Instantprint Live Brief - Research

I wanted to gain some inspiration from other business stationary designs, here are a few of my favourites:

 This design combines photography and digital illustrations to create a quirky look. The splash of colour over the black and white image looks eye catching. I think this could be a really effective way to advertise the 'culinary delights' of the food and beverage industry, for example create a bright plate of food against a black and white photographed table setting.

 

This business card is a great example of simplistic design that works. Really easy to execute aswell.

This montage looks contemporary. The visual created by small angular shapes using various shades of green is a really quirky way of catching the viewers attention. I also love the added background texture which gives the design a depth. This idea could work perfectly aimed at the Food and Beverage industry. 

This business card set is a lot softer than the examples above. I feel that these designs would represent quality and expense as they have an extravagant feel. The watercolour texture gives a luxurious feel to the design.

Another example of minimalistic design that looks professional and expensive. The illustrations have a hand rendered feel that adds a personal touch.

Developing Digital Skills

This week our task was to recreate an Absolut Vodka ad. I got the chance to learn about clipping masks and creating custom brushes, both which will be really useful for future projects.

The blueberries in the background are my custom made scatter brush.
This was my final outcome:

 

 



Future Progression

Now that I'm in my second year of Graphics it's time to start thinking about where I want to be this time next year, whether I continue with my education or head straight into employment.

I've looked into the Graphics top up course which sounds really interesting. The course will give me the opportunity to really focus on the aspect of design I'm interested in. At this point in time I would love to spend a year on editorial design or t-shirt design. Their are a few universities around the country that offer this course however I'm not interested in moving away from the North East (I love it here) so my best option would be to continue the third year with Newcastle College. In preparation for this I will need to meet the UCAS deadlines for student finance and college applications as well as prepare my portfolio of work to present at my interviews.

For me personally continuing with my education while I'm still young and without commitments is the best option. I'm eager to get into work however I still feel like I'm finding myself as a designer, what I'm interested in and what career path I want to take. Continuing into the third year will give me time to get these thoughts together and hopefully the opportunity to complete various work placements so I can find out what I really enjoy.

Developing Digital Skills

As part of my digital skills module I have been attending studio workshops to build on my skills within Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. Keeping up to date with the latest and current skills and software is all part of developing as a designer.

This week we have been image styling in Photoshop. Image styling can be a great way to change up a photograph, whether it be playing around with levels and curves, or adding a blending mode.

 

 

Instant Print Live Brief

This week we received a live brief from online print company; Instantprint. For those who don't know, Instantprint are an online web to print company who provide excellent quality design templates for people and small business's without any in depth knowledge of the design process.

The brief asks for a set of design templates that can be used their website. I have chosen to target the food and beverage industry, more specifically small cafes.

I have written a SWOT analysis for this module:
Strengths: I am confident with InDesign, so putting together my final stationary set will be easy.
Weaknesses: My Photoshop skills aren't too good, so I'm concerned that this could hinder my final design, not being able to execute it properly.
Opportunities: This module will give me the chance to attend studio tutorials where I will develop various digital skills within Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign.
Threats: Time. Unfortunately there's been a mix up with work days and college days recently, so at the moment I'm missing out on one college day per week. Until I've sorted this out I'm going to have to work hard to keep up to date with what I've been missing at college.