Studio brief 3 - Printing requirements and limitations

When finishing the publication, i had to consider the printing requirements and limitations of the printer. We were required in the brief to have our finished booklet printed in the booklet printer, which prints and staple binds the book for you. So i went down to the print room and asked questions like what paper can we use? And how thick can we go up to in regards to paper? 

We could use pretty much any paper to print our booklet on. When asked about how thick we could have the paper the answer was anywhere up to 400 GSM. This is reassuring to hear, as these requirements would not effect the production of my booklet.

Another massive restrictions that absolutely affected my book were full bleed images. If we had full bleed images on any of our pages then i was told that it wouldn't be a good idea to get my book printed by the book printer, as the printer couldn't print full bleed images without leaving a white border along each side of the paper. Therefor if i wanted full bleed images, I had to print out the pages separately and then staple bind them myself.

Studio Brief 3 - Development

This is what my design for studio brief 2 looked like, which I'm carrying across to brief 3.

Here is it, in a double page spread. Just to quickly how how the spread might look like 

Below i tested out different typefaces. It was extremely hard to decided whether or not i wanted a serif or San serif typeface. On one hand i wanted a modern typeface for the publication to appeal to a younger audience. On the other hand a serif typeface would appeal to the style of the booklet and the current target audience who already collect stamps. I decided in the end to go with a serif typeface, as i thought the main audience who would actually go into a shop and pick up a publication about stamps will mostly be older people who already have an interest in stamps

Below, I tried out serif and san-serif typefaces.

2 column layout, with large text spread across the two columns

Same layout as above but with the information at the bottom.

More of an decorative approach. 2 column layout, centred.

All text positioned on left hand side, to open up space.

Using a coloured strip to highlight the most important parts of information.

I tried out a few colour ideas, Purple to represent royal purple.

Yellow doesn't compliment any colour nor does it look nice. 

Grey brings out the queen to much, if i was to add text on top then the text would defiantly get  overpowered.

I really like the use of red. Links in with Royal Mail and also compliments the colours on the opposite page very well

Green kind of works. But isn't as visually strong as i had hoped.

Blue works extremely well, Dark enough to make the queen more subtle, text would be easily seen.

This is the image of the queen that i will be using for the front cover.

The colour red, links in with royal mail. Pattern behind it gives a modern look. Even though the pattern makes the cover look modern, it isn't what I'm looking for in terms of designing for my target audience.

Without the texture looks a lot more stylish and contemporary. I wanted the text to be small which allows for a lot of empty space, which gives off a modern and simplistic feel.

Positioning text at bottom.

Centred text. Decorative look with the line shapes.

Studio Brief 3 - Issuu upload

http://issuu.com/jacksolomon9/docs/stamps-1/0

Evaluation

All together I found this module challenging but also very rewarding. Each brief came with it's own difficulties but along the way i have learnt so much. I felt that i could experiment and try out new ideas and styles within each brief. I could also incorporate what i had learnt in my previous experience and apply my skills to all 4 briefs. Creating my very own book was amazing to witness and be in total control when designing. Binding my very own book was an absolutely amazing thing to experiment with, trying out different binding methods and techniques.

There were also many challenges with a lot of the briefs. When making my stamp book for brief 2, i had to challenge my self and adapt myself to bind my book a different way due to the size of the book. Also finding out different requirements and the limitations that go through printing a book. I felt that i produced good standard of work which I'm extremely happy with. There are a few improvements of which i could take on board for the next module. Experimenting as much as possible would allow me to come up with creative and exciting designs. Last improvement would be to not get stressed and to work along side a structured plan, as the last two brief we had to complete within 2 weeks which was challenging and some times stressful, but was well worth it.

Stido Brief 3 - Layout and grid Ideas

I had came up with a number of grid and layout ideas for my publication. Below are the main ones that i think can work and move forward with.

The text would be on a diagonal decline. Each spread would be 3 columns. In the each column would be an image of a stamp and a piece of text.

The spread would be a 3 column layout, with text displayed at the bottom. Visuals will be large and above the text, to keep the reader engaged.

Right side would be a large image of the queen. The queen would be overlayed by a colour making it more subtle, which will allow the text to still be seen without it being overpowered by whats behind it. Right side would be 3 columns of text which would save a lot of space, giving it a modern look and feel.

Right hand side would be a 2 column layout with only text based information while the right hand side would be an image of a stamp book, in the same look as my designs in brief 2. I think this idea would work perfectly but i might want to try and make the left hand side more visual but maybe adding in an image or some colour.

This layout would preserve a lot of white space, opening up the page. Large piece of type would scale across both spreads with 3 columns of information on the right hand side.

Very modern look, on the right hand side would be the image of the Queen with nothing else. On the right would be a 2-column layout where all the information would be. The Queen’s portrait would link in with the stamps and the empty space would allow to simple flow onto the next page. I love this idea. However i think i may need to some how make the queen portrait stand out as it may be over powered by the text on the right.

On the right hand side would be in large type "Facts" that will indeed be very visually impactful and get the attention of the reader. Other side of the spread will be a 3 column layout to hold all the text in an modern looking style.

Studio Brief 3 - final design

My final designs for brief 3 have a similar look to my design layout for brief 2. I was initially going to use the same design but when researching about different layouts and set ups, i decided to adapt and in my opinion improve on what i had previous. With the front cover, I wanted this design to be as simplistic as possible. I wanted the front cover to communicate stamps in one image or one glance. Nothing sums up stamps better then the portrait of the Queen’s head. This along with the title “A book about stamps” sums it up pretty effectively. There wasn’t any point in making an over powering front cover. My target audience was aimed at stamps collectors who are mostly the older generation, so the tone of voice would be subtler and to the point. The back cover again i was trying to go for the same style. This time i used the stamp placements marks that are in most stamp books around. So any stamps collector will look at this symbol and have a connection. The front and back covers have a background colour of red to link in the connection with the Royal mail.

Front cover

Back cover

Moving away from the back and front cover. The double page spreads are all the same grid and layout systems throughout. The spreads are all one-column layout, with the text and title, centered on the document. All the information is positioned on the left side of the page. When choosing a typeface for the title, it turned out to be a tough choice. I wasn’t sure whether to choose a serif or sans serif. My decision was based on my tone of voice and target audience. I wanted in some way to make my publication more modern but then again, my audience was people who already collected stamps, which are older, more mature people. Also other influences like the royal mail and the Queen influenced my decision into choosing a serif typeface. I also questioned who would pick up a publication about stamps.

The body text was Gotham book, which is a liable and visually pleasing body copy that works well in most situations and is one of my favourite fonts. I decided to add a big picture of the Queen’s portrait in the background; this was to keep with the theme of the front cover and also to add some visuals to the background. I also added a colour overlay of blue, this made the queens head not as harsh and the colour allowed the white text to pop and not have to clash with the Queen’s head.

On the right hand side of the page i decided to have an image to represent a stamp book. This image was the same as the image i had for brief 2, but it worked for the purpose of the publication so there wasn’t any need to change. Having this allows the audience to connect with the book and instantly recognize what the book is about and maybe even have flashback of their time as stamp collectors. 

All together the books works well across all pages, having the same layout and grid system for all of the pages, allows the whole book to flow from one page to the other efficiently. It’s also visually pleasing but without an overkill of images which would put of my target audience. The book is a great representation of my target audience and is fit for purpose and is easily relatable to stamps.

Below are the images of the finished book.

In the end, I was very happy with the book. After looking through it there probably would be a few things i would change. Maybe i could of had different colours pages through out the book to give each page it's own look. I could of even change the colour all together from blue to another colour.

Studio brief 4 - Final Design mock up

So this is the final mock up for brief 4. The idea is to have essentially a burst coming out of a stamp book. The burst will be designed to have a lot of energy, power and motion in order to engage people and to make the poster as visually exciting as possible. Out of the stamp will be a football pitch which will represent one of the games you can play when using this app but is not limited to just a football game. 

At the bottom will be space for information, either info to quickly sum up the app or a guide on how to use it. Along with the text will be the tag line "Collect.Scan.Play" which sums up the whole concept in 3 words.

Studio Brief 4 - App logo ideas

The App logo is something that needs a lot of consideration as the logo could be what makes the decision whether or not the user does or doesn't buy the app. What i want to communicate through the logo, is something that is fresh, modern and to visual communicate what the app is about in one glance.

Below are some ideas for the app logo

Similar to the poster design, using a 3D pitch to show what kinds of games the user could expected

Illustrative image of an iphone scanning a stamp. This idea sums up the app in one go.

Simple idea. Image of a stamp with the QR code inside. I also kept with the "1p" text in order for it to represent a stamp.

Idea here would be the iphone with a game on it to represent the gaming side of the app. Also i would have the QR stamp on to top to represent the most important part of the concept.

I also looked at different colours, i listed 3 colours and wrote down what they represented to me. Every colour gives off a different feeling, and the feeling i wanted to give off was the feeling off excitement, friendly and also visually invited. For me the blue gave me this feeling and hopefully i can use it to attract my target audience.

This is the mock up of my final idea that i will be going with. It's simple and to the point. QR code is absolutely important to show, as it's virtual for the app to work. I may stick with the "1p" or swap it instead for the game controller as the game controller links in with the gaming side of the app. Another point when mocking this into the final piece in illustrator is that i wouldn't be able to use wavy lines as the outline, due to apples guide lines on designing app logos.