Branding

This project has made me think about where I want to end up as a print designer, where my work will be sold, places where I could work and how I want to be received by people. Thinking towards my degree show and my future I wanted to have something to confirm myself as a designer and not just another post graduate. To do this I have collaborated with my graphic design friend William Cotterill to create a brand that represents me. The first step was to create a logo, or a type face for my name. Once this was made we had many meetings on deciding on what I wish to have at the degree show. 

I wanted a business card that showcases my prints simply but is clear on my information. To make the cards memorable we have made them square shaped, with four differing backs, to add an extra edge compared with other people's cards. I am very happy with how these have turned out, and they are currently at a print house in Altrincham being made ready for degree show.

To go along side this I wanted a hand out that people could take away, something that would be looked at more then once and hopefully will get me recognised. The hand out we have created works well with my style of print and pattern work. It is a fairly simple design yet it showcases three of my designs. Two are partial prints but the other folds out to a larger, full print that will hopefully catch people's attention. 

View Finders

'See Your Own City'

Use the viewfinder to create your own view on the city. Get involved, get creative and get taking photos. Photograph what you see through the space, the places you go and the sites that you see. 

Send these photos in to our twitter and email.

https://twitter.com/mcrdesignfest - use the hashtag #SeeYourCity

mcrdesignfestival@gmail.com

See how your images have created a virtual Manchester as the festival unfolds.

www.designmanchester.moonfruit.com

Website

Design // Manchester

The festival is to be spread over the whole of May, as we want the projects to be ongoing and not just to pop up for a few days. To add to this we want a rich online presence that grows as the festival grows. We already have a twitter, which people can send in pictures and comments on how they enjoy the festival. We have now made a website to promote and showcase our festival and designers. We want people to send in their photos from their experiences, so the website will grow with participations from the public. It will create a fluid cycle between then physical festival and the online presence. 

Routes

To accompany the routes, we have made posters that will be put up around the city, along the routes and also in known locations. They map the walking paths from point to point in a fun way. 

Manifest Poster

The manifesto for the design festival is finalised, with added logo and hashtags. The ideas that we based our festival on are based around connecting people. We want everyone to feel welcome and want to attend, get involved and enjoy themselves. The events that will be held will help people rediscover the city and experience things in new ways.

Collect Your City

As part of the festival we have made collection packs, for people to become more involved and collect what they see. Throughout the festival there will be design areas which have interactive pieces that people can create and collect. There will be areas with photo booths set up for people to collect pictures, view finders, origami and other small pieces. This will allow people to feel more included throughout the events and have something from the festival at the end. 

Posters

The festival has a strong brand and logo, from this we have made promotion posters. They have been kept simple and minimalist to create intrigue towards the festival, the information given it very limited. For these posters we have created a QR code, which can be scanned from any smart phone and it takes you to our twitter page. These posters will be around the city, allowing people to quickly and simply access and contribute to our online presence.   

The Hexagon

The logo for our design festival is based on a hexagon. This symbol has been created from Manchester, the coat of arms has bees in it and around the city there are bees on various buildings. It relates to the idea that Manchester is a hive of activity, a center of creativity. It relates to connectivity, networks and the environment, which all fits into our festival. 

This motif will be used by designers, attaching this simple sign to their work, creating a strong bran for the festival. From this we will also adorn the city with hexagons on the dates of the festival. This will allow people attending to know where work is shown and where to get involved. 

Logos

The development of the logo has been on going, with the slight differentiating of the name of the festival. We have changed from using the letters 'M.D.F' to the design of 'D//F' but we have come to the conclusion that out festival logo will consist of 'D//M' 

Zines

The design festival is being made to entice the public, make them see their city in a different way. A simple way of achieving this is through a zine. This is a collection of images and words to create a small booklet. For our zines we have thought of a simple colour scheme, by changing the hue to create a green/blue tinge to our images. These images are some examples of what could be put in the zine. 

Social Networking

Twitter

Creating a design festival has many challenges, the main one is making the public interested enough to attend and participate in different areas within the festival. A simple, quick way to create a buzz is by using social networks. These can be shared and linked together very quickly. This is a simple version of what our design festival twitter page could look like. Using our tag lines as hash-tags will work well and allow people to feel more involved.

#SeeYourCity

#HearYourCity

#DesignYourCity

Using twitter by @'ing the festival or through hash-tagging will create its own online presence. We want people to take their own pictures and send them in, send in tweets and thoughts as they experience the festival. Creating an ongoing flow between the public, the festival and online. 

City Camp - Castricum

CITY CAMP

In this project, the town of Castricum became a campsite for all. The only rule was the bring your own tent, creating your own space. A few artists got involved and created hand made tents from recycled objects, challenging what we can do with the idea of 'tents'. 

From this we had the idea of having temporary structures around Manchester for our festival. The structures being made from recycled materials, with the possibility of having our logo projected onto them or promotional videos being shown on them. Here are examples of simple, recycled structures. 

See Your Own City

The tag line for our festival is "See Your Own City", so for the promotional side I wanted to create advertising that was unique to each person who sees it. These sample flyers work well within these ideas, the viewfinders allow each one to be different and gets the audience to get involved with the festival from the very beginning. 

Spaces around Manchester

These are some potential spaces that the design festival can be located around Manchester.

Flyers

These are samples of what the flyers could look like for the design festival. Each with a slight variation, but with a view finder and the branding letters.  

Potential Flyers

To create a flyer that isn't generic and boring I came up with the idea of having view finders, this links to our manifest of 'See Your Own City'. This will create a flyer that is different for each person, every time they move or take a photo with the flyer, the image in the space will be different. 

Manifesto for M.D.F

Made in Manchester

Design will be in and of the City. 

Design, in its most general terms, will come from within Manchesters creative base.

Network and Connectivity 

We want to think about connectivity, and form new networks, through use of image, sound and space that are not just in tangible and tactile forms.

Urban Exploration and rediscovery,

Exploring the known and the unknown, we aim to rediscover the City.

Experiential

We want to think about the experiential value of a Design festival; experiencing the old in new ways. 

We want to think about interactive design, and interacting in the city as individuals to create a community.

SEE YOUR OWN CITY

Our Festival

M.D.F

Manchester Design Festival

As a group we have decided that we are going to brand our festival as "M.D.F". These three letters are going to be what we attach to everything we do/make towards the festival.

To create our brand we have come up with these ideas:

• Competitions/ submissions 
• Ways of involving/ including the community
• Invites - hand made, recycled materials
• Making worth while objects
• Documenting it all - photos, film, drawings
• What do people want?
• What age will the participants be? 

Branding

We have met up as a group to discuss what we initially want in the form of 'branding' for a design festival. These are the thoughts we have so far:

• Community branding
• Slowly growing to be everywhere
• Work with 'Made' and 'Spaces' to be able to brand together
• Mapping
• Colour association 
• Promotion video