My visit to MediaCityUK

UK Illustrator: Mike Harrison

Mike Harrison is a 25 year old freelance graphic designer and illustrator. He has 7 years of experience in the graphic design industry. I really like this illustration of his called "Blackhole", i really like the contrast of the white horse and detailed line art against the black background, i also really like the subtle inclusion of blue colour. I like the perspective and how it makes it look almost as if it is coming out of the page

KittoZutto

KittoZutto is an art and design boutique comprising of Yana & Jun.

They combine fine art illustration with digital imaging, and the highly-detailed results are often best seen in large formats.

There isn't much information about them on the internet but I was drawn to this image because I really like the glow of the wheat, the contrast of the birds on the black background and the interesting wooden texture of the background.

Alberto Cerriteño

Alberto Cerriteño is a Mexican illustrator & designer. He is strongly inspired by urban vinyl toys, alternative cartoons, and the pop surrealism movement.

 I like his use of strong textures, rich colours and the use of basic shapes to create characters. 

MediaCityUK: Facts and Figures

MediaCityUK will be connected to one of the most advanced communications networks in the world, they are installing more than 20 million metres of fibre optic data cable (enough to stretch from Salford to Sydney, Australia). The network will be able to handle speeds of up to 10 gigabits a second..


There will be two brand new 22 storey residential towers: TheHeart and NumberOne. Both the towers overlook the plaza and are adjacent to the BBC. Residents will benefit from transport links such as: a tram terminal, a new link road to the M602 and around 300 cycle bays across MediaCityUK.


The University of Salford has already committed to an on-site presence at MediaCityUK, and will occupy a new research and technology facility from 2011.  An estimated 1,500 students will be based on the campus.


MediaCityUK aspire to have the highest environmental and energy saving ratings. The are the first development to become a BREEAM approved sustainable community.


MediaCityUK will be served by a trigeneration power plant, which will help minimise CO2 emissions by centralising heating and cooling equipment. This process will also utilise water from the Manchester Ship Canal, before returning it cleaner than before

MediaCityUK

This is an overhead plan of what is to be expected to be built at MediaCityUK by 2011 (Phase 1).
As you can see from the key in the plan MediaCityUK is aiming to be a fully functional city providing services for all aspects of life such as appartements, university, jobs, hotels etc.
I feel that is is important to communicate that it will be an actual "City" in the illustration as I believe many people are only aware that it will house a new site for the BBC.

Three Cool Brands

The Skype logo is illustrative of the word sky, using a sky blue colour and a cloud like shape. The gloss effect of the logo looks very contemporary as it is quite subtle and is broken down by the flat white of the text “skype”. The trademark abbreviation “TM” is very well incorporated into the logo further enhancing the overall aesthetics of the logo.

The ghd logo is very unique as it is a type logo that consists only of circles. The orange colour (specifically: Pantone 144) is instantly recognisable, especially when contrasted with black (such as when the logo is printed on the straighteners). Although I think the design it is now quite dated the brand identity is still very fashionable due to their glamorous advertisement campaigns.

Topshop’s logo consists of a full uppercase, lightweight sans-serif font in black (and inversely white on a black background). The logo is very passive as there is very little design element to it; but this is very important and works to the company’s advantage: as Topshop is a fashion store it is very important for their logo to be passive so it consistently fits in with current fashion trends thus allowing them to keep the same logo indefinitely allowing them to create a stable brand identity and build brand loyalty with old and new consumers.