OUGD504 - Design For Print & Web: Packaging Research

As the main elements of my print media is going to be packaging, I had a look into this area for food, drink & condiments to see what trends were there and what worked and why.

Drop Coffee Roasters

This packaging caught my eye because of the simplicity and the media used. Unlike most coffee bean packaging, tins, this is created using cardboard. The design is simple with little colour used, using the colour of the packaging as a defining feature. The modernist approach of function before form is clear in the artwork design, with no more than the needed information and a lot of space for each piece of information to breath.

http://www.thedieline.com/blog/2013/11/27/drop-coffee-roasters.html?SSScrollPosition=298

La Catedral de Navarra
This is packaging for canned & bottled vegetables. This is very relevant to this brief as the labels are completely typographical. The black label against the bold colours of the contents give an overall striking appearance which really makes them stand out against the typical packaging in this area.

http://www.thedieline.com/blog/2013/11/15/la-catedral-de-navarra.html?SSScrollPosition=209

Burger Station
This is redesigned branding & packaging for Burger Station. It is relevant as it has the elements of which I will be creating for this brief. It has a variety of different burger packaging, as well as labels for condiments. This shows that the packaging doesn't need to be something over the top to be noticeable. The packaging is branded with stickers, each which indicate the brand and the contents inside.

http://www.thedieline.com/blog/2013/11/8/burger-station.html?SSScrollPosition=394

Breadshop
This packaging is even more simple than a box, just using tissue paper wrapping & a sticker. Packaging doesn't necessarily have to be a completely perfect net box, it can be as simple as wrapping some tissue paper around the product & using a tie or sticker to hold it together and brand it, and still have it looking sophisticated. Sometimes less is more.

http://naauao.com/Breadshop

Zealong Flavoured Tea
This packaging is interesting as it is made entirely from folding the stock. It is also a different style of packaging from the ones above as it has a lid and a contents holder separate, and uses two different stocks for these. The lids of these packages are all the same stock, but with different coloured stocks for the bottom to differentiate the products.

http://www.thedieline.com/blog/2013/9/16/zealong-flavored-tea.html

Williams-Sonoma BBQ
These are label designs created for sauces. These are interesting as a range because each sauce has it's own identity within the range, with it's own colour scheme and typefaces, making each distinguishable. What joins them together is the containers.

http://www.thedieline.com/blog/2013/9/4/williams-sonoma-bbq.html?SSScrollPosition=295

Crazy Good Bread
This is a completely different take on packaging for a loaf of bread. Instead of using a plastic wrapper or brown paper bag, a cleverly designed card box has been created. It makes the product stand out amongst the others in this industry. The design is simple, but because of how the packaging works and product has been executed, it looks so much more than it actually is.

http://www.thedieline.com/blog/2013/8/28/crazy-good-bread.html?SSScrollPosition=196

Real Food Botanica
This food packaging is made up of standard packages, which are branded by stickers. What's interesting about these is that each sticker is different depending on the packaging & content. These have been created t one contrasting to each of the materials used instead of having one standard sticker. These stickers hold quite a lot of information on them, but is balanced by the plain packaging.

http://www.thedieline.com/blog/2013/7/30/real-food-botanica.html?SSScrollPosition=79

Illegal Burger
This is a range of packaging created for a burger restaurant. What I like about this packaging is that there is a pattern in use in the top of the burger boxes and in the coffee cup holder. Using this really makes these packaging elements stand out against the rest and gives a lot more character instead of just a plain box.

http://isabelarodrigues.org/project-view/illegal-burger/

Meat & Bread
I like this packaging because of the complete simplicity of it. It uses just black on white & vice versa for all branding, and keeps packaging to a minimum. Each product is labeled with the brand logo and the name of the product, with no images or noise.

http://www.thedieline.com/blog/2013/7/22/meat-bread.html?SSScrollPosition=210

OUGD501 - Lecture 9: What Is Research?

The Age of Enlightenment

• Process of rationality and reason
• Enlightenment - period in the 18th C when scientific philosophical thinking made leaps and bounds
• Secularisation - reason rather than Metaphysics
• Belief in an unified scientific method
• Positivism

C.P Snow

• The two cultures and the scientific revolution - 1959
• The arts & the sciences were two different agendas - could never fuse together

Positivism

• Positive outcome - definite outcome - it does something
• Facts
• Separation of facts from value (value freedom)
• Measurement rather than argument
• The facts speak for themselves
• Causation
• Separation and control of variables
• Rigorous methods

Approaches to research

• Empiricism - scientific research - setting up an experiment & observing
• Quantitative research - numbers, charts
• Qualitative research - opposite side to quantitative - interviews etc
• Subjectivism

Action research

• Academic way of planning out & carrying out research - actively taking part
• Cycle - Researcher enters - Real world takes part in - action in the situation enables - reflection on the involvement leads to - findings/beginning of cycle

Cycle of Synthesis

• Unification of doing
• Theory, Action, Reflection

Methodology

• Method - A way of proceeding about something in systematic or logical manner
• Methodology - The science of method, employed in a particular activity
• Some methodologies: Historical, communication, theory etc.

Epistemology

• Ways of thinking about thinking
• Ways of thinking, and selecting between different approaches to a subject - knowing the routes and their outcomes & choosing one in particular because of this

The Hermeneutic Circle

• First grasp - inspection of detail - global inspection - deeper understanding
• Constant refinement
• Developed by Heidegger
• Interpretation is a process designed to clarify an experience and assign meaning to it
• This is aided by the hermeneutic circle which involves looking at different perspectives on events and relating individual components
• Ricoeur - anything in the world can be interpreted in three different levels - behind the text, in/through the text & in front of the text

OUGD504 - Design For Print and Web: Restaurant Research

To start this brief off, I looked into restaurant/cafe branding which has been previously done. This is so I have an insight into what exactly has been branded, what products have been created and how designers have integrated the print and web aspects to their briefs.

The first one I looked at was 'Victory', a sandwich bar.

Branded items include:

• Coffee cups
• Glasses
• Bottles
• Sandwich wrappings
• Sandwich bags
• Box packaging
• Menu
• Coasters
• Business cards
• Exterior Signage
• Van

The branding has been kept very simple, just black on white/white on black, with one logo made up of two elements, each which are used on their own and together to create the overall branding for this cafe. I like this as it keeps everything simple and doesn't complicate branding and have a number of different symbols/colours over a range of media. Everything is slightly different, but very clearly together.

In regards to the approach of the website, like the printed branding, it is all based on greyscale, just using simple black and white, and a simple layout. In the app, the sandwiches are what are in colour and are made to stand out. The same buttons/links are used on the website and app, keeping a consistency between them. Unlike the branding though, the apps seem a lot less casual and laid back. They have a more formal appearance, whereas the print branding does seem a lot less structured.

My overall feeling on this branding is that I like it because of the simplicity of all the designs and consistency throughout all media. There's nothing overcomplicated about the branding, no cheesy slogans or number of vector images to back up the brand. It's plain and simple and works very well.

http://www.behance.net/gallery/Victory-Branding/10526247

The second restaurant I looked into was 'Esplanades', an Italian restaurant. Contrasting to the example above, this brand uses 7 different colours for it's branding and has a very different approach. However, these colours are manly used for text/outlines, he main colour being the stock colours. The media that is branded is different as well. As this is a restaurant and not a takeaway shop, there is no packaging branded, but napkins, pencils and vouchers instead. The branding is very simple, just a simple symbol and the restaurant name underneath, sometimes not even that. 

The website very much represents the brand, keeping in with the simple structured layout and minimal use of the colours. It is one continuous page, which works very well as there isn't a huge amount of information and not really much need for separate pages.
I prefer the approach to this website to the one for 'Victory'. It seems a lot cleaner and fits in with the brand very well, using elements from the printed branding throughout to combine it all together as a full brand identity.

Designer Website
Restaurant Website

The third that I looked into was a restyling and packaging development for a burger restaurant chain 'Burger Station'.

This one particularly interested me as the focus was on the takeaway packaging and this is something that I would like to incorporate into my outcome. In this packaging, sauce packaging was included, which is something that I would definitely like to consider.
Like the previous two examples, the branding once again is very simple. Just black & white again, with only two branding items, the logo and a cow face.

My opinion on this is that I like it because it shows how simple branding can be. Stickers stuck onto different media is all that has been used for this, nothing more, and overall I think it works very effectively and is a change from the perfectly printed media.
http://www.behance.net/gallery/Burger-station/11151923

The fourth restaurant I looked into was 'Pidgin'.

This has quite a big focus on typography, which is definitely helpful for this brief. It shows how typography has already been used in the restaurant environment and shows the difference in amount of typography on different pieces of media. For example, the placemats are covered in a more playful approach to type, whereas the menu is a lot more controlled and structured. I like the creative use of type and signs for the bathroom signs. It is a lot more quirky than the standard symbol.

The website follows the same form of the placemats and becomes the main identity for this restaurant online. It is displayed in quite a creative way compared to other restaurant websites/apps. It keeps in with the form of the identity but still manages to give all the information that is needed. Although the pages are quite cluttered as intended, they still manage to have enough space so it is easy to read.

Overall I like the website branding and restaurant interior branding. I do feel that this could have been utilised more through the remainder of the media, but obviously that wasn't the intention. I have learnt quite a lot from this one visually as it shows how a number of different typefaces can be used on the same media.
http://www.behance.net/gallery/Pidgin/11063687

OUGD501 - Lecture 8: Subculture and Style

Definition of subculture:

In sociology, anthropology and cultural studies, a subculture is a group of people with a culture which differentiates them from the larger culture to which they belong.

• An introduction to writings on subculture
• Skateboarding/parkour and free running/graffiti as a performance of the city
• the Riot Grrrl movement
• The portrayal of youth and culture in film & photography

Dogtown & Z Boys (2001)

• Documentary film mixes original footage and recent interviews
• History of skateboarding evolves

Skater Peggy Oki

• Not much difference between the clothing that boys & girls wore - jeans & long sleeved shirts for protection
• Long hair fashionable for boys as well as girls

Ian Borden 'Performing the City'

• Urban street skating is more 'political' than 1970's skateboarding's use of found terrains: street skating generates new uses that at once work within an negate the original ones
• Resistance to commercialisation

South bank closure threat to skates

• Festival wing under the queen Elizabeth hall - redevelopment
• Resisted strongly by skaters & bikers - redevelopment of space would remove this area for them
• Review of the space by the Guardian - computer generated idea
• Henry Edwards-Wood 'It would be a complete desecration of the entire artistic ethos of the undercroft'

Lords of Dogtown (2005)

• 'Skateboarders do not so much temporarily escape from the routinised world of school family and social conventions as replace it with a while new way' - Borden, 2001

Parkour/ Free running

• Parkour - a method of movement focused on moving around obstacles with speed and efficiency
• Free running - a version of parkour that typically places greater emphasis on acrobatic techniques and self-expression.

Yamakasi (2001)

Jump London (2005)

Nancy McDonald 'The Graffiti Subculture'

• Here real life and the issues which may divide and influence it, are put on pause. On this liminal terrain you are not, black, white, rich or poor. Unless you are female, you are what you write

Black Graffiti writer, Prime

Miss Van

• Mcdonald suggest that women come to the subculture laden with the baggage of gender in that her physically and her sexuality
• Does't play down her female identity and does the opposite

Swoon (US)

• 'In the meantime there was a lot of attention coming my way for being female, and it just made me feel alienated and objectified, not to mention patronized'

Angela Mc Robbie and Jenny Garber

• Girl subculture may have become more invisible because o the very term subculture has acquired such strong masculine overtones
• In postmodern subcultures overly feminine subcultural movements like the Lolita fashion are often assumed to be sexually suspect
• Motorbike girl - Brigitte Bardot 1960's - suggests sexual deviance which is a fantasy not a reflection of real girls in that subculture at the time
• Hells Angels - in rockers and motorbike culture girls usually rode pillion - girls were either the girlfriend or the 'mama' figure

Mod girl

• Mod culture springs from working class teenage consumerism in the 1960's in the UK
• Teenage girls worked in cities in service industries for example, or in clothing shops where they are encouraged to model the clothing
• Quadrophenia (1979) - Hebdige outlines there hierarchies within the mod subculture where the face or stylists who made up the original coterie were defined against the unimaginative majority

Hippy girl

• Subculture arises through universities of the late 60's & 70's
• Middle class girl therefore has the space to explore subculture for longer before family etc.
• Space for leisure without work
• Bad hippy vs good hippy - Janis Joplin vs Peach and 'flower power'

Riot Grrl - mid 1990's

• Underground punk movement based in Washington DC, Olympia, Oregon etc.
• Bands - Bikini Kill, Bratmobile, Excuse 17, Heavens to Betsy etc. - Create zines & support network around issues that are specifically female
• Mount Pleasant Race Riots in 1991 - Documented in zines

What makes a subcultural activity true?

• Zines revived from 1970's DIY Punk ethic
• In turn this was influenced by posters & graphic design from Dadaist
• Raoul Hausmann- Dada - ABCD self portrait (1923-24)
• Media attention turns to the Grunge Scene - Courtney Love & Hole - style without the subculture - distorts even further as the 90's continue into the more media friendly Spice Girls

Spice Girls

• Band styling presents a set of visual types that are easily consumable by the target audience
• There is no empowerment for young women as there is nothing but the reduction of young women to cartoon representations

Dick Hebdige - Subculture: The meaning of Style

• Subcultures represent noise" interference in the orderly sequence which leads from real events and phenomena to their representations in the media
• Offence caused by lyrics and behaviour is important as it leads to questions about 'the parent culture'
• The commodity form - subcultural signs like dress styles and music are turned into mass produced objects - clothing which is ripped as an anarchic anti-fashion statement becomes mass produced with rips as part of the design
• Zandra Rhodes act white Gold Diamond safety pin brooch - although pink seems to challenge eventually and surprisingly quickly it goes mainstream/high end fashion
• 21st C demonisation - style in particular provokes a double response. It is alternately celebrated and ridiculous or reviled
• Bricolage: Edwardian Style - Savile Row - Teddy Boy
• Roger Mayne - 1956 - Teddy boy culture was an espace from claustrophobia of the family, into the strew.
• Chris Steele-Perkins 'The Teds' (1979)
• Racist gives Nazi Salute in London, 1980 - Skinheads
• Gavin Watson - Skins (1980s) - influenced portrayal of characters in This Is England (2006)

This is England

• The new kid on the estate transforms into a british skinhead - his dad has been killed in the Falklands War and his new friends become his new family
• The film explores the differences between the skinhead style and the politics of the National Front skins as they infiltrate the working class estate of the 1980's
• The subordination on Milky as 'other' by Combo

Post Subcultures

• In a global society with a rapid proliferation of images, fashions and lifestyles, it is becoming increasingly difficult to pinpoint what a subculture actually means.

OUGD504 - Design For Print and Web: Type Research

As the brief I have chosen is typographically based, to get an insight into what I could potentially focus on/use through this brief I revisited type anatomy and type categories.

Type anatomy

Type timeline

Type categories

• Old Style
• Old English/Black Letter
• Modern
• Block
• Slab Serif
• Sans Serif
• Grunge
• Scripts
• Decorative

OUGD504 - Design For Print: Packaging Research

For my info-pack I want some packaging to join every design piece together and make it clearly part of the same information pack. Before designing this I looked into different packaged packs.

This first one has three different types of packaging. These are simple and are made to look like they are going to be posted obviously.

I like these because of the simplicity of them. It shows how little that needs to be done to join products together in a pack.

http://www.behance.net/gallery/Sistema-Single/11948265

This one was interesting as the packaging formats and designs were different, but they all have one sticker on that joins them together. It shows that the packaging doesn't need to be identical on all of them to make them obvious that they are from the same pack.
I particularly like the quality of this packaging. It is of a high quality and finish and looks very professional.

http://www.behance.net/gallery/Uzuri-Classic-and-Seasonal-Makeup-Collections/11065601

This packaging is for a book. This is done in a way that makes book packaging interesting and shows that it doesn't have to be so simple. This packaging shows that packaging doesn't just need to be something to hold the product, it can be a product within itself.

http://www.behance.net/gallery/W-Gift-Pack/11499981

This one I found interesting because of how the packages all fit together to create a shape. This makes packaging more exciting than just holding the products and adds to the visual identity.

http://www.behance.net/gallery/Astrobrights-Packaging/9333731