Blog Post 8: Infographic

Errors are and electronic Glasgow based band. Signed to Mogwai's Rock Action Label. I chose them over other independat labels as they (to me) where a little bit different and interesting compared to the usual bands.

Consisting of four members Simon Ward, Stephen Livingstone, Greg Paterson and James Hamilton. The four member play between them the keys, guitars, drums and programming. Most notable is that the music does not have lyrics.

Having researched and studied the band I uncovered that they have a very original sound.  Their music is not like typical dance music it is more subdued with bursts of life in sections. Often it could be said that certain sections are repeated. Also I explored the band visually through their album covers and noticed that the often repeat patters such as circles, squares, rectangles and triangles. They have a very mixed look varied from hand drawn typefaces to bold sans serif ones. And often use black and white mixed with one other colour.

This research informed my data allowing me to begin to design my info graphic. I wanted the overall design to have a bold and notable appeal. I used the font Helvetica throughout as it is a strong sans serif font with a variety of weight to which i could use to my advantage. I used Helvetica black for the headline - name of the band. This immediately is the main focus as it is much larger than the other type used. I then used regular and light in order to create structure and a strong hierarchy. I tried to enhance the hierarchy through left alignment of almost all the type. This leads the viewers eye continuously down the left hand side of the page. In order to create visual excitement and really show the feel of the band is shown in the key and the breakdown of the songs into the instruments used in different parts. I illustrated simple shapes from the album covers and used them to convey a specific instrument. This created patterns to visually describe the music. I aim to print this on an off white cartridge paper. This keeps it toned down highlighting the illustrations and allowing them to do all the talking.

Blog Post 7: Rip it up and start again.

The infographic we were assigned was the Anatomy of the librarian.

 We concluded that there was far too much information with a hierarchy which is not entirely clear. The same size of font is used throughout making it quite dull and a lot of information has been used in a small space making it sore to the eyes.
 The bulk of the learning came from the illustrated sections. These attracted us more as we were inclined to read some of the information around it. They were beautifully drawn and the glasses in particular were quite ironic as the were a pair that you would stereotypically associate with an old librarian.
  The designer engages its user through the use of the illustrations. The illustrations are successful as they create a variety of appeals and can be seen in different ways from the wider audience. The target audience for this poster is most likely library users and librarians. The information is very much targeted at someone who is interested in librarians as it very much explored there lives socially and professional life. The designer clearly wanted to portray as much information to the user as possible. There needs were not fully thought about as it is very full and would benefit from some white space.
  The format seems to be on a grid where two and three columns are used. It is very full and it appears as though the designer felt he needed to fill every inch of the page with information. 
  The type in the heading is used very well, mixed with illustration, it appears very beautiful and 'librarian' like it has and elegance and age about it which is very librarian. Type is not used that well throughout the rest of the design. They seem to have used the same size font throughout and not varied the weights where it would have created a better feel and communicated to the audience better.
  Symbolic imagery is used in certain aspects. Particularly in the graph with the shoes and the graph with the glasses. It has a very fluid and organic appeal. The shoe graph makes it a bit more exciting showing the difference in male and female. The red heel looks very fancy and has associations with a young female librarian whereas the male shoe looks old and associations of an old man. The information then explains what percentage work as male or female librarians.
  The colour used are very dulled pastel The colours of blue red and browns are used in the books and create an old presence to the design. The red used stands out very much and then is used to highlight specific areas of text in relation to the illustration. For example the red half of the head's information is red and the grey is grey.
  Type and imagery do not work too great mainly because a lot of the information is stupid. In the graph about hourly rate the comparison is to a nurse and then everything. How is this logical? Overall it is very confusing.  However the percentage of librarians wearing classes looks really good together with the large Bodoni like font.
  The style is very simple and we were not sure if it referenced a specific style that enhanced its appeal yet.
 
Design Process.

Firstly research infographics
Gather information about library's -visit-experience-interview-variety of different ones.
Identify areas in which could have illustration incorporated that add more and create excitement.
Have an understanding/research human anatomy to understand brain and information for librarians anatomy.
Think about stereotype's and how this could enhance the user experience.
Font choice
Colour choice
Layout.

Blog Post 6: How do I get there?

Blog post 5: Helvetica

Having watched the film ‘Helvetica’ which I thoroughly enjoyed, I aim to extend my knowledge of the designers which intrigued me the most. From the film I learned much information that I did not know previously. It has also furthered my knowledge from studying certain designers in class. Furthermore it has allowed me to think about how I feel about the use of Helvetica throughout the world of design.

I learned that Helvetica came to life around 1975. It was a neutral typeface which was legible. It is a font where the context does the talking and not the letterforms of the type. It was used largely in the Swiss style of graphic design my many infamous designers. Some of this information in the film, I previously knew due to a recent project. The two designers I studied Massimo Vignelli and Experimental Jetset (a group of designers) where largely talked about throughout the film. I discovered knew information about these designers. Vignelli talked about designers curing visual disease. I really liked how he described this, meaning there is so much ‘ugly’ design out there that designer’s aims should be to design beautiful timeless design. Experimental Jetset mentioned how design is in the blood and that it is how you use the font that makes it. This was interesting as solely plastering Helvetica on the page does not make good design.

I was quite surprised to find out that Helvetica has been booming for about 50 years. Also I found it surprising how since the release of Helvetica, no other font has been released and been such a big hit with designer and the public alike.

Throughout the film there were certain moments that were very comical. One in particular has stuck in the back of my mind. One designer talked about looking at older styled designs then re branding them in the Swiss style. He was over dramatic and used a metaphor as though the old design was like walking through the desert then the new was the glass of water at the end. The dramatizing of this was quite funny but has made me think about it deeper and start to understand what they were getting at.

During the film new designers to me appeared and I found them very interesting. Wim Crouwel a Dutch designer, who actually was inspiration for much of Experimental Jetsets designs. The designers that appeared in the later half of the film were oppositions to the use of Helvetica. These designers such as Carson, Scher and Brody all designer in very different ways from the Swiss style and this caused much upset. There designs were much more busy and used communication in a different way than the Swiss. However I found both exciting.

I feel that after watching the film I have not changed my view on Helvetica. In particular I like how Experimental Jetset use  it as it has an edge and is playful but in keeping with a crisp clear visual message. That is not to say I do not like the work of Scher and designers alike but I agree with the feeling that Helvetica is neutral where the context does the talking. I plan to use Helvetica where appropriate in briefs but I will remember that in some projects there are fonts that in themselves convey an expressive meaning without the context being understood.

Blog Post: That font sure is saucy.

Bellow is my salacious headline, I have used a fluid serif font to try and create a sense of beauty and elegance which can mislead the reader into thinking the line will be something good.

Bellow is my good headline. With this one i have tried to use a variety of fat, heavy and ungainly font. This aims to give the positive headline a negative appeal. It will hopefully make the reader not feel what was intended in the headline due to the font choice.

Blog Post 3: Getting Around.

Stagecoach Return journey ticket.

The font that appears to be used in this ticket is a serif typeface in bit map form? It has a ragged and dotty appearance which leads me to believe this. A contrast in light and bold have been used to create hierarchy. Tight leading and a small Pt. size creates a 'mash' of the information making the font quite difficult to read. The font's message does not convey a luxurious and comforting mode of transport but a rough and uncomfortable travel experience. However, this specific type of font may have been used due to the compact printing device installed on buses.

The hierarchy on the ticket is quite crazy and doesn't seem to have been taking into much consideration as certain bits of information appear unnecessary. Areas of less importance seem to have been made larger and bolder than the important areas. A variety of alignments are used and it creates a confusing jumble of information.

In terms of usability it will be hard for people with bad eye sight as even the public with near perfect eye sight find it hard to read the information on the ticket. Overall the ticket is usable in terms of size it slips into a wallet or a purse to keep for the return journey. 

In order for the design to be improved a few changes should be made in terms of hierarchy, Font size and overall information on the actual ticket. 

Bellow is my edited and revised version of the bus ticket.

Blog 2: Ampersands

Above is my chosen ampersand from the font 'Coming Together.' A font created entirely from ampersands by many different designers for Font Aid IV.

The humanist letterform can be distinguished clearly from the calligraphy/script like strokes. The weight of the stroke varies from a extremely thin to a relatively thicker stroke throughout the lettering. The fluid like serifs curve naturally like buds of a flower. In terms of size and scale the ampersand looses its elegance (identified in the fluid serifs) when produced in smaller sizes. It is better suited to a larger font sizes.

The ampersand is clear in its distinction of the 'ET' as identified as the universal language off and, in the 'Just My Type' book. This specific ampersand appears quite delicate and ornate yet it has a sense of elegance and beauty. The variation of stoke thicknesses distinguish this very elegant appeal. The delicate appeal is created through the fluid serifs and the ornate through the sort of 'blobs' of thicker detail at the end of these. It in some ways has hints towards the French Art Nouveau movement in its very organic shaping. It can be imagined in the heading of an elegant magazine or holding two designer's names together in their artistic design agency (The feeling of permanence identified by Simon Garfeild.) The joining of the 'ET' in this ampersand is from the 'e' to the 't' in a very natural curve, the whole design is very organic and does not hold any geometric properties. 

Exercise 3: Alignment

Blog 1: Inappropriate Font Usage

Here is a extract of a menu from a local Indian Cuisine. The menu has been in the house for a long time (hence the crushes and folds in the photo) and i have only just noticed the inappropriate font usage! A thick stroked script has been used in all the headings of the different food types. This is quite difficult to read especially in the sections where a small font size has been used, for example in the accompaniments section. It may have been trying to give off an appeal of rich quality, However, it does not work well it is too heavy looking and in a way strains the readers eyes. Perhaps a better design would be as follows:

This changes the font from a script to a sans serif font that still holds properties such as the fluid motion in the letters such at the 'W'. It is much more legible than the original without adding any extra meaning that was not intended in the original design.

Exercise 2: Long Lists

Exercise 2: Hierarchy