Made in the Midlands Exhibition

Yesterday was the Made in the Midlands winners Exhibition is Snow Hill train station in Birmingham City Centre. The of myself and fifteen other students from Birmingham Institute of Art and Design (BIAD). I was the only Diploma student that won the rest were all Degree students. It was a good day and I handed out several business cards that I designed (see my first business cards) to some of the coordinators of the exhibition as well as the students. Our work will be featured in the Metro and on the BIAD website. There were rumors about turning the work into postcards, a collective book and being featured in the Creative Review, but these are just rumors. The co-ordinators will get back to us as to the exact date all of the work will be published. I am very grateful for this exposure where ever it may lead to. I also have an exhibition of my Final Major Project on the 16th June that is open to parents, teachers and the general public. As I am pretty confident in my work I am sure I will have a good grade. Seeing as I was given an unconditional offer to Falmouth University the grade is irrelevant but I am aiming for a distinction just to prove to myself that I can do it.

(Me and 15 other students at BIAD that were chosen in Snow Hill station)

(Me posing for the photographs that will be in the Metro and online)

(The poster that was chosen to feature in the exhibition)

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My First Business Cards

As I will have a press shoot at my 'Made in the Midlands' exhibition in Snow Hill train station from tomorrow I thought it would appropriate to get some business cards designed. There will be press there but I am unsure as to how many. I got 20 printed and below are photographs I have taken of them. This is part of a larger project called I_AM_THE_BRAND.

Business Card Mock Up

To see the full project 'Click Here'.

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Made in the Midlands

I was chosen to exhibit a poster after entering a competition called 'Made in the Midlands.' I received the e-mail this morning asking me to attend the opening of the exhibition because there would be press present. I am extremely excited and I see this a the perfect opportunity to gain exposure.

Birmingham City University and London Midland have joined forces to provide a showcase of student talent. They will be exhibiting poster design of 15 students from Birmingham Institute of Art and Design (BIAD) from a range of disciplines; graphic design, photography, textiles, architecture, painting and illustration. The diversity of the background of the students and The selection of posters will be on display in 70 train stations in the west midlands including Snow Hill train station from Thursday 10th June 2010 until October 2010 and will aslo be on the BIAD website . There will be press at the opening and the public are more than welcome to come and visit the exhibition. As it will be in a train station millions of pople will be able to view the exhibition that do not usually have the chance to visit exhibitions.

Birmingham Institute of Art and Design:

http://www.biad.bcu.ac.uk/madeinthemidlands/

(Below- The poster I created for 'Made in Birmingham' that will feature in the exhibition.)

This image was made using the usual design software packages. The aesthetics of design were carefully considered when crafting this piece. The use of the Bull is one of Birmingham's icons along with the bullring itself. The Bull was a photograph I took that was given an RGB offset as well as placed within orange/ red circles to draw the audiences eyes towards it. The words that have been added to the background reflect parts of the west midlands as well as names of places such as; diversity, industry, millenium point, etc.

(Below- The other posters I submitted that did not get featured in the exhibition.)

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Final Major Project

The Brief:
Envy is a multidisciplinary graphic design studio that specialise in print, design and new media. We focus more on finding appropriate design solutions rather than applying a particular 'house' style to a brief. We pride ourself on our diversity and our work with clients from around the world. Create an identity for the graphic design company that specialise in print design and new media. Find an appropriate design solution for the following; logo, business card, letter head, invoice and posters an official website and blogspot, motion graphics identities and advertisements.
The deadline for this project is May 20th.


Research:
To begin with I pulled research from a wide range of sources from design books such as The Fundamentals of Graphics Design  to online blogs such as logodesignlove.com to journals such as Computer Arts magazine and Creative Review. I knew from the very beginning I wanted to avoid design cliche's associated with design companies such as the use of the CMYK color palette, and ink splatter like images as a logo. I looked into the use of color in brand identities and the meaning of connotations in color of different countries and cultures as well as the most used color for corporate identity.


Ideas:
Because of the nature of the company I found myself heading towards a more typographic logo playing around with various ideas but not dismissing any to begin with. I eliminated any obvious ideas fist with my sketches such as the use of initials of images that symbolised envy or a green color palette. I needed somehting that could work across print, websites and motion graphics. This meant the logo would have to be simple and work just as well at 10 millimetres as it would at 10 meteres.


Logo Design:

Print Work:

Envy Style Guide:

Posters: Envy Design Principals

Online: Official Website & Blogspot

iPhone Application Mock Ups:

Motion Graphics:

Envy Motion Identity from Omari McCarthy on Vimeo.

Envy Me: Boxes from Omari McCarthy on Vimeo.

Final Major Project Exhibition:

Grade Predicted: Distinction

Grade Achieved: Distinction

Evaluation:

I feel this is one of my most challenging, productive and most beneficial project I have ever worked on. By getting out of my comfort zones and exploring new media I have a better understanding of a few areas of design such as branding and identity (as well as the diference between the two), web, motion graphics and preparing work for print. I have also learnt that there is no better way to lear something than under the looming pressure of a tight deadline; such as Dreamweaver, very basic CSS and animating in After Effects.

After doing the art and design foundation course I have realised the course has not befitted me directly, but deep down inside I know if I had progressed strait onto a degree course not only would it have been in a course such as illustration I would also not be ready for the standards of work, presentation and time limits. The course has benefitted my by giving me a year to experiment and decide what I really want to do; Digital Animation at Falmouth University. I have found a love of logo design that I think I will peruse by attempting to brand myself very soon. This has been an an enjoyable course, project and I look forward to more in the future.

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