OUGD503 RESPONSIVE: Studio brief 1 : Kate Spreckley Design development.

I have not yet received an email back from Kate and so I began working on an idea I had formed in my whilst waiting for her reply. Presenting her will some possible colour and design choices, meant that I could gage from this what she would want differently and what she would want the same. 

I started playing around with an idea on illustrator that had been inspired by an item in a make up artists kit. The business card was meant to take on the aesthetic of a compact mirror. I thought that a clever design that incorporated Kate's practice into the shape would set her aside from other make up artists. 

I used the colours black and white/grey when creating the design as I knew that these were the colours used at Mac, I assumed that Kate would have the same kind of clients within her freelance work and so I carried on working with this idea. 

The MAC logo is strong, edgy and bold with a reach towards a younger client base. The use of a monochrome pallet and horizontally emphasised text makes the brand appear more premium than other brands, breathing class with a modern flair. People whom usually request make up artists are willing to spend a lot of money to have their make up done for special events, and so those with lower budgets do not normally enquire about or book this service.

This is the Image of the compact mirror I was inspired by and looked to in order to create a true to life representation of a cosmetic mirror. I decided that in order to capture the real essence of a compact mirror I should foil the mirror details of the item, in order for the shape to be truly recognisable for what it is supposed to be. 

I created the mirror shaped easily, referencing the parts I would consider foiling by shading them in light grey.  I made the decision that the compact mirror would be one sided, also known as one that does not open and clip shut, but is double sided with the design on the front and mirrored side on the back. 

I have written what I would assume to be the most important information on the back of the business card, In a clear, modern sans serif font; Helvetica. Which was very much inspired by the sans serif capitals used in the mac logo. 

Today I finally heard back from Kate! 

The first email I sent: 

Hi Kate! starting work on your business cards today, so I just need to write down a few details... What are you wanting to put on the business cards such as: Your name... Kate Spreckley or Kate Spreckley MUA. your telephone and email for bookings.

Some make up artists keep the information to a minimum like that or also put their services on. If so what services is it that you provide for such as weddings etc?

I also wanted to ask you about a colour scheme? I had in my mind black and white to stay classic, with the potential to add a metallic colour such as silver.. but if theres a colour you really want me to include, let me know!

http://superluxurybusinesscards.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Silver-foil-business-cards.jpg

ps. this is what I mean by adding a metallic colour like silver.

Kate's reply:

Hi babe! I'd rather just have my name rather than have MUA on. My number is 07792359053 and my email is katespreckley1@gmail.com

I'd probably have wedding, prom, special occasion makeup and hair on there.

I would like to keep the colours quite pastel I was thinking I like the silver though and the idea on the link, I'm just thinking it might give off the wrong image for a wedding business card?

Il have a dable at colours my web page is katespreckley.com and on there is all light pinks and white maybe something to match with that?

Thanks.

Kate.

Here I realised that Kate would need completely different business card designs, for a completely different audience. However I was happy to get to work on the new idea. Since the new audience for Kate's business cards were mostly Brides-to-be, Prom and special events make up, I defiantly agreed that a more pastel colour scheme would be much better and more appropriate for her audience. Therefore the new colour scheme I have planned is much more relatable to and is inspired by weddings. 

The new colour pallet relies upon a much more pastel selection of colour including pale pink and faded lilac as main colours and a metallic cream foil (Pewter) reminiscent of the ivory and cream shades seen in weddings and wedding accessories. 

I sent the image of the new colour scheme to Kate with the following message:

My reply:

Hi Kate, Thanks for the reply. Ive decided to go for a pastel pink, pale lilac and possibly white, and instead of using silver foil.. a really lovely colour called Pewter which is a really pretty shimmery cream colour, which I thought would look lovely with the pinks and lilacs?

I tried to look at your website but it said that the link could not be found but I hope this colour choice is ok, let me know if not.

Thanks,

Sarah.

Kate agreed that the colour scheme I had chosen was much more appropriate for the brand personality she was trying to achieve. I thought that the use of the pewter foil would also give Kate's brand that premium edge, taking the brand from average, to a more superior identity. I felt that it would also support the identity in being very feminine. 


I then moved onto the typography for the business card, I knew that again to add a feminine a flowy aesthetic like those at weddings, I would have to search for an appropriate script font. However when looking none I found particularly fit the design I was searching for. The closest I found was the option below, however I felt that still the text was too bold and heavy for a dainty brand, and so using this as a base, I constructed my own bespoke typography. 

I drew up the typography and then rubbed parts out, editing the typeface to fit what I was trying to communicate more. I thinned the typeface out, as it was much too heavy previously, and added swashes to the beginning and end letters of each name to even further depict a flourishing, lady like aesthetic. 

Intrique Script:

edited by me:

I sent the typography to Kate, and she was really impressed with how the project was coming together, and very excited to see the final outcome. As I was sending Kate images every time I developed something in the brief, I was able to keep on top of what she liked and disliked but also save myself time, in having to re do a large amount of work. I supported this typography design with a simple phrase stating the intents of Kates business in a simple small, sans serif piece of text. 

Now that I had the typography for the front of the card finished, I needed to think of a way in which I could encoporate both Kates vocations onto the front of the card. Looking at the typography I had created, I noticed It looked like a more digital version of a hand rendered font. So I thought to myself, what tools can a person use to draw with in make up artistry? Brushes, lip/eye pencils, mascara, lipstick. The idea of constructing the design to make it look like a lipstick had drawn the type, stood out to me most as using items such as brushes or pencils, could ended up looking like paint brushes or lead pencils. I felt that using a lipstick as the option would inject some fun and quirkiness into the design. 

Next I began to consider how the profressions and skills Kate encompasses could be incorporated into the rest of the design. As the design so far (shown above) Is already very detailed I wanted to split this section up from the rest of the space around it. To do this I placed a block shape behind the design, which meant that the current design would have a plain background, and any added detail would show around this. I used a more unique shape rather than a simple circle or square as I felt that this was more complimentary to the design I had produced so far. The new background shape was also very complementary in terms of fitting around the forms and contours of the typography and lipstick.

The first Idea I had for incorporating Kate's professions into the background image was too create a pattern/set of illustrations much like those seen in the work of designers such as Kate Forrester. 

I picked up on Kate Forrester's style as her work in particular is very feminine and free, yet breathes simplicity and is always clear, neat and well executed. 

I thought that I could follow the same kind of style fabricated by Kate Forrester in most of her work, but tailer the details to fit my client and brief more. I looked at motifs I could included in the pattern illustration, which would be objects regularly used in Kate's kit for both hair and make up, including items such as lipsticks, combs, mascara wands, bows and brushes. I drew up a sketch and placed It behind the other design elements I had already. 

I coloured these design elements using the swatches from the colour pallet I created earlier in order to see how the new design Idea would look in context. 

However after I had drawn up the design, I wasn't sure that I would be able to pull off the same great execution as Kate Forrester, the design seemed to look ok on a larger scale as seen above, but as a business card is one of the smallest pieces of printed collateral I don't think that this type of design with so many different details would be successful at such a small scale. 

For these reasons I moved onto finding new ideas. 

One thing that I really wanted to consider and look into, was solely filling the background with a reference to hair, as I had already mentioned the visual of make up through the implementation of the lipstick. I looked online as what kind of visuals I could gather from hair patterns.  

These had the exact kind of visual I was looking for and would look very complementary with the feminine, soft design I already have. To test the combination I placed the hair pattern which I thought was most appropriate (most femine with more curves) behind my current design element. 

(I have changed some of the colours in the image as this refers to the sections which I will be printing in the pewter foil)

I felt that this representation was much more fitting to the brand, and provided much more simplicity when combined with the rest of the design. The background also spoke solely of Kate's skills in hairstyling whilst the inner illustration (lipstick) references her involvement in make up artistry. This is much more clear than trying to create a background which incorporates both. 

Most of the hair pattern images I found belonged to image stock sites, and others were watermarked. To avoid any confrontation, and fearing using work for a public project which I shouldn't have, i decided to draw up my own hair pattern, similar to the one I liked best, seen above. Once I pencil sketched this out I scanned it into illustrator, to see if the pattern I had drawn still fit well with the rest of the design.

I was very happy with the design and felt that as I had drawn the hair pattern, as a custom image wrapping around the shape in the centre, it looked more in place than any of the previous ones I had implemented. Instead of trying to scan in the image, which I believed would be unsuccessful as there is so much detail, I decided to create a vector image by drawing over all of the lines. 

I knew that this would take lots of patience and time however I knew that by doing this I would achieve the best and a higher quality outcome for my client, which is what I am always striving to achieve. To give the shape in the middle slightly more detail, I also added a slight gradient in which the shade fades from the sugary pink to the faded purple (left to right). 

The finished hair pattern combined with centre piece:

I decided to keep going with the colour choices I had chosen previously, assigning the pewter foil to the centre piece to accentuate the important information within this section and give it hierarchy. This is demonstrated in an image I produced earlier. I also applied the same gradient from the centre shape to the hair pattern to keep coherency. 

The back of the business card was very easy to produce, I wanted this to be simple as the front is so detailed. I did however take inspiration from the front of the card to design the back, to keep the design consistent and unified.

I took the same border shape from the front of the card and applied it to the back in a more simpler from filling the whole border section in white. I didn't want to put the hair pattern on the back of the card as I wanted there to be a prominent and distinguishable difference between the front and the reverse of the card. 

I then started to stack the information on the cards in terms of hierarchy.
First the name and profession, followed by the list of services which Kate described that she does and then where she can be contacted to receive this services.
I simply ordered these items on the back of the card, and used the same sans serif typeface as used on the front to keep consistency. 

I wanted to separate the name of my client and her profession more so from the rest of the information to make it stand out as it does on the front. In order to do this I simply added a curvy ornamental swash in the gap between these two sections of information. 

I believe that this extra detail balances out the information better and makes the back of the card easier to read. I sent the images of the vector to Kate as well as the quick mock up I constructed below. 

Kate was over the moon with the end response and stated that It was much better than anything she could imagine. More so I think that the completed design is much better than the first direction I was going in with a totally different target audience and colour scheme in mind. As Kate was happy with the digital design, I digitally printed a small set of around 20 business cards which I also foiled. 

This is so that Kate could see what the end product would appear like when totally finished. 

Below are the business cards after being digitally, printed and foiled, ready to be handed to Kate as a sample, and taken to the printers as an example of what the full run of business cards should look like. 

I really enjoyed working on this brief, not only did I get to work in a completely different style than I ever have before, I was also able to work with a target audience I hadn't approached in the past either. Kate was also a really great client and it taught me that regular and clear communication with your client really does make up for the success of a brief. Kate was also great to work for as she had a clear direction in mind in terms of audience, colours and themes which was great for me as I had a lot of information to work from, however she was prepared to give me full creative reign on the project. I feel that the end product really does reflect Kate's brand, business, and self well, and I really can't think of anything I would like to change about the project or brief. The business card is a concise and creative reflection of both of Kate's professions, and also depicts femininity and a premium service through implementation of curving contours throughout the piece and the addition of foil.