OUGD504 - Design for Screen - Initial Research

For the next brief, design for screen, I have chosen to create a website for an up and coming Nordic/Swedish baby clothing company.

To kick-start my research, I have started looking at similar websites for inspiration and to further develop my knowledge.



1 - Scandiborn







Scandiborn is a UK based website that supports independent brands and business with a focus on Scandinavian design.

I really like the logo for the site - the simple yellow and dark grey work really well together and are neutral, which keeps the website's audience wide. The sans-serif typeface is modern and relevant.

Overall, the website design is really simple. On the homepage there is a large window with a set of rotating images that switch every 8 seconds or so. Underneath there is a modular style grid that displays the items for sale in a straightforward way.

There is a navigation bar across the top of the website at all times with drop down menus for each category. This allows for easy navigation of the website in a simple and clean way. As your cursor moves over each piece of text, it turns yellow to show it is highlighted/selected.

I really like the design of the website but feel it could be pushed further - for example on the actual product selling/content pages, the design is almost too plain and simple - it is lacking that extra little 'edge' to the design.



2 - Mamas & Papas







Mamas & Papas is a family business founded in 1981 and was born out of a desire to better meet the needs of new parents.

The logo is simple and uses a sans-serif font that is clean and simple. Similarly to Scandiborn, the colours used are very neutral and grey, which keeps the audience open and wide.

The main homepage similarly features a large central image as the focus. Underneath is a similar modular grid style layout displaying the product.

The navigation bar is located at the top of the page, but there is no 'drop down' menu - when the mouse is hovering over the bar, the rest of the page becomes 'greyed out' and the bar is spotlighted.

The product selling/content pages are again set out in a modular grid layout, but this time with a menu down the left hand side where you are able to choose from a list of sizes, colours, fits etc.




3 - JoJo Maman Bebe







The website again is fairly simple - the brand name and logo featuring at the top of the page, with the navigation bar located just underneath. When rolling the cursor over the bar a drop down menu appears, similarly to Scandiborn.

In comparison to Mamas & Papas, there is a selection menu down the side that allows for easy access when choosing a product.

The website is gender neutral but there is a lot of boy related imagery and the brand colour is blue, which may sway female customers away.

OUGD504 - Guidebook - 1970s Research

After the group crit feedback I started looking into 1970s design and typography.



The majority of typefaces I found really gimmicky and I knew they wouldn't work within the context of my publication. One particular typeface did stand out to me, though.

Marvin I felt was really nice and would work well in a contemporary setting within my publication.



I came across a similar typeface free for download online called 'Marvin Visions'.


 


I started playing around with this typeface to see how it would work within my publication.

  



Straight away I wasn't keen on how this was looking alongside the collages - I didn't feel it was quite modern and contemporary enough to match the overall aesthetic of the publication.

OUGD504 - Guidebook - Development & Group Crit

After creating the collages, I decided to do some further development on the colour scheme and typeface.



Following on from the colours I had already chosen, I played around with different swatches. I wanted to use pastel style colours to keep things fairly light and airy and I also felt these would work well with the collages.

After decided against the previous typefaces I had looked at, I came across a typeface called Integral CF. I found the heavy oblique version of this really appealing and I felt it could give a contemporary and modern edge to my book alongside the collages I had created.




I started playing around with the typeface combined with the colour scheme and I was really keen on how this looked.



I then started experimenting with my collages in Photoshop and giving them a colour hue to match the scheme.




To see how these collages would look within context, I made a quick front cover mock-up in Illustrator.



I took these ideas to my group crit. People really liked the collages I had made but they were concerned I was trying to do 'too much' with them. They said that I should work with the collages a bit more and try find a style that would really bring them to life. There were suggestions of looking further at 70s style and language used within similar types of publications from this era.

OUGD504 - Guidebook - Creating Collages

For the imagery within the book, I decided to take a collage style to add a fun and playful element to the content.

I started looking at 70's style imagery and 70's stock photos. I felt these would help add the humorous element.

    

I then collected a variety of plant-based imagery.

    

Using The Daily Splice for inspiration, I started placing the plants and people together in fun and playful ways.

OUGD504 - Guidebook - Terrazzo Experiments

After looking at Olivia Aspinall's work, I wanted to create my own vector terrazzo pattern to see how it worked alongside my content.

I used Illustrator to create a square filled with small vector shapes in a manner that resembled the terrazzo style. I then experimented with the colours using some colours schemes I had prepared earlier.






I then started looking at layout and begun playing around with how this terrazzo could be used within the front cover.













I wanted to see how it would work alongside the collages I plan to create so I made a quick mock-up on Photoshop to use as a placeholder.



I felt like the typefaces weren't working alongside the terrazzo as they just weren't showing up and were not bold enough against the pattern.

I tried a different layout to see how it would work with a banner for the text.



I really wasn't keen on how this looked and I didn't think it was giving off the vibe I wanted, so I decided to scrap this idea.

OUGD504 - Guidebook - Olivia Aspinall Studio

"Olivia Aspinall Studio is an emerging surface design brand, offering fresh and exciting surface finishes for the interior design industry.  Our surfaces are characterised by their colour, pattern and craftsmanship.
Olivia founded the Nottingham based studio in 2015 and since then has gone on to work on numerous bespoke projects as well as receive extensive international press coverage.
We offer a range of surfaces for you to choose from as well as a bespoke sampling service. All of our products are hand-made in the UK."

I really love Olivia's work and am a massive fan of the terrazzo style she uses. She creates things like plant pots etc that would link in really well with the indoor plants theme of the publication.





This has led me to start looking into the terrazzo style patterns and how they could be incorporated within the book.




I am going to create my own vector terrazzo pattern within Illustrator and experiment with how I can work with it.

OUGD504 - Guidebook - Collage Plans

In terms of visual imagery, I am thinking about using a collage style so that I can play around with the images Cat has taken alongside other found pictures and graphics.

Inspiration:

  

  

OUGD504 - Guidebook - Glossier Branding

Glossier is a skincare and makeup company that has recently started selling in the UK as well as the US.

I absolutely love their branding and visual identity. It is clean and minimalist - I love the way the information and decoration is left to an absolute minimum. They use a simple sans-serif typeface, most likely Foundation Sans Bold Italic.

I would like to try create something in a similar style in terms of the aesthetic for the book, just to see how it would look.


  

  

  


I have started experimenting with using the title of the magazine in a similar typeface, and then trying out the same style but with other fonts.



1 - Frutiger Black Italic

2 - Market Pro

3 - Lust Script


I am going to explore more with this further into the design process.