OUGD504 - Guidebook - Text on Images Experiment

I wanted to see how the typeface would work on top of the building images so used Photoshop to manipulate the text onto the structures.


(moorfoot building)


I felt this looked too much like a sign on the front of the brickwork due to the drop shadow behind the text.





The outlined text is probably my favourite of this trio as it looks the least imposing.


(wellington square)




(park hill)




I quite liked this effect - I used layers on Photoshop and the eraser tool to make it look as though the text was on the ceiling of each balcony.

OUGD504 - Guidebook - Grid Experiments

I started looking at architectural drawings and the patterns commonly found within them.

  


I created a basic perspective grid within Illustrator to work from.






I took the modbrut text and experimented with morphing it to fit within the perspective grid.


I quite liked the effect this had but wasn't sure it would work within the guidebook or on the cover.

I started looking at adding a brighter colour in with the baby blue to brighten things up a bit.



I felt the orange worked really well with the blue and I liked how the typeface looked with this colour palette.

I placed the text on top of the grid in these new colours.



I was quite impressed with how this looked - the colours, typeface and grid pattern all worked really well together and created the aesthetic I was after.

OUD504 - Guidebook - Playing with Colour and Type

After sampling the colour swatches from the images I wanted to put them together with my chosen type to see how they worked together.

I started by simply placing 'modbrut' over coloured blocks and changing the typeface colour.




I have chosen to use a wide kerning as it again reinforces the idea that the large concrete structures have a strong presence within their settings.



I liked the baby blue swatch the best and felt it looked really effective with the pure white text placed on top. I played around with the fill and outline of the text to see how this would change the aesthetic.




I started to create a small piece of editorial work to see how things would look together. I incorporated one of the images to see how the text would work alongside it - I really liked how they looked together.

I'm also quite a fan of the outlined text in a repeated formation as displayed above - I feel this looks effective and appropriate for the theme and works well with the particular typeface.

OUGD504 - Guidebook - Colour Sampling

Using the images collected from modbrut Instagram, I used the eyedropper tool to select colour and tones from a handful of the images.

I found that most of the colours sampled were very neutral and earthy, which reflects the bleak and bland aesthetic of the buildings.

Ideally I would like to use the colours sampled within the guidebook but after looking at them all together I feel they may just be a bit too plain.

OUGD504 - Guidebook - Name and Typography Experimentation

Following my research I started to think about what name I would like for the guidebook.
I started off by using a few basic ones I could think of off the top of my head, then started to look at architectural terms that I could possibly use.

I begun playing around with typography in order to try and find a typeface that would fit with the theme.



At first I really liked the name 'slab' as it is brief and simple. After a bit of thought I decided against this as I felt it didn't quite portray the idea I wanted very well.

I felt like sticking with 'modbrut' would work best as this is the name of Elliot's Instagram which helps tie everything in together nicely.




I found two typefaces that I really liked;

-Microstyle Bold Extended
-Grammara Normal


Both typefaces are very similar, but Microstyle is just a slight bit more rounded than Grammara.

I feel these typefaces are really appropriate for the theme of brutalist architecture as I like how structured they are - they are reminiscent of the patterns and shapes found within the architectural structures. I also like the bulkiness of the text and this is partly the reason why I chose to use uppercase for the name - it creates a sense of strength and power, which is how some of the buildings are perceived.

OUGD504 - Guidebook - Image Collection and Building Research

After getting permission from Elliot to use his instagram as a research source, I began saving images off of his page to potentially use within the guidebook. After noting down the name of each building, I started collecting information on each of them in order to build up the content for the book.





SAMPSON HOUSE

-London, Hopton Street, Borough
-Rare example of Brutalist commercial office building
-Fitzroy Robinson & Partners
-Completed 1979
-Powerful massing, extensive use of exposed concrete, minimal glazing at street level and strong horizontal mirror glazing in dark metal cladding in the projecting upper levels
-Processing centre for Lloyds Bank
-Long windowless corridors provided inspiration for hallway scenes in The Shining

WESTON RISE-London, Petonville Road, Kings Cross
-Howell Killick Partridge & Amis
-High density council housing, 147 dwellings
-1969
-Balconies great homage to Le Corbusier

UNI OF WESTMINSTER
-London, New Cavendish Street
-Lyons, Israel and Ellis
-Completed 1968
-Next to BT tower

WELBECK STREET NCP-London, Welbeck Street
-Multi storey car park
-Michael Blampied & Partners
-Completed 1970
-Precast façade
-Prefabricated concrete
-At risk of demolition in place of 145 room hotel

ST GILES HOTEL-London, Bedford Avenue, Bloomsbury
-Elsworth Sykes partnership
-Completed 1977

ROBIN HOOD GARDENS-London, Woolmore Street
-Peter and Alison Smithson
-Completed 1972
-Post-war housing estate
-Based on ‘streets in the sky’ concept
-214 apartments
-Decision made not to protect with formal heritage listing
-Recently demolished

PARK HILL-Sheffield
-Completed 1961
-Jack Lynn & Ivor Smith
-Grade II listed in 1997
-Under renovation by Urban Splash





MOORE STREET ELECTRICITY SUBSTATION
-Sheffield, Moore Street
-Completed 1968
-Jefferson Sheard
-Grade II listed





UCL -London, Bedford Way, Bloomsbury
-Sir Denys Lasdun
-1970-1976






TRELLICK TOWER-London, Kensal Town
-Erno Goldfinger
-Completed 1972
-Grade II listed
-31 storey block of flats

HIGH POINT-Bradford, Providence Street
-Completed 1972
-John Brunton & Partners
-Formerly HQ for the Yorkshire Building Society
-Unknown fate; plans to cover in plastic cladding cancelled in 2005

MOORFOOT BUILDING

-Sheffield, The Moor, South Yorkshire
-Completed 1981
-Brick brutalism
-Large office building
-In the form of a step pyramid
-Based around 3 wings

THE ECONOMIST BUILDINGS-London, St James Street
-Completed 1964
-Peter and Alison Smithson
-Grade II listed
-Portland stone

LLOYDS BANK SHREWSBURY
-Shrewsbury, Shropshire
-Sir Percy Thomas Partnership
-Completed 1968

UMIST-Manchester University
-1960-1962
-W.A Gibbon of Cruishank & Seward
-Post war; faces drastic redevelopment

PARK HOUSE SCHOOL
-Sheffield, Bawtry Road, Tinsley
-Completed 1964
-Lyons, Israel and Ellies partnership
-Closed 1995
-Concrete exoskeleton, reminiscent of Park Hill

PERRONET HOUSE-London, Southwark
-Completed 1970
-Sir Roger Walters
-11 storey residential council tower block

COVENTRY CATHEDRAL-Coventry, Priory Street
-1956-62
-Sir Basil Spence
-New meets old

BRADFORD CENTRAL TELEPHONE EXCHANGE-Completed 1976
-Architect unknown
-Bradford, Sharpe Street
-Painted white
-Detailed elevation, glass and corduroy

INTERNATIONAL WOOL SECRETARIAT-Ilkley, Ben Rhydding
-Completed 1968
-Local architect Richard Collick, art by William Mitchell
-Artwork Grade II listed
-Bronze and fibreglass frieze called ‘The History of Wool’
-Promote sale of wool on behalf of woolgrowers

TRINITY UNITED REFORMED CHURCH-Sheffield, Ecclesall Road
-Completed 1971
-John Jenkinson
-Suburban cliff face

ALEXANDRA & AINSWORTH ESTATE-London, Camden
-Neave Brown
-Completed 1978
-Grade II listed
-Documentary ‘One Below the Queen’ centres around the estate
-Listed post-war housing estate
-Protruding balcony joked about by builders – architect would jump off once building completed

WELLINGTON SQUARE-Oxford, London
-Leslie Martin and David Owers
-1965-70
-Student accommodation

M1 MOTORWAY
-Sheffield, M1
-West Riding County Council engineers
-Smithy Wood footbridge
-1960s
-Step-slope walkway
-Slender pilotis give a clean aesthetic

RISHWORTH STREET CARPARK-Wakefield
-Recently demolished
-Flattened for a ground level car park







CENTRAL HALL-York, Heslington
-Completed 1968
-Andrew Derbyshire
-Painted cream

MARSH STREET PUMPING STATION-Architect and build date unknown
-Industrial building hidden away by an underpass
-Textured pre-cast concrete panels

OUGD504 - Guidebook - Summer Research

The topic I have chosen to base my guidebook on is modern brutalist architecture. Architecture is something I have always been interested in from and the brutalist style is one of my particular favourites.

I have started by looking at a few brutalist architecture books:



Reading these through has helped give me a little bit of extra knowledge on the topic and strengthened my ideas.


I then drew a few quick sketches of some of the buildings featured in the books. I felt this was a good exercise as it meant I looked deeper at the patterns formed in this particular style and the structures used.




 Elliot has an Instagram account called '@modbrut' in which he showcases his love for modern brutalist architecture. He has travelled the country visiting certain builds and collecting images of them. Following my ideas for the project I contacted Elliot and asked him whether he would be interested in a collaboration for the guidebook. He felt this would be a really cool idea and gave me his permission to use his Instagram as a research source for the project.