OUGD504 - Design Production [SB1] - Final Design & Evaluation

My final design was a quick turnaround due to me changing my ideas because of problems with my initial "final" idea. I had trouble lining elements up in my idea and so I changed it to a more simple open-out maze. I really like my final idea as I think it is simple but effective. It resembles my creative process as I work in stages to keep myself organised, and slowly unravels throughout my brief. I added some handy tips in there but tried to make them original because I thought my audience would be bored of the usual facts you'd get about the creative process. I believe I continued my informal approach throughout my design, with the use of calligraphic fonts and block colours.

Here is the rough print of my final design, in black and white as a test print.

 



The printing process of my design would be easy as it is simply an A4 sheet that is cut and folded multiple times. I think this makes it a functional design as it would be able to be mass produced to market if this was a live brief. I decided to peer-review my design to see if it met the standards of my fellow classmates, and here were some of the responses I received.

Ethan: Ethan said he liked my design but thought I should add some sort of navigational system. I think this is good feedback as the design could be confusing to someone who is only viewing it for the first time.

Charles: Charlie said the colours were too imposing on the audience and I agree, I believe I need to tone down the colours to perhaps a coral tone to seem more friendly towards my audience as having such bold colours contradicts my laid-back nature and doesn't work in context.

The final net of my leaflet

Evaluation

On final evaluation, I feel this project has given me some engaging hands-on experience in identifying my target audience in-detail and has allowed me to find my own design process to a tee. I think this brief has taught me to strengthen my time-management skills as I created a plan and executed it in the correct time frames, and having such a skill as a habit would benefit me greatly. The parts I enjoyed most about this brief was the weightlessness of a week long brief where I was able to experiment more without being stressed out about how much work I had to do, as usually I always stress about how I need to get the work done as fast as I can so I have enough time to tweak it and this can sometimes degrade my idea generation work greatly.

Another part I enjoyed about the brief was the fact that I could design out of the style that I usually design for. I feel that to get the most out of my studies I need to try and experiment with different styles that I wouldn't usually design in. This helps me develop as a designer because I am able to broaden my knowledge to help me when I enter the industry.

OUGD504 - Design Production [SB1] - Idea Development

This was the first mockup I created for my first design. I tried to create a leaflet that would cut out to reveal the layers beneath. I found this very hard to create because lining up the different layers perfectly took many test prints and simply wasn't functional with how precise the folding and text placement was. I was thinking about aesthetic and forgetting about function so I decided to change my idea.

I then decided to change my leaflet into a smaller fold with many panels, as it would engage with my audience on the basis that it's a maze, and you have to get through every element of the design process stage by stage. I think this would be effective to do because the unusual size and unfolding process would attract people more than a traditional leaflet fold, and I think people prefer to see original designs on such a well-documented topic that would surely have come up in their design careers before.

This is the net of the design I produced. I came to this arrangement through two key selling points:

1. Ease of Access
2. Engagement with the Audience

These two points were the driving force for this design, because I believe this brief was about your personal design process, and I like to think I am a laid back designer that has a more fluid version of designing. Hence the reason that you can read the leaflet however you want. There is an order proposed in the leaflet, but you are able to read it in whichever order you want, or you can even open the page up and take it all in at once. I tried to add in some original tips of which I've never heard before, and I added in some humorous content to invite my audience in and to convey my laid-back way of working.

I think this works well because the script text connotes friendliness and fluidity really well, and I think the fold of the leaflet is original in its' concept and in turn would attract my target audience to picking up my leaflet instead of another with another fold e.g a traditional double gate fold (not invalidating the double gate fold however!).

OUGD504 - Design Production [SB1] - Primary Research

       Primary Research

We spent the morning in the studio experimenting with simple newsprint, trying to create folds for our leaflet. I created a number of folds all with ranging intricacies, some of which I like and would use and the others that I thought were not effective for one reason or another. Below are some images of each fold I created.

First Fold: 4 Panel

The four panel I created was meant to be more functional than intricate, but I added some flair to it by cutting some of the front and back panel off, to reveal what was underneath. I feel this would lure the audience into the rest of the leaflet by showing only slightly what the information was inside. If professionally folded and with proper stock I feel I could create an effective leaflet that could be easily made. The net of the leaflet is simply one sheet of A4 folded into squares. I feel this reflects my design process as I tend to have a linear process but I am always excited to start a project, hence only showing part of the front of the leaflet to get straight into the process.

Second Fold: Abstract Portrait

The second leaflet I created was not as effective as half of the back page was cut off, meaning you could only read a page and a half of information and this wouldn't be enough to demonstrate the whole creative process. The thinking behind this was similar to the first in that I am always excited to start a project. This fold works intricately but isn't as functional as the first.

Inspiration

I had a look at some of the existing folds on the internet and didn't come across many original ideas as most of the folds concentrated on functionality rather than how intricate the designs were. However, I did come across some that I liked and below are some of the images.

I feel this fold is effective due to the alluring nature of showing some of the content before you even open the leaflet. The concept of having some of the front cover cut off to show what's beneath is a smart way of being eye-catching and original without losing aesthetic appeal. Turning a simple leaflet design into something more in my opinion is a great improvement.

I like this design simply for the symmetry it brings, and the minimalism of the fold. An easy fold, however not one you would come up with easily. This is effective because cut off edges are in trend right now, and would appeal to a design audience (if that was who your brief was set towards.)

This is a very simple fold but it works well because of the way it stands, as if it was a plaque. The way this fold sits is in clear view of the audience and can be used for flyers or leaflets with eye-catching information on it. This is a fold used for functionality over simply aesthetic (although the shape of the fold resembles importance in the shape of a diamond.)

OUGD504 - Design Production [SB1] - Secondary Research

The beginning of my secondary research I conducted was to try and compare the design processes of some infamous designers in the industry, and try to create a link between them. 

The creators of South Park; Trey Parker and Matt Stone actually encourage a feeling of panic by producing each episode of their show a week before, as opposed to the months of planning and designing of their competitors such as Family Guy. They believe this sense of panic produces a quality of work overlooked when you feel like you have more time, and there is no need to make important decisions quickly. I too feel more competent under pressure. I feel when I am under pressure I am able to make important design decisions with a clearer head and a clearer understanding of why I am making the decision, instead of just making the easy choice.

A Japanese inventor named Yoshiro Nakamatsu, more commonly known as the inventor of the Floppy Disk has more of an unusual method to his creative madness. He finds that his best moments of genius come from him being near-death, and apparently his ideas get better the closer to death he gets. He often dives deep into the ocean where he is close to dying from the water pressure just to come up with some of his ideas (including the Floppy disk itself).

I also looked at Creativebloq's take on the 'perfect' creative process (http://www.creativebloq.com/design/perfect-design-process-1131825)

In short, their four steps include:

1. Research
2. Define & Develop
3. Refine
4. Deliver

These four steps are the barebones of a successful creative process, and how you adapt around these four steps is the part where your individuality comes into play. Personally, I like to occasionally go straight into designing to see where my problems arise, and then start my research phase with prior knowledge of the sort of problems that occurred, which gives me an advantage in my research phase.

I believe every individual is going to have a different creative process albeit probably less insane than the second example in all likeliness. To try and find what makes my creative process optimal for me will require me to create my own flowchart in my head of what steps I take after first hearing a brief that needs to be addressed.