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.

OUGD504: Design Production - Design for Print Looking at Formats

As I start to design my print book I need to look into possible formats which I could use for my book/s. I started this by quickly taking pictures of the different publications I have in my room and looked at their formats to see if there might be one which sparked an interest for my book/s.

I selected 6 of the books which I have in my room and laid them all out. They are all different sizes and have different dimensions which is helpful for me to identify which might be more appropriate to my target audience. 

I separated each of the publications to have a mote detailed look at the layout and also to see if the sizes would be appropriate for my publication.

Lord of the Rings publication:

This DPS has a very clear grid to it, there are columns which are proportionate and the information is displayed very well with the images to support it. My pages will not have a lot of information on them as my aim is to be succinct and to the point. 

Looking at another page of the book where the layout is different it is still very consistent throughout the book. I think that the differing pages will bring some attitude to it and will make the reader engage with it much more. 

Penguins Book by Illustrator Pete Mckee

When Evolution came to visit I took away one of the examples of publications they had because I really liked the size of the book. I wanted to look inside it and compare it with a large scale book and apply the content which I will have to it. I don't think that the size of the book hinders the amount of information it can present but I do think it might become a chore for my target audience to look through. 

The content of the book lends itself to being very simple with little information as possible which is not something I want to aim for. 

Pasta Recipe Book

I was bought this book as a present from The Works which is where I plan to sell my book. I love the size and the feel of the book when I am holding it. The information is obviously much less than would be in my booklet but I do think it could work as I will not have as many full page images within my publication. I think the size of this is a happy medium between too large and too small. 

I also wanted to look at the dust jacket which this book has. As it will be used in the kitchen it is very handy that this jacket can protect the book from any damage it might incur. 

Noam Chomsky book

I used this book for my essay at Level 4. The layout is that of a traditional book which is just body copy based. Last year we were taught about cannons and how to evenly proportion a page with text boxes. I want to use this concept within my print book but I want to create it in such a way that it looks appealing to my target audience.

Infographica

The layout of this book is primarily image based which will be the same for my book. I wanted to look at specifically how the text is shown when the image is so large. It is clear on this page that the text is either in the top of bottom left/right hand corners. I have to look at my layout to decide which would be best for me.

Leeds College of Art Graphic Design Year Book

The Graphic Design year book is a size which really interests me. I like to produce work which is in a square because I think it adds a really nice finish to the design. I looked through the book and found that the pages were mostly image based but this one has a clear grid in place and each box is equal distance apart. I think that grids are incredibly important and I will be using several throughout this brief.