PERSONAL PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE: OUGD402: Where Am I Now?

5 examples of websites/blogs that will help me to define editorial and publishing design;

5 examples of websites/blogs that will help me to define product & packaging design;

5 examples of websites/blogs that will help me to define information & way-finding design;

5 examples of websites/blogs that will help me to define retail & promotion;

5 examples of websites/blogs that will help me to define branding & identity design;

Publications-

This is an example of well organised information from a magazine that is in a grid like format similar to swiss modernists design.

This is a very simple publication design that embraces the huge white space with the use of a minimal geometric pattern. I like the use of different size texts and the staggered sub headers act as a stepping stone for the eye to follow. It's all very precise and well laid out making it easy to read and understand.

This is a different style of publication compared to the other 2, this one only contains a small amount of text and is mainly photos organised into a grid structure. The variation in margin size between the larger and small sized images means no single image detracts attention away from any other image, even though there is one large image and the rest are smaller. The minimal colour scheme also leaves the attention solely fixed on the images and the use of off white stock means there are no large white boring spaces.

The reason for adding this to my selection of publications is the combination of colour, layout and images. I love the way the saturated coral colour works in harmony with the the grey scale photographs. The simplicity of the text layout and the complex organisation of images into a grid like structure that works extremely well and comes off so simple and minimal.

This is similar to my first example but this time with more colour. I'm not really a fan of the colour use for body text on the white stock because the contrast hurts ones eyes and is difficult to read. Because of the use of bright orange on the white stock it makes the images look very black and like they don't belong on the publication.

This publication from Esquire illustrates the correct way to use orange with white stock and greyscale images. By keeping the orange text to a bare minimum and using it as a background to white contrasting text it makes it a lot easier on the eyes to read. Also the tone of orange also plays a factor in the success because it is more red and darker it's more of a contrast than the previous more yellow orange The greyscale images are a lot more subtle as well meaning they're not looking out of place fighting for attention, the whole piece works together in harmony.

This is a good example of text and image working in harmony. I particularly like how the images have been set out in a grid like structure but show no actual borders making it less obvious but also showing more white space. The text has been kept to a simple bare minimum structure forming just one page width box at the bottom of the page not detracting from the main focal point but also not invisible.

The organisation of images is the key point in this publication, the designer has effectively utilised the entire page to convey the images. I particularly like that there is structure but not so precise, for example some margins are bigger or smaller than others and the text isn't centred but it is all executed perfectly that it looks tastefully and not like a giant mess or collage of images.

Products and packaging-

This novelty idea to package brushes so they look like moustaches and goatees is genius. It makes the product stand out from the rest and instantly draws in attention meaning customers. The design is extremely simple as well it's simply a sleeve with a hand drawn face on the front, there's nothing elaborate, it's just original and unique which sets it apart from the rest of the brushes on the market.

This calendar supposedly soaks up ink from the bottle at the same rate days go by which fills each day with colour. If this actually works it is crazy, it'd be the best thing since sliced bread. It again is more focused on the concept as opposed to the product itself, it is pretty simple in design, it's simply numbers connected to each other.

This is packaging for a black colour water, it an extremely creative use of black on black. As the water slowly goes down a message is revealed which is obviously hidden by the black water. The message relates to the process of drinking the water and is a pun of drinking a black drink means you've moved to the dark side. It's an extremely simple and stylish bottle with minimal text on the bottle which shows of the product inside. Usually bottled water can have crude tacky packaging but this water is obviously aimed at more upperclass market.

This is a good looking piece of product design to package eggs but i'm not convinced at all. Yes it is beautiful, minimal and simple but i cannot get my head around how it protects the eggs which should surely be the main focus and feature of egg packaging especially when they're exposing bare egg, surely they'll get broken in transit which I find totally impractical.

I love this modernist style design, I believe the design relates to the oil can because form follows function within the can design therefor whatever is on the outside should follow this.

I thought I would add something different compared to the rest of the designs I have added. This poker set packaging is based on playing cards and has a card like pattern laser cut into the lid. It's a very classy and unique way to package a poker set because usually they come in in velvet or plastic lined aluminium tins. The wood gives it a more upmarket feel and the choice of colours for the chips and cards is unique as they don't follow the normal bold, brash and garish colours normally used.

This i s a kind of retro take on milk which is coming back into style with a bang

Information and way finding-

This follows a grid like system used by swiss modernist pioneers. It is hard to read much information but from the title it looks like it based on the neue grafik design. The use of the contrasting red draws more attention to the key bits of info.

This is a good example of way finding, it's bold and easy to understand. When stood at the correct angle it is clearly read, however, it could be slightly impractical because when rushing down the stairs one might not be at the correct angle to read what level they're at and it could just look like a black mess.

This is a very simple and classic example of way finding, It clearly states what is downstairs in a timeless style of design. The tiling adds to the classic, vintage feel to it and the choice of font makes it easily readable.

The bold colours on the concrete background and the size of the numbers makes this example easy to understand and clearly states where the entrance to each floor is by using a simple arrow. It's very clean and simple design which is difficult to go wrong with.

This is a clear very minimal infographic that uses quite a lot of white space and has rather small illustrations. But I think it is cleanly pulled off because they haven;t used a bold black font, they've used a grey lightwieghted font that works in perfect harmony with the small dull toned illustrations and stock. I particularly like the thin weighted borders that surround each section that are barely noticeable because it further adds structure to the design.

The reason for adding this one the complexity and the enormous amount of information that is visually represented on a huge scale. From the image it is difficult to read the text but from what I can see, I can tell it's well structured and laid out into columns and the use of images as a visual representation adds depth and strengthens the info graphic.

This is an extremely simple example of way finding that works perfectly, the numbers are large and readable and there is a bold contrasting red that indicates the floor one is on. It's extremely minimal but gets the job done well. If I was to be picky i'm not a huge fan of the centred alignment of the text below each number, I would align it differently but that's just personal taste.

The infographic illustrates facts about coffee really well through its clearly organised and well structured text and image. The saturated dull colours work well with the off white slightly cream stock used and all colours work in harmony. The illustrations are a key favourite of mine they add a light hearted touch to facts about coffee which I assume could be quite boring. My only issue is the fact that my eyes are instantly drawn to the '65%' and after reading that I don't know what to read next.

I always see infographics in a similar style to these and I always think they look aesthetically pleasing but I can never seem to understand them which surely is one of the key features of any info graphic, its understandability. But the key on this one illustrates the meaning of everything perfectly, it acts as a mini map as such. A complete newcomer to the world of infographics who has no interest in potatoes or designs could clearly undertand what this infograph is talking about.

retail and promotion-

These are great little business cards however it's limited to what information can be put across because there is no room to describe yourself or what they website is about. You've basically got to take the risk on hopefully it'll provoke the need to go to the website and see what it's all about.

I love this barber shop logo design, it's traditional in style and simply does its job without over complicating things by adding extra text or images or colour. Just choice of font further enforces it's traditional classic style barber shop being slightly curved and having that shadow.

This is an extremely creative and unique take on quitting smoking, I love the idea of it being illustrated through a game and each cigarette slowly destroys your lungs one by one. I don't know if it would attract more attention than the shock factor images they use in campaigns because it is a slightly more light hearted take on the subject.