FMP Week 7

Being the last week the stress was piled on down to the very last possible day. I had planned this week to finish the poster and app design however there were problems with the finishing touches of the book as well. I was meant to hole punch the front and back cover of the book using the same machine as the pages were however it turned out that the card it was mounted on was too thick meaning that it would not go into the machine to be hole punched. This was down to lack of resources and if I had more of the card I would have tried it out prior to the last day. I then realised that I would have to do it again using thinner card and after redoing this, the problem was solved and I could finish the rest of the project.

The website was completed on Monday and this meant that I could make the posters link with it. I took the logo idea and kept this at the top of the page making it the same as the website. I also decided to use the same pattern as the website rather than the book because that was the digital side and meant that the audience was sure on what the QR code would link to. Talking about the QR code, I wanted the audience in the show to be able to view the hard work I had put into the website and this meant that I was wither to print the entire website pages or make them able to view it somehow. I then realised that during my A level work I used a QR code and this inspired me to also do the same in this case. When scanned the QR code links to the home page of my website. They can then go onto each page and view how it works grasping a better understanding of what I wanted to do. 

Knowing what I was going to do on the top of the poster I was unsure of what I was going to put at the bottom and was thinking about the ways in which I could grab people’s attention but also keeping the link. I tried out a few ideas but came up with having the CA in the bottom right corner and a question which got people thinking. “Got a client from hell?” This was directed to the designer because it would be them buying the book or going to the website to use the resources available in their studio space. I then felt that this was all that was needed and put the QR code in the centre of the page which draws a lot of attention by being the main purpose of the poster.

I then went back to the app idea and by now I knew I was seriously running out of time and I had to do something fast. I came up with the idea of having another poster but for the style of an App. This meant that the poster would feature the phone rather than a generalised viewing of the website. I wanted to use the website pages but in the format on a phone. This made it look like an app but it was actually a website in the format of an app. It sounds a lot more complicated than it actually is but it helped me achieve what I wanted to do in limited time. I took screenshots of the website on my phone and placed them into a vector of an iPhone. I then wanted to make sure that everything once again linked and placed the quote and CA back at the bottom of the poster. At first I thought the phones were too big but was reassured by the people I asked.

The book was finished, the two posters were finished and the website had been completed but I wanted to make sure that people viewed at least some of the website and this lead me onto creating another print. This one being of the website. I was unsure of what I could make happen but played about with ideas again and came up with the idea of a mac screen showing the website home page, I then wanted to add a few more pages and added them to the top of the page. It was so simple yet effective. Once again I added the CA just to keep the link and I was happy with the overall look. As well as the print, I thought it would be a good idea to get people even more to look at the website but making little business card like things which meant people could take them and scan at home or give to other people who may even use the website.

 

Overall I am glad I have finished this project and although it was stressful I am proud of what I have produced in the seven weeks.

FMP Week 6

Having previously made the majority of the book pages last week I decided to leave out the interactive pages and focus on them this week alongside of the website. The pages were all planned out and I knew exactly what I needed to do in order to finish it which made it a lot easier than going into production with no idea of the outcome. The hardest page had to be the velcro pages as they took a lot of co-ordination to accomplish it in the way I wanted it to be. However they proved to be the most effective as people loved to move the parts about. I wanted to also include a few pages for writing on and rather than having paper and having a book per client I went for the reusable factor and chose to add a whiteboard element into several of the pages. There is also a colour chart and typography chart which pulls out as well as shapes and card you can use to aid the design process by putting them next to other things comparing ideas and elements. 

I then decided to plan out the website and found out that the pattern I previously used didn’t work and needed to be rethought out which is something I didn’t want to do so far into the project. I then decided to make a new pattern because the previous one did not fit landscape and had too much going on for it to work. The new pattern was also inspired by Kate Moross and was not that different from the first it just incorporated lighter tones and a less complicated pattern style. I then found that this could be tiled so that the pattern was kept simple. I did start out by drawing the pattern however this was the problem with the first as the colours were too dark and I decided that it was best if I just put the line pattern into Photoshop and fill it in this way.

Another thing that didn't work was the black text that went with the old pattern and therefore I tried it in white and it works much better in this pattern. I then took the opportunity to create a logo which could go on the header of the website and was something that the audience of the product would know as soon as they saw it so decided to play about with the letters C and A which stood for Challenge Accepted. I finally chose which one looked the best and put it into action on the website as soon as I saw it I knew that this is something instantly recognisable and would work well with the website as well as the promotional value in both posters and leaflets. 

Having made the website interactive I knew it was going to take a long time to create and to make it work but I am continuing to work on it and I aim to have it finished on Monday so then I can focus on the front and back cover of the book as well as the poster designs.

FMP Week 5

Having changed my idea into an app I researched into creating one and found out that it was going to be harder than I thought it was going to be therefore I had then set my mind on creating an advertisement video for the app.

I researched into how I could potentially do this and YouTube videos showed me how to make an iPhone in Adobe After Effects which was pretty simple but when it came to moving it, it became hard to do. I wanted to make this idea work because I couldn't actually create the app and decided to take a break from this and design the way it would look rather than trying to move it. I drew out some of the pages and started to experiment with them in Photoshop. I wasn't happy with the way they turned out however I went back to the video and tried to move the phone frame by frame. This still didn't look good and I was beginning to feel frustrated and realised that I had set my standards too high. I did not have enough skill to produce what I wanted to produce. I've now scrapped this idea and now focusing on the pages of the book. 

The book pages previously planned out meant that it was literally time to just create them and get them done. I did do some drawings prior to making them in photoshop just to make sure that the design was perfect. I started off with the poster quotes inspired by the website worst clients comments turned into posters. I wanted to have a page which was funny to the designer and one that the client could see and laugh after finding out how stupid the things that people had said were. This could then enhance the chance of the client wanting to learn about the elements rather than just accepting what they are just for the sake of their job getting done. 

After this I moved onto creating the title pages and having spoke to Soofia one of the tutors gave me the idea to change the title page to represent each element. Such as taking the element and using it to the advantage for example Line would just feature the pattern in line form rather than full colour. This made each page really unique however some proved harder than others and with time running out I decided that the rest of the pages would just have the original pattern. Another set of pages were the explanation pages where it would say a few sentences which explained the element; the few words would then hopefully lead onto the designer explaining further to the client. I wanted to keep it simple and kept to a simple border of the pattern and then the same font throughout. One person said that this was too much with the same font however I could not find another font which linked with the previous.

 

The British Library

As well as Pick Me Up I visited The British Library where at first I did not know what I was going to see but was a bit disappointed when I was told it was called Comics Unmasked. Comic books are not something I particularly enjoy and although I wasn't excited I took it as a chance to learn more about the subject. The whole room was dark and spotlighted articles of old comics however I was freaked out by the models placed in corners of the room with V for Vendetta masks on. This made me paranoid and being claustrophobic having people surrounding me trying to fit in a small apace made me feel a little bit scared.

I did finally find something that I enjoyed and spent over an hour reading a Comic with a friend. We were one of the last people to leave from our group and it was very interesting to read. The comic was sewn but then taken into software to add text and even more imagery that was hard to sew onto the fabric. It gave a new feel to comics and I really lost myself in this one, something I didn't know I could enjoy. Having spent so much time on this one comic I didn't really spend enough time on the rest of the work shown but it was still interesting in ways.

I do feel like I didn't take in very much at this exhibition but I do not think it in the slightest links with my project and therefore isn't something I would do in the future. I also think that because I was not allowed to take photos that I was able to read more of what was going on but makes it hard to reference anything in the future.

Pick Me Up

Today I visited Somerset house which was holding the Pick Me Up exhibition. I was really excited to see some of the works that was being shown and I wanted to draw some inspiration from some of the people's works for my own however this was not something that actually happened. I did enjoy the exhibition and it was nice to see the people who created the works but it really didn't link to the things I was trying to do with my own project which was very disappointing.

Nevertheless, it was a great day out and got me thinking about other styles of work. It was interesting to see some of the typography work as well as bookbinding but they didn't really help with my style of binding I wanted to do. There was a lot of stuff to look at and all varied in style which meant it was interesting to learn about other works and styles of design. It also meant that everyone could find something they at least liked within it. Something that I did find nice was the amount of effort they went into creating their business cards. I picked up a few which were very nice to see and inspires my own business cards in the future hopefully.

Having the people there to talk to was slightly off putting but both helpful in ways. It was great that they could tell you about their work but it felt too much about people trying to by their stuff rather than them trying to show off their artworks. It was somewhat off putting for me as I felt like I was being watched and put me in an uncomfortable mood to find out more about what they do.

Overall, I didn't enjoy this trip as much as I would have liked however it still felt interesting and made me think about new ways to start working.