News

Young people on our Creative Pathways employability course in Barrhead are standing out from the crowd with their own distinctive brand to promote their arts and crafts sale at a Christmas market this December.

Over the last two months the group have been working on ornaments, jewellery, cards, prints and textiles as part of arts workshops at The Arc community centre in Auchenback. They decided they would take a stall at Glasgow’s Merchant Square during the festive period to sell these items.

But to give their work its own identity, they knew they needed to understand other brands and how graphic design impacts them. The group began a research and inspiration process.

Firstly, they took a trip to the Graphic Design Festival at the Lighthouse in Glasgow in October. They were impressed by the powerful graphic design on show; one design that really caught their eye was a poster for Les Siestes Electroniques, a French electronic music festival.

With ideas fresh in mind and following a brainstorming process, they undertook a graphic design exercise to create a logo. Out of these sessions also came a name for their brand: barc. (incorporating Barrhead and The Arc).

The group worked on a poster to publicise their Christmas Craft Sale. They scanned photography and linoprints created earlier on the course and manipulated these on Photoshop to create a festive but contemporary tree design.

Participant Sam then added a gradient and pulled the rest of the poster together, making it eye-catching, informative and communicating the creative personality behind their brand.

These posters will now be distributed in print and digitally through Impact Arts’ social media and website.

The exercise was hugely valuable in getting the group thinking about marketing, working as graphic designers, and creating work that will make them stand out from the other retailers and craft sales vying for attention over the festive period.

The group’s Christmas stall will be at Merchant Square in Glasgow on Friday 8th December 2017 between 12pm and 6pm. Come along and see some intricate, handmade craft items by young people and pick up unique gifts for loved ones this Christmas!