Visual Systems

TERM 1

VISUAL SYSTEMS

MY CREATIVE JOURNEY

Created By Luke Keen

Contents Page VISUAL SYNTHESIS Project Brief My Group Research Initial Ideas Data Collection Final Idea Exhibition Piece and Evaluation

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Project Brief Company Research Visual Research Visit Presentation and Evaluation

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INDUSTRY VISIT & RESEARCH

WAYFINDING Project Brief My Group Research Visual Research Initial Ideas Wayfinding Centre Visit Initial App Idea Wayfinding Final Idea Exhibition Piece and Evaluation

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SUBVERT Project Brief Research Visual Research Subvert Final Idea Exhibition Piece and Evaluation

110 116 120 122 127 128

Project Brief System Research Experimentation Final Design Exhibition Piece and Evaluation

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Project Brief My Book Grid Evaluation

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VISUAL CRYPSIS

DISPLAY BOOK

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Assignment 1: Visual Synthesis ASSIGNMENT BRIEF For this project you are required to create a portrait of the AUB campus. You will be working in small groups to map, analyse and recreate the data systems of your surroundings within a set of synthesised visual systems.

You will be encouraged to think innovatively about how you might find and generate data, and analyse systems. The assignment will culminate in an all group studio exhibition and critique.

RATIONALE A visual system offers an underlying structure to design, a set of rules that can be deployed to inform a limitless set of creative implementations. Visual systems, the parameters, colours, ratios, processes etc., within a given design framework bring a coherence and consistency to all the modes of communication within a visual identity. Visual systems can offer a creative strategy at the development stage of the design process together with an extensibility of the visual identity of the final outcomes.

Systems in the broader sense are all around us. Systems Thinking and Systems Theory are concerned with the characteristics and operation of these systems and how they may be put into practice. Systems shape our lives. From the structure of transport and telecommunications to music to business to sport, education, retail, democracy and war, systems underlie every process of connectedness and organization. The natural world is systems driven. Planets, atoms, trees, oceans, migrations, weather systems and bacteria are all entwined with complex systems.

The underlying characteristics of any system can be analysed and distilled into sets of rules and data. These in turn can be synthesized into purely visual systems. For example, the system of a complex forest could be simplified into a set of ratios of key tree sizes and colours. These ratios and colour sets could then be used as the basis for a visual identity to resolve a design problem. Any design problem will have specific criteria that need to be addressed and these criteria can inform the type of systems that might offer potential as starting points. This project will give you the opportunity to explore the potential of systems analysis as a creative strategy within design.

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Understanding the Brief www.oxforddictionaries.com/ definition/english

As the brief is somewhat complicated to get a better understanding I have decided I will have to deconstruct certain elements of said brief and research meanings and further elaborate upon what I do and do not understand, what experience I can gain from this project and how I am going to solve any issues I come across. To do this I will firstly use the oxford dictionary to gain a descriptive/formal understandings of the more exotic/predominant words that are displayed. http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english.

Visual A picture, piece of film, or display used to illustrate or accompany something.

Synthesis The combination of components or elements to form a connected whole.

Portrait A representation or impression of someone or something in language or on film or television.

Analyse Examine (something) methodically and in detail, typically in order to explain and interpret it.

Data Facts and statistics collected together for reference or analysis.

Systems A set of things working together as parts of a mechanism or an interconnecting network; a complex whole.

Strategy A plan of action designed to achieve a long-term or overall aim.

From this I can take a clearer approach toward my project, by using the english oxford dictionary I can take these descriptions and understand the brief with a far greater knowledge and confidence.

So with this in mind what does Visual Synthesis mean?

By combining the descriptions above I know have an understanding that, Visual Synthesis means, a Picture, piece of film, or display used to illustrate or accompany a combination of components or elements to form a connected whole

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Assignment Brief Now that I understand what Visual synthesis means I in turn need to relate this to the brief, I will do this be reconstructing the brief, this will give me a clear idea of what my aims will be, and allow me to continue to the research process of this project.

For this project myself and a given group will have to collect facts, statistics that work together as part of an overall collaborative mechanism(data relating to another), this within the arts university campus. When this data is collected we will then methodically and in detail interpret the information that we have gathered and select the most innovative. With the selected components produce a representation of the data, through visual means that is both different and understandable.

My first impression of this brief is bewildering but with that in mind the task allows me as a graphic designer to interpret and find my own conclusion, as this brief is extremely open to what the outcome can be, it is exciting for myself to not already know what the final piece will be, so I am very much looking forward to the journey.

Before I start this project, for me to work to my highest capabilities, it is essential that I in someway plan the following weeks to come, a loose outline of aspects in which I find important and the methodical nature in which I will take place will be shown.

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Richard Grefé, director of AIGA.

“Design is the intermediary between information and understanding”

Task 1 Before any research is to take place, I believe that it is essential to get to know the group in which I will be working with, before any project it is essential that I understand the strengths and weaknesses that peers bring to the design team and get to know the personality traits and the groups understanding of what we want to gain from the experience.

Task 2 Initial research, gaining an idea/understanding of what we can do both conceptionally and visually at an early stage within the design process will only benefit both myself and my group. This will be done by looking through the key texts outlined by the brief and online research for more broader idea’s.

Task 3 Initial Ideas, discuss as a group any ideas in which we have thought of or are passionate about, this discussion should spark other idea’s which is the main benefit of being in a group, learning from one another will be essential toward the success of our outcome.

Task 4 Collecting data, with idea’s on the table we should then be able to collect information from around the university campus, this information will vary depending upon our ideas as a group, but it is important that well all understand what out aims are. To collect standard information I am aware that this is a process that can be carried out by the group by when using initiative and considering information which isn’t so obvious we may have to pay or go by other means to gather it.

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Task 5 Analyse information, with the information gathered we will now how to organise and categorise the collected. This stage is essential when considering the design process and this will shape the visual(data guided visual), with this in mind it is essential to ensure that the data is the emphasis of the design and not the visual appeal and the aim is to represent what we have found, the data provided is the more important aspect from my understanding.

Task 6 Collecting materials/equipment, from what the information is collected we should have an idea of what the visual will then be, to enhance this visual I find it appropriate that we then collect material, this will then allow us to design based upon the data.

Task 7 We then enter the design phase of this project, creating our own portrait of the data analysed arts university campus.

Task 8 Finally present this created piece within an exhibition ensuring that it is easily interpretable and visually compelling.

This has now given the unit a structure, these guidelines are just to help myself through this process, they are not set and can be broken but but following these tasks t will ensure the success of the project and that my groups outcome has design interlect.

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Organisation

Luke Keen

Mia Jamieson Ollie Richings Conner Kelly

Kasia Poplawska

Hands on Experience

luke

Digital Experience

Kasia Ollie Conner Mia

English

Motivation Aims as a Group Test Boundaries, Elaborate upon our skill sets(use what talents we process to benefit group) and experiment with new materials, processes and creative design methods.

What we hope to achieve in our outcome

Problem Solving

Communication Confidence

Skill Graph 10

Data Analysis

As a group we came across as digitally confident so we want to produce something which is more 3D and out of our comfort zones, we want to be creative and use initiative to problem solve and for that to show in our outcome and also we want to create a model of some form to represent the data we will be collecting to build upon our skills.

My Design Team Group Name – Stairway to Heaven Traits Luke Keen Ambitious Keen Hard Working Perfectionist Worrier Kasia Poplawska Organised Determined Picky Compassionate Stressful Ollie Richings Laid Back Patient Funny Reliable Easily Distracted Conner Kelly Motivated Laid Back Co operative Dedicated Procrastination Mia Jamieson Indecisive Problem Solver Independent Relaxed Easily Distracted.

Now that I have met and become familiar with my design team, I can use this knowledge to the benefit of the group, by insuring that everyone is set the correct tasks which bring out the best in each individual, it is also essential that I know the negative traits that people way have, as everyone is now aware of these said issues, we as a group can insure that we can support one another through this design process.

My initial reaction to the design group was one of excitement, I have never worked with these 4 individuals beforehand so I am looking forward to seeing the capabilities and creativity of certain members. Another thing in which I find important in a group is that everyones ideas are taken into consideration this is where personalities may clash and so on, with the group that I have been put into, from the outset we all seemed to be motivated and very considerate, which will make this process fare more successful if that wasn’t the case.

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“Every Day of My Life” I now have got a basic understanding within my group the next step is to research into the idealism of data and design, this research will consist of key texts and imagery and online research, gathered by all member of my group.

This information will in someway benefit the social or on conceptual side of design relating to Visual Sympathises.

When researching online into Visual Synthesis my group and I came across some secondary research that relates strongly to the project brief, a company named Variable take data, information and statistics and produce visual interpretations in a somewhat abstract form. The first of two projects by Variable that has taken my interest, titled “Every Day of My Life”, this task takes information created over a period of 2.5 years, an extensive amount of time, which would be impossible to create something on this scale when considering my brief as of the time restrictions but the idea’s and way of considering data is of great benefit to the progress of the project.

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www.variable.io/every-day-of-my-life

Initial Research

“Every Day of My Life” is a visualisation of computer usage statistics from the last 2.5 years of one person life, to explain the imagery shown on this page, this quote taken from Variable’s Website gives a fantastic description.”Each line represents one day and each block is the most foreground app running at the given moment. Black areas are periods when my computer is not turned on.

Sleeping patterns(or lack of them) and time of holidays and travel(longer gaps) can be therefore easily identified.”

With this abstract way of viewing data, I have found that the imagery alone would bare no meaning, and the impact is created through the combination of both word and image. I find the way the data is presented links clearly to the technical side of this experiment and find the visual imagery intriguing, it has also given my group and I and better understanding of what we can go on to produce, using delicate imagery, simple and clear, to represent a somewhat complicated collection of Data.

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“The brand wall” The second of the two projects by Variable, titled “The brand wall” takes data analysis to a completely new level, with the extensive collection of data considering the worlds main resources consumption. As shown by the imagery the visuals used to represent this data are visually appealing and both use strength of data and visuals to create what is shown, a powerful use of visual Synthesis.

Using simplistic visualisation such as lines, gives a clear somewhat looking graph causing the imagery to be easily interoperated, much like the previous design, they both show data analysis to a high level, and give two very strong examples of what I will aim to drive towards.

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www.variable.io/brand-wall

Initial Research

the difference between Info graphics and data visualisation Before I can continue with my visual research, It is essential that I understand exactly what it is the brief is asking/telling me to produce. As I am unable to understand the difference between data visualisation or Visual Synthesis and Info graphics I decided to research into the differences and similarities between the two, I came across an article by Jack Hagley which explains just that.

Visualisation The following is taken from his website and is a direct quote.

“It’s probably a better question to ask ‘What’s the similarity between an Infographic and a Data Visualisation’.

Let’s first look at what’s similar, then break down each one in turn in order to both define and compare them.

They both seek order, and it is always the intention that they should be informative. They are both visual representations of data. They convert data (usually numbers) into graphics. They can both be static, interactive or animated.

They are both convergent fields, in that they involve highly skilled people from a large number of disciplines, such as programmers, designers, statisticians, journalists, developers, geneticists, economists and so forth.

Info Graphic

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Info Graphic Infographics are generally created for the purpose of telling or explaining a specific story, and will usually be intended for a specific audience, thus Infographics are subjective. They are self contained and discrete: it is information presented with context; sensitivity designed and presented in a way that is accessible for an audience. The graphic design of an Infographic will be obvious; as it will be designed for that audience, or to fit in with a website or off-line publication’s pre-existing style. Often illustrations, iconography and other graphical flairs are used to illuminate the content. As this is the case, it is usually necessary that each one be constructed by hand, although there are tools that are available to make them using templates.

The method of presentation that is used for one Infographic cannot usually be used for another. They can take a more holistic approach to a subject, and bring in related information that can be unquantifiable — e.g. a quote that sets a mood. An Infographic is an item.

http://www.jackhagley.com/ What-s-the-difference-between-anInfographic-and-a-Data-Visualisation

understanding Data Visualisation Data Visualisation can be both an item, and a discipline. The information will be quantifiable, and therefore in the form of numbers. Data Visualisations should be objective and the entire data set may very well be presented without editing.

There is a greater interest in the gestalt, and less about applying an editorial process.

Data Visualisations can be created for the purposes of making sense of the data, or to change a data set into a more accessible form. Often data sets can be so massive and unwieldy that it can be almost impossible or laborious for a human to process. Therefore Data Visualisations are far more likely to be generated automatically through the use of algorithms or computer programs.

The process that is used to create them could be applied to another data set.

They are likely to be presented without context.

The system of organising the data will perhaps be proprietary, and it is this system itself that becomes the interface that the data is accessed through. The data itself becomes its own architecture.

The graphic design of it (in the sense of the look and the feel) will likely be deliberately less obvious, and take a back seat to the data itself.

DataVisualisation

Compare and Contrast In the process of making either one, there will be always be a number of prototypes that must be constructed. Each one of these could be considered a Data Visualisation. Infographics can contain Data Visualisations, but Data Visualisations cannot contain Infographics. (Unless perhaps it were a Data Visualisation of Infographics!). Like the difference between a ship and a boat, a boat can go on a ship but not the reverse.

The difference between them can perhaps be also thought of as the difference between data and information. Information is refined data, just as an Info graphic could be thought of as a refined Data Visualisation. The word Infographic is even a contraction of information graphics. Both hopefully lead us to the still more refined state: Knowledge.�

With this understanding I can now continue the research phase of the project, to do this I will now use primary research from books relating to the concept of data graphics and visual data, this will give me inspiration and allow me and my group to have a look at what other designers have accomplished when considering the combination of data and graphics and consider how this can effect or even help shape the process of our design and mould our idea generation.

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Data flow The first book in which we came across using the key works ‘Data” and ‘Visualisation’ titled Data Flow showed a large array of fantastic designs displaying information which had be compiled, analysed and then shown is a visual format, in its greatest potential and all in a very abstract and unique way the images shown upon the following pages will be the designs in which stood out for me the most, beforehand a direct quote take from the book is shown, it relates strongly to the brief.

Information is Beautiful The second of the two book which we found of any use, titled Information Is Beautiful, was not as usual as the first but gives visualisation of ideas into how to organise data in a graphical manner, images will follow displaying such designs relation to, female and male name popularity, water usage, carbon usage and colours and culture, all show in a more infographic manner but still very inspiring at this stage of the process.

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Book 1, Data Flow, Visualising information in graphic design, Gestalton, Berlin 2008.

Book 2, Information is Beautiful, David McCandles, Collins, London, 2009.

“Diagrams, data graphics, and visual confections have become the language we resort to in this abstract and complex world they help us understand, create, and completely experience reality.�

data flow

Information is beautiful

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Intial Ideas After the initial research phase myself and my group came together to discuss any idea’s in which we had thought of considering data collection. The list of Idea’s are shown below.

Areas/pathways in which people walk, what pathways are more popular? collecting pathway data.

Happiness/Sadness, relating to certain courses, which courses have a healthier attitude to work? collecting social happiness data.

Clubbing/Bars, relating to certain courses, which courses go out clubbing the most? Does that effect overall happiness/ work ethic and outcomes/ success, collecting social alcohol outings.

Mental illness, Which courses have the most cases of mental illnesses? does this relate to selected courses or social interactions, collecting data on mental illnesses.

Shadows, relating to buildings, mapping a portrait of the the campus via the shadows it creates. collecting shadow data.

Relating the university to a human being, what do students feel is the heart/ brains ect of the campus? collecting opinion data.

Computer/electricity usage, relating to buildings, how many computers on campus? how many in each building? How many macs/pc are there? What is the electrical usage? What is there overall cost? Collecting computer/electricity data.

Waste, relating to course, which course produces the most waste? How much money is waste via rubbish? Do they recycle? Collecting waste data.

Colour, relating to the campus, how many colours are visible throughout university? What colour is the most predominate? Collecting colour data.

From this we decided that the best pathway to take, the one in which leaves us with the biggest data range is computer/electricity usage, with this decided we then had a collective discussion to push this idea forward, we had the idea of using motherboards as a representation of the campus, laser cutting the motherboards into the shape of the university and the higher/more mothers there are the more computers/electricity that section of the university was using, so we then discussed the problems in which we may come across(data collecting, material collection) and shown is how we then tackled the issues.

Material, how would we collect the materials, motherboards ect.

After a discussion with a lecturer he suggested looking in the university electrical bins, we did this and found a vast amount of broken electrical equipment which we decided to take apart and salvage the motherboards and wires anything which can inspire a visual.

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Collecting Motherboards

As a group we collected the materials shown upon this page, we found that the imagery of a motherboard instantly represented electricity.

But this left us with the issue of allowing the materials to drive the design and not the information, this is something in which i personally did not want to allow to happen when influencing the design.

crits

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data collection After this we had a crit/tutorial, we discussed our idea and showed the lecturer what we had collected, we were advised to take a step back and collect the data before we consider the visual, “let the data create the visual, not the other way around’ so we then decided to put the materials to one side, still with the consideration of using them in someway, and go on to our secondary problem data collecting, we already new that within our time period in which we had left, two weeks, it would take far to much time to find all the information out for ourself, the amount of computers, electrical output, money cost and so on, so we needed a way of getting the information. Another conversation with a lecturer led us to believe that the university already had the data and all we had to do was find it.

How? Through the use of freedom of information act, we contacted aub university the email sent is presented, along with it’s reply.

The reply has made my group and I slightly concerned about the time in which we will be sent the information, a maximum of 20 days will push us past our deadline and cause us to fail this assignment, causing us to have to take another step back and consider what other data we can collect as a back up just in case the information doesn’t arrive in a suitable period of time, so myself and another group member(Ollie Richings) decided to stay after university to talk to our lectures to see if that can contribute or discuss our situation and help cement our idea’s.

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USAGE We considered our previous idea(electricity/computer) and decided to consider data relating to usage, that now being our overall theme linking the project together, the idea we had relating to this are stated below.

Usage.

Recyling, food waste, recycling waste and waste and the awareness of this over campus.

Toilet paper usage, how much is being used? How many rolls per year ect.

Cigarettes, how many smoked per day per student in different areas, course effects stress? Social effect smoking? How many cigarettes in bin butts.

Food, how much food is being consumed, what types, cooked, sandwhiches crisps ect.

Bins, how many bins in the campus, how quickly they get filled dependent on area.

Money, how much money is the uni using in comparison to the students spending, our they statistically getting their moneys worth.

We then went out to collect data based upon the previous suggestions, we decided that alongside recycling and cigarettes that we would also return to our idea of computer usage, and just tally up the amount of computers and macs within the university.

From the information that we collected we found ourselves drawn even more towards the idea of computer usage as the information gathered gave us more to elaborate upon then the others I then decided to create an info graphic that displays the information collected this is shown upon the next page.

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Recyling

data collection

Cigerettes Computers/Macs

Computer/Mac info graphic

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Libary

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1

Northlight Studio

Mac

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Uni House

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0

8

Work Shops

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West Building

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Enterprize Pavillion

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4

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Student Services

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North Building

PC

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247

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Mean Average

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Overall Tally

Computer USAGE information After collecting all this information we then had several emails that contained further information from the IT department within Art’s University Bournemouth these emails will be shown and give me and my group a large array of information.

After great discussion me and my group then became extremely stuck, this due to this large array of information which caused us to over complicate ideas and so on, we found that the information was so vast it caused issues when creating a system.

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data collection

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Analyse information Looking through the information we decided to discard the more complex such as money ect, and focus purely upon what we collected, so our information bases is less complex to create a system for, we looked into the amount of overall computers and macs and comparing the two using a visual system, and we found that the information create its own system, allowing the information to create the visual.

We decided that the system in which we would use would be very similar to the info graphic created earlier, in short we used the info graphic as inspiration for our system, the system we have decided upon is, using the 8 different building within the university they will act as predominated factors with our design, so 8 main sections, these sections will be displayed in a certain colour representing mac or Pc, the building that so has more then the over we be displayed in the set colour for said mac/pc, so if there are more macs then pc’s in a build the colour will be say orange, but if there where more for pc’s the section will be yellow. The size of these section will be determined by the amount of overall mac and pc’s within the section the more overall the bigger, and the amount of said objects in each section will display the overall amount.

The idea is to use led lights of two different colours to creat teh visual shown, we would drill into a materia and push the ped’s through the holes to create what is shown.

For the imagery we have decided upon at this stage we in turn let electricity allow us to represent the usage of these said computers, so we used the image of a light board shown to allow us design the visual interpretation shown. With this create we then we upon elaborating this idea in our own time, this show upon the next page

www.hightectrading.com/ekmps/ shops/dongo101/images/225-ledred-blue-hydroponic-grow-board-light[5]-1326-p.png

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Visual Interpretation

final idea After going away and elaborating upon the idea a group member came across the image that is shown, we as a group instantly became attached to this as it allowed us to push the visual even further without using electricity(simple), this being what we want to represent, but by using a different visual/material we can make people aware of the issue of electricity usage within the university without using electricity.

What we then decided in adaptation to our system is that we would continue to use the predominate mac/pc for colour and amount of overall variant for size but then, allow the degree in which the overall computer/pc to establish the angle in which rings will be put together, for example an overall 120 pc’s and macs will be joined to at 120 degrees around the ring from the point of interaction, we then decided that the rings should be thinner at on end then the over due to the computer usage throughout the day, so the thicker points would represent the midday usage where as the thinner sections represented the night where just the servers are on and computers are on stand by.

The material we have chooses to create this visual is pliwood, we know this is an avalible resource within ythe university so we are going to take advantage of this allowing the material collection stage to be ignored, to create a structure strong enough to be 3D and allow people to interact with, we have decided that lazer cutter the pliword will allow absolute accuracy so the next stage would be designing the illiustrator file that we would go on to create the outcome.

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Illustrator vector for lazer cutter 39

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Mock up Using the vector file created for the lazer cutter, I found it essential that we test that it works so I went on to create a mock up using cardboard and glue to ensure that it will work when moving on towards are main structure, when creating this I had in mind that the overall outcome will be a lot heavy as we are using plywood, so any issues I came across will be a larger factor if influence by weight, the outcome of the mock up is shown.

When evaluating the mock up I found that it was extremely self sufficient due to the connection points put in, which allowed the inner rings to rely on the heavy and stronger outer sections, I found that this may have had something to do with the light weight material being used so from this decided it would be essential that we use both superglue and wood glue to connect the main piece.

We also decided that we should stick to a clean colour platte of just wood and black, this allowing simplicity and visual appealing outcome.

Now following the steps shown me and my group will go on to create the outcome which is to be shown in exhibition.

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Set up lazer cutter using our vector file create.

Lazer cut basic structure to the design.

Sand design down plywood to ensure visual perfection.

Test structure to ensure it fits together correctly and doesn’t break.

Take apart structure so that we can spray paint sections black Wait for spray paint to dry and construct outcome.

Following these stages will allow the success of our creation.

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Creating final outcome

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Exhibition piece

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Critical evalutaion When evaluating visual systems group dynamic, I believe as a unit we worked very well, idea’s where built upon by one another and the final outcome wouldn’t of come to the conclusion in what it did without the combined efforts of everyone, another point that played a large deal within our group is the enthusiasm shared by everyone, we all drove towards the same ambition, which was to create something different, something that we as a group would not normally achieve individually and something that was not digitally based, this we achieved and to a high quality finish, looking back upon this I believe the success of this outcome was not due to individual skill but the collaboration of design minds working together to produce something outstanding.

Another important factor of this project was to create something in which bares meaning, to focus on a concept that shows the audience/ informs the audience of something, I believe this was achieved as it displays the overall electrical output of the computer and macs combined in a abstract means. The only problem with this is that I believe the abstract means distracts from what it is showing, which could cause the meaning behind it to lose all purpose.

The system we created was one of complexity, which was driven by our research and evaluation, which was done throughout the project. The journey that the group went on meet lots of dead ends I believe this is because to start the project we initially tried to design based upon visuals and not letting our research drive the outcome, If I was to personally take one point from this project it would be to always ensure that my research is the emphasis of my designs, as this ensures design logic and a better and clearly flow within my designing process.

Creating the system was enabled by taking a step back and communicating issues and pros of the research we had gathered, by stripping the data collected to its bare minimum we where able to create the system of, the computer/mac predominate subject deliberating the colour of the comparing factors, the size of these factors being determined the overall total of by computer and electrical components, and the degree in which these where put together is there overall total number. To evaluate this system to see if it genuinely works it has to be tested with different data, from doing so we found that it works with any data provided, resulting in a success.

Looking at the group crit of the exhibition the strength mentioned where that is had a good system, a 360 degree visual, the complexity of the system showed great design process and the energy of the experimentation, I believe this shows how well we worked as a team due to the feedback, some negative that where mentioned where that its complexity may be to difficult to understand, which I agree with as if the outcome was not explained well or at all, it just look like a exhibition piece within a fine art gallery, another suggestion that was made was that we could try work on materials and aesthetics, with this in mind we as a group decided to take this on board and create an outcome using patterns and perspex as shown, we also went on to do a photo shot of the outcome to enhance visuals.

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Photo shoot

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Assignment 2: Industry Visit & Research ASSIGNMENT BRIEF For this project you are required to visit a design studio in order to gain knowledge and understanding, uncover the roles within any creative group and consider the possible expectations of you as a new designer. The research element within this brief will also help inform your awareness of current trends within industry.

RATIONALE During the second year of the course you will be developing your ability to think and work more critically and independently. As well as feedback from tutors and peers you need to constantly reflect on your own learning. It is essential as you prepare for the Graphic Design industry that you become increasingly independent and develop confidence in your own judgements and critical analysis.

It will also be important to look to the future and to consider companies and areas of professional practice with which you might wish to align. For example some companies have a strong ethical perspective and will not work with particular brands or political parties. What type of designer are you? Do you have a more conceptual approach? Are you driven by aesthetics? Does your chosen field require strong digital skills? It is important to reflect on your personal philosophies as well as your design strengths in relation to industry.

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What kind of designer am i As a creator I have always been interested in designing something new, something different that has a meaning or a purpose, not necessarily ethical(which could be something I pursue in the future) but something that will be used, something in which people interact with and use with ease, I like the idea of creating intelligent designs with the intent to amaze my audience, with this in mind one consideration that I will have to take on board when researching my selected company is that the company is innovative and outside the box. My favourite part of designing is the conceptual side creating the idea’s(intelligence enforces design not visuals) so both innovative and conceptually based graphic design industry.

I also am very passionate about learning new things within the design world so I will have to feel as if I will gain something from the company I would choose to visit.

When considering my visual styling, which is clear, simplistic and abstract mainly upon a digital format It is essential that the company fits my profile or I could contribute to the styling in some way, so I wouldn’t go looking for a mainly hands-on design agency, one in which focuses upon conceptual intelligence that is enforced by simplistic and structured design.

One last thing to consider which I almost believe to be the most important is the environment of the company and its reputation, I would not like to work in a company which is vast and has hundreds of people, I would find this overwhelming and not personal enough, I believe that design comes from the heart and soul of a person and by interacting with others the potential of one person in multiplied, whereas is a vast environment I believe the intimate design relationships will be lost. A smaller design group where everyone is able to gain knowledge of peoples capabilities and strengths is where I believe I fit, I like to know my place and have personal relationships with the people I am working with so that I feel confident around my peers this is where I will truly push my capabilities.

As far as the space of the company and where it is positioned is unimportant to me, I would like the interior of the company to be heavily simplstic with inspirational design bases and there to be a social area, and a relaxed open planned layout so all the designers can interact at any given point.

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COMPANY RESEARCH Lambie-nairn About us “At Lambie-Nairn we believe that strong brands are fluid, dynamic properties that evolve and develop over time. They get formed and shaped by all of the interactions that they make with the world; they continuously modify themselves in response to the environment in which they exist; they constantly listen and respond and, on occasions, they may provoke.

For 40 years we have been creating dynamic brands that have reshaped categories and grown and evolved over time. There can be no better examples of this than our many pieces of pioneering work in broadcast identity design – where the term ‘dynamic brands’ could be said to literally apply! In recent years we have extended our approach beyond just the creation of dynamic brands and into their on-going management.

Our sophisticated and carefully structured technique for managing large-scale national and international brands – we call this Brand Guardianship – is a unique offer that is delivering exceptional return on investment for our clients and providing them with some of the world’s most valuable and enduring brands.

Putting all this together, we believe that Lambie-Nairn offers a uniWWquely progressive, powerful and contemporarily relevant approach to building and maintaining our clients’ brands.”

Client Bases Below shows the clients which stand out to myself.

BBS Channel 4 Itv BBC News Fifa Euro 2012 Invictus Games O2 E4 Hotels.com

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Who Jim Prior CHIEF EXECUTIVE Adrian Burton EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR Nicky Nicolls GLOBAL EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Tim Beauchamp FINANCE DIRECTOR Lisa Hill MANAGING DIRECTOR LONDON Sophie Lutman CREATIVE DIRECTOR LONDON Offices Sao Paulo Mexico City Bogota Buenos Aires Abu Dhabi Prague Madrid Munich London Possible graphics studio to visit London Address Lambie-Nairn 6 Brewhouse Yard London EC1V 4DG

Lambie-Nairn

www.lambie-nairn.com/wp-content/ uploads/2011/08/London-5.jpg Email

My name is Luke Keen I am a second year graphic design student studying at Arts University Bournemouth, myself and a group of 5 other students have been set a project to research into design companies in which we all collectively find inspirational.

Through extensive research we have found that your company above many others to be more ambitious, more creative and more outstanding. LambieNairn’s client basis is extremely impressive and the vast range of studios you have from London to Mexico City raises a lot of questions that we would love to have the opportunity to discuss. We all inspire to work for such a company as yourself and was wondering if there was any possibility that myself and my group would be able to visit the studio within London to have a look at how you construct you time, work with clients and visit the environment that creates such impressive work.

Any amount of your time would be appreciated, we understand that you are very busy and your time is valuable, but if there are any opportunities just to visit for half an hour please get in contact, thank you.

Yours Sincerely.

Luke Keen.

No Reply.

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WHATS NEXT After contacting many companies via phone and email which ere also unsuccessful due to the time of year causing people to be too busy to allow us to come and have a look around, these companies found upon the website shown to the right, I decided to take a step back and discuss with my group members to decide what plan of action in which we will take.

Discussing with my group a member(Max) had a previous contact in which he had already worked with in the past and said he can set us up with the opportunity to visit if we would like to go, this company named Multi Adaptor.

While Max got in contact with this company I decided the next stage would be to assemble some general question that I could ask these are shown upon the next double spread.

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www.design-intellect.co.uk/top_50_ design_agencies_list.html

Research

QUESTIONS When visiting the company of group choice I have created some possible questions to ask when on my visit, below are some in which hold value to myself and that I be interested to know the answer.

Describe a typical work week/day?

Do you take work home with you?

How many hours do you normally work?

Do you have fixed job functions?

Is there a fixed period of training?

How would you see this company developing over the next five years?

How would you describe the atmosphere in this company?

What would you as a companies be looking for in a portfolio?

Do you hire post graduates?

What clients have you enjoyed working with the most and why?

What do you believe is the reason for your companies success?

Do you allow for work experiences for graphic design students to get a feel for how the company works?

What are your aims for the future in the development of the company?

What do you believe is your most successful outcome from a given brief?

Do you have any plans to established more offices around the world?

Have you got any plans for new clients at this current moment or the near future?

Do you enjoy your work and get self satisfaction from the outcomes you produce?

If you were to describe your company is 3 words, what would represent the ethos?

With such demanding work do you have time for a family, or our your lives mainly design focused?

As your company has so many offices all around the world, do employees have the opportunity to work in different locations if needed?

What processes does your company go through when entering the designing phase?

How do you communicate with your clients, and is it a distant or very personal relationship?

Obviously it is essential that your clients are happy, but do you ever try to push idea’s in which you believe are better, even if the client disagrees?

What do you believe is the most important thing about your employees which helps create such a strong workforce?

Question like the above will allow me to gain a better understanding of the design world and how it all works, knowing such things will only drive me as a designer to accomplish my aims to one day work at a company of my preferred type

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Multi adaptor Andy West Founding partner/managing director.

Now that we have secured our visit to the company Multi Adaptor, this down to our group member max, I believed it was essential that I find some information relating to the company to find what the ethos is and visual language to decide if I wanted to actually visit this company, below shows of information taken from the website.

About us We are a London-based branding agency helping brands and organisations to think big, solve tricky business problems and tell compelling stories.

We do it with a collaborative spirit and clear, imaginative ideas, to deliver design projects with a personality that people love.

Digitally-minded We’ve been doing branding and digital for nearly a decade, but it’s our digitallyminded approach to branding, and our brand-led approach to digital that clients come to us for.

Brand experience and user experience are the same thing. Your web presence is your brand identity, and the design of your email newsletter is as much our priority as your logo.

Digitally-minded means brands that are more engaging, relevant, practical and loved. It’s about the touch points that matter most to your audience, and making digital the beating heart of your brand.

Work that works We’re not about satisfying creative whims, or making things look pretty — although we believe in the power of a brilliant idea, beautifully designed. For us, first and foremost, it’s about solving business challenges.

Our clients come to us for our thinking first. We ask lots of questions to find the essential insights. We research, strategise, concept, prototype and test. And we don’t stop until we find something that w ill work beautifully, to meet your objectives.

Ben Brookbanks Founding partner/ creative director.

Deeper thinking We’re at our most effective when we’re working on big, complex briefs — ones that aren’t straight-forward. Knotty, interconnected parts, a variety of audiences, conflicting stakeholders. Sometimes there’s no brief, just some unfinished slides and insights from senior staff with little time to spare.

Our clear, joined-up, holistic thinking helps to simplify all of this — clarifying the brief and often identifying an unseen need. This means you’ll probably get more than you asked for. And sometimes answers to problems you hadn’t thought of yet.

Through this research it has allowed me to understand the ethos of the company and when referring to me as a designer they share very similar wives to myself they are conceptual and out the box, and are manly focused upon a digital output, which is brilliant and match my requirements perfectly, which this in mind I will now, look into the visuals of work in which has been created by this company to get a better feel for what they produce and what type of designs they create.

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multiadaptor.com/category/work/

Visual research When looking through Multi Adaptors portfolio, in was extremely impressed but more importently I felt like I could relate as a design, the work they produce is what I inspire to create, its intelligent yet not over complicated, its simplistic but driven by meaning and its visually appealing, from the interaction of type within the soul mates design, the interaction clearly representing the connection of soul mates, to the build your own team design where the type is constructed and built and the initiative to the charity idea for designing logo’s the visuals are brilliant, and I am now exited and enthusiastic to visit this company.

The Visit

Presentation When deciding upon how we would document out experience as a group when visiting these companies, we decide prior to this to use a Go Pro to visual film our experience so that we had a video to show of our time during the visit, I believe this was the best way to match the brief as it will give the audience an actual feel to how it went.

Shown upon this page our some stills taken from the video to give a visual representation of the presentation, unfortunately I am unable to present the actual presentation as this was too close to the deadline, and due to printing restriction this was not possible, but I believe the video was extremely successful and gives a clear and well documented experience of our visit, showing our interactions with the people that worked at Multi Adaptor and what we came across as in the environment of the workplace and the visuals on display of work and work processes.

Critical evalutaion Looking at the brief and how we handled it as a group we definitely had some slight issues with communication between different people as this brief was alongside other projects it fell into the background quite a lot and I found that when trying to push any research toward the group there was little interest at first. I found that there where many companies that I would of liked to visit when researching that I felt fit the criteria that I established at the start of the project, but when contacting them via phone/email, I either received no response or that the industries where too busy due to the christmas period which is completely understandable but caused me to be concerned, this concern was quickly changed as a group member managed to get us a visit with the company Multi adaptor.

The experience as a whole was incredible, firstly the environment of the company was exactly what I had hoped to find and possibly work within at a later date, the company was in a small studio apartment which was open based, the designers where all relaxed and comfortable around one another and when being greeted by the industry manager Ben Brookbanks you could here design conversation and debates around the room, the atmosphere was exciting and you could see that everyone there enjoyed what they were doing but also happy with where they worked, this allowed me to consider that being happy and enjoying your work is more important then money, and if I could work in an environment like this I would start to completely enjoy designing, which is something I struggle with from time to time as I get stressed very easily.

Looking around the small studio the layout was rows of computers where each individual could speak to one another if needed, this interaction is important and allowed inspiration from others with ease, they had a bike rack inside the studio and a table tennis table as their meeting table, two things that stood out to me and showed of the design area’s quirky nature, another thing of interest that I noticed about the environment was the amount of idea generation and sticky labels, it showed that everyone in the design area had a chance to give there views upon different design jobs, giving everyone equal opportunity which was a credible thing finally the amount of work on display around the studio shows that they take pride in there result, something I can relate to strongly.

After being shown the studio, we where taken to the conference table, where Ben Brookbanks had a presentation ready to show which explained the company ethos and showed of work created by the company, when he explained that him and his partner where previous students from this Bournemouth art that studied graphic design this gave way to many a questions, firstly I asked how they managed to create a company to which he answered “I wouldn’t advise anyone to start there own graphic design company, it takes a lot of hard work and word of mouth, getting clients is your first task and once you get them its a matter of them telling others and this is a matter of chance, we once where so out of work we actually hand write 100 letters to different brands explaining who we are and we only had one reply, which incredible we still work for” This inspired me as I like hard work and inspire to be as successful and be able to look at what I have created from the ground up with pride.

The presentation created was a success as the video allowed us to switch back and forth between the two, one critism that I can make is that the video did not explain anything key facts or quotes from the visit which caused us to struggle when we where presenting our outcome, but considering the overall experience both visiting and showing out experience I believe me matched the brief well, the most important thing I have taken from this experience is that I was so overwhelmed by the company and their ethos and presentation and I have contacted them asking to maybe work from them for a couple of week and am in the process of sorting this out at this current point.

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Assignment 3: Wayfinding ASSIGNMENT BRIEF You are required to work in groups to research and engage with a range of environments within which users will require a navigation system. In your groups you will identify a specific location or sets of locations and use the creative strategies within visual systems to produce a comprehensive wayfinding system.

RATIONALE In the second part of this Unit you will build on your exploration and understanding of visual systems and begin to recruit your creative strategies to solve real world design problems. Wayfinding design involves the development of visual systems of signage, landmarks and mapping to facilitate the navigation of complex environments.

Wayfinding sytems within urban, architectural or natural environments build on the inherent structures within the environment and engage with the expectations of the visitor. Buildings have floors, corridors and rooms. There will also be relationships with other building and the functionalities within these spaces. Outside spaces have paths and junctions, or areas, seams and edges.

A visual system must allow a consistent visual language to facilitate effortless understanding and navigation.

The design of a wayfinding system might require consideration for a fragile natural habitat or a flexibility within an environment that changes over time.

An urban space might require a complex, trans-lingual information system and an extendable system of wayfinding categories. This project will give you the opportunity to explore how visual systems can offer an underlying structure and coherence to these design solutions.

Within contemporary design practice it is important to consider the broader scope of wayfinding and navigation within interactive digital spaces. The information architecture within the virtual spaces of the web and other digital media require the same coherence and facility for intuitive navigation as physical spaces. A visual system for a space in the ‘real world’ will often need extending into the virtual navigation of an associated online element of any project.

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Understanding the Brief www.umich.edu/~wayfind/ supplements/moreinfomain.htm

As this brief is easier to understand then the previous Visual Systems I will be breaking down myself. I simply believe the brief is asking for a Innovative way of showing directions or showing a path in which the design will enforce, the task isn’t as simple as the brief first suggests as most successful wayfinding designs are already In use and designing something completely different and unheard of without taking too much inspiration from previous designs is what I believe at this point to be difficult.

A description of wayfinding is shown.

“Wayfinding can be defined as spatial problem solving. It is knowing where you are in a building or an environment, knowing where your desired location is, and knowing how to get there from your present location. There are several principles that go into wayfinding, but our website focuses on the principles of architectural clues, lighting, sight lines, and signage. These features are information support systems to wayfinding. Users rely on these principles when making decisions about how to reach their destination. A good wayfinding system gives strong indicators of where the user is and how to get to her destination from her present location. Wayfinding problems occur when decisions cannot be executed. In a poor wayfinding system, the user does not have enough information to decide his or her course of action.

Ineffective wayfinding systems are very problematic for buildings because of the costs they can incur and the time that users devote to searching for a desired location. In an environment where bad wayfinding systems occur, people rely on the staff of the building to direct them to their destination. Further, users may also become so frustrated with the environment that they will not return.

If a building has good wayfinding features, the user should have a positive experience when reaching their destination. The buildings that we feature in our site can enhance their wayfinding features by looking at the properties and seeing how they can use them to assist individuals with finding their destinations.

Now that i fully understand what the brief is asking and the true definition of what wayfing is i can now feel confident when meeting my group and discussing any idea’s in which we might have.

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Wayshowing > Wayfinding: Basic & Interactive, Per Mollerup, Bis Publishers, 2013.

“Good wayshowing is user-led. It builds on a deep understanding of how we find our way in built or natural environments.”

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My group As the deadline for this project is only two weeks, myself and my group did not find it essential to get to know each others strengths and weaknesses as this would waste significant time which could be used for the designing aspect of this project, the people in the group that I will be working with our shown.

Sebastinella Dunne Liz Druella Salisbury I already have previous relationships with my two group members so I already have a somewhat understanding of there capabilities. With these familiarities we all decided to go off and do some visual research, the following pages show of what I initially found.

Deciding upon researching wayfinding as a starting point I decided to use the resources that Aub have to offer. The library contains many books upon graphic design and found that by looking closer it has some sections upon wayfinding/ wayshowing as this information is gathered through A book form it can be assumed that the information collected is more likely to be correct as opposed to secondary research via the internet.

As I already have an understanding of how way finding is perceived, I have decided to focus less upon the meaning and look into different methods of how way finding has been used and to what effect it has and to look into how way finding can be broken down.

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Wayfinding/Wayshowing The first of the two books that I have come across is Wayfinding/Wayshowing, this book was fantastic as its emphasis is focused upon this project and has many visuals that relates strongly to the brief, what I found most informative is the 9 wayfinding strategies in which will be displayed, it shows representations of different techniques that are used when finding directions.

As shown to the left is the process of wayfinding, this is essential to understand as this will help aid me during the idea generation and human understanding aspect of this project. below will show of how i will relate this to the design process when creating my outcome.

1. Decision to move.(give audience reason to move/audience already has reason to move from location) 2. Seeking information- search.(give audience clear visual structure/information structure) 3. Checking internal information.(Understand audiences knowledge of area surroundings, for example no/little knowledge of area/route would result in large amount of information provided) 4. Checking External information.(Use external environment of the audience to help guide viewer) 5. Computing alternative routes.(decide if this is to be an option within the design that we will allow) 6. Eligible routes.(make sure that we as designers understand what routes are possible to undertake and what is prohibited) 7. Choosing Criteria.(how,why and for what reason are the getting to this destination and for what purpose) 8. Evaluating eligible routes.(Ensuring audience selects route that is of most interest to the user) 9. Choosing Route.(decide weather or not to give people the option to choose route, and if so what would make the route an optimum choice.

10. Move/ Search/ Decide/ Move.(in what context will the user get to the given destination)

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9 strategies of wayfinding

As shown upon the previous pages are scans taken from the book Wayfinding/ Wayshowing, they show of the 9 strategies taken when way finding, I believe its extremely relevant and crucial to understand the different techniques are intended users take when finding they way around both familiar and unfamiliar environments this will give me and my group a better acknowledgment of how we can create our way finding piece and to what of the 9 strategies are our creation/idealism fall under.

Below shows of the 9 strategies with a brief and more easily interpreted explanation/discription.

1. Track following Following signs, lines, or other tracks.

2. Route following Following a plan.

3. Educated seeking Using prior knowledge.

4. Inference Concluding from sequential designations.

5. Screening Systematic searching.

6. Aiming Visual Targeting.

7. Map reading Using portable and you-are-here maps.

8. Compassing Using compass directions.

9. Social navigations Learning for others.

These 9 prodominate stragies do not always stand alone, it is importent that we know that the stratagies can be combined together in a successful way to create something new and informative.

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Mapping Graphics The second book mapping graphics is less linked toward this project, but within it I found a some images which created some visual inspiration, three different ways of showing wayfinding in three different environments, I believe it shows that there are many ways in which this brief can be tackled the scans are shown upon this page.

Mapping Graphic,Roger FawcettTang,2008, Rotovision, London.

Initial Research

uk.pinterest.com/search/ pins/?q=wayfinding&term_ meta%5B%5D=wayfinding%7Ctyped I found that the visual wayfinding examples from this try to tackle the issue of navigation in a various amount of ways, when referring back to the previous section of research, the first design in the bottom of the previous page along with the image within the top right take influence from map reading strategy number 7, and use different ways of doing so whereas the image below uses more of a visual emphasis within the environment focusing on strategies educated seeking and track following.

Knowingly doing this research has allowed to to deconstruct designs in a new way understanding the different methods has greatly opened my awareness to the techniques available, I will now look for more visual inspiration to help me in the design and idea generation process of this project.

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Initial Research

Initial Research

Initial Research

Design considerations From looking into previous wayfinding design i have created a list in which to consider when we create our outcome, below shows of this.

People do get lost how can this be prevented?

Informational boards can help guide predestinations how can they be used in a more effective manner?

Can contrast of colour guide people to there destinations or desired routes?

Will digital design ruin the landscape?

Use design to recreate more effective signs or a system which maps route more clearly.

Ensure the design is consistent so that it is clear to navigate.

Should the design fit in with nature or should it stand out?

It is important that we as designers consider the animals that habitat the environment, what effect is the design having?

The design has to be weather proof as forests are outside the design will have to tackle all weathers.

Should we use what is already there and add to it or create something completely new?

3D, 2D or Both?

What material do we use, inspired by the environment or a complete contrast.

It is importent to ensure that we have taken the above into account as dependent upon our outcome, it has to be credible in the enviroment ensuring that what we make is constructive and design inteligent.

Identify Issue, Target Problem, Research into Problem, How and Design.

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Identifying Wayfinding Problems Initial considerations into wayfinding.

Blind Children Elderly (internet) Landmarks (interests) Shopping (men/women) Bus Routes Lectures Job Roles Traffic Travelling Technology Weather Phones Car Parks Food in Shops Toilets Human Body Map Clubbing Alcohol Interaction Exercise Excursion

The buzz words shown give myself and my group a starting point when considering what wayfinding issue we can tackle, through much deliberation and idea processing within group discussion what is shown on the following page is the idea’s in which we believe have merit.

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Initial ideas Dementia, focusing on mapping the everyday life within the house, aiming to help with remembering dangerous and important things around the house for example turning of the hob.

Pros – focusing upon and issue which has a strong emotional link towards a past family member will allow me to become very involved and I already have understanding of the illness.

Cons – Both testing and collecting information will be difficult and hard to find, with the personal issues of dementia will there be anyone willing to be a somewhat test subject for our project.

Computer illiterate, mapping how to use a computer through visual means, aiming to tackle/help people who have never or struggle using electrical devices, by making the information and directions clear and simple to follow.

Pros – There are still many people who do not understand how to use a computer so collecting information should be relatively easy, it also has a larger target audience in which to hep direct.ww Cons – It can be extremely difficult to map how to use a computer, the scale may become to big and the overall information displayed may be inefficient and more overwhelming in the first place.

Forest routes, mapping through forest routes to give a clearer understanding of where to go, ensuring that people do not get lost.

Pros – forest trails have not been updated for a very long time, so the possibility in design is almost endless, the issue is very current and something in which needs updating and also effect a great number of people.

Cons – It can come across as controversial to be designing in such habitats and vegetation and could detract from the overall beauty of what is being shown.

Pathment code, creating a mapping system in which guides pedestrians where to walk, much like the highway code, faster and slower lanes for example.

Pros – An issue that many people have when shopping being stuck behind others and so on, its something in which effects almost everyone and can actually effect the overall happiness of people on a daily bases.

Cons- testing this will be almost impossible in the time frame, and it may seem unrealistic to expect people to walk in given sections.

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IDea generation 86

Evaluating concepts When evaluating our ideas as a group we all felt as if they were not unique enough or of a high enough quality, as shown we want to create an outcome that bares meaning, something in which will seem plausible in the design world and something that allows the audience to gain an additional something alongside with getting to the destination, we want are target audience to interact with out creation and want to follow its directions.

This left us stuck and at a stand still, we had no idea into where we should go with this project and as we only have a week left, we where worried about time, when went through the brief and brainstormed further idea’s none of worth and found ourself stuck again. At this point we did some research into wayfinding around bournemouth and found that Bournemouth university as a facility in which is solely devoted towards wayfinding, to which myself and a group member visited, and set up a meet with a Dr Jan Wiener head of the wayfinding research centre.

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Visiting wayfinding centre When we visited the wayfinding centre we were disappointed with what we found, the centre focuses predominately on the phycology of wayfinding as opposed to the creation and how to, they study the success of previous designs and how to improve via the spacial awareness of the wayfinder and how and why they would look for direction and find there way from a to b with all the considerations in between.

As shown to the left is a couple of the many pages given to use by the resource centre, none of which granted much use, but what I did take from this is that to engage with an audience with success it to allow them to interact with the creation you have made and to consider the driving force of the audience, because if they have a reason to do it, then holding the attention of the audience will be easier which lead myself and my group down the following pathway.

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interactive app idea After visiting the wayfinding resource centre, myself and my group then decided to create something in which the user can interact with, with the modern interaction method being an app we decided that this would be the most eligible way to process are forms of interaction, this left us with some questions to which helped guide us when creating our idealism for an wayfinding app.

Who is our target?

We decided that the best target audience for wayfinding and who uses apps more frequently is students, using freshers as a bases as from first hand experience I know that moving to a new location and not knowing anyone can be daunting at best so the application should aim towards exploring the new area in which said person has moved to to getting a better understanding of the area in a fun way, and also to focus upon a social aspect as the newly moved students will not know anyone, so we will be creating an app that allows students to explore there area and interact with new people in which they may have not had the opportunity two in the first place.

What is the purpose of the app?

As stated previously to gain a social and orienteering experience, taken inspiration from google treasure hunt where people place objects and give clues to the location and then the next person would then place another object with another clue, using fun and interaction as a bases, we decided that the app should be a competition to get to the locations in the quickest time using a clue system(wayfinding).

Why would the audience partake?

Alongside with the fitness benefit, getting students to explore and socialize with others the competition should be a yearly continuous project where the winner gets a select amount of money for there universities summer ball. With the summer ball prize money, me and my group explored this idea and decided upon a university vs university competition where individual points gained via getting to locations in the quickest times would go towards there universities overall points and the winning university would claim the cash prize.

Wayfinding system?

The wayfinding system in which the students will follow at this point is under sided we have an idea of using both visuals a clues, making this both intellectual and a fitness contest, but this will be decided at a later point.

Notes Name - The Hunt.

Uni Vs Uni leaderboard.. for end of year prize from sponsor nike.

Individual points go towards Uni overall points.

Social panel linked to university(only people from bournemouth can go to Bournemouth’s homepage.

Group log in on one phone, if wanting to run in groups, adds to social element, same points as individual, but done via 1 phone.

Year long project, with winning uni getting prize at end of the year(money for summer ball).

Sponsor - Nike.

Who will run the app?

Through much discussion myself and the group came to the conclusion that the app should be represented by someone that promotes going out and exploring alongside with fitness, with nikes “just do it� slogan we decided that they were a perfect candidate to sponsor this idea.

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www.nike.com/gb/en_gb/?cp=EUNS_ KW_UK_1_Brand_Core

Visual research When looking into the graphic identity of Nike I found that the imagery to be heavily fitness based, with a basic colour pallet of White, Black, Grey and Orange for its user face panel, it had a simplistic and clear environment to navigate around there website, something to take into consideration when creating the app. The ethos of the company provides a “just do it� attitude, causing the audience to give gratitude to Nike, whereas with nike you can just do anything.

What I have taken from this is to use large imagery with stong persuasive written words.

Looking into the type faces that are used by Nike I have found that for the headings they use Futura Condensed Medium and for body type Nike uses Trade Gothic Light.

Individual nike inspired app

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Luke Keen This design has taken clear influence from nike using its slogan and logo throughout, alongside with large imagery its clearly linked to sports and may effect lets sport related students from approaching the app, it also seems a little static in the approach of navigation throughout the app, with a outdated bar for movement between the pages. There has been thought to the clue side of wayfinding here as the Qr code scan upon location.

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Individual nike inspired app

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Sebastinella Dunne This design again takes strong influence from nike, more visually then text based, the type used is snot as effective and does not relate to the nike branding, the navigation is a lot clearer from the first as its a slide bar that appears to the left and is not always there just when the user needs to navigate which is brilliant and also the calorie count and distance walked allows informative deigns and well as way finding which I like.

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Individual nike inspired app

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Liz Druella Salisbury The final design is less connected to Nike and users a unsuccessful type range which looks cluttered it also shares similar qualities in navigation from the first design which is very static, one thing I do really appreciate within this design as it looks less serious and will attract people who are not as sporty as others which is a consideration that we will have to take in mind.

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After creating our initial apps, me and my group then had a crit with a lecturer, this crit was extremely important when considering the next stage of out project, the lecturer said out idea was worth continuing with as the prospect is believable and the idea is something he can see being turned into and app with students as competition is something that drives everyone especially students and at the age/target audience(18-25) at there physical peak but lazy it gives confidence towards the concept.

There where three major issues that came up during this conversation, firstly Nike did not seem believable as a sponsor, why would they do this app they already have a strong standing in the market and do not need to push there company further into the publics eye which drove us towards creating our own identity for this app, so that it stands on its own emphasis.

Secondly how would this way finding process work, with this app being a weekly 24 hour task who would write the clues and so on and how would it be achieved successfully without having a team of people creating the clues, we decided upon a visual hot and cold, which would apply to all the universities, using what is shown upon the following spread.

Thirdly how can we ensure that the clues are fair as the universities are all over the country and the competition does not seem believable as an orienteering app on such a large bases, we then decided to focus upon solely London and giving the same visual clues to all the universities allowing them to explore new places in London, create a proximately for the competition.

With the problem solving tackled I then decided to create the app logo/brand, as we have titled our app The Hunt, implying the overall theme of our design I believe that a strong piercing logo should follow, I went along the lines of what animals hunt and what would be visually striking, I decided upon and wimage of a wolf as they both hunt alone and in packs, two options of this app.

Problem solving and brand creation 98

THE HUNT LET THE COMPETITION BEGIN!

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Wayfinding Process The next stage in the designing process is to ensure that we have a wayfinding technique that works, thats intuitive and matches the brief, as explained previously we are using a visual hot and cold method that will guide the audience to its location, this visual orienteering compass in a urban landscape with work based upon the distance the user is from there locations the more blurry the further they are from the location the less the closer.

This process will work as it guides the viewer, the user will know they are going away from the target as it will be clearly shown through the imagery a simple yet clear and constructive method of wayfinding, we will have a total of 10 visual aids when considering the app(so 10 locations in which to find in a certain order) that will be Gps tracked so that when you reach your location the imager will change and start the process again the Gps stracker will also help determine points based upon the speed in which the user gets to location.

When considering this system with the app, its a manageable process, taking ten images and letting the app create itself ensures that the process does not need a team of people to ensure its running smoothly which in its own merit the app will be then left to work its interactive magic.

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Far from destination

Visual Hot and Cold

Close to destination

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testing wayfinding process

Before continuing with designing the app, I first thought it appropriate to ensure that the wayfinding visual hot and cold works and gives credit to the hunt competition design, it is importent to remember that when relating to the brief this visual compass idea is what matches the brief and the app design is how it will be used within a real life conceptual design.

To test the visual hot and cold compass, I decided to produce a quick recreation of the process that will be shown within the app, I focused upon the university campus(libary) and created visual blurring so that the closer the subject came to the location I would in turn give the said subject a clearer sheet and vis versa, this shown with the imagery upon this page.

I found the technique to be completely successful granting credit to the idea, it enabled my candedate to locate the target area, and alongside this venture into new places exploring the premisses, when my subject reach his area I decided to ask how he found the process, what was said “I found the technique to work very well, it was fun but still achieved its goal in getting me to my location� this interaction is what will cause the target market, students to continue to use the app, and focus upon finding the locations and collecting points toward getting the prize at the end of the year.

One criticism with the mock up app process is that The student was in a familiar environment and when the image became clear enough her had an idea in where to go, to produce a more concrete outcome I would in turn use the same process but in an environment that the subject was not familiar with.

The Hunt

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Final App Creation

For the app creation I have decided to stick to an orange, white and black theme, relating to my logo which in turn alongside with the typefaces has taken inspiration from Nike, with this I have kept a bold by clear approach to my composition and image layout so that the app is easily navigational and clear to understand.

As shown upon the previous page is a overall view of what app pages I have created, this of which I will explain starting with the app menu, shows the the icon in which will represent The Hunt, the wolf is a simplistic design relating to the composition and is instantly noticeable for its sophisticated and striking visual, when selected it will take you to what is shown to its right an informative screen, which when pressed upon takes you to the log in/registration page where it will ask for the users information, which more importantly will ask which university the user is from. So that when you log in it directions the audience to the image to the bottom right the social panel, where the user can ask for advise and see what is going on within there university.

Alongside there there are four very important panels the first in the bottom left shows of the visual blurring pages, showing your distance from the target, secondly to its right the route panel showing the current route in which you have gone, it also informs the user of the amount of calories burned and the total distance of which the user as travelled.

Thirdly above this is the university leader board which accumulates the total amount of point the user as contributed towards there university and what position there university is on the leader board, and finally the hunt in a pack option which shows fellow wolfs near you and allows you to work as a pack as opposed to being a lone wolf. Finally upon this page is the navigational user face which allows the user to interact between the pages of the app through imagery which is self explanatory and universal.

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Mock Up App Now that I have created the visuals for this app, The Hunt, the next consideration concerning the brief would be the exhibition, this exhibition would need to demonstrate my outcome in a clear and precise way, I decided upon creating and actual interactive app that people could use during the exhibition and get a feel for what the app would look like and how the user face works, this strengthening the outcome.

I used a program called Pop, it allows for a simple app mock up but has its restraints, it only allows me to navigate from one screen to another, with this in mind some screenshots of the creation and interaction techniques are shown upon this page, the end result was mildly successful and allowed the exhibitioners to get a great feel for the outcome as well as see how it works if it was to be made as a proper prototype.

It also allowed me to gain and better understanding of how an app is created as this is my first approach to using such a software, I made the best out of the software, by sliding right to get the pop up menu user face, and then allowing the icons to direct you to the page in which the user wanted and the just slide left to hide the user face, an easy and clear navigational tactic around my app.

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Lazer cut Visual One last thing before I Exhibited my outcomes I wanted something different as I had some extra time before deadline, I wanted something that would draw people to my exhibition so that it would stand out, the idea was to create a trophy like outcome using the logo as and emphasis, so I then decided to lazercut the logo onto plywood as I wanted to experiment more with the lazer cutter also.

The outcome as shown was incredible the clarity and precision of the cut gave clear depth to the imagery and looks visually stimulant, it also allowed me to experience what a lazer cut can do and what its limitations are.

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Exhibition Piece

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Critical evaluation The first and most essential section of this project to analyse is how testing the process of wayfinding went as this is in essence is our response to the brief, I believe this to be one of the strongest elements to the overall outcome presented as well, taking the visual hot and cold away from its app design it is a sure and successful way of taking pedestrians from a to b, and is a wayfinding system that can be used in many situations from travelling to tourist information it allows both exploration but direction in a sure and beautiful manner, the feedback that I had for this was of a similar response.

Focusing upon group dynamic, to say it clearly, it was not as successful as the first project, as a group we all agreed on the idea of creating and app for this visual system, the idea of making it a year long competition as opposed to a freshers week long competition, and adding a hint option when finding the target point was the only two differences between the concept side of the split group, I disagreed strongly that the hint section was not necessary and ruined the overall concept of a competition alongside with a weekly app design, it limited the time in which the app would be used and made no real design sense to the decision.

Alongside this there was a great visual difference between the split within the group, this I do understand, the visual idea that the other design gave was a friendly more child like approach so that it would not scare away their target audience freshers(Uniway) where as mine was a semiotic approach with the sophisticated and striking wolf logo(The Hunt) which from feedback had more positive assessments then the other group members, so I stick by the decision of splitting from the group, this was only really due to the personal relationship between me and a member of the group being fragile and did not want to cause any unnecessary arguments that could hinder our living arrangements, so I decided to go at it alone.

Even though the group dynamic was not as successfully as it should have really been I still believe the outcome that I created to be of a very high quality, with a substantial amount of work to back it up, I was to carry out this project with any differences I would have changed groups at the start to ensure the arguments could have been avoided, but unfortunately sometimes you have to work with people who you not necessary want to, and it has allowed me to understand how I can approach very narrow minded people. If I had any more time within the project I would of actually like to get the app running as I do believe it is believable within our culture today, and that my target audience would be interested in participating as my feedback has be extremely positive.

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Assignment 4: Subvert ASSIGNMENT BRIEF Analyse and deconstruct the visual system of an existing brand. Re-purpose the underlying visual system to produce an outcome that subverts or extends the brands key message.

RATIONALE This project will build on the deconstruction and analysis of the mapping brief at the start of the year. Every brand will have an underlying visual system that informs the design structure of touch points with its customers and potential customers. There will be a tight control of the brand narrative or company persona that these implementations generate.

Companies manipulate their brand to put forward a sanitized version of their activities. An oil company that destroys the environment in the pursuit of profit will invest vast sums to present itself as responsible, ethical and green. The fresh, trendy persona of a fashionable sports brand might hide an overseas production system of pollution and child labour.

This project will allow you to take control of, to highjack, the visual systems of a chosen brand, and re-purpose the designs and modes of communication to subvert their chosen message.

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Understanding the Brief

www.audioenglish.org/ dictionary/subvert.htm

The brief at hand is a 1 week task which to me comes across as a very simple task to pick a brand and either push forward the brands identity with a creative approach, ensuring the outcome is still recognisable with the graphic language of the company selected, or to research into a companies hidden background and use there identity against them to subvert the meaning of that brand, focusing on issues that effect ethical standards and human rights, to ensure the outcome is more powerful.

Looking at the two options I have instantly decided to select Subvert, as I believe this task is more challenging then just pushing a brands identity further, it allows for research into corrupt brands and a chance to gain a more of an understanding of what issues are still being breached today, and provide the brand with an intelligible twist which considers the identity of the brand alongside with the issues I want to highlight, this challenge appeals to me greatly it can be considered that I will be creating a somewhat spoof of the brand. As I clearly understand the brief I find it essential to fully understand the meaning of Subvert, a description is shown below.

1.

2.

3.

4.

cause the downfall of; of rulers corrupt morally or by intemperance or sensuality destroy property or hinder normal operations destroy completely

I will now go on to brainstorm brands in which I know or could possibly be breaching human rights or offending ethics is someway, alongside with slogan in which could easily be subverted.

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LIST OF POSSIBLE BRANDS TO SUBVERT

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Well Known Brands

Political Parties

Coca cola JD Sports McDonalds Nike Adidas Fifa Playstation Xbox Apple Orange Kellogg Nestle Primark Topman Zara River Island Nokia Avon Sprite Shell Toysrus Dr Pepper Microsoft EA Sports Prada Starbucks Fiat Honda Porsce Lamborghini Toyota Bentley Mazda BP Chevron

Labour Conservatives Green Party BNP Ukip Liberal Democrats Banks Natwest HSBC Barclays Lloyds TSB Santander Nationwide RBS Award Ceremony D&AD National Movie Bafta Grammy VMAS IMA Effie Michelin Alcohol Absolut Lambrini Jack Daniels Yellow Tail Guinness Fosters

Stella Artois Carlin Barcardi Tequila Tia Maria After Shock Gordons Sol Imperial Carlsberg WKD Spirnoff Magazines Yes! Cosmopolitan OK! Now Heat World Reveal Hello Shout Gossip Closer FHM Zoo Star Nuts

SLOGANS Fifa All in one rhythm Sony The one and only Its a Sony Like. No. Other Make. Believe Be Moved Orange The futures bright, the futures Orange Nokia Connecting people Sprite I like the Sprite in you Obey the first Dr Pepper Whats the worse that can happen It’s different, I like it I don’t drink Dr Pepper I experienced it Microsoft Its not your fault its Microsoft Your potential. Our passion Be whats next EA Sports It’s in the game Honda The power of dreams Toyota Moving forward BNP Putting british people first Ukip Love Britain, Vote Ukip Lambrini Lambrini girls just want to have fun Smirnoff Clearly Smirnoff He’s clearly discovered Smirnoff There’s vodka and then there’s Smirnoff Bacardi You know when its Bacardi Tia Maria In Tia we trust WKD Have you got a WKD side Nuts When you really need something funny

I believe this to be the wrong starting point to the project and believe that instead of writing a list of possible brands that I coud use for inspiration that the correct tactic for this should be to research the corrupt brands and see what brands interest me and what brands I believe as a designer should be subverted, from doing so will allow me to bring awareness and bring purpose to my design.

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ww

John 3:16, Bible

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life..�

HERSHEY Previous idea generation appeared unsuccessful as I had no initial target/ company to focus my subversion on, I believe that at this stage its essential to research a brand that ethically pushes boundaries in modern day society, through researching corrupt brands the first that brought any interest to myself is Hershey’s a chocolate brand situated in America, below shows some statements about the corruption hidden from the public.

“Hershey’s has recently announced that its new line of chocolates, Bliss Chocolates, will only be made using cocoa certified by the Rainforest Alliance.

Don’t get too excited. The only reason for this ‘ethical’ move was to prevent the International Labor Rights Forum from airing an ad featuring Hershey’s use of child labor on a giant screen right outside of the Super Bowl. The bad publicity was enough to get the company to invest in $10 million in West Africa to produce ethically sourced chocolate. Of course, the ILRF chose not to air the ad “in thanks” to Hershey.

Raise the Bar was an anti-child labor campaign aimed against Hershey’s that was active for an entire year before the company paid any mind to it, and only at the threat of embarrassment and lost revenue. Despite signing a protocol against child labor almost ten years ago, Hershey is the one participating company who has failed to eliminate their use of child labor. In West Africa, thousands of children still harvest cocoa for Hershey’s, and their investment with Bliss Chocolates makes only a small difference compared to their many other products that utilize child-picked cocoa.”

Even though this is an issue that breaches human rights and should/deserves to be approached via a subversion technique to bring awareness to this issue, this topic at hand does not interest me and I do not feel as emotionally involved as I should as a designer which in turn will cause my outcome to be effected, I also do not like the current visual styling of Hershey’s which is another point when relating to the brief.

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www.businesspundit.com/5giant-companies-who-use-slavelabor/?img=42005

RESEARCH

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FOREVER 21 When continuing to research into corrupt brands I decided to focus upon 2014 and what brands are committing ethically frowned upon issues, brands that take away human rights just for there own benefit. I found that Forever 21are one of the top five brands which are most corrupt of 2014, this I found to be unbelievable as Forever 21 is the 6th largest retail shop in america, and for a brand so well known and this can still be happening is ridiculous, this instantly engaged myself as a designer and now feel as if I should make a comment in the branding industry to raise awareness of this.

Knowing that I want to takle this brand I looked in depth into Forever 21 and there hideous hidden actions, the information that follows are taken from various website, information that bares meaning is highlighted in yellow.

“Regarding purchasing cotton from farms using child labor, Forever 21 has said that it “enters into a comprehensive agreement with each of suppliers and vendors under which they promise to utilize legally qualified workers.” This is code for “what we do is none of your business, so quit trying to emancipate our child slaves! They’re the perfect employees!”

Forever 21 fails to pretend that it cares even a tiny bit about the labor laws in Uzbekistan, the country from which most of their cotton is bought. In Uzbekistan, the government actually removes throes of children from school and places them in cotton fields during the harvest season. Who cares? Not Forever 21, Aeropostale, Toys ‘R’ Us, or Urban Outfitters. All of these companies source cotton from Uzbekistan, while over 70 other large retail stores have at least “made commitments to address forced labor in Uzbekistan’s cotton industry,” whatever that vague and lazy-sounding brush-off means.”

“Although most shoppers are unaware they are carrying around a Bible verse, Forever 21 has on the bottom on their trademark yellow bags printed “John 3:16”* . A Spokeswoman from Forever 21’s LA headquarters said the Biblical quote is a “demonstration of the owners’ faith.”

The chain, originally known as Fashion 21, was founded in Los Angeles, California in 1984 by South Korean Dong-Won Chang and his wife, Jin Sook.”

“In September 2001, the Asian Pacific American Legal Center and the Garment Worker Center, workers’ advocacy groups, filed a lawsuit against Forever 21, charging them of violating labor practice laws.They claimed that 19 contracted employees received less than the minimum wage, that the hours on time cards were reduced, that workers who complained to the state were fired, and that the employees faced sweatshop like working conditions. Forever 21 denounced the accusations, asserting its commitment to fair labor practices and that “none of the workers named in the suit were directly employed by the company.” A three year boycott of Forever 21 was held throughout the United States by the garment workers and this movement was captured in the Emmy Award-winning 118

answers.yahoo.com/question/

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forever_21

www.theguardian.com/society/2008/ jun/08/childprotection.humanrights

RESEARCH

http://www.corpwatch.org/article. php?id=15799

documentary, Made in L.A.Although the charge was dismissed by U.S. District Court Judge Manuel Real, Forever 21 responded with a defamation suit in 2002.

Attorney Robin D. Dal Soglio asserted that both Forever 21’s reputation and its sales were impacted by the allegations and protests. On the other hand, Kimi Lee, the director of one of the advocacy groups that represented the workers, maintained that the lawsuits were justified due to complaints from 20 workers.

Both cases ended in a settlement in December 2004.

of its suppliers and vendors under which they promise to utilize legally qualified workers,” this company has not publicly addressed the unique state-sponsored practice of forced child labor in Uzbekistan nor has it provided any information about how it ensures that its suppliers do not use Uzbek cotton tainted by these egregious human rights abuses. So far, Forever 21 has refused to support human rights and speak out against forced child labor in the cotton industry, unlike its top competitors like Abercrombie & Fitch, the Gap and Levi’s.”

Forever 21’s clothing has also been targeted in the media due to the slogans printed on some of their shirts. The Daily Mail, The Huffington Post, and others insisted that the company was “…pushing a Christian agenda” because it sold tops with phrases such as “Holy,” “Love, peace, faith, hope, Jesus,” and “Thank God.” Similarly, Forever 21 has received attention in the media for printing the Bible verse “John 3:16” on the bottom of their trademark yellow bags.The corporation maintains that it is not influenced by the religion of its founders, who are born-again Christians.Moreover, ABC News, numerous users on Reddit. com, and others condemned Forever 21 for its “Allergic to Algebra” shirt back in 2011. They declared that the shirt had an anti-education and sexist theme, but Ellie Krupnick, a writer for The Huffington Post, questioned this. Krupnick expressed that the top was making a remark about math, rather than a sexist remark, and announced that she would wear the shirt.

Issues

“Los Angeles-based Forever 21 sells cheap and trendy clothing and shoes, most of which is priced under $50. Started in 1984 by Do Won Chang and Jin Sook, a Korean-American immigrant couple, the company now sells an estimated $3 billion in goods from 500 stores worldwide. As a private company, Forever 21 does not have to reveal net profits, although it has volunteered the information that it made $135 million in 2008.

The business is not as profitable for the garment workers that the company employs, who are paid according to how many pieces they sew or cut, which can mean that their pay can be often be below minimum wage. For example, at 12 cents a vest, a worker would have to sew 60 vests an hour to earn the minimum wage.

From the research I have come across looking into Forever 21 I have found many points in which are concerning and can be approached considering the brief as shown below is a list of issues in which are provided by the quotes prior.

1. Forced Labour 2. Right to an Education 3. Child Labour 4. Underpay 5. Christian/religious brand.

6. Sexist 7. Illegal Hours 8. Unfair Dismissal 9. Anti-educational 10. Ignorance to Issues This research has now allowed me to go on and start the design phase of my subversion project with a strong starting point, I will now go on and gather some research into the companies visual language getting a better feel for the companies imagery, composition, typefaces, ethos and so on.

These garment workers also routinely work six or seven days a week, for 10 – 12 hours a day, with no overtime pay, according to the Labor Department.

Under the law, employees that work more than 40 hours during a work week are supposed to receive 1.5 times their regular pay for the additional hours.”

The government of Uzbekistan continues to remove millions of children across the country from school and force them to pick cotton during the harvest season. While over 70 of the world’s largest apparel brands and retailers have developed policies related to Uzbek cotton, Forever 21 has remained silent.

While Forever 21 says that it “enters into a comprehensive agreement with each 119

www.forever21.com/UK/Product/ Main.aspx?br=f21

VISUAL RESEARCH

SUBVERTION IDEAS When considering the issues that I want to tackle, I have decided to focus upon child labour within Kazakhstan and underpaid workers within Los Angeles, I find these to be the most ethically wrong and believe that these illegal wrong doings should be shown to the public, by subvert the brands message and focusing upon these issues to give my designs logic and will reinforce my subvertion creation with meaning a credit.

Looking upon my visual research it has given me a couple of idea’s when linking to the concept of subversion, I have decided that I will make the designs a public awareness piece that has a spoof related element, taking the already recognisable slogans and imagery and manipulating it towards my own design benefit, the idea that I have are listed below.

1. Manipulate the gift card advert, by changing it to a forever 21 gift card sentence.

2. Changing the slogan fashion is for everyone, to both labour is forever one and slavery is for everyone, I believe this design choice is instantly related to the brand and is strengthened by the boldness relieved by the text for ever, already hidden within the message.

3. Subtle manipulation towards the Title, Forever 21 to forever 12, to focus upon the the idea of under/less, so underpaid and underage.

4. Using strong visuals taken from the environments that this crimes are placed, and using the visual language of image in background and type in foreground, to display meaning linking to the ideas, shown.

With these idea’s I will now go on and start the designing phase of this project, this will be shown upon the following pages.

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slaveryinthe21stcentury.blogspot. co.uk/2013/10/corporations-forcedlabor-and-fair-trade.html

INITIAL DESIGNs As shown upon this page my idea’s coming to life, the first step when creating this public awareness piece was to collect the imagery for the handouts that I intend to design the images to the right shown of this, these images of high resolution, allow me to adapt the size if needed, they also show of the two content I want to focus upon, Child slavery within Kazakhstan and labour rights within Los Angeles, the images have been treated using a grayscale approach to show the seriousness of the situation, and the idea’s of being placed behind the title of forever 21 shows that it’s hidden with the background given my design logic.

dailyinbox.com/chicago-activistsaim-to-end-citys-use-of-sweatshopproduced-uniforms-for-workers/

Also shown is the gift sentence idea, where is you by a gift card its also sending a sentence to these people in these unfortunate situations, to the left shows of a representation of my idea. Upon the following page is a type related design cleverly playing upon weight and slogan manipulation, this idea can also be combined with my overall public awareness piece dependent upon how it interacts and if it had design logic.

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DESIGN ANAYLISIS Designing my outcomes left me at a split choice, which led me to print out the pieces and evaluate what I had, as the designs are very similar it will allow me to link the concepts to give me the strongest result.

Idea 1, Focusing upon the idea of under/less fortunate, I changed the title to forever 12 this instantly conveys an idea of something being wrong, as the recognisable title is forever 21, I believe this will entice the unaware viewer to focus upon the design. With this have have create 6 handouts that show of the two separate issues stating forever underpaid, showing of sweatshop environments, and forever underage, for the children cotton picking in Kazakhstan, as though this doesn’t directly explain the issue at hand it suggests that the company has an implementation to the visual shown.

Alongside with this I have created an ad subversion which also focuses upon the same issues stating forever underpaid and underage, shown on the two gift cards, within the design tackle both images relating to the handout, the first slavery is for everyone, using the slogan manipulation upon the previous page, it shows of where the issue takes place and buzz words for educational purposes as opposed to objects which people cam buy, the same is done upon the second design but focusing upon underpaid labour with the united states.

Idea 2, takes very similar design tactics as the previous the difference is that it focuses upon a gift sentence the idea that if you buy this gift card for someone it may seem pleasant by the is an underlying issue behind it, both shown the same design concept upon the ad subversion, but this one states the actual title Forever 21, the difference is shown in the hand outs, 4 show of the type the forever 21 gift sentence linking to the theme, but the other 2 use another play on the slogan, faith, fashion and forever 21, which is based upon the religious stance, and chance it to forced fashion and forever 21.

From printing out the outcomes, I have decided that my final outcome should consist of the following changes.

1. Use Forever 12, underpaid and underage as this comments more upon the issues at hand but still engages with the design language.

2. use the Forced, fashion and forever 12 as opposed to 21 on these theme, and place it upon two centre design as shown upon the previous 21, this should instantly strengthen the outcome.

The visual changes I should make as suggested by other students are.

1. Make the centre poster larger so that it matches the size of the three handouts so that when its presented it looks bolder and creates and overall piece.

2. Make some colour alterations so that the banner is the same colour as the gift card.

These changes will be made, to ensure the overall strength of my outcome.

final design

R

FOREVER UNDERPAID

FOREVER UNDERAGE

FOREVER UNDERPAID

FOREVER UNDERAGE

FORCED, FASHION AND FOREVER 12

FORCED, FASHION AND FOREVER 12

As shown upon this page is my visual outcome for the project at hand, with the adaptations made, colour changes, type reinforcement and document size changes this shown in proportion upon this page, I believe my outcome now looks like a collective piece and am happy with this result for a week project.

UZBEKISTAN

Women Men Girls Boys Forced Cotten Labour

UNITED STATES

Employees Underpaid Overworked Unappreciated Violating Federal Laws

FOREVER UNDERAGE AND UNDERPAID 127

Exhibition Piece

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Critical evaluation Looking into my outcome as a whole I believe it to be both intellectual and clear, it adds very subtle changes to the already used titles and slogans that relate to the brand selected forever 21 and uses strong suggestive imagery that explains it clearly, I have allowed the information to guide my design both visually and informatively, and by doing so has answered the brief in a clear and well structured manner.

The final designs received brilliant feedback from my peers and the only negative that I received was the slight pixelation of the model used with the gift card section of my design, this have gone on to change, the layout of my designs clearly represent the ethos of the brand narrative which shows constructive visual research upon my part.

If I was to expand upon my outcome I would go on to hand out the smaller postcard sized designs to customers walking into the shop forever 21 and create a social experiment into there reaction and create public awareness at this given point, the only issue I have with my outcome is that I believe it to be too simplistic and I do not feel as if I have pushed myself as a designer as much as previous projects, another factor when carrying out this project was working alone something in which I had to get back into the habit of doing, this I struggled with as the feedback from others allowed me to collaborate ideas and expand upon this, this project has allowed we to realise that I prefer to work in design groups as this is where true strength in design comes from, collaboration.

One thing that I am personally positive about is the brand selection I decided to take on being the sixth largest retail shop in america, as it has allowed me to focus on the unknown side of retail that is not been made aware to the public, it allowed me to feel as if I was designing for a purpose something I feel graphic design to be for.

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Assignment 5: Visual Crypsis ASSIGNMENT BRIEF Working in creative teams or alone you will select one or more of the visual systems that you have produced during this unit and develop a pair or pairs of visual implementations that reveal and disguise each other at different points in time or space.

RATIONALE Visual Crypsis is a strategy within the process of camouflage where a system merges with the surrounding environment. In the natural world an interactive visual adaptation can offer cover for attack or defence.

Within the context of Graphic Design an important aspect of understanding the functionality of a visual system is to explore how one system can interact with another. What effect does a visual system have on its surroundings? How is the communication of a system-based design affected by the visual context of its implementation?

This assignment will allow an exploration of how visual systems collide, camouflage and interact. The brief is also framed as a design house Research & Development project, where an in-house team would use studio time to develop innovative outcomes and creative strategies without the constraints of a client.

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crypsis

Understanding the brief The brief at first sounds somewhat simple and easy to follow, the combination of two different systems, two things that can interact and play upon each other in a successful way, like an animal camouflaging itself to its environment, but within design this can be extremely difficult, to find two separate systems, that can interact sounds bewildering and I haven’t at this current point got an understanding into where to go, how can this be done? How can I give this a purpose what processes can I implement to ensure the outcome matches the brief? All questions that I do not know the answer to.

Something I can find the answer to is what is the definition of crypsis and what is its functionality within the world and I have never come across this word before.

“In ecology, crypsis is the ability of an organism to avoid observation or detection by other organisms. It may be either a predation strategy or an antipredator adaptation, and methods include camouflage, nocturnality, subterranean lifestyle, transparency, and mimicry. The word can also be used in the context of eggs and pheromone production. Crypsis can in principle involve visual, olfactory or auditory camouflage.”

This quote has left me with the intent to camouflage meaning or design within another design, but as this brief is somewhat still very phage, I will have to organise a meeting with my lecturer to ensure I have an idea of what to include within my outcome

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WHAT TO TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION When meeting with my lecturer she explained that the idea for this brief is to push us a designers, the abstract nature of this brief allows us all to interoperate the brief in different ways, so all the outcomes create could be completely different, but it is important that we can justify why we have done it and that it had design logic.

Explaining what i will have to take into consideration that to match the brief the following will have to be met.

Two systems collide That outcome has a purpose It should convey a social/ethical/sustainable meaning That the outcome has design logic I should chose something that I get emotionally attached to so that my design creates its own meaning and purpose and that I focus upon how people percept the outcome, allow the audience to come up with there own evaluation of what it means.

Knowing what I should be working towards allows myself to think clearer in this point of confusion, and will in turn progress me towards the idea generation stage of this project.

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Marcus Aurelius

“Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.�

SYSTEM For this particular project/brief I found very little visual research that could advise towards constructing a crypsis of any form, with this little abalible research I was stuck in the process of idea generation to which I decided it was essential to have a crit to discuss my way forward in this project.

Within this crit I explained that I needed help with idea generation/a starting point for this project, my lecturer decided that the best way forward for me to do this is to not condsider the outcome at this point but to systematic approach this brief as it was so broad so that a system can drive me down a pathway.

The lecturer explained that the crypsis is a combination of two different system combining together to interact with one another and said that a possible starting point would be to create lists under headings/broader meanings and create a list of buzz words and combine one with another, I decided to do this and combine the two systematically using a random number gernerater to help me determine the pathway for my crypsis.

Upon the following pages are the words and combinations that I come up with and my selected pathway, this technique has allowed me to think in a different way allowing the system to almost do my decision making for me.

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idea generation Communication

Health

Films/series

Technology

Issues

1. letter 2. speech 3. microphone 4. email 5. message 6. phonecall 7. touch 8. smell 9. visual 10. semiotics 11. projection 12. tombstone 13. handout 14. advert 15. shadows 16. morse code 17. sign 18. replicas 19. hidden 20. radio 21. wires 22. electricity

1. diet 2. mentality 3. fitness 4. medicine 5. exercise 6. doctor 7. nurse 8. rubber 9. masks 10. seringe 11. respiration 12. holiday 13. sight 14. blood 15. urine 16. sugar 17. dentist 18. social 19. sleep 20. ache 21. acid 22. food

1. quotes 2. film 3. acting 4. camera 5. adventure 6. make believe 7. fiction 8. documentary 9. truth 10. identity 11. plot 12. character 13. lens 14. action 15. adaptation 16. lights 17. computer 18. hardware 19. software 20. plugs 21. job 22. game

1. 3D print 2. laser cut 3. lasers 4. glass 5. fibre optics 6. holograms 7. amplifier 8. 3D imagery 9. projection 10. animation 11. touch screen 12. magnify 13. magnetic 14. sensors 15. mirrors 16. combustion 17. heat reaction 18. lino 19. programe 20. mutations 21. compression 22. light sensitive

1. rubbish 2. vandalism 3. media hidden messages 4. guns 5. murder 6. slavery 7. trafficking 8. underpay 9. global warming 10. sexism 11. war 12. fraud 13. identity 14. weight 15. job cuts 16. rape 17. drugs 18. fear of unknown 19. tax evasion 20. conspiracies 21. tax evasion 22. human image

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COMBINATIONS I have decided to random generate 4 combinations so that I have a wide variety to choose from, and make my decision based upon which what I believe to be the most compatible.

16. Morse Code – 3. Lasers 15. Shadows – 3. Hidden media messages 1. Quotes – 4. Glass 16. Lights – 15. Mirrors From the selection above I was instantly drawn to shadows and hidden media messages as a shadow is like the form of someones hidden self I believe these two to be compatible which in turn has given me a starting point for this project promblem solved through a system..

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Two components Before considering the combination/merging of my two components it is better to expand upon them so that I have a clearer idea of where I am going with this project and how I can advance with it, the first of two is hidden media messages, messages that the media hide within there content to brainwash people into agreeing with there perception and idealogical concepts of the world below is a list of hidden messages that are put across.

Not buying an object will mean your life will be terrible Its alright to judge others Sports are more important then news Private matters should be shared Nudity is news Celebrities lives are important and should be something you are interested in Men and women share different values and should be treated as such The attractive/perfect female form looks like this, nothing else If you are in the news you are important From the list I like the idea of focusing upon the female form and the concept of the media controlling our views upon what the perfect female form is, I would like to create a piece of design that communicates the effect the media has upon females and how it is hidden within the overall abundance of society, as the media would not like to admit this but it is something they portray everyday, to skinny celebrities, pop stars and page 3 models its shown everywhere and can not be avoided, the idea of having a big bum and breast, no fat and a clear face, is the ideological perfect image of the female form and is channeled into young girls and boys today, making young girls want to be these women and young boys want them women, I personally disagree with this and believe it is something that is stopped as it emphases both bullying and insecurities within woman.

Upon the following page is the current media publicising Kim Kardasian, who became famous through a sex tape, something which has previously been publicised and getting more attention through what is shown, its disgusting and should not be allowed and even more surprisingly loved by a large proportion of society.

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MEDIA PERCEPTION OF PERFECT FEMALE FORM I as a designer do not have much to say about this, as an example is shows the extent of the message being put out there towards young women and it is truly wrong and disgusting, this wasfront page news, and is still being discussed to this day.

Do you find this acceptable?

Is this attractive?

Why does this deserve publicity?

Is this the correct message we should be sending to children/the public?

Discusting... yes i agree.

www.thevinylfactory.com/wpcontent/uploads/2013/03/TS5665x400.jpg

tim noble and sue webster The second of the two components is Shadows, as I now know that I want to display the hidden media message of how the media programs society to lust after there idea of the perfect form, to believe in this and brainwash its viewers to finding anything else unattractive and undesirable, I know need a means of putting this across, through research I cam across a couple of fine artists that use shadows in there exhibitions there names, Tim Noble and Sue Webster.

www.timnobleandsuewebster.com

The way in which they use shadows is somewhat incredible, these will be shown upon the next double page spread, to explain this they use content(rubbish and trash) in the forground which looks on its own a mess of materials put together and bares no meaning but my combine this construction which light, the shadows create imagery in which is truly beautiful, this contrast of discusting and visual beauty is something that actually blows my mind, I have never attepted to create something this difficult before and I aim to use there influence when creating my outcome.

As the previous outcomes have been quite to my own visual styling for this project it will allow me to attempt something completely out the box and allow me to push myself as a designer, I will try to succeed when doing so, but the process of experimentation will be worth the effort even if the visual fails, using there inspiration I will dare to fail, within this project.

www.nydailynews.com/ entertainment/gossip/kim-kardashianposes-naked-paper-magazine-coverarticle-1.2007843

A quote taken from their bibliography upon the shadow sculpture is shown and explain there intent. “Tim Noble and Sue Webster take ordinary things including rubbish, to make assemblages and then point light to create projected shadows which show a great likeness to something identifiable including self-portraits.

The art of projection is emblematic of transformative art. The process of transformation, from discarded waste, scrap metal or even taxidermy creatures to a recognizable image, echoes the idea of ‘perceptual psychology’ a form of evaluation used for psychological patients. Noble and Webster are familiar with this process and how people evaluate abstract forms. Throughout their careers they have played with the idea of how humans perceive abstract images and define them with meaning. The result is surprising and powerful as it redefines how abstract forms can transform into figurative ones.”

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Visual research As shown within there work I love the idea of the foreground representing nothing but by shining light through that foreground baring the objects meaning, the combination of the two is a crypsis of its own and a truly beautiful one at that, I will use this technique within my project to resemble the medias perception of the perfect female form.

CONCEPT My concept for my outcome has been constructed by my research, I want to make a comment on society and how the media feeds false information to its audience in a hidden context.

My research into the female form has given my shadow design idea a purpose I will use the concept to create a visual of the media perfect female figure and shine through a material that relates to the subject of media to give it deeper meaning, with this in kind I went back upon my previous project and found that I still had the material that I took from computer parts which in turn will be a perfect fit for the foreground and the materials represent the media, and that in turn relates to programming so my final digsign will show of.

Computer parts within the foreground and a silhouette of a “perfect female figure within the background, the silhouette I designed will be the bases of this figure shown to the left.

And my final concept is to make a comment on publicity, representing how the media programmes society into believing what the perfect female form is.

I love how the idea is further dramatised by this idea of shining light upon media to show the truth(silhouette) it further pushes the concept and relates even stronger to the brief, and that the light is being shinned through essentially trash, which is a signify into what their actually opinions of this matter is, now that I have a strong concept and visual idea of what I am going to make the next step is to understand how it will be done.

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HOW TO CREATE IDEA As I know already through my research is there are three points to consider the foreground, the background and the lighting, all aspects will add to the overall success of my outcome, the design will be made by shining a strong direct light at my foreground design to create a somewhat clear silhouette within the background.

This will be done by creating the design on a stand so that it is raised from the ground, this will be the bases of the creation, all foreground design will be placed upon this section, I will then need to gather the materials needed, Studio light, light stand, snoot(attachment for studio light to ensure ring of light and that it is direct towards foreground subject), computer parts collected previously, wire(to help construct design), print out of silhouette(visual guide), blue tack(to hold pieces in place and visual guide on wall) and piece of Plywood(in which to attach all the pieces to).

With this done and set up in a large room, moving the distance of the light from the foreground ensure that the light is at a correct distance to ensure a good shadow without losing the sharpness of the image, it will then be time to go through the process of trial and error until I have achieved my target, the final stage will then be to photograph my outcome as I will not be able to present this in the exhibition as it is during that day and I will need a dark lighting to show my exhibition clearly and successfully.

Before I go on to do this I believe it is essential to go on and est this concept out of shadow sculptures to get an idea of how difficult the process is, this will be done before creating my outcome so I know any restraints and so on.

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Material collection As shown are the material collected for creating my final outcome, below are listed in what I gathered. light stand studio light snoot computer parts wire blue tack glue gun visual guide print out storage room(to store gathered material) plywood Now this section is complete and can both practise with the idea of shadow sculptures and finally create my outcome.

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EXPERIMENTING WITH MATERIALS

trial and error Before creating my outcome I experimented with the computer material I had made within my living room using a standard desk lamp, with the aimes to create desolute and destroyes buildings, I found it to be successful but as show the light source is weak and difussed and does not grant a strong shiloutte so it was a good decision to collection the studio light as this will enable a better shadow.

I also found this process to be very difficult, designing by trial and error is the only possible way of making this kind of outcome and pieces fall apart and change shape so drastically when a mistake is made which wastes time and is very frustrating, but still a bvaluable experience as I now know then when I go on to create the outcome.

Another factor to take way from this is that you have to build from the ground up so creating things that are higher will be a difficult task and need either strong support or to be hung from above, but apart from this the next step is to make my outcome and continue until an piece of visual quality is created.

Creating outcome

IMAGE MANIPULATION Looking at the outcome myself and another student had helped create, one who has had more hands on experience asked if he could join and help create the outcome as he appreciated the idea. I was not overwhelmed by the outcome, it had taken a total of two days to produce something which only slightly resembled ad human being let along the female form, to which I had to make a change to as it was not up to the quality I had hope to achieve and by using this method with such square components it was almost impossible to make a silhouette of a higher quality.

I then decided to take a photograph in a high resolution so I could then edit it upon photoshop to help reinforce the imagery, I mage very little changes to the overall photograph, but used the clone tool to rectify the form and construct something of “beauty�, from doing so I personally am not happy that I had to do that and would have much preferred to create the outcome with a higher success as a 3D piece, but due to the time restraint of this project I was unable to do so, the photoshopped image is shown below, and is of a much better quality as the original but this as an image on its own, does not do what the 3D outcome did, in terms of interaction, I believe it has lost some of its wow element.

From this I will have to consider how I will go on and show this imagery so that it clearly displays the purpose of the visual and for why I have done it within my exhibition, the design needs to be given context.

www.timnobleandsuewebster.com/ exhibitions.html

Media Idea When referring back to tim noble and his partner Sue Webster, I came across some advertisement that create to display there exhibitions, I believe that if I use this inspiration to display my outcome with the exhibition it will give it a much need context.

The idea will be to create a poster, displaying the visual created focusing upon the media and how they manipulate there audience into the idealism of this perfect form they display, giving the image a small amount of written text to enforce its meaning, this outcome will be displayed within magazines, as a protest piece or even as a exhibition piece of its own.

If i was to push forward this idea i would use this concept but due to time restraints i am unable to carry this out, upon the following page will show of my exibition piece.

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EXHIBITION PIECE

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Critical evaluation This project as whole has pushed me more then the previous and has challenged me as a designer in visual style, the creation of the final visual took a total of two painful days to construct, the creation of putting computer parts that represented the media was extremely difficult and broke endless amounts of times which caused me to be frustrated continuously throughout its process, and with the amount of time spent creating the outcome with what I had achieved I was not satisfied, causing me to enhance the silhouette upon photoshop to show a clearer and more precise representation of the silhouette.

I find the final outcome exhibition piece to be a success due to its ability to allow the audience to created there own opinion which gives the designs its own meaning dependent upon what the viewer feels the outcome truly represents, I believe it has matched the brief of crypsis strongly as the foreground and background of the design interact by the shining of light through the foreground that it turn grants its meaning, to create a awareness piece that shines light upon how the media programmes society into believe what there perception of the perfect female form, by outcome has both a well throughout crypsis with a meaning that I could emotionally relate to.

I wanted to tackle this issue as due to past relationships and conversation with females I understand the pressure on young women today, that causing insecurities making young girls and women feel like they are not good enough or beautiful because they font match this generic idealism of the perfect form, and its truly soul destroying for many people, this effects peoples everyday lives and I strongly disagree with the media’s perception and find that beauty is dependent upon the viewer, something I feel my outcome is, not beautiful because it has this idea of beauty but this contrast of trash and generic visual stimulant and grants an overall pleasing visual.

Another point I personally wanted to put across which isn’t shown with my outcome is that there is an idea that men are the reason why women feel insecure, but this is something of a two way narrative, and it is not either gender that is doing this but the media, causing the viewers to lust after this perfect image which is impossible to achieve, leaving many unsatisfied with who they are just because they don’t match the norm.

It is important that I mention that I had somewhat help with the creation of my outcome by a student named Nevil Fenandes he was taken by the concept and had a strong background of hands on design, which I used to my benefit, so the final creation was a two part group design that progressed well due to out overall enthusiasm The progress of my design was difficult but rewarding tackling something that I wouldn’t normally has allowed me to test a different way of designing, trial and error was a major part in this and something I should use more often in my designs as it ensure the outcomes proficiency and allows me to try to push

myself and experiment.

For my exhibition I was unable to present the 3D outcome as it was present during the day so decided that using subtle signifiers with the foreground design and light precent it will communicate the process of the photograph presented, the peer feed back was one of mixed review the concept was the success of my outcome, it had meaning and the outcome showed this in an abstract and intelligent way, they also appreciated the visual that was photoshopped as this was appealing and clearly represent what I had created, but I found that there where many ways in which my peers thought I could push this idea further so If I was to have more time I would go on to create a book of artwork creating simultaneous designs of female forms in a clear and precise manner.

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Assignment 6: Display Book ASSIGNMENT BRIEF Produce a display book that communicates the journey of your Visual Systems unit. Consider carefully how you document the development and realisation of your work. Tell the story. Think about the narrative of the elements that you include. Be selective. You are encouraged to evaluate and edit your work. Include research, insights, design thinking, testing, critical analysis and all material that is relevant to your creative process. This could include photographed pin-up reviews and prototypes, iterations of key design elements and reflections on your design development.

It is important that you consider: Typeface selection Hierarchical structures and systems Tone of voice Legibility / Readability / Narrative Grids / layout Format

RATIONALE This project will give you the opportunity to select, organise and structure information through visual systems using grids, typography, composition, hierarchy, colour, etc. You will document and tell the story of your creative process through a systematic and considered presentation.

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my book As you have gone through my book it would have come across as a very visual journey, using a colour structure to organise the different sections so that it is clear to navitate and understand where the user is within my journey, I have creating this book at such a scale(380mmX290mm) to allow the user to interact with my creation, to see up close and personal as appose to hiding I have decided to be bold and present my creation to a high scale soe that they are clear to view.

I want my book to create an atmosphere of a digital scrapbook which is still formal as opposed for informal, as prior to this entire assignment I have created delicate and well structured books that have smaller images and size, I wanted this to display the journey in what I had, and how the journey has personally effected me, the structure is clear and simple with large bold imagery, and the overall outcome stands out due to its scale.

Tone of voice Large, bold and ordered.

When deciding upon type I found this to be essential in the overall tone with my book, I made a instant decision upon Futura Condensed Bold, my heading type as this has been used within most of my projects and shows consistency between both project and book, for my body type it took longer to deliberate, I knew to start that I needed a typeface that was san-serif due to the visual language within my book one that was very clear, simple and rounded with a larger x-value then normal, through research and testing I finally decided upon Thonburi, this type has match the criteria listed above but I decided it should be presented in light, as it provides a contrast with the header.

Type Header – Futura Condensed Bold Body – Thonburi Light

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GRID The grid below shows of layout of 5X4, I decided upon this as I wanted my images to be large and clear, due to the overall size of the book, this has been made to a success.

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Crit Before printing my final project book I decided to have a crit with a lecturer to discuss if there where any changes that can be made towards my final brief, to ensure that it was up to a standard that was appreciated by both myself and the project markers. Through a joint discussion with myself and another student, the following was stated by my lecturer.

“Your format has allowed a great feeling of space which you have capitalised on with some skill and design flair. The use of text and grid is extremely precise complimented by a colourful and lively choice of self-generated images and photography” This was brilliant and set me up to feel more confident about my outcome, I continued to look into the content of my display book and he was overly impressed by how I have documented my processes which was another plus, I then went on to ask him if there where anything I should change or make alterations to, which he disagreed and suggested that I finish it how it is and would dare try to change what I had done, “the only issue is that when its printed on a larger format it could/might look a bit lost and empty, but this is a might” with this in mind I decided before my final print out to print some double sided page spreads to get a better feel for the book.

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PRINT EXAMPLE When looking at my printed layouts I am now more confident with what my outcome will look like, its visual appeal in both it’s full bleed pages and minimalistic information pages bare confidence of design, It is strong that the type is clear and the headings are emphasised by the boxed colour, the body text in uniformed and contains a rhythm throughout the pages which is easier to recognise on a physical media.

The one thing I have taken from printing a section of my book, is ensuring that the book size has not made it look cheap or poorly designed, as ever though I want it to be seen as a digital scrapbook I still want my viewers to consider the book as a piece of design, but the size has done nothing by make my book stand out from others and allow my imagery to be bold and my type to be clear, the size has allowed me to try a bolder approach to design and I am now both more confident and reassured with what is shown.

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CRITICAL EVALUATION My finished outcome for my book is a design piece in which I believe had both strengths and weaknesses, the content is strong and well documented and the book is easy to follow and understand, due to the visual language of the book, the point of emphasis in headers allow the viewer to understand where he or she may be within the book and the structured text reassured the user to look at the same spot of every page and know where to find the written section allowing an easy flow from page to page.

The strongest point of my book I believe to be the type selection, it relates to a large quantity of my projects, which enables an understanding for selection but is also easy to read and clear, the selection of type shows a good understanding of user interaction and is some I find to aid the success of the overall piece.

I know that I have documented all necessary points within my project, and have not included anything that has not effected my process in anyway, ensuring that I have not cluttered my book with pointless information has also contributed towards an easly flow and design understanding for my user, something that I believe to be weaker then other sections of the book design process is the overall structure of the grid layout.

I believe the grid leaves much to desire, its clear but lacks a certain design flair and format that I can produce and find it to be weak, if I was to have more time I would have designed the book again using a different grid layout for my type as it has allowed for longer line length in which I would have initially wanted and is only something I have now noticed when printed out in a visual matter.

Looking at the project as a whole I believe it has conceptually pushed me as a designer making me think in ways in which I wouldn’t have prior to the experience, each assignment has been different and has tested me in further ways and I truly believe I have pushed myself to a point that I am now content with, the experience as a whole has been successful and the outcomes I have produced have all met the brief requirements with design logic.

The design process of these projects has given me a better idea of working a live brief, the opportunity of experiencing tackling briefs independently both individually and in groups has given me the opportunity to test myself and know who I am as a designer, I now know that working with people that are equally as enthusiastic about design is important, when referring back to my industry visit I can now see myself in that environment, it has given me more confidence in myself and my design and I the experience has allowed me to talk about designs in a confident and passionate level one in which I haven’t before.

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