Self Branding

Initial...
30 / 11 / 15

One of the projects we will be properly working on in the new year is to produce self branding that effectively communicates and promotes myself as an individual, designer and learner. 

-  I need to reflect upon my learning aspirations and design            direction. 

-  I need to aim to communicate the context of my interests by          referencing specific designers, studios, principles and audiences    where necessary.

-  I need to look at myself as a designer on a whole and what I want    to achieve, in order to appropriately reflect myself through my      branding for use in industry. 

Initially, I need to break myself down as a designer and person and produce a board of secondary design by designers I am consistently drawn to and styles I want to experiment with. Then build on this looking at each of them and finding similar designers and houses which are more available for me to become a part of.

I began by going back and looking through the work of some of my favourite design houses and finding consistent styles which I am attracted to and feel do/could reflect me and my hobbies.

 Face are a 'Supermodernist' design studio situated in Mexico whom specialise in a full range of design services for premium brands: identity, branding, editorial, web design, packaging and vis com.

They boast how their fool-proof creative method allows them to achieve a full deep understanding of their projects and clients needs. I love this approach as their is a set method which the studio works by but then gives its designers the opportunity to take their fundamental guidelines and then experiment within this reflecting themselves. They have a lot of ties with the underground music industry bringing their clean Graphic design into this industry as it matches the intentions of the music in my opinion. Techno and minimal design can go hand in hand when exploited by this design studio and their work can't show this enough. Their approaches to their work are definitely inspirational to me and I can take a lot of from it upon closer inspection. 

Some of their design, like in the rebrand of 'Catapulta' (above) make use of geometrics and very well thought-out colour schemes which I love. I love it because it has guidelines and it has the dimensions within the work, but then it has colour and type to provide the depth to the design and spontaneity. 
Hey Studios, situated in Barcelona, similarly use a very geometric and minimal/modernist style and this is a design house I used to be very drawn to. They portray their work in a slightly different minimal style with less sleek mysterious colour schemes and more illustrative bright colourful designs. An example of their work (on the right) here I can really appreciate however re-looking at their work has made me realise the complete bright colour schemes are too much for me and I have decided do not reflect me and the design I want to be producing.

I found a lot of Face's projects very appealing in design, but also having these links to posters and branding for music events, etc. 
I love the more muted colours used, especially when they're using a kind of matte stock with professional foiling giving this very clean and grand design style. These are the kinds of pieces of stationary which would catch my attention and is what I'd like to have a go at so I plan to look into these examples further and experimenting myself further. Geometrics (either structured or more fluid designs) are very present providing the spontaneity alongside the very strict and structured type and context. Grids are essential.

Another line of their work which really has caught my attention is the editorial work they have been involved in. Emphasising negative space but with use of strict grid guidelines they have been behind 3 limited edition issues for the P Magazine (which I have discussed before) but have also designed one of the FW 2014 Lookbook for Lemon Chic, a premier fashion boutique. 

This is a summary from themselves and it sums up why I love their editorial work perfectly: 

"Using great photos taken by Mariana García, we designed a FW lookbook with a simple, cool beauty, emphasizing the images through the use of asymmetric grids and layouts. The quality of the paper and the foil finishes give it that touch of Lemon Chic exquisiteness; as always, the good stuff is in the details." 

I will come back and look into this aswell and find similar pieces of design to link it to and develop myself*

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Another angle I want to explore with PPP is a new artist I have become familiar with, Leif Podhajsky. He is an artist and Creative Director whose work explores themes of connectedness, the relevance of nature and the psychedelic experience. By utilizing these subjects he attempts to inspire the viewer into a realignment with themselves and their surroundings, and these ideas are very relevant to myself and fit in with my thought processes about what design can do and why. Leif creates artwork and design for a number of brands, record labels and musicians around the world but here are some of my favourite pieces of his work which I can in-vision playing a role into my design...

I love the spontaneous psychedelic features and colouring in his work but then how he pairs it with the strict, more minimal design and type for album artworks on vinyl sleeves. They appear to be vivid colours however the way he mutes them and pairs them in complex colour schemes which do not over-indulge the viewer is actually what entices them. For example, on the first one (the sleeve for the Bonobo EP) he uses multiple processes (like die-cutting) which all keep the 3 colours orange, black and grey tones consistent and attractive. I am very inspired by his style and plan to look deeper at his work taking elements from it and applying it to my own style.

This psychedelic style got me lastly looking a bit more broadly, looking at weird, surrealist styles and how I can incorporate these different ideas which I am so keen on into my work to develop myself.