Unit 3 Summary

Although I struggled with some elements of the project such as creating an effective and quirky box net for my cupcakes to be packaged in and settling on a final logo that reflected my initial ideas for the tearoom, I think that they eventually successfully reflected my aims that I outlined in my project brief and related to the brand that I created. My preliminary research was particularly useful to me as it allowed me to express all of my ideas that I had at the beginning and then refine them into aspects that I wished to develop further. I will use this method of organising my ideas in future projects as it proved to allowed me to work more efficiently and focus on ideas that would work with my chosen project brief. If I had a longer time period in which to add to my project or were to redo my project completely, I would definitely take more time to research 3D methods during my logo design, as this was an area where my project really lacked development. I could possibly have added a drop shadow to my logo to make it stand out on my packaging and other final outcomes. Overall, however, I am pleased with both the convincing brand that I managed to create and the quality of my final outcomes. :)

Final Outcomes - Business Cards

Final Outcomes - Cupcake Boxes

Final Outcomes - Menu

Final Outcomes - Packaging

For one of my final outcomes of this project, I decided to create a line of packaging that would enable people to take away cupcakes and other baked goods from the tearoom. During my Composition task, I had experimented with using a large rectangle shaped box to transport between 6 and 12 cupcakes at a time. However, after doing some more research into cupcake boxes, I found that boxes for individual cupcakes were becoming more popular and so I decided to focus my designing on these.

Calligraphy - Typography Inspiration

As well as taking inspiration form the work of Drew Melton, I also looked in some books on calligraphy.  Firstly, I looked at "A Book of Contemporary Inspiration – Calligraphy” by Denise Lach. 

This book enabled me to experiment with the flow of letters and to start to stylise the beginning letter of "Sweetea" in a calligraphic style, which is not something I had considered before.

I also looked at “The Art & Craft of Hand Lettering” by Annie Cicale.

This book made me more willing to experiment with the thickness and texture of the typography that I was creating in similar ways to that of Drew Melton. I found that using books as opposed to an internet source was useful because they were both thick journals with a lot of different examples of lettering in them, which I was able to easily flick through and see what caught my eye. They included a lot of practical advice and techniques to help me out when designing my own typography for my logo. I was also able to use the Bibliographies in these books to look for future books that could be of relevance to my project.

 

Logo Development

I changed the shape and colour scheme of my logo a lot during my project to ensure that I had developed a range of ideas that would fit the style of tearoom that I was aiming to design. I originally had the idea to put my typography inside a doyley/seal type outline so that it would look as if my logo were stamped onto my final outcomes, whilst retaining a girly feel.

This was the original idea that I had for my logo. However, I noted that there were several problems with this design: the shape of the seal left my typography spread onto two lines, which made it harder to read, the seal outline lacked a feminine feel and the "Swee" part of my typography lacked a ribbon-like feel, which is something that I was keen to include. Looking at the work of Drew Melton (see previous blog post) led me to experiment with the typography and research more lacy inspired patterns. This led me to creating a range of oval shaped logo outlines.

I found that the first 2 looked too plain and the second 2 designs looked more like picture frames than a lace doyley and so I decided to use the bottom image for my logo as it was perfect for my logo.

I chose to change the colour from a purple outline to a hot pink one for my final logo design as it makes it stand out more when it is applied to my packaging. I used the same colour for the inside of my cupcake design on the logo and a lighter variation for the inside. This gave my logo more depth and also made it possible for my typography to be in one line, making it easier to read and more visually pleasing.

Drew Melton - Designer Inspiration

I came across Drew Melton on Behance and his ribbon-styled typography served to be a good inspirational font for my own work. It enabled me to experiment with the curvature of type in my own work and led to my logo text being changed to mirror the style of Melton.

Cath Kidston - Designer Inspiration

I've been eager to include fabric designs within my graphics work to add a unique aspect to my designs. I stumbled upon Cath Kidston's work whilst searching and I absolutely love her fabric designs! They're have such a pretty, girly and fresh feel to them and its exactly the type of thing that I am hoping to combine with the 1950's fabric designs that I have already researched. I particularly love her colour palette, ranging from pastel colours to hot pinks, bolder blues and minty greens. I'm definitely going to be taking a lot of inspiration from these patterns!

Lucienne Day - Designer Reference

In looking for 1950s inspired geometric patterns, I found British fabric designer Lucienne Day who combines geometric shapes with a colour palette of muted colours for her work. Her abstract patterns are something that I would like to include within my work because I think that they are quirky and unique. I would like to develop this idea using floral patterns as well as images of cupcakes to tie in with my tea room ideas. I will experiment with the colour palettes used by Lucienne Day but I would also like to try a combination of pastel pinks and blues too.

Critical Appraisal - "Composition"

For the final task of "Composition", I decided to take a rectangular shape and to design the front face for a take away cupcake box. I experimented with the use of acetate windows, as well as exploring colour, font, and images. I created a series of initial drawings and then moved to work digitally to actually create the boxes.

Critical Appraisal - "Volume and Dimension"

As part of my discussion with my group about my 3D work for the third task - "Volume and Dimension" it was decided that I needed to work more on adding volume to my typography. I found this difficult as my typography was more swirly and so it was sometimes difficult to make it look 3D whilst retaining its elegance. To include 3D elements to my font, I created "Sweetea" out of wire and suspended it, whilst playing with a range of lighting and digital editing to create lighter and darker shadows.

I think took my group's advice on board and experimented with adding volume to my font by covering the wire structure with a brightly coloured playdough. I think this was successful as it resembled icing from a piping bag, which fits nicely with my theme of "baking"!

1950s Geometric Fabric - Theme Influence

I have decided to take inspiration from geometric 1950s patterned fabrics as it ties in with how I want my tea room logo to look. I will use similar colour palettes as well as the flowery shapes to add an element of femininity to the design.

I like the combinations of hot pinks and pastel pinks with greens and blues because I think that they compliment each other in a striking way. I am hoping that the use of geometric patterns will give my designs a more illustrative feel to them.

Critical Appraisal - "Mix It Up"

For the next theme - "Mix It Up" - I chose to explore the use of colour, texture and contrasting typography. I continued using the name "Sweetea"for this task and continued using my colour palette of typically girly colours. I particularly looked at contrasting textures with solid fills and combining both serif and sans serif type. I used curly fonts named "Channel" and "Hand of Sean" and contrasted them with more blocky fonts, such as "Cartoon" and "Sketch Serif".

As well as using digital work, I further experimented with the use of water colours as I like the more illustrative feel that they give to my work. I found that it was easier to create the kinds of fonts that I wished to use freehand when drawing or painting, but I also managed to create a digital version of this by using the brush tool on Illustrator. This gave it a more professional look which I liked.

For me, time management was an issue this week and I discussed this with my peers. Through this consultation, I have decided to try and use my time more efficiently to create a broader range of ideas, rather than spending a lot of my time developing one idea. I also decided to create another page of work for this task using a collage media as I think that it will be a good experiment for my task.

Critical Appraisal - "Scale and Proportion"

After being chosen to present my first task - "Scale and Proportion" - to the rest of the group and then being put into smaller groups to discuss our designs further, it was decided that I had successfully experimented with the theme of both scale and proportion.

I began my process by using words that related to my theme of "Baking", such as cupcake, cookies, cake and baking. I particularly looked at making letters different sizes and using a mixture of both uppercase and lowercase letters in an illustrative manner. I further expanded upon these designs in a digital manner too. I also developed the name "Sweetea" for my tea room.

I then chose to use the name "Sweetea" for the remainder of the project and experimented with the use of watercolour paints and thick felts in a further development. This allowed me to introduce a certain colour palette to my work. I chose pinks, pale blues and vibrant purples to both compliment and contrast with the theme of "Scale and Proportion" and the ultimate goal of my tea room logo.

Through consulting others I realised that my ideas were too general and that I needed to pick one design to develop it further. However, I did choose a style of font at this point, choosing to explore with a quite loopy, handwritten kind of style as I know that it fits well with my product.

Abigail Borg - Designer Inspiration

All images copyright to Abigail Borg.

Abigail Borg is an illustrator and surface pattern designer that uses influences from traditional pattern design and botanical/organic illustration to produce pieces of work that vary in both intricacy and colour. She uses a mixture of traditional drawings and modern digital printing to create the pieces pictured above.

I think that I will be able to take inspiration from Borg's work as I like the floral elements and feel that they would link nicely with my project as they are quite typically girly, which is the style I am going for. Although Borg's work is a lot more intricate than I would like mine to be, I feel that I will deal with a similar subject matter and experiment with layering and colour in the same way that she does.

Design Brief

The aim of my project is to design and brand my own tea room with a specific focus on cupcakes, both to be sold in my tea room and as a major feature of the interior artwork. To do this I am wishing to combine both illustrative and digital work that will enable me to develop my skills in both of these aspects whilst creating a high quality outcome.

 My designs will be more visually geared towards females as I believe that they will be more willing to visit a tea room than men. Due to this, I will try to create a typically cute and girly theme whilst making my tea room seem homely and inviting. I will use a pastel colour palette of baby pinks, blues, yellows and greens to reflect my target audience in my design choices. I have also considered the use of floral patterns for the interior, the logo and the cupcake designs although I would need to research this further.

 I will need to research the types of tea rooms that already exist and how their branding affects the overall style of the room. This will enable me to decide how I will brand my tea room and decide on the types of products that it will sell. I will also look at cake designers and pottery designers so I can be inspired by their work.

 As inspiration for my designs I will look at an array of designers associated with pattern designs. As flower imagery is an aspect that I wish to include within my designs, I will look at the work of Abigail Borg, a surface pattern designer and illustrator who includes floral elements in her designs. To influence the design of the crockery in my tea room I will look at the work of Laura Amiss who frequently uses teapots and cups and saucers in her artwork.

 I want to combine digital and illustrative elements to create a unique look for my designs as I feel that it will suit my target audience and purpose very well. I would also be willing to try and incorporate lino printing into my work as I liked the effect that it gave in previous projects and found that it worked well.

 For my final outcomes I am aiming to design the branding for my tea room (logo, advertising, business cards etc), cupcakes for my tea room (including the packaging; cupcake wrappers, take away boxes etc), as well as certain interior design aspects to be used within the tea room.

Baking Initial Ideas

As groups we planned ideas for different projects and although I was not in the Baking group, I found their ideas to be of a specific interest to me, which is why I took it upon myself to create my own mind map with the focus upon baking too.

I explored in more detail some different themes involving baking and came up with these ideas which I will then expand on as the project continues.

Review of AS Graphics

During AS Graphics I personally enjoyed every project that I undertook. However, I found that the RAF Cosford project where I rebranded the cafe to be my favourite. I found that the visit to Cosford itself was a very helpful contribution towards my enjoyment as it gave me a chance to fully connect with the brief of the project. This enabled me to form clear connections between RAF Cosford and the cafe that I would be rebranding.

Designing the logo was a particularly enjoyable moment for me as it gave me a chance to develop my existing skills and also to gain skills in alternative media (such as lino printing and watercolours, of which I had never really used before) as well as the opportunity to design a range of packaging!

My project based on Brooklyn Bridge, however, was my most successful. I believe that I managed to create convincing work during this project with a successful range of final outcomes, building upon skills learned throughout the year.

During AS I think that I tried to work to the best of my ability 100% of the time but sometimes found it hard to balance the work load from other subjects too. In order to improve the quality of my work this year, I will focus on time keeping to ensure that I am using my time effectively and I will also attend Graphics during my frees where possible to make sure that my work is of a good standard. I will also try to play upon my strengths, which I think lie mainly within the illustrative side of Graphics.

 I find it easier to sketch out my ideas in a more visual way to select the ideas that I will then pursue digitally. I like the freedom that sketching gives but I also like the precision of digital work and so I will try to combine these where possible from now on.

I think that my use of my sketchbook and my development of ideas throughout all of the projects got progressively better as the year continued and I am now able to communicate my ideas in an aesthetically pleasing manner. 

During my Brooklyn Bridge project I looked at the work of Adrian Bradbury as I think that his style of work is extraordinary. To broaden my knowledge of existing artists and designers I believe that I need to do a lot more research into particular art movements to find inspiration for my own work.