Brief: Final Major Project to demonstrate how place-making and identity can improve the tone of the city and the everyday experiences for residents and tourists by creating a series of aesthetic and functional designs unique to Gloucester which would also address the disconnect which exists between the City and Docks/Quays area.

Specific Final Outcomes

A series of City Banners and Hoarding Designs for Gloucester that link directly to the city and reflect the city's unique heritage, history and qualities. I adopted the cherry and white colour scheme of the Gloucester Rugby in order to create a familiar tone that would stand out amongst the eclectic mix of architecture and generic high street brands and signage.

An intricate paper cut out inspired by the architectural elements of the Cathedral was used as an abstract reference to Gloucester’s main tourist attraction and a hand crafted approach using paint and print methods referenced the heritage of the city. This design used a selection of elements that signified different areas of the city and things that are unique to Gloucester in an effort to connect the community to the city’s rich history, heritage and culture and provide a unique ‘identity’ for the city.

A clean and bold typeface that mimics the hand painted warehouse names found in the docks ensures that the design achieves a feel that is both traditional and contemporary, signifying the city’s desire to be viewed as a city that values it’s history and heritage but is continually moving forwards.

Brief: This was a student competition brief to design a new typographic identity for the Design Museum to mark it’s relocation in 2016 to the former Commonwealth Institute in Kensington.

I worked on the idea of strong identity that made use of negative space with colour variations that would allow the brand to remain dynamic, changing yet always recognizable.

The triangle formed from the counter form of the ‘N’ works to mimic the shape of the Paraboloid roof of the new location and also as an open and inviting symbol that signifies forward thinking and innovation.

Brief:  Negotiated Student Brief to produce (part of) an Illustrated/Pictorial Art/Design Coffee Table Book, with the potential to reproduce selected designs for saleable posters, postcards or notebooks.

My chosen theme was ‘Fragment’ and my intention was to explore fragmented type and missing pieces in order to communicate how the reader understands and recognizes letter forms and words by how they are displayed or by filling in the missing pieces.

I wanted to create a design that was not only visually appealing but challenged the audience to make sense of what they see based upon the fragmented type that was on display.

My final design uses the images, I photographed, of environmental fragmentation that initially inspired this project.  This creates a meaningful book cover which has impact and an edgy appeal signifying the abstracted, torn, worn and degraded language that we are surrounded by on a daily basis.

The use of monochrome photography and a clean layout design is lifted with the bright colour accents that run throughout the book.  This gives the final outcome a contemporary feel that is a balance of clean page layouts with plenty of negative space and dynamic pieces of design that explore the different ways in which type is and can be fragmented.

This project has been vast and I have only touched the surface with this outcome.  Although set in a commercial context I consider that this will become part of a long term personal project.  

Brief: Competition Brief to design a book cover for Penguin Random House.  Mixed media illustration, digital and handmade.

The book has dark undertones and I wanted to stay clear of the obvious choice of an orange for the cover.  The pear hanging from a thread signifies the protagonist’s attachment to her Mother and the Church and also references the Fairy Tale elements that punctuate the book.

Typeface Choice:  Cinzel’s stone carved characteristics represents Religion and the serious themes in the book.  I paired this with a more contemporary sans serif typeface Avenir to reflect the modern, vibrant writing style of the author.

Brief: To design a set of promotional items for a local exhibition ‘A Feast of Flowers’ which was held in June 2015.  The exhibition aimed to explore the inspiration that flowers have had on art, design and textiles over the years.

Response: This was a fun project to work on and I enjoyed exploring a variety of traditional techniques including paper cutout, mono printing and collage in order to capture the essence of the exhibition.

Poster Mock-up template attributed to BlueMonkeyLab.com

Brief:  Personal Visual Identity and Self Promotional material.

I created a variety of collateral items in an illustrative branding style using a play on words and my name to design a Busy Lizzie seed packet and seed box organiser to send to potential clients and employers. 

I used a variety of materials and techniques to reflect the handcrafted and organic process that I love to use for my designs.

Stationery; CV; Busy Lizzie Seed Packets; Burlap Seed Bombs

Editorial illustrations for an article about "The Science of Sprinting" posing the question of whether elite athletes are born rather than made?

Brief: To create a brand identity and pitch document for the fictitious Honey Producers ‘Appleyard Apiaries’.  

For this project my objective was to produce a unique design that would reflect the values of Appleyard Apiaries, appeal to the audience and stand out from the crowd.  I achieved this by producing a unique concept that incorporates a handmade aesthetic and dynamic quality, thus reflecting the core values of the company and evoking memories of warm summer days and buzzing bees.

The transitional serif typeface Perpetua is elegant yet strong and maintains the company’s family values, quality, knowledge and expertise.