Christmas Idents

These have been going for a few years now, always thought they were beautiful. It's nice to have a better understanding of how these might have been achieved after the After Effects sessions from previous weeks. There's a touch of Tim Burton to this one! (BBC TWO)



Another selection of idents recognised from previous years. These are 2 - 3 second long 'break bumpers' used between adverts, same purpose as a regular ident, just shorter. (ITV 1)

Mind.tv Ident

MiND ID: Folding Paper - Early Version from Kristy Graybill on Vimeo.

Spin on this.

London based design agency Spin, has given a new injection of life into this project, which for me seems to have died before it began! My chosen word 'FOLD' has a lot of potential with regard to motion graphics, more so than the other words I had to begin with. These lovely editorial pieces showcase some of the work Spin has produced, but also give a lovely insight into the way paper folds.

This alone has inspired me to take a new direction with the current project, however, I also took a look at their showreel (which you can find at the link above) and found this folding logo piece for DMAX.

This is exactly what I had in mind initially for my project, and gives me something to aim for in tomorrow's After Effects tutorial.

Lithographic Printer near Majestic, Bangalore.

What is good? Pt. 2 PRINT PROCESS

A rather bizarre product in my opinion, but a inspiring piece of print by Form and Logic

Now imagine the yellow is florescent, and you'll have an idea of what I want to achieve in my own design regarding this brief. I was also considering either a grey (black tint) or a silver. The difference in effort and cost between these two choices is pretty dramatic, however this in my dream project, and if I want silver, I'm having silver!

What is good? pt. 2 VIRAL MARKETING

RESEARCH.
Yes indeedy. If I'm going to produce an identity for an activist, viral campaign, then I really need to start looking identity, advertising, viral marketing, the lot.
I've been really struggling to get research for this project, especially of the positive variety, and I think the reason for this was my lack of context. Now this has been identified I'm good to go research mad, and that I must, as advertising isn't exactly my area of expertise.




VIRAL MARKETING
A few things I found that caught my attention that are a bit out of the ordinary. 

Threshers 40% Off Voucher

In 2006, shortly before Christmas, Threshers leaked a voucher worth 40% off wine and champagne via the internet. Apparently the voucher was only intended for suppliers and the belief that Threshers had mistakenly released the voucher made it spread faster and faster around the world via email, social networks and blogs.

Threshers pretended to be worried about losing money on the promotion but no doubt ended up making a huge profit and getting publicity in a month than they got for the whole year.

“It was never intended to get this big,” a company spokesperson said.

The company admits it is slightly concerned about the popularity of the offer.

“We are waiting with bated breath… Early next week, we should get the figures for what level of business we have seen this week and over the weekend,” the spokesperson added.

“This is a better offer than normal and it could end up hitting our profit margins.”

Hotmail

In todays era of social networking it’s easy to think how quickly the likes of Facebook and Myspace grew but the real viral marketing pioneer was Hotmail.
In December 1996 Hotmail had 500,000 registered users – less than a year later they had over 12,000,000 users. This astonishing growth rate was down to the fact that every single email sent from Hotmail included a small advert promoting the service in the footer.

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Bloc Party Start Mystery Countdown On Their Website

Are the releasing new material?..

• by Daniel Melia
• Sunday, July 06, 2008
• filed in: Indie

• More Bloc Party

Bloc Party have surprised fans by removing their website and replacing it with a countdown.

The counter began at 11am this morning (July 6) and is due to finish at 11am tomorrow morning (July 7).

It is not known yet what the countdown will unveil but fans are speculating about a new website or maybe even new material.

The band have been working on their third album with Jacknife Lee and Paul Epworth.

Could they be about to do a Radiohead?

(Radiohead pulled a similar stunt previously)

Vampire Weekend launch mystery 'Contra' internet countdown

Countdown set to reach zero tonight (October 5)

• October 5, 2009 | 2 Comments
• Vampire Weekend news RSS feed
• More Vampire Weekend news, reviews, videos and tour dates
• Post this on Twitter or Follow NMEVampire Weekend have launched a mystery online countdown set to reach zero at 7:30pm (BST) tonight (October 5).

The countdown can be viewed atIthinkuracontra.com. The website address reflects a song, 'I Think Ur A Contra', set for their forthcoming second album, 'Contra'.

The album is set for release on January 11 next year.

Vampire Weekend revealed the artwork and tracklisting of 'Contra' and its cover art last month.

No official clues about what the countdown might lead to have been released.

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What is good? pt. 2 NEW CONTEXT

I'll just briefly go over the results of yesterday's mega intense crit before I start on some of the research I've collected, as well as a quick summary of the project I'm going for if anyone doesn't already know.

I reached a stalemate with this brief a week or so ago now, not a lot was going on, and though I could see a final resolution, there way something stopping me from moving on with it. The answer to my problem lay with the lovely William, and at about 1am the night before the crit, he announced that is was because I didn't have a proper context to put my product in. Hurrah! Of course I didn't, how very silly of me. 

So with a fellow designer to bounce ideas off, we set about defining a context.

Here's what we came up with...

RANTING IS GOOD BECAUSE IT CHANGES THINGS.

defined some time last week

TARGET AUDIENCE.

people who are angry, exasperated, upset and need a platform to voice this, therefore bringing about change.

HOW.

• Branding for activist campaign.
• Viral advertising for an event .
• Event takes place, delivered by campaign volunteer.
• Post-event, the the product is distributed amongst the audience.
• The cycle repeats.

PRODUCT.

A package containing everything you need to make your voice heard, plus advice on how to virally advertise your cause.

• MEGAPHONE
• BLANK POSTERS
• STICKERS
• PAINT BRUSH + PASTE

I will also come up with a brand/identity for the organisation.

CONSIDERATIONS.

This is a print module after all...

• Environmental aspects.
• Print processes and finishes - what is relevant to my message?
• Advertising techniques.
• Packaging.

What is Good? pt. 2 BRAND IDEAS

The second half of the brief is to produce a range of different packaging concepts, to house the products developed from our original 'good'. Mine was ranting/moaning, and so far I'm happy with the tidea of packaging a megaphone, to tell the whole world what's on your mind.

The general tone of the piece needs to be light hearted, even sarcastic, but overall it has to be funny, as this is the reason I like to rant in the first place.

A few ideas on how I might achieve this..

Really cheesy and patronising sounds about right?

Another example would be those retro birthday cards you get with Stepford Wife style women on the front exclaiming how they have "child proofed the house but they still get back in"

by Firebrand

What is Packaging?

Just a few examples of what is possible within package design, with regard to print, mixed with a few things that reflect my ideas in other areas of my study...plus a few things are are just cool as.

Rock Vodka.

Don't want to waste money on fancy print processes to get your image directly on the package?

Print a sticker!

An awesome idea to highlight a very important issue.

3 colour, very nice.

Though a pet hate of mine is things that are made to look natural, or eco friendly

and really aren't. I think this is one of those.

I'm not sure if I like this at all, but the label is pretty original.

Advent sausage!

These perfume bottles are lovely, and the packaging is made from wood, a silk lined box for the

owner to keep, and re-use. 

This companies motto is "luxury as a passion for quality rather than pure opulence"

Which I quite like.

Also the wood was collect from disused shipping pallets, which are usually burned or thrown away.

I need some of these!

You don't necessarily need to print on the package either...

Original idea.

What is good? pt. 1

Ranting is good. And I stick by that, even though 90% of google seems to be against me. Yes, there are a lot of bad aspects to moaning and ranting all the time. And yes, maybe sometimes it just doesn't help a situation. But moaning can also be one of the most stress relieving, funny and interesting problem solving activities ever to grace to human species. Here's why.

• moaning identifies problems. 
• Without problems being identified, I don't have a job as a designer.
• Moaning helps us communicate
• It helps us cope with our problems, it gets things off our chests.
• "A problem shared, is a problem halved"
• It helps us relieve the stress and tension of modern living.
• Moaning helps us change things!

And the best thing I can think of to highlight some of these issues, is the 'Grr' advert created by Honda when they released their first diesel engine in 2004.

They also created this game, in which you are a bunny, changing all the things 
that piss you off into happy, smiley flowers and such like.
Play it here. 

Zerofee

Just a design agency I came across that share a similar ethos to mine. Zerofee.


They also had a few things that got me thinking about the print module... Both the 16 page booklet and the 2nd half of the 'What is Good?' brief have been moving pretty slowly for me, so I thought a good trawl on the internet and through some books will kick start my brain again. Lets hope so eh?

I love this, such a beautiful finish from a scabby bit of 

cardboard and some recycled silicone. 

I've included this piece just because it highlights one of the issues I've constantly

thought about, ever since I looked at it briefly during my A levels. 

Have you ever thought about how our clothing can be so cheap?

Yes. Every time I walk into Primark I feel a twinge of guilt.

Also, a nice piece of packaging, and a good example of how high end results can be

achieved with a small a cost to the environment as possible.

Print presentation - Synopsis

The summer's exploits into all things print based happened within the first month of the holidays. I went home, Grimsby, for a few weeks, and during this time went to visit a friend. This friend just so happens to have quit his degree at the same establishment, as he didn't make the graphic design course, which I always find very funny, and take great pleasure in rubbing this fact in his face when he gets too cocky.

That said, he's now running a reasonably successful print workshop back home, where he has access to two vinyl cutters and a top quality A0 (possibly bigger) printer.

He went through the process with me, and I've since learnt that the college has bought one over summer, so I should be able to use that easily, and more importantly, know the limitations of it!

The plastic sheet above is slightly tacky and is placed over the top of the stickers, so when the back is removed the stickers stay stuck to the top sheet.

Then you can stick them to whatever you like, and remove the top sheet afterwards.

Viola! 

My friend sells these things for about £10 each, for not even 5 minutes work, that's quite good!

I progressed from this quickly, and began to think about what I would like to get out of this print module. Ever since last year's sustainability elective I have been finding little things that keep calling me back to it. This is one of them. I don't want to go into too much detail just yet, as I think to specialise in one area of print, like anything else, you must first have a broader knowledge of the whole thing. If I start preaching sustainability in my work, I need to be able to hold an argument with those who disagree, and that involves knowing their point of view as well. Anyway, I would like to reach a point where I can achieve astounding effects, with less cost, and less of an environmental impact. There is a lot to learn.

I presented to the group (or at least tried to, I had some pretty horrific technical difficulties) a few examples of what I thought were amazing pieces of environmentally sound print. 

This one is by far the best, by a collaboration called  Thomas.Matthews  

At first it might not seem like much, a nice piece of type layout, which is what I first dismissed it as.

However when I actually read through the statement on the right, I realised it was a really clever way of recycling paper, without even going through the recycling process! They have literally printed white over the top of an existing magazine print. Amazing. This is one of those "Why didn't I think of that?!" moments, but I do hope I can maybe use this process in the future, the possibilities are seemingly endless.