Sarah Carter - Graphic Design

2010-05-06T12:09:00.000-07:00

What’s the single biggest challenge holding design back as a key business strategy? Is the term “design thinking” what we should be using to explain the power of design to the C-suite?

Paula Scher:

The biggest thing holding design back as a key business strategy has nothing to do with "strategy" or "design." It has to do with various people within corporations and organizations making commitments and decisions about things that they really don't know how to decide about. It has to do with the inherent arbitrariness of certain decisions that always seem to boil down to personal taste.

Design can follow all sorts of strategies to appeal to all kinds of audiences. A business can use successful design as a tool to enhance their brand image to whomever, but sooner or later someone will have to make a decision and a financial commitment about what constitutes the "successful" design. Therein is the problem. In too many instances, I've seen a corporate executive abandon strategy and research because they just didn't like a color, or a shape, or a material, or a typeface. They just don't like what the thing looks like, or behaves like, regardless of the process and research that helped achieve it.

In the end, design strategy works for businesses when the ultimate decision maker likes the final design. Decision makers who like the final design generally have an ability to appreciate successful design when then see it, and are also capable of making decisions and taking risks. There are too few of these types out there, and I don't know how we make more of them.

2010-05-03T07:04:00.000-07:00

Everyone could do with a little bit of feel good vibes - so I'm really enjoying making this series of nice-sounding-looking-positiveness posters. Hm, that doesn't really make sense but you know what I mean. Oh and I'm using a version of Metroscript which is a lovely flowy, bouncy smiley nostalgic face. Pretty obsessed with it at the moment. Feels great to work with.

2010-05-02T09:22:00.000-07:00

Want these so badly. !

2010-05-02T04:34:00.000-07:00

Beautiful work from Wood McGrath - art direction, design and custom lettering for 'Lula' - an independent international fashion magazine (based in London). Elegant, light, clean and dreamy.

2010-04-25T02:48:00.000-07:00

Great Illustrations and typography from illustrator Andy Smith

2010-04-22T01:39:00.000-07:00

We Are the Friction...

A book of illustration and short fiction created by 12 pairs of international writers and illustrators.

by Singstatistics

2010-04-22T01:16:00.000-07:00

Creative Review Annual App...

The current May annual issue for CR is now released.... but if you have an Iphone/ipod touch, you can download an app that lets you slide through all the info and entries. Ooh er.

2010-04-21T09:17:00.000-07:00

My logo collection. Ahh *reminisces* . Hopefully it shall grow even more soon :)

2010-04-20T15:24:00.000-07:00

Another new project - brum based and inspired by a few posters I made a couple of years ago about New York.

2010-04-16T08:07:00.002-07:00

Amazing - New York ....and pixels - what more could you want?

2010-03-31T03:24:00.001-07:00

It's Nice That...

I'm waiting eagerly on the copy if Issue #3 to come through my letterbox... comes with an amazing print aswell.

2010-03-31T02:52:00.000-07:00

Creative review rebrand...

Really lovely elegant new layouts - there seems to be alot more space for the text and images to breathe. The images are bigger too and now work really well with more integrated type - with more emphaises on the flow through articles. Much more harmonious and light. Though, I wish they would get rid of those thin black lines that divide columns ...the space between is enough to see the division and it adds unecessary weight. Still not 100% on the new logo, though it looks great online, perhaps its a bit too big in print?

2010-03-30T15:00:00.000-07:00

New project - poster 1 (inspired by Heads of State posters)

I'm designing a series of posters of places that I have visited. I'm not the most travelled person in the world...but I'd like to record the places I have been in some kind of way.

This is the first poster of the series. Last year, I travelled to Edinburgh with Alex and it was lovely. Very cold, but still very lovely. We sampled lots of local pubs and found an excellent bangers and mash restaurant called Monster Mash. Didn't fancy haggis.

One thing that stuck in my mind about Edinburgh was the towering height of the town houses, they all looked like castles, very tall grey and their height was intimidating. Everything seemed to just get higher, until you reached the castle at the top.

2010-03-28T15:27:00.000-07:00

...My lovemarks

2010-03-25T03:34:00.000-07:00

Beaaaaaaaaauuuuuuuuuuuuuutiful posters from Heads of State. These location themed posters have really inspired me for a current project I'm working on...

2010-03-25T03:21:00.001-07:00

Beautiful book cover design from Coralie Bickford-Smith, senior cover designer at Penguin Books.

2010-03-24T07:42:00.000-07:00

Just finished reading this rather great book. It really is well worth a read - it covers everything ....and leaves you wanting to find out even more about everything. With that in mind, I'm now going to spend some hard earned cash on adding to my cherished graphics library. One day I hope to have a wall, floor to ceiling, filled with design knowledge goodness. A library infact. With a bean bag.

2010-03-24T01:43:00.001-07:00

Paula does it again....

Yes! Here is a new project from Pentagram (fronted by Paula Scher) where vibrant typography has been applied to the walls of the learning environment of a lucky school - the messages are comprised of motivational slogans and appear throughout the architecture of the building. Read more here

2010-03-21T03:56:00.000-07:00

The beginnings of a new project .....

2010-03-20T11:52:00.000-07:00

Above: Initial proposed logo I designed for Margaret Street's 125th anniversary. This abstraction of the iconic MS building has been developed from the original lino cut I made and was printed using a BIAD press.

Below: The chosen logo for the celebration - a change in name and an emphasis on the year celebration...

2010-03-20T10:56:00.000-07:00

My retrospective...

Above is a sample of what I've been working on at BCU. Aside from prospectus design (which has taken up most of the time), I've been working on various applications - from icons for the new website, to car stickers, banners and posters.. you name it!

2010-03-20T10:27:00.000-07:00

Birmingham School of Acting show posters I have been working on ... going to try and get down to catch the shows in the summer

2010-03-11T08:09:00.000-08:00

Birtish Sculpture Antony Gormley is exhibiting 'Event Horizon' in the US - Previously exhibited in London, cast iron and fibreglass figures appeared across the skyline of the city. This time, the figures appear in New York - and one has been placed ontop of the Pentagram building!

You can read the full article here

2010-03-07T03:26:00.001-08:00

Here's a complete re-design of the album art I posted before ... fun!

2010-03-06T12:56:00.000-08:00

If you are Birmingham based and have something to say about your city, your memories and your experiences, drop me an email at sarahdesign@live.co.uk to discuss ...

Thanks! :)

2010-03-06T09:04:00.000-08:00

An exhibition definitely worth seeing ...

Today I popped into see the Bridget Riley exhibition at Birmingham Art Gallery (it's on until 23rd May).

Amazing!

30 of her works are on show - including 'Movement in Squares'. Her paintings are formed of optical illusions - and the large scale of her work really lends itself to eye trickery. Your eyes are given a real workout as the visual rhythms of each piece make you see movement in shape, size and colour.

What I find really interesting is the perfect repetition and obsessive detail of each piece - and also her experimentation with colour. If you go, you should take time to watch the video at the back - it shows how she endlessley mixes and groups colours together to create the exact movement and effect she wants.

Some of the pieces are so pleasing to look at - wish she had a wallpaper range!

2010-03-03T11:45:00.000-08:00

Beeeautiful work from Mikey Burton, a Philadelphia based creative. Theres a kind of precious and collectable quality to his work, a very nostalgic feel. Such lovely use of type and letterpress.

Below is his thesis project - a branding project that illustrated classic novels aimed at children in secondary education. Lovely!

2010-03-01T09:36:00.000-08:00

30 years of Creative review....

This months issue (March) has a rather swish cover too - with highbuild varnish on the confetti areas and cellofoil magenta on the CR logo - the image uses 30,000 pieces of confetti, was shot the 30th time lucky and was taken on 30th January (with apparently 30 interns needed to sweep up!)

Also, the issue included a sample reproduction of the first ever issue of CR from 1980. Nice!
The next issue of CR will mark the beginning of something new - the magazine is to be re-designed in a different format and use a new paper stock.

2010-02-25T10:15:00.000-08:00

Amazing!!!! Lego Boardroom table by studioseventyseven

2010-02-25T10:08:00.000-08:00

''Interior and murals design and execution by Do Plu Do Collective. A long and hard collaboration between all Do Plu Do crewmates.'' Via behance

2010-02-21T14:16:00.000-08:00

New project I'm working on - From Us to You brand identity.

From Us to You is a charity organisation that originated in Ghana (in a small town called Gyikiti). It's aim is to help develop rural communites around the world. From building and repairing educational buildings, to providing water sources and basic medical care, the charity works across a wide range of sustainable provision.

Above is the new logo I have created for them - looking forward to getting stuck into this project!

2010-02-21T13:29:00.000-08:00

From my hefty design pile under my bed (the rest is in the spare room at home (which used to my room!)) I'm sifting through lots of bits and archiving the gems...

This is work from a 'Poetry Pictures and Paper' module from second year at University ... these patterns were based on poems I had written about New York and reflect my journey in the shape of the city. Made from cut paper, shadows and colage, I still really like these pieces. We learnt how to make our own paper on the module too.

2010-02-21T08:13:00.000-08:00

Anna Garforth - I've posted about her work before when researching sustainability in design. She's known for creating beautiful urban murals made of moss and messages made in found materials. She also has some great design and illustration work. The above image is a self initiated project of hers based on a fictional newspaper factory.

2010-02-20T12:10:00.001-08:00

Aw I love this - Alex was telling me about this the other day.

This is a project called A Love Letter For You . Stephen Powers has created a lovely series of murals for Philadelphia. Its made in conjuntion with the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program. I'd love to see a project of this scale happening in Birmingham ...

2010-02-20T12:03:00.000-08:00

The symposium poster designed by Michael Bierut and Yve Ludwig, via Pentagram. You can download the poster here (scroll down)

2010-02-20T11:49:00.001-08:00

Tomato - such a massive portfolio of amazing things.

I have always loved the 'mmm... skyscraper I love you' book. Though, after everyone has borrowed my version of it to scan for various bits of rssearch, the book is now in pieces...!

2010-02-12T00:44:00.001-08:00

Mainstudio are cool.

2010-02-07T13:27:00.001-08:00

Lovely design and illustration at Lehni-trueb

2010-02-07T13:19:00.000-08:00

My new coat!

Though, I have just realised it matches the colour of my business card perfectly...how geeky.

2010-02-07T13:11:00.000-08:00

I am no album artist by any stretch of the imagination but I'm pretty pleased with this first(ish) attempt. It's by no means groundbreaking but I think it reflects my firends music just nicely.

2010-02-06T04:23:00.001-08:00

Just came across an old lino print I made on my art foundation course ... (4 years ago now!)

2010-02-03T15:13:00.001-08:00

Proof that the poster is not dead - check out the work from Telegramme - an amazing portfolio full of beautifully warm, bright and intelligent work.

I wish I was making work like this! Might join up to print classes again...

2010-02-03T14:55:00.000-08:00

via Type Theory

Amazing journey of logotype development, by Jackson Cavanaugh

I always find its best to draw a logo / type before you go anywhere near a computer and the above shows amazing patience and persistence!

2010-01-31T01:42:00.001-08:00

123Buero, a Berlin based graphic design practice.

2010-01-20T14:43:00.000-08:00

New project : Margaret Street Identity

sooooooooooooooo excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-01-20T14:16:00.000-08:00

Issue 16 of ' Circular' the magazine of the Typographic Circle , designed by Domenic Lippa is out now.

2010-01-19T13:50:00.000-08:00

I love you Cadbury's :'( ...

2010-01-19T07:05:00.000-08:00

Graph and notepad dinnerware!

2010-01-19T06:59:00.001-08:00

amazing letter shaped furniture

2010-01-19T06:39:00.000-08:00

Currently witing for my nice new portfolio box to arrive in the post...

2010-01-19T03:44:00.000-08:00

''6 Illustrators from Berlin made an edition for the 90 years of Bauhaus 2009. The screen printed box contains 7 offset printed brochures and a screen printed poster, the edition is limited of 200 boxes.''

/Nepomuk/

2010-01-14T11:29:00.001-08:00

a new favourote for me : Archer

2010-01-14T10:52:00.000-08:00

The Conservatoire prospectus I designed using the Birmingham City University brand guidelines. I got to design the cover too - part of the musical design on the front is going to be foil blocked (along with the Baskerville Italic tagline). It's finally been sent to print :-)
( I started it in August ...!)

2010-01-14T10:33:00.001-08:00

lovely photography from Alex Gaidouk

2010-01-14T09:56:00.001-08:00

New identity for Bausch and Lomb - one of the biggest health care brand in the world - by Paula Scher, Pentagram.

2010-01-14T09:51:00.000-08:00

''Woodletter cover for a reprint of George Borrow’s ‘Wild Wales’ by Peter Criddle at the Ericius Press'' via blog.typoretum.co.uk

What type are you ?

2010-01-10T12:35:00.000-08:00

Take the Pentagram type personality test and see what you would be if you were a typeface ...!

Take the test here - you'll need to enter your name, and the password 'character' and then answer 4 questions about yourself...

This typeface came out as 'my' typeface - Archer Hairline.

'Emotional, understated, progressive and disciplined'

Website of the year ...

2009-12-16T04:50:00.000-08:00

OOh just came across a post on creative review (via twitter) about the 'best' websites of the year - you can cast your vote for your best website of the year here.

I hope this one wins...
really lovely song too :)

Festive competitiveness

2009-12-15T14:57:00.001-08:00

Ok, so the Marketing and Communications department at BCU are having a 'friendly' competition to see who's office is the best decorated.

We, being 'Creative Services', have gone all out and made lots of lovely decorations = very cheap but verrry creative and fun. From origami reindeers to three dimensional paper christmas trees and snowflakes - judgement day is tomorrow and I hope we win... here's a snowflake i made ...Will try and post up a photo of our office at some point too ...

excuse the poor quality photo, I am cameraless at the moment (appart from the camera on my phone)

if you'd like to make a snowflake like this, go here - Wiki-how has all the answers :)

Conundrums

2009-12-15T14:20:00.000-08:00

“Sometimes the more cornered you are the more fun you have.”

Harry Pearce (Pentagram) has designed a collection of type puzzles.

This is the type of design that lends itself to someone who loves and understands words - a trait in a designer that is more than often, completely essential.

See more conundrums - and the answers - here (you may need to scroll down)

Post 101

2009-12-15T14:04:00.001-08:00

Can't believe this is only my 101st post? Thats not many considering I've had this blog for a year and a half...

Anyway to mark this post I thought I'd talk about a new project that I'll be starting in the new year - I'll be working with Gas, a Birmingham based designer and Illustrator, on the design side of the very lovely Flatpack Festival - you can see some of his work here . It's an internship/placement that will fill up my time when I'm not working at BCU. Yippee!! I'm pretty excited and eager to start now.

Flatpack 2010 is already underway - you can see the blog here

watch this space :)

Also, I've decided to say goodbye to my trusty ring bound A2 portfolio and take the scary jump down to an A3 design 'box' ...with nice shiny smooth sleeves (not misty frosted ones) - as, even at my flatpack interview, I always find myself apologising for the size of it ....not very coffee table friendly.

random thought...

2009-12-15T13:54:00.000-08:00

The type used for the new 'Where the Wild Things Are' film reminds me of the Dr Strangelove Type... :

Habitat:

2009-12-08T13:30:00.000-08:00

''A limited edition book presented in a screen-printed box featuring twenty removable large format prints by world-renowned artists sold exclusively by Habitat''

To view all the pieces of art, you can see them all here on the Habitat website

New Stuff.

2009-12-08T13:12:00.000-08:00

'Patterns' I'm working on for a print/stationery project - still in development

Thomas Fuchs

2009-11-21T04:30:00.000-08:00

A New York based freelance illustrator, designer and artist has created an alphabet full of love - made from hearts. Some are pretty hard to read but its a great exploration of forms in shapes. You can track his 'Love&hate' series via his 'heart a day' blog here

type cards

2009-11-21T04:19:00.000-08:00

''these cards are based off some of my favorite & maybe even one not so favorite fonts. playing on words & meaning while creating visual interest with typography. perfect for any font savant, designer or typoholic'' - 'afavourite'

- you can buy them here on the Etsy shop of 'afavourite'

'Text and Image'

2009-11-16T09:39:00.000-08:00

Whilst clearing out my computer and organising my design work from over the past 3 years, I came across some of my 'text and image' module work. This was in my first year at uni where we were asked to write a piece of creative writing and then display it visually. It looks soooooo dated but I still quite like it in a way. And this was using the old school 'Serif Page Plus 8' program that I was given at Secondary school.

I have a whole attic full of work at home....all of my big scale Art Foundation work is currently living flat under my mums bed and all of my university sketchbooks are stacked up high in my bedroom at home (some are here...) ... I'm consciously keeping it as a record and hope to one day put it all into a book - once I have enough experience to talk about it all and what it means. Might start working on that now actually, before this PC dies and I lose my files! :S

Paula Scher, 12th Novemeber 2009

2009-11-15T08:13:00.000-08:00

D&AD President’s Lecture, The Institute of Education, London

‘America’s First Lady of Design’

Scher was asked by D&AD to talk about, essentially, the history of her career – if you’d like an in-depth and concise account of this, ‘Make it Bigger’ is the best source to go to. I’m going to talk about little snippets that stuck with me from the evening

Sameness.

This photo is of the house where Paula Scher grew up in Maryland. Her street was the epitome of uniformity, where every house looked the same. As a young girl she wandered, if every house looked the same, did everyone who lived in each house also look the same? Do the same things? Have the same opinions?

This very idea is deeply embedded in her practice and life – rebelling against the uniform, the standard – the ‘boring’. In particular Scher is famous for her opinion on the Swiss International style which she believes, had a conflict of creativity – rigid rules of geometry stripped down to the very basics - things are prone to look the same once stripped down to those extents and lose meaning – especially when everything started to look the same and say the same thing – which didn’t really say anything at all.

Instead, Scher was inspired by the eclectic typography and politics of the likes of Push Pin studios. People needed to ‘shake things up’.

Pushing Boundaries.

‘Graphic Design is ephemeral’

There is a point in a designer’s life, when climbing up the career staircase, you can feel restricted, uninspired and stationary – this is only when you stop creating. Nobody is 100% creative all the time. Being a designer is all about the desire to create something and when you’re not doing that, this is when the doubts start to come. At times, it’s just about manipulating the situation to create good design and this is essential to development. Don’t throw anything away that you’ve made, it’s all about flexing your muscles, making mistakes and realising it.

Scher’s creative drive comes from the ‘obstacle’ – people telling her ‘you can’t do that’. After working at CBS records people would say ‘you can’t make identities because you make record covers’ and when she made identities people said ‘you can’t make environmental graphics because you make identities’ and so on. This pigeon box ideology is what made Scher keep creating. Even when Scher had her own design firm, Koppel and Scher, she found the scale of her agency had locked the creativity to some point. It became repetitious in the kind of client and style of design – she was always hired to do something in the style of what she’d done before – which really makes no sense. She felt she ‘had to move on, change and grow’.

‘ I wanted to do things that people told me I couldn’t do’

Nevertheless, Scher points out that ‘there is always the glass ceiling’. She explained that even now, when clients phone Pentagram and arrange a meeting and Scher walks in, there is still the look of ‘why did we get stuck with the woman’ kind of look on the clients face. And in the past, even when at Pentagram, during a pitch, she has brought in her male partners to persuade the client that her ideas work. Though, she does believe that progress has been made but, a lot of the time, respect comes with age – now she feels at her most powerful – where people have taken a U-turn and now naturally assume that she is competent with anything related to design.

People.

‘Design is about people’

When making identities, it’s not just about constructing the logo. It’s mostly about the people involved – corporations are full of people and a lot of branding practice involves going to meetings after meetings. Listening.

Design is also about the people that see your design – and you have no control over what people read into it. People attach their own meaning to it; critics write about it and look deeper than they should until it loses its original meaning and then others take ownership of it and it becomes the identity of something bigger (like the Public Theatre identity which was then copied by other theatres around the region until it became the language of print on the streets of New York, and the style of a capital).

‘Print makes for a powerful city – keep it out there’ – in response to a question about the future of print

‘Always aim to improve the expectation of what design should be’

‘To design something and get it realised means you have to have an incredible amount of patience’ – in response to a question about the necessary qualities of a designer

My typographic chirstmas!

2009-11-10T04:20:00.001-08:00

Ok, so it's a bit early to be making Christmas cards - but the'yre being prepared in advance here at BCU.

Here's a few type themed cards im working on - using the glyphs and characters from Din and Baskerville, the brand typefaces.

(the snowflake one is my faveee. Took hours though.)

Oops

2009-11-08T06:04:00.000-08:00

This is my desktop (ahh the shame!). Now I've publicised it ... theres no excuse not to tidy it up right this second. I've been avoiding this for 3 years.....

(yes, I'm still using a pc :( )

Offset 2009

2009-11-08T05:29:00.000-08:00

Ok so it is OFFSET in Dublin this weekend.

OFFSET is Dublin's creative festival that climaxes in a 3 day weekend conference (Fri 6th- today). Showcasing work from a worldwide creative community - with a cocktail of celebration, debating and exhibiting, some of the world's leading creatives are brought together - including a line up of :

Harry Pearce (Pentagram)

Dave McKean (UK comics/illustrator)

The Mill (UK/USA visual effects company)

Experimental Jetset (an Amsterdam based graphics studio) ( and many others.....)

The tickets were pretty expensive (the Early Bird ones were £120) - did anyone manage to go ?

Also, the official Offset 2009 party looks amazing! Illustrators took to the stage and drew with UV pens onto panes of glass:

Paula Scher at D&AD

2009-11-07T10:33:00.000-08:00

Paula Scher President Lecture : D&AD, Thursday 12th November, London

My tickets came through the post today!!!! £15 is definitely a bargain.

It's good to have an idol :)

I strongly recommend her book 'Make it bigger'. A good breakdown of how the industry of design works and a graphic diagram (literally) showing her role as a designer in business throughout the years.

Linocut map

2009-11-07T09:55:00.000-08:00

Mark Andrew Webster has created this amazing map of Cities by carving into lino. The piece is 150cm X 180cm in size and he spent a while in Paris to make the map accurate.

Paper cut maps

2009-11-07T09:45:00.000-08:00

Karen O'Leary is an architectural designer based in North Carolina.

I loovvveee the maps she's made - based on the geographical shapes of cities. She even makes them on request! Though they do understandably take a few months to make! This is the epitome of patience....

Pentagram

2009-11-07T09:27:00.000-08:00

Aha, this another studio on my (very dream-like) employment timeline list.

Pentagram

Pentagram were approached to create an identity for a unique collection of art inspired by Shelter's 'House of Cards' campaign. 53 artists were invited to each design their own set of playing cards which would then be auctioned, raising money for the charity.

Domenic Lippa and Jeremy Kunze designed the identity along with the invites and catalogues that adhered to the radius corners of traditional playing cards .

NEPOMUK

2009-11-07T09:12:00.000-08:00

I have been meaning to post this studio up for a looong time now. They were a good source of inspiration during my final year at University. I even put them on a 'where I see myself in x amount of years' timeline I made up.

Nepomuk.

They are a Berlin based design and illustration group. The thing I like about them the most is their beautiful type work.

In their own words they are : ''innovative. naive. polarising. retro. illustrative. graphic. conceptual. intuitive.''

'A type for the City that is never asleep. Nights turn to days.'

'Berlin Park tells us something about a morphing western metropole, characterised by diverse -faces-, like humanity, heartiness, warm social relationships as well as sophisticated people, poshness, chic, elegance -european coolness- and todays youth-mania.'

Clean Slate

2009-11-07T08:50:00.000-08:00

Ok, so my freelance contract has been extended at Birmingham City University for a while longer - and now I also have a bit more time to do lots of other projects too as I am working just three days a week there now.

Working in house ofcourse has its positives - you get to understand a brand inside out and you start to live it. You have a say in how the brand develops (as you have time to experiment) and how it is applied to pretty much every piece of communication. And it gets you really savvy on brand continuity too. On the other hand, you're just working with one brand with very rigid guidelines (a limited set of typefaces, rules and image bank)- it can tend to get quite repetitive. So its always good to have other outside projects and keep looking for inspiration.

So, I need to stop posting endless posts of just my work on here ... and venture back out to the world of sharing ideas of everyones!!!!

stay tuned!

Birmingham City University - International Bannners

2009-10-28T03:37:00.000-07:00

A series of banners to be printed on large sheets of fabric (1600mm x 750mm) promoting the University to international students ....

extra bits ....

2009-09-30T02:06:00.001-07:00

New prints ...

2009-09-19T12:52:00.001-07:00

Here are some images of my prints I've been working on over the last few weeks at Birmingham Printmakers. I've been experimenting with drypoint - I make my images on the plates when I'm at the class and don't prepare anything before hand.... sounds lazy but I find I come up with the best compositions when I don't think too much about it. That's what I'm doing everyday so its a nice change for something not to have to mean anything specific.

Birmingham City University

2009-09-19T12:28:00.000-07:00

Ok, so here's a few examples of templates I've been working on over the past few weeks. When we're not working on the prospectuses, we've been given a task to work on templates - preparing layout concepts that can be used in the future. Whilst doing this, we have the creative freedom to experiment with the brand and to develop it - to add to the new brand guidelines. Alot of the new BCU branding is based in the use of the square ( originating from the presence of the square in the logo) - so here are a few concepts that show how the square could be used in the future. (With people/objects coming out of the square / overlaying one image with lots of square parts of the image etc) ... I won't put up my prospectus spreads yet as they are still being ammended... also I couldn't help but make the very Paula Scher-esque blocky text just as something to pass the time !

Birmingham Printmakers

2009-08-23T10:57:00.001-07:00

I'm now into my second week of Birmingham Printmakers. I started preparing images before hand but found the best results for me were to make spontaneous images/ideas there and then. I tried my first dry point print last lesson which turned out really well. I'll put some images up soon of my work if theyre good enough ..! Its a healthy break from the computer screen and really makes me think about colour differently .

Coexist

2009-08-23T10:33:00.000-07:00

Really happy to still be making things for Coexist - a few weeks back it was the opening of their canteen area and I was asked to make a few information boards for the event ....

New Job for the summer !

2009-08-23T10:24:00.001-07:00

For these few summer months I'm working for Birmingham City University, designing templates and artworking a few prospectuses. I've really fortunately been given Birmingham School of Acting and the Conservatoire to work with - they both have really great imagery so its been a pleasure to work on. Just finished the first draft of both prospectuses .... ammendments come next and then its off to print shortly in September! Really looking forward to seeing the final printed books ..!

Heres a sneak peak of a few of the many BSA photos im working with :

here's a few from the conservatoire :

New Work

2009-08-23T10:16:00.001-07:00

In the making .... new live identity for Great British Yarns

Issuu

2009-07-09T13:50:00.000-07:00

Finally got my Coexist booklets up and running on Issuu :)

You can view my uploads here : http://issuu.com/sarahcarter

2009-07-09T05:31:00.000-07:00

2009-07-09T05:20:00.001-07:00

2009-07-03T12:12:00.000-07:00

some little pieces I'm working on - really would like to get up some large prints in my new house ....

181 - graduate show brand

2009-06-17T04:01:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough to brand our final year show - you can see the developments of the brand if you go to www.1-8-1.blogspot.com or if you scroll through my older posts....

Here is a select few of the final designs....

above : student to student communication - introducing the brand and inviting students to enter the 181 poster competition.

above : Foil blocked invites to our Graduate Show Trevor Awards x 1000 (my first ever proffessional print job!) - Printed at 'Partners in Print' - a great Birmingham based printers.

above : DVD packaging - the DVD contains images of our students work...

above: DVD screen menu design

above : Singage for the awards show/ exhibition

Above : The 181 branded Trevor Award - thanks to Kipp Jones for sorting the production :).

All in all, this was such a great project to run alongside my Coexist project - I got to experience preparing artwork for large scale print jobs, collaberate with the graduate show committee and be part of a great year of visual communicators.

Coexist - brand identity

2009-06-15T11:39:00.000-07:00

I've had to hold back on this one, but now I'm satisfied with the new and live Coexist identity.....

Coexist are an ethically and sustainable-minded organisation based in Stokes Croft, Bristol’s ‘Cultural Quarter’. They provide office and studio spaces for like-minded organisations and independent creatives. They also run a range of workshops for the local community (such as creative writing, design and music classes) and put on various events in their venue space.

Their office block is based in Stokes Croft, a culturally diverse and creatively rich area of Bristol. The area is immersed in cutting edge Street Art and the landscape is changing all the time. It is often seen as an area of decline to the outside eye, but the area is full of creatives and great community spirit.

Coexist work closely with the PRSC (The People’s Republic of Stokes Croft) and promote the creative identity of the area. Often the council make decisions that are not right for the area or the local people – the PRSC helps local people feel part of the local community.

In essence this project is all about the brand idea and what it means to Coexist and their surrounding community. Coexist want to communicate energy, creativity, youth, optimism and most importantly, community spirit.

Coexist is constantly growing and its surrounding environment is constantly changing so the brand needs to be dynamic and responsive to change.

Above are guidelines I have taken from my brand book for Coexist - the brand has been applied to a range of applications ....

Giant Wayfinding signs - based on perspective

2009-04-01T08:49:00.000-07:00

Working on my final project, I'm starting to consider signage systems for interiors and exteriors...- this is a great example of how signs become part of the environment and also how they are dependent on the user understanding them. ... This is work by Axel Peemoeller (check out his website, its really fun!) and it features in the Eureka Tower car park in Melbourne. The letters on the wall can be read perfectly when standing in the exact right position ....as you move, the letters become distorted .

2009-03-29T11:56:00.000-07:00

Graduate show branding continued:

2009-03-16T06:22:00.000-07:00

Above: introductory poster (A1)
Below: poster providing information on forthcoming events, student donations etc (A1)

Our Flat Pack Screen - working with LUCID

2009-03-15T08:12:00.000-07:00

Alex, Tommy and myself were asked to design an interactive screen to be used at Birmingham's Flat Pack Festival (today's the last day :-( ! ) working in conjuntion with the very nice people at LUCID and screen media lab . The screen allows people to send in messages and upload images - giving feedback and showing a response to the flatpack festival.

Our initial ideas included 3 main concepts we collectively proposed:

It was decided that we should go ahead with the cut out characters and landscape idea - this aestehtic particularly related to the aesthetic of the current flat pack brand - it was also inspired by Terry Gilliams Monty Python animations - so there was avery British theme to the aesthetic.

To develop this idea of creating enviornments, we decided to use images sourced from Birmingham - so the landscapes on the screen really relate to the local built up enviornment. The charcters are also Birmingham based people throughout history.

Our final concept creates a quirky set for people to post up messages and interact - random characters and buidlings pop up, along with speech bubbles for text and thought bubbles for images. Some funny looking characters have been created - including a sphynx-like statue (from Victoria Square) with moving eyes.

Here are our final concepts for various interchanging screen enviornments:
Thanks to Charlie, Jerome and Ian! :)

Type Poster

2009-03-06T09:49:00.001-08:00

Again, created without using any ink, the new typeface 'Joint' has been mechanically cut into the paper in one whole piece - which has been taken away and elevated infront of the main poster plain, creating shadow and breaking the usual poster convention by becoming a three dimensional object.

This work is now being exhibited at the BIAD vis com gallery area along with the great typeface work from our Graphic Communication class. Everyone has made such great work!!
Yay for the graphic communication class!

Stay tuned for some exhibition photos .......

Intro media :

2009-03-06T09:38:00.000-08:00

A special one off book produced without using any ink - the card and paper has been cut using a machine to emphasise the type rationale.

Introducing my new typefaces: 'Machine' and 'Joint'

2009-03-06T09:07:00.000-08:00

Created with a mechanical rationale in mind to work with my intro media application.... The typefaces display very rigid, rational constructions and fit with the theme of 'mechanics' - the title of my self promotional piece that visually describes my approach to a design problem. These are all working typefaces.....

181 - new vision

2009-02-19T14:32:00.000-08:00

after lots of ideas, the grad committee uploaded some really exciting mood boards for a new direction and twist to the brand - injecting drama, culture, excitement and that little bit of cheekiness. See what we've been working on here : 1-8-1.blogspot.com

Rose developed the theme of the cabaret concept, referencing elegance, a showy-performance type theme and some drama.

Heres what I've added to this kind of idea - far from my usual kind of stuff - much more illustrative and flamboyant..... this is just another rough idea though. Sure they'll be many more to come.

2009-02-17T01:17:00.000-08:00