Passionate about paper (and postcards)

My MA classmates might probably think of me more as a digital fiend than someone who's obsessed with paper, but anyone who remembers me from my foundation days will testify that I indeed have a thing for the latter, from textured pieces to graphic-led wrapping paper and delicate Japanese rice versions. For as long as I can remember, I do also seem to have the habit of collecting postcards; first, from travels (my dad, then my own), and then to more interesting forms which play with die-cuts or interesting materials and so forth.

Researching ideas for my interactive postcard campaign has therefore led me on to very inspiring finds and it's really hard to stop looking! Here are a few of my favourites so far:

This sundial business card was created for an antique watch collector.

Postcarden: A greeting card that lets the recipient grow his/her own cress!

Bosch lawnmower calendar: Each day, the recipient gets to tear off from specially cut papers that mimic a wild lawn – leaving a perfectly mowed lawn at the end of the year.

Eyeball.ing – refining the brand identity

Testing the various logos with a sample of the target audience has led to eyeball emerging as the forerunner, but of course I'm not simply letting it rest there.

A few dozen tweaks later, I've got these to show as fruits of my labour. From testing how the logo looks with the addition of an 'eye', to the thickness and kerning of the typeface, and on to developing the elements that would eventually form the accompanying graphics, these will then be incorporated in the interface design of the iPhone app.  

A beginner's attempt at mapping an app

I tried sketching these out on an A4 piece of paper, I really tried.

Even after reading through resources such on Interactive Sketching and How to Create an iPhone App, I was still stumbling along. Then I recalled how someone once said that if you're stuck sketching out an idea, try a different tool to draw it with, and voila!

Using post-it notes this way also enabled me to think a lot clearer and feel less apprehensive about thinking what each page needed. This is how the different parts sit:

• links
• pages
• actions (for user)
• functions  

So now I've figured out how the iPhone app would work, it's on to visualising it!

Testing, testing... seek, inquisitor and eyeball

As the first few results come trickling in, here's a snapshot of what's been noted so far. Each participant was given a set of postcards – one logo per postcard, and a brief explanation on the service being offered (ie. alternative London events/venues).

They were then asked the following:
1. What are your first impressions of this logo? (Please describe in 3 words.)
2. How does the logo make you feel? (Again, please describe in 3 words.)
3. How well do you think this logo relates to the service?

The answers were then detailed on the back of the card, and at the end of the test, the participant was asked to state their preferred logo. The comments made a really interesting read, but I'm not going to detail every one of them here – it's more fun to read it in the original handwriting! ;)

Alter-egos

While trying to flesh out the personalities of the seek, inquisitor and eyeball, I realised words just weren't jumping out at me in the beginning. To get into a better frame of mind, I tried visualising them as having their own calling cards instead – which oddly (maybe not) did help!

I also wanted to experiment how the logo would lend themselves to simply being graphics, and out popped 4 designs for the shortlisted logos, complete with 5 characteristics for each detailed behind. Cue, photos!

The FMP – logo development - Round 2

From pen/pencil-to-paper beginnings, the shortlist of 3 names for my final major project have now made it to the Indesign/Illustrator drawing board.

My preferred versions for each name have been enlarged and placed in the bottom right corner of each jpeg. With a bit more tinkering where needed, these will then be tested with a sample of the target audience of 25-40 year olds – that might just be you!

(Don't shy away from expressing pre-testing opinions now...)

Pencilled in

Following on from the shortlist, here are some initial logo sketches for seek, inquisitor and eyeball. At this stage, I think the first two names lend themselves rather easily to the creation of logotypes, while I find myself gravitating towards more of a symbol-led logo for eyeball.

More development ensues!

Making the shortlist

How should one go about conjuring a name for a service that deals with alternative London? 

Branching out from themes like secret, break, alternative, time, movement, and area (it's very tempting to want to continue this exercise indefinitely), I decided to shortlist three to proceed with – chosen to convey the notion of discovering or focusing:

• eyeball

• seek

• inquisitor     

Coming up next... logo development for the shortlist!

Presenting...The official brief

Brief
To promote a service that showcases 'alternative' London events/venues offering eccentric, off-beat experiences in the city

Challenge
• to create a visually rich user experience
• to create paper-based interaction

Insight
London's vibrant culture offers abundant opportunities to experience the unexpected, exciting and unusual.
• Not many people know where or how to start looking for such experiences however. 
• There is a certain thrill that accompanies a new discovery followed by an eagerness to share it with friends.

The big idea
Central to the theme of this service is the ability to discover new encounters, and I'd like to capture this in the spirit of an amateur sleuth investigating promising leads on a mission. I'm also interested in utilising different channels of delivery within the campaign.

Ideally, this would result in interactive postcards that would reveal hidden messages, enticing recipients to learn more about the service. The augmented reality application similarly reveals the (previously unexpected) events/venues in London locations to users via their mobiles. Online, users will have the option to add on their own 'alternative networks' to either share with the public or simply with their own friends.

Primary target audience
25-40 year old Londoners tired of the same haunts and looking for something new/novel.

Communication channels
Integrated campaign
• series of postcards that need to be 'decoded' (can be re-posted to friends to share)
• mobile/web application utilising augmented reality with the option to customise networks (simultaneously generating alternative maps of London)

The Beginning of the End...

... starting the Final Major Project

A number of mindmaps and tutorials on, I've finally made it official – I'm basing the subject of my major project on 'alternative' London. With a focus on the quirky, wacky, or mildly curious (with a generous dollop of the surreal where I can find it), the aim will be to unfold the story of lesser-known events or sites in the city. 

I'll be looking out for events like Telectroscope (2008) – "the secret tunnel that runs deep beneath the Atlantic Ocean" connecting New York and London and Down the Rabbit Hole (2008), a multi-arts event inspired by Alice in Wonderland.

While I'm diving into research and have yet to give the project its definitive name, the working title shall be The London Inquisitor. This week, it's off to the Sandpit at the ICA and an evening at the Enchanted Palace (Kensington Palace). Meanwhile, do flood me with suggestions!

Our Skin Never Forgets

Our Skin Never Forgets

I absolutely love this concept using post-it notes in such an unexpected context! Commissioned by the Swiss Cancer Foundation in a campaign against skin cancer, it's definitely an attention-grabbing execution. 

10 Things I've Learned

Summing up sustainable design

I tend to think about sustainable design as a sphere (not simply because that's the shape of our planet!) in the sense that its implementation and effects are felt within a multi-directional loop. It's a construct that goes beyond the physical material (ecological), resonating in economic and social realms as well.

Be it in industrial design, architecture, fashion, engineering or graphic design, sustainable design is viewed as the way forward. It's about what we use and how we use things, and far from having to give up an entire lifestyle, I feel it's more about being as efficient as we can. It's about being more responsible and aware of the repercussions of our actions, without having to live like hermits. It's also about coming to terms with a different way of thinking.

The School of Visual Concepts, Seattle, together with AIGA Seattle, have come up with 101 Things Designers Can Do to Save the Earth, and some of the tips that stood out for me were:

#94. Try not to bleed
Bleeding requires printing on oversized stock with more ink, which all gets trimmed off and discarded as waste. So it's worth considering smaller sizes that fit within standard sheet sizes.

#64. Develop packaging with multiple uses
Instead of designating used packaging for recycling, how can we design it to be reused for another purpose beyond merely containing a product?

#63. Start with the need, not the end result
"What else could you do to accomplish the client’s objectives without necessarily going with paper or energy-based solutions?"

Beyond following guidelines, sustainable design can be truly inspiring in its outcome, and I couldn't resist sharing these!

London-based Curb, provide achingly cool advertising solutions, as their work attests. They've developed sea tagging (top image), using sea water to create visuals – the salinity means that the images evaporate at a considerably slower rate than normal water, and clean advertising, using custom made equipment that lifts dirt from surfaces to create messages. And there's a whole lot more, ranging from bioluminescence to moss art and solar art.

In the field of architecture, EcoARK in Taiwan, certainly embraces the concept of recycling wholeheartedly with its construction from a mind-blowing 1.5 million PET bottles. At three stories high, it features an amphitheatre, an exhibition hall and even a screen of falling water that is collected when it rains to be then used as air conditioning.

Smaller in scale, but big in impact, is Puma's commendable effort in reducing its shoe packaging by proposing the use of a recycled PET bag (recyclable too) with a single sheet of cardboard. If implemented, Puma stands to save 8,500 tonnes of paper, a million litres of water and a million litres of fuel, reduce paper needs by 65% and annual carbon emissions by 10 tonnes! This forms part of their efforts to develop a 360 Sustainability Program called PUMAVision – puma.safe, puma.peace and puma.creative, which will no doubt be interesting to follow.

It's a mad, ad world

Ad men, Mad Men, advertisement, advertorial, commercial.

While advertising is often portrayed as an evil entity unleashing torrents of the next gleaming thing for innocent consumers to get hooked onto in its bid to empty pockets and profit that big corporation, I struggle to be completely sold by that concept.

A necessary evil, perhaps.

As it happens, I believe that the role of advertising is primarily to sell a product, be it goods and/or services, or to raise levels of awareness. I rather like the uplifting definition by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) as well – "Advertising... informs, entertains and promotes healthy competition". Now that, I reckon, could be a healthy way to view it.

If we think of advertisers as potential suitors courting a valuable interest (yes, that's you and me, folks), maybe we'd remember that our role here as the prized consumer is one that gets to make the choices. Having options (and plenty of it) can't be all bad.

Ultimately, advertising needs to keep to the path of the straight and narrow when it comes to ethics. Generally, adverts must not mislead and overpromise, or offend. There are more specific codes in relation to children, alcohol, gambling, motoring and health and financial products, with an overall emphasis of responsibility. In the UK, the latest round of advertising codes are set to come into effect on 1 September 2010.

There has been much debate on advertising for beauty products of late, with a greater call for honesty given the industry's notorious reputation in manipulating images to represent 'natural' beauty, which is being blamed for unhealthy obsessions with weight and appearances in society. To this end, it is reassuring to note that Cheryl Cole's hair extensions and various other models' eyelash extensions have been mentioned in shampoo and mascara adverts respectively, to avoid being misleading.

Good advertising to me, is about meeting consumers' needs in a way that is entertaining and leaves them wanting more. As a creative, generating a good piece of advertising is all about the big idea. A good big idea is one that grabs attention. A great one leaves a lasting impression. As a consumer, a good advert is one which allows me to develop a sense of affinity for the brand. I might not rush out and get my hands on the item advertised, but I'm more likely to consider it as an option if and when I might need something similar in future.

Bad advertising is one which is patronising. Consumers are way more sophisticated than what some advertisers would like to believe (marketing departments, are you listening?). Poor execution, cliche ideas, awful stereotypes – one has to wonder how they got approved. 

Meanwhile, let's end this entry with some firm favourites of mine.

“Test your handling skills. Get into a Mini today.”

Guerrilla ad into the men’s bathrooms of all Mini retailers across Canada. The copy challenged to test handling skills both in the urinal and in a Mini test drive.

All wrapped up in packaging

How often do we think about packaging design, beyond the ooooh-that's-niiiiiiiiiiice facade?

Apart from fulfilling the basic functions of housing a product and administering its contents, perhaps one of its most important roles while being simultaneously overlooked, is its use in differentiating products. As the Design Council puts it, how would you be able to choose one shampoo from another without its packaging?

In terms of aesthetics, the prevalent trend for contemporary packaging design seems to be more pared down and minimalistic, for eg. Selfridges, with clear, strong typefaces and block colours being the predominant look, and where possible, revealing the product as well – a style which seems to mark a return to a more functional form of design.

The combination of simple yet striking illustrations is also a popular trend (see references below), although who can resist witty solutions to packaging? I really like the singular thought behind Scanwood wooden kitchen utensils and the concept for Hanger Tea.

'Green packaging' though, is likely to be the benchmark for the future of packaging design, given the spotlight on sustainability, with issues such as excessive packaging impacting the environment and the recyclability of the materials used. Additionally, the Design Council points out that palette maximisation in transporting goods needs to be considered – the amount of air that is shipped needs to be minimised while maximising the number of products per pallet, besides having packaging that is able to last throughout the life cycle of the product.

Championing socially responsible design

As designers are encouraged to be socially responsible in their approach, what do the professional bodies have to say about this?

"Social responsibility has economic and environmental dimensions. This broad perspective is often described as a commitment to “sustainability,” which has become a term-of-art for advancing economic activity while ensuring that we can sustain our activities in a sometimes fragile world without harming the future’s potential." – Richard Grefe, executive director AIGA (the professional association of design)

More Associates are loyal to this cause, and have formulated their design approach around 4 main principles; namely user-centred design, sustainable design, evidence-based design and interdisciplinary design. Research here seems to be key to their operations and in collaborating with academics, scientists, designers and engineers, 'form and function' definitely seems to be the order of the day. What strikes me as truly heartening is their pragmatism; they acknowledge that "conflicts" and "bad habits" need to be worked around while still benefiting the bottom line and yet, are able to marry this in aesthetically pleasing solutions.

Commissioned by Foster and Partners to communicate the benefits of the solar roof on Bishops Square, More Associates came up with a novel LED panel that 'rained' energy (related to the amount of solar power being generated by the roof panels), which also relayed information on energy use. The animations were designed to minimise the number of LEDs that needed to be lit up and ensured that the power requirement corresponded with the energy production by the solar roof.

And to prove that they practise what they preach, even their stationery has been carefully produced so that a single print run is able to produce business cards, postcards and posters with the use of 2 different weighted stocks.











At IDEO, they've summed up their "approach to innovation" as Design Thinking, also drawing from a range of different disciplines in a "human-centred, iterative and practical approach". Discovering the breadth of speakers (IDEO Voices) they have on issues from aging to education, mobility and user interface design is simply mind-blowing.

What I find truly inspiring is how their work seems to defy boundaries, and why shouldn't it, seeing that they've whole-heartedly embrace Design Thinking in such a holistic manner? From brand identity and packaging design for Pangea Organics including a compostable bar soap box made from 100% post-consumer content, to crafting a cool-to-the-touch kettle and a clothes hanger that uses heat to remove wrinkles, IDEO also apply themselves to cultivating user experiences such as that of the American Red Cross Donors'.

Looking at Corporate Social Responsibility

Business Link defines corporate social responsibility (CSR) as "understanding your business impact on the wider world and considering how you can use this impact in a positive way". To elaborate, this spans human rights, fair trade, local economic development, non-discriminatory employment practices and reducing waste and emissions (Collings, R.)

While the cynics amongst us might write it off as "green-wash", arguably, it's human nature to want to feel good about the decisions we make, and in this case, what we consume. Organisations/companies with credible CSRs would therefore be seen to have integrity in their operations and win consumers over; mutually benefitting each other and the wider environment. Perhaps then, it's little wonder that the likes of Pret a Manger, Innocent and (RED) have gained their following. 

Pret's CSR policy takes into account sustainability issues from packaging, food sourcing to energy consumption, as well as community/charity involvement via its Foundation Trust, all carefully detailed on its website, and even clues in its customers on how staff are rewarded. It's great that this information is so easily available; coupled with a well-designed identity, I get the impression that Pret takes prides in the little details.

Innocent works on a very similar model to Pret in terms of its CSR, and perhaps what's encouraging is that it readily shares information on the methodologies used in determining their efforts in sustainability, complete with helpful charts and graphs.

(RED) however, is an interesting case study, billed as a "business model designed to create awareness and a sustainable flow of money from the private sector into the Global Fund, to help eliminate AIDS in Africa". This is done by channeling a part of the profits from the sale of specially created (PRODUCT) RED products fronted by leading brands globally, and championed by U2's Bono,

Striking some as highly ambitious, (RED) deserves at least to be commended for being innovative in its approach and on such a scale. To date, $140 million has been raised, with less than 3% put down to administrative costs. Accountability here is highly integral, and the Global Fund has had to suspend grants to Uganda and Ukraine following the misuse of funds.

As a designer, I feel it is important that the service/product I'm designing doesn't over-promise and under-deliver, in particular, the copy being featured. Being a consumer myself, I really dislike being misled by sleek graphics only to be let down later. Sourcing appropriate materials and minimising waste also matters to me, and to that extent, I try to ensure that collateral is effectively distributed and easily recycled. 

Gearing up for business

So. What's in a name?

In an effort to come up with something suitable for a would-be company, I thought up a list of potential names suited for an outfit that would delve into advertising, and potentially, experiment on the side, with its own self-initated projects.

• nova
• notabene
• frequency
• searchlight
• the edge
• transmission
• woven
• weave
• hatch
• scene
• etcetera
• spark

My favourites so far are spark, amplify and hatch – no doubt, more logo development in the pipeline!

Animation Junkie

With Pixar held up as quasi deities in the world of animation, surely The Sancho Plan must be contented with Wired magazine's review of The Black Page – "Something Pixar would do if it gave up family films for avant-garde performance art, and started hanging around with Thievery Corporation and the developers of Rock Band. If only they would."

The Sancho Plan: The Black Page from The Sancho Plan on Vimeo.


And if there ever was a reason to visit Linz, Austria, The Sancho Plan's Jungle Imperator would be it. Exploiting ultra-HD imagery on the wall and floor coupled with surround audio and stereoscopic 3D, the installation immerses its audience in an audio-visual adventure which allows them to control a cast of animated musical characters.


Jungle Imperator from The Sancho Plan on Vimeo.


So while it appears that animation/digital design is hurtling towards all things 3D, HD and hyper-reality, its 2D and stopmotion cousins are still very much in favour too. Especially with 'craft' back in trend, it's no wonder music videos like The White Stripes' Fell in Love with a Girl by Michel Gondry (Partizan) and Ramona Falls' I Say Fever by Tourist Pictures' Stefan Nadelman continue to have such strong fanfare.




Ramona Falls "I Say Fever" from Barsuk Records on Vimeo.

Wayfinding: 104 / Le Cent Quatre

Officially opened in 2008, new French cultural institute 104/Le Cent Quatre first roped in Experimental Jetset to 'simply' design a fully comprehensive corporate identity manual that would later be implemented by other designers. The initial brief had even stated that no logo was required, but as luck (and possibly fate) had it, the institute's directors liked the proposed logo so much that they retained it and commissioned Experimental Jetset to see through some of the collateral.


As such, Experiment Jetset did manage to use their wayfinding system as they had originally intended in La Traversee (images above), an exhibition that took place in the cultural institute before it was officially opened.  The concept centred on work-in-progress – "the idea that 104, as a project, is never finished, always evolving, eternally 'under construction' " and the use of scaffolding as an idea to represent the "continuous cycle of building, demolishing and rebuilding".


Walter Benjamin's The Arcades Project ,which had a chapter on the history and ideology of metal constructions and the use of iron in Paris (for eg. the Eiffel Tower), provided a rich source of inspiration for Experimental Jetset, particularly the idea of street furniture (barricades, billboards, kiosks, etc) and the 'street as a theatre' or 'theatre as a street' as expressed in Liubov Popove's constructionist stage designs.

Set with the notion of using iron constructions to emphasise the early industrial architecture of Le Cent Quatre, Experimental Jetset created a modular system of street furniture to house their sign system. Futura was chosen as the corporate font and then modified in parts due to its geometric form and early industrial references. With inspiration taken from the old geometric SMPF sign that stood at the site, they developed the cultural institute's logotype with the line/stripe, circle and triangle that made up 104, providing a base for the sign system:

• stripe as line to be followed
• circle as spot to mark a location
• triangle as arrow
  
  
  
  

Strengths
good contrast type
complements its environment 
cohesive link to its overall corporate identity


Weaknesses
circle denoting area might not be immediately obvious to the viewer as a destination marker
Experimental Jetset were not retained to complete the design of the remaining wayfinding system
– leaves the design vulnerable to being less effective and might result in confusion for the public

A Tale of Two Typefaces

FF Thesis

Cousins and second cousins abound in this font family, branching out into 6 variants from each of the 3 “distinct letterforms” – TheSans, The Serif and TheMix. That’s a staggering 144 incarnations!

Officially released in 1994, Parenthesis, as it was originally called, was born in 1989 and adapted in 1991 by Dutch-designer Luc(as) de Groot, who was reportedly dissatisfied with the lack of good typefaces available for corporate use then. The font grew out of a project that de Groot was working on for the Dutch Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management.

The Sans has been my personal favourite for use in corporate identity projects since discovering it 7 years ago (!), so it was a pleasant surprise to learn that it was indeed developed with the intention to provide a “total solution to corporate needs”.

Characteristics

available in 8 weights 
• Extra Light, Light, Semi Light, Normal, Semi Bold, Bold, Extra Bold and Black

6 variants in each weight 
• Plain, Italic, Small Caps, Small Caps Italic, Expert and Expert Italic

different sets of numerals specific to each weight 
• for eg. hanging figures when used in lower-case text and lining figures when used in small-caps (where the figures share the same height space)

letterform based on writing with broad-nib pen

true italics 
• individually designed, not directly adapted from the roman versions

low-contrast typeface 
• defined as having differences between thin and thick strokes that are not very pronounced

Strengths

extensive font family

good ‘readibility’

Weaknesses

not easily modified 

Interesting anecdotes

“…when you type ABCD you get the name of the ministry in Dutch; type EFGH to get the name of the first department and so on for five other departments. Then if you apply text-style bold, you will have the English translation. If you apply italic you get French and with bold-italic it's all German!” – www.fontfabrik.com 

INBETWEEN

 

On the other side of the spectrum of fonts (pun alert! – the word antithesis springs to mind), the experimental form of INBETWEEN just screams to be used in less conventional projects.

Conceived by Berlin-based design group Jutojo, the font was originally constructed for Jazzanova album’s “Inbetween”, but was confined to making a humble appearance in six 3D letters for the spelling of Jazzanova instead. This then led to the completion of the rest of the alphabet from the existing six letters, all made of wire covered in plastic tubes, and released in 2004.

The visually exciting INBETWEEN sprung forth from Jutojo’s desire to “create a font that fits into a three-dimensional space”, which sounds suitably apt considering that they view design as an image of space. With work that spans graphic design, visual installations and the music scene, it seems only natural that they arrived at this typographical solution. 

Characteristics  

• 3D display ‘wireframe’ type, angled at 40 degrees

• no upper case but alphabet is angled at -40 degrees instead, allowing users to “build spatial letter formations on two axes”

Strengths
visually arresting

Weaknesses

not easily readable  

limited use