Throughout my project, I have been looking into the rebrand
of Weston Super Mare in order to modernise the current Victorian seaside resort
image. I started off with my aleatory project, which introduced me to an artist
called Steven Jones, allowing me to explore a range of warm pigments in order
to represent Weston as warm and friendly. I have used the composition from my
Aleatory project, which has been applied to my poster; I concluded that it is
the most successful viewpoint of Weston due to how it shows the consumer the
three settings of the town (seaside, urban and countryside), which contrasts
with the original seaside imagery that is advertised onto postcards; I wanted
to expose the town for all its charm and features and encourage consumers to
explore to town beyond its seafront. A student’s work named ‘Joanna Ellams’
inspired me to take an abstract approach towards my project, which later
transformed into focussing onto the shapes used in Weston’s architecture (Art
Deco). The photography around Weston inspired me to focus on promoting the inner
centre of the town because I found that most of Weston’s attractions are
located within the centre, and I was shocked to see that the centre was see
large, giving day visitors more variety to choose from. Kandinsky’s work
inspired me to think about how I was applying the semiotic theory within my
work, which lead my onto exploring the psychological side of colour and
typography and how they can both be interpreted. As I confirmed that I wanted o
create a logo for the brand, I came across the Landor studio in Sydney, which provided
me with a strategic plan to consider for branding. Additionally, it also
inspired me to create iconic lettering for my brand because I liked how they
brought personality to the cities, making the consumer feel engaged and
strongly connected. I started exploring my iconic symbols and later concluded
that I should create my own typography closely linked with the Art Deco
movement, illustrating the town’s architecture and the modernisation process. Rodolfo
Reyes also inspired my work because he also focuses on the Art Deco style, which
allowed me to explore a range of typography and see how I could use a similar
style within my imagery (poster). Once I had completed my logo, I used the
Anderson design group to inspire the medium of my poster because I liked the
pigment of the oil paint how it can make a specific location look and feel
vibrant, and I thought this would introduce a warming and exhilarating
atmosphere to Weston in order to attract more young people to the town. Thus group
also inspired me to improve the aesthetics of my poster through Photoshop, which
created stronger contrasts and cleaner lines, making the imagery feel modern. As
for my brochure, Kazem Hakimi inspired me to take a photo for each identity
that the town contains, which was very effective because it allowed me to promote
all the features of the town and it acts as a strong persuasion for consumers;
it acts a list of reasons why the consumers should visit the town, and this
also allows the imagery within my brochure to be diverse, making it more
dynamic to go through. Bartosz Kwiecien inspired the layout of my brochure as I
was very keen to link my work with the Art Deco theme, so I decided to explore
the different ways that Hakimi shaped his photos in order to make his work more
dynamic and modern. And Mattson Creative inspired the background and medium of
my brochure design because I liked how the medium created a sense of rhythm and
the way it created tension through high contrast. I also thought this medium
was most appropriate because it blends colours very easily, which enabled me to
produce a smooth gradient. I limited my colour palette to different shades of
blue in order to suit the logo design and to create consistency and rhythm
within my design. I also thought that this was effective as the design was
closely linked with the water feature within Weston Super Mare, conveying the rural
side of Weston and maintaining the tradition of Weston.
I
think I was successful with the context I have collected because I have used a
variety of designers and artists in order to develop my ideas throughout the
project.
I
have been successful with my research because I have made sure to use different
methods such as galleries, books, websites and surveys. At first, when I
collected my results for my survey, I noticed that most of the people were aged
17- 25, which was due to the fact that I had posted my survey onto Facebook. I had
collected more results by asking older people from the conservative club (where
I work) to fill in my survey, which I had added to the results I had previously
collected; it is important to make the results diverse because young people do
different activities within the town, so they might have different views to an
older person. I had managed to create a timeline of Weston by collecting
information from a variety of secondary resources, which allowed me to double
click whether the information was accurate and whether there were any details
that were being missed. This allowed me to gain more information on how the
town has developed and gave me more understanding on what made Weston develop
from a small village into a town. This
timeline and survey inspired me to put more research into the statistics of
Weston in order to confirm whether the town was safe and whether the town
deserves to have its reputation for having ‘druggies’ and ‘homeless people’;
collecting this information allows me to see how I would be able to represent
the town and promote it without going against the brand promise. I had also
used my research to inspire how I was going to promote my rebrand in order to
suit the current trends, which will allow me to engage more with the consumers.
I was
planning on creating a website in addition to the promotional products,
brochure and poster I had already created, however, I decided to proceed with
this concept because I had given myself too much to do and I wasn’t prepared
for the time that was wasted during the production of my display; I only gave
myself one week to finish my display and didn’t realise that I would need to
remove all my current work from the shelves as well as moving studios. Luckily,
I was able to adapt to my environment because I was trying to finish my oil
painting during this time, which gave me less space to work in and I used a
chair to hold all my paints since all the tables were being moved out the
studios. I had created a detailed plan in the middle of my project, which was
followed carefully, however, I also found that I was revisiting my work as I was
starting other pieces of work, which was frustrating since I felt very
unorganised. However, this allowed me to have a fresh perspective on mu work
and made it easier to improve any mistakes I had made.
I
have been able to explore my ideas effectively and explore the different
pathways that I could go through in order to rebrand Weston Super Mare,
however, my exploration on medium was very limited because of the amount of
work I had given myself. However, the mediums I have used links with the
designers I have researched, demonstrating that I have adapted my work to my
research. I have demonstrated that I am able to use InDesign, Fireworks and
Photoshop software efficiently, which I used in order to edit my poster,
brochure and logo. I have also shown that I am able to use a mixture of
traditional and modern techniques when I used fireworks in order to improve the
aesthetics of m oil painting, which makes the final piece look more professional
and is suitable for public display and practical use.
During
the development of my project, I started off with detailed records of my
thoughts and ideas, however, as I started getting more practical with this
project, my annotation work fell behind which meant that I had a lot to catch
up on during the half-term holiday. My sketchbook isn’t as detailed as I would
have liked it to be, however, it does have consistency in narrative, which allows
me to keep track of what I have been doing and why.
I
have used and demonstrated a range of strategies such as mounting my work and
creating mock-ups in order to gain a visual idea on what my work will look like
on my display.
In order
to improve, I need to improve the way I plan my project and be consistent with
my annotation, which would make my project clearer to read. I have been
successful with my research and context, which have both been used in order to develop
my ideas.
