Type Patterns

On Illustrator I played around with the technique of using letters to make up patterns where the letters are no longer recognisable. I used fonts downloaded from Dafont as well as existing ones from Illustrator.

I then made some patterns out of my type patterns.

Expressive Words

I first brainstormed lots of words that came to my mind so that I could pick a final 5 that I felt I could design some expressive words with.

I chose more than 5 because as I was designing them I found I didn't like some of them as well as coming up with some ideas for different words.

I then took a few of my designs on to Illustrator where I played around with the different possibilities for each word until I reached a final outcome for each word.

Recipe Infographic

Recipe Infographic Mood Board

Before deciding on my recipe I decided to research the task where I came across these recipe infographics. I really like the illustrated ones so I would like to try out that style for my own. I do find some of them a little too busy and confusing so when looking for a recipe I want to choose a relatively easy one with only a few steps.

Chosen Recipe: American Pancakes

I found this American pancake recipe on pinterest and I chose it because it is a popular food and also has quick and easy steps so I won't have too much information to have on a page. I chose this recipe specifically because it is based on the IHOP (American breakfast diner) pancakes which are delicious.

Pancake Research & Personal Comments

Mood Boards:

Before I started designing I made some mood boards for each of the ingredients to get my brain thinking about what I could do for my infographic. As I was typing out each ingredient the idea of periodic table elements came to my mind so I started to play around with how the ingredient would

look as an element.

Recipe Initial Sketches:

I had decided on the periodic table elements and science equipment theme I started to sketch out some objects that I could use in my recipe infographic.

Recipe Final Layout Sketches:

I then sketched out a basic layout for how I would have the recipe. I tried to keep it as simple as possible by having basic 2D science equipment as the mixing bowls.

Development

Final Recipe Infographic:

Festival Posters

Here is an explanation for my choice of festival

Research (Mood Boards, Analysis, Examples...etc.)

Here are some examples of some existing jazz festival posters to give me a sense of the conventions of a typical poster and some inspiration as to the colour schemes and imagery that I could use in my own design.

I then analysed my favourite 12 posters on what I liked, disliked and wanted to use from each poster.

Here are some visuals of Jazz instruments and musicians for me to take inspiration from. I particularly like the silhouette style images as they add mystery and look bold and therefore leave an impact. I do also like the idea of using old photography as it drive interest to find out more about the jazz genre and it's story behind the music.

San Francisco is my favourite place in the world so looking to these beautiful images for inspiration has really got me thinking about how I can incorporate the city into my poster design. There are a lot of iconic sights and elements to San Francisco (Golden Gate Bridge, Cable Cars, Lombard Street...etc) so using them will be very helpful to the reader to know where the festival will be.

These are some visuals I found where designers have used the word Jazz in different ways and out of different materials. It has helped me to visualise how I could design my type poster in an interesting way. I particularly like the one in the bottom right corner as it is interesting to look at while still putting across the genre and message.

Here are some visuals which really inspire me in my graphic design style as I like using bright colours and the illustrative style as you can put a lot of character into your design. Also I like using outlines or silhouettes of objects as they become more bold and striking. I like the collage style as well as you can combine lots of similar visuals to put across one message.

Here are the key colours I associate with jazz music after looking through my mood board. I think the blues are an obvious colour scheme for jazz as it is the most commonly associated as well as jazz music often being called 'blues music'. However, I think these purples, reds and pinks can also show the soul and genre of jazz music as they are warm and passionate colours which jazz music is about.

Here are some graphic design styles I really like and would like to take inspiration from for my Jazz Festival posters. I have also analysed each piece...

Here is an analysis of some posters that have used a monochromic colour scheme using shades of blue. 

Initial Sketch Designs & Ideas

I sketched out some visuals I associated with my San Francisco Jazz Festival to start me thinking about my designs

I then tried out some type in the word JAZZ but I think I'll need to think a lot more outside the box for my typographic festival poster as I don't think these would attract my target audience.

These are my initial jazz festival poster ideas. I really like the idea of using San Francisco as a key aspect of the poster as it has a lot of character and soul to it and so does jazz music so I think my target audience would connect to that.

Developing Poster Designs On Screen

I started out by drawing out some jazz instruments and San Francisco visuals in vector form in Adobe Illustrator. These have helped me to start thinking about how I can use instruments and San Francisco in my posters.

I then played around with incorporating instruments and san francisco together and also making the golden gate bridge out of the name of the festival. I think these ideas have for me thinking outside the box but these ideas aren't as bold or eye-catching for the poster to attract people to it.

I developed my cable car vector as I wanted to go with these sketches with jazz musicians playing on the famous San Francisco cable cars.

I quickly made up some rough jazz musician silhouettes just to see what the idea would look like

I set out the poster how I had sketched it but it didn't look as good as I had thought so I then tried just one musician and making the cable car opaque again. I think it has improved but it just doesn't leave enough of an impact and so it wouldn't make people want to go to the festival.

I tried out the lombard street idea where the greenery from lombard street is made out of musical notes in different shades of green. I think this makes quite an impact as the different shades of green of the music notes attract your eye but I don't think it is clear enough that it is Lombard street so it wouldn't make sense to everyone.

Development of First Poster - Visual Festival Poster

I took the silhouette of a cable car and took inspiration from this type poster to put together this poster that could also be inspired by Saul Bass.

The diagonal lines also show the San Francisco hills that cable cars go up and down on.  I put it in the bright orange to show tribute to the Golden Gate bridge. I then added a white shadow to each element of the poster to give it some perspective.

I changed the background colour to blue to fit more with the jazz genre as blue links better to it so my target audience would connect to this poster more. I think it's missing some aesthetics so I moved the graphic down to make space for a city scene.

I put in this city scene silhouette behind the cable car to make it look more realistic. I then added a second city scene to add even more depth.

I then put a drop shadow effect on the city scene, cable car and hill to end up with a 3D looking poster which I think would really grab my target audiences eye.

I didn't think my type fitted the purpose of Jazz festival and also I wanted to make up my own. So I experimented with a few on paper and on screen. I went with the Saul Bass inspired font as it has a 'jazzy' feel to it so I think my target audience of jazz music fans would connect to it more thank my previous font.

I tried out some new, wackier layout ideas but I think it's a bit too mad and needs toning back so that it doesn't overwhelm the audience.

Final Poster - Visual Festival Poster

I tried the new font in white with a black shadow and black with a white shadow but I think the black fits best with the rest of the poster best or there are too many colours on the poster.

So here is the final Jazz festival poster...

I think this will be the visual poster as it is the visuals that are more eye-catching and also the type isn't unique enough so I would like to try a new idea where the aspect of San Francisco is not included on the poster as this poster was centred totally around that feature.

Development of Second Poster - Typographic Festival Poster

I made up the word 'JAZZ' out of musical instruments and notes so I think my target audience would find this appealing as it uses direct links to jazz and it's quite quirky.

So I then brought in the piano I had made in Illustrator and laid my type over the top. I made the part of the type which isn't on the piano, black, for a practical way so that it could be seen and also for a creative reason as I think it looks funky and would attract the eye.

I also tried the poster design in some different colours from my colour scheme mood board. I think they're very eye catching but I don't feel they go with the slick look that jazz music has so I'm going to stick with the black and white. Trying out these looks has helped me to keep thinking about the look of the poster as colour is almost as important as the actual design and it can make or break the final look.

Second Final Poster - Typographic Festival Poster

I added the names of the acts I would like to perform at the festival to persuade people to want to come if their favourites are on the poster. So this is my final typographic jazz festival poster.