OUGD404
Evaluation

At the start of the module it was my aim to further my understanding and interest in publications, in particular editorial design as it is what I want to focus more on in second year. Learning from numerous study tasks has made me aware of graphic design rules that need to be considered when producing editorial pieces of work, and I felt the study tasks were a crucial part of this module as they introduced me to new rules that I can replicate or adapt to my own style, plus this module let me experiment with potential styles, that could single out my own possible style. This was definitely another aim for this module, to try various styles and it was achievable as the briefs were both very self led, in which it was upto you how the final piece would turn out. The module introduced me to new softwares such as Indesign, before this module I'd never used it before so I was eager to learn the ins and outs of the software, and thanks to workshops in Indesign I was able to grasp the basics and use them to produce both books. I believe I've gained more from this module then any other because before this course I was unaware of any graphic design terminology / rules, but being introduced to them early on in tasks has made me more confident in graphic design, another valuable skill I've learnt is just consideration. This may be consideration of stock, binding, type, colour or alignment but I feel before this module I would skip past considering such things as a type alignment.

In the first studio brief I had to produce a small book about a design principle I'd learnt about, I decided to pick contrast but then specifically chose contrasting shapes. The reasoning behind picking contrast was that I thought about what effect I commonly use in my own design work, and I tend to like using contrast to communicate a message. With contrast being a rather broad design principle I decided to base the book on contrasting shapes. When designing I considered the skills I'd learnt in study tasks and how I could use contrast with them, for example contrasting colours and type sizes that affect legibility and readability. The book has a consistent style but contrasts on each page with important information underlined or in larger columns, the use of white space helps the content contrast I believe, in the middle page I use a narrow flush left rag so that the eye is drawn to the contrasting illustration on the page opposite. The stock choice was informed by contrast, I chose to have the cover as acetate with a small circle outline which the viewers eye is drawn to, this is all about how the eye differentiates contrast. The majority of the content informs contrast working within graphic design then I give examples which are illustrated shapes. Overall I feel I did a good job of informing my chosen design principle, I did it in a formal and playful style which I had fun doing.

Producing the second brief was all influenced by my interests and potential style of editorial. I decided to base the publication on one of my favourite music labels but produce a publication that you wouldn't normally associate with music, current music magazines are  very 'in your face', with compact content and a mix of styles in one publication. I wanted to produce a publication influenced by lifestyle / fashion publications, I asked my peers what they would commonly associate with fashion publications, and the answers were all rather similar 'full bleed imagery' 'serif typeface titles' 'white space'. So from this feedback I intended to produce the stereotypical response. I collected the content and began to design in Indesign, and especially in this studio brief i considered text alignment more as I had a lot more content, I enjoyed this part of the brief as I experimented with different styles such as justified which worked with the white space, considering legibility and readability was key due to the large amount of content. I feel the end result resembled a fashion publication but also communicated the music labels style too, I think achieved this with two different typefaces, Helvetica and Times new roman. At first i was wary of using Times new roman but I think if applied to the right situation it can work.

Overall Ive enjoyed this module because firstly Ive gained more of an understanding of graphic design due to study tasks, these study tasks have helped me in other modules but also influenced how I critique my own work and others work. Ive learnt new skills, processes and techniques, not just digitally but learning more traditional techniques like bookbinding has helped my practice and made me consider other factors that inform a piece of graphic design. At the start of the module I wanted experiment with styles and I've achieved this with both books I designed, by mixing styles its made me more interested in editorial as i don't have to stick to one style, and can produce varied work which this module has encouraged.