Saturday 7th May 2011:

I decided that using my own handprint in my logo was a good idea and therefore decided to create some handprints (both using my hand and someone else’s hand to get a variety to choose from). I also tried the idea of having the writing in the middle/across the hand. This works quite well, but I’m not sure what it would look like on my final pieces and it might be too close to the other writing in the hand which might make it too complex. However, this brings it all together nicely, so I will need to think about this and try it out on my different pieces to see what looks better.

I also feel that the logo looks much better with my own handprint and that this makes it more personal. The hand also looks smaller making it seem more fragile and vulnerable but still aggressive enough to give the message of ‘stop’.

I then updated my poster designs so that the writing hadn’t been created by being typed out but by using my lino prints. I think that this looks a lot better and more personal as it includes more hand processes. Also, it adds a more ‘messy/rough’ effect which I think works well with the words on the poster. I have also changed some of the colours around so that ‘me’ and ‘you’ are in colour and the other in white. I think that this works well and puts more of an emphasis on these words, which is important.

I’ve also edited my ‘lost your voice?’ poster slightly. I have slightly changed the tears, etc, to make them look more realistic (it was suggested in the peer review that I ‘curve’ the tears slightly where they go down the cheek). I’ve also added ‘can’t speak up?’ to the top of the poster next to my logo and tagline. Overall, I think that this (and the other poster), works well and looks better with these improvements. Hopefully they will print out well and that the 3D type and cut out letters will also look good and ‘complete’ the posters nicely.

Target for today: Create handprints and incorporate with new logo design and update poster designs (with lino print and new logo, etc) ready for printing.

Target for tomorrow: Research lighting to backlight my posters and 3D letters to use on poster, look through research and include anything used in project to update visual reference folder, check through specification to check that I am meeting the requirements.

Friday 6th May 2011:

Today I completed the handprint idea which I had started on Saturday which was inspired by a prepped page. This hadn’t turned out too well, and so I decided to use some materials to create the effect I wanted. This now looks much better and quite effective and interesting to look at. I wanted to include feelings and insults to show the relationship between the bully and the victim as well as the hand to add the idea of bullying feeling personal - this works quite well and I may explore this idea further.

I then updated the annotations in my sketchbook so that I could reflect on my ideas so far.

I then carried out the ideas given to me in the peer review about my letterhead and business card designs. I really like these ideas and feel that they have turned out well and would work well for the final designs. I will just need to make a few changes and change the logo when I decide on my final design. I like how the designs are really simple but are still unique and quite attractive. Also, the colours work nicely together and I like the idea of a double-sided business card as then it stands out but it’s still easy to read the important information and the black only being on one side doesn’t make it too intimidating (as the organisation is there to help). Perhaps, also, it could represent the bully on one side and the victim on the other (and vice-versa), and then them coming together (eg: by the lines continuing onto the other side).

Target for today: Complete handprint piece inspired by prepped page, update annotations in sketchbook and create new business card and letterhead in response to peer review.

Target for tomorrow: Create handprints and incorporate with new logo design and update poster designs (with lino print and new logo, etc) ready for printing.

Thursday 5th May 2011:

I decided that it would be a useful time for another informal peer review and so I spoke to my peers about my new logo, business card and letterhead designs as well as my digital poster designs. I felt that overall I got a good reaction and some useful feedback. I wanted to ask them if they thought that for the victim poster that ‘lost your voice?’ was better than ‘can’t speak up?’. They agreed that ‘lost your voice?’ worked well and that it was easy to understand as well as giving out a strong message. I therefore decided to keep it as ‘lost your voice?’ but to add ‘can’t speak up?’ at the top near my logo and tagline. I then also wanted to ask if they felt that the ‘photoshopped’ tears looked realistic or if an actual photo would work better. They seemed to think that it’s OK how it is. They also liked the idea of having a light behind the posters, the only comment was that perhaps the ‘lost your voice?’ part should come down slightly so that it was more in the place of the mouth rather than the nose. I agreed with this but I’m not sure if this will work visually as it’s balanced quite well as it is.

I then showed them my other digital poster designs, most of which they also liked, but they decided that my choice of the ‘lost your voice?’ and ‘calling me ugly won’t make you beautiful’ was right as these were the two best. However, they quite liked the ‘why do you bully?’ design as it stood out and made you look. It is quite hard to read though and so perhaps this is why it wouldn’t work too well as a final piece. They mentioned that at first glance they thought that the whole thing was a set of writing, eg: a story or a quote, and that this might also work quite nicely. My tutor then also saw these ideas and mentioned perhaps having the sentence ‘why do you bully?’ in colour and the different sentences not in colour instead of the other way around like I’d done it as then this would make it easier to read. This is a good idea which I may test out. She also suggested having the same idea but in the style of a ‘menu board’ where you can change the letters around, etc (like in a fish and chip shop), as this could relate also to schools and would look quite effective. Although it would be quite hard to create this and then take a photo, perhaps I could create this digitally to see what it looks like.

I also spoke to someone about getting my posters printed and what paper I could print on. He suggested semi-gloss and when I asked my peers about this they seemed to think that it would work quite well and also, it’s easy to cut into, and this would be useful for when I cut some of the words out.

I then asked for their opinions on my new logo design as well as my new letterhead and business card designs. They seemed to really like the logo (but suggested using my own handprint instead of an one from an image) and they had a few suggestions for the letterhead and business card designs. For example, combining some of the ideas to create a new idea and having a double-sided business card so that one side could be black (as this looks effective) with the logo, and then the other side white to include the important information (but not on black as this could be too intimidating). I then asked my tutor what she thought about my logo, etc, and she made a few suggestions (eg: having the writing going through the handprint to make it like a stop/’not allowed’ sign) to make it less busy and more integrated (the name and the image), and so I will carry out these ideas and decided from there what logo to choose. My tutor also gave me some really good ideas for my business card so I will take these into account when re-designing them.

I then updated my sketchbook with my digital designs and after doing this, I still feel that the ‘lost your voice?’ and ‘calling me ugly wont make you beautiful’ poster ideas work best.

Target for today: Talk about work so far with peers to hear their opinions and update sketchbook with digital designs, etc.

Target for tomorrow: Complete handprint piece inspired by prepped page, update annotations in sketchbook and create new business card and letterhead in response to peer review.

Wednesday 4th May 2011:

Today I created the handprint logo idea which I had sketched out in my sketchbook. When I created my digital poster designs I made a temporary logo design to use on the designs. However, this didn’t turn out how I wanted it to and so I designed it properly today. The main issue before was that I had created it as if it were a left hand in the stop position, when a right hand would’ve been more visually appealing on, for example, letterheads, etc. Also, I had made the name ‘Sticks and Stones’ integrated within the palm of the hand and this made it quite hard to read and so I had to think of a new way to present the name of the company as part of the handprint image.

To create the logo, I used a program/website online called ‘Wordle’ where you enter lots of words (and repeat the words that you want to come up bigger than the others), and then you can create alternative ways to display these. This was also useful because this was how I discovered the font ‘Coolvetica’, which I really like and think works well on my posters. I then took these words (such as ‘bullying’, ‘alone’ and ‘depressed’) and copied them into Photoshop and rearranged them and rotated them, etc, to create a nice selection of words. I then got an image of a handprint and made changes so that the words were only inside the handprint. I then made a few edits to the overall image. I think that this is really effective and although it’s quite hard to read, this isn’t too much of an issue, as it’s more the effect which I was trying to achieve. I then thought that perhaps I should use my own handprint and so I tried this as well, but this didn’t look as good as the original so I may just leave it how it is or try to create another print of my hand which may look better. I then experimented with where to place the type and decided on at the bottom as I felt that this balanced out the hand nicely. I really like this logo design, and feel that I have achieved the look that I wanted which I had not yet gotten close to in my previous designs. I will ask for opinions of this logo to see what others think of it.

I then created a few letterhead and business card designs to see how the logo would work with these. I still like the crossover of the thin lines at the top and down the side, but perhaps the logo works best at the bottom of the page. For the business cards, I quite like the black design with the white writing. I also like how the logo is able to be larger on these and so is easier to see. Perhaps I could also try making a double side design with the logo on one side and the information on the other side. Again I will ask for opinions on these. I will also need to start thinking about how and what to print the letterheads and business cards onto.

Target for today: Create handprint logo idea digitally and letterhead and business card ideas to go with this.

Target for tomorrow: Talk about work so far with peers to hear their opinions and update sketchbook with digital designs, etc.

Tuesday 3rd May 2011:

I decided that if I was going to use the ‘calling me ugly wont make you beautiful’ idea for one of my final posters, then it would be effective to create the words using a lino print and then digitally adding these to the poster, to make it more ‘handmade’ and perhaps more attractive.

It took a while to cut the lino, but once the words were printed, it was quite eye-catching and I think that these would work well when added to the poster. I used white ink for some, and black for the other and printed onto a variety of backgrounds. This was also quite an exciting process because usually I just use acrylic paint to print with and this time I was able to use printing ink, etc, and the results looked much better and neater.

Out of the different backgrounds which I printed onto with the black ink, the most effective were the brown paper, the blue paper towel, and the white. The red background was a bit too much and detracted away from the words. The white ink worked best on the black paper, as the grey and blue backgrounds didn’t help the white to stand out enough. I also printed into my sketchbook, but these didn’t really turn out well (which also happened the last time I used lino printing in my sketchbook), and perhaps this is because of the paint, etc, which is part of the prepped background, as it may not ‘pick up’ the prints.

Overall, I think that the prints came out quite well and I will see if they look effective as part of my poster design.

Target for today: Create and print lino prints (for ‘calling me ugly won’t make you beautiful’) to maybe use for possible poster idea.

Target for tomorrow: Create handprint logo idea digitally and letterhead and business card ideas to go with this.

Monday 2nd May 2011:

I wanted to create sadder looking eyes for my poster idea as a few people had suggested this and I wanted to see if I could create something more realistic with makeup and photography that what I had created on Photoshop.

One thing, which I hadn’t anticipated, was trying to create the same effect of the bright white against my face making my mouth ‘disappear’. It took a long time trying to get this exact effect again using my MacBook, and I eventually discovered that it must have been darker the pervious time as when I was surrounded my more darkness, the brighter an effect I would achieve. I then had to try and create fake tears and smudged makeup which was quite difficult as it was fairly hard to create realistic looking tears. In the end the photos turned out fairly well, but I still feel that perhaps the original version with the Photoshop effects on, may work better. Also, in some cases, the photos from today look more ‘scary’ than ‘sad’ and this won’t give out the right message. They also look more like they’d be used in an abuse campaign as the smudged makeup may look like bruises.

Today, I also made mini versions of the possible, initial, final poster ideas. I think that these actually look quite effective and would work well as A2 sized final posters. When I held them up to my laptop screen to view the cut out section, this looked really effective and made me think about perhaps displaying my posters with a blue-ish bright light behind them to make them more unique and eye-catching. However, this may not be possible or work as well as I am imagining and so I should make sure that the designs I do create would also look effective without a light behind them. I think making these mini versions was a really useful process and I can use these to show to people when asking for their opinions on my ideas so far. Another thing, which I have noticed, is that (although I did want it to be subtle), perhaps the word 'ugly' is hidden too much. Perhaps I could either have an outline so that when the 3D type is added, there is an outline of colour to help the word to stand out; or I could cut out an outline and have a transparent sheet behind it so that if I do use light, this will shine through helping it to stand out.

Target for today: Take photos to show smudged makeup and ‘sadder’ eyes, etc, and create mini version of poster ideas.

Target for tomorrow: Create and print lino prints (for ‘calling me ugly won’t make you beautiful’) to maybe use for possible poster idea.

Sunday 1st May 2011:

After creating quite a few pieces in my sketchbook development work which included hands and handprints, I decided to experiment with using something like this as part of a new logo design. I have already designed a few logos for my organisation ‘Sticks and Stones’, but I still felt that they weren’t very effective and not to the standard and style that I was hoping for. I therefore thought it would be a relevant and good idea to use my developmental work to inspire a more effective and eye-catching logo, and so went on to make a few sketches of possible ideas. Although they would look much better when produced digitally, I can see elements which would work quite nicely. I think one of the main problems would be trying to place the type in a suitable place and so I may need to experiment with this further when digitally developing these designs. However, I still feel that this will end up as a more successful logo design than my previous designs.

I then went on to create my poster ideas digitally using, for example, Adobe Photoshop. First, I produced the ‘calling me ugly wont make you beautiful’ idea. I think this has turned out quite nicely, but I had had in mind making the ‘ugly’ 3D and cutting out the word ‘beautiful’ and so this may change the overall look quite a lot. I will therefore need to experiment with this poster idea further. Also, the type is quite ‘flat’ and so perhaps I could try lino printing this design and then digitally including this in the final poster design so that the type was handmade, etc. This may also add a more ‘rough’ effect, which will work well with these words.

I then created the ‘lost your voice?’ idea where I have used the photo which I took before where the light was bright enough to make my mouth ‘disappear’. A few people suggested making the eyes look ‘sadder’ to enhance the image and it’s meaning. It was also suggested that I take new photos and then smudge my makeup, etc, to add the ‘teary’ effect. I will still probably experiment with this, but for now, I just wanted to get a general idea of what the overall poster could look like. I therefore added the effect of tears and smudged makeup digitally in Photoshop. I think that actually this works quite nicely as it is and a real photo may not be necessary, but I would perhaps need to ask for opinions on this. Overall, I really like this poster idea and think that it will be even more effective when the words ‘lost your voice?’ are cut out, which will further emphasize the meaning of not being able to speak up. Also, although the logo is just temporary, I feel that perhaps it should be placed somewhere near the bottom instead of at the top (and perhaps be smaller) because at the moment it looks like something is on top of the person’s head, etc.

I then tried the idea with the handprint in the centre with the message above reading ‘are you the bully or the victim’. This is quite effective and stands out well, however, as I mentioned when I sketched out this idea, it is aimed more at both the bully and the victim instead of just one or the other. Also when creating this, for the handprint I used a selection of type, and thought that this looked quite effective just on its own. However, I’m not too sure what I could do with this to develop it further.

I also tried the ‘why do you bully?’ idea with the different reasons creating the sentence. This is quite attractive, but is maybe slightly hard to read, especially with the wide range of colours. I therefore also tried it with the colours being more ‘muted’ so that the white would stand out more and with the reasons being just grey (and repeated along the page), so help to make the white stand out. These work quite nicely, but I think that perhaps there is still too much writing making it a ‘hassle’ to read it all, etc. On the other hand it could entice some viewers to look more closely to see what it says, etc.

I then developed the ‘fat pig’ idea digitally. I’m not too sure about this design. I think that I could’ve chosen a type style which was more sophisticated as this whole design looks quite ‘childish’ at the moment. However, I quite like the idea of the ‘stamp’ effect on top and so perhaps I could explore this part further.

I think I have some possible final poster ideas which I could develop further and I will probably print out the ‘calling me ugly won’t make you beautiful’ and the ‘lost your voice?’ ideas so that I can make mini versions and experiment with the cutting out and making 3D elements which I wanted to try out. I think that, so far, these are the ideas which would work best and give out the right messages.

Target for today: Create new, more effective logo designs in sketchbook and create digital versions of poster ideas from sketchbook.

Target for tomorrow: Take photos to show smudged makeup and ‘sadder’ eyes, etc, and create mini version of poster ideas.