OUGD505 - STUDIO BRIEF 03 - MOVIE POSTER

The final studio brief for OUGD505 was to design an alternative movie poster. Were were each given a Jack Nicholson film. The film I was given was Prizzi's Honor. This was not a film I had seen before so I would be approaching it with a completely open mind. 

Synopsis;

'Charley Partanna is a hit man for a New York crime organization headed by the elderly Don Corrado Prizzi, whose business is generally handled by his sons Dominic and Eduardo and by his longtime right-hand man, Angelo, who is Charley's father.

At a family wedding, Charley is quickly infatuated with a beautiful woman he doesn't recognize. He asks Maerose Prizzi, estranged daughter of Dominic, if she recognizes the woman, oblivious to the fact that Maerose still has feelings for Charley, having once been his lover. Maerose is in disfavor with her father for running off with another man after the end of her romance with Charley.

Charley discovers that the mysterious woman, Irene, is a "contractor" who, like himself, performs assassinations for the mob. He flies to California to spend time with her and quickly falls in love. Unaware she is married, Charley also carries out a contract to kill Irene's husband, Marksie Heller, for robbing a Nevada casino. She repays some of the money Marksie stole and in Mexico marries Charley.

Charley is unaware that Irene is suspected by the mob of having the rest of the money Marksie took. A jealous Maerose travels there on her own to establish for a fact that Irene has double-crossed the organization. The information restores Maerose to good graces somewhat with her father and the don.
Dominic, acting on his own, wants Charley out of the way and hires someone to do the hit, not knowing that he has just given the job to Charley's own wife. Angelo sides with his son, and Eduardo is so appalled by his brother's actions that he helps set up Dominic's permanent removal from the family.

Irene and Charley team up on a kidnapping that will enrich the family, but she shoots a police captain's wife in the process, endangering the organization's business relationship with the cops. The don is also still demanding a large sum of money from Irene for her unauthorized activities in Nevada, which she doesn't want to pay. In time, the don tells Charley that his wife's "gotta go."

Things come to a head in California when, acting as if everything is all right, Charley comes home to his wife. Each pulls a weapon simultaneously in the bedroom. Irene ends up dead, and Charley ends up back in New York, missing her, but consoled by Maerose.'

Cast list;


Jack Nicholson as Charley Partanna
Kathleen Turner as Irene Walker
Anjelica Huston as Maerose Prizzi
Robert Loggia as Eduardo Prizzi
John Randolph as Angelo "Pop" Partanna
William Hickey as Don Corrado Prizzi
Lee Richardson as Dominic Prizzi
Michael Lombard as Rosario "Finlay" Filangi
C. C. H. Pounder as Peaches Altamot
George Santopietro as Plumber
Ann Selepegno as Amalia Prizzi
Lawrence Tierney as Lt. Hanley
Vic Polizos as Phil Vittimizzare
Dick O'Neil as Bluestone
Sully Boyar as Casco Vasorne
Stanley Tucci as Soldier

Original Movie Posters;

Whilst I was watching the film I began to note down key imagery and quotes that I thought I could use in the production of my poster. 

 
Whilst watching the film I had sketched down some ideas. With these ideas, I began to digitally mock them up. The original idea was to make a love heart out of guns, however, when I began playing with this in illustrator it didn't work. I could not find a gun that was the right shape to make the heart out of and when I tried to manipulate the gun vectors they became too distorted and didn't look good.

My other option I had thought about was using the imagery of a dinner suit. This is an image that is prominent throughout the movie. The addition of the pink carnation, another motif in the film, would also fulfill the brief by providing the second colour.

Using a photograph of a dinner suit I drew around it in illustrator. This gave me the basis for my poster.

I imported a photograph of a pink Carnation into Illustrator and live traced it to give it this effect. I wanted this effect as it created an almost cartoon style to the flower. 

With both key elements of the poster designed, I added text. I wasn't sure how much information to include so I produced a variety of different options.

When I was looking at the posters I thought they needed something else so I also experimented with different textures to see how they looked. Having played around with the image quite a bit I still thought something was missing. My thinking was that the flower was not as strong as it could be. To change this I increased the contrast of the flower and added a halftone effect to finish it off. 

Final poster;

OUGD505 - END OF MODULE EVALUATION

BA (Hons.) GRAPHIC DESIGN		LEVEL	05
Module Code	OUGD505
Module Title	Design Practice 02

END OF MODULE SELF-EVALUATION

NAME	JASPER G S LEE

1.     What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them? I think my skills that have developed the most through this module are my craft skills. I would now say that I am competent using the laser cutter as this has played a key role in Studio Brief 01 and 02. I think I have applied my skills using that laser cutter well as I have minimised the burn on the stock by raising the stock off of the bed of the laser cutter. I have also begun to learn how to wax seal letters and envelopes. Even though I have only started as I though it was appropriate for my project, it is something I can improve on over the summer and into net year. This skill has not been applied as well as I would have liked as I am still learning the basics, however, what I have produced does not look bad and it is effective. Another skill that I have developed over this is the use and managing of digital printers so that I can choose a stock and a printer and get the outcome that I want. This has been applied well and has saved me time and money through the process. Another skill that I think has improved is my finishing of work. The purchasing or better equipment, tools and props has enabled me to produce much more professional outcomes and photograph them well.
2.     What approaches to/methods of design production have you developed and how have they informed your design development process? When I produce work that requires laser cutting, I know how to set it up quickly and efficiently using the correct software and using the correct set up method when actually at the machine. This has informed my practice as I can now calculate how long bits of work will take an how long a laser cutter will take so that I can manage my time better. With some of the new technique or some of the skills that I was improving, I noticed there was quite a lot of trial and error involved. This is something that takes up considerable time and is best to plan for if you anticipate it.
3.     What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these? I think my strength in this project lie more in the craft and finishing than in the design, especially regarding Studio Brief 02. Due to my improved crafting, printing and cutting skills I can produce work that looks much more professional than any done previously. Using the right tools and the right set up my crafting and finishing is one of the strongest elements of this module.
4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future? As with many of the modules this year my time management and blogging has been poor. I ended up having to rush Studio Brief 03 which meant I did not produce work that I was happy with, which is both irritating and annoying because I am only letting myself down. I have also really got into Studio Brief 02, however, again ran out of time to accomplish all that I wanted. I have a lot more ideas I would love to produce had I planned my time better. With regards to blogging again I have left most of it until the end meaning that the blogging is not as accurate as the information is not as fresh. Another element of this module that I think is weak is my context especially for Studio Brief 02. I don’t think it is a lack of knowledge that is the problem; I think it is more the lack of documented knowledge. I do quick bits of research here and there and make a design decision on that but do not document it, which, in the long run, loses me makes and does not make the project appear as thorough as it is. The final weakness in this module is a lack on consistent development I think throughout. Again this may be a problem with documentation but I think I need to have a greater depth to my project, as it will be more informed and will likely improve if I do more development, i.e. screenshots, photographs, scans, etc.
5. Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these? 1.     The first thing that I would do differently is to blog as and when things happen so that they are fresh in my mind an I can be more articulate about what I am blogging. 2.     The second is a more consistent amount of development. At the moment I do not have a great deal of development and settle on an idea quite quickly. I think it would be better for me as a learner and a designer if I develop some more idea before settling on one. 3.     Documenting my context. Although I know at the time what has informed that decision that lack of documentation makes it impossible to mark or recall when needed. This will/should improve with the improvement of my blogging. 4.     Plan my time better so that when I really engage in a project, like I have with Studio Brief 02 I can produce a much wider variety of work and as many of my ideas as possible. 5.     The last thing I would do differently is more crafting. Although I have done quite a lot compared to my other projects I would still like to do more. It is something I have really enjoy and wished I had done more of, especially with the right tools.
6.How would you grade yourself on the following areas: (please indicate using an ‘x’)  5= excellent, 4 = very good, 3 = good, 2 = average, 1 = poor
	1	2	3	4	5
Attendance
Punctuality			X
Motivation			X
Commitment		X
Quantity of work produced			X
Quality of work produced				X
Contribution to the group			X
The evaluation of your work is an important part of the assessment criteria and represents a percentage of the overall grade. It is essential that you give yourself enough time to complete your written evaluation fully and with appropriate depth and level of self-reflection. If you have any questions relating to the self evaluation process speak to a member of staff as soon as possible.

OUGD505 - STUDIO BRIEF 01_02_03 - DESIGN BOARDS

Studio Brief 01_

Studio Brief 02_

Studio Brief 03_

OUGD505 - STUDIO BRIEF 02 - INVITATIONS & ENVELOPES

After the crits I decided that the event was going to be invite only. The first thing that I designed was, therefore, the initial invitations. These had to be high end and sophisticated reflecting the event but also the Hardy Amies brand.

The idea I had for the invitations were to make them out of two pieces of card. The back would contain the required information, such as date, time and location and the front would have the logo and title laser cut out. The front stock would be a dark blue/navy colour and the back stock would be white. The reason the back was white was so that you could really see the areas that had been laser cut away.

The size of the invitations was determined by the size of the invitation you would receive if you were invited to a royal party. The dimensions of that invitation are 7" x 5". The reason I chose to use a royal invitation as the template for mine is due to Hardy Amies strong connection to the Queen.

I had previously experimented with different coloured stock for Studio Brief 02, however, none of them were the right blue. After some searching and speaking to my peers I was able to source a blue stock that I was happy with.

The design for the front of the invitation to be laser cut;

The logo and text would be cut out of the stock.

The design for the back of the invitation that was to be printed;

At the same time as I designed these invitations, I also designed the invitations for the after-show party. They were the exact same format as invitations to the event, however, the information on both stocks was different. 

The front of the after-show party invitation had the address of the Hardy Amies Ltd. building as that is where the party would be held;

The invitations also required an envelope to hold them. This was crucial for the invitations to the event that would be sent out. I designed two envelopes, one for the initial invitation and one for the after-show party.

The envelopes were to be produced in the same stock as the front of the invitations and cut out using the laser cutter to keep a constant aesthetic across all the products.

I produced a couple of test envelopes to ensure that the envelope would function effectively when cut out with the laser cutter.

The first attempt didn't work so I had to make some readjustments to the design before using the laser cutter. 

With the redesign the envelope was now ready to be laser cut out of the correct stock.

The edges and text on each envelope was cut right through, where as all the fold lines were engraved to make the folding easier.

Once the envelopes had been cut I was able to assemble them. To do this a measured the area of the flaps that would be covered by the main bottom flap, covered that area with double sided tape, cut the excess away before folding and fixing the envelope in place.

Once all of the envelopes had been finished (I produced 3 of each) I needed to find a way to seal them. After a discussion with my peers, I decided I was going to seal it using wax and a stamp. This would give my envelopes a professional and sophisticated finish. 

This is something I had never done before so I needed to experiment before I tried it on the envelopes.

I initially started by making two stamps that would be pressed into the hot wax. I produced two so that if one went wrong, or was lost or damaged, I had a spare I could use. The stamps were designed on Adobe Illustrator before being cut out of 3mm MDF, again using the laser cutter. The stamp measured 20mm in diameter and contained the monogram initials.

Once the stamps had been cut, I purchased some sealing wax and tested and experimented several times before moving onto the envelope.

My experiments were quite hit and miss, however, once I had researched into the technique that gives the best results, the outcome improved.

I also had a look at how the seal opens.

With all my tests and experiments completed, I sealed some of the envelopes. 

Here are the final images;