Digital development of publication & Trainer prints

Digital development of publication 

Taking forward my idea of creating a ZX flux trainer design I began creating the outcome in Adobe Illustrator. 

Taking a source image I took off the adidas website I began to trace round the sneaker with the pen tool in adobe illustrator, it was a very time consuming process but I wanted an accurate template to work from to create color alternatives So i created a separate layer for each trainer element to aid the color selection/development stage. 

Here is the basic frame work of the trainer in a greyscale color outcome ready for additions of color, very happy with this outcome. Very accurate translation of the photo and with the separate trainer elements on different layers it will be easy to change colors of the trainer parts. 

Added an extension to the stud/grips of the sneaker. This gave the sneaker a more athletic, football boot aesthetic making it more relevant to been part of a football based redesign. 

To keep the dimensions consistent I lined the other stock image up with the previous vector resolution ready for a template making of the ariel view of the sneaker. 

All done with the adidas logo/type recreated. I found out that it was ICT avant garde they used so was easy to recreate. Then added the collaboration name too the insole. 

The sneaker templates all ready to have color elements added too them. 

Gathered a selection of source images to inspire the aesthetics and color scheme around. The main source of Inspiration I will be taking from these images is the color scheme from the Brazilian flag as this is the main concept behind the shoe really as its for the world cup and the iconic element of this years world cup is its location in Brazil. 

imagejuicy.com

The song and wyclef jean in the song emit a lot of energy within the lyrics and the beat, these lyrics work perfect with the album covers aesthetics and will be a fundamental inspiration for the color choice and aesthetics of the trainer. Bright vibrant hues to simulate the energy within the song and taken from the album cover itself wich have a very Mediterranean feel.

Taking influence from the gold color in the world cup will give a more luxurious feel too the trainer aesthetic. Strengthening that limited edition feel collaboration trainers usually hold. 

www.goal.com

The bright, bold, contrasting colors within the Barasuca ball also emit the energy that the world cup anthem simulates. Also has a very summery feel so emulating this summery feel through vibrant colors will hold relevance to the hot climates in Brazil.

www.tonyprycesports.co.uk

Started playing around with different colors, playing about with color contrasts, tonal ranges, colors contrasting or colors working alongside each other, subtle additions of color, harmonious color combinations. 

This example demonstrates the use of quite dark tones, the majority of the colors represent the Brazilian flag with a nice subtle contrast of tone coming from the sandy color sole. Not keen on how the laces contrast with the dark blue though it clashes a little I want the colors to work alongside each other in harmony rather than obvious, vibrant contrasts.

Very bright hues here, contrasting tones, a lot of color going on. Too much of a clash, does have a very summery, energetic feel too it though. 

This lighter blue works better overall but doesn't really suggest Brazil? The laces do but the blue doesnt link with the flag very much, its a more sea blue. Which does work in terms of visualizing the beach in conjunction with the sandy colored base.

Playing on this sandy color and beach sort of theme I created a more clean, subtle color way with small vibrant elements, again it doesn't really suggest Brazil, or the vibrant, energetic feel from the anthem or the album cover. 

Back to the introduction of that darker blue thats swatched from the brazil flag, works a little better now but the green sole is a little subtle, doesn't really stand out that much.

I really did like the yellowy sandy color tones I used before on the upper so went back to this with subtle elements of color used in the rest of the trainer construction. Its missing some blue off though to represent Brazil, doesn't emit much energy either.

All the colors are there to represent brazil but the large coloured sole creates an awful clash of color, and the blue laces clash in tone too, there very bright and bold and don't work with the darker, smaller chromatic valued hues used in the rest of the trainer construction. 

Brought in that vibrant blue into the heal, with some more energetic color addition in the stitching, I thought this may have balanced the contrast of vibrant tones and toned down tones but it didn't, still had a horrible clash of colors. 

Changing direction completely I created a harmonic balance of tone within the trainer construction by creating a block color on the upper with small contrasting color elements in other parts of the sneaker design. 

This has worked, it suggests brazil through the yellow, blue and green. But the majority yellow also suggests sandy beaches and a hint of gold influenced from the world cup trophy. The contrasting red studs add a touch of energy to to the aesthetic influenced from the anthems lyrics. 

Toned this red down a little to be a darker, more pastel tone that works better with the rest of the trainer colourway. The colors all work together now rather than clashing, although the blue laces need darkening a little. 

Its quite fashionable for speckled soles on trainers now, and it breaks up the split between the colored base of the sole and the upper construction of the trainer. To create the speckled sole I used the stars from the Brazilian flag. 

Worked perfect, a nice little attention to detail and really helps tie all the colors together, now the laces are darker all the tones work in harmony together with the only contrast coming from the red really which simulates good color balance. 

Final color way

Trainer name Jeito came from the world cup track name Dar um Jeito, Jeito translating to “way” in Brazilian, a suggestion of direction and movement which has relevance with the trainers design purpose & construction for running and is represented in the visuals of the trainer design aesthetics (color, image etc). The song emits alot of energy within its beat using drums and guitars and the lyrics so the color scheme emulates this through a combination of bright hues and colors taking supporting influence from the Brazilian flag, sandy beaches, the official world cup ball (Adidas Brazuca ball.) and the gold from the trophy alongside the colors from the album cover. Has aesthetics of a football boot too wich is good for its relevance to the world cup. 

Logo for publication and sneaker application

Taking main influence from the number of teams qualified (32) and an interpretation of a lyric in the song mentioning uniting flags I wanted to create a logo that visualized the unity and the coming together of these nations.

http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/teams/index.html

Tried out a quick mock of replicating a fixture table with the glyphs in circles, these circles represent footballs. 

More simple horizontal alignment of these glyphs. 

Noticed that there were 32 letters in these words, perfect for the amount off teams in the tournament!

Simple left alignment of the glyphs giving off a basic and structured aesthetic, certainly presents the idea of these glyphs encased in footballs been brought together in unity. 

To highlight the sneakers name within the heirachy of the glyphs I reversed out the type with a black background, I like this element of contrast within the logo/header. The separate words need spacing out though, they are merged together as one making it unreadable.

Spaced them out with a hyphen which simulates a link, going back to the concept of unity between the nations inspired by the lyrics of the song. 

Another line added to aid this element of joining things together in unity, it also adds a suggestion of movement which is relevant to the sneaker name "Jeito" translation into "Way" which suggests movement. 

Didn't quite like the hyphens, they illustrated a link between the words making them feel like they were still meant to be read as one. Removed these and it worked much better. 

Experimented with some typeface choices, Helvetica for its ultra simplicity, good legibility of individual glyphs within there circular surrounds. The structured aesthetic works in a contrasting way with the circular surround, a nice contrast of angular and circular elements. 

Tried out a serif font but this just looked awful within the circles. The aesthetic of these circles is quite modern, yet quirky and playful so a traditional style serif typeface just clashes with this aesthetic and style. And an old style serif typeface wouldn't work for the publication body copy which I intend to chose to carry through from this logo. 

DIN will work to demonstrate this modern esthetic, it has quite angular and square elements within the bowls and curves of glyphs which contrasts nicely with the circular surrounds and works with the addition of a line in the logo.  

Settled on DIN Schrift,had slightly more angular elements in the bends and curves.

Adding weight to the "Jeito" helped highlight the word a little more and also aid legibility of each glyph.

 

Settled on this weight of glyph, chose uppercase so each glyph seemed more separate rather than been part of a word, when the glyphs are placed together within there circle surrounds it then simulates the coming together of these "footballs" representing the unity of football nations.

Publication layout development

Taking forward my sketches based on minimal aesthetics inspiredly the whole concept behind the minimalist construction and aesthetic of the trainer that adidas wanted to create I began to develop my digital layout. The idea of been minimalist is playing on the idea of there slogan for the sneaker "less is more" 

http://www.adidas.co.uk/zx_flux

Taking forward key aspects from this thumbnail I began to develop my digital translations of my sketches. Basing aesthetics and layouts around key elements of minimalism, so allow nice amounts of negative space to surround the type & image. Movement  keep the eye moving through the addition of visual elements, alternative angles of type and image, and the positioning of layout elements, and readability & legibility as I want all the information to be clearly digested and all attention on the images of the sneakers.

Trying out large angled headers and heavy line elements to frame the text up and add a visual element that moves the eye around the page. Not keen on it though, doesn't look very minimalist in its aesthetics. looks quite loud and in your face. 

Splitting the type into columns allowed me to use less space within the layout giving off a more minimalist aesthetic, a cleaner appearance and overall more readable. Kept the header larger than the body copy but not significantly, it doesn't contrast in weight now it works alongside the body copy. 

Worked to this template through the rest of the page layouts. 

Simply centered the logo, quite a large size as it was the main visual element for the front cover. Im really happy with how this front cover has turned out, the little tag I made for the rear cover works nice as a subtle little attention to detail too, stops the back page looking empty and unconsidered within the design stage.

Love how the use of type and image sit within the space on this spread, the simple vertical, centre alignment of the base of the shoe works great with the little footer additions I applied that explain the basic nature of the pages content. Between the folio numbering system of the 4 and this footer the image seems locked into place within the spacial layout.

The same applies for the rest of the layouts, the text sits nicely within the space, feeling locked into place by the header, subhead/footer and folio numbering system. 

As mentioned in the initial thumbnail stage I wanted to create movement through the pages, when the line elements were removed I didn't really have this movement anymore so had to rely on angling type and image elements, this use of angling helped break up that structured and squared off positioning of type and image and kept the eye moving about the page. 

Thought about carrying the color way of the trainer through the page layouts, didn't like this though didn't leave the typography very readable due to the type having less contrast of tone within the background.

The 14 column grid I ended up working too to create the layout.

As I wanted to bring color elements into things I thought of including it into the logo. This worked perfect, it really provoked an element of energy within the layout which goes back to the energy I wanted to portray through the color way of the trainer.

Final solutions ready for printing. To add another color element I want to use some colored stock. 

Test Print

Rough test print in greyscale to see how it would work in scale, not gone with the previous idea of having tabs on each page as I only have access to an A4 printer as I left it too late with planning to get into digital print. Bad time management! 

Not really liking the crisp white paper stock and the contrast it produces, I want a more subtle contrast so I will consider the stock choice in the final print stage. 

Trainer prints

To work alongside the publication as an extra edition to the publication I created some prints of the trainer were the detail can be appreciated at a better scale. This enhances the limited edition aspect of the sneaker release as well, a nice addition to the physical trainer itself, I got this idea from a recent pair of trainers I bought that came with a print with a brief history on there along with the image. 

I mentioned in my intentions and research i wanted interactive pull out elements, its a shame it wasn't possible to have them within my publication but creating prints to go with the publication sort of compensates for these pull out elements, it allowed me a higher quality print outcome too this way, if I was to have fold out/pull out elements printed within the book it it wouldn't have took the ink very well on the paper stock. 

The golden background color comes from the world cup, didn't want a solid background as this would clash and draw attention away from the sneaker so this created the perfect balance,