sp met

1. hoarding design for
construction of a cyber
security base

2. THE BRIEF
Create hoarding for new
cyber security unit
Target audience – the
construction workers, not
much footfall other than
workers
Aim – be out of the box,
something aesthetically
interesting to see

3. FAMILY RUN AWARD WINNING PERSONAL AND
HANDS ON
HEREFORD
BASED PROJECT
CYBER SECURITY
QUARTER
WOODEN
INTERIORS
SWISS TIMBER NATURAL LIGHT YELLOW AND
GREEN CHAIRS
SPACIOUS 001010110100101
0100 CODING
DESIGN
BLACK AND WOOD
LINE DESIGN
UNIQUE &
UNCONFINED
EMPHASISE NATURAL
SETTING
AIM TO SURPRISE COLLAGE/ILLUSTRATIO
N/ART INSPIRED
ENTRANCE PIECE THINK OUTSIDE THE
BOX
TheOutcome:TheSpace:
TheCompany:

4. MY OWN
WORKImportance of personal touch was
emphasised when meeting with
the client
My art and graphic style is varied.
I do a wide range of creative
designs, such as pattern, collage,
painting, sketching, digital
drawing, type and fashion.
My collage work is some of my
favourite because of the
unpredictability of it, combined
with the refreshing new ways I
can view things I’ve perhaps seen
hundreds of times before. I want
to work in pattern more, and this
might be a good opportunity to
explore that. I would also like
elements to be hand drawn as
that is my core process.
I would also like to improve on
my Adobe Illustrator skills over
the duration of this project, to
increase my confidence in this
software.

5. EXAMPLES OF HOARDING

7. Art pieces on such huge scales
work brilliantly and create a
fun, cheerful environment. I
want to bring this to a hoarding
board, rather than letting a
sleek but predictable advert
take over the space. The
potential in the space is
amazing – it deserves to
highlight the best parts of the
company and their ethos in a
unique and spectacular manner.

8. ART
MURALS

9. INITIAL IDEAS
The building will be used as a cyber security unit, which led me on to
thinking about computer graphics. 8-bit was a design which stood out to
me.
While thinking of ideas I kept in mind the messages they wanted to portray.
There was a definite emphasis on making construction accessible and
interesting to a female demographic. I liked the idea of this. Also, I learnt
that construction is more than strength and building, but coordination,
planning and other areas.
I liked the idea of making the hoarding into a giant art piece, taking
inspiration from large scale urban graffiti works, or beautifully painted
murals.
I could make something that is created for Instagram, something with a
hashtag and a gimmick. While this isn’t classically associated with the target
audience of builders and construction workers, maybe it could be a
subversive piece.

11. Using a ‘gimmick’ such as a designated selfie taking area
leads the product/business to becoming advertised by
others. Being shared around social media is a quick and
relatively easy way for your brand to start to advertise itself.
While there is a lack of footfall nearby and a slightly older
target audience than teenagers, a design which wows an
audience is never a bad idea. This is one route I can go
down, either by creating a photogenic design, or a photo op
type of design.

12. IDEAS FOR
TEXT
Feminine, inclusive, exciting
Make construction fun
Making construction fun
Making construction fun again
Making construction fun again. For everyone
Innovative construction. For everyone.

13. Feminine, inclusive, exciting
Make construction fun
Making construction fun
Making construction fun again
Making construction fun again. For everyone
Innovative construction. For everyone.
I wanted to create a slogan for Speller Metcalfe which
encompassed what they were trying to promote. They
wanted to either promote the green/eco friendly
elements of their construction work or the
inclusiveness of construction.
I chose not to go with the green point of view as they
had just tarmac’ed a whole area.
They had been encouraging honesty about mental
wellbeing in the workplace, personal self care etc
alongside regular health and safety measures. I saw
that they genuinely wanted people to change how
they viewed construction work. instead of negative
stereotypes about cat-calling, middle aged men with
their bums hanging out on the side of a path,
bothering women, they wanted to show that
construction has many roles, and can be accessible
to women as well as men.
So I began the process of making a slogan which
communicated this.The first one I found may be misconstrued, it seems like I wanted to say it already was a feminine environment rather
than male dominated. I liked that ‘exciting’ gave it a sense of enthusiasm, rather than focusing on the work aspect.
‘Make construction fun’ sounded too much like a demand, and a complaint about its current status. It made it sound like
working there was a drag – definitely not right.
Making construction fun sounded a bit childish, and adding ‘again’ sounded a bit too much like Make America Great
Again – always best to steer clear of links to that.
I added ‘for everyone’ which I liked. To emphasise the work Speller Metcalfe do towards changing the face of
construction, I decided on ‘innovative construction. For everyone.’. I found that this really summed up what the company
wanted out of the billboard. While visual communication and the visual language of graphics is crucial in getting a
message across, a slogan which is catchy is also helpful. I like how snappy this is and I see potential in it for designing

14. DEVELOPING 2 FAVOURITE IDEAS
One of my favourite ideas were to create a
typographic design on a patterned background
My other favourite out of my drafts was to create an
8-bit mural.
I want to combine my own art style with their brand
ethics, targeted directly to the target audience.
Patterns are usually aimed at women, on clothing.
However, I think a huge patterned piece, not too
overdone, could really appeal and maybe perk up a
male-dominated, cold environment. A lot of
construction companies are very corporate and
serious, I would use this as an opportunity to
brighten up a scene usually associated with hard
work, sweat and dirt.
I decided to work on an 8 bit idea first, because

15. 8-BIT ART

16. 8-bit has many merits, it’s quirky and fun, but it also appeals to 20-35 year olds who get a hit of
nostalgia by seeing a style they heavily associate with the games of their childhoods and adolescence.
Building work is a trade many men go into straight after college, so can be a relatively young target
audience. Men tend to work in construction up until they’re about 50, when physical work gets a bit
much.
Primary target audience is men, aged between 20 and 35, typically of a lower socio-economic group. I
created a stereotypical builder in my head, he would watch sports, enjoy being at the pub with friends,
typically live near where he grew up, have a wife and 2 kids and a dog. He plays videogames in his
spare time, and encourages his kids to try out toys and games he used to love, like Subbuteo, arcade

17. The building will be used as a cyber security unit, which led me on to thinking about computer
graphics. 8-bit art was a concept which stood out to me. I wanted to construct a mural piece in a visual
style which represented the cyber security unit. the mural would show construction workers creating the
building using not just work tools but game elements – shooting stars, lightning bolts etc. This would
create a less serious vision of construction and will appeal to a range of audiences.
I created a loose storyboard for my 8-bit idea. With the site being a cyber security unit, the idea of
‘safety’ came to me. I think ‘safety’ can be construed in many ways. The opposite of safety is ‘danger’
which lends itself to even more scenarios. I wanted to portray a hero saving the day type of narrative,
with the different types of construction workers being the heroes – for example, saving others from big
dangerous animals.

18. REFINING
RETRO
How do I make it retro without being dated?
In my tutorial, I discussed how to make a design retro
without it looking dated, especially for a cyber security
unit where the best is the newest.
I decided that using brighter colours in a different palette
to slightly dulled colours of 90s gamer graphics would
show that it was new. Using a very limited colour palette
in a risograph style could create some interesting
outcomes.

20. I began with a tiger, the building and a tree. The nature around the site is something they’re proud of, it
features heavily in the design of the building – big windows, open spaces mirroring the beautiful
scenery. I taught myself a way to draw 8-bit, by looking through Mario game pictures and sprite style
video game characters. I used the iPad app ProCreate to physically draw them, and focused on a small
colour palette to keep things authentically 8-bit, while using bold enough colours that they look modern

21. I experimented with adding a busy patterned background, to test if the colour palettes on my characters a
icons were niche enough, and if the style worked in context at all. This is a pattern I had designed beforeh
just for my personal work. I think it has a nice depth and angular character, but I think the colours may be
traditionally feminine for the target audience of men.

23. ADDING THEIR COMPANY
LOGO
They have all these variations of their
logo made to suit every type of
background. This gives me a good
example of how I should be making logos
– flexible and with a tight colour scheme

24. My outcome was a combination of all the things I had enjoyed and thought were most effective
from the development. I’m happy with the outcome and think it looks suitably fun and nostalgic. It
gives a different view of construction work than how the public currently perceive it.
I think perhaps it might be towards the younger side of the target audience, but I don’t think that’s
a bad thing to target that part of my TA. The 8-bit and maybe the sense of humour of the piece
would appeal to the older construction workers.
I think the colours are a good choice, not too feminine or masculine, just a smooth gradient
overlaying a design of work tools.
I’m confident that this is an out of the box idea the client will enjoy learning about and seeing the
end result.
I think I’ve made good use of the dimensions of the hoarding by creating a story narrative that
flows along it. Each small section of this design stands alone as a nice visual and makes sense
without the complete context. For a design of this size, this was really important for me.
If I were to have this on a huge moving billboard, I could make it into a small animation, where the
characters jump up and down and scare off the animals, and the animals walk out from the
building off the screen. The small elements like stars, rainbows and lightning bolts could flash and
scale up to create a fun flow to the piece.

28. I found a type I liked that looked neutral,
readable, modern and friendly. Things that Speller
Metcalfe would want their workers being greeted
with first thing in the morning.
I used ProCreate on my iPad to create an 8-bit
stylised design of tools and didn’t know how to
utilise it until I had a tutorial and it was suggested
I made it into type. I went with hand tools
commonly associated with building, wood work,
fixing and making. It would represent the many
types of jobs within construction, as Speller
Metcalfe were keen to emphasise. This design is

29. TUTORIAL
OUTCOME
Use pattern as text, have to stand back to
see, no outlines
Experiment with merging favourite elements
of the 2 designs together.
Using the 8bit pattern as text, maybe reduce
text down to one word?
Different perspectives from where you stand
Repurposing previous patterns and drawings
was a good idea

31. I really liked this idea of combining
text with a repeat pattern. I had
been inspired by my tutorial with
Scott to try this out. I think it looks
good, but I don’t know how legible
it would be on a huge surface,
whether the letters would get lost
in the vast stretch of pattern.
I like the pattern and might
repurpose it in some more ways,
combining it with another design. I
don’t think this text alone is a
strong enough option for a final
outcome, but it might lead to
something else.
I still like the slogan, I
think it’s impactful and
motivational. I want to
further the idea of a text
based hoarding design,
while putting more focus

32. While I was on the topic of pattern, I thought
about creating a repeat pattern to be used as
the main element in a design, something that
had a more literal connotation toward building. I
created this repeat pattern in an 8-bit style.

33. These are some patterns I created
as samples and ideas for my next
hoarding design process.
I need to find a font I like that’s
bold enough to hold it’s own
against a strong colourful
patterned background.

34. I found this bubbly font on dafont that I liked, it’s bold and looks
shiny and plastic-y. I think it will either stand out against pattern well
or it’ll make it look overcrowded. I’ll combine it with a pattern to see
how it looks as a whole.

35. BRIGHT BEAUTIFUL BILL
When I thought of eye catching, large
scale designs, I instantly had Morag
Myerscough in mind. Her work never fails
to look perky, cheerful, encouraging and
beautiful.

37. Supermundane is a
graphic designer I follow
on Instagram. His work is
beautiful, vector stylised
and pattern loaded. This
could be a style I look
into, for a busy and
exciting style of hoarding
design.

42. I decided to add an
exaggerated shadow to the
words, it’s a trend I’ve seen
lots of recently and I find
really effective. It brightens
up text and makes it more
fun and friendly.

45. I wasn’t getting the results I wanted and didn’t think it
looked professional enough. I taught myself to use
Illustrator and discovered some text tools and design
methods which resulted in quicker, better progression for
the design.
I decided to remake the stripy background on Illustrator
to ensure it was high enough quality if it were to be
printed. I found new effects to play around with and
create different outcomes.
I found a font I decided on using rather than the one I
found on DaFont, Acier Bat which I find is really beautiful,
it’s calming, authorities but friendly. It was more in
keeping with the designs I’d been researching that really
stuck out to me.

48. Making shadow text:
Create text box. Add text and font
choice. Duplicate layer. Change top layer
colour to white.
Offset path, for example, to 0.125mm
Switch layer order round / merge tool
(both seem to work)
Put original text back over the top in
chosen colour
I was already happier with the results I
had got while using Illustrator. It looked
more professional than Pro Create and I
got to learn the software better in the
process.

49. I added the logos of HCA and Speller Metcalfe. I’m really pleased with this outcome, it looks how I
envisioned it from the start. I think the text looks much more mature than the previous font I had
chosen. It combines the aspects I had been working towards through my experimentation and
development stages to suit the target audience. The aim was to create something fun, inclusive,
sophisticated, exciting and modern – things which reflect the Speller Metcalfe approach to
construction and their ethics.
I wanted to create an abstract visual language wherein I represented Speller Metcalfe’s views, work
and ethics.
The bright colours will stand out against the green area of the site and create an eye catching
banner and create an atmosphere of excitement. The font is sharp and concise, while being
modern and aesthetically pleasing. The message is positive and highlights the inclusivity of Speller
Metcalfe, as well as making a point of their collaboration with the university.
Overall, it’s a quirky design which will liven up their work site and subvert from negative

50. I’m really proud of both of my main outcomes, I think they’re quirky
and modern. I tried putting them in different scenarios, different
methods of advertisement.

56. PRESENTATION FOR SPELLER
METCALFEI ended up presenting both my final ideas to Speller Metcalfe. I was
confident my work was out of the box enough for them, inclusive
enough and visually appealing.
I got a round of applause after presenting my ideas, they said I’d
answered any questions they might have had for me and I got some
valuable feedback. It was really nice to hear them say positive things
about my design work, this was the first ‘official’ pitch I’ve had with a
client.
They ended up choosing a corporate, quite middle of the road design
which made me feel as if I had completely misread the brief and the
misinterpreted the talk with the client. However, my confidence in
Illustrator sky-rocketed during this project, I enjoyed envisioning my
work on such a huge scale and getting to present my pitch was