Information and way finding is about communication, it is about info graphics and ways to communicate to the audience in an effective and simple way. A lot of products for this section is like road signs, signs in airports etc. A lot of it comes down to semiotics and what we apply to each icon.
Examples of sites:
http://www.designworkplan.com/
http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/infoarch/publications/mfoltz-thesis/node8.html
http://www.holmes-wood.com/
http://www.richardwolfstrome.com/
http://www.wolfi.co.uk/
http://www.amazon.com/The-Wayfinding-Handbook-Information-Design/dp/1568987692
Examples of work:
The above examples are all of information and way finding, this discipline is all about simplifying everything down to simple words/icons to make it better for the audience to understand quickly when first seen. It is also a way of directed people around a certain area. The examples above show this information and show how simple things can actually be, but they are all effective work, because they do what they are intended to do. The last examples are the best i do believe (car park), this has taken the idea of car park signs and made them a lot easier to understand for the driver, but also a lot clearer. One problem within car parks is that the signs are so small you are always looking around to find the right way, with these designs it bold simple and easy to see and follow. Not only that but it provides good graphic design work and brings a car park to life more. Very creative and innovative information design.
Product & packaging design
Product and packaging design is how a object is packaged and making the packaging relate to the contents inside it. This sector is making the product look attractive, you have the have the relevant information to make the audience want to buy the product, this comes down to aesthetics, colours, style and the right content on the packaging to communicate what is inside it. Understanding your target audience is key to this and making sure you are targeting your product to the right range and audience within this.
Examples of sites:
http://lovelystationery.com/
http://www.wemakepogo.com/
http://www.thedieline.com/
http://designmuse.typepad.com/
http://www.boxvox.net/wp/
http://dzinebites.blogspot.co.uk/
http://www.packagingoftheworld.com/
Examples of work:
These examples show some work of product and packaging design. As this discipline is so wide and varied there is no set format or media, it all depends upon the product in which you are trying to package. Some may be a digitally designed printed packaging others may take the form of digital or online. The content of each packaging is different but there is always the same idea of the outside of the packaging is showing what the inside is, explaining it and trying to persuade the audience to buy it. Making the connection from the product and the packaging is the essential element and thing that will make both the packaging and product successful.
Branding & Identity design
Branding and Identity is putting a company or select group or range of a product/people across to the public. Branding this right is key to the success of that company etc. Again you have to understand your audience and know what they are wanting to see, but more relevant to this you have to understand what you are trying to brand/identify to get the right message across. A company/ group/product stands by its aim and meaning of what they do, identifying this and being able to communicate it through advertisement/promotion/logo etc is what a graphic design would do. Not only this you could be asked to design the whole identity for a company, this would contain products such as - business cards, letterheads, logos etc. Again to produce this you have to know the company and understand what they want to audience and public to see them as, a good relation with the company would be good for this.
Examples of sites:
http://www.counter-print.co.uk/
http://www.manystuff.org/
http://www.bigfish.co.uk/
http://www.madebyanalogue.co.uk/
http://www.fourletterword.co.uk/
http://idsgn.org/
http://blog.girvin.com/
Example of work:
Branding and identity examples shown above. Branding and identity can be used on a variety of different formats and media, but is dependant on the company and what they are wanting to do. The branding of a company has to communicate their business to the audience and general public which all these examples above show. Branding an identity is seen as quite a corporate design and idea to it, but in some of the examples above, you can see that it is far from corporate, incorporating more typography, letterpress, illustrations etc can make branding come alive and more creative, but again this comes down to the client and the style they want to identify their company with.
Editorial & Publishing
This section of graphic design is a wide and varied sector. A publication can literally be anything that is bound or grouped together is some way and works as a set or series. With this it opens it up to a big audience, one that cannot be defined. There is no subject that you an say is publishing because anything can be the content of a publication.
Editorial design is the design of the content of a publication, the layout of a page, double page spread, contents page etc. To design this to the best of your ability you need to understand how to lay out a page and what content you need for this. An understanding of the grid and how to use this will be needed, along with the right content that is relevant to your publication and communicates well. Within a editorial design there will be content in the form of an article and photos/illustrations, you need to be able to relate all these together to make them coherent throughout your publication. The right tone and message communicated to the audience need to be correct, so understanding what target audience you are aiming this at and the type of articles and imagery with the balance between the two right for each audience is key.
Examples of websites:
http://heydays.no/projects/
http://qus-qus.com/
http://www.emmi.co.uk/
http://www.magspreads.com/
http://www.computerarts.co.uk/blog/fond-editorial-design-122866
http://tranches.tumblr.com/
Examples of work:
Editorial and publishing is a huge sector, which has a really wide design idea/concepts and formats. A publication can be of any format, so this makes it really interesting and looking into different publication for the format and the style i find really interesting. The examples above i have tried to show some variations between different formats, stock and layouts. Every publication has content which takes the form of articles and imagery, but its the design that you use within the publication that makes it a good design piece, getting the connection between the articles and imagery to make a free flowing publication that is easy to read and communicates the idea of the publication is what any designer would aim to do.
As you can see in the examples above, you can be really creative in the design of publication, it doesn't have to be just a book, the front cover sets off a publication and making this a high standard and something that stands off the shelf, gives your publication a head start, which i think all the above examples show. The use of colour, stock and layout is the essential part to this and what you need a good understanding of to create a good publication.
Retail & Promotion design
Promotion design is a big part of graphic design and to someone who doesn't know a lot about the subject would say that this is what graphic design is. When i get asked what i do and say graphic design, the response i always get is 'so you make posters and advertisement '. This is pretty much what promotion design is, being able to advertise an event, company, product etc. The format of these can vary, you can use a lot of different medias within promotion design; flyer, poster, editorial, digital, online, television, radio and many more. This leaves this sector open to a large amount of different designers. But for a graphic designer i would say the key areas would be posters, flyers, mail shot, editorial, online. Again the understanding of the thing you are advertise is essential to communicate this correct to the audience and make an effective promotion of that subject.
Retail design is more on the corporate side of things. Looking at retail shops, companies more of the everyday things that you see in the world; supermarkets, clothes, shoes, gadgets, electronics, transport etc. Again this sector is pretty big and having such a varied amount of different companies in different sectors means you need to be adaptable. A designer would have to be able to get the relevant information needed to put that company/retail business across, by using different media's and formats this can be achieved well.
Examples of websites:
http://inspiredesignblog.co.uk/
http://www.gigposters.com/
http://www.greenroomretail.co.uk/
http://www.design4retail.co.uk/
http://www.tkretaildesign.co.uk/retaildesign_projects2.html
http://www.barberdesign.co.uk/
http://flyergoodness.blogspot.co.uk/
Examples of work:
Here i have shown examples of both retail design and promotion design, but they can both overlap and become one thing.
Retail design is all bout the shop identity and making it easy for the cutovers to find the products but also making it look nice and professional. The shops are aimed to display the products and promote the company through there products, by displays these well and making everything look good, it will attract more customers and get more sales. The design of real work, is in keeping with the company and works along with their identity as you can see in the examples, but retail design gives the shop an identity.
Promotion design is different, this takes on the roles of promoting an event, product, cause, business etc which can take any format or form. It can be varied within the media it is set in too, this could be digital printed, online, digital, radio and tv adverts, all these different formats are known to promote a given object/product/event. The majority of the examples above are of event promotion, but you can see from this that the variety in style of the work is big and you can see how these can appeal to different audiences, but are key to what they are promoting by the content within the promotion. Its the content that makes a good promotion work, a good strap line, imagery and connection with the audience will make a good promotion. After all the function of the promotion is to get you to go or buy the product/event.
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