Shitdisco infographic

“We’re unable to change anything even by voting, so partying is a political statement. You don’t go to work or do what you’re supposed to be doing. You party for days on end instead.” (Shitdisco)

Shitdisco rise from the passionate Glasgow squat party scene. They’ve always aimed to stay connected to their party roots, and try to make nights as different to your average club or live gig as possible. All fans have to do is simply request for their presence and Shitdisco will more than likely host an intimate party. Their legendary parties (simply known as 61) in the drummer’s flat attracted their status for organising free parties and since have ranged from toilets in Glasgow clubs to abandoned toilet factories in London.

Shitdisco’s renowned parties’ form the basis for my info graphic, which highlights the key party essentials, the no goes and the well-known venues.

The dark look of the info graphic containing vibrant colours reflects Shitdisco’s sound. Their music bursts with typical pop melodies which are covered with dark lyricism. (“All you dancing whores with your flesh on show…and the skin you're showing off is going to burn in cider”) Their gloomy lyrics inspired the focal imagery of sections of a human skeleton, whereas the vibrant colours used reveal their contrasting characteristic pop melodies.

Throughout the info graphic there are elements of Glasgow slang. Words such as bevy and polis are used to portray Shitdisco’s background and party roots. Describing Glasgow’s Sauchiehall Street as being “like Rome at the height of its decadence” its clear Shitdisco have become locals to the city and fully embrace Glasgow’s chaotic night life. When out in Glasgow there’s no escaping the powerful accent and dialect which is screamed from all directions at 4am.

Each piece of information given connects to specific imagery. The essential elements of a party all link to the senses, as it is the senses which fully experience it. The 3 vital elements being music, linked with hearing; lights, linked with sight; alcohol, linked with taste. The heart of the party can be seen as the venue, as without a location no party would exist. Due to this, separate parts of the heart are linked with legendary locations nationwide which have hosted one of Shitdisco’s parties. Finally the lower regions of a human are identified for disposing waste and getting rid of unwanted items. Similarly to this concept, the elements which are rejected from a Shitdisco party are linked with the lower organs.

Instead of basic arrows connecting the imagery to the information, veins and arteries were used to again reflect Shitdisco’s dark lyricism and skeleton imagery.

The typography used for headings and subheadings is Franklin Gothic Book. Its bold characteristics seemed fitting as well as how it’s a sans serif typeface. Both qualities make it appear modern and very loud just like Shitdisco’s sound. The headings and subheadings contain very tight kerning and leading, to make the letters seem close and unavoidable, again comparable to the subject matter of Shitdisco’s chaotic and frantic music. The axes of type within the heading intersect to also reflect Shitdisco’s striking and disorganized songs. The differing directions mirror their diverse and mixed sounds.

Rip it up and start agian

The info graphic as a whole is very easy and straightforward to understand. The very large “SPAM” at the top of the design makes it pretty much effortless to know exactly what the info graphic discusses. By just having images, it probably would be hard to fully understand but the small print and title explain the information very nicely. The small text doesn’t drag on about the problems, which is pleasant, instead gives a brief yet very precise account of the damages spam causes.

ALL the information within the poster was new to me therefore was rather interesting. The information was quite shocking and I had no idea just how damaging spam was. One spam email is the equivalent to driving a car 3 feet and in 2010 the amount of spam emails sent equals the green house gas emissions of driving around the world 2 MILLION TIMES! Crazy! It will be interesting to see if this awareness of an unknown topic about environmental damage will take off and hopefully spark a change. The comparisons to everyday things such as driving a car facilitated the most learning as it made the shocking statistics seem a great deal more real and close to home. It was also relevant as driving seems to be at the pinnacle of the argument based around green house gas emissions, so comparing spam to driving seems very appropriate and fitting.

The design didn’t really jump out to me and persuade me to read although after reading the first fact it instantly gets your attention. The straightforward focused design matches that of the content message which is clear-cut and purposeful. I believe that due to the content and design being uncomplicated, the target audience ranges from everyone. It is more specifically targeted to email account users though as it is them who have experienced spam and can make the difference by getting a spam filter or sharing the news with others.

The info graphic is laid out in a way which is very long and narrow. This is successful as the viewer’s eye is easily lead down the info graphic with no confusion. Your eye is never jumping around the page locking onto other information, which is good. Instead the arrangement of information is placed under each other with suitable spacing so no disconnecting info merges. The blue box in the centre successfully sections the info graphic into 3 and makes the viewer aware of 3 different types of information and statistics (spam’s equivalence to driving / key sources of spam’s carbon footprint / who’s responsible) The layout also creates hierarchy as the first section introduces spasm dangers, the second explores the reasoning and the third answers who is responsible and leaves the viewer pondering whether they are responsible also. The layout leads the viewer to the most important point – “who is responsible?” which is in a larger font size than all other information except from the title.

I don’t feel the type was greatly considered. A modern typeface, similar to Bodoni is used for headings. This type is successful in grabbing attention due to the contrast between thick and thin lines, although doesn’t really convey the damaging aspect of the situation. The typefaces used also appear quite modern as the Os in body text appear to be perfect circles and thin straight serifs are used in the headings. This could perhaps reflect the content, as spam emails are a result of the computer, which is seen as modern. The percentages and results of the comparisons made are in a different type to the body text so straight away sticks out. The size and colour are also altered. These cues signal hierarchy to emphasise the key information and subordinate other surrounding information.

The imagery used is quite symbolic and is in the form of silhouettes. They are similar to certain graphics used on computers which is useful and connects to the theme of spam. They are also mostly geometric which again relates to graphics on the computer. The designer’s choice of imagery connects the viewer to the computer which is successful but also creates a little scenario to be viewed, for example an email with green house gases coming out next to an equal sign which is next to a car driving. The simple scenarios are very clear in explaining the information. The images of smoke at the bottom are clever and sneaky as the smoke is formed in the shape of the country which is causing the damage, and may not be seen at first.

Colour doesn’t play a huge role but overall effectively connects the info graphic. It appears to hold no relation to the content. It perhaps reflects the message as the message is very direct and uncomplicated and so is the colour choice (one colour – neutral blue)

There is a link between research and visuals. A visual of an envelope with greenhouse gas coming out is not necessarily common so this has been created in a way to illustrate that spam emails result in the waste of gases. Also the clever country shaped smoke definitely connects with the research of who is most responsible for spam. The visual of smoke is incorporated very nicely within the research.

I don’t think the design particularly references any historical movements. The design is just very straightforward yet is very focused on exactly what it wishes to express. The style of the graphic I think in a way opposes the content. The overall design is reasonably fun yet the content can be seen as quite serious as it can severely affect the environment in the future. Perhaps making the info graphic too serious would warn off people so the designer’s decision of altering this may invite people in to study the info graphic more openly?

Firstly the designer would have to decide exactly who he/she wants to specifically target. Research would then begin and the designer would choose very specific statistics which may seem fitting to the target audience, and info which would seem shocking and appalling, and not boring or obvious. Once the correct research is gathered the designer would decide the specific design they wish to achieve. They could go down the route of being very serious and sombre, or tone it down a little and make it somewhat fun and approachable. Next the designer would organise the layout and create a suitable format for the research and imagery. He/she would have decided they want the info to be separated into 3 different sections, intentionally placed under one another so the info graphic flows effortlessly. The first statistics seen are the most shocking so are purposely positioned to engage the viewer and attract them to the remainder of the design. A colour scheme would be created reflecting both the research and design intended, as well as typography. Several varied sketches concerning the above would be created and finally the chosen once would be produced on the computer ready for display.

how do i get there?

Helvetica

Since starting uni, the word Helvetica has relentlessly popped up. If I’m being honest I had never heard of that word or had any idea what it even meant… almost 2 years have passed now and it’s inescapable.

Now after watching the film about the typeface, it appears it’s more unavoidable than I thought. I originally thought the film would just be a bunch of designers sharing Helvetica’s sheer brilliance and superiority, but was pleasantly surprised at certain designer’s true feelings about the type and even the history of it. I was firstly surprised at the whole process of creating the typeface. I had no idea how much effort and energy went into its construction. How it had several names before Helvetica and how numerous alterations were made to perfect it, such as the “y” originally being too slim.

What fascinated me the most though was specific designers reaction to the typeface. Michael Bierut gave a very personal and meaningful account of his hatred towards 50’s design, specifically adverts in magazines. Flicking through a 50’s magazine, he pointed out the frequent aspects which he clearly disliked, and then showed a Coke advert which used Helvetica. His delight was adamant at the use of Helvetica. He felt nothing could improve the combination of the cold, refreshing coke and the use of Helvetica. Many designers felt that Helvetica was neutral, and was almost like air and anything after it would be secondary. Other designers though gave interesting versions of their love of it technically. Matthew Carter expressed his joy of the technicality of it and how it was near perfect. He stated the fact that certain letters like the “c” had horizontal endings instead of the obvious slight diagonal ends was unique and a delight.

Eric Spiekerman I found particularly funny when he included his pure pleasure for typefaces. Even though he finds Helvetica rather dull, he felt his desire for certain types was like looking at “girl’s bottoms.” It was funny how he recognised this and announced that it worried him. He and David Carson are designers’ I’d like to know a bit more about. Their views were interesting and similar to my own, how Spiekerman would not fixate and obsess over a new font, instead he would simply just go back to bed. Carson has fascinating beliefs in how he would immerse himself into music to fully appreciate it and discover ways to connect this to the album artwork design.

After watching the film I’ve realised the potential, yet also the ordinariness of Helvetica. I agree with how it invites an open interpretation. An example given was how it adds certain cheekiness when used for American Apparel, and how it works when saying both “I love you” and “I hate you”. I can also recognise how it may have become overworked and commonplace, although appreciate how when used it can add a certain worth to a design and simply make it look better.

I personally have never had a connection with Helvetica as I only caught on to it within the last couple of years. Recently though I’ve understood it as a “safe” font, and when unsure what to use stick with the good old trusty Helvetica, even while knowing pretty much nothing about it. I guess now I should try to stray away from such fonts and in away explore newer ones, and similarly to David Carson and Vaughan Oliver, immerse myself into the design and use fonts which communicate the desired role. (But we shall see how long this lasts …)

That font sure is saucy ...

Getting Around

First Glasgow Bus Ticket

The font used on the ticket appears to be a transitional sans serif typeface. Its uniform and upright characters resemble that of transitional serif letters. The typeface holds similarities of one of the most popular typefaces, Helvetica. Helvetica is typeface which is currently in use and very popular within the transport industry. Although slightly pixilated on the ticket, the typeface is not as intense as bitmap typefaces used on the majority of transport ticket machines. A range of leading lengths have been used which compress and distance information. There appears to be no real reason as to why this is, and just makes the ticket a little ugly? (Not that the tickets should necessarily be extremely attractive.) The typeface chosen I would say does its job. It is very clear and easily legible, no daft characters have been used. For this reason it is why I believe this typeface was chosen.

There is obvious hierarchy used as the company and city is largest in size and is all in capital letters. The fact the ticket is an “adult single” is also visibly clear as it is the only information along with the date which is bold. The type of ticket and date are in bold as they would be the focal pieces of information the driver would view when the ticket is being shown to them. Smaller and insignificant information such as ticket number and driver are clearly smaller in font size as they are rarely looked at or needed on a typical short journey on a bus.

This type of ticket is used everyday by pretty much anyone who wants to. Young children and students, to business people and the elderly would use these tickets. The ticket therefore should be able to be read by all types of people and no complex and unusual language should be used. First group are fairly successful with these regards, although if anything the font could perhaps be increased for elderly people who struggle to read. Although this may no be necessary as the majority of elderly people I see using this form of transport appear to just show some sort of elderly bus card. The image printed on the paper (situated under the text) could also be removed or the opacity could be altered as the dark blue clashes with the black text.

This is my attempt at improving the First Glasgow bus ticket.

Only the vital information is presented in the centre of the ticket so the driver and passenger can easily view all they need to know. The type of ticket has been kept bold as I would agree it’s probably the most important information within the ticket. The smaller information which was placed in all corners of the old ticket, making it extremely busy, has been grouped together in smaller font size and in the corner. This placement makes the info easily accessible yet out of the way. Finally the use of white space has been increased so the ticket doesn’t become over complicated like the old one. Now all important elements are grouped together with suitable and consistent leading.

modular grids