neon glow!

I wanted to try and give the text a neon glow for the 'into the night event'. I had a look on tube and found a few different tutorials. After trying a few out I found this one was the best and gave me the effect I was looking for.

From following the instructions I managed to create this basic example.

I want to have a play around with the arrangement of this text but this was just a first try.

The Phoenix

I thought the phoenix would work well as part of the logo for the alight brand. The phoenix is a mythical bird that at the end of its life cycle bursts into flames and from its ashes a new phoenix is born. It fits in for the obvious connection of fire and the brand name 'alight' and for the fact that it could represent the arise of Sheffield and its performers.

The phoenix symbol has already been used in the sheffield area as a symbol of regeneration.
The two images below aren't very good quality but they show a steel sculpture and mural wall that appear on a round about on the outskirts of Sheffield.

These next two images show a different steel sculpture of a phoenix that is near Sheffield's meadow hall shopping centre.

fairy lights!

As Alight is split into three different events; daylight, twilight and into the night, I thought it would be good if they had the same logo which differed slightly for each event. My initial idea for the 'twilight' event was to have fairy lights hung over the alight type face.
I decided to have a go and see what it would look like. I cut out the letters from corrugated card and placed them on my windowsill. It was a task trying to get the letters to stand up with the fairy lights on so I had to use Sellotape to stick the letters onto the window.
I really love the result it really works well for the event, it looks so warm and exciting!

Music and Arts Festival

I decided to do some research into other Music and Arts festivals that are around at the moment and see how they have tackled branding their event.

I have never heard of this festival before but I can tell straight away it is aimed at a young audience probably between the ages of 18 and 25. The logo is made up of 2 different type faces. The type 'Rox' has a hand drawn freedom to it but has obviously been edited on the computer. I like the simplicity of having a single image as the background, it isn't too fussy and shows exactly what the event is about.

Again I have never heard of this event before but I really like parts of has it's branding has been designed. First off I'm not very keen on the type face it looks a little unprofessional and I think this aspect could have been thought through more. Other than this I like the ideas that have been used. I think the contrasting, block colours work well and I really like the silhouette images in white on the orange background. I think they possibly could have been arranged a little better but I like the concept. There are improvements that I would make but over all I think the idea works well. I can tell from the branding that the festival is similar to the Alight event.

Again not keen on the typeface on this design I think it makes it look unprofessional which is a shame because I like every other aspect of it. It is as if they have simply placed some text from microsoft word on and matched up the colours. I think I am going to have to really think about the typeface I use because as I have found from these two examples a rubbish type can easily ruin a good design.

As a well known festival Glastonbury doesn't really need to sell that its a festival in it's branding, people already know this. This design uses an illustrated landscape. It almost looks as if it has been collaged. I can't make my mind up whether I like this design or not. It is certainly not a bad design but there is something about it I don't really like.

Again a very popular festival. You can immediately tell from looking at the design that it is aimed at a younger audience. I really like this style of illustration but this doesn't seem to flow or fit together quite right. I think it could do with a little rearrangement. Other than that I think the colours and illustrations express the mood and atmosphere of the festival well.

Alight Research

On Saturday 3 March 2012 Sheffield will come 'Alight' with a myriad of music, dance and visual arts events throughout the day and into the night.

Last modified on: 13/09/2011

There will be various indoor daytime venues in central Sheffield including The Winter Gardens, The Hubs, The Town Hall and both the Weston Park & Graves Galleries. The daytime activities will lead into an explosion of musical exuberance in the region’s première concert venue, The City Hall.

Led by Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus, 'Alight' is already engaged with over 650 potential performers and is discussing a number of outreach opportunities for schools. The opportunities especially for young people to participate in this inspiring project are growing weekly and 'Alight' is open to new projects, concerts and Cultural Olympiad inspired events to come onboard. Participants from any music, dance or visual art genre are welcome to add their talents; email the coordinator of Alight. Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus aims for 'Alight' to inspire a new generation of music, dance and visual artists within the region to excel not only in their given art, but also in their desire to participate in their community and work in true partnerships to produce a legacy of music, dance and visual arts for many years to come.

Venues and date

Saturday 3 March 2012

Daytime events will take place in a variety of venues including the Winter Gardens, The Hubs, the Town Hall and Weston Park & Graves Galleries, Sheffield, South Yorkshire.

The evening event will take place in the Irwin Mitchell Oval Hall, City Hall, Sheffield, South Yorkshire.

http://www.makingmusic.org.uk/our-work/projects-and-programmes/London-2012-Cultural-Olympiad/music-nation/alight

Some information I found about the Sheffield events.

Professional Practice Brief

New Brief. New start.


So I have a new brief and I actually want to try with this one! Il'll see if this enthusiasm sticks!


So the brief is to design for the 'Alight' music festival.

"On 3 and 4 March 2012 the BBC and the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) will present Music Nation, a spectacular weekend of music around the UK to set the scene and create excitement in the lead up to the London 2012 Festival, the finale of the Cultural Olympiad."

- http://www.makingmusic.org.uk/our-work/projects-and-programmes/London-2012-Cultural-Olympiad/music-nation

Music Nation is happening in towns and cities across the UK and the Sheffield festival has been named "Alight".

I can choose between designing the brand, print, promotion, projections, Alight artefact or street art. As my specialism is now general graphics I think it is a good idea to go down the brand root. The central visual identity that will be used across all items/media. I could then follow this through by designing the flyers, posters and possibly a brochure of events.

Action Plan

As I have now moved groups to general graphics my action plan has changed.

I will still try to draw in my own time so I will still try to achieve my illustration aims. I want to improve my drawing skills especially within figure drawing and getting the faces right. I will do this by trying to draw people in my spare time, when I'm sat on a bus, in the park or even just sat in my from room.

As regards graphics my aim is to become confident using photoshop and indesign so that I can easily transfer my ideas into a finished piece. I will do this by follow tutorials on YouTube and possibly purchasing a book that I can keep refering to whilst working.

In general my aim is to think about the work I am producing in more detail. I need to have a reason behind every aspect of my work and the way it looks. I will try my best to carry this out in my next project.