OUGD505 / STUDY TASK 01 / APPROPRIATION AND SUBVERSION

OUGD503 / STUDY TASK 01 / YAHOO!

In today's session we starting focusing on tips for entering competitions for the Individual responsive brief.  We were given the task of reimagining Yahoo's interface in order to appeal to 'new' users of the internet, i.e 13-18 year olds. Yahoo’s main setback is not fully appealing to the younger generation; with competitors such as Google, it is very difficult for Yahoo to overtake. 

We broke off into groups of 4-5 to complete the brief. We began by making initial notes and discussing the general direction to take the task. We agreed that an effective method would be to try and reel the younger audience in by using social media as one of the main focuses. We thought it would be a great idea to infuse the search engine with a user’s favourite websites. For example, you could log into Yahoo and have links and previews to the user’s own personal social medias as a drop down customisable list. 

We went with this idea as we felt it was strong and would fulfil the brief by allowing Yahoo to become a place for ‘everyday indispensable fun’. 

We decided on a bright orange to freshen up the existing branding for Yahoo, but avoided a complete rebrand as that wasn't what the brief stated to do. Even though we tried using it initially, we felt the old purple/navy was a little outdated and needed a refresh: 

Here you can see how the user can manoeuvre between the different sections. Each one is colour co-ordinated to allow the audience to differentiate between each one, so for example news would be magenta, social media blue ...etc.

 

Here you can see the website utilising the different colours. 

We designed a digital campaign using simplistic line icons alongside a tagline "The world at your finger tips" - referring back to the way in which the user can access any of their sites at the press of a button.

Our presentation to display our work at the end of the task:

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. 

OUGD406 | STUDIO BRIEF 2 | STUDY TASK 1 | BOOK ANALYSIS

Book given: Obey The Giant: Life in the Image World.
Author: Rick Poynor

Published: September 17, 2007

Publisher: Birkhäuser Architecture.

Upon researching the book I read the blurb which basically explained that  the book's purpose is to expose the reality of contemporary visual culture through design, photography, publishing, advertising and art. It is a collection of  interesting essays that challenge key issues and trends. Since more and more people are becoming aware of the coercive power of commercial culture, Obey the Giant demonstrates how designers both resist and collude with control of the image world.

The title is open to interpretation as the first page says, you could take it ironically - 'obey' the giant, or the imperative and literal meaning of obeying our society and giant corporations. 

Who is the Theorist/Author/Editor/Publisher?

The author  and theorist is acclaimed design writer Rick Poynor, who is a writer on His other publications include; Design Without Boundaries, Designing Pornotopia, Typografica, No More Boundaries: Graphic Design and Postmodernism. A lot of his work is all about challenging and questioning design choices. His publications often surround cultural criticism and design history.

The publisher is Birkauser, and it is the 2nd edition.

What is the purpose/concept/context?


I feel like the purpose is to get the reader questioning ideologies regarding the image usage in our everyday lives, plastered all over advertisements and used by mega corporations. For example, a quote on the back of the book explains this well;

"A terrific book, essential. After you've read it you really can't look at the world in the same way... which is also one definition of art" 

- Douglas Coupland

Essentially the book is heavily brand-based, as the title may insinuate. It is to expose the power that these corporations have and exercise through use of imagery, in other words, visual culture. It offers inspirational evidence of alternative ways of engaging with design, and it will appeal to any reader with a questioning interest in design, advertising, cultural studies, media studies, and the visual arts.

The context is educational and informative, aiming to offer critical insights into the changing dialogue between advertising and design. Other essays address the topics of visual journalism; brands as religion; the new solipsism; graphic memes; the pleasures of imperfect design; and the poverty of cool. The worldwide dominance of huge corporations is invariably expressed by visual means.

OUGD404 | STUDY TASK 1 | BOOK DEFINITION

In our session we were asked to define what a book actually is, and it became apparent that a book can simply be anything with folds/pages that displays information or communicates a message to an audience. So, in theory a magazine, or a birthday card.

Each of us brought in books that made us think about the purpose, binding methods and stock choices, and our task was to analyse the books brought in.

This is a card I received from a friend for my birthday. The purpose is to communicate a message and either be kept for sentimental value or thrown away. The stock is just white card so it's cheap to produce and sell. It is simply folded in the middle so the binding is easy and cheap.

This is a sketchbook, the purpose is to write/draw/paint etc on the pages. The stock is thick in order to prevent inks or paints from leaking through the back. This will make the book more expensive than a thinner gsm but it is essential to have thicker stock for the purpose of the sketchbook. The binding method is ring bound so that the pages are easily removed and other pages can be brought to the back of the book, perhaps to ensure unwanted paint or other materials don't somehow get on it.

A magazine for creatives, it's purpose is to communicate a range of information. The magazine has quite thick stock, meaning it won't be too cheap but it will essentially look nicer, perhaps attracting the audience further with it's glossy finish. I believe this magazine's binding method was glue, perhaps cutting costs.

A book I brought in was a fiction novel by George R.R. Martin. The purpose is to narrate a story and entertain the reader. It's quite a thick book so the stock is quite thin to cut costs on mass production. The cover is a little thicker to protect the inside of the book but it's still not extremely thick as a hard back book would be. The binding method is done by glue, also so it isn't too expensive to produce.

The purpose of the Kindle is to be a convenient source for reading a collection of books at the tip of your fingers. There is no need for any stock as it is all viewed digitally, the same going for the binding.