OUGD503 Responsive Studio Brief 01 Individual Practice Feathr Wallpaper Brief

After the Briefing I got thinking about stories I could tell with the wallpaper I design and most importantly what stories people would want to glean from the design. I had a lot of trouble with this. I thought about my favourite books and if I could tell their story, or if perhaps there was a political issue that was worth shouting about. For me this was easily connectable to pollution and general sustainability. I wanted to look at creating a wall paper that had layers of strata and then the bones of all our machines and rubbish built up in it like we now find fossils and dinosaurs.

Another approach that was mentioned during the brief was the idea of inverting the norms of wallpaper to create something entirely new. A norm that I am particularly aware of is the way particularly plant or botanically based designs intertwine to create intricate repeat patterns. I possible could take this intertwined patter and use something completely different for the subject matter.

I started looking on pinterest and found a subject that I think could really work. Jellyfish. They are slightly trippy and psychedelic but also natural and beautiful but in a slightly sinister way, which I think will be received well as a competition entrant. I created a quick doodle on a scrap piece of paper to look at how the tentacles would intertwine off the repeat to create hopefully seamless repeat that draws connections to those botanical designs.

My pinterest board also gave me the idea to think in terms of depth as well as the repeat. I want to create a school of jelly fish as the focus of the pattern and make it seem as if the walls are some kind of window into the ocean. The next stage is to start experimenting with illustration forms to see how I can render the design.

OUGD504 Photography Workshop: Lighting

Today we had a photography workshop in which we learned to use both continuous and flash lighting. Predominantly we worked with continuous lighting though, setting up small shoots and practicing getting the effect we wanted.

 We had both sets with black paper back drops...

And white backdrops.

We used two lights on each sets and defusers to soften the lighting and the shadows cast in the photograph.

There is a key light and an opposing light that softens the effect of the key allowing for a more professional image.

To get our shot we ended up needing a small reflector to get the slight shine on the spot shine on the leaflet.

When we first started shooting, we had to play around with the aperture, exposure and white balance, using a grey sample sheet to set the white balance to the setting. We found that the ios was too high, making the colours slightly bleaches and less intense than we would like.

Once we got this right the colours stated to look a lot more vibrant. 

We used the reflector ever so slightly to add the reflection you can see on the leg of the R.

OUGD504 Studio Brief 04 Augmented Design Analysis of Print Based Advertising

These are all designs I collected on pinterest. They are designs that function best as posters but are very interesting designs. I want to manage a merge of good conceptual content and an inventive format that makes the best of the print outcome limitations. I will look into inventive format later in the project.

This add for a cake shop takes a simple concept and executes it beautifully. In terms of tone of voice it is a mix of jokey and...well...slightly smug. The actual visual of the cake in the place of a diamond is quite cute and clever but the reason for that visual is the self aggrandising idea of saying that their product is as valuable, rare and desirable as diamonds. As well as this over arching message is the idea that cap cakes are now a trendy way to do the wedding cake as summarised by the ring and the text which clearly translates as 'small cakes, big occasions'. I actually think this detracts from the power of the add. The image has a strong enough message of value and desirability without the text. Also the lack of text would have allowed for development of the campaign; applying the cake to multiple jewellery pieces in mock jewellery adds. However, they are clearly targeting a particular audience with this add; brides. The ring is one of the most highly symbolic parts of marriage, so the connection is easily made. 

Once again what makes this add so eye catching is the simplicity of the visual and how effectively the main message is conveyed. The black background of the poster makes the colour stand out beautifully as the focus of the piece. The power of the colour creates a definite tone of voice; assertive and proud with a strong sense of confidence. The choice of a leaf as the origin of the paint colour has been carefully considered. By choosing something natural they suggest that the paint its self is natural and wholesome, fitting when you are going to be putting this in your home, it needs to feel safe but confident. Also the idea of the colour being taken from an object rather than mixed from various pigments and chemicals (which is actually the case) suggests the purity of the colour and also the fact that it is reliable. If it is taken directly from the source as it were then the colour will be reliably the same. 

The tag line for this add is 'love him like you love ourself'. The over arching message being to look after you pet by drawing a humorous parallel between the pet and the owner. This is its self is a good concept, however, I think this could have been done a bit better. It is clearly a concept that they wanted to do a series of posters/design for, and it is a good idea for that but all the mastery of the colour doesn't cover the fact that the message of this is a little bit hard to decipher from a glance. Arguably the visual engages the on looker long enough for them to work it out and getting the audience to work is no bad thing but often people simply won't because they are just used to ignoring adds. There is a definite jokey tone of voice because it is simply a comical image and the well executed visual gives it a tinge of wit. I think that the slightly comical tone of voice is always more universally appealing and engaging than a lot of other approaches, and this is perfect for this add which has to appeal to a wide variety of people.

This is quite an old add for coke light. Once again it is the simplicity of the idea that is so eye catching. It is a very accessible joke; simply that the coke...is light. This accessibility makes it appealing to a very wide audience which of course is the audience of Coca-Cola. For me what makes this so good is the fact that it is not just photographed upside down but a clever composite image with the liquid inside of  the bottle is being pulled down to the apparent ground but as soon as it escapes to bottle it floats upwards. The openness of the visual joke makes it very jovial in tone of voice and very cheery, once again, very much in keeping with the established identity of the Coca-Cola brand. 

This add for a men's razor creates humour through the juxtaposition of the facial expression of the model and the sculpted animal beard. There is a definite information hierarchy that the poster establishes. When you first look at the poster you see the model, assertively looking out of the poster making eye contact with the audience, self assurance in his stance and a definite 'masculine' stereotype being asserted. The somewhat confrontational nature of this is mediated by the comedic nature of the small otter like creature that makes up his beard. This is so incongruous with the rest of the poster that it startles a laugh out of the audience. The complete tone of voice achieved by this is a mix of assertive and rather cute and belittling of the whole concept of over masculinity. This is a sign post of the audience this poster is intended for. Although it will work for a male audience, because many men (and people generally) don't like to be seen to take themselves too seriously,  it is mostly intended for women who might buy these products as gifts for men they know. This is because this mocking of over masculinity is what makes up a lot of the day to day relationship in actual family units.

OUGD504 Studio Brief 04 Augmented Design Briefing First Consideration Study Task 10

Today we were briefed on our augmented design brief. This looked at transferring our web design work from the previous brief into print. We have been asked to create a three piece print campaign promoting our website.

The study task following this briefing asked us to create a 'design guide' if you will, of the audience, message and tone of voice our print campaign will require. I started off by researching the possibilities of print advertising campaigns and found some very creative and entertaining ones. I have collected them together on a pinterest board.

I had trouble finding many that had that cross over from a web based product to a print advertising campaign, so I looked on some of the recommended resources and found some very interesting interactive print ideas. I am uncertain how relevant they are to my work though.

http://www.aurasma.com/campaigns/#

The design guide I produced during this session can be found below.

OUGD503 Responsive Studio Brief 01 Individual Practice Feathr Brief Existing Entries

http://www.feathr.com/vote/P10

I went on to the voting pages on the Feathr website and took some screen shots of the entries so that I can look at what they might be missing.

This is probably one of my favourite designs on the website. This is mostly because the repeat is so interesting. I like the way it has varying intensities of line weight that suggest the presence of depth which is hard to come by in a lot of wall papers and makes sense when you think about the way that the wallpaper's depth creates the illusion that the room is bigger than it actually is, always a desirable trait.

This is quite a bizarre illustration to use as the repeat of a wallpaper but I think that is why it works. It makes very little sense but this is the very thing that makes it a talking point. This is a quality that comes from one of the criteria pointed out in the briefing; a story. It is important that the wallpaper has a story to tell or at least a reason behind it. It doesn't necessarily mean that this story has to be instantly gleaned from the design but to get the complexity and evoke that curiosity from the onlooker it needs the background of a strong concept.

I really like the visual texture and carefully thought through repeat in this design. However, when seen at full size the design looses this impact it has because the repeat is far too small to actually work from the multiple distances it needs to be viewed from.

This is another example where the repeat is just far too small. It creates a busyness that almost hurts the eyes. Not something you want from a wallpaper.

Tis is an example of the repeat just not being thought through enough. The spacing on each individual roll has been looked at but the connection between rolls has not been taken into account. This means that there are lines through the wallpaper where the motifs are much closer together than in other areas of the design.

Although the repeat of this is far too small to be visually appealing I admire the bravery of placing the motifs so close together. However, this does have its draw backs, it means  that there are numerous lines in this design. Sometimes lines can be pleasing to the eye but here I feel like perhaps the scale has stopped this from being the case. The diamond shape of the repeat mean that there is almost an isometric grid of lines throughout which stops you from seeing the contents of the pattern and the grid of lines instead, getting in the way of the communication of the story.

Once again this is a design tat I really like but just feel that the scale is all wrong. I really love the drawing style and the tactile look, possibly this is something that I could use in my designs, however, something that runs throughout all of these designs is the lack of a truly interlocking repeat patterns, something that creates the impression of no repeat at all. This is what I want to achieve with my design.

 Next I want to start jotting down ideas about stories and themes that I want to explore.

OUGD503 Responsive Feathr Wallpaper Brief

After the Visit from Feathr wallpaper, I have decided to do a wallpaper design for their competition.

http://www.feathr.com/vote/P10

The limitations of the brief are numerous. The most dominant ones are repeat and scale. The scale of the design needs to work from lots of different distances and the repeat needs to be as seamless as possible so that no lines appear when numerous rolls of the paper are pasted next to each other. Luckily as part of the submission process, Feathr have a try out area where you can play around withe the way the motif repeats and the scale it is repeated at. However, this will need to be considered at every stage of the design. I hope not to spend more than a week or so on this project because my dominant work is being done with the Leeds Arts Party and my submission to the YCN in the Fedrigoni Brief. 

The first things I want to do are think about the different stories I would want to tell with this piece and to look at the current submissions. I will already play on my existing work in the area of wall paper design and look at inverting the norms of this medium to create something entertaining and new.

Own Brief:

Create a wall paper design for the feather competition that looks to invert the norms of wallpaper design and utilises your existing knowledge of the medium. Consider the technicalities of a repeat and how your motif can do something new with the space you have. Consider its context in the home and what people want to see day to day.

OUGD503 Responsive Studio Brief 01 Individual Practice Leeds Arts Party Flyer

The flyers went to print at Awesome merchandise and I think that they turned out pretty good.

There are a few things that I would change if I could have seen a proof print, like the colour of the drop shadow is slightly green and the hand drawn type would have been really nice with a slightly more pronounced spot shine just to catch the eye.

Evaluation:

Using hand draw lettering in this brief was a justified decision in the fact that it communicated a hand crafted more human approach which fits with the message of the arts party. However, in this situation I am uncertain about how effectively it has worked in situ. I am uncertain why this is but it could be the hand drawn type on top of hand drawn type, too much perhaps. Through the development of the design I have learned about the aesthetic that the arts party wants to create and how I can best achieve this. Mostly through the use of colours it seems, although the colours are very light pastels and this can seem very girlie and soft, perhaps the colours require the harsher edges of digital design to counteract this. I also learned a lot from working with a group of people that aren't necessarily graphic designers. This means you have a few communication bridges to cross but the effort is worth it and having crit with them was a new experience entirely. I think one thing that this project highlighted was my need to step away from my work before someone critiques it. I found that working on it and then the next minuet getting a crit meant I was much less open to making changes and could (internally) get quite defensive. I am glad I have learned this about my process because now I can mediate this. I really liked helping out on the day of the showcase because I got to see the delivery of my design and gauge a response. The response was overwhelmingly positive, despite my hang up about it and this was heartening and also very motivational, just to see my work in use out side of the college.

I helped out at our stand on both days of the showcase in the mornings. As part of the set up on saturday I also did an impromptu chalk board which needed to look quite hand made and DIY. I think it worked out really well and I definitely enjoyed doing it, something to do more perhaps?

OUGD504 Studio Brief 03 A Brief History Of... Final Designs and Interactive Mock Ups

I am really pleased with the way the exterior gallery has worked out. I had been struggling for some time with how to make some aspect or another interactive or allow some feedback from people who have gone on the walks. Pinterest is perfect for this because people can add to the search tag and even the board its self. This creates a community sense to the venture that generally makes the whole brans more likeable and accessible. It also means that people can get to the website through pinterest as well as the usual search engines. 

The transfer of the design to a mobile format website went really well and the simple icon usage really seems to be fitted to this function because they are just the right size to be tapped by a finger accurately. Once again the connection to pinterest  works in the mobile website context because the app for pinterest is particularly visually effective. 

I am happy with the general look of my website and quite surprised that I managed to keep it simple and clean and get the balance of earthy warmth that the subject matter deserves. I do feel that perhaps the hand rendered type could have been done a bit better but this is always the nature of hand rendered type, especially when I am still learning. The layout seems simple but when I started looking into coding I found that I would actually need a responsive design coded so that the thirds of the screen could shrink and grow and still remain proportionally correct. This would also be the case for the icon strands, they would always need to be in proportional thirds. This is imperative because the images need to be full bleed to have the impact that I desire.

General layout- like it but fully responsive coding would have to be used to do this properly (full bleed images)

The use of lower opacities rather than translucent overlays of colour or even flat colour saves me from using web safe colours which I am very thankful for as I have not found one yet that I really like. The differences in opacity are easily achieved through the use of PNG files, as introduced in our one and only coding workshop, so this aesthetic is achievable and functional.

One problem that I did encounter was the way the lightness of the sky sometimes got in the way of the icons being fully recognisable. I got around this problem by inverting translucent squares of a dark blue with a soft gradient down to transparency where the sky connects with the land. By putting tis bend the icon string it brings the white into contrast and makes them much more noticeable. This can be seen more clearly in the gifs below.

-sky has proved difficult

using all images communicate the beauty of the landscape.

Something that was mentioned in the earlier crits was the fact tat images of a place make you want to visit it and are important in convincing people to go there. I have acted on this idea by using photos as the lynch pin of the entire website and I think this has worked quite well. Apart from the obvious difficulties that full bleed images on a responsibly coded website, this is a website that would definitely make me want to visit these places.

At the beginning of this brief I decided that I wanted the feel of this website to be warm and welcoming, have the raw earthy feel of the places being referenced and be quite clean and minimal, so as to appeal to a yuppie sensibility. I think this has worked surprisingly well. The white type could have been too cold and clean but the usage of hand drawn type mediates this, making it ever so slightly imperfect in a very human way. The neat way that the information is tucked away mean that the first screen you see is very appealing without and clutter and the information in each page is accessible and useful. I have had a good look around at websites that do similar things and they just do not bring all of the resources into one place the way mine does, there is definitely a gap in the market.

The opacity of the squares framing the text is the only thing that was brought up in the final crit and I have experimented with increasing the opacity but just found that this felt too blocky and heavy on the page. Although at first glance it may interrupt the readability of the text, the light and airy effect of the reduced opacity is worth this slight compromise.

Overall I am happy with what I have managed to design. I have enjoyed the process of transferring my very tactile and illustrative style into a fully digital format and I think that it has worked really well. However, if there was one thing I would have changed, it would have been to do more coding and push what I could have made real. Of course this was predominantly because the tutor that specialises in coding was away on maternity leave but I do think that I should have made the effort to start coding sooner. Then again I also feel what made this design good is the way that it is not very aware of the limitations of coding and that these thoughts did not inter fear in the design process. So, it is both something i would and wouldn't change if I were to do tis brief again.

OUGD504 Studio Brief 03 A Brief History Of... Mobile Site Mock Up

I also mocked up how the website would look when accessed through a mobile. The pop up information windows would stay up for approximately 5 seconds and then disappear so that there is enough time to read the information and tap any links to exterior sites.

OUGD504 Studio Brief 03 A Brief History Of... Interaction With Exterior Gallery Giff

I have mocked up a simple giff to show how the gallery on pinterest would be accessed from the main website and then link back again, so that it can be entered from pinterest as well.

OUGD504 Studio Brief 03 A Brief History Of... Gallery on Pinterest

I have been thinking about how to layout the gallery pages with all the images I took of the walks for a while. Suddenly it occurred to me when I was on Pinterest; a link to a pinterest board. Previous crits have brought up the idea of some social media platform that allows people who have gone on the walk todd their own images and experiences. Up unit this point the only platform that seemed right for this was instagram, but because that is such a mobil phone platform i didn't want to encourage people to be on their phones while on the walk. That just goes against the whole idea of escaping that kind of city thing. So, pinterest seems like the perfect compromise. 

 I added a pinterest link button on the home page so that people can get to all the boards for each walk.

Each walk will have the logo as the cover image agains the image used in the background for that walk on the website.

As shown above each walk will be a separate board with the images in sequence for the walk.

The description of each image includes place reference of Norwich and the area of the walk length, so that they would appear when anyone searched any of these terms. The link to the relevant page of the website would also be in the description so as to not only use pinterest as a gallery but as a means of feeding people into the website. Also at the bottom of each image is a little salt of the earth logo, just so if the image get re used then they can always be tracked back to me.

By adding a specific place on pinterest it allows a map to pop up under the image and give people an idea of where this was taken along the walk.