Recent Flyer Designs

I created these adverts recently for events coming up at my church.

Playbill posters

Playbill Poster Adverts

 

I created these adverts for events happening at my church

 

 



WW1 3D Letters

We were asked to create 3D letters themed around the WW1 home front. I designed these letters in Adobe Illustrator and then extruded them in Cinema 4D to create letters that could be 3D printed in plastic.

Malibu packaging development

Malibu Packaging Development

 

 

Having created the patterns using the Mono Printing technique I began to think about how this design could work for a range of drinks flavours. I decided to adapt my pattern, so rather than including all the fruit on it,

I decided to create a different pattern for each drink and use different colours for each fruit. I am happy with the result and then had a go at seeing how my pattern would look with the Malibu writing on it.
I will experiment with other typography and create patterns for the other fruits.

 

 

 

 

 

 



Packaging inspiration and idea development

Inspiration from other Designers

 

 

I stumbled across this book called 'The Neon Colouring Book' and found the illustrations in it to be very inspiring and similar in some ways to the simple Mono Prints Patterns I have created.
I like the combination of black and white illustrations with splashes of very bright bold neon colours.
I like the bold colour choice and hope to incorporate this in my packaging.

 

Here is my own experiment in combining my black and white illustrations with very bold block colour.
I like the outcome.

 

 

Mono Print Malibu Pattern

 

 

I decided to experiment with the mono prints that I created the other day to make this pattern in photoshop.
I am quite pleased with the outcome and may use it for my alcohol packaging and develop the idea further.

 

 



Graphic Design Hand drawn Pattern

 

Graphic Design Pattern

 

 

I created this pattern based on the theme 'Graphic Design'. I used my own hand drawn illustrations and then scanned them into Photoshop to create a balanced pattern repeat and background colour.
I may use it as a background on my personal website.

 

 

 

 



World War One Letters

World War One Letters

 

 

For one of our projects we were asked to design letters inspired by the home front. I was given the letters 'V' and 'D', so I created these letters in Illustrator, based around the themes of Victory and Digging.

The letters had to work as stencils, so needed to be quite simple and made in one piece, so that it wouldn't fall apart when cut out.

 

 



Mono printing

Mono printing

In our lesson we tried mono printing. We applied oil paint to an acetate sheet. We then put our printing paper over the top and then another sheet on top with our design on. We traced the design with a pencil, which then pressed into the ink and printed on the paper. These were the prints that I created below. I liked how the drawings came out and I may use them in my design.

 I then had a go at using the prints to see how I could incorporate them into my alcohol packaging . In photoshop I changed the colours of the print into white and then added some coloured circles to create a pattern. I am not very keen on the final outcome, so I will continue to experiment with how I might use my prints. 

1950s retro fabric design

1950s and 1960s Retro Fabric Design

For one of my projects I am designing fabric for a shop fitting room. The shop is called 'The Vintage Boutique' and sells vintage closing. I am inspired by 1950s and 1960s floral fabrics and I am also inspired by clothing and accessories of the time. Fabric of these decades often featured polka dots, so I may incorporate this in some of my work. These are some patterns which I created in Illustrator.

Experiments and Ideas

Final pattern

After experimenting with different colours, layouts and patterns, I combined the successful elements together to create this final pattern. I decided that I liked the regular pattern repeat, the illustrations of the accessories and the neutral and red colour scheme best.  I have sent my fabric tile off to 'Woven Monkey' to be printed.

Contextual Studies Research

 

 

For my research and presentation project, I decided that I would like to look at the print industry and how it has been affected by the digital world. I am interested to find out if the digital world is replacing print, especially in the area of magazine publications. I began by looking at some popular articles on the internet and realised that it is a subject that has been widely discussed, making it good area for research. I will investigate other statistical sources and academic journals. I would also like to gather, if possible, some information from those who are working directly in the print industry. 

Personal Business Card

This evening I was working on some initial ideas for my business card.
I have chosen the name 'Zion Design' for my business.
I began by creating my own typography in illustrator to form a logo.
I also experimented with some business card designs which I will develop and refine further.

These are some of my developed ideas for my business card.

After getting some feedback on my ideas I decided to work on some alternative designs.
These are my latest business card concepts.

I am getting closer to creating a business card design that I am happy with. I like the bright bold colour schemes of these latest designs, but I feel that they might be a bit too busy.

Malibu Packaging Experiments

In our lesson today we worked on collage techniques in Photoshop.
I created this design which may be suitable for my Malibu packaging.

I began by creating overlapping leaf shapes on a layer and used the multiply effect to separate the shapes out into sections. Once I had my shapes, I used different imported textures to fill in sections of my shapes. I adjusted the colours by desaturating the shapes and adjusting the hue and saturation. I added the flower and coconut shapes (black vector shapes) and filled them in with different textures. I added a watercolour background. I am quite happy with the outcome and think the concept could work in the other Malibu flavour ranges.

 I then thought about whether this technique could be used to create a background pattern for my bottle. 

Here is the pattern I created. 

University Leaflet

We were given the task of creating a leaflet to advertise a new course at Farnborough University.
We were given the content, including fonts, images, logo and colour scheme to use.
I began by cropping around the edge of my photo using Photoshop and then creating the layout using Indesign.

Here is the outcome.

Easter Leaflet for Church

I put together this quick and simple Easter leaflet using some of the drawing techniques I have learnt on my course. I drew the simple images using the pen tool and added a subtle drop shadow for depth.

PRESS PAUSE PLAY DOCUMENTARY

PressPausePlay focuses primarily on the music industry. In what way do the issues resonate with you as a designer?

The film highlighted the fact that these days everyone has the potential to be a film maker, photographer or producer. In the design industry, access to software such as Adobe Creative cloud, has meant that now literally anyone can afford to access professional creative software. Not only that, but now there are a wealth of online tutorials available, meaning that anyone can teach themselves how to use software which was once only known by the professionals. The secrets of the design industry are freely available to all.  Also, there is so much free software online now which make designing so much easier for the novice. ‘Picmonkey’ for example means that even for people who don’t want to spend time learning how to use the professional software can still create modern and personalised designs in minutes. Similarly, developments in technology now mean that anyone can build their own website using platforms such as ‘wix’ and ‘wordpress’.  This has massive financial implications on the graphic designer because many small businesses are opting to bypass the creative person and create logos, business cards and websites themselves. The downside of this trend is that we see a lot of bland design that lacks uniqueness. Consequently, businesses lack a sense of identity and look like every other one.  So, while the design industry may be experiencing a decline of work coming from the smaller businesses, who are looking to save money, some businesses who want to stand out above all the mediocracy will be willing to pay a professional graphic designer for something unique.

Advances in technology and software have also meant that graphic designers can produce accurate work, more quickly than in the past. The negative side of this however is that designers have become too reliant on technology and the more traditional design skills, like photography, painting, drawing, etc. are becoming rarer.  Also digital artwork can have an almost, boring, sterile precision and lacks the imperfect, vulnerably quality of handmade art. The challenge for the designer is to stand out from the rest and demonstrate originality and talent that clients will be willing to pay for.

While the evolution of the internet has removed the cap on creativity and made it accessible to all, it has also opened up new opportunities for the designer that had never existed before. Opportunities for the designer to work for themselves from the comfort of their own homes, rather than working for an agency have increased.  Clients are able to contact designers directly, cutting out the agency in the middle. This of course offers flexibility to designers, potential to specialise in their areas of interest and work on projects that they really enjoy. Designers are able to utilise the internet to network easily and create an online brand very quickly. The down side to this is a lack of regular consistent income, but the potential to earn more if the designer is able to stay ahead of the rest and to use all the right networking tools to their advantage.

Some have tried to argue that the music industry is dying out. People have also begun to question the future of the graphic design industry. I believe that if we, as designers, continually look for new and creative ways to adapt to the changes and use them to our advantage, there will always be a future in graphic design, albeit a different one than we might have expected. 

Watercolour Patterns

Watercolour Patterns for Malibu Label

Following on from the watercolour fruit paintings that I created the other day, I decided to use them to create patterns using the 'define pattern' option in Photoshop.  I had to brighten up the colours in Photoshop to make them more vibrant. These were the results.

Firstly I tried the paintings on a diagonal layout on a white background. 

Then I tried a horizontal layout with a filled background.

I preferred the pattern with a background, but I felt the background was looking a bit flat,
so I tried the pattern with my own watercolour painted background. The result was better.
I am not sure whether I like the joining lines where the watercolour pattern meets at the edge.

I was quite happy with the outcome so I had a play around with how the pattern could be used on my
Malibu label.

For this project I want to create a range of labels to suit all the flavours in the range.

This is how the design could work for the traditional coconut flavour.

Malibu Box Designs

In our lesson today we looked at packaging design and I began to think about how I could create a box to package my Malibu bottle in. These were some packaging examples that inspired me in relation to my project.

Here are some of my own rough sketch ideas.