Design Practice: OUGD503 - Studio Brief 1: Competition Brief 3: Tigerprint Christmas Card

Brief:

With us getting in to the full swing of Christmas now, for this month's competition we would like you to look at Christmas icons.

We would like you to think about what icons represent Christmas to you. What comes to mind when you think of Christmas? If you decide to use more of a traditional icon, could you add a twist to how you create the image? Could you use a different colour palette or pattern fills? Or how about a new icon which isn't typically a Christmassy one, but is done in a more traditional Christmas way, e.g. the use of colours etc.

Some more traditional icons are:
• Trees
• Foliage
• Stockings
• Wreaths
• Baubles
• Stockings
• Stags
• Snowflakes
• Robin

The Details!
Methods used and things to think about when creating your designs could be:
• Texture and detail in the icons
• Finishes and scans
• Collaging layers
• Using different media
• Doesn't have to be graphic
• Mix up techniques
• Photographic and using different effects

Is your design an all over pattern or just a single design on a card? Think about the scale and composition. You can add text if you wish. It would be great to see a real mix of designs and styles and something we haven't seen before.

We've included a few of our past designs as examples for you.
In addition be sure to check out the Tigerprint Design blog and Facebook page where we will post the latest entries and competition updates.

What to submit:
For this competition please submit either a square 500 x 500 pixel jpeg or 500 x 700 pixel rectangle jpeg at 72 DPI (which ever suits your design best).

Each entrant may submit a maximum of five designs each.

Please submit your entries from Tuesday 29th October using the 'Enter Now' button below.

However don't forget please retain your original artwork at a resolution of at least 300 DPI should yours be selected as the winner.

We will endeavour to approve your designs within 48 hours after which they will be displayed in the current entries gallery.

The winner will receive £200 and a possible placement in our Bradford studio depending on availability.

Please visit our FAQs and Terms and Conditions before submitting any entries for the competition. Or ask a question on our Facebook page.

SUBMISSIONS ACCEPTED: 29TH OCTOBER 2013

CLOSING DATE: MONDAY 25TH NOVEMBER 2013

WINNER AND RUNNERS UP CONTACTED: NOVEMBER 2013

WINNER AND RUNNERS UP ANNOUNCED: NOVEMBER 2013

Enjoy!

My response:
My initial thoughts on this brief is that it is something fun to do and is quite a laid back brief which isn't so serious. This is my main reason for choosing it aside from the prize of £200 & a possible placement.
I wanted to work completely digitally as it gives me a chance to further my skills in Illustrator and work with creating images which is something that I haven't done a lot.
Design-wise I want to do five cards which are all individual. I thought about the idea of doing them as a set but I thought this was quite limiting and if I do them all separately it gives me a chance to experiment with a lot of different colours, images, typefaces and overall style.

Card 1
For the first card I wanted to start with a simple design and work with a limited colour palette of just one colour plus stock.
I chose a dark green as it is a Christmassy colour, and decided to have white as a contrasting colour because it makes it overall a quite vivid and happy looking card. I didn't want to make a traditional Christmas card, more of a contemporary design twist to it.

Design 1

After think of all things related to Christmas, I decided to do a Christmas pudding as the first image. It's easily recognisable, meaning I can simplify it down and people will still know what it is. The initial design is above, and although I was quite happy with it, I knew it wasn't quite right so continued to experiment with shapes of the pudding and holly until I got a design I was happy with.

Final design

I tried putting a plate or bowl under the pudding but this made the design look a little odd so decided on reworking the holly from the top a little and placing it along the bottom.
I am happy with the way this design turned out in the end because of the simplistic look of it and the fact that it is easily recognisable as a christmas pudding even though it's not the typical shape and colour of one.

Card 2

For this second card I wanted to go in a bit of the opposite direction and work with a few colours and more than one image in the overall design.

For this one I wanted to incorporate a christmas carol, and decided on 'Let it snow' as this one doesn't seem to be as used as the typical ones like 'Jingle Bells' etc.

I took the most well known part of the song and designed a background image around it. Again I wanted something quite simple, so it wouldn't be too overwhelming. I wanted a more playful tone to it so chose a font which was more of a hand written one. I also designed the images to work in this visual look as well. For the design there are three elements, the snow, a snowman and a robin. I chose these because of their obvious and well known association with Christmas and they fit in well with the song lyrics I chose.

Although I was happy with my first two designs, they did seem quite cluttered so I needed to rework them so they weren't as overwhelming for the viewer. This clutter is mainly down to the amount of words, and it is very hard to take away just one line of this song, so I decided to take away the first three lines and just have the last three instead as these would work well on their own.

Design 3

This works much better as a design and is a lot more open and spacious, which allows a viewer to take in every element that is placed in the design. To finish this design off, I slightly twisted the two lines in black, to make them a little more playful.

Final design

I think that this card has worked out well and is quite a happy playful one. It works a lot better as a simple card like this than it did with all the writing on.

Card 3

For this third card I wanted to something which was more classical looking, focussing on the bright star in the sky instead of something so obviously christmassy. For this I wanted to have a simple image and simple text. I decided on gold colours as these are quite luxurious and classic christmas colours.

Design 1

Although I am happy with the initial design I felt that it needed a little bit more to finish it off so changed the road so it was more defined and looked more like a road. I also moved around the smaller stars in the sky a little so they were more spaced out.

Final design

I like this design because has a classic Christmas card look to it and is quite clean but also has a hint of hand-drawn design to it because of the line styles used.

Card 4

For this card I combined elements of the previous two. I wanted something a little more playful than the last but not as casual as the second card.

I like this design as I think it is quite a typical Christmas card look. I particularly like the way the text worked out, in the red and the font. It really stands out against the background and works well with the image.

Card 5

For this last card I wanted something bold and cheerful. Like the first card I wanted only one colour plus white. For this card I went with red because of it's obvious associations to Christmas. I decided on using a wrapped present as the main focus for this card. I also decided to use a bold font.