Creative Report - Poster Pages - Initial Designs

These initial designs demonstrate what the creative report could look like; all the pages individually act as their own posters/compositions and these single pages could be collated in a ring bound document. The individual posters work quite nicely as individual compositions however the concern would be that once compiled into a publication, it wouldn’t have the right sense of composition and continuity. By making the designs more similar and adding in that idea of continuity between them, they would lose that idea of all being separate posters. 

The question now is, how else can a publication have that poster theme? One option would be to do a poster zine with all the information in a booklet, which folds out into a larger poster. The bigger poster could maybe be a composition I have made in response to what I’ve learned from the creative report. It could even be a quote from the creative report which I especially like.

Creative Report - Initial Ideas for the Design and Production

I am very happy that I got 3 responses from designers, it will mean I can have a fair amount of content within my report. Now I need to think about how I am going to design and produce my report. I think with this theme of poster design, I should definitely produce the report either referencing posters or as a poster. One idea could be to kind of design each page as a poster, print them all as single sheets as opposed to folding pages and then bind them in a way that it’s clear they are single pages, Maybe ring bound? In terms of research that I will carry out to inform my report, the majority of it will be informed by the designers in my report. 

Creative Report Response 3

Ben Arfur

1. I wouldn't have thought so. As an output its the most effective method of communication thus always will be a requirement. In practice and age moves more toward digital displays etc. there's a fear that print could lose its value. But that said, there's enough designers fighting that corner.

2. Definitely. For me, its about visually mapping what you hear. I've been into this since a kid but it was about finding my outlet and how I'd get from A-B. Graphic design was never really on my radar.

3.  I was massively into old cartoons, so much so I wanted to be an animator but didn't really have the patience. It was going against the grain that got me into it. I never really bothered with grid systems, I always saw that for artworkers. I have a background with art so my work always tends to toe the line. It's more getting someone to look at it and be like, 'fuck, that's nice' rather than .... is playing at ....

4. I'll have an idea, and then bank it. When a project comes up, I'll throw it in - if it doesn't work it'll just be a process of trial and error until something sticks. It can be frustrating but in these moments you can find genius if you persevere; kinda like a conscious stream.

5. Err, tricky. Its a very saturated industry at the moment, I don't really know where its heading or how long these trends will keep up. I'd definitely say its beneficial as it'll distinguish you, but I don't think it's essential. My best advice would be don't pigeon hole yourself into a single workflow. Explore design and utilise all aspects of it - its kinda like keeping a foot ahead of the game if that makes sense?

Creative Report Response 2

Kara Zichittella - Zeitype

1. 

I don’t think the digital age is getting rid of the poster, but instead they are operating in parallel. There is something significant about viewing a poster hanging in its original, local context as opposed to viewing a digital version on Pinterest for example, where it is in a completely different context and maybe placed next to a series of other posters. In many cases, there is a print version and an online version, but the way we experience them is not the same. I have also seen some interesting approaches to poster design involving augmented reality, responsive type, animation, etc. so it is exciting to see how new technology and traditional formats will inform each other. 

2. 

Part of my initial process is to make sure the concept clearly communicates in black and white. If it doesn’t work in black and white, how is it going to work in color? Color is an element that has a very specific meaning, and will always have a different connotation with each viewer. With that in mind, I only apply color when the concept calls for it. 

When it comes to my own explorations in type design, it makes sense to showcase type in black and white in order to focus on the characteristics of the typeface. 

3. 

After graduation, it was my intention to work mainly on the type of projects I felt were inline with my beliefs and interests as a designer. I wanted to focus on working within the cultural field, and living in Berlin naturally led to collaborations with musicians, record labels and music events. These type of projects are exciting because they are often a platform for print design. For example, I enjoy designing record sleeves, not only for the challenge of visualizing the music, but also because the result is a physical object, a future artifact that links image and sound.

4.

Of course, the way you work is going to be influenced by the context you work in. One thing that changed the way I work was the decision to find a studio space. As a freelancer, it’s very important for me to separate work from home. 

In terms of location, I think I will always live in a city where I can be immersed in culture and have access to museums, exhibitions, bookstores etc. I’ve met a lot of talented creatives in Berlin, it’s very inspiring and the competition pushes me to continue producing work. 

5.

The aim shouldn’t be to develop a style, but rather a point of view. I think it’s important to have a specific approach or underlying ideology that dives deeper than just a visual layer. 

Creative Report Response 1

Martyn Woolley - Senior Graphic Designer at Rabbit Hole

1. 

I think the term ‘Poster Design’ is a funny one. What actually is the purpose of the product that is being designed. Personally I think a lot of the time posters are designed and exhibited as a form of expression as apposed to communicating a message. We see a lot of it on the internet and in books specifically aimed at the design community rather than the ‘real world’. Ultimately I think the point i’m trying to make is that I don’t really see a huge future for posters that are designed to communicate a message I think it will mostly become digital screens and mobile based but I do see a huge future for designers to be able to express themselves freely using poster design as a medium to do so. 

2.

Understanding digital and web design is fundamental in a modern designers practice. It’s not essential that the craft of it needs to be honed in straight away but an understanding of how UX and UI works, understanding flexible content and designing a system that allows for multiple iterations. My take it that web design is all about designing modular components that fit together in harmony as apposed to designing a layout that is static as you would with a book or print job. 

3. 

Double edge sword. The pro’s are that you can be really creative when designing for this industry and get away with things that you couldn’t in a more conservative area of design. You can push things like legibility and message so that they are more (subjectively) atheistical pleasing. The cons is that you are most of the time working with an artist themselves who at times can have an idea that they don’t want to budge from that you may think sucks. But as with ll jobs you have to make the most of it and make it one—do it’s job and two—look brilliant. 

4. 

Simple. Keep it simple. One simple idea can be grown in to many others. A more outlandish idea can not always be rained back. For example… if your main idea is a 45 degree line for a logo mark, this can then be rolled out as a pattern say for presentation backgrounds, a visual tool to break up text and an image, a baseline grid to set text out in a brochure etc etc the list can be endless. 

5. 

It completely depends on what you want as a designer. Some people want to be recognised for the person who uses typography in certain ways (Very stylistic — David Carson) Some people want to be known or believe in using only whats necessary to convey a message (Stylistic — Massimo Vignelli) and some people want to be know for nailing the brief and making the product or service better the for end user (David Bailey). 

I think the key is exhausting everything till to get both. Something can look great but not work and something can look crap but work. What you want to achieve is something that looks great and works.