Task:
Find at least 5 diverse examples of the effective/ creative use of print in the following areas of design:
- Branding and Identity
- Packaging and Promotion
- Publishing and Editorial
- Information and Way finding
You should aim to identify design work from a range of commercial/ cultural references, target audiences and creative contexts.
------------------
Branding and Identity:
Before starting to look online for creative printing I looked through my stuff to try and find examples of print that are not just on paper. I looked in my purse and chose these particular cards. They would have been printed onto with a printer and using a particular printing process. They fall under branding and identity as each one belongs to a company, I guess in a way its like their business card/ loyalty card. I think that sometimes we take for granted design and print like this. It wasn't until I was given this brief that I realised how many different materials and things could be printed onto and using so many different techniques.
Another thing that I hadn't thought about before was printing onto cd and dvd discs. When large numbers are being printed onto there obviously has to be some kind commercial printing process to be able to mass produce print. I think printing like this is creative because its print onto a media that is not as obvious as paper based printing.
I looked at my stash of alcohol to see if any of them had their branding printed straight onto the bottle, as printing on glass was another printing process, but they all had printed stickers/labels stuck onto them. Some bottles though had printed lids, which were metal. I figured that printing on metal with such an awkward shape was not just creative but also clever. It would be interesting to actually go to a factory that does printing like that to see how they mass produce and print.
I found this image on Google, I think its a really exciting way of branding and promoting yourself. The billboard ad is for a food establishment and the way that it has been made is so the cars read it as they drive and then get 'eaten' by the ad. I think whats good about it in terms of print is the scale of it, the materials used also have to be quite durable to be in its location and obviously weather proof. Another thing that would be really interesting to find out about is different inks used in large scale printing like this and also how they can even print things at this scale.
These are old milk bottles that have their branding printed straight onto the glass. Im not sure how they would of printed this when mass producing. I think its creative though because they would of had to find a new way of printing onto glass and similar materials.
Stamps are another thing that I think we take for granted. There are so many varieties of stamps, often the 1st class stamps have metallic ink (going back to looking at inks for mass production printing). They come in different sizes too. I would say that they would have to have been printed with a good quality printer to be able to catch the fine details of their designs, they also represent the Queen so they have to be done properly.
I think this is a really cool piece of print. These are the standing handles for people on buses. But they have had a watch companies branding printed onto them. So as you can see when someone puts their wrist through to hold on, they are wearing a watch. Just pure cleverness!
This dog tags are business cards for a company, they have been printed onto actual metal. When I found these I thought it was obviously creative branding yourself in this way, as it would make you stand out from other companies, but at the same time I was thinking that it must have cost them a fortune to produce enough of these to hand out to clients!
This is a billboard advertising a brand of Ale. The thing that really stood out for me was how the print was specially made to fit into the crease of the building to look like a slice of cake. Again its also fascinating how print can be produced at such a large scale.
Packaging and Promotion:
Packaging and promotion can be a bit obvious. To start with I looked at stuff in my room to see what materials could be printed on. Perfume bottles made of glass often had print on them and also their packaging. Something I found was that each packaging had a different stock, some were matt and others shiny gloss, but they had been printed onto. Is there particular print processes or inks that have to be used to do this?
Metal cans were something else that I had loads of that have been printed onto, I m guessing these would have to use a different ink and process to card for example. It would be interesting to also find out if they print onto one large piece of metal and then cut and shape? Things like this and the image above are obviously printed for mass production and each have a specific target audience in relation to the actual product and advertising.
Thin plastic wrapping is another thing that is printed and is everywhere, toilet paper wrapping is a good example. I guess that because it is so commonly done, that we dont think that it is that exciting or creative. But at some point someone had to sit there and think how on earth do we print on this!
Cans again is another example of printing onto different materials.
I think this is a good example of important links between the printing method and the target audience. These are children's tissues that have characters printed onto them. Now because tissue is such a delicate material, there again must be a print method that can print perfectly onto fine materials, also because they are for children with runny noses, there must be a particular type of ink that has to be used. To be able to find a way of printing onto tissues like this would automatically make this brand more appealing to children, just because they have been creative in the way they have designed their product and found that way to print onto something so delicate. Genius.
Another example like the one above is children's plasters with printed characters on them, the packaging for the plasters is also printed onto tin.
Banana printing is very creative, although if im being honest with myself I really doubt that these banana skins were put through a printer, but its still pretty cool!
Publishing and Editorial:
I dont know why but I found this one more difficult to research, but I think thats because I didnt quite understand what I was looking for. What I have done is looked at some books I own as examples, books are obviously printed and fall under publishing and editorial. Some pieces of editorial design and publishing can be printed onto different stocks etc
This a photo of printing information in two graphics books I own.
Again more info on printing which will come in handy!
I really like the variety in colour and stock within these publications, some pages are pre coloured and others have been printed in full colour. I also like the layout of the bottom right hand design, its very simple but there is a lot of detail on the left hand page.
Information and Way finding:
Maps are a good example of printing for way finding. This is a poster of a map of Ocho Rios in Jamaica where I went on holiday as a kid. Its more like a creative map than a helpful map, theres loads of mini adverts all over it. Also its more like a poster than a map.
Examples of printed media that is part of our everyday life. Things like bank booklets and packs are printed onto good quality stock, their print methods reflect on their personality and how they want to be seen by their customers. Another thing is passports, these are very important documents with all sorts of bits and bobs that make it complete. Theres things like holographic prints to show they are genuine, the picture page is printed onto really thin plastic and the other pages are delicate and high quality stock.
These foot prints are so cute, they obviously fall into way finding. These are floor prints/ stickers, a lot of shops use these to advertise things or just direct people to places. Its a different way to communicate a message and is very creative.
I love this! Its just funny, McDonalds are using bus stops combined with way finding to advertise where the next restaurant is. I really love simple design like this, its just clever!
Im not sure how they have printed this one, or what it is made of. It is a billboard warning/ giving information about tail gating. The billboard is folding in to show a crash due to tail gating. Bill boards are printed media and this is a creative way of delivering a message to a large driving audience.
Another example of a pocket map, this would require ink that wouldn't wear down too easily as it would be opened and closed a lot by its user.
