Information Systems Project: Part One by Nidhi Singh Rathore

Where you get to know about how all of it started and what made me take up the final concept.

Part 1. Introduction Part 2. Brochure Part 3. Web Output Part 4. Advertisement & Poster Part 5. Insight

Semester Seven

Elective two. Information Systems.

Abstract

This record gives comprehensive data regarding the design process and development, which took place during the elective two. The project can be defined as a branding exercise, where the student had to build up the new language for the admission information guide and newspaper advertisement. One had to communicate the new language through print media. It was a live project and

Elective two proposal Title: Admissions Information Guide, National Institute of Design 2013-14 Guide: Mr. Tarun Deep Girdher Mentor: Mr. Immanuel Suresh Background: The National Institute of Design (NID) is internationally acclaimed as one of the foremost multi-disciplinary institutions in the field of design education and research. The Business Week, USA has listed NID as one of the top 25 European & Asian programmes in the world. The institute functions as an autonomous body under the department of Industrial Policy & Promotion, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India. NID is recognized by the Dept. of Scientific & Industrial Research (DSIR) under Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India, as a scientific and industrial design research organization. NID’s graduates have made a mark in key sectors of commerce, industry and social development by taking role of catalysts and through thought leadership. Besides imparting design education client servicing is an integral part of NID’s activity. Through our Integrated Design Services, we cater to client projects, be it in Design Consultancy, Industry Programmes or Outreach Projects. Through these projects NID gives state of the art design solutions to prospective client’s, which in turn enhances the skill level of both our faculty and students. NID has business partnerships with eminent names in the industry like, Fiat, Autodesk, Whirlpool, Suzuki and Infosys etc. The Admissions Information Guide, a formal document, provides information about the institute and it’s admission procedure, including fees structure, eligibility etc.. It communicates essential data about the disciplines and what NID is about. Objectives: Create a new structure for the information guide, focusing on the Admissions Procedures, which can also serve as a comprehensive document for NID’s philosophy, disciplines, students’ and faculty’s’ achievements. It also has the possibilities of presenting the folio of the institute and prospects. Research Questions: WHAT IS DESIGN? WHY DESIGN IS IMPORTANT? WHY ONE SHOULD PURSUE DESIGN AS A CAREER? HOW NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF DESIGN CAN HELP A PROSPECT DESIGN STUDENT? Methodology: • Understanding context & content structuring • A background study of the institute and the philosophy of Design, which the institute would like to share with people. • Identifying the reasons, why people want to join NID or not. • Studying the facts and prospects about the institute, which can be presented in the guide to give a better idea of the same. • Deciding on a theme, which suits best for the philosophy, to create a visual language. • Filtration of the data. Design and Layout • Explorations of the structure and information hierarchy • Typographic treatment, visual language and layout • Prototyping and mockups • Pre=press files • Documentation Deliverables: An information guide, which talks about different streams of design and admission procedure. It also provides vital statistics about the institute and it’s infrastructure.

Intro

Client Info

The National Institute of Design (NID) is internationally acclaimed as one of the foremost multi-disciplinary institutions in the field of design education and research. The Business Week, USA has listed NID as one of the top 25 European & Asian programmes in the world. The institute functions as an autonomous body under the department of Industrial Policy & Promotion, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India. NID is recognized by the Dept. of Scientific & Industrial Research (DSIR) under Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India, as a scientific and industrial design research organization. NID has been a pioneer in industrial design education after Bauhaus and Ulm in Germany and is known for its pursuit of design excellence to make Designed in India, Made for the World a

During the early reality. NID’s graduates have made a mark in

years of post

key sectors of commerce, industry and social

independence India,

development by taking role of catalysts and

manifold changes

through thought leadership.

were taking place

envisioned for India

in economic and

of the future.

Business Week has ranked NID in its list of

social scenario

top design schools in the world. It has been

and in production

The Industrial

ranked as the top design institute in India.

processes with the

Policy Resolution

NID had been set up looking at the industrial

introduction of new

of 1953 outlined

design education being imparted in Bauhaus

technologies even

these concerns and

and Ulm in Germany.

in the remotest

indicated broad

The institute currently consists of three

corners of the Indian

guidelines. It was

campuses, each hosting separate courses:

sub-continent.

as result of these

• The heritage campus at Paldi, Ahmedabad

There were at that

activities that the

• The postgraduate campus at National

time, great thinkers

Government of

Institute of Design, Gandhinagar

who realized

India invited the

established on 19 July 2004 to move the

that the process

renowned design

postgraduate courses from the heritage

of development

team of Charles

campus

demanded a

and Ray Eames

closer look at the

to recommend

established on 31 March 2006 offering

future policies and

a programme of

3 IT Integrated courses (Information

resources that would

design to serve as

and Interface Design, Design for Digital

later on determine

an aid to the newly

Experience and Design for Retail

the pattern and

established small

Experience)

pace of growth

industries in India.

• The postgraduate R&D campus at Bangalore

On the basis of their ground breaking and insightful document, ‘The India Report’, the Government

The institute offers two kinds of courses:

of India set up the

• Graduate Diploma Programme in Design

National Institute of Design in 1961 as an autonomous

(GDPD) • Post-graduate Diploma Programme in Design (PGDPD)

national institution for research, service

The creation of 4 new NID campuses was

and training

suggested as part of the Government’s 2007

in Industrial

National Design Policy. The plan envisages

Design and Visual

campuses in 4 new states, namely Andhra

Communication

Pradesh, Assam, Haryana andMadhya

with designer and

Pradesh. The aim is to have the campuses

sculptorDashrath

operational by 2016.

Patel as its founder secretary, he held

The foundation stone for the Assam campus

the post till 1981, and

in Jorhat was laid by PM Manmohan Singh

was awarded the

in February 2011, while land has also been

Padma Shri in the

earmarked for the Andhra Pradesh campus in

same year.

the state capitalHyderabad.

Design Brief

This project was put

are many false

clearâ&#x20AC;Ś It should

across as a branding

notions about

catch your attention.

project in the brief

design. People donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t

It is an informative

itself. It was not just

understand design

document, which

a document where

as they should, and

people would like

students can get to

my client wanted

to refer once or

know more about

to make design look

twice and that is

the client, but they

interesting to even

why it was really

wanted to focus

those who donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t

important for it to

on the family and

know about it. It had

catch attention and

society as well.

to be aspirational

make one engrossed

and confident.

in itself. This project

We have noticed

was not limited to

it quite a few

National Institute

times how Design

of Design wanted

is perceived as a

everyone to it, the

binary opposite of

way it wants them

engineering and

to be. The basic idea

medical sciences.

of the information

Not just that, there

guide was very

print media.

12 As a part of my design brief, my client also asked to work on questions like:

What is desi

ign?

Objective

The objective for this particular project was to look at the admission announcement from a branding point of view. Also to emphasize on the presence of the client. This project was not just about the print brochure, but also about defining a new language for the upcoming year. The language once created can be developed in different collaterals to look like a part of the same family. The project was about devising a visual language for the collaterals. A common visual language would have to be devised for all the publication material with regards to admission announcement 2013-14. The visual language would be based on the theme and concept that client would choose to carry forward.

The collaterals had to project the philosophy

I tried to work on the language in such a way

of the institute, with the evolving nature of

that the user get the essence of the collateral,

the same. I wanted to work on an expressive

rather than forcing it on him. It had to work

theme, which defines the institute and yet

parallel with the content, because both

gives out the feelings of experimentation,

without each other were ineffective. Hence,

confidence and seriousness. While providing

this project dealt not just the language but

the user with a exotic tactile experience, it

the representation of the content in such

also had to provide vital information.

a way that itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not hampered and easy for surface level knowledge in the first glance.

Both the parts of the project were equally important, and had to be dealt in a way that they complement each other rather than disturbing the harmony of the language.

Before starting the project I wanted to know what people think about it and what they expect out of it. I talked to first and second year students, and tried to churn my brains out for the same. The initial brain map was almost destroyed... These are few things left from the same, put together on the same platform.

Back Ground

For my background study I studied past four years’ admission information guide. In addition I studied two documents as well to understand the process they followed, and what kind of changes were required. Out of those two I studied one very religiously, which is Geetanjali Srivastava’s diploma document. Starting from her project proposal to the the end product, I tried to focus on the growth of her project and how she followed a particular path for the journey. On the other hand, when I was going through her document, I tried not to get influenced by her work or words. I tried not to interfere in the ‘idea’ domain, but focus on the process. There was a requirement of a standard system, which would enable one to, add value to the publication through different ways. I would actually divide my background study in three major parts.

Firstly, the diploma document, where I can put forward the points I came across in the document. Second will be the persona study. And third will be about the study of different brochures of different colleges, as well as earlier brochures released by the client.

The key people in this project were, Executive Director, Activity Chairperson, Senior Academic Administration, Faculty Guide, Design Consultant, Corporate Communications. Few major tasks defined by Geetanjali Srivastava were, finding out expectations of the users and what they want to know. Which parts can be confusing for them and where can they get pinned? Another question was, how to re-organize information. Information becomes easy to access in accordance to the respective users. It should be concise, brief and clear. But according to me the biggest task was to design something at a national level. The visual language and image projection had to represent the same attitude and values. All the people who would have been connected to this project were put under the user profiles. It was just to get an idea about the target audience and figure out how the 24

designer can focus on certain parts

There was a distribution of keywords, which were divided in three regions depending on the function of design. Design Education: inventive; ingenious; new clever; innovation; originality. Design Training: sensitivity; ingenuity; contemporary; creativity; imagination; skill; aptitude; resourceful Design Practice: novel; modern; advancement.

The broad distribution of the user profiles:

The only drawbacks of this study was that we

• Already familiar to design as a career

can’t really be too sure about who is going

option. Have already been students at NID

to be audience. One might try to define and

or other art/ design colleges; Are familiar

segregate them in different parts but it’s

with design since it’s a part of working

difficult to just focus on one. Most of the time

environment. Or they are working under

people who turned to NID were the ones who

design professionals.

had no idea what it will be about. In this case

• Are not at all familiar with design as

it’s always better to define design as a great

a career option; conventional outlook;

career option and focus on the introduction

engineers/doctors; different perceptions

of it, rather than engaging the reader in

about design; design as a quick money

something which one can’t connect with.

maker option.

While devising a visual language for

• Teachers (aware/unaware)

the collaterals, Geetanjali focused on

• Counsellors

certain aspects. Like, a common visual

• Education Consultants

language would have to be devised for all

• Industry; outreach; placement; project

the publication material with regard to

opportunity.

admission’s announcement 2004-05. The visual language would be based on the

Aa mentioned earlier, the information had to

theme and concept hat client would choose

be concise and effective.

to carry forward.

The collaterals should:

Project the philosophy o the way the client want

The theme had to fit the literally and symbolical

The information had to undermined by a layer 26

of the institute, and ts it to be presented.

e institution both lly.

o be precise and not of the visual language. 27

Set of stories to get an idea for the target audience.

I had a really vague idea of the target audience when I started working on this project. It was difficult to narrow it down to any particular age group. India is a country where we still talk about family values and society. It denotes that when we talk about communication, we canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t limit it to one person. To communicate a piece of information we need to inform everyone. Tell as many people as possible, so that the right people get to know about it somehow. It might sound corny, but the more the merrier. But it was not easy to learn. Initially I had to go through a more lengthy process to understand my target audience. And just for record I would like to mention that it is really essential to understand

your target audience, as it can make you understand your design. It helps you to decide what kind of language you would like to work on and what can be your limitations. I started working on this part by comparing scenarios. I tried to juxtapose different people and their situations altogether. I studied what kind of situations are responsible for oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s judgement, and what kind of point of views the family members have. I thought about teachers and counsellors as well. But all of it was not enough. Just to have an idea I worked on two significant case studies, which aided with a deeper understanding.

Set of stories to get an idea for the target audience.

This prospectus was provided to us for the batch 2009-2010. I have gone through this one over 100 times, but never analysed it. I had no knowledge of rhythym, harmony, typography when I saw it. But after analysing it I can say that there could have been more levels of hierarchy. One thing was for sure, this publication had put forward pictures of the given discipline and made them look interesting. It followed a really simple language, and the cover was quite impressive for aspirants.

This also followed the simplicity, with an interesting language of lines. This publication was treated beautifully with silver colour, giving it a serene and chic look. Silver didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t force a feeling on the reader, but did stand out and looked special. Typographically it had the same outcome as the earlier one.

This prospectus had this very interesting use of circles. It was not revolutionary but very subtle. I believe there could have been more treatments, but circles do have a limitations. No wonder how beautiful and interesting they look, they can be used in a number of ways... And one needs to go out of the way to understand and reflect that.

This was the latest I was provided with, it was interesting for sure. There were pros and cons for this one also. Regardless, this one was quite inspiring because of itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s typography and categorisation of content, which was handled beautifully. The page size was different, it felt different after holding it and it obviously gave a really sharp navigation through information.

Design Process

This part would be difficult to segregate in different parts as one lead to the other. Everything was part of a process, hence had a strong connection with each other. Each concept grew together, think about one and suddenly get an idea for the other one. That is how I started to work on it. I tried to focus on the richness and attention grabbing factor of the language. I wanted the language to be loud enough to attract anyoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attention and make sure that people donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t miss out details. I wanted the language to interest anyone and everyone. The use of colors and type was in a need of something new and unpredictable. I wanted to give a different look to NID and the campaign itself. I tried to think of the students coming in and how I can get their attention.

It was really

If we have to divide

important to stand

them roughly,

out. In today’s era

then we can put

when there are

them under three

so many design

parts, where three

institutes coming

concepts were

up, the client had

explored majorly.

to make sure that

Each one of them

they put across

were related, but

that they the best.

in an unusual way.

Client needed more

I tried to work on

exposure with a

something which

peculiar language,

is simple yet

which could attract

interesting. I was

people and talk

craving to work on a

about old values,

concept I didn’t work

while depicting

on. I didn’t want to

the priority of the

look for something

institute.

revolutionary, instead I wanted to go with something I haven’t worked on. As some people say, there is nothing original in this world.

These are few image treatment explorations. We decided on few typefaces, and then I was trying to figure out a suitable treatment, which would not only enhance the look of publicaiton but will look interesting individually also. I tried playing with contrast and figure out interesting compositions with the help of type and pentool. They looked interesting, but I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t find them promising enough.

Concepts

Following the three major divisions of concepts.

In this concept, I tried to play with transparency of images. I wanted the feel of excitement to take charge and make the user excited about each spread. It was all about creating suspense. Everything was based on a grid, but had a surprise element. The composition would have changed according to the image. This concept was actually inspired from puzzles, where you what is there but still you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have a complete image

But this concept

simple pictures

of the same. In this

was dependent

look interesting, it

concept I could have

on images The

could have changed

enjoyed hide and

drawback of this

meanings with

seek with images.

concept was that

the compositions.

This concept gave

if we could not

But having a

me the liberty to

gather good images,

language completely

emphasis in such

this wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have

dependent on

a way that I could

look interesting.

images didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t seem

change the pattern

It was not just

like a good idea.

of the picture itself.

about making

This one was

look interesting

good idea. I wanted

actually born out

and tempting

it to be a different

of the first concept

enough to look at.

document, but not

but was more

I wanted to break

something which

in detail. In this

the accustomed

cannot have the

each campus had

alignment and

same language.

a shape made out

placement of the

of blocks and that

images. The work

governed the layout

was the most

of each campus and

important thing,

individual spreads.

hence needed to be

It also gave a feel

treated differently.

of a puzzle. This

The ‘but’ in this

concept was inspired

concept was that, it

from different

was too simple. If

thought processes

I was playing with

of people applying

the images so much

for admissions every

I didn’t want to

year. It was a play

play with the text

of composition,

drastically. I wanted

yet again, with

to keep the text

images. It had the

subtle. The problem

same drawbacks

would have occurred

initially, that’s why I

while treating

worked on different

pages without

shapes to identify

images, which

different campuses.

were quite a few of

Images looked

them. Introducing

like tiny pieces

a another approach

coming together

for the later spreads,

to form a bigger

for admission

picture. I wanted

information, did

to make the work

not seem like a

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The objective of this programme is enable students to find solutions t complex problems in various field communication design using anim film making as a creative medium

Initial part of the 1st semester, stu introduced to basic design skills an for broader understanding of subje context of design education before introduced to knowledge areas per to animation design in particular, communication in its social and cu contexts. In the later semesters, st are exposed to a workshop and pro mode of learning where they expe with various mediums ( e.g. 2D,3D,Clay,Mixed Media, Pixilation Experimental, Graphic Narratives e animation stories of many kinds. I addition, for studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; experientia

animation. film. design gdpd. pgdpd. ahmedab

Indian Animation industry is now opening up to original ideas to mark its own identity in the global animation map. cross-disciplinary campus life, NID Film Club, Action Analysis, Field Visits, Case Study and other interactive sessions always give a value added experience. After the initial inputs and dynamic curriculum, studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; projects eventually result in a unique and original product, which also brings various international and national awards and recognition from time to time.

ng demand thinking tors and at NID, rtured and global

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The department also exposes students with Chitrakatha- a biennial student international animation festival where many national and international experts of animation world come, share and interact about their work with the students.

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Graduates of this programme find rewarding careers as animators, character designers, story-board artists as well as creative directors, producers, consultants and designers in many organizations such as Channel [V], MTV, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, Tata Interactive, Infosys, Cognizant to name a few and also as individual designpreneur or as faculty/designers at various design schools in India, including their alma mater (NID), and abroad.

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ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA PGDPD Degree in any discipline, OR Diploma in Design (under 10+2+4yr)

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ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR GDPD as per details provided for common GDPD

This language was based on my initial hand

look. This language was fresh and screaming

drawn explorations. In this I used type as a

for attention, which the client was in need

tool. This concept was all about playing with

of. This language was not just interesting

type and creating interesting compositions

for students, and served for information

based on the information and the kind

for elders. With this concept one could

of attention it needs. It had very strong

explore layouts and treat pages differently

hierarchy levels, which made the spreads

as everything was dependent on text.

interesting and gave it a loud and confident

While I was trying to focus on the treatment I tried to work on few sizes and paper specifications as well. We finally decieded on: Closed size: 8.5” x 11.5” Open size: 17” x 11.5” Pages: 64 + 2 gate folds

This was one of the most important stage in the design process, as it helped me decide the number of pages I wanted for the publication. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s called pagiantion, and helps in planning out a publication . This is one of the first paginations, as I eneded up editing them on a smaller scale.

Methodology

We decided to go with the loud language as it served our purpose exactly the way we wanted. The hierarchy levels created by the type helped us play around with the layout and drive attention to major information. Through this concept we could focus on the information, which is necessary. We could make important things impossible to be missed out by a person who is flipping through the brochure or surfing the website. In this concept, we created a flow for the user. We tried to take the liberty of playing with usersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; journey through the information guide.

Part 1. Introduction Part 2. Brochure Part 3. Web Output Part 4. Advertisement & Poster Part 5. Insight

Project Documentation. Elective two. ÂŠ Nidhi Singh Rathore GDPD 2009