Projector

We’ve had a very busy summer at Projector, hence the distinct lack of fingers dancing over the keyboard to create a blog post. A large amount of work for existing and new clients has passed through the door at Projector Towers. One such project has been marketing material for Jamie at Bespoke Radio’s new iPhone App “Create a Commentary with Mark Lawrenson”. The App is an extension to the new commentary product Bespoke launched at the turn of the year. The App allows the user to construct their own 3 minute personal footballing heroics (as commentated on by BBC’s Mark Lawrenson and BBC Newcastle’s Mick Lowes), using a selection of situations, names and personal descriptions. The results can be hilarious (see link below). You can share the results with your friends on Facebook. We think it’s going to be a big viral hit, and it’ll hopefully launch a series of “Create a Commentary” offshoots with various other commentators and sports. Good luck Jamie!

http://audioboo.fm/boos/435478-create-a-commentary-iphone-app-example

Projector are currently: Trying not to care about the Tyne-Wear derby.

With the latest round of Graduate shows taking place I wanted to ask the age old question… do graphic design graduates possess the vital technical skills to succeed when they progress into the creative industry? Or is it still a case of Technical Skills 0  Creative Flair 1?

From my first-hand experience, the answer would have to be unfortunately no. Although these highly-creative junior designers have learned the skills to create logos, brochures, packaging and campaigns, they often don’t have the knowledge to output their work. This has proven to be a huge barrier for graduates, now that they are working for paying clients.

The majority of graphic design graduates boast a creative and diverse portfolio when they head off into industry, but with the current state of global finances, they are now, more than ever, required to possess a portfolio of technical skills to match their creative flare. These technical skills range from being efficient in the major design applications to be able to artwork jobs and to understand print techniques so that the their jobs can be set up correctly for print.

These may not seem like the most fun and attractive components of being a creative, but before any of the ‘good stuff’ can be produced, these fundamental technical skills must be mastered to avoid costly mistakes, there is no ‘cmd + z’ in print.

When I speak to most graduates they often look at me with a blank expression, when I refer to words like CMYK, RGB, spot colour, lithography, Pantone, bleed, diecut, pagination, stock, kerning, leading and perfect bound to name a few.

The solution to this problem, needs to be addressed at a college / university level, so graduates are more prepared. I’m not saying they should be experts by the time they leave education, but they should have the minimum knowledge to undertake simple tasks. Other disciplines such as life-drawing are encouraged, sometimes mandatory, in some institutions, which although I agree is an important area to study, it’s no more important than the essential technical skills needed to start a successful career in graphic design.

Here’s a quick sneak peek at some work we’ve been doing for one of our client’s new brands Young Mercantile, an online store for high end menswear. The brand is designed to be clean and punchy and uncomplicated, with a typographic nod to supply crates as hinted at in the “Mercantile” name. Mercantile being synonymous with the merchant navy and their delivery and transport of overseas goods. The first piece of print has arrived, here are the business cards, from our good friends and suppliers Glasgow Press! Lovely letterpessed ink on 540 Pristine White Colourplan.

Projector are currently: Gearing up for the 2nd 5 a side of the week. Knackered.

What draws people to certain clothing brands? The style and quality of the garment? Celebrity’s wardrobes influencing how you wish to look? There are a multitude of factors. A large part of the decision you make is based on the brand. Fashion brands make a statement about the kind of person that wears the clothes.

We’ve recently been working on a project for a client launching a High Quality Menswear online store and while it’s different to what we’d normally tackle it’s a project which we’ve greatly enjoyed and we came across great brands and their logos during research.

1. Albam

Based in London, Albam design menswear with hints towards workwear. A very simple and clean brand, very much in sync with their fashion design.

2. Our Legacy

A lovely clean brand from Swedish brand Our Legacy, contemporary menswear, with a look back to traditional wear.

3. Baracuta

A distinctive logo and brand work from British menswear brand Baracuta, with nods to traditional British imagery and also British Pop Culture of the 70s and 80s in the overall brand, using celebrity endorsements such as Steve McQueen and Frank Sinatra.

4. Filson

Seattle, Washington based Filson base their brand on pioneering American settlers, delving into a deep and rich history. The marque evokes a nice feeling of the classic American outdoors environment.

5. Heritage Research

Heritage Research base their collections on certain periods in recent history, and it’s mimicked in their logo, which evokes a certain feeling of nostalgia with a characterful illustration. The brands itself draws on the particular period of history they are covering with each collection.

6. Penfield

Penfield have a background in producing outerwear for the outdoors and their logo. Fashion and function dictates their garments. The logo and brand is completely in sync with this offering, a mountainous range and bear hidden in a contemporary typeface, and brand imagery of outdoors situations mixed with high fashion.

7. Brooks

Brooks’ marque and brand hark back to their founder’s age the 1860s. John Boultbee Brooks developed a comfortable leather saddle to help cycling comfort. The brand is now synonymous with the recent trend of fashionable cycling. They manage to tread a fine line of being contemporary, but also evoking a vintage classy feel.

8. Edwin

Japanese brand Edwin endeavour to create the feel and rigour of well worn vintage (they invented stone-washing) denim but in newly produced jeans. The brand marque definitely exudes a sense of classic denim and has an ageless quality, despite obviously being of a period.

9. Nigel Cabourn

Newcastle’s own Nigel Cabourn’s designs are created from a love of all things vintage. The logo and brand fit the collections perfectly. Just perfect.

10. Gitman Bros

Gitman Bros Vintage brand is entrenched in Americana as shown in their classic typographic logo. Washed Oxfords, muted madras, bright plaids.

11. Sperry

Sperry Topsider’s take their brand from a passion for the sea, everything to do with sailing. Their marque gives nudges toward the painted style of boat names, which gives an enduring style.

12. Universal Works

Universal Works is based on the concept of good quality honest British workwear and outdoors wear. The typewriter style typeface automatically conjures up a vintage feel.

13. Dockers

Dockers fashion is based around the preppy high status university fashion. A very much business casual style of clothing, for the kind of man that likes to spend his summertime aboard his yacht, as denoted by the anchor marque.

14. Engineered Garments

New York’s Engineered Garments create their collections from their obsession with American Sportswear. Creator Daiki Suzuki aims to create clothes people love, that they repair when damaged. Again, with the stamped type, it creates a real feeling of nostalgia and heritage.

15. Belstaff

The original creator of the waxed waterproof and motorcycle fashion specialist, Belstaff, are a highly sought fashion brand. The abstract symbol of the Phoenix shows Belstaff will continue through good and bad times, an enduring label of quality. Belstaff are often seen in the films, as they use features such as Iron Man, The Expendables and The Dark Knight.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this showcase, we’re going to unveil our final logo for our client’s brand very soon, so keep your eyes peeled!

Projector are currently: Waiting for the curtain call for the week. Busy times!

We’ve been making the most of those tiny nuances of spare time that occasionally crop up and here at Projector we’ve getting on with some self-initiated print work. It’s top secret and we can’t say exactly what it is yet, but above is a little illustrative glimpse of what can be expected! Check back for further development!

Projector are currently: Wondering if Spiller’s Wharf is being demolished soon?

We’ve just received printed samples of the recently completed Mark Westerby third edition portfolio. Following on from the previous editions we produced for Mark (blogged about here), we were really pleased when he returned asking us to help put together his latest portfolio.

It’s been a busy year for Mark, working on shoots internationally and gaining highly deserved recognition along the way. Winner of the Fashion & Beauty Category of the Campaign Photo awards, listed in the top 200 Photographers in the world by Lürzer’s Archive and 8 honorable mentions in the International Photography Awards to name but a few.

Continuing the theme of previous editions we kept the design simple and clean, allowing the stunning photography to be showcased to the full. Generous A3 size pages really allow the viewer to see the detail of the imagery printed in high resolution on specially selected art paper.

We wish Mark every success for the coming year – may it be as rewarding as the last!

Projector are currently: Melting in the sun.

After meeting with Peter and discussing his logo options, we’ve finalised his logo.

Using an alternative version of Option 2 from our previous post, which swapped the positioning of the logo marque from right to left, as well as keeping the type colour from Option 1.

We hope the marque serves Peter well and we’re looking forward to completing further work for him in the future.

Projector are currently: Fearing the roof is going to be blown off!

We have been working on another identity this week, this time for Chartered Building Surveyor Peter Fall. The brief was to provide Peter with an identity that represented his knowledge and experience after many years working in Surveying and serving as a former president of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). Here is a work in progress, showing you some sections of the logo marques.

Option 1. A solely typographic route.

Option 2. The use of an abstract space.

Option 3. Using abstract building plans in the marque, alluding to the P and F of Peter’s initials.

Let us know what you think!

Projector are currently: Coping well with a mammoth week.

Just a few recent thoughts on Apple.

Before we start – we are all ardent fans of their products and the simple visual aesthetics of their branding. Which is why we’re asking – does anyone else feel that Apple seem to be slipping up as of late? I’ve spent a considerable amount of money on their products and in terms of user interface and ease of use, they are second to none.

However, with their most recent press releases I believe that Apple have strayed from the path a little, losing sight of their well deserved “trailblazer” status. The Beatles back catalogue on iTunes was announced after a build up of publicity that suggested an announcement heralding a new development in one of their products, to much dissatisfation.

Furthermore “Finally” the iPhone 4 in white. I’m sure Apple fans were on the edge of their seats, hammering the refresh button on their browser waiting for the iPhone 4′s secondary colour option. I just feel Apple recently seem to have taken their dominance in an slightly misguided fashion, making more of what in reality isn’t huge news.

It’ll be interesting to see if this kind of attitude continues…

Projector are currently: Loving the month of May.

After meeting with Union Room and discussing the logo options which we came up with, we have the selected option. Above is the final logo for Report Book, which we introduced in our previous blog post. The final logo positions itself as a visual marker for the brand’s core values, easy, quick and clever. The graphic shapes give you a strong feeling of momentum due to the arrow/pencil shape, as well as their overlapping nature (quick/easy). The colour palette used is fresh and modern, using a wide variety of colours to bring the marque to life. The breadth of colour is used to give various products of Report Book their own identity, allowing easy recognition. The use of a timeless sans-serif gives an overall feel of that of a friendly, front-running technology company (clever).

What do you guys think? We’re very happy with the end result, as are our friends Union Room.

Projector are currently: Cramming 5 days into 4!