Category: Design

  • Edinburgh Roxburgh’s Court Art Project

    Edinburgh Roxburgh’s Court Art Project

    The Chris Stewart Group, The City of Edinburgh Council and Edinburgh College of Art have recently partnered up to transform Roxbourgh´s Court  – an undiscovered gem in Edinburgh’s Old Town – into a destination.

    More than 30 Product Design students from Edinburgh College of art have entered a competition to come up with an innovative urban design to bring more attention to this area of the city. In teams, the students presented a total of 9 different entries from which 3 have been short-listed and are now part of a competition where people can vote for their favourite entry to be turned into a real project.

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    Douglas Bryden, Programme Director of Product Design at ECA emphasised on the challenges of site-specific designs and how the students have responded to them:

    “The design brief set by The Chris Stewart Group provided a great opportunity for Product Design students to learn more about one-off site-specific design. We challenged the students to research, design, and finalise an installation design concept for the site at Roxburgh’s Court within a day. The students responded incredibly well, working intensively to explore a variety of creative approaches to change Roxburgh’s Court and the adjacent closes into an interesting destination for both tourists and local residents. The students are very excited about the potential for the winning design concept to be evaluated and developed for fabrication and installation at Roxburgh’s Court.”

    Our favourite entry is Night guide, which proposes illuminating Roxburghs Court for pedestrians during night hours using motion sensors and LED strips. You can see all the entries and vote for your favourite on the link below:

    www.lateralcity.com/roxburghcourtartproject

  • Graphic Design Basics for Beginners

    Graphic design is a high-level skill that involves creating digital designs using text, images, and other visual elements.

    The basics of graphic design are unchanging. The main aim of any graphic designer is to produce designs that capture people’s attention and communicate specific messages to evoke emotions.

    Image via Unsplash

    Graphic Design Basics for Beginners

    Whether you’re using a free banner design tool or you’re using paid editing software, you’ll need to learn basic techniques. There are certain design elements or principles that you can’t forget when you’re getting started as a graphic designer, and we’re going to discuss these below.

    The basic elements of graphic design are:

    • Color
    • Image
    • Line
    • Shape
    • Space
    • Texture
    • Type

    Color

    Colors have the incredible ability to evoke certain emotions in people. When you’re designing graphics, you can use color psychology to ensure that each of your designs conveys a specific message.

    Alongside choosing the right color combinations, you also need to choose the right tones and shades. Lighter, pastel shades and tones are associated with calming, less dominant emotions. Darker shades or tones are more ominous and powerful.

    Image

    When adding images to your work, make sure they are consistent with the message that you want to convey. Choose images that make a strong impact on your views and draw their attention to your designs.

     Line

    Depending on the length, thickness, and combination of lines you choose, your designs can convey certain emotions. Heavier lines communicate formality and stability. Simple lines convey organization and scribbled lines promote excitement.

     Shape

    Shapes can be geometric or free-flowing. The former comprises a series of straight or curved lines that create shapes. They’re simple and often abstract.

    The latter is more fun and creative. Free-flowing shapes can take on any form, and can be used to evoke a wide range of feelings and emotions in your audience.

     Space

    Space refers to the composition of your graphic designs. You can change the space between words and images to emphasize certain things and draw your viewer’s attention to specific parts of your designs.

    You also need to consider white space, which refers to the areas of your designs that don’t contain any fonts or graphics. White space is important to create clear and visually impactful graphic designs.

    Texture

    Texture is one of the more complex components of graphic design. Generating texture in your designs creates character and depth. Texture is an important component of making your designs look professional and complete.

    You can use textured typography or add texture to your images to enhance your designs. Even once your designs are complete, you can adjust the contrast, saturation, or transparency of certain elements in your graphic designs for added texture.

    Type

    Type is short for typography. The fonts that you use in your graphic design should be legible and cohesive with the other visual elements that you are using.

    Aside from the copy itself, you also need to consider the size, thickness, and spacing of your typography. You can use more than one style of typography in a single design but stick to a maximum of three different fonts to avoid making your designs look cluttered and confusing.

  • EOEL Print Giveaway

    EOEL Print Giveaway

    To celebrate the relaunch of Future Positive, we’ve teamed up with Earl of East London to give away a ‘Water The Plants’ A3 print. The print is lovingly made in London and is the first in the ‘Reminder Series’ – a range of tasteful reminders for the often forgotten. The illustrations are hand drawn and the prints are reproduced on a Riso digital duplicator.

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    Also, check out the post from our last visit to Netil market a few weeks ago, where we met Paul and Niko, the founders of EOEL. You can also catch up with them at Netil Market in East London every Saturday until Christmas.

    Use the form below to enter our giveaway. A random winner will be selected and notified in 30 days. Good luck!

    EOEL x Future Positive

  • designjunction 2014

    designjunction 2014

    designjunction is a design trade show presenting the very best in product, lighting, furniture and graphic design from around the world. Every show is full of beautifully crafted objects featured against the stunning industrial backdrops of the The Old Sorting Office in London. It’s been said that designjunction has created the perfect balance between creative and commercial, “offering a much-needed alternative to the traditional trade show”.

    designjunction is also a great place to discover new design talent and up and coming labels. This year, multi-award winning designer Jim Rokos introduced a line of sculptural objects including bowls and vases and Rhian Malin presented a collection of tactile vessels created by inviting participants to gently squash a freshly thrown porcelain vessel to the shape of their hands, making each of them completely unique. Design studio Daniel Emma showed Mish Mash, their first chair handmade in Adelaide by a local craftsman and one of our favourites was new jewellery, prints, stationary and product design brand Tom Pigeon.

    Photos by Mónica R.Goya

    www.thedesignjunction.co.uk 

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  • Earl of East London

    Earl of East London

    On our last trip to London we met Paul Firmin and Niko Dafkos, the founders of Earl of East London. Inspired by their travels and love of beautifully produced vintage homeware, they launched an online shop and market stall in Netil Market a few months ago with an ambition to turn it into a lifestyle brand.

    Earl of East London sells a curated mix of vintage curiosities, candles and cacti  which combines their passion and interest in seeking out independent businesses producing beautiful objects. Paul says: “I think initially that might sound like a strange mix but I suppose what we are really trying to sell is an eclectic lifestyle, one which is inspired by living in East London, from places we have travelled to and from the media we choose to read. We only stock things that we love and would have in our home”

    Currently Earl of East London focus on bringing goods from the US where they spent some time last year. “We particularly love the eclectic mix of businesses and products from California, geographically its well positioned to have so many influences and thats why its such interesting and a hub of creativity. We love how supportive the creative community is of each other there but how they are also very business minded in a way that creatives sometimes struggle with”, Paul adds.

    Look out for Paul and Niko and their stall at the Netil Market most weekends, and follow their Instagram, Facebook& Twitter for the newest updates.

    earlofeastlondon.com

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