Plusnet was a funny brief. I preferred the research and the learning of techniques to my actual designed outcome at the end of it all!
Having received the brief from Plusnet, with the key points being to reflect the brand in some way with a wall mural, we then spent two days learning brush and spraypaint technique with Peter Barber, a genius with the paint brush and can! It was fantastic to get this education in a medium I hadn't even considered before; I then went out and brought a few cans of spray paint and have been experimenting with texture ever since!
The design for the Plusnet mural actually came from extensive research into word artists, concrete poets and street artists (largely the wonderful Steve Powers). I decided I wanted to focus the copy on technology and its' positive/negative effects on society as a whole. 'We're All Closer' came from channeling the serious nature of Jenny Holzer's words alongside the cheeky, self referential nature of Steve Powers' work. I think the strongest part of the design was the copy itself. I like its' assertion about what - on the face of it - the internet should have done to humanity, whilst leaving what's actually happened unsaid - and thus thought by everyone who spends a moment contemplating it.
This idea of a mural needing contemplation came from the contextual situation that the mural would sit in, with workers glancing at it potentially a few times every day. It was this that triggered the decision to forgo pretty imagery and aim for something more existential and of the zeitgeist.
In terms of aesthetic, I don't think the final piece is successful. In hindsight I tried to leap on the success of Powers' work and the end result looks like a pale imitation of a great aesthetic. The colours aren't quite right and the naive nature of the little icons that float around just miss the spot slightly.
In conclusion, I feel the project was well researched, well conceptualised but poorly executed.
No comments:
Post a Comment