OUGD404 - Small Publication Digital Designs

Taking my sketches through to the computer meant I could be a lot more precise with more ease. My more favoured designs are the ones at the bottom. It could be taken in many different ways at the other designs could be used within the book itself.

For the designs below I have taken inspiration from one of my favourite games of this year Fallout 4 I really enjoy the loading screen and the grid system behind:

OUGD404 - Small Publication Inspiration

I am taking inspiration for my cover design from multiple different sources but I will mainly be looking at current layout book covers. This is because the designs are perfect and fit together sleekly, they're nothing too complicated and show off exactly what to expect from the book. I would like my publication to do something similar, not to detract from the point of the book but still stract people into wondering.

OUGD404 - Small Publication Grid Systems

The topic I have chosen to look is grid systems and layouts. I would like to create a precise looking book that just does what it says on the tin whilst still being pleasant to look at. 

Books to look at -

I will be taking inspiration from the content, the design and the binding of the books. For the binding and design I will not just be looking at these two books but I will be taking a lot from them as they are on the topic I’m focusing on.

Below are some sketches of designs for the front cover of the book. I’m thinking of going in the direction of uniform straight to the point design rather than a more abstract look.

The designs are obviously a bit rough but I want the look to be obvious for Layouts and Grids. So if someone were to see the design they would have an idea without having to read the title or look inside. The cover would do all the work.

OUGD404 - Small Publication Where to start?

I looked back over all we had learnt in design principles over the past academic year. I feel I have learnt so much from each process it make it difficult to choose which topic to create my book on. Although the content isn’t entirely important the design choices for the content is.

Colour Theory -

With this design I could have a lot of fun. Bright colours drawing the viewer in or one of the optical illusions that will leave certain impressions on people.

   

Layouts and Grid System -

I feel I didn’t know as much about this topic as the rest. Looking back over old work I can see that I would sometimes attempt a layout and other times just eyeball the placement. I could be very uniform with this design making it very neat and precise to show off what it’s about.

Typesetting -

Typography is probably one of my downfalls but typesetting is probably one of the categories within it I’m not too bad at. Like the grid systems idea I could be very neat make sure everything is aligned correctly making it quite pleasing to look at.

 

Gestalt Principles -

This again would be fun to attempt because I could have the publication looking different to a normal one so that it stands out like an anomaly. The design on the front could be a shape that is actually two things tricking the viewer when they look at it.

 

All the topics would be fun to attempt in different ways, I could try and incorporate them all together in one publication as ‘The Basics of Graphic Design’. I will have to look into which I think I would enjoy the most and which could maybe challenge me the most. I may even look into creating a series of publications for the task. 

OUGD404 - Bookbinding

Bookbinding is something I have looked into in the past but haven't had much practice at it. We looked into three different techniques. 

Japanese Stab Stitch:

This process is clean but it also means you lose part of each page from the paper being bound at least half an inch in. I tried to show off the binding technique as best I could during my photography lighting induction. The process looks very neat and almost impossible when you look into it properly from the outside so the binding is hidden.

Accordion/Concertina:

I enjoyed this process but it is the messiest. I think I need to practice the technique a bit more, it's the one I have used the most in the past but not as clean as I remember. Showing off the binding method again, the book is folded in a concertina fashion and glued together. Grey board is used to make hard back covers but I think you could take this method further and apply a hard back cover to a different binding technique.

3 Hole Pamphlet Stitch: 

A very clean and very easy method. Creates a nice feel for a booklet and is probably the most traditional look. The holes can be as many as you want as long as it's an odd number so, this means that you can use this technique for pretty much any sized book. The outside is neat if you get the tensions right but practice is needed to make the inside of the book neat because you have to tie it off and can't really hide it.

OUGD406 - Secret 7" Entry Confirmation

I submitted my entry a few days before the deadline and now wait patiently for the results.

OUGD406 - Secret 7" Final Design

My final designs for Secret 7" are above. I took my idea of taking all the colours from the same pallet to tie the design back together rather than separating it out too much. The green I thought helped the bring the idea back to a clover yet the hearts were still visible. I added a blue and cream background to the image after I had changed all the colours to fit a more 60s theme. The blue background came from one of the first mid century patterns I looked out with a nice baby blue colour within it. I took inspiration from all the three patterns I looked at at first for the colour stylings. The cream came more from the pattern rather than any background so that the hearts would be blended into the design more rather than sitting on top. I am going to be asking within our final critique session which design people prefer, I personally prefer the cream design over the blue but I will see from other peoples opinions what will work best.

OUGD406 - Secret 7" Digital Development, Patterns

I took inspiration from previous patterns I had looked at and form a quick google search of 60s patterns to try and create some fresh new ideas to take through to my final piece.

This design was very blue as you can see but it looks as though it's quite a funky pattern fitting with a 60s theme the only issue I have is that the colour scheme may not be that fitting. The inverted colours down in the bottom right seem more fitting for a 60s look but maybe slightly desaturated.

This design is very yellow but is slightly more of a perfect repeat pattern. Again I think that is the colours were a bit more desaturated then the design could work but otherwise the design is very 60s.

This is probably my favourite out of the three designs as I could see it within an old household on the furniture or the wallpaper, lampshades everything really. A design that nowadays would be classed as retro and many people wouldn't dare have in their homes but back then would have been all the range it also blends the hearts into the background quite well to add more mystery to the final piece.

In the end the design I came out with for all the patterns mixed together was this below. I do like the contrast in the different patterns but it is quite random and sort of changes the focus away from the clover/heart and more towards the patterns and colours. I want the colours to be a focus but not the main focus they're almost an after thought. I think desaturating the colours will work and maybe even making them the same colour pallet across all three hearts will tie the design together again. 

OUGD406 - Licence to Print Money, Following on from the Critique

I took on board the comments left by my peers and assessed what needed to be done. One of the big problems was the scale of the planets people realised that they weren't at all to scale which, I don't think I'll be able to get them perfect but I can at least get the sizing of which planet is bigger than the others as some or dramatically bigger than others. I have also not made some as small as they should be in relation becuase they would not be able to be seen in detail on the notes otherwise. 

I was looking into this before the critique but had not yet asked about it. I wanted to to try experimenting with changing the numbers used to display the amount each note is worth. The only issue was that the one worked in exactly the way I wanted it to and the two was proving a lot harder which, meant the other numbers would most likely do something similar. I asked around the group I sit in which they prefered from the two and all of them said the standard Futura was fine the other may over complicate the design and also looks a bit too retro space themed.

OUGD406 - Secret 7" Research

Reid Miles -

http://sputnik.uk.com/blue-note-sleeves-by-reid-miles/reid-miles-blue-note-catwalk-large/

https://sunshineanddesign.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/wutang-bluenote-wu-note-01.jpg

The images above aren't all Reid Miles work but people have been inspired by his colour stylings. Whole pieces being pretty much the same colour gives a calming feel to the piece there's not too much going on and you can get a feel of temperature. You almost become absorbed into the deep colours which means as you're walking along your eye would be drawn straight to it.

http://www.designassembly.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/swifty-web1.jpg

I was told to look at Swifty Typography. The piece on the right feels like a lot more of a funky 60s feel which suits my theme and also suits the original design for the album cover of At Last. I could try and fit this into my designs but I feel it would be forced and instead think that the hearts I am currently using work on their own.

http://boskybelle.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/aaaaa5lucienne.jpg

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0299/9857/files/falling-leaves.jpg?866

https://centuryblog.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/olive-calyx-by-lucienne-day-textile-bigger.jpg

Looking into Mid Century textiles patterns I found these images. I really enjoyed the colour stylings and shapes within the designs, it's very garish and suits a 60s bold idea. The design isn't perfect and is hard to decipher as a repeat pattern which messes with my head for being neat in design but that's what I believe works in the style. I was a bit concerned about adding a pattern to my design but after looking through the designs and patterns I was quite excited.

OUGD406 - Secret 7" Further Digital Devlopment

Taking the clover idea further I thought I could just use the hearts with no stem on the bottom.

I tried adding in another leaf to the design but an X started to appear in the middle and it seemed to take away from the clover shape. I still experimented with colour in the design to see how it would look using primary colours and secondary just to get an idea of how it could look bright.

Like I had done in my sketches I added the word Timeless into my design but like the extra leaf above it wasn't needed there was too much to focus on rather than just a simple shape in the middle of white space. 

This is the final design i came up with using the three leaves and no text. I think the design is bold and stands out in the negative space around to produce a clover shape. I asked around to see what people thought the shape was and what song it could possibly relate to they struggled on the song but understood once I had told them which I think is good as you don't want people to know within Secret 7" what track it's for until they've bought it. As for knowing what the shape was they saw a clover straight away which pleased me.

In a critique session I was told to take away the primary colours and try more 60s themes like patterns. I was told to go away and research some artists and art styles such as ; Reid Miles, Swifty Typography and Mid Century Textiles.