One of the main features of the app is the ability to scan receipts and log the food of the user. This information is the used to find recipes that the user can make with that food.
The Design
The apps design has been kept colourful and simple to have a fun tone of voice and be used by anyone. The stacked paper design reflects the organisation method used by cooks to organise their recipes.
Evaluations
I believe the brief went very well. I came out with an interesting outcome and a USP that seems feasible and extremely useful. I'm surprised it hasn't been done before. The after effects part of the brief went well as well. Although it wasn't particularly complicated, the outcome looked very much like a real app.
‘A Clockwork Orange is as dazzling and inventive to new readers today as it was when it was first published half a century ago. The story is well known both in celluloid and print so it is essential to come at it from a fresh angle. Design a new cover for a new generation of readers, avoiding the obvious clichés. Originality is key.’
Target Audience
‘A new generation of readers’. This phrase implies that the target audience should be young adults of today. The book is in the adult fiction section of the penguin book cover competition which would also imply this.
Deliverables
- A complete book cover design
- Your cover design needs to include all the cover copy as supplied and be designed to the specified design template (B format, 198mm high x 129mm wide, spine width 10mm).
The daring and electrifying book that inspired one of the most notorious films ever made.
‘What we were after was lashings of ultraviolence’
In this nightmare vision of youth in revolt, fifteen-year-old Alex and his friends set out on a diabolical orgy of robbery, rape, torture and murder. Alex is jailed for his teenage delinquency and the State tries to reform him - but at what cost?
A dystopian horror, a black comedy, an exploration of choice, A Clockwork Orange is also a work of exuberant invention which created a new language for its characters.
‘Every generation should discover this book’ Time Out
‘Still delivers the shock of the new . . . a red streak of gleeful evil’ Martin Amis
As research, I re-read A clockwork Orange and watched the film as I was aware that there was a lot of imagery that was created purely for the film that was never described in the book.
A quick explanation and summary of the movie can be found below:
I found a great website that explained some of the deeper themes within the book:
The freedom of individuals to make choices becomes problematic when those choices undermine the safety and stability of society, and in A Clockwork Orange, the state is willing to protect society by taking away freedom of choice and replacing it with prescribed good behavior. In Alex’s world, both the unfettered power of the individual and the unfettered power of the state prove dangerous. Alex steals, rapes, and murders merely because it feels good, but when his violent impulses are taken away, the result is equally as dangerous, simply because freedom of choice, a fundamental element of humanity, has been taken away.
The importance of evil as well as good in human nature is a fundamental theme of A Clockwork Orange. Alex is despicable because he gives free rein to his violent impulses, but that sense of freedom is also what makes him human. Unlike so many of the adult characters in the film, he, at least, seems exuberantly alive. When Ludovico’s Technique eliminates the evil aspects of his personality, he becomes less of a threat to society, but also, the film suggests, less human. He is not truly good because he didn’t choose to be good, and the utilization of that choice is vital to being a complete human being.
In A Clockwork Orange, characters view and use art in many different ways, creating a complex and conflicted picture of how art and real life interact. Alex uses music, film, and art to express and understand his life. During the two weeks that doctors show Alex reel upon reel of sex and violence, he is amazed that the real world looks even more real on a television screen. He and other characters also use art to detach from life and to cut themselves off from other people. When Alex beats Mr. Alexander and prepares to rape his wife, he sings “Singin’ in the Rain” and dances like Gene Kelly did in the musical. By making the violent act into a song and dance, Alex distances himself from the brutality and from his victims’ suffering. The cat lady, whom Alex kills, expresses her sexuality through her statues and the paintings on her walls, but when Alex touches her statue of a penis, she screams at him not to touch it because it’s a work of art. Through art, she makes sexuality an object not to be touched, rather than an act that is all about touching.
Although the film does differ from the book, it does give the us a visualisation of certain scenes within the book. The most iconic being the scene when the protagonist, Alex, is strapped to a chair and forced to watch voilent videos as part of a medical treatment to cure his voilent urges.
This iconic scene could be visualised as the album cover quite simply by displaying a close-up of an eye being pulled open as seen below. The outcome could be quite sinister, but that would be quite fitting for the contents of the book.
Although from an outside perspective it would mean nothing and maybe give away too much, the theme of lack of free will could be depicted through imagery of a puppet.
The treatment Alex receives in the book can be interpreted as reprogramming his brain to think a certain way. This could be visualised by illustrating a brain made from wire with a cut or redirected circuit.
Music is a recurring theme within the book and film and used to convey the erratic mind of Alex. This could be visualised across both sides of the book; one side showing a straight lined, mellow piece of music in the shape of a heads silhouette. The other side would show the piece of music falling apart into chaos to reflect his violent urges.
I decided to develop the eye visual further as it was the most eye catching from all the sketches. I wanted to incorporate some of the other themes within the book and began brainstorming ways I could express this theme of lack of free will. It is made clear through the text that after the treatment Alex's state of mind is imprisonment in its own right, not allowing him to act upon his urges.
I this macro image of my eye to experiment with in photoshop
After some experimentation I was able to achieve an image created from vertical bars made to resemble that of prison bars. I used the orange and black colour scheme to reflect that of prison uniform, but was coincidentally also appropriate for the frequently misinterpretted title of the book.
After hours of experimentation with the laser cutter I managed to produce a few stamps which were to be used with wax to seal the bags for the Cien bottles. The emblem is that of Pintura to make the link between the Restaurant and the gin they are producing.
I was unsure of whether to produce and embossed stamp or the inverted, so I produced both at multiple scales to see which the client preferred.
A few of my first attempts using the stamps were successful, although i found that the MDF used was not the best material for this use. The half plastic, half wax substance tended to stick to the stamp.
When it came to the final prints, I melted all the wax in a pan with a blowtorch to have more control.
I'm happy with the final prints, but would use a diferent technique to pour the wax in future as the pan did not have a spout of any kind. As you can see below, it could sometimes be a bit messy.
Due to the quantity that would have to be produced, the managers at Pintura requested that I produced the label as a simple sticker that would be much easier for them to stick to bottles. I wasn't as fond of this, but found that it did not affect the design much.
I found that the design lacked impact, especially when compared to the alternative label that was produced for the 50 limited edition bottles seen below. The copper lines did not show up as much as I wanted. Although the client is happy with the final outcome, I may develop this further for my portfolio
It was nice to see my design in use. It was blogged by a few gin bloggers on the opening night, but as you can see below, the design does not show up very well in low lighting.
I began developing my original sketches of the app into digital form
my first attempt experimenting with the drop shadow style was successful, but I had selected very boring colours which did not reflect themes of fresh food.
I developed the digital experiments further by cutting out all unnecessary elements and changing the colour scheme to a more vibrant teal and orange. The large simple interface was a lot more visually appealing than prior.
I began developing some of my user interface and functionality ideas. I experimented with how the user could slide their thumb across the screen to change the quantity of an item instead of inputing it manually. This type of user interaction is much more enjoyable and easier if understood
Each page of the app began to take on a similar layout which is good for keeping the visual language consistent, allowing the user to understand how to use the app.
I briefly tried to incorporate images of food, but found it did not suite the style and wanted to try something diferent to usual apps. Asking for feedback from peers I found that food photography on recipes can often be intimidating and discourage users to try making a recipe as they can look complex and time consuming.
Instead I chose to use icons of to represent to food. This seems more fitting with the style of the user interface.
I was trying to find a more interesting way to scan barcodes but found that the usual technique used by apps was probably the most effective.
