Final Year Blog- Sarah Cleary

Sandro Rybak is a freelance Illustrator & Graphic Designer based in Trier, Germany. He has created many posters for artist Paolo Nutini, a personal favourite of mines. He has worked with many other major brands and creators such as Atlanta Magazine, Arctic Monkeys, Esquire, McDonalds, and Spotify to name a few.

While being extremely creative with every design, Sandro definitely has a distinctive and recognisable style which I am not alone in admiring. Sandro has amassed just under 24k followers on instagram alone. His work has a very futuristic yet old school feel, something I can’t quite sum up with words. His work has the ability to draw you in as there is so much to see as well as vibrant stand out elements. I first discovered Sandro through his work for artist Paolo Nutini and have been an attentive follower since. His work really inspires me to be creative and allow a flow in my work.

 

https://sandrorybak.com/

As part as my self promotion work I had to firstly research all design possibilities and figure out what worked best with my brand persona. I decided on two different logo designs, one longer and one shorter version so I have a logo to apply regardless of space or restrictions. With that I decided on my colour palette, and progressed to make more brand elements such as a monogram and then variations of a repeated pattern to be used for display purposes or products like custom packaging.

I decided on a traditional business card with basic contact information but to accompany that card I created a different square version with a logo and QR code to all my links and pages. Providing the two different styled cards gives a bit more flexibility and provides ease to anyone trying to access my work as they can choose which card best suits them.

Before coming to my conclusions there were some notable designs which I loved and may revisit at a later date.

 

For my final show display I intend on showcasing mainly my major project and then my own brand within my own designated space. if we choose to go ahead with smaller posters in the other studio walls I will create a hero poster to showcase my hotel branding project. I will also have my dissertation ready for whatever group display we choose swell as my newspaper portfolio. For my own designated display area I intend on creating one a1 hero hanging poster to accompany my major project ‘Alternative Joy’. This could potentially be a version of my cover work but I think I would like to create something to show more variation in the project and something that really stands out, either an entirely fresh poster or incorporating elements of my cover and making an improved poster design. I have physical outcomes of my newspaper tabloid that I intend to stack and tie up for display purposes and then have one available to flick through and browse. I also created stickers with the intention of insert sheets for the papers but I will have a little pot full of stickers free for people to take. I am hoping to finalising some merchandise for my display, either tote bags or a hoodie design to make it feel like a real fully rounded brand. Aside from my major project I will also display either spare newspaper portfolios or dissertations, depending on what is decided as a group for the group displays. Along side whichever I choose I will have a stack of traditional business cards with all of my contact details and another stack of square cards with my logo and a QR code with links to all my online platforms in hopes that people can grab which ever card and have easier access to my work.

The Printed Image is a Dublin based Design, Print and Branded Merchandise company that prides itself on being sustainable. Founded in 1990 the company has become one of the most respected marketing solutions companies in Ireland. To keep up with the changing market the company evolved into a larger end to end service provider for many brands expanding their in-house services to include Print, POS & Packaging, Graphic & Structural Design, Promotional Merchandise, Signage & Display, online Portals, and Installation services. They have incredible in-house graphic designers as well as structural designers which handle packaging and retail displays etc.

The Printed Image is committed in helping reduce the environmental impacts of printing and protect the environment they operate in. Taking environmental commitments seriously and going to great lengths to reduce their carbon footprint and minimise any potential wastage. They are FSC® certified, ensuring all paper used is sourced from FSC® certified mills promoting good forest management. Along with this, they aim to recycle everything including wastepaper, ink tins, used printing plates, wooden pallets and plastic wraps.

Above you can see the extensive range of eco-friendly options they offer to help business meet their green objectives.

 

Part Two Design is a tightknit design team founded in 2013 and based in Belfast with a focus on brand creation. The team is only made up of five individuals, each with extensive experience. They have a varied portfolio of work with clients such as Deli-Lites, Mauds Ice Cream, Guapo, Golden Popcorn and Doherty’s.

The studio has undertaken a lot of brand refresh projects that have significantly boosted client’s performance. For example, they completely refreshed Dohertys brand, from the logo to developing illustrative icons and brand-new packaging.

Another brand that had a drastic transformation is Golden Popcorn. The original packaging was quite old fashioned, simple and didn’t have a distinctive personality. Part Two revamped the brand and leaned into the cinema theme to give it a more distinctive and recognisable character.

Founder of Part Two, Ian Bennington gave a presentation in class and shared his experiences and advice for the future. One point he made was to keep up to date about what is happening in the industry, it’s important to be able to hold a conversation about the current events in the sector especially in an interview or when networking. He also gave advice on being self-employed, starting with how important it is to have a very detailed and specific project proposal, so all parties know what to expect of each other as well on an agreed pricing. Finally, and most importantly to take at least 50% up front before starting any project so self-employment can be a sustainable option to live off.

Mashmob is a multi-disciplinary communications agency founded in 2014 and based in Belfast specialising in Film, Animation, Illustration and Branding. The team has decades of experience in creating first-class animations, film, and branding for a host of sectors offering high-quality creative services. The team works in a number of styles – corporate, illustrative and hand-drawn and are responsible for world-class branding and marketing for organisations such as the ISLAND Arts Centre, Audiences Nl, Theatre NI, Strule Arts Centre and National Trust.

Mashmob does a lot of rebranding projects for their clients. Before & After of Brain Injury Matters.

As well as website designs, such as this one for NAKEDPR.

Mashmob is composed of a group of five designers. Making it a close nit studio dedicated to each project they undertake. The idea of a smaller studio sounds great to me, I think it allows for more open communication and good work relationships as it’s not such a corporate environment.

Elisha Zepeda is a book cover designer I first came across on TikTok. He is currently working in Faceout Studio located in Washington which specialises in book designs. Elisha doesn’t have any formal design qualification but says he grew up designing and it just took off. He does however have experience in the book world after working in a bookstore for 4 years he saw first hand what books sold best and says that the cooler the book looks the more likely a person is to pick it up. His skills, a great portfolio and experience with books landed him his position in the studio and he talks about these things on his website. https://www.elishazepeda.com/books

Recently Elisha has gained attraction with his videos showing his design process and the amount of potential covers he will send off to publishers before getting one approved. His videos are very honest in documenting the process and although he produces incredible art sometimes the client will want a simpler design. He has a very fresh style and 172k people over on TikTok agree.

I’ve included some of my favourite covers of his in this post.

Product packaging design refers to the creation of the exterior of a product. That includes choices in material and form as well as graphics, colours and fonts that are used on wrapping, a box, a can, a bottle, or any kind of container.

It’s a practical tool, but it’s also more than that. Like any good design, packaging tells a story. It’s an experience, engaging us through sight, touch, and sound. All these details help us understand what the enclosed product is for, how it should be used, who should use it, and maybe most importantly if we should buy a product or not.

Above shows just how great the range of product design is. The studio ‘99 Designs’ offers many other services but have an extensive range of product design options. Personally, I find cosmetics and beverage packaging the most interesting.

Whilst browsing ’99 Designs’ web page I came across a designers work that I really liked. They go by the name ‘RLX_Creations’ and are a graphic designer and illustrator, with a master’s degree in communication design and over 10 years of experience in the business.

As you can see from the snapshot, they have designed a range of products packaging, each with their own distinct personality. I particularly loved the uniqueness of the tin tea can design. It feels very stylish and elegantfor tea packaging but that’s exactly what it needed to be as it’s for a new company selling luxury teas. Everything about it feels expensive, the fact the packaging is a proper tin not a bag or thin cardboard box, the colour palette, and the typeface with the touches of gold. You can tell a lot of time went into the development of the product. Overall, the simple but classic design is something I really enjoy and gravitate towards personally.