OUGD505 - Studio Brief 2 - City Patch Project - Newsletter Page Design

Newsletter Layout Experimentation

- Within the titles and headers it was considered that these could mimic the logotype used for the branding of the City Patch Project. Combining both the green and grey in these elements reflects the idea of nature vs urban within the whole design, whilst splitting titles over two lines reflects the layout of the original branding creating consistency. 

- The use of square imagery reflects the shape of a patch in a subtle way continuing the square theme within the imagery.

- Text boxes that fit the modular grid mean that the titles for each of these sections goes above the image making the design look unbalanced. Restricting content to within the same size as the image could help balance the design more effectively 

- Using the same sized images within the page means that three articles can fit within a page with text, however it this layout it creates a triangular shape which looks too structured

- Using the patch ornament next to the header of the page acts almost as a bullet point which emphasises it within the hierarchy whilst linking to the branding without using the logo continuously  

- Placing all the images at the top looks to structured and having the title between the text and images creates a divide making it less obvious as to the connection between the relevant images and information.

- Placing the title to the side of an image acts in a similar way to the how the logotype is aligned to the logo

- Collecting different sized square imagery in a block formation worked well in using the grid and the white background allowed the spaces between images to break them up

- Placing the title of each double page spread in the top left hand corner and placing imagery a certain distance away from it created more space within the design, however having the patch ornament to the side of the title, in a similar way to how the logo is when combined with the logotype, meant it took up quite a lot of space 

- Moving the patch ornament to above the title compacted how much space it took up, providing more space to place elements on that page 

- It was considered that perhaps the titles of articles could be separated from the body text however this made the design look a little disjointed and hard to follow

- On the page with the title it was still difficult to place a small article on the page with an image, because of  the need for space around the title. so it was considered that the title could be vertical to the image     

- Using square imagery that expands off the page aimed to reflect the sense that green spaces expand beyond the city, which is represented by the page size,  and link with nature beyond 

- The use of imagery that expands to the edges of the page made the format look larger as it is maximises the space rather than framing the images. 

- The use of various sized imagery creates contrast within the design and dictates a hierarchy within the images suggesting which ones are the focal points   

- On the pages with a title in order to make best use of the space next to the title it was considered that having an image that expands off the page may allow an article to e better placed underneath 

- Fitting articles within space that is smaller than the image helps to make the images the focal points of the design which will show off the different patches visually

- It was considered that quotes could be taken from the articles on that double page spread as a quick way of understanding the information on the page and drawing readers into the content

- It was also thought that having small descriptions for each of the images could be a way of adding snippets of information that perhaps isn't in the main body text. Adding these within the design also creates more space within the design and creates a separation between image and text making the design less cluttered

- For the Patch Focus page this would purely be an article about a specific patch with lots of imagery to show the patch and its facilities off allowing people to ave a complete understanding of the space. 

- Having a larger article and one from a volunteer means that more large scale imagery can be used as all the text is placed together.

- The large patch ornament took up quite a lot of space and made it difficult to fit as much information within the grid without becoming too close to the title.

- Making the patch ornament smaller meant that the titles did not take up as much room and put more focus on the title. 

- Making the quotes green helps highlight these from the rest of the body text

For the pages with the title on them it was still difficult making best use of the section next to the title and trying to fit in an another article.

- Using an image that extended past the page with a large image below meant that there was space a small article to be placed between them with the other article for the main image to the left. However having just the article between these images mean that it looked a little open. Instead it was considered that a small image could be used as a way of framing the article within a space.  

- Placing a small image underneath the title with a quote from the following text it was thought would be a good way of engaging the reader with the content in a quick way.

- To highlight other key information it was considered using the light green from the colour scheme as a way of grouping this information in one place.  The use of a box of colour stands out from the rest of the design which only uses the white .This would be used throughout the design which will make the purpose of the boxes clear. 

- For the contents page it was initially thought that the title names should be set out in the same way as they are on each of the pages, however it was found that at the same size they wouldn't all fit on with a caption.

- As a compromise each of the titles was set in a singular line however the colour still defined where the words were originally split

- It was considered that each of the titles could have a patch ornament net to them however this made the page look too busy 

- Within the rest of the book green boxes had been used to highlight key or extra information so it was thought that the contents could also be laid out like this. However with more information within the boxes the idea of highlighting key information was lost and it looked quite bulky.

- Using a singular image next to the title in a similar way to how imagery had been placed next to titles on other pages created more consistency.