Crit about a Crit.

5 Reasons the Crit is a Useful Learning Tool

• Encourages you to be analytical and objective about your own work, and others.
• By listening to the perspectives and the feedback of others, it can open your eyes to new ways of working, and helps you to progress and develop your ideas.
• It gets you used to handling criticism in a constructive and composed manner, as opposed to letting it affect you personally. 
• By looking at the work of others, you can identify whose opinions and feedback you trust in the Crit.

5 Really Good Analytical Crit Questions

• What is the intended representation of the character/imagery used?
• In what context would your work appear?
• What are you trying to communicate with this work?
• What were your original ideas and how have they evolved throughout the brief?
• What research was undertaken and how has this influenced your final resolution?

Proverb Poster Research

After working on some designs initially, I began to look at the idea of the mute symbol as a signifier of silence.

Whilst all of these designs get the message across, I feel like mine should develop more of a bold and simple message, such as the road signs. 

They are universally recognisable, and the bold colours command the viewers attention, and also signify the fact that this is an order and not a request. The simplicity of the design is something I hope to achieve in this same style. 

This is the sort of image I hope to be able to develop in my posters. It's bold, clear and concise, although it is lacking in humour and a definite tone of voice, as it is aimed at the general public. However, I want to use a more modern and possibly prettier typeface, as this one isn't very interesting, and in fact looks kind of dated. In keeping with this poster and the other posters I've researched, I will try and keep all my information central, so that the message is clear. 

Proverb Research

This will be my research into posters, and I'm looking at ones that I feel work best in terms of communicating a message simply, which is what I'm also required to do. 

                                                                 AIDS Prevention Posters

I feel these posters work well, because they take a simple image, but use it in a different way to give it a new meaning, such as the safety pins with the love heart being interlocked with the end of the safety pin. It's not an immediately recognised image, it's more subtle and thought provoking, which in this case is very successful, and the symbolism of the heart with a pin through it is bold and also quite poignant. 

Both use a very simple colour palette, employing as fewer colours as possible. The bright pink is more feminine and eye catching, whilst the black and white is more unisex, and classic in it's colour range and design. 

Both keep their images very central, and they also keep the text quite central as well. 

                                                                Iran Political Posters

These posters designed to promote the Green Movement of Iran, are again, very successful at getting their message across simply. They use very little text, and rely instead on short, bold statements that quickly communicate their message. 

The first poster has a more nostalgic feel to it, whilst the others are more modern, but it works because of the simplicity of the colours, the fact that the image is central, and it is strong in its illustration, which also gives the idea of a person moving forward, which urges the viewer to do the same. 

The second image works because the image and the text work to create an even stronger message. The realistic image of the man with a second screaming man emerging from the top of his head is sort of disturbing, but the urgency of the message 'we will not be silenced' is complimented by this, and is really quite moving, because it also displays the passion of the person. 

The third poster works because it has a simple colour palette, like the AIDS posters, and the use of green relates to the green movement. The use of the bird in the cage also symbolises an animal that is free, despite being caged up, signifying that it won't be caged up for much longer. The 'voices of freedom' phrase is simple but again provocative. 

The use of typeface in all three images is also simple and bold, which works best because it is easily read by passers by, and doesn't detract from the meaning of the text. 

                                                                    Obama Poster

It's fair to say this is one of the more well known posters of our time, and it's message, of voting for Obama to improve and give hope to Americans is cleverly conveyed through the use of colours, red white and blue, the colours of the American flag, and also by the large, bold text that reads HOPE. It's short, but gives the voter all the information they need to know about Obama, he will give them hope. Again, all the information is centralised, because it catches the eye of the viewer and makes it easier to read. 

For my own posters, I need to look at creating my posters so that I use strong, bold colours, and that my information is mainly central on my posters. I also should keep the text short and to the point, because people walking past these posters won't have time to look at a small and lengthy piece of text. 

More Alphabet Soup Research

Currently my inspiration for this project. After the crit on Friday, I've started to look at more elements of Ste's personality, but was struggling to think of how to place them all together into a font so they'd look good. I hadn't found any fonts that had done this until I stumbled across this beauty on welovetypography.com.

I think this has been based on different film and music equipment, and it all works perfectly in building a simple structure for the typeface, but making it look really fun and cool with the style of illustration and the bold colour. Not many of the letters have repeating elements though, which is something I will be exploring in my own work, but it's so good just having this to look at. 

Personally, I think A, N and T look best, because of the composition of the separate pieces. They don't perfectly fit together, which makes it feel more interesting and kooky. 

Critical Analysis

Image 1- The Uncle Sam Range 1876

Image 2 - Daddy What Did You Do in The Great War? 1915

Both images have significant similarities and differences. 

Image 1, the poster for the Uncle Sam's Range, is an advertisement for a Range Oven. Unlike many advertisements, where the product is central to the image for the purpose of advertising it fully to the target market, this image relies more on selling an ideal to their audience. 

The image is heavily decorated in the colours and images symbolic of America, such as the carpets and curtains emblazoned in the stars and stripes of the country's flag, and the image of Uncle Sam, typically the symbol for the American Dream, is deliberately placed in the centre of the image reinforcing the sense of patriotism. This sense of patriotism is linked to an important image in the poster, the clock that shows the dates 1776 and 1876 signifying 100 years of American independence. 

 Meanwhile, image 2 also employs symbolism and idealism, but in a more subtle manner. As opposed to using the most iconic image associated with Britain, the union jack, the english rose is used more tastefully in the pattern of the curtain. 

Both images also centre on the patriarch, and the woman is either in the background(image 1), or totally missing from the poster (image 2). Both images date back to eras rife with sexism, and the woman being a secondary thought is a common theme within both, symbolising the males power, which links to the significant and collective power of America in poster 1, and in image 2 it creates a sense of optimism, signifying a more silent strength and power the potential army recruit possesses. 

The use of an older man in the army recruit poster, sitting with his young children surrounding him means that the image helps the target viewer to look into the future, which provides comfort and reassurance that if they were to join the army, they would live to have a family and grow old. 

The environment that the poster is set in, with the plush arm chair and the classily decorated living room also provides comfort and instills a sense of aspiration into the viewer, as it shows that this man has lived through the war and now has a comfortable middle class existence. 

This idea of a middle class environment also means that this poster reaches two audiences. One is a lower class man, who can look at this poster and see a brighter future if he joins the army, and the middle/upper middle classes, who are targeted through the only speech on the poster. "Daddy what did YOU do in the army" reaches those classes because it encourages them to not simply leave it to people less well off in society. 

The emphasis on ‘you’ , and the fact that his young daughter is asking it, furthers a sense of guilt. 

Image 1’s use of typeface is again very much iconically american - it’s bold and rendered in gold, a symbol of their wealth - and the poster includes a lot of text unlike image 2’s typeface which appears handwritten and was featured in many war posters of its kind. Image 2 also uses far less text, showing restraint and a subtlety that image 1 lacks.

Personal Alphabet Research Part 2

Urban
Another thing mentioned in the interview was that Ste wished he could bring Tupac back to life, and when I was asking someone for another word to describe Ste, Urban was one that popped up. Obviously it would be embarassing for me to start exercising cliches in what I feel is urban design and create a typeface based mainly on graffitti lettering, so I wanted to look more at what he'd said about Tupac, and I researched into the style of presentation on his and a few other Hip Hop artists album covers.

After looking at Ste's love and hate post on his context blog, I also found these images, based on the kind of style he likes. 

http://bristolgraffiti.wordpress.com/page/34/

What I notice between these images, which are more aimed at a niche market of people passionate about street art, and the more commercial side of hip hop and urban life in the album covers, is that a similar font is used in all of them, which is simple and bold, but often uses serifs, and in some ways also have elements in common with the typeface used on old school tattoo designs. 

In my designs I would like to begin experimenting with these styles of typeface, and looking to adapt them so that they can include elements of both the simple and bold, and the intricate and classic designs of the old school tattoos. 

 

Personal Alphabet Research Part 1

After our first workshop, where we took our partners interview answers and transformed them into a set of 5 key words we felt described them, I felt like I wanted to begin to develop a few of the ones I felt were the most important, which were Old School Tattoos, Urban and Simple.

One person Ste mentioned in his interview was the person he most admires, Mark Machado, who is a successful tattoo artist and street art designer. 

Mark Machado, also known as Mister Cartoon, is based in downtown LA. His work is based on the tattoo designs favoured by the inmates of Californian prison system, where there is no access to coloured inks, so the 'fine line' style is employed as an alternative, using watered down inks to create the shading. 

The details created in his work are one of the most interesting elements of his work, but what I am most interested in is the font that he uses, as I am trying to create an alphabet.  As mentioned in this article , the font style he uses is Old English, which is 'a symbol of authority and credibility.'

The Old English typeface is not one that I would personally want emblazoned on my arm, as I feel in it's simple black and white presentation it looks quite dated and tacky, however, on some of these designs it does work well. 

The intricacy of his work is something I would like to explore within my design possibilities, but I think from what I have gathered from Ste, that style of typeface is not something I will necessarily be looking at. 

Following on from exploring his favourite tattoo designer, I began to look at the Old School style of tattoo Ste has said interests him and is looking at getting for himself. 

The style employed by Old School designs is very simple and bold, which was due to the fact that often tattoo artists from the beginning of the movement had not been educated in an artistic background, and the tools of the tattoo artist, the ink and the machine, were not of the best quality back then, so simplicity and boldness were key for legibility so that the tattoo would wear well over time. Boldness and legibility is something I must become very aware of during this brief. as whatever I create needs to create a legitimate typeface. 

I love the typeface used in these tattoos, as they look classic and evoke a sense of nostalgia, whilst also being very bold and readable. 

LOVE/HATE

/HATE/

http://real-ale-reviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/bays-breaker1-1024x660.jpg

The packaging of this ale is something that really bothers me. The cold blue and silver colours create something quite sterile and uninviting, whilst the background cheapens the design. The typeface used for the Bays logo would look better if other colours had been employed, but the other text used again creates a look that is cheap and unappealing. 

http://www.me-me-me.tv/images/2011/09/Katie-magazine.jpg

I'm sure the reasons for me hating this are obvious, and really, I'm not sure it should even be classed as a piece of Graphic Design. Katie Price's magazine was never going to look upmarket and classy, as obviously her target audience is, erm, not, but there appears to have been no thought put into creating this cover. The colour is saccharine, the cover is overcrowded and the typeface used is cheap, and completely devoid of any graphical taste. 

/LOVE/

http://i-donline.com/magazine/the-pick-me-up-issue/

i-D is one of my favourite magazines, and the art direction is one of the main reasons why. The simple format and design of the front cover means that the strong image isn't overloaded with unnecessary and distracting information, and the little information they do present is there to contribute to the theme and concept of the magazine. The i-D logo is fun and witty, and the use of the winking smiley is a trademark and recurring theme in the magazine. 

http://www.mattsmoviereviews.net/movie-posters-black-swan.html

These alternative Black Swan posters were created by design studio La Boca, and I think they are possibly my favourite set of posters ever. Influenced by Czech and Russian posters of the 1960's/70's, the set of posters uses only red, black and white to create something striking and unusual, whilst the visual of the ballet dancer and the black swan is both a clever and beautiful design. Film posters are one of my favourite forms of Graphic Design, especially ones such as this, where an alternative style is explored.

http://www.designworklife.com/2009/07/29/hello-letterpress-delicacies/

Letterpress printing is one of the things I cannot wait to do on my time on the course, and this is one of the reasons why. The intricacies of these cards, and the classic victorian styling combined with the soft hues create something that looks precious and beautiful.