OUGD504: Design Production - Creative Suite session 4

This session we were asked to look at the image below and pick out all of the problems with the document.

The problems we identified are as follows:

• Heifer water jpeg file
• Photograph isn't to scale top right
• The photograph top right is RGB not CMYK
• Registration colour has been used at the bottom
• The other pantone isn't needed and can be deleted
• The image at the bottom (rosette) has been enlarged and is low quality as a result
• The cow image effective PPI is too high
• Top cow image is too low resolution
• Strolling logo is too high resolution

OUGD504: Design Production - Design for Web Final Crit

Today we had our final crit for web. It was done in the same format as the print crit which I think has positives and negatives. We had to leave the studio for one hour to allow the other group to crit our work. Last week I was very disappointed to receive only 2 forms of feedback but this week I had 5 different sheets. I presented my 5 design boards and left my laptop out for people to have a look and use my website.

 Design boards -

My Site so far:

Homepage

History page

Inspiration page

Submit page

Resources page

We were asked to leave some questions which we wanted feedback on for our site. I asked:

- How do you add a scroll bar?
- Do you think it would be better to use illustrations rather than photos?
- Do you think there is too much negative space?

The feedback I received:

1.

• Sorry, not sure how to add a scroll bar
• On the history page the photos fit nicely and create an easy way to view the content, however on the inspiration page they look out of place.
• As for negative space the only page I see being a problem is the inspiration page. This is because it doesn't fit the grid and creates inconsistency in the website. 

2.

• Sorry, same problem with the scroll bar.
• I think if it was prodomonently for children on the website then yes use illustrations. Because children will be on the history page then yes use them on there. It makes the page less serious and more playful for them. It is maybe a bit too formal. You could have information on the image when the mouse is moved over it. 
• I think the links and history page should have the same layout for consistency. Maybe use the images as the links?

3.

• Sorry, having the same problem
• Photos most effective for the history page as they add authenticity but illustrations would be better for the inspiration page as the photos look more randomly selected on this page.
• An alternative background could benefit the site or consider an illustration with low contrast/opacity - however don't loose sight of the target audience - keep it simple

4.

• Sorry I'm not sure about scroll bars try online tutorials
• For the history page I think the images and text work really well together. However, the first trains paragraph is too long for the page
• Depending on your skills and time I think photos would be best to keep consistency throughout you design. 
• Considering the target audience is for teachers to show to children I think it is a bit broad. Are they primary or secondary school children? I think once you identify this then your design will follow.
• I also think that when all your content is put in you can judge whether there is too much negative space. I think the homepage could do with some more images to make it engaging. 

5.

• The more content you have you will get a scroll bar - could add padding-bottom to text box so it doesnt reach end of page, mess around with container heights, margins etc, W3SCHOOLS is good for tutorials.
• Photos are good so keep them - would probably use just photos to keep it consistent
• Think history is the best page for use of space - maybe try make each side on rest of pages equal to each other in terms of space used.
• I would also make the nav links change colour/underlined when you're on that page so user know what page they're on.

Overall I think the crit was fine. There were some comments made within my feedback which were confusing and it was clear that the person had not read my design boards clearly. Other than that I found it very helpful and I have some changes to make which will improve my site before submission. 

OUGD503: Design Process - Responsive Session 3

In this session we had a quick re-cap of the module brief and the learning outcomes we have to adhere to. 

The design process which we work with is a negotiation with the client. We have to communicate proposals. We could design a final resolution but it could be something which the client does not like. 

Working on one project at a time is not something we will do in the industry. We will have multiple briefs at once which will be short and sharp. We have to look at cost from a students perspective, we have lots of long briefs to do at one time, blogging and development whereas industry professionals do not. Time costings for students takes up quite a large chunk of time. We have to manage our time correctly and efficiently. 

We need to be sure that we are making informed decisions about the briefs which we are choosing. We need to look at brief management and we need to start allocating time to different aspects of the briefs we are working on. 

Presentation with pitching and proposing is something which is really important. It is not just about the final resolution it is more about the ideas and development. The proposal helps to seal the job, presenting the work that will get paid for.

Project proposals -

10 steps to writing persuasive project proposals

• Setting clear aims and objectives

Before picking a pen up and producing anything it is important to have a clear list of ideas.

Objectives start to look at the HOW.

HOW will it make and impact?

Aims are the changes that your project will make to the status quo. What is happening now? How are things?

• Changes in peoples’ perceptions

• Changes to the way people do things

• Political Change

• Social Change

• The impact that your finished work is designed to have on a particular audience or user.

Aims should be really ambitious and creative. They should be things which we aspire to, changes we want to make.

We need to be writing these first before we write out proposals. 

Objectives are the methods or the activities by which you plan to achieve your aims. 

• What research will you carry out
• Where will you go for specialist information
• What kind of people will you contact to help you along
• What expert advice will you need
• What processes will be involved
• Which skills will be evidenced
• What activities will take place
• What pieces of finished work will be produced

One thing which will set us apart from other people producing the same brief is if we have considered the different objectives. It is important to look into the target audience. We should step outside of what everyone else is doing. The relationship between aims and objectives is very important, they are closely linked but they are distinctly different. 

Specific: What? Why? Who? Where? 

Not just research - think deeper into the concept and proposal. Be specific from the start. Our outcomes need to be measurable. Question what we have done, keep it on a specific day to day basis. At any given point we need to be able to review what we have done and what we haven't done. Lists!!

It is not can we do it, do we understand what needs to be done to pass it on to the right person. 

Are our outcomes achievable? Are they realistic? Do they fit the timescale? Is it possible?

We can propose something which is possible and achievable but it is not realistic for right now. It is ok to propose something which we cannot produce but it could still win the clients attention. If we cannot produce what we want then we can propose it.

If we come up with something which is a brilliant idea but we cannot produce it does that mean we have to scrap it? No! We can propose it.

Most people want the status quo because they understand it. 

What is the need?

Who needs the solution to the problem?

If it is not something we have researched or a fact do not bullshit. Don't make a statement which is not backed up. 

Who are they?

We need to understand who the clients customers are then it is possible for us to win. Audience needs to be something which we clearly think about. 

There is never one audience. The hidden audience is the client. We need to look into the client, who are they? Where do they go? What do they like? What part of the industry are they? Do they understand design? What are their values?

What are our goals? What are your ambitions? What are your values? Are you ethically driven? What are your motivations and how do they match with the client?

Words to avoid:

• Unique
• Nice
• Special
• Normal
• Bland
• Sleek
• Definitely
• Awesome
• Basically
• Eseentially
• Totally interesting
• Utilize
• Like
• Get 
• Got
• I 
• Chance
• Actually
• Really
• Truly
• Amazing
• Everyone
• Never
• Always
• Things
• Life
• A lot
• Good
• Bad
• Cool
• Whatever
• Went
• Boring

Make your proposal easy to read by:

• Using professional template/layout
• Using the appropriate tone
• Not repeating yourself to pad it out
• Asking two people to check your grammar and spelling before you submit

Check, check and check again. Proof read everything!

Begin with your vision of the ending in mind. 

• The first thing we communicate is the vision of where things are going to end.
• What is the solution?
• What is going to be the result?
• Start at the end
• What are we trying to achieve?
• We are probably not going to achieve it all ourselves but it doesn't mean that we can't propose it
• What does the project require?
• What criteria do you need to satisfy?
• Who is the target audience?

Assume nothing

• except that the reader of your proposal knows nothing about you, your skills are the context of your project. 
• We cannot assume anything about the people who are going to be looking at it
• We have to explain everything
• Assume that the client knows absolutely nothing

Question everything. 

Accept nothing. 

In questioning everything we might break the brief and identify other solutions. 

If everyone does something in the same way… nothing will stand out. 

_________________________________________________________________

After Fred had given his talk we were split into groups of four and had to present our work so far on the brief we had chosen. 

• humourous
• appeal to men swell
• rebrand
• re focus

For next week:

What am I actually going to produce?

Answer the questions:

What can you do?

What could you do?

OUGD504: Design Production - Design for Print Final Crit

Today we had our final crit for Print. I took along all of the work I had done so far which consisted of my thumbnails, mind maps, illustrations, other development and my final outcome so far.

We laid our work out on the desk and were asked to leave whilst the other group came in to give feedback on our work. The group were given 45 minutes to give feedback before a group rotation occurred. 

We were asked to leave a series of questions for the others to use for a reference when giving us feedback. Mine were quite vague but I wanted the people to properly look at my work and comment on it as a whole rather than on one specific thing. 

Areas for feedback (my questions)

- The size of the publication

- The simplicity of each page (are there too many pages? does it need condensing?)

- Does more colour need to be introduced?

- Which stock is the best?

The feedback I received:

• Size - 160mm x 160mm provides a large enough space for content, whilst not being cumbersome. Square also make it more interesting and therefore engaging 
• Stock 170 Silk provides a more professional feel although if this was to be saddle stitched it may not fold well/correctly
• As you stated its primary use as a gift I therefore think a perfect bind is most appropriate giving it a more substantial feel.
• Be more experimental with layout

• Size of publication is fine. 
• I like the simplicity of each page. 
• I think more colour needs to be introduced
• I don't think the content looks appropriate for the audience stated. Ever Wondered How makes me think it'd be more interesting than just the basics of everything.
• I also think a lot of the things in the book are things people of that age won't have heard of like Gravure print etc. So I don't think they'd wonder how. Maybe take them more on a journey of how one of the few everyday things go through the print process. 

Overall I was not really happy with the amount of feedback I had received given that most people had 4+ sheets of feedback whereas I had only two. I don't know whether it was the placement of my work (being in the corner of the room) or whether people ran out of time. 

The feedback I was given was quite helpful though I don't feel I have many changes to make right now. I think it is essential for me to organise my own crit to get better feedback from a more focused group. 

OUGD503: Design Process - Responsive Task

For the next session we were asked to bring along the following things:

• Concept statement
• Pre-written brief (written myself)
• Initial development - Sheets and Contextual references
• 5 reasons why your response will WIN

The brief I have chosen is the Fem Fresh YCN brief. I am still a little unsure about my choice of brief but I hope that by re-writing the brief it will give me more of an idea of what I am going to produce. 

Concept Statement

I will create a visual campaign to raise awareness of the benefits of using Fem Fresh but I also want to address the embarrassment young women feel when buying it. 

This will be a set of visuals which will cross different medias (print and screen based). The visuals will be both photographic and illustrative. 

The Brief

Development

  

OUGD504: Design Production - Design for Print and Web Deconstructing a Brief Session

Today we had a session to help deconstruct our chosen briefs for Print and Web. I took along the 3 of my choice and felt very confident about the 'On Yer Bike' brief because it meant that I could focus a brief on information and way finding which is something I find very interesting. 

The three briefs which I chose were:

• The train standing at platform two
• On Yer Bike
• Type Factory

The first task had us underline the keywords in the brief which made us want to work on it. I had already done this the previous day which meant that when I went over it in the session I was able to look into it in more detail and properly decide if the brief which I felt was the best for me to work on was infact the best brief for me. 

I had some ideas for each of the briefs which I had chosen but this session turned them on their heads and completely changed my mind. I had initially liked the idea of 'The Train standing at platform two' brief but as I thought more about it it became clear that there was not a solid purpose to the brief. I am a firm believer of design with a purpose rather than something which is simply eye candy. 

I looked at the other two briefs and found myself drawn to the 'On Yer Bike' brief. I really like information graphics and signage and this brief is asking for this specifically. I liked this brief because it leant its self very well to both print and web. Giving more thought to it and looking at the brief it is clear that it is very vague and I am not entirely sure what it asking me to produce.

This left me with the Type Factory brief which is the one I have chosen to work on. I think it offers scope for me to work with the signage and also the branding of the museum. I feel like this brief is the best suited to me at this moment.

After we had underlined and chosen one brief to focus on we made mind maps of the following questions:

• 5 problems you want to solve and why?

• 5 Facts about subject and content

• 5 facts about intended audience

• 5 things I want to communicate

• Things I do not know about the brief

• Products I could create

 After this task we were asked to re-write the brief in a way which we could understand it more. We were told that we could change it slightly to suit an idea of ours. I had lots of ideas about the target audience because it is very vague. I thought about changing it to a museum for children. I am producing my web brief aimed at children so I think this audience might get quite tedious. I think it would be most beneficial to an audience of designers or young designers even though this idea is maybe not as creative it could be. I think I can create something which is really visually pleasing and the signage can be more type based and have much more detail as the TA will understand it.

ADD BRIEF

I found this session very enlightening and it made me think about a brief in a more critical way. I am now confident with my brief and looking forward to starting the development. 

OUGD504: Design Production - Design for Print and Web Briefing and ISTD selection

Today we were briefed on the Design for Print AND Web brief. We were also asked to select 3 briefs from a set of 15 ISTD briefs.

My chosen briefs…

OUGD504: Design Production - Design for Web Interim Crit

Today we had our interim crits for Design for Web. I took along my scamps, thumbnails, wireframes and design development. We were asked to bring along our coding as well which I had but it is very basic.

I presented my concept and the layouts I had come up with and the feedback I got was very positive.

• Does it have to be for primary schools? They want to enter
• Have a template for the teachers so they know the dimensions
• It would be more appropriate to key stages rather than age ranges
• Would it be easy to add an address for the submission to be submitted to via the post
• Will the site be used by children? make it appeal more to them
• Make the tone of voice not patronising but concise
• Look at other submit pages to see what they are like?

I found the crit quite helpful though I did not get much to work on or alter. I am hoping that this is a good thing and not just that people did not want to give constructive feedback. I found the groups too large to get any real feedback from the crit. I think had the groups been split again that I would have gotten more out of it. I understand that time constraints meant that this was not possible but I will have to sort my own mini crit in order to get a good understanding of whether my site will work properly for my target audience. 

OUGD504: Design Production - Design for Web Design Development

Thumbnails

I have had lots of ideas about my website and I find that the best way for me to illustrate these is by vector illustrations on illustrator. I personally find it easier to work like this because I can accurately map out the centre of the page and also ensure that everything is the correct size. I started to draw out my thumbnails and added a grey border at each side to illustrate that the page will be in the centre of the page. Simon showed us how to do this during the session and I think it will be the best way for me to work. I had several options for each page so I marked them out at the bottom of the thumbnail in order t make it clear to myself and others. I drew a cannon on the page to be able to see the centre correctly, I find this helps me to work. 

Mapping out different layouts of the pages until one looked the most successful and the one which worked the best to then transfer into a scamp. 

Page 1

The first page will act as the homepage and also the page with the most vital information on, the brief. This will be a static image which can also be downloaded as a PDF from page five. I wanted to make my homepage have a use otherwise what is the point of it? I thought about what the function of the website was and that is to give teachers the brief for the competition, I took this concept and made it the main use of my homepage. The page will consist of the name of the competition along the top, an illustration of a tube train underneath, 2 supporting images of tube which will hopefully spark some form of association for the children. It will then have a short about/info section which will explain what the site is about and finally the brief. I want to make my site as simple and easy to use as possible.

Page 2

Page 2 will be a short history of the tube for teachers and pupils to gain some understanding about what it is for those who do not know. I want to make it very simply laid out and easy to identify, it will be in chronological order to make it easier for the teachers to have an understanding and it will be made up of  illustrations which will appeal to children. 

Page 3

This page is for inspiration and resources which the teachers can show to the children so they can get an idea of what other design is around for the tube at the moment. It will display the tube map, the roundel and any other design which is currently within the tube. I want to have images which are not just about the printed design but the tube trains and the tickets which are given to passengers. I think this will be useful because it will allow for versatility within schools rather than the same design being produced by different schools. 

Page 4

This page will be where the design is submitted to the internet. I want to make it so simple that it is easy for teachers to upload a JPG. image of what has been produced by the class. I will also include the terms and conditions of the competition which will also be available on the final page as a PDF.

Page 5

The fifth page will be a resource page where all of the documentation will be available to download as a PDF and also be printed out. I will also include some lesson plan ideas and tips for the teachers to be able to get the most out of the competition. I want the site to be aimed more at the teachers because the children will not get much interactivity from it. I could propose a website which is different and which  is aimed more at the children but for now I want to stick to this idea. 

Wireframes

Page 1

Page 2

Page 3

Page 4

Page 5

OUGD504: Design Production - Design for Print Die Cut Publication

We had a visit from Jason at Evolution print in Sheffield and he brought some examples of the work which they had produced. One of the examples was this die cut brochure for a company who build children's play areas. I really like the effect of the die cut and the designer has been very clever in the placement of the cut areas. The making up of two images from one is an idea I would like to work with though I do not think it will work with my print brief.

I do however like the use of different stock among the pages, I think it adds an effect which will keep the radar engaged. This is something I could look at within my print book.