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DESIGN CONTEXT: SUBJECTS
DES _ IGN CON _ TEXT CURRENT AFFAIRS / FINANCIAL SECTOR / SPORT
Design Context
“The focus of my practice is around typography and layout for editioral uses, and a focus on printed interactive fomrats” Paul Brandreth
CURRENT AFFAIRS Current affairs is a subject which usually becomes the foundation of my design research. As the subject always has a new subject/ story this design sector is exciting because as well as producing design I also learn about new subjects that I wasn’t aware of before so I’m constantly learning something new.
Current Affairs
Design Context
LETERME DOWLING “Leterme Dowling is a multi-disciplinary design studio with a global client base. We pride ourselves on our individual approach to design across a variety of applications; - logos - websites - promotional literature - identity systems - brochures - packaging - signage We work on projects of all scales, place an emphasison giving each project our collective commitment andon working closely and openly with clients from the outset.We believe this can make the difference in creating appropriate and distinctive graphic design that not only communicates but also engages its audience.�
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Current Affairs
Design Context
“DESIGN IS CONTENT AND A DESIGNER WORKS AS A FACILITATOR TO MAKE COMMUNICATION EASIER, COLLABORATING WITH EDITORS TO GET THE BEST USABLE PRODUCT”
FRANCESCO FRANCHI ART DIRECTOR - INTELLIGENCE IN LIFESTYLE In contemporary society the word technology is undergoing a change and we are currently embracing multiple languages. The biggest challenge of the moment is to combine all these languages to increase understanding. Editorial design has at its heart the function of communicating a journalistic idea or story through the purposeful use of visuals and words which, over time, transform information into comprehension. Graphic design does not refer just to an aesthetic solution but has to aspire to become an ethic aspect for a journalistic product. Therefore, design is content and a designer works as a facilitator to make communication easier, collaborating with editors to get the best usable product. Design does not necessarily mean something beautiful. Beauty is evoked like harmony coming from the particular function and usefulness of the object. So the composition criteria have to be founded in the intrinsic logic of the objects, in their function and in their contribution to everyday life.
The monthly newsmagazine of ‘Il Sole 24 ORE’. IL is dedicated to contemporary trends and consumer interests, and uses current events as the key to understand changes in lifestyle. Its target is a contemporary, international audience who looks for ironic, unconventional and reflective contents. The idea is to give to readers “soft” news as if they were “hard” news: in a serious, journalistic style that wants to be both informative and elegant.
Current Affairs
Design Context
MAGDALENA CZARNECKI “I think stepping out of your comfort zone is good for any person’s development!”
ART DIRECTOR - COLORS COLLECTOR “Collector is a special issue of COLORS Magazine dedicated to people who regroup and catalogue objects linked to a theme. For the 20th anniversary of COLORS, Collector, celebrates the diversity of cultures, by bringing a contemporary vision of collecting through a selection of products from different media, such as graphic design, industrial design, sound and even nature. Inspired by the way collectors preserve their items and in order to emphasize on the fact that this issue is a real ‘Special Edition’ the magazine came in bubble wrap envelopes with metallic stickers.” My work would not have been what it is today if I didn’t travel and had my overseas experiences, inspirations and influences. Studying in Australia made me really focus on only design. As you are away from home you kind of start all over again, and most of my friends down there were also designers that I met in school or in studios. Nerdy but true. I think stepping out of your comfort zone is good for any person’s development!
Current Affairs
Design Context
FRANCOISE MOULY ART DIRECTOR THE NEW YORKER Françoise Mouly joined as art editor in April been the publisher and Director of TOON Books launch in 2008.
The New Yorker 1993. She has Editorial since its
You are the cover editor and the art director of the New Yorker?
What is the decision-making process like for choosing covers that we may not see from the outside?
Is it true that inside the cover editor’s office, you notice that the walls are covered with rejected New Yorker covers?
How much power does David Remnick have over the pulled covers? Is it 50-50?
How much do you pay artists to do a cover for the New Yorker?
You’ll never get it right because the New Yorker just doesn’t do things the way everybody else does. I’m the art editor meaning I am in charge of the artists who provide content. It’s the cover, and it can also be comic strips or single pictures inside. The New Yorker, at the core, especially when it was created in 1925, was a humor magazine, bringing together artists and writers. We don’t call our artists illustrators—they are artists and I am the art editor.
A lot of the time we are looking for a good idea. When you see the cover, you can be seduced by how beautifully expressed that idea is. From my vantage point, I try to be blind to the aesthetic visual quality. I work with artists—the top, the most interesting artists, cartoonists who story tell. I try to not be seduced by “that is a beautiful drawing.” The goal is to give a portrait of our times in visual snapshots.
Like everything, it has a core of truth. My walls are covered with the sketches that the artists send me. Some will never see the light of day, just make me laugh, and others will be the building block of the right cover at the right time as things shift and move. We have an infrastructure of evergreen covers, a few images that deal with spring, weddings, that deal with the calendar. We are ready at the drop of the hat for political or newsy and it’s an unpredictable pattern. Some are not so much rejected as, “We haven’t found the right thing yet.”
It’s his call. Something does not run if he does not want it to run. He has final say. I present things to him. I’m always trying to make him laugh within the parameter of what he’s interested in. He’s very much into politics. I’m always talking to artists about following the political process. He has 100 percent of the decision power.
It’s the same fee for everyone, no matter who they are. The “powers that be” prefer I don’t say, but it’s the best-paid job as editorial in that field. It doesn’t pay as good as doing advertising, but advertising pays ten times more than editorial anyway.
Current Affairs
Design Context
W 340MM x H 540mm
W 315MM x H 470mm
COMPARISON OF UK NEWSPAPERS THE GUARDIAN
THE TELEGRAPH
THE DAILY MAIL
Type Daily newspaper Format Berliner Owner Guardian Media Group Publisher Guardian News and Media Editor Alan Rusbridger Opinion editor Mark Henry Political view Centrist liberalism Language English Circulation 215,988 (February 2012) Sister newspapers The Observer The Guardian Weekly
Type Daily newspaper Format Broadsheet Owner Telegraph Media Group Editor Tony Gallagher Founded 1855 Political alignment Right-wing British conservative Circulation 634,113 (July 2011)
Type Daily newspaper Format Tabloid Owner Daily Mail and General Trust Publisher Associated Newspapers Ltd Editor Paul Dacre Founded 4 May 1896 Political alignment Conservative Language English Circulation 1,945,496
W 268MM x H 360mm
FINANCIAL SECTOR An area of design which my practice is based around is design for financial matters such as financial reports, marketing and the delivery of products within the financial sector.
Financial Sector
Design Context
BROWNS From a pop-up tavern in the Graphic Design Museum in Breda to a special edition conceptual tome: Browns’ forward-thinking approach and handling of work is like no other independent design studio.
Since its founding in 1998 Browns has created work with weight and cultural significance. Purposefully side-stepping the tidal trends of stylised design, the studio tenders a fresh aesthetic, applying an artist’s sensibility to a two- and three-dimensional design context. The studio abstracts stimulation from all strands of culture and our commonplace surroundings, to produce sensitive work with a purity of form that has a shared relationship to the world around it. The spirit of Browns is encompassed by its founder, Jonathan Ellery, a conceptual artist who creates thought-provoking, narrativebased works through an assortment of materials. The studio also has its own publishing house, Browns Editions, which, since its founding in 2005, has designed and published collectable printed matter, sustaining the tradition of print and book art in a 21st century arena. It is this synthesis of studio, publishing house and conceptual artist, together with an overview from creative director Claire Warner, that strengthens all in-house creativity, crafting a contemporary design studio that functions like no other. Browns, Browns Editions and Jonathan Ellery reside down a cobbled path in south-east London. They work with many esteemed clients from around the world and have received numerous notable awards, most recently Creative Review magazine’s ‘Design Studio of the Year 2011’.
Browns has, for the fifth time, designed the Hiscox Report and Accounts. Sensitive to financially challenging times, the report is bold and concise, confident in its delivery, telling it like it is in a no-nonsense, transparent manner.
Financial Sector
Design Context
RADLEY YELDAR In today’s environment, trust and confidence must be earned, with stakeholders demanding more and better information to gauge which companies pass muster. They want reporting to be more transparent, insightful and frank, with a more forward-looking perspective. They want a deeper understanding of how companies make their money and how sustainable that process is.
And with regulators also pushing for greater disclosure, the challenge is to balance compliance and communication. We help clients by unravelling the complexities of audience needs and regulatory requirements. We invest in understanding - and shaping - the reporting landscape, notably in our comprehensive “How does it stack up?” research, a benchmark of good practice in reporting since 2006. Our expertise in reporting ensures that our creative work is informed by understanding and insight. Our design is not simply aesthetic; it’s there to present a coherent story, simplify the complex, aid understanding and make the information accessible - in both print and online. This is the key to best-in-class reporting. It’s reflected in our clients’ success in winning many awards such as PwC’s Building Public Trust Awards. Trust. There’s that word again. Of course for us, earning our clients’ trust is equally important. With one of the UK’s largest and most experienced corporate reporting teams, we’re fully equipped to deliver end-to-end service - easing the pressure on our clients.
Financial Sector
Design Context
SERVICEPLAN THE SOLAR ANNUAL REPORT 2011 Solar energy is the key area of business at Austria Solar. So Serviceplan has been thinking how best to put this type of energy to paper. We had the idea of developing an annual report that is driven by the sun. To put this idea into practice, an innovative printing technology had to be used for the first time. The result: the first annual report where the pages only become visible when sunlight falls on them. This exciting project managed to represent the importance and benefits of sunlight in a simple yet playful manner. It shows how, similar to solar plants, sunlight can be converted into other forms of energy, which brings us neatly back to Austria Solar.With this innovative annual report, we have succeeded in developing an attention-grabbing medium which depicts Austria Solar as a consistently innovative industry organisation for the Austrian solar sector.
Financial Sector
Design Context
NB STUDIOS INSEAD NEW VISUAL IDENTITY Founded in 1957, INSEAD is a highly regarded international business school with campuses in France and Singapore and students from around the world. With brand consultant Michael Wolff, INSEAD developed a brand proposition emphasising the need to respond to a changing world – a world which can benefit from INSEAD’s uniqueness, independence and influence throughout the business education arena. Having built a formidable reputation over the past 50 years, INSEAD’s heritage was identified as a key ‘selling’ point. The existing logotype was therefore evolved, with a subtle underline – or ‘bracket’ – acting as a metaphor for emphasis, speech, openness, direction and connections. It is a powerful, flexible graphic device and can be used in conjunction with the logotype to enhance its presence and, in some cases, its legibility. It is also a catalyst for other key brand elements, including imagery style, layout, and a ‘shield’: an elegant, minimal coat of arms. The new wordmark and shield motif are at the core of a dynamic communication system that covers tone of voice, copy, imagery, typestyle, use of colour and layout.
SPORT A subject that may look like it doesn’t have a lot of influence within my design practice as I don’t design directly for this sector but I like to take ideas from sports brands I like and then bring it into the sector I design for. This can include colour swatches, typography, layout and even the culture.
Sport
FUSE PROJECT CLEVER LITTLE BAG
“In other words: approximately 8,500 tons less paper consumed, 20 million Mega joules of electricity saved, 1 million liters less fuel oil used and 1 million liters of water conserved” The challenge was to look at one of the most difficult and stagnant issues facing the retail industry in regards to sustainability and environmental harm: packaging, and more specifically shoeboxes. Boxes contribute to millions of tons of waste a year and even with proposed second uses, they are eventually thrown out. For 21 months, boxes and systems were studied: how to fold them, how to ship them and how to reduce them. But all of these were incremental steps; reduction can only do so much. Finally, we explored getting rid of them altogether. We discovered a new design solution, a “clever little bag”. Why is it so clever? By providing structure to a cardboard sheet, the bag uses 65% less cardboard than the standard shoe box, has no laminated printing, no tissue paper, takes up less space and weighs less in shipping, and replaces the plastic retail bag. The cardboard structure is die cut from one flat piece of material and has no additional printing or assembly, thus it can be returned to the stream faster and more efficiently. The structure was created with four walls that taper in to allow for secured stacking, another important element left over from the original shoebox. The bag is non-woven which means less work and waste (it is stitched with heat). It protects the shoes from dust and dirt in the warehouse and during shipping. The “clever little bag” is an iconic brand element upon leaving the store as it replaces the plastic shopping bag, and it is also used for shoe storage in travel suitcases. The bag is made of non-woven polyester consisting of polypropylene, and eventually is also recyclable.
Sport
Design Context
UMBRO
The company was founded in 1924 in Wilmslow, Cheshire as Humphreys Brothers Clothing. After working in various parts of the tailoring industry, Harold Humphreys set up Umbro with his brother Wallace, with the aim of bringing the ideals and practices of the industry into the burgeoning world of sportswear. Setting up in Cheadle, near Manchester, the company soon established themselves as a force to be reckoned with, fitting out numerous football teams as the sport grew from a popular pastime to become a national sport. Umbro (a portmanteau of its previous name, Humphrey Brothers) really started to gain national recognition when they provided the smart, tailored kits for both Portsmouth and Manchester City in the 1934 FA Cup Final. However, Umbro is perhaps best known for its long-running association with the England national team. Apart from a decade between 1974 and 1984 in which Admiral supplied the kits, Umbro have crafted England teams at all levels, an association that goes back to 1954. The brand was bought by American sportswear firm Nike in 2008.
“Look Smart, Play Smart�
Sport
Design Context
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Current Affairs
Design Context
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Looking back at the three years studying at Leeds College of Art, I have developed my own practice from finding out who I am as a designer. The two publications refer designers/ agencies who have influeced me within my design decisions, but there are also people not mentioned in the publication who have also helped me gain where I want to be for when I leave the course and start working into the industry I have been studing for five years. Tutors; Fred Bates Lorenzo Madge Amber Smith Lorraine McKee John Watters Joanna Rucklidge Placement Linney Group (Nottinghamshire) Visits Bolser Leeds Simon Dunn Tim Smith John Kay Warp Records Also studio support from: Si Scott Andy Lodge Elmwood Mark Howe
Paul Brandreth Graphic Designer www.paulbrandreth.co.uk info@paulbrandreth.co.uk Twitter: mrpaulbrandreth +44 (0) 7526 597 249