Laundry development example

I have a really rapid way of working and it's difficult for me to record developments and process when I'm so focussed on designing and creating something awesome. I've taken a few screenshots throughout the process. Showing how I moved around and created new illustrations to fill the space. It was very much like working with a jig saw puzzle making sure there wasn't too much white space while keeping things equally spaced. Here is my work on Laundry over time...

Title typography

I've laid out my illustrations on each page and now need to think about Typography. I've download a bunch of different fonts and tried each Bar name in the fonts. I want to stick with a font that's quite simple and not too distracting from what could be an already quite busy spread. It's because of this I automatically favour the sans-serif fonts and I quite like the idea of a slab sans-serif in all caps which creates a very blocky amount of text emphasising the clean lines of the illustration style and allows me to carefully slot illustrated items around the block of text, without bits of white spaces for the non-cap letters and serif ligatures. I've attached my test sheets for my fonts. I've chosen the font 'Franchise' which is bottom-right in each sample.

Map developments

Having been inspired by the London underground line based map which places emphasis on readability rather than geographical correctness and wider context. I decided that because my three bars are all on Cuba Street (Southern Cross is not on Cuba, but just around the corner) I could also simply the map to just include cuba street and those intersecting streets. Cuba street is probably Wellington's most iconic street so I don't think there's too much need to contextualise it to help people find where it is.

Icon design

After setting the best variables for my 'quick key' I've explored some different iconographic representations of the different words.

Furniture selection and illustration

Before I put all the objects into the layout I first illustrated them based on the imagery I found online that was dictated by the mood boards. It was important to make sure I based the illustrations heavily on reality to ensure that the scale and believability of them was good.  Some of the photos I've illustrated as closely as possible, and others I've used creative freedom to slightly alter. The colours have been dictated by the colour palletes I explored earlier and I've tried to use colours that are realistic for fabrics/materials to maintain a reality that the illustration kind of betrays.

Sketching out the initial layouts

During class today I had the mood boards in front of my and I sketched out some ideas for how I might like to lay out my pages. I want to create a central horizon line that will be present throughout all three layouts so that's where all my furniture/decorations will sit. Apart from a few hanging things to even out the vertical space. I've attached my (very messy) sketches. Had to attempt southern cross twice. Was quite tricky and at this stage I'm not sure the elements will balance nicely.

Moodboards and illustrative influence

Having sourced photographs for each place I search on furniture/interior design websites as well as Google images to find good pieces of furniture and design that I think would suit each of the bars. As I was illustrating based from these photos I don't need to worry about copyright as everything is recreated from scratch. The Southern Cross bar has proven to be quite difficult because there isn't really a single clear aesthetic, it has several different feelings throughout. So in order to further disconnect it from the other bars I've chosen the aspects of Southern Cross that are least like the other two bars. I wanted to make sure I was illustrating from 'signature'/recognisable furniture pieces and didn't necessarily want to specifically illustrate the exact objects that could be found in the bars. This abstracting of the illustrations gives a higher level of creative freedom in creating a seamless illustration piece, as well as generalising the furniture to help the reader recognise more easily the aesthetic I am portraying in each.

I've attached my mood boards for each: Laundry, Olive and Southern Cross

Examining the environment

I've collected and researched a little about each of my chosen bars. In creating a collection of photographs from each bar I have been able to get a clear feeling for the way that each bar feels and looks. And through grabbing these photos from google, online reviews, instagram and other curated sources, I've also gained a significant insight into what people look at and think is photo-worthy in each place. Which is probably a good indication of what things I could illustrate to represent each place. The time of day in the photos is also a good indication of the mood and when people might go to each bar. For instance Southern Cross is photographed predominantly at night, whilst Olive has a more even spread of photos taken during the day and evening.

Looking at colours

I started to explore different colour pallets that were inspired by my areas and taken from photographs of them. I've also been doing a lot of research towards different print graphic design styles and illustration styles.

Icons/Index

After narrowing my selection to be: Olive garden, Southern Cross and Laundry bar I explored ways to represent each through icon, index and symbol. In doing so I was able to better understand the differences and it sparked the beginning of how I can visually differentiate the three bar areas. This index/icon work is below.

Garden bars.

I really like going out for drinks in town, especially on a beautiful evening in a nice outdoor bar area. That's where my idea to share my favourite garden bars with people through this brochure came from. I have my favourite bars, but I needed to find ones that each had their point of difference to create a product that allowed people who enjoy different types of bars to find one that would suit them. I began by brainstorming my favourite bars and any unique points about them that were immediately apparent. This process went on through two revisions allowing me to narrow my selection down to my three bars.

Finally the finished result was a chart that allowed me to select the aspects of difference that I want to expose/promote in my brochure.

The beginning.

I started the project by brainstorming things I like to do in Wellington. From the walks I like to go on, to the graffiti I like to experience. In groups we discussed different ideas and came up with a lot of different ideas, but none of them felt particularly personal. 

I wanted to brainstorm things I liked, which helped me narrow my selection down to five different possibilities: Co-working spaces, Art destinations, Wildlife areas, Garden bars, and Movie theatres. Upon these ideas I expanded some possible specific venues that have some sort of difference from each other.