Canons of Page Construction

We started the session on canons of page construction by looking at the golden ratio and the theory surrounding this. This is something that I have looked into in a fair bit of depth before so i felt comfortable with the concept. We looked at how the golden ratio can be used within page construction and experimented with drawing out grids using this theory.

We also spent some time looking at the golden ratio in Graphic design and some examples of where it has been used. Lots of logos supposedly use the golden ratio however after doing some research I found that some of the logo's people claim to use the golden ratio actually don't at all. For example, the apple logo is often accredited to golden ratio proportions when in fact it doesn't use this 'divine proportion.' I also found out today that the golden ratio can be applied to type. I have never thought about trying to use this ratio with type but it makes perfect sense. For example a 55pt heading would be complimented by a 34pt sub heading. I did a project on the golden ratio last year and I decided to look back at this to refresh my knowledge on it.

We also looked at the Van De Graaf Canon of page construction. Another theory that claims to produce pleasing proportions for page design. It is really easy to draw out the guidelines for the Van De Graff Canon. 

Using intersecting lines running from one corner of the spread to the other and one corner of the page to the other it is incredibly easy to determine where the text should be placed on the page. The smaller rectangle in blue adheres to the van de graaf canon. I also found through experimentation that using these lines but drawing the rectangle to the line that intersects the spread rather than the line that intersects the page creates a rectangle very close to divine proportions. 

I decided to experiment with the golden ratio grid that I determined on paper by actually applying this to page design. 

I used Illustrator to produce the grid and then put this into inDesign.

I set up my margins on the inDesign document so that the area inside the margins was as close as possible to a golden rectangle.

I experimented with laying out some placeholder text in different ways using this grid and found that the results were aesthetically pleasing and that the grid was nice to work with and really versatile. I may use this grid or one similar next time I am producing something for print and I think i will definitely use it for my web design.

OUGD504 - A brief history of... website - Research

I decided to look online and try and find some websites that push conventions. This will allow me to see the possibilities open to me with web design but also the limitations.

One of the first sites that I came across that caught my attention was a website called 'Welcome to Paradise.' The site was designed by Oli Kellett, a London based advertising photographer. The opening line of the project caption for 'Welcome to Paradise' reads “Paradise is on the edge of an industrial estate just north of the M25. It’s also behind a Jobcentre in Manchester. By the bins.” 

The site is essentially a collection of locations throughout the UK with the word paradise in the title. There is no real purpose to the website but regardless the project is fun and interesting. The 'paradises' are not what you expect. They are from any idealistic image of a beautiful beach with blue water, golden sand and palm trees lining the water. Instead we see a rather unflattering collection of photographs of the UK. 

The idea behind this project caught my attention, I like the sense of humour behind it. This isn't why I have decided to document it though. I can see the functionality of this project linking with the collection of images I collected over summer. My photographs document tacky souvenirs in various places around wester Europe and the use of Google Maps to pinpoint the location of Kelletts photographs is definitely something that I could apply to my project. 

view the website here: welcometoparadi.se/

It's Nice That recently posted about the website for Ty Segall's new album 'Manipulator.' 

Ty Segall is one of, if not my favourite band so this album release was something that I was hugely looking forward to. I wasn't dissapointed by a single track on the album and when I came across this website that accompanies it I was thoroughly impressed. The site is an interactive page depicting Ty Segall himself in various environments. It allows you to click on and alter objects within the frame and quite literally 'manipulate' his environment. The screen shots don't do the website justice, the only way to experience it is to go onto the website, listen to the song and have a play around. The lo-fi style of the graphics really compliment Ty Segall's sound and personality.

www.ty-segall.com/manipulator/

Grandpa's Photos is an incredible project. Set up by Dave Tomkins when he uncovered a collection of Photographs in his Grandfather's home. His Grandpa was unable to remember where the large majority of these pictures came from and Tomkins took it upon himself to find out. Through a beautifully designed website and with help from the online community Tomkins has been able to discover the location of a huge amount of these photographs. I personally think it is amazing what can be achieved with the help of the web and I think this collaborative project is an outstanding example of this. Since the website has been launched Tomkins has used the new information he has received to actually go and visit some of these places. In an interview with Complex magazine he says 'I thought it would be great to go to all of the places and stand right where Grandpa was.'

The way that Tomkins has made his website so interactive and got such a great response from the online community has inspired me to maybe attempt something similar with my website. 

www.grandpas-photos.com/

OUGD504 - Logo Starter - Colour experimentation

After my previous experimentation with colour for the Surf Shredder logo I was completely set on using gradients. I feel that it adds the vintage surf feel that i would like to include to this fairly contemporary design. 

I spent time experimenting with Adobe Kuler to resolve a brand strategy. I based my decisions on the experimentations I have already done and tried out what worked and what didn't. For example I really disliked the logo with this green included

Shown above is the colour scheme that I decided upon for the Surf Shredder brand. I feel the colours can be related to the beach and the sunset. Two themes which are often used when branding surf companies. 

As I have already said I developed from the most successful of my previous colour experimentations. Above you can see the comparison.

Above the image shows the logo in each of the 5 colours individually as well as a few different gradient experimentations.

OUGD504 - Studio Brief 02 - 'Logo Starter'

After spending what felt like forever on Kickstarter searching for a project I found one that caught my attention. The project is called 'Surf Shredder trick surfboard.' The project was set up by Paul Katzoff at 'Zoff Industries.' He intends to produce the worlds first twin tipped surfboard.

I started by sketching a variety of initial ideas and looking at existing surf logos. I decided I wanted to incorporate the idea of the surfboard being twin tipped by into the logo and my favourite way that I came up with to do this was to use waves.

After doing my sketches I realised that I could possibly look at using the golden ratio in my design as so many other successful logos use this rule.

I spent quite some time trying to produce some of the ideas that I had in illustrator. I had quite a bit of trouble making them look how I envisaged. I decided that although I did like the idea I wasn't going to be able to make the outcome look as I intended it. I also spoke to some classmates and was told that they preferred some of my other ideas anyway. I decided to leave the idea of the intersecting golden ratio circles and see how I could develop one of my other ideas.

I started producing this logo idea on Illustrator and immediately liked the way it was going.

I felt the design needed something else and after looking at vintage surfboard logos i decided to add a circle into the design which symbolised the sun.

I started experimenting with type and the positioning of it around my logo but i was really struggling with this.

After some more feedback i changed the line so that there were no sharp edges. I preferred the fluidity of this version.

I experimented with colour and tried a few minor variations on the logo. I was happy with the way it was looking but decided to try the design in a circular format instead

I really liked the way this looked and it solved all the problems that I had with the positioning of the type.

I decided that although I liked the design with block colours it may also look nice using strokes instead. I again used the golden ratio when it came to the size of the circles in comparison to one another. I felt the design was quite striking but needed something else.

I addd rays coming off the sun and immediately really liked the way it looked. It gave the design slightly more depth.

I experimented with the type on the logo. I had already decided that I wanted to use Futura but i tried out a few different weights. I eventually decided to use Futura bold for the main title and an extrabold condensed version for the secondary type. 

I tried out various colour variations and experimented with gradients. I felt this gave the logo a bit of the vintage surf feel that I wanted to achieve.