Happy Mistake Space

Type and Editorial brief - Photography. - Full brief and outcome...

Sun, 23 Jan 2011 21:44:57 +0000

Type and Editorial brief - Photography.

- Full brief and outcome to come in the near future.

I don’t often put music video’s on this blog - But...

Sun, 21 Nov 2010 22:15:00 +0000

I don’t often put music video’s on this blog - But this video is stunning and inspired me. Beautiful.

Malafide (Bad Faith) Band Identity Concept.

Thu, 18 Nov 2010 22:18:34 +0000

Malafide (Bad Faith) Band Identity Concept.

Photo

Tue, 09 Nov 2010 00:13:06 +0000

Spaces on my desk.

Tue, 09 Nov 2010 00:10:34 +0000

Spaces on my desk.

"Math is easy; design is hard."

Sun, 31 Oct 2010 14:41:39 +0000

“Math is easy; design is hard.”

- Jeffrey Veen

Photo

Sat, 30 Oct 2010 17:57:50 +0100

Design Proposal - Advertising I wanted the advertising and...

Sat, 30 Oct 2010 17:50:00 +0100

Design Proposal - Advertising

I wanted the advertising and branding story to be consistent from the whisky bottle, so I kept the same typeface and general design direction and brand ethos with the advert. The advertising idea was focused around one of the first things I researched – the relationship between Shackelton and his crew, I decided to produce a typographic solution to express the modern side of the brand while keeping the content strictly based on the brand myth. The text is from the eyes of one of the crew and how the only dependable, trustworthy and leader they can look up to is Shackelton. This is the same way consumers will see the brand Cautious Jack – always there when you need it the most. The layout of the advert is a double spread that will feature in magazines which the average 20 – 40 year old men would read. The advert comes in different varieties depending on which whisky it is promoting – the one to the right is for Single Malt Whisky and the dark blue colour matches the same colour as the jumper on that particular bottle.

Design Proposal Continued.

Sat, 30 Oct 2010 17:41:01 +0100

Design Proposal Continued.

Design Proposal To the left is the main typeface I chose during...

Sat, 30 Oct 2010 17:35:55 +0100

Design Proposal

To the left is the main typeface I chose during this project – Leawood – Serifs are a mix of slight triangular wedges and square stroke caps, giving it an early twentieth century quality – which is perfect for ‘Cautious Jack’

The whole label is embossed in the front of the glass bottle, showing the compass logo, Leawood font and traditional shapes surrounding the modern, crisp lines of the compass. The slogan ‘True Character’ only appears on the Cautious Jack advertising as I didn’t want to over complicate the simple design. The embossed label looks fantastic when the light is shining through the rich colour of the whisky – this is a whisky bottle the consumer won’t want to throw away.

The woolly handcrafted jumper looks plump and warm on the bottle – giving the consumer a little clue to how they may feel during the drinking of the product. I included a small sewn in label on the jumper cover so the consumer can identify the whisky on the shelf/point of sale – again; this small label is just a simple solution that doesn’t overcomplicate.

Initial Ideas and Development My initial research started with...

Sat, 30 Oct 2010 17:06:00 +0100

Initial Ideas and Development

My initial research started with looking at the main story behind the whisky and who exactly was Shackelton. This led to thinking about the relationship between ‘Cautious Jack’ and his crew – how the crew looked up to him as a leader. I also put myself into the shoes of these men and explored how they may be feeling in such harsh Antarctic conditions. While researching I sketched down some initial ideas of bottle shape and existing whisky’s or alcohol targeted to a similar target market. Above is an example from my initial ideas exploring tags on the end of the bottle neck.

After research, I began to focus down to just a few initial ideas and see how they would develop. Below is one of the 3 ideas I focused on, the idea of incorporating what Shackelton and his crew wore in the Antarctic into the Cautious Jack product. Un believably, they didn’t have much to protect them from the harsh conditions of Antarctica (just a simple knitted fisherman jumper!). After working on the other two initial ideas, I felt that the jumper bottle cover idea was the strongest because of the strong link with the story and the warmth of the jumper being similar to the experience of drinking whisky. It all seemed to link together quite well.

I moved my idea and development work onto the ‘Cautious Jack’ label and logo. After choosing which idea to develop more, I decided to add another smaller idea to the simple jumper idea – the compass in the bottle cap, which I thought would add another strong link into the story and character of the brand. I started to look at simple, modern compass shapes and surrounding it with more traditional type and shapes. While developing the label I decided that it would be a shame to just have a normal paper label – I decided to research glass embossed bottles which I discovered were widely used during the Shackelton’s era. I developed the idea more until i thought the whole product and branding was ready for the design proposal.

The Brief In 1907, Sir Ernest Shackelton was determined to reach...

Sat, 30 Oct 2010 16:58:00 +0100

The Brief

In 1907, Sir Ernest Shackelton was determined to reach the South Pole - he didn’t reach his goal until 1909. Despite this, a crate of whisky has been found at Shackelton’s base camp in 2009. They are currently de-icing this crate slowly in New Zealand to uncover the bottles. 11 bottles are carefully wrapped in a straw cover and mysteriously the 12^th bottle is missing. One of the bottles is soon to be carefully opened and sampled by the master distiller of the Whyte and Mackay distillery. A new blend will be created to match the ancient liquor and a brand will be born. You are required to develop a product brand for the new Mckinlay whisky, based on the ethos and spirit of Shackleton’s expedition find. You will need to support your approach with a believable strategy for an intended audience and market…no matter how sensible or completely revolutionary and insane.

Proposition

The new whisky brand, ‘Cautious Jack’ will be an engaging, young and will be strongly based on Shackelton’s strong and infectious personality. Cautious Jack will be a new experience for whisky drinkers and encourage them to research more into the incredible man. The whisky will have a variant or ‘family’ of whiskeys – from Single malt to Blended. Cautious Jack will be aimed at 20 – 40 year old men who wish to buy a product with true character, spirit and a strong sense of community and joy. The branding will not only look engaging and distinctive but will always have the character of Shackelton.

Sneak peak of what i’m up to - more to come!

Thu, 21 Oct 2010 19:59:00 +0100

Sneak peak of what i’m up to - more to come!

The 2nd poster for the Layout project for the UN event in...

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 00:55:30 +0100

The 2nd poster for the Layout project for the UN event in London.

Small Typography project - Poster for a United Nations event in...

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 00:54:43 +0100

Small Typography project - Poster for a United Nations event in London.

I'm Comic Sans, Asshole.

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 20:15:47 +0100

I’M COMIC SANS, ASSHOLE.

BY MIKE LACHER

- - - -

Listen up. I know the shit you’ve been saying behind my back. You think I’m stupid. You think I’m immature. You think I’m a malformed, pathetic excuse for a font. Well think again, nerdhole, because I’m Comic Sans, and I’m the best thing to happen to typography since Johannes fucking Gutenberg.

You don’t like that your coworker used me on that note about stealing her yogurt from the break room fridge? You don’t like that I’m all over your sister-in-law’s blog? You don’t like that I’m on the sign for that new Thai place? You think I’m pedestrian and tacky? Guess the fuck what, Picasso. We don’t all have seventy-three weights of stick-up-my-ass Helvetica sitting on our seventeen-inch MacBook Pros. Sorry the entire world can’t all be done in stark Eurotrash Swiss type. Sorry some people like to have fun. Sorry I’m standing in the way of your minimalist Bauhaus-esque fascist snoozefest. Maybe sometime you should take off your black turtleneck, stop compulsively adjusting your Tumblr theme, and lighten the fuck up for once.

People love me. Why? Because I’m fun. I’m the life of the party. I bring levity to any situation. Need to soften the blow of a harsh message about restroom etiquette? SLAM. There I am. Need to spice up the directions to your graduation party? WHAM. There again. Need to convey your fun-loving, approachable nature on your business’ website? SMACK. Like daffodils in motherfucking spring.

When people need to kick back, have fun, and party, I will be there, unlike your pathetic fonts. While Gotham is at the science fair, I’m banging the prom queen behind the woodshop. While Avenir is practicing the clarinet, I’m shredding Reign In Blood on my double-necked Stratocaster. While Univers is refilling his allergy prescriptions, I’m racing my tricked-out, nitrous-laden Honda Civic against Tokyo gangsters who’ll kill me if I don’t cross the finish line first. I am a sans serif Superman and my only kryptonite is pretentious buzzkills like you.

It doesn’t even matter what you think. You know why, jagoff? Cause I’m famous. I am on every major operating system since Microsoft fucking Bob. I’m in your signs. I’m in your browsers. I’m in your instant messengers. I’m not just a font. I am a force of motherfucking nature and I will not rest until every uptight armchair typographer cock-hat like you is surrounded by my lovable, comic-book inspired, sans-serif badassery.

Enough of this bullshit. I’m gonna go get hammered with Papyrus.

Puppy Poses - Taken with Nikon DSLR over Easter.

Wed, 09 Jun 2010 15:34:30 +0100

Puppy Poses - Taken with Nikon DSLR over Easter.

If anyone is interested in a full time summer job this year -...

Wed, 09 Jun 2010 13:11:00 +0100

If anyone is interested in a full time summer job this year - hit Josh up!

- Poster by moi =)

Logorama - The end of the world as we know it.

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 13:01:05 +0100

Logorama - The end of the world as we know it.

"Everything is designed. Few things are designed well."

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 13:00:09 +0100

““Everything is designed. Few things are designed well.””

- Brian Reed