Black and White Work

There are times when I produce work in the simple medium of black and white.

Although designing in black and white may be considered a constraint, there is a refreshing simplicity to it. The use of positive and negative space, along with various shapes, careful attention to typography and balance can work wonders in creating a striking design.

Below are examples of a couple of projects I have created in black and white.

Mustard Seed

The Mustard Seed is a half-yearly A5-sized publication created for Kennington Catholic Parish (located in Bendigo).

For many years, it was created in Microsoft Word using Clipart and basic formatting. It was also originally printed on a Risograph (a duplicating machine that prints faster than a standard laser printer/photocopier but slower than offset printing technology). The Risograph struggled to print a limited range of tones in photographs, creating further limitations with colour printing.

Although the Mustard Seed contained some inspiring content, some gifts in graphic design were needed to bring it to its full potential. I have enjoyed being able to use my skills in page layout, typography and simple illustration to help bring more recent editions of the Mustard Seed alive. In addition, the purchase of a new printer by the parish has enabled me to use photographs (turning the Mustard Seed into more of a black and white magazine).

I have also developed various skills including; communications with the client and editor, making sure the publications flows, selecting appropriate images, the presentation of the content and impositioning pages (so they could print as a booklet). I have also worked with the printing, collation and distribution of the Mustard Seed; thus enabling me to see the process of an entire publication from conception through to its presentation to the end user.

To view the entire Mustard Seed, click here (link opens in new window or tab, depending on your web browser and its settings). Please note that this link is to a PDF file and requires Adobe Reader to view it. Click here to download this software (link opens in new window).

Christmas Party Invitations

To mark the end of 2010, a local St Vincent de Paul conference in Bendigo organised a Christmas barbeque for its clients.

The aim of this design was to add a touch of ‘class’ and hopefully, enable the clients to see themselves as distinguished guests upon receiving their invitations. This was achieved through the use of balance and a serif typeface.

A Christmas theme was also a vital part of this design. It focussed on the true meaning of Christmas (through the use of a star design) and the fact that God’s light shines in people’s lives.

Positive and negative space were also used to create a striking image. In addition, to cater for the invitations being printed on a laser printer (by a non-designer), a white border was used.