by krd | Jun 15, 2023 | Career, Creative, Design, Marketing
Visual storytelling starts for most people with picture books when they’re children. Images form an integral part of the story message. The images and text combine, creating evocative messaging to resonate both intellectually and emotionally.
Visual storytelling is the essence of graphic design. Graphic designers take information and present it in a way that makes sense, tells a story. In today’s media landscape, visual storytelling is increasingly complex, with various mediums to communicate through. Effective and cohesive visual storytelling must work across print and digital media, including static and video or animation formats.
With a more complex environment, and an increasingly crowded marketplace, it is important for brands to create consistent, engaging and relevant visual material. To be able to cut through the white noise, a brand must stand out with unique, compelling visual stories.
Imagery – especially video – can convey much more in a few seconds then a headline ever could. Video stories are dense communications, while also being simple for a viewer to decode. Consistent branding and brand story allows for a whole ethos to be communicated through a short video, viewed in context. The viewer needs to bring less knowledge to the interaction.
Entertainment value
Successful and engaging visual storytelling leans more heavily towards emotions and entertainment than product information. An example KRD worked on is the #LikeABosch campaign for BSH Home Appliances – where videos created by the Bosch Gobal team combine humor and product interaction to create engaging social media advertising material. The campaign also allowed for still imagery to be taken from the videos to use across various print and outdoor advertising sites for consistent visual storytelling. The #LikeABosch campaign was produced in Germany, and adapted by KRD to local market requirements. Global campaigns for BSH have flexibility for in-country modification.
The #LikeABosch messaging is a parody of “Like a Boss”, which itself is a parody by comedy hip hop troupe The Lonely Island, of a song by hip hop artist Slim Thug. The campaign draws upon the comedy credentials of the parody it is parodying – so has layers of meaning and cultural reference which go a way to explaining the more outlandish ‘stunts’, like the toddler with a bottle throwing it into the dishwasher. If you want to see the original parody, there are clean and explicit versions available on YouTube.
Visual storytelling has the ability to reach multi-lingual audiences, as it is not reliant on words. The #LikeABosch campaign was produced in many languages worldwide which meant that the humor was conveyed as a whole – however there are enough sight-gags to still be entertaining without sound and language.
By using parody, the #LikeABosch campaign was able to capitalize on trending themes, and stand out in a crowded marketplace. At the same time, the humor of the clips stands alone for audiences who are not familiar with the existing parody.
Visual storytelling is at the core of what we do as graphic designers. It is not limited to motion graphics, or story books. Every piece of graphic design work produced is a vehicle for storytelling – communicating a message. Video marketing allows us to add layers to the messaging that may be limited across other mediums. How effectively this message is conveyed is the measure of successful visual storytelling.
by krd | Jun 1, 2023 | Career, Creative
This overview is aimed at recent graduates; however, we’ve included general advice based on our experience, suitable for all designers. As you embark on your professional journey, it’s important to recognize that the world of visual communication is a dynamic and ever-changing field. Our designers at KRD embrace lifelong learning, and in this article we share what we have learned for enabling growth and evolution throughout your design career.
Embrace the learning curve
As you begin in the professional world, be prepared for a continuous learning curve. It is impossible to gain complete industry knowledge in a tertiary course and you will find there is much to learn. This learning arc extends throughout a career: the industry is constantly developing, driven by broad macro-economic directional shifts, technological advancements and changing design trends. Our advice breaks down to:
- Write notes. It is proven that writing instructions moves them from your short-term memory to the long-term. It also provides a quick check list to make sure you have understood client instructions and you can then cross-check after completing the task.
- Share information and ask questions. As a recent graduates new to the workplace, ask plenty of questions. Keep notes of the answers to refer to later. Remember to share learnings with your colleagues so everyone benefits: “Hey, I’ve worked how to do this cool thing…”
- Stay hungry for knowledge and invest in your professional development. Seek out workshops, online courses, and design conferences to expand your skill set and stay abreast of the latest design tools and techniques.
- Design skills are transferrable across all facets of visual communication. The fundamentals apply across digital and print. The important point is to keep learning and honing your skills.
Seek inspiration
Inspiration is the material that drives creativity. Surround yourself with diverse sources of inspiration such as art, design, photography, and other creative disciplines. Visit galleries, read design blogs, follow influential designers on social media and embrace new ideas. By staying inspired, you’ll keep your creative juices flowing and continuously push the boundaries of your own work.
Don’t limit yourself. Design can be likened to journalism, where the opportunity to learn about areas of life you have no firsthand experience is key. Fuel your mind with science, nature, current affairs, travel, craft, music, history, philosophy, sport. Whatever themes or topics motivate you.
Lifelong learning
As you begin in the world of visual communication, remember the journey is a continuous process of growth and evolution. Keep in mind, success as a graphic designer lies in your willingness to adapt, learn, and evolve. Embrace the challenges, listen and reflect on feedback that is given to you. Ask yourself: ‘how can I improve’? ‘What would I do differently’? Finally, act on critiques. Demonstrate to your employer and professional colleagues you are willing to learn and improve. A designer should always be observing, consolidating knowledge and seeking to understand the world around them. This in turn, enhances your visual skills and has practical outcomes in your work.
by krd | May 29, 2023 | Creative, Workflow
KRD Creative Studio has recently been given access to Adobe Firefly, the Artificial Intelligence offering from Adobe. This is currently in Beta mode, where we can experiment with how AI can integrate within the current workflow and range of Adobe software in professional use.
The first and most obvious thing to try was text-to-image. Writing text prompts to create imagery is not as simple as it may seem, and initial results are not always as expected. After a short trial, my initial impression is that this is most definitely not a replacement for a stock image library search. And certainly not a replacement for a planned photo shoot. There is an element of surprise which is interesting when experimenting but is not acceptable for professional work.
Prompt writing is, and will be, a skill set of its own, just like mastery of any computer coding. Until the software is developed enough to produce repeatable results from identical commands, it is unlikely that without extensive self-education within any given data set, to become a replacement for traditional media generation. In the interim, it will likely become a sub-genre of image creation, specialised in by some.
For testing, the prompt attempted to render a kitchen and modern living area. Interested to see if we could craft a rendering ourselves for our kitchen appliance clients. After many iterations, Firefly managed to get some that looked ‘nice’ overall, however the detail is lacking. The legs of chairs and whole chairs were disjointed, out of perspective. They pass ‘at a glance’ but any deeper viewing and they fail to capture the real detail of a whole scene.
These initial images could perhaps prove useful for ideation before a project begins, but at this point are unlikely to be suitable for detailed real-life finished art.
Once we can upload our own images into the software to be edited it may prove to be more useful to our professional workflow. Eg: being able to change the colour scheme in a real photograph with a click, instead of painstakingly masking, overlaying and manipulating.
As the software develops, the gap between ideation and real life will diminish, but whether it will diminish equally across all subject matter will determine its usefulness to professional workflows, and its level of disruption to the creative industries.
More useful are the tools to remove and change backgrounds automatically from images, which photoshop already has to a limited degree. But much the same, these tools will become much more useful in a combined workflow when using traditionally made images.
More likely to be disrupted quickly is language-based content. ChatGTP is easy to use, and can generate reasonable content at lightning speed. However, these pieces of generated content still need to be checked for accuracy. As with any database, the content you get out is only as good as the content you put in. ChatGTP appears to write with authority, so this is something to be closely monitored if used in a professional capacity. For an alternate way of wording what you already know, it is a fast effective re-writing tool. But don’t ask a question you don’t already know the answer to, and if you do, make sure to check it against reputable sources.
by krd | May 3, 2023 | Creative, Design, Design History
Creativity takes many forms. Any human endeavour to produce something that didn’t previously exist, is a form of creativity. You may think that creativity in two dimensions is limited to original arts like drawing or painting, however, design that serves a commercial purpose is also creative.
Many designers are labelled ‘creative’ their whole lives by family and friends. As a branch of the creative arts, graphic design and by extension, graphic designers are creative people. Creating within parameters – of varying stringency – can be extremely rewarding. Like a visual artist who creates a series of monotone works, limitations can in fact enhance and focus elements of design.
Designing with parameters: form follows function
When working with limitations, design is no longer simply creative or decorative, but rather, forms a solution. A well-engineered bridge is a creative masterpiece. Something we find both useful and aesthetically pleasing. The interplay of creativity and functionality is more evident in industrial and civic design works than in graphic design, which for the most part deal with surface design. That is not to say it is lacking in graphic design. A shape that is not ‘read’ as part of a main communication may not simply be decorative, but rather a device to direct your eye to the order a piece should be read. Or to create visual balance to that your eye is not distracted from what is to be read.
The shorthand for this is ‘form follows function’, which is a mantra that influenced generations of modernist architects and designers. The statement was instigated by the Bauhaus founder, Walter Gropius. The object shape is intrinsically linked to the object function. This is a truth at a basic level, a knife looks like a knife, as it is used to cut. Once you expand this thought to more complex objects, it is less clear cut. If people responded to this theory alone, houses would be almost completely utilitarian. A blanket would just be a plain piece of cloth. Instead, minimalism is a design aesthetic choice, as is any number of stylistic choices – Victorian, Art Deco, Mid-Century Modern, Scandi, the list is extensive, if not endless.
Evolution of craft industry to commercialism
Historically crafts have informed design. Before the industrial revolution a blanket would be either knitted, woven, or sewn from old clothing. Each item created would be unique to its maker, and sometimes, like in case of tartan – unique to a family group. Various regional communities developed their own popular techniques and designs, which over time become traditional.
Craft and commercialism were linked even before the industrial revolution, when craft guilds provided professional services like embroidery or weaving, guaranteed to a high standard.
Craft from a hobby to an influencer
The act of crafting by traditional methods can be an enjoyable activity for creativity and self-expression. Craft combines the act of design and manufacture, resulting in a unique product. The aesthetic of a finished craft project can also be used in large scale manufacturing, for example – a mass produced quilt which mimics the design of a traditional quilt. This brings the finished craft aesthetic into the commercial realm.
The influence of craft on commercialism is not always so immediate. Craft may also influence design indirectly, or with more subtlety. A styled photograph featuring hand-crafted quilts might be used in product photography to associate a furniture brand with a crafted, bespoke, hand-made aesthetic. This same craft aesthetic may have influenced the design of the upholstery. Or perhaps a brand of tea wants customers to associate their tea with warm, cosy living rooms, so their advertising photography features this same hand-crafted style.
Crafts, creativity and commercialism become quite circular once a particular design aesthetic becomes established as a recognised style. To paraphrase The Devil Wears Prada, fashion starts from the top, designers and craftspeople, and disseminates through life to become a style.
by krd | Apr 20, 2023 | Career, Creative, Proofreading, Resources
What is proofreading?
Proofreading is the final stage in the preparation of a document that is to be used by other people. It involves checking for clarity of expression, spelling, punctuation, grammar and consistency in formatting. English-speaking documents are checked for consistency in use, for example, of UK English or US English, throughout.
What is the history of proofreading?
Proofreading takes its name from traditional printing presses, where ‘galley proofs’ were mockups of a printed manuscript to see how the published document would look. These proofs were checked for mistakes and corrected before being used to print the final piece.
Why does proofreading matter?
1. Reputation is protected and, possibly, enhanced
Do you want to give the best possible impression to your clients or perhaps a prospective employer?
Documents that are expressed clearly and without errors convey the message that the individual or business cares about their image. It demonstrates the organisation or individual took the time to make sure that their work was presented in the best possible way.
2. Clarity of message: ensures we say what we mean
When the intended message is clear it allows the reader to focus on the information, not the mistakes, and contributes to the overall positive impression you are trying to achieve.
For example, punctuation – in this case, commas – can show completely different outcomes:
Woman Without Man
A professor wrote the following sentence on the board and asked his class to punctuate it:
Woman without her man is nothing.
Half of the class punctuated the sentence in the following way:
Woman: without her, man is nothing.
The other half of the class responded with the following:
Woman, without her man, is nothing.
It’s clear, from this example, punctuation is indeed, important!
Typing errors can also alter the intended message:
ABC Company is not seeking new staff to join its team.
ABC Company is now seeking new staff to join its team.
3. Can save money
Mistakes found after a document has been printed/published can lead to funds needing to be spent on reprinting. This leads to waste in marketing budgets and/or limitations on other projects. It can also prevent embarrassing or expensive retractions.
4. Improves the chances of getting a job
When applying for a job, you want to give the best impression possible. Documents being used in an application need to be carefully proofread to improve your chances of being selected for an interview. First impressions count.
How to proofread
Proofreading is a highly detailed skill and can take time to master. Once your document is ready, check it yourself and then ask someone else to check it. Finding errors in your own work can be difficult as your brain is seeing what it thinks was written. Handing drafts to a colleague from another area of the business is useful as they will be able to spot an error the rest of the team has missed due to viewing the document multiple times.
Always use the spellcheck function in your word processing program and pay attention to whether you have chosen UK English or US English eg. programme vs program. Make sure you are consistent in your spelling.
Punctuation
“I’d really like to eat grandpa.”
“I’d really like to eat, grandpa.”
10 of the most common proofreading errors are:
When proofreading your work, it’s a good idea to keep an eye out for these types of mistakes.
Professional Proofreaders
Professional proofreaders are available. A Google search will list those available close by. They have years of experience at document preparation prior to publication/printing. We highly recommend engaging one. We offer proofreading as an additional service to artwork and content creation. Please contact us to discuss further.
Suggested Reading & Resources
Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation. Lynne Truss, 2003
Have You Eaten Grandma? Gyles Brandreth, 2019
Australian Government Style Manual. https://www.stylemanual.gov.au/
References
Examples above are in general usage on the internet.
by krd | Apr 14, 2023 | Creative, Design, Illustration
Graphic design is a profession with eclectic influences. There are strands from fine art, from pop culture, from all forms of media, throw in history, aligned occupations, a dash of experimentation and wide-ranging interests from outside commercial work. Constant curiosity about the world is vital to keep imagination firing and updated on industry trends. Each designer will have their own set of topics, ideas and activities that intrigue them.
We highly recommend student and entry level designers have a broad range of interests to visually energise their thinking. It might be as simple as a daily walk through a park to experience the weather and its ever-changing patterns. It is important never to limit your visual horizons. All designers should aspire to life-long learning.
Niche collections
Designers from all professions are known for quirky personal collections. Some may seek out obscure album cover art. Some hunt around for historical packaging of one specific product category. There are collections of original Penguin book covers, matchbooks, Matchbox® cars, hats, shoes, figurines, menus from cafes, postcards, watches, and jazzy tea pots. Literally as broad as the limitations of time and budget. The important take out, is always seeking and curating, learning about the world beyond daily parameters.
Wide ranging artistic activities
Creative outlets are not limited to collecting. Some designers apply their skills to cooking, making fancy baked goods or complex recipes, admiring the culinary art of chefs. Some will collect and grown bonsai, immersing themselves in the intricate patterns and small cuts required. Fine art painting, printmaking, illustration, calligraphy, and life drawing are also popular. Many designers will take up gardening, starting with a few pot plants and increasing the scope throughout their life. Visiting art galleries, museums, architectural landmarks are also high on the list of engaging activities.
Music and musicians
A cursory search will demonstrate the close and inextricable link between all forms of music and graphic design. The interchange is obvious, and the trove of cover art is a testament to this. There are many celebrated musicians who studied at art school, and in particular, graphic design, prior to their musical careers. Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood from the Rolling Stones, David Byrne and Jerry Harrison from Talking Heads, David Bowie, Pete Townshend and Freddie Mercury, to name a few. In turn, many designers have music as another creative pursuit. For example, playing an instrument, joining a band, or going to gigs, not to mention, listening to music while working.
Non-commercial work
If you question a designer, many will have a non-commercial outlet for their personal projects. This is the space where their creativity can run free. We are going to share some of ours here.
Kym Ramadge / Design Director: in my spare time I pursue fine art photography, primarily working in black and white, focusing on long exposure, minimalism, detail, texture, and pattern. First introduced to photography during high school and codified during tertiary studies, in the last 10 years have reached obsessive levels of interest, as time permits. Working as a professional graphic designer has meant collaborating with many talented commercial and landscape photographers. I’ve learnt something from each of them along the way. The difference with my personal work is, I am not under pressure to get the shot on the day, I can take my time, refining, re-shooting and re-visiting locations. Working primarily with digital, I have also joined the current Zen wave, slowing down and again shooting 35mm film. I was humbled to have three of my images commended in the 2022 Mono Awards.
500px.com/kymramadge
Instagram.com/kymramadge
Emma Echter / Lead Designer: in my spare time I alternate between illustration and quilting. During the Melbourne lockdowns, I invested a lot of time honing my illustration skills. As a young girl I dreamed of being a professional illustrator – creating illustrations for all my school projects. I started quilting about 15 years ago, and quickly fell in love with it – it is tactile, versatile and when hand-pieced, portable. Quilting is a way of illustrating and creating graphic patterns that is as close to 3-dimensional artwork as I can get. The next step in my creative journey is to find a way to combine illustration and quilting, and with the availability of digital fabric printing, the possibilities are endless…
Instagram.com/boldarcher.au
Instagram.com/emmae_illustration
