fmp week 7 + summary

{12/05/14 - 16/05/14}

Day 1: I wanted to create a brochure because it will help people understand the concept of  'Lien' and inform people on frequently asked questions such as, 'What is Lien? and why should I use Lien?' It is much better to create a brochure that will answer these questions instead of wasting time to explain the answer over and over again. It will also include information about the ranges it provides and the services such as herbalist and aromatherapist. I think mentioning all of these is important because it shows a loving and personal experience by having a free consultation with the specialist to correctly pick which ingredients works best for an indivialual and of course avoid the idea of allergic reactions.

To accompany my brochure I wanted to make some of my own illustrations by using water colour and fineliners. I find that with these media, I can work with different opacities and different brush strokes to achieve the right design for my brand. I heavily researched on what natural ingredients is assigned to each skin type range and with that selection, I have create illlustrations inspired by it.

{olive (olive oil), avocado, honey, tea tree & aloe vera}

 

Then I scanned all the illustrations to further enhance the appearance by placing them into photoshop and with the help of filters. I wanted them to look more graphical and so I tried a range of filters. I really liked the simplistic design from one of the filters and decided on that. In the end I didn't include the honeycombs because I thought it doesn't fit in with the overall look and instead used the other four. The illustration was based on my preference of using lines to shade and add tone.

ATTEMPT 1

From then, I trial and tested different layouts of my brochure. I didn' think it was so hard to plan layout because it looked so easy but it taught me of how much effort to consider the spacing, and alignment of everything. My first attempt looked too text based which I didn't like, the background was boring and it didn't seem inviting and overwhelming. I think my mind set at the time was wanting all the pages look 'busy' and therefore no empty spaces, but looking back it as a bad attempt. I thought the use of italics will help me differentiate the sub headings, however it shares the same colour and font with the body text, so it isn't really helpful.

LEFT || RIGHT

BACK || FRONT

ATTEMPT 2
I didn't change the fact that it was still text based but I think the pale blue shows a fresh idea to the brochure, I noticed there was a lot of space of the back and front cover but too much text in the inside and so I need to learn how to distribute my text evenly and look pleasing. I change the italics sub headings into a blue colour which I think works much better.

LEFT || RIGHT

BACK || FRONT

ATTEMPT 3

I thought that using an A4 format is a solution to ensure all my information fits in the page and doesn't look to overwhelming. I liked the idea of using white boxes to highlight the four different ranges and place the illustrations next to it to accompany them. I felt using different colours on the text will help brighten the brochure but the left side felt lacking compared to the right. Also I didn't know what to do for the back cover so I just placed the illustrations on there. I felt at this point I was improving but definitely need more attempts to get the final.

LEFT || RIGHT

BACK || FRONT

FINAL OUTCOME

This is my layout of my final design of the brochure, I used the white boxes to go under all the text so it looks neat and be easier to read too, on the left side I covered the three main questions and with the four ranges, I distributed them with two ranges per page and use the illustrations to fill up the remaining space. I thought the use of repetition will look neat and organised as well to look more fuller and interesting. I think this layout worked the best because I think it shows a clear understanding of spacing and distributing the information evenly. Using the A5 format is a perfect size to grab and go, it isn't too big to hold but it is enough to contain the main aspects of the brand.

BACK || FRONT

LEFT || RIGHT

Day 2: After the completion of the brochure, I can now go on to my bag and apron design. For the bag design, I looked at paper bags and draw string bags. Paper bags is inexpensive but has that homemade quaility but the draw string bag is different and rarely seen. In the end I chose the paper bag because I think it will hold the products much better and also its more constructed with a precise form. So I done some sketches of where I should place my logo.

Here I also did the same process with the apron, I looked that different designs of aprons and how I can work my logo into certain places, like on the pocket or just placed above it. I wanted my specialist to wear an apron to show a professional appearance and still promote the brand too. In the end, I decided to go with align it to the centre because it follows up with the labels on the containers and I think changing the alignment will confuse people about the position of the logo. After I established the position, I am ready to lino print my logo onto both bag and apron.

 FINAL OUTCOME (APRON AND BAG) 

 I feel that the outcome was successful although not all of the ink was printed, but in a way it does show a sense of homemade and being hands on with the process of making, instead of getting it made by machines. Therefore reflects the brand concept of customising the creams. I think the size of the lino print was an okay size for both the bag and apron which I like how it both shares the same logo instead of having a bigger size than another just to fit it into the empty space.

Day 3: Here I was able to assemble and display all of my outcomes in a neat manner, I really like the overall image because it doesn't drown the brand with the blue colour because of the mini colour palette from the containers and also from the paper bag and brochure. I like how there is different dimension and height that builds up and presents a variety of aspects of the brand. I positioned my containers in a curve to mimic the circular shape of the logo and creates an idea of a family. The tissue paper adds volume to the bag and matches well with the apron.

SUMMARY

The final outcomes from my project are very different to what I first proposed in the initial pitch. During my final major project process I was able to finalise my concept of tailoring to people's skin types than to just brand natural ingredients inspired skin care ranges. I think that my concept was a good idea considering it is an unique selling point and therefore continue to work my way to visually illustrate it. At the start, I didn't have a clear idea of my different outcomes to show for the exhibition, but nevertheless the outcomes that I will present is something I am proud of making. I did have some differculties with technique issue but luckily I quickly resolved them in the end.

Also, I wish I could have been more organised for sketchbooks and blogs which could of led to more time to further develop and enhance. I felt that at times I was lost and needed some guidance from my tutors and peers and although it was helpful and useful to get advice from, I thought it wasted some time to adjust to coming up with a idea that I was going to use. Also I did felt lazy at times because of the stress of the project, which did affect my mindset and drive to work. I think that the stress was managable to force myself to work but it cause irriatation to continue while feeling stressed. 

The final outcome presented my project very well and I am satisifed to see how my progression  through my blog and also the creative progression in my sketchbook. If I could make any improvements I think that I should have took more consideration with the placment of logos by doing some prototyping and also further develop the bag and apron stages as there wasn't much designing of it on my sketchbook.

fmp week 6

{05/05/14 - 09/05/14}

DAY 1: Now that I have the idea of printing from the 'Pick Me Up' at Somerset House, I tried experimenting by using flat rubbers as a base to carve into with a stanley knife to create the relieve. I have had experience with this technique and so I was very comfortable in using, but I knew the drawbacks will be that it won't be perfect and get the detail but it will help me understand the idea of printing even more. I used acrylic paint as my median because it was bold and accessible to me at the time. But during my experimentations, I found out that the paint isn't suitable for something detailed as this because of the thickness and the small size of the rubber.

Although it isn't a successful outcome, I think it was a good way to inco-operate a type of printing iin my work. So using different stamps I have made and different colours of acrylic paint, I led onto something more graphical by altering the position and manipulating the paper by cutting and re-arranging. I also tried to see if it would work on different paper too, the majority worked fine but the white paint on pink tissue paper bled on making the paint transform to a light pink.

I didn't think that the stamps were something graphical once I used pro markers and be playful with colour, layout and placement.

I didn't want to use this for my final project so Andrew Osman helped me with a selection of prints I can use, such as;- lino print, rubber stamps etc. I didn't know much about printing except for screen printing so it was interesting to see these different techniques. I thought lino print was a good technique because it was something hands on and easy to do, I have had a similiar experience with block printing at Secondary School so I think I will be fine printing. So I purchase a lino printing set which comes with the majority of things I needed, including lino board, roller, ink etc. So with that I used the biggest size of lino board and a circular soft board for my stamps for various things. At the moment I don't know what size is suitable for each of my outcomes, but once I have it laser cut, I will have a better idea. I thought laser cut will be better than me manually carving in because there is a lot of detail in the logo so laser cut was the only option, besides it was easy and quick to do.

The circular soft board came out well although it wasn't aligned to the centre, but I think it isn't a major obstacle. This size is perfect to label my bigger containers and maybe bag as well.

I also used the laser cutter on a bigger lino board to have different sizes for appropiate items like the apron, bag etc. I want to make sure that it will fit properly instead of making it fit in.

DAY 2: Now that I finally got my lino prints laser cut, I can now freely experiment with different colours and paper. With my lino printing set, it came with a black ink and I also purchased a crimson and blue to work with and a set of ink pads with many colours. This will help me find out which colours will appear vibrant and therefore suitable for my brand. At first I didn't get the grasp of lino printing so the first few pages of experiments doesn't look good because I forgot how thin the ink needed to be and so there was white marks left by the thick layer of ink on the pad. Although it was a fail, I like the texture and effect it gave to the white paper and also I was happy about how my logo was very clear thanks to the laser cutter.

Here I wanted to understand lino printing more by using less ink and use brown paper on black ink, it gave a cloudy, unclear appearance but it shows a contrast of the white logo. I didn't think the black is the colour to represent my logo because it is very basic and I wanted a colour which will show the pureness and freshness of my brand. Black has bad connotations such as darkness, evil etc and to be honest, it doesn't look like a skin care brand.

I tried the blue ink and at this moment I was getting used to the printing process by looking at how the ink is evenly distributed, I did have some trouble to print every single surface but I think it still works well. The colour is vibrant and shows the logo in a clear way, I think it works best on a white background because it keeps the idea of pureness and clean, I used colour card to see if any of those colour combinations works best, but in the end I quite like the basic white.

Then I started to look into creating a gradient/ombré effect by using two colours which bleeds into each other with the help of the roller, personally I don't like the gradient look on brands but it was a fun experience to do. I think it didn't fit into my brand simply because using two colours which has different connotations can confuse the concept of purity and so it seems too busy for my taste. But at this point, I was really comfortable with using the lino printing as I compared my first attempts to these ones, I finally grasp the idea of how much ink I need and the amount of pressure I need to apply.

With this large stamp and the lino ink, I will use these for my bag and apron because it has a bigger surface area which will be perfect to print on too, also I think the vibrant colour will show better on my paper bag and apron because I have had experience with it already. The labels for my containers will be too small to print and so I think it will be to harsh.

DAY 3: With the smaller stamps I made for my containers, I thought the ink pads will be a better option because it is delicate and has a better colour variety comparred to my lino ink. I can expand on what colour will work best and look at the opacity of it too, the ink pad gives a smaller appearance to the lino print and so I decided it was the best option. I didn't want to use basic white paper because I wanted to have that home-made vibe to my containers and so I went to the Shepperds Faulkner paper shop which displays a huge amount of different paper, I chose washi paper (Japanese paper) for my project because it reflects the delicate and homemade vibe as it is ivory and textured.

But first I must analysis each colour and look at whether it prints well or not, I discover that some colours doesn't appear well compared to some darker tones. The gold, bronze, silver colours was on the paler side and so I couldn't use these colours but it was a shame because I wanted to perhaps show a luxurious side of the brand. I went into detail of which was good to use and from there I am able to narrow down to a small selection.

Here is a example of all the narrowed selection of colours that I thought were vibrant and stamped well. I selected four colours that will represent each range for my brand, I didn't want my brand to only have one colour to reflect 'Lien' and so this way it is a opportunity to add more colour but also a easier way to identity the four ranges. I chose lime green, purple, teal and red because all of these colours is neutral to both sexes and emits the vibrant and natural connotations.

FINAL OUTCOME

Overall I think that the outcome of the stamp labels was a success, the colours is vibrant and I think it compliments every colour nicely. I think maintaining the square format balances with the alignment to the centre which makes it look neat and simple. There was some trouble to glue the labels onto the smaller containers because of the size and the circluar shape, making it wrap around, it took a lot of space being I wasn't able to stick in the second label. I think the overall look of the containers is fresh and homemade, the different heights and shape of the containers gives a dynamic appearances yet maintains a renewed way. I think that if I had time, I would re-print the purple label simply because it isn't opac as the other labels.