Responsive - Module Evaluation

Module Evaluation

 The responsive module as a whole had been challenging from the very beginning. Since coming to university the responsive module has been the most fitting and appropriate for the specialised area of Graphic design that see myself moving into. Throughout the number of briefs in the past year and half only one brief was catered towards my area of interest of User experience design. So moving into the module I knew I could choose my own briefs, therefore selecting briefs that would benefit me as a design and allow me to tap into skills that I wouldn’t of been able to learn in other modules.

Penguin allowed me to experiment with number of ideas away from the computer. Even though I mentioned about picking briefs that were catered to my interest but throughout the year I mainly creating my finals from digital so working away from the computer gave me a break and allowed me to tap into other process that I’ve neglected. I experimented with a number of solution and learnt skills such as creating Illustration and a typeface within an isometric grid along with other valuable skills that will benefit me in the future. Penguin also allowed me to understand different principles of Graphic and made me aware how challenging it can be come but through research and influences It can be.

Secret 7 was heavily formed through research and my experience of last years exhibition. It was the first time that I worked on a sleeve that was an instrumental, with this concept of no lyrics I had to take the song for what it was and really dive deep interpreting the song in my own unique way. For example, Dream 3 by Max Richter was the instrumental song and I wanted to use meditation to inform my idea. Looking into meditation I found out about balance and tranquility and that was something that really fitted with my concept. The biggest challenge of the brief was time management. It became very stressful due to Secret 7 being the last brief I worked on and with the backlog of other briefs It gave me less time to work on the final sleeves. In the end the development path of in-depth research allowed me create a unique final resolution within the deadline.

Crimewatch was the first brief that I chose based on my interests in user experience design. I learnt some many skills that I’m sure I will use and continue to further develop into the future. Skills such as learning After Effects and directing a film. It was clear from the onset that the brief needed a lot of time and effort to be put into it but through hard work and determination to create a winning submission I managed to finish the brief on time.

Telegraph was a collaborative brief that both me and Lo worked on. I knew it was going to be a challenge from the onset because I wasn’t comfortable working within a group setting. Again, I managed to work on a user experience brief that Lo also wants to work on as well. We had a few disagreements but overall we created a unique news platform that went above and beyond the briefs requirements. I also applied a number of skills I learnt in Crimewatch for this brief that allowed it to be completed in less time.

Overall, the module was extremely beneficial for my development and learning process. It aloud me to create strong and well informed final resolutions for my portfolio as well as skills that I will continue to develop in the future. The only downfall of the module was the time limit we had to complete the brief.It was clear that the majority of people working on responsive had issues completing briefs on time for university deadlines. Even though it was challenging to compete the briefs on time it gives us a taste of what life will be life in the industry.

Responsive - Proof Of Submission for All Briefs

Studio Brief 1 - Clockwork Orange - Competition Boards

The competition board follows the shortlisted resubmission guide. They state that if shortlisted you have to summarise your concept within 100 words, therefore I've used this as a guidelines for my competition boards for Penguin.

Studio Brief 2 - D&AD Telegraph - Design Boards

Studio Brief 1 - D&AD Crimewatch - Design Boards

Studio Brief 1 - Secret 7 - Design Boards

Studio Brief 1 - Clockwork Orange - Design Boards

Studio Brief 2 - D&AD Telegraph - Mock ups

The wireframe had been finialised and been through feedback, it was now time to mock the wireframes up in Photoshop. Both me and Lo split the work between us and Lo mocked up half and I mocked up the other half. My analysis of these visuals will be based around how I would animate the mock ups in preparation for the video.

Overall design aesthetic

The overall design aesthetic and style is catered towards a easy reading experience while expressing modern and intelligent attributes. White backgrounds are legible and readable ensuring the user can read the articles without any issue. White background portray a modern, minimal and professional aesthetic aimed toward new and old readers. The typeface has been change from Georgia to Helvetica to maximise on the modern style. All categories have been colour coded with bright colours to retain and keep the users attention, taking influence from Buzzfeed and Mashable. It also become a great way to navigate around the site efficiently as all they would need to do is click the category.

Category/landing page

The first page the user will see. Using the stack of cards theme, the user can flick through categories and save which ones they like and reject ones they don't. All categories are colour coded so the visual in the background are intended to excite and engage the user from the onset. First impression are important when their are so many other options for news.

Animation wise the background will fade in and out when different categories appear. Lastly, highlighted colours will appear on either the tick or cross depending on which was they swipe, this is just a visual indication of the action they're about the perform.

Home Page

The home page created by Lo is minimal and modern. Removing all unnecessary content and focussing on what the user wants to see. The user would then flick through the stack which reveals related news from that category underneath. They can also use the category bar at the top to skip categories.

Users will be in full control of the interactive feature of the stack. Moving the card from left to right to reveal newer stories but also moving backwards through the stack to skipped articles. The category bar at the top would be animated, the user would flick through the bar which reveals other category sections.

Article teaser can be accessed by holding and swiping down the finger to reveal a short teaser of the article.

Responce

Lo produce the visuals for the response. The style and aesthetic works in a similar style to the Facebook messenger chat feature. The aesthetics has been kept modern and sophisticated with white and soft greys to cater for the intended user. Highlighting important area by using the brand colours of purple. 

The user would press the red response button and the dialog box would animate open, while giving flexibility by allowing them to clock the response whenever they want. The functionality would work very similar to Facebook messenger chat.

Green tick would pop up to alert the reader that the response has been submitted.

Article Page

Article page will be split into card section and all section are available for swiping or removing. Ensuring the user is receiving a personalise experience. The functionality of the card will work the same at the home page and start page.

Customisable option

Custom button is evident in the mock up. The icon will expand revealing the available widget. Card section can be move and removed. Removed card will be relocated into the drop dox widget box and moved cards can be moved in the available slots indicated by the dashed boxes.

Profile Page

Similar to the article page the profile page is fully customisable allowing the user to express who they are as a writer or personality. other Telegraph readers can follow the profile and what responses or appreciated article the user has liked.

Studio Brief 2 - D&AD Telegraph - Primary Research into The Older Demograph

As both an Lo conducted Twitter polls to hear the opinions of younger readers. It was also important to hear from the older demographic. The majority of current Telegraph readers are of an older generation, so It was important to understand their take on news and their transition between newspaper and digital and whether some old people still prefer reading the newspaper then digesting their news digitally.

We both wanted honest opinions so we asked our older family members question about how they prefer to digest the news. The questions are as follows:

How often do you read the news online?

"Not often, I usually buy a newspaper and read it at home"
"I don't read news online at all"
"Very often, I have a news app that sends me notifications when breaking news happens, so I keep updated with it that way"

Would you use online applications or websites if they were simpler to use?

"Yes definitely, I haven't really thought about using online news because it hasn't really caught my attention"
"I don't know, I'm not very computer savvy. But if I could work out how to use it I might give it a go!"
"I think it could be simplified to make it easier for those who are new to it, but I use computers a lot anyway, I'm very technologically aware"

Do you think a space for users to create a constructive 'comment' or 'response' to articles would be useful for people of your age?

"I think so, it would be very interesting, I would like to be able to engage with articles more"
"I don't think I would use it but definitely for other people who are interested in writing"
"That sounds extremely useful, the more you know about a subject the more you want to share it with other people, it could even educate others on certain things. Sounds very good to me"


It's clear from the results that a lot of older audiences are open minded about technology and what it has to offers. Many are sometimes reluctant to transition or fully invest their time into digital news because they grew up in a world without it. From these results we can apply features that would benefit the older readers. For example, if we applied animation or effects within the app, some older users might be hesitant to use it as they aren't confident enough. We could implement a help guide around the app that demonstratse how features work to make older readers more comfortable.

Studio Brief 2 - D&AD Telegraph - Final

Problem we found with the brief

In the 21st century, social platforms such as Twitter and Facebook are deemed the place for news by the majority of younger people. Young people are more accustomed to receiving information instantly, where and when they they desire. With so much choice for news, news platforms who do not adapt to these changes will be forgotten, with members seeking out better options catered to their personal needs.

There is also a segregation between new readers and hardcore fans, how can we use features embedded within news, such as topics, interests and all that Telegraph has to offer to bring together a community of readers?

Solution to that problem

Create a well rounded news platforms based around the vision of community and personalised news. Users will be able to create their own news based on their personal interests. Your Telegraph gives members the tools to experience news exactly how and where they want it. It allows users to engage further then ever before. By replacing comments with ‘responses’ users are engaging in a new form of journalism by adding their own thoughts, updates or opinions to an existing article. Responses aim to educate new or long term members of the Telegraph to understand new voices and viewpoints from other readers. 

Your Telegraph offers a contemporary platform that focusses on the collaboration of new and experienced users as well as instant & personalised news, essential for the future of news within the 21st century.

Your Telegraph In the future

Your Telegraph would be the pinnacle of social news. For the members who know their own minds Your Telegraph would be a place for integration. Collaborating between social media and tech giants to integrate the app within these communities to build a stronger platform for social news, dismantling boundaries between new and experienced members, Your Telegraph would be a place of education aswell as a place to learn about other members experiences and news interests. The response feature will grow substantially, taking journalism into the future by giving the user the tools to produce their own continuous news wherever they are. 

Video

The overall video was a huge success. It communicated out app better then if we were to submit static images on presentation board. The judges are able to see how the app would function in real time, demonstrating the user journey and how they would navigate the interface. The video shows in real time the journey the user would take, from when they sign up and choose categories to choosing and reading an article and eventually creating a response. The animated interaction demonstrates professionalism and dedication of me and Lo to create a revolutionary news platform designed to change journalism and celebrate collaboration of old and young readers. The voice over strengthens the concept, explaining how each feature works in detail and with confidence. Demonstrating not only the concept to the judges but the video also acts as a 'how to' guide for new users and the formal tone still portrays the app as sophisticated and modern.

Your_Telegraph-D&AD from Jack Solomon on Vimeo.

Studio Brief 2 - Partnership agreement

Studio Brief 2 - D&AD Telegraph - Ideas

It was really difficult to come with up effective ideas that can be quickly sketched out without further development. However, me and Lo came up with two quick ideas on how our idea could turn evolve.

The first idea is based from the theme keyword that we came up with. We ended up with the keyword of 'Stack' or 'Cards'. So the idea below shows the theme working in action. Having the different number of categories stacked up behind each other will reduce the amount of space used and the user can effectively flick through the categories with quick succesion and ease. We was also think of using this stack idea for the article page. Implementing the feature half way down to showcase important parts of the article such as images or quotes.

Second idea is based of the keyword Roots. Even though we didn't choose that keyword from the list, we felt that their was potential for that word. Showing hierarchy and structure within the article pages. Using information the theme of roots to categories content into sub section will allow the user to quickly access information within an instant by following the root and also they can see subcategories main topics and articles. For example the comment section could benefit from this theme. People can quickly find the most popular comment and follow the root to locate peoples responses to the original response and so fourth.

Studio Brief 1 - D&AD Crimewatch - Other Concept

Another concept I had come up with along side the 360º reconstruction idea was an concept that works with Google maps and acts as an alert system, alerting users in that area whenever a crime take place. Using the location tracker on your phone crimewatch can alert you when ever a crime takes place in your area. Crimewatch will work along side Google map to make this idea a reality.

Below is a quick sketch of this idea.

Here you can see how the interface would work. Different checkpoint markers will locate where the crime is or has happened as soon at Crimewatch is aware of the crime. You can either see the map through the Crimewatch crime watcher or through Google maps. The user would be able to click on a marker to expand the box and see more information about that specific crime.

This is what will appear when a crime has just happened. It will act as an alert pop up and will popup on your phone alerting you to where the crime has happened and other important information like numbers, live updates and tips on what to do if you happen to be in that area.

I think this idea can actually be really effective in alerting people if there is a crime in their area. However, when I compared this idea with the 360º reconstruction idea, this idea didn't seem as unique and I few people have mentioned to me that this idea may have already been done. If I want to win then I need to go outside the box and comfort zone and I don't feel as if this idea will give me that.

Studio Brief 2 - D&AD Telegraph - Theme name

Concepts and idea become more unique and timeless over time if there is a theme that connects the core of the brand. Themes play a massive part in the design process and is a way to strengthen the overall design.

To find a theme keyword me and Lo wrote down any word that came to our head. The list of theme name we came up with are as follows:

Social
Stack
Cards
Flick
Build
Connect
Capture

The two theme names we felt were the most effective was 'stack', 'cards' and 'Flick'. All these name are closely linked together so to understand the potential in the theme we create a spider diagram to understand the benefits of using a card stack for our theme.

Benefits of using the card stack theme name:

• Stack of cards allows sectioning of content making for better organisation.
• Cards can be related to the game of cards such as blackjack, 21 and other gambling games. Therefore, you can use references from the game to build on the concept and take it further like using words such as 'shuffle'.
• Sites such as Google, Twitter and Facebook use the card theme to some extend. Also the card theme is used on Android phones such as the Samsung Galaxy.
• Allows content to be stacked underneath. 
• Many opportunities for animation and interactivity. Especially allowing the user to flick the card to mimic real life.

Studio Brief 2 - D&AD Telegraph - Feedback on video

The video was done to a high enough standard in which I felt it was finished. Before we sent the video off to D&AD me and Lo both decided that It would be best to ask for feedback. We both invested heavily into the video that some aspects could of been looked over or not noticed. We needed to step back and see if we've missed anything important. We asked Simon about his thought on the video as he still hadn't seen it.

Simon brought up a couple feedback points for us to reconsider.  Simon first brought up Lo's voiceover for the video. He thought it sounded to young and was concerned about how that might be perceived by the audience. It could seem as if the app was more aimed at a younger audience and expressed that someone who was older with a plain southern accent would of been a better option for the voice over. I explained to Simon about the struggle to find someone in Yorkshire who was middle aged with a southern accent, plus there wasn't much time left to completely redo the voice over and we done the best with the resources we had. With this in mind Simon did understand and insisted that the voice wasn't much of a big deal once he re-listened to the video.

The other issue Simon had was the end part of the video. To know what part I'm talking about please play the video below starting at 01:44. Simon said that this part of the video lacked appeal and wasn't as exciting as the other parts and for that reason the video ended on a low note. He also noted that the beginning of the video started with interactive animations to explain the concept and when I rounded up the concept at the end it wasn't as interactive and the information briefly appear then disappear from the screen.

I completely agreed with Simon on this point as the video should end with a high. I wanted the judges and viewers to be excited and engaged till the end. I was thinking of animating it from the beginning but I wanted to simply sum up the concept in a professional manner without any distraction from the animated effects. The only conclusion that me and Simon came up with was to have all the main points stay on the page once they fade in. This way, it still comes across in a professional style but the points are on the screen for longer, therefore the judges and audience will have more time to read and take in all the main points.

Look at the second video to see the change I made based on the feedback.




Comp 1_3 from Jack Solomon on Vimeo.









Your_Telegraph-D&AD from Jack Solomon on Vimeo.

Studio Brief 2 - D&AD Telegraph - Competition Boards

Studio Brief 1 - D&AD Crimewatch - Choosing Appropriate Actors For The Reconstruction

Choosing Appropriate Actors For The Reconstruction

I was limited to who I could choose to take part for the acting side of the reconstruction. I needed a victim, attacker and an ordinary Crimewatch viewer. In a lot of Crimewatch reconstruction a lot of women victims are often played by women who have an innocent look about them. They are often small and timid looking and slim. These type of women relate more the Crimewatch viewer, they can often be seen as more venerable and helpless maximising the sadness the viewer feels for them and in return could make them want to help solve the case even more. It wouldn't be the same if the woman was stern looking, who had strong features because it can represent a strong woman who can defend and take care of her self. For the reason stated above Lo was chosen to play the victim.

The attacker needed to be thug looking. He needed to have strong facial features while tapping into peoples stereotypes of criminals, so looking a bit chavy with a hoodie and tracksuit bottoms. This look portrays a stereotypical version of a criminal that can be easily recognisable by the viewer. They often portray an eeriness about them. They are someone who functions outside the social norms and is often seen as a trouble maker. Again it wouldn't of worked if the attacker was wearing a suit and was clean shaven. It portrays a different stereotypes and could express a different set of emotions. The main outcome is to impact and tap into the emotion of the Crimewatch viewers in order for them to feel for the victim. For the reason stated above Rhys was chosen to play the attacker.

Lastly is the boyfriend of the victim. I needed someone who was photogenic, someone who looked good on camera and looked like you average Joe. Another huge benefit from using Cameron was his accent. He has an plain London accent, therefore Its easier for the viewers and judges to understand what his saying as Cameron had a few lines to say. 

Overall, these are my reason why I choose certain people to act in my reconstruction and they all done a fantastic job!

Studio Brief 1 - D&AD Crimewatch - Advertising Poster

As the film for Crimewatch was complete I needed some form of promotion for the app.Promotion of the app will allow it to reach a wider demographic and to the people who would find the app beneficial but don’t follow the BBC or Crimewatch. About a month ago I saw this poster on Facebook, It was advertising vaccinations in Australia. What caught my eye was the design, It was essentially a circle of needles stuck in the ground with a germ-type monster in the middle of this circle of needles. However, there was a gap in the circle where there wasn't a needle and the whole point was to suggest that if all children were vaccinated then the circle would be closed and the germ wouldn't be able to harm anyone. Unfortunately I didn't save the poster but the visual and concept of the poster heavily related to my concept of catching criminals by using 360º technology.

Below is initial sketch I produced to quickly show how the poster would work. The criminal would be in a circle surrounded by cameras on tripods. What this demonstrates is that there is no escape for the criminal because his being watched at every angle therefore, deterring him from committing a crime and letting him know that the app users are always watching and will always be ready to catch criminals through the 360 app.

To make this idea come to life I needed to actually photograph it. I booked the photography studio and got Rhys to be the criminal as he is the criminal in the actual film for the app, so it's a nice consistency which in return is more believable. Also people won't become confused about who the person is as he’s wearing the same clothes. I positioned 12 camera around Rhys and got him to act out a series of poses and gestures. The main gesture I was looking for from Rhys (criminal) was a gesture that told the audience that he was scared and afraid of the surrounding cameras. A cowardly pose. By viewing the gesture the audience would understand the concept as the downfall off crime. Criminals are scared of being caught by the 360º footage and therefore, putting the criminals on the back foot making the audience feel safe and/or determined to get involved with the app.

Below you can see the different gestures Rhys was making with the surrounding cameras, making the idea come to life.

I decided to choose the pose that best suited the concept but also worked well visually and expresses the most body language for the audience to understand what was going on. I removed the background and made it visual cleaner with no distraction apart from the criminal and the cameras, acting like the criminal was centre stage all focus and spotlight on him, exposing him for the criminal he is.

I needed a tagline to round up the whole concept, I chose "there's nowhere to hide" I felt this tagline line empowered the victims and crimewatch users. To let them know that they are in charge, not the criminals.

Studio Brief 2 - D&AD Telegraph - Why a video for the final resolution?

In order to give me and Lo the best chance of being shortlisted for D&AD we asked our selfes how we should showcase our final solution 'Your Telegraph'. We thought about doing presentation boards but we knew that to give our selfs the best opportunity to win, a video was the most effective way to demonstrate the app. I Looked into D&AD past winners to see how they entered their final resolutions. It was clear to see that the majority of past winner used videos to communicate their final pieces with animation being to go to option to showcase interactive apps.

It's very challenging and hard to demonstrate how Your Telegraph would work if we would have gone down the route of only presentation boards and showing static images. For other briefs, it wouldn't be as challenging but with a brief like The Telegraph is become very hard to get your app across without using animations to show it's interactivity. It also expresses to the judges how the app would work for the user, showing just how the user would engage with the interface and how they would get from a to z. Lastly, you can take full advantage of the after effects software to fully show off your app, demonstrating a well constructed, fully interactive app.

Studio Brief 2 - D&AD Telegraph - Brief Breakdown

The challenge

The Telegraph wants to use digital to prove its appeal to readers of any age. How can you get them to reconsider what it offers? What ideas might turn the heads of open-minded people who are looking for a different kind of news provider? What might inspire them to try a Telegraph?

It's clear from this paragraph that The Telegraph has seen the appeal to transition their physical newspaper to digital. Telegraph appeals to a number of audiences but the majority being older readers. Maybe catering for the loyal readers would be an idea to consider. The best option would be to see what's currently out their and see what the competitors are producing and how they are providing news to their audiences.

Develop an innovative digital solution to get a younger audience to think again about The Telegraph. The solution does not necessarily have to focus on ‘news’ but can look at the broad range of content The Telegraph offers.

The point above is a great indication into what the Telegraph is looking for. They're not looking for a product that just provides news for readers. How can the platform be more unique, using other areas and features of the site that aren't news. This is an area me and Lo are going to be looking into by figuring out how we can think outside the box and think of a unique solution for this consideration

Who's it for?

People of working age who know their own minds. They do what they want, when they want, and are looking for a paper that reflects this attitude.

I feel is extremely important to cater for both audiences. It's clear to see that The Telegraph have an older viewership who are very loyal to the paper. The main point here is to see how me and Lo can create a product that appeals to both young and old users but still keeping the loyal readers in mind. Loyal readers are the ones who have supported the paper since the beginning, so showing a sense of loyalty back would be appreciated. You also have to think about usability within digital. Making sure not to create a complex app or digital solution that is hard for the older generation to use.

What to consider

Community: comments on news sites appeal only to a hardcore audience and are difficult for most users to engage with. How could a news organisation engage with its readers in a more constructive way and create a community around its coverage? How does news gathering change when everyone has a camera and a voice?

Comments are a hard area to crack in my opinion. Comments are often left along by most people due to the unappealing nature of it. They are full of spam and trolls. When looking over this point me and Lo both agreed that the comment section should be completely changed and even removed. Reimagining the potential for comments and integrating it in different ways. Comments have such a great potential for collaborations and important conversation between readers and it's important to use this potential.

Context: most news stories are new twists on long running sagas. How should reporting reflect this? How should it cater for expert readers who know the story inside out and have strong opinions, alongside a reader who is new to it all and wants to get their bearings?

This point above is such a important demonstration of the changing times of news. Everyone has a phone and everyone also has an opinion to share. People have been running their own continuation of story for years already in the form of social media. News companies need to adapt to changing times and cater for people to share their own stories so how can we create a product that will break boundaries of journalism and integrate both users and qualified writers.

Studio Brief 2 - D&AD Telegraph - Primary Research

To gather an understanding our target demographic of younger people, social media was the most effective place to get the thoughts and opinions of younger people. Therefore, me and Lo both took to twitter to ask a number of people how they interactive with news in a form of polls.

We used Lo's twitter and also Charlottes twitter profiles to ask the questions. Lo and charlotte are very active on twitter, therefore they can reach a lot more people then if I was to ask the same questions.

The first question we asked was "How often do you engage with the comments section of online news stories" The three answers we gave were 'always', 'sometimes' and 'never'.  This question would investigate whether or not young people engage with comments on news sites. One of the challenges on the Telegraph brief was to change the way people engage with the comments section. The comment section of any news site can be often abandoned by people because of spam and sometimes trolls trying to antagonise other people who are simply trying to voice their own opinions. Personally, the comment section is poorly designed for the user. An unattractive outdated section right at the bottom on the news story, when by the time people read through the news story they've already lost interest and there is no incentive to comment. These comments expressed above are evidently supported by the outcome of the poll. Charlottes poll gathered 146 votes with 71% of people saying that they never engage with the comments section and only 3% of people saying that they did.

What can we take from this?

It's evident that people are not taking advantage of the comments section. We asked for people to comment back with their opinions but none were given. How can me and Lo use this research to create a comment system to engage people of all ages to use the comments section. Voicing opinions are so important in the development of news and engagement and should be an important aspect to reconsider the brief.

The next poll was to see if young people would reconsider news or engage more if you the reader was allowed to filter and customise their news, allowing for a personal experience. This question was based around our current concept of a news site that allows the user a personalise experience by letting the user choose what they want to see. The question we ask was "Would you read the news more if you could filter & customise what you saw?". Out of a total of 105 votes, 73% of people said yes and 27% said no. This is a clear indication that people would reengage with the news if the option for customisation was there. This is especially positive for our concept, it's now obvious there is a clear market and need for a personalised news platform.

Last twitter poll we conducted was simply asking people how they read the news, either digitally or from a newspaper. It was interesting to see how people engage with the news. The outcome was predictable but we wanted to find out if there was any people still out their who prefer to read a newspaper.

This gave us a clear platform for a news app instead of creating a physical newspaper. It shows the demand for instant information for younger people. Younger people are able to locate what ever information they want instantly and with so many avenues to gather that certain piece of information it's important to create a news platform that would keep the attention and interest of the user. Giving them a unique news platform which becomes their go to for news from the time they wake up, to when they sleep.