Email: feralandproud1@gmail.com
Call:
+44(0)7306329150
FERAL&
PROUD:
Oui-Je Vis
FERAL&PROUD is the name I gave my freelance art-house when I was just starting to teach myself graphic design and illustration.
This platform enabled me to guide clients through social media and by networking to secure freelance and voluntary work. These opportunities supported me in building up my experience and portfolio. I've since found it useful as a fictitious company or organization from which to hang my more experimental personal projects on.
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In this project, FERAL&PROUD is a multi-media organization and OUI-JE VIS is a magazine and part of FERAL&PROUD’s cheeky, retro, and bold empire.
OUI-JE VIS was my first experiment with digital composites using photoshop and procreate.
The first asset I created was a large poster. This was the culmination of 5 photographs and hand drawn sans serif typography. I took inspiration from The French new wave aesthetic, the publication ‘Oh So Pretty’, and 70’s pop and punk culture. The aim was to create a fierce, liberating and cheeky poster that texturally and aesthetically aligned with authentic 70’s punk posters and flyers. I experimented with grain, blur, and colour.
I Like experimenting with contrast. Contrast in concept, character, and design. The combination logo I created for Feral and proud aimed to play with our unconscious associations.
The use of formal and elegant serif font creates a sense of reassurance, prestige, heritage, and structure. Yet the actual sentiment of 'feral and proud' stands to suggest rebellion, anarchy and anti-structure. It is the antithesis of what serif stands for.
The imagery of a crown aligns with the character of serif, yet the chicken scratch illustration of the crown at an angle, nods at that cheeky, 'looks can be deceiving' brand identity.
The mission in this project
OUI-JE VIS is a progression from my original project. I have since reworked the design and extended it to create this fictional well-being, lifestyle, and arts magazine. This is a personal project I created to explore and experiment with editorial layouts and design for print.
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I wanted to carry forward the aesthetic of 70's pop and punk but with more refinery. While the 1960s relied on dripping psychedelic imagery and self-expression, the 1970s was a time for further experimentation, collective movement and deviations from the decade that came before it.
Combining photography and eye-catching typography became a mainstay of brand work while illustrations became accessories to more bold political posters. I wanted to apply mixed media, illustrative typefaces, photography, graphic collage to these designs and layouts. The aim was to challenge myself in balancing bold elements with typography.
Outcomes
The outcome is a fun, vivacious and nonchalant double page spread that carries through key elements of 70’s pop and punk design. My attention to hierarchy, symmetry, and composition adds a sense of structure and contemporary formality.
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The article visually translates as both entertaining and trustworthy because of my experimentation with typography. It is equally aligned with the brand identity of OUI-JE VIS and FERAL&PROUD. Feral and proud is a rebellious and cheeky brand whose purpose is to inspire self-assurance in its readers and followers.
The magazine cover is entertaining and energizing. My characterful hand drawn sans serif typeface and photo composites work well together as contrasting elements. Furthermore, my application of a larger-than-life acidic colour pallet set against the monochromatic image of a rampaging female form reinforces the playful and cheeky theme.
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This cover design translates well to merchandise and seems to require minimal adjustment to be fit for purpose. The merch serves to spread the word, provide a form of ‘uniform’ or wearable, portable reminder of the brands purpose. The focus is liberation, strength of mind and positivity. All of which are abstractly represented in the illustrative style I've applied and my experiment approach to typography.
In the double spread, my use of a pull quote concludes the sentiment started on the previous page. You start with apathy and conclude with joy. All products work harmoniously in reinforcing my fictitious brand identity. and staying true to my desired 70's pop and punk.
Inspiration
This magazine's cover and double page spread was inspired by 70's pop and punk design, a sense of rebellion, anarchy and a need for liberation.
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Images of civil unrest, punk culture and other publications and designs of the time enabled me to select a specific colour pallet and aesthetic that aligned with the brand purpose, and achieved the desired visual narrative.
The highly contrasting colours are eye catching, especially when placed against a black and white background.
Layers +
Layers
The creation of the rampaging woman for the cover. The symbol of pure joy, liberation, and wildness.
Design in Use.
Below is a mock-up of my fictitious magazine OUI-JE-VIS from FERAL&PROUD. I have created a double page spread on the topic of the mid-life crisis and the current perfectly imperfect socio-political culture. I felt the visual character of the magazine naturally lent itself to articles on wellbeing, current affairs, and the arts.
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I wrote a short article and had a lot of fun experimenting with bold graphics and typefaces. While the vertical and symmetrical composition of the spread suggests formality and a static nature, the bold application of form and colour provides welcome bursts of life and playfulness. The elements contained within the design are composites and strive to transcend a literal reflection of the article for an extreme abstract representation.
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I chose the colour green to contrast against the fuchsia used in the hand drawn type of the front cover. Initially I was going to apply a vivid cyan blue, however, I wanted to create the illusion of dripping slime and not water. So green it was.
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On both the cover and internal spread, I juxtaposed horizontal and static forms. For example, the city scape and the page number banners are set against the more organic, graphic, and illustrative forms of the Venus statue, the rampaging primary character on the front cover, and woman in a vice.
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The double page spread:
I applied vivid minimalism in this design as it creates a strong visual impact. It draws attention to key elements and the simple and uncluttered design communicates far more effectively.
The statuesque female figure is fractured and broken apart. Sentiments radiating from her fault lines. This figure abstractly represents the article discussion.
Typography and typeface act as extensions of the physically communicated energy of this form. They contribute to a crudely humorous and ironic character.
The decision to use evocative full bleed imagery and a clear hierarchy of text styles and sizes further contributes to a bold and un-cluttered visual experience. Close cropping and repetition of colour in the image composites and page number banner creates a recognizable bold brand identity.
The Merchandise
I created mock-ups of how I would design LVP covers, tote bags and posters. I felt that merchandise in this vein targeted a similar audience to that of music fans and the less mainstream. I simplified the merchandise design and removed elements that were specific to the function of the magazine cover.
