OUGD505: Autism- Publication research

For my practical response based on research around Autism especially in babies and children I thought it would be relevant to look into different types of book binding and layouts/ styles. When creating my advice booklet tone of voice will be key in ensuring this isn't something which isn't scary, but intact something which is delicate and friendly. This tone of voice should then be consistent throughout my design choices from colour, stock, type and illustration. 

Publication examples:

I have displayed this initial example because of the colour choices, the colours are pastel and soft which contrasts the type. This is something which is stylish yet not too intense and when designing i need to bear in mind that the book is for young parents who do not want childish design.

https://www.behance.net/gallery/21425697/The-Trilogy-Lana-Del-Rey

I have included this tea book example because of the large curved type, it appears hand rendered and gives a softer and friendly aura. This is also enhanced by the stitched bind on the left hand side which matches the use of browns and natural colours with negative space, it allows for white space on the page and ensure information can be easily read on the page- working with negative space is something I need to put into my own design practise to try and strip back to the fundamental elements which are important and try not to clutter my designs. 

https://www.behance.net/gallery/21183151/Teja-Organic-Tea

Stitched binding:

I also included this example for its binding much like the images above too. The colour palette of a textured grey and softer pigmented coloured stitching allows for a soft colour palette which works well aesthetically along with the colour choices inside the books. A limited colour palette like this one is well considered for its purpose and choice of colour is something I need to look into for my own design decisions. 

https://www.behance.net/gallery/23278849/Forms-of-Solitud

When researching Autism I found that sometimes what helps people relax are 'stim toys' they are completely varied but usually have a texture which the individual likes such as a soft blanket for example. I have included the example below because of the textures within the illustrative style, it is not something which is completely clean cut and intimidating as I have found a lot of regular NHS and health brochures or advice booklets can appear clinical and lack personality or a human feel. 

https://www.behance.net/gallery/16758545/99U-Quarterly-Magazine-Issue-No1

Much like the grey/coloured binding shown in the previous example I have included this because of the delicate stitching in the side of these books. They are printed on a thin stock much like newsprint which is not only inexpensive but also must be treated with care because it is a delicate material. This could also work with a thicker stock which is more tactile such as textured papers.

https://www.behance.net/gallery/21473623/Kaleidoscope

I have included this behance project below purely for the soft colour palette used in conjunction  with a delicate/ almost hand rendered feel to the project. It is quite feminine which isn't necessarily a bad thing as the work I create which will lean more towards a female audience. 

https://www.behance.net/gallery/11285927/Under-Production

I have included this example below not based on the content but mainly due to its layout. With the content for my book there will be many different elements including type and illustrations of certain parts. This could mean that not everything needs to be on a complete large page as shown below there are ways of including cropped down pages of extra information and working with smaller spaces could be interesting. 

https://www.behance.net/gallery/23768253/Sage-Field-Guide-to-the-Deseret-Territory

The illustrative style within this book below is beautifully drawn, it is delicate and completed with watercolour which automatically ensures a soft colour palette which is continued to the front cover where the illustrations have been inverted to white. A delicate illustrative style could definitely be something to consider when developing an aesthetic which would incorporate the tone of voice I want to portray. 

https://www.behance.net/gallery/22739499/The-Timeline-Project-Zine

From previously discussing the idea of using negative/white space within my design I found a suitable example which also incorporates colour and 'quirky' illustrations which are incredibly friendly and would appeal to parents because they seem safe. 

https://www.behance.net/gallery/4160393/CHILDRENS-HOSPITAL

I like the use of header text on the design below as it works well as a logotype. However in larger segments of text a more legible font should definitely be used instead. When creating my own advice booklet the use of type needs to be considered for parents to ensure that the text can be read easily but isn't too clinical, this could be by using a different font for the headings and smaller bite sizes of information which isn't too confrontational/scary. 

https://www.behance.net/gallery/24151667/Little-Bambinos

As well as the water colour illustration styles I have previously looked at, I still quite like the modern looking graphics on these boxes below. They use block colours and type which make the design appear simple yet friendly and this is something I would want to achieve with my own designs as it is for young parents. 

https://www.behance.net/gallery/17722347/SMART-START-Suitcase-Campaign

Elements of 'childlike' typography could be introduced into the design to ensure the right message is being portrayed for the right audience as this publication will need to be able to sit along other similar themed work in the bounty packs or at the doctors. 

https://www.behance.net/gallery/13295407/Childhood-Memory

I previously mentioned about stim toys which help children with autism, these facts could be incorporated into my design choices. It was also mentioned that I could look into the idea of using french folds which is a type of book binding where the pages must be torn to retrieve more information. 

https://www.behance.net/gallery/14685299/Journey-of-the-Sensory-Child

Along with the 'childlike' type I have included in some of the images previously, using hand rendered type which appears quite informal could be a simple way of making my publication appear more friendly rather than for instance using a harsh serif font or bold sans serif. 

https://www.behance.net/gallery/10142937/Agathians-Shelter-Brochure

Mama's and Papa's catalogue: I a brand I am aware of which appeals to young 'trendy' parents who will pay large amounts of money for quality products. They usually have beautifully designed catalogues so I thought it would worthwhile having a look at the colour palettes they use throughout. 

I have included examples of a couple of the pages but I found that throughout they try not to stick to the stereotypical blue/pink colours which are usually associated with male/female babies (gender stereotypes). I have found that they tend to use shades which compliment each other instead for example the orange and aqua colours above but they also used a black/white and vivd yellow tone which worked really well. From looking at these colour combinations I definitely need to consider my colour choices to be more complex than just using stereotypical pastel pink and blue to ensure I engage a wider target audience of parents and carers. 

OUGD503: Responsive

I thoroughly enjoyed this module as it has allowed me to take on briefs that are relevant to my own interests. I tried to take on a wide range of different briefs which has been challenging in parts but I am pleased with my final outcomes. This module has allowed me to take part in two YCN briefs which were a brilliant opportunity to create work for larger companies. The J20 brief was difficult because they wanted to include green so instead of completely following their guidelines I explained why I changed certain elements to offer something slightly different which I believe is more affective for an adult target audience who want a mature and sophisticated colour palette. 

The water is life brief was also enjoyable to complete as a smaller brief as this is something which relates to my own interests in charity and design for change/good. Within all of these briefs I have tried to work on making my design look more professional both in the making and the quality of printing too. This seems to have worked quite well as I have uploaded work to Behance and gained positive feedback and 'appreciation's' from others. 

The penguin book cover competition was a self satisfying brief as it allowed me to create artwork for a children's book based on my own interpretation of the story. Through my research into book covers this will help me further with the next module as one of the briefs is based on book design for an exhibition. I found the collaborative brief particularly challenging because I felt our approaches to design are completely different, next time I complete a collaborative project I would like to work with someone from Illustration (Sophie Wright- possibly) as we have already discussed how this would be a good idea as we would compliment each other well. I feel as though working with others who have different skill sets other than graphic design will enhance my own knowledge and this is something to bear in mind in the future. 

In previous projects I have gained positive feedback about my illustrative and slightly 'quirky' style that I seem to be creating with each brief, this is something which I have tried to work on throughout this module as with each brief there is some form of hand rendered element to it. Through doing this my drawing ability seems to have improved through practise and whenever possible and appropriate in future briefs I will continue to use traditional approaches as well as adobe suite software. My drawing ability was particularly tested during the Feathr and Secret 7 brief as I didn't use type for either of them and type is normally used to enhance the meaning or messages of the imagery so therefore I had to work hard on ensuring the illustrations were correct and cleanly drawn. Within all of this module but especially the penguin, water is life and secret 7 brief I have heavily focused on concepts before designing anything and this has definitely proven to help focus my mind on relevant design choices which link to these concepts. 

If I had more time I would like to of taken on a couple more briefs perhaps tackling branding for others as this is not something I am confident or experienced with and is definitely something I need to work on to ensure I am able to confidently execute designs for a range of different purposes. For this module I mainly worked with competition briefs but as said previously as well as branding it would be progressive to also work with someone to write them a brief of what they need instead of just being given a brief to work with. 

OUGD503: Responsive (Collaboration) Topdeck

Even though on my initial design I covered different elements of the trip we agreed that it perhaps would be a better idea to split the booklet into different elements that could be applied to all the different types of trips and not just Africa. Rebecca's idea for a minimal and simplistic layout would be more fitting to a universal layout to be useful for the company in terms of it working across a range of products. 

Our pages:

We used colour palette swatches from my research into Sara Midda's book- this creates a colour palette from the photographs which resembles nature. We also edited some of the photos used a circle this is to resemble the globe as it a travel booklet too. In the layout we also reused my illustrations which would become more fitting in a pattern if we were to make this a bigger publication these pages would be perfectly suited to being printed on tracing paper. 

The information below for the booklet was somewhat taken and reworded from the Topdeck website but also from our own research online. I changed and shortened my own research to fit the word count for the layout of these pages. 

It was Rebecca's idea to include a section on food which is something I hadn't thought of before but was an interesting edition to the information I had already researched.

The augmented page works when scanned with the Layar App: (see below)

It brings up a large button to click which takes the viewer directly to the website.

We also mocked our pages up into a booklet to be viewed online too: 

Please click the link below-

http://issuu.com/mm250174/docs/topdeck_africa_right_one

Our Design boards for the YCN submission:

I found working on this brief incredibly challenging as it is group work and this is something which I am not used to. I truly find working alone much easier because the way I work can be different to others and this could irritate others who work better rushed or under pressure. Especially with this brief I found communication difficult due to the interviews and breaks in-between it was difficult to talk properly about design ideas. I have learnt many things about collaboration through completing this project even if I am not completely happy with the end result as visually the balance of the work doesn't seem equal. I wanted to show how our idea would work across a few different examples but we ran out of time to do so. In the end product I don't feel as though there are many examples of the work that I had done previously as it is heavily dominated by the work that Rebecca has done for the augmented page and minimal layouts. Perhaps in the next collaborative brief I will work with someone who has a similar mindset about design as I do.  Although I'm pleased we were able to compromise and create something to submit to YCN as the deadline was quite tight and we had limited time to create the design. If i had more time I would of wanted to complete the Sally hair dye packaging brief on YCN too as this is something I had started to research before it was agreed we would complete the Topdeck brief. 

OUGD503: Topdeck (collaborative brief 2)

From reading the brochure I split the information into 10 small pages which I would work for designing content. I began this content by creating imagery in the form of my own photographs and illustrations: 

Photographs- Taken by myself. Some of these photographs need editing to become suitable for the brochure as they are taken in the UK and thus- green grass and hay would not be present in the wild. If this idea were to be taken forward Topdeck would have their own beautiful photographs to but in their place. 

Illustrations: For the other pages to allow for a more informal and fun approach

My initial pages taken to crit with Rebecca: 

My idea was based on a scrapbook approach from looking at similar photographic/illustrative work like Sara Midda's to create a snippet of information based on each trip including the culture of each place. This was what informed my design choices too. I have used different textured backgrounds based on the colours from my design board of inspiration, for example water related activities are coloured blue/green and the beach page has a slight sand texture- they are informed by location. I also used a bold white contrasting font to allow for the information to stand out from the busy backgrounds and be representative of the culture too this is also why I have used some tribal patterns from researching into tribes such as the Maasai Mara. 

(see images below- 10)

However from showing this to Rebecca she also showed what she had been working on: She based her research on Morocca and sent me a layout (see below).

Her idea is incredibly minimal so subsequently she wasn't keen on my idea of including culture into the design as she is more experienced with layout design she wanted to keep the booklet simple and clean cut. Therefore we came to the conclusion that it would be possible to merge these two ideas together and find a compromise as both of our styles of work are completely different. Rebecca also researched into the idea of an augmented element to the booklet, her initial idea was that the booklet could be scanned with the Layar app and extra photographs from the trip could be viewed on a mobile device to allow for extra information. (See below) However we found that from trying this out not all photographs are suitable to fit a square. A better idea would be to allow augmentation in the form of taking the viewer directly to the website to be able to view prices and book a trip or browse larger amounts of information.