introductory studies display book benjamin borst student number 1301180
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Content
Chapters
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
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My Journey Home Mapping Project
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Life and Death
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Through the Letterbox
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Lecture Notes
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Tech Sessions
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London Visit
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bookbinding
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bibliography 2
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My Journey Home Mapping Project
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Brief Using the idea of a map you are required to visually represent your journey from college to home or visa versa. Consider means of exploring this that you would not usually notice e.g. the flora you pass by, street signs, sounds, bus routes etc. Also consider less tangible ways of tracking your journey home e.g. thoughts and song titles. Consider incorporating elements associated with maps such as a compass and/or a legend. You may use collage, typography, photography and/or drawing or a combination of them. The essence of this problem lies with making the connection between two points of a personal journey and how you visualise it. It also lies with the methods that you use to document that journey e.g. taking a photograph every 50 steps or recording every green front door that you see. Adopting a method to document your journey will allow you to develop more comprehensive ideas.
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What am I going to focus on ? Why does this make my journey personal? What do I notice ? How am I going to present my idea’s ? What is infographics ? Why don’t we pay attention to everything ? What is the key significant message?
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Throughout 2009, he asked every person with whom he had a meaning encounter to submit a record of this meeting through an online survey. These reports form the heart of the 2009 annual report. Anytime he felt that someone had discerned enough of his personality and activities.
The 2010/2011 Biennial Report explores this notion by overlapping facet’s of Nicholas’ behaviour to visualize how his personality varies based on location and company.
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The 2010 Annual Report is an encapsulation of his fathers life, as communicated by the calenders, slides and other artefact’s in this possession. He came out with a variation of information.
This report examines a year of Nicholas Felton’s communication data. It aspires to uncover patterns and insights within the data and metadata of a large and personal data set. Sources include conversations, SMS, telephone calls, e-mail, Facebook messages and physical mail.
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I found this book in the library and believe that the information is visually presented in a bold and eye catching way leaving the reader enticed and intrigued to read on. I would like to look into possibly creating my work in a similar style. The pages I have tryed to include show different ways of showing key information in a visual way that looks appealing to read.
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The pages I have picked out have a similar style to the works of Nick Felton. This is due to the form and methods used alongside the visual styles of how information is represented. I would like to look at the possibility of charts and icons within my work in attempt to help represent my personal journey.
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Here I have I created a visual mood board in order to obtain some ideas on how to visualise a mapping project as well as considering areas such as materials used, layout, structure, medium, style and more. The pictures I have acquired were collected on Pintrest and I have looked through graphical style maps. Some of the key images within the mood board highlight the use of shape as well as the combination of text and image in one page. I believe that mood boards can really help to form ideas and clear visuals to move forward when developing work.
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This first image is in my opinion the weakest way to portray my information as it is simple and easy to read but doesn’t really catch the eye as much as some of my other ideas. I do like the idea of large a large number and an image coming off of it as the number is a main focus point of the pages.
For the second idea I have looked at making the informations number out of the amount that it actually is. Like for the sketch visualised I have made 21 words out of words which visually communicates the idea well. I believe that this looks good but could be visually bolder. I am also not sure how i would use the negative space.
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I came up with this form from some of the research I found especially in the book ‘Information is Beautiful’ as I have showed my information through a visual style by in this example actually showing 49 people on a page to represent the number of people past. It visually looks appealing but I could look at combining this and the last idea.
This third idea is my favourite as the information is bold and central on the page and then opacitated behind that will be an image that helps to communicate the information. This is a more abstract approach but may get slightly confusing if there are to many visuals in one page.
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I have looked into ways in which I can visualise my initial sketches and I have done this through looking at how I can make an imposition for a booklet and visualised the way in which the pages will most likely look. I have decided to make a booklet over other styles due to the fact that a book is more personal and can help to tell a story like the story of my journey to university. In a tutorial I was told to attempt to make the booklet myself so I looked into printing my booklet myself and laying it out in a way that when printed creates the set up that communicates my journey. I have included sketches and digital pieces showing my development from imposition sketches to the digital layout and then the noted down details of the journey transformed into visuals.
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These images are of my Indesign imposition that I have created. I have set the bleed on the page to help with the printing to ensure that I do not lose text or information. I decided that it would be easier to print it a page at a time so that I could manually feed the paper into the printer and ensure that I got it right. The creating and making of the booklet myself is a good skill to have and also keeps the costs lower.
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Final Piece
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Evaluation • • • • • • •
The font is hard to read due to some letter’s, consider making it easier to read. One journey could have been at the front rather than the back to help tell the story. Some pages are to much and need some clarification (cropping). Look at the combination of text and image. Maybe look at not using type and use more images (semiotics). Decide whether image or text should be more prominent Could have looked at printing on different material like newspaper etc.
I feel that the project was hard and made me think but the concept I came up with was a good one. I feel that with more time and better planning I could have created a more desirable piece as I would have been able to look at the likes of semiotics, text and image, cropping and more. Strength’s - I believe that my strengths in this project were firstly the making of the zine itself as I managed to print the imposition and bind it myself which is a new skill. The second I would say is probably my research as I managed to gain some good research without the use of Google. Weaknesses - My weakness in this project was the selection process and the combination of text and image as I tried to put to much information and styles per page which I would need to develop in future projects. To improve I need to consider the combination of text and image in later projects and make better decisions when making final designs. I feel that more peer and tutor feedback could help me with this.
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Life and Death
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Brief Choosing the right time to overtake a lorry on a busy road can mean the difference between life and death. With this in mind visually reinterpret two images to appear on two rear panels of a lorry’s doors. The left side must represent life, while the right represents death. The objective is to visualise a clear and meaningful graphic statement about life and death.
What is the target audience ? Where is the design going to be ? What is the subject matter ? Which different styles and methods can I use ? How am I going to present this ?
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This is the first of my initial ideas and one of my favourites. I feel that it is bold and also highlights the subject matter well. I feel that the yellow battery shows more of a gradual story of life to death.
This idea communicates the idea of life and death very well and simply but effectively. I feel that when driving the driver will see this and hit them straight away and strongly communicate the message.
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This idea makes you think more but it works well. Deforestation is a big issue in life and the death of nature is a key notion I have picked up on in this piece. I feel to make this design communicate life and death better I could look into changing the leaves into tree’s.
This idea shows quite simple icons that show life and death from left to right. I personally like the idea of evolution and the notion of a cycle of life, almost a story from life to death. I believe that drivers behind this truck design will quickly understand the visuals therefore communicating my brief.
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This concept is slightly like the third idea to the left but rather than deforestation I have looked at incorporating urbanisation through the life and death of nature and the increase of buildings in a corporate world. This idea is more subtle and may be harder to tell the idea straight away but could be developed.
The last idea i have had is different but could be done in various different ways. The concept of life is a pig and then turning into a leather football to signify what happens after death. I could look into creating a series of this idea as a lot of things are made out of dead animals like cows into sofas etc.
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This visual mood board I have created is based around life and death. I obtained these images after scouring through Pintrest. This was done in order to help the flow of ideas and concepts when coming to creating my final designs. The idea around this project is to really think of an original way to represent life and death and I believe that the visuals i have picked out do that well and can also help to form ideas and visual styling of my own.
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The techniques of this book are based on three classes of our most basic needs. These are the source to are vulnerability to hidden persuasion. When advertisers use imagery and language that taps into these needs. These needs are System, Social and Self needs, the audience is unable to fully resist the persuasive power of the message.
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There are many areas within the book that I can try link directly to my work. Method and media used in the adverts inside the book work well as they create a visual and emotional response. I feel that this book is helpful towards my research as there are many things I can take from it and develop in my own work like the way in which other adverts persuade and inform in a variety of ways.
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Advertising is a form of information intended to persuade its viewers, readers or listeners to take some action. Nowadays a lot of public messages being shown are to increase awareness among people about the big issues in life. I like the first and last images on this double page spread as they have a similar visual style and I feel that they link in well with my truck project. The designs are simple but effective and the viewer instantly understands what the meaning behind the advertisement is thus communicating the idea perfectly. I feel that the text within each piece really helps to communicate the message especially in the one above as without the text it could be misconstrued. I could potentially look at both of these when developing my own final pieces.
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The advert to the bottom and to the right aren’t pieces you would particularly see on the back of a van but are cleverly informative. The one to the right over exaggerates how a drink driver see’s the road but it works well and gives the viewer a humorous appeal as well as persuading people not to drink and drive. The reason why it works so well is because it is so memorable. Another area I could explore is combining images to tell a story like the ‘Lights Off’ advert. The reason for this is to communicate the notion that if you turn off lights it will help save the earth. Through looking at existing informative advertising I have seen the reason behind the project and helped to form ideas of different styles and method’s I could possibly incorporate as well as ways to communicate the message.
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This is the basic truck template that I used. I created the left side of the truck as a template and used the pen tool to cover the areas I wanted. I then duplicated it and then flipped it so that I had a symmetrical image on both sides. I then finished off by adding extra details such as the lights and the number plate.
This is the first design i created and was probably the easiest one to do. For each of the battery blocks I created a gradient and changed the colour throughout the represent high and low battery life. I also created a metallic gradient for the surrounding area of the battery to make it more life like. I finished with a lightly opcitated glare on each one to add to the detail.
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In my opinion this was the hardest one of my designs to create. For the tree’s I made several different size circles and used the pathfinder to make it one image for the top of the tree and then for the trunk simply changed the anchor points on a rectangle. As for the blades I made a singular blade and duplicated it several times for each circle. To ensure that the blades where inside the truck design I put white rectangles on the areas I didn’t want the blades and arranged them so they were behind the truck but in front of the blades.
This was the final design I created. I found it took some times to get the proportions right but it was relatively to make. I created the stick men mainly with the pen and arch tools and changed the stroke thickness in attempt to communicate the difference in ages. I finished with a black to white gradient background to highlight the light as life and the darkness as death.
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These are the three final designs I created to put up for the critique. The tutor and my peers general response were good and my work linked back to the brief as straight away they could tell the difference between life and death. I personally felt that the trees with the blades deforestation idea was the best and most original so if I was going to take one as a final design it would be that one and I believe that the adaption of the wood chips adds the visual communication.
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Final Piece
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Evaluation • • • • • •
You can tell straight away between life and death. Blades may well need better visualisation. Print the final piece bigger so when in the critique my work has more if an impact. Great concepts - different ideas and thought outside the box. In some designs possibly look at proportions and ways I could communicate message in a slightly clearer way. Good Illustrator skills.
I personally really liked this project as it helped me to develop my Adobe Illustrator skills as well as looked at how I could visually communicate a very tight brief. I feel that the brief didn’t give me much room to experiment but I followed the design process which was defining the problem within the brief, collecting information to help form ideas, sketch and analyse ideas, develop from sketches to digital and then finalise these ideas. Strengths - My strengths in this project are firstly the development of my Illustrator skills in a short amount of time. Secondly my broad range of initial ideas which helped me to develop effectively towards a final design. Finally my attention to the brief as I pretty much followed it throughout the project which is why I think people liked my final designs in the critique. Weaknesses - I don’t think there were a lot of weaknesses in this project but in everything that you do there is always room for improvement. A weakness that I identified in this project was the lack of research as I feel that I was almost rushing to create a final piece instead of producing good research before hand. To improve I need to make sure that I follow each stage of the design process and produce the same amount of work in each stage. In the critique there were also little things that I could have changed to improve design so I could attempt to gain feedback beforehand so I could make these improvements earlier.
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Through the Letterbox
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Brief This assignment encourages you to start to think like a Graphic Designer. This way of thinking requires that you constantly observe, question, explore and form opinions about the environment in which you live. It also means that you understand that your opinions may differ from others. The essence is that if you want to effectively visually communicate to an audience it is vital that you are clear as to what you want to say, who you want to say it to and how you want to say it. This brief creates opportunities for you to develop your visual awareness and your critical analytical skills. It also creates opportunities for you to explore different methods of generating concepts and ways of presenting them. Select from one of the three newspaper articles provided you. Summarise the key points. Research the background to the story and form an opinion about it (you do not have to agree with what you have read). Produce a visual message that expresses your opinion to a chosen target audience.
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Naomi Klein- Canadian author and social activist is well known for her political analysis and criticism of corporate globalization. She believes that climate change offers the most positive arguement against the brutal logic of ansterity and why we should nationalise every company and back to a ‘pollutes pay’policy.
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Target audience is important to communicating the message. Summarise key point’s of chosen article, research background of articles and form own opinion. Produce visual message that conveys an opinion on articles. Always look at brief and communicate to target audience. Could guide people to website or other media. Examples of Illustrator and Indesign. Make sure that you understand the articles and form an opinion to base my work around.
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Changes to law means companies can frack underneath landowners properties. The government are concluding with companies to speed the fracking process. 99% of the 40,000 people asked objected to these changes in law. The government went ahead claiming no issues and it was the best solution. A reported 400,000 people took places in climate marches. Government argued that people trying to stop would lead to significant delays.
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This website really changed my views and really has helped me to form a clear opinion on fracking. The website is really clever in the way that it makes you scroll through the website as though the fracking is happening while you are on there site. As you scroll through you also find out the issues with fracking.
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The way the site is layed out really helps to make people feel involved and read on. The site made me think about these issues and also how naive I and also the general population are to the dangers of fracking. I from this would like to look further into these dangers and make people more aware with what I can create.
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In the past 3 decades one third of the world’s resources have been consumed. If we continue to extract and produce at current rates, soon there will be nothing left. If the entire world consumed at the rate of the USA, we would need up to 5 planets to support us. 99% of goods bought in North America are disposed of within 6 months. We are losing 2,000 trees a minute, and last year, the global production of hazardous waste reached more than 300 million tons.
The corporate capture of policymaking has dire implications for how we achieve sustainable development in the 21st century, and it must be strongly opposed in the coming years as deliberations on climate change and sustainable development reach important conclusions. Private sector influence over politics at the national level is already widely recognised, but the extent to which powerful industries are able to influence global negotiations on some of the world’s most pressing problems is far less reported by the media or discussed in the public sphere. Invariably, the big business lobby advocates for market-based solutions to environmental problems and the ‘greening’ of economic growth, and essentially works to safeguard opportunities for private sector investment and shareholder profit. But environmentalists and civil society organisations have long argued that there is something deeply misguided about putting corporate profits and market-based solutions at the forefront of our response to climate change and the wider environmental crisis. Indeed, it is widely accepted that the endless pursuit of profit and consumer-driven growth, the deregulation of corporate activity, and the privatisation of natural resources are some of the key drivers of ecological degradation.
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Here is a visual mood board that shows fracking and ways of showing fracking in a clever way. The main way that fracking is being shown is through diagrams so I could look at diagrams but presenting it in a different way. I also feel that fracking quotes along with typography can be very powerful so a combination could be good. It is hard to think of original ways to create fracking ideas but maybe look at these existing fracking graphics and develop them further.
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The first image is showing a fracking diagram and the contrast of the house along with the health problems included such as contaminated water and air. I would most likely create this diagram via Illustrator. The aim focus for this first sketch is shocking the reader as seeing the diagram under there home may surprise them. I have also looked at incorporating infographics into my final idea in order to inform the key health issues that come with fracking. There will be key facts and figures as well as a link and QR code in attempt to help force people to take action and support a local organisation.
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The top idea shows a different structure and layout but with similar information inside. On the front would be the house diagram and then following inside would be the fold out icons enlarged with the relevant information to go alongside. This idea is more interactive and I believe that people may pay more attention to something that comes through there letterbox if it is different and intrigues the reader. The last sketches I have done to the left is simply a different way of laying my work out on a postcard form like the last page. I have thought about the use of typography and a clever slogan to catch the eye and then the icons and information on the reverse side with links to evoke action.
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Now that I have come up with a concept for what sort of content I would like to put in a letterbox, I would now like to think about the different possibilities and clever ways in which I can represent this content. I have acquired some visuals from Pintrest and have instantly thought about creating cards to go inside a sleeve or a fold out concertina. This visual mood board has helped me to form and visualise ideas as well as think about presentational approaches that can also fit in the given dimensions of a letterbox.
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Here I have created sketches that show my visualisation of the possibilities in which I can present my final idea. The first is a concertina that begins with a landscape view of the fracking diagram and then folds out downwards leading to each separate big health issue. The second set of sketches to the top right shows another concertina but in a different style as the concertina is portrait and will fit into a sleeve creating more interactivity with the product. They are both similar concepts but with slightly different layout styles but I personally feel that the portrait idea in the sleeve would work better due to it being more professional as well as creating stronger visuals.
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Again I have sketches out more ideas of ways that I can present my final content is a clever way. The sketches are all based around the concept of using small cards but I haven’t decided a few key presentational features if I decided to go down this route. I will create informative cards that inform about health issues and these would go inside a sleeve or small box. The sleeve I have looked at creating uses type but I have considered laser cutting or stenciling the sleeve so that you can see through. The other way I have considered presenting these cards is having each of the cards in a separate sleeve that go inside a small box that has the diagram of fracking on the front. If I were to choose one out of these two card design ideas it would be the first but I would need to do mock up designs in order to visualise my ideas .
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After my sketches I decided to make mock ups of my ideas in order to visualise the way that they would look. I also did this so when I went into my tutorial i was able to communicate my ideas effectively. Out of the two the last one works best based on the feedback and a few adaption could make it a really original piece.
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Once I had experimented with the way I wanted to present my work I looked at the style and ways in which I wanted to visualise my work. I also showed these in my tutorial and there were a few areas in which I need to develop like making the second piece portrait, into a sleeve and create more depth in the ground. I would also like to make the information in the piece at the top of the page into a concertina format.
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Above are some Illustrator screenshot’s that show my development from my previous idea presentation. I have adapted the fracking diagram due to my critique and made it portrait as well as adding the tearable feature to the envelope so that you have to rip through the houses to get to the leaflet inside. I have also designed the design of the address that goes on the other side of the envelope and finally finished off the concertina with a QR code and additional information on the back. I feel that this idea has a lot of potential to look really good but I now need to create a final prototype before creating the final piece.
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Here I have photographed my final prototype of the through the letterbox project. The top two images show the two sides of my concertina design which I feel folded together and photographed look really professional. The image to the left shows how the envelope looks and how it will work with the tear leaving the reader to pull out the content’s inside. Making this final prototype means that I know what to do for the final production and there will be less likely mistakes made. I am really happy with how it looks and am excited to create my final piece in the coming days.
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The images above shows my development of creating my final piece. I printed the piece at staples and the concertina was printed on A3 150gsm glossy paper and the two sides of the envelope on A4 150gsm glossy paper. I went on to create the piece myself as I cut the pictures to size and used the bone folder to create the concertina. The guillotine I used as a few different settings and this helped me to create clean cuts as well as the serrated cuts for the envelope itself.
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Final Piece
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Evaluation In general I really enjoyed this project as towards the end I feel I really began to get involved with the design side of it and developed my idea well into an outcome that I like. I still feel that I could have done a few extra things to improve it but in general I am pleased with what I have created. I think that looking back at the brief I have answered in some cases but I could have maybe could have done more. Strength’s - I believe that a big strength of mine in this project was certainly experimenting with the possibilities of presenting my thoughts to fit in a letterbox. I experimented with Illustrator and then also looked at different styles of presentation through making prototypes and creating quick sketches. I feel this experimenting has really helped me to develop my ideas into a finalised piece. Weaknesses - In earlier stages of the project I feel I could have maybe exploded my research in a better way and looked into bigger range of ideas and then could have effectively chosen better thing to focus on although I did like looking into health issues. To improve I feel that in a longer task like this one I need to spend more time on research so that I have sufficient information before developing my idea’s. Nevertheless for this project I have developed from the first project as I experimented and developed the presentation of my final piece and thats why I personally feel I have come up with a better outcome.
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Lecture notes
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Kirsten’s sessions We generally have a seminar with Kirsten every Tuesday I have attended several but missed a few but I that the sessions i have attended have really helped my understanding of Graphic Design and make a conscious effort to attend them more frequently next term. I have learnt about several thing’s such as visual communication, packaging, marketing, semiotics and more.
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The power of Wow- consider objects that would make somebody instantly think why? Questioning, question everything that you see and do so that you can develop ideas and create structure to any work and project. This is done to explore avenues in work and asking people and yourself questions is a great way to move forward in the industry. Communicating is key for getting your message across, if you can’t visually communicate an idea it will make little sense if you can communicate you can tell a story and attract a wide audience. Visually listen to people - visualising when listening is another key factor to developing ideas. Books - ‘What is Graphic design for’ - a book that looks at the communication and the making sense of visual language. Phillipe Stark once said ‘Designers should read about everything except Graphic Design’. ‘Graphic Design is the business of making or choosing marks’ Design is never neutral in the sense that everyone has an opinion on what Graphic Design is and whether they personally feel that a piece of Design is visually appealing. Consider looking at Roadsworth.com to consider the visual aspect of communicating Graphic Design inside and out. Form and content play a key part in Graphic Design as content ensures you have the correct information to communicate a message and the form can ensure key features such as structure and interactivity with Graphics. Take into account symbolism in different cultures in order to develop ideas in a broader sense.
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From the seminar with Kirsten I have looked at a few things that she mentioned like the book ‘What is Graphic Design for ?’. I found the book in the library and have been looking through it in order to broaden my knowledge in the subject. Throughout the book I found some really important information such as the break down into the elements of Graphic Design. In this section of the book it covers several areas that engaged me such as Information Design, Interactive Design, Advertising and more. I also think that the portfolio’s towards the end of the book are really helpful as they help to show a professional style of form and content.
Roadsworth.com
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‘Roadsworth began painting the streets of Montreal in the fall of 2001. Initially motivated by a desire for more bike paths in the city and a questioning of “car culture” in general, he continued to develop a language around street markings and other elements of the urban landscape using a primarily stencil based technique.’ I found the style and clever use of combining the environment and Graphic Design really intriguing. The lecture was about thinking differently and engaging in questioning and these pieces almost do that for you. The original visual aspect of Roadsworth is really bold and eye catching and leaves the public wanting more.
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The next session attended looked into advertising, I found this especially interesting as I haven’t had much knowledge about advertising up until now and it was helpful to consider how advertising is visually communicated and why certain adverts are done in particular ways.
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Asda’s free magazine was the top read magazine in 2013-14 which is a surprise stat, many within the group though it would be something along the lines of Heat magazine. • Sony Bravia bouncing balls advert- I feel that it doesn’t really tell the story straight away but it an original out of the box idea and one which will be remembered. • Consider Fallon- advertising agency. • Dairy Milk- Gorilla advert- Has nothing to do with chocolate but memorable so that people remember the company’s name. Also Cadbury’s use the purple colour in there adverts in a subtle way to push there branding. • Hovis advert- The style shows that they have been around for a long time and throughout the advert the bread is a constant image so you know that it is a key feature. Has a nostalgic feel to the company. • A lot of companies play on heritage to seem like a well desired company. • Some of the highly detailed design on the packing of products is not noticed it is mainly based on the reputation and name of the brand. Considerations • Commercial propaganda, infomercials, false needs, commercial culture, creativity, public perceptions. • Mediawatch-uk, adbusters. • Online advertising - advertising opportunities - pop-up, flash, banner, advergaming. • Sources- Adweek.com, Adage campaign. • Next time you go to London - The museum of brands, packaging an advertising. • Mass persuasion - For example food adverts making you feel hungry or the element of surprise. • Consumer mass market - desires ad demands. Questioning • Impact and importance of advertising, Integral part of modern culture, Social communication, Negative influence, Satisfaction of consumer needs, Induce and increase consumption. Additional Notes • Embedded advertising, the use of new films or icon’s ( James Bond on watches). • Appeal to emotions, key cultural activity, Pervade all media, Need and want, False needs desire, Use of fear, Stereotypes. • Visual persuasion - 80% of all impressions are received through the eyes. • On average we see 3,000 adverts per day.
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‘An agency for clients who would rather outsmart the competition than outspend them.’ This is the quote that they use when promoting themselves. Fallon advertising agency are a worldwide known advertising agency and they have created many of the famous adverts we see on are televisions today. They manage to create a image of a company that stays with the viewer due to the original and innovative style of there adverts. I understand why Kirsten told us to look at this agency because the work makes you think and question and once watched one generally thinks about the company and without knowing have been tempted.
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This session was about photojournalism and how photos perceive certain events, people and more. In the afternoon we looked at analysing and annotating objects.
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Photographs are everywhere and we are watched/filmed on a daily basis. The power of image is key - where the content sits etc. The role of photography has certain culture conertations. Highly intrusive, records moments that we shouldn’t see. Potential to create/tell the truth but we have to question the reason behind a photograph. Approach graphics as a detective. Consider the book ‘Pictures on a page’ - Harold Evan’s. Use of black & white or colour - colour may add emotion to a photograph but also may devalue a image that should be in black & white. Ed Muybridge - photo in workbook. Photojournalism is a distinctive form of photography in the late 1920s early 1930s. Introduced the use of small camera’s which enable them to record fast moving events. Its a form that creates images in order to tell a news story. At what stage is a photojournalist a bystander or a partaker. Look at Weegee- photographer. Sports photography - capturing a moment in time quickly. Powerful images are used in charity appeals to evoke a response and attempt to make people act. Falsification of history - editing or twisting the truth for consumer gain. Image manipulation - where a person or object is removed from the photo or even history. ‘War doesn’t determine who is right war determines who is left’. Consider the work of Eddie Adams. Playing with images by changing the meaning. Use of colour on a newspaper tells emotion and how the reader should feel - black around article for devastating news like 911.
In the afternoon we had an exercise where we were engaging with objects and object analysis. The main reason for the task was to try and interrogate given objects, consider the power of objects and communicate specific meanings behind a product. As a group we had to take are own interpretation on several questions from how ergonomically friendly they are to if they were considered award winning. This task again like may of Kirstens sessions got us to question the objects and make sense of them.
‘With our own eyes we see only a little of the world, its happenings and its people. We largely depend on printed and electronic images. But the photographer filters between ourselves and reality’. The style of the photojournalism in this book depicts cultural conertations, The use of black & white imagery, recording moments we maybe shouldn’t see and more.
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These two pieces to the left show work by Ed Muybridge. I like these particular pieces because I like the still motion pictures depicting movement. I feel that they work well in the layout created. I also think that the use of black & white works so much better than if colour would as I feel that if colour was used the image would have been devalued. ‘Eadweard Muybridge’s photography of moving animals captured movement in a way that had never been done before. His work was used by both scientists and artists.’
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what is research ?
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Research is a process of being curious by asking questions in order to gain knowledge and inspiration. Ideas and concepts are made by other ideas that build towards the concept - ask questions - How ?, Why ?, When ?, What ?, Who ?. Bob National - Aub library - box of broadcast - where you can research television shows that can help with research. Suggest an answer, Identify relative projects, Potential sources of information, Locate and gather information, Analyse and combine information to potentially answer question.
This session has helped to inform me what resources are available at my disposal. I will need to ensure that I use these resources in order to broaden my research and help develop my ideas in later projects. I have already used the books in the library many times and feel that they help a lot but I would like to look at Bob national more as additional research.
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Visual space
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Different pictures can mean different things to different people. ‘The power of seeing’. ‘Visual perception is the ability to interpret’. Physical - physiological - polycolist. Composition through positioning, depth etc. Semiotics - the meaning of size in language. A metaphor or symbolic image can highlight an object. Its important to look at structure. Always think about narrative to help tell a story. Subjects can be visually perceived in different ways. Bertrand Russell questions the notion of life and death. Karl Popper - All life is problem solving. The reader and the creator can have different interpretations of an idea, how an idea should be perceived is not always perceived in that way. Theories of Graphic Design originate from semiotics. Many graphics have to stand on there own to communicate an idea or message. The use of irony can be very important. The Decent of Design. Simple text can set up the context. Cropping can be important to highlight the focus point. Sometimes its about what you don’t say (subtle).
This session with Amanda helped me to consider the different concepts based around visual space. When creating work you have to consider many different visual aspects such as the semiotics, composition, how the idea is perceived, structure and more. Once all of these are considered a desirable outcome is produced.
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Questioning
What ? - What is the content. Why ? - Whats the problem or opportunity/function. How ? - How will outcome generate awareness. Who ? - Think about target audience. Where ? - Where is it going - consider web, mail etc. Design - Making - Prototyping - Distribution. This session was good and helped in a sense but I feel that this should have come earlier in our third project as I would have helped the idea generation at the beginning rather than two weeks in where ideas had already been produced. Nevertheless it was interesting to see the other opinions on fracking from my peers.
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grids and typography • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Grids are scaffolding for work and helps text and image layout. A grid is a basic system of arrangement. Look at dividing your print area. Decide on margin space (thumb room). 3-5 column grid is good to use fore work. Always take it to the end of a column, never in the middle. 5-6 mm of gutter space (between columns). Hierarchy is important - size, layout, important information. Big - medium - small. Look working type up the page rather than across. Serif’s 110 % leading, San serif’s 120 % leading. Rhetoric is the content. Think semiotics. Make sure that your work is communicating the right message, what is it saying?, who is it speaking to?, How is it saying it?. Stick to type with a high x height (Helvetica). Space - more leading, colour, font size. Resolution - 300 dpi print, 72 dpi screen.
This lecture has helped me to understand the way I want to layout my work and not only that how it should be layed out and what will look good on a page. This presentation gave me the drive to begin my display book create my book on a grid that was suitable for a double A4 spread. Like many of my lectures this is new information that has helped to broaden my understanding of Graphic Design.
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5
tech session’s
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I have attended all of Eden’s Graphic Tech sessions and I have personally found them really helpful. At the start of this year I have a basic understanding of Adobe InDesign and no understanding of Adobe Illustrator. But through these sessions I have gained a clear understanding of Illustrator and feel comfortable using the program to create final pieces of work to a good standard. As for InDesign I can now create work with more structure and have found the developing of my digital display book much easier than I would of if I had not attended these sessions. Through doing these sessions I have learnt a lot in a short period of time and have created some good work along the way as well as developing technical skills.
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In the first session we mainly looked at the basics of Illustrator and looked at several areas such as the use of bleed, creating a flexible work space, the essential tools, how to use the pen tool and some keyboard shortcuts. Once we had done that we had to recreate one of the four logo’s given and I decided on ‘the burger factory’ logo.
I decided to make the logo above as i felt it was one that was in my capabilities as this was the first time I had ever used Adobe Illustrator. I mainly used the pen tool to create the cog and used the pencil tool for the burger inside. As for the font I searched online in order to find a font that would have the same characteristics as the fonts used in the original design. If I were to add to this design I would consider making the colour inside more like a cork effect and would add this to the background like the original.
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The first thing we were taught on are second Illustrator session was how to use the extrude and bevel to create 3-D objects. You can change areas such as the axis, extrude depth, perspective, ambient light and more. What I created from this tool is on the left for some I made random shapes but i did manage to successfully make a vase shape and also a lamp shade. I feel that the style of type with this tool can also look effect and original. Illustrator has a few of these tools that may come in handy for specific briefs.
For the second part of are Illustrator session we looked at long shadow blends. These almost look like the app icons that you get on your iPhone and i found it really interesting how it was done. They have been noted as a design craze. The image to the left is the first one I created, I like the red black and white colour scheme I have used but the font I have used I personally think could be better so i would like to look into this for other ones I would create.
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The part that I found hard was the end where we had to crop the shadow so it fitted in a given shape. I found this especially hard when i came home and decided to try it myself. To the left is my second attempt but my first one at home after the session. I made the colour a gradient and changed it to blue. I also chnaged the font. With this one I think that the font is better than the first one but I feel that the colour scheme is not as bold and striking as the first one so for the last attempt I would like to combine the two together so I create a piece I like.
This is the final long shadow blend that I created and I think my best as I have learnt from the first two that I have created and tried to adapt to make a final design. This one uses the bold colour scheme of red, black and white and also I have found a font that I like and combined with all of the key features of the exercise. I personally really liked this session and felt like I learnt a lot more about Adobe Illustrator.
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My third session was my first Tech session using InDesign. In this session we learnt the basics of InDesign such as the slug and bleed, the importance of file structure, creating a flexible work space, using grids, placing text and image, terminology and more. I had a basic idea of how to use InDesign from my foundation last year but this session refreshed my knowledge and also taught me a few additional fundamentals.
The exercise in response to this first session was to create a double sided business card with your name, contact details and a logo. I have looked at the hierarchy of my work and the use of colour and weight of line. I feel that the final outcome of my business card is really professional and works well. I have looked at aspects learnt previously and shown this in my final outcome. I have ensured that the hierarchy is correct, used a logo, added my contact details and created an appealing response due to font, colour scheme and texture used.
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The last session before beginning on the display books was more of a make shift InDesign session to look at layouts, different ways of positioning text and image, use of colour and more. The question mark on the pictures mean missing links but as I transferred the document from the newest version to my laptop I don’t have the links. But the main reason was to look at layout and I feel that this was very helpful in making my display book as I knew more about layout design.
Evaluation I believe that the tech sessions that I have attended have really helped me develop my technical skills and I am very much looking forward to learning more in the sessions after the assessment. I have learnt my way around these programs and want to learn more. I feel that the Illustrator sessions have really helped with the last two projects (life and death) and (through the letterbox). I also believe that the InDesign sessions have really helped develop my display book and if I hadn’t attended these sessions I think my display book and final pieces may have as good quality.
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London visit
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In the second week of the course we went on a trip to London in order to go and look around the disobedient object’s exhibition at the V&A and other galleries to enrich are knowledge with first hand research. ‘From a Suffragette tea service to protest robots, this exhibition is the first to examine the powerful role of objects in movements for social change. It demonstrates how political activism drives a wealth of design ingenuity and collective creativity that defy standard definitions of art and design. Disobedient Objects focuses on the period from the late 1970s to now, a time that has brought new technologies and political challenges. On display are arts of rebellion from around the world that illuminate the role of making in grassroots movements for social change: finely woven banners; defaced currency; changing designs for barricades and blockades; political video games; an inflatable general assembly to facilitate consensus decision-making; experimental activist-bicycles; and textiles bearing witness to political murders.’ I have collected several photograph’s from this exhibition.
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I really liked the way that the exhibition was layed out and the way that you had to walk around and there were different things catching your eye the whole way through the exhibition. The feminist piece at the bottom was very bold and was one of the main pieces exhibited. I feel it was very powerful and made the public really think. The communication of the idea left people questioning which I feel was its intended purpose.
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The reason why the work in this exhibition is so powerful is due to the meaning behind each piece. The works exhibited have either a social, economical or historic meaning behind it and it create people to question the pieces they see and that is what art and design is about.
To sum up I feel that this day was very good and I learnt about ways to exhibit and how to make people question work. But if we were given chance I would have liked to go further a field. After we went to the V&A there wasn’t a lot we could do that directly related to Graphic Design and I believe the afternoon could have been better spent.
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Bookbinding
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To help with the eventual making of the display book we had a workshop on bookbinding. I found this very helpful and can help me in the near and further future when creating books. Perfect Binding has advantages and disadvantages, the advantages are that it is quick and cheap to produce and can bind single leaves, or folios. The disadvantages are that it doesn’t lie perfectly flat, better with cheaper more porous paper and doesn’t stand up to heavy use. The book block needs to be about 8mm and they are using soft cover books over hardback.
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Method: 1. Check paper grain ( especially important when binding with glue). 2. Trim paper so that the spine edge is perfectly straight / flat. 3. Add at least two extra leaves of paper to each side of the book block. 4. Place into ‘Binding Press’, spine down. 5. Glue, from both directions. 6. Leave glue to dry whilst in press. 7. Remove from press, discard extra ‘pages’,cut into notches for thread. 8. Apply thread in loops down spine. Soft cover: 1. Glue a paper strip against spine. 2. Tip in end papers. 3. Leave under weight with 5mm of spine protruding.
I feel like when creating my final display book I will need to practice as I may have forget certain area’s of making the book but I would like to finish my display book with time to spare so that I can make sure the book is how I want it to look.
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bibliography
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Websites • Nicholas Felton. (2005-2013). Feltron report. Available: http://feltron.com/. Last accessed 2nd October 2014. • Funofart. (2012). Cool Informative Advertisements. Available: http://www.funofart. com/cool-informative-advertisements/. Last accessed 16th Nov 2014. • BBC. (2013). What is fracking and why is it controversial ?. Available: http://www. bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14432401. Last accessed 16th Nov 2014. • RT. (2014). UK to allow fracking drilling under people’s land without their consent. Available: http://rt.com/uk/190996-fracking-trespass-law-britain/. Last accessed 16th Nov 2014. • BBC. (2014). Climate change: Thousands march across the UK. Available: http:// www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-29302277. Last accessed 16th Nov 2014. • inequality.org. (2014). World / Global Inequality. Available: http://inequality.org/ global-inequality/. Last accessed 20th Nov 2014. • Tim Worstall. (2014). OECD: Global Inequality Is Now As Bad As In 1820. Available: http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2014/10/03/oecd-globalinequality-is-now-as-bad-as-in-1820/. Last accessed 20th Nov 2014. • (2014). Protection of journalistic sources. Available: http://www.echr.coe.int/ Documents/FS_Journalistic_sources_ENG.pdf. Last accessed 20th Nov 2014. • (1985). Company Donations A Suggested Code of Practice. Available: http:// www.hansardsociety.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Company-Donations-ASuggested-Code-of-Practice-1985.pdf. Last accessed 20th Nov 2014. • Roadsworth. Available: http://roadsworth.com/home/. Last accessed 7th Oct 2014. • Pintrest, Available: http://www.pinterest.com/. Last accessed 20th Nov 2014. • Ethan Jackson. (2008). Eadweard Muybridge and The Matrix. Available: http:// www.portlandart.net/archives/2008/08/edward_muybridg.html. Last accessed 18th November. • Bio. (2014). Eadweard Muybridge Biography Photographer, Inventor, Filmmaker (1830–1904). Available: m/people/eadweard-muybridge-9419513#synopsis. Last accessed 18th Nov 2014. • Ed Muybridge. (-). Eadweard Muybridge : Defining Modernities. Available: http:// www.eadweardmuybridge.co.uk/muybridge_image_and_context/animal_in_ motion/. Last accessed 18th Nov 2014.
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• Fallon. (1981). -. Available: http://www.fallon.co.uk/. Last accessed 4th Nov 2014. • (2011). Semiotics in Graphic Design. Available: http://jayce-o.blogspot. com/2011/05/semiotics-in-graphic-design.html. Last accessed 4th Nov 2014. • Linda Dong. What goes in and out of Hydraulic Fracturing. Available: http://www. dangersoffracking.com/. Last accessed 30th Oct 2014. • (2012). The Environmental Crisis and Capitalism. Available: http://theredplebeian. wordpress.com/2012/06/12/the-environmental-crisis-and-capitalism/. Last accessed 3rd Nov 2014. • Wikipedia. Golden ratio. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_ratio. Last accessed 4th Nov 2014. • Troy Templeman. (2010). Grids in Graphic Design. Available: http://www. troytempleman.com/2010/04/30/grids-in-graphic-design/. Last accessed 7th Nov 2014. • V&A. (2014). Disobedient Objects: About the Exhibition. Available: http://www. vam.ac.uk/content/exhibitions/disobedient-objects/disobedient-objects-about-theexhibition/. Last accessed 20th Nov 2014.
Books • Alice Twemlow (2006). What is graphic design for ?. Switzerland: RotoVision. 0-1, 16-17, 106107, 148-149. • Harold Evans (1978). Pictures on a page. London : William Heinemann. 0-1, 15-16, 29-30. • David McCandless (2009). Information is beautiful. London: Collins. • Van Baaren, R., Andrews, M. & Van Leeuwen, M. 2013, Hidden persuasion : 50 effective influence techniques in visual communication.
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graphic design first year
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