Stationery Range Brief - Geometric Designs

I came across the following work by Victoria Haven on the website Upon a Fold (one of my soon to be stockists!!) I thought this was perfect research for my current brief, looking at geometric illustrations. I love the randomness that the images have and I think it has made them feel quite natural in pattern. I also think the use of space and line quality along with sparse and neutral colours enhances the feeling of a natural design, while using very angular lines.

Juniper Park Moleskine

These moleskin journals by Juniper Park were created for the agency in December 2009. Each notebook features a different slogan, among these, “Opportunities aren’t given, they’re made,” “Take your work seriously and yourself, less so,” and “Don’t just sit there, create something,” all in bold capital type embossed on the cover. The agency’s logo is embossed on the back cover and is featured in repetition on the paper band enveloping each set.” (text above borrowed from here)

I think the simple use of debossing the typography on the front covers adds a subtle but effective impact and the belly band that wraps around the covers adds the brands logo and name, with a brighter impact. I think the way the separate books work together as a set is quite nice and I think the simple packaging device (belly band) is a great simple tool to show the books come as a set, without it taking over the designs. This subtle impact and feeling of set is something I want to achieve with my notebooks and stationery.

Erik Anthony Hamline

I recently came across the following work by Erik Anthony Hamline. I love the use of paper stock, the typography and the perfect crafting of the books. They have a great feeling of a collection, that is given by the use of similar layout and placement of text and binding of each separate book. I like how each book could be seen as an individual book, yet at the same time is a smaller part of a collection. This is something I should consider for my papercut stationery, plus I really like the style of binding, with the cover being stuck to the book block and having a fold to open flat. The use of typography and visual hierarchy of the fonts used creates a great impact too and the large text makes you want to read the small text to find out more.

Studio Output

I recently revisited Studio Output's website and saw the following project below for Playstation Press website. I love the fact they have used origami/geometric designs and paper to create a design that works great for a digital product and for a digital context. I think this is great as it shows that handmade and analogue materials can be used in a creative way across a wide range of contexts and for a wide range of products - including digital products and designs.

Stationery Range Brief - Structure Research

The first two images are from the book "Postcard" by FL@33, Agathe Jacquillat, and Tomi Vollauschek.While researching structures such as architecture, the strong horizontal and vertical lines reminded me of typography and the way characters look while they are being designed as you can see in the images from the book Type & typography. I chose the images below as they have strong, bold structured aesthetics and look as though they have been rigidly made.




I like the example below from Stefan Sagmeisters book "Things I Have Learned in My Life So Far" as it shows typography more natural and it has a more hand made feel to it, while still being structured within a structure of a spider web.




I feel Type & Typography by Phil Baines and Andrew Haslam is a good book to look at for structure within typography as it shows examples of characters being created, the structure of individual characters and what each part of them is called along with the visual elements of leading & individual cut metal character blocks.




Below are a few examples of what I think are interesting examples of structured type from the book - "Hand Job" by by Michael Perry. I like the first image as the typography isn't actual created, it is just revealed through the use of negative space, with the rest of the image being full of illustrations. This use of negative space could be an interesting thing to try with my papercut designs for my stationery. I felt the second image was a good example of structure as it is purely made up of lines, just moving in different directions. I love this simplicity and feel it is very effective.

Stationery Range Brief - Structure Research

After looking around for structures that were large designs built with smaller elements I thought about looking into chemistry and chemical compound diagrams, such as these stick and ball diagrams used to create a chemical element 3D for visual purposes. I also came across some designs using interlocking circles, shapes and geometric elements to illustrate chemicals which I thought created an interesting visual.

Stationery Range Brief - Structure Research

I feel elements of book design create interesting structures such as the examples I found below from the book "Book Design" by Andrew Haslam. They are layout templates/examples and ways to lay a page design out to make it pleasing to the eye, while considering pagination and typography too with the first image. With these images, it is not the purpose of them (such as helping with layout) that I find interesting, but the actual patterns, shapes and structures that they create. I think this kind of structure would be interesting to focus on as it has a link back to graphic design and my interest in books.

Stationery Range Brief - Structure Research

Looking in the book "Tokyo Style" by - by Daisann McLane, Reto Guntli, and Angelika Taschen, it is Japanese architecture again that has inspired me. I love the simple use of shape and tones of colours. The repetitive lines and squares in different formations, making up a larger section/segment of a house or building. In the second and last images you can see the man made structures directly against the natural structures (the trees) & I think this this combination of natural & man made creates an interesting contrast as the designs of them both are completely opposite.

Stationery Range Brief - Structure Research

After looking through the book "Cutting Edge Patterns and Textures" by Estel Vilaseca. I came across a range of pattern designs that are structural in several ways - geometric, man made, repetitive, simple and basic shapes are used. I feel they all have a certain structural element to them as they are patterns made of smaller sections of the full image. I think colour and detail also plays a huge part in how these patterns create an impact as some of the more subtly coloured designs have more of an impact than the bright designs, & some of the more simple designs seem more eye catching.

Stationery Range Brief - Structure Research

A book I have had for a while is "Japanese Graphics Now" by Julius Wiedemann. I often go back to this book for research and inspiration when I start a new project, but as I haven't looked in it for a while I have felt like I have rediscovered some of the work in it!

The image below relates particularly well to my design practice, as it is a papercut book section and it also relates to my chosen theme of structures. I would like to create this 3D structure type element within some of my designs, even if the designs I produce end up being a 2D representation.

The design below interested me in relation to structures as the geometric elements in the design relate to book design and layout & grids that are used to help with layout in books. I think the Japanese text adds an extra element of structure as it is quite formal looking, with geometric elements.
I think the image below is interesting as the structure of the bug is made up of lots of smaller elements (circles) and I like the way the individual elements are contained within its main outline.

I thought the image below was quite an interesting way to represent structures as it could be interpreted as a vertical structure or a structure from a birds eye view (which it is) I think this kind of floor plan image creates an interesting visual that would look good as a papercut, with all the sections connecting to create a larger image.

This image was chosen due to its layout. This is a representation of structure within layout, as well as being made up of smaller elements. Each bug is made of small leaves and twigs, giving each of them the feeling of structures as they are a large element made up of smaller elements.

I feel the image below has the same feeling as the bug above, that is made of circles, as all the smaller elements are combined and contained to create a whole image.

These small sections of human anatomy look interesting in this layout as you get to see the whole image (a human body) in its entirety but in a different way to what is normal.


The following images are layouts for posters, which I feel have a simplistic, geometric feel. This simplicity makes the designs stand out and the layouts become the focus.


I thought the image of the umbrellas was interesting as they are made up of complex structures, yet on the outside (the top bit we see) they are simple. I think they also create an interesting pattern.

This image of houses and pylons creates an intricate repeat pattern, due to the wires on the pylons, while using a simple, subdued colour palette. I would like to use the same technique with my imagery for my stationery as I feel the more simple and paired down my colour palette, the more the focus will be on the designs and the materials of the products.