Final Consultation On The Booklet Design

 

I had my final consultation with my supervising lecturer, Christa Van Zyl, we mainly discussed the layout and design of the booklet. Above is my preliminary grid and layout of the booklet design.

Although Ivan requested a black and white booklet, I have added yellow as an accent colour which really kinda holds the layout together – the booklet is quite lacking without it. I will suggest to him that he prints using the yellow, however, he is the client and his choice will be final.

I’ve taken a lot of inspiration from modernist graphic design, but have added my own subjective aesthetic views, so it is not truly modernist. I am having a bit of a hard time pairing the illustration style with the layout design. I hope I can resolve this quickly. So far I have designed 10 pages of the booklet and need to step up the pace to meet the hand-over deadline on the 9th of May.

The African Honey Bee

I found a great source of information about honey bees in South Africa at the link below. The Cape Honey bee is indigenous to the cape region, where as the species present here in Johannesburg is the African honey bee – which is known as the most aggressive.

Honeybees of South Africa

Progress Report

I have spend much of this last week working on the booklet design as well as the illustrations and content to accompany it.

I must say, I completely underestimated the amount of time and effort required to produce a design I am happy to present to my client.

So far I have established an acceptable illustration style and layout for the booklet, although I am second guessing my choices. I will continue with what I have and hopefully improve on the design as I go.

Sources Consulted

In developing content for the guide book, I have read several text and guides which Ivan provided me with, as well as sources I have found.

Below is a list of the sources I have consulted:

• An Introduction to beekeeping – Practical ActionAppropriate Technology Journal Volume 20. Number 4 March 1994 (www.practicalaction.org)

• The E-book on Honeybees – Albert W Needham 2010 (http://www.beginningbeekeeping.com)

• Bee-hive Construction & Beekeeping Skills Training for Youth in Gokwe South Rural District – Gokwe Vocational Training Centre (June 2011) 

• The Farmers’ Handbook – “Near The House 1”, Chapter 12 – Beekeeping :(http://www.permaculturenews.org/resources_files/farmers_handbook/volume_2/12_beekeeping.pdf)

• Beekeeping: a Primer on Starting & Keeping a Hive – Dominique DeVito             (2010, Sterling Publishing)

 

Interesting Quote on the Hexagonal Shape of Honeycombs

“Bees… by virtue of a certain geometrical forethought, knew that the hexagon is greater than the square and the triangle and will hold more honey for the same expenditure of material.”

― Pappus, Greek Mathematical Works, Volume II: Aristarchus to Pappus

Developing an Illustration Style

 

The Dhammapada Qoute

“In the village, a sage should go about
Like a bee, which, not harming
Flower, colour or scent,
Flies off with the nectar.”

― Anonymous, The Dhammapada

Final Logo BeeHaven Design

The BeeHaven logo design has been finalised, although I do need to get confirmation from Ivan that we will be using the name BeeHaven (as in a safe place for bees) rather than BeeGin, which is problematic as it is read as: Bee & Gin.

The final design is based on the unique features of the hives deisgn and structure.

The hives are constructed using practical materials, concrete and cardboard, the hives also have grooves in the structure reflective of the interlocking hexagonal shapes found in hives.

I have considered this in the logo design, the grooves are reflected as well as the solid and industrial feel of the hives. The angled lines are suggestive of a roof while a hexagonal based reflects honey combs. Helvetica Neue has been used in two weights, the typeface is beautifully structured and clean and compliments the logo style and brand identity.

Initial Logo Designs

Worked on quite a few logo designs but none of them felt quite right and did not effectively depict Ivan’s hives or the overall feel of the brand.

I eventually chose to focus on what makes the BeeHaven hives unique… and so attempted to capture the look and feel of the hive designs in the logo.

Stylistic References

1. Killer Bees Playing Cards – Backbone Branding & Stephan Azaryan (https://www.behance.net/gallery/31413413/Killer-Bees-Playing-Cards)
2. BEELoved Honey – Tamara Mihajlovic & Njegos Lakic Tajsio (https://www.behance.net/gallery/7297839/BEEloved-honey)
3. 99U Conference Branding – R Brandon, JK Glei & M Corea (https://www.behance.net/gallery/99U-Conference-Branding-Collateral-2013/8906395)
4. Wild Honey Packaging – Yinsersi Gonzales (https://www.behance.net/gallery/31286521/Wild-Honey-Honey-Packaging)
5. Kyekyong Editorial – Eunsun Park (https://www.behance.net/gallery/17129207/Kyekyong-Editorial)