White/Shadow posters

Shadow version

Plain White version 

I'm going to spend the next few days working on the issues discussed this morning and show John the new designs on Thursday.

Review

I showed my new poster designs to John and the group today. I was quite happy with how the posters were looking after making the changes suggested last time. However I got some constructive criticism so I'm going to work on some of the concerns raised.

The main issue seemed to be the background colour. Some members of the group thought that the black was killing the red and the character was getting lost. They all got the concepts of the posters and understood the issues I was highlighting. The suggestions made by the group were to try the background in white, which may allow the image to breath more and not kill the red colour of the "i".

John also suggested I try a drop shadow under the character to lift it and help make it jump off the page more. I am disappointed as I thought the posters were working well. However this is what happens in the world of work so I'm going to make the changes highlighted and hopefully they will improve the pieces.

T-shirts, papers, buses

Finished posters

I'll show John and the group my new finished designs on Monday.

Review from John

Not working

I'm not happy with this piece it's a bit boring and needs to be push further. Perhaps if it was placed at an angle and bleed off the page it would become more visual interesting.

I emailed John the new versions of the soldier posters last night and he emailed me back some suggestions. I had placed a small line of text within the design to the far right (highlighting the title theme) and he thought it was working better this way, however he suggested removing one of the characters to break the pattern and draw attention to the text.

Suggestions

John also suggested that I try some more designs like this.

Feedback

I liked the idea of the pac man poster I had designed however the text just wasn't working. I then found this Economist poster in the Creative Review and the way they had staggered their text gave me an idea. I could use this idea in a similar way, the text could spill out over the mouth like the head is trying to eat it. I think it could be more visually interesting this way.

New soldier posters

I think is a more subtle may of this title visual. I need what John asked and made the text quite small so the viewer really has to get up close and study the poster but it also has visual impact from a distance. I'll show John tomorrow and see what he thinks.

I went into Uni today and showed this new design to some of my class mates and they told me not to use it. They got the concept and thought process however they thought it would offend and rub people up the wrong way. It needs to me done in a more subtler fashion. Perhaps with a repeat pattern of the "i" logo in a row so they look like soldiers marching.   

Not working

Both these designs aren't working, (left) there is far too much text and it overwhelms the page and the black box doesn't sit well. (Right) it doesn't look like the nazi banner I think it needs the nazi symbol.

Another Idea

Another idea I had for my poster designs was based on the rise of the far right of Europe and how Nazi ideas are creeping back. I may be able to use old style Nazi design to highlight this story.

New ideas

John and the group liked these ideas better. They said it was working more successfully without the 3D element which I agree with. However he still wants me to push it further and take more risks with it. The text may still be a little too large.

John wants me to try the text smaller. I think the elongated version has more impact and there is still enough negative space. I prefer the version on the right, both sides are solid as you have the "i" to the left and the text alined right with rag left.

Class Review

I showed John and the group my 3D poster ideas and got some useful feedback. John was concerned that people wouldn't get some of the concepts and he wasn't sure the 3D element was adding to the design. He thinks it's too complicated and needs to be simpler. I told him I would try some new ideas on the posters to see if it helps with the concepts of some of the headlines.


PLAN

• Go back and look at Economist/guardian designs
• Apply their style on my posters
• Try different coloured backgrounds
• Rearrange text hierarchy in different areas

Changes

New posters

I think the black background is working better, and the red line stands out nicely on the black background. The red is too loud and I don't like the black box around the "i" logo at the bottom. 

Review

What I found

When I went to the library yesterday I found these poster designs in the Creative Review magazine. The main colours they use are red and black like the "i" logo designs I have been using. I like that their designs uses simple lines and that they place the objects within in different angles bleeding off the page. I'll work up some drawings and apply these ideas to my work.

Class with John

I talked with John this morning about my poster designs. He wasn't sure that some of my ideas were coming across in my designs. He also didn't think the 3D was adding anything to the place, and a more simplistic approach would work better. He thought it may also be interesting to have parts of the "i" character bleeding of the side of the page, and perhaps tilted at different angles. These were useful points so I'm going back to the library for the rest of the day to look though magazines and the web for more visually interesting poster designs in the guardian and Economist that could work for this project.

This is the first draft of my posters, theres still quite a lot of work to do to my but hopefully I should get some constructive criticism in class tomorrow. I have tried them in both black and white  to see which works best. I think I like the black version better, it seems to through out the red "i" more.

I want to have some finished designs to show John on Thursday so I'm going to work on photoshop/illustrator today and tomorrow to try and get  a bit of an idea of how the finished posters could look.

3D designs

I will now use these charters to create posters highlighting different areas in the newspaper.

Plan

I'm going to work on the 3D designs on the Mac for the rest of the day. I may be tricky enough as I will need to add different light tones and angles.

More ideas

Poster layout

From looking at how to use emotions in characters I have applied some of the angle techniques to the 3D designs to see if it adds more personality to the characters. I showed the class these designs today and they like the ideas, John wants me to develop some of the ideas further and work them up on the mac so thats what I'll do today.

The Economist

I also found some Economist designs in Creative Review. The red background they use reminded me of the signature red of the "i" logo. They tend to use a lot of text in their designs which could be interesting to play with.

The Guardian

I've been looking at the Guardian Newspaper as there advertising is very clean and clear. They use a plain background to highlight the use of colour in the main frame which makes it more visually interesting for us. I also want to look at their use of hierarchy.

Creative Review

I also went to the library and looked though the magazines. In Creative Review I found some more guardian posters. Some of the shapes reminded me of the "i" logo and I could maybe use similar ideas in my designs.

Hand drawn effect

I've tried drawing over the top of the 3D logo, however I don't think it's working. It's a little to messy and not immediately clear, so for that reason I will not be using this idea.

3D advert idea

I have tried to make the crowd more dulled down like the current advert. It's important to show a range of students from different cultural backgrounds. That way people will see that the "i" is for everyone and has something to interest a wide range of people.

TV advert idea

Now I have a 3D logo I need to see how it could work in a TV advert. So I think I'll work on that for the rest of the day.

3D colour tones

Work on Mac

I'm going to try and create a 3D version of the "i" logo on photoshop tonight and work on the different levels of tone. I'll post it tomorrow.

3D designs

I was thinking I could create 3D characters for different sections of the paper. For example for film you could have the "All seeing eye," from The Lord of the Rings, and for a comic special the dot could be batmans head.

3D idea