Alphabet Soup - Research

Another idea I had was based around 'flatpacked' items/furniture. I could "de-construct" the letter somehow to retain its important aspects but in a much simpler form to give the impression it was 'flatpacked'.

Amazing use of physical type to create a chair.

Some examples of unique flat-pack design ideas.

Alphabet Soup - Research

These are some more examples of 'folding' typography. They all feature certain elements which are folded over to create a hand-crafted sense to the outcome.

Certain elements of the type are folded, revealing the colour of the paper underleaf. The type is still legible despite some aspects hidden away. This gives the impression the type has been squashed and therefore flattened - relating directly to the word I was given.

In this design, the whole letter is curled over, revealing a subtle gradient underneath which fades to white. The letterforms themselves are formed with simple shapes - triangles, squares and circles.

Similar to the first design, certail elements are 'folded' over.

http://www.graphiatrist.com/filter/Typography

The letterforms are halved and filled with 2 colours - yellow and black. At first glance, they may not be legible but upon further inspection, they can easily be distinguished. Some of them are halved through their lines of symmetry which could benefit my own idea.

http://tdc.org/tdc/archives/100

Alphabet Soup - Research

The word I chose from the randomiser was "Flatten". My immediate (and most literal) response was to simply "squash" the letter so the stem (in most cases) decreases in length making the letter still legible yet completely different from its original state. However, I wanted to explore more ideas (as explained in my design practice blog). When you flatten something, sometimes it becomes creased and it reminded me of some typography/logo designs I have already seen before...

FOLD IT

The negative space of the 'F' forms the letter 'I'- initials of the name.

PAGE FOLD

Similar to the previous design yet half of the letter' P' has been folded to reveal the letter 'F' in the part which is not. Both great uses of negative space and combining different letterforms.

"How to..." research

As the brief required us to devise something which would enable fresher students to prioritise their time effectively, I gathered various flyers/fresher packs/student leaflets to gain insight into what is popular and what is ultimately, useless. During our first week, we received many flyers, many of which were discarded as they were no use. However, fresher packs containing items ranging from lazy garlic and tobasco to student events and discounts were useful therefore we as a group decided to create a freshers pack of our own containing ways of keeping up with time management.

Various flyers

A few pages from a student discount booklet. In the first example, they've used imagery which typically relates to students - notepad, camera, keys, stationary etc therefore is suited to its target audience.

 

A freshers pack provided by student-aid.

"How to..." Infographics examples

For the "How to..." brief, our group wanted to display certain information through infographics. After searching online, I found various examples which all had a distinctive and effective style. They explore different uses of typography, pictographs, compositions and unique ways of presenting information.

 

Burning fuel: The average car vs. the average human. Link

Creative use of colours to highlight certain areas.

Vector graphics compliment the bright colour scheme.

Clear examples of where we and cars get our fuel from using icons.

The top cameras on Flickr

Simle graphics and charts are clear and concise.

Colour coded for different areas.

37 minute bus ride

Vivid colours immediately attract your attention.

Some more infographics relating to the same concept.

Are we addicted to the internet? Link

Consistent colour scheme throughout.

Simple graphics annotated with serif fonts add to the minimalistic approach.