Britishness
‘Britishness is the state or quality of being British, or of embodying British characteristics, and is used to refer to that which binds and distinguishes the British people and forms the basis of their unity and identity, or else to explain expressions of British culture—such as habits, behaviours, or symbols that have a common, familiar or iconic quality readily identifiable with the United Kingdom.’ – Source, Wikipedia
Research will look into British habits, behaviours and symbols that relate to the quality of being British.
‘The quality of being British or of having characteristics regarded as typically British:a brand that used to boast its Britishness on its carrier bags… my Britishness comes out in my writing…’ – Source, Oxford Dictionary
Mind MapFrom the brain storming, it is apparent there is a lot that can symbolize Great Britain. The mind map shows the connection between Britishness and what it means in a real context. Things that are enlarged or bold would be ideal as representative drawings for Britishness.
What would be interesting is to see how it looks to have a collection of these things drawn. They could be assembled in such a way as to form a map of the British Isles or the Union Jack. This idea stems from my research into typographic maps as shown below.
Typographic Maps
The words in typographic maps form the shape of the map in question. This is not an original approach of combining words and images and so it is not something that will be pursued. Instead, it serves to highlight the clever use of the two. In this case it is simple sans serif with a black and white colour theme, which is a good neutral typeface.
It could be taken further by adding in a splash of colour, weave through some patterned textures and get creative with your typefaces and the map can become vastly more visually appealing.
Packaging
Just Laid Eggs – In similar comic fashion, the packaging design employs a funky, hip, hand drawn type that implies and associates it’s name with the message they have just been laid, which is actually pictured. Another good example of how great words and images work together to improve the overall design.
Both styles are contemporary, simple, almost minimal. The focus is on the singular importance of the product. Nothing distracts from this. Consequentially the space has a great deal of white space in both instances. The typeface choices work in harmony with the effect.
Comic Books
In stark contrast to the simple, clean aforementioned packaging, comic books are something that are jam-packed full of action and visual interest. Colour jumps out at you and, depending on the art styles, they can contain some very beautiful artwork. Lines flowing freely, tonal gradations, intense hues, decorative patterns. These aspects to design are often implemented into the comic book. But more than this, the content and context of the comics narrative will tell a story and set a mood. Often to aid the images, the captions and sounds will shout out to you, deepening the meaning of the story. For example, ‘whaam’ in the Liechtenstein artwork expresses the impact the explosion has made. The plane is crashing to the ground and without the words the image is only one language. Just like the impact of the explosion, so can words have a great impact in parallel with images, adding to the excitement.
Advertising
So we have seen how words can assist with giving information to packaging, comic books, maps, and so here, in the form of facts do we utilize them in advertising. The series of adverts raising awareness for recycling and does so by persuasion. Without the persuasion of the written message, the images alone would be confusing and incomplete. They’d be dismissed. It is for this reason the message is contrasted with a bright green background. The text stands out against it and is the first thing you will see.
The eye is quick to scan an advert and it must be engaging if it is to be communicated. To this fact we can observe the brevity of the adverts message so that people take the time to read it. For this same point the typeface is clear and bold.
Political Persuasion
From persuasion to politics, a message can be communicated with great effect by the conviction of a convincing request or demand. ‘I want you’ and ‘join your country’ both resonate to the patriotic and instills a steadfast determination into the reader.
The brilliant thing about these political posters is they show the use of red, white and blue. These are the colours of the Union Jack and this might be something I could use in my own design. These three colours are synonymous with Union Jack and this is proven on seeing the ‘hope’ Obama campaign poster.
In the ‘hope’ poster, this one words paints a thousand pictures for a better America. It insinuated that this man can bring about the change and action to set things in motion for a better tomorrow.
Iconic Britain
Icons are simple representations of things, objects, concepts or ideas. A heart can represent love in a text or hart rate measure on the screen from taking blood pressure. Instead of saying bus, a picture of a bus is quicker to interpret and understand. Therefore it is simple logic that images are more powerful than words. Although it can be argued that a single word can be more powerful than the picture. The ‘hope campaign we looked at before is a good example. But also some words cannot be expressed as well as the image.
We are looking for balance between words and images in work. If one is too heavy this can counter productive and act in opposition to the harmony of communication. The fourth poster, advertising the British grand prix, strikes this balance between the wordy information and it’s imaginative counterpart. The sense of movement, coupled with the use of colour to highlight certain areas makes this a brilliant piece of design.
In the posters below the three on the left all contain symbols for London and Great Britain. You could just write London and that would be exactly what you want to communicate. But it would be absent of intrigue and visual interest. I have to admit, I think the flat two-dimensional vector design style is dreadfully simplistic and uninspiring as in the third poster. However in the first on the hand drawn, free-flowing sketches create a more personal, individual element to its design style, which is admirable.
Great British Advertising Campaign
By ways of a pun can a tourism advertising campaign take the ‘great’ in Great Britain and attach it to all that is great about Great Britain. Creativity is GREAT Britain and so on. The Union Jack at the bottom is a direct connection to the adverts meaning. The images too illustrate the concept, relative to the particular topic.
This campaign reminds me of the recycling posters in the way the text is used and how red grabs your attention and contrasts so well against the image. These posters will be in my mind when I develop my own ideas. I think it is a good idea to use the Union Jack somehow and I’ve learnt that simplicity and clarity is just as effective than complex, detailed designs.
The Festival of Britain
Vector and Colour Ideas
The designs below expresses the colours of the Union Jack, which I strongly want to use in my design. The flat, vector style is useful for practical and printing reasons. The likelihood that my advert will be printed on large format is high.
Poetic Idea
The literacy scene in this country is expansively rich, so I did think about having poetic text as a subtle background typographic pattern. Another concept would be to integrate examples below into images.
William Blake – Jerusalem
I will not cease from mental fight,
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand,
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England’s green and pleasant land.
This except is perhaps too focused on England and not applicable to any concept for this brief but it is one of the most recognisable poem and song in this country.
Rudyard Kipling
But the Romans came with a heavy hand,
And bridged and roaded and ruled the land,
And the Romans left and the Danes blew in –
And that’s where your history books begin.
Another point to make about including poetic excepts about Great Britain is will people get it? In an age whether people on glance for a split second ad adverts, I don’t think using poetry or quotes is a good idea from this perspective. But it was interesting to see what I could find, at least.
Ben Jonson
Triumph, my Britaine, thou hast one to showe,
To whom all Scenes of Europe homage owe.
Robert Burns
Oh, my luve’s like a red, red rose, That’s newly sprung in June
Typographic Idea
Typefaces
To finally express the typographic considerations, the old and new Sainsbury’s slogans illustrate this perfectly. There are two roads I can go down. One is to contrast serif with sans serif. The other is to make my text hand written alongside some bold sans serif type.
Depending on how my work develops, I will want to consider how to use and juxtapose different typefaces. They can be used to enhance the art style, they might reflect the images they describe or every make up the form of images with their characters.
Typographic Art
We have looked a lot at posters and advertising in the context of Britishness and how words and images are used in juxtoposition for different outcomes, but something that combines both words and images in one is typographic art. This is a way to paint a picture with words, literally.
In the two examples, one playful describes the apple logo and the other effectively portrays a man with exception detail. Aesthetically, it appears simple and curious. But when you read the words that describe the image you find they also represent it’s meaning. They tell a story with the image.
They are both black and white. In the Apple logo, all the words are ones associated with the Apple corporation. The portrait words are modern political issue and question’s. This conveys seriousness, emotion that can be interpreted in many way. This takes a simple artistic style and adds depth and complexity.
I really like the picture portrait and I can’t fault it. Perhaps some sort of texture could run through it but then maybe that will detract from the initial message. After all it is said that you should not do more than what is needed, otherwise it unnecessarily complicates things. As for the first picture, I would love to see how it looks with the colours of Apple use as in some icons there are the rainbow colours.
To take the artistic merits of combined words and images, these pictures take it even further. The first picture takes a complex world issue and puts across a message with ease using the ‘waste not want not’ quote to illustrate a point connected with world consumption.
The second picture literally describes the meaning of the words ‘things fall a part’ by making them actually fall a part. The use of space isolates the artwork with a black background creating a focal point on the design. The rhythm and motion created is intricate and tonally subtle, utilising a digitally hand drawn art style.
Primary Research
These images were found in gift shops across my home town of Bristol. I knew that it would be difficult to find posters and adverts for Britain outside of London but this is exemplary of how a nation or community can be promoted using words and images.
The way the paintings illustrates the attractive qualities of Bristol are juxtaposed with words to describe travelling by train in Bristol and also that this postcard implies the place is Bristol.
Besides the blatant cityscapes, what intrigued me about this tablecloth is the word Bristol, which has been wrapped around a wheel. The wheel carries connotations of naval ideas that, when linked with Bristol, describe without saying that Bristol is a port city.
It’s a strong use of word and image to evoke the idea of what Bristol is all about and invites you to contemplate it’s history and meaning.
By using images in and around the letters of a words, innovative works of art can be made such as this brilliant contemporary design. The artwork illustrated iconic landmarks of Bristol that I perhaps could work on in my own design.
Unit 41 