Final Pictures

Summary

I feel that I was very consistent with my ideas throughout this project, and knew for a long time which direction I wanted to steer my work in. Initially, I knew that I was interested in making promotional posters and festival wristbands, however I had other ideas such as tickets, bags or t-shirts. When researching artists and creating ideas based on these products, I realised that I did not want to continue these ideas to final designs.

Throughout the project, I researched many types of festival for all age ranges, from hot air balloon festivals to food and drink festivals, art to fashion, however my interest has always been in music festivals and I feel the ideas for this were stronger and more reliable.

After deciding that my firm theme was a coastal music festivals, with the main target audience from 16 to 30, I began to lay out ideas for final pieces, and create a strong brand image for my festival.

Food packaging was the first thing I researched and designed, after finding imagery in books and online of black and white patterns made out of simple individual line drawings. I decided to create a logo, which became my main brand image and I carried through the main design to all of my outcomes. I had issues designing my drinks cups, as I wanted to create two, a small and large size, however creating the template to fit perfectly proved difficult and I had to use trial and error to get the correct sizes.

When creating my posters, I took many photos of my models in order to choose the correct ones to illustrate. I had to ensure that the colours I chose all complimented each other well, as they were documented alongside each other. I feel the font worked well with the illustration, as it was quirky and stylish, and this stood out. I printed my posters onto fine quality A3 paper and stuck my illustrations and font on top, to create a range of materials and layers. 

Reviewing and Refining Ideas

I experimented with many font ideas in my sketchbook for my poster, to find one that stood out and fitted my theme and my target audience perfectly. I felt the different fonts for each letter in my Wonksite Studio research worked well and looked abstract and individual, standing out well on the page, therefore I decided to carry this through to a poster for a final outcome. Originally, I planned on using a single font in a grey cardboard material, similar to my Silke Werzinger poster idea, however I felt it was too bland for a lively, exciting poster. When creating the poster, I used sticky pads to stick on the letters, so they are 3D and are more eye catching in black and white on top of the coloured background.

I then illustrated three people in Sarah Beetsons style, using watercolour on only a few parts of the drawing, to be used to promote the festival on the poster. I photographed models who were in the target age range, to draw the correct people in and interest them.

I used my mini outcome design in the style of Sarah Beetson, showing people at festivals which I created with fineliner and watercolour to place in the background of both my posters and wristbands, in order to carry through my previous ideas into my final pieces. I faded it into the background to make my outcomes look busier and more colourful, and combine artist ideas.

Another large part of my final outcome idea was food packaging. I used a pattern artist and took inspiration to create simple line drawings of things you find at festivals, arranged into a tight, consistent pattern. I created an initial idea, then adapted it to improve it, using photoshop to duplicate it and make it larger. I created drinks cups, cup holders, toastie bags, a pizza box, burger wrap and stickers with this design applied. I went through the stages of creating a logo for my food stall which I decided to call 'grub hub', and after many experiments, I used the idea of a record influenced by Kavel Rafferty.

When I created wristbands as a final outcome, I used the same text as my posters to link everything together and set a main theme and idea for my festival. I also carried through the logo design from my food packaging, however using the title 'On the Rocks', the name of my festival, rather than 'Grub Hub'. I created an Over 18 and VIP wristband, using the same design however replacing 'On the Rocks' with the correct title. I feel this sets a firm theme throughout the entire festival, giving it a consistent brand image.

Initial Ideas

In addition to the obvious ideas for festival merchandise, such as t-shirts and bags, which I created in the style of Rose Stallard, Jenni Sparks and Silke Werzinger, I know the importance of promotional posters for large events such as festivals. I wanted to make any outcome of a poster stand out and be eye catching and individual. I found the artist 'Jorge Restrepo' who created 'Worksite Studios' in the book 'Atlas of Graphic Designers', and thought the work would be perfect to fit around festival promotion. I created a poster in my sketchbook, taking ideas from many individual pieces of work, and felt it would work well as a mini outcome. I used collage to create this, and layered materials such as brown paper, squared and lined paper, watercolour paint and fine liner. I made  the design an original long rectangular shape, and felt it would fit well on the sides of bus stops and on buildings in big cities. I also produced a poster idea in the style of Silke Werzinger, also using collage materials.

When working with Zoe More O'Ferrall, I created map designs in my sketchbook of Brighton, festival stages and food stalls. I felt these illustrations were strong, and showed different areas of a festival well, therefore I redrew the images onto card and mounted them up.

I felt another original idea for a mini outcome would be producing the line up for a certain stage on a certain day in the form of a booklet, with designs of each individual artists face on each page and typography below stating their name. I created a prototype for this on card, then scanned in each page and printed it in a more professional manner.

The Initial Research

The artists Rose Stallard, Jenni Sparks and Kavel Rafferty stood out to me, as I felt I could create products and promotion linking to both festivals and the coast well using their work as a link. All three artists produce work in a similar style, which includes line drawing and mainly hand produced pieces, rather than digital illustrations.

Rose Stallard's work is vibrant and busy, and links to music festivals very well. I feel I could create posters advertising coastal music festivals, and line up displays in her style. Her work mainly appears to have a tight colour scheme, which I feel would be eye catching for promotion if I include this in my own designs. I think the fact that her work is slightly messy, and doesn't include realistic illustrations or neat lines produces the atmosphere of a festival, meaning the designs would stand out to the target audience.

Poster for Print Clubs 'Pop up shop' on Brick Lane

In my sketchbook I produced a full page design in Rose Stallard's style entirely linking back to music festivals, which could be used as a promotional poster, or a website.

Jenni Sparks is an artist well known for her map designs, and I felt this could be appropriate for festival promotion as I could produce my own maps for festivals as outcomes. I created an example map design in my sketchbook for a small music festival. I like the varied use of text in Jenni Sparks work and feel the hand written effect stands out well, giving the designs an almost cartoon feel, therefore I could also make tickets and posters incorporating this.

Billboard magazine 'Best places to dine after going to the Grammys'

Kavel Rafferty produces lots of food and drink designs which I feel would be appropriate for a festival menu. Her designs are unique and have a messy feel about them. She has also created line drawings of faces, and I took this idea to make a line up booklet, by drawing up A6 faces of singers such as Ed Sheeran and Lewis Watson. I felt this was an original idea and worked better than a simple poster. I also created a front cover for it in her style.

'An Antidote to Indifference' poster

My line up booklet - Mini Outcome

The Brief

When very first introduced to the project, we were given the umbrella theme of 'coast', however leading from that there were many very different paths to take. I chose the brief 'That's Entertainment', and the overall task was to produce a promotional campaign for coastal entertainment. 

My sketchbook opening page

I have always loved the idea of music festivals and felt this could be an original yet fun direction to go down in my project. Real life, fine drawing has never been a particular skill of mine, and I prefer typography, creating products and product promotion, as well as designing for things that I am passionate about, which is why I felt this brief would be perfect for me. 

Originally, I thought of many different types of festivals to explore - family festivals, campervan festivals, hot air balloon festivals, arts and fashion festivals and music festivals. All of the ideas I had came accompanied by many outcome and product ideas. I firstly thought of the obvious - tickets, wristbands, maps and posters- however I also had some original ideas such as line ups, VIP lanyards, website designs, clothing, bags etc. These ideas all interest me because I feel festival merchandise is important, and designing and promoting a festival well will make a big impact on how it is perceived. 

The idea for a beach music festival appeals to me most, as it would be for a target audience including my age range, 17-30, and this is one of my own individual interests therefore I can suit it to what I know I, and others similar, would enjoy, rather than working to a target audience outside my direct knowledge. I will still produce questionnaires for market research, as I understand many people want different things, and I feel it will be interesting to see how different ages would prefer different font styles, colour schemes and merchandise items. This way, I will be able to suit my festival to my entire target audience.