Gill Sans

The entire typeface has such a nice smart sophisticated look to it. The lowercase is really nicely caligraphic, how it has such an interesting swishing effect on each character. One of my favourites is how the f connects onto the i and it carries on with a very nice looking curved stroke.
Then the uppercase is really fierce and powerful and when you see a word in Gill Sans uppercase it reflects that sense of power, like with the BBC logo. Each letter singled out as a seperate character can stand alone as a strong image as well as a powerful statement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are many famous usages of Gill Sans in logo design and general popular/historical culture. Some of these are the KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON and various Penguin book covers. I feel the KEEP CALM fixation has been taken too far.  You cant go anywhere without seeing a badly written pastiche about cupcakes or dinosaurs on a teamugs or a tshirt. For something that is just a few lines of text it is so over populised and I feel it has ruined the otherwise nice look of the typeface on the design. I created this ironic pastiche of it to show how much I dislike it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A usage that I feel benefits greatly from Gill Sans is the BBC logo. Three stand alone uppercase characters which when put in a box and placed next to eachother shows such a brave and powerful statement and demands authority and respect. The way the B’s fill the box with their curves and the C too for me you couldnt have the BBC without their now iconic typeface.

My Industry Case Study: Are Samsung copying Apple’s iPad?

My industry case study is going to be based around the design and technology of Apple’s iPad and the court battles in which Samsung have allegedly broken patency by copying the icon and layout design.

– Political: Apple vs. Samsung in court rows, patency issues and copyright infringement.

– Economical: The costs of both competitors and the amount of units sold. How the economic downturn has affected this, the consumer income and their ability to buy expensive items. Are only middle classes buying them?

– Social: The rise in the tablet market and companies challenging Apples current lead in the market.  Is the rise in the smart phone market and wider acceptance of technology pushing towards iPad purchases?

– Technological: Whether Samsung copied the iPad’s icon design and overall layout for their Galaxy Tab. Is this rise in tablet technology the future of communication?

Bibliography

Here is a Bibliography of what I looked at in conjunction to my Contextual Studies.

Blog Entries

–       CR Blog (2008) Things I Have Learned In My Life So Far [internet blog] Available from:

< http://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2008/february/things-i-have-learned-in-my-life-so-far >

[Accessed 9 Nov 2011]

Books

–       Ambrose/Harris (2005) Typography, AVA

–       Blackwell, L. (1996) David Carson: 2ndsight, Lawrence King

–       Blackwell, L. (2000) The End of Print: The Grafik Design of David Carson 2^nd Edition, Lawrence King

–       Fiell, C. & P. (2007) Contemporary Graphic Design, Taschen

–       Fletcher, A. (2001) The art of looking sideways, Phaidon

–       Idea (1979) Saul Bass and Associates, Shigeo Shinkosha

–       Sagmeister, S. (2008) Things I have learned in my life so far, Abrams

Films

–       Helvetica (2007) Directed by Gary Hustwit. Swiss Dots [DVD]

Lectures

–       Angold, S (2011) NUCA 1 November 2011

–       Brown, H.  (2011) 25 October 2011

–       Sony Music (2011) NUCA 6 October 2011

Single Programme

–       Steve Jobs: iChanged the World (2011) Channel Four. Broadcasted: 2/11/11, 23:05-00:10

Videos

–       Stanford University (2008) Steve Jobs’ 2005 Stanford Commencement Address

< http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc&feature=youtu.be >

Web sites

–       Hapgood, T. (2011) What Steve Jobs has given to designers. Available from:

< http://www.aiga.org/what-steve-jobs-has-given-to-designers > [Accessed 12 Oct 2011]

–       Moss, O. (2011) Projects: Movie Posters Available from:

< http://ollymoss.com/galleries/movie-posters > [Accessed 8 Nov 2011]

–       IMDb (2007) Memorable quotes from Helvetica Available from:

< http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0847817/ > [Accessed 9 Nov 2011]

Contextual Studies Evaluation

For my Contextual Studies topic I started by doing the question “Do we create better designs with or without the Mac?”. This was thought up following the recent death of Steve Jobs and it got me thinking whether we create better designs by over relying on the computer or by doing things by hand.

To start off with I felt I should do some initial first hand research into the topic, so I emailed a large number of students, lecturers and professional practitioners to get their points of view on my topic. I received well over a dozen replies which I was thrilled with, even some from La Boca and BERG design agencies. I got a very good response from this research, it helped me to see just what a large number of people thought to go alongside what I thought. A summary of what I found out, would be that the computer is just a tool, a material and a machine. It makes designing easier and can mimic the traditional techniques but it will never be the original. There are some things that will always be better by hand like sketching and creating initial ideas. Overall I got the response that to make a good design and therefore make better design neither one is more important than the other. To use traditional methods and ignore the word of technological advances that we have would be foolish, but to completely replace them with the computer is careless. I found this first hand research a very successful one as I got personalised responses from a variety of people, which is more unique than searching the internet for the same information.

So then I started to look through various books, films and online articles to find inspiration to write about. I watched Helvetica, and one of the main people to stand out to me in the film was David Carson, how he had no previous training in what is now the normal practice so he just experimented with things. I looked at  Carson for my annotated text because the article based itself on the fence between traditional and digital which I felt linked with my topic perfectly. I used an article I found in his Curriculum Vitae at the end of his book “The End of Print 2nd Edition” I found it a very useful text in a place I didn’t expect to find.

This led me on to my image analysis in which I looked at Olly Moss’ screen printed posters. I based the analysis on the use of screen printing as opposed to creating the same outcome digitally and what things could happen by merely experimenting by hand. I used previous research into screen printing that I had done to find the designer then I chose a poster which I could evaluate as opposed to a digital method. I though this was a rather successful approach as it gave me a good insight to how you can create digital looking finishes by hand.

By computer the results you get are flawless in that what you create is what your outcome will be. Although when you use traditional methods i.e screen printing, lino cutting, sketching, yes the results may not be as you intended, but you may have a happy accident which turns out to be so much stronger than your original idea.

In conclusion, I have learnt from this research that you don’t necessarily create better designs with or without the Mac. The answer is in the title, you create better designs with AND without.

Referencing Task

For my referencing task I have chosen an online article, a film and a book to collect my quotations from.

–       Hapgood, T. (2011) What Steve Jobs has given to designers. Available from: < http://www.aiga.org/what-steve-jobs-has-given-to-designers > [Accessed 9 Nov 2011]

“When I open up my MacBook Pro each day, I am excited about doing my work. When I’m happily working, I am enjoying my career, and when I’m enjoying my career, I’m loving life even more. I love typography and the choosing of typefaces to employ in motion designs and web sites, and I love the way that the Mac presents these type families to me so smoothly and accurately everywhere, including web fonts in Safari and the various web browsers.”

 

–       Helvetica (2007) Directed by Gary Hustwit. Swiss Dots [DVD]

David Carson: “I have no formal training in my field. In my case I’ve never learned all the things I’m not supposed to do. I just did what made sense to me. I was just… experimenting, really. So when people started getting upset, I didn’t really understand why, I said, “What’s the big deal? What are you talking about?” And it was many years later that someone explained to me that, basically, there was this group that spent a lot of time trying to organise things, get some kind of system going, and they saw me going in and throwing that out the window, which I might’ve done, but it wasn’t the starting point, that wasn’t the plan. Only much later I learned what determines modernism, and this and that…”

 

–       Sagmeister, S. (2008) Things I have learned in my life so far, Abrams

“Over time I get used to everything and start taking for granted.”

 

I chose these quotes as they are based around my topic how designers use technology to enhance their work and comparing it to traditional methods. The first was an article about how Steve Job’s technology has enhanced our designing practice. Secondly was a quote from Helvetica by David Carson who says he has had no training and likes to experiment with his work. Then lastly was one of the quotes from Stefan Sagmeisters “Things I’ve learned in my life so far” where he says about taking things for granted, which I feel fits my topic. How designers take the technology we have for granted.

Image Analysis: Olly Moss

For my image analysis I have chosen Olly Moss’ Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back Film Poster. It was designed as a three-part series of the original Star Wars trilogy that he created for collectible art house Mondo.

The idea was to use a key recognisable character from the film as a silhouette, then the detailing inside was created with a key location from the film. In this example it is Boba Fett created out of Cloud City.

The typography has a very retro feel, mimicking the original logos. The colour scheme is very simplistic with a nice layered gradient yet this is very striking when it is placed within the silhouette layout capitalising on the white space around the page.

The main design choice made by Moss, was to create the design using a screen printing technique instead of reproducing it digitally. This decision would have proved very difficult as there are four layers of ink to make the perspective gradient effect for the scenery. It was a very brave choice to use screen printing as it is a trial and error method as it doesn’t go perfectly every time. Although when it doesn’t go as you intended sometimes the result can work out better. Like in this example the top of his helmet the print failed to be a solid shape, yet it has a rustic effect that fits the character well.

http://ollymoss.com/galleries/movie-posters

IBM and ITC Lubalin Graph

For my fonts in use task I originally touched on ICA Paper Bag which was a variation of ITC Lubalin Graph. So I looked further into Lubalin Graph and other main uses of it. Lubalin Graph was designed in 1974 as a variety of Herb Lubalin’s ITC Avant Garde Gothic. I found out that the IBM logo and typefaces are based on it. Lubalin Graph has a very profound strong dominant look to them which suits IBM perfectly as a powerful company. Yet this only affects the uppercase letterforms, as the lowercase are much more elegant and flow nicely as bodies of text and individually designed typefaces. In the example below it shows an IBM set of posters which look really beautiful typographically yet they still resemble IBM with the recognisable typeface. I really liked the slab serif effect they have on them especially on the uppercase A. So overall I think ITC Lubalin Graph is a lovely typeface which not only is very elegant, it’s a dominant strong font which can suit both big commercial companies and elegant pieces of typographic design.

Annotated Text: David Carson Curriculum Vitae

For my annotated text I chose an article from David Carson’s Curriculum Vitae, which is at the end of the book “The End of Print: Grafik Design of David Carson 2nd Edition” by Lewis Blackwell.

I read through it and it tackled the exact topic that I am covering for my Contextual Studies report. Carson talks in his own way about how he works both with and without the use of the computer. One of the quotes which sums up how he feels about the topic is this,

“The digital age has transformed the tools available and the processes by which creative ideas are realized…However, it would be a fallacy to think traditional methods have been or will be entirely replaced, they are still valid”

I find this section of the article fascinating, how Carson believes that with all the new technology we have and how helpful they have become to us making design, we shouldn’t replace the traditional methods.

David Carson is a designer, who like many, has lived through the age where computers have come in and revolutionised design and it has had a major impact on his work and how final results can be achieved. After experiencing both life with and without a computer to design he values both and there are techniques that only one can do and vise versa. When he designs layouts prefers to “assemble items by hand” and prefers to stick prints on the wall instead of “crowding around a monitor”. Although he also says that computers do make life a lot easier by speeding the processes up.

So what I have taken from this research is that new technology is deffinately a good thing how it speeds up design and makes life easier. However, you shouldnt use it to replace traditional methods because they can have values which can prove very useful.

ICA Paper Bag

During the research into the fonts in use page, this typeface stood out to me as lovely, fresh and crisp.

They took ITC Lubalin Graph and created an old-fashioned folksy version of it which I think worked nicely and works very well with illustrations on the paper bag image. I usually prefer sans-serif typefaces and I find them neat, sharp and professional looking but this works lovely as a typeface and as a design.

http://fontsinuse.com/ica-paper-bag/

Steve Jobs and his Apple dynasty

Following the recent sad news that Steve Jobs has died. It really makes you sit back and think just how much of a genius we have lost.

Listening to his speeches, lectures and reading through some of the key points really touched me and really spoke to me about why I want to be a designer and succeed in life. We have lost a truly remarkable individual whose ideology in life is something we should learn to encapsulate ourselves.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc&feature=youtu.be

Whilst thinking about Steve Jobs it hit me where I should go with my Contextual Studies essay and what I should look into.

The devices and machines that he created really have changed the way we live everyday life and how we do things, especially in design. My point is though, is this really a good thing?

Following back to my essay topic on whether computers have really helped us to design amazing things or is having this bountiful technology at our fingertips more of a hindrance, stopping us from going out and using more hands on methods. Methods a computer could only dream of doing. Print making, free hand drawing and physically making something instead of always creating a fake image on a computer screen.

http://www.aiga.org/what-steve-jobs-has-given-to-designers/

I read through this article talking about, what Steve Jobs has given to designers and how great the machines he invented are. That just sparked my discussion even more.

Do we create better designs with or without the Mac?