1 NCEA Level 3 - Visual Arts 2011 Examples of Candidate Work – 90517 Design.

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NCEA Level 3 - Visual Arts 2011

Examples of Candidate Work – 90517 Design

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Excellence

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ExcellenceA new digital film festival called “Emotion” needed advertising and the organisers also required some promotional products to sell at the festival venue.

The image bank was a comprehensive and a very useful resource and included the candidate’s own photos. The development of a logo showed confident type selections had been made. The candidate generated a number of possibilities and then refined one idea that included a gradient layered over a typeface. This colour gradient of orange to green helped brand the campaign across all three boards.

Poster thumbnails explored a broad range of ideas. Their starting point was taken from the candidate’s own photoshoot. On occasion an interesting slogan was coupled with an image, e.g. ‘power your imagination’ is used in conjunction with an image of an electric plug. This process included some witty and intelligent concepts, e.g. the letter E in emotion was made in the form of an unthreaded tape cassette.

Board two began with a cohesive product line, ticket, envelope, popcorn container and a take-away cup. The candidate chose not to use this as an opportunity to redesign the three-dimensional containers but to explore the applied graphic art and labels. The results however were lively and creative e.g. the photos of popcorn layered over the scrambled tape became the background – the logo was then used as a frame on the base of the container.

A magazine DPS extended the visual imagery using an eye, a camera lens, a colour spectrum and a camera. A suited figure as used in some contemporary music and magazine graphics, was also introduced. The candidate extended the visual possibilities with a repeating pattern made up of a three-dimensional box shape. The candidate explored one, two and three column grids with skill.

Board three developed an A3 gatefold layout for a programme and the candidate showed thorough knowledge and understanding of this format Finally, the candidate designed a website and continued to synthesise new and exciting models in the process. The outcomes were confident and sophisticated with effective colour and memorable designs.

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Excellence

Love Project was a charity organisation connected to City Deco – an Architectural Company. In 2011 Love Project was supporting Japan after the Tsunami. The charity required a cohesive campaign designed to motivate the public to give generous donations. The folio began by gathering bright, lively and cheerful imagery and then layered these with linear architectural drawings from both Auckland and Japan. The candidate included the Japanese flag, the red sun, and a map of Japan. This mood board was a most appropriate and useful resource.

The identity of Love Project used a heart shape and the candidate investigated typeface and colour to evoke the sense of energy, warmth and optimism. The logo was developed systematically across the board and the introduction of a hand-drawn font was a thoughtful and intelligent decision. Post card developments generated a range of ideas that demonstrated the candidate’s lateral approach. They playfully explored the concept of sending messages of love and support to Japan from New Zealand.

Mike Perry’s imagery had inspired the candidates’ investigation of possible poster ideas. Pattern and colour were sprinkled like a ‘paper ticker-tape parade’. These images evoked the idea of celebration and asked New Zealanders to send love to Japan and to get behind the campaign. The candidate used line, wash and collage and thoroughly investigated the play of positive and negative space. Further refinement of type could have extended the final poster. Tshirt designs built upon the ideas that were found on boards one and two. iPhone concepts synthesised ideas from board one with new models and offered a choice of possible outcomes. Throughout the folio the candidate used colour confidently resulting in a lively visual brand for the campaign.

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Merit

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MeritWithout a brief we were never clear what Retro Rhythm was – a record shop, a second-hand store, or a fashion boutique? However the application of design elements across a number of formats - logo, poster, packaging, web site and double page spread showed knowledge and understanding of procedures and techniques in graphic design.

A mood-board at the start of the folio included digital montage, collage, texture and colour decisions and acted as both a resource bank and a purposeful drawing process. The logo development reflected an ability to generate and analyse ideas, which were well crafted, so it was disappointing to see the final logo very rarely used.

This folio employed the stylistic qualities of Eduardo Recife (of mis-printed type fame) integrated with a look and feel reminiscent of art-deco advertising. The integration of these two genres enabled the systematic production of type and image options. The candidate was credited for demonstrating knowledge and understanding of these characteristics. However further ownership and more thorough development of imagery could have helped move this submission into achieving with excellence. The work focused on compositional layout decisions and the images communicated a particular graphic attitude very successfully. The candidate used a limited colour palette coupled with appropriate font choices demonstrating a confident understanding of the chosen graphic style.

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Merit

An anti-bullying campaign highlighted the continuing problem of bullying in many social groups. The brief advertised a phoneline and asked the public to report incidents of bullying. From the beginning of the folio we see the candidate gathered some artistic models as inspiration. The David Carson images displaying textured surfaces and deconstructed type influence several works later on in the folio. The candidate included a purposeful photoshoot that was also used further on in the folio. A more indepth photoshoot might have included females and people of different ages.

The slogan ‘rise up’ was attached to the logo and a number of options were generated using this. The logos tended to be typographical and texture and media were explored with varying degrees of success. It was pleasing to see that the final logo chosen was then applied to the poster and that the final poster advertised the phoneline. The candidate demonstrated the success of the poster by trialling it in a real situation.

When designing the tshirt the candidate regenerated ideas from board one and colour and font decisions remained cohesive. The graphics on a bus used the slogan ‘see it, report it’ and thumbnails analysed the size and placement of type. Continued use of the phoneline information as well as this message may have added strength to the campaign in this format.

The web design demonstrated the candidates understanding of grid formats and it was good to see some thought given to the colour ground. In some thumbnails white type was reversed out of dark colours very successfully and the enlarged images explored a play of positive and negative space. There was less of a range of billboard ideas but the communication throughout the folio was always very strong and an appropriate aesthetic sensibility was evident.

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Achieved

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Achieved

This brief asked the candidate to design the promotional graphics for a recycling campaign. The folio began with an image bank that gathered work from two artistic models and images that we associate with recycling. This was an appropriate method to begin any folio but at this stage a more lateral and in-depth approach to research would have furthered the candidate’s options. The logo exploration was systematic and used different drawing strategies to develop a logo that encapsulates the idea of recycling. The candidate then went on to design a poster using a slogan to help communicate a recycling message. This was a good idea and further brainstorming of appropriate slogans and quotes could have introduced humour or further options for consideration.

On board two the brief asked for a pamphlet, an eco bag and some fridge magnets. In thinking through the pamphlet the candidate showed knowledge of the way a gatefold pamphlet was handled and read. The process was recorded step-by-step and the candidate explored hierarchy of type, various colour grounds and grid layouts.

The fridge magnets clearly communicated the idea of recycling. However exploring further shape options and alternative materials would have broadened the possibilities and the communication.

On board three the work established in the pamphlet was further explored as the candidate tackled a DPS for a magazine. The circle is used to frame the images, the candidate explored two-column grids and the type and images were clearly legible on a white ground.

This folio demonstrates a cohesive and very systematic campaign using a limited colour palette that helped establish the brand.

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AchievedThis folio began with an innovative and well-conceived idea. In conjunction with International Children’s Day an event was being planned called ‘Toys for Kids’. It was to be held in Auckland. This event gave children under twelve years of age an opportunity to swap toys that they no longer used. The folio began with four playful and lively compositions that gathered appropriate material using collage. These images explored scale, juxtaposition and colour with success.

The candidate then generated a range of logo possibilities. Sans serif fonts were used with simple toy shapes. By working in black and white the candidate started to analyse and clarify ideas.

The idea of designing a ‘token’ set an interesting problem and one that the candidate used to explore colour. Further research into established practice, however, might have helped the candidate design for this small circular format. Some discussion of the actual materials to be used would also have been appropriate.

It was evident that ideas for the Tshirt considered the three dimensional human form in their design and the candidate began to regenerate ideas conceived on board one. Layouts for magazine articles in a DPS format then followed. The candidate started with hand-drawn, collaged images, as found in many contemporary models. Further analysis of models may have helped the candidate understand and develop this aesthetic into a legible format. In the final DPS the candidate successfully applied a basic one-column grid and it was shown in situ using a photograph.

Following the design of a billboard the candidate explored ideas for a poster. Colour and image were cohesive with earlier works. The poster clearly communicated the concept of the Toy Exchange being run in conjunction with International Children’s Day.

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