OUGD406 - Studio Brief 4 Final Crit

The final crit for studio brief 4 was a positive one, I didn't really receive any negative feedback which was great! I feel confident with my designs and happy with my final outcome for this brief. 

Some comments I received were:

- Calming, easy on the eye
- Love the concept of the colour journey narrative
- Appropriate for this course and living on your own - helpful!
- Personal to you, shows what people can achieve at the and of the year.
- A5 size, easy to handle

OUGD406 - Studio Brief 4 Printing

Today I printed my booklet after making some changes after the interim crit. I used a 200gsm off white stock, and I feel like its turned out well. 

I think the production of the book has been successful, using the staple binding method was appropriate as it was easy to do and makes the book look like it could be mass produced. I'm really happy with how my book has turned out, and I feel like it will be something nice for the first years to look at. 

OUGD406 - Studio Brief 4 Changes

After the interim crit, I found it hard to think of a name for my book. Coping seemed the most suitable to me, because thats what the book was about - how to cope on your own and make the most of your time at university without worrying. I didn't want to instill fear into the first years because of the title, so I thought about just calling it "enjoy". The front cover would read "enjoy level 4 graphic design at LCA", which sounds suitable. Although the book covers a broad range of support (stress, money, friends and family), it is specifically from my own experiences as a level 4 graphic design student, and I would want everyone who starts next year to feel as comfortable as possible.

I think this cover gives a more positive spin on first glance. It makes the colours seem warmer and more inviting, and the cover its self looks friendly and fun.

I also changed the stress spread, because I wanted the book to have a similar layout throughout, I noticed that the gradient on the stress page was different to all of the other pages. The pages that had the rectangular text box on them had a different design - they didn't have a gradient in the background, it was the large text that was the gradient pattern, so I changed it:

Now it fits in with the other pages:

OUGD404 - Studio Brief 2 Final Thoughts

Although I received some positive feedback from my final crit, I feel as though the production of the book has let me down slightly. I feel the main thing here was inexperience with the majority of techniques with my book.

I accidentally cut a page too small, but I didn't know what I could have done (as I already spent £16 printing my book), so I just had to bind it in anyway:

Another thing I didn't feel quite happy with was how loose my binding was. The pages would slide around and the book its self is quite hard to handle:

Again, this is just down to in-experience as I've never bound a book before and it wasn't a simple technique to try on my first proper go.
I'm also still unsure of the cover of my book, as I originally wanted it to be white. I still feel like I should have made it white, then created a black sleeve for it, but I made a spontaneous decision which didn't really pay off in the end. A lot of people seem to like the book cover black, which I understand as it's more practical, but it wasn't really the image I had in my head for the finished book. 

If I would have had more money for this project, I would have created a test piece and practiced the binding, tried out different stock and probably used a textured, off-white stock. As my print went wrong the first time, I just used the stock from the print room - which was good stock but again, not what I had in mind when I set out to create the book. I would have also screen printed the design on the front onto lots of different coloured covers to see which one worked the best, and I would have also created a sleeve to cover the book when it isn't in use. 

I feel like I have met the requirements of the brief, and I'm happy about that, but I just don't feel 100% happy with the work I have produced. The main issue was probably inexperience, as the final product just didn't really turn out how I thought it would. 

OUGD404 - Studio Brief 2 Final Crit

Today we had our final crit for our booklets. This crit was different to the ones we usually do, as it took place anonymously by writing comments on a piece of paper. I asked questions on this sheet were:

- Is the binding method appropriate?
- What are the strengths of the book?
- Does black work for the front cover?
- Does the content suit the style of the book?
- Do you think a white cover would look better?

Overall I had a positive response to my book, people said that the binding method worked as you could lay the book flat when cooking, so the book won't change page e.g. if it was perfect bound. Everyone seemed to like the black cover, which I wasn't sure about because my initial idea was white, but they said that the practical aspect of it was that it wouldn't get dirty around food. The only issue people had with my book was the binding was quite loose and it didn't hold firm - which I agree with. It was my first time binding a book like this so I wasn't sure how  it would turn out.

I'm happy with the feedback I received for my book as I was quite unsure about the final design of it, I seemed to encounter a lot of problems when making it. 

OUGD406 - Studio Brief 4 Interim Crit

Today was the interim crit for studio brief 4. I showed my booklet as a pdf and a lot of people seemed to like it. They liked the narrative of the book as reflected by the gradient. The only problem some people had with it was the title of the book, as "coping" seems to have a slight negative connotation towards it. I don't have any strong feelings towards the name, and the inside content I feel is quite friendly and supportive, so I don't want to put anyone off because of the name of the book. 
I think I'll make some slight changes to it before I print the final copy - the name and a few pages inside.

OUGD406 - Studio Brief 4 Family

Your entire family is affected when you move to university, so its important that everyone has a smooth transition through it. I started by giving my experiences with my family, and how I visited home quite often and my family visited me too. 

"Coping with leaving your family and living on your own is what I found the hardest. You've got to be totally independent, be able to cook your own food, do your washing and keep everything clean and tidy in the kitchen to avoid the inevitable flatmate fall out. It can help to invite your parents up to visit you and go shopping and have a nice meal out. You can show them all you've learnt in your new found independence, and I'm sure they’ll be impressed! If you miss home you can always go home for the weekend - make sure you budget for this! Home is always going to be there, so don’t worry too much. When you go back for long periods of time you might find you miss living on your own!"

I kept this double page quite minimal, as yellow was the only colour left from the gradient:

The tips page I made quite bright, I used a faint gradient, starting from a yellow-ish green through to bright yellow. I think this shows the gradient transition and the metaphorical meaning of it nicely. 

After I had finished my book I decided to upload it to Issuu to see what it looked like properly as a booklet. I think printing in a5 would be suitable, rather than a6. I'm also debating whether to staple bind or perfect bind the book at this stage. I can see this booklet being used during freshers, just as a small guide included in the pack you get at the beginning of the year, just ensuring new students about all the new changes.

http://issuu.com/charlottewalker6/docs/coping

OUGD406 - Studio Brief 4 Friends

Making new friends is something everyone worries about at university. What most people don't realise is everyone is in the same boat and will be eager to make friends. Most people are pretty mature and you'll actually make some really nice friends. This is what I wanted to get across within my paragraph:

"The first few weeks of uni are tough. Meeting so many new people and coping with different surroundings can be a daunting experience, so its important that you make some great friends to help you on your way! Everyone is in the same position as you are, so don’t be afraid to talk to anyone and strike up a conversation. 
Honestly, most of the people you spend freshers with won’t be your friends for life. You will meet people that you like, and people that you don’t. Make sure you get in with the right crowd! Make sure you don’t forget your friends at home too. Keeping in regular contact with them while you’re away is vital to maintaining friendships. You could even invite them over for a fun night out!"

It's also important to remember friends at home so I also included that within my paragraph.

The next double page spread is the friends tips. Again, I had the background as the gradient to emphasise the colours, and filled the page with quick simple tips:

OUGD406 - Studio Brief 4 Money

The next section of my book was the money section. I decided to start this by first getting down the advice I wanted to say. I wanted to make sure the new students were re-assured, and that money wasn't something to worry about too much. Everyone struggles with money at university and its perfectly normal to be a bit flustered because its the first time ever dealing with something like this. The advice I gave was:

"Money is a big problem thats always on everyones mind at university. One thing I would say is don’t worry! You’re definitely not the only one with money problems, I can guarantee no one else has any money either. What you need to do if you’re struggling is make a clear budget plan and make sure you don’t overspend what you have for the next month or week. If you have an overdraft, don’t be afraid to use it, but remember you’re going to have to pay that money back some day! I would say to treat yourself now and again, but don’t go wild. It’s important  that you enjoy yourself at uni so make sure you have enough to have fun at the weekends, but also enough to cure your hangover the day after!"

After I had my content, I started to create the title page. The first design I came up with was this:

I wanted to include this title, but I felt that the colours needed to be changed. The money colour scheme should be blue/green, as that is the next colour of the gradient. I decided to simplify this down and came up with this design:

The next page was money tips, and I wanted the gradient to feature more into this to emphasise the colour change throughout the book:

OUGD406 - Studio brief 4 Stress

As I now have a definite colour scheme for my book, and a style I can take forward I began on the introduction page. I wanted to introduce my book in a short and sweet paragraph, as to not worry or confuse the new students. I included some humor, and my final introduction reads:

"This short guide will give you some quick tips on how to cope with stress, money, friends and family, all while dealing with moving away from home for the first time. Based on my own experiences, I will be giving advice and hoping to help you out the best I can! First year passes by incredibly quickly, and before you know it you’re sat at home enjoying the Easter holidays with 4 modules to finish at once trying not to tear your hair out. It’s all about time management, which is what you’ll hear your tutors tell you over and over again - believe me, they’re not lying!"

I decided to write in first person because I wanted there to be a personal touch. This is an account of my experiences and advice I think I would have wanted at the start of first year, so I want that to be apparent. As this was the introduction, I used all of the colours from the front page but still kept it minimal:

The first section of this book is about stress. As I feel I have experienced a lot of stress this year, I decided to give some helpful advice to the new students about how to avoid it in the first place, but if they do become stressed, how to deal with it:

"With deadlines looming and 3 or 4 other projects going on at once, there’s a guarantee you’re going to be feeling stressed at some point in the year. My main piece of advice for this is to make sure you keep on top of your work. As soon as you need to blog something make sure its the first thing you do when you get home - it’ll take you no longer than half an hour and then you can relax for the night! If you have too much going on and you don’t know where to start, take a moment to sit down and make a list, trust me it helps! It allows you to see what you need to do, and prioritise in terms of deadlines.
It’s also important to make sure you find time to relax. Set a time in the evening where you stop doing work and snuggle down in bed with netflix and a cup of tea. Forgetting all about work can help with the stress, and also keep your creativity levels up!"

On one side of the page I wanted the word "stress" in big bold writing, as a title to the section. The colours I had to work with were dark purple and blue, so I added that gradient to the background, and used white for the text:

I added some of the vector lines in a paler blue and put those in the background. I kept the page with the text fairly minimal to focus on the information:

The next double page is also focused on stress, but I wanted it to be quick concise tips. I decided to use the same gradient colour and have white text. I experimented with the text on this page slightly, also the colour of the vectors:

Final design:

I decided to use lower case for the tips as this would reflect relaxation and friendliness.

OUGD406 - Studio Brief 4 Written Brief

Here is my own written brief for studio brief 4 -

Studio Brief: 

Produce a graphic response to/graphic product /piece of work that makes a statement, comment, observation or gives advice about your experience on your first year of this course.

Make the new students feel welcome, and comfortable within the course, share your experiences of your first year and ensure they have been eased into the course. Make sure it links to graphic design, but also the general student experience. 

Think about the new experiences that you have had, the difficulties that you have overcome and the new people you have met and the life skills you have acquired this year.

What might you say, do or give to next years graphic design students to make the transition into the student experience, particularly this course more welcoming?

Deliverables:

A physical resolution for the brief
Design boards
Blog posts

OUGD406 - Studio Brief 4 Research

Once deciding on a style  for my booklet, I thought it would be useful to gather some research into gradient designs and zines. I looked on designspiration at these different areas and found some really nice examples:

OUGD406 - Studio Brief 4 Final style development

After creating the blue gradient style cover, I thought about taking the gradient idea even further. I wanted to create something eye-catching and friendly, that was quite humorous and shared my experiences. I decided to apply a proper gradient to the page and used orange and a royal blue colour:

I changed this to a dark blue/purple colour to make the colours warmer:

After that I added some vector lines to the page to break it up and make it look more interesting: 

I decided that I liked this cover and concept, but the colours didn't seem very eye catching, so I changed them to the dark blue to green to yellow:

These colours looked more approachable, and also can signify the students feelings as the progress through this booklet and also their first year. The dark blue/purple represents doubt and worry, but as they progress through to the yellow they become happy and more relaxed. As there are 4 main colours in this, I think linking each theme (stress, money friends and family) to each colour as the book progresses will tie the book together nicely. 

OUGD406 - Studio Brief 4 Creating the booklet

After my decision I decided to try scanning in some hand rendered textures and scribbles that I drew to include in my book. I wanted the cover to be bright and appealing. I tried using some of the textures I had scanned in:

I made them into brushes on Photoshop so they could be easily manipulated. I created a cover for the booklet and experimented with different textures, colours and overlapping of brushes: 

I wasn't really sure about this, although I do love the pink and blue combination at the moment, I didn't really feel the style was for me, or that it fit the context of the book. I tried creating something on photoshop using shapes and colours, rather than scanned in textures, which is more my traditional style:

I liked the gradient and the colours represent being calm and relaxed, which is what new students need to be at the beginning of the year. I decided to extend this pattern to the back cover too, and add in what would be involved in the book:

I experimented with different typefaces too as I wanted it to look friendly and approachable:

I'm not quite sure these typefaces work with this design, and I think the lowercase works better in this sense, as it shows friendliness and the uppercase looks too serious and like its shouting at you, which isn't what I want to convey.

OUGD406 - Studio Brief 4 Idea Development

After some days thinking of my ideas, I've decided that I want to create a small booklet or pocket guide that involves tips on how to cope at university in general. I want to separate this guide into 4 sections, stress, money, friends and family. I feel these 4 things are what you need to learn to cope with while living on your own, especially at university. I want to involve some of my own experiences in this guide, and make it quite humorous and relatable too.
I think an A6 booklet will be appropriate, and I can also incorporate what I've learnt throughout the year in the book, including layout, type and grids. I also want to take a more hand rendered approach to this brief, as it's not my usual style and I want to develop my skills further. 
I haven't thought of a solid title for my book yet, but I think just "Coping" could work quite well. I want the book to have quite a fun style, and be quite post-modern within my approach, because I think that's more relatable and approachable than something modernist.