Design Practice
Alex Dyson
Showing posts with label OUGD505 - Studio Brief 1. Show all posts
Showing posts with label OUGD505 - Studio Brief 1. Show all posts
OUGD505 - Studio Brief 1 - Publication Final Crit
I mocked up my publication with the correct binding method, print method and stock to help people understand the quality and feel of it.
Some areas for improvement that were mentioned consisted of the following:
Sometimes feels like there is too much text - keep friendly and not too overwhelming!
Title on cover isn't clearly readable unless you look closely.
Some text repeats itself.
Try using dark green thread for the binding?
Consider the dark green theme for the packaging as well as its protective nature of the publication?
First I looked online in search for a supplier of green thread which would match the colour of my book, I sent an email to a website I found asking for a close matching pantone code for the green thread they had. If that was suitable I would buy that for my final publication.
I changed the front cover to make it more legible.
After speaking to several other people on the subject, a few said they liked the black thread more because otherwise there'd be too much green. This made me think it was entirely a subjective opinion and didn't need to be changed as it is functional and works with the design the same as if I had used green thread.
Finally, reading through the publication again I noticed where I'd repeated myself, however this was only if a further point was made or it was directly related to the topic itself. Several others believed this made sense and didn't see it as overwhelming, maybe because the people that gave me feedback were not my target audience, it just didn't add up.
Some areas for improvement that were mentioned consisted of the following:
Sometimes feels like there is too much text - keep friendly and not too overwhelming!
Title on cover isn't clearly readable unless you look closely.
Some text repeats itself.
Try using dark green thread for the binding?
Consider the dark green theme for the packaging as well as its protective nature of the publication?
First I looked online in search for a supplier of green thread which would match the colour of my book, I sent an email to a website I found asking for a close matching pantone code for the green thread they had. If that was suitable I would buy that for my final publication.
I changed the front cover to make it more legible.
After speaking to several other people on the subject, a few said they liked the black thread more because otherwise there'd be too much green. This made me think it was entirely a subjective opinion and didn't need to be changed as it is functional and works with the design the same as if I had used green thread.
Finally, reading through the publication again I noticed where I'd repeated myself, however this was only if a further point was made or it was directly related to the topic itself. Several others believed this made sense and didn't see it as overwhelming, maybe because the people that gave me feedback were not my target audience, it just didn't add up.
OUGD505 - Studio Brief 1 - Typography Workshop 2
How to kern:
Kerning is the spacing between a collection of letters. You must never negative kern, the spacing that already exists is there for legibility.
To kern a letter properly, you find the biggest gap between the letters and kern the other gaps to match it like I have done in the top word on this example.
Hierarchy:
Hierarchy is an important element in type design. This can be monitored or manipulated with point size, weight, capitalisation and kerning.
The challenge was to lay out four, three, two, one in that order but in a way that you read it backwards.
At first I presented the work like this:
And then I noticed that the word 'Two' had more spacing around the letters than other words and people would therefore read the word Two first, even though One was in uppercase and much bigger.
This succeeded in the test and everyone said it worked much better.
Kerning is the spacing between a collection of letters. You must never negative kern, the spacing that already exists is there for legibility.
To kern a letter properly, you find the biggest gap between the letters and kern the other gaps to match it like I have done in the top word on this example.
Hierarchy:
Hierarchy is an important element in type design. This can be monitored or manipulated with point size, weight, capitalisation and kerning.
The challenge was to lay out four, three, two, one in that order but in a way that you read it backwards.
At first I presented the work like this:
And then I noticed that the word 'Two' had more spacing around the letters than other words and people would therefore read the word Two first, even though One was in uppercase and much bigger.
This succeeded in the test and everyone said it worked much better.
OUGD505 - Studio Brief 1 - Branding Guidelines Workshop
In our day long branding guidelines workshop, I was teamed up with Adam and Jane.
We got the profession 'Skip Hire Firm' and were free to do as we pleased for the rest.
To begin the session, we planned out what our values would be as a business. We ended up as an eco-friendly skip hire firm who specialises in the collection and disposal of garden waste. This business is aimed at professionals and price use alike and would of built a strong customer base over the years it has been running.
Colour was the first thing I looked into, I put a photo of a garden into a colour scheme filter and it gave me a nice selection of green shades that were possibilities. We decided on the darker shade as eco-friendly businesses tend to resort to the brightest which normally ends up looking radioactive. This was a far more natural shade.
We wanted to give it a family based name and decided on 'Green & Sons' as this sort of family and ethical background would appeal to people and make the firm seem more trusted, especially because of how long its been running.
For logotype we decided on Garamond as it had a nice selection of weights and it also has a curved structure that also appears as formal yet friendly. This would work great with any garden/nature orientated job. A landline number would also secure the trusting nature of the business.
I had a play around with laying the type and and ended up finishing the logo as this:
As this was a quick turnaround brief we all decided to go with this as we were all happy with it.
For stationary, we didn't want to go over the top for it as it is just a skip hire firm so we agreed to just do business cards and letterheads.
Because it is a local and quirky skip hire we thought to do the cheesy thing and make the business cards skip shaped haha.
The letterhead consisted of the under-part of the skip on the top border of the letterhead with the details beneath.
Finally, after everyone finished off their elements to the branding we got the branding guidelines and presentation together.
I would of enjoyed this brief far more if we were given more time to develop ideas, however in this busy period I am rather glad it was just a day brief. I think next time I will develop the branding guidelines first and then I can follow rules for the rest of the project. A good time to practice this will be studio brief 2.
We got the profession 'Skip Hire Firm' and were free to do as we pleased for the rest.
To begin the session, we planned out what our values would be as a business. We ended up as an eco-friendly skip hire firm who specialises in the collection and disposal of garden waste. This business is aimed at professionals and price use alike and would of built a strong customer base over the years it has been running.
Colour was the first thing I looked into, I put a photo of a garden into a colour scheme filter and it gave me a nice selection of green shades that were possibilities. We decided on the darker shade as eco-friendly businesses tend to resort to the brightest which normally ends up looking radioactive. This was a far more natural shade.
We wanted to give it a family based name and decided on 'Green & Sons' as this sort of family and ethical background would appeal to people and make the firm seem more trusted, especially because of how long its been running.
For logotype we decided on Garamond as it had a nice selection of weights and it also has a curved structure that also appears as formal yet friendly. This would work great with any garden/nature orientated job. A landline number would also secure the trusting nature of the business.
I had a play around with laying the type and and ended up finishing the logo as this:
As this was a quick turnaround brief we all decided to go with this as we were all happy with it.
For stationary, we didn't want to go over the top for it as it is just a skip hire firm so we agreed to just do business cards and letterheads.
Because it is a local and quirky skip hire we thought to do the cheesy thing and make the business cards skip shaped haha.
Finally, after everyone finished off their elements to the branding we got the branding guidelines and presentation together.
I would of enjoyed this brief far more if we were given more time to develop ideas, however in this busy period I am rather glad it was just a day brief. I think next time I will develop the branding guidelines first and then I can follow rules for the rest of the project. A good time to practice this will be studio brief 2.
OUGD505 - Studio Brief 1 - Jackson Rising Workshop
Our day-brief consisted of developing a flyer and a concertina booklet to promote an art exhibition held at the MOMA in New York.
The exhibition was called 'Jackson Rising' and consisted of a collection of artists coming together to exhibit their work.
I first designed this as the flyer and was picked to be presented in front of the year group.
Once it was presented people said it was too busy and there wasn't enough space to breathe. They also said it seems unfinished as the bottom isn't framed and the logos are too big. I agreed with all the comments and then went to adjust it to a better result.
After that, it was time to work on the concertina book. This needed to have a well balanced spread of information from each artist in a fluid layout that would sell the exhibition to passers-by.
The exhibition was called 'Jackson Rising' and consisted of a collection of artists coming together to exhibit their work.
I first designed this as the flyer and was picked to be presented in front of the year group.
Once it was presented people said it was too busy and there wasn't enough space to breathe. They also said it seems unfinished as the bottom isn't framed and the logos are too big. I agreed with all the comments and then went to adjust it to a better result.
After that, it was time to work on the concertina book. This needed to have a well balanced spread of information from each artist in a fluid layout that would sell the exhibition to passers-by.
OUGD505 - Studio Brief 1 - Publication Design
After I had my content, imagery and my stock, binding and printing plans I began designing my publication.
The japanese stab stitching would requite a hefty inside margin so I worked out the full margin would be 25mm with a 15mm stitch. This would give me the normal 10mm margin around the border on the other sides too.
After my crit I had a change in heart and decided that A4 was probably too big, however I didn't want it as small as A5 so I created my own page size.
235 x 190mm gives a shorter format than A4 which makes it kind of box-like but narrowed a slight amount so it's not too square. This will be easy to hold and read.
Font:
For my header font, I wanted something clean, structured and beautiful but I didn't want to use Helvetica as I feel that the essence and beauty of it has been slowly replaced with boredom and samey aesthetics that designers use as a "that'll work" because it always works. I wanted my publication to stand out and show those same original values but with an independent nature too.
I chose the font 'Adam', an all caps sans serif typeface inspired from Futura and designed by Shrenik Ganatra. This font consists of 227 glyphs and is free for both personal and commercial use.
For my body copy font I wanted something stripped back as much as possible. A font that was legible and readable in smaller point sizes and complements the header font with a lighter weight which achieves a simpler nature.
I read about a typeface designer called Steve Matteson who's fonts linked directly to technology, using a font designed by this man would work in an interesting contrast with my header font. I found one called 'Andale Mono' which I was certain I'd seen somewhere before but couldn't remember where. Anyhow, this typeface ticked all of the boxes above and i decided on this one as it was already in my Mac OS.
Colour:
For colour throughout my publication, to keep it consistent with my aesthetics throughout as well as the content within I needed it to evoke environmentally friendly thoughts at the same time as staying simple and clean.
The best colour to use when evoking the idea of a product to be environmentally friendly is the colour green. I have seen so many people try and pull it off but instead look radioactive because it's just far too bright. I kept this in mind when choosing my colour and decided on a darker shade of green almost forest like. Rather than going over the top with colour I will keep it to this as well as black and white/stock colour to keep legibility a top priority with no excessive decoration.
Front page:
With a minimalist layout design to bring together the idea of simpleness and efficiency, the context itself would relate directly to the design. For this reason I wanted to attempt to communicate everything the book is about on the front page. Clarity and function will be the highest priority throughout the entirety of this book.
I created a grid and laid out the letters FIXEDGEAR in a balanced format with 30mm border around it. I then experimented with this layout with high resolution photography I was provided with until I came to a decision to make the image completely monotone in the decided green above with the letters in a 60% opacity over this. I then masked off the road on which the bicycle was travelling.
I created an InDesign document in the correct size and with a grid consisting of the correct measurements. This shows the 25mm inside margin allowing 15mm for the stab stitch and 10mm as a functioning margin which goes around the whole page. Inside the margin I created a 9 x 6 grid to balance a ninth of the page above and below the image for the title and contents which I presented left aligned in 11pt. These were bordered off with a line to emphasise the margin's balance.
Content:
For the inside of my book I wanted continuity and consistency so set up the same grid in the form of a spread.
In respect to images, I chose wisely from the selection I was given by Szymon and then edited them in photoshop into CMYK mono tonal images with the correct colour and dimensions for the publication. I also asked for the names of all of the riders to ask permission from them personally to use their photo, which all were happy to be a part of.
Once photos were prepared for design, I got to it following my grid rules and also keeping into consideration that the book would be Stab-stitched, this requited a slight bleed on double page spreads for when it was put together. Page numbers were presented on the outskirts of the outer margin at the top of the page underneath the content line. As well as chapters being positioned within the grid rules in and out of photos.
After completing the design of my book, I reflected on my printing decision and attempted to make a halftone image at a suitable lpi to screen print. Because of the detail within the photos, the halftones would have to be far smaller which wouldn't be possible to screen print.
This was quite annoying but I would much rather keep the detail within the photos for the publication. Once my stock samples arrive I will test print through both a laser printer for colour and detail.
[PHOTOS OF PRINTOUT]
Upon testing out the stock and method of printing, I was thoroughly happy with the detail. However when I came to show my peers, none of them could read the main image as the lower cross bar of the E was not visible.
I attempted to change this to reflect from the feedback and I was told it was far more legible now with just the bike in front of the E rather than the whole road.
The japanese stab stitching would requite a hefty inside margin so I worked out the full margin would be 25mm with a 15mm stitch. This would give me the normal 10mm margin around the border on the other sides too.
After my crit I had a change in heart and decided that A4 was probably too big, however I didn't want it as small as A5 so I created my own page size.
235 x 190mm gives a shorter format than A4 which makes it kind of box-like but narrowed a slight amount so it's not too square. This will be easy to hold and read.
Font:
For my header font, I wanted something clean, structured and beautiful but I didn't want to use Helvetica as I feel that the essence and beauty of it has been slowly replaced with boredom and samey aesthetics that designers use as a "that'll work" because it always works. I wanted my publication to stand out and show those same original values but with an independent nature too.
I chose the font 'Adam', an all caps sans serif typeface inspired from Futura and designed by Shrenik Ganatra. This font consists of 227 glyphs and is free for both personal and commercial use.
For my body copy font I wanted something stripped back as much as possible. A font that was legible and readable in smaller point sizes and complements the header font with a lighter weight which achieves a simpler nature.
I read about a typeface designer called Steve Matteson who's fonts linked directly to technology, using a font designed by this man would work in an interesting contrast with my header font. I found one called 'Andale Mono' which I was certain I'd seen somewhere before but couldn't remember where. Anyhow, this typeface ticked all of the boxes above and i decided on this one as it was already in my Mac OS.
Colour:
For colour throughout my publication, to keep it consistent with my aesthetics throughout as well as the content within I needed it to evoke environmentally friendly thoughts at the same time as staying simple and clean.
The best colour to use when evoking the idea of a product to be environmentally friendly is the colour green. I have seen so many people try and pull it off but instead look radioactive because it's just far too bright. I kept this in mind when choosing my colour and decided on a darker shade of green almost forest like. Rather than going over the top with colour I will keep it to this as well as black and white/stock colour to keep legibility a top priority with no excessive decoration.
With a minimalist layout design to bring together the idea of simpleness and efficiency, the context itself would relate directly to the design. For this reason I wanted to attempt to communicate everything the book is about on the front page. Clarity and function will be the highest priority throughout the entirety of this book.
I created a grid and laid out the letters FIXEDGEAR in a balanced format with 30mm border around it. I then experimented with this layout with high resolution photography I was provided with until I came to a decision to make the image completely monotone in the decided green above with the letters in a 60% opacity over this. I then masked off the road on which the bicycle was travelling.
I created an InDesign document in the correct size and with a grid consisting of the correct measurements. This shows the 25mm inside margin allowing 15mm for the stab stitch and 10mm as a functioning margin which goes around the whole page. Inside the margin I created a 9 x 6 grid to balance a ninth of the page above and below the image for the title and contents which I presented left aligned in 11pt. These were bordered off with a line to emphasise the margin's balance.
For the inside of my book I wanted continuity and consistency so set up the same grid in the form of a spread.
In respect to images, I chose wisely from the selection I was given by Szymon and then edited them in photoshop into CMYK mono tonal images with the correct colour and dimensions for the publication. I also asked for the names of all of the riders to ask permission from them personally to use their photo, which all were happy to be a part of.
 |
| Ricky Crompton |
 |
| Ric Bell |
 |
| James Meyer |
 |
| Nathan Hughs & Tom Uttley |
 |
| Jacob Dean & Ric Bell |
After completing the design of my book, I reflected on my printing decision and attempted to make a halftone image at a suitable lpi to screen print. Because of the detail within the photos, the halftones would have to be far smaller which wouldn't be possible to screen print.
This was quite annoying but I would much rather keep the detail within the photos for the publication. Once my stock samples arrive I will test print through both a laser printer for colour and detail.
[PHOTOS OF PRINTOUT]
Upon testing out the stock and method of printing, I was thoroughly happy with the detail. However when I came to show my peers, none of them could read the main image as the lower cross bar of the E was not visible.
I attempted to change this to reflect from the feedback and I was told it was far more legible now with just the bike in front of the E rather than the whole road.
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