Context
I have been asked to collaborate on an external collaboration with a final year apparel design student at RISD.
Brief
To design a ‘logo’ for Michaela Wong’s final year thesis collection
Audience
Fashion designers, graphic designers, creatives, educators and discerning members ofthe public
Requirements
Research
Idea development
Experimentation
Demonstration of design and typographic skill
Active communication between client and designer
Considerations
Promotional collateral used by fashion houses
Online presence
Future uses of the ‘logo’
Real world application
Deliverables
The logo
Ad campaigns on multiple channels e.g. magazine ads, posters
Application of logo to real world collateral e.g. shopping bags, business cards, purchase receipt, fashion show invitation, store fronts
Branding guidelines
Rationale for brief
To combine graphic design and personal interest in fashion
An opportunity to collaborate with someone external to the college and across disciplines
Friday, 27 October 2017
Further adjustments and final design
Emailing the foundation about the possibility of having "40 years of Henry Moore 1977-2017" as the main headline revealed some context about the exhibition. The exhibition is a celebration for the Foundation's 40th anniversary, not specifically the work of Henry Moore, which the line suggests. A key difference that doesn't mislead the reader. The removal of the bronzed wording was due to legibility concerns.
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| before |
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| after |
A major concern with the sans serif poster was the lack of movement in its design. A static design does not draw the eye to move across the page nor engage the reader, it effectively creates a flat and static design.
The sculpture's size is increased to give a better impression that the image is part of the overall poster rather than be 'constrained' in the right column in the previous design. This is a minor yet important change as it breaks the poster's rigidity. The left alignment of the copy is now in line with the sculpture's shoulder.
Changing the typeface to univers adds character to the poster's look, because Helvetica is so ubiquitous, and is already synonymous with previous Henry Moore posters.
The increased leading of the dates allows for quick reading as well as creates visual rhythm for the poster. The increased leading, much like the sculpture's size, breaks the visual monotony of copy. This breaks down the large amount of copy into easier pieces for the reader.
A muted Foundation logo is quiet and is in keeping with the poster's colour scheme.
Overall these changes improve on the old design, breaking the rigid layout. Out of the two chosen posters, this will be sent for submission as it is a modern interpretation of the brief and aligns itself more so with the existing Henry Moore image.
Adjustments
The all caps copy has been changed to Roman. This provides better readability for the viewer as the letterforms are more distinct. The coloured "40 years of" and "1977-2017" allow Henry Moore to stand out whilst the images are now in line with the copy.
The use of an outline references the sculptural associations to Henry Moore as well as to visually lighten the headline. Too heavy a headline and it distracts too much from the main image.
A modern approach
In this design, a more modern approach is used to create a contemporary look for the foundation. "Becoming Henry Moore' becomes the main headline as galleries often highlight the exhibition name when designing promotional material. "40 Years 1977-2017" is now set above acting as a boundary and highlighting its importance.
Along with "40 years 1999-2017" at the top, "www.henrymoore.org" is set vertically to help push the white space inwards towards the poster's content.
In a very rough mockup of the poster's overall composition, the legibility of the size of type is tested. The headline is clear and legible whilst the copy is adequate enough to be read from a fair distance.
Type as sculpture
Seeing as Henry Moore is known as being a sculptor, why not replicate this through typography.
A backwards R in this example is subtle but against the normal letterforms it stands out and becomes characteristic enough to take notice of the reader.
Taking the concept literally, the letterforms here are manipulated to remove much of their original shape in order to make the reader view them for their forms. However the composition here may be too unusual to communicate effectively to the Foundation's audience.
Reading Emil Ruder's lecture on 'The Word', gave a further understanding this method of removing readability. He explains why we find foreign script appealing as "its readability bars us from comprehension and we enjoy it purely as a work of art." The reader sees "straight and curved lines, which unite to form a graphic image devoid of linguistic meaning."
Reading further, Ruder explains how letterforms have a 'linear' and 'plane' like qualities.
H I L F T - Vertical
S A G O D - Plane
R O M I X - Combination
Creating an aesthetically pleasing combination of letterforms will require a balance of these characteristics. "This change of effect within a typeface is too rarely taken into consideration. But it is precisely this that produces lively and exciting work from our characters."
Therefore the following experiment aims to completely remove any recognisability and readability of Henry Moore's name and with it making a sculptural shape from it.
The squares in these sketches represent each letterform. A sense of direction through asymmetry is the aim of these combinations. Asymmetry and direction create movement on the poster, forcing the eye to move across the page.
Linear letterforms:
h
n
r
y
m
Plane letterforms
e
o
In order to remove as much readability as possible, the letterforms were manipulated so as to not visually form "henry moore".
When applied, the layout descends to the right of the page, dragging the eye across and onto the copy. Having the copy in a bronze is a reference to Moore's sculptures as well as allowing the type sculpture to be the main focal point.
A backwards R in this example is subtle but against the normal letterforms it stands out and becomes characteristic enough to take notice of the reader.
The large underline in this experiment makes "henry moore" look like a typographic sculpture on a surface and also references the large plinths underneath his sculptures.
Taking the concept literally, the letterforms here are manipulated to remove much of their original shape in order to make the reader view them for their forms. However the composition here may be too unusual to communicate effectively to the Foundation's audience.
Reading Emil Ruder's lecture on 'The Word', gave a further understanding this method of removing readability. He explains why we find foreign script appealing as "its readability bars us from comprehension and we enjoy it purely as a work of art." The reader sees "straight and curved lines, which unite to form a graphic image devoid of linguistic meaning."
Reading further, Ruder explains how letterforms have a 'linear' and 'plane' like qualities.
H I L F T - Vertical
S A G O D - Plane
R O M I X - Combination
Creating an aesthetically pleasing combination of letterforms will require a balance of these characteristics. "This change of effect within a typeface is too rarely taken into consideration. But it is precisely this that produces lively and exciting work from our characters."
Therefore the following experiment aims to completely remove any recognisability and readability of Henry Moore's name and with it making a sculptural shape from it.
The squares in these sketches represent each letterform. A sense of direction through asymmetry is the aim of these combinations. Asymmetry and direction create movement on the poster, forcing the eye to move across the page.
Linear letterforms:
h
n
r
y
m
Plane letterforms
e
o
In order to remove as much readability as possible, the letterforms were manipulated so as to not visually form "henry moore".
When applied, the layout descends to the right of the page, dragging the eye across and onto the copy. Having the copy in a bronze is a reference to Moore's sculptures as well as allowing the type sculpture to be the main focal point.
Sunday, 22 October 2017
First composition
The Henry Moore Institute has opened a competition to help design the promotional poster for the 40th anniversary of the Institute.
This first poster composition is based around the idea of working around the briefs limitation of not being able to have copy on the images. Art galleries typically use this technique for their exhibition branding.
To work around this limitation, the above images have been chosen to give the illusion that they fade into the poster's background, removing any visual boundary.
Having the large white space in between the headline and sculptures is essential in communicating the illusion as the height of the image is effectively lengthened. Through this composition, the sculptures in the images look like they were photographed in the entirety of the poster itself.
The choice for using Bodoni as the main typeface comes from the reading and understanding of elegance in Japanese graphic design. Elegance is a quality that will provide a level of timelessness to the poster.
Readings on Ikko Tanaka highlighted his thoughts on the role of the designer in creating exhibition posters. He states, "In this case the designer's task would be simply to apply his skills to the layout." Therefore the posters layout is designed to highlight the above pictures unique qualities.
The layout of the copy along with the images is linear and ordered, giving the reader clarity in understanding the nature of the exhibition and finding the key information, such as the offset dates which make it easier for the reader to pick out. Furthermore, this layout helps keep the poster in line with past posters (shown above) on Henry Moore, aligning with their brand image.
The choice for "40 Years of Henry Moore 1977-2017" is a workaround for a difficulty in typesetting "40 years 1977-2017". The phrase by itself does not give the reader adequate context in understanding the exhibition and isn't aesthetically pleasing.
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