Easter Break - 28.03.16

IMPROVING LAYOUT

Making, Ideate, Understand, Define

I have realised that the green columns on my first two spreads are not working, as they are too different from my other spreads. I realised that I needed to incorporate the watercolours from my location spreads into these first two, without repeating myself. I went back and found a lot of other watercolours I made when I was making my visual matrix for my locations, and have used these instead of the solid colour, which I think works a lot better. They are more interesting visually, and they connect the spreads together instead of making them feel so disjointed. 

I have also started trying to connect my cover and back page. It is better than it was before, but is still in the early stages being designed. I think the cover and back page are still missing something. I will continue to experiment with different layouts and colours, and collect artists models and inspiration. 

Week Four - Class Eight 23.03.16

CRITIQUE

Critique, Define, Ideate, Making, Understand

Today in the critique I identified a number of issues with my designs. Firstly my font was too large, so I changed it from 10pt to 9pt, and my bullet points to 8pt. I also gained a better understanding of paragraph styles and remembered how to soft return. I changed my baseline grid to 13pt instead of 12pt, made my information symbols smaller, instead of having a key I labelled them on each page, and I reduced the thickness of my rules. I need to change my front and back cover so that they speak to each other and work as a 3D object, and consider a better way I could handle the coloured columns because they look too different to the other pages. All these changes are for legibility and empathy for the reader. 

However, the main issue with my design is that my locations appear too similar, so I went back to my matrix. I have been changing the designs to more fit these adjectives. 

Sushi Bi - Basic, simple, cheap, quick, takeaway sushi, modest, humble, all ages

TJ Katsu - Trendy, cool, sit-down dining, decorative, stylish, energetic, young adults

Wasabi Sushi - Classy, sophisticated, expensive, sushi train, pretentious, flash, older target audience

Week Four - Preparation for Class Eight 23.03.16

DEVELOPING LAYOUTS

Define, Ideate, Making, Understand

Since last lesson, I have tried to make the layouts work together again since my changes. The only way I could work around this was to make the pages with a lot of text have 3 columns and then 2 columns, while the pages with less text have 2 and 2, with the same axis. I think this works, but I'm not sure, as it may look unintentional. I have also made my information thumbnails, which I like. They represent how cheap the place is, how quick it is, and how classy it is, with a key on the Wellington page. I really do not like my cover, it doesn't work, but I just wanted to have something for the last chance for a critique for a while.

Week Four - Class Seven 21.03.16

INTERIM PRESENTATIONS

Critique, Define, Ideate, Making, Understand

Todays critique was very interesting and useful for me. Firstly because we got to see other peoples designs, which gave me a lot of ideas. By looking at other people I realised that I really should start introducing colour to my text, making use of lines, and making my compositions more interesting and vibrant. 

Secondly, the critique of my own work made me realise a lot that I needed to change or improve in my layout and designs. The illustrations being cut off in the middle looked very awkward and really separated the text and illustrations. I realised that what I needed to do was to continue my illustrations onto the second page where they had been cropped. I also realised that my TJ Katsu page worked a lot better than all the others because of the layout of the text and so I used this layout for the rest of the locations as well, which also helped me to continue on the illustrations without getting in the way of the text. Another thing I noticed that wasn't working with my text layout on my other two locations was that the text being all on the left of the page left blank space leftover on the right, so I needed to shift them to the right of the page to use the negative space. In my Food and Drink page, there were too many headings, so I had to make them small and blood instead. I also increased the transparency of my Japanese text, starting introducing colour to my text, began using lines, and also started creating a map that was consistent with the styles of my illustrations. 

These layouts are still far from finished, but I will work on them to hopefully have them refined by Thursdays lesson. Because I have changed the layout of the text on my location pages, this now affects my Food and Drink and Wellington pages, so I will need to re-do these layouts to adapt to this change. I also need to find which colours work best, and also begin designing my information thumbnails, cover page and back page. I hope to have everything more or less 'completed' by next lesson as it is the last opportunity for a class critique before the break.

Week Three - Preparation for Week Four 19.03.16

COLLECTING AND ANALYSING ARTIST MODELS

Ideate, Understand, Define

I really like the way the text is positioned
around the title in this layout. Also the
dramatic scale and assymetry.

I have been working in Indesign on my brochure layout, printing as I go. At the same time, I have been looking at how other designers have designed their brochures, and printing these as well. I have been collecting most of these on my pinterest ( https://www.pinterest.com/whoopeecush/vcd/ ), but here are a few I found particularly interesting and helpful.

I liked the design of this brochure, as I think the way that the
text is the same colour as the illustration is very effective.
I could use this in my brochure. I also though it was interesting
how large the pull-out quote is.

I really liked the layout of this brochure for the exhibitions and events of the City Gallery. The layout of the text makes it look very simple and readable, the headings are bold and the dates are in capitals, then the text is underneath an overrule. This is used consistently throughout the brochure, and the pastel colours are also consistent. It very clearly follows a grid and also includes a map which I can get inspiration off 

I also liked this brochure for Cupa Dupa. Again, it used consistent colours and is easy to read and follow. Looking at physical brochures also helps me to see how to make my brochure work as a 3D object, as apposed to just on a screen. 

Week Three - Preparation for Week Four 18.03.16

INITIAL IDEA FOR BROCHURE LAYOUT

Ideate, Making

I have been looking at examples of brochures and working a lot on Indesign and I have made a start at forming a layout style to use throughout my brochure. I have been using paragraphs styles to work more efficiently. One thing I realised when looking at brochure examples was that a lot of designers had effectively used pull-out quotes, sometimes even making them the same size as headings, so I have started looking at how I could use that technique, as you can see in my 'food and drink' page. I have been trying to align things consistently throughout my page spreads. I have also incorporated the outline sushi that I made Illustrator when I was creating my first Illustrations. I think these work well as they solve the problem of the sushi on the text page being too awkward and dominating, but also incorporate the illustration in a way. 

I will continue to experiment with these layouts and refine them, as I know there is a lot of room for improvement. I have also tried different ways of incorporating the illustration.

Week Three - Class Six 17.03.16

CRITIQUE OF LAYOUT VARIATIONS

Critique, Understand, Define, Making, Ideate

Todays critique was really useful. I printed out all of my iterations and other people were identifying the intended vibe and adjectives, however I realised that there was a lot wrong with my compositions!  Firstly, the vertical text which I thought looked cool and Japanese yesterday, I now realise looks very stupid and wrong. I had hyphenation on when it shouldn't have been, I have widows, the type is too large and the leading is too tight, things aren't aligned, I have not pulled out appropriate hierarchies, text is in the wrong order, I have not considered legibility and I have not related or integrated the illustration with the text. 

This is the layout I initially thought was my strongest
once I had aligned the text.

I then realised that the vertical text was not readable
and also looked like a strange shape rather than text.

Once I had worked out how to import Japanese text I
tested how it looked in different positions. I really liked
this one as everything appeared balanced.

After another critique, it was brought to my attention that
the Japanese text dominated the composition. Also that
its position smack-bang in the middle was not only
uninteresting, but also did not help guide the eye of the reader.
I also realised that I needed to align the heading and my paragraphs
and arrange them in regards to hierarchy and legibility.

I then realised that the Japanese text was just too bold
and dominating and that I either needed to remove it or
change it. I also decided that I needed to bold the heading
and the location/opening hours to assist the reader in
realising that the text at the bottom of the page is to be
read first. I tried to integrate a piece of sushi onto the
page with the text but I just didn't think it was working well.

I tried removing the sushi as it looked out of place, and I
also tried moving the Japanese text to a position where
it would help guide the eye of the reader towards the text
which is meant to be read first.

I definitely don't think that this spread is fully resolved, but I have made a lot of progress! Before next lesson I plan to have all three of my locations fully resolved, as well as the introductory spreads. I will first work on resolving this first location, and simultaneously the introductory spread, as these will inform each other and cannot be designed in isolation from one another. Once I have this resolved, the other two locations will be a lot easier to design as they will follow a consistent style and treatment of elements. I will continue to print these out full scale as I go, as well as continuing to gather artist models and brochure examples. 

Week Three - Preparation for Class Six 16.03.16

INTRODUCING TEXT - INITIAL VARIATIONS

Making, Ideate

The last few days I have been completing thumbnail sketches of potential text layouts. I then brought them into Indesign and played around some more with different ways of arranging text with my first destination and with the first spread. I found this challenging as it is difficult for me to tell what is working well and what isn't. Hopefully some critique and feedback in the next lesson will help. The first spread was particularly challenging as there was a lot of information and it was difficult to try and make it appear simple and organised. I know that layouts I have tried out are in the very early stages and there is a lot more I can try out, but I have made a start. 

I have been gathering inspiration from Japanese books and have been trying out vertical text to attempt to link my text to the Japanese style and explore how I can tie my pages together. Since I am in the early stages of exploring text I want to try and be as creative as I can and think outside the box. I have been experimenting with very large scale, cropping and negative space in attempt to link the style of my text to that of my illustrations. 

Week Three - Class Five 14.03.16

CRITIQUE OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Critique, Understand, Define, Making

The critique of our illustrations was really helpful for me because I got a better understanding of where my strengths and weaknesses are. The illustration I liked the least turned out to be the strongest because of my use of asymmetry, cropping and negative space. I also realised some points where my communication wasn't coming across clearly. For example, for the sushi train I stacked the sushi vertically to portray class, but the location would come across more clearly if I lay them horizontally like a sushi train. 

It was also pointed out that when I made a cross with the chopsticks, it appeared to be a symbol, and that was not my intention.

Before next lesson I will do some more watercolours and refine my illustrations until I have a strong illustration for each location. I will also start exploring text and different ways I can layout my text and illustrations together.