GDES3003 – Screen Printing

GDES3013 GREEN DESIGN

Screen Printing 3D Artefact

Today I screen printed the design onto my pizza packaging.  I had only screen printed once prior to this and that was a while ago and so I was a little concerned that I may have been too ambitious with my design.  As it turns out, the process is actually quite intuitive and very enjoyable, so I will definitely be experimenting more in the future.

1.   The artwork needs to be prepared in layers, one for each colour which will then have it’s own screen. The artwork has to then all be black and at 300dpi for the highest quality line work.
2. Each layer is then printed onto high quality acetate film that the technicians have on campus.  I’m told it’s a special construction that is actually made up of millions of minuscule tubes that hold the ink perfectly.
3. The screens are prepared using emulsion, which needs time to dry before exposure.
4. The acetate is then exposed to a silk screen using a special machine that vacuum’s all of the air out to ensure there is no light leak.
5. After 120 seconds the screen is exposed.  Then you have to wash the solution of the screen in the water spray booth.  By holding it up to the light you can check that artwork looks correct,and has no marks or solution left on it.  Then the screens are dried off and are ready for use.
6. Any exposed areas, such as the edges of the screen or areas that you don’t want to print are covered with waterproof tape.
7. The ink/paint is a mix of acrylic paint, screen printing solution and water until the consistency is just runny enough to go through the screen.
8. Ink is placed on the screen, along the top of the artwork before being “loaded”.  This is when you pass the ink over the artwork to start the flow.
9. Whatever you are printing onto, in my case my packaging, then needs to be aligned.  This is done using tape and markers.  The screen printing table has suction, so when you are aligned and start to lower the screen, the bed sucks the paper/card onto it.
10. Once the screen is loaded with ink and lowered down onto the bed, you can start printing.  This is done by angling the squeegee to 45 degrees and pressing down firmly until the screen touches the material, then pulling towards you in a fairly swift motion.  As you raise the screen you re-load it by running the squeegee back to the top.
11. At this stage you check the print to admire your handy work.  I printed several copies so that I could choose the best one’s to hand in at the end.
12. This process is then repeated for each colour until complete, making sure to clean the screens after each pass so that the ink doesn’t dry on the screen.
13. The prints are then left to dry on the rack & voila…. done!

 

Artwork printed in solid black onto high quality acetate

Vacuum!

Vacuum machine, for exposing the screens

Washing the solution off after exposure

Screen once solution had been washed off

The screen print table

Securing the screen for the first layer

Screen is “loaded” with white ink for the first time

First test print onto brown paper

Aligning the artwork

First print

Both sides of the printed artwork

Artwork arranged to show how it would come flat packed. Each plate would then be torn off and used

Final printed packaging

Mixing the ink

first layer on the rack

 

 

GDES2012 – London trip – Legible London

GDES2012 – Graphic Information Design

London Trip – 8th April 2015

As part of our trip to London, we were asked to make observations and analysis of ‘Legible London’s way finding system.

The main Legible London signage

I found numerous examples of the signage in the area that I walked (Earls Court, Olympia, Kensington & Knightsbridge).

 

Legible London – Olympia

Legible London – Kensington

 

 

The above photographs show the me in front of two examples of the Legible London way finding signage.

Earls Court

Olympia front side

Olympia rear side

Olympia – Typography

The two maps that feature on each sign

Map close-up – Shows the edge of the white circle to indicate you are zoomed in

The edges of the signs also feature additional information such as emergency telephone numbers, sign location etc.

The base of each sign has a compass showing true North. Could this have been a consideration for the blind?

Observations

I think that the main audience for the ‘Legible London’ signage is tourists.  Although the signs can be used by locals and workers as well, it is more likely that visitors to the city will use them to get around.  The designers have used a bold yet simple colour scheme that is uniform amongst all of the signs, so they have a visual system that connects.  The typography is clear and in many instances recognisable pictograms are used to aid guidance.  The maps are simple and feature only information that is needed to navigate, such as landmarks and street names, tube stations and ‘Boris bike’ points.  The colour scheme also ties in with the overall signage (i.e. blue and yellow, with green on the maps to show areas of grass such as parks).  I noticed also that the edges or sides of the signs are also used to contain additional contact information such as 24hr travel info, who to call if the sign is vandalised and also the sign location.

Colours

The signage background colour is a deep blue, with yellow accents such as the top of each sign as well as the location typography, with supporting text in white.  The maps also follow this colour scheme, whilst also including greys and green for areas of grassland.

There is a very distinct visual hierarchy to the signage.  The yellow band, which also includes a pictogram of a walking man at the top first draws attention.  The yellow colour in the typography gives location names, whilst the supporting text in white may highlight a road name, tube station or tourist attraction such as a museum.  Below this are generally 2 maps, the first giving a wider view of the area and the second a more zoomed in street view.  This is made obvious by the use of a white circle which can be seen in full on the top map, but only partially seen on the lower map which indicates a closer view.

Typography

The typography is a sans serif font.  All yellow place names are shown in upper case, with street names and supporting text in white and using a combination of upper & lower case lettering.  This is to create a visual hierarchy, but also by colour coding and using upper case the names can be read quickly and easily without confusion.

The type is similar to not only the underground, but also to all transport links such as buses and ‘Boris bikes’.  This creates unity between the London transport network and ties the way finding in seamlessly with it’s surroundings.

Disability

It is difficult to see how much consideration was given to the disabled or visually impaired.  The signs are quite tall, which I imagine is in part due to visibility from the upper deck of double deckers buses.  The maps are certainly lower and would therefore be visible to those in a wheelchair.  The signage doesn’t feature braille for the blind, but the maps do feature bold colours and the information is easy to read so perhaps the visually impaired were considered.  The only clue I found that suggested some consideration for the blind is that each sign features a raised, metal compass on the floor.  Somebody could certain ‘feel’ that and get a clear indication as to where North was, but in the grand scheme of things, I’m not sure how much help this would be?

Position

All of the signage I found was located on main roads and generally at intersections, so that they could give indication to what is in each direction I suppose.  They are all close to transport links, usually bus stops which is helpful for people getting on and off buses to find their bearings.

Overall I think the signage is effective.  One criticism could be that the maps only show a fairly short geographical  area and so if you wanted to travel further across the city, it would not be clear which direction to head in.  That said, there are the locations all over the city and it wouldn’t take long to work out where you needed to go from Harry Beck’s tube map, which is an incredible piece of design in itself.

Other signage

I also encountered a number of other examples of way finding signage throughout the city, namely the ‘Boris bike’ scheme as well as some interesting information found at bus stops and on bus shelters.  The bike hire scheme ties in very closely to the legible London signage, although it is clearly identified by it’s blue colour scheme.  The location signs are four sided, with one side featuring a pay point so that you can hire a bike there and then and drop it off at any other point throughout the city.

Example of Bus network signage

This map shows the bus network throughout the city and obviously draws inspiration from Harry Beck’s London tube map

London Cycle Hire

These signs are 4 sided and include a pay point so that you can hire a bike

Map information is the same as the legible London signage, thus tying inseemlessly

Boris Bike scheme

Fingerpost – Share Legible London colours

Fingerpost – Share Legible London colours

This is at the base of one of the fingerposts I found

Although this doesn’t tie into the legible London signage, I found the type choices & treatments interesting

The famous Undergound tube signage

Beautiful type carved into stone

The V&A emblem carved into marble in the V&A museum foyer

I also found this amazing example of infographics inside the main entrance of the V&A museum.  It shows a visual timeline of nature that buds, blooms, migrates or emerges annually in the area surrounding the V&A museum.  Each colour shows a different species of plant, animal, insect, bird or tree revealing the interdependence of urban ecosystems.

GDES2012 – Week 3 – Road Signage

Week 3 – Graphic Information Design

Road signage brief

This week we were asked to design a road sign with one of 4 headings in mind : Warning, Tourist Information, Motorway or Primary route.

I have Chosen the Tourist Information sign for Worcester New Bridge.

• A TOURIST INFORMATION SIGN
  Pointing in the direction of Worcester’s ‘New Bridge’ over the River Severn. The sign would be sited somewhere near McDonalds. The sign must have a simplified rendering of the new bridge on it with the text ‘New Bridge’ and be pointing towards the bridge.

Having already researched Jock Kenner & Margaret Calvert for a previous project, I decided to add to this with the recommended findings from the brief – Namely a BBC Top Gear clip featuring Margaret Calvert & additional research from the design museums website.

• Road signage system development of the new system to the graphic designer Jock Kinneir (1917-1994) and his assistant Margaret Calvert (1936-).
• They devised a rigorous signage system of carefully coordinated lettering, colours, shapes and symbols for Britain’s new motorways in the late 1950s and for all other roads in the mid 1960s. Efficient and elegant, their system was one of the most ambitious information design projects ever undertaken in Britain.
• It is a role model for modern road signage in other countries and is still in use today.
• Their system was rooted in the concept of each sign taking the form of a map oriented towards the driver.
• A combination of upper and lower case letters would be more legible than conventional upper case lettering, they developed a new typeface, a refinement of Aksidenz Grotesk, for use in the signs. Later named Transport, it is recognisably modern as a sans serif font, but it is softer and curvier than the blunt modernist lettering used on continental European road signs. Kinneir and Calvert felt that these qualities would make it seem friendlier and more appealing to British drivers.
• Each letter within a sign was placed on a letter tile to determine the correct spacing – based on the width of the horizontal strokes in the Transport version of the capital letter I – between it and other letters. By treating each letter as a separate unit, the overall size of a sign was determined by the amount of information conveyed.
• The width of the capital I stroke was also used to specify the size of borders and the spaces between lines of text.
• Used colour coding – Just as their motorway signs consisted of white lettering against a blue background, they used white lettering for place names and yellow for road numbers against a green background on signage for primary roads, and black lettering against a white background for secondary routes.
• They decided to adopt the continental style of using pictograms rather than words on the road signs, and Calvert drew most of the pictograms in the friendly, curvaceous style of Transport.

“It is sad but true to say that most of us take our surroundings for granted,” Kinneir observed in 1965. “Direction signs and street names, for instance, are as vital as a drop of oil in an engine, without which the moving parts would seize up; one can picture the effect of the removal of this category of information on drivers in a busy city or on pedestrians trying to find their way in a large building complex. It is a need which has bred a sub-division of graphic design with more influence on the appearance of our surroundings than any other.”

Source – http://design.designmuseum.org/design/jock-kinneir-margaret-calvert

I then went on to look at existing signage for tourist information & attractions.

• A tourist sign is often referred to as a “brown” sign.
• They feature a brown background, with a white border and white text (transport).
• Usually featuring a pictogram of the attraction.

Type

• Type used is transport, which I will incorporate into my design.
• Transport fonts downloaded from this resource http://www.cbrd.co.uk/fonts/

Tourist Information Signage

I found this fantastic website called http://www.followthebrownsigns.com which offers up a wealth of information regarding the brown tourist signs, from their history to attractions in “my area”.

What makes a brown sign?

• Technically the definition of a brown signed destination is “a permanently established attraction or facility which attracts or is used by visitors to an area and which is open to the public without prior booking during its normal opening hours” (as stated by the Highways Agency).

This image from – http://www.ukmotorists.com/motorway_signs.asp

The picture below shows a good example of the types of pictograms that are used on tourist information signs.

 

Location

The brief stated that the sign should be located by McDonalds, before you get to the Bridge.  I knew that there was already a large signpost in this vicinity and so I took my own photographs so that I could see what was already there and to visualise my design in-situ.  This was also born out of necessity as I could not find any usable shots to convincingly mock up my design.

A few of the shots for consideration are :

 

GDES2012 – Week 1 – Transport Signage

Week 1 Task

Choose an element mentioned in the week 1 powerpoint presentation and expand upon it.

Road Signage

• The Romans were probably the first to use traffic signs in Britain
• A 1648 law required each parish to place guide posts or fingerposts at crossroads
• During the second half of the 19th Century, caution signs were put up for cyclists ahead of steep hills and sharp bends
• 1896 heralded the era of the motor car and some motoring associations started putting up signs
• A committee chaired by Sir Henry Maybury brought in more signs in 1933, including “No entry” and “Keep left”
• The first major reform came with the new motorways. Jock Kinneir and Margaret Calvert, his pupil at the Chelsea School of Art, are asked to create signs by the Anderson Committee in 1957
• The new signage is tested on Britain’s first motorway-standard road – the Preston bypass in Lancashire – in 1958
• In 1963, the Worboys Committee commissions the pair to overhaul all of Britain’s road signs. The new system became law on 1 January 1965
• Changes since then include electronic signs, additional colour coding for routes, and tourist signs

Source: Department for Transport; Design Museum

Jock Kinnear & Margaret Calvert 

• Britain’s roads look as they do because of Jock Kinneir and Margaret Calvert.
• The graphic designers standardised the road network, created many of its signs and produced two new typefaces, Transport and Motorway.

 (Transport font)

(Motorway font)

• In the 1950s, road signs were a mess – a confusing and dangerous hotch potch of different symbols, colours and lettering. But more and more people were acquiring cars.
• As the government set about creating a brave new world of motorways, Kinneir and Calvert were given the job of making signs that could be clearly read in a split second.
• Calvert, said they had to start from scratch.

“It required completely radical thinking. The information wasn’t there in terms of reading distance, clarity and letter spaces. We had to make up the signs and then test them. It was instinctive.”

• They were tested in an underground car park and in London’s Hyde Park, where they were propped up against trees to determine the most effective background colours and reading distances.
• One of their biggest decisions, which caused upset among conservative commentators at the time, was to opt for a combination of upper and lower case letters.

“The actual word shape was the most distinctive thing because if you had Birmingham in capitals, from a distance, it’s difficult to read but in caps and lower case you have word shape,” says Calvert. “That was fundamental.”

 

• After the success of their big and bold motorway signs, the pair were commissioned in 1963 to overhaul the rest of Britain’s roads. They created new signs and remodelled existing ones, based on the European protocol of triangular signs to warn, circles for commands and rectangles for information.
• They favoured pictograms rather than words on the signs, and Calvert drew most of them in the curvaceous style of the Transport typeface. Many of her illustrations were drawn from her own life.

(Margaret Calvert with Man at work sign and Children Crossing sign)

• Very few people have heard of Calvert but her portrait is probably one of the most recognisable in the UK, after the Queen’s on stamps.
• The girl in the school children crossing sign is based on a picture of herself.
• And Calvert is also responsible for the much-parodied men at work sign.  It has long been remarked upon that the man digging actually seems to be struggling with an umbrella, and Calvert wishes she had made the shovel moreshovel-like.
• Kinneir and Calvert’s designs changed the British landscape and they became a role model for modern road signage all over the world.
• Design commentator Michael Czerwinski hails them as a success story of the modernist movement.

“We do not question them like modernist buildings and they have not been dabbled with as much as other things have. The fact they are still in use today says a lot about the success of the designs.”

• Transport and Motorway, which is used only for route numbers on motorways, are still the only two typefaces permitted on UK road signs. Transport is also used in several other countries, including Iceland, Ireland and Portugal, and in much of the Middle East.
• Transport may not be pretty but it is one of the most effective and useful typefaces in the UK, says Simon Garfield who wrote Just My Type, a book dedicated to fonts.

“The last thing you want to do when you’re driving along at 77mph is think ‘look at that lovely L or T’. All you want to do is be told where you are and where you turn.

“The key is not noticing it. When you are designing a typeface for signage, you know you have done well when no-one comments on it.”

Source: BBC News; The road sign as design classic.

The History of Typography

This is just brilliant…

3D Typography

I have just discovered a creative called Lex Wilson. A designer from Cambridge who is a self proclaimed “obsessive compulsive illustrator”. He’s on YouTube too…. He draws amazing illustrations in moleskine books… The are beautiful, eye popping and in the instance of these pictures especially, mind blowing!

I absolutely love this guys work..

A to Z Typography Abstract – Pic of the day

Another wonderful image created this time using just letters…. A to Z in fact (ok, and a few symbols).

I like this picture a lot.

How to draw chrome lettering

For those of you that don’t know him (and surely most of you do given the number of followers he has) Mark Crilley is famous for his Manga drawings and tutorials on YouTube. As the last few videos have been on the subject of Typography I thought this would be worth showing…. Check out his channel by the way, he is very talented but has an easy to follow inclusive manner about him which I really like.

The Art Of Typography

An amazing video I found on typography that shows it to be an artform all on its own. This piece follows Ankles’ creation of the Urtex Films logo….