Tenacious D

30 November 2010

Fight Club

Typography

Stings and idents

"What is a sting?

A sting or ident generally comprises of a short animated video sequence that forms either a company logo, graphic or image.
The length of a sting varies but typically lasts around 5 – 20 seconds. 
A sting’s purpose is to reflect the ideas/products/mentality of a company in a slick, stylish and eye catching way. It creates a strong identity and is a far more pleasing way of displaying a logo as 3D allows almost limitless ways of doing so.
Logos can literally be ‘brought to life’ and manipulated in a variety of ways to produce something that sticks in a viewer’s mind. In a society where branding is paramount, a sting can be the all important way of achieving this.
20th Century Fox, Paramount and Universal Studios are three companies who have stings that most of the world can identify with.
The structure of as sting sequence usually involves ‘forming’ or revealing a logo. Of course, the way this is done is down to the nature of the company.  Universal Studios, for instance, use a camera motion flying over the top of the world with a shimmering effect moving over its surface. The word ‘Universal’ then revolves into a central position as the camera pulls away as if it has come from behind the earth. It sounds simple on paper, but with its bold font, bright colours and sense of scale, it makes for an extremely memorable piece of imagery.
Stings naturally range in complexity and in some cases simple is best. Ultimately it depends on the company and what they want the sting to ‘say’ about them that determines this.
Along with imagery, a sting incorporates sound. The sound can be simply music or sound effects, or both, but when used carefully create a really tailored piece. Sound is very important to help engage the viewer and complement the imagery. It also adds that all important professional touch." - Sting explanation taken from 3D Stings



Company Stings & Idents from Jeff Quinlan on Vimeo.



Company stings designed for the channel 'city'. 
They are all pretty simple compared to that of the BBCs and MTVS (shown below)





MTVs organic idents. They are all really nice because you see the work folding out and turning into the ident. Even if it isn't clear to begin with you know what it is by the send. I really like this style of working. 





BBC - Some of these idents i remember from my childhood but some i have no idea what tye are about. Its great in this sequence you can really see where the designs change as technology improves. As is the same with everything in graphics, when the technology changes so does the work you produce which is why its important for me to look at everything at the beginning of this module that interests me as a design. 

Flash Animation




'Flash animation or Flash cartoon is an animated film which is created usingAdobe Flash or similar animation software and often distributed in the .swf file format. The term Flash animation not only refers to the file format but to a certain kind of movement and visual style which, in many circles, is seen as simplistic or unpolished. However, with dozens of Flash animated television series, countless more Flash animated television commercials, and award-winning online shorts in circulation, Flash animation is enjoying a renaissance' - Wikiperdia - (i know thats not great but its a little insight to what flash is about to someone who doesn't know much about it)


I don't really know much about flash. I know what it does but not how it works. I realise we won't be focusing too much on flash player but i want to see all bases that we can design for. From the looks of it flash animation compared to after effects is a lot more simplistic but still effective. It's a simple alternative to after effects. 


When i was younger i used to watch Joe Cartoon all the time and loved it, its a good example of what can be done with flash player. Simple animated cartoons bringing a little bit of humor to your life! 



 (MUST INTERACT WITH IT)




Joe Cartoon - A Poodle Story - MyVideo





I do realise that joe cartoon is an acquired taste, and not for everyones liking but it does give good example of flash. 







Interfaces

Fred pointed out in our seminar today that its not all about motion graphics, although that is the module we are doing and what we are working towards. There is a whole new graphic design world opening up within the world of gaming and that is generating designs for interfaces. although we don't create them ourselves the designs behind them are based around us. This is something i do find very interesting because it is such a huge market and would be very lucrative to get into. I myself am not a huge gamer, but i do appreciate the gaming world and what it brings to people. I have been looking at general interfaces of the most current gaming consoles out there just to get a idea of what they mean and what they do. 



Wii interface - very simple and child like. as the console
is geared towards children so it is designed appropriately 
for that audience. 


X-Box interface - This is more space age, the audience for this
is general teens and older so its focused more on the future and in
keeping with the games that they produce. 


PS3 interface - This interface is simply designed
and can be customized to fit the users want which is very personal.
It easy to navigate (which i find from personal experience). The
icons are very in-keeping with todays icons that appear on mobile
such as the iphone. 






Devils Advocate



Again, this is another film that i love. And one of the great speechs has been taken from it and turned into kinetic type. there are certain elements about this that i really love, and to show i have put the selected times down in the clip and what i love about it in those bits.

0.07 - '...think about it' - This line is great. It takes up the full frame and i like how its laid casually across the end of the 'r' interacting with the pervious sentence and type. It just rolls along and fits together.

0.14 - '...he gives you' - I particularly like this bit because of the zoom on the type, its not quite legible but you do recognize it. It emphasizes Al Pacino when he is shouting the lines by it being big and bold.

0.20 - '... own private' - What I like about this is the change in kerning as Al Pacino draws out the word 'private' so the word extends itself emphasizing it that much more.

0.33 - 0.38 - '...look but don't touch..' - This whole sequence is great it works so well with what is being said. It emphasizes in all the right areas, focusing on the words and drawing your attention to them and them alone, using the rest of the sentence to play around those words.


This whole sequence is really interesting because it gives you an insight into how editing type and using different emphasis can really change the way something is read and digested. This has shown how important it is to get it right if you were to use a speech like this when creating kinetic type. Because i am really interested in this, this is something i want to keep in mind with the rest of the module, really manipulating type to get the most meaning out of it.

V for vendetta




I LOVE THIS!!! Not only do i love the film, but this kinetic type works so well. The speech itself is long and complicated and by keeping the type simple and the movements easy to follow the kinetic type emphasizes the words instead of confusing the person reading it. I really like simplicity and it works well here, this is something i am defiantly interested in trying out once i have my skills in after effects honed!

After effects

This is just a software overview for myself. I don't really know after effects at all so for me this is just a basic look at what it can do, what software you can use with it etc. I have taken all this information from the after effects adobe website.

After effects does this:

For motion graphics and visual effects

For video editing

For interactive design

It works with pretty much all software that i am used to for example; illustrator, photoshop. This is important because it gives me something i already know to work with.

This is the basics i wanted to know before my workshop tomorrow with Mike. I realise it isn't much but for me it's quite a lot!

Harmonie Interieure

29 November 2010















Billboard Paper

14 November 2010

Billboard paper source - I found this website while looking for billboard paper that is appropriate to what i would be printing. Here is some information about it:


Specifications
blue back paper (billboard, blue paper) for sign applicaitons
1. 1.06/1.27/1.52m width
2. solvent & eco-solvent ink
Blue back paper (billboard paper) for signage applications.

UNISIGN blue back paper is a kind of white, blue back, waterproof billboard paper with high opacity for sign applications. This single-side coated digital printing paper is particularly suitable for graphic art prints of the highest resolution and perfect color brilliance.

Features:
* blue-backed for no show-through over other posters
* high-quality, snow white surface paper for solvent and eco-solvent ink
* great for short-term outdoor billboards and posters

Specifications:
* 120g/sqm weight
* 1.06/1.37/1.52m width
* 50m length
* white & blue color
* workable for solvent based, water based & silk screen printing

Billboard Printing


Prepare Vinyl Banner for Printing -- powered by eHow.com




this is a smaller version of the process that would be similar to what i would do to print my billboard

Billboard Printing

This would be the most appropriate size for my printing design as i have designed my billboard to be long and thin. It is however the most expensive costing £465 for one billboard design. 



What is good though is that if i were to use redcliffe printers to print my poster they work in a variety of formats to print in ranging from quark, illustrator, indesign and photoshop. Seeing as i have done the majority of my designing in illustrator using a mixture of both indesign and photoshop it would be easy for me to transfer my design over to them. For my design i will have to do it to the specification they want in order to print with is 25% of the actual size so that would be 3048mm x 762mm. This is very helpful as i can get my design to fit accordingly.



Billboard Poster Sizes and Prices


1
2
5
6
9
10
13
14
17
18
21
22
3
4
7
8
11
12
15
16
19
20
23
24

96 Sheet Poster

Finished size: 12192mm x 3048mm
Artwork: 1219.2mm x 304.8mm
Minimum image file size 200Mb




















Billboard Printing

11 November 2010

Outdoor billboard posters are often the final reminder of a brand name, product or service just before the point of purchase. Billboard advertising is a cost-effective way of raising brand awareness amongst an affluent target audience.

Billboard Poster Printing

Using a high quality 120gsm blue backed billboard poster paper suitable for paste application.
This heavier than standard weight offers greater tear resistance and easier handling and is blue backed for reduced show through of over pasted posters.


Billboard Poster Sizes and Prices


1
2
5
6
9
10
13
14
17
18
21
22
3
4
7
8
11
12
15
16
19
20
23
24

96 Sheet Poster

Finished size: 12192mm x 3048mm
Artwork: 1219.2mm x 304.8mm
Minimum image file size 200Mb
96 Sheet Poster (Panels 1 to 24)£465.00


1
2
5
6
9
10
3
4
7
8
11
12

48 Sheet Poster

Finished size: 6096mm x 3048mm
Artwork: 609.6mm x 304.8mm
Minimum image file size 100Mb
48 Sheet Poster (Panels 1 to 12)£230.00


1
2
5
6
9
10
3
4
7
8
11
12

32 Sheet Poster

Finished size: 4064mm x 3048mm
Artwork: 406.4mm x 304.8mm
Minimum image file size 70Mb
32 Sheet Poster (Panels 1 to 8)£144.00


1
2
5
6
9
10
3
4
7
8
11
12

16 Sheet Poster

Finished size: 2032mm x 3048mm
Artwork: 203.2mm x 304.8mm
Minimum image file size 35Mb
16 sheet Poster (Panels 1 to 4)£88.00


1
2
5
6
9
10
3
4
7
8
11
12

4 Sheet Poster

Finished size: 1016mm x 1524mm
Artwork: 254mm x 381mm
Minimum image file size 200Mb
4 sheet Poster (Panel 1)£22.00

6 Sheet Poster

6 Sheet Poster or Superlite

Finished size: 1200mm x 1800mm
Artwork: 300mm x 450mm
Minimum image file size 75Mb
6 sheet Poster£30.00

Quad Crown

Quad Crown

Finished size: 1016mm x 762mm
Artwork: 254mm x 190.5mm
Minimum image file size 25Mb
Quad Crown£14.00

Double Royal

Double Royal

Finished size: 635mm x 1016mm
Artwork: 158.75mm x 254mm
Minimum image file size 25Mb
Double Royal£12.00

Double Crown

Double Crown

Finished size: 508mm x 762mm
Artwork: 127mm x 190.5mm
Minimum image file size 20Mb
Double Crown£6.80


Read more: http://www.redcliffe.co.uk/prices/large_format_posters.htm#ixzz15HiOnRuP

Digital print session

10 November 2010

Today we had a digital print induction and how to use the printers and software downstairs in the print room. It was really interesting to find out some specific information towards printing digitally. Some of it was very confusing and i think unless you do it yourself you won't truly understand it, like all the colour profiles etc. But i made a lot of notes to help remind me what to do, and i intend to use them when going to print my final designs. I find it really useful doing these workshops because it means that you begin to understand the process that much more and can get your work to fit accordingly instead of just winging it and seeing what will come out. 


















PRINT VISIT TO TEAM!

9 November 2010

today we went and had a look around TEAM which is a print company. It was really interesting to have a look around a fully working print workshop, instead of just looking at videos on youtube. I think its always important to get a first view of something to truly understand what it does. The guy that showed us around was great and really thorough which was great because some of it was confusing. I went a bit snap happy... but its helped me because when i look back at things i know exactly what was going on and what machine was what and what it was doing. Below are all the images that i took from the visit, i have titles the ones with the processes.


TEAM OVER-VIEW

SOME WORK THEY PRODUCE

SOME WORK THEY PRODUCE

CLIENTS THEY HAVE





i really loved this book they created, i think
it was really clever printing along the side and being
able to spell out what the book was essentially about.




TEAM GROUND OVER-VIEW


Mountains of paper.....





Lythography Printer


CMYK break down

CMYK breakdown


Placing the metal stamped prints with work on to print from



Machine feeding work out


Start of the process, paper loaded

all the colours


Where the metal boards of printed on



Large scale digital print



Printer inks along the bottom pumped in

Large scale digital printers




inside of digital printer

What the design is etched onto

Smaller lytho printer

paper......

Used metal designs





Laminating machine



Hand making section



PUPPY!!!!


Embossing machine


PUPPY!!

Dye cutting machine



Previously used dye cutting boards


Hand made packaging