Last week in the studio (CW26-26)

In this series of weekly posts, I write about what I worked on during the previous week. Now, I’m back from mainland Europe after a long drive back from northern Italy over the weekend. We’d decided to extend our trip by an extra week, taking in stops in Switzerland and France along the way, which meant fitting in work where I could.

More work on Lockrose

I’d already worked on the content hierarchy and user journey for the new Lockrose website. I had also written initial copy and handed it back to the team so they could get a feel for how I suggested it sound. While they spent time getting comfortable with it, I carried on developing a few graphic illustrations.

I’d been thinking about some of the things the Lockrose team had told me about their approach to what they do. In particular, how it’s detailed and precise work and how they have a different perspective on it than others in their industry. This could take me along an abstract path, a literal one, or maybe a blend of the two.

In any case, these decisions are extremely subjective. As graphics and illustrations take a long time to make, I like to demonstrate them early so I can see how people react. I also use them to get a feel for how they might fit into an overall composition.

Lockrose wanted to retain the feel of the Altivo typeface they’d chosen originally for their brand, although we’d decided to switch to Commissioner. I needed to start working with Commissioner to understand how and when to use its various weights. So, over the next few days, I began working on more detailed iterations of my new page designs.

Sometimes, while I’m travelling, I do work which I can pick up and put down while we move around. Other times, I like to focus for a few hours. One of the best days for this was when I spent it alone in a cafe by the lake while Sue and her family went to Como.

But now, we’re home again for a few weeks, and with the Lockrose project deadline looming, I expect this coming week will be far more focused, if a little less glamorous.