2. Research Practice
Personal Reflection
Industry & Academia
Synopsis:
A snap shot of a personal creative journey
Exploring the relationship between practice & research
Defining future approaches and practice
3. Phase 1.
Background & Interests
Natural History: Animals and botanical subjects
Illustration: Keith Brockie, Albrecht Dürer
Calligraphy: Sarah Midda, Irene Wellington
First Professional Portfolio: Illustration
4. Phase 1.
Practice: Publishing
Apotekets Urteloft. Norsk Farmasihistorisk Museum, 1995
BBC Gardening Year Book. BBC Magazines, 1994
Flowers. Harper Collins, 1994
The Boarders Book. Dorling Kindersley, 1994
Mushrooms and Other Fungi. Reed International, 1992
The Concise Guide to Mushrooms and Toadstools. New
Holland, 1990
5. Phase 1.
Practice: Design and Exhibitions
Packaging: Glaxo Smith Kline, National Trust
Typography: Lloyds Bank, Lowe Howard-Spink
Illustration: Sunday Times, WWF, Zenica
Member of the AOI & SBA
Mall Galleries,
The Westminster Gallery,
The Chris Beadle Gallery,
Norsk Farmasihistorisk Museum Oslo
6. Phase 2.
Practice into Research: Writing
“The Encyclopaedia of Illustration Techniques”
Running Press Book Publishers (April 1997)
Whether you are a graphic artist or just want to draw like one.
Illustrated with hundreds of colour photographs, this book
offers an A to Z directory of a wide variety of media and the
skills and techniques for using them.
“The Artists & Illustrators Magazine”
A regular feature for the magazine over 4 years giving advise
to illustrators on style & marketing to develop their work as a
professional illustrator.
7. Phase 3.
Research: MA
Dissertation: Brand Management Case Study
Focus: The design process used by Landor to reposition a
National into a pan-European brand
Working as a consultant to the Hamburg studio design team.
The outcomes of the project develop techniques to improve
the re-branding design process to embed cultural sensitivity.
8. Phase 4.
Research into Practice: Teaching
Curriculum Development:
GC Pathway: Branding & Packaging
Implemented MA research to support development of a 2 year
subject specific choice for GC students at Farnham.
Unit : Cultural Packaging Design
Implemented outcomes of MA research to write and deliver
a unit exploring the issues of designing brands and graphics
appropriately for other cultures.
Papers Given:
“Languages Without Words” UCCA Ceramics symposium
“Borrowing Heritage” October ’07
“Learning Cultures.” Master class Surrey University, “Learning
for a Complex World” June ’07
Creative Leaning Cultures.” Sussex University, EU, LINKS
Conference, June ’07
9. Phase 4.
Research into Practice: Print Making
A body of work created through the integration of western
print making techniques and traditional eastern calligraphy and
brush making processes.
The technique employed etching zinc and steel plates with the
designs created using stopping out varnish applied with tradi-
tional Chinese and Japanese brushes.
The stock used ranged from western print making papers and
Japanese and Chinese papers such as washi.
10. Phase 5.
Practice into Research: Pedagogy
UCA Teaching Fellowship: 2 funded projects
Title: “The Nature of Creativity.”
How research into the use of visual enquiry methods revealed
distinct differences in the creative process of art and design
students.
Papers given:
“Curiosity, The Nature of Creativity” UCA Teaching and
Learning Conference ” British Library January ’09
“The Nature of Creativity” 2009 MeCCSA Conference at the
National Media Museum, Bradford.
“Creativity: accident or design?” Teaching and Learning
Conference ” British Library January ’08
11. Phase 5.
Practice into Research: Writing
MA Research + Teaching Practice
Title: ‘Creating a Brand Identity: A Guide for Designers’
Creating a brand identity is a fascinating and complex challenge
for the graphic designer. It requires practical design skills and
creative drive as well as an understanding of marketing and
consumer behaviour. This practical handbook is a comprehen-
sive introduction to this multifaceted process.
http://www.laurenceking.com/en/creating-a-brand-identity-a-guide-for-designers/
51BRANDING STRATEGY50 CHAPTER 3
Style
Photographers and illustrators develop unique
styles to ensure that their work has a creative
differentiation, but the styles they use can also have
semiotic significance. Cartoons are an interesting
example. The simple, rather naive style used by
illustrator Lauren Child for Charlie and Lola is
usually considered most appropriate for children,
and if used on adult products would insinuate that
the consumer was juvenile. However there are
comic styles that have been developed specifically
for adults. Photography can also employ styles to
add symbolic meaning, such as the mimicry of
hand-tinting, to express nostalgia or tradition.
Understanding the meaning your image conveys is
vital when choosing a style for your brand.
Top, left: Lauren Child’s distinctive illustrations
combine drawing, photography and collage to create
a style that has a childlike, naïve quality, perfect for
its intended readership of 3 to 7-year-olds.
Above, left: Double Fine Productions, an American
videogame company, employs a quirky, eccentric
but sophisticated cartoon style for its brand,
appealing to adults rather than children.
Above: The retro shoe brand Swedish Hasbeens
have employed a hand-tinted effect for this
promotional image, to reflect their vintage brand
personality.
case study
Milka chocolate
The first Milka chocolate bar, with its distinctive cow, was
launched in Switzerland in 1901. Since then the cow has
become as much an icon of the brand as the distinctive lilac
colour of the packaging.
The meadow
Although lilac in the illustration, the lush Alpine meadow
that the cow stands in symbolizes the fresh grass from which
the cow will create the milk used to make Milka chocolate.
The mountains
Jörg Willich, Landor’s Creative Director in Hamburg, who
lead the rebrand in 2000, highlighted the significance of the
mountains, explaining that the Alps symbolize nature, an
unspoilt environment and purity, signifying the Swiss
heritage of the brand and the wholesomeness of the product.
The use of colour
During the rebrand the creative team identified the colour
lilac as the most significant element in communicating the
brand’s heritage. This colour has been associated with the
Milka brand from the start, although over the 100 years of the
brand’s history the shade has changed, finding its final tone
in 1988. The impact of this symbolic brand language was
revealed a few years ago in an art competition in southern
Germany; when 40,000 children were asked to draw a picture
of a cow, almost a third of them painted it lilac!
The typeface
The Milka typeface is as unique to the brand as the lilac
colour, and has been associated with the product since 1909.
The white, soft, curved script has the appearance of being
created from a puddle of spilt Alpine milk, given enhanced
three-dimensional qualities by a drop shadow of darker lilac.
The icon
Since being domesticated in the early Neolithic Age, cattle
have played a unique role in the development of the human
race, having provided us with food, leather and labour for
thousands of years. The dairy cow has particular significance,
as the provider of one of our simplest, purest and most useful
products – milk.
In this illustration, created for the rebrand of Milka in 2000
by Landor Associates in Hamburg, a Montbéliard cow
(known for its quality milk) has been depicted in a semi-
realistic style, with its horns, udders and nose highlighted,
and the facial details and texture of its coat and tail clearly
depicted. The usually brown-and-white Montbéliard, though,
has become lilac. She also sports a bell around her neck,
used by dairy farmers in the Alps to locate their animals.
12. Phase 6.
Research or Practice?
Short Term Goals:
1. Launching & marketing new title
2. Ceramics Symposia UCA: Paper April 2016
‘Material Symphysis’,the second phase of the collaboration
between UCA & TUA Geidai, Japan after Ashley Howard’s &
Risa Ohgi’s joint project Shima Kara Shima E.
In the spirit of growing together, ‘Material Symphysis’ opens
the opportunity for collaboration for staff from both institutions.
Research Practice
13. Phase 1. Phase 2. Phase 3. Phase 4. Phase 5. Phase 6.
Practice Practice into Research Research Research into Practice Practice into Research Future Approach?
51BRANDING STRATEGY50 CHAPTER 3
Style
Photographers and illustrators develop unique
styles to ensure that their work has a creative
differentiation, but the styles they use can also have
semiotic significance. Cartoons are an interesting
example. The simple, rather naive style used by
illustrator Lauren Child for Charlie and Lola is
usually considered most appropriate for children,
and if used on adult products would insinuate that
the consumer was juvenile. However there are
comic styles that have been developed specifically
for adults. Photography can also employ styles to
add symbolic meaning, such as the mimicry of
hand-tinting, to express nostalgia or tradition.
Understanding the meaning your image conveys is
vital when choosing a style for your brand.
Top, left: Lauren Child’s distinctive illustrations
combine drawing, photography and collage to create
a style that has a childlike, naïve quality, perfect for
its intended readership of 3 to 7-year-olds.
Above, left: Double Fine Productions, an American
videogame company, employs a quirky, eccentric
but sophisticated cartoon style for its brand,
appealing to adults rather than children.
Above: The retro shoe brand Swedish Hasbeens
have employed a hand-tinted effect for this
promotional image, to reflect their vintage brand
personality.
case study
Milka chocolate
The first Milka chocolate bar, with its distinctive cow, was
launched in Switzerland in 1901. Since then the cow has
become as much an icon of the brand as the distinctive lilac
colour of the packaging.
The meadow
Although lilac in the illustration, the lush Alpine meadow
that the cow stands in symbolizes the fresh grass from which
the cow will create the milk used to make Milka chocolate.
The mountains
Jörg Willich, Landor’s Creative Director in Hamburg, who
lead the rebrand in 2000, highlighted the significance of the
mountains, explaining that the Alps symbolize nature, an
unspoilt environment and purity, signifying the Swiss
heritage of the brand and the wholesomeness of the product.
The use of colour
During the rebrand the creative team identified the colour
lilac as the most significant element in communicating the
brand’s heritage. This colour has been associated with the
Milka brand from the start, although over the 100 years of the
brand’s history the shade has changed, finding its final tone
in 1988. The impact of this symbolic brand language was
revealed a few years ago in an art competition in southern
Germany; when 40,000 children were asked to draw a picture
of a cow, almost a third of them painted it lilac!
The typeface
The Milka typeface is as unique to the brand as the lilac
colour, and has been associated with the product since 1909.
The white, soft, curved script has the appearance of being
created from a puddle of spilt Alpine milk, given enhanced
three-dimensional qualities by a drop shadow of darker lilac.
The icon
Since being domesticated in the early Neolithic Age, cattle
have played a unique role in the development of the human
race, having provided us with food, leather and labour for
thousands of years. The dairy cow has particular significance,
as the provider of one of our simplest, purest and most useful
products – milk.
In this illustration, created for the rebrand of Milka in 2000
by Landor Associates in Hamburg, a Montbéliard cow
(known for its quality milk) has been depicted in a semi-
realistic style, with its horns, udders and nose highlighted,
and the facial details and texture of its coat and tail clearly
depicted. The usually brown-and-white Montbéliard, though,
has become lilac. She also sports a bell around her neck,
used by dairy farmers in the Alps to locate their animals.
