Week 10: Summer in the City

This post is part of my Visual Design module online portfolio 

My client: Seasoned sessions 

The client has asked me to design and produce a poster and a ticket for there event taking place this August called 'Summer in the city'. As this is just the very first promotion for the event, the company didn't want too much information on the posters as artists and the venue is not yet confirmed. 

However, the company still want to get students and young people in Birmingham excited about the event so are starting promotion early. 

Seasoned Sessions are a very popular events company based in Birmingham who put on live acoustic music every season, this promotional material is for their upcoming Summer event. There is no need to describe on the poster who Seasoned Sessions are or what Summer in the city is because young people in Birmingham will already know and the company has a good following.  

As the event is for students and young people I decided to use a simplistic design, the simplistic design will draw the eyes to the poster and encourage people to read it. The elegant font of ItalicC will encourage the readers to want to know more about the event as it is quite simple and untelling. Also it links in well with the event, the event is for acoustic music, which is normally quite calm and simple too. 

For the typography for the clients name, I used Lucida handwriting. This is because it looks as though the clients have written it themselves and adds a little  bit of fun to the poster, which sits well and balances out the simpleness of the other fonts. 

I decided to use the image of the palm tree to coincide with the Summer theme, the client has informed me that inside the venue there will be inflatable palm trees, beach balls and sandpits. 

Week 9: Promotion in a day

This post is part of my Visual Design module online portfolio 

In order to promote Trashion to the public as a new vintage fashion magazine it is important to have promotional material. Using mock-ups I created many different promotional items I could use to promote the magazine. 

Similar to last week, I wanted to keep the Trashion identity and house style the same. Therefore I used the same manstead and same main image. This is in order to create a recognizable brand for Trashion and allow more people to identify with the brand. This manstead consists of 'Trashion' in a burnt orange colour with an exaggerated 'S'. I included the fact that the magazine was free in most of my designs in order to encourage more people to want to have it, as no cost is an enticing factor. 

As well as promoting the magazine through the adverts, I also wanted to promote the social media channels for the magazine. This meant including them on the adverts, in todays world people want to be connected on many different platforms and social media plays a big part in this, hence why I thought it was important to include. It is also easier for people to search for the magazine on Twitter whilst on the go rather than on the internet, meaning more people will be aware of the magazine and look in to it further. 

Week 7: Multimedia in a day

This post is part of my Visual Design online portfolio 

This week's production day we were asked to use mock-ups and create digital versions of the Trashion magazine we designed last week. I created a few examples of what the homepage would like like on different devices and a couple of examples of how an article would look on different devices. 

For the digital version of the magazine I wanted the manstead to be the same as it was on the magazine. This was to make sure that the magazine and its digital formats followed the same style and people could immediately recognise it. My house style included this manstead as well as the black bar as a header and footer on each page, whether it be an article or the homepage. I, again, did this so that the style was immediately recognisable as associated with the Trashion brand. 

I wanted everything to be similar in design and not to have too many differentiation's as this would take away the house style and the overall feel of the magazine. I wanted readers to be able to switch devices and still be able to navigate around the site in the same way. 

The features on the homepage would be clickable and lead the reader to that particular article. I included the images associated with the article on the homepage in order to give the reader more information and encourage them to click on the links. 

The pages at the top of the homepage are the same on each device, as it is the homepage it is important that the reader knows where they can go and their options. If this was the first time the reader had visited the website they can click on their interest whether it be fashion, beauty or reading features. 

I included social media buttons and a subscribe button on the homepage in order to redirect people to Trashion's other online platforms and other ways they can keep up to date with the brand. As these are on the homepage they are very accessible and therefore are more likely to get people clicking on them. 

Trashion Homepage on Ipad 

Trashion Homepage on desktop 

Trashion Homepage on Iphone 

Trashion article on Ipad 

Trashion article on iPhone 

Week 6: Magazine In A Day

This post is part of my Visual Design module online portfolio 

For our first visual design production day we had to design a fashion magazine. At the beginning of the day I decided on a house style which included a house font, house colours and house design. This then formed the basis of my design which I stuck to with each article on each page, this ensured my magazine was coherent in style and meant you would be able to tell that each article belonged in the magazine. However, as well as sticking to this house style I still added bits of fun in to the article by breaking the grid with shapes, images and pull out quotes. 

Font 

Headlines: Charlemagne std

Content: Constantia 

Font size

Headlines: Fit to page using size and tracking until it fits. 

Content: Size 11 

Grid style layout

3 columns on article pages, the final column on the second page of each article in block colour. 

Colour

C - 36 

M - 87 

Y - 93 

K - 0

The front cover 

I decided to use a traditional layout and style for the front cover of Trashion. I decided to do this so that it was easily noticeable as a fashion magazine. The colour of the heading is a burnt orange kind of colour, which I think works well with the vintage theme and style of the magazine. I used tracking to space out the main heading in order to make sure it filled the page. To make the magazine title more exciting I decided to exaggerate the ends of the 'S' which creates a lighting kind of style, again adding to the unique feel of the vintage style.  

The contents page 

For my contents page I decided to try and do something different and quirky to match the vintage style. Using the images of the Trashion models, I experimented with shape and included different parts of the images to create a montage on the contents page. I think this looks different and is unique, which is again similar to the vintage style of clothing. This also shows that breaking the grid and going against the house style is sometimes a good thing, it means the different pages are not all the same and therefore you aren't bored reading the magazine. 

Articles

The first article is a 'How to' guide. Therefore I made sure each point was clearly stated so that the reader could easily follow each step in the guide. I added in the images so that the reader could follow this and make sure there designs fitted the instructions given. I made the numbered points a larger font size and played with the shape so that it made the design more fun and different. This first article is one of the examples of where I have broken the grid, many of the images and some text breaks the conventional house style and grid layout, this again just creates a more fun and individual style. 

For this article I decided to use the image as the main focus point and featured it over all 3 grids on the first page. As there was a lot less text for this article than the others I was deciding between adding in other images to fill out the page and using this one as the main focus. I decided to use the main image and enlarge it over the 3 grids to firstly draw the reader in and secondly show what the article is about before the reader starts reading. I also used a pull out quote on this page in order to break the conventional grid layout and make the page more interesting. 

This third article had more text than the previous one so I had to be careful with the image sizes and placing them as I didn't want the article to over flow on to the final column which was filled with colour. As this feature was an interview I decided the first image should be of the interviewee and the images should then follow this one to create a hierarchy to push forward that the focal point was the lady being interviewed. The block of colour in the third column is important as it is part of the house style and is something that ties every page together, this is why I didn't want the article text to feature in the third column. 

The typography I used for the main body text was 'Constantia' this text has excellent readability and therefore is perfect as there is a lot of text for readers. The sizes of fonts in magazines is normally smaller, therefore I made the font size 11 in order to follow this style. As this article was a guide to shopping in London I incorporated the list format on the final part of the article, this makes the page more interesting, catches the readers eye and breaks up the article. The masthead of the magazine was in the font Charlemagne std and made to fit the page. I used this same style for each headings on every page, this created the house style and meant that the whole magazine was coherent in style.

  

For the colour palette I used black for the text and then the burnt orange colour for the headings and the final column on each page. The colour orange creates a warm and happy feeling, it also represents being social and free which is something I think works well with a fashion magazine. Vintage fashion allows people to express themselves freely with the choice of clothing they use, however it also allows you to be social because there are events put on for vintage lovers and particular groups vintage lovers can join. I also included images on every page to add in more colour and more fun to the articles. 

Week 7: Researching the Media and Cultural industries

This post is part of my 'Journalism, PR & The Media' theory module online portfolio

This week we have looked at the ways in which you can go about analysing, studying and researching the media and cultural industries and why it is important to study the actual industry as well as the theory involved.

Academic research into the media industries is important because you can relate the media texts to their conditions of production which will then bridge the gap between theory and practise. By theorising production, content and economic factors it helps us better understand the industry, allowing us to understand the how as well as the why.

Media analysis is also important not only for us as academics but also for industry professionals. By completing media analysis you can target and understand a particular problem which will save costs, protect revenues and provide insights into the effectiveness of campaigns and business strategies. (Dowling, G. and Weeks, W. 2011)

In the set reading Jane Stokes comments that we often forget that the majority of people who work in the business of making cultural artefact's do so in order to make money. The profit motive is one of the factors which determines particular decisions made within these industries. This means that whatever industry you are going to study, whether it is journalism or TV production it is important to understand the economics of the industry, which is what we looked at last week when discussing political economic theory. By understanding this, it means you can understand why and how decisions are made.

Karl Marx who was a materialist would also agree, he considered the economics of a society to be crucial to understanding how the society functions at all levels. He affirmed that 'The ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas i.e. the class which is the ruling material force of a society is at the same time its ruling intellectual force' (Marx and Engels, 1964;1974). If we link this to his theory of ideology it means that the ideas of those in power are pushed onto those not in power as ideologies, the unpowerful then believe these ideas to be true. Within most countries in the West, including Britain and the USA, the governments take an active interest in the media and culture industries for example; the director-general of the BBC is appointed by the board of governors (Jane Stokes, 2003) this means the government can influence how the BBC is run and therefore potentially push out ideologies to the public as Marx suggests.

There are a large number of industries which come within the rubric of 'media and culture' (Stokes and Reading, 1999; Childs and Storry, 1999). My main interest is in PR therefore I would base my political economy research around this area. I would be able to use people based evidence, as discussed in the lecture, by interviewing the contacts I made on my PR work experience placement.

Bibliography:

Dowling, G. and Weeks, W. Media analysis: what is it worth? (2011) Journal of Business Strategy, Vol 32 No 1. pp. 26-33.

Stokes, J. How to do media and cultural studies. (2003) Sage Publications. Page 100-127

Week 5: Grid Layout Case Studies

This post is part of my Visual Design module online portfolio

This week we looked into the structure of magazines and the use of grids. For my grid layout case study I have looked at two magazines the first one being 'Elle'.

This magazine uses two columns for its layout, this makes the article easier to read and is pleasing for the eye. Although it seems quite traditional to have the two columns, the fashion magazine makes sure that the magazine doesn't appear 'boring'. They do this by breaking the grid by using pull out quotes and images which they incorporate into the main body of the text.  

By using a monochrome style the magazine shows its simple, sophisticated and classy style that the magazine has. As a high-end fashion magazine this is an important aspect for them to portray to readers. 

The designer makes sure the headline is the central piece of the article so that those just 'flicking through' will be drawn to the headline and hopefully be encouraged to read the article. In this particular example the designer has used the headline to break the grid, making the article even more exciting and unique. 

The second magazine I looked at for this weeks task was 'Stylist'. 

'Stylist' uses four columns for their grid layout, meaning that they have more choice of changing conventions within the style and breaking the grid. They can add pictures in and experiment with pull out quotes more as they have more scope to choose from. All of this makes the articles more interesting and appealing to the reader. 

'Stylist' uses more colour than 'Elle' and they use a different colour scheme on each page. Even though the colour is different on each page this doesn't seem disorganised or wrong, it adds fun in to the magazine. 

Stylist uses images on every page and on the first of each interview the interviewee's picture is usually central and takes up two grid spaces (as you can see with the 3rd picture). This draws the readers eyes straight to the picture where they can understand what the article is about without reading the headline or the words. 

I personally prefer the style of the second magazine 'Stylist' I think it is more fun and more colourful making me want to read the content more. 

Week 5: Grid Layouts

This post is part of my Visual Design module online portfolio

In class this week we experimented with grid layouts, creating grids and 'breaking the grid'. The task set was to work in groups to create a 'house style' for the magazine then worked individually with separate content in order to produce the overall magazine sticking to the agreed style.

My group decided on a 3 column grid layout as it we believed it was more appealing to the eye and allowed the text to be big enough to easily read. We decided to use century gothic for the font as it an easy font to read it is a fun font yet isn't too playful that it distracts the reader. We used size 12 for the main text, again so it was easy to read and too large that it took over the page. For the headline we again used century gothic in order to keep the style coherent. For the size we agreed that we would fit the headline to the page, therefore each of our font size would be different but the style would be the same. I think our house style was pretty safe and we could have been a little more adventurers as the design we agreed was very traditional for magazines.

I made the third column on the second page blue in order to break up the page and so their would appear less text which would appeal to the reader. I am not very happy with the style of this magazine layout. If I were to do it again I would break the grid more - especially with the quotes. The page is very boring and could be a lot more exciting considering the story is a nice story. I would also find some more images to use. This is something I can bear in mind for production days and the future. 

Week 5: Breaking The Grid

This post is part of my Visual Design module online portfolio


As part of the directed study task this week we were asked to experiment with 'breaking the grid' in order to enhance the design of the magazine and in order to add 'flare' to the design. I decided to use pull out quotes and the main image in order to break the grid of this magazine.

The pull out quotes immediately draw the eyes of the reader to this quote giving them an incline to what the article is about and what they can expect from the story. I chose to enlarge the image to fit across the two grids in order to make it stand out, I originally had it across the 3 grids but felt this was too big and took away the article aspect of the magazine.

Breaking the grid allows you to be less conventional and traditional and more interesting and unique with your design. Since completing this task I have realised there are many more ways in order to break the grid. If I were to do this task again I would experiment with shaping the text.

Week 6: Political economy of the media

Political economy of the media concerns itself with the nature of production and the wider social conditions under which it takes place. It focuses on the structure of media industries, patterns of ownership and control along with the survival strategies of media companies.

This weeks set reading suggests that younger audiences are deserting traditional news outlets for the advantages of the internet - it's immediacy, it's interactivity, it's low entry costs and it's abundant capacity. This makes traditional news outlets lose their ability to be the only ones delivering news to audiences, therefore making news more accessible and less elite. As news is more widely available it puts in to question how traditional news outlets are going to survive.

The decline in readers and viewers of traditional news outlets leads to more competition, less advertising and cost-cutting. The internets ability to target a niche group of people at low costs with its advertising has affected newspapers revenues and classified advertising. However, the reading argues that the major problem is not the decline in readers, but the degeneration of the existing business model that tied together news and advertising. Des Freedman suggests the traditional business model for delivering news is in 'crisis'. This puts in to question journalism/news as a public good, as the decline in money made is affecting the content. The industry seems more concerned with how it makes its money than it does with delivering quality news to the public.

In order to survive in this fast-paced, ever-changing industry. News outlets are having to change the way they produce and deliver their content to keep up with the changes. In the lecture we looked at ways media companies do this such as by using merchandise. Another way they do this is by using cross media. Elle magazine, Company magazine and Cosmopolitan magazine all belong to Hearst magazines. This company uses different technological advances to keep up to date with its audience, such as through Snapchat, other social media outlets, apps and new technology where readers can scan articles to read more online or find the products spoke about online such as outfits.

If I were to look into this further I would use organisational analysis to study whether the quality of news has deteriorated with the decline in popularity of mainstream and traditional news outlets and the wider availability of news content.

Bibliography:

1) Des Freedman(2010) 'The Political Economy of 'New' News Environment' in Natalie Fenton, (ed) New Media, Old News. London: Sage Publications

2) Mansell, R (2004) News media and society. Political economy, power and new media. Pages 74-83. Sage publications

3) Long, P. Wall, T. (2012), Media Studies, Texts, Production, Context (2nd Edition), New York, Routledge

Week 5: PR and Political Communication

This post is part of my Journalism, PR and The Media online portfolio.

In order to understand how journalism and PR influences political communication, it is important to first look back at where it all began. The set reading this week discussed The Vietnam War, also referred to as 'The Living Room War' as this was the first time people witnessed the detail of military conflict on TV from their homes. But how was this war 'spinned' to gain positive coverage?

The Vietnam War took place at an important time in the development of television, therefore it was important the military managed the media well. This is where press pools came in, the press pool was a system in which a small number of reporters were given access to gather information to then share with other members of the pool and press outside of the pool. Press pools were seen by the military as a way of maintaining military security and preventing a mass of reporters into the war zone, it meant they could control who saw what and what exactly they saw.

This links to ideas discussed in last weeks lecture and those found in my secondary reading which looks at propaganda in relation to political publicity and promotion. John Corner discusses how the growth of our promotional culture means that amongst other things, political parties need to consider how to gain positive publicity with in the media. Therefore they would want to restrict what the media saw if it made them appear in a bad light, which is where press pools would come in.

During the Gulf War press pools were in full swing and it was considered the most covered war in history. However John Pilger said that due to the press pools "Everyone missed the story...the story was that 200,000 Iraqis were killed...but by the end of the war we came away with the idea that casualties were light." Which shows how the press pools worked and helped the government gain less negative coverage as the real horrors of the war were not broadcasted out to the public.

This kind of political communication is still relevant and apparent today. If you watch this video of David Cameron on St David's Day you can spot different techniques the prime minister uses to address the Welsh nation. Cameron is wearing a suit and tie, looking very smart thus showing his professionalism. He is also wearing the Marie Curie daffodil, showing his compassionate and supportive side, this is all done in order to get a positive opinion for his party and for him as prime minister. The prime minister uses positive words to describe the welsh nation including 'great', 'beautiful', 'strong'. He discusses there industrial past and beautiful coastlines, all of this is a way of swaying the welsh nation to see Cameron in a positive light.

Bibliography

1) Bainbridge, J, (2011), Media & Journalism. 2nd edn. Spinning the War: How PR Made the first Gulf War. Australia: Oxford University Press.

2) Corner, J. (2007) Media, Culture & Society, Vol 29. Mediated politics, promotional culture and the idea of 'propaganda'. 

Week 4: How is image used to create depth to a message?

This post is part of my Visual Design module online portfolio 

This poster uses the image as the main focus as it takes up half of the space on the poster. The American flag automatically allows the audience to have an idea what the poster is advertising. We as the audience automatically assume the character in the image is Mr Smith, who is a business man as he is wearing a suit and holding a briefcase. 

As we know from the text Mr Smith is going to Washington, this is further represented through the American flag. The flag is also seen as stairs which the business man is climbing, representing a journey, which further represents him going to Washington. 

The image is very important here as it is eye-catching and tells the audience the Film visually before there eyes read the title. The way Mr Smith's back is facing us allows us to look on his journey with him so when you watch the film you are watching his journey with him and living it with him too.

The image on this poster is very important. The text 'Come and do your bit..Join now' gives no information about what they want you to come and do, without the image the poster would have no good information and would not serve its purpose. The point of the image here is to tell the audience what it is they want you to join. The solider with his arm out as if to say join us represents the army and shows the poster is advertising for people to join the army. Posters in this style were very popular  during WW1 and WW2. 

Both of these posters rely heavily on the image as without the image the poster would be less inviting and enticing for the reader, the image adds visual aids for the reader and 'tells a thousand words'. The use of the images also help to break up the text, people would rather look at an image than read text. Therefore a poster which is trying to attract an audience to look at it the use of a photograph or image is vital. 

Week 4: A guide on how to source images

This post is part of my Visual Design module online portfolio 

Finding the right image is an important part of the designers process. However you have to be careful that you source the image correctly and that you are actually allowed to be using that image and there is no copyright attached to the image. Top tips:

1) Don't use google images. Using google images could be dangerous - if you are taking an image of the internet then make sure you find out where the original photo is from, the context of the photo etc. It is important that there is no bad ethics associated with that photo or these could then represent the company using the image in a bad light e.g. the frog holding a leaf umbrella. 

2) In order to use stock photos in your work you must first purchase the photos to have the right to use them. Stock websites include shutter stock and fotolia. Even if you have purchased the rights to the photos you should still check again with the buyer and elaborate on the purpose and context of the use of their photos. 

3) Why not use your own photography. However be careful that no one else can steal your photos and use them themselves. 

4) The BCU Libraries image archive, the library at Uni holds the rights to many images which you can access from the library portal on moodle or by asking a librarian in the library who will assist you in finding the images. 

5) Creative commons licences stops you from being able to use an image without paying for it. Photographers can now obtain licenses on their photos which means if you use one of them without paying for it it is an infringement of copyright therefore it is important to always double check the images. There is an easy to follow guide to the creative commons licences on the website. 

Week 4: How is colour used to create meaning?

This post is part of my Visual Design module online portfolio 

The Body Shop 

The Body Shop are known for selling products which are made with raw ingredients. They highlight the fact that they never test on animals and that their products are 100% vegetarian, their website says "We keep people, animals and the planet in mind." 

With all this in mind it is easy to understand why The Body Shop use the colour green in their logo. The colour green associates with nature and the environment, therefore perfect for the company that is so heavily involved in protecting the planet. Not only does the colour associate with nature, it also represents good judgement, safety and positivity - all qualities a brand would be happy to associate with, as they want customers to see using their products as a good judgement, they want the products to be safe for customers and they want customers to feel positive when using the products. 

Fanta 

The brand Fanta sells an orange flavoured fizzy drink. One association with the logo is the flavour of the drink, the logo may use the colour orange as a representation of the taste the audience will experience when they drink the product. 

As well as this, the colour orange connotates the feelings of warmth, optimism and freedom - qualities Fanta might want their customers to associate with the drink. Orange also links in and represents being social, therefore Fanta could use orange in the logo to add in a social aspect encouraging customers to drink it with friends. The small green leaf could also be used to associate with environment, nature and the use of healthy, environmentally-friendly products similar to The Body Shop. 

I think both logos use colour in their brand to effectively influence the audiences view of the brand, without knowing we automatically feel certain feelings when viewing a certain colour and both brands play to this and use it to their advantage.

Week 4: CD Cover Design

This post is part of my Visual Design module online portfolio 

For this weeks directed study task we were asked to create a CD cover of our favourite albumn. I chose to do Taylor Swift 'Red'. As the albumn title is 'Red' I decided that one of the main features of the design would be the colour. I came up with the idea of the squares and at first I wanted to use squares to create Taylor's face and in between each one have a red square however this didn't work as well as I liked. So I decided to use a more 'random' approach, the squares create a sophisticated and elegant feel as well as being mysterious and exciting. I was really happy with how the design turned out. For the typography I decided to use Pristina as it looks like handwriting and a signature that Taylor could have written herself. I used Perpetua Titling MT for 'Red' as it was sophisticated and elegant. 

For the back cover of the albumn I used the same font as the front for Taylor's name and then Century Gothic for the list of songs I used Century Gothic because it was simple and readable. I decided to feature the red squares again in order to incorporate the same design as the front cover, it also adds some fun and some colour without taking over the whole design.

Week 4: Our promotional culture and the media industry

This post is part of my Journalism, PR & The Media module online portfolio 

This week we are looking at 'Promotional Culture' and the relationship and effect it has had on the media industry, specifically the relationship between journalism and PR.

The set reading almost immediately introduces the importance of promotional material in today's world. PR and promotional strategies are now central concern of business', governments and trades unions, all of which rely heavily upon advertising, branding and promotional material in order for them to survive and compete.

Promotional culture has naturally blended into communication, social relationships and virtually every aspect of ones life, so much so that we know don't even think about it twice now. It is embedded in our world everywhere, it cuts across all forms of media, they way we think and the way we behave. We even brand ourselves on our online platforms, whether it be through Facebook or LinkedIn, our profiles are used to sell ourselves to other people. Branding has crept into every aspect of life.

The rise and growth of the PR industry directly links with the promotional times we are living in. Companies want to use the media to control and influence the public opinion which the PR industry allows them to do successfully, PR is now a key part of all business strategies.

However, this has had an effect on journalism practises. Even though our promotional culture has allowed the PR industry to grow and thrive, the journalism industry has struggled to keep up with the changes and now relies itself on the PR industry which is where we get the issues with churnalism and the PR-isation of news.

There is also now confusion of what is PR and what is Journalism as we discussed in this weeks lecture. For example: advertorials are published in magazines which raises the question, is it a PR technique or is it journalism? An advertorial is an advert disguised as an editorial piece, so does that pass as journalism or does it contribute to the 80% of press material in the broadcast and broadsheet outlets (Hobsbawm).

This advertorial was found in the fashion magazine 'Look'. The content is set out as an article but it is in fact an advert, a PR piece. Advertorials could in fact come under the new branch of journalism known as brand journalism, which is similar to public relations. 

If I was to look into this more I would research whether journalism has benefited in any way from the promotional times I would do this by reading into the subject more and maybe by interviewing some journalists.

Bibliography:

1) Aronczyk, M. (2010) Blowing up the Brand: Critical Perspectives on Promotional Culture. 

2) Miller, D. (2010) Chapter 8: Public Relations in Albertazzi, D and Colbey, P 'The Media: An Introduction' 3rd Edition. United Kingdom: Pearson.

Week 3: Analysing Logos

This post is part of my 'Visual Design' module online portfolio 

This simplistic logo is immediately recognisable, without any words or complications most people will associate the above logo with Nike. The swoosh, as it is called, represents motion and speed and is an onomatopoeia for the sound you would hear as Nike athletes wiz past you. In greek mythology 'Nike' is the Goddess of Victory, and the mythical associations for the brand are flight, victory and speed. Perfect connotations for the sports brand who sponsor many olympic athletes and sportspeople. The colour black again adds to the simplicity. 

The typography used in this logo is classy and appealing to the eye to represent the UK high street store. The store began as the young fashion section of Selfridges department store, therefore the design of the logo represents this classy look of the Selfridges brand. As the clothes, shoes and accessories Miss Selfridge sell are aimed at 'style-savvy' young women, the logo has to be fun, flirty and feminine to represent the pieces found in the store. 

Mini is a british car brand which manufactures small cars. Mini is owned by BMW and is known for its high performance. The circle in the middle of the logo proudly names the company in capital letters, the iconic winged design represents speed, power, freedom and agility. This recognisable car brand uses the colours black and silver, this is to show the class and elegance of the brand. It is very similar to its owners BMW logo who also use the circle shape with the name of company capitalised inside. 

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I have chosen to use 3 logos that are all simple in design and in colour in order to compare them to each other. It is interesting to look into the logo of brands a little deeper and pick out why they have used certain characteristics and how this will help promote their brand. 

 My personal favourite logo between these 3 is Nike's swoosh, the simplicity of the design has such an impact on the viewer and is recognisable straight away. It represents the brand very well as the brand is a fast and dynamic. The swoosh also could be seen to be like a tick which represents a positive feel to the brand as if it is being approved by its viewers and users. 

Similarly, Mini uses the winged shape to create this positive feel. The shape of the wings makes the logo look like it could fly, which could represent the speed of the car. As mini ultimately want to sell these cars it is important for the logo to entice people in. 

The simple use of the colour black in all 3 of these logos shows that you can have a logo without any colour and still attract attention and be recognisable to the public.