American Express Campaign

Rosie Arnold is deputy executive director of design agency BBH and was asked to produce a new campaign for American Express. Representing design agency Ogilvy and Mather, Arnold had the task of keeping the friendly, reliable use American Express possesses but adding a unique above and beyond message. As I researched the campaign more, I appreciate the warmth to the brand as the ad communicates a charm and freshness. I had read that Arnold was inspired by Paul Rand, who I had recently wrote part of my Journal on. The illustrations originally created by Ogilvy and Mather’s art director Andy Bird in the 1980’s was used for the campaign adding a charm to the message. I feel the ad's work great and it's yet another area to appreciate within the design community.

Tesco Ban

I have been analysing television adverts recently as I want a better understanding how a brand communicates an idea within moving image. I was surprised to understand that the effect television ads can have on people is highly effective. In 2007, Tesco had used Martin Clunes to purchase a bottle of milk in his pajamas as a unique idea to indicate Tesco being a one stop store. It came to my attention that Tesco had announced they have banned shoppers who enter the store in the pajamas on a quick visit and this led to the media to report the irony of the new rule. I had come across a number of articles and I found this quite comical and realise how strong advertising can be on the general public.

Ford Advert

Recently, my mother received a Ford magazine, which is sent to her once a month as she purchased a Ford car some years ago. The magazine is not very important, as she has no interests in cars and normally throws in away but as I took a close look, I had noticed an ad, which was greatly similar to my work for Contact Theatre Group celebrating their ten year anniversary. As my idea was using small illustrations of what Contact represented, Ford had done a similar approach by using subjects within the road and highlighting their main message in the shape of letterforms. This has given me an idea to go back and try to improve the Contact work. I did not expect to be inspired by my mothers Ford magazine, but I believe graphic design is all around us and we can be motivated by anything we see. I will now take a closer look before she throws them away.

Manchester Evening News Advert

Once again, I noticed an advert in a newspaper, which made me appreciate the design industry even more. I had noticed an ad from Manchester Evening News promoting space for companies to advertise within their own spreads. I found the simplicity in the text very clever as the ad describes advertising very clearly and points out the main area of why advertising exists. I truly believe simplicity is key to having an idea to work and this is a perfect example.

Pablo Picasso Tear

As my research becomes a great tool for inspiration, I am beginning to notice a great deal of design in newspapers. As my Metro brief is still on going, I have had some fantastic ideas from advertisements and articles. I have also enjoyed reading the articles of things what occur within the design world. I was interested in an article regarding a piece of Pablo Picasso’s art. I had read that while some students were visiting the Metropolitan Museum in New York, Picasso’s The Actor (1905), was on display and was accidently damaged due to one student tripping over and making a 15 cm tear in the canvas. The cost of the painting is worth a staggering £80 million. When I visit galleries, like most people, I do have a small paranoia about falling over and damaging an art piece, but eventually believe that will never happen, but as I read the article, it shows things like this can happen.

Final Major Project

As the degree is coming closer to the finish line, I am now at the stage of focusing on my final major project which involves producing a brief and doing a piece of work within your own interests. Myself and many classmates are finding the first steps hard, as the opportunity is so great, you have every option possible. As the FMP is a huge mark of the degree, deciding what area to focus on like an advertising campaign or branding, you need to believe what best results will come of that. I decided to write eight very quick ideas down and after assessing them all, I feel comfortable branding and also producing an ad campaign for a football five a side sports complex.

D&AD Student Annuals

I recently purchased some D&AD Student Annuals, which was a great investment. Fergal Kilroy, Student Awards Manager of D&AD had sent an email informing a number of people he had came across some extra copies of the 2005, 2007 and 2008 editions and offered them for a discounted price of just £20. I decided to take up the offer and as I look through them, I instantly feel motivated and more confident with past ideas.

NHS Smoke Kit

I recently noticed a campaign from the NHS regarding quitting smoking. I myself do not smoke but I was deeply drawn to the idea of receiving a pack to help you through quitting. I was interested to apply for the Quit Kit to get a better understanding of how direct mail works and look forward to it arriving in the post. The box is designed to hold a number of items big enough to fit through a letter box so as I examine the structure, measurements and contents, I hope to learn from this and look into designing some direct mail myself in the future.

Citizen Recruitment Identity Work (more ideas)

After getting recent feedback from the identity work for Citizen Recruitment, the meeting was a positive. As my friend is beginning a recruitment agency, Thomas he asked me to see what ideas I may have for a logo and stationary for his company. As I presented my first ideas, he was greatly drawn to the logo I had done which was earlier posted. He asked if it was possible to bring the website under the name and also change the minor details with typography like the font and kerning. I felt it was important for me to leave my ideas with him and see what changes or new ideas he may want in future work. He was very eager to have a dark blue and grey colour scheme and felt positive me experimenting with this pallet.

As we discussed his company ethics, he mentioned moving forward was a key part of what his industry represented and improving people’s careers was the main area Citizen Recruitment wanted to exploit. As I took away his feedback, I began to look into what represented movement and most importantly, recruitment. Thomas asked for a logo to be noticeable and for everyone to know who Citizen Recruitment was when he or she instantly saw the identity. I have tried to keep some ideas simple and effective but also have a motivational lift for the company. As the project is still on going, these are some ideas I have put together and hope to progress further on with the project.

118 500

I noticed an advertisement for telephone directory 118 500 recently and was amused of how similar the new identity looks like my recent work on the tolerance project I had recently completed. I noticed the ad had similar qualities as my Drip idea with the overlapping letters and toned blue colours indicating a drip motion.

Five Minute Brief

A few months ago, I took part in a five minute brief, which resulted into some interesting results. I was always tempted to quickly go back to this method and see what I could come up with. I had an idea of designing a poster with a simple piece of text within five minutes to see what I could come up with. I hope to come up with more short lenth briefs throughout the year.

Quick Illustration

I recently purchased an issue of Creative Arts with illustrator Joe Bugerman’s work on the front cover. As I reflected his work, I decided to try his method of drawing different shapes and illusions to see what my results would be. As I began, my mind was briefly open. The direction my pen was going was unusual as my normal drawing method was very different but I was enjoying the results. As I began to fill the page, I was surprised to see a progressive design which I plan to push further by adding colour and taking the design into some software. I look forward to seeing my results.

National Interpreting Service Identity

I was recently reading through No logo and noticed the National Interpreting Service identity. I loved this idea of how the subject matter is designed within the logo. As I have been studying the creative process for my journal essay, I fully appreciate the efforts of the idea being thought of. I had once didn’t fully realize a strong, simple concept could take a good length of time. I now see that keeping design as simple is key, the idea behind it is most vital to execute.

Toliet Signs in the Work Place

As I walked past a toilet door in a shopping centre this past week, I had noticed the male and female sign indicating the obvious correct toilet room to enter for each sex. I decided to play with the idea of designing these signs for an office work place just for fun. I believe that these small touches in the work environment could possibly brighten up people’s time in there shift and I plan to work on further areas within this field.

MacDonald’s Advertising Campaigns

I recently decided to revisit Toxel.com, which has been a great web resource for inspiration and creative thinking. I came across some advertising campaigns to promote MacDonald’s from around the world. I was impressed greatly with the concepts within the two posters. I was also motivated by the billboard which had a sun dial which indicated a different MacDonald’s sandwich from six in the morning till twelve midday. Overall, the more I addressed these campaigns, I understand that creative thinking can be emotional and a tough journey but when finally thinking of a strong idea, reminds you that the creative process is all worth it.

Book Collection Continued

As my insight on graphic design grows further, I have again purchased some more books for inspiration and guidance. I was very eager to learn about the advertising area within design and I decided to purchase Creative Advertising. This book has great examples of how to use advertising to it's best capabilities. I also purchased Advertising Now. It has over 600 concepts of advertising, which was a great buy for as little as £20. I was very fond of Simply Packaging after I had scanned through a few pages while a copy was left on the desk in my class. I have rarely focused on packaging but I have always been interested into the beauty of this design field. I have also bought ColourMania. I was very cautious when buying this book as I had not sampled any of the pages but after reading it, it's a fantastic buy. Last but by no means least was the Stefan Sagmeister book. Made you look is idle for using different techniques and methods within design.

Citizen Recruitment Identity Work

I was recently approached by a friend who owns a recruitment company. As he recently started the company, his identity was not as strong as he would like. He decided to contact me with some details and asked me to come up with some ideas for a new logo, letterhead and business card. As I had a busy schedule, I did accept the job but explained the timeframe for some first ideas would not be straight away. As I managed to complete my current work, I began by researching the recruitment industry. Here are some first ideas, which I look forward to improving.