Initial Development
To start I drew out some thumbnails with my initial ideas and layouts. I followed the brief by adding 3 images to each design. Though the brief says at least three images which would suggest that more than three would be preferred. After drawing out my designs I feel that using three images would make it less crowded and more clear.
After deciding on a layout from my thumbnails I experimented with a coloured half page to make my DPS more interesting. Experimenting with colour is something which I do regularly but I very rarely choose to use a colour in the end. I am very skeptical about using a colour in this DPS as I think it can sometimes make a design look amateur.
I also wanted to experiment with different fonts for the title, I had already decided that my body copy would be helvetica regular 12pt as I think this is an appropriate font and it readable.
Orator STD is one of my favourite fonts. I use this within my design sheets as I feel it makes quite a bold statement. As I am aiming this DPS at a wide audience of people who range in age I think this font could be considered too harsh and quite 'mean'.
I like the effect of a typewriter font but not one which is very obvious. I chose Orator STD because I feel it is a subtle typewriter font. To try and continue to use a typewriter font I had to find one which was more friendly and appealing.
I wanted to see what effect it would have on the photo if I took it away from the green block of colour. The effect for me personally has changed significantly, the photo stands out more than it did on the green background.
Applying a grid to my DPS I mapped out possible placements for my images.
I added my three chosen pictures to the DPS and placed them within my layout. The colours within my design are not to my personal taste and I think the block of green takes attention away from the duck photographs.
Applying a different design to my DPS
After experimenting with my first idea I chose to produce something which was more professional. I changed the images to black and white and planned on printing with coloured stock to make my design look more appealing. I am unsure whether I can feed coloured stock through a printer in the mac suite but would like to experiment with a different kind of printer to decide whether it would be beneficial.
When laying out my text and images I wanted to keep it very uniform and simple. I chose an article which was about 15 things people might not know about ducks. I split the page into 3 text boxes and assigned 5 points into a section. I think this looks equally distributed and aesthetically pleasing.
When adding the images I felt that when they were rectangle shaped it did not look interesting or different to anything which can be seen in a magazine. I wanted to experiment with a different shape for the images which would not take the detail away from the photography.
Shaping the images to circle worked really well as it focussed more on the duck within the photograph. I also think it balances the page and makes it softer for the eye to look at.
When designing the title I wanted to use a different typeface from the body copy. I also wanted it to be quite soft and rounded which would match the images. The font I chose Lane Narrow 48pt. This was abit too big and was not fitting with the rest of the DPS.
I played around with point size to make it fit within the constraints of the photos. I know that this leaves a large amount of negative space and might not look as effective as it could but I think for the audience it is clean, clear and appropriate.
Playing around further with the title of the page I experimented with the shape of the border around it. I thought it looked quite interesting as a circle along with the photographs. This I think draws the attention of the reader to the photographs before the text.
DPS on InDesign with grid.
Final DPS
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