Logo analysis

As soon as I found we had to do logo analysis in this weeks directed study I knew straight away I wanted to do less popular logos. Using a few fantastic websites I discovered these 3 logos!

 

1) DODO Grill Restaurant

Personally, I love this logo as it combines clever typography with simple imaging and shape/form to create a clever and eye catching logo. By adjusting the kerching and using a sans serif font all the letters are combined together to look like kebab – something you commonly associate with barbecue/grill – but at the same time it is legible and you can clearly read ‘dodo’. Additionally, the simple sans serif font below contrasts and compliments the almost bubbled font to make a slick logo.  Furthermore the simple colour scheme makes the font stand out but also make the logo look professional and give a relaxed tone.

 

2) Reel Farm

This is another logo I quite like because the imaging and the shape/form is highly clever. When your asked to visualise “reel” and “farm”, I personally at least think of film reels and tractors, so the clever imaging really works. Also the black and white colour palette alongside the grainy texture is representative of old films which ties in with the reel imagery and the business. I do like the sans serif font, but for some reason I think it could be better but it is still quite effective as a logo.

 

3) The crispy squid.

This is possible one of the cutest logos I think I’ve ever seen. The playful and cartoony squid with the brilliant moustache gives of a playful, friendly, informal and relaxed vibe which compliments the restaurant. This is intensified through the typography used. The cute and cartoon like sans serif font in both green and white contrast against their black background, tie in with the theme and also stand out.

 

Week 4

Last week in our lecture we had a mini field trip to central Birmingham to explore visual design in the city and how it contrasts in different areas and also how it has changed over time. Below I have included 6 examples of visual design I found in Birmingham, and below that an example of  what someone else found, and my thoughts on that.

To see all the photos check out my flickr here

1) Shaws passage

This arrangement of signs was found merely a 5 minute walk away from the busy city centre and the bullring. Already within a 5 minute radius you can see a contrast between the modern, sheik architecture and signs to the some what industrial and basic scene you see here. To me, I think the wall acts as a practical basis rather than a creative one where businesses can advertise there locality and trade. The advertisements put here aren’t very visually appealing as they use very basic sans serif fonts and simplistic colour palettes. Personally I wouldn’t be drawn in by any of these advertisements but I think that this perhaps is just an advertising space.

Here you can also see a very basic directional sign towards Digbeth and the Bull Ring. The sign, quite like the advertisements is used for a practical reason rather than a creative one. The sign is simply a way of guiding someone so the sans serif font makes the sign very easy to read and the white and black colour scheme is clear and readable. However, I think it is important to contrast this sign to some of the other signs around Birmingham (which will be in another post)

Finally I think it is important to comment on the brick wall itself. The dark colour of the brick reads as very industrial and practical but also provides a substantial back drop to all the signs which use pale and bright backgrounds. Additionally, the graffiti highlights how ‘the everyday man’ as it were is becoming creative or even artistic within the street art and graffiti medium. However, because this location is just outside of main tourist Birmingham walls like this not be readily viewed, taken in or noticed so the signs and graffiti reflect that fact.

2) The Bullring

“The ambition of this scheme was great. Our brief was not only to design a state of the art department store but also to create an architectural landmark for Birmingham so that the building itself would become a genuine catalyst for urban regeneration”

After analysing the Selfridges logo, I think it is important to analyize the building itself. The designers of the building in my opinion have certainly accomplished what they set out to do, by creating a iconic landmark that is widely associated with Birmingham. The shape of the building is unique and dramatic, the repetitive detail work adds to the drama and also the building itself reads as highly modern, urban and almost futuristic.

“The fluidity of shape recalls the fall of fabric or the soft lines of a body, rises from the ground and gently billows outwards before being drawn in at a kind of waistline. It then curves out again and over to form the roof, in one continuous movement. The skin is made up of thousands of aluminium discs, creating a fine, lustrous grain like the scales of a snake or the sequins of a Paco Rabanne dress. In sunlight it shimmers, reflecting minute changes in weather conditions and taking on the colours, light and shapes of people and things passing by – an animate and breathing form.”

This building truely reflects the moderisation of 21st centuary Birmingham and highlights the creative future of Birmingham. The building breaks the conventions of the typical straight edge architecture around Birmingham and provides a heavy contrast to the churches, markets and shops that surround it.

3) Public transport – van

This photo is of a van I found when walking around the creative hub of Birmingham – Digbeth. The image shown on the van is reminiscent rather than modern and stands out due to it’s strong black and white contrast. However, although I love the way the designer is using visual design on public transport and in new ways I don’t know why it’s there. Is it for a photography business? or is it just to make a statement? Although the meaning behind the design isn’t very clear the van is striking, dramatic and amazing!

4) UB40 recording studio

“DEP International Studios was a recording studio situated in Digbeth, Birmingham, UK. Designed by Recording Architecture, the studio is owned by dub music band UB40 Situated in Birmingham’s Eastside area, the DEP buildings were demolished in March 2008 to allow for the improvement of the area.”

I think that this building is very important in representing visual design in Birmingham. I see Birmingham as being extremely diverse, creative and ever changing. To me, this building signifies a definite creative movement within Birmingham both in music and art/visual design. The choice of the black walls makes the graffiti extremely striking and stand out and also acts as a way to combine all the bright colours cohesively.

The building portrays a place that is highly creative and diverse however, If I had not researched this building i wouldn’t of known that this is actually a recording studio, but I love it all the same!

5) Selfridges

Contrasting to some of my images captured outside the city centre, this piece of visual design is very central to Birmingham and one of the infamous logos associated with the Birmingham shopping scene. The bright yellow colour scheme contrasts brightly against the grey pavements and roads and also the silver Selfridges building. Additionally, by using continual capital letters and a strong sans serif font, the logo contrasts strongly against the Selfridges building. The building is constructed with a dark blue background and repeated silver circles, and the bright yellow, very straight text contrasts both stylistically but also with the colour scheme.

“The Birmingham store, designed by architects Future Systems, is covered in 15,000 spun aluminium  discs on a background of Yves Klein Blue. Since it opened in 2003, the Birmingham store has been named every year by industry magazine Retail Week as one of the 100 stores to visit in the world”

To accompany the bright yellow font and to make the writing stand out even more, each individual letter is bordered by yellow neon lights that flash to make it extremely modern and eye catching, and also practically make it stand out at night and draw even more attention to the building, the logo and the brand.

6) Graffiti

This piece of visual design contrasts heavily to any of the other pieces so far. This designer has a true creative license to say or do whatever they want. This is represented through the chosen text of ‘art fag’ which is mirrored through the cigarette graffiti in the background. The designer here has chosen to use contrasting pinks, whites and blue to make the overall aesthetic playful and stand out. The effect of it standing out is further intensified by the strong black backdrop which acts as a strong basis for the piece. By using contrasting shades of pink and blues the piece has developed some depth and texture. Ironically, other people have expressed their creativity upon this designers creative stamp by graffiti-ing on top of this piece. I found this example of graffiti away from the central and modernised city  which highlights the contrasting perspectives and areas with Birmingham. I think the shading is good on the simple sans serif typography but personally I think the cigarette is a lot better than the type. I think this is a good piece of visual design because it is not limited by the creative boundaries that a brand might employ but just shows free creative reign to highlight the designers own personal perspective rather than a perspective that is set to promote or sell something.

OTHER EXAMPLES:

1) Canal studios

see the image here:

I commented:

“I really like this photo! It’s a really unusual but clever way to promote canal studios – perhaps It’s a little bit to obscure to really be noticed or to create an impact. Also the white

background and light really contrasts to the bold, black serif font used.”

Reflecting upon this lecture, I’m intending to post another blog about some of the leaflets I found around Birmingham with analysis and also draw more comparisons through the photos I took on the day.

Birmingham 2

After my last blog about Visual Design in Birmingham I expressed that I thought it would be useful to blog again about the use of design in Birmingham. I though that this would be an appropriate time to do so because I have learnt more about design since then and I think this would help my overall evaluation of what I saw in Birmingham (to see my first post on this subject, click here)

Comparison 1: Birmingham Moor Street and Birmingham New Street.

As part of our trip we looked at two contrasting trains stations within Birmingham to see how design is developing overtime and the connotations of each station. One important thing I noticed within this comparison was how the street signs were used to epitomize the train stations.

It is clear straight away that there is a big difference between the two signs. New street represents a more modern side to Birmingham which is clear through the simple logos employed, manipulation of the Sans Serif font through italics and bold and also the decision to etch the images and text onto a glass square highlights an innovative idea that encapsulates the creative and modern progression of central Birmingham. The Moor Street sign on the other hand represents the more traditional Birmingham,  with the plain white and blue metallic sign that you can see littered all around Birmingham. The sole purpose of this sign is to direct not show creative development in Birmingham or to promote the station, highlighting perhaps the industrial or business mind set of Birmingham. Through these signs a shift in signs, promotion and image in Birmingham is visible which is very interesting when mapping the creative transitions and movements over time.

Visual design analysis 2: Billboard promotions

Billboards have become an increasingly more popular way of advertising products, businesses and concepts by manipulated techniques of visual design. With this increase in popularity, the need to make your designs more modern and stand out is becoming more a necessity. Becks have come up with this unique design that uses typography, colour and materials to make a stand out billboard with excellent visual design properties. The use of the white sans serif font on the black canvas offers a point of contrast to the whole background, additionally the font used is reminiscent of something digital which ties in with their offer and what the promotion is about. The colours used on the rest of the image are bold and almost cartoony which offers a fantastic contrast to the photographic image of the product in the center (which is another great use of composition), the bold cartoon colours make the beer stand out and visa versa. However, my favourite part of this design is the use of CD’s in constructing the image and the pattern. The CD’s visually represents the offer they have (a free music download with every art label) but also adds depth to the billboard and makes it stand out – Love it! The placement of this sign is between the central Birmingham (Selfridges etc) and Digbeth – the creative industry. The piece combines the creative essence of Birmingham with the modern and artistic development which is visable through buildings such as the Bullring and Selfridges.

 

 

Comparison 3: Business promotion comparisons

In recent years boards like these have become increasingly popular. They’ve developed from the plastic or blackboard signs to a statement for businesses and a blank canvas for businesses to promote themselves with a unique and particular image. In these two examples, it is clear each company has manipulated the basic board to turn into pieces of visual arts and a method of promotion. In the top example, a recognisable parking board has been changed by the addition of a simple black silhouette of a Violin and the company name. I thought that the image of the violin was a very clever way to visually understand what the company is for, however the dark black against the relatively dark blue doesn’t contrast or work particularly well especially with the white standing out so much. However, contrastingly I really think the Urban Village board stands out and is extremely effective. The black typography (consisting of two different Sans Serif fonts varying on weight and style) stands out strongly against the metallic silver board. The overall composition and aesthetic gives of a masculine perspective that perhaps is reflective of the past (represented through the iconic target logo commonly associated with Britain). These two contrasting how key visual design choices such as colour can really effect the overall appearance and success of a piece.

However, while going around Birmingham I also found other examples of innovative ways businesses are promoting themselves through incorporating visual design elements. A popular example is by printing stickers and promotions  onto vehicles, in which people are employed to drive around. Since Birmingham in ways is famous for it’s traffic i.e. Spaghetti  Junction, having something that is portable, widely seen and that stands out is a fantastic way of promotion. This is one of the  vehicles I saw when on our trip and I thought this was visually eye catching and effective as a form of promotion.

The striking shade of bright purple against the contrasting black makes the car automatically stand out and catch your eye.  Aditionally, through composition the logo is placed somewhere near eye level so it’s the first thing you see when you look at the  car so it’s more memorable.

Conclusion

In this post it is clear to see that visual design in Birmingham isn’t only represented in graffiti, architecture and clear billboards  but also in street signs, advertisements and even transportations. The concepts I have talked about within the post are elements  of visual design that can be replicated to any city any where to generate advertising and fantastic visual design.

Week 5 and 6

Colour and image:

Getting technical with colour:

• RGB – for screen
• CYMK – for printing, subtractive colour model (cyan, yellow,magenta and black)
• Pantone – AKA ‘spot colour’ – extension of CYMK

The aims for this week were:

• Know how colour and image can be used
• Technical issues
• Manipulate colour in InDesign

Communication with colour

Can convey emotions and meanings – changes around the world. Think about audience percpetions, e.g.

RED CAN MEAN

LOVE, ANGER, DANGER, OR, COMMUNISM, GREAT ORDER AND OPPRESSION

 

Getting technical with colour:

• RGB – for screen
• CYMK – for printing, subtractive colour model (cyan, yellow,magenta and black)
• Pantone – AKA ‘spot colour’ – extension of CYMK

Communicating with images:

Images create another layer of depth to brands and companies – visual information for the message.

• Visual rhetoric – How images speak to you – arrangement, organisation of the image
• Encoding meaning – everything in the image means something
• Semotics – how signs and symbols communicate. Broken down into semantics (relation of signs/symbols and references)

Resoloution

Measure of how much information is in an image e.g. print 300 dpi, screen 72 dpi.

Bitmapimage: mainly photographs – mapping of bits *pixels* to create an image

Vector image: set of lines, points and shapes that make up a design or shape.

Formats

• TIFF (Raw images) both vector and BMP
• BMP
• JP(E)G – Optimised BMP
• GIF
• PNG – Vector or BMP
• .ai
• .psd

CAN’T GO WRONG WITH: CYMK, TIKK OR EPS, 300 dpi equivalent

Directed Study

1. Brief report on sourcing images
2. 2 colour case studies
3. 2 photograph case studies
4. design a CD cover: 120 mm wide, 119 mm high

 

Colour in logos

When you think of certain brands you think of certain colours and visa versa. For example, Purple = Cadburys, Red = Coca Cola and so on and so forth. I tried to explore through three logos how those brands and companies have used colours to their advantage to add to their corporate identity.

Firstly, What do certain colours make you think of? Red = power, love? Green = Eco friendly? This website usefully summarises what people commonly associate certain colours with!

1) Rolling stones



This iconic logo uses three simple yet powerful colours to contrast against each other and personify their  band – The Rolling Stones. The most dramatic and dominant colour in logo is the bright red which to me connotes power and passion. The passion being both literal – tied in with the image of my mouth and tounge and also more metaphorical – signifying their passion for music and rock music. I used to associate rock music with black and dark colours, but by crating auch a impacting logo using colour I now also associate red with rock music and also the rolling stones.

 

2) Breast Cancer awareness

Pink commonly connotes femininity and Breast Cancer Awareness have utilised this association into their brand using several shades of pink. Also, because of this brand I have started to associate the bolder pink with strength and power – something the brand represents amongst women. Everything the brand does, or represents ties in with the logo and the pink colour which makes you automatically associate pink with breast cancer awareness! In a previous blog I talked about generating a business card for breast cancer awareness and this really ties in with this blog.

 

3) Starbucks

Green to me represents economy, eco-friendly, organic and calm and Starbucks has tried to replicate this feel in their logo. Perhaps misleadingly, you begin to associate Starbucks with organic products that are good for the environment and also it being a very economically aware company. By putting the green against black and white, similarly to the rolling stones logo to colour stands out dramatically. Also as green represents calm you also associate Starbucks as being a place to relax and unwind with your organic coffee  – very clever!

 

Photographic case studies

Photography is a medium used widely in advertisements, posters and visual design currently. Due to certain programming photographs can be easily edited, composed and manipulated to fit the specific intentions of the visual designer. Below I have analysed two photographic case studies that do all those things and evaluated their effectiveness.

1)      Perfume advert for Viktor and Rolf

The designer for this advertisement has cleverly composed together the product, the model and the city landscape into one cohesive image that represents the brand and their messages. Since this perfume is aimed at women, the model is used as a visual icon of how you will feel or even look beautiful through using this perfume. Also by using the city landscape the product taps into an urban way of life making the product part of an urban woman’s life.

Composition

The two things that stand out in this image is the product itself and the model. By having these both stand out you begin to associate the product with the model and visa versa. The designer has also placed the product and the model in similar positions once again reinforcing the link between the model and the perfume.

Colours

The rich gold colour palette has connotations of sophistication, elegance and expense. Usually people wear gold as a sign of luxury and indulgence and these are the things that the brand wants to represent to form an opinion in their audiences mind but also make the product desired and sell.

Evaluation

I think that this advertisement is a highly effective way to use photography and design techniques to create a cohesive image that would work well in a variety of places for example billboards or magazines but also  an advert that works as a way of selling their product and representing their brand.     Photographic case study 2:

Contrasting heavily to the previous example, this image isn’t used to promote a brand or sell something but to portray a relevant issue and to make a political message. This photo case study relies heavily on mid shot portrait images and a lot of editing.

Composition

Both of the photographs are set up in exactly the same size which symbolizes their equality and also signitifies an objective political perspective. Additionally, in context these are the photos that were used by each candidate for their political campaign so the designer has used those exact photos to directly connect this photographic piece to the election campaigns

Colour/editing

The designer has swapped Obama and Mccain’s skin colours around to make a political comment about the unimportance of skin colour and race within the election campaigns. By simply editing the photos in this way the designer has created a simple photographic case study

Evalutation

Overall I think this is a really effective use of photography within visual designer. Differing from the previous example, the poster depends on simple composed pictures with clever editing accompanied by sans serif typography to get a strong political message across.

 

CD cover

This week, we had a brief to design a CD cover using a photographic image and our knowledge of composition, colour and typography. Knowing that I couldn’t use any old image off flickr or google due to copyright infringement i decided to create a CD using my own photography. Since I don’t really have experience taking photos of bands or people i decided to take a photo of a product or object that would represent the message of the soundtrack on my CD. I thought this was a good idea because there has been many successful CD covers made up of photography not involving the bands – for example:

 

(CD covers use – BloodhoundGang – Hooray, Glee – Showstoppers and Fall Out Boy – Infinity on high)

These albums consist of relevent photography to what they want to portray, e.g. the glee album has the iconic loser hand which has become a staple of their show and their promotional advertising. So looking at these I decided to take several photos and pick what image I think would work best on a CD cover.

My image:

I chose this image because of the strong focus point of the flame and the candle against the dark background. The dark background would work well has a back drop to both the image and my typography so I liked that aspect. Upon picking this photo I also decided to look at the connotations of the image and the object it shows. For me anyway, candles traditionally represents hope, spirit, optimism and community. With these descriptions in mind I decided the best route my CD cover would be a charity single because the connotations lend well to the messages a charity single would want to promote to its audience.

Established charity albums

I decided to do some background research into some more recent and popular CD albums – primarily the X Factor singles. I did this so I could see how my CD would fit in with the market but also to see what layouts on the cover – i.e. placement of photos and charity logos – are traditionally popular and effective.

Main image for comparison:

This image was from the 2009 charity single. The background works well which is a good thing for my charity album, also the photographs are central to the image along with the song title. As well as this the logo for the charity stands out in colour and positioning making the single and the charity into one cohesive design. The monochrome colour scheme works well to make the logos of both the X factor and the charity stand out – which is what I want to achieve. 

My CD cover – Design.

This is my initial CD cover design inspired by my research. The black background alongside the colourful candle and contrasting logo make those the two focus points of the photo. Also the name of my charity single and charity are in readable fonts and colours to compliment the rest of the CD

Colour: I wanted to stick with the black background for impact and also replicate the colours in the candle in the typography by using an off-white/cream colour. However, I wanted the charity to stand out as well because the logo doesn’t incorporate the title of my made up charity. I decided to put the charity title in blue to connote optimism and calmness which links in with the connotations of the image I’ve used so the connotations of hope and optimism are intertwined.

Composition: Similarly to the X Factor single I’ve put the photograph almost central and the logo in the bottom left of the cover. I decided however to put my text at the top and at the bottom of the CD to frame the logo and the photo and also generate other interesting points of focus on the CD.

Typography: I’ve decided to use a lot of serif and script fonts to add to the whimsical and optimistic nature of the CD, I think if i used a Sans Serif font it would of been too un-emotive and ineffective.

Overall I’m quite happy with my CD, altough I think fine tuning my InDesign skills may have helped. I think the image is effective with the meaning and purpose of the CD, but I would also like to try a CD cover using  an image of a band to generate two contrasting CD’s to see which I prefer. The imaging used has no copyright infringements because they are either my own or without copyright which means the CD wouldn’t be problematic.

Sourcing images

Copyrighting your images has been something that has caused difficulties for designers and photographers everywhere. Sometimes, images are simply taken without permission and others claim the images. Now certain websites allow photographers to make their images public without the worry of copyright infringement. There are two websites that offer this extremely well – Flickr and Istockphoto.

Flickr, in association with Yahoo has very strict rules on copyright infringement. Within Flickr, as a user you have many options of how to copyright and protect your photographs. The variety of copyrights allows a photographer to keep their work protected but still published and also allows for the photographer themselves to have some creative freedom. On their website Yahoo have said on their website that:

“It is Yahoo!’s policy, in appropriate circumstances and at its discretion, to disable and/or terminate the accounts of users who may infringe or repeatedly infringe the copyrights or other intellectual property rights of Yahoo! and/or others.”

This highlights how important copyright is currently especially because of the power of the internet and to the users of such sites as Flickr.

Specifically commenting on Flickr, there are many ways that you can place copyright on your images. Since I’m a Flickr user, below I have included a print screen of how easy it is to copyright your images and how many options are available to you:

As you can see you have a lot of options and links to the creativecommons for advise over copyrighting. I went on this link and found it very useful in explaining the different types of copyright available on websites such as Flickr. Some of the options available are:

 

Attribution:
You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform your copyrighted work – and derivative works based upon it – but only if they give you credit.

Noncommercial:
You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform your work – and derivative works based upon it – but for noncommercial purposes only.

No Derivative Works:
You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform only verbatim copies of your work, not derivative works based upon it.

Share Alike:
You allow others to distribute derivative works only under a license identical to the license that governs your work.

To see this information in more detail with further explanations visit the CreativeCommonswebsite.

 

With these, users can select a specific copyright that works for them and also protect their work while allowing it to be out there on the internet. As well as their copyright being specifically shown alongside the photo, a lot of users include details of how they feel about the copyrighting on their images. For example, a lot of users label their images with copyright and their names and some write in the caption ‘Do not use without permission’ or ‘Please do not reblog any of my images’. Personally, I’ve had an experience with copyright as I really wanted to use somebody’s Flickr photograph with my visual design CD cover, so I found out their email address and sent them a message and they have allowed me to use their work aslong as I credit them, which I feel is completely fair. As a user of Flickr I have never encountered any problems with copyright and when my images have been used and published on other website all credits have been directly linked to me and my Flickr page.

 

However, what if don’t have any logos, graphics or photographs of your own and you really want to use one without any complications? This is where websites such as Istockphoto become really useful.

 

 

iStockphoto is an extremely useful website that have a variety of media content such a stock photos, graphics and audio that designers can purchase for a small price and use within their designs without any copyright complications. On the front page of the website, the creators have said:

“Royalty-Free Stock Photos, Illustrations & More

iStockphoto is the web’s original source for user-generated, royalty-free stock photos, illustrations, video, audio and Flash. Whether you’re a designer, advertiser, entrepreneur or blogger, we have millions of affordable images, vectors and clips to help you tell your story. Join the international community of artists and clients who use iStock every day. Get involved — buy stock, sell stock or both.”

This allows users to upload their content for a commercial purpose but also allows consumers to use the content without copyright infringement and also give back to the users. Also, at the bottom of their home page it says:

“Copyright ©2010 iStockphoto LP. iStockphoto®, iStock®, iStockaudio®, iStockvideo®, iStockalypse™, Vetta® and CopySpace® are trademarks of iStockphoto LP. All other marks are the property of their respective owners”

Highlighting how important copyright is in the design world.

 

Conclusion

Copyright is essential is a design environment to ensure a sense of fairness, designer rights and also some order. However, it is also good that there are stock websites and variations on copyright to also exhibit some creative license and allows designers to share their work together as somewhat of a community. The power to be able to showcase your work allows for you to be noticed and others to be inspired, which is something these websites aim to achieve.

 

Week 7

Grid and composition

• Know how to organise work in grids
• Understand how to contrast composition with grids
• Produce strong layouts in InDesign.

Compositional principles

• Contrast: difference
• Rhythm: repetition and consistency
• Balance: symmetry
• Proportion: ratio.

What are grids?

An invisible structure for order and are essential in mapping

Ratio and proportion: Halves, thirds, quarters.

Gutters: white space between edge and text that’s going to be bound together (in a magazine for example)

Common grid

• 12 columns
• Don’t have 12 columns of content
• guide for proportion

Layout concepts

• Used for tone to produce a response
• White/empty space
• Densely packed
• Elegant
• Busy

The Golden ratio

“In mathematics and the arts, two quantities are in the golden ratio if the ratio of the sum of the quantities to the larger quantity is equal to the ratio  of the larger quantity to the smaller one. The golden ratio is an irrational mathematical constant, approximately 1.6180339887″ – Source of information Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_golden_ratio

Directed study

1. Make the grid
2. Break the grid
3. Fine two examples of grid work – one making the grid one breaking it

 

Grid resource 2

After talking to some of the people in my class last lesson, I learnt about an extremely useful book in regards to grid work. The book – Making and breaking the grid by Timothy Samaratalks through the basics of grid work, other work on grids and also how to make and break the grid successfully.

Even the cover and the pages themselves are designed in such a way to show you how effective and successful making and breaking the grid can be. The writing is fluid and understandable, and the page layouts just emphasise the points the text is making visually.  Below I have included three print screens of the sections I found particularly useful.

1)

In one of the first chapters of the book, Samara talks about Hierarchical grids. Before reading this book I had no idea what one of these grids was and I really think that this an effective grid that when either used or broken would look great as a layout. When I’m making or breaking my grids I really want to incorporate this grid piece and experiment with it.

2)

This page in the book talked about how simply positioning a band in a different section of the grid with a different colour can change the context and/or perspective of the background shot dramatically. I liked this grid approach as it was relatively simply yet dramatic and effective.

3)

This page refers to breaking the grid, I find the way they break the grid very simplistic but effective and the grids at the side really help you see how they did it. I think this is an effective way of making a cover stand out a little bit more with breaking the grid.

Conclusion:

I found this book extremely useful as it visually guides you in ways of breaking the grid, and because I learn visually this was perfect for me. If you don’t understand grids very well this book will definitely help you understand them.  It also has a list of other sources which have further information about making and breaking the grid effectively, so the amount of information available to visual designers is expansive.

Final comment:

Below is a print screen once again of the book but it shows what the book is about and the content.