Monday 31 March 2014

Looking into Studios - Buro Creative.

Buro Creative is another one of the studios that I visited in London.

"People fall for brands for lots of reasons: beauty; intelligence; generosity; a sense of humour. Behind all of these qualities, however, is creativity. BuroCreative specialise in big ideas, beautifully realised to create and enhance brands people love.

We are experienced in strategy, graphic design for print and digital media, illustration and writing, all under one roof in Clerkenwell, London. This promotes clarity of message, irrespective of medium or technology. From inspiring identities to compelling websites to quirky magazines, we believe in ideas, without limitations.

We are founded on direct communication between clients and designers. It’s this understanding that enables our work to exceed expectations. Our approach is substantiated by enduring relationships with clients big and small, global and local."


No.11 Pimlico Road







"Annoyed with too many mediocre “Gastropubs”, Mel Marriott set out to create a relaxed, all-day venue for great value eating and drinking. “I’d love it to feel like home from home” was her resounding brief, and one we took to heart when creating a name and identity for her first site.

The chosen site used to be home to a pub called the Ebury. We decided a change of name was important to create a clean slate. Research in local archives unearthed an image of an earlier incarnation – a large No.11 near the roof proving inspiration for a new name evocative of a private address.

Menus feature bespoke abstract floral prints which reflect aspects of the interiors and will change with the seasons."

The colour palette of this project is very aesthetically pleasing to me, I love the pastel shades and how they compliment the crisp white. The block colours fit with the imagery perfectly and I love how the photography adds another level to the branding. The outer look of the branding is simple but really compliments the printed paraphernalia.


Wedgewood







"Commissioned to restore the lustre of this iconic brand and reach out to the next generation, our approach was to harness Wedgwood’s enviable heritage in a more contemporary, fashion-led way. We began with a sensitive revision of identity elements with a cleaner treatment and focus on premium materials."

This is another example of branding working extremely cohesively with the photographic material. The blue tone is very peaceful and looks great with the muted tones of the imagery. I really like the layout of the editorial piece as the interesting composition would attract the target audience.


Rosa's Thai Cafe







"Most Thai restaurants in the UK take inspiration from nature – trickling water, bamboo. Rosa’s is a more urban affair. By celebrating common themes between Thai and English cafés – from tea rituals to doilies to condiment holders – we were able to give Rosa’s a distinctive character and point of difference. We worked with architects Gundry & Ducker to realise the identity across Rosa’s restaurants. Bespoke panelling, tiles and light fittings pay witty respect to traditional English/Thai cafés."

I love the patterned image that has been created of the logo, I feel like it would be very memorable and looks great as a stand alone aspect on the book cover. It also helps to add interest to the brown paper packaging, that could be quite plain without it.


Wednesday 26 March 2014

Looking into Studios - Here Design.

After our trip to London I have decided to look further into some of the additional places we visited.

"Here Design is a small team of multi-disciplinary designers based in East London. The studio was set up in December 2005, by Kate Marlow, Caz Hildebrand and Mark Paton.

Since then we have been crafting quietly powerful design for a client list of individuals, brands, charities and institutions that we believe in wholeheartedly.

Our collective experience includes design and strategic thinking for branding, packaging, print, publishing, point-of-sale, products and websites. This scope allows us to create effective and original solutions to work across any media."


Reyka Vodka




I love the fresh and crisp colour palette of this packaging as it fits perfectly with the brand. The orange adds a pop of contrast that brings the design to life. I like how the dotted grid and other dotted decorative patterns have been incorporated as it adds detail to the flat white surface, it is also very subtle as to not distract from the main design.


Solid ID





The branding for this project is extremely consistent, I think this is helped by the versatility of the logo. The simple but effective colour palette has also been applied to all of the paraphernalia. I especially like the shop front as I think the blue exterior would really stand out and also how the logo has been manipulated to spread across the whole of the composition.



Cafe Luc





There has been a great deal of attention to detail with regards to this project. The branded 'L' is a big part of the identity and appears across the whole board even on the restaurant itself and the printed material. For example the door handles have been crafted to mimic it and even something as small as paper clips has had this treatment too. The colour palette of pastel pink and green is quite unusual but works very effectively.


Monday 24 March 2014

Studio Visit - London.

Recently me and Emily James made a trip over to London to visit some studios and hand out some promotional packs and it was one of the best things I feel I have done. Even though it was a very busy and non stop day it was very worthwhile. We travelled down the day before and stayed at a friends place for the night, during this time we collected the places we wanted to visit from both of our lists and made a note of where they all were. This way we could target all the studios in a similar area before moving onto the next location. I feel this was really beneficial as it made the most of the limited time we had. We took the list with us during the day so we could easily refer to it and checked off certain places throughout the day.



We woke up early the next morning and made our way to the first studio, NB in London Bridge. We initially found that it was harder than we thought as most studios were parts of large building that you usually quite hard to get into or not clearly marked on the outside. For example with NB we managed to find someone who could let us in and then walked up until we found the right studio. We initially went in and didn't know what to do with ourselves but thankfully someone came up too meet us. She was really welcoming and took our promotional packs. After this first experience we found that our confidence levels rose due to the positive initial experience and were excited to visit the rest. In total we managed to visit nine studios, covering all that we wanted to visit most. All were great and I was surprised to find how many people were excited to receive the packs we were handing out, I feel this is something I would definitely consider doing again in the future.

Here are the studio's we visited and handed promotional packs to:
  • Construct London
  • Studio Twig
  • Socio Design
  • Sea Design
  • Heavenly Design
  • Here Design
  • Buro Creative
  • NB
  • Elmwood





Thursday 20 March 2014

Personal Branding - London Promotional Packs.

In preparation for my trip to London I have created a small promotional pack to hand out to the studios we visit. I have developed my old personal branding into something slightly updated. The main change is the colour scheme from the bright pink and white to a trio of grey, mint green and purple. I feel these tones are a lot more relevant to my current practice and I like how they work together. Because I have this variation of colour it has allowed me to mix up how the packs are put together and I like the effect this has. I have also applied my logo using a vinyl sticker, I like the subtle appearance of this technique and how it is more interactive for the audience. To go along with my business cards I also produced an introduction card that spoke a little about me and my interests within design. As well as this I also have postcards of selected examples of my work, as even though my behance account is stated I thought it would give an initial first impression.








Saturday 15 March 2014

Looking into Studios - SEA Design.

Out of the studios I have looked at so far SEA is the most corporate but I do like the range of projects they take on. I have selected a range of briefs that I feel are most relevant to my own practice.

"SEA helps brands express themselves. We believe in clear thinking and straight talking.

Our clients range from corporate giants through to global fashion icons who all believe in harnessing great design to become great businesses.

We help them define, design and deliver highly effective and strategic visual communication for their brands.

The work we do is persuasive, revitalising, enduring and award winning — online, offline, in store and on the move.

Strategic and visual communication for brands."


London Road Jewellery







"London Road Jewellery has a history spanning three generations in design and manufacture of timeless fine jewellery. We worked on name generation, identity, Art Direction and packaging for the boutique retail venture."

I really like the logo design for this brand and how the letters have been manipulates to create a decorative mark. I like how there is a hint of colour showing through on the box adding to the identity. The sepia tone of the images works well with the black/brown colour palette and the gold foiling accents this.


Fedrigoni Constellations






"Constellation is one of Fedrigoni's premium textured collections. The range includes three stocks produced in an array of different embossings. Our campaign championed the range's name by producing a box of postcards fronted by awe-inspiring imagery of star constellations taken by NASA."

I really like how the idea of constellation has been portrayed through this design. The spot varnish is very subtle but it suggests the shape and the surface reflects the light in a less obvious way then foil. The type is very simple and limited which makes the surface of the stock stand out.


Monotype Collections







"Monotype has been a worldwide leader in typeface design for more than 125 years with more than 18,000 typefaces and growing. We were asked by Monotype to create a concept that showcases the breadth of their type library in a way that engages the modern designer. We created the Collections campaign which culminated in a limited edition box containing collections curated by leading figures from an array of different industries highlighting their most loved typefaces. Curators included, Rankin, Domenic Lippa, Simon Esterson, Gerry Leonidas, Akira Kobayashi and Robin Nicholas."

The large selection of colours here work well together due to their block formation and they look great against the brown board that has been embellished with foil. The inside pages of the publications reflect the colour of the outside cover and create a consistent look.