david bushay, 2010/11 portfolio

London College of Communication BA Graphic Product Innovation 1

Invisible SignsExploring a brand with all senses

Cecil Lauren

Second year students of BA Graphic Product Innovation at London College of Communication 2011

MergingTypefaceDavid Bushay2010/2011 PortfolioGraphic Product Innovation

David Bushay [email protected] 2010/ 2011 Portfolio


Graphic Product Innovation

The title of the course may be confusing; after all it contains two words which conjure up very different and possibly separate activities. ‘Graphic’ implies graphic design with connotations of print or digital based communication while the term ‘product’ conjures up images of artefact design. ‘Innovation’ is defined in the Cox Review of Creativity in Business as “the successful exploitation of new ideas”.

Year 2 (2010/2011) encouraged my exploration and application of the skills and principles introduced in my first year as well as introducing me to additional concepts and practices. I was able to access relevant facilities and resources introduced in my first year and gained experience of working independently and collaboratively in the studio. I was offered experience of a broad range of media in both two and three dimensions and sought to challenge my preconceptions of what constitutes ‘graphic’, and ‘product’ and in doing so was encouraged to adopt an innovative approach to the development of ideas and concepts.

Enjoy.



Cecil Lauren


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Contents

Making Every Journey Better

Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT)

“Pop Up” Installation

Invisible Identities

Paternity Leave

Sustainable Design Manifesto

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Cecil Lauren


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Making Every Journey Better

Heathrow airport is the world’s busiest international airport with 5 terminals connecting people around the world since 1955. The airport is committed to build a better journey for its passengers and is taking a fresh look at all terminals, investing 1 billion each year for 5 years. The difference this investment has already made is quicker arrivals, smoother departures, a more enjoyable time connecting and architectural improvements, including the new BA terminal 5.

In addition, air travel is being seen in the media and in the public eye as one of the worst offenders in terms of environmental impact and airports are struggling to change their image, if not their ways, to respond to this.

To complement the existing programme, the airport authorities are looking for design teams to develop innovative solutions with a fresh perspective, to re-think the airport experience and make passengers’ journeys more enjoyable under the banner ‘Making every journey better’.

Design teams collaborated with FdA Graphic and Spatial Communication students to work on this breif. We were to analyse today’s airport experience, identify key areas for improvement and provide a design solution. As a guideline for research and analysis, reflect on what type of people use the terminal, what they’re doing there, what situations recur and if the airport could be a destination in and of itself.

The solution could be focused on one detail of the experience or it could be an overarching system that incorporates the whole experience. Could be designing something that is in a specific point or throughout the terminal; could be designing an environment, a service, a 3D object, a communication system, a visual narrative, a wayfinding system, etc.

The solution must be viable and reflect BAA’s commitments to accessibility, climate change, local environment, community and sustainability as well as the drive to make every journey better.


Making Every Journey Better - Initial Ideas

Through re-enacting the airport experience at Terminal 5, we found four key areas of the airport that you have to wait for a considerable amount of time, between 5-20 minutes on a typical journey. On a map of the terminal we plotted these areas as:

1. Check-in and Bag Drop, your first queue at the airport.2. Security Control, where every passenger has to queue for the scanners.3. The Departure Lounge, where you have to wait for your Gate number.4. At the Gate, whilst waiting to board the plane.

In the four key areas of queuing or waiting around in the airport, we aimed to design a unique bespoke solution to improve the experience for the passenger.

These are the four areas in which passengers are forced to wait around for the longest time. We have devised a scheme called ‘Timeless’ which aims to create the illusion of time moving faster through interaction and distraction. The word timeless also links to the uniqueness of the designs we are implementing, and how passengers of all ages/nationalities etc can enjoy them. I specifically looked into designing a solution for stage four, the departure gate.


Making Every Journey Better - The Idea

Stage Four is at the Departure Gate, where there is nothing left to do but sit and wait before you can board the plane. At this point you are quite tired, having looked around the shop, gone through all the security checks and been standing around for quite some time. That is why in this area we felt that it was important to design something that you can enjoy from your seat, that you can digest with minimum effort, but still introduces you to the culture you are about to experience and prepares you for your journey.

In this area we are implementing several seamlessly placed screens around the perimeter of the room that will consist of graphic and visual information such as anecdotes, dos and don’ts and key phrases. Passengers waiting at that gate will have the option to text in their own personal anecdotes, if they have any, be it an amazing restaurant recommendation, a word of warning, or any advice they wish to share.


Making Every Journey Better - Final Outcome

As you come to the last part of the airport experience before your board and head off to your destination we have discovered through research that waiting at the departure gate is the one place you prefer to relax and rest.

So while your waiting we have come up with a service that will provide you with information specifically about your destination where it’s the passengers choice to participate or pay attention to or not.

The information displayed on several seamlessly placed screens around each departure gate room will offer dos and don’ts and culture differences about your particular destination and also allows passengers to participate and text in anecdotes and add to the roll of information displayed which they feel may benefit other fellow flyers.

Organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) are the most sustainable medium to facilitate this concept. The OLED is a light-emitting diode in which the electroluminescent layer is a film of organic compounds, which emit light in response to an electric current. Contrary to ordinary LED or LCD screens, OLED screens function without a backlight, are lower in cost, use light weight and flexible plastic, posses wider viewing angles and improved brightness, better power efficiency and faster response time.

It will function and be controlled by a central computer, which will act as a remote to control all the OLED screens. Pre prepared videos and other information can be updated, synced and sent via the Internet from the central computer to the controllers, which relay the information to the individual OLED screens.

This system allows passengers to rest and relax and also participate and subconsciously take in bite size information that may prove useful on their trip.


Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT)

This project looked at redesigning a communication system within the London Wetland Centre while focusing on issues of sustainability and environmental concerns.

The London Wetland Centre is an urban wildlife site on the migration path of many species of bird. It is frequented by birdwatchers and wildlife photographers as well as families with children and school groups. Because we designed a communication system for the site it was vital to research and to consider who the users of the site are and how this audience will affect our design.


Sustainability & Environmental Sustainability and the environment intertwine in its relevance to the wetland centre. The wetland centre in a natural habit, so for the centre to locally source their own material and food and recycle and waste very little is easy to understand. Easily accessible resources like material and food and the growth of plants ect can benefit the environment as there natural plus can be re used or cycled for another use causing it to be sustainable. It’s also noted that the Wetland Centre has received a gold award for sustainability. The reason for no buildings close by the surrounding area is because birds are unlikely to recognize it as a place to nest. In addition, the problem of an airport being fairly close to the centre is a concern for the birds to migrate there due to the frequent airplane traffic and noise from above could deter the birds elsewhere.


Users

Based on primary research done on a visit to the London wetland centre I documented the various users seen visiting the centre. This allowed me to gain a greater understanding of who visits and why and how the centre accommodates and appeals to the needs of these target groups. I discovered two main user groups: birdwatchers and families. Also included were: parents, children, schools and sensualists. The Wetland Centre accommodates the two main user groups via a conservation area and an educational area. The conservation is targeted towards birdwatcers and sensualists as for the educational area are primarily for families and schools. The educational area consists of play areas and other interactive learning facilities while the conservation area consists of hives and towers to facilitate birdwatchers in their pursuit of documenting birds. Additionally, it’s interesting to note the user groups that are not addressed by the centre and why e.g. teens. Overall the users play a major role in the successful operation of the centre.


Navigation & InformationThe London Wetland Centre has to encompass a lot of information in its centre that needs to be relayed to its visitors. This has caused the centre to be cluttered with various amounts of different signage, advertisement boards ect around the centre with no real synced system or consistency in place. From observation it seems that they have two distinct signs, one typeface carved into wood outside, and another for inside. The use of many different signs doesn’t assist but complicates the whole sign system especially for the user. I also noticed additional navigation systems on the floor. The use of bird’s footprints around the centre seemed to bemore about aesthetics than function. As you journey the centre the signs provided and the amount of them whether navigational or informational appear to be confusing to understand due to the lack of continuity and amount of complex information that needs to be displayed.


Education

While the London Wetland Centre is a popular attraction to come and visit it also educates you while your there, covering such topics as: sustainability, conservation, science & biology and birds. School who visit are offered a 50 min teaching session not necessarily about birds but more about the environment. As well as this there are many other interactive activates for children especially to engage with and learn at the same time. Apart from sessions of learning there are also various different information boards and signs informing visitors what types of birds they may come across and information about them, plus a cinematic video is available to those who are interested to view. This shows that the centre offers more than just a conservation or natural habitat, but an education about environmental issues.


User Experience: Storyboard

Through research and visiting the London Wetland Centre we have come up with a design direction and concept we feel will enhance and add to the centre. Aimed at children (ages 4-7 years) as our main user, we have decided to develop and design an interactive wetland game that will inform, educate and entertain children about birds.

From visiting the wetland centre we found that they had many games, but with no purpose or meaning also noted that they had no game specifically about birds. Knowing this we decided to fill this gap and provide children with a game that teaches them about birds of the centre. We hope that this game will not only occupy and entertain the kids but educate them and allow them to them go out the actually explore the Wetland Centre with enthusiasm and excitement.


Based on images and documentation collected from the Wetland Centre, we used them to re-create this environment in our interactive game so viewers can familiarise themselves and have a sense of the feel on the centre before hand.

Previous Page: Initial gameplay design.


WWT Virtual Gameplay

The game will be a bird spotting game using an interactive wall split seamlessly into three sections. The interactive wall will have the Wetland game projected onto the wall. Motion sensors in the wall will sense the movement and motion of the user that will prompt its interaction.

The game simply is about spotting birds in a virtual simulation of the Wetland Centre. The virtual simulation will be displayed in a childish and cartoon manner to appeal to its target audience. It will begin as the user is walking through the Wetland Centre and birds will begin to appear. This will then invite the user to tap the screen and select a specific bird. This will then provide information about the specific bird such as:

• Name of the bird• Species• Where they are from• Eating habits• Where they can be found in the Wetland Centre

In addition to that will also provide sustainable tips for the user to note. Each game session will last 3mins and depending of how quick you spot a bird determines how much point you get (the quicker you spot a bird the more point you attain). Additionally the game will also allow the user to select a specific season if they wish, as different birds are available in different seasons. To maintain a competitive aspect once the game is done will allow the user to enter there name to add to the leader board if they wish plus will encourage the user to visit the website and go out and spot the birds in the actual centre.


WWT Final Outcomes

This interactive game will not only can be implemented in the Wetland Centres but also can be available on there website and as a mobile application. Overall we feel this idea will educate, entertain and inform children in a exciting way providing them with information about birds and sustainability.


“Pop Up” Installation

A collaborative project that challenged us to work in multi-disciplinary teams to produce environmental design as pop up installations in selected areas of ‘dead space’ around the London College of Communication building. We visited the Columbia Road Market, its surrounding retail outlets and the nearby Geffrye Museum, which we documented and analysed in terms of feel and mood and then translated into installations. The pieces produced developed ideas around navigation, mapping and signage. The work could temporarily alter the function of the space, the way a viewer interacts with it and could provoke a reaction or change of mood. The materials used are wholly sustainable or gave consideration to the protection of natural resources by reducing consumption of energy and materials.


COLUMBIAROAD


“Pop Up” Installation - Concept

The concept of this installation was based upon the idea of how aware are we of our surroundings, and the distinction between reality and representation. This idea stemmed from the comparisons between Columbia Road and the area its in, East London.

Columbia Road:Expensive AntiquesMiddle class man playing the double bass at the side of the roadArt galleriesFrench style bistrosExpensive foodExpensive flowersMiddle class families

East London:MulticulturalStudentCockneyWorking ClassCouncil Housing

From reading texts concerning epistemology such and Kant and Stewart, there are many concerns regarding reality and illusion and the dangers of taking a representation of reality, as reality itself.

Our aim was to investigate this idea by using a physical ‘dead space’ itself as the subject to demonstrate our concept. To execute this we aimed to exaggerate the over looked within the space itself to show how the ‘dead’ space is far from dead and make a point of challenging the viewer to take notice of their surroundings and question representation vs. reality. We planned to produce a multimedia installation using sculpture, video and sound.


“Pop Up” Installation - Exhibition

Our installation was selected to be exhibited in the “Museums Futures”. This allowed the installation to be viewed and experienced by a wider audience. Being that our installation was “pop up” this allowed us to dismantle and re assemble it in a different environment without much effort.



Cecil Lauren




Cecil Lauren


Invisible Identities

This project in association with the Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB) required me explore ways into expressing a brands values and personality to the visually impaired. My goal was to reflect the values of Nivea crème through the senses appealing to the visually impaired. I designed and tested several prototypes which enabled me to further develop a product that would be suitable and assessable to my target audience.


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Nivea

Nivea is a large global skin- and body-care brand, owned by German company Beiersdorf. The company began in 1911 when Beiersdorf developed a water-in-oil emulsifier as a skin cream with Eucerit, the first stable emulsion of its kind. The company’s owner, Oskar Troplowitz, named it Nivea, from the Latin word niveus/nivea/niveum.

During the 1930s, Beiersdorf began producing products such as suntan lotions, shaving creams, shampoo and facial toners. The trademark “Nivea” was expropriated in many countries following WWII. Internationalisation during the 1980s propelled the Nivea brand to a wider global market.


Audience

Nivea’s main target audience since the 1900’s has been middle-aged women. Over the years they have broadened their audience to families, children and even men by catering for these target groups with a wider variety of products. Now Nivea is available to more or less everyone.

Reasons for using this brand some say is down to the trust and long serving legacy and history, others say its good for the skin while others like the distinct fragrance.


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Anson

Apple Chancery

Conqueror Didot

Conqueror Sans

Brie Light

Lobster 1.4

Futura LT Book

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Visuals of the BrandLooking for ways to enhance this brand and cater for the visually impaired, I experimented with colour by surveying people giving them an option of what colour product they would prefer, offering a selection of different colours. The results showed that most people prefer the original blue and white packaging, as it is easily recognisable and distinctly relating to the Nivea brand.

Blue is a colour that represents eternal values such as strength and reliability, tradition, satisfaction, timelessness, fulfilments and plenitude. The crème inside the blue tin reflects precisely these values. It is purchased and appreciated by consumers. It has been on the market for 100 years. People trust it. It keeps its skin care promise. People who see the blue colour of this tin immediately know that it’s Nivea.

Nivea’s existing typographic logo I think was the only thing which needed change, as I felt it didn’t represent Nivea’s brand values convincingly. There current logo is very rigid, stern and static and doesn’t rely the values of a brand that is about skin care. So I decided to change the type and convey a more smooth, curvy and user friendly feel to the logo. Also looked into adding an icon which would provide additional visual information and what this product is about.


Understanding the “Blind” Audience

In order for me to understand my audience with low vision I needed to get “blind”. I did several experiments testing, exploring and documenting how I would interact, function and identify my brand as my audience would, “blind”.

In particular I decided to use the “Nivea crème” product to focus on as they have many products and it would be too much of a big a task to undertake, so had to narrow it down. Blindfolded I looked into how a blind person would interact with a Nivea crème product using the senses. From this I looked to explore ways into how I will represent this

brands values better through these senses.


What do you smell?

The distinct fragrance fills your nostrils the second you open the tin. It lingers on the skin when the crème has been applied. Bergamot, lavender, orange and lemon, these are all ingredients that are also used to make luxury perfumes. That’s why the Nivea fragrance is a

classic fragrance.


What do you taste?

The taste of Nivea crème wasn’t very pleasant.


What do you hear?

There were two sounds I heard while testing this Nivea product. One was the sound of the turning of the lid, the other of the foil being peeled to reveal the content.


What do you feel?

The only major problem I found with the feeling and touch of this product was trying to open it. Found it difficult being blindfolded to know which way to turn the product for it to open. When opened the crème releases a distinct scent that

lingers on the skin when the crème is applied.


Prototypes

In response to the problems I discovered in my blindfold experiment and through various other primary and secondary research I undertook I aimed to reflect the values of Nivea crème through the senses.

I tried to appeal to the visually impaired and assist them into how to interact with this product and also give them indication as to what the product is for and about.

I did three prototypes including the new logo design and icon for Nivea crème. One main problem I came across was difficulty trying to open the product. In response to this I added braille that gives the user an indication as to what the product is and how to use it.

In addition it was noted that Nivea crème has a distinct fragrance that is recognizable to many. So for one prototype I explored texture and scent and tried to replicate this recognizable scent to add an extra dimension to this invisible identity.

Overall I think from the problems I identified I resolved these problems visually impaired would face in using this particular

product and relayed Niveas brands values successfully.


Paternity Leave

The law on maternity and paternity rights has changed. Since April 2011 mothers were entitled by law to 52 weeks of maternity leave and fathers were entitled to 2 weeks of paternity leave. As of this April, mothers and fathers will be able to split the parental leave more equally between the two.

Research has shown that increased paternal leave has benefits for the family’s stability, the father’s bonding with and involvement in the child’s life as well as creating a more equal outlook for men and women in the workplace.

However businesses, especially small businesses, are wary of the additional costs involved in the implementation of this policy, especially in terms of replacing staff who are out on leave. This may result in businesses pressuring fathers not to take the parental leave. In addition, the male stereotype of the breadwinner may also put some fathers off taking this additional leave.

Because of this, there is a fear that fathers may not take up the additional paternity leave because they may see it as having a negative effect on their career, or because of preconceptions about the role of the father within the family.

The Fatherhood Institute wants to encourage more fathers to take up the additional paternity leave, this was the task.


Final Idea

Information gathered from primary and secondary research suggested that there were no specific forum for fathers around this subject. As a result I proposed an online community for fathers, which will provide them with assessable information, the opportunity to share and exchange experiences, access to free resources, and network with other fathers in their local area. This will help raise the awareness and understanding of fathers rights, leading to an increase take up of paternity leave.

Pages on the site will include:

Pervious page: Idea generation workshops

Home page.Purpose of the site.A chance for all to share and contribute helpful tips, advise, warnings and experiences to other fathers.Connect and expand your network. View profiles and add new friends, share your photos and videos. Create your own group or join others.Available resources for fathers to download for free in helping and aiding you in being a better father.For further information and enquires.

Home -About - Share -

Community -

Resources -

Contact -


Sustainable Design Manifesto

Sustainable design is the philosophy of designing physical objects, the built environment, and services to comply with the principles of economic, social, and ecological sustainability. The intention of sustainable design is to “eliminate negative environmental impact completely through skilful, sensitive design”. Manifestations of sustainable design require no nonrenewable resources, impact the environment minimally, and relate people with the natural environment.

My task was to create a sustainable design manifesto including our opinions on the subject. I decided to create a poster which included statements for sustainable design and its importance. Not only that, but i created my poster out of the minimal use of ink and waste and by cutting out the shadows of each letter which then allows the mind to form that letter without the need of the whole letter itself. My sustainable design manifesto included:

• Resources are limited, but creativity isn’t. • Reduce, Reuse. • Use only what you need. • Use less, do more. • Waste leads us to waste. Don’t waste time. • Sustainable design is the only thing worth designing. When you’re not, you’re designing waste. • Waste has worth.

Designers are known for their eccentric and new ways of creating solutions for problems. Resources are limited but creativity isn’t. Using less and doing more with it, is what we should chose to focus on with design, for example Less colours used means less ink consumed. To all the designers, prove the design community’s wits and compensate the limits of the resources in a big leap towards sustainability. Design Responsibly.


Merging Typeface

This project was about creating a new typeface from two existing ones. I decided on using typefaces, Helvetica and Times New Roman. Reasons for this choice was that I thought combining a serif and san serif typeface seemed an interesting challenge to undertake.


HelveticaDesigned by Max Miedinger in 1957, helvetica is one of the worlds most widely used typefaces. Its uniform, upright character makes it similar to transitional serif letters.


Times New Roman, a serif typeface commissioned by the British newspaper The Times in 1931, designed by Stanley Morison and Victor Lardent at the English branch of Monotype.


Techniques

One simple technique to merge these two typefaces was by splitting them in half. Split into two, the top half Helvetica and the bottom half Times New Roman, began the process of combining these iconic typefaces. I did this in many different ways, for example using tracing paper, light box, siccors and computer software.

Above: Process of merging typefaces using tracing paper.


Initial Final Idea

Combining these two typefaces highlighted interesting characteristics about each typeface, but decided to continue the process and experiment with another two typefaces.

Side Note: “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” is an English-language pangram, that is, a phrase that contains all of the letters of the alphabet. Owing to its shortness and coherence, it has become widely known and is often used in visual arts.


Rough


ArialArial is a sans-serif typeface. The typeface was designed in 1982 by Robin Nicholas and Patricia Saunders for Monotype Typography. Contemporary sans serif design, Arial contains more humanist characteristics and is an extremely versatile family of typefaces which can be used with equal success for text setting and for display use.

In essence rough draft is a display font. I decided to find both an extreme and unique typeface to work with as merging it with another typeface I think would prove an interesting outcome.

Draft


THE QUICK BroWN FOXJUMPS OVERTHE LAZY DOG

THE QUICKBROWN FOXJUMPS OVERTHE LAZY DOG

Idea Variations

Progressing on from my initial idea, I decided to go with two opposite and conflicting typefaces and experiment ways to merge them. The two typefaces I went with are interesting because one is versatile and the other is limited in its application. I used the same techniques and methods I did in my previous idea to note the outcome. I felt that merging these two typefaces proved much more interesting than the previous idea in forging a new type form.


Above: Merge type experimentation.


New Typeface

This is the final idea of my merged typeface. On the outside is the Rough Draft typeface while inside is Arial. I discovered that this gave a really interesting interior/exterior, inward/outward look to it, while still being legible to read. I believe that creating this new type form proved a success and pleased with the outcome.



Cecil Lauren


MergingTypefaceDavid Bushay

2010/2011 PortfolioBA Graphic Product Innovation

London College of [email protected]

david bushay, 2010/11 portfolio

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