Where have I been?

I seem to be answering that question a lot.

Weeelll. I've been keeping busy. In fact, I've been looking around the web for better means of hosting my materials. Deviantart and blogger are good. But the insanely effient tumblr is catching my eye over blogger's rather cluttered features. The move could happen soon, so a lot of my work would be redirected there, instead of here.

For those who don't know, Tumblr is a blogging site, with the sleekness of twitter and less mess that you get with facebook, it's a very very clean format to work under. More so when promoting work.

However, that's all for another time. Right now we are talking -
http://www.tricorderproject.org/about.html

I though this would be an interesting idea for me to share for the little traffic I get through here. However it strikes me as something very interesting to see become a reality. (Which it slowly is) Design is my one true love next to technology and the two go hand in hand.  A project like this could really dwarf the iphone or whatever google is doing with project glass (still waiting on that).

If the open source tricorder project does get in the air, I would be very very interested to see how it pans out on the market, and both as a tool. When you can compact what we once though would be a mass of tools into one small box, well the possibilities are endless. Not just for ease of use, but for education, and science as a whole.

Of course, it's running linux, so there will no doubt be tumblr, facebook, twitter or instagram apps for it if it ever did become public. Ah, apps. Didn't predict that one did you trek?

Fencing poster.

In an effort to do something a little different I have been working on something a little new in my area of poster design. While it still retains my almost trademark like characteristics, I tried to give to give it a new spin.

I've always liked those old style Boxing posters, the fun lies in the type really, it's all about getting the right look for it, once you have pinned that, the rest is easy.

That said, this is still missing a shot of a fencing to fill the body of the poster. Being quite proud of this one, I decided to water mark it, I know it does spoil the look, but sadly there are people who would be quite happy to steal and repost my work on other sites. So unless I link you to the site saying my work has been reposted there, it's not me, and wont ever be me.

Internet piracy PSA out of the way, I present to you -

I may continue to tweak the image, perhaps adding in a little rough and worn look to it, perhaps some rough edges. I'm not sure yet. One thing's for sure. It's quite fun, and I hope to make more posters this vein. 

And where have I been?

Well, short answer, busy. Long answer, very busy.

I've been expanding my place on the internet, this means a lot of work being uploaded to my new folio on deviant art - Look my up, Daykin-Design. It's been a hefty bit of work, combined with current project work its ment I have had little time for this blogger, there is the chance that this may get phased out of use since the deviantart account has everything I need...that is until I move to Tumblr but lets take one step at a time shall we.

I'll give you a wee taste of things that I've been working on. Mostly static web concepts. No, I still haven't learnt HTML, will get there eventually...

So, that's the main three webpages. I'm resisting the urge to make more, it would only provide to to be overly time consuming. Right now I want to nail the points on these pages. That border for a start. Something needs to be done with it. Just not sure what. When it's white it doesn't look complete. When it's black it looks too confined and clunky.

And then there is the logo. Normally they grow on me over time. But as the project has grown and matured. I've gotten a little..."Eh" about it. It's just not working for me like it did when it was young fresh and cool looking. It's run it's course for being a placeholder logo. Time to get my hands dirty and do some proper logo design.

Then after that, well it will all be topped off with a nice leaflet. Leaflets are nice. I would have more, but as it is right now things are on a time limit. I have a potential interview in six weeks time, so I am trying to cram my folio with new and impressive work. Hopefully this strikes a cord with them. I'm a little worried that my current work is dated and a little sloppy. I know there are some aspects that really don't meet my standards.

I have a nice selection of design books to help me through though, picked up a few creative little things in the last few days. Should be nice and inspirational. If not, well then I did sure screw up.

I'll try to be updating this as much as possible. But the deviantart page is where more of the work will be posted. Perhaps the really rough stuff and behind the scenes stuff will get posted there, I'm trying to direct most of my pageviews through deviantart as it's easier to keep a track of both work and my interweb rants. Once I have my own site with a blog section, twitter feed and gallery there wont be a need for so much link saving. But I've got a list as long as a very long thing...

Still, ta-ta for now. Going to get back to playing Minecraft  design work!

Let's talk the google.

http://thedailywh.at/2012/04/04/google-tease-of-the-day/

Now I love gadgets. I am a gadget man, I love how they make our lives easier and just run that little smoother. Call me a techno-zombie now driven with a shiny Apple logo on my forehead as I doodle through twitter on my iPod, or look into the latest fun little gizmos on ThinkGeek. But I love them.

And this, - well if you didn't just check the link above well then I suggest you do because it's quite interesting. Obviously a made up hypothetical tech demo, but it's one of those things that gets you thinking none the less. Much like how Apple suddenly make us realise how awesome the Siri app is, this is something that has made me realise just how far technology has jumped - it's sort of like a space-race with tech to see how cool the next toy can be for the highest bidder. Got to say, I would love one, (despite my fears the Google will become a self aware being and reduce humanity to dust Skynet style). I know this will be a few years off, and I would probably have to sell my kidney for one. But don't it look pretty?

Having "onscreen" apps floating around my head would be new, and eventually (after I realise this is real life and I'm not playing Doom) I think I would get used to it. With a voice command system like Siri, the might of the Google, throw in a few blue tooth and wireless functions and it would probably be a big leap forwards in the word of tech.


In doing a little bit of reading I did find out that google do in fact have their own OS, it's a little odd that this slipped me by, probably because I am chewing on the Apple, but it seems to me this should have been big gospel shouting from the roof top stuff. Ah well. Apparently there is a feature on their "Chromebooks" that replaces the cap's lock key with a dedicated search key. Seems a bit of an off design choice, personally I would have gone with using one of them function keys. You know the one's at the top of your keyboard? They're like that one room mate that promises he will get a job, and eventually only gets one when you start assigning proper functions to them - or if you like me they already have a function and get in the way of playing games because all they do is dim the screen light or fiddle about with your music playing. I digress.

Apparently Google's branching out into making an operating system with a machine was less than well received. Apparently it lacked any real offline capabilities and it was little more than a dressed up power book....apparently. I ain't the horses mouth but I just say what I read. So that does put me in another mind about this new Project Glass, could it be awesome? Well if they learn from past mistakes maybe, it seems like they might be trying to make up for that with this Project Glass, some sort of Geordi Laforge headset that you can wear while sorting out dates, playing the Ukulele to your girlfriend and shopping for books on how to play said Ukulele. The add itself it no doubt trying to pry it's way in front of the sleek Apple style adds while yelling to everyone that doesn't currently own an Iphone with Sirri on it. - "Hey look what we can do with this technology we're not even really showing you!"

Perhaps I am being too harsh and too early. Of course this is a teaser of what it is to come, but the real question is...will it? Is this actually going to be a massive leap forwards where we all look like Garrus Vakarian with little blue thingies over our faces? (Admittedly it would look cool, but the depth perception has got to suck after a while.) While I want to welcome this new fangled gizmo with open arms I am a little hesitant. This could just be a massive teaser with nothing to follow, while I don't doubt that Google has the funding for it I'm sure we all know of a few companies that have fallen behind with delivering promised good - See Valve and Half life 3 here. Maybe this is a stunt to rekindle interest after their flash in the pan with their Power Books? Maybe I am talking out a hole that isn't my mouth? Answers on a postcard. Time will tell if this is a dead end project or if this could be something that may rise up and strike the iPhone in the back when it least expects it.

Until then I'll go back to my corner and stop pretending I know what I am talking about. Laters.

Yet to be titled cinema project.

-Warning what your about to read may or may not make any sense what so ever, let this be a reminder to people who put stuff up on the internet, never do it when you're exhuasted. You'll only look silly.-

So, this past week has ultimately been rather quiet. So I've been picking around through some old work to see if it can lend a hand with coming up with a project or two. 

It paid off surprisingly and it leads nicely into my current idea. 

Cinema. Or the be more precise the decline in the smaller lesser known independently run organisations around the UK.

The idea is full of hypotheticals right now as I have yet to observe the current infrastructure of the cinema industry, but what my main goal is to see if I can create a campaign that would help bring interest back to these smaller cinemas.  Some of these establishments are well known for being a little more creative than the much larger corporations such as Vue and Odeon, such has having film nights, replaying classic films, foreign films, and mini conventions showing off artwork and Q&A sessions with film makers. 

These elements help make the smaller cinemas stand out, but in some ways I don't think they stand out enough. The original concept of cinema was to express ideas and to tell a story visually with elements that can't be told in a verbal format. I think over time most of use lost that sense of exploration that comes with cinema instead falling into the pit of one Hollywood blockbuster after another. While I'm not condemning cinema for being a largely American industry, in my opinion I think sometimes the people can be missing out on a more enriching experiance if they gave other films/directors/even different countries a chance of showing what they can do. 

My overall plan then for this campaign is to do something big, (We all say that about our projects but stay with me here.)

So far I only have a rough bare bones idea on what I am working with. My plan is to help bring to light these cinema's that are suffering and perhaps give them a wider audience for people who not only enjoy film, but want to reach out and explore a different format in cinema. 

This could include old films British, American, European - films that are not as well known by the current generation. 

Foreign films - Famous directors such as Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Amile), Hayo Miyazaki, have a large fan base, but sadly because these films are foreign there is often a good chance that they will be pushed to a straight to DVD format, often cheating people of the chance to go see the film in a cinema as intended. 

Smaller independent films - While this is becoming less of a problem in America with the Sundance Film festival I feel that smaller independent films are still suffering outside of these events because of their lack of coverage. The Sundance FF has created a format that has allowed for very small independent film makers to be able to produce and show their work. It could be possible to incorporate these ideas into a scheme for British film makers as well. 

A rough idea of what would work be produced - 

Branding - logo

Website 

Posters

Web ads

Website

While they are the typical bare bones of the idea I am getting across a style already. I'm currently exploring artistic styles relating to older film posters (don't worry it's not more Saul Bass, but you'll be seeing more of that in the future). I'm exploring the old style Grindhouse posters as a style of long forgotten cinema that has a goofy but ultimately different thematic style to them. My only concern though is that it really does limit your visual elements as well as the Grindhouse genera wasn't really a PG setting. So while I could perhaps use it with the connotations for film buffs in mind I am considering exploring outside that element, perhaps even forming a whole new kind of poster. 

Here's a snippet of ideas. It's sort of at the top of my idea chain, (sort of like a food chain but with ideas),

it was mocked up while I was pulling together bits and bobs to help get the ball rolling. I'm prone to sketch out ideas and little snippets, but I enjoyed working on this one a lot so I kept it hanging around. 

I totally forgot John Hurt was in this film. How do I keep doing that?

It needs a good polish though, there are a few things lacking, for example there is no real depth to the poster, and sadly the only high resolution image of the Xenamoprh I could get my mitts on was from Alien Vs Predator. *shudders* I may invest in the fancy Alien skull boxed set purely for a better image of the beastie. 

I may even pull the "Jaws" and not show the monster since that's the ol' trick of cinema (sort of lacking today) is to only show the monster partially and let the imagination go wild. Perhaps I should take cues from the original poster and use the face hugger egg instead as that as always been a far more predominant image in advertising for the original Alien. 

Perhaps a fresh version of this poster may crop up when I have the time as I really enjoyed working on this one, the type especially as it's rare that I make myself do movie posters, it was fun to come up with creative ways of displaying the cast list that wasn't in the conventional 'tiny text and the bottom of the poster' routine. 

Well that's all we have time for today kiddies. Minecraft beckons to me but I'm going to resist and go and scribble stuff for you all to stare in awe at. 

Until next time. Keep cool y'all. 

Opinionated blog post - Detective comic's comic.

Face it, we're designers. And we have opinions about everything. I know it, you know it, we all know it. If there is one thing we designers like...nay love to do is put our foot in the door and say. "Well I think."


Oh we do it so often I've lost count how many times I smugly walk into a situation with ego carrying my aloft over the crowds of undesigned neanderthals all using comic sans or that horrible font from the Avatar poster. I descend into the situation with a firmly placed. "Well I think -" and I promptly receive looks of death from everyone in the room. 


Don't worry if it seems like I'm rambling. Because I am. What I'm getting on about is how all us designers like to have opinions, so. what am I being opinionated about? 

Seems the good folk at DC have unveiled...something. I think it's their new logo. It seems they've been trying to radically alter themselves over the last few months and give themselves a new face. They rebooted all their comics creating 52 new comics, some good, some bad, some pointless. But now they have unloaded a new logo at us. It seems odd that they would do this some five months after they had this paradigm shift. But what do I know about the comic book industry? 

So, the logo in question. Short answer. - I don't like it. 

Long answer - I really don't like it. 

Okay, perhaps I should elaborate. 

It's nice. And a creative idea, it's also a big step away from what DC have had as their logo for some fifty plus years. 

Dc's evolving stamp logo has been around for donkey's years, eventually evolving into the spinning star. Here's the thing about these logos. None of them actually contain the words comic. And there is a reason for that. Anyone care to tell us that DC standards for? 

Detective Comics. - from the original publication of Batman. So, yes Detective Comics is now "Detective Comics comics." 

Smooth. 

Of course people have been calling it DC comics for years out of sense of habit, like Marvel comics, or Image comics, but when you actually start putting it in the logo, it sort of gives the impression that you don't actually anything about the company your designing for. Hence why I don' think this really does look like a comic book company logo. Well I suppose the logo has strengths. For starters. The personality of the logo, well it hasn't got much. If any at all, it's more about the ways that it can be altered to fit the comics it's working for. It feels very tacked on less of a design feature and more something to help it feel less bland. And that's it's only real strength - ironically also being it's weakness. The logo lacks any real sense of personality and individuality. Yes they can make it glow like a power ring, yes you can have the bloody smear from the Watchmen, but outside of that. What is the logo in it's neutral form? If I want to by a product from DC, will it have just a plain format of this logo? Or is there going to be mass micromanaging of the logo for every product? 

I'm all for giving a logo of sense of continuity with a specific branch of it's creations, but at the same time it should have a just as recognisable neutral form. There's also the problem that it feels very amateurish. It's not pushing the envelope with it's ideas and staying rather neutral. Peel away the gimmick and all you have is a simple peeling D idea with a C under it. Of course they are comics, nay Epic Page turning comics! But it feels like something a college student would turn in with their own personal project of rebranding DC, it's weak. It's corporate and doesn't leap out at me. None of these logos say that it's it a company with a history, this was the company that brought me such things as Year One, All Star Superman, the Killing Joke. It tells me that they have a big roster, sure, but none of the above images makes me think of a man from Krypton, the dreaded Batman. Well that's unless they open some sort of law firm. 

The fact that your logo says DC, and then you have DC comics under it, well that is unnecessary type for a start. It makes the logo unbalanced and makes me wonder if the people who designed this where so worried that people wouldn't recognise the logo they had to put in a new section that tells people the obvious. 

When even the designers who are working on this lack the faith in their logos. It's a good sign that you should scrap it and go back to the drawing board. 

As I troll through the internet looking for information on this new logo I come across a little line about the logo. Sadly this quote has no name attached to it so I can't say if this is genuinely from someone in DC of if it was in fact their sort of buzz word for when they where working on the logo. But anyway, said quote is this. 

"re-capture the older branding"

Now I've got to stop and scratch my head here for a second. Older branding. Incase you've forgotten, scroll back up to the top of the page and look and new ones, then, scroll back down and look at the older ones. Go on, I'll wait for you. 

Okay, so if you feel that this is totally justified, please tell me, correct me. The internet is full of conflicting opinions on how someone can be so wrong, draw me a flow chart, give me a diagram. Hell just tell me I'm crazy. Because that isn't what I see. The older logos? They actually remind me of something else. They make me think of a big rubber stamp. (Well not so much the 05 to 12, but stay with me here) They feel like this big seal of approval. As if it was a certified product, as if this product was so awesome it has been awarded the highest honour of receiving this stamp. Of course that's blatant nostalgia talking since Dc has turned out as much tripe as any other comic company, but it's the idea behind it. This logo feels like like a seal of approval and more like a business card logo - as if Green Lantern hands these out after defeating Sinestro. "Do you have what it takes to join the GL corps?"

I digress. Really, I could summarise this ramble with a simple opinion. It's amateurish at best, it lacks the power of even the dignity of the classic brands. It feels more like a cheep marketing tool rather than a thought out logo crafted to make us think of the history and the creativity of this brand. (Of course the classic logos had that with a big hit and miss factor, but hey, now would have been a good chance to do so.) 

It's certainly not lacking imagination in parts. Time and effort needed to be put into this. When handling this logo it needed to be done with more expert care. This wasn't it. 

Well that's my opinionated blog post done for the afternoon, if you made sense of this. Well done! Feel free to comment bellow on what you think of the logo, be it good bad, and hey while your there what would you liked to have seen as a new logo? It's got to be better than this one. 

Brand new everything!

So there has been work done. Lots of it. New cv cover from my cv booklet. Now with a spin being more book like in design and format. A front cover, back cover and a little blurb. And there is a new logo! Didn't take me long, but I do consider branding one of my more stronger elements. So without further ado, let me show you what I've got.

Brand new logo! The classic lightbulb. 

I'll let you know how the hardback sales come out. 

While there is always a serious element to design it should be noted that really, ANYONE can be serious when they try. But being funny and still interesting is (personally) tricky. I think it shows a certain level of humanity in work and not being so plain faced. Hopefully I will be able to explore the humour a little more later down the line. But right now I am getting the feeling that with a less cluttered cover and a personal logo I have a higher chance of at least gaining some attention. 

She's a killer cleaner! Gunpowder, gelatine! Dynamite with a laser beam!

Well there are things that are going to be happening soon. First of all there is a massive amount of working going into my latest CV. I've been doing a lot of thinking and I'm starting to think that I could do with something a little more streamlined. The booklet was a fun way to break into new ground. But it lacked a focus and a means of getting to the point. So, within the next few days I'll be working furiously on a new form of CV. My main target for it so far is an inforgraphic style presentation. Something that shows both my skills in design practically as well as having some nice hard fact to back it up.

This also means that there will be a new logo in the mix, that does mean there could be a chance that I may change the name "Daykin Design" though I do have one or two design solutions that. Keeping that in mind though the blog title will most likely stay the same for the time being. I will need to see if blogger will allow for changes in your own personal blog title.

So, while I've been working on that, I've also been having a little fun with some designs for someone's cleaning business that they needed work for. I've had a pretty large free range with the name, visual image and the whole kit and kaboodle for it. It was more of a process that focused on coming up with something more unique that didn't feel too generic. I don't see why a cleaning company has to have a generic logo that does it's job. I feel that any logo should have personality behind it. A little bit of life and soul that makes you want to pick this person.

So there was much fun to be had. And yes the title was purely because Killer Queen was stuck in my head over the weekend. But it's a kick ass song that got me thinking.

Guarantied to blow your mind!

I had so much fun making this one it should have been criminal. It all sparked really from the concept that I hate generic logos. I like something with personality and a perhaps a little bit of daring silliness. The original title (and most probably the one that will be used. Ah well) was Shining cleaners. And of course me being me I went off on the ramble with "The Shining". That some how mutated in killer cleaners. The idea that something is "Killer" being slang for "Awesome" though do you young and hip things still say that today? If not can we bring it back? Anyway. We blended murder and cleaning. It's silly fun with no real idea if it will ever make it. But I thought I would throw it out there because I really did have too much fun making it. 

Anyway, that's my blog post for the day. If anyone needs me I'll be over here listening to Brain May being the god of Guitar Solos.

Bodily fluids...

You get the title you win a glorious no prize!

So here is a nice little something I created for a friend. I am wanting to do more along this style. Currently I am being massively influced by the work of Mr Hipp with such wondrously illustrated mock covers such as http://mrhipp.blogspot.com/2011/11/does-tintin-dream-of-electric-sheep.html They just seem to work so well. Sure hope Tintin finds that unicorn...maybe he should try asking Adama. (Oh there I go more hidden jokes within jokes.)

So here's my contribution to the cross over cover/poster world.

I think this is probably one of the most enjoyable posters I have made in a long time. Perhaps up there with the Cabespace one. Perhaps it's because all the elements just work somehow. I still think the Saul Bass-ness in my is hanging around for a little longer than predicted, but again, somehow - it all seems to work. There is a wonderful simplicity in the look to it. Stark colours reflecting the shot of scene, bold text with the primary words filled in leaving the text to a much thinner stroke. It helps give a sense of foreground and background with elements filled in being closer to elements behind them on the landscape.


While not the same scale and complexity I would love to perhaps one day make something in the same vein as Mr Hipp, being a fan of the Tintin books as well makes it something even more I want to attempt. Cross overs are always fun for their madcap silly nature and I think it would be a nice project to work on that would show just how crazy/creative I can be.

We get the point, you like swords.

I apologise for the pun. But it had to be done.

Still, what else have I been up to? Well this for one!

West Fife Fencing need a new logo for branding and shirts and what not. I'm just chucking out ideas at full speed, see what ones they like and tally ho off we go and use that one.  The first three though on the left at the top where their own ideas while the others where more what I had in mind. 

The primary colours of the club are red and black so I've tried to keep to that using thinner line work to stop it looking a little too bloated. Red and black works some times, personally I feel that if that if you over use one in contrast to the other it sort of looks bloated and doesn't have a nice sense of balance. 

The red diamonds. Quite a sneaky one. But it's ment to be the rail bridge. I wish I could say I came up with that one, but it was part of their original concepts. Still, I like it. It works nicely. Right now I am seeing how much I can play/distort the original elements used here and see what I come out with in the end. 

The main part is the text, how far can I tinker with that before it becomes too illegible. Well thats what I shall find out. You'll see in the next post! 

TTFN 

Drip - 3d mockups.

Sp, I said I would have some of them lovely mock ups for you didn't I? And well lets see what we have here...

I know there are a few bits and bobs that normally sit on the front of packaging. The usual legal gubbins that hangs around there so no one gets sued. However, I'm trying to use the white...or um. Blue space to help really single out the title. It's a little harder to work with it on the smaller product. Perhaps it could be made smaller? Answers on a post card. Very little has differed from the original concept that we saw in the last post. The text is better aligned with all the other parts and perhaps the colour isn't a 100% match but it works for this preview. 

So now that I have a design I am more comfortable with working with and I feel is perhaps much stronger than it was than last time. I think I can move full steam ahead with producing visuals on a larger scale for the product. 

Drip continues.

Yikes this is a late post. But as they say time+effort over late hours = design...or something like that it's gone one am...don't judge me.

Anyway. this is one of those uber quick blog posts to reveal more astounding work! Hurrah. Basically a new layout with improved text, colouring and basically a feel that better holds the brand togeather. The thinner text was nice but I feel it wasn't holding it's own weight and there was very little to play around with.

I also felt that while the stark white was nice, there could be more variation in colour to breath more life into something that otherwise could be missed in a product market where white is an overly used colour. They retain the sleek elements but have more life to them.

I'm a little wary on the black as vanilla. While that is the colour of vanilla pods, unlike the plant that is the vanilla/white colour I was going for a more traditional feel in linking the colours to the scents rather than the colour of the packaging. An odd duck, but I'm picturing it as a fabricated product that could sit on shelves. I went with an off black so as to not feel like your looking into the void, but rather something with a little bit of substance, that could be completely different if it were ever in print. But hey, it's something to consider at the very least.

No doubt even more tinkering will commence soon, I can see a few little bits that need tinkering work. However a 3d mockup will be arriving very soon. I only wish I have the resources and the skills to produce a full sized version. I think I would pick the black. Just to prove to you how awesome it would look.

Until then though it's still working my way though it. Though at 2 am (by the time I finished this post) it's probably the oddest uses of the word fun I've come across in context with typography at 2 am. Man I bet Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann where like this back in the day...like a boss. Or bosses... 

Drip

So here we are - this is the concept in a more visual form. I think you people out there will find it interesting. My main concern with a project was trying to be as environmentally friendly as possible.

So - Tetra packs!

So here is the design, it's a little cruder than I had hoped. Google Sketchup is a nice free program but it sometimes lacks the power to make the more complex objects. But still this is still a good example for what I have in mind. This being, showing off the new creative brilliance that I have.

Like I said ealier. I am always focused on the environmental concerns. And packaging is a real pain for this. Mostly shampoo. It's always one that gets on my nerves, there is such a waste in packaging there that costs so much to produce, and little can be recycled. So, I looked into what would work best. BOOM! Tetra packs. Almost too perfect for the job. It's paper, it can be recycled, it's durable, perfect for storing liquids, water proof, the list goes on.

So yes, shampoo in a tetra pack. I'm not sure if it has been done before, hopefully I've started something interesting. Naturally there are more details to add. I've not too keen on the "Tangy lemon" text. It's a little off but it works for simply telling you what it is. I'm looking into the other details that would be on the container. I am looking to make them look/feel a little ultra modern/minimalist to really try and give the "Wham" feel for a design like this. 

I'm also thinking of exploring outside of the confines of larger bottles for just shampoo, I think something like the smaller units could be used to perhaps traveling, or maybe even liquid soaps. Who knows? With the right ideas I think the possibilities are endless really.

Gloop to Drip.

So in my redefining my ideas on my own concepts for Gloop - it's been changed around to something a little more sophisticated. Enter Drip!

Still rather rough, but this has become a lesson in both packaging design and environmental considerations.  This is still a work in progress but it's a much stronger concept than my previous design. 

But now, the observant people in the audience will have noticed - A tetra pack, and shampoo. Well I shall explain it to you when there is more to show. But like I said, environmental considerations. I'm working this as close to my own perfect form of product design as possible. Clean, efficient, waste not. I think this will be the package that will be able to tick every box. 

Next post we shall be looking at 3d digital concepts. Fun fun! Until then, see you around. 

Little bit of Gloop.

So, as design work continues I dip into looking at the concepts for "Gloop" it's simple enough. Though I am trying to push for a more creative solution. So far I have an idea for packing relating to bioplastics and being as minimal as possible.

The gloop is just an idea though - As they way things look, it might become more of a minimalist style design. Perhaps more fitting with the design of the packaging I have in mind.

The ol' IV shower gell bag has been a bit of a gag gift, but I've been thinking of perhaps making it a slightly more interesting package for shower gels and what not. I've been trying to think of ways to reduce the overall amount of packaging to only a few components that would be both different and perhaps useful.

I'm also looking into bioplastics to help think of ways to make it more environmentally friendly. Lacking any real experience in science it's a bit of a struggle. But I am getting some interesting ideas...I think.

Hence really why there are two concepts - a silly faced on, the "Gloop" and perhaps a more serious faced product that has a slightly more designer edge to it. It moves away from the novelty edge and perhaps gives it more staying power. We shall see. I plan on developing the second idea a little more. I have an idea, but I still lack a name, I don't think Gloop would work in a more serious format, but who knows?

Until the, TTFN.

What ever happened to the project about the caped crusader?

So, as the horribly stolen Neil Gaiman title reads, this is a little bit of an update on my thoughts surrounding bringing back my Batman Live project. To be fair, I had never really liked the outcome of the project. With the final details of the show being released when my project was nearly under wraps it was too late to do anything about it. So there is that horrible feeling of awkwardness when you have two things that aren't going to work with each other.

There was also the feeling that what I had done was never going to feel like a proper project. So, today I sat down, shoot the sleep from my eyes and began re-exploring the artwork of Batman. An hurrah! I struck gold.

When I was looking for an era of Batman I wanted something that could be colourful, but not campy. The campy era...well I don't hate it, but I can't enjoy it as much as I enjoy Batman being the detective rather than attending a stamp collection fair. I needed something that struck a balance.

And lo, it happened - please enter the artwork of Marshall Rogers. Probably one of the most creative artists to have draw Batman he did something that - on paper - sounds almost impossible. The costume was blue. 

And I really don't have a clue why he did it, but honestly it has always looked fantastic. Perhaps it was coming from the camp era of Batman that the costume still retained the colours much like Miller did in The Dark knight. But that's not really important right now. What it is is perhaps the starting point for my new Batman live designs. 


It's odd actually that the costume would be so colourful. In this portion of Batman's life, well things where a little grim and dark, the Second Robin died, the series became far more dark borrowing from Miller's notes. So really it is the perfect blend of the redesign. It contains the weight of the darker elements of the series, but with a costume that is always larger than life. Hell it even manages to have the yellow and black Bat-symbol, something personally has varied in success throughout the series. Rogers also had a thing for making the cape billow out and flow behind him, giving him an other worldly and perhaps a little bit of a operatic appearance.


The best example being here -

This image on it's own his now a new starting point for the posters. It's far more theatrical than my original designs and focuses both on the dark imagery of the character, but it's not shying away from the flare. Something I think I missed completely when working on it originally. 

And then there was the poses. Because of Batman's style and history there have been a number of look's he's been given, the icon shadow of the cowl. The problem is, well they have become stock images. The same soft of composition and visual motif being repeated over and over again felt tired. Hence why in the original posters the text was vertical against the left side, and in the yellow of the Bat-symbol's oval. It was unconventional, something that wasn't normally done on comic covers, admittedly I was taking cue's from Dave Gibbon's cover of the Watchmen, with the massive smiley and blood stain, the iconic image for the cover, while the text bold and powerful runs up the side. I was intending it to be a bit of a homage to the original idea. Though looking bat the way the text was placed and the eventual lay out ment that there wasn't much of a resemblance to it. 

Before I ramble on about how DC are running out of interesting poses for the Dark Knight - I will instead talk about the kinds that have potential for a poster. 

At this point, this style is a hot contender. It's actually a rather nicely done image, again theatrical and rather bold with a stark colour contrast. I will need to track down the artist who did this because I really do enjoy it. What sells it to me is the way the cape moves around him, being far more free and less stiff and confined, it makes him feel as if he is on up high watching over the world. 

This one - more in line with the my original idea. This one more action orientated. Posed for a fight, it's a tense picture, with minimal focus on Batman, instead giving us a shot that focuses on his foes as much as it does him. But reducing him only to a cape and shadow, because really, that's how he fights. You don't see his face, you see a blur, a whirlwind of shape and colour. He's also hunched, like a monster or perhaps more appropriately a trained fighter ready to give it his all. 

Another by Rogers, and this one is a cracker, we see Batman, his face like the Joker's grinning, standing over the bodies of three people with the same face, and swept into the cape is the title. All the while with rain and lightening filling the air. It's tense, and the intrigue of the cover baffles me as to how we get here with this situation. Again though there is that flare making it more like a film poster than a comic cover. It's these elements that I'm attempting to capture in the hopes of making something big and entertaining for my revised Batman live project. 


So thats some of the working as to how I got here. Hopefully, I will be able to share of my of working/reasoning, and perhaps even the sketches that take me to the final idea. Until then, be seeing you. 

Updating - back in the world.

So after a short holiday in Kelso. I'm back to designing and doodling - a mixture of a simple branding idea, cv booklet, and my Valve posters. It's coming along nicely. I've got a fair amount of work on my hands to keep my nice and busy.

And of course the boxed set of TinTin's adventures was released the other day...ah many fun times.  I've still to watch all of it as work calls, but I say it's a form of inspiration so I can watch more. It's sort of like writing something off on your taxes in a way...if that makes sense.

Still, three posters in the valve series to come along. Left 4 Dead, Garry's mod and Half life. I've actually been having a lot of fun working on posters and I am seeing it as one of my stronger areas of design. Something I think I would like to be doing more on a professional level come the time when I have a nice shiny graphic design job.

Until then though it's just designing and doodling.

Goodbye Steve.

It's going to be a slightly odder world of tech without the man of Apple at the helm.

Have fun in the great Apple store in the sky Mr Jobbs. You deserve it.

Shop fronts!

Ah now this was fun, another haul from the Batman live project, a wee bit of fun involving modifying the shop fronts of Forbidden planet in order to become a form of rather overt Guerilla marketing. The idea is that any villain featured in the show would have an appearance in the form of shop from in the coming months.

This also tied rather nicely into the online hunt. The idea was to entice people into finding out more by offering them rewards such as goodies and even tickets to the event. The website would have hidden details in a viewing gallery that featured these pictures. People would be able to search for clues that would lead to them accessing more of the site as well.

Naturally these shop fronts would also have hidden clues hidden in the form of QR codes allowing people to instantly access the website and other content/clues in the hunt for free stuff.

This sort of plan would have been marketed at the teen/older batman fans - using smart phones to tweet and  scan QR codes to work out what is going on. The Overhauled shop fronts where essentially designed for any aged batman fan, even the really young as the designs embrace the more silly camp nature of the series that I think is probably the best known part of the series. Ahh Adam West.

Thinking about it, wouldn't it have been awesome to have the "Riddler Planet" in neon? Oh come on you know that is seven flavours of awesome right there. 

37c

Huzzar, yet another project gets uploaded. 37c. Quite a fun one. Creating some form of advertising for Art galleries coming to hospitals.

Well I tried to avoid the doom and gloom feeling that hospitals seem to evoke. Because, lets be honest, if they do the best thing it's making you feel misreble. Perhaps that is just me but the scale of bad things vs good things on visiting on a hospital...bad out weighs good sadly.

So I went for something a little joyful and fun. Of course the 37 degrees joke is only going to make sense if you know human biology. Thankfully I do - the wonder temperate of the human body is 37 degrees celius. So it's more medical humour in there for you.

I went with the multiple variations of colour, I think it helps fit into the more bright and optimistic view we try to have with hospitals. Surprisingly I think this is one of the few usages of the colour red in a 'feel good' poster that I can say works and has context. And it's one of the few occasions where I will break my own personal rule of never using green and red together. But that works out fine since the green is made of two nicely contrasting shades that help lift the red off and stopping that freaky illusion you get when your brain tries to focus on a 'agressive' colour over a more 'passive'.

But oh wait, thats not all. I've got a mite more to show you kiddies. See that little smiley? Well the brilliant thing about an icon are ones that we've used so much they become somewhat generic until you make a change, we notice the altered ones more often because it's a sudden change from the norm. Probably the best example is the Watchmen 'smiley' that is used all over the place.

So here are a few variations -

In keeping with the concept of different artistic movements, I decided to try and keep the same idea with the face. Though doubtful there would ever be a horror exhibition it's a nice little example of how diverse the logo can be when the situation demands it.