Name and create a visual identity, for the LCA BA Graphic Design End of Year Show Brochure. The campaign needs to promote the show at the same time as reflecting the quality and values of the students. This look and feel of our chosen aesthetic will be applied to a number of different collateral from signage to print and online applications. I worked as part of a duo to produce digital material that supported our design structure. The concept was the most important aspect of this brief, what with our physical publication constraints being the channel for the content.
Research
The brief is repeated every year, so we had a host of material that had been produced in previous years that we could analyse and take inspiration from, yet this year there was a need for a new feel to the publication, so we didn’t want to emulate what he’d previously been. We also did a large amount of research into the format of how the brochure would work, we challenged the cost efficiency of full printed books and looked into ways we could deliver the same content, but at a much cheaper price.
Concept
Concepts that are over-complex are generally the ones that work least effectively. Our concept for our end of year show book was simple: There are exactly 44 of us graduating the BA Hons Graphic Design course this year. This number is representative of us as a course, and the theme were applying is: ‘+44’, or ‘plus fourtyfour to the creative industry’, insinuating that the creative sector will be 44 better off this year. It’s also conveniantly the international dialling code for the UK, which again is fitting. Subconsciously many of the target audience will recognise that. We wanted to expand this further by collecting every students contact phone number, and letting this shine through as part of the concept.
Development
How the concept developed into a piece of branding that could be applied to a physical piece of editorial print was fairly straight forward. I made a custom logo in the classic San Serif font: Akzidenz Grotesk; the use of a san serif was a decision made early on, we were aware we needed something that was modernist in its design, as to be invisible and not detract too much from the content it would display, afterall the content should be the forefront of the hierarchy. This informed our colour application also, again opting for a neutral aesthetic made us decide on a mixture of greys to be used, with the option of a bright red as an accent colour.
Artwork & Evaluation
With the brief requirements asking for a concept to be illustrated, the route we took utilised digital mock ups to sell our concept. Producing and printing a book would’ve been completely futile and counter productive. What we’ve pitched is an A5 perfect bound booklet, that gives each student a single A5 page to display two examples of their work, a small bio, and their contact telephone number prefixed by +44.
