Distance variations

To further develop the pictograms which will feature within my wayfinding system I’ve experimented with incorporating distance as inspired by contour lines within topographic maps. Initially applying distance in the same way as elevation was unsuccessful as the it was too small and therefor not visible from a far. Consequently I’ve adapted the use of distance and colour within my system by using the identifying colour for each stop within the distance for which I’ve used Helvetica in order to avoid distracting from the lines. To finalise my ideas I’ve experimented with the placement of the distance within each ( see figures 1 - 6) pictogram due to the varying size and shape of each. Consequently the distance works the best on the lest had side of each pictograms apart from the pictogram for Village books sue to the intensity of the line of the left hand side. The distance also works best on its side as this allows the distance to be easily recognisable and legible without taking attention away from the line within the pictograms. 

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Figure 6

A1 Poster: Layout Experimentations

To develop the A1 print based on Silver in Contemporary Life for the V&A I’ve experimented with using different photographs on my paper sculpture. Initially using a face on angle (see figure 1-3) of my sculpture which lead to experimentations using the lines within my sculpture to form a grid system which the information would sit on as seen in figure 1 and 3. However these experimentations fail to communicate the professional and sophisticated nature of the V&A due to there primitive and unsophisticated nature. In addition the placement of the V&A logo in the centre of the sculpture looked too busy and cramped. The difficulty with placing information within the poster lead to research surrounding existing V&A poster which feature the V&A logo in the bottom right of most poster which lead to its placement within figures 4-6. The use of exploring different angles of the sculpture allows for a focal point to be created on the connecting sections of the sculpture which relates to the connection between idea and object which is the basis of the exhibition. In relation to the experimentations featured within figure 7 structure and form have been explored in different ways using photography with those featuring a simple approach being most successful. The idea to create a double-sided poster was initial interesting however when considering how the poster would fold down became too complex resulting in the design becoming distorted. Consequently figure 2 will be the final design which will use simple fold to collapse down to A4. Figure 2 is most successful in communicating the theme behind the exhibition and allows the information to be conveyed clearly through the use of a simple grid system. 

Figure 1

Figure 2

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Figure 7

Previous V&A posters

Disobedient Objects:

The Disobedient Objects exhibition posters are particularly interesting due to the application of the single column grid which is used to tell a story about the object featured in the poster and its use such as using a bike lock to be used to cause distribution within a protest. This series of posters explores the use of ordinary objects to causes rebellion and protest therefore liking it to the exhibition focused on exploring the movement of objects within social change. Throughout the series of posters each object has an identifying colour to distinguish each object/story allowing each poster to attract attention as each is different creating a more interesting and exciting promotional campaign.





Get Closer:
The contrast of scale within this poster creates a reference to the museum as a whole  as it symbolises a detailed and in-depth look at the exhibitions throughout the Museum.  The muted tones used allows the sole focus to be the contrast in scale whilst still adding some colour to the poster to allow the important information to be identified which is trying to convince people to become members of the V&A.  Although the concept behind this poster is interesting it's not as eye-catching or intriguing as some of the other posters V&A which I've looked at.








Tellling Tales:
An exhibition based on celebrating artists who focus on exploring the narrative of an object and connecting past and the present. The sculpture featured on the poster is by Kelly McCallum who combined her interest in taxidermy and skills in goldsmithing to create sculpture by uniting victorian taxidermy with cold cast objects such as insects as featured within the poster. The use of McCallums sculpture 'Do You Hear What I Hear' for the cover of the poster reference the exhibition on contemporary design and how it can be interpreted in many ways including the 'fears and fantasies' many designs have.

Exhibition poster brief

Brief:

A1 Folded to A4 Print illustrating an exhibition for the following venue:

- Tate Modern

- V&A

-Natural History Museum

Silver Speaks is an initiative by the Contemporary British Silversmiths, the only organisation representing British silversmiths nationally and internationally. In conjunction with the V&A, Silver in Contemporary Life is an exhibition aimed at showcasing the best of British silversmiths and raising awareness for silversmiths in the 21st century. Throughout the exhibition artists experiment with the application of materials from traditional to experimental as well as the application of their pieces from sculptural to functional. Silver in Contemporary Life explores how silver can enhance contemporary life through architecture and fashion. Silvers Speaks main focus is idea to object and this is the main theme behind the exhibition. I've chosen to create a print for this particular exhibition due to my personal interest in structure and form which is key concept within many of the artist work featured in the exhibition. 

Poster Layout Variations

 To further develop my wayfinding system I've decided to create an A3 handout/poster that will fold down to A5 to inform my audience on each destinations featured within my wayfinding system as well as contain the stickers which will be used as part of the rating system. Throughout this process the layout of the pictograms was particularly difficult due to the variations in size (see figure 1 and 2) which created difficultly when placing the pictograms within an modular grid system as it caused an unwanted gap in the middle which didn't provide enough space to contain the information about each destination. Consequently I experimented with making the page orientation portrait in order to create more space to fit both the pictograms and information (see figure 3). The use of a modular grid to organise the pictograms worked successfully as it allows each pictogram to be aligned and have its own space despite the variation in size. However within within this experimentation the second column of text looks to busy causing for the development of three columns of text at the bottom (see figure 4) to allow the information to be evenly separated in order to follow the modular grid applied to the pictograms. The incorporation of Leeds Print Festival within this hand out was very important as it will be given out at the destinations featured within the system as well as the festival itself. Therefore the use of three straight lines to represent Leeds Print Festival links to the system as the incline of the curve increases the further away from the print festival you go.  Consequently I've experimented with the placement of Leeds Print Festival on the front as I had initially place to place it on the left hand side of the page (see figure 5). However following a number of experimentations (see figures 6-8) feel it works best in the bottom left (see figure 4) as I plan to print my poster on recycled paper so the pictograms are slightly visible from the front.

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Figure 8

Design Developments

Figure 1

In order to respond to feedback I've experimented with the use of the waved line within my pictograms based on the distance between the print festival and each shop. I've also taken influence from topographic maps by adapting the concept of contour lines into my designs. I've adapted the use of contour lines within my pictograms by altering the incline of the curve therefor the higher the incline the further away the shop is from the print festival. I've also incorporate my original idea of altering the spacing between the lines to represent the distance from the print festival to the shop meaning the closer together the lines the further away the shop is from the print festival (see figure 1). However this lead to some pictograms looking cramped and distorted making the pictogram difficult to understand and the effect of the wave to be lost at a distance as the lines appear to merge. Although it worked well with those based on shops closest to the print festival it wouldn't work successfully in a system due to the drastic differences within the pictograms creating a un-uniform system.  

To further develop the use of contour lines within my pictograms I've simplified previous experimentations (see figure 1) by editing the incline of the curve in the same way as before but keeping the distance between the lines the same in order to create a more fluid curve (see figure 2). To do this I've based the incline of the curved on the distance in yards from the festival to each shop as using miles caused the lines to be too close together in previous experimentations creating a pictogram which was hard to read and understand. Initially I've experimented with positioning the curve to create the greatest impact on the audience which I found work most successfully when the curve is position in the largest section of the pictogram( see figure 3). Additionally the curve create a larger impact when only one wave is featured as this allows for the creation of a greater incline to represent distance as well as keeping the pictogram simple to avoid as loss of focus on the wave itself which can happen when too many waves are included in the same pictogram (see figure 2). To develop the pictograms further I've also experimented with stroke weight as the use of a low line weighting of 1pt (see figure 2) causes the picotgrams to be lost and create less of an impact on the audience when compered to those with a think stroke weight of 2pt. Thick line of over 2pt are too bold and cause the pictogram to be distorted as the lines merge when the incline of the curve is increased (see figure 4).

Figure 2

Figure 3

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Figure 5

The use of colour is important within the pictograms as it allows them to be visible and understood from both long and short distances, therefor allowing festival goers to spot the system easily. I've experimented with colour by choosing colours featured within the branding and on buildings of each shop to give them an identifying colour, allowing for a bright and bold use of colour within my system in order to further develop my system. Initially this was difficult as both the Hip Store and Village books main colours where black and white making it difficult to find an identifying colour for each (see figure 5). This lead to the initial use of grey for the Hip Store and black for Village. However upon reflection found the colours where too similar and didn't allow the pictogram to stand out enough. I therefor conducted more research into the colours used on the websites of each of the store to create there identifying colours (see figure 6). The use of colour (see figure 5) for the lines themselves is too much as it reduces the impact of the waves within the pictograms as the colour tends to overpower the design.
 Following feedback I've experimented with incorporating the distance between the print festival and each shop into pictograms as inspired by contour lines. Initially I had planed to stick to the traditional representation of elevation on topographic maps (see figure 7) however the distance was too small making it difficult to identify next to the line. This lead to experimentations with overlaying the distance on the lines whilst incorporating colour so the distance was easily visible and the wave wasn't distorted (see figure 8).

Figure 6

Figure 7

Figure 8

CMYK

CMYK is a subtractive colour system meaning the more colours you add the darker the colour gets, because as you add colour light is removed or absorbed to create different colours. CMYK is mainly used within professional printing as it corresponds to the four colours used in digital printing. Within an image using CMYK colours are made up of cyan, magenta, yellow and black subtractive primaries. Each colour within the image has a channel which when combine create a full colour image with each colour corresponding to one of the four colour printing plates used within four colour digital printing. Each colour within CMKY is a subtracted primary, each of which has a addictive primary missing therefor when two subtractive primaries overlap only one addictive primary is visible. Consequently when cyan and magenta overlap they create blue, when cyan and yellow overlap they create green, when magenta and yellow overlap they create red and when all three colours overlap they create black as no light can escape.

Research: response to crit

To further develop my wayfinding system I've responded to feedback given by looking into topographic maps and sonar waves in order develop the use of waved lines within my pictograms. 

Topographic Maps:
Topographic maps are two-dimensional diagrams of a three-dimensional section of the earths surface. Contour lines within the map are used to represent the surface of the earth allowing both horizontal distance and vertical elevation to be measure. The distance between contour lines are used to represent different things as if the lines are closely spaced they represent a steep slow and those which are further apart represent a steady slope. In order to keep topography maps simple, elevation is only documented at certain points on the map.


Sonar Waves: 
Active Sonar:
Traducers emit sound waves into water, if an object is in the water the sound waves will bounce of and return as an echo to the transducer which then measures the strength of the signal by measuring the time from the emission of the sound pulse to its reception. By doing this the transducer can determine the size an orientation of an object.
Passive sonar:

Mainly used to detect sound from marine objects such as submarines and ships as well as animals such as whales. Unlike active sonar passive sonar doesn't emit its own sound waves but listens to those coming towards it. In addition passive sonar can't detect the the range of an object unless its used with a passive listening device or with multiple passive sonar devices.

Although the use of sonar is interesting to me, its impractical for my wayfinding system as its based on land, meaning the use of sonar may not be possible as well as the lack of access to a sonar device. Therefor I plan to explore the use of topography lines within my pictograms by incorporating the distance from each shop to the print festival in a similar way to the use of elevation within topographic maps. 

Lance Wyman

Lance Wyman is a graphic designer specialised in creating systems for events most infamously the 1968 Mexico Olympics (see figure 1) which is celebrated as the best example of environmental and branding design. Wyman created an Op-Art influenced logotype based on the geometry of the olympic rings which could be edited to create 68 the year of the games. Wyman was also heavily influenced by traditional forms of Mexican culture (see figure 2) which influenced his use of line within the logotype as well as his interest in Op-Art, allowing him to reference Mexico's rich culture within a modern and classic logotype which is still popular today. The creation of a modern logo was a main contributor to the success of the olympic games in 1968 due to Mexico's status as a developing third world country who couldn't afford to create impressive architectural structures like previous Olympics making the use of graphic design within the games extremely important. Consequently the Op-Art influence allowed for a complex and interesting logotype and wayfinding (see figure 3) system to be created which created the olympic experience without the need for impressive architecture which had been the focus of previous olympics. Despite the complex appearance to the logotype it was easily understood which aided it s success as well as the incorporation of the lines within pictograms used across the games allowing the system to have a continuous theme across all material used for the games.I've chosen to look at this particular logo due to the manipulation and incorporation of line which is something I plan to experiment with while developing my wayfinding system to potentially create a subjective aspect to my system.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Crit Feedback

To further my design process I've gained feedback on my initial designs and ideas (see figure 1 and 2) which has given  me some interesting ideas to develop. Consequently I plan to explore the use of topography lines or sonar waves to incorporate the distance and direction within my wayfinding system by editing the distance between the lines within the pictograms. I also plan to adapt the use of stickers within the system as instead of being stuck on various posts along the route they can be stuck onto the back of placards which members from each independent shop will hold up. The plaques will be shaped like the pictogram for each shop and may feature the lines to indicate people are going in the right direction. In addition another idea was to have the member of staff wearing a t-shirt featuring the specific lines for each pictogram and leave the placard in the shape of the pictogram blank to be covered in stickers which will indicate popularity, as the more stickers the more popular the shop. 

Figure 2

Figure 1

Pictogram Experimentations

To further my developments of my wayfinding system I've looked at the creating pictograms based on the window fronts of each shop (see figure 1) which has allowed for  the creation of an abstract design which will be realised upon arrival as the audience sees the front of the shop, however these initial designs are quite basic due to the simple use of shapes featured within the shop fronts. To develop these designs further I've adapted my previous experimentation using lines to create a more abstract design (see figure 2) as the solid forms that make up the pictogram are lost due to the incorporation of lines based on the inspiration i've taken from Lance Wyman's use of line in his logo for the Mexico Olympics in 1968. During this processes I've also considered the distance between the independent shops and Leeds Print Festival which has led me to adapt the spacing between the lines based on the distance from the print festival to each shop in miles (see figure 3). Therefor the closer together the lines the closer the shop is to the print festival, this allows for a visual representation of distance within my system to better direct my audience. However these designs are not very successful as the lines within the pictograms which are close to the print festival are too close together causing the pictogram to loose its form slightly and create a confusing image as the curve is distorted due to the overlapping of the lines, making it difficult to identify the pictogram from further away. 

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Idea development

I've initially explored the use of line by manipulating the lines within certain shapes (see figure 1) as inspired by Lance Wyman's work. This has allowed me to explore the limitations of the line within a fixed shape to create an interesting pattern that almost creates an optical illusion. I've chosen to explore the line within various shapes (see figure 2) as to develop my wayfinding system I plan to give  each shop a shape based on the architecture and overall aesthetic. Throughout these experimentations I've experimented with the number of lines used, the stroke weight and the distance between each line to see which creates the most interesting effect. Consequently I feel those featuring more lines with a lower spacing are more successful as they create an optical illusion effect as the lines look like there raised almost. I feel this idea has worked successfully due to the various ways to manipulate the lines within the shapes, however the use of basic shapes doesn't successfully represent each shop making it hard to follow/use within a wayfinding system. Consequently I plan to developed the use of line further by look at the architecture of each shop and taking inspiration from the window fronts to create the pictograms for each store.

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Independent Leeds: initial research

Independent Leeds: shops/events that could feature within my wayfinding system
- village bookstore
- The Laynes (coffee shop)
- Hip store
- Blue Rinse
- Accent clothing 
- colours may vary (lifestyle)
- leeds print festival (events)

Village bookstore:
Independent book shop selling a variety of art and design magazines as well as self published zines.
Review: 
Village is good value for money with a wide selection of magazines and zines and is easily accessible due to its city centre location. The ability to purchase coffee whilst you shop creates a relaxing and inviting environment which is aided by the friendly and helpful staff. 

The Laynes:
Small unique coffee shop situated in the heart of Leeds city centre with excellent coffee and varied selection of baked goods provided by the Noisette Bakehouse. Laynes is currently expanding to accommodate its growing popularity. 
Review: 
The small nature of Laynes means it can get quite warm if siting inside, however this may no longer be a problem once the expansion is completed. The excellent coffee and salted caramel brownies make the Laynes a pleasant experience which is heightened by the friendly staff. 

Hip Store:
Independent mens clothing store since 1987 with a focus on premium clothing, as each piece sold is hand selected by the owners to ensure quality. The Hip Store is well located in Leeds city centre near Victoria Gate. 
Review:
Knowledgeable staff allow for a good shopping experience aided by the high quality of the clothing sold. 

Colours May Vary:
Lifestyle  and book shop with a focus on graphic design, illustration and product design Colours May Vary has a strong belief in providing high quality products as the owner will only sell a product if they would buy it themselves.
Review:
The contemporary interior create a pleasant and calming shopping experience which is aided by the carefully selected high quality products. The only downside to colours may vary is its location as it's situated a bit further out of the city centre than other shops. 

Leeds Print Festival:
Independent event to showcase talent of designers and illustrators from Leeds and from around the world. Throughout the festival you also have the opportunity to buy interesting and unique prints acting as an excellent opportunity for new designers to showcase there talent. Workshops are also held throughout the festival allowing the public to truly get involved with the festival.


East St Arts:
Independent art gallery based in Leeds with studios across Leeds that allows new talent to showcase there work but also provides studio space to allow artist to develop and grow. 
Review:
New ann interesting exhibitions that showcase up and coming talent within leeds with a great location which is easily accessible in the heart of Leeds. 

Leeds Print Workshop:
Printing studio based in Leeds city centre with a mission to establish and maintain a vibrant, supportive and sustainable printmaking community. The workshop is open to everyone as well as professionals and offers a series of printmaking classes. Leeds Print Workshops has links to East St Arts and is made up of a committee of fine artists, teachers, graphic designers and illustrators. 

Grid Systems

Figure 1

Modular grid (see figure 1) is a more complex form of the column grid as it consists of multiple horizontal flowline that divide the columns creating cells called modules. Consequently each module contains a small space for information which when grouped together are called spatial zones where specific roles can be assigned.  Control within the grid depends on the size of modules within the gird, smaller modules provide greater precision and flexibility however too many subdivisions can become unnecessary. Module proportions can be considered in many ways, the most common being in relation to the image being used or to the designers individual preference. However during this processes the designer must also consider the margins proportions in relation to the modules and gutter as module girds are often used throughout extensive publications therefore need to be laid out correctly in order to be user friendly. The standardised nature of the modular grid and its link to ideal social or political order has lent itself to be particularly popular with the rationalist thinking of the Bauhaus and Swiss Style which celebrate reduction to the simplest form.

Figure 2

The hierarchal grid (see figure 2) is a more instinctive approach to a grid system as they conform to the information that will exist within the system making them very flexible as the alignments are customised to the various proportions of the different element within the grid causing column widths and guttering to vary. Consequently when developing a hierarchical gird attention must be paid to how the information interacts in order to spontaneously create a system which will coordinate all information. Close attention must be paid to the weighting, size changes and position so that a structure can be developed that can be repeated over multiple pages.  Web pages are examples of hierarchal grids as due to the dynamic nature of the information they hold need flexibility in depth and width which isn't included in a traditional modular grid but still requires a template to organise information.

Figure 3

Structurally the Manuscript grid (see figure 3) is one of the most simple, consisting of  a main box for large bodies of text and two small boxes for the header and footer. The manuscript grid is mainly sed for large bodies of text, commonly in book and has developed from traditional hand written manuscripts before the invention of moveable type. Despite it's simple nature care must be taken when using the grid so continuous type can be read comfortably without the readers eye getting tiered too quickly. This can be achieved through altering the margins proportions in order to give the readers eye a rest and to avoid the type disappearing down the gutter of the book.

Figure 4

The Column grid (see figure 4) is one of the more versatile grid systems which can be used to break up large bodies of texts in different ways such as a column per topic or to give the readers eye a break and prevent the reader from becoming tired quickly.  The width of the columns depends on the size of the body text in order to get the right number of words per line to allow for comfortable reading as a narrow column may result in excessive hyphenation or a column which is too wide may make it difficult to identify sequential lines of text. In traditional column grids the gutter between column is usually half the width of the margins. In addition within a column grid there is also flowlines which allow designs to accommodate breaks in text and image to create a horizontal bands across the format.

Initial Penguin Book Covers

Overall I pleased with my responses (see figures 1-3) to studio brief 2 as I feel my experimentations using the Marber grid have work successfully to bring a contemporary style to my covers whilst still reflecting the traditional Marber grid. The addition of purple is used to create a continuous theme across the book covers in a similar way to Marber's use of the green hue across all mystery covers in the 1960s. I feel the purple works successfully as it represents the mystery and suspense within each of the books I've chosen whilst showing the belong to a specific genre making them easily identifiable. I've chosen to feature a simple illustration of a famous building from the city in which the book is set as this allows me to reference the book without creating obvious imagery that is directly linked to the story line. The inside cover of my books sleeves feature a map of Poland's capital city Warsaw which has been adapted into a timeline of Romek Marbers life. I feel this use of the timeline works well however it can be difficult to identify some of the points due to overlapping lines of the map. Overall I feel my designs (see figure 4) work successfully to reflect the individual books I've chosen whilst still reflecting the key structure of the Marber grid.

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Figure 4