Dylan Wert Process and Development Branding 2018

Dylan Wert

Process and DevelopmentBranding 2018

BriefThe brief was a branding project for an exhibiton in a place of our choice. I was able to choose the type of exhibiiton from the chosen list of themes. I chose to take Beyond Borders forward.

Clare Brown, the American exhibition designer, says of the exhibition experience that “it is the 3-dimensional translation or manifestation of a narrative, story, idea, concept, question, memory…designers create transformative experiences that educate, awe, inspire, and engage visitors” so story telling through the exhibition experience and a firm understanding of your chosen content is vital. You may want to focus on a specific aspect of one of the themes i.e. if your chosen theme was Brutalist Architecture, you might pay homage to a particular movement, architect or place/site and develop a brand/identity around this architectural portfolio.

The themes are:

Beyond Borders

Brutalist Architecture

Eat Me!

Etymology

Glitch You must create a unique name for your exhibition identity and you will develop your brand through the design and implementation of a graphic system. This will form the basis for your design choices across a number of deliverables.

This graphic system will dictate the visual language and it should stay consistent across your outcomes. This means that typographic systems and families, colour, grids, imagery, dimensions and materials should be considered and central to your outcomes. It is indicative that the design is sympathetic to the chosen subject matter and appropriate to your target audience. The space must be chosen by you and can be an existing gallery space or an alternative space.

Deliverables You will present your final outcomes in a 10 minute PDF presentation which should include: 1 / The visual identity / marque

2 / How the identity’s brand system works across a number of contexts including:

a / Animated moving identity

b / Promotional installation / spatial communication outside of the chosen exhibition space.

c/ Ephemera:

Printed: 1 x 8pp printed booklet and 2 posters

Digital: at least 2 examples which could include an app, website, projection etc.

d / Computer generated visuals of how a signage & wayfinding systems works within the space

You will also be expected to submit a Process & Development PDF on the submission date on November 6th 18 which should include research, development, workshops and mini projects that you have taken part in throughout the Branding project. We will also be looking at your Learning Journal so this should be updated consistently throughout the duration of the project.

A Summative Assessment takes place at the end of the Branding project, when you will receive either a Pass or Fail alongside Formative Feedback. If you fail this assessment, following the Exam Board that sits in January 2019, you will be asked to retrieve it during the Spring Term. This assessment has no weighting on the final grade for the module.

Your overall Summative Assessment takes place after hand-in of your body of work by 4.00pm on Thursday 6th June 2019.

on

dis

pla

y

ADZ5444 Subject

BA (Hons) Graphic Communication

Level 5

Branding / On Display

Deadline: Tue 6th November 18

Presentation Sub. in Graphics Studio

Feedback Due: Tue 6th December 18

This six-week branding project will ask you to explore the subject of the brand in a broad manner. You will be expected to form a strong conceptual understanding of a politically / culturally / socially significant subject matter and to develop graphic language appropriate to your chosen theme.

The Deliverables of this project ranged from posters, marque, animation, booklet, app and wayfinding etc. It was a whole range of skills which i have developed over the last year within the course and from my own personal practice.This was a lot of work i knew i would be undertaking so i tried to ensure that my brand would relate as close to the subject topic i chose as possible. This would be done through research and development which i will show within this document.

Deliverables

1

Idea GenerationFirstly i wanted to look through ideas that i had based on the topic of Beyond Borders as this was the theme i chose to look into. The image to the right displays a mindmap which i created using ideas i generated relating to the topic. I started to think about not just looking at countries and physical borders but actually looking at the people it involves and not just the politics but the general public certain decisions can effect the most.The easy option is to do something like the USA/MEX border which is something that i have looked at in past projects. I wanted to choose something completly new that would challenge and push me out of my comfort zone.

2

ResearchThe theme i decided on was the Syrian Refugee Crises. This is something that i am passionate about and a topic i feel needs to be discussed more. However, it is also something which i do not know a lot about in detail and an area i have not based a project on before so it will be a good challenge for me. I started to look into the facts and figures of the war and how it is has affected the people of Syria.

3

The Exhibition SpaceThe Exhibition Space was an important decision in this project becuase it is part of the exhibition itself. The place should reflect and aid the exhibition. I decided on using the London Underground rather than a typcial museum or gallery. This was becuase it reflects the Syrians who have moved around the world and it becomes part of the exhibiton as people use the Underground to get to the Exhibition itself.I chose Oxford Circus, Piccadilly Circus and Victoria Station as the three tube stations becuase they are the most popular and busiest. This would be a good thing in relation to how busy it would be for Syrians when crossing borders to escape from their country and into Europe.

4

Content of the ExhibitionThe content of the exhibition is going to be portrait photography and stories of those people. I want the exhibition to be a personal one where politics are not included and you purely hear the stories of Syrians and what they have gone through in their lives.This is becuase i think the preception and judgement of Syrians is wrong and often they are labeled before they even have a chance to share their story or explain their situations.

5

The MarqueI wanted to create a marque that was simple and could be used across a range of the contexts for uses other than just the marque itself. I was happy with how it turned out however i was not happy with the typeface and how that sat within the space.

StoriesFrom Syria

6

Typeface and Colour PaletteI wanted to choose a typeface that would represent the history of the country well. This initially seemed to lean towards serif typefaces due to their use in historic documents and official papers. I chose to use Iowen Old Style Roman. Up to this point i was happy with the typeface and how it sat alongside the marque.The colour palette i chose was based off of the colours from the different flags of Syria. I did not want to be biased towards one third of the country and so chose to use all of the colours equally.

Stories from Syria

C: 80M: 10Y: 76K: 0

C: 0M: 0Y: 0K: 0

C: 20M: 100Y: 85K: 11

C: 90M: 78Y: 62K: 97

7

ContextsNext i applied the logo, colours and typeface to a range of contexts chosen from the brief. These were the app design, posters and wayfinding. All of these i felt would hold a lot of power in relation to whether the branding would be a success or not. Unfortunetly i decided that it was all too literal and therefore needed to start again and think much deeper about who i was trying to represent and how they would want to be represented.

8

RefreshI decided to completly go back to the begininng becuase my previous branding was outdated and not what i wanted to create. I decided to start again with research into Syrian Culture more than before.Tradition and Religion are two huge parts of Syrian life and so i then learned about Islamic Art. They use geometric shapes and patterns to create art rather than using people. I decided to integrate this into the branding to celebrate Syrians culture and religious backgrounds.

9

Geometric BrandingI next needed to undertake research into branding and specifically geomtry in branding. It was interesting to see how other companies have used geomtry to aid their brand and i gained a lot of inspiration from this,I am going to use a simple and clean pattern which represents the islamic art part of Syrian culture but also sleek, proffesionalism.

10

Philadelphia AssembledThis was a workshop we carried out where we researched a exhibiiton and my group decided to look at Philadelphia Assembled.I took away a lot from this research. It taught me about how colour is really important when looking at different parts of an exhibition and also how colour can be a wayfinding system in itself without the use of words to allow the user to easily manoeuvre within the exhibition space.

Flower BloomFlower Bloom was a one day workshop where me with two other students had to create a brand in one day.I found it very challanging but good for me as i learned how important it is to think through all of your ideas and not just to pick the first one.I think it is very important to understand even when you have done work your not happy with how it can be improved and to always question whether a piece can be better at each stage.

New MarqueThe New Marque is a mix between the old islamic art and a Sans-Serif tyepface Helvetica Neue which is used in a lot of modern works. I feel this mix with a simple, clean logo represents Syrian Culture but in a new light and something that fits into culture in the west.The Marque uses a typical Islamic 8 pointed star and can be used in a repeated pattern or simply on its own. I decided this would be a good use of the marque for other parts of my contexts.

13

Colour SchemeThe colour scheme was chosen based on colours that appear within Islamic Art throughout tile work. I also decided on these colours becuase each one represents a different part of Syrian journeys.Blue represents the seas that many of them have crossed in order to find a better life for themselves and their families.Red represents the suffering that they have endured.Yellow/Gold represents the land that they have crossed and victory for some Syrian’s who have found a better life and are now thriving.

Syrian StoriesText about Syrian Stories is in this font becuase it is easy to read and fits well with the continuation of the logo. I wanted to make the heading type and bodies of text the same for this exhibition becuase it unifies it and all of the text as equals and the people in the same way.

Helvetica Neue Bold

Helvetica Neue Regular

SyrianStoriesJanuary 2019


Helvetica Neue Bold



C: 91M: 79Y: 62K: 97

C: 84M: 53Y: 0K: 0

C: 20M: 90Y: 82K: 11

C: 19M: 21Y: 75K: 4


Helvetica Neue Bold




Helvetica Neue Bold



14

Final Brand IdentityThis is the final brand identity which displays the colours, typeface and marque for the entire brand. I am much more pleased about how this turned out compared to the last version becuase this holds more meaning and reasonings behind each decision.It is a much more modern and attractive brand which can be applied across many contexts and use to show off the stories exhibition rather than look outdated and diminishing the Syrians Stories.

15

Geometric Pattern in BrandThis Geometric Pattern will sit across various parts of the exhibition branding. It is simplistic and uses the marque of the brand very well but also can be used for so much more as a pattern.This relates to Syrian Culture but it is also is attractive to the western world in its simple nature and shapes with a colour scheme that is colours often used in western culture.

16

Portraits within PatternI started playing around with using the portraits from the research i had collected with the marque i had created. These were some of the outcomes which i think work really well.Symbolising the people are part of the culture and embeded within it.

17

Outcome 1: BookletThe booklet uses the portriats and stories in a simple and intriguing way. The point of my booklet is to engage people with a few stories and then want to find out more and visit the exhibition.I did not want to give to much information away so i kept it simple and easy to navigate. It also when folded out looks like the geometric pattern and it fits in your pocket so that you are able to take it with you as you ride the tube going from one exhibition space to the next.

18

Outcome 2: AnimationThe animation initially was the moving animated logo pictured here. I then added more after this advertising the exhibiton space telling people where it would be and when. I chose to do this extra becuase it then is an advertisment video that can be used in Piccadilly Circus for the promotional installation outside of Piccadilly Station.

Video can be seen here:https://youtu.be/dcKiA9fdAoU

19

Outcome 3: App DesignThe App is the base of the whole exhibition. I wanted the app to be able to interact with the posters and also include an app so that the public can use it as a guide and also a log of the stories that they have heard and seen. It has a modern setup using the brand identity to link it in to the other pieces. I didnt include the marque pattern because it cluttered the app too much and so i kept it simple and easy to use. This is a more professional context compared to the first version which was outdated.

Outcome 4: Instagram PageI chose an Instagram Page as one of the contexts becuase it emphasises on photography compared to other social media outlets and websites. It limits what information and text you can display which forces me to use it as more of an advertisment of the exhibition and force people to go visit it in person. Also it gives people the ability to share it with others.Instagram Pages have the ability to be shared and become popular very quickly by following certian pages. This is why i chose this over a website which for the younger generation these days is less popular.

21

Outcome 5: InstallationI chose to advertise and promote the exhibition through the stations which it will be held in. It was important to me to choose to promote it using areas that were already there and customizing the current space because i want the exhibition to sit within the space and not an inconvenience.The perception of Syrian’s can be very negative because of what is said in the media and i wanted to make sure that the promotional installation did not continue that but sit within the spaces in a beautiful way.

22

Outcome 6: PostersMy poster designs use the geometric pattern that i created using the marque and photographs sit within each of the areas in the grid. I chose to make the posters part of the app experience becuase i want people to stop and scan the posters so that they can hear the persons story. This causes congestion within the walk ways and also forces people to look more into the posters than just a quick glance.The colour scheme is present throughout and ive tried to include as little text as possible because people dont normally have lots of time to read posters when they are getting around London.

23

24

Outcome 7: WayfindingI took inspiration from the London Olympics wayfinding where they used simple icons for wayfinding within the tube. I did not feel it was appropriate to change the underground wayfinding drastically as this is still used by millions of people who would be going about their day to day lives.It was important to fit in like Syrian’s want to become part of society and this exhibiton represents rather than being a nuisance and outsiders.

Final ThoughtsI am happy with how my development of my project has gone and that i was able to see when the project had hit a dead end. I rethought the whole project again looking at research even more and this is evident in the final outcomes.Research was a vital reason as to why my project changed so drastically and took on a whole new meaning and message, it brought the project to life and it was no longer dull and literal.

27

Documents

Dylan Wert Process and Development Branding 2018