Exercise 2.1: Writing a brief

Learning Points from assignment 1: 

Exercise 2.1: Writing a brief: 

Project: Write a brief for a chosen image that would have lead to the creation of the image and comment.

I recently decided to try out one of the local Bikram Yoga studios in Brighton and was given a revolutionary water "bottle" ie: portable water packaged in a carton…. a first for me and I am sure is the only reason I survived the heat of the yoga session! ; )

I was immediately transfixed by the packaging of the Aquapax water carton and decided to analyse it artwork for this exercise.

On my initial assessment of this water carton I made the assumption it was either a brand new product which I’d seen for the 1^st time, as I had personally not seen water sold in a carton, or this was a re-brand of a product which I only noticed because of the new art work. 

Sure enough it turned out to be the latter on further research. 

After a bit of research about the director of the Aquapax company, Neil Tomlinson, it became evident that he is passionate about the environment and this is what drives his new company. He states that his aim is to have a company that is " a sustainable business with a minimal carbon footprint while packaging, marketing and selling portable clean, truly pure drinking water, packed in more environmentally sustainable and fundamentally renewable paper cartons, with practical pack attributes that facilitate a long and efficient storage-life."  

Following this internet research, I tried to put myself in Mr Tomlinson's psyche and therefore worded the brief from "him" to the artist/design agency along the lines of something like this:

“ Dear Artists at SunHouse Creative Ltd, we need to rebrand our product. Please will you create a design that echoes the ethos of our water company and the ideology and reasoning behind placing our water in a carton instead of a plastic bottle. We are true environmentalists and this is the heart behind our product. We are trying to encourage people to drink portable water in a different way thereby keeping them aware of the environment and thus the source of the water they are drinking. We want to highlight that we are the 1st company in the UK to be packaging water in a carton and hope not to be the last due to the environmental benefits. We want people to be attracted to the freshness of the water carton and immediately identify with this new way of thinking about water, sustainability and about being involved consumers.”

Comments:
I feel that the artists at Sunhouse have achieved this very successfully with their new packaging both with the phrases they have chosen. i.e: “Pure thirst for the environment", "There's revolution in the air", " Planet conscious mineral water" and finally " sustainable, recyclable" and their decorative graphics.

Images and symbols 
The artists at SunHouse have used symbolic imagery to reference the phrases above.
Firstly, they have chosen to use a tree to symbolise the environment and nature as it is a well known symbol of life, knowledge and the natural world. By placing hearts in the leaves of the tree it becomes a symbol of love for the natural as well. It is placed at the centre of the image making it the focal point therefore also symbolising that this naturalistic love for the environment is at the heart of Aquapax, the company .

They cleverly illustrate graphically that Aquapax has started a “REVOLUTION” by using symbolic rays surrounding the tree, which extend into the sky. The rays of 'hope’ and 'a bright future' have been used historically on numerous political posters symbolising revolution and are therefore immediately recognisable.

                                                       

Graphically this is a strong symbol representing an end to the old ‘oppressive regime of plastic bottled water’ while also symbolising the challenge people to think as individuals instead of sheep-like consumers, and that as such we have the power to change and do good starting by purchasing this product. It evokes an emotional response that this product is not simply about drinking water, but is a small step in being conscious environmentalists, concerned about what we consume as well as the environmental and global impact we make as consumers.

The designs within this packaging also have an eastern, meditative, ‘one-with-nature’ feel.         

  

The shape of the water drops appears in a number of Indian-Hindu designs. The SunHouse artists have used this and repeated the water drop shape creating a decorative pattern on either side of the tree which appears to reference indian philosophy of nature, peace and harmony while of course also representing water itself.

The line drawings underneath the text also appear to symbolize the water cycle and its link to nature and the cycle of life.
Neil Tomlinson's signature blends well in the middle of the symbolic water cycles on either side, putting him at the heart of Aquapax and indicating the ethos that he stands by, i.e: that he is an environmentalist who is contributing to maintaining the natural water cycle.

Style, colour, composition, typography:

·      Style: The graphics are patterned and decorative with a strong emphasis on line, shape and flat colour. Tonal differences are created through contrasting colours placed next to each other, for example the dark blue lines and lighter turquoise blue within the trunk of the tree or the white banner over the navy world as well as the white contrasted with the blue in the rays.

·      Colour: The shades of blue are used effectively. Not only does it symbolize water but also it makes the design look fresh and ‘thirst-quenching’.  The small lines of metallic glossy silver add to the artwork both symbolically as if this water carton is the silver lining in the air of this revolutionary thinking and as a representation of when light hits natural water and it shimmers.

·      Composition: The composition appears balanced and symmetrical, symbolizing calm and order when nature is central and things are working as they should. One’s eye is drawn immediately to the central figure of the ‘tree of love’ and then the rays direct the viewer outward to the birds and the symbols of water. 
The type also assists in balancing the composition by having an equal number of words or letters on either side of the midline and generally one word or symbol in the middle. E.g.: AQU (on the left)-A (middle) and PAX (on the right.)

·      Typography: The primary font used is a strong easy to read font and most of the words are written in the same font with different shades or size. It appears almost like someone’s natural handwritten writing when writing capitol letters or block letters.This is contrasted only with a smaller, gentler cursive-type font for the phrase "pure and still". The viewer’s eye is immediately drawn towards the phrase as a result of the change in font in spite of it’s size. This is helped by the fact that it is directly in the middle and is written in white to contrast the navy background but it is also the fact that the cursive font is flowing and connected and emulates cursive handwriting.
The shades of blue as well as the use of white type provides emphasis on which phrases are most important. This is demonstrated by the title of the brand.

                                   

In summary I feel that the artists at SunHouse Creative ltd have made ALL the difference to this product. When it was initially put on the market it looked like a corporate sports drink and I certainly would never have noticed it….or should I say never did notice it!

The artwork has brought the product alive, answered the given brief and challenges us as consumers to think about what we drink and how we drink it!

In my learning log book I reflected a little more on the question:

Reflection 1: brief

What did I do?

When I re-read my 1^st attempt at the brief I had published on my blog I realized I had failed to include some vital details like deadline/timeframe, target audience, slogans/logos etc.

The brief that I wrote allows the artist a fair amount of artistic freedom and I question whether in reality companies/ commissioners for advertising and editorial illustrations are more prescriptive in terms of the exact details that they wish to se in the artwork including the graphic elements like the colour that they wish to be used and the colour pallet; the medium that they wish the artist to consider; perhaps the symbols used; the composition; content and the font/typeface used.

I also wasn’t entirely sure whether the company would provide the logo/slogan or whether the artists would be responsible for creating this. In this case the logo ‘Join the Revolution” is central to the image.

How do I feel about this exercise?

When re-reading the rest of the blog post, which was commenting on the brief, I went on to analyse the image that had been created. In retrospect, I know longer feel that that this was required to answer the exercise and think that I went on a bit of a tangent analyzing the completed image itself rather then commenting on the process of writing the brief and whether I had done this correctly.  Having re-read the exercise and the question, I feel I should have spent more time understanding what was required. I got carried away with a lovely image. I also feel that the 1^st attempt I had at writing the brief itself was a bit ‘airy-fairy’ and would not answer the artist’s questions about what the client actually wanted for the design and therefore perhaps making it more difficult to work with that type of brief.

What would I do differently?

I would change the brief to include some of the elements discussed above. I have therefore re-written the brief to be a little more directive which may or may not happen in reality.

“ Dear Artists at SunHouse Creative Ltd, we need to rebrand our product.

We are looking for an eye catching design which will not only catch peoples attention straight away but also echoes the ethos of our water company and the ideology and reasoning behind placing our water in a carton instead of a plastic bottle.

·      About our company:

We are true environmentalists and this is the heart behind our product. We are trying to encourage people to drink portable water in a different way thereby keeping them aware of the environment and thus the source of the water they are drinking.

·      What we want the design to do:

·      1. Emphasise the emphasise that are the 1st company in the UK to be packaging water in a carton and hope not to be the last due to the environmental benefits.

The central slogan around which the design should be based is therefore: “ There is revolution in the air”.

2. We want people to be attracted to the freshness of the water carton and immediately identify with this new way of thinking about portable water.

·      Target audience:

We want the design to attract a target audience of people that are conscious about the environment and will go the extra mile to purchase products that promote the environment.

·      Design itself:

1.      The colours of the company are silver and blue. We would like the colour of the new brand to be predominantly blue and use a restricted palette of blue white and silver to enable people to understand that we are selling water. Having done some market research on our original brand, we found that people did not associate water with a predominantly silver container.

2.      We would like the design to include graphic symbols that symbolize nature, vitality, revolution, and love for the environment, the source of our water.

3.      We want the font to be bold, clear and easy to read.

·      Timeframe

1. We are launching our new brand in 3 months. We will need to have 2 designs in 6 weeks in order to start fine-tuning what works and what doesn’t. 

What did I learn?

1.       I learnt that I need to ensure that I am answering the question that is asked or in the case of an image, answer the brief that is being asked.

2.       The process of writing the brief made me consider what the commissioner would need to think about when they are providing a brief especially if they are advertising their company. In other briefs like for the medium may also be stipulated if this relates to what is being printed or even presented, for example only use of digital images or use watercolors for a more organic hand painted result etc.

3.       Most of all I learnt that there is a lot that lies beneath the surface when writing a brief and therefore when interpreting a brief. I still am unclear how much artistic freedom the illustrator is allowed and am aware that this will probably differ from company to company or publisher to publisher.

SNOW and TRAINS....

Commuting is one thing...add some snow and it becomes an entirely new adventure!!!! When, however, one is armed with a lap top and manage to scrounge a seat its amazing how quickly the journey can go!

I have never used photoshop but decided to introduce myself slowly to the digital art world by experimenting with the pixelmator, an app from Apple.(Also helps that it is currently in my budget!) 

I certainly have a LONG way to go and it took me far longer then it should... but managed to work out how to introduce some text into the image of the artichokes. 

Does it work?

• I like the introduction of text but in this image I don't think that I have used it correctly as it does not add overwhelmingly to the image and in fact I am not sure if it subtracts from it.
• I also struggled to manipulate the shape of the words apart from placing the words at different angles and therefore I feel this comes across like the text is not as united or fused with the image as it should be. ......BUT it was certainly a good experiment and accelerated the very cold journey home last week....and for this reason alone it was definitely successful! ; )

Assignment 2 and beyond!

So having submitted Assignment 1 together with exercises 1 and 2, I have set my sights on Assignment 2 and the exercises leading up to it. I am feeling mixtures of excitement and being overwhelmed at some of the exercises leading up to Assignment 2, and Assignment 2 itself...SOooOo to conquer these fears, I decided to do things a little back to front today and launch myself into experimenting with food illustrations as foundations for assignment 2. I have therefore decided to post a few of my preliminary sketchbook samples that will hopefully form a foundation in the experimentation leading up to the final assignment. Time will tell!!

I decided to try do a watercolour of an artichoke as my first experiment! I chose the two artichokes as I saw them in our local supermarket and they reminded me of king Proteas...so I decided to paint them.
I completed the painting from life vs a photo. I am new to watercolours so this was a challenge in itself, but I decided to chance it as I have recently been inspired by the food illustrations of Georgina Luck and Emma Dibben.

Being new to watercolours as a medium, I decided to use a limited palate so the colours I used were: Alizarin Crimson, Ultramarine Blue, Lemon Yellow and Viridian Green. Towards the end I decided to add Yellow Ochre to the mix as I felt the lemon yellow had a slight habit of sometimes making a mixed colour appear a little dirty.

 I also chose to try watercolours as they are translucent and I hoped that this would further aid in giving the final image an appetising and edible look!

As an experiment, I enjoyed the watercolour process immensely!...Especially the paint spraying at the end! Using a limited palate forced me to create my own colours and tones but meant that they weren't always a completely accurate representation of the colours in the artichokes. I decided to use a bit of artistic license on this point tho as my primary aim was to make the artichokes particularly appealing so I emphasised some of the more subtle colours in the natural artichoke and tried to ensure that I included as much contrast as possible.

What would I change?
a.) I didn't pay alot of attention to composition and actually this did create some difficulty as I struggled initially with distinguishing the two artichokes from eachother. I will aim to pay greater attention to this for the next experiment.
b.) I also started on the front artichoke and at one stage seemed to be overworking it so decided to contrast that with a slightly looser style for the back artichoke....also as another way of distinguishing them from each other.
c.) I decided to just use water-colours but next time I'd like to incorporate using pen and ink as well.
d.)I'm not sure if tonally the artichokes that I have done appear too similar as the main thing I struggled with was ensuring they didn't merge into one.

Does it work? 

I am happy with the image for it's purpose as an experiment as it seemed to happen quite organically. I am aware that I do not want to replicate the styles of Georgina Luck and Emma Dibben who have been very successful in marketing a number of upmarket supermarket fruit and veg products, among other things! 

With this in mind I will continue the experimental process and look to try other media. I would, however, like to develop this image little further using text if time allows.

1st of many!

It's a chilly, cloudy sunday morning and this is the 1st of many posts on my learning log blog! I can't even believe that I've managed to be so hi tech!

Jan 2014:
I have since returned to this original blog post and now decided to include a summary of Assignment one for continuity sake and to hopefully track my progress as I continue along the pathway to completing this Illustration 1 Module! I have therefore scanned in a few pages from my written learning log.

My learning log starts with a picture of Renoir in his twilight as it resonated with such passion and inspiration. It is a well known fact that despite developing severe debilitating arthritis, this great and masterful painter went to great lengths to continue doing what he loved, even if it meant painting with a paintbrush in his mouth at times. I started with this to remind me that although I feel a little old to be starting out on this career path when I am fearful and afraid of failure, I need only think of the perseverance of someone like Renoir.

The second page was the 1st mind map of 'me!" A preparatory step towards assignment one.

In the 1st exercise we had to research an older illustrator and I chose Edward Ardizzone. I then compared him to the contemporary illustrator, an all time favourite of mine, Oliver Jeffers.

We then had to do an illustration in each of their styles:





In the exercise 1.2 we had to choose a passage, highlight the salient points and create an illustration for it.

Finally for Assignment one we had to introduce ourselves to our tutor by means of a greeting card.

In a nutshell, I wanted my card to echo a conversation with a person I was meeting for the 1st time. To do this I chose to keep the front of the card in black and white i.e.: the superficial introductions and greetings of a first introductory conversation. I wanted to appear a little nervous as there is a large part of me that is still nervous regarding trying to side step into the creative industry. 

The second section I wanted to let out who I was i.e.: all my inspirations, loves and dislikes, and elements that make me me. Finally the third section of the card I wanted to illustrate what I hoped to gain from the course. I chose not to use text apart from what I wrote inside to my tutor. 

My main obstacle which I only realised when I had completed the final pieces, was that I had done the inside sections on a landscape format and the front cover on a portrait format. This resulted in a slight difficulty when printing and therefore the card became a concertina card to fit with the layout!