OUGD504 STUDIO BRIEF ONE - INITIAL SKETCHES AND DIGITAL DEVELOPMENT

After deciding on a folding method I started planning out where each element such as the title and stages would go, and also sketching out some initial designs so I could experiment with what style I wanted to produce my leaflet in.

This is a mock up leaflet where I have simply wrote down where each stage will go, and the feedback element which I want to extend across the top length of the leaflet, to show that this is something that is continuous throughout the whole project. 

I tried designing the inside title page for the leaflet, as I want to have a starting point for the information, rather than just going straight into it after the front cover. I thought about having "start" at the beginning to show this as a clear beginning and ending, rather than this is the first step and this is the last. However I think this makes it look a little bit like a board game where the starting tiel is clearly labelled. On the first two sketches I included a border around the edge as I want each stage to be clearly defined as an individual step, rather than everything merging together, and I thought this outline would clearly define the border between two steps. I chose a heavy weighted sans serif uppercase typeface for the first two designs as I wanted the text to almost fill the entire space in the title page, in a similar style to the leaflet that inspired this fold. I also tried a more minimalist design, where I used a very light weighted, elongated sans serif uppercase typeface, which was all left aligned, with a line going down the left hand side of the title page to define the edge almost. I really like how this design looks a lot cleaner than the other two, as the typeface leaves much more breathing room around the page, and it's minimal style means I could subtly introduce highlight colours such as for the line.

I started creating sketches for each stage in my leaflet, and carrying on with the minimalist theme I think I will go with following on from the title page designs, I wanted each stage to be very illustrative, with only key words to support the illustrations so the stages weren't overcrowded. I created very simple illustrations, very linear ones too, so that each stage is as simple as possible, but with the hand drawn illustrations it still has that approachable feel to it, and it's not too clinical. I want to show people that the design process can be fun even though it sounds very technical and academic. I tried using "step one" as the text along the bottom, but then found that there was no room to include the name of the stage, so instead I switched to "1. THE BRIEF", as this is a lot more concise and clear. I used the same style typeface as the minimalist title page to create a continuous aesthetic. For each stage a drew a few illustrations which I thought helped explain each stage in a nutshell, for example for research I drew a book, a sign pointing to a gallery, and a man with the chrome logo in the middle, showing all the different ways you can research. 

Carrying on with this theme I produced sketches for stages 5, 6 and 7, although I struggled with development as I wasn't sure how to show something evolving and growing in a design way. 

Digital development

After sketching out these designs on paper I produced them digitally to see how they would work on the actual scape and shape of my leaflet. Also as this is how I am going to produce my leaflet, digitally, and to ease colour manipulation.

These are my initial sketches transformed into digital designs. I thought I'd try out the heavier weighted typeface to see if it does actually work when produced digitally, however I think it just looks amateur and the weight is far too heavy for the size of the space it occupies. I experimented with the much thinner typeface, where I used the typeface Fira Sans as I thought it was slightly elongated which is what I wanted, and was available in a very light weight too. It is also a very simple sans serif, there's no complications to it, everything is as concise as possible.I also experimented with the placing of the line, as I wasn't sure about it down the left hand side, so I tried it below "process", almost as if the word is being underlined. I prefer it below "process" as I feel like it is highlighting the fact that designing is a process you go through. I also experimented with colour placing, such as a teal colour as an outline around the information, which is what I have included in my initial sketch designs, but also as a block colour with white text, as I think this looks a lot more sleek, as there is less going on.

I thought the Fira Sans typeface designs worked better as the simple lines and clean shapes make for a less complicated, cleaner appearance. However I thought that as I was including illustrations in my leaflet, this aspect should be reflected in the title page, so it all merges together, so I traced over the title using the pencil tool and a graphics drawing tablet, to create the same effect as the Fira Sans typeface, but so that it has a more hand written feel to it, without it being too obvious.I also tried moving the line down to the bottom right of the page, acting as a full stop to the page, or perhaps as an arrow leading to the information on the next page.

I experimented with the first page in the leaflet, choosing the teal outline and white fill to ensure that the information and illustrations on each page can be easily read and understood. I placed the title of the page at the bottom centrally aligned, in a point size I made sure all the other titles would be able to be in without taking up more than the width of the page. Initially I just placed the brief in the centre, and I really like this layout, however I feel as though it needs a bit of text to help elaborate and to define exactly what happens during a briefing. I then rotated the brief illustration so that it fit in the top right corner, making space for the text to go along the left side left aligned. However this layout means there is a lot of blank space before you get to the page title, the information isn't well balanced at all. I kept the brief illustration in the same place but moved the text down a lot so it started slightly above the lowest point of the illustration. I think this definitely makes better use of the space however I think the information is still unbalanced as the top left and bottom right corners feel rather bare. Next I tried the illustration back how it originally was, and broke up the information into three parts, dotting it around the illustration evenly to fill the surrounding space. I think this makes much better use of the space, especially with the text on different angles as it makes it appear less organised.

Carrying on from this I tried the text all together again, left aligned, but following the line of the diagonal top edge, and listing each tip on a new line instead of all together. This does work better as a layout than previous examples of the text being together, because more of the space in utilised, however I think the layout with the text separated works better as it is a lot more even, and the text is less formal being dotted around. I therefore created a new layout where the brief is central however on a slight angle, and the text in dotted around randomly, using the most of the space. This definitely works a lot better, especially with the illustration on an angle as it looks less structured, more creative.

I applied this same layout to the second stage, firstly including the illustration centrally aligned, however this resulted in there being a gap of space at the top and partially at the bottom as well which looked like something was missing from it. I readjusted the illustration slightly, making the arrows extend more so they reached the corners of the page, and filled more of the space evenly, so it wasn't so cramped all in the middle. I included illustrations of things that might inspire your brief, such as paintings, the lightbulb to reflect a thought lighting up in your mind, and often overused image for ideas, and a turtle because you could be doing an animal project and turtles texture could inspire your colour scheme. This is basically to show than anything can inspire ideas, it doesn't just have to be other designers work of something you saw at an exhibition once. 

I put these first three pages together ready for my feedback session, to see how they work as a group, and I am very satisfied with their overall appearance, as they all flow together nicely, the aesthetic being continuous across all three pages despite them being designed individually.