Games Aid

An incredible progression has occurred today involving Rosemarie and Claire from GamesAid UK. I asked them if I could promote an event that could be undertaken on the date Skyrim is released, as it would not only sate the nerds who have waited what feels like a lifetime for the game to come out (me included) but gives the gamers an opportunity to give something back whilst having a literal session, be it by themselves or with other people. 
Im not limiting the gameplay that takes place on that date strictly to Skyrim, no I wholly endorse the multiplayer/tournament aspects of videogames, and actively encourage people to get together and have a good time raising money. I am not creating an event but I am promoting the good work that GamesAid do and hoping others could take a day out of their lives to do something they enjoy for other people who enjoy gaming but cant engage with a controller in the same way. Gaming for gaming sake.
The way I have this out in my head is that I have almost finished putting together a PDF that is essentially a mini press pack; poster, info, sponsor form. This enables everyone to take part having things to take promote whatever they are doing. The PDF will also outline that the participants are encouraged to take photos and post them on the facebook group, hopefully beginning a landslide of game related charity events in the future.


Moving on, here are some initial development and poster designs.

Funnily enough, I am using this poster for the Book Fair in Manchester as well, as its versatile enough to fit in with both briefs.

Some central piece work, not a rebrand as such, just an excuse to have an aesthetic yet functional imagery that has some impact on the audience.

So I was being a bit cheeky here, going straight from my initial poster/concept ideas onto the computer which normally takes 3 days to transfer my ideas to a cohesive deliverable. But no I had a great feeling that this brief would produce some viable results. Especially since that the audience is just nerds like me, but the only difference is that parents who looked down upon video games may find solace that games can be applied to a purely positive means.

I ticked various posters that I was going to develop, it was going to be 3, but after starting visuals it became apparent that I had so much potential as using them in part of a series or trying to establish some solid visuals for the brief. The colours I used are from the logo which I wanted to keep as it would keep some sort of correlation between the charity and my event.

Personally I REALLY like this poster design, it obviously has further potential in terms of digital development and is begging to be screen printed, which may have been my intention. Well it wasnt, at first I presumed this project to be printed professionally down with James on some well selected substrate but no, I really am starting to get attached to this design and think it would look ace as a print.

I think it does serve its purpose rather well, as it focuses on no singular game, and the inclusion of the majority of gamers (PC, arcade, Wii, Sony, Nintendo, Steam etc) it could have a mass appeal. Time will tell as I have posted this preliminary design to facebook for the group just started today.

Book Fair

This is the final poster design I will be selling at the Manchester Book Fair. I wont be using this as a brief that is marked against, since I literally spent about a day putting everything together and will be spending 2 more on producing.  I will be producing bookmarks, posters and stickers in my pack. I really wanted to do badges, but at such short notice I have no chance in finding one. Or maybe if I find Jonny.

Heroes of Science

Ok so this is what I have so far for the Heroes of Science brief. Sensing that this could take up a large portion of my time purely developing a visual style/approach for the deliverables, not to a lack of context research but skills on my behalf.

Grace Hopper - World renown as the mother of computing and advanced program, here she sits immortalised in one of the clunky 1950s DAR computers.

Charles Darwin - Self explanatory really, but here he is with many of the creatures he unified with his theory of evolution.

Oswald Avery - Essentially discovered the structure of DNA but actually discovered that DNA is composed of a variety of elements, not just proteins. He also contributed to a multitude of biological related medicines and studies.

Niels Bohr - Discovered the truth behind atomic structure and laid down the foundations for the study of quantum theory.

Finally, Nikola Tesla the godfather of all things electric. The final image is the sort of direction I want to take all the images, but this one alone took long enough to get to grip with in terms of its production so I would of rather started another brief that could be started and finished in a matter of weeks. This is only because I know how I work and I know what it takes to through me off getting a brief finished. Dwelling unnecessarily on a subject tends to get me stuck in a rut, as well as looking around to see that everyone else is producing work at a much quicker rate, as opposed to just producing pretty pictures I wanted to see a project with some weight behind it finish. So I will be picking this brief up again later on.

 Getting used to a Wacom tablet is rather baffling and is taking up a large portion of my time just figuring out how to use it! I did however sketch up some rough ideas for each of my 5 heroes as to develop when I get my own tablet (hoping Friday) so I can see the full potential of my new hardware, as I see it becoming a fundamental aspect to my work.

Games Aid

After an hour and a bit on this side of the digital inking process, I started choosing out colours that would stand out as well as serving the basic purpose of giving the characters their personality as identified by their apparel. It started to become apparent that this style of illustration should have been inked round before taking it into illustrator, not only would it make it miles easier to trace, but it would of given the piece a better sense of proportions which could have ended up taking me ages to rectify at the expense of me progressing with the brief. So I opted out and decided to take a leaf out of the minimal game design/illustrators I had been looking into, by merely taking key elements from a selection of characters from cult classics to massive selling franchises and putting them onto circular templates on which to build upon. Suffice to say the outcome may need some tweaking, but ultimately the results are great. Majority vote suggests that the heads are easy enough to identify and could have a premise for selling at the bookfair. HOORAY! The next stage is estimating costs and defining what else could be put into the pack I will be selling at the book fair.

Some initial work from the GamesAid brief. I wanted to try keep basic primary colours involved, as it would translate well into some nice tones for print. I also wanted to experiment using 2 colours for screen in the next stages of development but we shall see.

I think I will need to consider how I will package this, could well do with some smart ideas.... Thinking maybe taking a leaf from my project at the end of yr2, the packaging could be console-style wrapping or a box...

Crit

Yesterday gave me the chance to find out if my rationale, statement of intent and the briefs I had chosen had some connection to each other in terms of subject, clarity and had a focus. My first actual crit in over a year, I was nervous at first in terms of what to expect but it turned out it was not a session to show our work and discuss it at length but one to put our rationale, SoI and briefs out in front of the group to get some feedback.

In previous years I was always one for losing sight of what it is I wanted to do and not developing work early enough to provide some form of result, this turned itself on its head, as it was I who - as per - got too giddy and ended up rabbiting on into some work I had already been working on.

The crit as a whole went really well, I came across as clear, cohesive and had an obvious link between my briefs and my rationale which everyone else agreed that there was no problem concerning my choices. 

The one downside however was that the deliverables are not clear enough and I need to take an optimistic look at the options available. This was probably down to me trying to be logical about what I could/may/could not/may not get done with the time I have left, then again I should of already guessed that this year would be a focus on production and professional application that will be reflected in the range and distribution methods of the outcomes of my briefs. This is based upon the last 2 briefs of second year which focus was on product-range-distribution.

So to make my briefs even clearer I will answer:

What am I getting out of a brief?

What do I want to get out of it?


and...


Who is my audience, why do they need to know?

Heroes of Science

- A set of magazine covers as 5x A3 CMYK prints in context, 5x A2 Screenprints

- Imagery based upon the subject's specialism/invention

- Gaining knowledge of contemporary science

+ A set of prints that can be sold or transferred onto another medium like t shirts and be sold for my own personal profit

+ Screenprints to be proud of, and some illustration that I can put in my portfolio




Audience/Tone


18-45yr olds who read regularly about science, world events, current affairs. Papers like The Times, Guardian, Telegraph and magazines like New Scientist.
Mainly lower-higher middle class as well as lower upper class. Have a thing for new ideas and can be swayed by an image. Tongue in cheek, sarcasm, black humour and a blunt sort of tone would suit this audience best.

Games Aid

- A series of A2 posters 

- Promotional stickers, packaging, prints

- Press pack that is a PDF

+ Organisational skills that could lead into potential collaborations in both professional practice and industry

+ A delivery solution presented to a high standard

+ A print that will be seen, used and distributed by people all over the UK

Audience/Tone


14-30 yr old gamers, have a knowledge of contemporary games, as well as some knowledge on some of the older titles. They read magazines like PSM, OXM, Games Master and Nintendo Magazine as well as thriving in stores like Gamestation, GAME and CeX. Range of classes, as more or less anyone can afford a console in some form. Mainly appealing to the younger audience as they are more likely to be able to get time off to play on the appointed days. Tone should aim to be sarcastic, dry, with a form of humour best described as nerd humour.

Manual of Unconventional Weaponry

- Bound book in full CMYK

- A2/A1 Print of all weapons used in the book

+ A good looking publication with no real flaws. For once.

+ An installation of some kind

+ Paper toy gun

Audience/Tone


18-25yr old gamers, students and nerds, have an extensive knowledge of gaming history and have clear memories of playing some of the classic titles. They thrive on critic's opinions in gaming magazines and on websites like the escapist. The tone of voice should be relatively witty, formally structured but delivered with an air of pompous sarcasm.

Time Thief

- 5x Screenshots of game

- A2 print of cover

- Sleeve design

- Advertising in context

+ An esoteric interpretation of what a game is, stripping away traditional notions of gaming through a innovative smartphone game.


Audience/Tone


16-25yr old smartphone users. Have grown bored of resurgence of games that plague the nation, eg tower defense, catapult, puzzle etc. Have played games like Robotek HD, Plants vs Zombies, Geometry Wars and DeeC. Tone should be casual yet informed and funny like GLaDOS.

Book Fair Brief

Initial development from design sheets, after looking at top secret documents sourced on google images since it is near to impossible to find a reliable source I just took on board what I already knew and applied it to what skills I had. I like the logo development and tried to stick to the regimental format of the US federal government style iconography but with a not-so-subtle elements added; the key. I made sure that the logos I did like had the recurrent 13 theme in almost all aspects of the Federal logos that have indication of secrecy of some sorts.

I did enjoy doing this at first, however it is becoming apparent that it is a rather dry subject which is hard to dress up into something that it isnt. After working on this for a few days now it has come to my attention that I am slowly losing interest in the project and does not really fit in with my statement of intent or rationale, so I may drop it in favour of a more image based endeavour, maybe using imagery from my science brief instead, as it is a display of my skills that is taken into account, which I would much rather be known for something more inspirational and more importantly will sell.

Cover Process

Since I changed my mind within about 2 days of starting the 'Stop the Blame, Play the Game' I decided to re-brief myself and change the topic to something that instantly filled my head with imagery and possibilities that simply would not come to me when I was considering the Game brief. All I got from 'stop the blame...' was infographics and a rather clinical uninteresting reproduction of something that has been done before and constantly put out into the public eye, with no results. 

Not that I dont like a challenge, but it is because it simply did not go with my statement of intent, or my rationale which would of severely cost me time and effort on my part when I could be applying my skills and efforts into something I deemed more worthwhile as well as applicable to my S.o.I.

Instead I will simply change the brief's subject and context slightly. So instead of having games as the focus it will be on Heroes of Science and their various achievements within their field of study. Not only will it provide a good base for my portfolio, but the audience and the context would be in a publication such as The Times, The Guardian or even New Scientist, although I would say the interest in such heroes of science might go amiss considering that their demographic are people who are generally keyed up in such matters.

The approach I wish to take is reminiscent of 50s advertising, science illustrations with a modern edge. I think it would be best to deliver 5 covers and a full publication on one hero so it shows the content as well as the layout, visual approach and choice of delivery without the need to over produce a variety of time consuming perfect publications.

The sort of typefaces I looked at are obviously going to be similar to 1940s/50s as I wanted it to have the same aesthetics and hopefully find something that would suit the visuals I want. 

Some logos I was working on to identify each scientists individual practice, as to ascertain a basic level of vis. com. and to generate a level of visual coherency.

These are by no means final, but I thought they gave the best visual impact and the use of colour makes everything seem to have a personality rather than existing on a 2d plane of existence.