OUGD505 - SB2 Initial Ideas

During the first stages of the investigation, the idea was to recreate a socially accepted drug being equal to cannabis. For example, as coffee is a stimulant that is legally sold in coffee shops, there is little to no stigma attached to the effects. If the idea was to sell cannabis legally in a similar manner, it may be possible that public opinions may change. By placing the drug in a socially accepted environment, the stigma attached to it may be reconsidered by others. By looking at the types of packaging and design strategies involved in selling coffee, it is possible to apply the knowledge to cannabis products.

As cannabis can be used in different forms, there is potential to design packaging for different products. This includes, drinks, infused skin products, baked goods and herbal form.

 The design began by looking at honey products and how cannabis could be interpreted through this product. As many honey jars inform the buyer of the flavour, ingredients or process, the same thing could be applied in this case.

These designs would be used as examples in the presentation to show how cannabis can be seen as a regular product, with considered approaches to type, layout and colour schemes.

 As honey products often reflect the colours or features of the process, these designs would reflect this in the same way. By experimenting with different fonts and weights of the letters, it would be easier for people to see how these products could exist in today's market.

By placing the designs within a mock up, it was easier to interpret how the product may look if it were sold. Doing this will also allow for reference further into the project about how to apply the designs to physical objects or packaging.

This idea was to create packaging for herbal cannabis, similar to the product that is current sold in legal coffee shops. This design style had taken inspiration from existing packaging found in Amsterdam coffee shops, with information on the effects of the product, as well as the origin and potency included within it. 

This informative approach works well for the sale of recreational (herbal) cannabis because it provides consumers with information, regarding the strength of each strain and how it may effect them. Packaging like this can be useful, as it provides inexperienced buyers the opportunity to understand exactly what the product will do and whether it is suited to them.

This design was also applied to packaging that was likely to be found in a legal market. The packaging here was similar to packaging for coffee, likely found in popular coffee shops or supermarkets.

By trying the designs within these mock ups, it is possible to gather analysis of how the communication works within a graphic design context.

Similar to the coffee packets, the designs were also added to coffee tin style mock ups. This way the designs could be varied in their packaging and the layout could be altered in order to fit the shape of the tins.

 

In terms of the colour scheme, the descriptions of the products were used as inspiration. As the Afghan Kush strain was described as an earthy strain, the tin used brown colours that were reminiscent of the smells and flavours.

The White Widow strain was described as having white physical appearance and therefore the white text would contrast well against a light blue background.

OUGD505 - SB2 - Identifying an audience

After looking at different social issues that are currently debated in our society, the debate for cannabis legalisation was chosen. By choosing this debate, it would allow for an investigation into the reasons why society believes or does not believe the drug should be legalised. It would also provide an understanding of the ways in which graphic design can play a role in the communication of these ideas. Potentially, this could lead to a change in public opinions about the debate, when the ideas are communicated differently from how they are already. For example, cannabis has for years been portrayed as a dangerous substance by governments around the world. However, recent studies have begun to shed light on an alternative stance on the drug, with evidence that shows the benefits of lifting the ban.

The main aims of the project will be:

• To find a solution to the stigmatisation of cannabis
• Provide audiences with an alternative approach to legislation
• To explore the different ways in which cannabis can be sold
• To use graphic design processes as a way to change public opinions.

Before the practical investigation can begin, it will first be necessary to understand who the project will be aimed at and how to target them specifically. To do this, further research can be made into how cannabis is seen by different age groups, nationalities and people with different social backgrounds. By comparing the findings, it will be easier to establish a group that take the opposing stance to legalisation.

When looking at the stance on the drug from an online drug forum, there are more negative opinions of the legalisation. Looking at the forum talk.drugabuse.com brought about a discussion on the ways in which the media has played a role in the portrayal of cannabis. 

https://talk.drugabuse.com/threads/why-is-marijuana-portrayed-positively-in-the-media.4421/

 One user asked others why they believe cannabis is 'portrayed' by the media as medicine and why young people use it.

Another user replied with their opinion of the debate, stating cannabis today can be compared to the prohibition era of the 1920s and 30s, in which alcohol was similarly demonised by the US government. They believe that lifting the ban will have the same effect on society today, as it did back in 1933.

A 2014 study in the US by Pew Research Centre, found that 54% of Americans believed that cannabis should be legal. This was an all time high at the time of the recording, with details of certain ethnic backgrounds, ages and political stances all taking part in the survey. Among those who were white, 55% say yes to legalisation. 60% of those who were black believe it should be legalised and 43% of hispanics believe it should be. Among the ages, 70% of 18-29 year olds say yes, 56% of 30-49 said yes, 55% of 50-64 said yes and 32% of 65 and over said yes.

63% of Democrat voters said yes to legalisation, 58% of Independent voters said yes and 39% of Republicans said yes. Therefore, it is clear that the older generations are most likely to take the opposing stance on the debate for legalisation. It also proved that Republican voters were the least likely to agree with legalisation.

In order to continue with the investigation, it would first need to be reviewed by peers to see what other people would think of the approach. To do this, a presentation would be made that could briefly summarise the intentions of the project and demonstrate the graphic design approach in mind. From there, more ideas could be generated that can narrow down a direction for the investigation to go in.

OUGD501 - New Practical Research

After revisiting the question within the essay and establishing a certain subject to follow, it became more clear that in order to link the findings to a practical output, there would need to be more plausible evidence to support the claims. Therefore, the essay focused on the discussion about graphic design development as a result of technology. During the findings of the essay, it was found that the new emerging medium of the modern world is likely to take over traditional processes when it comes to design. One medium in particular, became the focus point of the essay, which was the introduction of virtual reality in recent years.

By researching this further, there will be a chance to use design as a way to communicate this new format to a particular audience. This can then be applied to a practical investigation as a result.

Beginning the investigation into virtual reality, I looked at a talk by Phil Kauffold on TEDx. In this talk, he describes the ways in which VR is becoming a staple part of the future of entertainment, but is also acting as a tool for other purposes. This includes the medical field and design purposes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-HRgfJbPvk

Looking at the ways in which VR is becoming a marketing strategy, Diverse Interactive was one company that was looked at. Through the use of augmented and virtual reality, the company would promote the brands of clients through interactive advertising.

The features that made this a stand out company, was the way that it presented itself to the audience through moving image on its website. The futuristic style and technology based design of the website, would further add to the aesthetic of this company's image.




One potential avenue to take the project in could be though the design of a futuristic VR website. By mapping out a structure for the website using typography and design styles appropriate to the aesthetic, it may be possible to replicate a company or brand that is likely to be seen in the world of graphic design in the future.

VR experiments with google - Google offers a chance to play around with virtual reality games, using 'Google VR experiments'. The website shows a range of different examples of VR and how it is used by music producers, videographers and science to engage the audience in the new format.

The website itself is reminiscent of the 80s retro gaming style and uses a neutral black and white background that brings the focus to the colourful content of the central images.








Typography

The google VR experiments, used a font that was similar to a typewriter and worked well in making the website look more futuristic and tech based. Therefore, different fonts similar to this style will be looked at for the design of my own web page.

Diverse Interactive also made use of the high tech aesthetic, with geometric shaped lettering and different styles of kerning in the logotype. It seems the best approach from looking at this is to use sans serif, modern fonts that give the audience a sense of shape, distance and innovation. With technological style fonts such as the one used by Diverse Interactive, the audience can understand the futuristic approach of the company.

OUGD505 - SB1 Development

Typeface

In order to find appropriate typeface for the outcome, it was first necessary to revisit the ways in which the genre reflects its features through the use of type. To do this meant looking at the type used on popular YouTube channels, music videos and album covers. From this, it would be easier to establish a series of styles to work from and then gain feedback on which best represents the principles of UK drill.

Starting off the investigation meant looking at the YouTube channels such as SBTV, PressPlay Media and GRM Daily

SBTV - When looking at the logo for SBTV, we can see that the tight kerning and bold letters give the logo a visual presentation of flow and consistency. The rounded forms of the letters allow for each to connect with one another. The first impressions of the logo made me think about 'flow' and 'connecting', something that can be found in both the lyrical deliverance and discussion of the channel.






Pressplay Media - Using a similar approach, Pressplay Media uses bold sans serif font to advertise the channel. Another notable feature of the channel is its use of tight kerning, which is often found in other hiphop channels.

Alternatively, GRM Daily has taken the approach that uses wider kerning and variations of weight in the letters. Originally starting off as a Grime channel, GRM Daily has adapted over recent years to include the rise of UK drill within its content. The aesthetic of GRM Daily however, has remained appropriate for all the genres it covers. The mix of black, yellow and white throughout its marketing has reflected an image of hazardous and gritty content.









In a similar way to SBTV, Link Up TV have designed a logo that joins the letters together with tight kerning, rounded letter and shortened ascenders. This also allows the letters to flow into one another in the words, similar to how lyrics in rap are put together. The use of reflection within the letters has also allowed the grey colour scheme to work well in the design. This makes the logo look as though it is shining or reflecting to the viewer.

To begin experimenting with typeface for the outcome, a series of letters were hand painted and scanned, to create an alphabet. This way the letters could be placed next to others, in order to create words in the same style as some of the existing drill designs.

The hand designed effect is commonly used for the genre and can mimic a street graffiti style.

 The letters were then arranged into words relating to the genre, to see how they might look if they were used for the outcome. In the same way, the same words were experimented with using bold fonts and tight kerning. The best options for this were Helvetica Bold, Futura Medium, Alte Haas Grotesk Bold and Built Titling.

These fonts were then experimented with in different weights and sizes, in order to determine which ones best reflected the examples that had previously been looked at.

Alte Haas Grotesk Bold gave a rough edged form to each letter, which worked well for the context as it was gritty and uneven. This made it better suited for informal application, such as cover art for a drill album.

Built Titling was also chosen, as it had similar features to the font used by Pressplay Media. Its slender letterforms worked best using italic because there were not ascenders or descenders, making the words look narrow and consistent to the eye. If this were to be pursued for the outcome, Italic or Bold Italic are likely to work best, as they provide the most legibility.


Before deciding on a particular style to use in the outcome, further experimentation was made to allow a more appropriate analysis of the fonts. For this, the fonts would be applied to an album design and then assessed by peers to see which fonts were most favourable in terms of communicating the context in which they are placed.

Applying to design context

As much of the resources for the project came from album cover designs, the idea that came to mind when testing the fonts was to create an album design in a similar way. Therefore, different elements would be combined, in order to reflect the aesthetic of UK drill design.

The example that would be used, was to create a cover design for Skengdo and AM's single, German Swerving. To start off the design, a photograph of the rap duo would be used as the base layer of the cover.
http://www.radarradio.com/blog/skengdo-am-2bunny-interview

The image was then edited to black and white and a 'pointillize' filter was applied. This was used to give the image a vintage style, like old film would. Many other designs that had previously been researched, showed a worn out or scratched surface over the designs. By using this abrasive style, it would give a gritty representation of the music.

Next, the hand painted typeface was applied to the design and changed to white, in order to contrast the dark background. From here the title of the song could be applied using a different typeface, so that the audience could distinguish between the artists and the song title.








Smaller scratch details were then also added to the design and the image was brightened in order to show this. Next the Futura title was added, which would contrast the hand designed type above it. This initial idea allowed for further tests to be made, in terms of which font would look the most appropriate.

Here we can see several different attempts at finding the best font for the cover. By allowing the audience to see a combination of different fonts together, it became clear which designs would stand out. When receiving feedback from peers, it became clear that the design that worked best was to have 'Skengdo x AM' in the rough style font. This was best paired with the Built Titling font, as it was a more uniform and legible option, especially when adding the colours of the German flag.

OUGD505 - SB1 Development and Proposal

After establishing several approaches to the design elements of UK drill, it is possible to then apply the aesthetic of the genre to the object that will be displayed at the end of the project. Many of the designs created up until this point have been created with commercial use in mind. For example, after looking at the ways in which album covers are designed for UK drill artists, it was easier to create designs that would be suited for that format. The next step in the development would be to establish a way to apply this knowledge to a different format. As previous critiques had suggested, creating an object that is related in some way to the music videos or the culture of UK gangs, would be one way to convey the ideas of the genre to the audience.

As the audience in mind will be the general public, the object being created will need to be more explanatory in nature when communicating what the genre is like. This way, people who may not be familiar with the style can understand what messages it tries to portray. It has already been established that the themes surrounding this genre are gritty and often violent in nature. Therefore, when designing the object, it will be necessary to have these themes in mind.

Proposed idea

Having previously looked at way that colour could be incorporated into the designs, it was necessary to find colours from the music videos as references for the development. These colours were then applied to the balaclava designs, as a way to show the glamorisation of the genre. In the same way, the object could be a real balaclava on display, with the colours from the investigation used for the design.

The idea could be to display the words associated with the genre on the balaclava. Before deciding this, it would first be beneficial to look back and access which elements would need to be improved. Therefore, it will be easier to build up a design strategy of ways to create the outcome and the appropriate materials and processes needed.

Typeface
During the earlier stages of the project, an investigation into typeface used for UK drill showed that the styles were varied in terms of approach. When assessing the album covers, music videos and channels on YouTube, it was clear that the fonts would either be rough designs or bold fonts that had tight kerning. Therefore, by experimenting with both hand drawn lettering and different bold fonts, it will be easier to find a suitable approach.

Materials
In terms of the materials for the outcome, it may be beneficial to look at the processes involved in work that has already been created for the genre. For example, looking at the ways in which the genre is advertised for underground events and the types of products that are made for its audience. Another idea that came to mind was to look at the objects relating to metaphors that the genre uses. For example, some gangs within drill often compare themselves to soldiers. Therefore, by looking at the attire and objects relating to soldiers, it may be possible to communicate ideas of the genre through that avenue.

OUGD505 - SB1 Is UK Drill to blame for a rise in violent crimes?

In recent news, several violent and fatal crimes have been linked to social media influence, including sites such as YouTube, Snapchat and Instagram. This is due to the feuds between young people, often through the use of these platforms, in which they taunt one another. One particular example of this occurrence would be the social media following of gang members' snapchat accounts. It is evident that this recent trend has encouraged feuds between gangs, as they are receiving an audience which often spectates the arguments and disagreements online. This allows for popularity of certain individuals to grow as they try to prove themselves as better than the opposition.

When exploring the platforms in which the genre exists, it is possible to find out whether violent crimes can be linked to drill music.

YouTuber Mr Montgomery recently uploaded a video in response to the recent death of 17 year old Tanesha Melbourne, from Tottenham. In the video he explains ways in which drill music is purely an art form in which artists can express themselves. He also says there are other factors that can be linked to the rise in violent crimes, such as TV and films.

In response to the video, there were several comments made by people who believe that his view was not valid. Some say that drill is partly to blame for the effects that it can have on young impressionable minds. This could be due to the normalisation and desensitising of violent crimes, through its lyrics. This was especially found through personal diss tracks that many drill artists had released. These tracks often target other gang members of the opposition and 'call out' individuals through threats of violence and taunts.

While it is still unclear whether drill music can be blamed for the rise in violence, it is clear that it can play a part in influencing young people, as many of the genres members are young themselves. One solution to this problem in future, may be for popular channels on social media to monitor the content that is distributed. Channels such as LinkUpTV, often place viewer discretions at the beginning of their videos so that people are aware of the lyrical content.

As evidenced in the Mail on Sunday, UK Drill is currently in headline news. This comes as a series of attacks and murders across South London have been blamed on the violent influence of the genre.

OUGD501 - Study Task 6 - Practical brief

BA (hons) Graphic Design

Context of practice 2: Practical brief template

Name

Alexander J Pankhurst

Brief title

Technological advancements in graphic design

Brief (outline the general aims of the project)

·       In response to the essay, the practical will explore different ways to prove technology is beneficial to the improvement of graphic design ·       It will aim to use appropriate typography, colour schemes and aesthetics to reflect a sense of advancement in technology. ·       It will aim to provide audiences an understanding of the link between the theoretical research and the practical output.

Background / considerations

·       ­The practical could be a manual for a company ·       The practical could be an advertisement for a specific design ·       The practical could be made through the use of advanced technology ·       The practical could be demonstrated through the use of online advertising.

Deliverables

The project will aim to produce a body of work that will provide audiences with a clear link between theoretical and practical work It may have proposed ideas, such as prototypes or finished designs.

Mandatory requirements (essential requirements that must be followed)

It must involve the use of technology to create it It must link to the essay It must show how technology is a positive tool for designers

Research: references to reading (essay)

Look at the businesses that operate within the advanced design industry Look at the ways in which they promote to their audience What ways can this support the practical output?