Final designs,

This is a collection of the signage posters I have created for the interior of the new building. I wanted to create a road works effect for the school to show that students at the Brit School are a work in progress of the people they want to become. The signs also show a humorous side portraying the fun and playful nature that the Brit School holds.

Final designs,

I felt using simple poses to show people eating and drinking would be a clear sign to use that would show people to the canteen.

Final designs,

These are the designs that would show the way to the toilets/ be on the toilet doors.
Showing a humorous aspect of male and female stereotypes, e.g. women only go to the toilet to have a gossip and fix their make-up.

Final designs,

These are the designs that will be used to show visitors and students the way to certain strand areas, e.g. Dance, Theatre, and Visual Arts and Design.

Blu (Mural Artist)

After looking at John Fekner's work I warmed to the idea of creating a mural collaborating all the men in the road work style signs i'm going to make.




I then started to look into mural artists and found Blu. This is a piece showing Jesus drowning in guns and weaponry. Although this is nothing to do with my concept I liked the look of everything being so busy and all the guns on top of each other, this made me think that I could create a pile-on effect with my silohetted men, and perhaps create a mural on an outside wall. This would also give the visitors a feel of the signage throughout the building and prepare them for the busy but playful nature of the Brit School environment.

John Fekner research,

I began looking at stencil artists to see whether I wanted to use a particular style of stencil drawing, or stick to the basic style that is used for road signs.

These are stencil pieces done by John Fekner, he creates work in New York, Sweden, Germany, England and Canada. The theme of his pieces are to address environmental issues and show certain conceptual ideas.



I found it interesting looking at the progression between these two pieces. I like the idea of using a sinple stencil and then turning it into a mural style piece. This is something I may consider to my wayfinding/signage designs. For example I could use the silohettes of the people in my wayfinding signs to then create a mural on an outside wall? showing the collaboration of art, dance and theatre students in the school.

Evaluation of designs so far,

Looking at the designs I've created so far using photoshop, I think they're ok but they need to be refined. To progress and develop my ideas I need to make a clear decision as to which idea I want to use as for my final proposal.

Here is a trial I did to see if combining the two ideas would work at all: I used magazine pages to create a collage style background and then added the 'Work in Progress' sign to show the road work idea that I initially had.

After going through my idea during my tutorial I agreed that it would be better to stick to just one idea and fully commit to it.

I decided to focus on the Road Works idea, and take it on a comical pathway to add humour to the building. I felt this would work well given the Brit School as my client as it takes the simple 'We are a work in progress' idea on a new direction. It will also play to the agegroup of the students I'm designing for hopefully adding a light humourous feel to a place that cam often bring nerves e.g waiting for an audition, performing in a production...

Targets to improve initial idea:

1. Print images of men in different poses relevant to the signage I want to create. e.g. eating, doing art...

2. Decide on a common theme for the signs.

3. Begin making these signs, photograph them and add them to the blog.

Logo design trials done in Photoshop,

I was experimenting in Photoshop and came up with these designs, I wanted to just try adapting the current logo by repeating it and chaging colours. After doing these trials I found that I don't actually mind the current logo but I would change the colour scheme to red and black to match my road sign design for the interior.

Ways to approach Branding

After looking at several books and magazines showing different styles of branding, the main things I've learned are the importance of knowing your client and sticking to their personal requirements, using appropriate styles of design/colour to represent your client, and staying within the restraints of your client in order to successfully achieve a specific brand identity that works.

Aedas Research,

I looked into the company that is designing our building to see their previous works and what the companies style seems to be.

'Aedas', a leading international design practice, offers services in architecture, interior design, master planning, landscape, urban design and building consultancy within Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas.

We are committed to our core value of design excellence and are dedicated to research & development and sustainability.

Our unique framework allows us to apply international expertise in local economies, supporting the communities in which we work.'

My reaction to Aedas's work is that it's extremely sleek, classically modern and fresh feeling. Having now looked at their designs and then looking at my initial ideas I think i'll be able to accentuate their classic style buildings to give our one a BRIT School edge.

This is my basic plan for an alternative idea. To use patchwork designs to create a textural feel to the main wall in the canteen. This would not actually be made from fabric but replicated to make a printed tile design for the wall. I used photoshop to adapt an image and transform it into a wall design.

This is what I managed to create in Photoshop. I feel a bit more confident that I know what I'm doing now and I'm glad I've had this time to practise.
I thought the repeat pattern of the road signs could be applied as stickers on the windows as an attractive preview of the signage and wayfinding to come within the building.

I then adapted this sign in Photoshop, i thought it could be placed outside classrooms or at the end of hallways. The battered look of the sign is to show that it's been there for some time and will continue to show students working towards their dream.

Generally I find Photoshop difficult to use however, I'm slowly learning what certain tools do.
I'm experimenting with the tools and hopefully my designs will show improvment.

I created this sign in Photoshop by using various tools. I did it to emulate the common 'Pedestrian' sign placed near road works. For my wayfinding design I want the entire building to feel like a work in progress, the idea that The BRIT School is a place where you work on your character and make decisions that will lead to you as an end product.

Description on Wikipedia.

The Brit School for Performing Arts & Technology is an independent selective technology school partly funded by The Brit Awards. The Brit School was established under the CTC programme in 1991, and is dedicated to education and vocational training for the performing arts, media, art and design and the technologies that make performance possible.

Its principal is Nick Williams. Lucian Grange the chairman and chief executive of Universal Music Group has called the school remarkable and superb and noted "If you're an A&R person to have a profile at this school would be very beneficial"

Article from the British Recorded Music Industry:

BRIT School

The BRIT School opened in September 1991, and is a joint venture between The BRIT Trust and the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF).  

Based at Selhurst in Croydon, the school is the only non fee-paying performing arts school in the UK, it’s not a stage school or fame academy and it’s non-elitist. The school is designed for students aged 14-19 who wish to acquire a broad, balanced education, offering greater specialisation in Performing Arts and Arts Technology as they progress through the four years.

With 99% of Year 11 students achieving 5 or more A*-C grades in GCSE or their vocational equivalent, and 90% of students at A-level achieving A-C grade, the school is in the top 1% of state schools. The school is the first of its kind and, by dedicating itself to first-class educational standards and vocational training, proves that specialist music academies and high educational standards can go hand in hand.

I find using oversized numbers and letters to create in your face signs a bit dated. Although clever, I'd like to explore new ways of designing interesting signage thats also clear and concise, in keeping with the design of the rest of the building.

The Sydney Opera House.
I love the repitition of the rounded triangle shapes used in the roof, it suggests a performance within itself luring audiences in to the Opera. Jorn Utzon (a Danish architect) was largely resposible for the designing of the Opera House. It's considered a symbol for the city that is well-known throughout the world. Personally i think it's an impressive construstion and is extreamely attractive.

These buildings are both located in Vienna and designed by artist and architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser. He rejects the use of straight lines claiming that they provide unnecessary guidelines for humanity to live within. This is reflected in his fantasy style buildings. I love his use of bright colour as it reminds me of a children's book, it's as though he's glorifying the imagination we had as children and making it acceptable to still think in that way when we're adults.

This is The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao which is a museum of modern and contemporary art built by Ferrovial (located in Spain). Its a groundbreaking building as it's commonly thought that it made history by bringing all types of people together in agreement of it's wonder. Nothing is level and all sides are contrasting in shape and size adding to the complexity of it is design. I find it interesting to look at which entises me to explore the art that lays inside. The contrast in sharpness and curves is unusual and i'm fond of these individual sections, however as a whole i find the overall effect less impressive.

Cadbury is an established chocolate company founded in 1824.
I believe the colour choice of this logo has had a huge impact on how people visualise the standard chocolate bar and one of the most well known chocolate companies that create world class chocolate.
The floating appearence of the logo conveys a dream like state. This suggests the chocolate is heavenly convincing the potential customers that Cadbury is a good choice!
Also the curved writing style shows fluidity suggesting the chocolate is well made but also that the company is adaptable to what its customers want.

Kellogg's is a known cereal brand and is recognisable just by the 'K'. The use of interesting lower case font suggests informality, and that they are a relatable business. The fact that their main produce is cereal means they need to relate to a wide audience, e.g. men, women, and also children. The informality is therefore important as it shows a likeability to the potential cusomers.
The use of bold simple colour is used successfully as the viewer is not distracted by too much excessive and unnecessary decoration. Also as it is a logo that will be added to many designs of cereal boxes it's important it stands out and is recognisable by itself.

Mastercard is a recognised brand in the modern world. The striking colours and bold writing create a memorable logo. I think what makes it successful is the basic primary colour pallete that has been chosen, it suggests to the viewer that being part of this corporation is a simple choice and something that doesn't need to be considered.
The interlocking of the two circles suggest the company are open to compromise and this is attractive to customers.