OUGD405 Studio Brief 01 Final Analysis of Other Student's Work

One student's work that caught my eye was that of Alex Finney. The way that he has decided to represent different eras with each of his frame filler designs. 

 There is a definite 1950s theme to the frame above especially with the old movie poster font used for the most dominating type aspect. The tone of voice is satyrical and ironic which is visually aided in its communication by the font used because of its slightly quirky swellings at the ends of stems and minutely irregular nights so that it doesn't interfere with the legibility of the text but conveys a certain jaunty light tone.

Of course the choice of Helvetica makes this design synonymous with the 1960s but possibly only to a graphic designers eye. The tone is continued into this designs well through the choice of words but there is less of a synergy between the type and what is being said. These changes in type, although suited to the ages being represented, surprise me slightly because the instantly and very decisively create a separation between the designs making them work much less as a set.

The jokey tone continues with the creation of the 'iframe air' in the modern era and a clear attempt to draw across the colouring from the other two designs is made with the maroon filling to the frame. Although this designs contemporary I would question the choice of Apple as a way to represent this, they often seem separate to an era of specific time to me. The name makes little sense to me as well because there is never an apple product with an 'i' and 'air' in the name, one being intuitive and small i.e. the iPod the other being professional and light as 'air', so are different classifications of product. However, arguably he has done this just to send home the message of 'the contemporary' in accordance with the ironic tone established throughout. 

It is clear that the choices made to represent each era are the result of copious research into design at the time. However, I do feel that although a design davy eye could see every suggestion of each era, some might have trouble. Helvetica for example, was created decades ago but because of its exposure to commercial use it has a very modern identity in the eyes of the public. perhaps these messages and their communication could have been improved by some target market primary research into what these people really associate with the eras he has selected.

In his notes during the final crit he mentioned that Urban outfitters might be the best suited forum for these designs. I agree that the ironic tone suggests a younger audience and the variations in the set of designs would fit within the mad randomness of a urban outfitter shop but I also feel that an older audience is more likely to glean the tone of voice from the less obvious of the designs. In my experience an older audience is generally more capable of detecting the less obvious types of humour, especially when translating it from type to thought.