Plans for winter break

Over winter break I plan on largely resolving my print pieces so that I can spend next semester focusing on my website. More importantly however, I plan on figuring out exactly how I am going to tackle the website. This includes resolving how the site will look, how it will function, and researching means to accomplish what I want the site to do that fall within my budget. I plan on soaking up as much info as I can on php, javascript and other routes that will ultimately lead to my end goal.

Site mockups (Home and subpage)

Letterhead and Business Card Mockups

Clothing Mockups

Logo

Mockups

I have started sketching out variations of how the site could look and I am in the process of building some mock ups in photoshop. I have a class critique next week on the 7th and I want to have several things to look at. I would like to have some business card and letterhead mock ups as well. The sooner I get the design set in stone the sooner I can start building out the site, which at this point looks like it will be a fairly daunting task. I want to allow enough time next semester to write code for the site because I am fairly unfamiliar with coding for web at this time. I know that this site will have to have e-commerce functionality and be linked to a parts database. I am sure that there are other components that will need to be coded, but I will address those as they come.

Business Cards

Looking for a manufacturer that can do engraved aluminum business cards. Two stand out at this point but the prices are very high. I am going to contact both companies and find out if they will do a smaller quantity. If not than I may be forced find someone that can machine a few locally. I don't want to abandon the idea so if push comes to shove I may be able to keep the look of a black brushed aluminum card while using plastic.

http://www.plasmadesign.co.uk/metalbusinesscards.htm

http://www.metalcards.com/metalcards/index.html

Working on Logo

That is where I am at today. I will post several options for each name when I am finished. Later this afternoon I plan on mapping out the website.

Identity

Right now I am in the process of sketching out ideas for the logo design. I have narrowed the options down to two, fission and singularity.

Fission: The process whereby one item splits to become two; The process of splitting the nucleus of an atom into smaller particles. Fission of Heavy elements produce large amounts of energy. Fission represents power or potential power and is relevant to the computer industry because the name of the game is computing power. At this point fission is easier to work with in term of representing it visually.

Singularity: A technological singularity is a hypothetical event occurring when technological progress becomes so extremely rapid that it makes the future after the singularity qualitatively different and harder to predict. An example could be the creating of superhuman artificial intelligence or the discovery of alien technology. Singularity is somewhat of an abstract concept and I am struggling to wrap my head around it, however I feel that the concept says a lot about technology and I like this name better than fission. Visually representing this concept will prove to be very challenging.

Anodizing

Here are some anodizing color options. There are many more outside of these examples.

Inspiration (Brushed Aluminum)

Cases (full tower)

Cases (mid tower)

Vision for the look of the company

In my mind I have always associated technology with the future. I remember a time when computers were not a household item and my only exposure to that technology was through cinema, movies like Star Wars and other films in that genre. With that in mind, I think it is appropriate to capture that futuristic look without going overboard. There are already gaming computer manufacturers who take that look to the extreme (Alienware). My goal is to find a middle ground between that look and Apple's clean, sleek, and modern design. I intend on using black brushed aluminum cases and carrying that material over into the other components of this project as well (Business aluminum business cards). I could also carry that look through other print pieces and packaging by using the texture of the brushed aluminum as well. I want my company to be an aesthetically pleasing PC option, because at this point I believe that option does not exist. I want my company to bridge the gap between Apple and Alienware.

More Research

I am still pounding away at the research portion of this project. It is very tedious but interesting to me so I am not completely miserable. There is alot to cover in this portion. I pretty much have my base computer builds set in stone. I have also selected a number of full tower and mid tower cases in two different aesthetics, gaming cases and clean cases. The majority of cases are brushed aluminum so anodizing those cases as opposed to painting them will be an option. Anodizing allows a number of color choices and maintains the sheen and texture of brushed aluminum while painting largely covers that texture. Custom paint jobs will be an option for those people who feel one color is too limiting for them. Today I am planning on building out product lists on newegg.com. That will allow me easy access to all the technical information as well as product pictures and prices in one place. I still need to decide what lighting options to include as well as finish out the accessory lists. I hope to have all of this completed by next Thursday when I will present all of this as well as my vision for the company in a class critique. Considering the vision for the company, it has changed somewhat. Originally I had intended for this to be a custom gaming computer company, but now it has been broadened into a custom computer company that offers gaming computers as well as custom computers for the everyday user. Considering this change, I need to adjust my vision of the companies identity to fit this.

Research

Right now I am pounding my way through the research process. It has been about a year since I have built a computer and in the technology world that may as well be a thousand years. I am working re-acclimate myself to the new hardware that is out now. I am working on creating four base builds priced at 600, 1200, 2200, and 3200 in order to cover the whole range of potential buyers. These base builds will of course be upgradeable and customizable for additional money. Upgrades can include extended storage, faster/more ram, integration of liquid cooling, processor upgrades, etc. In an effort to remain realistic about this project I am limiting myself to existing computer cases available and will not be designing the case itself as I do not have access to the resources needed to complete industrial design. I do not think this will be a problem as there is a plethora of case designs out there for me to select from in order to fit the aesthetic of my company.However, my company will offer customized paintjobs or anodizing for the cases they select in order to make it theirs or fit to fit their personal tastes. Other customization options can include lighting, cable management colors, and fan colors. 

I have an idea in my head about how I want my company to feel and I have been tossing around name ideas and doing some rough sketches of logos. It seems to help me when I get wrapped up in the technical aspect of selecting hardware to break and brainstorm about how this company will look. I hope to have my research completed in a week or two so I can begin working on the identity of my company full time. I am excited about this project and I can't wait to see it in it's final form

Project Proposal

Here is the proposal for my senior capstone project

Description: I consider myself lucky to have grown up in the computer generation. I was very young when my family got our first computer and I have been in love with technology ever since. I built my first computer several years ago and it was an extremely fun and rewarding process, from picking out the hardware to assembling it. Since that time I have built custom computers for several of my friends and I enjoy it now as much as I did back then. For my capstone I would like to create a custom gaming computer company (name pending). I feel that this would be a rewarding project to work on as it would involve designing identity, collateral materials, advertising, and packaging all revolving around a topic I am very passionate about.

Form: Corporate Identity including Logo, business cards, letterhead, t-shirts: an advertising campaign consisting of magazine ads; product packaging for the PCs and peripherals; a website, and informational graphics highlighting the features of each custom rig.

Materials: Paper and sturdy materials for the identity and packaging, computer items for the exhibition, and professional printing for the ads, business cards, computer accessories, mousepads, and other peripherals.

Exhibition: This depends on where I go with the name of the company and it's identity. I imagine it will be similar to a manufacturer booth at a trade show (think e3). It will have the various collateral materials from the ID, custom gaming pc's and peripherals carrying the logo, perhaps a large poster backdrop with info graphics informing the viewer about the computers, and some gaming magazines carrying the ad inserts

My Blog

This blog will cover my senior graphic design capstone project from inception to completion over the course of the 2010-2011 school year.