OUGD603 EXTENDED PRACTICE: UK GREETINGS - EXAMPLE ARTISTS RESEARCH

In the Project Pack Information, UK Greetings listed four designers and examples of their work as guidance, so I thought it useful to look into these artists and their style as this is something along the lines of what UK Greetings will want their new designs to fit in with, and as they showed these designs as examples, this shows that these are the kinds of styles they like.


Rob Ryan

Rob Ryan uses a lot of paper cut in his work, often using only a few block colours but really intricate designs. Ryan's work shows me that you can have a really complicated design and make it work, however it has to have a really simple colour palette so it doesn't get confusing.

Orla Kiely

Orla Kiely uses simple flower patterns for her designs, using block, natural, warm colours to create her designs. She uses the patterns to create neutral cards and designs, rather than basing them around a theme, which shows me how a simple pattern can be used to create interesting cards and wrapping paper designs without being themed or for a purpose.

Cath Kidston

Cath Kidston is a bit more illustrative, although her designs are still really vibrant and use bold colours, the way they are created are less structured and clean in comparison to Orla Kiely's for example. This makes them feel more personal and friendly, which is what you want to feel when receiving a card. All her cards also come with a little line or small piece of text to make them recognisable as to what occasion they're for, which means you don't have to read the whole card to figure out what occasion they're for. This is something to consider when creating my cards, as I want to attract the consumers attention immediately for the event they're looking for a card for, otherwise if they have to read the whole card before revealing what it's for, they may lose interest if they're in a hurry.

Donna Wilson

Donna Wilson takes on more of a minimal style, opting to use less vibrant, simple colours for the most part, softer colours. They are still bold and eye catching however, they just take on a softer approach, making them more friendly and calming. What's interesting is Wilson's use of different shaped cards, making one into the shape of a house, which makes them more unusual and stand out on a shelf against regular shaped cards.

Evaluation

This secondary research has been so helpful as it has shown me the kinds of styles UK Greetings like, and more contemporary, arty styles of cards there are out there, which you don't always see on the shelves unfortunately. These styles and colour palettes should definitely be considered when creating my own greetings cards designs, to ensure they fit within these