Journey Book by BenGilpin

JOURNEY BOOK

BENJAMIN GILPIN

This is a book to show the design process that was under taken by me while wokring on my latest brief, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Independant Studyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. It follows the journey through thoughts, ideas and production culminating in a piece that highlights the research I undertook while solving the problem that I brought to light.

BRIEFING A whole new level of discovery and research was brought to me upon taking on this brief. With this brief I had to read it a few times over, in order for me to understand what was being asked of me. After doing this it was clear that I had complete freedom on all levels with what I decided to do for the brief.

I was being instructed to come up with my own brief and learning agreement, the topic selection was entirely up to me on what it could be about. The rationale of the brief was describing the project as ‘a period of self directed study’, we would have to create an agreement with our tutors in order to know what our projects basis or marking would be done against. The brief was directing me to s how how and why I am going to fulfil the unit aims. The brief was directing us to come up with a subject on our own, that we would then undertake a period of research into. The examples that were being shown to us in the brief consisted of many different ways in which we could undertake a period of self directed study. These included setting challenges, working in a graphics studio and furthering your study into a specific area. The brief was clear in telling me that the unit of work would culminate in a body of work such as a production or presentation that would be agreed with my tutor and I. Left Image 1 - An image showing the offices of the London branch of Pentagram’s Design. Above Image 2 - A yellow pencil award you can recieve for recognigiton in graphic design challanges.

IDEAS I started by coming up with ideas on what I could base this project on and the what I could under take as the subject of my study. This began with me coming up with areas of subjects, emotions and theories that interest me. My first trail of thought was about going down the lines of setting a challenge for myself as I liked the idea of trying to accomplish a task in order to achieve a goal. I believed this would of been beneficial to me as it would allowed me to stylise me design style to a specific task instead of styling the brief around my design style.

Above Image 3 - Here you are able to see the variety of places that I was going to question for one of my ideas. Right Image 4 - By looking at this you are able to see the first idea that I came up with.

In the second terms body of work, each student was tasked with building and setting up a website in order to self promote themselves as a designer and their work. I believed this to be a useful tool in trying to set a challenge for myself, first idea that came to my head was to see if I could get a thousand hits to the website in the space of a week. This task would of allowed my to test my skills in self publishing, self design and self promoting. All of these are areas that havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t ever used before or tried designing in before, this means I would of been expanding my skills as a designer. I took the idea of self promotion/advertising through the basis of setting challenge for myself into the first tutorial for the project. Upon speaking about the idea to my tutor, Marion, it was clear that I had come up with a potential idea to soon and had narrowed my understanding of the brief to quickly. She spoke

Above Image 5 - You can see the differnet areas in which I split graphic design up into. Top Right Image 6 - This photograph encompases all the work which I produced for my first idea.

to me about how self promotion was an application for allowing yourself to be disproved when the job market for designers was at a low. However know as the design market is increasing and more jobs are coming available for people to go into, Marion indicated that it was a skill that was not needed and would be a task that in her eyes would be pointless.

After this trial of thought I went on to the idea of helping designers get ready for the jobs, a place that they can go to to get enough information in order to know how to present, set them selves up and what should go in their portfolio. I liked the idea of helping people, this is a subject that I feel strong about as benefiting someones life for the better is something that I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think happens enough in the world. I undertook this new idea as my main focus of research and started to research into aspects that I think would be needed, such as portfolio layout, interview questions and the opinion of companies on the people they interview.

Right Image 8 - This shows the mind map I produced from my one word that I felt would make my mind create ideas from.

Following a tutorial with Alice about the subject of my â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Independent Studyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, I once again got the feedback I was coming in to narrow minded and had already started to come up with solutions to early. Upon explaining that their are things out in the world to help designers get ready for interviews, yet they were spread all over the places. I still felt that my one location that summarised all aspects of it was strong, however I was directed by Alice to undertake the project in my own time. She told me to broaden out my research and to start with one word and branch out from it to come up with areas or problems that interest me. Then to take this new subject matter and research into it and come up with ideas and possible subjects for my body of work from this new research. The word I started wiht in my new research topic is Helping. I chose this word because I beleive that people do not get enough help in ther day to day life and I beleive that it is a trait in human behaviour that is drifitng away. I started my idea generation by placing this word in the centre of a page and broadenig out with different branches. I kept on writing down thoughts and ideas that popped into my head until I had 3 sections that concerned me and I felt could do wiht my help. I decide to use one word and mind map out from that single point. Because helping was a big aspect of my last idea and a subject that I find that is not found much in everyday life anymore I placed the word at the centre of my new mind map. After brainstorming around the word, I selected 3 areas that I felt would be interesting to research into and would allow me to go on to discover new subjects that I havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t read about before. The 3 ideas that I found interesting and gripping where helping, benefiting others and to contributing to solving a problem.

Below Image 9 - This shows the mind map growing with two boxed in sections which were areas that I believed to be interesting.

Top Right Image 10 - A closer mind map looking at one of the problems that intersted me. Bottom Right Image 11- A zzomed in area of the mind map I produced showing the problems that I had found.

Once I found out that I wanted ot help against a problem I began to write down all of the local and global problems that I had a passion for and believed they did not have a current sustainable soloution. These problems ranged from homlessness in the local area to trying to raise awarness for loggin in the Amazon Rainforest. I felt that my best way to deal with a problem is to try solve one that effects me.

The problem that came to mind and one that grabed my attetnion is disscussion of UK politics amoungst the Youth Voters. I felt this was an engaging and captivating topic because it is one that I new little about. This gave me a whole new subject field to dive into and expand my knowledge on the topic. I feel this problem is very relevant today, especially within my age group.

CONCEPTS The idea that interested me the most and grabbed my attention upon further research was the youth vote in the general election for the UK Prime Minister seat. I was shocked to see that less than 50% of the youth vote (18-25 year olds) voted in the last general election.

Left Image 12 - This is n image showing the first concpet I researched into.

Upon reading this number it shocked me that such a small number of my age group voted. In a time where I believe my generation needs to stand up and be heard loud and clear to get our issues solved, as year after year politicians pay no attention to us as group and brush over our issues. So by having such low voting numbers we as a group are being pushed lower and lower down the list of priorities for politicians. I used a variety of sources for my research in the youth vote including online articles, radio interviews and tv programs. Due to my research it was clear that there are 3 areas in which youth voters feel they are let down. Firstly being their education in politics, with few educational institutions offering to teach their students about the UK Political Parties and their policies. Students believed they did not know enough about the parties, their policies and the process of voting, thus not allowing them to form an opinion on who to vote for. Secondly as the youth voters were brought up in a the digital era, they believe that the ritual and current process of voting for a political party is long, tedious and time consuming. As they felt it was a waste of time to go stand in line at a polling station to then vote and their voice not be heard. Thirdly it was clear that if youth voters didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t believe that they didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t align with any of the parties, there was no option for them in voting and no location for them to go to for their voices to be heard. What followed was now that I had the 3 areas

Top Right Image 13 Showing research into the poltical party websites for my first conept. Bottom Left Image 14 Showing further research into my firt concpet. Bottom Right 15 - A screenshot from a Ted talk by Rick Edwards thatI found inspirational.

and problems that youth voters felt strongest for, I researched into each of these areas individually to see what evidence supported the individual concept. I did this by coming up with a question for each idea and then trying to answer it through the research that I would do. For my first idea the question that I produced was, can I create a starting point in which the youth voters can go to in order to get enough information about who to vote for. I was researching into how people can currently find out information about the UKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Political Parties Policies and how they can educate themselves in what each party stands for. I found that by going to the political party websites, you are finding points that are to text heavy and the youth voter would find to long and boring to read. While I also believed that going direct to the political party websites you would get a biases approach to how they word themselves. However looking at third party websites that are meant to have neutral opinion, the endless articles was to long and boring to read. The typographic approach of the articles, had a similar visual system applied to it that would be found on the small print of websites and legal documents, this will give off the idea that they are trying to trick you if you read it. Thus making the youth voters weary of going to websites like the BBC and Channel 4.

A TED Talk that was beneficial to me was presented by tv presenter Rick Edwards, he spoke about the youth voters lack of education in Political Party Policies. He said a new approach is needed to be taken in order for there to be an increase in voter turn out for the population bracket. He spoke about how he is only a tv presenter with an interest in the subject of politics. However he and I both believe that a platform is needed for young people to go to in order for them to educate themselves about the UK Political Parties and their policies.

Above Image 16 - Here youa re able to see the second idea that came to my head from my research.

For my second idea the question that I developed was, can I make the voting system for youth voters simpler? I began by researching into the traditional way of voting for government in the UK General Election and how it carried a sense of sentimentality due it being the process that has been done for many years. However I also looked at why youth voters did not like the current voting system and the reasons behind this. The one that kept on coming up from my research was that the process was to long, due to the youth voters having very time consuming days between jobs, school and social activities. They believed the process was to long, that going down to a polling station and ticking through a box was to long as the queuing was a waste of time.

However I also began to look at how voting is used in other aspects of day to day life and where it can be found. I went back to basics with simple voting techniques used in school subj as sticking up your hand or moving to the side of a room you agree with. However I also discovered that there are simple hidden counting techniques in day to day life such as in Waitrose. Where you use a counter and place into a section as you leave the store to vote for which community project you think the company should partake in. I believe this to be simple yet effective in the way of getting people engaged.

Top Left Image 17 - Here you can see all the research that I did for my second idea. Bottom Left Image 18 - The photogrpahs highlight the ritual that is found amoungst voters in the UK politics. Above Image 19 - Shows the 3rd concpet I had come up with in my rsearch of youth voters in politics.

For my third idea my question that was produced was, is there another option for youth voters to align with if they do not agree with any party. This area did not take long to look into as there are already movements out there that show this type of mentality. Major ones run by people including Russell Brand who believes we should have an uprising and not vote. I did not show much research for this because I believe also these movements need is publicity to show they are there and not for another one to be set up.

LEARNING AGREEMENT Left Image 20 - Showing a snapshot of the brief that I had be given.

The idea that I chose to progress with was my first, that their needs to be a place where youth voters can go to in order to get enough information so that they can form their own opinion on who to vote for in the general election. I chose this idea because I felt that it was the most logical, this was due to speaking to a variety of people in my critiques. They all said they were not educated enough in UK Politics and did not know who supported them or what each party stood for. Having been at the same point as them I felt this was the strongest area that I had to pay with as I felt I could do a variety of different things with it.

Because I felt this was the strongest, most logical and interesting idea to work with I decided to write it up as the main area of my focus in the learning agreement I would have to produce in conjunction with my tutors. Before I went about writing this up I decided to firm up my idea, this was done by writing up the background information of it, the problem that has been found along with the solution that will help others. This gave me the solid points that would be needed for me to write about in the learning agreement I was going to create.

Belwow Image 21 - Here you can see the rationale that was typed up for my learning agreement which I was typing up.

I started writing up the description and rationale for why I wanted to do my project on the subject I have chosen. I discussed in great length the problem that I had found, why this has come about and why the problem annoys me. I spoke about how my friends and I as a collective have all been affected by the problem that I discovered, however I did talk what I believe is needed in order to fix the problem and create a solution. The main areas that I attempted to cover where why the problem interests me, how come the problem exists, who it affects and what is needed to be done. Which these sections placed in my rationale I went about firming it up with evidence of the problem to show it exits. I was struggling to grasp on how I could write what I was going to be marked on. This took me time to discover what to to do.

Above Image 22 - A screenshot showing the email in which I sent to Alice asking about certain aspects of the learning agreement. Above Right Image 23 - This is the feedback and responce to my questions that I received form Alice.

With certain areas of the learning agreement, I had to contact Alice in order to know what to do. She explained the different sections and told me to place into these areas basic aims and learning objectives that she was going to give to us. I was told due to them being generic they would apply to everyone who was typing up their own learning agreement. What followed was creating the assessment requirements so that when the tutors read my learning agreement they knew what I would be producing so that they can mark me on it. This meant already coming up with basic guides to what I was going to produce. I went about putting in generic terms such as a journey book, this would allow my tutors to the see the design process I took. Thus giving them the chance to see my research, development and imagery on the work that I had produced. However I had to put final outcome as my term for the practical piece I wasted to produce as at this point I did not know what I was going to make, so could not narrow it down any further. After typing up my full learning agreement I 25

Image 24 - Here is a close up of the learning agreement which I typed up.

submitted it to my tutors as a digital and hard copy. Upon feedback there was nothing to change and they were okay with my topic and ideas. The agreed everything I have produced and written up was good grounds for me to be marked on.

CONTEXTS

Below Image 25 - You can see the research into the first context I wanted to use to solve the problem I had discovered through research.

I was tasked with coming up with 3 different contexts which I could apply my area of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Independent Studyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; to, the contexts could be anything that interested me and could be delivered on any platform that I liked. However as my subject area was based round the youth voters (18-25 year olds), people who have been brought up in the digital era I felt the most appropriate platforms will be digital. I started to write out different platforms that I believe could be applied to the subject matter that I was working on, the areas that I was looking at included both digital and print.

Above Left Image 26 - Here is screesnshots of the current app advertised by Labour, it shows the outdated design style that is used. Above Right Image 27 - A list of pros and cons that I felt were associated with this specific context.

After mind mapping the possible different contexts and platforms that could be applied to the project, I wrote down the 3 ideas that I felt were strongest. These were a phone app, an online website and a educational kit. These 3 ideas were the ones I felt were strongest, because they were the most logical and had elements of interactivity which I felt would be an important part in keeping the target audience interested in Political Party Policies. With each context that I was going to apply my idea to, I wrote up a rationale for each one so that people would know what each idea was. This was beneficial as it allowed me to see the background that would support each concept that I would like to produce.

Image 28 - This photograph shows a close up of an annotation that I wrote about my work.

The first context that I was going to apply my idea to was a phone application. There were many reason that I selected this platform to use display my concept. A major reason being that it is an appropriate platform, as it is a digital system it is one used most by my target audience. Another reason is as it would be on your phone, the target audience are use to always having their phone on their body and this means they would be able to come back to learning about the subject whenever they want. I also felt that using a modern day phone that allows phone applications would allow me to bring in interaction to the app, this would make the process of learning the subject more interesting thus keeping the target audience entertained as they discover the UK Political Parties and their policies.

What followed next was me coming up with a list of pros and cons to why I felt this idea would be successful and why it would be a good context. After this I typed up the theory behind the context, what would be needed in the context along with what design process that I would undertake if I pursued this context. I persuade research into design that is used in current political apps, this allowed me to analyse what is bad about the design of current apps used by the youth voters. By realising this I was able to figure out that current apps used and made by the Political Parties are outdated with useless visual systems.

Left Image 29 - A contrast view between a modern visual system being applied to app design in comparison to old design style. Below Image 30 - A collective view of all the research that I produced for this context.

In my research I also looked at current design trends used in app design, this would allow me to figure out what to put into my visual system in order to keep it visually pleasuring to look at to keep the target audience interested. I also researched into the top news apps to see how they lay out their information, this is beneficial to me as it allowed me to see good and bad layouts of information. I would not want to over crowd the user with information and make their experience of visiting the app a bad one.

The second context that I may have applied my I idea to was a website. This context has many supporting factors to show why I chose it these include more people have access to the internet than the ability to download phone apps. with website design you can bring in interaction, although it may be minimal there is still an underlying level of interaction. Thirdly as it will be accessed on bigger screens, I can put more information into the website allowing the users to read more. I believe the platform to be an appropriate one, for delivering information to an audience on.

Below Image 31 - This image shows the rsearch that I prodced in connection with the second context that I felt would of held the soloutin to the problem that I found.

After this I produced a proâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and conâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s list, to state what the bad and good points of this context would be when the idea is applied to it. After this I typed up the theory behind the context, what would be needed in the context along with what design process that I would undertake if I pursued this context. I pursued my research into the current websites set up by the UK Political Parties, this allowed me to see the bad elements used in their visual systems. By highlighting these elements it will be a beneficial factor for me as then I would know what not to include in the design if I was to produce a website.

Below Image 32 - This image shows the rsearch that I prodced in connection with the third context that I felt would of held the soloutin to the problem that I found. Bottom Image 33 - Here you can see visual research into the idea of an informative information pack.

The third context that I was interested in using as a platform for my idea was an educational kit. I chose this context as it would involve different techniques than the other two digital options that interested me. There are two specific reasons why I chose this context, they are that I believe print is not dead. I feel that this context would of allowed me to explore print design and learn new techniques drawing me away from digital design. While the other reason I selected the concept is that it would allow the target audience to get involved through lots of different levels of interaction. Thus not letting them get bored as the learn the topic. What followed next was me coming up with a list of pros and cons to why I felt this idea would be successful and why it would be a good context. After this I typed up the theory behind the context, what would be needed in the context along with what design process that I would undertake if I pursued this context

Above Image 34 - A close up of the rationale in which I wrote to justify the idea behing this specific context.

The idea that I felt was the strongest was my first context, the phone application. I believe this because the information is being delivered on an appropriate platform for the target audience, it has the most useful functions. Furthermore it still allows the youth voters to interact with the information keeping them entertained while they learn. I took my contexts into a tutorial where I displayed them on a wall and spoke about my rationale behind each idea. I discussed with the group what each idea was about and what I felt were the strong points behind each idea along with the areas where I felt each idea was being dragged down. After discussing the ideas, the tutorial group agreed with me that they believed the app is the strongest way of delivering the information to the target audience.

Right Image 35 - My tutorial sheet showing the feedback I received from showing the contexts that I had come up with.

However there was feedback that I got back for what to do next, my tutors believed there were certain questions that I had to write down and answer in order to make sure I would have the correct stuff in place to implement in the app in order to draw in the correct audience. These questions ranged from what is the message of the app? whats in it for the user? They also believed that I need something initially to get the app out there and to raise awareness of it. What I did next was write down these questions and spend time carefully answering them in order to know if I had the right amount of functionality to make the app work. After answering these questions I felt that I had everything I needed in order to make the app popular and functional. I decided this was the best route and would be the context that I would pursue and create.

INITAL DESIGN Now that I had the context which I was going to apply my concept to I began researching into what was needed to make a phone application fun to interact with, noticeable in the consumer market and coherent to current design styles. This was done by looking at articles, blogs and books about app design to see what I would need to make the app work. I also went about looking at the top apps in the iPhone app market, this was to see the design style that has been applied to the app along with how they have laid out the structure of the app.

Left Image 36 - My mind map process answering the questions that I felt needed to be justifyed about going down the context route that I went on to choose.

After doing research into the visual side of the app and seeing how other apps lay out there data. It was time to design the visual system that would be applied to the user interface of the app. I started by writing down a list of words that I would want to be used to describe the design of the application, if I was a consumer using the app. With these words in place I went about creating the visual system that would be implemented into the design. In my design guidelines I would have to produce the colours that would be used, the typeface and weights of the font that I would in the app. I also specified the crop dimensions of photos for the apps and the colour of overlays if they are to happen.

Below Image 37 - A photograph of the wireframe showing the homepage of the app design. Bottom Image 38 - A wireframe showing the set up of the status bar I want to design. Right Image 39 - A close up of the partiy infromation page that would be in the app design.

Once I had the visual system of the app finished, the next process was writing down everything I needed the app to do. I brainstormed all the different section that I would need in order to make the app functional and fully working. I also went about writing down how I believe people would interact with the app and the way that they would be drawn to the phone app. Once I had all these points finalised, I went on to figure out the different sections that I would in order to make the app functional, these would be the different areas were the users can go to in order to see the different information. Knowing the sections that I would need for the app, I went about creating a hierarchical flow diagram to see what pages would be connected to each other. The next step I went about was starting to draw up paper wireframes to see how the app would look and how it would be laid out. By doing this I am able to set up the different sections that I want and overlay the visual system that I had created to see what it looks like. I went about starting with a page size for the width of an iPhone 6 screen as this is the phone and app market in which applications are being designed for. By designing it for this screen size it will be able to adjust its self to fit other apple devices when it is downloaded from the app market.

Once I had my screen width started I went about producing my first design. This involved placing boxes onto the design to signify where images and text would be found. Then coming off the boxes you can see what I would place in each one. My first design consisted of a clean modern look that had a simple approach to navigation and imagery. Its main tool was photographs as I didn't want to use many coloured icons due to the different colours associated with the political parties.

Above Image 40 - A close up showing the homepage design from the second wireframe I produced. Top RIght Image 41 - close up showing the homepage design from the third wireframe I produced.

The second design that I created was based around the use of block imagery as well however it involved not using scrolling effects to reveal the information. But used smaller imagery to fit it on the main screen. This would mean that people wouldn't have to be scroll as much to reveal new sections of the apps but they would have to however use their eyes more as information would be squashed and cramped into smaller sections.

Finally the last design wireframe that I produced involves the use of icons, this uses people understanding to identify symbols and understand what they mean. This design style is a little dated in my opinion and is not one that is used by current designers much, the icons looks small on the page and do not take effect of a phones ever increasing screen size.

Above Image 42 - A clsoe up of the VAA that I designed across all wireframes.

My favourite wireframe that was produced, is the first set of designs that were shown. This was because it uses the design style that is most modern and would appeal to the target audience the most because it uses a s clean, simple and minimalistic approach in revealing the information to them. I believe it to be the most visually interesting and informative way of showing of the different sections of the app. The short wording used in the app will allow the user to easily navigate around the device along with the simple name bar that has minimal instructions on it.

DIGITAL After deciding which wireframe to use as the basis of my design I went about digitalising the design by applying the visual system to elements in Adobe Illustrator. I started by creating the status bar used in the App in the different states that it would be found in. This would be when it is alone, with buttons on it and then when these buttons are pressed. This would allow me to show the different functionalities of the App as buttons are clicked and opperated by the user.

The next step in the digitalisation was to place the pictures into the correct pages and the location in which the wireframe specified that they would go. Due to this project being about politics I felt I would be unable to source a major selection of the photos that I would need as I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t feel I would have the money or connections to be able to take a photo of the Prime Minister. Due to these restrictions I went about Sourcing my designs form other locations. This meant that I was able to select the photos that I felt best suited the visual styling that would attract the target audience that I was looking for.

Image 43 - Here you can see the digtialisation process beginning with the design of the status bar in its differnet functional stages.

Near Right Image 44 - The digitalisation process of the poltical parties page that was shown in the wireframe. Far Right Image 45 - A screenshot showing the differnet layers that are found in the design of that I am producing.

After placing in images to the design the next logical step for me as the designer was to place in text. I typed up all the titles and body text that I felt would be used in the app. Then using the wireframe I created I placed the text into the correct sections. With the typography and colour sections of the visual system I went about producing the hierarchal structure that would placed on to the text in the app. By doing this I am able to allow the user to see what the more important text is on the app, what the headings are and the text that I want them to read last. I am able to do this by changing the text size, wight and colour in order to reveal this information to the user.

Now that I had produced digital stills of what the app would look like I undertook it upon my self to animat these stills to make it look as like the app was funtioning. This would give the impression to the person viewing the video of how the app would work and what it would be like on the phone. The first step in digitalisation process was to take the individual layers into the video software. Knowing I had seperate layers I would be able to thene dit each one indivdually, this means I would be able show the differnet functions that would happen in the app.

Top Left Image 46 - Here you can see all the layers that have been used to make the app animation. Bottom Left Image 47 - The different layers shown here are being moved around so that they dont overlap unless specified to during the applications animation. Above Image 48 Here you can see the different options that are attached to each layer.

The second step that I undertook was to change the timings of the different layers so that they only appeared when I required them to. After this I went through and change the options appliedto each layer. By doing this I had control over the layers opacity, postions and movemnet. By changing these elements with keyframes I was able to make it look like the app was moving by itself.

FINAL DESIGN Here you can see the final design that I produced for the Vote Me App. It is a platform where the target audience can go in order to gain enough information for them to form their own opinion on what vote for in up and coming General Elections.

Image 49 - A close up of the digital still produced to show the design of the Political Parties Page.

I took the digital designs that I created in Adobe Illustrator and placed them into Adobe After Effects. This was done so that I can create an animation of the app to show how it would work when used in real time. In the next few pages you can see stills and certain captions of the app in play. I feel the app is very functional and caters to the target audiences needs very well. I believe that I have successfully managed to create a platform in which the user can go in order to gain enough information to form and opinion on who they should vote for in the up and coming General Election.

Image 50 - Here are stills produced of the app that I designed showing what the phone screen would look like.

ADVERT In order to attract an audience and to raise awareness that the app is out there. I felt that a useful platform to do this through and one used by few designers to higher the profile of big apps in the current market is a tv or digital advert. This allows the image of the app to be brought to lots of viewers thus peaking their interest as they see the advert making the profile of the app bigger.

Image 51 - A screenshot showing a frame from the Natwest advert advertising the online banking app.

The use of the advert captivates the audience and makes them interested in what the app does as they watch the advert. This creates an image in their heads on how they can further their knowledge with my app. It is a way in which I can raise the profile of the app and attract an audience to come and interact with it. By doing this I am able to create and capture the exact audience I want, (youth voters) as I will be able to create a style to attract the specific audience I want. I started by writing down all areas that I would feel would be needed for a tv advert of this kind and the aspects in which I essentially wanted to stay away from in the process of designing one. By doing this I made it clear to myself the points that I would need to involve in my design to attract the right audience.

Below Image 52 - Here is a close up of what I want the advert to do. Right Image 53 - The colloection of research I did on trying to design the advert for my target audeince. Next Page Image 54 - A scan of the storyboad tthat I produced for the frames of the advert.

After this I felt it was essential to analyse other adverts created in order to raise awareness for apps. I looked at apps made for Google, Airbnb and even Natwest. By doing this I looked at a broad range of topics from travel to speech recognition and even banking with your money. Each advert involved a different design style, which I felt was beneficial as it allowed me to discover the way to get information across and with design style I thought was most visually pleasing and relevant for my target audience. I felt that the full video design style used in the Natwest app advert would of been to over empowering and would of made the view associate it with another boring Party Political Broadcast video which my target audience found boring. However I felt the animatic flat design style used in the Airbnb Advert would be more appropriate in targeting the audience that I am aiming for. This is because it looks more visually interesting and the colours are more captivating towards an audience than something talking directly at you from a Party Broadcast advert.

INITAL DESIGN This process started by taking the analyse of the other adverts I did and writing out what I would need to go into this advert. I then took these notes and applied them to a 6 frame drawing of a storyboard, this is the initial step in the designing of my advert.

Before designing each frame I wrote down the order in which I wanted the advert to flow and for the information to be revealed to audience it is targeting. I believed that the advert should reveal the problem first, then say how action can be taken against it, before revealing the solution that I would like to market to the viewers of the advert. Afterwards I progressed by drawing down how many still frames that I believe would be needed to show the flow of my advert. Now that I had 6 frames, I drew what would be seen in each frame. In many of these as I did not want a person talking or it to be an actual video I used short sentences to reveal the information that I wanted to the user. I then started by drawing in the background imagery that I felt would be beneficial to illustrating the point that I am trying to get across to the viewer of the advert. I tried to keep the text int he advert to short sentences thus keeping the user interested as they read the points. After having my designs in place I went about writing underneath each frame the transition properties and movement properties that I would like o be applied to the text, imagery and colours. By doing this I am making it easier for myself because I am able to know what I want to be applied to each frame When I go to construct and digitalise my designs.

DIGITAL This process began by mentally visualising what my design would look like on screen, this involved picturing my story board as digital elements. I began by getting us the visual system that I had created for the app. I wanted to implement the same visual system because it means that I am keeping continuity between the app I have created and the advert that I am using to raise awareness for it. The next logical step was to load up Adobe After Effects and use this was the program in which I am going to create my advert in. This is the program of choice because I can have full control over all the elements that I will need to use such as sound, movement and opacity while it will also allow me to use the flat design style that I want to create the advert in. I began with the background and the colours, I applied the transition to it that would mean that it would change colour at the moment in time when I want it to.

Left Image 55 - Here is the operational elements of the layers in the advert that I was making. Below Image 56 - Here you can see the text being placed into frames in the digitalisation process.

My next step was to start placing type on the advert and applying the transitions that would make it appear for the user to read, move to the location I want it to and finally for when I need it to disappear. With this stage of the advert I had to play with timings, this is due to have the text up for an appropriate amount of time to allow the viewer to read it.

Above Image 57 - Here you can see the postional element of a layer being adjeusted in the digital process. Top Right 58 - A screenshot showing the addition of sound into the advert. Bottom Right Image 59 - A shot showing the digital workspace in which I produced my advert in.

One of the final tasks for me in digitalising the advert is to place in imagery that will be used to help illustrate the point that the text it trying to make. This will help the user understand what is being told to them while it will also make the advert more visually pleasing to watch, this is down to it not being to minimalistic with the visual system being laid on top of the design. However the final task for me was to use sound to add a snippet of a song to the background in order to make it more interesting to watch. Th sounds that I am looking for are subtle, easy to listen to and one that is not over empowering from the information of the advert. I want the users attention to be on reading the text and seeing how the app can help them. Thus I am looking for a song that is instrumental, as I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to distract the viewer from the text which they are supposed to be reading.

FINAL DESIGN The final design of the advert shows the visual system that I created for the phone application applied to the storyboard that I produced. It highlights the flat design style used appropriately to portray information about the app to an audience. Upon viewing it I believe it to be informative, to the point and easy to follow along with.

Top Image 60 Bottom Image 61 Next Page 62 - Here you can see the final shot that will be shown at the end of the advert.

I believe the advert to be visually interesting and engaging. This will make the audience I am targeting interested in the advert as they watch it and read it as it goes along. Due to believing the advert is good at engaging people to watch it I believe that I have been successful with if the app was aired on tv it would raise the profile of the app and attract people to interact with it. I feel that the design targets the audience I would like and sticks to my initial design very well with only few modifications having to be made along the way.

EVALUATION This project involved me exploring the education of the youth voters (18-25 year olds) in the topic of the UK political parties and the general election. The problem I found was that the youth voters where uneducated on the topic and there was no place for them to go in order to gain knowledge. I felt that a platform was needed where they can go to gain information so that they can form an opinion on the subject and who to vote for.

During this term I feel that I have explored a hole new topic that once upon a time I would have felt to challenging or above my knowledge to have undertaken it. I feel that I have grown with this topic taking on criticism and taking this on board while exploring new ways after being told what I have done wrong. I believe this to have been shown through the amount of weeks that It took me to find a viable and interesting idea for the brief, only coming back on the third tutorial to be told that I had a good idea. I felt that while doing research for this project I took it upon my self to explore new routes, this involved reading a variety of journals, watching political shows and looking at a larger variety of news sources. I felt that by broadening my number of sources to a variety of different sources I was able to gain a wider perspective and opinions of the topic that I was studying. I felt that the sources that I did look at were beneficial as I went into studying my topic with minimal knowledge and have come out with a wealth of it, so much so that I am now able to form my own opinion and talk about the subject. I am pleased with the outcomes that I have produced and I feel that they are great solutions to the problem that I pointed out. I feel the design of the outcomes shows the top quality of my skill as I manage to bring in modern design style to a phone app and advert. I modernised the context that I chose by bringing in a design style and minimalistic visual system that Is seen on the best app design. I concentrated this hole project around the basis of a specific target audience and I feel that this context and design style is relatable to them and their needs. Where I feel I can improve in the future is by undertaking more possible first hand research, this will be because it will allow me to design the project around what people actually want instead of a second opinion from a source. I would also like to start experimenting more with 3D design, packing, set design and model making are all areas that I would interested in exploring. I also feel that in the next unit of work I will explore more research from books and take it upon myself to contact

institutions, organisations and brands that I feel will be useful to my research. I will also look to step away from digital process and explore hand crafting skills, at least not in my research. I feel that this unit was a project that was set out by the tutors in order for us to push our selves along the research and investigative study section. it was clear that we were being asked to seesaw well we can independently undertake a project of such a big calibre and length of time. I like the length of the unit because I had a topic that I was interested in and was willing to spend time on to study it and explore it along with other contexts that related to it. Areas where I feel the brief lacked was the interactivity and feedback given by tutors, I did not feel there was enough studio or lecture time given to this brief. This gave me the impression that the tutors were more focused on the other brief for this term. By the lack of tutorial time I felt that I was struggling to know if I was going down the right path at times. I felt that the lack of time spent with tutors was struggling as it felt I was doing the hole project with no input or direction from other tutors. I also feel that with only one tutorial session a week I felt that the money I paid for this term was wasted because I had not had anything to do.

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