Folder Design for Bloomberg

Here are some images from my Bloomberg project. For my publication design, I created a folder that will hold all the booklets together. Altogether there are 20 booklets.

Bloomberg Publication Design

Finally, I've completed my Bloomberg project! Hooray! This was definitely the most difficult project I've done so far! But I've learnt a lot so hopefully a lot of positives will come out from it.

I couldn't believe the amount of work that needs to be put into a design for a simple publication! Layout, paper type, sizes and thickness, colour/non colour, production, print specifications etc etc...
Below you can flick through my pdf that I'm handing in for monday's assessment:

Raw Material Project: Development 04

Finally, I have completed my brand identity for Raw Material, hooray!

You can flick through my PDF below to see the design process and how the new logo design came into existence:

Coke vs Pepsi

While I've been busting my head researching logos for my Raw Material project, I came across the subject of a 'timeless logo'. We all know an effective logo should be timeless – that is, it will stand the test of time. But will the logo still be effective in 10, 20, 50 years?

Trends come and go, and when you’re talking about changing a pair of jeans, or buying a new dress, that’s fine, but where your brand identity is concerned, longevity is key.

Probably the best example of a timeless logo is the Coca-Cola logo. If you compare it to the Pepsi logo below, you can see just how effective creating a timeless logo can be. Notice how the Coca Cola logo has barely changed since 1885? That is timeless design!



And the worst part is, I've got to prove that my logo design for Raw Material is also timeless!

Raw Material Project: Development 03

The branding will include a letterhead, compliment slip, business card, CD design, website and t-shirt design etc. I made sure the colour and design of the brand was consistent throughout the project to give the organisation a unique feel and personality.

You can look through all the designs on http://www.behance.net/Gallery/Raw-Material-Branding-NEW/413186.

Here are some:

Raw Material Project: Development 02

After long hard thought about the last logo design attempt, I decided not to go ahead with that style of design. Instead, I think it would be more creative and recognisable to have it typography based. Also, after recieving a reply to my logo design questionnaire from Tim Brown (Director at Raw Material), he asked to have the logo in simple, one colour palletes like black, grey or white etc.

After more exntensive research and development, I wanted to create a typographic logo based on circles. The world is round, the olympics logo is round and also the circle of life! Circles create unity and bonds within different cultures and events, this inspired me to come up with this design:






And the final logo design looks like this:

Raw Material Project: Development 01

I've finally got some invaluable inspiration for a cultural, artistic, music related logo; the Bob Dylan poster by Milton Glaser. This poster became a cultural icon and the colours of Bob's hair represents its diversity.

I took the idea and tried to create a more simplistic style to the curls and implement it into the logo design for Raw Material, but something just doesn't seem to click! The logo seems to represent 'a' style rather than different, cultural styles.

Wild Typography

Don't we all just love crazy typography designs? Some designers have literally taken their type off the page using materials including hair, cigarretes, toothpaste, underwear, and even condoms to create beautiful 3d typographic works. From Vladimir Zivkovic’s Google Earth project, to Arjan Benning’s pinched skin alphabet, these designers are working with anything and everything to push the envelope.

Here are some of those designs:


Amandine Alessandra (http://www.amandinealessandra.com/)


Arjan Benning (http://www.arjanbenning.nl/)


Auto Ban (http://www.autobahn.nl/)


Handmade Font (http://www.handmadefont.com/)


Juan Camilo Rojas (http://www.camilorojas.net/)


Richard J Evans (http://www.richardjevans.com/)

Stop Motion Animation Workshop

In this workshop we were reqiured to create a 30 second animation using the iMotion software on iMac. I must admit, I wasn't really a big fan of animation, but attending this workshop has definitely opened a new door for me in the world of design!

As a group, we used a wooden manakin for our animation. Coming up with a storyline didn't take too long as everybody had great ideas straight away. To create the animation, we used a camera and moved the manakin ever so slightly and took a picture every time we did so. It is a long process, which is the only downfall, but watching the final outcome just gives you a buzz!
I didn't believe it would appear effective at all, but the final outcome was so unique, fun and creative that I was craving for more and eventually downloaded the iMotion software for my iPhone!

Here are some images from the workshop (unfortunatley the video file is too large to upload, but we're working on getting that up on the blog):

Book Binding Workshop

For a while now, I've been keen to learn and understand the process of book binding, then I suddenly got my chance! We had a workshop with David on how to create two types of books; a perfect bound book and a single section hard-cover book. The workshop was very practical and we used many traditional materials like card and needles.

I must admit, looking back at the two books, a perfect bound book is most definitely the easier to make. The only negative that still confuses me is the need to fold the pages on the side that will be turned by a reader. It seems useless as the inside of the fold will clearly not be used anyway, but then again, you would only have to print on the side that will be folded over so it may save money on printing costs.

Below are some images from the workshop:

'City of Melobourne' Branding

Having just got briefed on the 'Raw Material' project by David, it seems like it's going to be a very interesting project indeed.

Since the project is a re-branding of the Raw Material logo, I thought I'd look up some recent examples of some brands that have caught everybody's attention. One that comes to mind is the Melbourne brand, which was given a $240,000 facelift and the result was a big 'M'.

It replaced the previous 'M' and 'leaf' symbol introduced in the early 1990s:

Cr Doyle said the old logo was "a bit daggy" and Melbourne needed a new design to reflect its cool sophistication on the world stage.

The Difference

'Ads of the world' is an online archive of the best and most interesting advertisements from across the world. Today I came across an advertisement on their site that uses four simple pictures to explain the difference between marketing, public relations, advertising, and branding.

The site is a great source of inspiration and is useful if you want to see what kinds of advertisements are successful in various different markets.

Click here for the site: http://adsoftheworld.com/

Portfolios on Demand!

Hi everybody! Hope you've all had a pleasant winters break and happy new year!

While i've been enjoying the beautiful arctic snowfall over the Tyne (not really!), I came across a selection of "at-a-click" resources for printing a professional portfolio. While we all know PDF portfolos are key for creatives seeking to maximise their reach, the print portfolio remains an important self promotional tool.



Here are the websites:

1. Lulu (http://www.lulu.com/)

Lulu is a self-publishing colossus with themed book templates where you can upload your own layouts for publishing. The prices seem reasonable too.

2. YoPhoto (http://www.yophoto.co.uk/)

In YoPhoto you can download their bok creation-software or elect to create bespoke books themselves.

3. Bob Books (http://www.bobboks.co.uk/)

Bob Books is a consumer service but with provision for design professionals. Creatives can design their own photobooks in conjunction with Adobe software like Photoshop and InDesign.

4. Diginate (http://www.diginate.com/)

Diginate is not exactly a photobook service, but it offers spot UV poster prints which would interest those keen to join the growing number of people placing portfolios on a folded poster. The prices seem a little hefty, but the prints are definetly worth it!

Get Wired!

If you're looking to promote yourself on the internet, then look no further. I've researched and found some online resources that can help you get your name out there.

1. FormFiftyFive (www.formfiftyfive.com)


The FFF team scours the web to collect the best designs. There's tons of features on the site with great interaction and community building. Not to be missed!

2. Jotta (www.jotta.com)


Features blogs, forums, education and empolyment. There's plenty of space to upload your portfolio. You can browse through others work and use it as a business platform.

3. Behance (www.behance.net)


My favourite. Behance provides a single point of contact for anyone interested in any format of design. The talent you find here is unbelievable.

4. CarbonMade (www.carbonmade.com)


This is another portfolio host like Behance and is one of the main creative talent pools on the web. There's designs across all disciplines.

5. EveryCreative (www.everycreative.com)


A brilliant online resource for networking. Through the site you can present your portfolio and gain feedback and advice from industry professionals.

Which is the best out of the lot you ask?

My favourite has to be Behance, hands down! It has everything. You can network, pitch, gain feedback, collaborate and present all on this site. Plus your work actually looks great on the site too! I have already been asked for design work through Behance and the manner in which it is set up is fantastic. Every designer should have their portfolio on this site!

You can visit my portfolio on Behance for an idea: www.behance.net/abdulmateen

Traffic Light Concept

Continuing on from my speeding project, I found this interesting design on economical traffic lights called 'Eko light'. Apparently it is a simple, yet highly practical concept for traffic lights that not only helps preserve the environment by reducing pollution but promotes safer driving as well.








Some benefits of this system are:

There's less stress since you know exactly how long you have to wait you can sit back and clear your head for a while.

There's no need to keep your foot on the gas. Less pollution.

Safer driving - With the Eko light both drivers and pedestrians can be fully aware of how much time they have left before the light changes and that way reduce the chance for potential traffic accidents.

Practical & Visual Research

On Tuesday we had an interesting workshop on 'practical and visual reasearch methods' with one of this years BA top-up students, Marta Siolkowska. It was similar to the research workshop we had earlier this term with Orlagh, but this time there was more involvement and an array of art and design materials on offer.

What we had to do was find a practical and visual way of gathering research. I decided that I wanted to find out peoples inner personalities, and one practical method I came up with was to ask people to draw a quick sketch on 'what would they do if they were invisible?". And yes, this took out the devil in everybody!

Here are some images of the outcome:









We all then discussed each others ideas and findings and the outcomes were fantastic. This was definitely an eye opener and has helped me understand how practical research could be used intensively.