OUGD406 - Speaking from Experience : Blog Concept and Development

When presenting my work during the crit I was given the feedback that I could possibly make an online resource where people could download the components of my kit and have them maybe on their smart phones etc. I think this idea is great and I started to draw out some blog ideas and formats which I think would look effective. I want my blog to look professional as I think it will reflect on the amount of progress I have made and also what the new first years can achieve. I also think it is important that it is easy to navigate as most first years, like myself, did not know how to use a blog before starting the course. 

I mapped out a few ideas, some which were realistic and some which would not work due to my lack of understanding when it comes to web design. I wanted to stick with the desk concept I am using to produce my print based resolution. I wanted to keep the continuity by having each aspect opening the exact way it would be with the printed option. Though I feel that this would be the most effective way of producing the page I do not have the skills to do this effectively.  

My second idea involves sticking with the standard blog we have to use throughout our time on the course. My reasoning behind this is not to advertise another blog such as Wordpress as it might become quite confusing to jump between the two. This option would be the simplest for me as I use this program daily. 

Using another blog like Wordpress will enable me more creative range as things can be done which cannot with blogger. I have used Wordpress before in a previous project and found it a great deal more creative and interesting. I have to think about which would be better for the students but I also want to show my knowledge of other blog programs as I think using blogger could be seen as the easy route and does not showcase my skills.

OUGD406 : Speaking from Experience : Final Concept

After many weeks of research and crits I have finally settled on a final concept and idea. I am producing a survival kit which will be both digital and print based. My kit will consist of 4 components:

• Module and Blog information flashcards
• Info-graphic poster detailing expectations and percentages
• Software tips and advice
• Stickers for crits

The design of my kit will be fairly simple, I will use 3 colours including stock to fit in with the briefs they will be set throughout the year, the font will be sans serif and mainly uppercase which will hopefully make it easier to read. 

OUGD406 - One Day Brief

Today we had a one day brief with John. We were split into 4 groups and asked to brainstorm ideas for a 4-7 day event which will bring the community together. It was very important that we come up with something original and unique which brought the multi-cultural society together.

In our group we decided on 4 different sections of the city;

• Film
• Food
• Games
• Music

After deciding on these categories we were split further into 4 groups of 3. I, along with Jane and Emily was assigned to the games category. 

In our group we brainstormed lots of ideas which were both radical and realistic. 

• Water park
• Sumo wrestling
• Water fight
• Sky diving
• Roller coaster sight seeing
• Tug of war
• Beach volley ball
• Inflatable football goal
• Coconut games
• Giant chess/checkers
• Sack race
• Egg and spoon
• Bungee jumping
• Massive zumba party
• Roller skating rink
• Pie in the face
• Henna tattoos
• Ballroom dancing
• Mario carts
• Pillow fights (children and adults)
• Bouncy castle
• Hot air balloons
• 5 a side football
• Traditional games from different cultures
• Assalt courses
• Giant connect 4 wall
• Rock climbing wall
• Zip Wires
• Giant trampolines

We watched the Barclay card adverts for inspiration for our water park and slide idea. 

Source

Final games drawing board...

OUGD406 - Speaking from Experience : Development

As I plan to make my survival kit mainly print based I have mocked up some simple flashcards with some information regarding the course. 

After designing these flashcards I decided that the tone of voice was not the best and would not appeal to the first years. I wanted to create something which was softer and more friendly. 

I played around with the idea of creating a set of flashcards which looked like a deck of cards. Playing around I created a rough pattern which could form the outline of my cards. I think it could work but not for this brief as it is too masculine and old fashioned. 

I defined my colour scheme when coming up with the concept for my response to this brief. I used the blue out of this selection to create the following design which I think works really well and looks friendly. 

When it came to chose a font I found it very hard as most looked either too harsh or like a primary school flashcard. 

Futura - too harsh against the blue background

Bebas - Looks effective but maybe too harsh and bold for the purpose.

Orator STD - A better choice but the serif I's maybe don't work for the audience and tone of voice. 

Courier new - Lighter which is better but the serif uppercase does not match the tone of voice.

Courier New - Lowercase is better but too spaced out and does not look aesthetically pleasing. 

Typewriter Hand - Better for the aesthetics but too close together makes it harder to read. 

Lane Narrow - Uppercase Lane Narrow was the best of my experiments but I will ask about this in my final crit. 

OUGD406 - Speaking from Experience : Drawings

My first idea was to create a survival kit for after a night out. I was going to create a box which had the essentials which every student would need if they stayed out all night. The contents would be a clean pair of socks, a t-shirt, mouthwash, toothpaste, toothbrush, brush, pen and pencil. I initially chose this concept as I thought that most of the group would produce a survival kit, after the presentations of everyones idea I was surprised to find out that no-one had chosen this idea. When presenting this concept it was met with a few criticisms as it is not the best thing to promote to a group of first years. I drew out a few variations of how this idea would be displayed and contained along with some alterations to the idea. Whilst drawing out these concepts I found that my idea was quickly changing to a survival kit rather than a 'day after the night before' kit. 

I then went on to look into my initial idea of an essentials survival kit which would include more appropriate items such as a pen, pencil, ruler, notebook etc. I wanted to create a box which all of these items would be contained, I also wanted to make smaller boxes would act as compartments for each of the items to be contained within. This would help me to avoid the things being thrown around the box and looking a mess when opened. Whilst thinking through these ideas I realised that most students will already have these items as they are listed in a letter which is sent to students before they join the course. I then looked into digital menus which I could hand out to students which would illustrate the items which would be physically in the box. Linking to the letter which would be sent to students I thought that this would also be quite pointless as they should already have the items I will be displaying. 

Moving on from this idea I have chosen to create a print based survival kit which will act as more of a helpful guide for students. I want to make it as visual as possible as I don't think many first years would enjoy reading a long winded booklet telling them what they should and shouldn't do. My concept is to create a desk base out of thick paper or mount board and have 4 print based components attached to it. I want to create an info graphic about the expectations of the course and the percentages which I wish I had known before starting. I want to create a few flashcards which give answers to burning questions about the course and modules which will be displayed within an envelope or belly band in order to keep them together. I would also like to create a small macbook with paper which will have information about software and shortcuts which make life a lot easier. 

OUGD406 : Speaking from Experience : Design Sheets

OUGD404 : Birth of a Font : Baseline, X-Height

When I created my five fonts made up of other fonts I wanted to see how they worked together if they were to be used within design. In order to look at this I put each of my fonts onto the typographic lines which enabled me to see if they would work as body copy.

I think by doing this it shows which fonts would work and which would not work within design.

OUGD404 - Colour Experiments

Contrast of Saturation

The contrast is formed by the juxtaposition of light and dark values and their relative saturation. The Term refers to the contrast between pure intense colours and dull diluted or grayed colours. Dull colours would appear to be duller when it is placed next to pure intense colours, and put intense colour would appear more vivid when it is next to a dull colour. 

Contrast of Hue

The contrast is formed by the juxtaposition of different hues. The greater the distance between hues on the colour wheel, the greater the contrast. 

Contrast of Tone

Formed by the juxtaposition of light and dark values. This could be monochromatic.

The blue is the most difficult to read as it is closest to the background colour. Yellow is the easiest to read, I think this has something to do with the placement of each colour within the colour wheel.

Contrast of Extension

Formed by assigning proportional field sizes in relation to the visual weight of a colour. Also known as the contrast of proportion.









Contrast of Temperature

Formed by juxtaposing hues that can be considered 'warm' or 'cool'. Also known as the contrast of warm and cool. 





Complementary Contrast

Formed by juxtaposing complementary colour from a colour wheel or perceptual opposites.

Using complementary colours with body copy affects the readability and legibility.

Simultaneous Contrast

Formed when boundaries between colour perceptually vibrate.

Colour Experiments

Contrast of Saturation :

I chose a pure intense pink tin and placed it against pieces of paper which each had a different saturation. 

I first photographed the tin on a neutral piece of paper to show how pure the shade of magenta is. 

By placing the tin on top of a desaturated piece of paper affected the perception of the colour. The tin appears to be darker than it actually is. 

Contrast of Temperature

I collected 3 bottles which were each a different shade of green. They each showed Green in a different temperature and when placed against the same background it affected their temperature significantly.

To start I photographed the bottles against a neutral background which is the most effective way of showcasing the actual colour in natural light.

There is a clear temperature shift between the bottles which was very interesting to investigate and explore.

I placed the 'warmest' bottle against a brown background to see if a darker neutral shade would affect the temperature of the object. I think it has not necessarily changed the temperature but has affected the tone and hue slightly.

The warmest and coolest bottles placed next to each other showcase the spectrum between the objects. 

Placing the bottles onto a green background which stood in the middle of the spectrum was very interesting as the the temperatures were slightly affected. 

Experimenting with the green bottles against a completely different coloured background which had a higher temperature highlighted the initial temperatures which I observed.

By placing the warmest bottle against a background which was warmer still made a significant difference to the temperature. The bottle now seems to be a lot cooler.

Contrast of Extension


For this experiment I used the two complementary colours red and green. The shade of red I chose was quite a pure red which against the murky green had a high contrast.

red is more dominant against green but reflective material means a moderate contrast of extension

There is a low contrast of extension here as the red folder is taking all of the attention.

Moderate contrast of extension as both are fighting for attention, red winning slightly. 

Low contrast of extension

Low contrast of extension as the red folder has made the green background seem darker than it is.

Orange and Blue

Low contrast of extension as blue is taking all of the attention

I tried the same concept with a different object. This time I chose a larger object. The contrast of extension changed as the orange shoe meant that there was a high contrast as the attention is in higher demand.

To explore this further I choose photographed a neutral shaded paper with a highly saturated magenta paper. I changed the amount of paper which was in the shot to show how the colours fought for attention.

Here there is more magenta paper and less neutral paper. Their is a moderate contrast of extension as the magenta paper does not have to fight to be seen.

By increasing the amount of neutral paper which was shown in the shot has only slightly affected the contrast because the magenta paper is more saturated and has a higher tonal value. I am wondering whether this will not changed throughout the experiment as the neutral shade is not having to fight to be seen due to its tonal values. I think this experiment could have been different if I had chosen another highly saturated colour such as blue or green.

The contrast of extension has changed slightly as the magenta decreases in visibility, it is still the most dominant colour. 

The contrast of extension has not changed significantly throughout my experiment as the magenta is still the most eye catching.

By covering the magenta paper almost fully the contrast of extension is still quite moderate as they work quite harmoniously. 

After this failed attempt I chose two highly saturated objects both with high tonal values. 

There is high contrast of extension as both are fighting for attention.

These coloured objects show a high contrast of extension due to the tonal values of each. The blue material covers the majority of the magenta bag and they are both fighting to be seen. I would say that the magenta bag is possibly winning as it is quite a bold shade. 

In this experiment the blue material is still fighting for attention even when it is over powered with the magenta bag. 

Contrast of Hue

Natural Light

I found this very interesting. By placing a yellow piece of paper onto the green background a blue tint can be seen.

Artificial Light


I observed the change in colour when photographed in artificial light.
The green became more dominant as the material is quite reflective.

Complementary Contrast

Simultaneous Contrast