(B2) Sticker Trail: Covid-19 Posters and Map

MAP:

Designing a map for where the stickers could go around LS7.

 

Map area sent over by Sarah, covering areas of Chapeltown and Chapel Allerton.

- Need to retain a level of detail so audience knows where on the map the stickers are but I don't want it to be too busy, need to find the balance. 
- Think about COP reading into learning, want as little extraneous information as possible, but enough to make it easy to follow. Need to keep in mind the branding and apply this also. 
- Also good to draw map from google maps as then if people use their phones to help with navigation it'll match. 

The map above from the 'Living Advent Calendar' event organised by CA Spaces. 
- The map was much smaller here as there were fewer locations to go see.
- The colours have a hierarchy of light to dark showing main roads and smaller ones, this would be good to keep in mind when developing map. 

Using different colours to show the different parks on the map (above). 

- On the right above a dot pattern was used, this is similar to the Advent calendar and works nicely as it adds a texture and differentiates the sections of the map, and therefore helps the reader understand the map more quickly. 

- Feel the blue background is a nice detail however with the light roads it's difficult to read. Want it to be as easy as possible. 

Experimenting with different colours (above).

- The pink looks too feminine, wanting it to appeal to as many people as possible. 

- Also by using one colour only it doesn't look as though it fits with CA Spaces branding as well.

- The centre map appears almost purple, which isn't a colour in the brand guidelines (don't use this one). But the roads stand out more against this background. 

- The left has lighter background and darker roads, this creates a stronger hierarchy. Which the main roads darkest, then the smaller roads it's easier to understand as a viewer. 

Wanting to work on the smaller elements more:

- Felt the dot background was a nice touch, added a different visual and make it more engaging. Should run with this idea.

- Need to add text to road and landmarks to make to easier to navigate. 

Having locations like the hospital will help with navigation, since the map had little room for all road names.

The road sames are added in the same colour as the background

- This has a higher contrast than when it's dark text on the road. Help audience read more easily. 

The name of the hospital is within a shape same colour as the dots. 

- Wanting this to help the text be read more easily as dots made it slightly confusing.

- The darker yellow adds another element to the map, worried this will make things look more busy than they need to be, then lead to extraneous processing making the map less functional. 

Here the text is in a shape that makes it look like it's been cut out.

- I don't think this works as it again has the same impact as the previous test, making another element for the eyes to process. 

- Instead could make the shapes the pale yellow colour as not to interfere with the design too much but remove the dots as an added complication around the text. 

Background to text as pale yellow colour.

- This is much more successful, the text is more easily legible and the design is much more clean as a result. 

- Easier to navigate, read and understand. Can apply this to other sections like parks. 

Using more colours from CA Spaces guidelines, these colours are the ones that have been consistent throughout the branding.

- The differentiation between parks and buildings helps the audience understand the map better, instantly know just by looking that pink=park. Creates a guide to follow. 

- The contrast between elements also helps with this, creates a visual hierarchy. 

Need to think about numbering the different stickers, is this something Sarah wants to do?
- Could do with sticker shapes
- Could use circles like Advent map

These are spiky shapes to use on the map as numbering for where the stickers are.

- Use the same colour scheme.

- Have high contrast to help with legibility.

- Visually cohesive with the rest of the branding. 

Adding sticker markers to map.

- The work really well with the design, has a playful tone that works with the rest of the branding. 

- The colours help tie all the elements together. 

Placing stickers on the map with title in top right, blue on white text.

- The title stands out in the top corner as white isn't used anywhere else on the map, may look a little out of place, could swap colours and see. 

Blue background, white text, top right.

- This colour arrangement stands out much more, it also links to the numbering of the stickers on the map.

- The shape behind the text has been used on call outs also so has continuity between elements

Two above have the same colours tests but the placement is bottom left.

- I don't think this is as successful, the eye os naturally drawn to the top of the page when scanning for information (CoP reading - Soegaard, 2020). The placement may depend on the placement of the stickers.

Wait for Sarah to let me know where to put stickers they can be marked on with dots digitally and I can add the stickers on the final file to then be sent to print.

Will send over to Sarah, need feedback if it's needing refining. 

COVID-19 POSTERS:

Taking the promo stickers and covid stickers as starting point for the poster.

Sarah mentioned about getting the information form .gov website.

- There is a lot of text so tried to narrow it down to key points.

- Current arrangement of the poster looks odd and uncomfortable, the text doesn't sit well with the imagery, needs rethinking.

- Hierarchy is off as well, title should be top of poster. 

- Still doesn't look right, I think the title on it's side makes it look less like a poster.

- Arrangement still between elements is looks out of place, think about changing the text then can change imagery. 

- Text and image fit better together now, by having the information sit around the shapes it looks more cohesive.

- Looks distant to the rest of the branding, was originally thought since it isn't directly related to the sticker trail the visual side didn't need to be the same. However this current layout is on the plain side. 

These are part of a series so need to test on face and space 

- Alterations to the titles to make them more similar to the call outs, also brings more attention to this part of the poster.

- The stickers have been deconstructed to remove text that sits around them, this makes the graphic illustrations stand out more while reducing the noise on the poster. 

Yellow background

- The CA yellow hasn't been incorporated into the posters so thought it could be a way of catching the audience's attention.

- Think it is more eye catching and would work well out in public. 

CA beige colour as background

- Not as eye catching but looks more professional than a white background.

Seems as though having 3 different posters may be unnecessary as often they're all on one, which makes sense since all 3 needs to be in place to be the most safe. 
- Could combine to one poster. 

A

B

C

D

E

 

C and D with excess text
- There's a lot of text when all 3 actions are combined, but the placement of text and image work well together, the eye is directed (through the use of hierarchy) to the title, through each action and to the message at the end.
- The end message helps present a community feel, this seems appropriate as this project is all about recognition for the local heroes. 

A, B and E have no excess text.
- I felt as though when the text for all 3 actions were on one page it looks like a lot, could put people off from reading it. 
- Less text allows each element to stand out.
Yellow background behind the illustrations
- These help it to stand out without being too overpowering, your attention is brought directly to the key sections of information. 

E and D seem the most successful to me, they have a visual balance to them that is attractive, not overcrowded.
- D however has a lot of text that could be off putting, need to check with sarah about this element. 

Send all files over to Sarah for feedback on which to use. 

603: Timetable Task

603 Rebriefing:
- Found the rebriefing to be really helpful, was able to understand the module better and get inspired to work again.

Task: 
Working on a planning sheet to organise briefs, did this with a group.
- It was really great to talk to people about our projects and hear what people are planning on working on.
- Was helpful also to take out loud about a brief, getting little bits of feedback here and there.

 

Brief	Brief Description	Progress to date	Completion Date
1. Out of Context	Create a Visual Identity for a curated exhibition of OUGD601 CoP3 practical outcomes.	Complete - Design boards to do	Midnight 26/11/2020
2. Sticker Trail	Design the branding for a Sticker Trail taking place in LS7 organised by CA Spaces. The branding needs to be consistent with CA Spaces brand guidelines and visual narrative.	Complete - Design boards to do   Add notes to PPP blog about client process	Promotional Material: 31/12/2020
3. Concrete Poetry	How can we forge new ways of experiencing poetry that are more engaging?   An investigation into the impact of visual alterations when applied to text.	Complete (could be revisited) - Design boards to do	20/01/2021
4. The Guardian	How do we reach students in a compelling and interesting way to inspire them to digitally subscribe to The Guardian?	Initial Ideas in Progress	15/04/2021
5. Penguin Book Cover	Redesign the book cover for David Wallace-Wells ‘The Uninhabitable Earth’	Started Initial Ideas	02/03/2021
6. Social Media Collab w/Peggy Kind	Develop a body of physical work that explores the relationship between the privacy (or lack thereof) aspects of social media and the digital environment it is released on, and how our perception is altered when the same material is produced physically.	Starting 01/02/2021   Week 1: Research & Initial Ideas Week 2: Development Week 3: Finalising Development Week 4: Final Outcome	28/02/2021
7. A Book a Day	Designing a zine/publication each day for a week. The topic of the book will be based on what’s trending on twitter that day, quick thinking will be imperative to the success of the project.   Aiming to push the idea of what a book is and challenge self creatively.	Starting 01/03/2021	05/03/2021
8. Research	?	Starting 01/03/2021 Currently working on the topics of what the research brief could be focused on.	28/03/2021
9. An Ode to Home	A collaboration project that explores the theme of “home” through photography and publication design. A publication designed to exhibit the city of Sheffield as home, working closely with individuals from the city to develop a raw and true representation of the city.	Starting 29/03/2021	18/04/2021
10. Curate.TV	Using the CURATE.TV brand guidelines create a multi-platform campaign to promote the event.	Completed - Design Boards to do	08/01/2021

(B5) Penguin Book Cover: Writing Brief, Research, Ideas

Formalising the brief: 

- The brief is fairly straightforward, consolidating key aspects from the penguin brief into the brief sheet template. Use this to keep a sense of direction throughout the project.
- Deadline is set as the 2nd of March but wanting to complete the project in a total of a few days between now and that deadline. Completing the brief amongst other work. 

Shortlisted Books form 2020:

> This was the winner

> This cover won 2nd prize

• There is a wide range of styles in the outcomes, a combination of digitally rendered and physical produced visuals.
• There is little consistency between these covers (understandably since they're all from different designers).
• The back page seems to be most consistent with the text being arranged in an easy to read fashion.
• Those that won had an easy to read, bold title with interesting arrangements elsewhere.
  - Seems as though these two elements should be considered when designing own cover. 
• All the covers have a strong sense of character, they're bold and impactful and pull upon themes from the publication.
  - This is a requirement on the brief, make sure the work I'm making takes note from the publication itself. 
  
  

Further Initial Ideas:

Thinking about the visuals from the book:

"business as usual" is one that stood out, along with the large range of natural disasters mentioned tsunami's, hurricanes, drought, flooding etc.

- Test previous idea of illustrating these disasters over circular shape. 

Thinking along the lines of the image above.

- Once drawn the idea seemed less effective, looked very much like a child's drawing.

- Even though it was a rough sketch the idea didn't seem as though it would translate. 

- Decided to focus on one element: fire

Made a papercut image of a globe on fire:

And added it to the book cover:

A

B

C

Playing with type and arrangement.

- B and C use serif typeface, similar to the original cover. I feel the use of a serif typeface makes the book look more dated, it seems like the content may be older than it is.

- Using a sans serif typeface (such as image A) presents amore contemporary design and I think this should be used as the climate crisis is a current problem, not something of the past.

The illustration is fun and eye catching, particularly on the dark background, however it feels a little immature for the content.

- The papercut illustration is akin to those you see in children's storybooks not adult non-fiction. 

Seems as though a text based design could be the way forward, or a more digital approach?
- The idea should be grown up and suit an older audience.
- If imagery is to be included perhaps photography? (this however doesn't seem to be the direction Penguin goes in)

Could play on the idea of business as usual?
- Have a sign hanging over the flame?
- Thinking if the flame is sending the idea that the world is on fire. Could potentially make more obvious by having countries on fire and then a hanging sign? 

Feeling stuck in the direction, seems too literal.
Go back and research further into what it means to design a book cover. 

What does it mean to have a successful book cover?

Inside Random House: "The Art of Cover Design" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2Z86L25v30

• The job is not to illustrate, but intregure the consumer. 
• Sets a tone, sets the stage, sets the atmosphere.
• Create something enticing.
• Should survive, be associated with the text and people want to keep it in their houses.
  - When it comes to this publication the themes are so dark I don't want to present an obvious picture of doom and gloom because who wants to purchase this?
• Find out what the author thinks about the book. 
• Don't want to display a full character, the audience should develop this for themselves. 

Chip Kidd - Advice for Students https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4njGOdIZWU

• Don't need to show both.
  - The title of the book is 'The Uninhabitable Earth' so you don't need to present an uninhabitable earth. This is what I've done so far, the idea needs to come from elsewhere.
  - In this sense the book cover should communicate a tone, a feeling of the content inside.
  - It should be less obvious, it should entice.
• Getting ideas comes from the history of graphic design, so you learn what has been done and what you can do next. 
• Solving a problem based on defining the problem then finding the solution. 
  - Need to understand the problem of the publication, what is it wanting to communicate?  
  
  
  

REFLECTIONS:

- So far been working with an obvious visual, an earth that is uninhabitable. Need to rethink and push a new idea forward.

- Illustrative paper cuts are a more childish visual, unless presented well. Can keep the idea but try different execution. 
- Need to strip things back. Think about the tone, how can type and colour communicate this? Test then play.