Shy Bairns was approached by Intern Magazine to create a limited edition poster to be sold at their Out of Nowhere event, a series of talks and workshops taking place in the ACE Corner Shop in Shoreditch, London, in collaboration with clothing brand Napapijiri.
The brief was to create a three colour riso print based around 'an imagined positive future for the creative industries'. The design was to be formatted to A3 and submitted as black and white jpegs ready for printing, and the turn-around for the design was two days.
The riso colours that were available are shown below:
Concept
The concepts and design for the poster were generated in collaboration with the other three members of Shy Bairns, located across Manchester and London.
The concept for the design found inspiration in the name of the collective and the slogan that is often used across our work and merchandise - shy bairns get nowt. The phrase in essence means 'if you don't ask you don't get', and is an ethos that drives the collective to create platforms and communities in the face of elitist creative institutions. As a result it was decided that the poster should remain entirely type-based.
The type treatment was created with a conscious awareness of the largely south-London audience that would interact with the poster, and layout was inspired by the style of design that is often found in areas of London such as Pop Brixton. The colour palette was deliberately limited to black, red and white to reflect elements of Northern culture, with the addition of a metallic gold to highlight the definition.
Evaluation
The production time for this project was the shortest of the module, at only two days, and therefore required strict time management and communication. However the design successfully fulfils the original brief. The typography creates a visually striking design that incorporates subtle tongue-in-cheek humour to strengthen the message behind the concept. Design decisions for the type treatment and colour scheme were consciously made in regards to the London-based target audience, and how the aesthetic of the Shy Bairns collective could be translated and remain accessible. The resulting design remains true to the brand and brief, while simultaneously creating new avenues within the Shy Bairns aesthetic.