Monday, 19 January 2015

OUGD405 - Module Evaluation

Module Evaluation

Studio Brief 01 involved me creating 3 photo frame-backing papers by manipulation on Photoshop. I found this brief particularly easy as I am very familiar with Photoshop as I have used it numerous times prior to this brief throughout my time at my last college. We also had a study task in the Photoshop Workshops where we created a film poster. I found this really easy. So therefore, this brief for me didn't require a lot of time however the workshop did teach me some shortcuts to cut down design time even more. 

Studio Brief 02 was a little more challenging as I had to understand what it was asking me to do in a broad and deep way. After a lot of thinking about what topic I wanted to research I then found it particularly easy to collect the information as well and presenting it to my group also. 

Studio Brief 03 for me, was the most challenging as it was the first time I had ever been introduced to Adobe Indesign. I found it quite hard to get my head around how to work it and I feel this may have compromised my overall final deliverable. However, after spending a little time to become familiar with it I eventually feel I fulfilled this brief in an engaging and professional manner. 

Studio Brief 04 was also particularly easy as it involved me using photoshop to manipulate labels. However it was slightly challenging to come up with an initial design. 

Overall this module has taught me essential skills which are crucial to being a designer. These skills include, planning ahead to design, collecting research and using it to aid design, how to use Adobe Indesign and Adobe Photoshop and added skills, producing professional looking work and using critiques to make my work better. 
Without this module I would've been without most of these essential skills. They have helped me produce work that is fulfilling each of the design briefs. These skills will help me extensively throughout my career in the design industry.

OUGD405 - Film Poster Design

Study Task 01 

One of the study tasks on this module involved us creating a film poster of one of our favourite movies. I created a film poster on The Hunger Games Catching Fire as I thought it would be fun to manipulate fire around images. My final poster is shown below.
I used the colour black as my background as I felt it stood out effectively with the gold typography and the red, orange and yellow used in the image. I used the same typography used on the original poster used for The Hunger Games. I took the emblem that is used throughout the film and on other various poster designs and placed it into an edited version of a hand. I found a picture of a hand print on google and edited it so the colours were similar to fire. I then added extra bits to create the effect of the hand being on fire. This symbolised the title "Catching Fire". 

OUGD405 - Studio Brief 03

Page Layout (Indesign)

When developing my page layouts I found it initially quite difficult to decide on what content I was going to have as the data I had collected only really covered small bits of information not paragraphs that could be in a book. This therefore impacted the way I designed my layouts and I used quite simplistic designs instead of columns or paragraphs however I did incorporate this once or twice.

I stuck to the black and white theme for the front and back page. I chose these colours as I felt then fitted in with what I was trying to communicate in the book, the dangers of alcohol and black being a colour that is commonly associated with fear or danger.
I chose the typeface Futura as it used on a well known vodka brand named Absolut vodka and I felt that it best suited the word alcohol.


The picture used on the front has a hint of the colour red and green to make it more visually appealing.








Thursday, 15 January 2015

OUGD405 - Studio Brief 04 - Design Process - Communicate

Studio Brief 04
After reading the brief I instantly came up with a problem from my individual research which could be easily communicated through packaging of a product.

My topic was alcohol so I chose to create labels to package an alcohol product to inform customers of the health risks involved with excessive drinking. The problem involved was that we all know alcohol isn't the healthiest drink for us however, most people are unaware of the effects it can have on our brain, our heart, our immune system, our liver, our kidneys etc. We are aware that it is advised not to be drank by a pregnant women and that we shouldn't exceed a certain amount of units per day. However these messages are hidden away in black and white at the back of labels so therefore we don't really see/look for them.

On the other hand, cigarette packets tell a completely different story. They use the shock factor in order to make their target audience aware of the effects of smoking.
So, therefore I felt that alcohol drinkers should be as aware of the effects of alcohol. The way I felt I could solve this problem was through the package design on various well known alcohol brands.

However, I didn't want to be as abrupt as cigarette packaging as this could potentially damage a brands reputation so therefore I created designs which subtly put the message across.

I wanted to physically produce at least one of these however I ran out of time. On future modules I would aim towards managing my time more effectively to do the things I want to do. I therefore produced package warnings for Corona Beer, Budwiser Beer, White Wine, Absolut Vodka, Jack Daniels and Smirnoff Vodka.




I adapted each label to fit in with the colour schemes of the product.


Wednesday, 14 January 2015

OUGD405 - Studio Brief 03 - Page Layout (InDesign) Research

Page Layout Research 

As part of Studio Brief 03, we are asked to conduct some research involving the study of page layout designs.
I started by googling some images however, they weren't as of high quality as I initially wanted. So I then moved onto Pinterest and used the tags, Page, Layout, Design, Front Page, Book etc.

I instantly came across an idea where two block colours are used. For example black and white, with full block colours on a whole page layout. As seen below.


I really liked this idea as it was simplistic and straight to the point especially when the information that I had collected was quite minimal such as facts and statistics. I therefore wanted to stay away from columns together and large amounts of information in paragraphs as I would be creating more work for myself.

Keeping this design in mind I looked for designs which were similar and I then found the design below. I liked the use of colour in this design and the lack of text, which again I thought would be useful when presenting my research including things such as the facts and words.
I then realised that I needed to look into designs which involved pictures so I did so. I found these designs visually appealing as I liked the way the designer used the blank spaces to create a nice flow to which it's read.

I took these designs as inspiration to my final page layouts for Studio Brief 03.

Thursday, 8 January 2015

OUGD405 - Studio Brief 02 - Design Process - Research

Studio Brief 02

For Studio Brief 02 I collected data from various websites and books as well as opinions from my class mates and family members.

I searched my house to find various collections of objects that I could potentially use for this brief. I found I had a large collection of perfumes and took pictures of them. I asked my mum whether she bought perfumes based on the design or the smell itself, she answered "Both." I gathered that most individuals would also say this and I quickly discovered that perfumes aren't so interesting.

After searching for more collections I decided upon the theme of alcohol as it is something which mostly everyone has a collection of in their house and I knew that most facts and opinions on this topic would serve up a great deal of interest. For example online I found a comment where a scientist had stated that he thought if alcohol was discovered now, it would be illegal. I found this highly interesting as prior to my investigation I was unaware of the health risks involved in the consumption of alcohol.

I created a 2 minute presentation showing the data I had collected.



















Tuesday, 6 January 2015

OUGD404 - Studio Brief 02 - Study Task 01:What is a book?

What is a book?

- A collection of *pages    *(A context that is being used to communicate something.)
- Articulation - A book is to communicate however not always.
- A *collection of visual stimuli   *(More than one, a multiple.)




What is the purpose of a book?

- Inform, educate and entertain
- Inspire
- To communicate
- To convince
- To create controversy
- The illusion of intelligence


How is a collection of information organised?

- Paragraphs
- Chronology
- Sequence - tell a story
- Binding, (Different due to expense, size, function, stock etc)
  - Stitching
  - Folded
  - Glued 
  - Stapled
  - Arco binding clips/Zipties
  - Spiral bind


What is your favourite book?  

- Mr Tickle, Mr Men.


Monday, 5 January 2015

OUGD404 - Studio Brief 02 - Study Task 02 - Folds

Folds

As I wasn't in for the lesson on folds due to illness I used my initiative and looked up the brief online and decided to create an A4 black and white guide to folds using Adobe Photoshop using various shapes to symbolise the pages.




I used the Half Fold then Half fold to create my guide. The fold will be on the invisible line drawn.






Pagination

Pagination is the process of dividing content into discrete pages, either electronic pages or  printed pages. Today the latter are usually simply instances of the former that have been output to a printing device, such as a desktop printer or a modern printing press. For example, printed books and magazines are created first as electronic files (for example, PDF or QXD files) and then printed.



Friday, 2 January 2015

OUGD404 - Studio Brief 01 - Basic Colour Theory

 Basic Colour Theory

Colour theory encompasses a multitude of definitions, concepts and design applications - enough to fill several encyclopaedias. However, there are three basic categories of colour theory that are logical and useful : The colour wheel, colour harmony, and the context of how colours are used.
Colour theories create a logical structure for colour. For example, if we have an assortment of fruits and vegetables, we can organise them by colour and place them on a circle that shows the colours in relation to each other.
A colour circle, based on red, yellow and blue, is traditional in the field of art. Sir Isaac Newton developed the first circular diagram of colours in 1666. Since then, scientists and artists have studied and designed numerous variations of this concept. Differences of opinion about the validity of one format over another continue to provoke debate. In reality, any colour circle or colour wheel which presents a logically arranged sequence of pure hues has merit.
There are also definitions (or categories) of colours based on the colour wheel. We begin with a 3-part colour wheel.
Primary Colours: Red, yellow and blue
In traditional colour theory (used in paint and pigments), primary colours are the 3 pigment colours that can not be mixed or formed by any combination of other colours. All other colours are derived from these 3 hues. 
Secondary Colours: Green, orange and purple
These are the colours formed by mixing the primary colours.

Tertiary Colours: Yellow-orange, red-orange, red-purple, blue-purple, blue-green & yellow-green
These are the colours formed by mixing a primary and a secondary colour. That's why the hue is a two word name, such as blue-green, red-violet, and yellow-orange.




I used this basic premises when designing some other things on this course as well as outside design jobs. 

I designed this poster below for The Hunger Games - Catching Fire using the colours Red and Orange and Yellow referring back to this.



I also created this leaflet outside of the course for a company named Road & Race. They wanted me to create a various pages. I also used this on this Winter Health check in particular using blues.