OUGD403 Evaluation

The first module has gone well, the work load has been intense and with constant work being set every week it was sometimes hard to keep on top of it all. However this was a great insight into how the industry is and it was nice to have work to do especially an interesting and broad range of projects. A new project being set every week meant that it was possible to briefly explore different areas and keep looking at new techniques and types of graphics.

The first project allowed a wide range of experiment with different resources and media. It was originally a challenge to make the word instrument fit around the font Garamond but it was good to have something like this to get me back into the thought process of designing. It fed nicely into the next project and this really made it feel like it was going somewhere, it also allowed me to see how I could develop my own ideas in graphic design and produce an outcome I am happy and proud with. Although there were a few flaws with my Brief 2 outcome this feels minimal compared to how far I have progressed in illustrator from originally not knowing anything. This has been the hardest and most challenging brief for me but at the same time one of the best because it made me face my illustrator fears.

The Partner project (Brief 3) has been enjoyable because it made people in the class talk when actually they may not have previously. It was a great way to make you think of a practical solution to represent someone. I found the research interesting and a good challenge to find a way of showing they key aspects of someones personality through a letterform, and then making this letterform work through a whole alphabet.

Brief 4 and 5 were my favourite, most probably because of the chosen topic. The flexibility to choose what ever story suited us made it more interesting, I chose Nuclear Power because I didn't really know anything about it but found myself being very negative towards it. The project has led me to completely change my opinion and then with this new found passion and interest in nuclear power I really wanted to create high impact posters that would throw peoples initial thoughts. This has been the most successful project and the one that I have enjoyed the most as its kept me interested and hasn't felt like I have been working.

Overall this project has allowed a nice introduction to the world of design. The tutorials on illustrator have made it less daunting and actually encouraged me to experiment with it in my spare time rather than stick to the comfort of photoshop. The mono printing inductions and digital print have shown me that there are so many possibilities when printing and creating work. Now that I am aware of these different methods I don't feel like creative ideas will be limited. I am excited to move on to other projects and take the skills I have learnt with me to progress and explore other ideas.

Context of Practice - Lecture 4: Print

Print changed the world completely! But print isn't just something pretty like an image or design. Print was a basic way of getting information out there. It is about visual text, its purely there for communication. The context of the print helps us to differentiate between different types of print, its context and purpose affects the way it is designed.

In the past there were small communities of people and all they knew was in that community. They wouldn't know anyone else existed but didn't have a need to because the context was that it was just them.

Offset = another layer and aspect to the printing process. Instead of printing directly ink could be transferred to another surface and then printed from that e.g. potato printing. Printing is a physical thing that exists - once its out there its there for anyone to read but equally when its destroyed it is gone. Print made things real. It took time to produce but was so worth it as it set facts almost in stone. If information was spread via word of mouth, much like chinese wishers, details would change or be left out. Printing completely got rid of this problem - we all knew the same thing. 

Documentation, Communication, Reproduction.

Printing started in Japan in 200BC! From here it took 300 years to get to China. 300 years shows how long it took to travel and that word of mouth was slow, it also shows how disjointed the world was. When printing started in China they used cloth to print onto as it was durable and easy to carry in the sense that it was less likely to break. In 1400BC printing began in Europe.

Religion was a good way to distribute information - It bought people together with a common interest.

When the Gutenburg press was developed in 1450's it changed type all together as it allowed for movable mechanical type. It allowed anyone to print and for mass copies to be made. THere was no restrictions and you could write anything as no-one would say what was right and wrong. Literacy from here really developed because it meant more people could have a copy of something so they had reason to learn how to read. The Gutenburg press allowed them to print 3,600 pages a day compared to the 20 pages previously! It bought around a scientific revolution as it meant we could write down facts and spread them so everyone knew. Print also changed language with the way it was formalised. It reinforced the spoken language.

Marshall McLuhan - the medium is the message. 1911 - 1980. He predicted the World Wide Web 30 year it existed and he argued that print developed our cognitive skills. 

It bought around Individualism as people could express how they felt. Democracy as people could be democratic and have their say, their own freedom. Capitalism as it separated those who could read and write from those who could not creating a class split.

Lino Type = 1960 -1970. Everything changed, it allowed printing and everything that came with it to go down in size.

Etching = It allowed people to see and drawing and understand whats going on. Oldest examples are religious themes.

Renasiance = 1870's. Having 'pretty' artwork and design for the sake of it. It served no physical purpose but would show wealth and design.

Context of Practice: Typography Analysis

The typeface 'times new roman' was invented in 1929 when The times newspaper hired Stanley Morison to design them a typeface. He worked for the font foundry monotype. At the time Monotype foundry was rivals with Linotype, this is significant because The Times used Linotypes typesetting machines so this meant that Monotype had to give over the license to Linotype. Lino type adjusted the name to Times Roman and released it, although it is essentially the same typeface. 

The main use of Times New Roman is for the newspaper however because of its popularity it is widely used online and also as a default typeface on software such as Microsoft Word. It became popular quickly as it was one of the only types that was available in each format.  It fits into the Roman typeface category as its serifs lead the readers eye onto the next letter and help to make each letter easily recognisable for quicker reading. It is seen as a default type and is never really questioned, people take more of an interest in the story and content rather than the type itself, in fact the typeface doesn't even come into question. "There is nothing simple or dull in achieving the transparent page". It is quite a skill to create a typeface that is 'transparent' and rarely thought into by the readers.

Although the typeface is famous and one of the most used connotatively in any other context than the one it is intended for it appears to be cheap and an easy option. Whenever you see a business card or poster where the type is in Times New Roman it makes you think that it has been rushed. That the designer couldn't be bothered to choose an appropriate typeface so rather went with the default. 

"Typography is not a self-expression within predetermined aesthetics, but that it is conditioned by the message it visualises." This stands true to Times New Roman, it wasn't designed with an aesthetic idea in mind rather it aimed to create an appropriate type for newspapers and because of the boxes it had to tick to be appropriate it became conditioned by them. For example the type face in all formats is thinner  but longer vertically so that more text can fit into a line - this is useful for newspaper prints.

"A public speaker is more audible in that sense when he bellows. But a good speaking voice is one that is inaudible as a voice." A  legible font is different to one that is readable. Each letter may be legible but when put together they may be unreadable. Times New Roman is readable as a font the letters flow nicely and don't 'bellow' at you but rather work as a normal 'voice'.

Brief 5 - Message Delivery: Interim Crit

The interim crit yesterday was divided into two groups the first group would layout their work and then leave the room whilst the second group went around and gave anonymous feedback. This was an interesting way of doing it because it meant you were looking at the work soley by itself and it had to speak to itself. It meant that you could see if the message you were trying to portray became clear to an unknowing audience or not. This allows for tweaks to be made before the final crit on friday.

Much of the feedback received was of use and will be considered when making the next set of changes. Below are some points that were highlighted:

• "Are you for or against nuclear power? make this more clear"
• "good quote - try different layouts and type faces"
• "consider kerning and leading"
• "one plug would be more concise and hard-hitting"
• "maybe work with the cloud idea but instead of a line around the cloud, use the writing to make a cloud shape"
• "find a bold typeface that doesn't detract"
• "experiment with international plugs"
• "you could think statistically?  - research stats and facts on nuclear energy"
• "I like the text idea. it is a shocking fact and really reassures people about waste -- focus on waste more"
• "good statistics to shock audience, effective layout of text and image design, but the text disappears slightly"
• "best way to show tonnes of information across is in the form of info graphics - simple layouts dependant on perfect positioning"

From here other ideas will be explored but the key issues will be taken into consideration when making the posters.

Context of Practice: Typography

Technology had a huge impact on typography. The Gutenburg press in 1450's which allowed moveable text and mass production. Including the spread of knowledge, It meant that word and knowledge became widely available for the masses. It kick started the enlightenment from the dark ages.

The structure of language affects how we think as typography is a visual language. Type has become an image. There are 5 different type classifications:

BLACK LETTER
-1400's 
- from Gutenburg press
- old style e.g. Goudy 
- Humanist

TRANSITIONAL
- Trying to make it more readable
- e.g. Baskerville
- Grutesk

MODERN
- Bodoni/ Didot
- mix of contrast in line weights

SWISS MODERN
- 1957 Helvetica

CONTEMPORARY 

Context of Practice: Illustration

Illustration is strategic image making, used within the context of visual communication to convey meaning or concept. 

CONTEXT + CONCEPT + IMAGE = ILLUSTRATION

For example:

BOX OF CERAL + A HAPPY CHARACTER ENJOYING THE CERAL + TIGER = FROSTIES

We are intuitively hard wired to respond to an image. The way the image is portrayed and what materials and methods are used really makes a difference to the illustrative outcome. For example Lance Wyman create animal icons which uses just black and white to show and direct people around a zoo. This is very different illustration, perhaps even classed as design, compared to Jillian Tamaki's illustrations of animals which were used to feature in a magazine about endangered animals. With her work you can see the expression on the animals faces, the show of fear and sadness.

Illustration shows authenticity, craft and consistency. The pieces work together and reflect the brand or book that they are illustrating. 

Brief 4 - Message Delivery/ Research: FACTS

This post will look at the facts that will be used or could be useful when creating info graphics or the text and image combined piece. Its been interesting reading different fact sources because the way they word the fact really affects the connotations it implies. For example on site wrote "Nuclear energy comes from uranium, a nonrenewable resource that must be mined." which is written in such a negative light, where as another site could have written "nuclear energy is sourced from uranium which is in ample supply and the quantity used means it is almost infinite" Both say the same things but in different ways to support their argument. Because the posters will aim to open people's eyes to the nuclear power options the facts below will focus on a positive light.

• Nuclear power emits no carbon dioxide.

• World wide nuclear energy avoids on average 2.5 billion metric tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.

• nuclear power facilities can produce energy at a 91% efficiency rate 24/7  whilst still having lowest emissions.

• There are now 430 nuclear power plants in 31 countries.

• They provide 13.5% of the worlds electricity.

• All you see at the top of the cooling tower is steam.

• 6,702 million metric tonnes of CO2 equivalent was released into the atmosphere in 2011.

• 1 in 5 households and business in the U.S. are electrically powered by nuclear energy.

• A nuclear power plant must shut down every 18-24 months to remove its used uranium fuel, or radioactive waste.

• The peace symbol was initially an anti-nuclear weapons symbol.

• Nuclear power plants are more efficient than coal or other fossil fuels and renewable energy.