Emily's Graphic Design Blog

Using a supplied type-spec, I created a menu design using stylesheets to make the process quick and efficient. Using given typefaces, point sizes and colours, I created a simple design using centred text to fit a higher class style that matches the elegant script type of the byline. Once the first menu design was created, I decided to create a design using the same content but changing the colours and typefaces. I chose to make the design more fun using brighter colours and to give a different feel to the restaurant using a left alignment layout.

To make their publications recognisable and form their brand identity, most magazines use a house style that the designer will have to consider when creating designs for the company. Here I experimented with creating a Aesop's Fables storybook using  my own house style with continuous typefaces for the header, body and subtitles and using the same grid design. I used the Character style window to create each style and save the colour, type and size of each element of the page so I could easily access them for each spread.

Stefan Sagmeister is a famous Austrian Typographer and Designer who uses his handwriting over images to design artwork. He has worked with famous artists such as The Rolling Stones, the Talking Heads and Lou Reed, creating unique imagery with different layering techniques. Using his work as inspiration, I created a design using a quote from Stefan himself layered over a picture of my choice. I chose the quote, "The question I wanted to answer was, could I train my mind to be happy the same as one trains ones body?", following the context I selected an image of someone standing on a running track. After completing some thumbnails and lettering designs, I printed the image and using tracing paper wrote the quote over the image following the shape of the shadow of the runner. I then wrote over the pencil design with ink to make it bold and add some varying line weights. I scanned the design into photoshop and layered it over the image and began playing with the layer image...

To give order and function to designs, designers use grids organising each feature to fit a specific structure. Commonly this is seen in the use of the 'Rule of Thirds', which is most present in photography. It refers to where information is placed in respect of the 3 columns and rows and how this makes the audience more comfortable and the information clearer and easier to absorb. There is also the use of the Golden Ratio, which is said to be used even in architecture to present a natural, formed and clear composition. Using the 'create grids' function on Indesign we created 8 page spreads playing with compositions using text and pictures.

Persuasive techniques in advertising are broken into 3 basic categories of interpretation: Pathos: Pathos refers to the emotional appeal of the advert, whether that be positive or negative. This can be a powerful motivator and can take the audience through a journey of emotions. For example, charity adverts often focus on projecting guilt in the opening of the advert but then end on a more positive hopeful note to convey how the audience have already helped those in need. It is harder to exude an emotional connection from print advertising. Logos: Logos, however, uses logic, statistics and reason to appeal to the audience. By using facts and figures they are telling the audience in black and white why they should buy the brand. Often this is done through sample testing to give a percentage of people who enjoyed the product or saw results, making the audience believe if it worked for them it will work for me. Some common statements being: ‘Clinically tested’, 80% of peo...

Using Photoshop we played with different layering techniques to achieve different effects. We also looked at using layer masks and gradients to recreate film posters by blending different images together. Here I used a landscape image in the background and layered images from the film 'The Princess Bride' above using layer masks to cut them out and let the background come through. In the image of the kissing couple I used a radial gradient to cut away the background and create a circular glow. I edited the colours of the images by using the 'Hard Light' layer effect to make them darker and soften the image. I used the paint brush tool in varying opacities to create a vignette and burnt edge to the corners of the poster and create a shadow behind the characters. In front of all the layers I place an aged paper texture over to give a storybook feel. I used a gradient at the bottom to give a clear space for the title of the film without background interference using a pal...

Using scanned textures we created book covers. The NW and Zadie Smith were made scanning canvas material. The skyline was cut using the polygonal lasso tool out of both sides of a piece of denim. The sky was created by scrunching paper and then layering a blue/grey gradient. The clouds use lined paper torn and the edges to create a softer line. I used cardboard in the space between the skylines. I cut out paper people using folded paper and then scanned the shape, cutting it out of the darker denim and layering with the hill in the foreground. I also layered a pale gradient behind to make it stand out and give the feeling of fog in the city.

After receiving the brief, I began working on my initial research and deciding on the four typefaces I'd like to display. After looking briefly at their history and uses in the industry, I chose Baskerville as my serif, Gill Sans as my sans serif, Mistral as my script and American Typewriter as my display/decorative choice. From here I completed more comprehensive research looking further into their history, usage throughout their lifetimes and the anatomy of their characters: Baskerville Summary: Baskerville is a transitional typeface developed in the early age of typography. It is known for its high contrast forms and finer serifs, with both positive and negative responses, garnering it a controversial type at the time of release. Designed by John Baskerville, it embodies his desire for proportion and a softer yet geometric edge. It is most commonly used as body copy for its larger x-height and higher readability, noticeably on the Kindle Paper white and in literature includi...