Assignment 1: Exercise 3

Brief: Research one contemporary brand that you as a designer admire and that appeals to you. Explain the appeal. Source visual examples and information about their corporate philosophy, identity an image. How would you go about changing or improving the brand's strategy or image?

Click through to their website here.

Dirty Collective is one of my favourite local brands at the moment. It is a concept store that provides a platform for local up-and-coming designers, clothing brands and artists. The creative director saw a gap in the market for this kind of thing and decided to actually make it happen. Small local brands have been popping up everywhere but a problem arose when there was no proper selling platform, and this is what Dirty Collective provided for them. Now products that might only be made in Jo'burg will be readily available to purchase online through a safe and secure payment system and reliable delivery of high quality goods. 

It appeals to me as a graphic design student because it provides some kind of comfort knowing that local designers will be able to build themselves a proper brand and image through Dirty Collective. Also the fact that they handpick every designer shows how they showcase the best of the best and inspires me to become a better designer.

The only way in which I would improve this brand's image and strategy is to maybe have pop-up stores in main big regions of the country like Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban to boost the brand even more. They were already at Design Indaba 2013 and the clothes they had at their stand showed some interesting, skilled illustrations at affordable prices.

Assignment 1: Exercise 2

Brief: Research the content and style of one of the following local design magazines. Provide a link and refer to visual examples. Comment on layout, type, content, style, genre, niche/market.

• A Look Away
• One Small Seed (click through to the website)
• Enjin
• Design Indaba

See the 25th issue of One Small Seed titled 'The Bigger Picture' here.

The layout of the magazine is very creative and different to what one would usually expect to see in a magazine. They have strayed away from the normal flush left layout most magazines have and this makes the magazine visually intriguing and interesting to look at and read. It is interesting how every single page layout differs from the next, even when it is the same article on the following page, but by repeating a colour or typeface throughout an article it still creates unity in the design. Me being a lover of different typefaces, I enjoy seeing all the different typefaces used throughout the magazine (headers and subheadings) and that they do not fall to the mainstream way of using one set typeface for their headers throughout the entire magazine which makes it extremely boring for the viewer in my opinion. 

In terms of content, One Small Seed is a pop culture magazine which means the content could be about anything interesting that is happening in the entertainment, fashion and art/design/photography industry. As a graphic design student, pop culture magazines are what I read most so to me it's great to see something that isn't only interesting to read but to look at as well and this is what One Small Seed does. 

When it comes to style, One Small Seed has it's own style that reflects South African design and popular culture very well. It shows how advanced South African design has become and also the unique creativity that we have here. It shows that in a society where everything has become so much the same, one can still create a different and unique look. The style of the magazine is a little alternative and for a wide but specific market - I would say the younger generations, say for ages between 18 and 35, maybe only 30, and also then for people in the journalism or art and design fields of work. 

All in all One Small Seed is a great magazine that reflects the skill level of South African design, photography and journalism while generating interesting articles to read and intriguing layout for the viewer.

Assignment 1: Exercise 1

Brief: Collect 10 contemporary logos that reflect International Typographic Style principles and style. Choose your favorite 5 and discuss and justify your choices.

Link: http://bpando.org/tag/grid/

1) This logo is the first of five I will discuss and definitely my favourite out of all ten. It reflects the ITS in the way that a sans serif typeface is used and letters are aligned as if on a grid, in other words, orthogonal design. There is also a positive use of negative space and some asymmetry. The logo being an anagram makes it very interesting as the words made up out of the name of the company are words that describe or relate to the company. In my opinion this is something fresh and original when it comes to corporate identity as we don't often see logo's so simple yet interesting. The use of colour also contributes to the originality and fresh feel of the logo. Without the colour, for instance if it were to be printed, I think the logo would still work as it kind of almost demands attention - maybe because of the kerning of the letters and it still being easily readable?

Link: http://www.google.co.za/search?q=contemporary+logos+done+with+grid+and+type

2) Here, once again a sans serif typeface has been used and aligned as if on a grid. The 3D sphere shape on the left also looks as though it has been done on a grid (orthogonal design). It is also asymmetric and proves here as well as in the next logo I will discuss that asymmetry does in fact function to enliven a page or picture as Tschichold said (Eskilson, J. Graphic Design: A New History. p247). The different shades of black, white and grey makes for a more intricate logo. If the colors were the same shade all over the 3 dimensionality would be lost.

Link: http://bpando.org/tag/grid/

Link: http://www.yvetteperullo.com/

3) Here one can see how the asymmetry also works to enliven the logo/business car/letterhead. Sans serif type makes for good readability and legibility. The shapes used with the logo has a mathematical feel and almost looks like origami to me. Here a positive use of negative space is very recognisable as it gives a more dynamic feel to the logo.

Link: http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/i_wolff_olins.php

Link: http://lindiewesselshistory.wordpress.com/2013/02/17/the-international-typographic-style-used-in-contemporary-logo-design/

Link: http://lindiewesselshistory.wordpress.com/2013/02/17/the-international-typographic-style-used-in-contemporary-logo-design/

Link: http://bpando.org/2012/10/30/branding-christopher-elliott/

4) "His new visual identity, created by Studio Brave, neatly unifies the practicality and functionality expected of contemporary architectural spaces and the fine detailing and high quality of the fabrics and furniture that fill these, through the juxtaposition of the tall and light, geometric, uppercase and reductionist forms of a mono-spaced logo-type, plenty of space and grid-based layout of the website alongside the very classic sensibilities of a tactile, letter-pressed, cream, uncoated substrate, gold metallic spot colour and gilded edges of Christopher’s business card." (http://bpando.org/2012/10/30/branding-christopher-elliott/) This shows how the ITS was incorporated into this logo. It was kept simple and functional with a sans serif typeface for a grid-based logo. Because of the negative space I feel like the words could function as images as well and become an easily recognisable logo.

Link: http://www.residentadvisor.net/event.aspx?411919

5) Once again a sans serif typeface is used - this time not only caps were used. Inside the image a 'd' and 'p' were put together on a grid to position it perfectly in the middle of the circle and at an angle. The kerning between the letters here is quite close or small which is something one doesn't see often because usually in my opinion one would rather increase the kerning instead of decreasing it for legibility and readability purposes. Here, however, it is still easy to read the company name. Negative space is used in a smart way in the image to deliver a message (the company's name).

Link: http://bpando.org/2012/11/09/branding-hardpop/