OUGD504 / STUDIO BRIEF 01 / FOLD EXPERIMENTS

Before creating the design digitally, it is important to experiment with folding first to get an idea of different folds. Here are various examples of different folds I practiced with to see which had interesting shapes and structures. The aim was to abandon the commercial aspect for this workshop and be as engaged and creative as possible.

The incline tab variation fold is interesting as it resembles mountains or a set of stairs, ascending upwards as it folds. This could be an interesting way of displaying text or colour, and when stood up it would have a visually stunning structure. This is not as common as a half fold or a tri fold commercially but it is unique and reasonably simple to produce.

The accordion fold is simple to make, and can have as many 'pages' as you  want. It is a great way to display information and can be double sided. The accordion fold can be landscape or portrait. It is a widely used fold in commercial printing as it is easily created by measuring evenly and scoring, then folding.

A very simplistic half fold with a shorter cut cover. Here I tried to put a different slant on probably the easiest and most popular fold which is featured a lot commercially as it is the most simple to use and produce. Here, the inner content is exposed which could make some interesting design, through use of text or other elements in the digital design process.

OUGD504 / BRIEF 01 / CONSIDERATIONS

STOCK

This brief will be heavily focused on stock, as this will determine whether your leaflet acts the way the designer required. I will be designing a standing accordion fold which will have to have a higher GSM in order to hold it's weight, which will also be determined by the size, as a larger sized leaflet will become heavier. The finish of the stock is also important to the overall aesthetic of the leaflet. 

FOLD

The fold of the leaflet is vital, as it is the very fundamentals of the brief and the production process. Choosing an appropriate fold that fulfils the brief is key, and keeping it engaging for the user. There are many different types of folds so it is important to make the right choice which will be suitable.

SIZE

When it comes to the size of the leaflet this determines whether it will be pocket sized and easy to travel with, or larger and more rich with details. Technically you could create a leaflet at any size, however it is important to demonstrate that the size chosen is the most effective and why. Since I will be making something which is decorative as well, it would be most effective to do a leaflet on the smaller side, but ensure it is legible. The smaller size will avoid the leaflet cluttering it's space and taking up too much room, and enables the user to take it anywhere with ease.

WASTE & BUDGET

Will the leaflet be cost efficient, or expensive to produce? Due to the financial nature it is important to take budget into account, especially when designing for a client as they may have to stick to an amount. As the leaflet will obviously be produced on stock, something to consider is also the waste, and looking at if the leaflet will waste a lot of paper that could be used during production. It is always better to try and be as eco friendly as possible.

CONTENT

The leaflet is entitled 'the design process', therefore the content must be appropriate and tie into the target audience. Writing this ourselves will add a personal touch and reflect our own design process that others could relate to or take advice from.

AUDIENCE

The audience definitely determines the discourse for the content. It needs to appeal to the desired target market in order to be successful. Since this is entitled 'the design process', naturally the target audience would be other creatives, even specifically fellow design students. 

OUGD504 / STUDIO BRIEF 01 / DEVELOPMENT

This was the first digital mock up I designed. I tried to keep quite minimal with this because I feel that I have done a lot of 'chaotic' design in the past. I have attempted to channel a traditional vibe by using a bold serif. This sets a serious tone throughout the leaflet. I considered that this would only really appeal to an older audience as it is not very informal and conversational. I wasn't sure this would be appropriate as my design process is not very formal, more fun and experimental which this mock up does not capture successfully.

I then had a rethink, and experimented with a sans serif "Karla", which looks more modern. I tried to remain minimal. The lines represent the way that the design process is linked onto each other, and you can go back and forth between them. 

I still did not think this really captured my personal design style effectively. Even though this brief is possibly about a generic design process, I want to still express the style in which I work in. The next step would be to design something a little more experimental and get feedback in the crit tomorrow.

OUGD504 / STUDIO BRIEF 01 / ACCORDION FOLD - MOCK UP

After looking at folds and practicing in sessions in class, I decided I wanted to keep the fold aspect quite simple as the design process is quite complicated itself. I felt the most appropriate fold for my leaflet would be the accordion fold as it is not overly complex and I feel the text could be set out structurally. However, I wanted to do something slightly different than a regular accordion fold, and switch up the alignment. After research I decided on the idea of having the fold vertical instead of horizontal, as this allows for the leaflet to be less flat and more interactive, even decorative, and could be something the user could keep propped up. 

I began to do some rough mock ups with black stock to see how this would look. I have 5 stages of the process to lay out on the pages, and overall I am aiming to have 8 pages in order to fit this information on. 

I would have to work out how to print this accurately, so when folded the information makes sense and is aligned correctly. I need to consider stock choice, as it will effect the stability, I would not want it to dip in places, rather stay upright strongly. 

The size of my leaflet is also a vital aspect to think about as I would need it to be large enough for my text to be legible, however I'd want it to be small enough to be easily portable and not too bulky. Would I print this at a large scale, cut it down and fold, or would I use a printer that can print long documents?

OUGD504 / STUDIO BRIEF 01 / INITIAL IDEAS

After doing some online research and gaining inspiration for folds, I decided to sketch out some ideas for my leaflet. Ideally, I want to do a standing accordion fold that can be used as a decoration as well as an informative leaflet. I could visualise it standing on a shelf or a table. 

I needed to think about the size, stock and also how many pages I wanted within the leaflet, which would depend on the content. I decided on 6-8 pages would be most suitable as I did not want it to be too lengthy, nor too brief, so I would need to write enough content to fit this. 

I also sketched out some potential grids for text boxes within the leaflet. I wanted to keep it quite simple, and not over complicate it.

OUGD504 / STUDIO BRIEF 01 / RESEARCH

I began to do some research online into different types of folds which I felt may be suitable for the brief. Initially I am more drawn to simpler folds as the design process is quite intricate and complex in places, and I feel as though designing this leaflet to be as easy to use as possible would be my best option.

The first examples I found are above, two simple accordion folds clearly displaying information to the audience. There is plenty of space for illustrations/diagrams as well as type, making both of these examples enjoyable to read, as well as remaining manageable.

You could say that one of the aims of a leaflet is to be expendable, so budget is a significant area to consider. Would this leaflet be produced in bulk? If so the best option is to keep the printing production as feasible as possible to get a large amount of copies. This can be affected by the stock choices and size of the document. 

This is another concertina fold. This is a pantone calendar, designed so that the colours fade into each other, this caught my eye because of the vibrancy, but it also captures the shear scale of colours that exist. Since it is a calendar, it also captures the way the seasons change, along with the environment along the duration of a year. It will be worth looking into the printing method for a leaflet like this, as you would have to print on a larger size of stock to be able to cut it down. 

This is a similar design that has followed the accordion fold however it is set vertically so it can stand alone. I like this idea as it creates some depth and is not flat, this design is a lot more interactive and could even act as decoration. I think I could consider ways to create an accordion fold yet switch it up like this so that it isn't simply a flat fold. 

I also came across this leaflet which has a cover flap on the outside. This could be a way of displaying the title, or other relevant information before opening the leaflet to see the content. Even though it is an extra small area, it is usually for decorative purposes rather than to protect the leaflet. I like how this fold looks, as a title could fit nicely on the flap area, as it is clearly separate. I'm unsure of the context of this leaflet, but the white space alongside the hand rendered type looks appealing and gives it some breathing space.

Another effective design I found whilst browsing. This leaflet folds out into a large scale 'poster', here you can see it has a decorative cover, designed and printed specifically so that it makes sense when folded fully. This is effective as you can include a large amount of text and fold it away concisely. This appears to be designed for something quite artistic or creative because of the illustrations, however the text is typeset neatly beside these chaotic sections.

This is a similar outcome to the previous leaflet/poster, simply with a different fold. When folded up, the title is still clearly visible. This leaflet, indicated by the title is all about women. It is interesting that the leaflet utilises the two stereotypically assigned gender colours, adding further context.

This fold looks a little more complex but it forms a shape whilst folded out and whilst folded away. The context to this design is paramount; the hexagonal shape represents the honeycomb from a beehive. In order to remain contextual, doing my leaflet in a shape would have to be justifiable instead of simply decorative, which I think would be quite pointless as I would rather it be functional than have a complex fold, meaning the user will find it effortless to use.

The purpose of this fold is to invite guests to a wedding. This design looks cute and appealing because of the way it folds in, alongside the colourful illustrations. In this case, an insert has been added and the fold acts as a sort of 'envelope' for the actual invitation, enabling the audience to interact with the fold and find the message within.

OUGD504 / STUDIO BRIEF 01 / RESEARCH - THE PROCESS

Before writing my content, I wanted to research into the different design processes that exist already. I decided to look into some diagrams online that illustrate these processes clearly. A generic search lead me to diagrams such as:

This is obviously not a process for graphic design, I assume it is for something scientific. I found it interesting to note that even though graphics and chemistry are entirely unrelated, the process for creating something is not that different. Examine could refer back to analysing the brief you are given, the next stage could be gaining understanding from research, furthermore, ideate & experiment could refer to development stages, and distill could be the final product.

I then went to search for more specific processes related to graphic design.

This image really shows the complexity of the design process. This flowchart has so many frenzied stems, going off into different directions. I don't think this is a very clear chart to follow, and isn't really useful to my process.

The next image I found was clearer & linear. It is numbered from 01-04 straightforward steps which convey the separate sections. Each one is a different colour, further distinguishing them as each design step is varied. I like how this diagram is numbered however I don't feel like the images are needed and only looks cheesy.

Above is probably my favourite diagram that I located online. Initially, the dark background and bold white lines grab my attention; leading onto the cleverly illustrated one line icons e.g the lightbulb. These images add context to this flowchart, whilst exuding fun and another element to look at. The vibrant colours also add to this. This diagram has also been split up into 4 sections for the design process which is extremely concise. The body copy for the image is not particularly legible unless you zoom in which could be a problem however I assume this is just because of the size of it. A clear font has been used for the titles, although again they aren’t too easy to read. 

Researching into a variety of design process diagrams has gave me an insight to establishing the main sections of my own design process and giving me a few ideas for my own leaflet. It was interesting to see the similarities in the processes even when the context was not graphics.

OUGD504 / STUDIO BRIEF 01 / THE DESIGN PROCESS / BRIEF

The brief:

During this week you will design and produce a folded leaflet entitled "The Design Process" that describes your understanding of the design process and specifically how this is applied to design problems. This assignment will allow you to explore the nature of design at an increasingly commercial level while also exploring creative approaches to leaflet design and folding.

This brief is only one week long and therefore will be very intensive. You will be given support by your tutors in the form of crits and tutorials while studio tasks will focus on aspects related to constructing and designing leaflets. You will be expected to explore and experiment with paper and card stock: folding techniques and styles; and graphic concepts and communication. Your progress, developments and creative decisions should be documented in your studio blog.

At the end of the week you will present your final leaflet design and plan for print to the rest of the group. You will receive feedback and points to consider during this final crit.

Analysis:

For this brief we have a period of a week in order to create our final outcome. Although this is quite a small space of time, I feel it will be beneficial to get back into routine and enable me to fully absorb myself into the task, especially after such a long Summer break.

Previously I was not as interested in learning about different folding methods as although I enjoy drawing and getting stuck in with materials, I was never an expert at folding and being accurate, which always put me off. I was a big culprit of making a mistake or stapling something incorrectly in level 4, which is something I'd like to change within the process of this brief. I'm looking forward to learning about new folds. I also have not previously had a lot of experience with leaflets so it is great to be able to focus purely on this for studio brief 1. Although, personally I prefer to design something more on the flat side, it's going to be interesting to see what I come up with and experiment with.

Another important element to this brief is budget and stock choice as that can make a lot of difference to the final outcome. 

OUGD504 | STUDY TASK 1 | THE DESIGN PROCESS

In this study task we had to consider the aspects which are crucial within a design process. We had to discuss this in groups and decide what the separate important stages involved, from the very beginning to end. Documenting this roughly on a large sheet at first, we then moved onto producing an infographic displaying these notes more systematically.

We categorised this first section with the heading "brief". We decided the absolute starting point was waking up for the day, as it is pretty essential. It also included receiving the brief and making initial notes.

Moving on from this comes research, another vital section of the design process. Research enables you to consider your options and identify problems within the brief. You can also conduct primary and secondary research to gain more knowledge and focus for new ideas. In this section we also included "consider budget" as the financial aspect to creating an outcome is extremely important, as is communication with the client.  

The next stage is initial ideas, consisting of brainstorming, discussing & creating mindmaps to organise ideas and thoughts. It's also a good point to remember that you should have multiple ideas at this stage.

The development section is all about considering materials you may use, and beginning to mock up designs or create analogue elements if that is what is being used. In this stage gaining feedback is especially useful as this can lead onto making changes and further developing the ideas that have been produced thus far.

Production is simply producing the outcome of the brief in the most appropriate way according to the brief set. e.g printing, screen printing or letterpress. It's important to have thought about this during the initial ideas/research stage to ensure that the method chosen is achievable. Once the idea is finalised with the client, it's time to print and present the work.

Our final infographic was simple, containing five sections with further points contained in each. We added illustrations running vertically in the middle to show how these stages mix in with each other. Looking back a flowchart or a timeline would have possibly been a more clearer idea, but at the time our group thought that a list would be efficient and easy to follow. 

OUGD504 | SUMMER BRIEF

For this brief we must collect at least 26 photographs of letterforms showcasing how typography is specific to a certain place. There must also be a short passage for each letterform, explaining where the photo was taken and what purpose it is fulfilling is also mandatory to the brief, addressing if it is effective and communicates a message well. 

This content will later be used in Studio Brief 3, in which the task will be to produce a publication entitled "A-Z Type in Context". 

I have chosen to document my trip to Krakow, Poland for this brief. I feel as though I could not properly complete this brief if I was to take photos around my hometown. Poland is somewhere I have not been before, making it an exciting task to find examples of typography used there.