Now Your A Storyteller

After listening to Admiral Fallows music, listening closely to the lyrics and watching interviews I realised that there songs are all about relationships. The songs, all written by the lead singer are about personal reflection on relationships. I therefore chose to use relationships as my focus for my info-graphic and chose to count how many occurrences there were of the words 'I','You' and 'We' in the lyrics. I chose to count the occurrences in all ten songs on their current album called 'Boots met my face', although after beginning to layout my info-graphic I realised I would have very limited space to display all lyrics from all 10 songs on the album. I therefore chose to represent lyrics from the three songs which I feel best represent the band. I thought this would be best as representing all 10 songs may get boring and tedious. 

I chose to use stick men as pictograms for my info-graphic to suggest the relationships I was counting. I decided on the colour white to represent 'I' as it is quite cold and could be used to show loneliness, which is often a feeling linked to context of the word 'I' in most songs. Black for 'you' as it can be seen as negative, such is the nature of the use of 'you' in most songs. Finally I chose to use red for 'we' to show the suggestion of love. The stickemen which have been colour to represent either 'I', 'you' or 'we' all have their arm raised above their heads. This is to suggest the energy of the bands songs, despite their contrasting lyrics. I have used one stick-man to represent each lyric of the each song to give the pictograms a context. Also representing each lyric along with showing the time of each song (shown under the title of each song) give a suggestion as to the style of the song for example, lots of stick-men and a short time would suggest a very lyrical song and few stick-men and a long time would suggest a very instrumental song.

I have kept with Admiral Fallow's current visual style and colour schemes as well as using only two typefaces. The visual style is professional and polished, but still quite playful, as is the bands music. For my info-graphic I have used Bodoni which I have altered to become Admiral Fallow's current logo, by editing out the cross bar of every capital A in 'ADMIRAL FALLOW'. I chose to stay with Bodoni as it is very sleek with pleasing and for lack of a better word 'fun' details such as the leg of the R, the stem of the L and the added detail of the missing crossbars of the A's. The second typeface I have used is a sans serif called Hero, which is similar to one of the typefaces that Admiral Fallow currently use. I felt it too effectively conveys the bands visual style as well as style of music, due to its smooth clean lines and well as elegant curves.

Rip it up and start again

 

There is too much information on the above infographic and too much text. There is no clear focus of the information. It is built up of lots of different facts and figures. All the text must be read to understand the facts.

The facts are very informative but are presented in a very boring way so are boring so read. I actually just stopped reading after the first three facts.

The target audience for the poster would be the general public, but it looks like something that would be hung in a doctors waiting room or hospital, and isn’t something you would enjoy reading or looking at. You would probably only read it if you were bored in a waiting room and the doctors or hospital.

The info-graphic has a very confusing format and layout. The hierarchy is also very confusing apart from the title. I don’t know what to read first and what order I should read the facts in. The information is split up by dotted lines but the separation gives no flow to the facts, which adds to the confusing hierarchy. The text gets smaller to towards the bottom of the page but there is very little indication as to what is most important and of what to read at the top of the page.

The fonts used are quite wide and 'fat' but other than that there seems to be no connection between the typography and the content of the facts and figures, the typography doesn't strongly suggest the topic of obesity.

Geometric boxes are used in the info-graphic but they hold no meaning related to the content. The photo of the obese man obviously conveys the topic but its not a nice image and doesn’t make you want to read the poster. Without the photo there is no visual indication that the facts are about obesity.

The colour scheme could convey the them of health due to the green used, but this doesn’t specify the topic of obesity. The colour make me think of hospital posters which are often boring, so I automatically think the content of this poster will be boring so have a negative view towards it before I have even started to read.

There is no clear link between the typography and the imagery used. Both the typography and the imagery have very weak connections to the content so have a weak connections to each other. The typography suggest something almost retro and 'funky' but the layout and the percentages suggests something more formal and business like, which as with the imagery conveys a confusing message as to the content.

There doesn't seem to be much design process relevant to the content. There has obviously been a lot of research done to come up with all of the facts and figures but they haven't been displayed appropriately to the content. It looks as though the content has been placed randomly on the page.

How did I get here?

  

Helvetic Film

I really enjoyed the Helvetica film and not just because I am studying design. I found it really interesting to see how the typeface developed, how it was created and for what purpose it was designed.

It was also interesting to see the initial sketches for a typeface and to see how people worked with metal type, creating typography work by hand before the use of computers. This method of working by hand really appeals to me and I would love to try it as it seems more limited to 'real' designers and people with skill, as now anyone who has a computer and some fonts at their disposal can create typography. As computers are now used for design and printing metal type has become old fashioned, and to people outside of the design industry so has typography, or at least the design of typography. One type designer talks about being asked what he does for a living and receiving a response of 'really I thought all the type designers were dead', which I found quite funny.

Although as David Carson said in the film, just because you have the latest computer program doesn’t mean you will be able to create good work with it, if you don’t have skill and an eye for design, you will be able to produce type with a computer but it wont be any good.'

The film really opened my eyes as to how often Helvetica is used and how oblivious I have been to its use. Helvetica has almost become common due to it wide use, but to say so seems 'wrong'. The typeface is so versatile that it can be moulded to different uses and still be appropriate. Helvetica was designed to be a neutral typeface, as the designers thought that feeling should come from the content of the text and not the typeface it is printed in. it was said in the film that would can say 'I love you' and 'I hate you' in Helvetica and both would work with the correct impact and meaning. It is so difficult to explain the feeling when you know have chosen the correct typeface, you are not quite sure why exactly it works well but it just gives you the feeling that it 'fits'. Helvetica 'fits' for so many uses, but in a way its versatility has become its defining attribute. Neville Brody talks about how he thinks Helvetica now conveys the ordinary and suggests a safeness. Brody spoke about Helvetica as though it has now become boring due to its wide use despite its adaptability.

I am only recently aware of Helvetica despite having grown up with it around me. Now that I have seen the film and know about the origins of the typeface I really appreciate how successful and skillful a design it is. Also now that I have been asked the question I would say I am pro-Helvetica and after watching the film I would be more inclined to use it in the future. I disagree with Brody as I think that although it has become 'common' it is successful in most of its uses, due to its great versatility allowing it to moulded to different designs, which stops it from being boring and makes it a great timeless typeface.

That Font Sure is Saucy

Transport

Although legibility and communication is very important in graphic design used for transport, I don't think it should diminish the importance of the appearance and beauty.

Please ignore my terrible photo.

I have chosen to analysis my bus pass. Its primary functions are to identify the correct holder (by use of a passport type photo) to inform what type of bus pass it is, how far the holder can travel with it and when it expires. It also states the holders matriculation number (as it is a student bus pass) and the holders details if they wish to write them on the pass.

 The majority of the text is sans serif and is a mixture of all capitals and capitals with lower case. The sans serif typeface has many similarities to the 'Transport' typeface designed by Margaret Calvert for the road signs of the United Kingdom. It has very basic form and has a consistent line thickness and weight making it very legible, and is very noticeable on the yellow background.

The only serif used on the page is for the expiry date which has been stamped onto the pass. It only uses as serif for the abbreviated NVB for November, the numbers for the day and year are both sans serif. As it has been stamped on it is less dense than the printed text and so is less readable, although the typefaces are both still legible.

The typefaces used are both very generic and basic making them legible but also suggesting professionalism as the First Bus logo also does. It could also be describe as regimented and precise which could perhaps convey the bus service, although I doubt this much thought would have been put into the typography on the bus pass. Although this idea may have been part of the design for the First Bus logo.

The hierarchy used on the bus pass is very unclear. The text which states how many zones the pass is valid for is slightly larger and darker than the other text, but it is positioned off to the side of the pass. The text which states that it is a student bus pass which I feel is less important as the colour of the pass (yellow) and a short abbreviation YP/S for young person/ student, conveys this. Also the expiry date is lighter (due to being stamped on) but is also less readable as it is overlapping other information on the pass. Finally the First Bus logo is very small compared to the rest of the information and is right up in to top corner of the pass, when there is a lot of wasted space on the left hand side of the pass.

The hierarchy is therefore confusing the placement of the text overrules the weight of it and also the style, so that it becomes very unclear what is most important and what it to be read first.

The main user of the bus pass are bus drivers. They need to be able to clearly see the information on the bus pass, in a short space of time, when the is a queue of people waiting to get onto the bus or when the bus is on a tight schedule. The information isn’t easy to read especially at a distance and in a short space of time. The pass fulfils its purpose to convey the necessary information but it doesn’t do so in an easy to read way. I assume that bus drivers are only able to read the information as they are used to how the pass is laid out and they know where to look for the information.

Below is my design to improve the First Bus pass.

Grid Exercise

Ampersand 'Coming Together'

The ampersand I have chosen from the 'Coming Together' font is humanist and has a hand-drawn script style. The line weight is uneven throughout the design, which emphasises the script style. The bottom part of the ampersand resembles a common ampersand making clear the shape of the E. The crossbar extends upwards and become the stem of a capital T finished at the top by the T's crossbar. On closer inspection of the ampersand it is clear that at the bottom of the T's stem which could be seen as a simple ampersand could also be seen as a lower case e which has a capital T sprouting from its top.

The designer has made clear the combination of the letters e and t from the 'et' which make up the ampersand, but has created an interesting contrast using a capital T and lower-case e. The contrast along with the hand-drawn script style makes the ampersand look very expressive.

The contrast between upper and lower-case letters conveys to me a kind of protection. To me the lower-case e looks as though it is 'hugging' the stem of the T, which gives me the idea that the T is protecting or comforting the e.

Also the way the stem (which seems a very appropriate name) of the T is growing from the e -which could be seen as a seed - suggest regrowth and new life, which mirrors the situation in Haiti for which this font was designed, by the Society of Typographic Aficionados. This also conveys the work done by aid workers in Haiti working to regrow communities.

Alignment Exercise

 

After reading The Crystal Goblet, or Printing Should Be Invisible by Beatrice Warde (1900 – 1969) I neither fully agree or disagree. I agree that when designing the first question to be asked must be 'what must this design do?' I also agree that any printed piece of work cannot be called 'art' when its purpose was to inform instead of to just be visually pleasing. However if a designer produces a piece of work which was intended to be a thing of beauty, then I agree that it could be called 'art'. I think there is a fine line however in distinguishing what has been designed to inform (but look nice and be visually pleasing) and what has been designed to be a thing of beauty.

I disagree however that English cannot be considered art until the current English language no longer informs or conveys ideas to future generations. All art in some way informs and conveys ideas whether it be from oil paintings or ceramic vases although they often don't do this with the use of text. I don't see then how printed English could not be seen as art, if intended to be a thing of beauty simply because it conveys ideas through text rather than visually.

The section of text which I chose to use for my alignment exercise above I thought was quite interesting and very true. I have both painted and designed and I too feel I am better at design as I think. Both painting and design are very expressive, there is a huge difference however and not just the medium with which both are created. Painting although being very precise while painting portraits for example, is very much based on the 'feeling' you get from looking at the piece. When creating a piece painters don’t necessarily look at the visual image but more what feelings it evokes. Also artists work can often be interpreted by the viewer in many different ways. Designers work however is often thought out, planned and analysed in order to create a piece which has specific function and which conveys or evokes something very specific. In contrast to painters designers work can often only be interpreted in only one way, which is controlled by the designer.

List Exercise

Inappropriate Typography

Generally when someone with knowledge of graphic design or typography criticises 'bad' typography it is not because a 'bad' typeface has been used, but that it has been inappropriately used.

Comic sans for example is a great typeface when used appropriately, such as in a comic strip for which it was designed.

When choosing typefaces it is important to consider all the connotations of its style and aesthetics, such as shape, colour and weight so as to convey the correct message.

I came across an example of typography which in my opinion wasn’t thought about much and which conveys the entirely wrong message.

This sign is for 'Expressway Car Company' a car dealership and workshop. I assume that the typefaces were chosen to give the idea of expense and elegance, to mirror the cars which they sell. This is understandable, although the script typeface which has been used is very inappropriate, and the italic style of the serif typeface is also inappropriate. This is because typefaces can be said to have 'gender' or at least gender associations. Generally sans serifs with heavy, bold lines are male and light, curly, serif typefaces are female.

The fancy script typeface used for 'Expressway' therefore is seen as female. Though there is nothing wrong with the typeface itself, when it is used to represent a car dealership which is stereotypically masculine, it becomes very inappropriate, as the typeface certainly doesn't convey masculinity. The serif typeface used for 'Car Company Ltd.' is an appropriate typeface, although it has been put in italics. This softens the typeface which together with the above script again conveys femininity. When I first saw the sign, without reading it I thought it was a sign or advertisement for a hairdressers salon, due to the feminine associations of the style. In fact most hairdressers salons have signs very similar to this.

If I we to change the typeface I would select a serif so to stay with the idea of sophistication but I would choose a more classical style which can be decorative but definitely masculine. I would suggest Trajan for 'Expressway' and Thryomanes or something similar for 'Car Company Ltd'.

Hierarchy Exercise - Crime Report