OUGD406 STUDIO BRIEF 2 - FEEDBACK & CONTINUED DEVELOPMENT

After developing my designs further, I decided on one design which I thought stood out the most, as incorporating all the different aspects I wanted; white title text on a bold coloured background, and a vibrant patter, as well as the rounded Lust Script typeface. My only problem was that I couldn't decide which colour palette worked best, so I posted the design (below) on the LCA Graphic Design Facebook page to receive feedback from my peers on which colour palette they thought worked best.

Shortlisted designs.

Feedback:

One of my peers commented that they preferred the yellow design best, and that they all looked very 50's. They also suggested I try using more than one colour, which is what another one of my peers suggested, to use one colour (she suggested blue) for the banner, and another one (she suggested yellow) for the pattern, and then have the authors names in blue text, so that it stands out from the yellow. I think this is a really interesting idea, and would definitely add more interesting aspects to the cover. This peer also said that they thought the contrast between complementary colours worked well too.
In total, 6 people preferred the yellow design, 4 people the blue, 1 liked the purple and 1 liked the green. This shows me that if I do decide to stay with using only one main colour, then it should definitely be the yellow one, as this was the design my peers thought worked the best, and I agree I think now as well. However I will develop this idea following the useful piece of feedback I received, of trying to use more than one colour.

Further development

First I produced the colour combination that was suggested in the feedback I received, as I thought this was a good starting point. I was surprised at how effective this design appears, as I wasn't expecting the colours to work together as well as they do. However I still have the issue that I think the blue banner against the white looks icy and cold, even with the addition of the yellow pattern.

I tried reversing the previous design, as I though this would still use the same colours, only applied differently. However the yellow banner in comparison to the blue pattern looks very bright, almost garish, and the title can't be read as easily as the blue, on both the title text and the authors names.

I moved onto trying different colour combinations, this being the first. I thought the yellow worked very nicely as a pattern, and the green as a banner, so I put the two together. These colours don't work massively well together however, as combined they look a little too environmentalist.

Going with contrasting colours I tried red and green. I really like how bold the red appears against the title text, and the authors names are very clear against the background too, so this cover functions well as being legible. My only problem is that the red and green combination reminds me a little of an apple, which isn't what I want my book to be associated with.

I liked the use of green, so tried it with a purple pattern. These colours work very well together, complimenting each other nicely. However even with an increased stroke weight on the authors names at the bottom, you still can't read them clearly, which is a shame.

I tried yellow and green, because individually I liked both these colours. Put together though it reminds me of peas and sweetcorn, or some sort of vegetable. The authors names also can't be easily read at the bottom as well, adding to the dysfunctional manner of this design.

Green and orange was another colour combination I tried, again going with the contrasting colours, yet this colour combination now reminds me of carrots straight away, and again the authors names can't be read.

The final contrasting colours, yellow and purple, turned out to be more of a success that an I initially imagined. The purple allows the title text to stand out nicely, and similarly to the red, enhances all it's little details, though not in quite the same strength. The authors names can also be read at the bottom too, quite clearly in fact despite the added stroke weight. This is definitely a potential final design.

I tried reversing the colours on the previous design, as I couldn't get away from the yellow banner against white text idea I initially had. However once I tried it it confirmed my thoughts that the previous combination was a lot more effective, as you couldn't read the authors names well in this design, and the general aesthetics weren't as effective as the previous design, possibly because the pattern was almost as bold as the banner, and I preferred the banner to hold focus above the pattern, as this is the most important aspect.

Continuing with the purple banner, I tried a blue background, and this also worked surprisingly well. The authors names may beed to be made of a slightly heavier weight to make them really clear, but this is definitely a combination I could use. Perhaps I could decrease the opacity further to enhance the title banner more.

To decide which colour combination worked best, I posted my four favourite designs on the LCA Graphic Design Facebook page, asking which colour combinations my peers thought worked the best.

Posted colour combinations. For these designs I also increased the stroke weight on the authors names, to make them even more clear. Perhaps I should do this for the subtitle too?

Feedback:
The feedback for this set of designs was a little more mixed than my previous set of feedback. In total 5 people preferred the red and green combination, 3 the purple and yellow, 1 the blue and yellow, and again 1 for purple and yellow. This time none of my designs nobody liked, which makes it slightly difficult to decide on a final colour combination.
Personally, I think  prefer the purple and yellow combination best, as the colours aren't too 'in-your-face' vibrant like I think the red and green combination is, yet there is still a great contrast between the two colours, which can't be said for the purple and blue design. I also like how the yellow pattern is very understated and vague, unlike the green and blue patterns, allowing the title to stand out, and the authors names to be read the most clear.
To decide fully I think I will present my ideas to a few other people, rather than just students on my course, to get a more varied opinion about which colour combination they think works best. I will then reassess and come to a final conclusion, perhaps making a few changes if necessary.