Speaking From Experience

Speaking From Experience

So I tired doing My own of the illustrative typography layout that I found in my research but this took me quite a long time and hadn't planned in for the titles to just take me this long and therefore the other quality lack. Although it is a style that I do quite enjoy doing.

I then created this but took me too long to create and then decided to give on doing any other. I then went into my crit and they told me that a waccom may speed things up. But I took one out and it was a real technique to learn as I was used to using my track pad.

This is my final logo I was happy with this straight from my design sheet plan. I didn't want to change it in any way.

But then I decided to go for a more freehand look in my zine here is my final pages:

These are just simple with a strict colour theme of the colour taken from the illustration. I like the use of the title pages and all are linked together and flow nicely. There isn't an overload of text and just included a simple symbol on the right had side to balance the colour. However now the original logo down not go with the book due to the freehand look and the front cover looks very modernist. So I decided to change the font & texture of the stroke. Here is the development:

I think I prefer this to the original one in which I thought I couldn't develop upon it before which is a good thing. I will change this into white as well to match the rest although you couldn't see it properly in white on here.


FRONT COVER

The top one was going to be my first cover and the diagonal line was going to split so your actual cover would be the top part of the diagonal and the bottom half would be a holder for the zine. Although because I thought of this before finalising the zine I had to change it due to it fitting in with the content of the zine. Also I wasn't too sure in the end about having half a cover.

I have decided to put inbetween the informational pages that are motivational as in my first crit they said i need it to be more motivational for them to do something about it. I have used lots of downloaded fonts and also used the brush on illustrator also to make them similar to the rest of the zine.

CARDS

There is 8 of each of the cards in the box. And they both have tips & what not to dos on. As well as interview questions they can prep for. I have continued the watercolour across as well with the symbols on the other side and all the main information.

 ESSENTIALS LOGO DESIGN

I have put more worth while things into the box as in one of my crits people said that they wasn't relevant enough. Then I came up with the idea of giving them essential of what they need to get ready for an interview. I have again followed the watercolour across to this so it works as a set fo things rather than something separate.

I have also made a box to put these things in and hold them as I also made a tray. Here are my nets for the laser cutter:

I have done the logo as I wanted it to be put onto the box as I didn't have time to screenprint etc... I think this worked very well! And I am very pleased with the whole outcome, of the laser cutter and will be something I use more often.

FINAL LOOK

Overall I am very happy with my final outcome of this project as I think I have developed it well throughout the 6 weeks. I think that my box look professional but the sizing for the tray and the logo for the items could have been properly sized, and a check of mock-up could have been done before to make sure. The tray I had to chop down to allow it to fit into the box but then I cut it too short and therefore had to add some extra on the the board which made the tray become less neat although it still has the same effect. I think next time I need to size things up properly before ratehr than just guessing and then finalising. As I also had to cut off the tray part for the lint roller as it became too fragile on the outter edges and was too flexible to be fixated in the box.

End of Module Feedback

1.  What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?

I have developed many skills from this module and I think I have grasped and applied them to my work very well. The skills I have learn is the anatomy of type & how you create a different typeface from other typefaces. Also Colour theory and how they use different printing methods and the difference between them. And now seeing colour from a different perspective rather than just seeing it as a colour you see everything that makes it up etc…. Finally many different layout & grid systems you can you use to create a systematic layout.

2. What approaches to/methods of design production have you developed and how have they informed your design development process?

I have used the variety of layouts for my final product of the booklet we had to make. I used the method of combining typefaces rather than creating a completely new typeface design by adding & dissecting. I have been more careful with my colour choices as they have more meaning than just the colour etc…

3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?

The strengths I can see in my work is that I have fulfilled all tasks to my full ability and understood all concepts given. If I didn’t know something when I left the session I researched into it so I understood it for the next session. My second strength is that I see that I have developed and my knowledge had developed largely compared to when I first started the course. I didn’t realise there was so much to know about type & colour and now.

4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future?

I believe I should have researched further when I went home to get a full grasp of the subject rather than relying on the next session. As then I would probably have a firm understanding of each subject rather than just an ok understanding of each subject. I eblieve I need to speak more out in lesson and let people know my opinion etc...

5. Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?

One thing I would do differently is that I would research after my sessions rather than relying on the next session. The second thing I would do differently is that I would experiment more with things more advanced than what is shown in lessons. The third thing is that I should have been more adventurous with birth of a font due to it been rather boring and ridged. Fourthly, I will keep up to date with my blog. Blogging after sessions so you don’t have to worry you have everything on blog for hand-in etc… Finally, I think that I should do more contextual research maybe learn more about the history of things and how they was developed to have a deeper understanding of subjects

10 Things We Need To Know About Graphic Design

PocketMag Graphic Design:

These are all my drawn mockups, they are a page of each grid systems, as stated at the top. I am going to digitally mock-up one of the grids which I like best on each page. Although, I think I am going to go with the 3x3 grid as then you have more room for adjusting and flexibility etc...




Computer Generated Grids:

This is my canon grid I have used to create one of my pages. This has created two boxes in which are perfectly created in the correct positioning on the page.  This is my design for the canon grid:

I didn't just want to have a block of text or image on each side so decided to place text and images in line with the box to make them an obvious edge etc... I think this is very simple and is surrounded by white space. This is therefore making the page look very spacious where as the centre of the page is quite cluttered although, the pages are both aligned opposite to each other.

This is the rule of thirds grid although this doesn't seem to work very well due to he small size. Therefore I have chosen not to play around or use this layout/grid.

This is the thirds grid, this is showing where you should place the most important information. This is very simple grid although turned out to be quite complicated when using it within a dps.
Here are me examples.

This is using the thirds grid. I found this quite complicated as you are suppose to place the most important information at the top & middle of the grid but that would be spilling over the two pages. Which I didn't want to do. So I decided to place the main part of the headline "three fonts" in the centre part of the thirds and then also place the image on the right side in the middle with text surrounding it.

This is using the InDesign grid which is made on InDesign to divide the page up equally I think using 3x3 in columns & rows leaves the page so you have flexible areas to work with and then its more clean when lined up. Here are my example I have worked with:

 This is the first layout I did for this grid. I really like the simplicity & think it has large potential to develop as I can see lots to develop on. I like the use of alignment opposing each other and also the different aligning of the horizontal headline and the portrait sub heading is creating a good hierarchy. The hierarchy of using the different sizes in the font to allow this to happen. Below are the developments:

Here you can see I have added in the sidebar with the title of the book just to add some horizontal to match the headline. This is also something I have developed on from my research. Although I have now tried this on my other pages and I need to apply more information and therefore need to move the image around slightly. Which is shown below:

Finalising of Layout:

 This looks more clean and well balanced although I ain't too sure on the typeface on the bodycopy as its very wide and therefore could turn illegible.

This is a new typeface that I have chosen to use this is very basic and has a good weight to use at a small scale. I have now also duplicated the sidebar on each page. 

I then decided that I needed to add page numbers maybe I need to also add in the number of the point of the 10 things a GD needs to know. Due to this been an important factor of the book.

This is my final layout as I am going to stick to the same grid throughout as I want consistency rather than showing I know different grids as I have shown that in my development of the makeup of this page. I have decided to stick to the sidebar on the left hand page and decided to place the page number on the right hand side to match the block line on the sidebar on the left hand side.


Pagination:

I have had to add a DPS in as the way I want to bind I have to have 11 DPS not 10.

I then set up my pages in order to print on Indesign.

This is one of the most obvious pages that shows I have placed each side of the DPS on different sides to the matching side. As my binding is going to be stitched and therefore each DPS needs to be slotted into each other. Also taken into fact is that it is going to be double sided.



Now I have printed the pages & cut them out, and now I just need to bind which I will then evaluate the overall final. I am going to stitch the book with a single stitch and a sewing machine. Although I have printed two books out due to the fact that I am not sure that it will work and therefore have a back up plan.

EVALUATION

I feel that my book has come together nicely and I am happy with my binding. The pages I believe are well laid out and I like the flowing of the book rather than separate grids for each. As I was very unsure whether I should have used a different grid system for each page. I believe I have achieved not overloading the page with text and keeping it only to the important points.