Creating the Window Display.

The plan for the window display at the Cyrenian's shop was to have something bright and eyecatching, but ultimately keeping it clean and simple. We pretty much stuck to our original plan of the phrase 'CU Studio Refreshed' hung up with pegs on cord, but made one change to the letters. We initially thought of having them as scrabble letters, but on the day changed it to laser cutting the letters from bright card, so the display was more eye-catching.







Overall, everyone in the group was really happy with the result. The display is made up of quite simple components, but looks fun and inviting and I think will definitely attract the attention of people walking past.

Posters and Window Graphics.

The final things I created with the graphics were posters for the event and images of what they could look like as window graphics in Shop 13.

I made a small range of posters to advertise the event. They all have a similar style/layout to the t-shirts. I wanted to have a clear style in all of the things I have produced for this project.

I then went onto using the graphics to see how they would work in the windows. To do this I took the images of Shop 13 from the Truman Brewery website and used Photoshop to add the graphics onto the windows. I slightly distorted the photos to fit the angles of the windows and decreased the opacity to make them look more realistic. 

Visual Merchandise at the Cyrenian's Shop.

As an extra part of our project we have the opportunity to use the empty Coventry Cyrenians Shop to experiment with creating our own visual merchandising.
The shop itself is a fairly decent size but is currently been used for storage, so we only really have the bay window to work with.
So far this will be the one thing that we've done which will require everyone to really work together as a team. The idea we have for the window is quite simple, we've decided on letters spelling out 'CU Studio Refreshed' hung up on colourful pegs and cord. For the letters we decided they should be like scrabble tiles as two people in the group have already used this style in the graphics they have made for their own portfolios, and it would really work well for our idea.

Designing T-shirts.

Although creating the t-shirts for us to wear at the event is being sorted by two other people in the group, I just couldn't resist designing my own for my portfolio using the graphics I have made. 

I tried to come up with as many variations I could just using the set of graphics. I am pleased with how they looked and definitely enjoyed designing them.  

Edited Graphics.

Once I had finished the woven photograph I decided to scan it in and edit it in Photoshop. I wanted to have quite a simple style for the editing, using simple shapes and a limited colour palette.

For the first few graphics I edited I kept the original colour of the photo, but I thought that changing it to black and white would suit the grunge/warehouse feel we wanted for the shop, and it would also make the blocks of colour stand out more. 

Overall, I'm happy with the set of graphics I have produced, and think they are quite versatile so I will easily be able to use them to design things such as graphic t-shirts and posters for the event. 

Graphic Tees.

At the show all of us second years will take on the role of Front of House. At the meeting on Thursday we discussed the idea of each us of wearing our own personalised t-shirt. To incorporate the initial theme we're using to design the space - Conceptual Selfies - one idea for the t-shirts was that each person would have a photo of themselves on their own shirt. After the photos had been taken they would be edited so they are still in keeping with the selfie graphics we are hoping to have on display in the shop.

These are a few tees I managed to find on Pinterest:

We're hoping that the t-shirts will add a bit of a fun element to the day, and also make us stand out to the visitors that come to the show.

Warehouse.

After a group meeting on Thursday it was decided that the overall look we wanted for the exhibition space was a grungy kind of warehouse style. We want to keep the layout and design of the area quite minimal and simple, completing the look with metal display frames and exposed light bulbs strung up throughout the space.







I think that the space we have - Shop 13 - really lends itself well to this kind of style as it has quite a minimal design to it and has a lot of large windows that definitely make it look similar to a warehouse.

Woven Graphic Idea.

To make a sort of 'distorted selfie' I decided to use a photo and weave it together. To do this I had two copies of the same images, cutting one into horizontal strips and the other into vertical strips, then weaving them together.






After doing this once, I decided I wanted it to be less ordered and more jumbled. On my second attempt I used the same technique but when inserting the horizontal strips I put them in upside down.





I think doing it this way definitely makes it look more irregular - especially around the eyes - and is closer to the look I was going for.

Woven Photographs.

For this project I have decided to focus on producing ideas and designs for the graphics that could be used in the exhibition space. My first idea was the face made up of lots of small folded pieces of paper, and I originally wanted to do something similar for my next idea, instead I have decided to try the technique of weaving. I still wanted to do something I can do by hand with paper, but wanted to do something different to paper folding. 

I started researching into artists who use this technique in their work. 

Allison Diaz: 

I really like these pieces by Allison Diaz and how the photos have been distorted. Although she doesn't actually weave the photos, instead she cuts the photos into diamond segments and arranges them in a slightly different order. It still has the appearance of being woven, and presents a different method I could adapt for my own work. 

David Samuel Stern:

These photographs by David Samuel Stern have actually been physically woven together to create the unusual effect. He uses to slightly different photos of the person and weaves them together to make the photos look even more irregular. 

Browns Window Display Competition.

This spring London fashion boutique, Browns hosted a competition for 3 London universities - Central Saint Martins, Wimbledon College of Art, and Kingston College to design a window display for the store. The competition was aimed at students on interior and set design courses, the winners coming from Kingston College.

The theme for the brief was 'Spring Fairground' and the team from Kingston University created a scene depicting an old forgotten fairground complete with a broken carousel and escaped horse.



I think what makes this display so good is the wide use of materials that have been used - perspex, wood, card, metal and mirrors. The space is full with lots of intricate detail and I think the lighting really goes a long way to setting the scene for this display.

One of my favourite parts is the carousel displaying the jewellery pieces, I think it was a really good way to carry on the theme onto the display pieces for the products.



It's been really interesting to see a window display that has come from another university whilst doing this project, although this display has a completely different theme and feel to what we are hoping to create, it's been beneficial to see what students have been capable of.