Feltron Annual Reports

I believe I blogged about these reports in the first year of the course, but I have come back to them as I feel they can be inspirational once again during the premier league report brief. These annual reports have been well documented in the past but I think they are quite unique so I decided to feature them again.

This is the kind of aesthetic approach I will adopt during the brief with the oversized type and simple vector shapes work well particularly if I find a stock that gets the most out of the prints.

The Feltron reports have got better year on year, so if you haven't seen them I urge you to take a look here.

Penguin Books

In light of the brief I have just talked about, I have found these lovely examples of classic penguin book covers. They have a format to work too but each one seems entirely different. I do encourage the uniformity of it but its also good to see how much of a range you can get through the use of colour and different compositions. The majority of these were designed in and around the 1960's.

Info Graphics

In light of the briefs I have chosen I wanted to look around for some inspiration to give me some ideas on a suitable design direction. I have not looked into information graphics before but it ties in with what I want to achieve and the way my design direction is going seems to suit this.

I remember looking through the consults website earlier in the year, and found some nice info graphics examples and so I wanted to repost them to jog my memory when I come to the premier league report brief. I already have an idea in my head of how I want it to look and this is the closest thing to that idea.

This facts and figures publication is printed on a cheap basic coloured stock and this is the kind of look I want to go with my report as it will be a free publication for fans, sponsors and footballing authorities.

*Spotlight* Idealismo

Idealismo is another agency I found via Aisleone who are inspired by typography and layout coupled with some simplistic yet impactful branding, they have a good portfolio at the end of it.

Kicking off with this lovely example of branding for A2 home design. They incorporated a new identity with a theme that runs along the stationery and is cleverly used with imagery too.

The reverse side of the paper is also printed with a distressed texture which could be linked to the planning process of A2's work.

*Spotlight* Toko.

Toko, formerly based in Rotterdam, Holland and since 2008 permanently operating out of Sydney, Australia, are a multidiscplinary design agency.

I picked up this link from Aisleone which is a great resource for inspiration involving type and grid. Toko tend to work with type and layout for the majority of the work and they also have some nice examples of corporate identity and exhibiton artwork.

The first example pictured here is a poster designed as part of the lyrics & type poster series, where designers, illustrators and typographers are invited to design posters featuring the lyrics of established artists.

This design is representative of the multilayered sounds together with the lyrics which are threaded through the sound.


I have also included this work for Code Magazine which is dedicated to documenting style. Toko designed the whole design style for the magazine and has the Code as a long standing client.

All the spreads incorporate this torn effect which links to the content of the magazine. They do not report on the latest fashion, they dig deeper into the origins of fashion and I feel the torn effect really works well with those values.

Another Brief

I got in touch with Richard from Creative Squeeze and he agreed to give me a live brief to work on for the York Late Music Concerts. He wants to see the results and I hope that I can really impress with this one.

BRIEF TITLE
The Late Music Series

The Brief
Design the identity and create promotional material for the Late Music Series which take place at the Unitarian Chapel, York.

Background
These concerts are the first weekend of each month. All are new music from living composers and include piano, vocal arrangements, string and wind instruments. Some of the performers include Ian Pace < http://www.ianpace.com >, Juice Vocal Trio < http://www.myspace.com/juicevocalensemble > and Steve Crowther < http://www.latemusicfestival.org.uk/publishing/composer.php?id=2 >. All are cutting edge music composers or performers.

Late Music concert series also sells CDs, sheet music and tickets via its website www.latemusic.org

Concept/Proposition
To produce an engaging and colourful image that encompasses the spirit and ambience associated with the music series.

Considerations
How can you capture the essence of the concerts and get the local public interested?

Can you use design to attract an audience unfamiliar with these concerts?
A New logo and corporate identity to establish a cutting edge new music brand.

Mandatory Requirements
Business cards and letterheads must also be designed to promote the brand.

Concert series brochure (probably A5 or DL) to give information about the concerts, composers and performers.

Promotional posters (A3)

Promotional cards - to back up the brochure and be distributed locally in the immediate run-up to each concert.

Target Audience
Avid fans of experimental music and classical performances. Mature in age and taste

Deliverables
All artwork should be presented on A2 mount boards.

Tone of Voice
Friendly, engaging, fresh, yet professional.

Design Strategies Presentation

I feel more organised but I'm annoyed about the lack of activity over the summer. I have kept busy as much as posible with my own stuff because of the lack of industry options I have had. I guess the industry isn't ready for Adam yet.

The presentation is nearly done, but I still need to find briefs and put some work into my, what will be, amazing portfolio.

Brief Selection

Exciting times ahead in the third year, as I get to choose and what I want to do with them is upto me too. The responsibility has shifted and now I have to manage each project which means I have to pick up on things I want to do, things I can do and in a time that suits both myself and the module criteria.

I have been looking on the internet for briefs that interest but I also want to write my own ideas for briefs that aren't available. I have selected briefs from D&AD and YCN as starting points into finding the right briefs with regards to content, rather than the timeframes and specifics, which I have to be aware off but its not of a major concern just yet.

So far I have picked out 4 briefs which have drawn up rough ideas from, as I know I can manipulate these briefs to focus them down, broaden them or adapt them to accommodate my investigation.

Out of these I would prefer to look at book cover designs with a view towards typography and layout.

Open publication - Free publishing

Open publication - Free publishing

Open publication - Free publishing

Open publication - Free publishing