gordonated

Contact

It’s pretty interesting when the designer gets a say in the content of what he is actually designing. Given a space to sort out ideas and generating content instead of merely arranging a layout. I think it would be fair to mention that this is another different level of design, differing from the idea that designers only receive the finalized text and go through the entire process of seeking approval from the client based merely on making things neat, legible and nice.

British American Tobacco Malaysia approached a few agencies to pitch in search of an agency to take on the task of redesigning their internal magazine, Contact. We got our hands on the job with a pitch that emphasizes more on the idea of an internal newsletter that acts more like a community builder instead of a very work oriented technical booze. Emphasizing on topics that displays about what colleagues are like, how they work in the office, things that they love doing most, family moments and also displaying shared experiences across.

Pretty much a job that took about a month and a half to complete, we took the task of hunting for a translator, attended countless meetings, arranging interviews, attending luncheons, taking photographs for events, giving suggestions, building ideas and finally, start designing.

The first issue I encountered is that this is the fact that it has to be in two languages, English and the Malaysian national language, Bahasa Malaysia. Borrowing from the idea from the later Colors magazine, distinguishing them with colors. English shown in Cyan while Bahasa Malaysia in black. Headlines were also distinguished by colors of BAT’s Corporate Signature blue for English and Signature Yellow likewise. It gets tougher as the headlines and sub-headlines, info-graphics, charts and pull-outs come into the picture.

A typical magazine would always open up with a section dedicated to News and Announcements. Rather than the typical given name, we thought that it would be interesting to give it a little twist, naming the section “On the Surface”. Since it is usually the first hit that a reader will read through. To push it even further, we built on the idea of visually displaying the text on the surface of a notice board.

Moving on, large companies usually have certain initiatives where employees are informed about each other’s whereabouts and current job positions within. Previously, this article was presented in a pretty serious monotonous way where ID images were shown with absolute seriousness in copy when read. So, instead of a typical spread showing plainly pictures of the promotees or new hires, the client requested for a more human touch. We then created various questions which were then sent out to all of them to be answered to give readers a better idea of their personality. We named the section ‘Voices!’ and bummed speech bubbles for each employee shout-out.

A new article was introduced featuring ‘A day in a life’ of a Process Specialist. I went with the copywriter to conduct the interview in a very loud, filled with machines factory hall. Its pretty interesting to see the entire process of how the inspections is actually being handled in there. Plugged with heavy-duty ear-plugs, I was actually trying to figure out pretty important stuff that I was being told by doing analytical lip-movement reading.

We also suggested names for various sections: Where to Eat? was changed to Escape! (Since food is one of the best things in life).

Some other spreads:

Primary Typefaces: Gotham Rounded, ITC Stone Sans, Helvetica Neue & some hand-drawn typefaces! Printed on matt art (text) and art card with matt lamination (cover). 52 pages total.

Post production, what was needed is a loud event to create a huge ‘bang’ effect to create absolute awareness about the magazine. Realizing that they had pick up trays all over the company for employees to pick up the magazines, we figured out that it would be pretty interesting to have a shout-out to persuade people to grab a copy of the magazine from the trays. Since we wanted to get rid of as many issues as possible from the trays, the results were:

Upon launching the magazine, instead of just plain boring banners announcing the launch, we proposed them to go roaming: Loud-hailers, clanging cymbals, lucky-draws, spontaneous games, etc. brought directly to each department over Virginia Park. We got good feedbacks on this one. Everyone had a great time during the launch, instead of the typical stage, speech and stomach thing.

It’s rewarding to build ideas across the corporate platform and seeing them slowly evolving from one to another. Simple ideas turn complex. Corporate jobs can be fun really. The client brought Kay & me for lunch at Alexis afterwards. (Thanks Eileen & Janice!)

Popularity: 11% [?]

Posted in Design, Work |

Aqualung

Aqualung, Cinderella  (Memory Man)

I’m on a roll, Everything I touch turns into gold…

I caught me hooking on Aqualung

Popularity: 9% [?]

Posted in Music, People |

Kyoorius Designyatra 2007

All this is written on a personal standpoint. A little general in certain terms. A little comparative with last year’s Kyoorius Designyatra.

‘Passports’ carrying the embalm above were actually required to enter the venue.

Starting with the delegates. I observed not only professionals and students of the related field attending this event but also professionals and students from various disciplines as well. It’s very encouraging for a designer if someone from the other field comes and talks about design. The conversations might be general but I find myself talking to people who are passionate and interested to know about design. The list also includes creative directors, brand consultants, administrators of industry related companies, engineering students, designers, etc; just to name a few. I did not engage in conversations like this last year. I had the honor to talk to John Walters, editor of Eye magazine, where we shared on the editorial process of the Eye magazine and exchange ideas about design writing. He did a little interview thing (which I was a little nerves that I might goof-up) asking opinions on the event, the speakers, the relevance of what design practices that were shared and personal views on design.

I thought that this would be very touching to people who can relate to this.

The venue was actually a two huge temporary tents setup specially for the event. The place was flooded a few days before due to very heavy rain. But participants could happily enter after the organizers manage to clear up the mess. As you can see in the picture below, it is indeed huge. One tent for the conference main hall, one for exhibitors and another to act as a food court where the Kyoorius Rupees played their role.

The strong line-up of speakers made this event very worthwhile. Some highlights I enjoyed:

Wally Olins, after giving a solid lecture on the role of design in branding, answered a few questions given to him. When asked to comment on the London 2012 Olympics logo, he explains that the logo is specifically created for moving motion; displays well on iPods, Mobile phones where they appear dynamic and strong when being viewed. The target audience of this logo are actually teenagers, who will eventually grow into the main spectators of the Olympics five years later.

David Kestler gave the audience a touch of the affairs of business and design by highlighting that both should work hand in hand. Being a very influential man in the design scene in the UK, paying attention to his lecture will make you find out that the entire business of design is actually a serious pratice and also the fact that there is a market out there where businesses are blooming because of effective design playing its role in contributing. Half of the hall went off during Trevor Sowood’s talk on the importance of paper in enhancing design. He covered on very issues about paper that I feel are important for a designer in quality control in print.

Kyle Cooper was a surprise. I never expected him to be a deep thinker where he provoked thoughts that made my mind wondered about into new perspectives of design where most designers will not acknowledge. Having Paul Rand as his design mentor, he looks at the works of Rand as designs that capture ‘a certain specific moment’ where if any elements within Rand’s designs are moved imaginatively, it will appear in a total different aesthetic and function or role. He presented the design discipline as an area where much commitment should be given into and a healthy practice of design is not only beneficial but rewarding as well. It was indeed definitely entertaining to look at the beautiful movie titles he designed, but the one hour forty five minute lecture was very worth it and one should be there to experience.

I’ve also always enjoyed Neville Brody’s lectures. He was among one of the speakers in last years Designyatra and gave a strong lecture on some thoughts of design surrounding our environment after showcasing a few of the projects he worked on. This year, he gave a case study on the redesign of the Times newspaper and on the Fuse project with a little of other projects in between, ending it with thoughts on design. I felt that there was a touch of humanity in his lecture this round and I was very humbled listening to it.

Stefan Sagmeister was without doubt the ‘rock star’ of the conference. As honest as he can be and truthful about the practices in his studio, makes his lectures always enjoyable. On the second day of the event, there was this historic moment when he sat down in front of all delegates, interviewing Neville Brody. Their discussions cover topics such as design education, the concerns for sizes for design studios and welcoming Micheal Johnson as the last speaker to close the event.

The main hotels were located about 30 minutes away from the venue within the scope of 10 minutes to each hotel within the radius. Shutter busses were provided to the venue. It took us a little longer to get to the venue in the mornings due to a landslide resulting in heavy traffic half way through. I shared a room with my colleague from India which gave me much relief. I shared a room with a roomie last year who apparently comes back at 4am and skips all the morning sessions.

I drank a little at the beach party at the last night. I grabbed my thick framed glasses in attempt to try looking good (like a chic-magnet as seen below), I ended up sitting down sharing my little experience with students. On the other hand, I actually worked with Jiad Li throughout the entire night after the first day of the event to clear some last minute stuff for the Kyoorius Verdict awards in the following night. I never attended the awards show that night because I was really exhausted. Also, there were a few high positioned people from the Malaysian advertising and design industry that attended the event. I thought that it was very meaningful to see them there and also relating to them as well.

Arghh… @%^&%*! Sand in my eyes!

Towards the end of the event, we all moved into a different hotel where the entire crew that made it happen was there to celebrate. We took a stroll along the beautiful Baga beach in Candolim, visited an old Catholic church in Old Goa and went to Fort Aguada twice to experience the majesty and typography of the absolutely amazing fortress.

We then went back to Mumbai, where we visited the Malad market where I bought lots of clothes and a little decorative items for Sharlene. We sat on one of these rickshaws that has a radio turned on loud with the song ‘Dudes look like a lady’ played loud which kept me very happy the entire trip.

(images taken from Velvet’s camera)

Popularity: 15% [?]

Posted in Design, People, Designers, Work |

Money

For 100 rupees, you get a delicious non-vegetarian meal. For 20 rupees, you can grab a bottle of the famous Kingfisher beer and for 25 rupees, a sandwich meal for you to gobble when you feel hungry. I spend most of my cash on lemonade and tandoori chicken. There was this huge Indian food buffet (250 rupees) but I felt that I will miss the tandoori chicken more so for three days in a row, that was my lunch.

Micheal Johnson was really kind enough to feature it on his blog and the Creative Review blog actually has a pretty interesting round-up of the event with some additional images of the collectibles.

Popularity: 11% [?]

Posted in Design, Work |

We are back!

Yes, I have not been updating my blog. I think I lost a couple of readers here thinking that like all other initiatives by designers, this blog will die off. NO! I have been filled up with plenty of jobs and projects the past few weeks and I just could’t find something interesting to blog about. I hope that I can dedicate some time off blogging about what jobs that Figtree has been up to lately.

All of us went over to India the past week for a design conference we co-organized, the Kyoorius Designyatra. Being there in Goa the second time round, I would actually love to write a report out trying to share what I have encountered there. I will attempt to cover details from the conference, the location, the hotels, the people, etc. I have not been to India long enough to truly appreciate & make myself preservable in a foreign working environment but I guess it would be good to keep an archive of it here.

Back home, everythings cool. The printers delivered on time, clients want to take us out for a meal, exciting projects that we thought were dead were revived, etc.

I’m just glad to be home and everthing’s okay.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Posted in Life |