have you seen bigger?

This morning when I was driving to university I was listening as usual to The Chris Evans show on Radio 2 as per usual. I always enjoy it when Chris does the little competition between Moira and Johnny, where the two are to research and tell Chris the most absurd and ridiculous stories that have happened in the world over the last few days. This is always very amusing as Moira always wins and comes away with very funny topics.

Today however I couldn't help but laugh at a story Johnny had told about how a man has been entered into the Guinness Book of World Records for having the worlds largest mouth. Francisco Domingo Joaquim from Angola has a record breaking 17 cm wide mouth and can even fit in a whole can of juice in his mouth sideways.

At the 'Big Mouth' competition in Rome this month he competed alongside others who crammed saucers, coffee cups and beer bottles into their mouths. It was said that the Guinness Book of World Records spent almost two years tracking him down to prove his record.

I just found this story so funny so had to blog about it.

absolutely "burking" mad

Tonight I went to see the latest film release of Burke and Hare. This is a black comedy that is based on the Burke and hare murders, staring Simon Pegg as Burke and Andy Serkis as Hare amongst an all star cast including Christopher Lee, Ronnie Corbett, Tom Wilkinson and Tim Curry . The actual story is about two men who snatched the dead body's from their graves as well as murdering 17 unfortunate victims. It was then that each of the body's was sold to the Edinburgh University for dissection for medical classes for a fair profit. I will not go into details of what happened to the two men as you should see the film for yourself or if you haven't even heard of them.

The film is based on the accounts of Burke and Hare but also adds some extra parts for the value of the film. Made into a black comedy about two men murdering for money this gives a bit of heart and you actually think these guys are just a couple of guys just trying to survive and aren't really that bad at all, but in real life must of been more evil and disturbed.

I really enjoyed this film, all the actors are well suited to their characters and the two leads pull of pretty good Irish accents and both worked really well together. I read in a review of the film that David Tennant was originally playing Hare but had to pull out. I don't think it would of been as good to be honest if he had continued with the role. The one who really stole the whole film for me was the brilliant Ronnie Corbett as the hysterical Captain McClintock, showing the he is both still very funny and that he is a good actor, each scene he was in just brought something to the screen making his character one of the most likable, even though he was the one trying to hunt down the two killers.

I would recommend this film but even though I enjoyed it many probably will not, it was very well acted and showed just how much the buildings in Edinburgh have barely changed since the early 1800's apart from the roads etc. Strangely I found myself quite proud to be Scottish watching this film, but I think that was due to the music and the bagpipes playing.

I should also mention that the term "burking" came from their infamous method of killing their victims, by purposefully smothering and compressing the chest of the victim. There is a funny scene in the film that explains this.

assignment 3

A few days ago I met up with the members of my seminar group to discuss what topics we were all thinking about doing for our dissertations. Here we listened to each others ideas and all gave a few suggestions on how to improve upon their topic. The following were notes I had taken down of what people are wanting to do, (these are just quick notes):

Helen - Empathy and design. Helen is interested in the relationship people have with objects. The emotional attachments, family heirlooms, and how they are passed down.

Jarred - Consumer culture, how computer and phone apps have changed the way in which we buy things.

Yunhee - Looking at the perspectives of cultures in design, comparing countries and how each will vary from the other.

Andrew - Continuing on his wiki topic on Biosphere. How psychology can manipulate biology, how do people feel comfortable with it. Bionic arms.

Sarah - Urban cities, making buildings sustainable. Can designing an office block reduce the affects.

The topic I am interested in doing is typography. I would like to go into the evolution of how type was used before and after the computer and software came along, and hope to expand a question from this. I originally wanted to do something with branding but feel I could provide a lot more on this.

It was also today that we attended the Dissertation Workshop in Mono at the Dundee Union. Here we sat with our groups and did various exercises to help us narrow down our chosen topic, I found this helpful and interesting as it gave more insight of what I am required to do for my own dissertation.

Above is evidence of our team meeting, the workshop and my mind map. On my mind map I also have film as I thought it would of been good to look into how design is treated within the film industry, but decided against this as well as I felt it was too broad and in the end this did not appeal to me, so I then look at the area of graphic design and what stood out for me the most was typography so wanted to look more into this. This is what I would like to do and this is what I would like to out forward, either to narrow it down or expand on it further.

enchanted by a bunch of trees

Ok, so last night after weeks and weeks of moaning from the other half, I took my girlfriend up to Pitlochry to visit this years outdoor exhibition of the Enchanted Forest. The event takes place at Faskally Wood and offers visitors a unique opportunity to experience the outdoors at night with a spectacular music and light show. This year's show was on the "Force of Nature", which included earth, air, fire and water, all using the forests natural backdrop.

At first I was not impressed by the sound of this, as I didn't think it appealed to me, but after constant moaning I eventually caved in so booked them for the 20:15 showing on Sunday night. Because of living in Dundee and not wanting to drive all that way for a show that only last 45 minutes we decided to make an evening out of it and leave a bit early so we had time to have a drink and a meal (me on the cokes for obvious reasons).

When we arrived I was shocked that Pitlochry already had it's Christmas lights up and after speaking to a local even more shocked that they had been up for a few weeks now. This was because of the October festival that recently took place, and there were still a few events going on apart from the forest. Currently on just now is a Ghost trail around Pitlochry, band playing up and down the whole street, along with a rather annoying women dressed as a mouse playing a flute, she just wouldn't stop following us and would not take the hint I wanted her to leave me alone.

Eventually we arrived at the Auld Smithy Inn, having been here for tea on a long weekend away in Pitlochry last year, we knew the sort of food and service we were getting. After the meal we headed for the bus to take us to the forest and when we got there I didn't know what to think. There wasn't as many lights as I thought there was going to be, at some parts the lights just clashed together too much. the music did create a feel in some sections and the lights did look good at parts, especially when they made the leaves look like they were covered in frost. The part that impressed me the most was the air section where it was full of white, silver and blue lights and the music interacted with these very well.

The area I was least impressed with was the fire, it was the same lights over and over again with little burst of flame from time to time. The water section did improve with a little fountain display that at time really did seem magical mixed with the music and lights. Once we had travelled around the whole event we bought a hot chocolate and headed back to the bus.

On the whole I did enjoy myself but would not go back next year.

the bookeze

At the moment I am watching the latest episode of the apprentice, this week the task Lord Alan Sugar is making the contestants work in an industrial bakery but I am writing about last weeks episode where the two teams had to design and create a product to be sold to holiday goers for on the beach or by the pool.

It was the team Apollo that lost this particular task, which they rightly deserved to as well, due to their product being the most impractical and ridiculous products that has ever been made on the show, The Bookeze. The purpose of this product was that if someone was at the beach and wanted to read a book, but wanted to read without the uncomfortable sitting positions instead all they have to do is build up a book stand that will hold up the book in a wallet attached to the stand.

The problem that this problem had was that it was simply stupid, a person is to lie on their front and read from this. This would hurt a person neck with having to look up at the stand when lying on a beach towel, and it could only stand properly when placed in the sand, so it could only be used on the beach instead of at the pool. When reading the book it would be difficult as you would have to keep taking the book out and turning the pages. The stand itself would fall over easily as there was no weight or anything to help support it as it would just fall over with even the slightest touch of wind.

The idea of a product to make reading on holiday more comfortable but this was not an easier way to do so either and just how bad the team worked together, they did nothing but argue with each other and had no other idea to bring forth to the team.

This was a terrible idea that was terribly made followed by terrible pitches and this led to the team failing and loosing the task.

I intend to be disappointed by George Lucas in the order he intended

This is a blog that involves the idea that George Lucas is as you would say "milking it" off of Star Wars, basically he is cashing as much money as he can to sell more and more Star Wars products and films.

There is no denying that Star Wars is one of the biggest phenomena's ever, and there is no doubt that the original trilogy changed cinema when they were first released and created such a craze that cannot truly be described. Before I go any further I am a very big Star Wars fan and love the originals and do like the prequel trilogy, but not as much, there was not as much thought and love that went into the making of them, they were made for the sake of being made and because Lucas had not made a film in years.

When the original trilogy was released on dvd in 2005 I immediately bought it, well come on, it's a must. It is on the 4th disc which includes a documentary where Lucas says he prides himself that he was an independent film maker and that Star Wars was in a way an independent film. This is where I say, "in what way is Star Wars independent". It wasn't so bad that the prequels were made, it made a lot of fans happy to see the story of Darth Vader, but then came the cartoon movie, and the t.v. series of the Clone Wars, well there was another cartoon series just before Revenge of the Sith came out. There are also books, toys, board games, video games, costumes that Lucas gets a percentage of the proceeds.

What Lucas did in 1997 was re-release the originals with extra footage and digitally re-mastered, and it wasn't at all that impressive followed by the vhs box-set, then the prequels were released individually on dvd, then the originals in the dvd box-set, then the prequels in a box-set, then the originals released in there original theatrical release on dvd and now next year we will see the blu-ray special edition box-set with all six films, and it has been announced that Lucas intends to yet again re-release all six films in the cinema in 3D a year after each other. No doubt these will all be released in a 3D dvd box-set. And news that he is trying to raise money to make a live action t.v. series set between the prequels and the originals. So to be honest isn't it time he stopped with Star Wars, he already took Indiana Jones to far with the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles and the latest movie where Steven Spielberg put Shia Labouf in the film for the sake if it.

From interviews I have seen on celebrities and actually watching the 1978 Star Wars Christmas special, some people still find it hard to forgive him for helping the channel that produced it, for. I will say that I am looking forward to the new video game The Force Unleashed II,as he barely has any involvement with this, but do hope he does not take it any further. I also doubt that it was intended to be a trilogy as if you watch the documentary it is clear he made it all up as he went along once the first film was released.

It is in the funny t.v. show The Big Bang Theory that they get it what George Lucas has done.

"Why don't you want to watched the Clone Wars t.v. series now?

Because, I want to see the Cone Wars movie first, I intend to be disappointed in Star Wars in the order George Lucas intended it to be."

A new year a new blog

It really had been a while since I had been on my blog until I had to start writing all my assessments for university again. Admittedly I should have kept it up over the summer and have no reasons for not doing so but aim to not forget or ignore my blog again.

So when I went back onto my blog I was stunned at how bad it looked. The horrible picture it had was shocking, I only had it on to see what a photo would look like on my blog background and completely forgot I had it on there and also because I didn't know how to take it of as well.

So today I finally decided to sort it out and make my blog nice and simple and easy to look at. Since I am now in 3rd year and want my blog to be an improvement from last year.

Typography in the City

For one of our next projects we were to go out into the town and photograph as many words and letters that we could find lying around or being displayed anywhere. We were to take proper photo's, as though we are actual photographers, we have to think like them. This included extreme close-ups and odd angels.

The purpose of this was so we can create a 5 page magazine layout, which would include a contents, verso page, double page spread and a recto page, all on the topic of typography in the city, of how we look and use type in our everyday lives.

So far I have gone out and taken the photographs, I decided to take pictures of older types and ones that are made of stone, marble to I could have a particular theme for my layout. I really enjoyed doing this as I got to go outside and just simply spend the day taking photographs.

We are only halfway through this project so have not done a lot for it, all I have done is made the first draft for my layout and still need to change it, so it will not be posted till later on. I am really enjoying this project as I would like to go into typography when I leave university. I have found doing magazine layouts and logo's using words to be very interesting and have found them more enjoyable than previous projects and designs that I have done.

The photo's I am using for the imagery in my layout have been photoshopped to have that monotone look to make them look older and dated.

The Greatest Business Card Known to Man

This quite possibly has to be the greatest business card ever invented. It is so simple, so effective, so unique, just so brilliant. The actual card is obviously a stretchy rubber, the text on the front is difficult to work out at first. It is odd then when stretched, the text expands to reveal that it is a card for a personal trainer. The whole idea of this is so good, it goes with the very idea of exercise. The point is that to stretch and exercise the muscles we must pull or push heavy objects, this is a little exercise in itself. As soon as I saw this I had to blog about it but do not think that there is a lot to say about ti except that it is simply brilliant and I love it and want one myself.

Yudo

For the first project in graphics this year our class were to team up into groups of three for a three week project. The project brief was to create something that would encourage people to come back to the high street, something that was original and appealing and would involve and hands on experience for the customer. We were to produce all of our work in a pdf format to be sent to the design company Wolf Ollins who were the ones who came up with the brief.

The other members of my team were Karen and Kyle and we wanted to come up with something that was new and fresh, what was missing? After some careful consideration we decided to go with the idea of a healthy fast food service and develop our idea from there. The name of our service was very difficult to think of as at first we didn't know what we wanted to include in our restaurant. It was only after many various names and suggestions that we came up with the name Youdo, and was later shortened to Yudo so it would seem more like a place you would see on the high street and somewhere you would know made good quality food.

The following is taken from the actual pdf and describes exactly what Yudo is:

"With today’s busy lifestyles it is not always easy to eat healthily, especially whilst on the go.

Microwave meals and fast-food outlets often serve as easy alternatives to locally produced, wholesome food. Not only are we turning to these options as handy alternatives, many members of the public don’t feel confident with their cooking abilities therefore opt out of making something from scratch.

Yudo is the first ‘do it yourself’ experience in the area of food expertise. At Yudo restaurants, customers pick their own ingredients, prepare their own dishes and indulge in their own culinary creation.

Yudo aims, not only to create a unique hands on experience, but also to educate the public along the way. Customers have the opportunity to learn where their ingredients come from as well as picking up some valuable culinary skills and several top cooking tips!

Whether you are taking a quick lunch break from the office, are a health fanatic or on a family day out Yudo provides something for everyone. Customers have the option to sit in or take their tasty meal away.

Our tag line may be ‘You do, so we don’t have to’, but that doesn’t mean that the customers are left entirely on their own. In each Yudo food outlet there are trained chefs whose job is to help the ‘do it yourself’ process run smoothly."

Throughout the pdf we showed what produce we used, what the store would look like, the poster and t.v. campaigns we were using for Yudo, and all the promotional items we made for in the store.

The other purpose of this brief was to work as a team, see what our strengths and weaknesses are, how well did we work together? These sort of things. I will admit that I really did not like this project to start off with, I found along with everyone else that it was difficult to work in a group of three. If two of us were agreed on something and the other didn't like an idea we would have to rethink what we were doing. I found this very frustrating as I just wanted to stick with an idea that the majority of us thought was strong instead of having to rethink everything, but later did realize the importance of this as I don't think we may have come up with as strong as an idea as what we have done. I know the other members found it difficult to work with each other too as we all have our own different ways of working, so this was a big step for all of us.

I do think that on this project I should have done a little bit more. There were times where I should have spoken up when speaking to tutors about this idea and what we were doing and this is something I really have to work on if I am to succeed in the industry. We all did have our different tasks to do for the pdf, someone would work on the logo specifications, the produce, another would work on the adverts, posters etc. we all did do our part for that. Other times I found it frustrating were when we would all sit down and not say anything and one person would say "come on guys what you thinking?" I found it hard to think in the studio, and felt rushed into thinking of something but realize that others may have felt this too and that we always backtracking, there was always someone who wanted to step back, do something completely different from this idea. It was only once we started the adverts and the pdf that I began to enjoy the project as we now knew what we were doing and just go on with it and worked better as a team at this point.

Branding and Design

Branding and Design

Nicholas Mitchell

Graphic Design

Buildings age and become dilapidated

Machines wear out

People die

But what live on are Brands

Definition

Branding, what is it? What does it do? How important is it? The term branding has such a wide meaning. It is a term that identifies a company name or product. This is shown through the design of the name, imagery or even a term. Brands have always helped us identify a company’s product from rival companies selling similar products. Creating and building a brand over a period of time can progress into a reliable relationship with the consumer. This creates a sense of trust and reliability, which can take years but throughout the world many brands have had, and still do, such relationships with the public. A company can spend thousands of pounds promoting their product or service. The aim is to have a brand that is instantly recognizable even without the company name present. This can work in favour for the company or can work against it depending on how successful the marketing has been produced for it. “In the ‘great tree of brands,’ a successful brand is one that dominates an emerging branch and then becomes increasingly successful as the branch itself expands to block the sunlight from nearby branches.” (Ries, 2005).

History

“Branding, according to popular marketing mythology, began with the great ranch-owners and cattlemen in the Wild West. They would literally ‘brand’ their cattle, communicating a clear message to others, which said ‘hands off, this is mine’.” (Southgate, 1994). It became the person’s trademark, an icon of who they were and what they did. If one of their livestock went missing, they could easily be recognized by the symbol put onto their body. This even worked further back in our history when ancient tribes people would mark their bodies to symbolize what tribe they were as well as their personal standing within the tribe, their social status and leadership. An art that is still carried on today with individuals branding themselves with tattoos of their very own style.

In the earliest form, a brand mark defined quality, a mark that differentiated a quality product from other similar products. Branding as a marketing tool has nowadays come to have completely the opposite purpose. It says ‘hands on, this is for you’.

During the early years of the last century in the factories manufacturing major products and services there was one particular area that became so phenomenal that it became one of the biggest movements in human history. Transportation, and branding took off in car manufacturing, cars are so much more than just a means of transportation. In our society, they have been transformed into symbols of specific lifestyles and even specific human personalities. This can reveal the owner’s lifestyle, status, employment, hopes and dreams. As a result, it is no surprise that car brand names carry significant value, placing the industry close to luxury brands and perfumes in terms of the importance of intangible aspects of a product or company.

In the beginning of the last century, at a time when mass production ruled and branding was far less common and well known than it is today, many of the manufacturers were building their brand identity, showing the world what their cars stood for. “From the four rings of Audi to the coined word Lexus, the mythical heroes of Ferrari and the direct communication of Jaguar, behind each logo and name there is a history and a reason for its existence”. (Kavounis, 2002). A history which proves that for generations automobile makers have recognized the power, strenght and importance of their products to go much further than mere functionality and become a symbolic and meanigful expression within our current society. It is outstanding justhow important branding is in society, it is amost impossible to imagine a world without it in this current day and age “it is not unusual to hear branding and the related black art of spindoctoring described as the new religion” (Hayward, 2001). This quote describes just how big branding is in our modern culture.

Branding cattle to help identify who they belonged to.

Design Practice

Branding is everywhere. No matter where you look, whether on the high street or on the internet you will see branding. It is one of the most important subjects within design. When designing a brand, we as designers have to think of: who is the target audience? How is it relevant to the current subject? Does it imply what it is selling? We don’t just think about how it looks, what colours and what font a brand will have, they come later. It is how we apply the company, individual or product to the brand, how will it stand out? How can it sell?

The power of brands has affected the absorption of successful brand names into everyday appliances: Hoover has become a noun for any brand of vacuum cleaner. People have even branded themselves into our culture. These are the well-known celebrities that we use as inspiration for style and personality. David Bechkam, who over the years has put his name onto clothing and body fragrance, which therefore makes him a brand name. He has also become such a popular name that having him as a face or the name of a brand such as Pepsi is making him part of the brand, and even in film can cause a helping hand in creating the brand, (Bend it Like Beckham). Also consider “Madonna, who has been packaged, branded and rebranded throughout her career”. (Mono, 2004). This has sustained a momentum that has cemented her position as one of the most successful female artists of all time. It has even been passed on to her daughter, who with the help of her mother has influenced the design of her very own fashion range, and has now begun the path to branding herself also, but we still may always know her as the daughter of Madonna and this may become her brand instead. Fashion is a big place to brand not only a product or service, but us as the individual can brand ourselves.

“The increased use of text in identity design takes several forms. A designer may choose to create a word mark, but also include the mission statement or tag line in the design. Or, he may fill a shape or symbols with more words. People are busy; money is tight. Logos must be interpreted, and interpretation takes time. Words deliver their message immediately.” (Creative Review, 2009). This extract helps us understand that words and sayings within branding are of the utmost importance. A phrase can make or break a brand, the right use of wording can give off the wrong impression. McDonalds current phrase of “I’m lovin’ it`” works extremely well, it is aimed at the family market, we are a place where all ages can come to, and we give what we sell on the tin, cheap, fast and tasty food. The phrase has been ‘dumbed down’, it wouldn’t make any sense if it said I am Loving it. “I’m lovin it`” is catchy, it’s short, it makes sense, it goes with the very idea of what McDonalds is all about. Simple but effective, and this shows that proper research and marketing has been applied to this, to make it for the people, not the individual.

Four rings of the Audi brand.

References

Hayward, S., 2001. The Branding of Modern British Culture: Consumer Citizenship and the Age of Anxiety, J Design Hist [online] Available at [Accessed 29 September 2010].

Kavounis, Y., 2002. Auto-branding: Beyond Trans-portation…to Trans-formation, Interbrand [online] Available at [Accessed 29 September 2010].

Mono, 2004., Branding: From Brief to Finished Solution, Switzerland: RotoVision SA.

Ries, A & L., 2005. The Origin of Brands: How Product Evolution Creates Endless Possibilities for New Brands, New York: HarperCollins.

Southgate, P., 1995. Total Branding by Design, London: Kogan Page Ltd.

Unknown., 2009. Logo Loung: Trend Report 2009. Creative Review, June. p40.

Branding and Design Mind Map

This is the mind map I did for my design studies assignment. Even though it is a bit jumbled whenever I have looked at it for my essay I found it easy to follow and understand. The next part is to upload the essay as a wiki style blog.