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My thoughts on life, design, kitty cats and other such nonsense. Nothing too serious.

12th December 2010

A nice image

The other day some of the guys from the Masters of Design Ethnography course from my old haunt, Dundee University, were down hosting a conference here in London. Unfortunately I wasn’t quick enough to grab tickets (but I hear it was a huge success!) so I had to make do with drinks in the evening. I hadn’t really met any of them before (with the obvious exception of the guys form my undergrad degree) but they couldn’t have been a nicer bunch of people. Conversation was obviously focused around design which was great as it’s been a while since I really had a long conversation with other designers about the subject (their backgrounds are hugely varied so calling them all designers might be stretching it but that’s besides the point). One thing I loved though was what Anna and John had done with their business cards. I can’t quite remember exactly what their business was about (maybe I wasn’t really listening, or perhaps it was one beer too many) but I took one of their ‘cards’ anyway as I really liked the idea. My only critiscm would be that the paper they chose was too good. Lower quality paper, in my opinion, would have made for a more convincing stick of chewing gum. Anyway, here are some more photos:

The other day some of the guys from the Masters of Design Ethnography course from my old haunt, Dundee University, were down hosting a conference here in London. Unfortunately I wasn’t quick enough to grab tickets (but I hear it was a huge success!) so I had to make do with drinks in the evening.

I hadn’t really met any of them before (with the obvious exception of the guys form my undergrad degree) but they couldn’t have been a nicer bunch of people. Conversation was obviously focused around design which was great as it’s been a while since I really had a long conversation with other designers about the subject (their backgrounds are hugely varied so calling them all designers might be stretching it but that’s besides the point).

One thing I loved though was what Anna and John had done with their business cards. I can’t quite remember exactly what their business was about (maybe I wasn’t really listening, or perhaps it was one beer too many) but I took one of their ‘cards’ anyway as I really liked the idea. My only critiscm would be that the paper they chose was too good. Lower quality paper, in my opinion, would have made for a more convincing stick of chewing gum.

Anyway, here are some more photos:

Tags: Branding

9th March 2010

Some nice text

Pre-hand in presentation

We’re having a low-key presentation / crit session amongst ourselves tomorrow. Personally I think it’s a way for Graham to ensure that he is up to speed with each of our projects and a way to encourage us to think critically about our projects; more specifically, how we will explain (or ‘tell’) them in preparation for the start of the Tell Phase.

Either way it’s a good chance for us to individually reflect on our projects. Unfortunately I am definitely on the express train to panic town and am being a huge critic on myself and not getting as far as I’d like. I would have liked to have a more convincing pan/tilt mechanism to demo but no such luck there.

I did decide, however, that I really needed to get a move on with the branding and visual language of the project and have spent some time brainstorming with myself for ideas. I’ve found it particularly hard to define a name and visual style which effectively portrays the values and intricacies of the project; I’ve had names ranging from Snoopy (too childish) to Automated Infrared Video System for Snowboarders (or AVIRVSS - waaaay to complex).

However, I seem fairly settled on SlopeScope; short, sweet, has connotations of something watching you passively whilst being easy to say. I also enjoy (how do I say this without sounding pretentious) the aesthetic qualities of the two words side by side. I definitely sound pretentious there :/

Nevertheless, it gave me a starting point for some graphic design. A picture says a thousand words, so here is some mock logo design.

Click for a full view.

I originally played with the thought of a figure or head in the logo; I wanted something which I could have on its own without the text. The problem was finding a connection between the graphic and the concept which was obvious when viewed on its own. One thing which sprung to mind was the notion that this video all exists ‘in the cloud’, that is, online. I’ve gone for a ‘snow-cloud-internet’ approach here but I’m not sure how well I’ve pulled it off.

I also realise I’ve used my HelloPablo emblem thing in there but I figured it may be nice to have some form of continuity between my personal portfolio, my business identity and my final project. Who knows, will keep it there for the time being.

Next step for tonight was to make iPhone mocks taking into account and implementing the new brand identity I’ve done but as I’ve not finished / settled, well, it’ll just have to stay for the time being. Plus it’s late and I think I’ll perform better on as much rest as possible.

Tags: branding graphic design logo university SlopeScope
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