polarity, with black and white portraying the elegant, sober aspect of the brand and the red representing all that is feminine and chic.

MTLL

Corporate branding

MTLL is a young architecture firm born from the merging of two experienced architects with independent trajectories: Miriam Torres and Luis Loya.

Leesa O’Reilly

Leesa O’Reilly, a stylist, recently expanded her business beyond photographic styling to include product sourcing and location scouting. Additionally, she has also launched a prop hire arm to her business of which all her unique products acquired over the years can be sourced.

Her brandmark is based on the idea that she is constantly sourcing objects from different places. We chose to produce four different business cards to show the diversity of her work and business.

Mulberry

Construct continue to work extensively for British design company Mulberry. Over the last 12 months, Construct has refined the original Mulberry logotype and the famous tree motif. This newly updated design has been applied across an extensive variety of applications including components that feature on all products, shop signage (in collaboration with Universal Design Studio), business stationery, a multitude of seasonal items and – most challenging of all – a huge gold inflatable Bayswater bag balloon.



Claridge’s

Construct remain heavily involved in the extensive rebrand of luxury Mayfair hotel Claridge’s. Recent work includes the design of menus for a variety of locations within the hotel, including the stunning Foyer and Reading Room, the Claridge’s Bar and the Fumoir.
To help new employees understand the history and grandeur of the place and the privilege of working in one of London’s finest hotels, Construct produced a brand book, given to new staff. Filled with facts and figures as well as inspirational quotes from Spencer Tracey to Tom Ford, the 12 page hand-sewn book has gold and black paper tip-ins. A gold foiled Claridge’s crest features through out.



Jacqueline Cullen

Designer, Jacqueline Cullen has developed innovative processes and formats that celebrate rather than disguise the inherent flaws and inclusions of Whitby jet (a black-as-night fossil of prehistoric trees). Construct crafted the identity and produced a toolkit comprising a variety of stamps (wax, embossing and ink) to reflect Jacqueline’s work.

Since its launch in 2004, the Nooka logo has been increasing in boldness for reasons of legibility. Unlike most corporate logos in which the artwork needs to be legible at 25mm, the Nooka logo needs to be legible at about half that, sometimes less. The solution was two-fold. One—to increase boldness for maximum legibility both small and large sizes, and two—to simplify the letterforms to better express our ethos. Along with these changes, subtle details were also introduced to make the Nooka logotype more visually pleasing.

A design presence - Initial ideas

To produce a visual identity for 'Brand you' I thought a good way of generating some ideas would be to make a few lists which are associated with myself, I believe collecting data on me ill make it easier to express myself in a creative way to others.

Themes of things that I like

Graphic design:

Illustration
Photography
Packaging
Pattern design
Typography
Set design
Installation

Art and design:

Painting
Drawing
Sculpture

Vintage:

Shoes
Dresses
Tops
Jewellery
Pocket watches
Makeup
Belts
Mirrors
Boxes
Scarfs
Perfume
Cameras
Bags
Teacups

Patterns:

Polka dots
Stripes
Paisley
Abstract
Leopard
Zebra
Mosaic
Floral

Design strategy - Secret7: Responsive

Entering competition briefs is a great way of letting others see my work and I have enjoyed all the briefs I have taken part in, in particular the Secret 7 briefs to design vinyl sleeves for musicians. This is one of my favourite designs of the year mainly because of the photography work I did, the image is simple yet effective and was perfect to use for the sleeve. I intend on doing more quick turn around briefs as some of them are the most enjoyable. Here are a few presentation boards to show the concept development.

Design strategy - Evaluation: OUGD503

1. What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?

The responsive module has thought me that I can work collaboratively really well, the skills I have developed in doing so are being more organised, producing more work than usual and making a lot more effort in a brief as someone else is counting on my efforts. I believe my software skills have improved, such as photoshop given that I edited a lot of photography work for the briefs I chose to do. Another is my communications skills, when working on the Dazed & Confused brief Emily and I had to share ideas and work separately sometimes, but good communication payed off as the final result of the work was well produced by the pair of us. 

2. What approaches to/ methods of design production have you developed and how have they informed your design development process?

I feel I have enhanced my photography skills, and using imagery in my work has been different to the usual vector based work, this is something I would like to take further as I want to learn more in photoshop and how to manipulate photographs to a high standard. A lot of my primary research has helped me throughout the briefs, just taking a few hours a week to go out and take photographs or gather products which will inspire me for later work has been worth while. 

3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?

When I was approached to do the logo for Copper Beech Acoustic, which I later fully branded I realised that branding and identity is a sector within design which I really enjoy and that I actually grasp. Doing smaller briefs such as Secret 7 and Threadless were the ones I most enjoyed as I took the photographic and illustrative approach for both, both are strengths of mine which I want to pursue further. 

4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future?

Any work wish has been rushed too quickly shows lack of creativity, this was shown in the Creative Networks brief, the work I produced wasn't great nor of a decent standard. Making more effort and taking time on designs needs to be addressed more in 'quick turn around briefs'.  I believe I could have done more briefs throughout the module if I'd of used my time wisely.

5. Identify 5 things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?

Use my time more effectively to be able to produce a better standard of work, and work that I am more pleased with. 

I wish I had produced print based work as apposed to proposal work, if I had of managed my time better I might of changed my designs after printing and mocking up first. 

I would have looked at a wider range of briefs, although there was a lot to choose from on YCN and D&AD, unfortunately I wasn't awfully keen on the many of then, I should have broadened my ideas by looking at different briefs, and  this may of resulted in me producing more satisfactory work. 

Perhaps exploring more with illustration would of been good as it is what I like to do most, for example in the Secret 7 briefs, this is something i will consider next time. 

When collecting secondary research I should look at a wider range of websites, as exploring through design work can seem a little repetitive, I will also use library more to look for inspiration designers and artists.

6. How would you grade yourself on the following areas:

Attendance: 3

Punctuality: 4

Motivation: 4

Commitment: 4

Quantity of work produced: 3

Quality of work produced: 4

Contribution to the group: 5

Design strategy - Threadless: Responsive

I believe during the responsive module I produced work that I was happy with most since being on the course, the module allowed me to enter competitions and and experience designing work which was more my style, The Threadless brief to design a t-shirt was a great way of me getting my illustrations onto products as this is something I would like to set up over the summer, a clothing line, perhaps collaboratively. The theme of the illustrations is Crystal Castles.

Design strategy - Copper Beech Acoustic: Responsive

During the responsive module I was approached by two musicians who wanted some help branding and promotion a music project they were setting up in the Lake District Cumbria. The aim was to generate a logo which reflected 'Copper Beech Acoustic' and apply it to a range of products to promote the project.  The brief was great to do and the clients were very friendly and easy to work with, I was thrilled to be asked to do the branding as I had not done professional work until then. Below are some presentation boards I put together to show the design development of the brand Copper Beech Acoustic.