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The print was slightly mis-aligned when it came out, which was slightly annoying as it made the columns for inside a little off. But as a draft for a pitch it did the job.

A one day brief. Wow i don't believe it, its 3rd year and we are allowed to spend just a day on a brief! Anyway...

I really enjoyed his brief, waking up, getting all the content together, figure out a format and folding method, begin laying out and playing around and by the evening a finished piece of work is there on your table.

A really enjoyable process, more of the same I think.

I chose to create a more original folding method to that which I had in my head as I walked into college. So when I got in I started folding and ended up with a method that satisfyingly revealed information in a hierarchy as it was opened, nice.
Perhaps it was this rather confusing an unconventional folding method that ended up in me not getting the job. Hay ho, I know for next time. It was just a little fiddly and didn't quite go back together in a intuitive way. However I was chuffed to have created it so I ran with it and was pleased to see the content fill it up in a correct typographic manner.

I am loving block colours at the moment it seems. Perhaps all this work is getting to me, and staring into happy block colours does something to my brain that cams it down a bit.

Originally I wanted to create more of a spread sheet style publication that had information dotted about in an interesting way, making the eye dart around picking out information from hither and thither. But then I came to my senses...this was going to be picked up by 6h form students who want to be at the UCAS fair, but only because they know it is going to decide their future. So anything they pick up / read / look at must be quick and easy to read. Hence I settled for Columns.

i quite like unconventional formats, I believe throwing yourself into an unfamiliar format will lead to more revelations and overall a better learning experience.

Band Wagon

I have taken on a new brief from an old friend of mine who has partnered up with some music folks in Durham.
Together they have created a music night under the brand name 'Band Wagon.' However, currently they are known as 'Strum' against their will. It seems they are struggling to shake off their old identity and bring in a new age of indie music.

What they want from me is a range of t-shirt designs that can be taken across to posters, not promotion, but for sale.

This is the e-mai he sent me outlining a few details of what he is looking for. However I have spoken with him since then and we have agreed that there needs to be a more modern approach to these designs. An american apparel / Urban outfitters simplicity style. So I have mocked up a few ideas. These were done in about 3 hours, so not long. I aim to spend no longer than5 days in total working on this brief.

As for printing, that is not up to me, which is nice, because I would rather be getting on with some layout, but this is a most welcome break.

Although I hate to admit it, my brain is slightly confused as to what I want to do. The problem is I like to have my fingers in all the pies. Illustration pies, type pies, layout pies... and I seem to like them equally.

My issue is that I used to be quite proficient at illustration and designing for clothing, but now I seem to struggle for ideas. I am worried that I have had my head in the grid too long and am staring to forget the basic fundamentals of being visually creative. So this brief is probably going to help me more than I had imagined. I need to make it fun, creative, something deferent to my norm and really nail some good designs!

Flier Development

The fliers are re-used designs from the posters. The composition of the image within the new format meant there was ore chance to experiment with scale a positioning. I need to try reverse out onto green, but other than that I am happy with these.

Just adding these onto my previous post to keep it nice and tidy. In reality a week has gone by! Blimey.
So The new logo has been established and has been run across the posters, fliers, publication and now fliers. I think tey are looking pretty neat. Dare I say I am actually happy with it?! Yeah why not.

Its been a good learning curve, this whole brief, I realise now that this brief is not nearly as long as I have made it. I think it is simply decision making that has slowed the process down. I struggled at first to get moving and decided to spend a whole week developing a range of possible design directions. I paid off in terms of getting my brain working but lost me a lot of time, probably 2 weeks in total which is time I DO NOT HAVE! So now, fear of falling behind is my driving force as well as a dedication to getting better at working at a faster pace, 'turn it around.'

The fliers were fairly simple to design. The continuity is using the same grid idea. Not the same exact grid obviously, its a different format.

The imagery links directly to the posters and the publication to enhance the LBW image. Typefaces are the same, with similar proportions to the posters.

There are developments however so some things may change depending on what happens next in the brief.

Vintage feel

I am writing this after I changed my mind completely about these logos. As you can see, they are fairly un-inspiring and nothingy. This was my problem with them. They had no soul, and even though the new logo doesn't necessarily have soul either it does say bicycle. This just says, 'some type with a wheel' or something like that. Not good enough!

New Logo

And here (added a day later) is the final logo, here working with the type as well. I think it has worked out well, after all the palaver in the beginning with the vintage logo idea.

This is the general looks of the updated logo for the Leeds Bike Week brief.

I was in bed after reading for hours on modernist, Less is More and the theory of form and image at its most basic form.
Relating modernism to this brief in theory is not something that is necessary applicable, but the overwhelming trend for the past 60 years has to follow this idea in logo design. So instead of playing around with this' vintage feel' that I had been looking to achieve from them outset I decided to just let it flow, as it were.

The brief as a whole had drifted from the vintage feel naturally, but because I was being stubborn and ignoring the fact that I am a problem solver not an artist striving to achieve a visual style that is personal to me, I had not let the vintage logo go. So as usual in ones design practice, I made a decision to go with my gut.

It is near the end of the brief now, so any decision is virtually final, other than a few tweaks. I am glad I made this decision as it has affected the whole range of promotion for the better. It has made the look of the work much less confusing, and although is perhaps not what I personally wanted to produce it has worked better than it would if I had ignored my gut.

I am unsure whether to invest any more time into this brief, compiling stationary and further promotional material. Maybe another daydreamy session will give me that answer