Brief 1 - Frame (Photoshop): Artist Research

For the 3rd idea I've began looking into using numbers to form an image or piece of design that could intrigue the audience. It could be something different from the bog standard photo of a random family. Roger Fawcett-Tang is a designer who is interested in numbers when it comes to graphics. It is very hard to find a large selection of his work but the work that inspires him and he uses in his books has been interesting and definitely sparked ideas.

This is an interesting idea where not all the numbers are visible or even legible but the negative space shows what number or the start of the number is. This really shows how we use the negative space to determine what  glyph something is, this could easily be viewed as a black pattern (and when you tilt your head to the left that is all it looks like) but our brain automatically makes out the numbers.

A simple piece but the strong contrast in colour is attractive. However this would  not work in a photo frame as it would completely distract from the frame itself. The attractive thing about this piece which could be taken on to a photo frame is how the text is laid out around the edge so that it almost frames the page. This doesn't normally work but there is something about this piece which fits.

A very different calendar design where the months and dates are simple information in columns. But the attractive centre of attention '2009' is made by simply lowering the opacity and layering the numbers. This creates a shape which seems abstract and like a blob of colour from a distance but up close it makes sense. This would draw people in, make them move closer so they can understand it.

This is perhaps the best of the number pieces. It is simple yet gets the point across perfectly. Shifting fluently with the gears in the car is represented by the numbers fluently jointing together, there are not ridges or breaks  and it is not more one number than the other they both have this equal ground. 

This is a simple concept but one that is hard to get right. The type has to be in the right place so that it is not ignored and the numbers and glyphs may look random but need to be placed carefully. With this type of work there is a fine line between it working and it going horribly wrong. The eye is automatically attracted to the 87.4  because of its large size and central position. Your eye then moves and focuses on the text which looks like it would have fitted onto the number. Almost like 2 pieces of a puzzle. 

This 5 works well in a grid format as it keeps it neat and  blocky. This method faces some dilemmas, for example where the five has negative space or cut outs. These have been represented by just a line where as most numbers are recognised by the large areas of negative space. However this piece of design does still work but maybe this is because of the white grid dots, if they were not there then this 5 would look dreadful.