tausiroko.com » Concepts

Sketchbook

Tau — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 19:38:04 +0000

The new identity is now almost fully formed, bellow are a few shots of the branded sketchbook I created.

Identity Update

Tau — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 11:21:17 +0000

Here’s a quick sneak peak of the visual identity update for the site etc. I’ve broken the chevron into two pieces and developed a number of pattern varieties for different applications, formats and so on. I’ll be updating the site with new visuals relatively soon, but until then I’ve cleaned the whole thing up and added a couple of new projects to tide you over.

Exhibition Work

Tau — Mon, 30 May 2011 16:50:17 +0000

Here’s an update I should have posted a while ago. This year I’ve been lucky enough to have worked on two exhibitions shown at the Lighthouse gallery in the centre of Glasgow. This exhibition celebrates the common wealth games which will come to Glasgow next. My main area of focus for the show was the enormous map (hand re-drawn in 3 days) and information graphics placed on the wall opposite.

Dead Drop New York

Tau — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 17:57:20 +0000

As some of you may well know, I am a huge fan of New York, there is an atmosphere about New York that doesn’t quite exist anywhere else. I’m also a fan of London, but the atmosphere there is infused with the British melancholy that just doesn’t quite give the “anything’s possible” feeling being in New York does. I believe a large part of this is because New York is American and so inherently more confident and less sceptical of new ideas. One new idea coming originating from there is a new way of sharing digital information, entitled Dead Drops, a series of usb memory sticks have been inserted into walls.

These protruding usb storage devices can then be accessed by anyone who walks by, being able to download and upload files anonymously, an intriguing solution to the ever more worrying problem of online file sharing privacy. To my mind, this concept is a great mix of modern technology and lo-fi ideas and could quite possibly become the new flash mob. If you’d like to find out more visit deaddrops.com and get involved with this fun new idea.

Choice?

Tau — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 21:13:42 +0000

Bellow are a few experimental pieces of packaging design related to my current project about the distortion of choice.

I’m currently working on a project about sub-branding and how large multinational companies utilise these sub-brands to give the illusion of choice within the market place when, in reality the amount of choice the consumer has is significantly smaller than they realise. This illusion of choice is neither helpful from a consumers decision making perspective nor from the confusion to much choice brings, a concept that psychologists have done a huge amount of research in, causing the affect of people feeling worse about their decisions because there are so many options, even if they picked something far better than they could have done with less choice, because they feel it is their fault for picking badly.

I hope you enjoy this experiments, they were certainly enjoyable to make!

Data Visualisation

Tau — Sun, 02 May 2010 21:05:24 +0000

The use of data visualisation has exploded in recent years as evidenced by books such as Data Flow which have become increasingly popular. The reason for this explosion is fairly simple, we now have more data flying around than we know what to do with and the general public is so incredibly bored with being told that 5% of this and 80% of that should make them think again about how they live their lives. This constant barrage of data has made people switch off whenever statistics are brought up at all and so data graphics are employed more and more frequently to catch their attention.

This Infographic from Phil Gyford’s flickr page shows us what happens when everyone and their cousin with a pirate copy of photoshop tries to produce data visualisations. There is a skill to creating effective data visualisations that many ignore, choosing to make something pretty over something that actually adds value to the raw data represented.

Lee Byron’s Last.FM data graphic for instance, reveals patterns about users listening habits that are unlikely to come across simply through raw figures. I was lucky enough to talk to Lee whilst working at Teague and his data lead approach to design is a fascinating new direction for designers to explore. We must all remember when employing these techniques that the information is the most important part, much like the message is the most important part when designing typography. Simply adding a flashy layer to otherwise useless data won’t get us anywhere.

Design in the Post Post Modern Age

Tau — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 17:52:53 +0000

Outlined bellow are some thoughts on design, they are ideas and that is all.

Design in the twenty-first century, an era where we are past the modernist principles of structure, past the rebellion of fighting against these principles and now entirely free to do whatever we want, so long as someone is willing to fund it of course, puts the designer in an ever more confusing position. The designer is expected to be both a creative talent and a restrained character, free to create unimaginable and boundary pushing work, whilst being restrained by ideals of budget and function.

Some, many in fact, would argue that it’s impossible for a designer to fulfill their creative potential when placed in these metaphorical box. Perhaps they are right, but in all honesty, it depends on how you define creative potential. It is very creative to presume that jumping off a ladder with a tin of open paint may produce a mark so beautiful in it’s abstract nature that the entire commissioned project could be based around it, however this would never be considered as part of a designers billable hours, mainly because it’s daft, but also because it would quite probably lead to the injury of the designer in question. It is unprofitable and in my eyes, not creative potential, but simply irrational behaviour justifying itself as “creative”.

What then does a design for a product, a poster, a advertising campaign, truly need to do? In essence, shock and awe. Good design within todays expectations and market place needs two important factors to be truly successful. The first is “shock”, in other words the design has to attract instant attention, for whatever reason, by being particularly beautiful, or daring, or minimal. A wow factor is what is needed. The second and even more important necessity is “awe” either through use, or extended exposure to the design. An appreciation of how smooth and perfected the design is, how well balanced, functional and in most cases, enjoyable to use the creation is.

This of course, all sounds a bit absurd, long winded and impractical to use in day to day creation of work. So I will outline my case with the design hero of the hour, Apple. Apple’s products tick both of these boxes as well as any current consumer electronics product can. Shock, apple’s designs always attempt to surprise and amaze their consumers, wether it be by perfectly sleek lines, lack of buttons or overly engineered packaging. Awe, every product created by apple also has long staying power, impressing the user by the layout of buttons, the ease of use and solidity of the product. Follow these two principles and I’m sure they will bring you much success.