FONTS....Robert Brownjohn

What kind of font do I want on my Logo design for the Alight brand? I want it to be clear and easy to read as well as being diverse as I want it to relate to each of the 3 separate events throughout the day. It must have a professional edge to the typography because this is an organised event which is not only representing Sheffield but also the entire county of Yorkshire. I initially started looking at a plain and simplistic font to have a control on the logo, I looking various books at the library including 'Watching words move' by Ivan Chermayeff and Tom Geismar. I came across the work of Robert Brownjohn and instantly thought it was amazing.

Here are afew examples of Robert Brownjohn's work from the 1960's, his simplistic take on typography was unusual for his time so it definitely stood out and made an impact on design. I personally think his work today is still amazing to look at. Its unique and thats probably what I find memorable about it.

The letters of the word physically represent the meaning of the words, for example above the word 'dead'  is showing the last letter to actually be lay down as if it were dead. Clever, simple, and I love it!

These two above are showing how the exactly same words that we use in everyday life can be dramatically changed by technically doing what the word says. On the word adding, letters have been added. On subtracted, letters are missing, on multiplied the beginning of the word has been written out twice. And finally divided the word has been split in to sections. Its actually crazy how nobody had thought of this before him.

'The Speaker Orchestra'

I stumbled upon this video on youtube and I think its captured the movement of sound amazingly. The heavy beat from the speaker forces the paint into the air. Its almost as if the paint is dancing to the beat of the music. I thought this was so appropriate for my current project on the music dance and visual art festival 'alight'.

 

RESEARCH...Secondary Images

From finding those posters I then wanted research further into capturing the movement of light photographically. Below is a photo taken by Aidan Stonehouse, I think it looks amazing and your eye automatically follows the trail of light. 

When you see images such as these, this is what springs to mind:

• Movement
• Dance
• Flowing
• Rhythm
• Journeys

Here are some more secondary images which have captured the movement of light.

Movement and Light Promotional Posters

I came across these collection of posters when was researching light and movement. I was straight away drawn to these images because of the striking colours and patterns created in the light. I love the way the movement of the figures have been captured in the light, simply using a blurring effect. I think this has inspired me to look into capturing the movement of light, this will show the concept of the dance and music festival 'alight'. 

More designs

I started to look at incorporating musical notes into my logo designs. I wanted to use a similar back ground to my first ideas, but still develop the idea.

I can use bright colours to my it eye catching to the public. I know above I haven't looked at using the letters yet to spell out alight, but I'm was think of how I can use the music not to spell out 'alight'.

I can up with this (below) where the letter 'A' is the stem of the note. You can see the pencil lines on my sketch to where the letters would be placed on the logo.

Researching Musical logos

I also wanted to look at how Music could be incorporated in to the branding and logo. I have been researching how other companies and bands have done this previously, some I think are successful where others are definitely not.

I think this have worked using the cable to bring the logo together. Its clearly a live performance and by using the 'live wire' this visually represents the brand.

Here this 'one man band' has used manuscript as well as several musical instruments. I think this works well but is it a bit too predictable? I want my design to be MEMORABLE and not predictable.

To me this a very unsuccessful logo, it may include a musical note however its plain, and quite boring to look at. The colours are simplistic and they don't make the logo any more interesting. From looking at these few examples I'm going to start exploring ways I can incorporate musical notes or instruments.

My Photography

I wanted explore capturing the movement of dance but in the form of light. I began by looking at light and how through movement and dance the light can be distorted and blurred. I have only selected a few of my favourite images otherwise we'd be here all day looking at them.

What I love about these is the merging of colours, and from these images you get an idea of the music that they represent. This is obviously a 'club scene'. I captured this images in a dark room and only used glow sticks as a source of light. I asked a few of my friends to use the glow stick to create movement and  whilst I captured the images.

Second Structural Session

After going home and coming up with as many ides as I could (until my head hurt) in our second session this is where as a group we could go through all of our work. This session definitely helped me with my ideas as i found what i really need to focus on is 'what is the message'. This is so important as I don't want to stray from the brief. I found talking not only to Glyn, my tutor, but also my peers very helpful as from there views I'm able to improve upon and develop my ideas.

More Ideas!

From my first ideas I have now worked upon this and looked at using a stencil to allow light to shine through the cut outs. I have simply removed the lettering to spell out 'ALIGHT' and here are some images of this stencil.

By shinning a torch behind the card it has let through traces of the light. I do quite like this effect, and I want to incorporate using light into my ideas. I'm going to think about how light can capture movement, dance and music. I want to also explore the 3 separate events within the entire day:
Alight - Daytime
Alight - Twilight
Alight - Into the Night

RESEARCH: Dance and music festivals

I have began by looking at already existing music/dance festival logos and branding. These events around the world are of similar nature to Alight. Here is what i found below.

MUSIC FESTIVALS

The Creamfields logo is a plane font on a bold and vibrant background. Not only does it have the typography element but there is a unique symbol which is recognised globally as the cream sign. Some photography can subtly be seen in the background, showing the enjoyment of the event. The colours are gradually merging into one another, and they are bright representing the summer vibes and the upbeat music.

Again the Global Gathering branding contains to separate logos, which can be put together. However they both work just as well individually. The type is simplistic and easy to read. There is only 3 or 4 main colours used here, so its not overpowering.

This is a much more simple in the layout as well as the colours. However the simplistic colour scheme represent the type of traditional music played at the festival. Also I like the way the logo has included a music note which also is the letter J, this automatically shows that it's a music festival. Also in my opinion I think this note could also be seen as an abstract figure dancing to the music. I want to experiment ways of getting this across in my own work.





DANCE FESTIVAL

This logo is bold and very eye catching. It has included images in the background of the t, however it hasn't distracted the important information, the name of the festival.

This logo is very simple but the image of the figure represents the style of dance that is happening at the event. The type is very simple also, i think its rather predicable which i definitely want to stay clear of my designing my logo.

When representing different styles of dance and music the logo is there to show this through the design and layout. Here the salsa festival is made up of fun summer colours as it originates from a hot country. The style of font is not that easy read at a glance.





From analysing these music and dance festival logos it has given clearer vision of what i must do to make my logo successful for the Alight Festival. For my design to be effective I must:

• make sure the design is bold
• have a memorable design that must also be unique
• communicate visually
• the logo should reflect the theme of the festival - all music genres and dance styles, from a number of culture and countries.

Initial ALIGHT Branding Ideas

At the beginning of my thought process I wanted the logo to be bold and eye catching. I knew that the festival was a celebration of music, dance and visual arts and my aim was to capture this in my logo designs. I firstly began looking at a simple colour scheme of just black, grey and white.

I have used oil pastels to get this 'explosion' effect in the background of the piece and then cut out the text to be stuck on top. This was a good starting point for me, however I will develop upon these initial ideas until I feel I have completed the brief to the best of my ability.
From this I want to think about ways of incorporating the theme of music and dance in to my logo. I will think about colours and patterns for my development pieces.

First Structural Meeting

In the meeting with Glyn it was straight after the 'meet the client' session. I found that the whole group thought that when meeting the client it was very negative and the guidelines were vague. However in our structural group session I felt more confident with the project as a whole. Rather than focusing on one particular aspect of the brief, we firstly were told to get ALL of our ideas down for each section of the brief. This helped me to see the link with each section.

• Branding
• Print
• Artefact
• Street Art
• Projections

PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE BRIEF

So at the end of last week we received our newest brief, which is a live brief. At first this was quite daunting to hear but after the 'meet the client' session today I'm really excited at where I can go with this project. In todays session we were told the constrictions of the actually project, which is mainly down to funding and the expense of production. I suppose this is exactly what happens in the 'real world'.

ALIGHT based in sheffield, is one of 15 major music projects created for this national event. However  it is the only one in the Yorkshire area, so its representing the county. The event is a celebration of

• Dance
• Music
• Visual Arts

The Alight project will take place over 3 segments on Saturday 3rd March 2012. Those 3 segments are:

• Alight: Daylight
• Alight: Twilight
• Alight: Into the Night

Here's a link to the events website where all of the event information can be found.
http://www.alightmusicnation.co.uk/

MY ACTION PLAN

So after completing my brief for this project, I've reflected upon the entire process and I will now put together and action plan. Within the action plan I will clearly outline how I can enhance and develop my skills and knowledge in the future. My objectives will be SMART:

Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Realistic
Time constrained

Structural Design Skills I will continues to develop and improve my skills, where I become more confident in using the equipment. I will continue to attend all of my tutorial sessions led by my specialist tutor, and within these sessions I'll ask questions to improve my understanding on my specialism. Also I will continue to look at books and research designers relating to my area, this will allow me to admire the work of other successful designers for inspiration. I will be able to use the feedback from my tutor to see which areas they believe I need to improve and I can take this onboard from my next brief.


Listen To Feedback At all my assessments and tutorials, I must listen and act upon all of my feedback that is given to me. This will help e further identify my strengths and also my weaknesses within my specialism. I can then work on my areas of weakness by paying greater attention to them. I will continually be working upon these areas over the next two years of university, and hopefully they wont be my weaknesses anymore.

Work Experience I believe it is important that I begin to look into work experience while I'm studying my degree. This way I will have experience in a professional working environment in my chosen area. I will then be able to say I've worked in the real industry which is totally different to the university environment. Ideally I will complete my work experience during the summer 2012.

Software Skills For me to blossom in structural design I must improve my software skills so that I know my was confidently around the main programs. I will be focusing on Adobe Illustrator and Coral Draw. From improving these skills I can then input my digitally draw work and use the laser cutting machines to cut out any patters/designs or typography. I have previously been looking at tutorials on the Adobe website and also on Youtube. My improvements to these and other programs will be an ongoing process throughout my time at university and further on in my career.

Architecture..FORM and SHAPE

The architect of the Sydney Opera House is Jorn Utzon. In my opinion its a masterpiece. BUT what I'm interested in is what inspired his work to produce these shape and form, which are know throughout the world as the sydney opera house. In fact its an expressionist design, of a series of large precast concrete "shells". According to sources the shell like exterior is suppose to represent the sails of the tall sailing ship that brought so many modern anglo residents to the country. 

Sydney Opera House

From developing the form of my new bottle design I recently had a few models lined up in front of me and I mad a link with the Sydney Opera House. Strangely I think the shape of this building is very similar to aspects of the new bottle. Here are some secondary images of this architectural piece I found on the internet. I think these show off the curve of the building beautifully.