Evolution Print Talk

Today we had a talk from Evolution Print in Sheffield, who are a high end corporate printing company. 

The guy that came in spoke about some aspects of lithography that differ from digital print.

• Printing over 500 copies of something is generally cheaper than printing something digitally.
• The main cost of lithography is producing the printing plates, which can be about £100 for a full set.
• When producing leaflets, working in pages of 8's and 16's is considerably cheaper.
• Extra stock is needed to test and calibrate printing plates, which costs extra money.
• You should consider how your chosen finish and stock is going to effect the print quality when designing your stuff so you don't get disappointed in the results.
• Lithography allows you to use spot colours and metallic colours.

He also talked to us about the mistakes that designers tend to make when sending their stuff to the printers, and gave us a few pointers on important things to do when you send things to the printers.

• Use a 3mm bleed all the time
• If you're using a spot colour, the file should be in CMYK format.
• Send the file in it's original format and in a PDF format so it can be changed if necessary.
• Send the files as single pages not spreads so the printers can set up the file to their preferences.
• If you're using foiling you should set up the foiling area as a spot colour.
• Keep images at the size they're used at in the file to reduce file size. 

Numiko Talk

Numiko, who're are a Leeds based web design company spoke to us about a few key principles of web design. 

They said that you don't need to know any coding to be a successful web designer, because in industry you'd be working closely with someone who would be very good at coding, all you have to do is understand what the internet is there for and what is capable of being translated onto screen, as well as have a strong understanding of grid systems, branding, iconography, typography and illustration, which you need to be a graphic designer anyway.

They said that understanding the internet was key to their success as a company, as they started up before the web is a big thing, but anticipating that it would get big, they approached big companies and convinces them that having a website would be beneficial, and so they've done work for organisations such as the BBC, Channel 4, Blue Cross, Water Aid and Cancer Research UK.

They said a lot of design agencies don't consider how branding will look on screen, only in print, and so being in digital design can sometimes be difficult and require you to negotiate a re-brand with the client.

Other points they raised were:

• Animation or interactivity on a website should tell a story.
• Responsive web design works best when it's considered at every stage of development, not just in the final product.
• The content of the website is the most important thing, and should always dictate how the website works.
• Technology and trends change so often that no-one truly knows what they're doing.
• When designing website you should consider how easy it would be for the client to add their content after your contract is over.
• Communication between yourself and the client is important, as it can avoid potential problems with the website.
• Websites with a specific use can have a looser grid because the content will be more obvious, and therefore need less organising.

Studio Task 1 - Review Your Identity

Todays task was a group exercise where we talked in small groups about what we've done over the summer and how that's informed any potential changes that may have occurred in ourselves or our approach to design.

Summer

Personally I did very little over the summer other concentrate very heavily on the world cup, something which informed my summer project. I didn't really feel the need to interact with the design industry over summer, as I felt like I'd changed plenty in my first year at uni, and wanted to spend the summer concentrating on getting myself back to the way I was before uni, as I felt a lot more comfortable with myself this time last year than I do now.

That said, I did go with my dad and step-mum to see a family friend who runs the design company I did some work experience with when I was in college, and I spoke to him briefly about uni and potentially doing a placement with him over the coming summer. We didn't speak too much about this though as it was his sons first birthday, so it wasn't really the best time, but it was more of a case of reminding him that I exist than anything else.

My Branding

I spoke about how my process and approach to design hadn't changed at all due to my lack of influences over summer, and that I was still the same person with the same opinions on how things should be done. It was suggested that the rigidity in my decisions and thought process might reflect geometric shapes which is something that I could use in my personal branding.

We discussed the idea of not wanting to describe yourself as a 'graphic designer' in those words, because you could potentially sell yourself better as some sort of specialist, or give yourself a unique and intriguing job title.

Light Night Leeds

Light Night is a night that allows people to look at Leeds in a different way, where the city celebrates its 'culture'.

Theatre of Illumination

I ended up accidentally seeing the Theatre of Illumination when I was looking for the LCA work projection on Vernon Street, and subsequently ended up missing most of it. In all honesty I wasn't actually sure what it was, and I'm pretty sure everyone else there felt the same, which was the entirety of Millennium Square. But I think this proves that as long as something looks nice, people will look at it, regardless of weather it has a clear concept or not.

Ways of Seeing

I had time to catch a bit of the LCA Ways of Seeing show, and was a little disappointed with it in comparison with the big Theatre of Illumination. Admittedly I only saw about 15 minutes of it, but I don't think it did much to keep peoples attention, it certainly didn't with mine. It seemed like the focus was mainly on who's been to LCA not what's happened there. Still, there were some pretty cool things projected onto the building, it was just that I found the presentation of it all a bit slow.