The
design for the MFM student degree show was created and edited on Adobe
Illustrator. The elements in the project include an A4 promotional poster, A5
map, a folder, a CD design, a Tshirt Design and a mobile app design.
After
looking at several different designers including Milton Glaser, Otl Aicher,
Joshua Davis, Saul Bass and Peter Saville, the most inspirational was Paul Rand
who held a stronger influence on the designing passage undertaken.
Some
of Paul Rand’s work seemed quite child-like in the sense that the designs were
simple and looked hand drawn.
From
looking at Rand’s work, it led to the initial idea of making a poster design
consisting of torn up bits of magazine and newspaper, in the style of a ransom
note, (without that meaning!) As upon seeing one of his pictures with a bit of
newspaper on, this led to the idea. However, once the idea was actually on
paper, it seemed not in tune with the Degree Show theme and would not have
worked too well in developing its ideas on Illustrator. It also did not look
very neat, professional or finished.
And
so, a continuation of looking at Rand’s work carried on. After spotting a
picture with a hand-drawn hand, this progressed into the second idea.
A
hand was then free styled onto the program and the idea of a microphone fitting
in the hand then came along as it was appropriate as the students use
microphones in media and would perhaps on the night. The ideas for the eye and
lips then followed. These were also hand-drawn onto the program. The three new
mascots for the project were all coloured in conventional colours as it didn’t
seem appropriate at that time to think about making them wild colours.
After,
the title was thought about, but, ‘MFM Student Degree Show’ fitted nicely and
was clear as to what was being promoted. From the first idea, the different
shaped and different font letters became ideal for the student friendly poster.
On the internet, there were several different font sites where from fonts were
downloaded to try out and see what ones worked best with the poster. First, the
letters were all different colours and fonts, but it was neater and looked
better to keep the colours and font similar to each other. The decision to make
the font blue was simple from looking at the different colours as it is a soft
blue, but catches your eye. The background was kept a neutral beige/yellow
colour as mixing a bright colour with the blue would have taken the focus away
from the writing and it wasn’t too in your face.
There
has been a lot of tweaking of the layout, but the designs are progressing well.
The poster looks fun and child-friendly too, appealing to a wide audience in
which was intended to achieve as the purpose was to attract all ages to the
designs.
