B'innit'!

For my negotiated project I chose to work on an industry brief, my task was to come up with a design/style for a competition aimed at 18-24 year olds to design a new savoury Greggs bag which would hi-light the effects of throwing litter. Litter is an on going problem and research shows that this particular age group are the main offenders, so by creating a competition which targets this age group it would encourage them to get involved and therefore make them more aware of the issue and consequently reduce the amount of litter thrown.
I wanted to produce a design which would catch the attention of and appeal to my target market, I came up with the name 'B'innit' which plays on the term bin it but focuses on the word 'innit' although this is not an actual word it's very widely used at the moment to add emphasis to a sentence. I thought it would be a clever way of appealing to 18-24 year olds as it's current and amusing and I continued this dialect through to the strapline. I created an identity and brand which worked across the relevant media, I kept the design simple, I wanted it to look like a Greggs bag on the posters as well as the actual savoury bag, the idea being that it looks familiar and would therefore be something my target market can relate to. The name and strapline are the main focus on the design which use brown, green and black, meant to reflect 'recycling' colours and I applied the same design to the microsite keeping the look consistent. I enjoyed this project, it was challenging at times but I was happy with my concept and I felt it turned out well, it was also a good opportunity to work on a brief which required a design that could be applied to print, web and packaging.

D&AD Awards

I chose to review this invitation design for the 'designing naturally creative workshop' I think this has a really nice concept which looks natural as well as unusual. The design was laser printed onto fallen leaves, so no paint was used with the idea being the flyer will be thrown back onto the ground where it originally came from.

Just Us design collective

This was a book Jacket design by Tom Edwards for the Penguin book 'Reusing old graves' I chose to review this piece as I think its eye-catching and amusing, I like the colour palette he has used and the simple illustration style. The typography is really interesting the way it curves around the illustration and I like how he has kept the front cover relatively simple with the majority of the detail being on the back.

Northern Design Competition review

This is the work of Kerry Venus, winner of the Graphic design category in 2009, with her entry 'the Handmade Manifesto' I really like the idea behind this piece of work, I think it’s a common problem nowadays that designers are often too quick to jump onto a computer to start generating ideas without exploring the possibility of producing a more hand made piece. She has focused quite literally on this concept and displayed a variety of different shots of her hands and arms, I think it has been executed well and is a nice, quirky idea.

YCN Review

I have chosen to look at the work of Jessica Walsh, she is a NYC based designer and she produces some amazing and very inspirational work. I have seen her work before, she has produced a variety of projects from stationary to 3d design, each with a very unique style. I think this piece is fascinating, since I have a small 3d portfolio of my own, I like the idea of mixing 3d with graphic design, some very interesting results can be produced, and her work emphasises this point entirely.

Stationary

I found some lovely stationary designs, two of which are very similar with highly contrasting typefaces, consisting of heavy and hairline strokes and serifs, both brought together with a very decorative ampersand. The other design has a retro, traditional feel to it, I think using a dark blue instead of black works really well and I love the detail inside the envelope, its a really nice touch.

Illustrators

I love love love illustration! This work is that of Julie Verhoeven, I love her unfinished style, her use of mixed media and the fairytale look that it has, consequently, the charcters she draws always look like they have a story to tell. Her work always looks so effortless and although often a bit cheeky I still find it captivating and beautiful.

This is the work of David Foldvari, I love the simplicity of his drawings mixed with the message he is putting across, some of it very political with other stuff being a lot more light hearted and amusing. I find his work incredibly inspiring, he predominantly draws in black and white with odd splashes of colour for emphasis with the end result being really bold and full of character.