As a comparative piece to the earlier Airplot post we thought it would be interesting to round up some of our preliminary notes, sketches and worksheets that informed the finished identity.
On the occasions Airside has presented its process talk ‘I Don’t Like It’, were puzzled by the audience’s surprise at just how many sketches and worksheets contributed to a finished design.
We hope that by presenting the ’scrappier’ parts of a project that most agencies would seek to hide, a lot of the mystery behind the design process can be swept away and reveal the work that goes into such an undertaking.
Pictured above are a collection of sketches (gleaned from both computer and sketch book) that document the design team’s initial response to the first client meeting. Those with a keen eye may spot the beginnings of the finished identity, but interestingly there was an overall feeling of tessellation emerging from these very first ideas.
As the project continued the idea of using type as a constructive device became the favoured route, however the design team were concerned that the concept of ideographic type would be hard to explain.
After culling the directions considered unsuccessful, we approached Greenpeace with the above idea. From our point of view it was important to communicate how fields could be abstracted into an underlying grid.
This point was crucial as it would allow us to use the field metaphor, but through a much more manageable form. To explain this point we presented the 4 sequential images featured in the above presentation to hammer the point home.
Once the idea had been explained our attentions turned how the identity should feel. The design team did not want it to look too sterile, so it was decided early into the project to avoid using a computer throughout the typeface’s creation.
We quite liked the sketched typeface we were using in the first sketches, so taking the letters already used we were able to expand these into thick, medium and thin sets, which were then extended across the entire alphabet.
Pictured above are a couple of scanned sketchbook pages illustrating the evolution of the Airplot typeface.
These rough weights were then scanned, cleaned up and printed back out to be mounted and turned into cardboard stamps. Much arduous printing followed – we found ink to be too thin so we opted for acrylic paint instead, this proved to be a messy choice!
Unfortunately no black paint was to hand, but blue was, and in huge quantities too. In the following days not only did I slowly turn blue, but most of the make-and-do-room did too.
When the letter sheets had completely dried the alphabet was for a final time scanned back into the computer to be cleaned and set.
The typeface had to look ‘natural’ but still be readable so in places where the type looked a little too natural the letter was either re-printed or tweaked digitally.
With Airplot Thick, Medium and Thin ready to go we set about compiling the identity. For the results see the previous post…
[...] Process: Greenpeace Presents Airplot [...]
January 30th, 2009 at 9:06 am (GMT)[...] Design agency, Airside, have published an interesting couple of articles of their blog. They provide an insight into their design process for their recent project ‘Airplot’ for Greenpeace. I love seeing other designers skethwork and thought processes but what I really love is the aviodance of using the computer and the fact that they have a ‘make & do’ room! You can read about the ideas process HERE and the rollout of the design HERE. [...]
January 30th, 2009 at 10:36 am (GMT)I love it when a design agency is willing to open up about their design processes. It’s so interesting to see. I particularly like the fact that you used cardboard with acrylic to make the typography. I think it just goes to show that there will always be a place for more traditional methods of mark-making.
February 4th, 2009 at 4:48 am (GMT)great stuff. thanks for sharing the process.
February 4th, 2009 at 10:52 pm (GMT)[...] I love the Airplot logo, which was designed by Airside for Greenpeace. So was really interested to see a breakdown of the design process for it on Airside’s blog. [...]
July 21st, 2009 at 2:55 pm (GMT)[...] Regardless of scalability issues, I chose to feature the logo due to the design process, and I love how Airside go into depth on their blog (showing plenty of logo sketches). [...]
August 6th, 2009 at 9:47 pm (GMT)[...] one00There are no trackbacks at this time. If you are interested in leaving a trackback, please use this URL.Leave a CommentMake sure you enter the * required information where indicated. Please also rate thearticle as it will help us decide future content and posts. Comments are moderated – and rel=”nofollow” is in use. Please no link dropping, no keywords or domains as names; do not spam, and do not advertise! Name * [...]
November 6th, 2009 at 6:59 pm (GMT)[...] Airside is a “creative agency working across the disciplines of graphic design, illustration, digital, interactive and moving image.” Airside co-founder Fred Deakin says, “we have a real pride in bouncing around different media.” In early 2009, Airside designed the identity for a Greenpeace initiative called Airplot. Airside shared some of their design process on their blog and the work was featured on notable design sites including Brand New and Logo Design Love. [...]
November 7th, 2009 at 4:46 am (GMT)[...] Seeing how this is the first post of a new blog, I’m conscious that things look a little sparse. With this at the forefront of my mind I think it might be useful to link back to a few of the more coherent posts I wrote for the Airside blog over 2009 – and a good place to start would be some of my Process posts. Handmade typography for the Airplot identity [...]
December 29th, 2009 at 4:00 pm (GMT)