OUGD602 - Left Bank Opera Festival 2018 submission

I recently submitted to a live brief which required me to create a promotional image for the Left Bank Opera Festival presented by The Northern Opera Group. The festival this year is focused on Asian opera and is concerned with showing the tension between east and west opera. The three productions on show will be Raymond Yiu’s ‘The Original Chinese Conjuror’, Gustav Holst’s ‘Savitri’ and Camille Saint-Saens’ ‘The Yellow Princess’. My response to the brief aims to showcase key factors derived from certain plays while celebrating characteristics of Asian opera which contrast heavily to western opera.

OUGD602 - Personal identity logotype ideas

From the off I wanted my identity to be a simple logotype which represents my style in subtle open manner. I generally lean towards sans serif typefaces with a geometric form when choosing typefaces to represent myself in presentations etc. Additionally, I consider using contemporary typefaces a key factor of my practice as I like to characterise work solely through the personality of a typeface. Therefore, when thinking about typefaces to represent me I wanted something niche. Something simple yet has distinctive features which can distinguish me amongst others. I whittled down sans serif options to Polar and Moderat, two geometric typefaces which are relatively similar in form but have some different characteristics such as the arm and apex.

Polar is a neutral and expressive typeface with characters such as A,R,P and N giving it dynamic contrast. It can be suitable for small and large scaled type so can be perfect for a logotype. The second option is Moderat, a contemporary sans serif typeface characterised by a combination of geometric shapes and some edgy accents. 

As I want to communicate myself as a humble and versatile designer, I thought of ways of communicating this through the typeface. The versatility is covered through the use of a geometric sans serif typeface. While for communicating humbleness, I decided to set the characters all in lowercase to come across more neutral and less shouty. The use of the full stop in between forename  and surname creates distinction.

From the options I decided upon Moderat by TIGHTYPE, as I feel the typeface can be utilised across more platforms and retain its style. Additionally, it can be used for logotype and body copy but I sensed Polar is too stylised for body copy, while Moderat is more neutral.

I purchased the desktop typeface from TIGHTYPE in regular size, therefore I am able to use the typeface at my own will. From here for additional development I kerned the type to be more compact  and increased the stroke width by 1pt to make it more unreserved.

OUGD602 - Personal identity inspiration

To allow me to think about ways in which to present myself, I looked at studios and designers I admire and ones I consider similar to my style and practice. From doing this it made me think how my identity can position me in industry and how it can be applied across multiple platforms.

Of what I looked at they are mainly type based logotypes characterised by geometric sans serif typefaces. Subtle and simple with no frills, yet very effective and no doubt will be high impact across both print and digital. 

OUGD602 - Initial personal identity ideas

Initial thoughts about identity are that I want it to be stripped back and consistent across both print and digital outcomes. However, I am approaching the identity with the backbone already designed which is my website. Therefore, the core of the identity and stationary will be heavily informed by the site and whatever I create for the identity must work well with the style of the site. In terms visuals at this early stage, I'm leaning towards a simple logotype to represent myself as I don't want to overdo my identity, as I believe designers shouldn't have a elaborate identity pinning them down to a particular style. Instead I think they should be simple and open, and this is what I aim to achieve.
I want to communicate myself as a humble and versatile designer, and this will be accomplished not only through design but also tone of voice and how I verbally present myself.

OUGD602 - Website update

Following feedback from Michael Place and a piece of advice I remember from Oshiro from The Elephant room during Creative Convos, I have decided to make a small addition to my website. Although receiving feedback and gaining advice have pushed me to make this change, I have been meaning to create a space for my unseen work for some time now. A platform for old work, work in progress and basically odds and ends of projects that don't see the light of day.

So to get onto what pushed me to do this. When Michael reviewed my site, he must have went onto the Instagram link to see my work on their. He remarked that I had some really interesting pieces on my Instagram and should find a way of including them somehow. Addtionally, when The Elephant Room gave us a talk back in February, Oshiro brought up about people hiding interesting work when they should let it shine. And a majority of the time the hidden work is more engaging than the perceived better portfolio pieces.

At first I though of creating a Tumblr, which would be separate to my site and would allow me to upload work like a scrapbook. However, I decided I may as well include it within my site but not as a major project/case study. Instead labelling it 'Miscellaneous' and adding random pieces in a completely different composition to the rest of the site to give an impression that it's a side thing rather than a polished piece. Almost like a sketchbook that'll allow people to see my personal work but in a more professional manner.