May Have to Scrap Yet Another...

This could be my final post in this tag. With the final crit coming up, I don't feel like I can get this brief to a standard that is necessary. When talking to Fred, he said that I need finished briefs, not half finished briefs. I think there's more potential with Brief 3 - Endangered, as I'd rather do some info graphic pieces.

More Icons

First Film: The Fox and the Hound

This is the development of the first film that I will produce as part of my guessing game: the fox and the hound.

Alternatives of the dog

The fox was a little harder to get aesthetically correct

Developing The Logo Further

Using the elements that I have so far, I thought I would try different logo compositions to see if it could strike any creativity.

I like the lowercase version of Neutra, it's nicely rounded and is accessible to a range of audiences. I tested this out with the film reel and the camera, and I exploited the gimmick of the dot above the i being replaced with another image. 

The thing is, it sort of works. The arrangement of letters mean the i falls right in the middle of the word, which helps with the visual consistency of the logo.

Developing The 'Movicon' Identity

After looking through the collection of typefaces that I have singled out as 'relevant' to movie culture and film identity, I have come to a conclusion of the best one to use.

Neutra Text

 I love the typeface as it is exactly what the Art Deco posters represent: a modern representation of a classic aesthetic. It is clean, visually consistent and includes the trademark lower x-height of the Art Deco letterforms.

The next step is to create a logo that backs up Movicon's timeless identity. Looking at iconic objects that were part of the filming process over 50 years ago, I think I can modernise an object and really back up the timeless theme of the identity that I am trying to create.

Film Reel

They're still an iconic object in the world of film and a simple logo based around this could generate the aesthetic I'm looking for.

I think it's important to keep the simplicity in creating a logo. I developed the shape on a large scale first, then scaled it down, increased the weight and made it suitable for accompanying the type. Nothing really to it though, could be a little more conceptual..:

I think this is trying a little too hard to be conceptual and to marry the logo and the identity text. It works on a large scale, but definitely won't transfer well on a smaller scale.

1930s Camera

I responded to this camera by creating a iconic response. I also thought it would be good to mock up a tripod, that could be used as part of the identity:

It definitely shares the aesthetics with the film reel, and if these don't come of anything towards the logo, I'm positive they could be applied as part of the identity. I also mocked up a screen that movies would be played on, seeing as I've mocked up a tripod for a camera.

I thought I would also combine the film reels and the camera. Looks a little too complex to be an icon/logo and the lack of detail on the camera looks a little out of place:

Movie Icons: Thinking of a Brand Name

I think it's probably a good idea to think of a name for my set of movie icons. It will help to keep them part of a set, and will be easier to promote the game itself.

I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner really. Talking to Tom from Catalogue on Friday helped to bring up ways to expand the range in my work, which I think is the main weakness so far. He suggested creating a brand, or an identity, for every project which can be applied to a range of deliverables. It is the easiest way to generate interest and to raise the recognition of the set.

After some (shocking) names I decided to stick to Movicon. It's relevant, and rolls off the tongue nicely. Here are others that I thought of which weren't really suitable:

• What Film?
• Guess Film
• Filmmania
• Pictofilms
• Icons of Films
• Movie Icons
• Icons of Cinema

There isn't a lot of names, but I think it's best to go with my gut instinct really, and Movicon is a decent name. The next step, is to create a logo:

I did a few tests with typefaces that I thought would be appropriate for a identity focused around films. They should be narrow, to represent movie posters, bold and preferably sans-serif. However, I have noticed that I haven't really pinpointed the aesthetic that I want, so more research into the subject is needed.

Bookbinding Session With Sarah

Because Amber kindly booked out the print & binding resources, I thought I would take advantage of this and do some pre-runs before binding any future final publications. Sarah was on hand to guide me through two binding techniques: perfect glue binding and japanese stab binding.

The first example, perfect binding, was done by clamping the collection of paper together in between 2 card boards and adding thin layers of PVA glue into the straight edge. The glue will then soak through the paper and bind the pages together. Multiple coats are necessary, either 2 or 3 after each one has dried, to firmly glue the pages together.

Japanese stab binding is carried out by drilling a sequence of holes (3 to 5) in a sequence roughly 10mm adjacent to the spine of the book. The holes are then threaded together with needle and thread in a way demonstrated by the youtube video below. I used much thinner thread when binding, however.

I glued the front covers on by PVA glue to cover the thread, and included a crease on the perfect bound example, with the pressing machine, to make opening the book easier and to reduce strain on the glued front cover.

Here are my binding examples constructed in the session today:

Initial Publication Layouts

Although there is still a lot to think about, such as page numbers, categorisation and colours involved, I thought I would quickly assemble the icons and experiment with the layout on an A5 double page spread.

I tested out colours to ensure the icons were still as effective, which they were. This is good for when I need to categorise between film genres, puzzle difficulty or other separating factors.

Tweaking Pulp Fiction Icons

Upon revisiting the film out of interest, it came to my attention that none of the characters were eating a burger (I must have got mixed up with the start of the film). Instead, because it is a coffee shop, I thought I would develop an icon for a cup of coffee - nice and simple.

Also, the gun that I had before had different weights, it didn't have consistency with the other icons. To resolve this, I tweaked the shape of the trigger and increased the weight of the lighter strokes to match the entire icon. It looks even more simplified than before, which is good.

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Developing Toy Story Icons

This scene features a main character, Woody, trying to communicate to his friends next door that him and his friend Buzz are okay - communicating through the window. This is the closest I could find to this scene on youtube.

Using the grids on illustrator I developed a set of simple icons that should reflect this scene of the film.

 

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