OUGD404 - Studio Brief 02

The second brief from Design Principles gives free rein to whatever subject I would like on which to base a book. The only mandatory requirements for the project is to create a 10 double page publication. I had a few initial concept ideas which would work for this project.

1
My first idea consisted of documenting the independent coffee shops of leeds, noting their location on my own map as well as my own personal rating of their coffee. I would hope for a more minimal design within this publication with strong photographs to accompany a design and layout that is successful for the brief.

2
Creating a book to show the best burgers in Leeds. With a large amount of restaurants to offer, with good photography and use of grid systems, I could create an informative guide to this topic.

3
My Final publication idea would comprise of information about recycling. This would link with the competition brief on sustainable design.Strong photography within the studio would work well with the information I give on my chosen topic  to produce a book that, although usually seen as being a boring subject, can be reimagined as being a more aesthetically pleasing piece of work.

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To help me decide my topic choice, I attended a critique with the second year BA Graphic Design Students. Once my brief and each idea had been explained to my peers I was open to feedback that could help with my development of the project. The opinions of those In my group showed my recycling publication was the most unique idea out of the three and would work well in conjunction with the brief.

The other students also noted a number of suggestions that could help my project progress further and become a better and more professional looking design. These ideas were as followed:

To look at creating the book out of recycled stock;

To think about my content and adding information such as statistics and what can and can't be recycled.

Use good photography that is eye catching and invites in the audience

These responses have been taken into considering as I decide on content for my book. I feel that in particular, the use of statistics together with added information and my photographs will be useful as could back any other ideas I wish to use in my book.
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I first found some styles of publication that could work for my own project. One such example can be seen in an article on 'the women of wall street' in the magazine Vice. Vice use a simple two column grid system which is used throughout this part of the magazine. The images are large so the focus is aimed directly at them. 

Interesting sections of text such as quotes are enlarged making them more eye catching. This encourages the audience to read the quotes and then continue reading the article. This is something I could use within my own brief as this subject is usually considered as being boring however enlarged, interesting pieces of text would draw the reader in as they flick through.

I also looked at some examples of design in the same subject area as me. On designspiration.com I found a number of pieces which worked especially well.

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I want to create a publication that will inform my audience about recycling, reusing and up cycling. I will hopefully change their point of view and their actions in the future. I have decided that students should be my focused target audience.

After now living in student accommodation for six months I have noticed how students can be less aware of what can and can't be recycled as well as less care and attention when throwing away their rubbish. I hope to create an aesthetically pleasing publication that, because of its good design, will attract my chosen audience which will in turn inform them of this subject. 

As this book intends to inform, I looked to creating a style how I present my book that would do this in an interesting way. I sketched a number of ideas on paper on how my publication could be set out with initial thoughts on the layout having an important role.





These ideas were then presented within another critique. This would focus of the style rather than content. I showed my group the range of concepts I had come up with and asked them a number of questions in reference to these ideas. I asked:

I want my publication to be unique, interesting and informative. Which themed idea do you think works best to show this?

Do you think a photography based book will attract my audience and be appropriate for this idea?

Should this publication be created as a well produced, one off artist book or be a small guide that can be printed cheaply and easily for my intended message to be spread efficiently?

My group thought I should experiment with both a hard copy, one off publication and a smaller, easily distributed book. These two ideas focus on different intentions for the book but both work well to portray my message.

They noted that I should consider being as sustainable as possible with support for the idea of using recycled paper. I noted, however that recycled paper is usually bad quality and can other be quite thin so they said to look at using different sheets of cut down scrap paper, handmade paper or textured paper. These ideas would still work with the sustainable theme but may produce a better outcome for my project.

With sustainability still in mind they said to look at different binding methods. Thinking about using methods away from staples as these cannot be recycled despite being a cheaper and quicker method of binding that other traditional techniques.
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I found an editorial called The Outpost Magazine which used a similar typeface to what I have decided to use. I also found this publication useful due to its successful use of a grid system. The consistant 5 column grid system is seen throughout and works well to bring sections of the book together. This is something I would like to do within my own publication so will look at creating my own grid system for this brief.

Block colour pages with contrasting white and black type is eye catching and is clear and easy to read. This is something that could work well within my own publication. However, this example of block colour has been printed onto its stock. I would use coloured paper for this with white or black ink as would look for aesthetically pleasing for my final.

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I want my book to show how man made objects take time to decompose into the earth whilst foods and dead plants take literally no time at all. One way I feel I could show this is through multiple photos of the same object taken at different times. This is similar to a time lapse however will work well within my publication.

I feel like I should experiment with different natural products as some may take longer than others to decompose. I will take photos of these experiments as may work well within my final piece. The items I will take photos of are as follows:

An apple core,

A banana skin and 

Other fruits of veg

I am using the left overs from food as I know these will decompose the quickest. I will also photograph a man made product such as a plastic bag. Although it will say a different length of time has waited between photos, I will take these photos one after another with only small changes to the bags position as I know from research and knowledge that the plastic bag will take thousands of years to even decompose a little.

I created my own photography studio within my own room so I would be able to take these images.

 

The photos are seen below:

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It is important that my front cover is inviting to my particular audience and stands out among other informative publications. Because of this I want to use a unique design as well as colours that stand out and my chosen headings typeface.

The design I use must convey the ideas I sketched up as I and my critique found these to work best. This would show how everything can be re used or recycled which is the primary idea my book will convey.


















The moving line that can be seen within my sketches could be used within my front cover and be used continuously as a theme throughout my book. It can be seen as being organic which works well within my recycling themes. I sketched some more using these ideas as felt would help develop my project and help me come up with the most successful cover possible.

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I have started to look at the typographical element of my design. I want to use two typefaces within my brief. I want the headings typeface to be unique and to stand out so I experimented with the word recycle.

The typeface I have decided to use is Narziss ProCy Ultrabold-Regular for headings due to its unique and modern qualities that work well with my chosen themes and ideas.

The body text I use must be legible so I will use a san serif typeface. The typeface I use must also work with my chosen headings typeface. Due to Narziss ProCy having thin parts within letterforms, I feel the same qualities would work for body text. Because of this, I feel I should use Garamond.

The type size I use is also very important as different pt sizes will be more appropriate than others for different things. I have decided to use 12pt for body text as this will should be legible at most publication printing sizes for my reader target audience.

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Now I have decided on my front cover through sketch form, I will transfer these ideas to illustrator so I can start to develop and progress within my project.

Although my design works well I feel it needs to be contained within a space. Because of this I added a box around the image for further designs. As well as this I added my own personal logo as feel it is important that this book can be traced back to me so the audience can see other work of mine.    

Now my front cover has been decided I want to explore different colour schemes on which to base this book. I explored obvious choices such as various greens which have obvious connotations to my recycling theme.

Although these work well to portray my ideas, I want my book to be unique and to stand out to my target market. Because of this I looked at using less conventional colours such as reds and blues. These experiments can be seen below.

I feel like the red colour scheme used works best as is dissimilar to the usual colours representing recycling. The bright, eye catching colour also gives off the ideas of danger and that this is an important subject matter meaning I am more likely to attract an audience for my publication. 
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As information on this subject is usually seen as being boring I want to primarily use photography for my content. The text within my publication must also be clear and legible to cohere with these ideas as well as being short and to the point. I started to list the things I'd like to see within this book as well as what I thought would be most important and most useful for my audience.

I want to have different sections to my publication, similar to chapters. This will separate the different areas of the subject I would like to explore making it easier to read and understand my book. The areas I want to give information on are:

Recycling

Reusing and up cycling

A company/ design agency that are sustainable, think its important to recycle.

The future. What could happen etc. 

I have already decided to include my rotten banana skin photos along with my plastic bag photos within my publication however I must look at other topics to touch on.

One thing I would like to show is what different products can be turned into as one of the things I have recognised as being important is informing my audience about what they could do to help save the planet. I feel like this is very important.


I have looked at including my own, small guide to up cycling as a page within my publication. I found different ways to up cycle for this, my photographic research can be seen below.

I feel like a simple up cycling process would work best for my book to show how easy it is to do. I would also like my guide to be suitable for my target audience. Because of this I want to show my audience how to create a simple plant pot, similar to my example within a welly above. I tried this first to see how successful it would be and found it worked well so I will continue to make more for my photographs.

Sustainable companies and recycling conscious design studios are something I wish to focus on. Because of this, I researched into these areas. One such company I found focuses on sustainable design is 19 Greek Street.

19 Greek Street

This London based design studio describes themselves as having a style which is eccentric, colourful and eclectic. They focus on disposable 



Disposable Society

This exhibition by some students from Leeds College of Art shows off artwork featuring sustain ability. This could fit well into my design and will be considered  for part of my books content.

King Koby

This shop is my barbers. I have noticed whilst getting my hair cut, their efficient use of up cycling. They reuse a number of items within their number of dee as fits well within their vintage aesthetic.

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I have decided to add a word to my front cover design. Adding 'use' beneath 'cycle' is not only an aesthetic choice to create a more fluent design but I feel it is important to be included within this cover for ideas relating to recycling. This can be seen below.

I have also had the idea to add a photo into my design. I am unsure whether this will be used within my final but I have shown within experimentation where my photos could be placed if I choose to do this. Adding photos onto my cover could add interest to my publication which would attract my target audience. I must be careful that the photograph used does not contradict my bright colour scheme but I will experiment with this further within my project once it is more developed.

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The stock I use to print this design must replicate the ideas of sustainability. Because of this I have looked into different paper types I could use within this project.

The most obvious choice would be to use newsprint as this type of paper is created using recycled materials as was created for newspapers as cheap stock. There are various weights of this paper that could be used preventing the less rigid qualities of newspapers. Although this could work well, I feel like the colour of the stock could change the colours of my paper. Because of this I have explored other options for this brief.

I have recently discovered PaperBack which is a company that specialises in recycled paper. This will be perfect for my brief as I will be able to experiment with a number of stock choices. I have emailed this company noting my intended purpose for their paper, hoping that they will send me some samples to see which stock will work best.

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I have finalised a number of design decisions for my recycling book that will help me progress to a more finished layout. 

One thing I have decided on is the size of my publication. Although easy to hold and more obvious for similar designs, I wanted my book to be A4 rather than A5. This is because I want my final piece to be unique from other publications and to stand out for my target audience. This design decision was finalised in coordination with where my book would be displayed. Due to the nature of the subject, I feel it would be better for my book to be free as my target audience are more likely to pick it up and read it. I would place it in such places as the student union, student accommodations and within the universities of Leeds.

Another design decision of mine will be that I will continue to use the flowing, organic line throughout the book rather than just on the front page. This will better link my whole book together. I would also like to lead this flowing line into a question mark. This will be situated at the back of my book and will tell the audience that it is up to them as young people to recycle and change the world for the better.

I have also decided to use two different colour stocks within my book. The main colour used will be white and second will be red. I feel this will add to the aesthetic qualities of my book. I must first experiment with printing on the red paper as some inks may not be visible once printed.

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Before I started drawing, I looked at some research relating to the layout of my publication. I found some use of interesting grid systems such as the example below. The use of large numbers with type below works well. I feel I could use a similar design with images to enhance my own design.

I also found the below image on Designspiration which shows the type running from the spine, onto the front cover. Although this works well, it has given me the idea of having something running from one page to the next so the book links well together. 

My idea is similar to how the publication below uses the same unique grid system and use of colour with the ink and stock to link the pages together successfully.

Using a repeated grid system or colour over a number of pages like the example above will help link my publication together. I could do a similar thing for my own publication where my moving line from the front cover spreads across the rest of the pages.

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Now I have decided on what will be going within my book I will start to sketch out my layout. I will draw out these ideas first as I can experiment with different layouts quickly to help with the positive progression of my project.

My next step will be to recreate my chosen layout on inDesign so it is ready for print. As I have not yet taken my photographs I will place rectangles within the layout until I have chance to go to the studio. 

When typing up my paragraphs into my grid system layout I noticed that there were a number of orphans at the bottom of paragraphs. In an aesthetic sense this looks out of place. Because of this I adjusted the size of my text boxes so they opposed my grid system. As this was only a minor change,

I have decided not to use photos on my front cover as I feel it works well at the moment at being eye catching and attractive for my target audience.

Although there are parts of text which are incomplete, as this is only my first layout mock up, I still have time to improve what I say within my book, making it more realistic.

I feel this layout works well and is appropriate for my brief. It is eye catching and because of its modern design will hopefully attract my intended target audience. There are some things I hope to add and change such as including a contents page and correcting some of my text. Despite this, I feel like my design is successful and will work well for my final hand in.

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I feel the other photographs I take should be taken as professionally as possible and with facilities available at the college I believe I can accomplish photos to a high standard.

I have looked at photographers that focus on objects as their subject as inspiration for my own photographs. Photographers such as Martin Parr who have taken a series of photographs on food.

The vintage feel of his photographs is down to his use of film photography. Although I am very familiar with this form of photography, due to restricted time that I would need for developing and no clear link to the brief except for aesthetic reasons, I feel digital will work better. However, Parr zooms in close to his subjects so the details are noticed and photographs as a whole stand out. This works well and is something I will experiment with for my own publication.

The images below show the photographs I have taken for this project. I must go through these images to find the best and most appropriate for my book. Once I have done this I will insert them into my InDesign document ready for print.

My final layout with photos can be seen below. I believe I have successfully completed this brief as works well to attract and inform my audience about my intended subject. The publication flows from page to page and keeps the reader interested throughout. I felt this was important from the start of the project especially as I was tackling what is usually seen as a boring subject.

I added some elements that I felt were important but hadn't been included previously. One thing I added were page numbers as I had forgotten these in my first layout. I first experimented with using Narziss Pro at pt size 18. This is my chosen headings typeface but due to thin parts of some letterforms, was unsure at first whether the type would be legible at the smaller scale, however found it still stood out and worked in correspondence to the rest of my layout.

Another thing I decided to include within my publication is a contents page. I feel this is necessary for this layout to help guide my audience through my book. I feel like the one I have created is successful in my layout and will be used within my final.

My next step will be to print my book. I will use the carefully selected stocks that I have collected. The photos from these results will be shown below.

I have decided to ask a number of other designers some questions to help me complete this project. This was show me how successful my publication has been and how well it would work within the real world.

My final piece of feedback came at the end of my project when I decided to ask some other graphic design students some questions about my final publication that I thought would better help me understand what I could have done better and what went well.

Do you think my publication is successful in creating interest in a subject which is usually considered as being boring? In summary, the designers I asked felt my final publication is very engagine. They feel the red line help ‘glide your eyes across the page’. One responce also notes how my content is interesting and how they ‘have never thought about these products in this way’. Although the aesthetics are most important, the content will help the reader continue through the book. 

Is there anything you would change to help this become more appropriate for the brief or more successful as a design? One responce suggested I printed a full page in the red colour so the white type would be visible as the black isn’t consistant with the rest of the book. Although this seems like a viable option, the quality of the printer would have to be much better than the printer I used for this project. Due to the lower quality, ink will streak leaving marks in blocks of colour. This would not be as professional for my final design and so in this sense the black ink works better.

As a student do you think you would pick this up if it was free? if so why is this? The designers I asked  agreed the interesting design and eyecatching colour of my front cover would attract my target audience into picking it up. They also liked the minimal design of my publication as felt it was suitable for my target audience. This is due to the popular clean, modern designs that are often picked up by design students.

OUGD406 - Study Task 01 - Secret 7

Today's study task comprised of creating two album covers based on one seven songs from the 2015 secret 7 designs in preparation for my own entry to this years competition. I was to choose from:

The Rolling Stones: Dead Flower
Diana Ross and the Supremes: Reflections
Underworld: Born Slippy (Nuxx)
The Chemical Brothers: Let Forever Be
St Vincent: Digital Witness
Peter Gabriel: Sledgehammer
The maccabees: Go

I looked at all these songs to start with as there was not one prolific song that stood out above the rest. I decided to use a song that I was less familiar with yet still had strong underlying themes and portrayed more simple ideas. Because of this, I used St Vincent's Digital Witness.

There were two covers that we were asked to make. One was to have an obvious link to my chosen song and the other must be more ambiguous. I started this study task by sketching out my designs. I then translated these sketches onto illustrator. Despite not being essential I believe this was the most appropriate method to create the most successful designs I could in the time I had.

Below show my designs:

clear link with song

more ambiguous link

OUGD405 - Studio Brief 02 - Information Design

This brief looked at creating a public information leaflet that was based on one of the given videos showed to us by Simon. The majority of these videos came from the 20th century meaning they were old fashioned using a tone of voice or point of view that may not be appropriate for the leaflet I create. Because of this, I hope to change the ideas of my chosen video and add facts and statistics to create a better final piece. The video I chose was Lonely water. The message given warns children of the dangers of water and how they can drown if they are close to the waters edge.

I decided to focus on warning the parents of these young children of common drowning dangers as in modern society young kids like in the video are less likely to play out near dangers shown in the video and feel is more appropriate to have an older target audience. I want my leaflet to be eye catching yet still show the serious nature of the subject information. The final piece must warn this target audience of the dangers young children face when left alone near water.This is similar to the ideas of the Lonely Water video where an adult is never around to prevent the drowning dangers.

The dangers of drowning

There are a number of risk factors that may increase the likelihood of a person drowning. As mentioned in the video Lonely Water: those that play near the waters edge could fall in and may be at risk of drowning. I also looked on websites such as who.int which has a fact sheet on drowning. It notes their are risks such as:

The increased access to water such as more people fishing and participating in recreational activities near water such as boating. Children who live near open water sources, such as ditches, ponds, irrigation channels, or pools are especially at risk as explained in the Lonely Waters video.

Floods cause a large number of drownings with 75% of flood deaths being this fate. This occurs most in lower and middle class income countries as people, especially children, have less experience swimming.

other risks include:
infants left unsupervised or alone with another child around water;
medical conditions, such as epilepsy;
people unfamiliar with local water risks and features

The statistics

I wanted to look for statistics that would compliment my idea that young children should be under total parental guidance when near or in contact with a water hazard. This can be anything from bathtubs, pools or natural sources such as rivers and lakes. This website notes about the prevention:

-Installing barriers
-Controlling access to water hazards
-removing water hazards entirely.

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs347/en/

The prevention

WHO.int notes again that 'There are many actions to prevent drowning. Installing barriers (e.g. covering wells, using doorway barriers and playpens, fencing swimming pools etc.) to control access to water hazards, or removing water hazards entirely greatly reduces water hazard exposure and risk.'

contact and emergency numbers

There are an number of emergency numbers I have found that can be called when a person is found drowning. The most obvious being 999 and the second being the coastguard with the closest station being bridlington using the number 01262 672317

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs347/en/

Who is most at risk?

after researching resources such as the centre for disease control and prevention's website I noticed that 'Children ages 1 to 4 have the highest drowning rates. In 2009, among children 1 to 4 years old who died from an unintentional injury, more than 30% died from drowning. Among children ages 1 to 4, most drownings occur in home swimming pools. Drowning is responsible for more deaths among children 1-4 than any other cause except congenital anomalies (birth defects). Among those 1-14, fatal drowning remains the second-leading cause of unintentional injury-related death behind motor vehicle crashes.'

This research as well as others found has shown me how much of a risk drowning can be to young children and that there are many dangers, not just the obvious sources such as pools, rivers and lakes. It also has showed me that the easiest way to prevent child drowning is to 
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I looked into the type of leaflet the government usually uses to promote the awareness of information such as this. Thy were often bland and boring with the most eye-catching being those funded by companies that are trying to sell products. I felt this research into the norm of informative leaflets show how I can change the perception so it becomes more engaging.

I looked into how previous designers had created other leaflets and similar informative designs. This would show me a varied number of ways I could fold my paper, lay out my design and produce it.

This particular design uses colour well to both display statistics and continue the underlying theme. This is something I would also like to do within my work. The half fold this leaflet uses is an interesting way to show the work. I would like to look at other folding techniques as can safe money with the use of less paper and add to an intriguing design.

The use of only three colours within this design mean this leaflet could be screen printed. This is also an idea I could translate within my own work if I were to use a minimal colour pallet. This technique can also be produced cheaply on a mass scale which is appropriate for my project.

This design shows how my leaflet could be folded up small to fit into a leaflet yet open to show the content.
The large, eye-catching type is the first thing the reader notices when coupled with a smaller body of text. Because of this I will look to including a similar kind of design in my work.

This is a Z fold. Although often used within takeaway menus it means a large amount of information can be shown in a small space. I feel this design could work for my project although, If experimented with, I would look to changing the shape of the paper used to create a more intriguing leaflet dissimilar to menus.

Although using a number of different pieces of paper can be costly, the way this design uses layers to create different sections of the publication is similar to how I could lay out my own design. If replaced by waves and a lower stock of paper, this design could show various pieces of information on drowning clearly with just the front page.
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I looked at infographics and how they can be used within my own work to demonstrate my message. They are described as being 'a visual representation of information or data e.g. a chart or diagram'. With this in mind I looked for a number of pieces of design that included these infographics that may inspire of give research to my currant project. As they are often aesthetically pleasing there are a number of examples that I found that range from simple designs that may only show one piece of information such as the designs that show deaths caused by HIV, Malaria, suicide, alcohol and road traffic this year to more complicated pieces like that created to explain a recipe for a meal.

Large corporate companies often create infographics to explain and show their own information to the public. Companies like Facebook have a large Graphic Design team used to best communicate their chosen message.

One of Facebook's infographic pieces seen above show the public interaction with the social media site across the world. The clarity of information is down to the clever use of colour, type and image. The simplistic use of the three components create a 
design that is eye-catching as well as quick and easy to read. This example shows how infographics can be used to explain one specific piece of information this can also be seen within the following pieces of design.

A particular infographic I have found has influenced a lot of research for my project as has the same theme on drowning. This pool safety guide includes statistics such as 

that 390 children drown per year (US)
that 75% of those that drown are under 5
and that 69% of deaths occur whilst one or both parents were responsible for supervising the child.

Some of the statistics on this design would work well in my project as relate to the brief. There are also other design elements that I think work well in this piece such as the waves at the top of the page pushing the rest of the information below the surface. The blue background against white type works especially well to create an eye-catching design.

The design includes a number of prevention methods that could be included within my project however, as this design is primarily used to note the drowning in pools, some points may not be relevant or appropriate.

They can also be more complicated with various pieces of information being shown on one single page. I have attached a number of these examples below as This is something I hope to do myself within this project.

All three of these infographic pages have a similar design with their long and thin portrait layout that is custom to the amount of information wanted on the design as well as the use of only a small number of colours. The limited colour pallet creates a design that flows from the top to the bottom of the page without any obscure colour to distract the reader.  An example of this can be seen within the infographic on depression where the addition of yellow to the bottom of the page contradicts the other reoccurring colours throughout the rest of the design.. The idea of a reoccurring colour pallet throughout is something I would like to replicate within my own work with the obvious colour representation between blue , water and drowning. I do however think this should be a darker blue to relate to the darker themes of the topic. This is something that doesn't happen all the time as again seen within the depression graphic where the seemingly negative topic is coupled with the bright colours.
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To start this project Simon instructed us to create some preliminary sketches of leaflet designs. This way I will be able to quickly note any ideas with annotation if anything comes to mind constantly go back and add improvements whenever. Once my final design is clear, I will start to create the final piece digitally on illustrator. This will enable me to create a more professional looking design with an added typeface to the original sketches I first had. Below show my first ideas. These first sketches may be rough and quite vague but will give me a stepping stone to more developed ideas.

My first leaflet design has clear sections separating dangers, prevention and who to call in an emergency by shade of blue and flaps that open up. These flaps lead to more information on drowning if the audience decides to look at it. I do find however that this design is in a similar shape to a takeaway menu which may cause the audience to throw the information leaflet away without reading it.

This design has less information due to the large type intended to catch the eye of the target audience however due to it being a4, folding down to a smaller size, it is compact and works well as a leaflet to explain the dangers of my topic.

This leaflet is a similar size to a postcard. Because of this it may be dismissed or thrown away if posted. There are other ways I could publish this to a wide audience such as on display in GP's and hospitals. Despite this, the reaching arm does relate well to the topic and is eye-catching.

The Z fold is often found on takeaway menus but the minimalist design I would hope to produce would overcome this and my target market would hopefully look past it.

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My first critique of this brief gave me an insight on how I was developing with the project in conjunction with other students on the course. The other students in my crit group responded to my work, giving feedback on things they like about my designs, how I can improve and anything they thought could be changed or added to my sketches.

At this stage I had only completed the initial drawings of my idea so feedbacks would be limited. The questions I decided to ask were:

Which design do you think best shows the message I want to express?

Do you think it's more important to focus on the awareness or the prevention of this subject?

Which leaflet design do you think is most aesthetically pleasing?

People like my second idea as found the folding envelope design was an interesting and unconventional way to publish my leaflet. They also found that aesthetically it worked well to contrast the minimal cover with a busy cover.

The critique found that my third idea was also successful and that it had the potential to become a design that worked well with the brief. Despite this, the crit group also agreed it could be mistaken for a takeaway menu if posted.

Overall, the people that critiqued my work believe the second and third design worked the best as both successfully conveyed my message

Following this critique I decided my final design will be my second idea where a standard A4 piece of paper is folded up into 3 sections to create a DL sized envelope. When the back of the envelope in teared along a dotted line the infographic inside of the design is revealed to warn the parents of young children and babies of the dangers of leaving their child alone near water. I next need to portray my final idea within a sketch                        and change any problems that might occur.
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To create a more developed response to my leaflet I decided to include my research where I found a number of statistics that coincided with the message I am trying to portray saying parents should not leave their young children alone near water. The statistics I have decided to include within my final design are:

57 children in the UK dying in 2015,
that young children can drown in as little as 5cm of water,
75% of children that drown are under the age of 5,
that 22% of children that drown do so in the bath
and that drowning is the 3rd highest cause of death of young children.

I have chosen these specific statistics as they work well collectively to give a rounded representation of my chosen subject. I have also chosen not to include any specific detailed information on how to prevent such causes do to limited space. I will work around this by including a number of pieces of mandatory information to my designs once developed. This information will be important and I feel it must be used to go with the statistics. This will include emergency contact details: 999 and the coastguard as well as a quick sentence to advise parents to stay near their children when close to water hazards.
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I experimented with creating some infographics of my own based on the statistics chosen for this project. I tried to focus on the clear representation of information within the image. I also wanted a less complicated design that would focus purely on my own topic rather that veer away and become overwhelming to the reader showing too much info. Because of this I sketched a number of experiments that may compliment my design.

children that drowned last year

The number would be created by the 57

markers that commemorate the deaths.

drowning in as little as 5 cm

I feel this idea with a ruler that has 5cm measured out works well to demonstrate to the reader the amount it takes to drown a young child.

75% of children that drown are under 5

another way I could show such percentages is by filling in representational images. For example:

This is simple and clear. The level of water can represent the percentage given in this case, 22%. This is an infographic i believe will work particularly well with my project.
After deciding on my chosen infographics I designed them in illustrator to add to my final design later.

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As I was unsure of my chosen typeface  I created a first design using mostly type so I could see what would work best in context with my information. The typefaces I looked at were: Coolvetica, Futura, Avenir, Din, Haettenschweiler, Britannic and Engravers MT.

All these typefaces in one place showed me how all my statistics could fit onto one page. With this in mind I could add more infographics to my design, knowing how much space I had. After looking at each typeface and asking a number of other students on their opinions I decided to use Avenir condensed. I want to use mainly capitals to relate to the seriousness of the topic. The san serif typeface is clear and easy to read which is something I decided was important at the start of the project and the numbers are eye-catching when enlarged due to them being so bold which is important so the shocking statistics are noticed by the target audience.
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The reverse of my leaflet will fold up into three sections to create a DL sized envelope, the dimensions of which are:

If mass produced, this envelope would be attached to each other lengthways so must be ripped to open. I have noticed such style of envelope used for payslips at my part time job. A dotted line in the paper is ripped to reveal the content. This will save paper (with only one A4 sheet being used) and will be cheaper to produce on a large scale to address the parents of young children around the country.

As only one sheet of paper is being used for my leaflet, the front cover before opening my leaflet should show all the mandatory requirements a letter must have. These are:

The back page must then include my own mandatory information set by myself at the beginning of the brief. One piece of information to be included within the leaflet was to create a one line phrase persuading parents to keep children close when near water. For this I used these sentences:

PARENTAL SUPERVISION IS KEY TO KEEPING 
YOUNG CHILDREN SAFE NEAR WATER HAZARDS.

KEEP THEM SAFE.

KEEP THEM SEEN.

I believe these phrases work well to quickly explain how to prevent the drowning of children. I have continued to use Avenir and uppercase letters as not to seem distant to the content. Uppercase letters also usually represent shouting which would work well with the tone of voice I use within the leaflet.

I wanted the reverse side of the envelope to appear minimal in contrast with the front as not to draw any attention away from the content. Because of this i contained the mandatories within a small area. Not only does this work well visually but it could cross over the tear which would make it more obvious that it is there. This is something that must be seen on the design as without it there are no instructions for the target market only giving them facts.

All my recognised mandatories have been included in this design making it easy to use when first opening the leaflet. I next created the letter section of the design where I added the same wave seen in the content and an added life ring to add to the drowning theme.

I feel this simplistic back cover works well to contrast the more hectic inside page. The short message to parents before theu open the leaflet reveals the subject prior to the content which prevents an overload of information from the statistics on drowning with no explanation.
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Once it was clear what infographics I would use within my final, I sketched my final development design a number of times, each time changing image and text placement to see what would work best. This would prepare me for my final critique where fellow students could help me decide my final design. Of the suggested layouts I believe the first two example work best as show the two most distinctive facts first. This will mean this is the first the audience will read and so have first in their mind.

My final critique would give me an idea of how I could improve my design. Although not yet drawn up on illustrator, my idea is clear due to the accurate sketches I presented to my crit group. I asked my group their general opinion on my designs and how they could be improved. I also asked which layout they thought worked best and flowed easiest. Below shows my feedback.

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In my final crit I showed my group my final development sketches. I asked their opinions and whether they had any positive or constructive feedback.

The main point raised by the students in my group was that the negative space beneath the waved line was not needed and that with it the content may seem too cramped. They also noted that they also preferred the first and second examples as they corresponded with a obvious grid system which would make transferring the ideas to illustrator less difficult. Between these two designs the group was split but I found the second example to better fit the confines of the design size so would work better within the final.

Once I had received this feedback I set out creating the design on illustrator. Because of the gridded 2 collumn idea I sketched before designing I was easily able to create my leaflet how I had planned.

I experimented with using both the negative space and not using it as I thought it would be interesting to see whether it would affect the legibility of the design.

My previous design idea included a separation line where the colour blue would stop suddenly before the waved line to help separate the text and give it space. Due to the feedback I received during my critique I experimented with the block colour filling in of this negative space. After experimentation I noticed how my designed flowed more fluidly from the bottom of the page to the waved line. This in turn gave my design more space to breathe meaning type size could increase an the text would fit better together.

My final content idea can be seen below.

The clear legible type stands out against the blue background well. The mixture of infographics and text suitably works inside the two column grid system whilst the header is still as eye-catching as the main body of information.
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I have created a mock up of this leaflet using a standard home printer this will show me how it will work when I print my final piece. I found my leaflet to work well and will hopefully print as efficiently when in the digital print room.

To produce this leaflet I will attend a session in the digital print studio. Here I will select a paper weight that is appropriate for mass production, as this is how my leaflet would be sent around the country. The paper I choose must be cheap to make  and relatively thick so it won't bend, fold or crease when in the post.

To find a similar weight I visited Colours May Vary in Leeds which holds a large amount of paper. Unfortunately, due to unavailability, I was unable to find a paper stock in store that would be appropriate. I found the stock to be off white which may change the blue I used on screen with my designs.

Because of this, I visited the website of paper manufacturer G. F. Smith. Their site sells quality paper in both small and large quantities. With the help of both the website and G. F. Smith colour guides availiable at the College to use I chose a paper stock that would be most appropriate for my leaflet. Despite the availability of paper and the ease of buying because of the website, I felt the expense of the paper was too high when thinking of trying to provide cheap stock to supply the mass target audience. Because of this I have decided to use the cheaper college paper that will be similar to what I would use in a live brief situation.
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My final piece could have been created in a number of ways. For the best outcome, my leaflet would be printed in the digital print room at college where I could scrutinize over details such as the perfect paper weight, the specific printer used and having the most similar colour on the leaflet as is displayed on the computer screen.

Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances I was unable to attend a workshop to print my design at college so looked to other printing methods. Despite having less free roam when it comes to specific printing elements, I was still able to find a solution that still adhered to the requirements I set at the beginning of the brief such as having a high quality final piece that could be created at a low cost so could be sent in mass quantities across the country. This was because I was able to choose my paper from Fred Aldous in Leeds where a large variety of paper options were available at a low cost meaning I was able to create an additional final. I made the comparison because I could then look for minor flaws that made one of my two prints more suitable than the other. The two types of paper I used were 135gsm and 300 gsm of pristine white.

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In conclusion, I believe I have created a leaflet that successfully coincides with the brief. My final piece works well to warn my target market about the dangers where children can drown. It also efficiently uses one A4 piece of paper, saving money. An underlining theme can can also be seen throughout the leaflet with the reoccurring typeface and wave line.

If it were possible, with extra time I would look into more solutions to using the right type of paper. This would create a more realistic design however I believe my chosen stock: pristine white at 300gsm works well in comparison to the others I experimented with. I would also look at trying to make a functional tear line on my leaflet. This appears to need either the use of a second piece of paper stuck to the first, as seen in my example pay slip or glue to stick it together. Despite this I am happy with my design and believe I have created the leaflet well in conjunction with the brief.

OUGD405 - Study Task 03 - Public Information Video/Research Page

This study task asked me to analyse one of a given 29 given public information films. I decided to use Lonely Water and worked on a number of questions that asked to Identify and analyse the message, key facts, tone of voice and audience within the film.

I believe this film was created in order to scare children away from waters edge. It shows that whilst the children play by the water death is present as the children are at threat but when they walk away death leaves and they are no longer in danger. This public information film will have wanted the target audience to watch this and think that playing by the water will lead to death and that it is safer to be there with other people 

The main fact given says that you shouldn't play around near dangerous water however it's said in a more playful way by the narrator. It also notes that if you ignore the no swimming sign you're a fool. This is how he warns the viewer to be sensible. He again does this at the end of the film where a boy is drowning in deep water but sensible children come to help. Before leaving he quotes:"Sensible children, I have no power over them". This is again trying to convince the viewer to be sensible and stay away from the waters edge.

The tone of voice is formal and clear. The narrator doesn't convey any emotion but whispers throughout the film like he wasn't really there. He also warns the target audience throughout the film rather than cause the accidents he is thought to have caused.                                     
All the children in the film are around the same age suggesting this is their target audience. However the film has dark undertones where death is often and children are playing in wastelands. Because of this I believe the target audience would be between the older ages of 12-16.