Alternative Techniques - Tyneside Coffee Branding

I approached this brief by brain storming a range of different logo designs which I could think of. I did some quick very rough sketches in my sketchbook at first then developed these digitally and experimented with different colour palettes to see which work more successfully. 

I wanted to challenge myself and my skills throughout this brief so I decided to go with a style I don't tend to use throughout many of my projects and that is the very vintage, shabby chic look. 

I chose a pastel colour palette and used vintage imagery such as the detailed birdcage and tree brushes. 

This style created a very calm identity for the coffee shop. I wanted the shop to take on this these as it is almost like it is a small calm area of serenity within the busy city centre.  Like a kind of retreat in the city which you can go to for a relaxing cup of coffee and a snack. The light colour scheme adds to this airy and serene tone. I feel this stands out against other coffee shops with similar logos and darker colour schemes such as Costa and Starbucks which seem to have quite a similar brand identity.

I enjoyed taking this project down a style I would not normally use as at first I immediately thought to go with a style similar to that of Starbucks with a very homely and warm tone. I tried to expand my knowledge with illustrator during this project as I am still not quite comfortable enough with using the programme. I did learn a few more skills throughout and I used this to create my logo when at first I would normally just use photoshop for the majority of my projects. This allowed me to learn about vectors and pixels a little more. However, other than that I didn't utilise the programme as much as I would have liked and still have a lot to learn.

Alternative Techniques - Research Task

My next module will be largely self directed and will focus on broadening and extending my skills. I have been asked to reflect on my graphic design practise to date and identify a preferred area of expertise, (editorial, typography, graphic illustration, branding, packaging, etc.) mine being graphic illustration.
I will begin by researching into developments of graphic illustration, then work of specialist practitioners, trend prediction/forecasting and job specifications.

My project will be structured around the completion of a negotiated live brief, a live brief, or a practice enriching self directed project. On completing this project/projects I need to concentrate on developing and documenting a complement of new skills. The project will be a host which I will exploit to the advantage of extending my skills set.


On the completion of my research I will complete a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats).

Strengths: My personal strengths lie within graphic illustration and I feel rather comfortable with Photoshop which has been my main programme of choice to use for many years.

Weaknesses: As I tend to be a lot more comfortable with Photoshop I neglect other programmes, such as Adobe Illustrator, which I feel restricts my work as if I had more skills on different programmes I would be able to utilise a range of different techniques and improve my work.

Opportunities: This will give me the chance to really improve my portfolio in order to show off my skills and make it more industry specific. This brief also gives me the opportunity to really improve my skills in other programmes and make myself more comfortable when using them.

Threats: Other personal commitments and time constraints could prove to be threats to me during this project. In order to try and avoid such threats I must remain organised throughout and perhaps create a personal time plan to follow.

Muffin Break Vouchers

I am currently working part-time at Muffin Break, a coffee shop. As a company we get approached regularly by charities requesting a basket of muffins to give away as a prize for raffles. This sometimes becomes an issue and my boss asked me if I could design a voucher which we could instead give to the winner so they could come in store and receive a free any size coffee and muffin for two. I came up with the following designs:

For these designs I tried to replicate the current, recent graphic design trends within the company with the colour scheme and hand rendered type.

Packaging Design - Urban Outfitters

During this project I began getting to grips with adobe illustrator, which is a programme I'm still not completely confident with as I always tend to use Photoshop throughout my projects. It was a good project to help me teach myself the basics as I approached my designs by creating each face of the box on illustrator, then putting them all together using the warp tools in Photoshop. It taught my the basics of vector shapes and the pathfinder and grouping.

I do like the final outcome of this however I would like to add to this project another time and create more designs using the packaging theme and perhaps make them a little more intricate as I feel this would really reflect urban outfitters as a brand.

This was my first ever packaging brief so my skills werent as good as they perhaps could have been and I have had fun learning new techniques and quite enjoyed the brief as a whole. I would like to work on more packaging brief as I feel there is still a lot more techniques for me to learn and improve on.

Edinburgh Visit

Yesterday the graphic design and advertising courses went on a trip to Edinburgh to visit 3 different advertising agencies in order to gain and insight on the design industry.

Our first stop was Newhaven. One of their biggest and main clients is Tennents Lager and they also created work for the Scottish Government which was nominated for a D&AD yellow pencil. We were invited for a tour around the agency which was a very helpful insight and the agency itself had a very positive and friendly atmosphere. It was clear that after receiving a talk from the creative director and some of the currently designers at the agency, that they were all very enthusiastic and passionate about their work and careers.

The second stop was Leith Agency which was actually located on its own boat. We were invited into their boardroom which we were then shown a whole range of their very successful work, including a set of adverts they had created for Aldi and Irn Bru. We were then given a talk from themselves about their journeys into the industry which was of course very inspiring.

Our final stop was at Story. Here, we were given  short talk about the agency themselves and a bit of background information before being set our own mini brief. We were split into small groups and given an hour to come up with a name and advertising campaign for an insect repellent. This was an interesting task and allowed me to improve my group work skills and gave me the opportunity to work with new people I didn't know. We then had to pitch our idea to everyone else and the end of the hour, which was in fact my first time actually pitching an idea in front of a group of others. This was an interesting visit and although it was focused on advertising, rather than graphic design, it was a positive experience and helped me to think outside the box and learn new skills.

Packaging Design - Urban Outfitters

My newest brief is to develop and produce a shipping packaging design for one of the following online stores: Phonica Records, NET-A-PORTER/MR-PORTER, Urban Outfitters, Fortnum & Mason or Space NK Apothecary.

The packaging should inform, inspire the imagination and also articulate the nature of the products sold by the company. I am to consider things such as boxes, sleeves, tubes, plastic bags, branded tape/ribbon, envelopes, branded tissue, bubble wrap/other alternative, stickers/ink stampers, and a 'documents enclosed' solution.

After briefly researching a little about each of the different companies I decided to choose Urban Outfitters. This appealed to me most as I am personally interested in the company and I feel I could really have some fun with this particular brief as I love the style of the brand.

I began to tackle the brief by conducting some research. I first found images from a company magazine and took images from the website and of a range of products which they sell. I then went on to research current packaging designs as well as competitor brands and their packaging. A lot of my images I put into my sketchbook and also on my Pintrest account, http://pinterest.com/alisonwaltham.
I continued to carry out research by looking into the brand logos and a range of different typefaces which suit the brand and its personality then dived in to some initial ideas.

Project Attire

A friend of mine was recently thinking of beginning his own clothing business. Everything is still currently on the drawing board, but he really wanted me to help get things started by designing a logo for him, to give him a little more motivation to get everything going.  I was told the company would begin with selling t-shirts, vests, jumpers and hoodies with various different designs. I thought I would design quite an intricate, aesthetically pleasing logo so the logo its self could be a design for some of the items, maybe large across the middle, or small in an upper left corner of the apparel. As well as the logo being pleasing to look at, I also wanted to follow trends and still reflect the brand personality. My personal favourite logo is the circular one wiht the zig-zag outside border.