final variations....

After reflecting on my print outs I wanted to try a few different variations of the circular emblem I have been using accoss the designs. I like the logo, but I don't think that it is quite perfect yet.

I have tried a number of variations and applied them at different sizes and opacities. I am going to choose one and then stick with it for the further designs as I don't want to spend any more time on this aspect of the brief.

evaluating my designs so far....

I printed some of my favourite designs so that I could see how they translate to print - and newsprint stock which is my preferred stock choice for this brief. I think newsprint delivers a low-fi aesthetic that suits the establishment I am promoting.

On printing these designs I am less certain as to whether I like the circular motif - I have brainstormed some ideas with some of my peers and I think I am going to test some other shapes and options for the letters. Everyone agreed that the consistency is up to scratch so that is one goal I have achieved (so far anyway)....

More layout experiments.....

Halloween poster

As part of the reworking of my designs for the Hyde park social I plan to redo the existing posters for nights I was asked to design for - here I have been working on a Halloween poster, only applying the new style I have created for the promotion. The elements that are consistent throughout are the indigo colour, use of gradient, HPSC letters/circles, Futura condensed light (with tracking increased), and the use of strange/humorous/vintage imagery.

Main hyde park social poster development

I'm still working on the main identity poster for the social - I have developed this four circle design that acts as a kind of logo through the posters. The social has the letters H P S C above the main door and I like how this relates to the poster in this way.

Other ideas for Social poster

Progress so far..... I have explored most of the ideas I had now.... It's just a case of choosing which bits work and finalising the design...

Hyde park social poster

I am working on a design for a poster/flyer for the Hyde Park Social. I plan to take on the ideas that I think work from my designs for them so far as a live brief working for a client, and my own personal inspirations  and ideas to create a new design. I will then apply this style to the range of promotional material I have designed for so far, so that they work as a set. This will be my final outcome. I have been looking at contemporary graphic design posters as well as Russian constructivist graphic design as the inspiration for the type and layout and looking at vintage imagery for the image aspect of the design - to reflect the style and atmosphere of the club. At this stage my ideas are mainly experimental but I am working on producing something more refined....

In store graphics

I need to provide a range of designs for in-store graphics to help consumers to become aware of the Waitrose picnic promotion I am designing for. These graphics could be floor graphics, shelf graphics, Fridge graphics, hanging graphics wall graphics. I am going to head down to Waitrose tomorrow to take some photographs and see how they use their graphics and where they are placed.......

Working with the Waitrose brand

I have been working on how to work with the Waitrose brand effectively - after some research I found that the Waitrose typeface is a custom typeface not readily available for public use - however it is based on Futura Md Bt which I was able to get hold of.

I altered the tracking to try to achieve the most accurate replication of the Waitrose type. I am ultimately using this for the body text of the Picnic recipe cards as well as the 'Waitrose Picnic' identity that I am creating. I am using sky blue rather than the brands usual green, because after some research I found that they change the colour of the logo depending on the range (e.g. 'Waitrose Summer' and 'Essential Waitrose').

I created this doily stye shape to use as a template for the logo to sit in and to transfer across other elements of the promotion. I think that it represents the 'British' spirit of picnicking and works well with the gingham.

Recipe card development

I decided to vectorize the banner from my previous design and I think this is much stronger visually. I also decided to adjust the tracking so that the recipe title fills the space of the banner better. As well as this I decided to add some gingham to the composition. The red gingham element of my designs has been an element that I have liked consistently, as in my opinion it says 'Picnic' better than any other pattern/flat colour. I think these gingham boxes help to balance the composition. I have decided to scrap the illustrations for the recipes as I feel that there is just too much going on visually - I think the gingham works better and has become the main visual - I think any more image will over crowd the designs.

Identity development

In order to put my work for this brief in context, I have decided that these designs will be part of a Waitrose picnic foods promotional campaign - seasonal - potentially inline with the pending Olympic games.This was something that was discussed in the crit, and I feel is a good idea and will make this brief more rounded and realistic.

I have been working on the identity for the picnic range and promotion. I want to stick to this simple colour palette of red (used at different tints for the gingham), white and blue, for which I am using 15% and 30% Cyan with no other inks to lower commercial printing costs (should this be a real brief). This was something that was mentioned at the Generation Press talk - where possible use 0% on less prominent CMYK colours if you can.

The final slide is what I am going with as the final identity for this brief - time is running out and I have already spent too much time on this. I need to make some decisions and go with them. I may remove the bunting but other than that, this is the final illustration. This will be used for the reverse of the recipe cards as well as possibly part of the floor/wall in store graphics at Waitrose.

Layout experimentation

I have been experimenting with layout for my recipe cards. I have been experimenting with B6 landscape as a size (not clear in the pdf below) - and also B6 portrait, but I definitely prefer the landscape option in terms of composition.

its not what you look at.....

I have been working on a design for a same colour cutout. The idea is to create a more subtle message. I experimented with a variety of fonts but I felt that Futura condensed light worked the best as it still works and reads comprehensively when the counters are removed. After some consideration I decided that the quote 'It's not what you look at that matters, its what you see' works better in terms of concept as it suits the subtlety of the aesthetic. I think that it could work well landscape to go across a double page spread in the publication.