In-house assets compiled to communicate to German Lycamobile customers usually placed in newsagent shop windows
I compiled a multitude of effects into this Background all attributing to different experiences recently endeavored and also through some knowledge gained in a stellar tour given to me by a close friend. By warping starfield planes, using different overlays to enhance this stellar-scape and somehow find a way to integrate the content with the background. This case a futuristic HUD vector illustration perhaps controlling some futuristic spaceship or interface I hope not only utilises the empty space but also sits outside the frame of the margin to further this effect of a kind of terminator or predator UI.
Recent artwork produced for Lycamobile South Africa. Using the current print-artworks as a bridge to the new concept (previous post) so the transition is incremental and not so unrecogniseable as Lycamobile to the customer. By seeing the posters everyday it is tempting to want to change the designs too often. From the perspective of an in-house designer t seems like the brand is evolving from one week to another yet from the customer’s perspective it may seem very inconsistent and sporadic (due to the frequency of exposure). In order to overcome this, we have sought to maintain the consistency through the branding elements I.e. Header with brandmark, this at least shows we are still the same company known to the customer. Without consistency, the brand becomes diluted and weak, with no personality or tone of voice. This s why most brands opt for the agency approach, whereby one consistent look and feel through copy, design and colours is carefully selected in order to reflect the target audiences’ needs and wants as well as the strategic positioning of the business. This design is then built upon (evolved) very gradually over the course of time so as not to stagnate and become old. As I have shown with the post sighting Doyald Young’s Prudential re-branding even the leading on the character of the word mark can effect how it is read and therefore the vibrancy/fluidity of the brand. By maintaining this style throughout all advertising and collateral we can make sure that the customer is building a relationship of trust with the business (represented by the brand) and doesn’t get confused with greatly varying styles, fonts, colours etc. This will only lead to brand confusion and a dilution of the desired response.
Recent poster created using Data-Merge fields and CSV sheet (fig.1)
Fig.1 CSV Data set
Usually purposed for books or large publicaions, Data merge allows referencing of CSV values in order to populate specific fields/boxes within the poster/artwork.
Benefits of this include:
Automatic transposition of other data sets used internally
Remove possibility of typos
Swift and accurate switching up of data fields
Allows designers to focus on design aspects rather than re-typing information
Automatic, multi variant publication from templates generating different values in each export (automatically)
In order to reveal the Data-Merge window, navigate to Top Bar Menu > Window > Utilities > Data Merge. From here it is clearly explained how to populate/import each field from a CSV/TXT file editable in Microsoft Excel software.
Whilst looking at Google’s new “Dark Theme” for Android’s latest installment (Android Pie) I noticed one of the icons looking almost too balanced to be an artist’s rendition (too perfect if you will). On closer inspection I realised that all the lines are separated by proportions found in nature’s golden-ratio. Whether this was intentional or not, by overlaying the box below, I was able to identify the use of the golden ratio.
Google Material is an excellent place to learn about Google design implementation and also the reasoning behind each design choice. When we can see the mathematical formula for beauty coming to light in their resources it proves they are still the world leader in user-interface (UI) and user-experience design (UX).
Image showing the golden ratio in it’s simplest form
:: Future development :: look at other ways of using golden ratio area formatting in 2D and possibly 3D. also when thinking on a grander scale one could draw parallels between cell division proportions and growing patterns found in all living things but more apparent in simple single celled organisms. like corals (formed by a type of algae).
Above marketing campaign for Poland highlighting roll-over data using the geometric correlation to form the sometimes overwhelming myriad of bundles. By using the beehive like structure we can structure the hierarchy of information in different ways. When the correlated objects form a different entity on the composition.
Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2 artwork
Having played Geometry wars with a friend not so long ago, I could not attribute some of the background in the poster to the mesh like structure built into Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 on Microsift Xbox. This amazing warping effect of gravitational fields really do give the impression-n of depth that can really give clues to the rest of the composition in a stunning array (simply joined by longitude and latitude) By transposing the simplest points within the wave patterns we can join the dots to see the real root cause. Perhaps this could be the way we know what caused the big Bang! BOOM, but you would have to appreciate the nature of our position in the galaxy the . :: Future Development :: Learn about the gravitational/magnetic fields demonstrated in the Geometry Wars background mesh grid and whether use of animation techniques or mathematical (perhaps quantum?) fields are generated.
Charles Williams – Spotify
Prior to finalising the block-busting design, I had the idea to recreate a style similar to the above in order to give maximum impact/appeal. This unique style has been developed by Charles Williams of Made Up Studio (based in East London). I really like the aesthetic generated in this image using only 3-4 colours. It’s also quite similar to the sky mobile roll-over concept we looked at during the market research phase of the project (shown below):
Sky Mobile Agency – Original concept by Venturethree
Update: Rarely am I using photoshop slices these days since the emphasis on use of artboards in the newest version of Adobe CC is far easier to use and intended for this purpose. Below is an icon set I recently designed to represent the different product features. As you can see, naming and exporting each design in multiple formats in parallel is a much cleaner way of creating multiple formats easily and whereby one can still use the SmartObjects feature to the same effect (across the different artboards). By accessing two useful features in Photoshop I have managed to create a rapid response artwork variant generator which can export all defined slices in one process. Below shows a screenshot taken from this process:
The slice feature was originally designed to create website segments (to fit around text) prior to HTML 2.0 and CSS techniques superseeding slices. The slice tool is not left completely redundant however, as I have repurposed it in the following method.
Often my job requires rapid generation of campaigns to react to the market/price changes. This template will allow the vector objects held within each slice to update automatically from a linked .psb file. Essentially photoshop is creating windows/i-frames to another canvas that when updated reflects in the multi-variant file for different formats and channel media alike.
Another instance of working with this time “Artboards” making production of variants incredibly easy
Below is a screenshot V.1. of the template (however exports appear as the pre-determined slice names in an output file. You can see the potential of switching up the lead image very easily, automatically resizing to all of the different formats required for a digital campaign. Another really nice organisation feature is the ability to define the dimensions and output name per slice (see below).
Lycawifi is a white-label product allowing customers to use a global hotspot network with over 60 million access points worldwide. I was happy to be assigned this project across all channels as when I found out about it I was very impressed with the offering from Lycamobile.
This addition to services is an important step in adapting to a dwindling Telecommunications market. However, the value added is a very shrewd movement towards what I believe will be the future of the market in years to come. I.e. Mesh networking powered by user enabled devices.
I tried to keep the image on brand and as simple as possible whilst generating the interest in the new feature added to existing products. In order to do this I used as much imagery to identify what the product actually is instantaneously recogniseable to the customer. E.g. The WiFi logo on a phone screen (denoting that the advertisement is for an app).
I recently viewed a Lynda video following the work of Doyald Young, a logotype designer specialising in the area of pencil drawn calligraphy. The documentary touched on some of his work including the redraw of the Prudential logotype (below). Fine adjustments made to character tracking I.e. The distance bettween letters improve upon readability and give a new zest to the way the wordmark is read (from left to right) this can also be aligned with brand and tone of voice to give better coherence throughout a company both internally and externally, a brand is more often than not, the greatest and most valuable asset of any company.
An interesting marketing experiment made for the Portuguese travel-SIM market in Portugal.This was one of the more challenging cutter guides created to show the advert in the form of a 1:1 sized phone that the customer can pick up in his hands to see product information and exchange at the checkout for the actual handset!
