i love graphics

Willie's Wonky Packaging.

2009-05-16T12:10:00.008+01:00

I went to the Food Show in London last week, and look who I bumped into..

It's Willie from Ch4's 'Willie's Wonky Chocolate Factory!

His chocolate is covered in delicious packaging that looks like it's come straight out of the Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory (intentional, I'm sure). Brown and gold have a luxurious feel about them anyway (as long as it's the right shade of brown!) but the addition of the hand written type, and the block typesetting just work really well together without competing for attention. Your eye is naturally lead from the top of the packaging down to the bottom. It was designed by taxi studio, who have also done a great job of his website too.

May Bank Holiday Spring Clean

2009-05-03T20:20:00.011+01:00

I've had a Spring clean (of my website, that is), so it's...

...out with the old...

...and in with the new.

Feedback and comments welcome!

(Also, I just noticed the 'click the image to see a close up' code seems to be working this month - pity it's not working for all my other images...)

April Projects

2009-04-14T17:06:00.008+01:00

Here are a few of the concepts from my sketchbook, showing some of the projects I'm currently working on (or recently completed!). From flyer's to websites - it's a mixed bag this month.

Annie's "Lickety Sip" lolly posters. (In progress...)

Annie's Easter A5 Flyer. A really quick mailer based on previous artwork, although I'm going to suggest designing a set of postcards so people will pick them up and look at them - it's that time of year when people start to receive postcards and mailers tend to get lost in with all the other post and binned. Also if we create blank ones, customers will pick them up and write on them while having a coffee in the shop. Who knows where they could end up!

Remember the research I was doing about Asian art for a client website? This is a sneak preview from my sketchbook. I'm looking at updating the existing logo, and the artwork will eventually become a website.

Finally, an ongoing print project with joseph scanlon photography, designing bespoke wedding albums and monograms.

While I Was Away (BOH Branding)

2009-03-28T12:38:00.013Z

I'm home! But while I was in Malaysia, I went to visit the BOH Tea Plantation, which deserves a mention on my graphics blog, as it was one of the first, and remains the most recognised brand in Malaysia!

As with most brands that have a history, it became more elegant as it matured...

...although the bright orange could only have come from the 1980's!

I wonder if any of the original character concepts included a family of chimpanzee's? (PG Tip's anyone?).

Travels & Adventures..

2009-02-13T16:47:00.005Z

I'm off to Thailand and Malaysia on the 17th Feb, travelling and exploring until the end of March. If I can prize myself away from the beaches and out of the temples, you can see what I'm up to by checking my other blog 'Wayne's World' (I know, original).

See you in April!

Work in Bahrain!?

2009-02-09T15:35:00.005Z

I got a phone call from an agency on Monday asking if I wanted to work in Bahrain.. erm, let me see.. guaranteed weather, lovely location, food I love to eat, making lots of dosh (away from the gloom of the UK), I've worked for a fantastic international architectural agency before(Broadway Malyan) AND on top of all this - doing a job I love to do..

YES PLEASE!!!

The only problem is, I'm away :-( (see next post).

Annie's

2009-01-05T18:25:00.004Z

Annie's - Not just fruit & veg store...

My friend Anne is opening up a fruit & veg store (I think there may be a small cafe attached too). Anyway she asked me to whip up some funky posters that weren't your typical boring green grocer stylie.

Not bad for a days work..

Some quick thumbnail to explain my idea.

A fruity face - I used pages from 'fat face' magazine (a surf magazine) to cut out the collages and build the fruit, it had loads of lovely textures and mixes of colours.

A few quick comps put together in InDesign, I really liked the simple black ones (top right hand corner and very bottom right hand corner).

I was aiming for a grown up version of Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Screen Printing

2008-12-21T19:30:00.019Z

What do you do when you've got a spare weekend over Christmas? I put off the Christmas shopping (again) and found a cool little screen printing course at hotbedpress in Salford.

Different threads depending on the quality of print.

Fantastic print workshop!

My sketchbook concepts.

(I wanted to see how well fine type prints)

In the process of loading & printing.

Very happy results! Overprinting & offsetting worked out perfectly too! (Thank god I brought a scarf, it was freezing in there!)

William Hill 2p Bingo!

2008-11-08T20:30:00.030Z

Time for a field trip to Gala bingo. I must admit, I thought some of my mates would be 'too cool' to come and play bingo - only to find out they were already members! A night out, followed by a few nights in...

Brief: Concepts for William Hill '2p Bingo' online flash banners.

'2p or not 2p' - yes, Bingo IS that cheesy!
Sam Yaffe (Ecommerce, William Hill)

My initial sketchbook/storyboard concepts:

#1 'Out of this world' cheesy, fun and fits in with the rest of the brand collateral (stars, bubbles, etc.)

#2 'On Brand' recycling current brand collateral and re animate them in a new way, alongside the new captions.

#3 'Narrative' - yes, it's the cheesy 2p or not 2p.

And so on to developing the initial storyboards ready to refine them and eventually turn them into flash animations:

Print Exhibition

2008-10-24T14:50:00.002+01:00

I stumbled across this fantastic exhibition at Ashton-under-Lyne library. I went to do some research on Asian art, and some on the Bauhaus, for a client website I'm designing (more about that in a later post). The exhibition was fantastic, showing off the work done at hotbedpress in Salford.

My two favourites were 'Rust Prints' by Sue Johnston:

I think they're quite eerie - they remind me of pictures I've seen from the holocaust.

And 'Downtown' by Justin Sander:

I don't know why, but these remind me of being back in New York. (They'd look great printed on to t-shirts).

Start (again).

2008-10-01T16:28:00.004+01:00

So here it is, my blog, reborn - if you've arrived here from my website www.ilovegraphics.co.uk, then you've come to the right place.

This blog is really a personal record of the projects I'm working on, my continued professional development (C.P.D.'s) and experiments I've tried. If you're an agency, employer or need any freelance work doing, you might find it interesting too? Get in touch, leave comments, critique and have an opinion - I welcome it all..

Cheers

Wayne.