10
Preparations:
Branding and Video Documentation
~ 21.03.2025
Open Studios
This week, my primary focus was on my role as one of the Open Studios representatives, which I'll document here as part of my weekly reflection. My task was to develop the animated branding for the event.
Yasser, the lecturer overseeing Open Studios, introduced the brief: I was to animate Gwyneth's (a peer from Shumin's atelier) custom typeface—designed as part of her project—and explore potential color combinations. To align with her hand-drawn aesthetic, I requested reference images of moving branches from her and created a frame-by-frame sketch to map the static growth pattern of the branches.
While this approach complemented her organic style, I was concerned that the animation might appear too rigid and the concept could be perceived as overly literal. As an alternative, I considered using After Effects for smoother transitions, but prioritised maintaining consistency with the intended visual language in the final output.
After reviewing my initial tests, Yasser approved the hand-drawn style, so I stuck to Procreate to refine the animation. He specifically noted, "I like the organic, retro transition of the branches and roots growing." Yasser shared provisional design treatments, including iris-burning color palettes (with and without foliage backdrops).
Due to the constraints of digital display formats, the final designs had to adhere to specific size limitations. For the layout, I developed multiple options, and Yasser ultimately selected the most straightforward composition. Many of the branding decisions were guided by the school's existing visual guidelines to maintain consistency across materials.
Typography
These animations were originally created as tests for the Open Studios branding, but I'm considering adapting them for my own project's visual identity .The first logo concept features pixelated tiles, developed in p5.js based on the reference image you provided. The second concept is based on cellular automata, also programmed in p5.js.
This approach models a grid system where each cell's state evolves according to simple rules based on its neighboring cells. Currently, I'm refining these visuals to improve their aesthetic quality and legibility while experimenting with different layout configurations to determine the most effective presentation. This will be continued after the Open Studios.
Documentation
Regarding my own project, this week was originally meant for documentation and collateral preparation. However, due to Open Studios preparations and the printer issues I mentioned last week, I've had to postpone documenting two of the thermal printer interfaces until next week or after Open Studios concludes.
For the immediate needs of Open Studios, I determined that basic demonstration videos showing how these interfaces function would suffice, rather than observatory user testing videos. These will simply illustrate the interfaces in operation. After Open Studios, I plan to create more thorough documentation
This would include the conceptual foundation of the project, an explanation of the system, and the broader context and significance. This expanded documentation will follow the more polished format I've seen in published design project case studies online, which shows a more complete picture of the work beyond just functional demonstration.