Author: Liam Brady

Working with Wider

Graphic Design

Working with Wider

In July 2017, I had the privilege of gaining work experience with Wider, a design agency based in Solihull, England. As per their website, the team at Wider specialises in “strategic logo design, creative marketing and bespoke WordPress website design”.

By working with highly accomplished creatives, in a state-of-the-art studio, I gained industry standard skills and expertise, while immersing myself in a professional working environment. I also designed for real clients, as opposed to following a fictional brief.

After completing my time at Wider, I had the pleasure of documenting my time there, as part of their customary monthly blog. By clicking here, you can see the entirety of what I had to say about my experience of working with such a reputable design agency.

Looking back, my experience with Wider has undoubtedly assisted me on my journey as a prospective designer, and I thank the team greatly for opening their doors to me. As a result, I believe I enter my third year of university with a new degree of confidence.

Boxing Posters

Graphic Design

It is no secret that I am an avid boxing fan, as well as a keen designer. Therefore, when I get to combine both of these hobbies – I gladly do so. Here are a few examples of my boxing posters, which were created in my free time, as well as for Round By Round Boxing.

It is key to note that none of these photographs are my property, and not one of these posters have been used for commercial purposes.

Images can be enlarged by clicking on the thumbnails.

Round By Round Boxing – Business Cards

Graphic Design

As part of their branding revamp in late 2016, I was tasked with designing a new business card for Round By Round Boxing. The business card would have to conform to the website’s current house style and colour scheme, and this was achieved by utilising the colours black, gold, and white. Furthermore, the design exemplifies the usual conventions of a business card, such as layout, but it also has a contemporary look. This is attributed to the use of sans-serif fonts, as opposed to the more traditional serif fonts that are available. You can see the final design below.

Business Cards

Business Cards

Tomorrow’s Fighters – Magazine Concept

Graphic Design

Here is a magazine I designed personally, as part of a university assignment. I was tasked with not only designing a 12 page magazine, but also devising a concept that would try to exploit a gap in the current market. After deciding I would focus on boxing, a sport I passionately follow, I then performed extensive research on sports magazines. Thereafter, I was able to deduce that amateur boxing was deprived of coverage, when compared to professional boxing. As such, I created Tomorrow’s Fighters, which provides unprecedented coverage of amateur boxing.

The house style of the magazine consists of the colours red and yellow. I chose red, firstly, due to its links with amateur boxing. Amateur boxers commonly wear red attire, with the opponent wearing blue. However, I prioritised red due to it being more striking than blue, and therefore, it connotes the intensity and excitement of boxing more effectively. Boxing is a very intense sport, so it was imperative to depict that.

Secondly, the colour yellow has similarities to gold, namely the gold medal awarded to boxing champions. As a result, yellow signifies triumph and victory, and as such, will uplift readers. Additionally, it suggests to customers that the magazine is unprecedented, which is similar to a champion being superior to the opponents they have defeated. Therefore, the magazine’s visual message is uplifting, rather than downbeat and negative. The magazine concept can be seen below.

 

Take 10 – Chat Show

Graphic Design

Take 10 Logo

Recently, I was part of a chat show, for a university assignment. The show is called Take 10, and is designed for an audience ranging from 18-34 years old. Take 10 is an evening show that covers an abundance of topics, such as animals, social media, and sports. I was the show’s graphic designer, during pre-production, as well as graphics operator, during production. As such, I was responsible for giving Take 10 a distinctive brand identity.

After discussing with the production crew, we decided that the brand identity of Take 10 would feature the colours purple and green, with sans-serif fonts. This was a viable decision, given the time of our show, as purple was commonly used by evening chat shows. Therefore, the colour scheme of Take 10 was appropriate for the time of broadcast. Overall, I designed many graphics and VTs, such as name bars, viewers’ Tweets, infographics, and the show’s actual logo (above). More examples can be seen below:

The Inquisition – Short Drama

TV and Film

Here is my latest production, which is a short drama that I produced alongside other Birmingham City University students. Furthermore, we collaborated with Birmingham School of Acting students, who helped bring this project to life. The short drama is titled The Inquisition, and my production roles were director of photography, camera operator, writer, and editor. You can see the synopsis for the drama below:

“A young adult’s criminal lifestyle seems to backfire, when he is taken captive by a group of thugs, and interrogated by an unfamiliar adversary. However, the answers forced out of the captive lead to some harsh truths, irrelevant to his criminal background.”

Personally, it was my first time working with artistes, thanks to the Birmingham School of Acting. The artistes were extremely diligent with their work, and their performances were gripping. Moreover, it was extremely gratifying to see text on a page, in terms of the drama’s script, actually come to life, via a filmed drama. Below you can see the key art I designed for the production, as well as a behind the scenes photograph.

Sole Mates – TV Documentary

TV and Film

In this short documentary, made for a university assignment, me and my production team look at the contemporary, but also historical, issue of ‘sneaker culture’. For the production, I assumed the roles of director, co-producer, co-editor, and researcher. The documentary, named Sole Mates, can be viewed via the video player above.

Featured at The Forum, Los Angeles!

Graphic Design

Round By Round Boxing

On April 23, 2016, The Forum in Los Angeles, California hosted a boxing match between middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin, and challenger Dominic Wade.

In conjunction with Round By Round Boxing, I designed a poster in advance for this match, to promote and expose the event further, before the official artwork was released.

Surprisingly, the official Twitter account for Gennady Golovkin endorsed our poster design, when posting information on how fans can buy tickets to his match.

Furthermore, on the day of the match, The Forum started to project our poster design on its big screen, thus exposing it around the venue, and to viewers worldwide, in what was an event that was televised on HBO in the United States.

It’s incredibly gratifying to have our work publicised on a large scale, at such a reputable event. You can see the poster shown at The Forum below.

 

Face Off: Canelo/Golovkin (HBO Boxing)

TV and Film

Here is my edited video, which depicts a face-to-face interview between Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin, two world champion boxers. As of December 2015, it is understood that Canelo and Golovkin are expected to meet in a world championship fight in late 2016. This matchup would be aired on HBO Pay-Per-View in the United States.

As exemplified by previous matches, such as Cotto vs. Canelo in November 2015, any high profile matchup that’s aired on HBO Pay-Per-View is accompanied by a ‘face off’ hosted by Max Kellerman. These face-to-face interviews are shown weeks before the fight, as a way of building anticipation. As a consequence, more viewers purchase the fight.

Canelo and Golovkin, arguably two of boxing’s biggest stars, will undoubtedly take part in a ‘face off’ to promote their match, if they agree a deal. By using footage from two different HBO ‘face offs’, Cotto/Canelo and Golovkin/Lemieux, I have created a fantasy preview named Face Off: Canelo/Golovkin. The video, edited with Final Cut Pro, shows both fighters talking about one another.

As a boxing fan personally, I do hope we see a real version of this, as it would be an incredibly exciting matchup.

All footage is property of Home Box Office, Inc. No copyright intended.