PAGES OF INSPIRATION

As I approach the scary possibility of leaving the nest and joining the madness that is university I decided I needed some inspirational resources. As a lover of design I wanted to find a big glossy book crammed full of interesting advertising campaigns that pushed boundaries and created new ideas and ways of thinking.  And as a 21^st century teenager I googled it, naturally.

This is when I came across the book ‘New York Festival 17’- “New York Festivals 17, the annual compilation of award-winning advertising and communicative design from around the world, showcases the world’s newest and most exciting ideas in advertising. This perennially successful design compilation contains full-colour photographs of award-winning work from newspapers, magazines, billboards, web sites, and point of sale locations, including posters, packaging, photographs, and public service messages, and is a must-read for everyone in advertising, marketing, design, and corporate communications”.

This book does not come cheap, so as a student I will need to start scrimping and saving to buy this little piece of design and advertising gold but I cannot wait to purchase this and start learning more about the industry that I am so eager to join.

COKE- ADVERTISING FOR THE SEXES.

There are the obvious differences in advertising when trying to appeal to the different sexes. For example there is going to be a different marketing ploy when selling tampons than there is when selling men’s shaving razors. However it is not very often that we see the same product with a minor difference being marketed in two completely different ways for different sexes.

I am of course taking about Coke, Coke Zero and Diet Coke. It came to my attention when at the cinema last night that it is almost as though there are two completely different products when in actual fact there is a minor difference in ingredients and labels.

Diet Coke is advertised to women, with an advert that looks like a chick-flick in puppet form and also promotions that offers the customer a free nail polish when purchasing two bottles of diet coke. The label on the bottle is silver and red- girly?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dq_1S4vUFow

Coke Zero is advertised to men, with an advert that includes fast cars, women and a cool lead character that resembles James Bond. The label on the bottle is black and red, very masculine and also a popular colour theme for action film poster adverts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdKYevR3tDE (Couldn't find the UK advert but the principle is the same)

So why appeal so exclusively to one sex?

Well I think it comes down to the fact that ‘diet coke’ sounds like a ‘girly’ drink. Women are forever on diets (Generalising here I know, but for the sake of the argument bear with me) so the idea of a man drinking Diet Coke appears very feminine. Whereas Coke Zero sounds manly, butch, masculine, if a man is drinking Coke Zero nobody bats an eyelid.

It is interesting how advertising is so powerful that is completely changes the consumers view of a product.

TAKING YOUR BREATH AWAY, mikko lagerstedt.

I came across this photographer when looking for mood and atmosphere photographers for my exam project in photography. Lagerstedt is an absolutely amazing photographer; ‘breathtaking’ is the most appropriate word for these photos. This image above is my ultimate favourite, I just think it is so beautiful; when looking at this image I feel truly calm and as though I am the person sitting in that little boat, floating and thinking.

To view more of Mikko’s stunning photography;

Visit the website: http://www.mikkolagerstedt.com/photography/mood.html#../img/mood/quietmoment.jpg

SELF PORTRAIT.

As shown on this blog previously, I am a great lover of photography.

I have experimented with a lot of different types of photography but have never taken a self portrait. I always thought it weird to sit down and take the time to take photos of my own face.

However I thought it would be interesting to try it out. So above is my self portrait.

For this self portrait I focused on my favourite features, my collar bone, my chin and my smile. This is not a vain self portrait however, I have also left in the scarring  from my teenage acne on my right cheek and the birth mark on my neck is visible, also on the right hand side. This is a true representation of me, the good and the ugly.

Hope you like it!

MY DESIGN WORK.

One of my first tasks set in Graphic Design was to create an image that displayed an architect’s work whilst giving some information about them. The aim was to visually inform. I was given the architect Calatrava, I decided to split the image into three parts, separated with a strong black line. I went for this design because his architecture has strong lines- as shown in the image in the middle. I used his eyes as the top layer to show his ‘eye for design’.

Hope you like it!

UPDATE ON DESIGNS FOR THE FUTURE PERFECT COMPANY

This is the final design of my webpage.

The font is the same font that is used in my logo and on my postcard, I thought it was important to use the same font to build up a sense of brand identity. I also used the same colours used on The Future Perfect Company website to create a visual link back to The Future Perfect Company brand.

 I included a ‘log in’ feature which allows the customer to save all of their designs; this also increases the chance of them buying because they will be able to look back at their designs.

The idea for this webpage came from Nike.com, their personalisation of trainers just seemed like such a clever idea. The idea of having something personal to you by choosing your own features is exactly what I wanted to achieve.

There are two options: surface and design and there is a preview box that shows you what the design and surface you have selected looks like. If you hover over the surfaces option there is a little text box that tells you the features. This allows the customer to make an informed choice.

I really like this final design as I believe it is colourful and modern, easy to understand and a really fresh idea of personalisation. What do you think ?

PORTRAITURE.

I love photography and one of my favourite forms of photography is portraiture.
Today my friend asked me to take some head shots of him for his university application. I set up a proper photography white backdrop, complete with lights and a reflector. Below are two of my favourite shots out of all the ones I took, I chose black and white to enhance his features and add a certain seriousness to the photos.



MY DESIGN.

 
Recently I have had the opportunity to do one of my favourite things, design. I designed a tray called ‘StakaTray’ for my client, who is coincidentally my mother.   My mother owns a company called The Future Perfect Company, her company sells well designed products for people getting older. My product provides people with the exciting opportunity to have set of trays with different surfaces for different purposes that can be personalised. This solves the need for familiarity and  need that arises as people get older, the StakaTray can be your dining  room table, your work space, your bedside table of a surface to play.

Once I had come up with this design, I got to design the advertising. I wanted to produce something similar to the postcard design that The Future Perfect Company so that it linked in nicely.
The back of the postcard: on the left hand side is the information about my product. I used the informal handwritten font as a way of forming a relationship with the costumer; this is the technique that is used on The Future Perfect Company’s postcard. On the right hand side are pictures of my product, I took screenshots of the Prodesktop designs at different angles to show the different aspects of the trays. The divider of the postcard is exactly the same as The Future Perfect Company’s, this is the details about the company. The slogan ‘Your Life, Your Choice’ is in reference to the personalisation aspect of the tray.

The front of the postcard: I developed my logo using ‘Dafont’ and added a solid box around it so that the logo can be easily read, underneath the logo is the website of my client. The different angles of the trays on the page and their positioning give the image an almost 3D aspect. I kept the background colouring neutral so that the trays speak for themselves.

 

My own design, the back.

My own design, the front.

Original Design by TheFuturePerfectCompany.com

THE IMPOSSIBLE ART OF LI WEI

I stumbled across these images when flicking trough The Sunday Times Magazine on a lazy Sunday morning. Needless to say, they shook me straight out of my lazy state. Li Wei is the incredible artist responsible for these breathtaking images, he describes his work as 'performance art' and does not super impose the people n his images. Instead he uses a series of wires and scaffolding to retain the positions of the people in the images.

The image below has a magical quality to it. The innocent image of a young girl holding a dozen white balloons is made slightly sinister with the man standing on top of the balloons, suddenly giving the young girl an essence of power. I really enjoyed looking at these images and I am sure you will too. If you want to see any more of his images, visit this website below.

 http://www.liweiart.com/english/works_photo.htm