Study Task 6 - Sound

The Tale of a Rando - Marcus Maggnusson 


I think the sound used in this animation is really simple but super effective. The video uses one main sound/song throughout then layers up smaller more specific sounds in line with the animation. So far example, the cashiers hands as they are using the till make a certain sound which is layered over the ongoing song in the background. This happens multiple times throughout the video and helps to highlight important features throughout the animation.


One Year With Nerdo - Nerdo 


This compilation of short stings really uses sound to its advantage. Once again, the sound is relatively simple but perfectly lines up with each animation that is playing. I really like the combination of 'real life' sounds used alongside character and image (if that makes sense). I'm also learning that the timing of your sound and animation together is important in making sure everything flows together smoothly, if some of these sound effects weren't exactly in the right place, the animation wouldn't be as effective as it is.

Looking at sound has opened my eyes to a lot of different options and different ways of applying sound to my own moving images. I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do with it yet but I'm hoping to start looking at some copyright free soundtracks/sound effects soon to get my head around everything a little bit more.

Study Task 5 - Storyboarding

I found the storyboarding task really difficult to start with, I found it a lot different to when you use storyboards to explain/explore a narrative as those are just staying as still images. When using storyboards to explore movement and animation you really have to think about how things are entering/exiting the frame and how everything different aspect moves individually and as a whole piece.


Personally I feel as though some of these storyboards could be taken forwards with the skill set I have but when I think about my lack of confidence and skill using digital software, I feel that some of these ideas would be near impossible for me to complete. I think the best thing for me to do is keep it simple and not overcomplicate things for myself. Some of the animations I looked at before work best when the movement is minimal and quite straight forward, when executed right I think this could be a really effective way of animating.

Illustration Friday - Rock

I'm still really using Illustration Friday as an excuse to practice and enhance my digital skills. I wouldn't say I'm improving too much but I'm starting to get a feel for the software a bit more and can use new tools with a bit more confidence than I could before. This week's Illustration Friday word was Rock so I took this as an excuse to draw some runes on a weird little hand. 

Megacrit Feedback and Thoughts

I think the majority of the feedback I got from the megacrit at the end of term was largely positive in terms of my lino prints and how they're coming along. It was mentioned that some of them look a bit bare but this isn't too much of a concern to me at the minute as I'm still in the process of piecing things together and figuring out how to compose my final images. 

People also made reference to the pink and green tones I'd used for my screen prints and highlighted that these would work well incorporated into my existing prints. This has given me a clearer direction to go in in terms of colour. I was trying to choose between the two but I think the best way for me to make an informed decision is by mocking some things up on photoshop and experimenting with colour palette. 

One thing that I'm still really uncertain on is how I'm going to execute these prints. I feel like I've put a lot of time and effort into the lino prints and that they've printed quite well, but I also really like the textures and overall aesthetic created by monotype printing. I also think monotype printing lines up with my natural way of drawing where as lino printing is a lot more shape focused. Maybe there's a way that I can combine the two, I'd hate to see the lino prints go to waste completely so if I can bring some element of mono printing into these then I might be able to find a balance between the two. 

Large Scale Lino Prints

Two important things:
1 - These took a ridiculous amount of time to cut
2 - I didn't impale myself on a lino tool in the process (congrats to me)

All in  all I guess these turned out kind of okay! I'm really pleased with two in particular and think that after some tweaking all five designs could look pretty great as a set. I did mess up the bird on a mountain print a little, I think I'm going to have to try and sort that out on photoshop and if that doesn't go to plan it might be a case of receiving the lino and trying again with that one.

When I was printing I use the printing press for some of it and then hand burnished the rest of the prints. I really like the texture you get from hand burnishing lino prints, I think it just looks better than the flat black colour you get when using the printing press. If I develop these further I think I'd prefer to focus on the hand burnished prints and see how I can develop them rather than the others.

Still not sure whether I want to mono print or lino print for my finals, we'll see what get's said in the crit and then I'll have to make a decision.

Monotype Experiments

I've really enjoyed working with monotype, it's definitely a way of printmaking that I think runs parallel to my natural way of image making. I enjoy drawing, it's my go to way of creating an image, i'm not so into shape and stuff, I prefer line and marks and texture so for me monotype is a great way to try and replicate that. The only thing that's a bit annoying is that sometimes I'm not putting enough talc on the ink and once I've drawn everything out I'll pick the paper up and I'll have way too much ink on the image and the illustration just ends up getting lost.

At the minute I'm a bit stuck as to wether to continue down this route and see how I can make this work for me OR wether to play more with lino as aI also quite like the process of image making using that method of printing. There's also the option to try and combine both of these print methods together. I'm going to carve some larger pieces of lino and then try and make a decision afterwards.

Textures

I'm not really sure what i'm going to do with these textures yet, or if I'm going to use them at all but going down to the print room and experimenting with different ways of creating marks and textures was really interesting and taught me a lot about how you can start to bring depth into your image by using texture and marks. I'm going to keep these stored in a file and see if they come in handy for this project and if not then maybe they'd come in handy for something else, I think keeping a collection of marks, textures, shapes that have been printed/painted etc will be really useful because if i ever want to add something to an image that is looking a little flat then this might be the way to do it. 

The Grown Up Chocolate Company - Existing Packaging Analysis

The Grown Up Chocolate Companies current uses playful colours, bold typography, and black and white photography to portray their brand message and identity. The main colour used is usually a vibrant pink colour, and this is maintained across a lot of their product packaging and throughout their website. They also expand the colours on some of the packaging to reflect the chocolate bar that the packaging is for, for example salted caramel has caramel coloured type and fruit and not has a red/brown colour type. This is something we could possible touch on when looking at developing our own ideas for the personalised packaging. 

Alongside the typography and colour, the other most prominent part of the current branding is the black and white photographs of children pretending to be adults. This enhances the idea that the chocolates are not for children and that kids will do anything to get their hands on the product, including dressing up as adults. 

All in all, the current branding is quite simple, I think it stands out from other available brands as it uses a white background and bold, bright coloured typography where as a lot of other brand use richer colours such as purpler, red and gold. Even though the branding is simple, it still sits together well and works across a variety of formats which is important when creating a brand identity. I think one of the main challenges for us is going to be keeping our design cohesive with their current branding whilst still standing out from other submissions. 

The Grown Up Chocolate Company - Applied Illustration Packaging Research

Teavana 

The Teavana branding uses a strong cohesive colour palette and shaped based playful illustrations to create s strong brand identity, that perfectly suits their audience. The colours used here indicate a natural, clean tea, something that will be healthy for you and your body as well as being something that is a natural product. The illustrations applied to the packaging are shaped based, simple and playful with an effective use of the colour palette to pull together the different designs. 

Kallo

Kallo's branding and packaging is another example of how effective illustration and colour can be in provoking a natural, handmade feeling. The colours used throughout are muted, earthy tones which when applied to the off-white bag creates a handmade, natural image which links to the whole food ethics of the brand. The illustrations are once again simple and shape based, but have more of a handmade quality too them and almost resemble lino cut imagery which I think could be a strong point when looking at creating a more personal, home made feel. 

Folksgaga Liquor

Swedish distillery Folsgaga used popular folk talks from Sweden illustrated with bold, shape based imagery to appeal to a broader market whilst also maintaining their rich, nordic roots. Once again I think that the colours used really add to the imagery and I think as I go through this research I'm learning that a cohesive colour palette is important when creating a range of products. I also like how the wrap around label of the bottle has been slightly modified to represent mountains, which links to Sweden's mountainous landscape, little tweaks like this can be really affective and tie a branding together perfectly. 

Aroma Mediterranea

The Aroma Mediterranea soap packaging combines a clear, graphic aesthetic with hand rendered illustrations to create a professional yet hand finished product. Another strong point to this packaging is the opportunity to expand the illustrations off of the product, this is something we could look into when thinking about how to construct the Grown Up Chocolate Company's landing page and how we can use the illustrative aspect of our designs in a web based format. 

The Grown Up Chocolate Company - Competitor Research

Cadbury's 

Cadbury's is one of the largest confectionary distributors in the world, with a range of products including individual chocolate bars, gift sets, hot chocolate and personalised bars. Most recognisable from their rich purple wrapping and cursive typography, Cadbury's are a well established brand that stand out easily on shop shelves. 

Cadbury's option to personalise their chocolate bars is similar to the brief given by The Grown Up Chocolate Company so I think it's important to take note of how Cadbury's have made the personalisation option work for them. To start with their landing page for this feature is clear and legible, highlighting how the personalisation will make the product 'memorable' and displaying the different personalisation options to the left. The customer can then go on to a customisation page where they can choose the type, message, images and which product/product they want to personalise. They also have options to make your own hamper and choose what goes in it as well as personalised selection boxes where they can choose which chocolate bars are included in the box. 

Thorntons

Thorntons are another well known high-street brand that give off a more luxurious, high end feel in terms of their branding and packaging. Their branding uses rich red and gold tones which adds to the feel of luxury and again uses cursive text which also emphasises this luxurious image. They also offer a range of products and personalisation options. 

Thorntons personalisation option is different to Cadbury's in that rather than personalising the box and outer packaging, it's the actual chocolate that is personalised. You can choose to personalise your chocolate with text which is iced onto the product either online or in store. I feel like this is a really effective way of personalising a product but it doesn't line up with the brief that The Grown Up Chocolate Company have set, they are just personalising the wrappers for the bars. Ribbons are also included in the Thorntons packaging which suggests that you should buy their product as a gift. 

Lindt

Lindt definitely come across as a very high end brand, the royal blue, red and gold colours that are used along with the cursive type give a very high end feel. Lindt also emphasis that their products are made by hand by 'master chocolatiers', something else that also adds to the idea of luxury.
 

Lindt's packaging reflects the high end luxurious feel perfectly. They use a lot of gold and simple yet delicate illustrations to accompany the brand name on their packaging. Unlike the other two brands, Lindt don't have a personalisation option, or not that I can see anyway. They offer a range of different gifts and stand-alone products but in terms of the packaging it is usually quite simple but still effective due to their emphasis of luxury that is consistent throughout their branding. Lindt are also well known for their chocolate bears and reindeers that are wrapped in gold foil and each have a red ribbon around their neck and a little bell. 

Stressed and Confused (as usual)

I think I'm having a small crisis. I'm not really sure how i want to print my final images and I feel like I've fallen behind bit. I'm really struggling to juggle uni and having a part time job at the minute and i feel like it's affecting the amount and quality of work I'm able to produce. Added to that my time plan has kind of gone to shit, I was planning on getting my images printed and done by the week after we split up for christmas but the print rooms shut now so I'm going to have to wait till after christmas to get those done. And then there's the whole animation brief that I still haven't started.

I think until we break up for christmas I'm just going to try and get as much printing done as I possibly can this week, experiment with textures and lino, and possibly have a look into doing some more screen printing towards the end of the week. That way I'll be able to scan a load of stuff in and then I'll have something to be working with over christmas. Also I want to buy some big square sheets of lino this week and get them carved, hopefully buy the end of next week. The animation brief is just going to have to be put on hold until christmas break while I try and organise myself.

More Lino Experiments

I had a go at printing some lino at home the other day, they didn't really turn out too well though. I'm not sure why but whenever I try and print at home the print doesn't turn out too well, there's always bits and pieces that didn't print but sometimes it can create some funky textures like in the images above. I also printed a few over motifs and textures just to see how things would look. I'm not really sure if I'll take these any further though, I could really do with getting some big squares of lino and start working in a larger scale rather than just an a4/a5 sheets of lino.