Reacting on Pecha Kucha feedback for research influence
Reacting on the feedback based on sources that could influence my branding of my home town I gathered a few examples of location related design work and branding mentioned from my feedback and extended more on my own research.
Hemisphere agency - Bolton Branding
Simple & Clean aesthetics allowed focus on the logotype and the epicentre of the brand image with its use of bold contrasting colours and contrasting tonal hues. I feel the key to keeping a focus on the colour element of the design work I create for Tingley is to avoid visual & unwanted distraction within the aesthetics and layout.
Rhyl town website & Article from Daily post on "How you re-brand Holyhead and Rhyl?"
This was suggested for its obvious use of colour but is obviously an outcome i want to avoid, its garish, cluttered and clashy in its aesthetic and layout. A clear focus on color but no consideration to layout and user experience with subsequent illegibility, for a website thats produced to represent a location and draw visitors in this first impression will just cause confusion. So maintaining an informative tone of voice through concise and well communicated concepts and visuals is important.
An article on Rhyl and the bad image it has, so its clear why the agency has tried to portray it as somewhere pleasant through bright tones and colours in a hope that the positive connotations will help connote a more positive image of the location. I Don't think it worked though.
Belfast City Council
What Iv noticed when looking at City council designs and brand images is that the aesthetic is very corporate and dull, no focus on any high impact aesthetics or anything aesthetically pleasing so its clear this brief has purpose within its outcomes that focus on the relationship between colour and design decisions and how they represent a location.
A common visual focus point on these bland corporate looking website are the crests/coats of arms. Some are quite aesthetically pleasing and I see this as a good method of using high impact visuals through the use of colour and simplistic image to carry this colour through with.
Porto council website
Danny mentioned to look at the porto branding, this was a nice change for a council website it uphold a much more pleasant brand image, a website can be a gateway for global recognition and this first impression made here does lots of good for portraying a pleasant image for Porto. The use of simplistic iconography and one colour to me works well due to the instant recognition of this blue and how it communicates Porto. Maybe considering a limited color palette is important when creating recognition and rememberability of the location.
New York City Council
Again bland aesthetics and a very corporate appearance, in these 2 council websites showing that this corporate aesthetic is seen on a global scale. I understand the requirement for this aesthetic due to it needing to be quite neutral to reach out to a range of target audiences, but a little aesthetic flair would certainly portray a little more positivity for this location. Colour is an excellent method of enhancing mood, in these past examples I dont see much of this. Something to avoid!
Leeds City Council
Leeds city council again has a focus on its crest, its the only consideration within image and color throughout the whole brand image. Its a good way of representing the heritage of a location and colour can enhance these elements greatly.
Further research expansion
Taking the current advised research forward I began gathering more diverse examples that could influence location branding in some way or another. There was a strong consideration to colour and how it interacts with image, iconography and typography in more simplistic and structured outcomes to avoid distraction and to maintain that concise and informative look and feel.
Studio DBD Manchester - http://www.studiodbd.com
BCN MCR Exhbition
I have been following the work of Dave Sedgwick from manchester for a while. he was responsible for the BCN MCR exhibition. An amazing event that brings together the works from UK agencies and Barcelona resulting in diverse design outcomes within the exhibition. This diversity is represented well through the invites that incorporate custom designed letterforms by Laura Mesguer that interact with bright colour stock. This consideration to colour within the use of material is something I want to consider as I think I want o bring 3D use of material into this project.
The website and marketing material carries on this strong use of colour, like the invites it concentrates on the bigger surface areas, like the background to create high impact. Deciding wether attention to the more detailed aspects of a design or the more obvious elements is something I need to play about with as both have there advantages as the Bolton Branded pointed out with clean backgrounds drawing focus onto the multi coloured typography.
Common for towns to have newspapers, so its something worth thinking about as a physical item to use within the brand collateral.
These physical prints of the individual letterforms use colour very effectively using contrasting tones and hues to achieve impact and individual personality for each print. A thought I have at the moment is design work inspired by street signage or shop signage so this individuality will be expressed through these, but they cant feel lost or misplaced within the whole brand image so this is also an important factor.
Spanish Embassy promotional leaflets & Instituto Cervantes/Spanish Government Centre
Some promotional material produced by studio DBD for spanish corporations showing how it doesn't have to be corporate in aesthetics and takes aspects of the print campaigns into window signage showing how more traditional print can influence more modern physical outcomes. A relationship between modern mediums and traditional is something I want to emulate to help visualise progression of time and history within my location Tingley.
Creating something diverse and customisable like the emblem on the front cover of these yellow leaflets, pattern is a simplistic but effective method of creating a range of icons that are individual but still work as a set. Pattern could also be used within a key to represent aspects of Tingley for example a wavey pattern could represent water, which links to Leeds main reservoir located there.
Laura Meseguer http://www.laurameseguer.com
DAURO
Laura is a type designer working out of Barcelona who's typography incorporates accuracy and legibility but has a certain analogue and image based aesthetic too it. Allowing her letterforms to work effectively solo or in conjunction with typography. Learning from this image based aesthetic and legibility will allow me to incorporate illustrative techniques into type design to offer another "blank canvas" for colour to work through.
The packaging idea could influence brand collateral, creating physical packages inspired by Tingley's heritage or old industries like coal and cotton.
Looking at football clubs
Going back to the idea of crests/coats of arms, football clubs are quite a good example to look for in this sense. They are quite a good representation for a city often paying on the citys heritage, histories and iconic elements within the visuals of these crests (Colour, image, type. language/quotes used)
More location based & Crest focus inspiration
The bellow design work has a main focus around Crests within the brand image and collateral alongside work that has direct focus or abstract focus around location. All work selected has consideration to strong use of color, and bold imagery or typography that would allow the application and carrying of color.
More examples of how simple use of line can make effective icons that communicate there intended message without the need for unnecessary detail. The subtle roundness of the lines give off a less serious tone of voice, swaying away from that corporate "sharpness" with subtle playfulness.
This use of a crest is something a little more complex within how the image is made up. But considering this would be the main visual reference point of the campaign and through this crest heritage and history of a location is portrayed then this complexity wouldn't be a problem.
These detailed crests work well across lots of brand collateral using coloured stocks within clean and minimal layouts allows focus on these crests which would be influenced by Tingley.
There is a set 4 colour scheme working subtly across the choice of colour stock, typography colour tying everything together, also suggesting that each colour was considered rather than just looking "nice"
Maps are an interesting area I could play about with, I feel it will allow me to experiment with use of image, type and colour quite well and has obvious connotations with location.
Playing around with creating maps is one idea, but creating iconography or typography influenced by maps would be a more conceptual approach. Either idea could be viable. Maps could offer various points to progress from through further development.
This experimental typography looks to be quite digital, looking a little glitchy the aesthetic is quite abstract and allows a strong use of merging colours creating quite a high impact in contrast with the simple and clean background. An idea I could play around with is creating abstract imagery or letterforms from more physical mediums like paint to create more analogue letterforms and allow lots of colour experimentation.
This diverse logotype shows how it works within the context of various patterns and colour combinations, something highlighted in previous influences but taking more consideration into contrasting colours and how colour works with pattern. Taking forward this consideration of colour and how it interacts with visuals like image and pattern is something that will be considered in my development.
The use of angles and geometry also creates an interesting aesthetic, combine this with its relationship with colour to create an effective outcome.
Madebytung.com Toronto Maps
These examples show how reference images can be translated into effective imagery using simple shapes, this stripping back of something complex helps create a more concise and precise method of communication, erasing all distractive elements. Combine this with the use of 1 colour ink and coloured stock an effective relationship between colour, material and image has been created.
The stripping back of a source image relevant to Tingley's past and present contexts is what Il take from this to maintain precision and minimal distraction. Experimenting with stock and limited colour palettes will also be further tried out.
IcoDesign - Luton London Airport
This brand identity demonstrates how simple shapes can offer an excellent way of carrying color, combine that with the extension of the print collateral with digital animations it shows how simple use of design aesthetics can be carried out across print based & digital mediums to create a very effective and high impact overall aesthetic.
This use of shapes and color and what these shapes can represent is something to play around with, more explanatory elements like the iconography can offer further translation to some aspects of the brand identity to maintain precise & informative concepts and ideas.
Influence Im taking to develop informed ideas
Use of physical material and its relationship with color (Paper stock colour for example)
The use of shapes and pattern as a vessel for communicating colour and concepts.
Stripping back source images to suit specific purposes, for example strip back a source image of a shop to its basic forms and use colour to represent specific ideas like a farm shop use colours that represent fresh produce.
How digital and print mediums can work together to extend concepts and ideas.
Look into designing a crest that incorporates visuals and colour that represents Tingley's past present and future.
Creating abstract letterforms using physical and analogue techniques.
Use geometry to create icon's and patterns when relevant to concepts and use of colour.
Play around with the idea of maps.
Create icons, images and typography influenced by maps.
Develop methods of focusing in on the use of colour without visual distraction.
Avoid cluttered, clashy and illegible aesthetics and layouts through the overuse of colour. Theres a fine line between not enough and too much. There needs to be a balance.
Avoid the corporate branding aesthetic often seen in location based design work.
Experiment with how letterforms, pattern, shape, iconography, image can be used as a vessel for carrying colour in the correct concepts.
Consider creating more 3D products within the informed outcome.
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