Finding the Images

I spent a fair amount of time going through the National Trust images website, sourcing and finding the ones I felt would be good to include in my posters. In my sketchbook, I came up with a brainstorm of things my target audience would possibly be interested in. I then made a table on the computer of my brainstorm by breaking it up into four sections.

I have taken some screen shots of the selection of images which I downloaded off of the website.

Although I won't be using all of the images which I have sourced, I found it easier to make some folders and collect different potential ones I could use.

Finding/Sourcing Images

The images that I needed for the posters need to be royalty free. The National Trust has got its own website which is specifically for images (www.nationaltrustimages.org.uk)

So I knew what the situation was regarding using images from the National Trust, I used the email on the website to find out.

I found out that because I am doing a project by the National Trust then I would be allowed to use any images that I wanted free of charge as long as I credited the image that I was using. I decided to register on this page, before I started using and finding the images. This National Trust images website, I found was really easy and clear to use and I was surprised as to the amount of images that were available to use.

http://www.nationaltrustimages.org.uk/search?term=families&sort=1

The filter button made looking for specific images really easy and also saved a lot of time especially when I knew what I was looking for.

I have taken a screen shot which shows once I’ve found the image that I wanted, where I get the name to credit the photo as well as how I download and get the image.

http://www.nationaltrustimages.org.uk/image/973928

The images from the National Trust will be used to go inside the keyhole. Alternatively if I can’t find all the images for the keyhole that I need on this site, then I will be getting them from istock (http://www.istockphoto.com/)

Experimenting in Photoshop

Having found an image of a hedge on Google, I opened it up in Photoshop and started experimenting with cutting it out in a key hole shape.

Originally when I came to do this, I duplicated the hedge layer and on one of the layers I changed the opacity so that it was transparent. I used the eraser tool to round the shape. I found that the result of doing this wasn't that successful, so I started again and this time used the pen tool to go round the shape.

This is the result I got from using the pen tool. I also dropped in an image that I found from istock, just so that I had an idea of what it would possibly look like with an image behind the keyhole. 

Branding Guidelines for the National Trust

In the pack from the D&AD, the National Trust put in a copy of their branding guidelines, which I didn’t realise how detailed it was.

After having a read through their guidelines, I found out the relevant colours that I needed to use. I found out that they have their own specific font, which needs to be used on all their posters. I also found out that they even have a specific selection of layouts, which they use as well.

I have taken screen shots of these elements from the branding guidelines.

This screen shot, which I have taken is of the contents page of the branding guidelines. 

LOGO

“The oak leaf symbol, which we’ve used since the 1930’s, is unique and distinctive.

The logo simply states our name. We’ve dropped the ‘The’, to make us less formal. In Wales, we use the bilingual logo (Welsh/English).

The oak leaf and logotype together from our logo.”

The National Trust’s logo is available in 21 different colours as well as black and white.

“To make the oak leaf and logotype standout, don’t put any text or images in the clear space shown in the diagram above.”

These are the sizes in which the logo can be.

LAYOUTS

“Where appropriate, the layout of covers and posters is based on the idea of a picture in a frame.”

These are the frame layouts for the National Trust. In their branding guidelines it says that they can be large or small, multiple or single and can bleed off the top and sides of the page.

COLOURS

These are the National Trust’s colour palette. There are 21 colours and they have been “chosen to be fresh and inviting, plus black and white.”

I will be incorporating these colours in my posters either by in the logo or the text.

FONTS

“We have our own typeface, designed to have the warmth and modernity of a sans-serif typeface and keeping a timeless quality too.”

This is the typeface for the National Trust, which is one of their own. It will be the font that I’ll be using on my posters. On the left you can see the different styles in which they have the type. In the guidelines it says that in some of the documents they do use the font Arial, but primarily they use their own font for everything else.