Further Audience Research

http://www.handsomefrank.com
After looking further through specific Illustration agencies I have managed to find an amazing agency that call themselves Handsome Frank. This agency holds many talented illustrative artists which in most of the artists they hold are really quite an inspiration. I personally like one of their artists called Elliott Grub who specialises in Vector Art with animal faces and also the human facial expressions.
This would be a definite choice of mine to apply for my future career in becoming a designer and to work for Handsome Frank would be a forever inspiration.

http://www.lemonadeillustration.com This is the second illustration company that I have found by using the internet search engine Google. Some the art work is ok in my opinion and also a well gathered agency but in my opinion I think that it wouldn't be a right place for me to build my career in as a future designer. Here are just some of the images from the website that I have gathered up for your interest. 

Font testing for packaging.

After thinking over what could actually be my packaging and finally discovering the design. I started to think where I could put my type for my name. So I drew a couple of designs and uploaded the sketches onto the social networking site named Facebook and asked my friends and also family member at home to take some time to tell me which we're their favourite which was the first style that I drew. I also included the tally mark in my sketch book.
I know for definite that I would like my font to be on a solid colour strip on my packaging so I drew a mock up of how I would like it to be presented. Below are my images taken to show you all.

I have also further developed my font sketches and worked closely with my own initials that would suit better as my very own logo that will be visible to the viewer of my packaging. Here are the pictures of my further development of my own initials for a logo.

Laser cutting workshop

Using the simple steps from the given illustrator workshop I created a net the was to be finished and ready to be processed through the laser cutter. This was a quick and easy process which I think is much better than using the traditional cutting mat and Swan Morton. But sometimes slow and steady wins the race.
In my opinion putting the bottle together was a tedious job but in the end I got there which I am quite pleased with the accuracy. See sometimes we should follow the instructions.
Although I'm not sure that I will use the laser cutter on my final packaging due to some of peers outcomes had slightly burnt round the edges. This i think is not a permanent occurrence but not the safest option in my eyes.
Here is the final outcome of my bottle :)

Some home paper folding

Here are some paper folds that I have created my self. It was really interesting to see what I had come up with using straight/curved scoring to work with the paper and also different weights to work with different stability. My favourite would be the last image with the two corners turned up. It's quite a simple outcome but I really like how abstract it looks compared to my other attempts at paper folding. This has given me a good aspect on how each detail has to be perfect to create my packaging.

Packaging...some inspiration is needed

I have collected some images of different styles of packaging to help inspire me to create a final design for my final outcome. I think that the packages that I have included to look at are quite inspiring with the different designs that they hold and work really well towards their purpose. I really quite like the design for the chocolate boxes with their simple curves and colour scheme towards the attractiveness. I hope that I can also develop a great design for my packaging and to sell me as a designer.

Target audience

To make a career out graphic design I need be looking at a couple of companies that support my area of expertise and also if they feel the right fit. So I had a little snoop on good old google and found some good companies that interested me.
http://www.creativespark.co.uk/work/#_all here is the creative spark website who are based in Manchester, looking at their work I recognise a great deal from ministry of sound music compilations and also BBC Radio 1's big weekend hackney and also running track albums.

http://www.wiredsussex.com/Directory/company.asp?c=So+Plausible So Plausible have a wide range of graphic designers and dabble in illustration for Google, TV, Game Design and also Cartoon Network. Their core activities consist of: 2D/3D Animation, Illustration, Gaming, Programming, Web Design & Development. I think that this would be a great environment to work in and also of great variety to show techniques. I think the So Plausible would also fit my needs as a graphic designer in my career path.

Tom Whalen

Tom Whalen is a graphic designer originally from McAdoo which is a place in Pennsylvania, USA. His career started from general graphic design to then a speciality in illustration. His work is quite an inspiration to myself as this area of graphic design is of great favour.

The first image is quite powerful with its 3d aspect about the canvas and also the chosen colour scheme works just wonderful which I think is of great importance and also compliments the smooth yet smart edges to entire concept.

The second image I've provided has a futuristic play on the kids programme power rangers which is what I used to really enjoy myself as a child once upon a time. As a viewer who understands the concept I really enjoy the design of the poster and also his own take and how a cartoon version of the powers rangers would look like.

The final image that I provided is a vector style poster that promotes the famous film Indiana jones and the raiders if the lost ark. I love this piece as the colours that have been chosen are to the representation of the coloured outfit that Indian jones him self would wear. Some might say this is obsessive but if my memory preserves me right and it usually does when it comes to films, the layout of the poster and the positioning of each character also represents the order in which the film processes through. To me this is fantastic and quite effective to the naked eye.

Check out more of his work for a good look at his work.

Welcome to my blog. My name is Craig Horner, I am currently a University student studying graphic design. I will be uploading blog posts which is part of project that I am currently working on which is branding myself as a designer.