Over the summer, I bought The Production Manual* and can honestly say, it is probably the most helpful/benificial Graphic Design book that I own and understand!
Below are my slides from the summer brief presentation:
Slide 1 - This quote was taken directly from The production manual, I thought it was a clear, simple explanation to colour limitations with CMYK.
Diagrams taken from: The production manual and Graphic Design: The new basics.
Slide 2 - Image taken from Graphic Design: The New Basics.
Although I presumed everyone would probably know the 'optical colour mixing' used on billboards, I still thought it was a valuable thing to point out when understand how colour works.
Slide 3 - These are two examples that I found on the internet where I think the layering of colours works really well.
Skinny Ships - This is a good example of how layering two colours can make a third colour, saving the designer money as they only have to pay for the use of 2 inks.
James Joyce - I think this is an interesting example of how you can optically create another colour by the positioning of colours next to each other; because the blue dots are layed on top of an orange background it makes the blue look like a slightly different shade. (The dots are more obvious when the image is larger.)
Slide 4 - When I was presenting this at college, I skipped past this slide because I didn't really understand what a spot colour was and I wasn't sure how duotone worked, but now that I understand them both more, I feel more comfortable showing the slide!
The spot colour diagram and text were taken from The production manual.
The duotone explanation was taken from wikipedia...(because I couldn't find an explanation that I understood anywhere else.)
Slide 5 - After looking at the technical use of colour in printing, I went on to look at examples which were appropriate to me i.e. Print design that I like.
Crystal Barlow - The shampoo bottles are visually interesting examples of the use of tones or tints in print; in my opinion it makes a simple shampoo bottle look a lot more elegant than something like a Pantene or Head and Shoulders bottle. I would rather have on of these on display in my bathroom.
BVD - a set of gift bags and boxes for H&M, used around valentines day. I thought it was a modern example of the use of bold colours and bold, simple sans serif text to portay a message quickly i.e. you wouldn't expect them to use these bags at easter, but it isn't cheesy and over-the-top like some valentines merchandise.
Slide 5 - I love different stocks; I like to feel work aswell as just look at it.
Stuck - This is a business card for a "Lawn and Property enhancement company". The use of stock is appropriate to the business in this instance as they're a business that deal with nature (lawns etc.) and it looks like a 'natural' made stock, or recycled (Im not exactly sure what you would call it...but kind of looks like a more elegant sugar paper!)
Big Fish - This is packaging for Dorset Cereals, I have noticed it numerous times in the supermarket and I definately think it stands out from other cereal boxed on the shelf. The stock used for this is almost like the insides of other cereal boxes as it isn't glosses but again, this seems appropriate to the brand as it is 'Honest, Tasty and Real Unadultered cereal', so the fact they are branding it as honest it almost doesn't need the 'glossy cover up', the stock is what it is. It also makes the cereal box look a lot more sophisticated than things like Kelloggs because of the foil print etc. (I like these cereal boxes a bit too much!)
Round - This is packaging for a sandwich shop which wanted to make their wrapping more enviromentally friendly. In my opinion the design, stock and limited colour palet make it look a lot more 'classy' than the packaging for places like McDonalds and Subway.
Slide 7 - As the issues with the environment plays a big part in all areas of the world, enviromentally friendly design is becoming more popular.
60 Bag - This is a bag which bio-degrades in 60 days, obviously the stock is a large part of this design but also the small amount of ink used makes it more 'enviromentally friendly' although I'm not sure what sorts of inks are used.
Frost* - This is another example from The production manual, it is a book documenting the company Frost*'s first year of business. To go along with their enviromentally friendly image they printed it on a recycled stock with vegetable inks. I think the fact that it will look different to other books and feel different will make it stand out from others, which in turn is promoting their business even more.
Slide 8 - I've noticed recently how many drinks packaging designs there are, they're everywhere.
These are a few examples of ones that I think are successful and visually appealing/making them stand out.
I really like how you can keep the same design and just change the colour and people instantly know its a different flavour; the Alvaro Rubio bottles are one of my favourite examples of this. Instead of using coloured tops to communicate the type of milk, it just an illustration of a cow in different colour; it looks a lot more sophisticated than morrisons own milk!
Slide 9 - Although the actual design isn't my favourite billboard in terms of being visually engaging, I felt it was a valid thing to include these because - the nature of billboards and bus posters etc, do they need to be Really visually engaging? Most billboards etc. are in places that you will drive past quickly etc. so you don't really have time to appreciate the aesthetics of the posters, however I always read these adverts when I go past them because it is really bold, simple and quick to read, so for these reasons I do think it is a successful campaign.
However, after analysing them and thinking this...I realised, I didn't know that it was promoting The Alpha-Course until I was in the car, behind a bus at some traffic lights and saw the logo at the bottom...so, maybe this makes it less successful Or they were simply hoping that once you read the question, you would research it?
Regardless, I think the content of the campaign is interesting but I think it could look a bit more interesting.
Wow. This is probably the longest post I've ever done :)
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