I'd never used InDesign until recently where we were given a tutorial in editorial design. We were given time to play around with creating our own editorial piece but being a newbie I found it difficult getting to grips with it in such a short time so I waited until I got home to have a good lengthy attempt at producing something. This is my attempt at a double-page editorial spread I knocked up which I don't think is too bad for a beginner. I'd just watched a documentary on The Godfather so with this fresh in my mind I based a piece on it. I came up with the idea of decreasing the kerning and spacing in the words 'close' and 'closer' which I feel works very effectively. After this I'm feeling more confident and keen to do more in InDesign!

A.P.C

 

I'm really liking the ad campaigns by French clothing brand A.P.C (founded 1988 by Tunisian-born Designer Jean Touitou). The brand is known for its minimalist designs and their clothing features clean lines and simple patterns. These two recent ads for their Spring Summer 2012 collection photographed by Venetia Scott are wonderfully intriguing. The use of the colour green implicates all things fresh about the Spring/Summer season which is a nice little touch. Their use of the upper-case Arial/Helvetica(?) central to the image is simple and shows no signs of trying to be something it's not. A.P.C have established this minimal style for their ads which I think is great because they focus on showing what a brand of their kind should be showing. Basically they are successful in creating informative promotional material that shows their clothes in a way that will attract potential shoppers in a very unpretentious but 'trendy' way.

NEVILLE BRODY

Currently working on an Editorial brief I chose to research the work of British Designer & Art Director Neville Brody; it's obvious why this guy is so praised because his style is so boldly distinctive. Probably my favourite work of his is what he contributes as Art Director for Mens' fashion quarterly Arena Homme+. These examples of heavy block capital serifs dominating the page, working wonderfully with fashion photography are extremely attractive. In my research I stated my opinion of which I find his work to be like an organised chaos - text composed in an array of positions and sizes, both overlapping and placed alongside images. I admire the fact that this style of type is probably quite un-conventional of a magazine editorial, but with Brody having a history of being an artist who has always wished to do things differently and to push boundaries he's created a completely new approach to editorial design, influencing many other magazines into considering different approaches and styles of their own.

PENGUIN

My illustration project sucked so I’m spending all weekend re-doing it even though what I handed in already got graded. The actual deadline for Penguin is Thursday the 19th of April. The brief was to illustrate a book cover for the publisher Penguin Books; the book being Ken Kesey’s classic One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest. This was my attempt at representing the story through an illustration, obviously focusing on it’s theme of mental health. I’m probably going to hate this version soon and re-do it but for now this will do.

AKIKO STEHRENBERGER

One of my favourite film posters which I've just discovered is the work of illustrator and art director Akiko Stehrenberger. I'd been aware of this poster for some time however I've only just learnt that what I always thought was an extreme close-up photograph of Funny Games star Naomi Watts is in fact a digital illustration. Mind = blown. Read a very interesting interview where the artist discusses this more in depth here. The image alone is striking, although what intrigues me most is the unusual placement and sizing of the typography. The use of text is quite minimal and unconventional of the typical film poster (usually along the top or bottom width), instead portrayed just above the centre of the image in uppercase bold Helvetica(?), appearing much more like a statement design piece than a promotional film poster.