I don't think I've ever received a postcard, or bought one that wasn't from kitschy tack loaded location, Greetings from Scarborough, etc. Anyway for this task this was just to get an idea of what Postcards are like visually and traditionally. However what is a postcard, well by the oxford dictionary definition it's:
Monday, 24 December 2012
Postcard research
I don't think I've ever received a postcard, or bought one that wasn't from kitschy tack loaded location, Greetings from Scarborough, etc. Anyway for this task this was just to get an idea of what Postcards are like visually and traditionally. However what is a postcard, well by the oxford dictionary definition it's:
Monday, 3 December 2012
Research workshop & First-group Research
My group was to research Public transport, so we had to work together to come up with 10 different reasons to why research is important:
10 research methods that can give you a breath of material:
Resources that come from each of the 10 methods:
Then after as a whole group we came up with the following research methods:
- Visiting exhibitions - To identify trends and influence.
- Setting up Focus groups - To gather feedback on concepts
- Questionaires - For facts and figures
- Interviewing - To get knowledge and information from specialists
- Experimenting - Try different media and production methods
- Looking at related previous work - to get ideas on how to maintain consistency
- Observation of life
- Photography - Architecture, textures, objects, documentation of events.
- Watching films, programs for contextual information and influences
- Market research and context.
As well as that also:
- Quotes
- Opinions
- Statements
- Facts
- Statistics
- Feedback
- Analysis
- Photographs/Images/Visual Material
- Data
- Knowledge
- Examples
- Samples
- Documents
Information is date made useful.
Ways to improve our research processes:
Questionnaires: We could ask the right target audience and expand to ask more people to gain a bigger range of answers and information from them.
Internet: Using the internet (or search engines) we can use the advanced search option to get a wider variety of media and information sources.
Library: In the library we can try to read the books more thoroughly to get the best out of them instead of page scanning through them missing out what could possibly end up been vital information.
Physical Examples: With physical examples (such as leaflets and handouts) we should aim to collect the most relevant and recent examples instead of everything that comes to hand, this would focus and refine our collection.
Professionals: When interviewing professionals have a set of questions to ask at hand, research into their background before to base our questions off.
Films & documentaries: Find relevant films/documentaries to view and take notes throughout them to later use as information and further research.
Photographs: Consider what the images should look like before taking them and what use they will have, take a variety, but consider the content of each.
Going to exhibitions: Visit a range of exhibitions that are relevant, or even not to gain a larger range of influence that could expand our possible contexts and concepts. Use recording equipment to document them for later.
We brain stormed ideas around the different types of public transport, we came to the conclusion of Bus and Trains because these would be the two used most frequent by commuters and would take the biggest percentage of public transport. We then weight the pro's and cons of the two different transport types.
I wanted to know what the First brand was all about so I found our who branded them and what their goal was when it came to branding the company so we could have a similar idea when it came to creating our outcomes.
"As you can see, the First logo itself is designed to reflect the company’s role as the world’s leading transport operator, representing an exciting and inspiring journey – whether by road or rail. Over the year’s we’ve developed the brand to create a whole range of liveries and interiors too – staying true to the freedom and flexibility of First travel whilst using bold and striking colours to define each First service.
The story doesn’t end there though. First also love our advertising campaigns – designed to inspire consumers to leave their cars behind and travel by train, bus or coach instead."
- Lawrence & Piece
These are the two colours that are used throughout their brand while we found out that Helvetica is the typeface used throughout too. A modified version of the Helvetica typeface is used for the logo.
They also use heavily the lobster typeface from Dafont on the bus livery the above example been a recent one, while the below older shows the different approaches they've taken in the past. Below more boring and clean while their new take seems to fun and open. An attempt at making public transport alot more appealing.
Here's an example of the type of work they've featured in their advertising in the past, an attempt to appeal to students. It used vector graphics and is overall really simple and clean.
First buses:
To use as a possible reference point here is a archive of first bus photographs found on flickr:
Bus Advertising Space Types
To know what we were creating we needed to know where to could apply something on a bus, such as an advertisement so I researched into the different parts of a bus where advertisements can be placed all of the following are taken from the two sources here, with images to use as references to where they are.
T-sides
Run along the space of a superside and then have a
vertical portion towards the rear of the bus.
601mm High (left top) 7222mm Wide C 1749mm
High D 1114mm Wide (Off centre panel)
Supersides
found on double deck buses, they sit
between the lower and upper windows
6,108mm wide by 658mm high
Streetliners
Found on single deck buses and along the
side of the bus beneath the windows.
3962mm Wide by 508mm High
Lower rears
Beneath the rear window over the engine.
(Two sizes) 60” x 20” & 48” x 12”
Mega rears
These fully cover the rear of a bus.
Dimensions depends on the bus size.
Wraps
Full bus wrap, cover the entire surface of a bus.
Dimensions depends on the bus size.
Headliners
Sit above the windows on the inside of the bus
Landscape: 660mm wide by 203mm high
Passenger panels
Found by the luggage racks, drivers cab and stairwells.
Portrait in layout measuring 380mm wide by 457mm high
First Trains:
The first trains have a totally different approach in their advertising it's alot more cartoon-y and fun, I really like the the tone used throughout the video advertisements as well, it's to show they work not just inside the city but to connect all the other cites. Filled with landmarks and the cities presented in little tidbits.
Here's a source of images of First-Transpennine express trains:
Summer Advertisement:
Winter Advertisement:
Annual reports and Other material:
I wanted to see how their work outside of the advertisement world looks as well so I looked into their annual reports and it's alot more clinical than the buses and really well presented. It also gives and ideas for how their type is used, coloring different parts to separate the information I really like. Since the colours don't really contrast to much against each other, but work really nicely.
I wanted to see how their work outside of the advertisement world looks as well so I looked into their annual reports and it's alot more clinical than the buses and really well presented. It also gives and ideas for how their type is used, coloring different parts to separate the information I really like. Since the colours don't really contrast to much against each other, but work really nicely.
http://www.firstgroup.com/assets/pdfs/investors/annual_reports/2012/firstgroup-half-yearly-financial-report-2012.pdf
http://www.greentarget.co.uk/project/better-mileage-for-first-group%E2%80%99s-stakeholder-communications/
http://www.greentarget.co.uk/project/better-mileage-for-first-group%E2%80%99s-stakeholder-communications/
The following been a list of the prices for the train tickets and bus tickets as well as offers presented by First, and the amount it takes using a car in comparison.
By Bus: [ Leeds region ]
By Train: [ Manchester to Leeds ]
Using a car:
Friday, 30 November 2012
Research design boards
Our group were given the theme of public transport, after that we had to collate together ideas of where to take this individually, to then research. I choose to go with researching into 'Divides in Class' within public transport. It's an something that really interested me, how you experience transport differently depending how much you pay, yet you're still doing the exact same thing.
Straight after this task I decided to go get an idea of what it available in area, been in the city I thought it'd be pretty easy find divides. It wasn't, as there isn't as anywhere for the divides to really present them selves unless I actually took a ride on the transport with the available sections to be divided in. Eg: Airplanes. Buses and coaches are all relatively similar. But as a class, I'd feel rather working class? It's hard to put a figure on because it's used by all classes. The station quality of the metro and the national expressed were heavily different but I think that was down primarily to the date of when they were built, the national express station was obviously more recently built.
It was alot more evident within the brochures however, you could see the audiences through the simple aesthetic of them, a particular example been the First-group's brochures which seemed alot more premium, compared to the Metro's which seem relatively lower-classed. It's starker then actually trying to spot it within the stations.
I looked into the divides within airports and airplanes, It's pretty much defined perfectly here, different waiting areas, seating on the plane, meal. etc. The plane is even divided for it. I collected these images and formed them into the order which you'd go through when at a airport. I want to try and create that experience through image to gain a better understanding of what the differences are.
Economy class:
Buisness class:
First class:
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