Authorship: Presentation

RSA: Overview & reflection

This was my first ever study-oriented design project and the process is one that I learnt a lot from.

As royal mail always issues stamps that explore current and important topics, the energy crisis seemed to fit the part. 

We are all very concerned about the energy issue and the government has done its bit with awareness campaigns and so on, but it was essential for the stamps to address this as well. This would bring attention to the issue in the hope that almost everyone would see them and respond. Moreover, designing a stamp can prove to be quite a challenge with its constraint of space. Energy being an issue, which I feel passionately about teamed with designing, was the perfect combination to take on the task

Trying to convey two ideas - alternative energy resources and energy conservation seemed to be too large a topic to design on one stamp thus, I focused on energy conservation. I started intensive research on the ways we can conserve energy, what are its quantitative benefits, different organizations involved in this and what difference does it make to our environment in numbers. The idea of ‘awareness and you’ played an important role in the development of my design.

The main idea was - If every individual is aware about the energy crisis, chances are they will take measures to correct their own wastage of energy. I wanted the communication to be simple, graphic, illustrative, bright, bold, have type and convey an instant and easy to understand message. If I managed to incorporate most, if not all of these to my stamps then people would notice it and not ignore it like any other stamp. I started sketching symbols, type, colors, and played around with words and fonts to see what I would get. After a lot of sketching the type based concept seemed to work.

Conserving energy is an issue, which should be made easily accessible and identifiable to every citizen of the UK. People should feel connected to the issue and not think of it as something others have to deal with.

As I was designing stamps on the energy issue, it was important for the stamps to be eco friendly as well for which it was essential to speak to printers. Thus, I spoke to Walsall Security Printers and Tullis Russell coaters, who print and coat stamp paper respectively. Walsall said there wasn’t an entirely eco friendly way to print stamps, but they were investigating into the issue. Tullis Russell said they were coming out with an eco range of stamp paper very soon and asked me to look into inks that were used for printing the stamps. So all in all, there might be eco friendly stamps in the near future but as of now we have to make do with the existing ones.

Once I had my design developed, playing with type, color and the symbols I decided to show and test my ideas with people around me from both design and non-design backgrounds. These involved classmates, friends, family and a lot of strangers. They all seemed to understand the idea and most of them were curious about a few stamp ideas and wanted to know more. One even asked me to give them the links of organizations that are involved in this issue! Though one friend said that my idea was too straightforward and maybe I should try a more subtle approach. I mulled over that point only to conclude that it would not be my idea anymore.

After the stamps were done, I had to carry forward the same style of communication for my package and website design. That was the toughest task. And I think I did a very average job of it. Maybe it was the rush I finished it in, but in retrospect I could have done a much better designed job. This was my biggest drawback in the project and after this I realized that I needed to spend much more time sketching than I do now. Although I’ve not done extensive research before for a project, doing so was very easy for this one owing to the mind map I was forced to make (and which was up on my wall the entire 2 months!). It helped me get my stream of consciousness on paper and organize my ideas and find my direction. I love my stamps, and would not like to change anything about them. But the supplementary material could do with a make over.

I learnt..

Trusting my instincts

Feedback is essential for me

Following my design/research system is the only way to design

Enjoy your project – otherwise don’t do it!

word count 756

Authorship: Collection idea

Topic
Perfume bottles: commercial aesthetics?


Idea
My interest in perfume bottles extended into the aesthetic value of it. From being a luxury item and each bottle one of its kind, perfume bottles have become commercial items and succumbed to the pressure of mass production, losing its exclusivity.


Objective

• To re-trace the history of perfume bottles - its growth and progression from the clay jars to fancy glass bottles
• To show it’s unpleasant commercial form today
• To revive interest in the culture of possessing perfume bottles
• To highlight that we should not get caught in the commercial web of their production

RSA: 100words

RSA postage stamps
eco stamps/energy conservation

my BIG idea

Everyone is concerned about the perilous state of our planet, but very few know what to do about it. The Eco stamps attempt to solve this problem by making people associate energy conservation with their daily life.

Without realizing, we consume wasteful amounts of energy in our daily activities adding further damage to the already unstable environment.

The stamps feature six major ideas on energy conservation and carry a website address which gives further information on the issue.

Awareness linked with action can make a massive difference, but this is only the first step.


word count 94

RSA: My final project & presentation boards

RSA: Package & website..

RSA: My stamps..

Alan Aldridge @ the Design Museum

I did a little research on Alan Aldridge before I went to exhibition.. the resources and images I found online did not do justice to what I witnessed. Nor do they do justice to the brilliance he is capable of.

The space left me mesmerized.

Talented, gifted and extremely intelligent - Alan Aldridge is my new idol and I am in complete awe of him.

I don't like all his works obviously. But I love his unique sense of style, his attention to detail (and how!), his colours, his fantastic graphic cartoons, his process.. the list is endless. We're lucky to see a man of this calibre in our lifetime.

The space was done up exactly to suit his style of work.. larger than life and filled with colour.. it was cluttered yet had its own sense of style.

As he himself stated in an interview that this space showed only a fraction of what he is capable of..

We can map his growth by looking at his sketches.. when you thought he was really good.. the next one just showed him even better. And this never stopped!

What makes him so special is his unique style of working no matter which project he works on. You can easily identify a piece of work done by him.. (obviously if you've seen enough of it)

Although his style is the same everywhere - his work is full of variety. There's album covers, cartoons, fantasy creatures, children's book cover, music videos, psychedelic.. To be able to incorporate his style so effortlessly in each category is truly a brilliant mind.

Every time you look at his work.. you see something absolutely new.

His work is magnetic.. you can't not be pulled in.

Some that I like:

Incubus - Dig (Illustrated by Alan Aldridge)

Images taken from : Alan Aldridge's website
See: Alan Aldridge @ the Design Museum

V&A: Cold War Modern

As unprofessional as it may sound, the best of way of going for an exhibition is totally unprepared.. and let it draw you in.

That's exactly what happened when I visited the Cold War exhibit at the V&A. The exhibition left me amazed..

Art and design seemed to flourish after the Second World War till the 70s. It's amazing how the artists and designers at that time had no boundaries to their thinking. Nothing limited them.. no material no thought. They were free in the truest sense of the word to explore, experiment and create.

Right from chairs to lights to buildings, it was evident that the whole world was going through a transition - mentally and physically. It fascinates me to know that the designs they created in that period are ones we still use today. The chairs that were created are still sold in some of the most high-end furniture stores around the world.

We have taken so much inspiration, unknowingly, from this period.

People at this time were so innovative, and they were allowed to be so as they did not have to worry about the environment and resources - there was no scarcity like we have today.

The most important thing to learn and take away from the exhibition would be their freedom of design. Let us not limit ourselves, let us be future thinkers, let us explore and innovate..

Some innovations/ideas I really liked:

Cornuta' coffee machine, model 47
Gio Ponti (1891–1975). Italy, 1947–8

Globe chair
Eero Aarnio (born 1932). Finland, designed 1962–5, manufactured 1966

Oasis No. 7

See: V&A, Cold War Modern Exhibition

100words almost..

Outline and objectives
•To make people aware about the energy issue
•And associate it with everyday life

What your concepts will do and promote
•It would highlight the fact that we are all responsible for the perilous and deplorable state our planet is in
•And encourage people to make the necessary changes in their daily lives to conserve energy

The target audience
Every Briton who uses stamps - people from all ages groups and social backgrounds

How you want the target audience to react
•To realize that energy isn’t a global problem for the government to deal with anymore. It directly involves every single human being
•To realize that ‘we’ consume a wasteful amount of energy every day and that only ‘we’ can make a difference

The design elements
Stamps and stationery

The visual style - personality and tone of voice
•The design will be simple with a symbol and type to support
•Using bright colours and illustrative design
•Very contemporary and bold
•Cheerful, attractive and direct

Schedule to meet deadlines
•10-16 November – sketch and choose the final idea
•17-23 November - Finish final design and proof. Start work on presentation pack & stationery design
•24-30 November - Finish stationery design and presentation pack. Start A3 presentation boards
•1-5 December - Finish A3 boards and buffer time for last minute changes and delayed previous deadlines

Design exercise

This task helped me clearly write down my idea in simple words, and I feel like I have my idea neatly described to keep as a reference point till the end of my project.

I will probably use this exercise for all my projects henceforth.

RSA: Mind map extended..

Feels like I have reached my main idea - Awareness and You.

So I decided to extend my mind map, as it helped me a LOT previously to go ahead with my project. The extension has ideas on design as well as a 'to do' list. It will further encompass my ideas on presentation, design as well as printing and any other issues I will have to address, hence the blank space.

The previously built map has some changes, areas I have finished looking at have been crossed out and a few additions made.

RSA: Organizations contacted..

So far the list we have contacted..

Printers:

1. Walsall Security Printers
2. De La Rue Printers
3. Cartor Printing

Design studios:

1. Atelier Works
2. Workroom
3. CDT

Of these only Walsall has replied and been very helpful at that.
See Aurora's update:
http://algodiferentedesigns.blogspot.com/2008/11/printing-eco-friendly-stamps-is-it.html

The lady who we spoke to also gave us some very helpful links.

Paper Manufacturer

1. Tullis Russel

Have e-mailed them and hoping for a reply.

Universal Postal Union: http://www.upu.int/index.html
Being a non-political organization, they address a variety of issues with regard to sustainable development, quality of postal service, environmental issues and the like.

The fact that they (Walsall) have been trying to be more eco-friendly in their stamp production, says that there is an effort. Maybe technology today is not sufficient to develop very hi-tech eco-friendly printing.

We were also told that even though the production may be eco-friendly, transport of the stamps wasn't. But I guess if you're saving a lot in one place, it's a start.

Moreover, using minimal ink in the printing is an excellent idea when designing the stamps.

Thus, have a better idea and insight into the printing process of stamps, though we are trying to get a more detailed version. This would help in my designing process as well.

RSA: Reaching my idea..

The first idea I came up with was to use symbols in my stamp design to represent alternate energy sources. But on further reading about this I felt very disconnected from the topic entirely. It was too large, too global and there was nothing I could do about it. Like I was almost helpless.

And anyway two points of focus just seemed wrong and impossible to accomplish (alternate energy sources AND energy conservation). I had to choose one.

Thus on reading (including Natalia's blog which helped a LOT, thanks Natka!) and more research I decided to look more local.

Local would mean how WE consume energy and how WE can conserve it. So although it is very often and too many a times frivolously used, I came up with the idea that it's the little things that make the big difference.

So I figured if we ALL start conserving in our daily life, if every single individual was aware about the energy issue and that even a small contribution helps, overall it would have a really big impact.

Thus I'm focusing on YOU. That is every single person because we ALL use energy, and it is our responsibility as human beings to make sure we don't exploit it.

Am yet to reach my visual idea.. but I think I am reaching somewhere as opposed to being lost in the sea of thought last week.

RSA: Energy Hall visit

The Energy Hall at the Science Museum was an interactive space filled with energy related games, mainly for children but a lot of adults including myself were participating.

There wasn't as much learning as I expected, but there were facts put up on the walls and in the space which were simple and one that everyone would stop to read.

While owing to research, I already knew half the facts, it was still important for me to photograph and keep them.

RSA: Plasticity exhibition

Essentially the exhibition at the Science Museum was about Plastic and it's origin and different forms that have evolved to exist today.

The most interesting aspect about the exhibition was it's layout. Filled with ceiling high plastic floating bright red panels, made it very inviting and of course attractive. Which I think is an extremely important aspect of any display. Not to forget the upside down world, with tables and chairs fixed to the ceiling.

Although some facts were too detailed for my understanding, what I did like is how simply it was explained on little cards alongside the display. It was very fascinating to see the different uses of plastic and how much we use it.

The pen chandelier, if I may call it that, was the most interesting. Even though we all know pens are made of plastic, it's an invisible fact to us.

Bags, shoes, dentures, trash bins, chairs, tables, lipstick packaging.. the list is endless - all that is made of plastic. Plastic has countless uses.. without it, it seems as though our life would cease to function normally!

At the end of it, the question we must ask our selves is that despite knowing how harmful plastic is for our environment, we have habitually become accustomed to it to the extent that it's existence has been almost invisible up until there was a global scream about going green - is it fair to our environment? As human beings is not our responsibility to protect the Earth?

With these issues, I gained an insight into the vast world of plastic and our ignorance of it as well. This helped me narrow down in my head, the idea of awareness.