Visual Style

Exploring collage, using materials like fabrics, sequences, string, magazine cutouts, receipts. Basically - things we collect and often things comes with consumerism....
This is for the different auditors. Can you guess? its the girl that loves old school romance..

Experimentation: Work In Progress

Changed target audience to females and the boyfriends as the secondary audience.
This is the sort of style I am working with. Will try to mix hand-made media with vector art (icons). This is just experimentation, not the final illustration!

Inspiration: Information Design

Thanks again Kate from Anamorphosis ! I love the works from Trafik It shows how information design does not have to be boring! I just have to bear in mind that my target audience are not designers, but more so your lay MAN so to keep it really simple but with a bit of interpretative exercise to keep them entertained!

Major Project: Work In Progress: Icons

My first set of icons - its rough but its a start. Not sure whether to just have the object itself, or to always have the person icon with each object. I know there needs lots of tweaking, but hows about the general look of it?
*Im not a good drawer, so i found images from istockphoto as a base for proportions!

ICONS BRAINSTORM GALORE

I am starting to organise my information in a logical manner to help me see what visualisations are necessary. Ive got a few ideas for each, but still exploring!
If anyone thinks of anything clever let me know!

MOOD: Tongue in Cheek!

Icons alone I need:

::CHAPTERS::
1. Auditors - Girls analysing the gifts/gestures
2. Assets - these are the material gifts
3. No Value - non material gifts and verbal sayings
4. Trade Secret - tells the guys the secret in interpreting women's language

::TACTICAL MOTIVES::
Different dating stages
1. Courtship - the chase, beginning stages, trying to impress
2. Steady Dating - officially a couple, stable, for at least a couple of months
3. Commitment - start to see it long term, potential future
(4. Not Interested - just dont care no more - not certain yet if this would be included!)

::SITUATIONAL MOTIVES::
1. Birthday - have one person value (should be something for the girl)
2. Anniversary - celebrating time together (should have two people value)
3. Reconciliation - after a fight and saying sorry (should not be a material gift)

::DEFINING GIFT VALUE::
1. Low Risk - typical, boring, predictable gifts, basically doesnt have any personal value
2. High Risk - dangerous, could be easily interpreted the wrong way, have to be careful
3. Sentimental - girls can treasure, keep it. For eg drawing, note
4. Spontaneous - best for those random moments, big or small
5. Individual Value - just for one person
6. Couple Value - couples able to share the experience/gift together
7. Activity based - involves physical activity, planning is necessary
8. Over the top/Cheesy - vomit worthy, too much for the girl
9. Practical


THERE ARE SO MANY TO DO FOR! EEK! May need to cut down eliminate. Information can be arranged in many different ways. Whats the most practical and effective way?!

Personal Information Design on Relationships

I was researching possible icon possibilities for the different dating stages - courtship, steady dating, commitment when I came across a personal information design report: Dizzia"This is the documentation of every intimate relationship I have ever had."

Its quite funny in the stories that can be created from simple icons - even more interesting is the red hexagons that are breakups and its up to the viewer to interpret what that means.

Inspiration: A visual style

Emilkozak

My latest thought on trying to resolve my visual style:
It could be as simple as this - simple photography of the product and behind it (similiarly to this) would be illustrations that ARE THE FEMALE VOICE. This allows me to have more fun with my visualisations and enjoy the process - as we all know these gifts communciate so many things to women unbeknown to men! So I can play with typography, handwritten messages, stylised drawings, little icons etc..That way these objects can create a mood that is appropriate to it.

Visuals should be up soon, still working on them :)

Another learning list

We are always forever learning how to become better because the design process is indeed complex. One thing I always do and have been for my project is creating metaphors - it provides an entertaining base and allows us designers to imagine another world as well as role play.

For example in Love Transactions
Gifts & Gestures = are assests that allow you to investment into relationship
Guys = stockbrokers investing, making decisions on what assests to choose to invest (which many are unaware of)
Girls = auditors - analysing what and how men give gifts

From the article....
02 METAPHORS
“Themes and metaphors are great platforms for ideas and I try to develop them both from a holistic perspective (ie, basing a site around a playground metaphor) as well as a design perspective (colour schemes and layout styles, for example). If you can hit a decent theme that allows you to convey and house the content, it’s a good place to be.”
50 ways to become a better designer

Anamorphosis

Just want to thank Kate Andrews (london based print based graphic designer, typographer, researcher and even mentor) for her feedback and time contributing towards my major project. She has become another web of resource, opened me up to a whole new world of design and design dialogue. It is great when strangers respond because of your shared passion in visual communication.

Check out her blog!! Anamorphosis

Guide Book

Rumbero Design

* Guide Book designed for the ISC freshmen

This is maybe the answer - icons ont he side like an address telephone book the quick way for guys to browse through the book.

Major Project Problem

The current issue I am having with my project - is that how to appeal this information to the male audience.
My target audience is 20-25 yr olds who are mostly students who are just figuring out relationships, dont have a big spending budget, have a lot on their mind, and of course are clueless when it comes to understanding what women want.

So the people that would respond to my piece are
1) men who know they are clueless and want help and;
2) females who think that their friend or boyfriend need help in the area.

So the assumptions I am making here are that to appeal to men is that it has to
1. Wont spend a lot of time on trying to get informed on this topic - so it needs to be straight to the point
2. Needs to look cool
3. Relate well to instructive steps, manuals
4. Short attention spand

But arguably, the audience are people who are wanting help in this area, will actually take the time to look through. So it doesnt necessary have to be boring simple sterile images. It can be a little fun and exploratory - still there needs to be an exciting visual style.

Major Project Presentation

My interim presentation to the panel.

Feedback: Need visuals! Inspiration Anyone?

Cupcakes on a whole new level

You know how I love cupackes and creating metaphors. This is a metaphor for cupcakes i've never thought about! WoW. This company herlook.com has too constructing their own language 'low beam, matchsticks, takeouts' which are all women accessories to enhance, hide certain body bits.

Freelance Switch : 10 Biggest Mistakes Freelance designers make!

http://freelanceswitch.com/freelancing-essentials/the-10-biggest-mistakes-freelancers-make-and-how-to-avoid-them

Good article on this blog - talking about our mistakes we make as freelance designers and we should learn from our mistakes (but somehow we continue to fall over our own mistakes) - Its really easy to feel trapped being a student freelancer, you feel like money shouldnt be a real issue because your just hoping to get briefs you can work on to build on your portfolio, but then you dont want to be taken advantage of cause really as we know it, when we anticipate or quote for a 3hr job, you've really invested more than that time. Thinking about it also qualifies as time spent on it, rather than just the actual design of it. Its a tough world out there for freelance designers. And of course clients like to chuck in 'oh there are other designers out there that charge less' - I guess its up to you whether you want to beg for this client to stay or let them go and hopefully get clients who want to work WITH you and understand the challenge and amount of thinking and decisions we go through to complete the brief. I guess its hard not to feel like your incapable because giving that brief to anyone, you will get so many interpretations and someone else might get it spot on, where as it took say 2 rounds of revisions. Really, just believe in your capabilities andd have confidence cause theres a reason why the client has choosen you to do the work.

Now I just got to believe in what I've just said.

A brief message.com

A great source from anamorphosis - Anamorphosis
" A brief message.com features design opinions expressed in short form—200 words or less "

Inspiration: Feltron

Nicholas Feltron has produced yet a wonderful personal annual report that documents pretty much all aspects of his life. He is very much a graphic designer who likes graph things, all about information design. The second piece is one he did for print magazine on obsessive consumption - they were all asked to document what they consumed for a week.

So perhaps my project will just be as clean yet bold...

Inspiration: The Book of Independence

Lovely design from strichpunkt - its got heart icons that run across each page. This appears to be more photography based.
"Start your own declaration of independence. Free yourself from the bondage of time, from your fears, from money troubles, prejudices, trends and traditions, and claim your own quality time now: with Heartbeat Moments Diary No. 3. A diary without a fixed calendar that begins whenever you decide. A guide without advice, that is rather thought-provoking, a personal journal and book of independence. Concept and design were developed for Papierfabrik Scheufelen. Includes 12 sticker pages. Printed with 6 colours throughout plus silkscreen, fluorescent colours, and various varnishes, embossings and die-cuts."

Images directly from:
Strichpunkt

Source
Anamorphosis

Major Project Update #2

The chapters itself, are an evolving timeline from trying to impress a girl based on a very basic level and understanding that all girls like x y & z to a commited relationship. Remember this information is not going to suit everyone but has been drawn on from academic readings & social research.

1. "Off the shelf love"
Looks at the typical love commodity products such as chocolate, roses, teddy bears would be showcased in a form vending machine and rather than a price it would be given the actual value of the gift in icons form - i.e reaction,
typical occasion.

Im still seeing if i can figure out some code system like a gesture =
E4 or something and that would be made referenced later in the book in the second chapter.

2. The love market
Divided mainly into two sections looking at the different ways to invest - line graphs and a grid graph to address
1. how certain great gifts/ideas depreciate in value (market crash)
2. how inappropriate/boring/mundane gifts can increase in value (based on the positive qualities identified by women social research - so this becomes tongue in cheek)

3. Can't buy love (working title to replace 'no value/priceless')
Some sort of journey/map or timetable that showcases, the little gestures you can do in a day from morning to night. Basically to show how gestures can be done in your everyday life that women appreciate more so than others and dont take much to do, and its not all about the big grand gestures or materialistic objects men assume we always want. I guess the best idea is some sort of interesting flow chart...

I thought of a metaphor like going to work or uni - what do you take -bus/car/bike and each transpation is a representation (im highly generalising here) but its like
bus = dependent on others, organised, time based or it could detour
and the bus arrives late..
car = can afford to spend more money, have more access and
conveinence, impatient
bike = labour work, can invest more time,

and within each adventure you take, there will always be gestures that you could do for your partner.... for example, the mode of communication - write postit note/send sms/ or making a sandwich, or as you say when sad, a massage. But as
everyone's lifestyle is different, I just need to find a good way to manage and limit the scenarios.
I guess it could just be say 3 different 'budget planners' - that visually illustrate the amount of things you can do in a day, month even seasons?!

** So the metaphors are a bit off track - but ive just thought that these gestures can be in a form of receipts transaction and requires the audience, to collect, up to you building up .... still thinking...its a start i hope.

Finally, there would be
4. "Sealed section"
This is where it expose women - decode/translate the reaction of women towards your gifts.

Still thinking would love some feedback guys and girls.

Hope you all progressing well.

Major Project Update

I saw this image (courtsey of mr Dan Andersen) a while go from Threadless T-shirts (threadless.com) and it may have been the contributing factor for visualising my first chapter to the project "off the shelf love" That is the typical commercial gifts all to fit within the visual frame of a vending machine also supported with infographics!

Im also starting to wonder that this may work better as an interactive flash piece rather than a print piece - like the way I showcased my cupcakes as a product in a theatre stage setting and on one level it was just the cupcakes introducing into its own setting with a narrative and then it would also have a 'family' (similar flavours in the cupcake), 'friends' (complimenting flavours) and of course 'enemies.' It was a product based website, encouraging users to engage and therefore buy it - which is similar in the project. There was so much level of information that can be added and catered specifically to the guys motive/situation for the gift giving behaviour.



Oh now I am really confused!

http://www.threadless.com/product/657/Some_Choices_Are_Just_Out_of_Reach

The Couple's Book by Benrik.com

Believe it or not, this has been produced by two men Ben Carey & Henrik Delehag. It's an amusing scrapbook where 'couples' can document and chart their whole relationship from things like who paid on their first date, their best orgasms - anything you can think of from emotional to physical aspects of the relationship. I wonder if there were couples that did this together?! I know I wouldnt!

So I was also thinking of producing something interactive like this book but of course based on my topic - one where men can actually write in to jot down potential gift/gesture ideas or guidelines/hints to make it easy for guys to remember/note down things their gf may have said to as a clue.

Natsko.com

I love this visual style its a mix between my illustration style in "my cupcakes style" Im still undecided on the visual style, I know I am still figuring out the content. Would you guys say this style is aimed more at feminine audience rather than a guy? I think so!

8 Ways to drive a graphic designer mad!

A great design rant that we can all relate. Posted by: http://groy82.blogspot.com/2007/03/8-ways-to-drive-graphic-designer-mad.html

1-Microsoft Office
When you have to send a graphic designer a document, make sure it's made with a program from Microsoft Office. PC version if possible. If you have to send pictures, you'll have more success in driving them mad if, instead of just sending a jpeg or a raw camera file, you embed the pictures inside a Microsoft Office document like Word or Powerpoint. Don't forget to lower the resolution to 72 dpi so that they'll have to contact you again for a higher quality version. When you send them the "higher" version, make sure the size is at least 50% smaller. And if you're using email to send the pictures, forget the attatchment once in a while.

2-Fonts
If the graphic designer chooses Helvetica for a font, ask for Arial. If he chooses Arial, ask for Comic Sans. If he chooses Comic Sans, he's already half-insane, so your job's half done.

3-More is better
Let's say you want a newsletter designed. Graphic designers will always try to leave white space everywhere. Large margins, the leading and kerning of text, etc. They will tell you that they do this because it's easier to read, and leads to a more clean, professional look. But do not believe those lies. The reason they do this is to make the document bigger, with more pages, so that it costs you more at the print shop. Why do they do it? Because graphic designers hate you. They also eat babies. Uncooked, raw baby meat.

So make sure you ask them to put smaller margins and really, really small text. Many different fonts are also suggested (bonus if you ask for Comic Sans, Arial or Sand). Ask for clipart. Ask for many pictures (if you don't know how to send them, refer to #1). They will try to argument, and defend their choices but don't worry, in the end the client is always right and they will bow to your many requests.


4-Logos
If you have to send a graphic designer a logo for a particular project, let's say of a sponsor or partner, be sure to have it really really small and in a low-res gif or jpeg format. Again, bonus points if you insert it in a Word document before sending it. Now you might think that would be enough but if you really want to be successful in lowering the mental stability of a graphic designer, do your best to send a version of the logo over a hard to cut-out background. Black or white backgrounds should be avoided, as they are easy to cut-out with the darken or lighten layer style in photoshop. Once the graphic designer is done working on that bitmap logo, tell him you need it to be bigger.

If you need a custom made logo, make your own sketches on a napkin. Or better yet, make your 9 year old kid draw it. Your sketch shouldn't take more than 5 minutes to make. You don't want to make something that's detailed and easy to understand, because the less the designer understands what you want, the more you can make him change things afterwards. Never accept the first logo. Never accept the 9th, make him do many changes, colors, fonts & clip art. Ask him to add a picture in the logo. Bevels. Gradients. Comic Sans. And when he's at his 10th attempt, tell him that you like the 2nd one the most. I know, it's mean but remember: graphic designers are the cause of breast cancer among middle aged women.

5-Chosing your words
When describing what you want in a design, make sure to use terms that don't really mean anything. Terms like "jazz it up a bit" or "can you make it more webbish?". "I would like the design to be beautiful" or "I prefer nice graphics, graphics that, you know, when you look at them you go: Those are nice graphics." are other options. Don't feel bad about it, you've got the right. In fact, it's your duty because we all know that on fullmoons, graphic designers shapeshift into werewolves.


6-Colors
The best way for you to pick colors (because you don't want to let the graphic designer choose) is to write random colors on pieces of paper, put them in a hat and choose. The graphic designer will suggest to stay with 2-3 main colors at the most, but no. Choose as many as you like, and make sure to do the hat thing in front of him. While doing it, sing a very annoying song.


7-Deadlines
When it's your turn to approve the design, take your time. There is no rush. Take two days. Take six. Just as long as when the deadline of the project approaches, you get back to the designer with more corrections and changes that he has time to make. After all, graphic designers are responsible for the 911 attacks.


8-Finish him
After you've applied this list on your victim, it is part of human nature (although some would argue weather they're human or not) to get a bit insecure. As he realises that he just can't satisfy your needs, the graphic designer will most likely abandon all hopes of winning an argument and will just do whatever you tell him to do, without question. You want that in purple? Purple it is. Six different fonts? Sure!

You would think that at this point you have won, but don't forget the goal of this: he has to quit this business. So be ready for the final blow: When making final decisions on colors, shapes, fonts, etc, tell him that you are disappointed by his lack of initiative. Tell him that after all, he is the designer and that he should be the one to put his expertise and talent at work, not you. That you were expecting more output and advices about design from him.

Tell him you've had enough with his lack of creativity and that you would rather do your own layouts on Publisher instead of paying for his services. And there you go. You should have graphic designer all tucked into a straight jacket in no time!