Notepads (live)
Brief: This was a brief that was set in collaboration with my part time job and was developed through a discussion which took place one Saturday morning. I was asked to create a series of notepads that could be used as part of the offices organisation. No real details were set only that they must work as part of a clear range and be fitting to the company. Through suggestion from portfolio surgeries I later decided to expanded this onto other products related to haulage.
Natalie Dyson
Notepads (live)
01/04
Research: As the brief was so open my initial research was also very broad and looked at existing notepad and stationary ranges. Each that I looked at had a strong consistence use of type and colour throughout so that they could be easily recognised as part of a set. Many of the examples which I was drawn to used strong typefaces and bold references or key words. This was an element which I took through to the concept stage and I found that it could be a clever way of distinguishing the different job roles needed to be organised. But, similar to these examples, by using the same typeface and point size etc I could continue the visual of the range. A lot of my research also focussed on print finished. As the style was set by what the company already used I felt that this would be a nice way of making the notepads stand out amongst the others used already within the office environment. It could also be used as a great opportunity for me to experiment again with print finishes, especially foiling, since the second year as this was my first project of the final year and continue my love of print from previous.
Natalie Dyson
Notepads || Research
OUGD603
Notepads (live)
02/04
Concept & ideas: My concept was so that each notepad would be personalised and specific to each role by introducing a saying to each one. This would be quite humorous as an inside joke without offending customers that might come into the office environment. Visuals were kept simple with use of company colour scheme and typographic focus as seen throughout my research. Sayings used included: All those fireworks that everyone wants to burn. All those doors that will eventually want returning. All those invoices to be made. I later altered the colour scheme slightly so that the print finish element could work and be produced accurately but still took the blue tones as this is the overarching colour of the company and is what it is recognised by.
Natalie Dyson
Notepads || Concept & ideas
OUGD603
Notepads (live)
03/04
Production: Production mainly focussed on the print finish and binding of each of the notepads. Each saying was foiled using the heat press and was done in a navy colour to match the company colours but also so that it was subtle and wouldn’t be too distracting when placed on a working desk. This still added stronger visuals to the overall finish. I also looked at two types of bind, stitch and perfect, and this use was determined by the job role for that specific pad. Those that used notepads more disposable to pass notes between each other etc used perfect binding as the glued element would allow the pages to be torn off with ease. Whereas the job roles which required information to be stored they had a more permanent type of stitch binding so that no pages and information would be lost amongst the other papers on the desk.
Natalie Dyson
Notepads || Production
OUGD603
Notepads (live)
04/04
Final solution: Product range includes: Series of notepads Mock up on other haulage material
Natalie Dyson
Notepads || Final solution
OUGD603