Re design of the final poster

Today, I looked back at the poster I designed and began to think that maybe it wasn't good enough. I realized that I have much more knowledge and skills that I would like to improve and show off. So I decided that I wanted to re design it. I have kept the 'vintage, by Guild Care' title and the logo with the dates on because I thought they looked very professional. 

I took inspiration from this image below.

 I like how in every box there is a different font and colour. So I lay my page out in a similar fashion and began filing in the boxes. My 7 titles are food, arts & crafts, dance, music, fashion, history and photography. These are all things that we were planning to have at the party. I used tools that I have use before, like the Pen Tool and the Direct Selection Tool. I used that tool mostly to cut around the images to remove backgrounds. To be able to wrap the text around the globe, I used the Type on a Path Tool, which automatically follows the line in which you have selected and curves the text to fit around it. For the image of the girl, I used a Live Trace in Illustrator to select the lines and then add colour in. I chose only 4 colours in mine. (light brown, dark brown, white and black.) I removed the black parts in InDesign by selecting the image, then going to Object>Ungroup. This made all the tiny parts of the image separate from each other, which means I could just select the black parts and press delete. I did the same with the image of the couple dancing. 

The bunting I made on Illustrator very easily just by creating an arc, then a triangle which I copied and pasted 4 more times and rotated so that they fit on the line. 

I then thought that I could use this design to make my invitations. The design should always be repeated so it becomes recognizable. So I took the pictures in the middle for the front of the invitation and the details for the back. I wrote a little explaining about Guild Care and some of the ways we help elderly people and children with special needs. 

I wrote: '80 years ago, the Worthing Council of Social Service provided a service to give free milk out to school children, free dental treatments and even loans to help those that were poor. Three care homes were opened Irene House, Linfield House and Caer Gwent, which provided elderly people with a safe environment and the care that they needed. 

Day services called ‘Time Out & About’ were designed to help the elderly get out of their house, and be taken to new and exciting places where they can chat with friends and enjoy the scenery. 

In 1995, Worthing Council of Social Services was renamed as Guild Care. Since then, the Ashdown Centre was opened for children with special needs that offers fun sessions to help them with their disorders. Charity shops were opened to help raise funds for the services and care home facilities. 

On the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, we are celebrating their 80th anniversary and are very excited to invite you to come and celebrate with us! We are having a vintage themed party with food, music, loads of entertainment and even a photo booth!

Come along from 12-6pm and come celebrate all the good work that Guild Care has done over the years.'

Below is the invitations I designed. I think they work really well, and look quite professional!

 Anniversary Poster

To start research, I started looking at some older poster designs. 

 I have noticed that most of them use the same sort of colour. BROWNS, YELLOWS, BLUES, and REDS. I think this would be due to the cost of printing. And the aging of the colours over time. Another thing I noticed was that they all have very bold, eye catching titles. In order to make my poster design look old fashioned, I must ensure I use the same sort of colours and fonts. 

I am going to be using the Goodwood Vintage design to gather inspiration from. I really like this design, even though its not actually an old poster. I like how the designer has used different fonts, it makes it look very quirky and a lot more interesting than if it was just one font followed through the design. 

I found this image from Google Images, though it originally came from the website. As the event has finished, the website is no longer on. 

What I really liked from this image is the caption 'A celebration of all that is best about British popular culture.' I would like to have a go at redesigning this so that it works with my design. I began to do this on InDesign, just typing a word then going through all the different  fonts until I found something that fits. I came up with the phrase 'A celebration of all that is best about 80 years of Guild Care.'                                This is what it looks like. 



I then decided I would like to do the 'Vintage' title, so I added my own fonts to that. I also saw on the image a strip of colour with the words, 'Music, fashion, film, art and design'. I had a go at reproducing this but with photography instead of design and 'food' instead of art. 

I needed a the date of the event to be quite an important part of the poster. So I made a logo and put the dates into it. I did this in Adobe Illustrator with the help of another logo underneath. The Guild Care heart, house and butterfly is a very well known symbol of the company and the brand so I put that in the center at the top. 










I struggled trying to find a place for the 'celebration' logo so I tried re designing it. As it was in a square, it just wouldn't fit right anywhere on the page. I shuffled the logo so that it fits length ways instead. This fits much better!







I then added an image that I thought was appropriate. This is one of the images that I used in my picture cards so I thought it would be good to use it again. This is a photo of a few girls raffling a car. Its quite a fun image, with loads of laughter and smiles, so that it why I chose it. Although I did think it needs some editing on Photoshop. 

First of all, I added a layer. (Layer>New Fill Layer>Solid Colour.) Select the mode to: Soft Light and hit ok. Select your colour and click ok. Then flatten the image (Layer>Flatten Image) This makes all layers merge into one and reduces that size of the image. I then adjusted the contrast and brightness by going to Image>Adjustments>Brightness/Contrast. I also used the Burn Tool on this photo. By clicking on the Burn Tool, I can darkness the edges to give highlight to the middle of the image. If the area your burning is light, go to Range>Highlights. If it is dark, then go to Range>Shadows. Any where in between will be Midtones. I then saved and replaced into the poster design. 

Back to the poster, I realized that I hadn't added any red to the poster. (one of the main colours used in old fashioned posters) so I started to pick out bits with red instead of black. I used small parts on the text at the bottom to add in hints of red by using Illustrator. This is how I did it: 
1. Copy and Paste the text into Illustrator. 
2. Select the whole text
3. Right click, > Create Outlines
4. Click on the 'Live Paint Bucket' tool.
5. Select the text
6. Click parts of the text you want to change to red (select the shade of red beforehand)

The new poster with updated image: 

I am starting to like this design, its very readable, and looks very professional. The only thing that's missing is some text to the right of the page. I came up with a little paragraph saying 'Come join us and help celebrate our 80th Anniversary! There will be food, entertainment  crafts and even a photo booth! Guild Care Centre is open from 12-6 from 2nd - 4th June.' 

The final poster

This is the final poster that I have designed for the Guild Care 80th Anniversary Vintage Party. 

What do you hope to achieve through the poster? 
I want to advertise the celebration, and let public know that they are invited to come along. 

Who is your audience?
Anyone over the age of 20. No one younger because its an event to celebrate Guild Care, younger children will not necessary know about Guild Care, or what it does for the community. 

Henri de Toulouse Lautrec

As I am designing a poster for a vintage party, I thought it would be a good idea to study an artist that is famously known for their older-style paintings and designs. I have always been fascinated with Henri de Toulouse Lautrec's work, so I am going to study his paintings in depth so I can gain a little more knowledge about the way he works, and the techniques behind it.

A brief history.

Henri de Toulouse Lautrec was born in France, 1864. At the age of 13, he broke his right thigh bone. The break never healed so he grew up with a unknown genetic disorder - nowadays called the 'Toulouse-Lautrec syndrome.' Unable to play any sports, he began to immerse himself in the world of art, and stayed painting for the rest of his life. In 1892, the Moulin Rouge opened. Henri was commissioned to paint some posters advertising the cabaret. In 1901, he died from alcohol overdose. After his death, his mother contributed funds to allow his paintings to be stored in Alibi, where there are more of his paintings than any where else in the world. 

The Moulin Rouge.

The hall that Toulouse painted in this painting is still around today. It's built in Paris, where Henri spend most of his time (he couldn't speak a lot of English). He used to sit and watch the dancers, and painted them while they were moving. This is why most of his paintings are messy, rushed and busy. Because of his deformity Henri liked to be around people who were also judged, like clowns and woman. 

Jane Avril (the lady in the painting above) was one of the dancers at the Moulin Rouge. Avril was abused as a child, lived a life of poverty and was diagnosed with a movement disorder. As I said earlier, Henri preferred to be with other people that are judged, so he began to get to know Avril quite well and remained friends until they died. 

Many of Henri's paintings became posters, but the one below never did. He did this painting only weeks before he suffered a breakdown. In this painting, the serpent is winding itself around Avril's dress as she screams and raises her arms. The original is currently being held at the National Gallery of Art, Washington. On the right is my version of the painting. I did this in pencil. 

My version of the painting

Jane Avril, 1899 (Lithograph)

Jane at the Jardin de Paris.

Jane at the Jardin de Paris

This was a poster designed to promote one of Avrils dances. It was a massive hit, and many different versions were made. The composition is interesting in this painting, the bottom right corner is a neck of a double bass in the orchestra. Frantz Jourdain, a contempry critic wrote '... like a sad and pained bird, Jane Avril dances or, rather, hops. Her weary, slender body looses itself in the volume of her red and yellow dress, (while) a very distinctive facial expression, framed by her hair, gives the dancer an inexpressible London strangeness.' Below is Henri's first sketch of Avril. I noticed some changes from the sketch to the painting. Her arm has been reduced to a thin black line which means Henri worked on the sketch and tried to make it better. The busy lines suggest he painted from direct observation.

           

My attempt at painting the 'Jane at Jardin de Paris'

Henri's sketch

Technique.

Henri used lithography to create and print his posters. One of his artworks, 'L'estampe Originale' shows his work being printed, while Jane Avril stands by, checking the newly printed work. 

Definition of Lithography - Lithography originally used an image drawn (etched) into a coating of wax or an oily substance applied to a plate of lithographic stone as the medium to transfer ink paper sheet, and so produce a printed page.' 

An example of lithography stone

To create a poster, limestone was needed, and the ground had to be either smooth or rough, depending on how the artist wanted the final piece to turn out. Henri liked his stone smooth because in most of his work, he uses very detailed, thin lines, which wouldn't come out as good if he used a rough stone. Inks and crayon-like sticks were used to draw directly onto the stones surface. The inks would be painted on using a brush or pen. Henri preferred this way of painting because he could create much more detailed paintings and cleaner lines. Once the image was painted onto the stone, it was wiped with a liquid called 'etch' which made the image bond tightly to the stones surface. The parts of the stone that hadn't been painted on with the ink formed a hydrophilic coating, which resisted ink, but attracted water. This would create the blank parts of the painting. After etching, the artist would wipe the stone in water which coated the blank areas. Then, an oil-based ink was applied with rollers, and the ink or crayon would attract itself to the oil-based ink. Effects could be created using this technique such a Henri's favorite, 'crachis,' which is an airbrushing effect. This is created by using a cob over an ink-dipped toothbrush, causing little droplets of ink to splatter on the page. This effect can be seen in Henri's painting, 'Au Concert'.

Au Concert

Troupe de Mlle Eglantine

My version of Troupe de Mlle Eglantine

http://www.personal.psu.edu/ams5626/ass6.html
http://www.allposters.co.uk
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithography
http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/arts/artwork/stone-lithography.htm
http://www.theartsdesk.com/visual-arts/toulouse-lautrec-and-jane-avril-beyond-moulin-rouge-courtauld-gallery
Millers Collecting Prints and Posters: A collection's guide (Millers Publications; illustrated edition (16 Oct 1997)
The Art Book - Phaido
501 Great Artists - Stephan Farthing (Apple press (1 Mar 2009))
http://www.courtauld.ac.uk/gallery/vodcasts/2011/toulouse-lautrec.shtml

Techniques on the Singing for Pleasure Poster

This is the original poster that I am redesigning. I have to update it with a new logo and all the new branding (fonts, colours). Below is the first draft that I came up with. I had extended the image so that it so not cropped like the poster above. I have put the title in Varela Round, the company's branding font for headings and titles. The new logo that needs to be added is the Outreach logo, which is orange. I used the Eyedropper Tool to select that colour and put it into the title. I have also used the same colour to make the banner, and decreased the opacity so its slightly see-through and you are able to read the text without difficulty. This is my first attempt, and am not very happy with it so I decided to have another go. 

This is the next design that I made. It is much clearer and looks much more professional. I have divided the page into half, the text at the top and the image/logo at the bottom. Doing this creates a break from the page being too busy and overflowed with information.

This is how I created the sweep at the bottom, and how to make the image intersect with it. 

1. Open the company sweep into InDesign.

2. Use the Eyedropper Tool to copy the colour of the Outreach logo onto the bottom half of the sweep. 

3. Use the Pen Tool to add points to bottom of the image by clicking on it (make sure you have a '+' beside your cursor which means that you are adding a point and not deleting it. 

4. Use the Direct Selection Tool to 'click and drag' the points upwards so that they are inline with the sweep. Move each one until they are all on top of the sweep.

5. Press 'Ctrl/Shift + ]' to put the image to the back of the page, putting the sweep in front - this should hide the points that you dragged.

6. Once completed, make sure that there isn't a border around the image. Then feather the edges by clicking the image > effects. Go under Feather Image and adjust properties until happy with result. 

Picture Cards

I have been thinking about what to do for the picture cards. I know I wanted them to have an image on, and then some information about the image next to/on the back of the card. I began to design on InDesign but the problem I had was that I didn't have enough text to put on the back without it looking lost. So I decided to put the text on the front, on the actual image. This will help the cards to look busy and not empty. I got through Chris Hare's book, 'Through the Hard Times and Good', to gather some images and information.

I found 4 different images that I liked, and thought would interest other people and began to design my cards. I found with most of them that I couldn't just put text on top of the images because the background is too busy. So I made a separate box and brought the transparency down so you can still see the image behind the box but also read the text. 

Below are my final designs. 

Caer Gwent May Fayre Poster

I have been asked to design and print off a poster advertising Caer Gwent's May Fayre on Saturday 4th May. Like the GreenHouse auction poster, I need to make sure that the fonts, colours and logos are all the same to ensure they fit within the guidelines. To begin with, I used InDesign to design a basic layout that I can start to work with. 

 I have used the basic grid lines that I saw in the Marie Curie poster I studied earlier. I put the title of the event, the logo and the date/time at the top as this is the most important part of the poster so they should be the largest. The bottom half is just a small paragraph with details of the day, the admission charge and some contact details. 
Unlike the Age UK poster, the text is not squashed together and is easy to read. The title is the most eye catching part of the poster because I have used the company pink tone. 

Although this poster is clear and easy to read, I think it needs an image. This will create some more interest to the photo and make it look a little more brighter. 





I had a look around some free image stock websites to find a suitable photo that I can use for the poster. As its a May fayre, I thought daffodils would work well as they connote spring, sun and warmth. These are the ones that I found and thought would work well on a poster. 

I decided to choose the top middle image because the composition is great for a poster. The flower is in the middle, and I like how the leaves go up on the left side. I put it into my design to see if it would work. 

I think the image works well in this design. The colours in it are very summery and bright which will help to create a poster that people will actually want to look at. I still think something is missing. It would be better if the image goes the length of the page, because it feels a bit too cropped out at the moment. If I put the image at the bottom and put a gradient at the top, I can use the Gradient Feather Tool so merge the two. 

Below is a step by step instruction on how I created the Feather Gradient Tool to merge the landscape image into a portrait.

 After I had merged the image, I then started putting the text on top. I changed the logo into white so that it would stand out a lot more and make it easier to read. I put the detailed text to the right of the page to mix in with the image, but not go over any of it. 

I am really happy about this poster, I think I have arranged it in a way that it is easy to read and understand for afar. 

After showing this to my boss, I printed out 15 A3's to go out to Guild Care shops and homes, and 50 A5's to go out to the public. 

'Building a Home' Logo

'Building a Home' Logo

Building a Home to Remember is going to be a new service for older people with Dementia. I need to come up with a new logo that may be used for this service. As is it 'Building a Home..' I think the main part of the logo should be a house. As they are building it, I would like the design to be slightly broken, or sketched to create the vision that it is being built. Here are some examples of my initial ideas. 

 Firstly, I started with a brainstorm. I wanted to know what I could link in with housing and Dementia. I came up with the idea of having a butterfly because that is the recognized symbol for Dementia. I thought having a butterfly in the design would be quite nice as they are gentle, caring creatures. We would like the service to mirror that as well  caring and gentle staff that work there. 

I quickly drew the house in order to give it a rushed/unfinished feel that I wanted. I extended the path out from the house, and turned it into the trail of the butterfly. I really liked this design, its very eye-catching which is needed in order for the logo to become recognizable.  I have experimented with some more ideas of the house and butterfly. 

I did this house and butterfly design on Adobe Illustrator following the initial ideas above. I used a thick brush to create the rushed effect. I do like this logo design but it is missing the text 'Building a Home to Remember.' So I began to research different fonts that I could use using the website DaFont. Below, you can see all the different types of fonts I was looking for. I asked my manager what kind of font she would like and she said 'something strong, but soft around the edges.' This meant she wanted a font that was bold, thick and strong, but also looks like it has been handwritten. I had to make sure that the font was easy to read as well. 

This is the font I have chosen for the final design.
 It is strong but also soft and friendly.

These are the final 2 designs that I have come up with. I have not added the butterfly because it didn't fit in too well with the design - it was too busy. Logos are best when kept to the minimum. Overall I am pleased with these final designs, I have researched into the use of font, images and messages behind the house as an image in the logo.