Monday 28 September 2009
Wednesday 12 August 2009
Tuesday 4 August 2009
Cultural Understanding
During my work experience at DraftFCB (Cape Town), I was taking note of the cultural influence in their design work. Since my dissertation title is 'Contrasting design cultures between South Africa and the Uk' this research is fundamental to my progress so I was interested in finding a really strong difference between the two design cultures. The strongest point was that there is a particular 'Africanism' within the industry in South Africa, which boasts a strong sense of pride to be South African. A lot of African style imagery is used, which is understood only through having a South African upbringing which a British person may not recognize or understand. What I also established is that the understanding of South African humour is fundamental in the majority of their advertising and that the humour there is very different compared to British humour. This also varies depending on the language used as South Africa has eleven official languages, which leads to many different meanings and interpretations. One of the languages for example, Afrikaans (originally derived from the dutch settlers), has a very particular sense of humour in which slang words or sentences can have double meanings.
For example, the advert above has a double meaning in that 'mit eish' when directly translated into English means 'with ice' but South Africans will only understand the humour as african people say 'eish' as an expression of 'wow'. This advert is exceptionally well executed in a tv ad as well (see below), and the simple play on words had all South Africans laughing and remembering the cleverness of the ad.
The print ad below is another example in which the Afrikaans saying 'ge-amp' here is used to illustrate the wires which plug into an amp or sound system, therefore implying that Klipdrift can get a party going. It is also however an expression in which English South Africans have adapted to the slang word 'amped' which is used to imply excitement, or strong enthusiasm.
For example, the advert above has a double meaning in that 'mit eish' when directly translated into English means 'with ice' but South Africans will only understand the humour as african people say 'eish' as an expression of 'wow'. This advert is exceptionally well executed in a tv ad as well (see below), and the simple play on words had all South Africans laughing and remembering the cleverness of the ad.
The print ad below is another example in which the Afrikaans saying 'ge-amp' here is used to illustrate the wires which plug into an amp or sound system, therefore implying that Klipdrift can get a party going. It is also however an expression in which English South Africans have adapted to the slang word 'amped' which is used to imply excitement, or strong enthusiasm.
Tuesday 9 June 2009
OUPD201 End of Year Evaluation
At the start of this year, my goal was to move closer to becoming a confident graphic designer so that on completing my degree I will be prepared to move into the 'real world'. One concern was my inexperience with software so I am pleased to say that I've learnt a lot this year which has contributed to the quality of work produced and also helped in collating a portfolio appropriately. I have a variation of work within my portfolio because I am yet to decide what area I am going to specialize in, although at this point my interest sways more towards print based work and packaging.
I really enjoyed the YCN breifs where the criteria narrowed down specifics, but one was still able to have fun with the projects. I liked that I was working towards resolving a problem with a purpose; specifically for a form of advertising which is why I want to have work experience in this particular field to find out what exactly will be intailed. The work I produced in the Shelter, wagamama, lastminute and O2 briefs were all focused on advertising and promotion which I am really enthusiastic about and which I appreciate the work which is already used for these companies.
My strengths in this would be ideas/concept generation as I get really motivated to bring an idea together and cant wait to 'get the ball rolling'. That said, my weaknesses may be not sticking to a final idea and my unnecessary urge to incorporate everything rather than choosing a simpler, more effective route. Another weakness may be my use of words within work as I need to choose appropriate or clearer tag-lines to communicate the message better.
I aim to continue developing and improving my time management, software and research skills. These combined will speed up my work production and also improve the quality of work produced.
My dissertation will focus on a comparing design cultures between South Africa and the UK. Since graphic design is about communication, I'm interested in the way in which designers have to be aware of cultural understanding in order to communicate effectively. I'm in Cape Town over the summer for work placements so this will offer a perfect opportunity for research and I'm sure I'll learn a lot in the process.
I really enjoyed the YCN breifs where the criteria narrowed down specifics, but one was still able to have fun with the projects. I liked that I was working towards resolving a problem with a purpose; specifically for a form of advertising which is why I want to have work experience in this particular field to find out what exactly will be intailed. The work I produced in the Shelter, wagamama, lastminute and O2 briefs were all focused on advertising and promotion which I am really enthusiastic about and which I appreciate the work which is already used for these companies.
My strengths in this would be ideas/concept generation as I get really motivated to bring an idea together and cant wait to 'get the ball rolling'. That said, my weaknesses may be not sticking to a final idea and my unnecessary urge to incorporate everything rather than choosing a simpler, more effective route. Another weakness may be my use of words within work as I need to choose appropriate or clearer tag-lines to communicate the message better.
I aim to continue developing and improving my time management, software and research skills. These combined will speed up my work production and also improve the quality of work produced.
My dissertation will focus on a comparing design cultures between South Africa and the UK. Since graphic design is about communication, I'm interested in the way in which designers have to be aware of cultural understanding in order to communicate effectively. I'm in Cape Town over the summer for work placements so this will offer a perfect opportunity for research and I'm sure I'll learn a lot in the process.
Wednesday 1 April 2009
OUG204 TYPE ELECTIVE EVALUATION
This module has been extremely beneficial because I’ve learnt things which now seem crucial to not only type and layout design, but every aspect of design work. Through covering a range of areas it has taught me to focus more carefully on what I am communicating when using type and how even the smallest details can affect work considerably.
It was useful to have experience with Quark Express as even though it is quite different to InDesign, once I familiarised myself with the software it was fairly easy to navigate and utilise.
The introduction to the workshop was helpful in showing how certain types and combinations of letters can change the interpretation of a single word; the way it reads or sounds. This was fun but forced me to begin considering the basics such as appropriate typefaces, positioning within a page and pt size. It was really interesting and useful to see how other classmates approached all of the tasks, which definitely contributed to my learning.
When looking at hierarchies through creating a very small scale advert I was able to realise how important the order of information is. This is not only the order from the top of the page through to the bottom, but how details such as font choice, pt size and weight can drastically influence the order that the eye reads within an area.
The impeccable texts tasks developed my understanding of setting up a piece of text with columns and of how a body of text works on a page. There are so many factors to keep in mind that effect the way we read a body of text such as leading, justification, pt size, weight, font, kerning and the amount of words to each column. These tasks were challenging and surprisingly interesting to learn due to the fact that they will be important considerations in the future.
The leaflet practice was very valuable but I admit that the gape fold in particular was the most challenging for me. After creating the A5 leaflet I expected the gape fold to be no problem, but it was strangely daunting having to organise the images and text successfully onto what seemed to be very awkward pages.
I was so relieved to have learnt about some of these rules before I went on work experience at a Productions company (London) who produced two magazines for dentists. I had to create an A5 leaflet as well as a poster to advertise a dental website and I also had some experience in their magazine layout. It was a bit disappointing to see that the person in charge had no design experience and since he dictated the majority of the design direction, it was a very poor standard. I know I am still learning and have a long road ahead, but it was very deflating being forced to create awful work which I’ve been taught is bad practice. I do not regret the experience however, as it made me appreciate what I had learnt and look forward to those open briefs :)
I am so pleased that I’ve now got a business card and letterhead design (which I really enjoyed creating) and it was rewarding to utilise what had been taught into something more personal. It has also been beneficial to keep a type diary as this has forced me to take more notice of type when I’m not at college! I have tried to annotate areas as best possible but plan to improve on this ability as it can be quite difficult at times.
My weaknesses within this module have been my type diary. Although I’ve enjoyed collecting type, when annotating I feel a bit under pressure to make sure I’m saying the right thing. It also takes a degree of consideration and patience, so even though most of the time I’ve noticed details, it is different when having to write down my comments. I plan to continue practicing however as I’m slowly getting used to it.
My strengths within this module have been learning and slowly putting into practice what I have learnt. There has been a lot of information to take in over a short period of time, but I want to hold onto all this information as best possible because I know it will affect my ability as a designer in the future.
It was useful to have experience with Quark Express as even though it is quite different to InDesign, once I familiarised myself with the software it was fairly easy to navigate and utilise.
The introduction to the workshop was helpful in showing how certain types and combinations of letters can change the interpretation of a single word; the way it reads or sounds. This was fun but forced me to begin considering the basics such as appropriate typefaces, positioning within a page and pt size. It was really interesting and useful to see how other classmates approached all of the tasks, which definitely contributed to my learning.
When looking at hierarchies through creating a very small scale advert I was able to realise how important the order of information is. This is not only the order from the top of the page through to the bottom, but how details such as font choice, pt size and weight can drastically influence the order that the eye reads within an area.
The impeccable texts tasks developed my understanding of setting up a piece of text with columns and of how a body of text works on a page. There are so many factors to keep in mind that effect the way we read a body of text such as leading, justification, pt size, weight, font, kerning and the amount of words to each column. These tasks were challenging and surprisingly interesting to learn due to the fact that they will be important considerations in the future.
The leaflet practice was very valuable but I admit that the gape fold in particular was the most challenging for me. After creating the A5 leaflet I expected the gape fold to be no problem, but it was strangely daunting having to organise the images and text successfully onto what seemed to be very awkward pages.
I was so relieved to have learnt about some of these rules before I went on work experience at a Productions company (London) who produced two magazines for dentists. I had to create an A5 leaflet as well as a poster to advertise a dental website and I also had some experience in their magazine layout. It was a bit disappointing to see that the person in charge had no design experience and since he dictated the majority of the design direction, it was a very poor standard. I know I am still learning and have a long road ahead, but it was very deflating being forced to create awful work which I’ve been taught is bad practice. I do not regret the experience however, as it made me appreciate what I had learnt and look forward to those open briefs :)
I am so pleased that I’ve now got a business card and letterhead design (which I really enjoyed creating) and it was rewarding to utilise what had been taught into something more personal. It has also been beneficial to keep a type diary as this has forced me to take more notice of type when I’m not at college! I have tried to annotate areas as best possible but plan to improve on this ability as it can be quite difficult at times.
My weaknesses within this module have been my type diary. Although I’ve enjoyed collecting type, when annotating I feel a bit under pressure to make sure I’m saying the right thing. It also takes a degree of consideration and patience, so even though most of the time I’ve noticed details, it is different when having to write down my comments. I plan to continue practicing however as I’m slowly getting used to it.
My strengths within this module have been learning and slowly putting into practice what I have learnt. There has been a lot of information to take in over a short period of time, but I want to hold onto all this information as best possible because I know it will affect my ability as a designer in the future.
Tuesday 31 March 2009
Type Elective
I've been working through my type journal within this module and therefore haven't made any posts yet for type, however the elective has been extremely interesting and useful. We have covered a range of areas which has taught me to focus more carefully on what I am communicating when using type and how even the small details can affect work considerably.
Below is my business card... I've transferred the design onto my letterhead and CV and found it useful to use all that was taught in the sessions to create something for myself.
Below is my business card... I've transferred the design onto my letterhead and CV and found it useful to use all that was taught in the sessions to create something for myself.
Flash Workshop
This is the first animation I made where we had to create a character and make it appear to be walking. The ants legs are moving if you look closely... its a start!
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