OUGD502 - Study Task 2 - One Day Brief - A Gift for HORT, Berlin

We were given a one day brief in which we had to produce a unique piece of work as an offering to the Berlin based design studio; HORT. The piece of work could be designed using any method that I saw fit, analogue, digital or a combination of both and could be about anything. We were encouraged to research the studio, looking at its ethos, style and general approach to visual communication. We were also encouraged to simply have fun with, something I like to hear in a brief. I looked at the studio's website for inspiration. What I noticed was that HORT has a very playful, distinct style and aesthetic. They produce work that is undoubtedly contemporary and that is something I wanted to weave into my piece of work for this very short brief. 

HORT adopts a highly experimental approach to typography. This is evident in the poster work and branding/identity that they have produced recently. I appreciate experimental use of type and am continually attempting to use type in exciting ways in my own personal work. This interest in type was the driving force the work that I produced for this one day brief. 

Experimentation: I have noticed that blackletter typefaces have become quite trendy in contemporary commercial graphic design recently. Modified slab serifs and humanist blackletter typefaces are popping up in a lot of areas of editorial and poster design, and I am quite a fan of this. I think its interesting to use contemporary, modified versions of such ancient letterforms. I wanted to be as playful as I could with the actual type and the words being used. One of my favourite phrases around at the moment is 'All black everything'. It can be applied to fashion and design, so I thought it would be interesting to use here as HORT produces a lot of identity/advertising for large fashion brands such as Nike. HORT is contemporary, and the use of blackletter typefaces is currently quite contemporary, so that was the logic behind the type decisions made.  

Final outcome:

OUGD502 - Taking Care of Business - Positioning our Business

Screeeeen's main areas of interest lay in creative art direction and graphic design. Each member of the business has a firm grounding within the field of contemporary visual communication, and each has their own specific area of interest and passion. Each member values traditional methods of production, in particular analogue printing methods including screen printing, mono printing and letterpress. We all share common skills in digital desktop design: we are interdisciplinary in our mentality and skill sets.

Screeeeen wouldn't necessarily confine its self within labels such as a 'digital design consultancy' or a 'graphic design studio'. We would position ourself as a 'creative consultancy' where the emphasis would be on the concept of the project and the materials, media's and processes used to carry a project right through to completion. We would aim to answer each and every brief in a conceptual way, continually striving to be original and true to each members values, opinions and ideas. Therefore, on every brief, each member would contribute to the design process, giving our portfolio of work breadth and variation in terms of style and aesthetic.

We understand that there are a number of design studios that exist in Leeds, the North, London and the UK in general at the moment who share similar mentalities and offer similar services to what we envision Screeeeen offering. However, we believe that our personalities and eclectic mix of backgrounds would make us stand-out in this ever increasingly crowded sector of the creative industries. Each member in the group has a very different idea of what art, design and visual communication is and can be, and when combined, I believe it would produce a distinct and stand out aesthetic that would come to define us as a brand.

Services we would offer to clients:

Art direction
Analogue solutions: print, letterpress, collage, illustration, painting
Poster, leaflet & promotional design
Campaign development/design
Editorial design
Photographic and Video
Identity and Branding