Real Jobs by Jasmine Sheppard, Jaf Rahman, Nelly Bridger Morales, George Wade and Ameera. Khan
FAB Lab Branding
Real Job by Jasmine Sheppard, Tasnia Asmi and Vivien Lee
FAB Lab Toner Foiler Instructions
A guide to using the Caslon foiler.
FAB Lab Laser Cutter Instructions
How to laser cut using Glowforge materials
1. Create your file for laser cutting using Adobe Illustrator and save file as SVG, PDF, JPG, GIF, BMP or PNG.
2. Login in to glowforge.com.
3. Switch on laser cutter (switch at back of machine) and place Glowforge material on bed of laser cutter. The camera will read the QR code on the Glowforge material and set the speed and power using the QR code.
4. Select ‘Create new design’ and ‘Upload a file’ (see photo 1). Your computer screen will display the bed of the laser cutter, the material you placed on the bed of the laser cutter, and the file you uploaded. If you are using black acrylic, put a piece of white paper under it so you can see it. Make sure to remove it before laser cutting.
Photo 1
5. Move the uploaded file to the space on the material you wish to cut (make sure it is within the material and not overlapping any edges).
6. Check the ‘Engrave’ and ‘Cut’ settings to check your file will be engraved and cut as desired. Solid shapes will be engraved, thin lines will be cut (if the uploaded file is not correct return to Illustrator, adjust file, and upload a new file).
7. Switch on extraction unit (the laser cutter will not run without fume extraction).
8. Press ‘Print’ to send your file to laser cutter. This is the stage where you would remove white paper from the machine if using black acrylic. You may need to repeat some previous steps as the lid has been opened).
9. To start laser cutter, press flashing switch on top of laser cutter. Your computer screen will display how long your file will take to cut and when process is complete. If anything goes wrong, press ‘Stop’ on your computer.
10. Wait until your computer says the cutting has finished and then open lid and remove material.
11. Switch off laser cutter and extraction unit.
How to laser cut not using Glowforge materials
1. Create your file for laser cutting using Adobe Illustrator and save file as SVG, PDF, JPG, GIF, BMP or PNG.
2. Login in to glowforge.com.
3. Switch on Glowforge laser cutter (switch at back of machine) and place material on bed of laser cutter.
4. Select ‘Create new design’ and ‘Upload a file’ (see photo 1). Your computer screen will display the bed of the laser cutter, the material you placed on the bed of the laser cutter and the file you uploaded. If you are using black acrylic, put a piece of white paper under it so you can see it. Make sure to remove it before laser cutting.
Photo 1
5. Move your uploaded file to the space on the material you wish to cut (make sure it is within the material and not overlapping edges).
6. Check the ‘Engrave’ and ‘Cut’ settings on your file to make sure your file will be cut and engraved as required. Solid shapes will be engraved, thin lines will be cut (if the uploaded file is not correct return to Illustrator, adjust file, and upload a new file).
7. Switch on extraction unit (the laser cutter will not run without fume extraction).
8. Press ‘Print’ to send your file to laser cutter. (This is the stage where you would remove white paper from the machine if using black acrylic. You may need to repeat some previous steps as the lid has been opened).
9. To start laser cutter, press flashing switch on top of laser cutter. Your computer screen will display how long your file will take to cut. If anything goes wrong, press ‘Stop’ on your computer.
10. Wait until your computer says the cutting has finished and then open lid and remove material.
11. Switch off laser cutter and extraction unit.
FAB Lab Cricut Maker Instructions
How to die cut plain paper, card and adhesive vinyl
1. Move Cricut Maker to table which allows for movement of the cutting mat (see photo 1).
Photo 1
2. Open top and front flaps and switch Cricut Maker on (see photo 2).
Photo 2
3. Open ‘Cricut Design Space’ app and click ‘Canvas’ tab.
4. Upload a SVG, JPG, GIF, BMP, PNG or DXF file, or create your own design in the ‘Cricut Design Space’ app. You can change the colour of your shapes to make them easier to see on the canvas background by selecting items in the ‘Layers’ window and changing the colour (small box on top tool bar, see photo 3). Once upload complete select ‘Add to Canvas’.
Photo 3
5. Move your selection to fit within your page size (always leave a margin of at least 1.5cm).
6. Select image type based on the complexity of image, then press ‘Continue’.
7. In ‘Layers’ panel select ‘Attach’ to group your items together (if you don’t do this your shapes will be moved around by the app in the next stage to optimise the cutting material) (see photo 4).
Photo 4
8. Select ‘Basic cut’ in ‘Operation’ tab at the top of your screen (see photo 5A).
Photo 5A
9. Select ‘Cricut Maker’ in ‘Maker’ tab (see photo 6).
Photo 6
10. Select ‘Make’ (top right) and select relevant cutting mat size. Place paper stock to be cut on cutting mat in top left corner of grid and load cutting mat in placement slots on Cricut Maker loading bed (see photo 7A).
Photo 7A
11. Select ‘Continue’ and follow prompts on screen to select paper stock (see photo 8) and start the process by pressing buttons on Cricut Maker as directed on screen until die cutting complete (see photo 9).
Photo 8
Photo 9
12. Switch off Cricut Maker. Return to side area for storage, return cutting mat to storage area.
How to die cut printed paper, card and sticker stock
1. Move Cricut Maker to table which allows for movement of the cutting mat (see photo 1).
Photo 1
2. Open top and front flaps and switch Cricut Maker on (see photo 2).
Photo 2
3. Open ‘Cricut Design Space’ app and click ‘Canvas’ tab.
4. Upload a SVG, JPG, GIF, BMP, PNG or DXF file, or create your own design in the ‘Cricut Design Space’ app. You can change the colour of your shapes to make them easier to see on the canvas background by selecting items in the ‘Layers’ window and changing the colour (small box on top tool bar, see photo 3). Once upload complete select ‘Add to Canvas’.
Photo 3
5. Move your selection to fit within your page size (always leave a margin of at least 1.5cm around edges).
6. Select image type based on the complexity of image, then press ‘Continue’.
7. Select ‘Print Then Cut’ in ‘Operation’ tab (see photo 5B).
Photo 5B
8. Select ‘Cricut Maker’ in ‘Maker’ tab (see photo 6).
Photo 6
9. In ‘Layers’ panel select ‘Flatten’ (to group your layers and so that the printed area won’t be cut by Cricut Maker after printing).
10. Select ‘Make’ (top right) and select relevant cutting mat size. In next window check paper size is set to A4, select ‘Continue’. In next window select ‘Send to printer’, select the printer you require and ‘print’ (if using bypass tray select ‘Use system dialogue box’). The Cricut will add required registration marks to your print (photo 10).
Photo 10
11. Place print on cutting mat and place mat in placement slots on Cricut Maker bed (see photo 12).
Photo 12
12. Return to Cricut screen and select ‘Base material’ (paper stock) to the type of paper stock you are cutting. Follow prompts on screen pressing buttons on Cricut Maker as directed on screen until die cutting complete (see photo 9).
Photo 9
13. Switch off Cricut Maker. Return to side area for storage, return cutting mat to storage area.
How to die cut foiled paper, card and sticker stock
1. Move Cricut Maker to table which allows for movement of the cutting mat (see photo 1).
Photo 1
2. Open top and front flaps and switch Cricut Maker on (see photo 2).
Photo 2
3. Open ‘Cricut Design Space’ app and click ‘Canvas’ tab.
4. Upload a SVG file with black toner area for foiling set to Cyan 50%, Magenta 50%, Yellow 50% and key 50% (when upload complete select ‘Add to Canvas’). You can change the colour of yourshapes to make them easier to see on the Cricut canvas background by selecting items in the’Layers’ window and changing the colour (small box on top tool bar, see photo 4).
Photo 4
5. Move your selection to fit within your page size (always leave a margin of at least 5cm around edges).
6. Select image type based on the complexity of image, then press ‘Continue’.
7. Select ‘Print Then Cut’ in ‘Operation’ tab (see photo 5B).
Photo 5B
8. Select ‘Cricut Maker’ in ‘Maker’ tab (see photo 6).
Photo 6
9. In ‘Layers’ panel select ‘Flatten’ (to group your layers and so that the foiled area won’t be cut by Cricut Maker after foiling).
10. Select ‘Make’ (top right) and select relevant cutting mat size. In next window check paper size is set to A4, select ‘Continue’. In next window select ‘Send to printer’, select the printer you require and ‘print’ (if using bypass tray select ‘Use system dialogue box’). The Cricut will add required registration marks to your print (see photo 10).
Photo 10
11. Attach foil to area of toner to be foiled using Washi tape (see photo 11) and run through Toner Foiler (see Toner Foiler instructions). Remove unused foil.
Photo 11
12. Place foiled vinyl on cutting mat and place mat in placement slots on Cricut Maker bed (see photo 12).
photo 12
13. Return to Cricut screen and select ‘Base material’ (paper stock), ‘Vinyl’ and ‘Make’. Follow prompts on screen pressing buttons on Cricut Maker as directed on screen until die cutting complete (see photo 9).
photo 9
14. Switch off Cricut Maker. Return to side area for storage, return cutting mat to storage area.
Penguin Book Cover
This is my recreation of the Penguin Books cover for the novel The Great Gatsby. I used Gill Sans for the text as this was already in my InDesign. I have included some progress steps to show how I got to my end result.
R in the Environment
In this project I went around the Typography block and campus and payed particular attention to the letter R. Single letters are not normally something that stands out in day to day life, so I wanted to explore deeper into this. Focussing on just the ‘R’s around me, I noticed the variation in size, font, weight, texture and colour.
I organised my photos in a collage format so the wide variation of ‘R’s could be seen all at once. A collage looks busier than any other format choice which emphasises the amount of differences between the character.
Band on Call
For this project, my partner gave me their 3 interesting facts to be:
- Left-handed
- Plays bass guitar
- Works in a pub
I decided to take the fact they play bass guitar and design an ideal gift with that as my starting point. After discussion, I found out they wanted to be in a band, so I then thought, how could I give this person an opportunity to play with other musicians with the same mindset? This is where Band on Call was created.
Band on Call is an app that allows you to connect with musicians all over the globe and start playing as a band. The app comes with a projecter that shows live hollograms of the rest of the chosen musicians. You can request any instrument and interact with them as there is live time hearing, which wipes out the problem of internet lagging. An optional camera can be set up to display yourself to the other users and the system can be connected to external speakers, making the overall experience much easier.
I used my iPad Pro and Apple Pencil to produce this and whilst designing, I stuck with the contrasting cold and warm colours of blue and red so the app icon stands out in the App Store and on a home screen. The logo has been made with a basic block letter, sans serif font as the telephone in the logo is the ‘C’, so this font worked best.
I created an opening page, a menu, a page that shows during a session, and an options page within the session page.
Polka Dots Logo Type Trends
For this project, I chose the theme of polka dots. I created many mood-boards, my first consisting of general polka-dot-based branding. I then went onto creating one which incorporated polka dots and bright colours as I feel like bright colours represent me well. After not getting much inspiration from these mood-boards, I took the slightly different approach of researching into clouds as I am fascinated by them because they can be interpreted differently by everyone. And as a designer, I think it is effective when branding is created, to have a hidden meaning or multiple suggestions behind it.
Using Adobe Illustrator, I drew a continuous line drawing of 3 clouds, and then sticking to my theme of polka dots I added some circles of varying colours and sizes and placed them underneath the line drawing. The colour scheme reflects the sky with tinges of purple and pink to represent a sunset.
In terms of the text, I selected a minimalistic font as I think it is appropriate for complimenting the line drawing. It isn’t too bold so that it is distracting because I didn’t want it to take the attention away from the design of the branding itself.
Staircase
For the Broken Narratives project, I chose the story ‘Staircase’. As the brief explains, a man is being referred to lower floors for priority reasons but as you get nearer the bottom of the 7 floors, the more ill the patients are. I interpreted this as the man is getting closer and closer to death as he moves down floors, until he can’t go any further and that point is when he dies.
I wanted to portray the story in the shape of the book so you feel like you’re going on a journey down the staircase with the man as you read. I cut a staircase that had 7 steps (one for each floor) in hope that it makes you feel that as you are getting lower down the staircase, you are closer to death, which is represented by darkness in this case. The roughness of the cutting represents the man’s deteriorating health. I also coloured in the sides of the steps to define them, but kept this rough as well for the same reason.