OUGD503 - Module Evaluation

OUGD503 – Module Evaluation

Overall, I thought this module was quite successful and I enjoyed working in response to a range of different briefs. The physical aspect of the two larger briefs was enjoyable and being able to make a product was satisfying with the outcomes being effective. Within the module I think I managed my time quite effectively as I was able to balance doing work for other modules with this one as well.

It was good to work with someone from another course as part of the collaboration. Knowing the person meant that it was easier to work with them and I already had a sense of her work and work ethic. Collaborating with an Illustrator allowed the board game to have more of a playful aesthetic and meant the design was more of a polished. Working with someone else meant that I could focus on the production, concept and branding of the game which I enjoyed. Being part of a collaboration however was in some ways difficult because other courses weren’t doing collaborations as part of their course so I didn’t want to ask too much of her. However, we met up every week which allowed us to follow each other’s progress and it was interesting to hear someone else’s thoughts and ideas on the project and my collaboration was happy to help with different aspects of the project. 

Doing smaller briefs was enjoyable partly because there was less expectation for the designs to be fully polished in the time span meaning there was less pressure on the outcome. This meant I was able to experiment more with the designs for the Penguin Book Covers, using photography and the scanning of objects around me to create the outcomes. Using these techniques allowed me to work in a quicker way and find ways to create imagery in a simple way. The use of photography worked well and created some interesting designs that I perhaps wouldn’t have created if I had longer on the brief. This more experimental approach, particularly for the Penguin Covers, used a range of media and photography which created some strong imagery.   

For the smaller briefs I found that setting a day for each aspect of the design process forced me to send an equal amount of time on different aspects. This structure allowed the designs to be created in a short amount of time whilst I was still able to produce quite a lot of work within the time. Knowing how long I had to spend on an aspect allowed me to concentrate on certain elements rather than trying to just get the project done within the time span.

After doing the smaller briefs, which were much looser, it was quite difficult to go back to doing the larger briefs because of the amount of development that was needed. However, starting the briefs early meant that I was able to chip away at them each week so progress was made whilst also doing other modules.

I enjoyed the all-round development of the Hasbro Board Game from concept to production. I find creating games and the interactivity of them interesting and enjoy solving the problem of working out the gameplay.

To improve, more time needs to be left for the production of the designs. Although I left a week and a half for this, it became problematic when things went wrong with printing or materials didn’t arrive which meant that the design was still being produced quite close to the deadline.

OUGD503 - Time Management

Time Management

Things that helped with Time Management:

- Having monthly calendars pinned up allowed key dates, submissions, workshop slots and key things to do to be noted down. This provided a visual reminder of how much time there was left before deadlines etc.

- Each day to do lists were created, initially these were quite general just suggesting which work to do however later in the module this was key to making sure lots of things needed to be done in a short amount of time.

- Design Boards were mainly done at weekends which allowed me to do the ones for the smaller briefs quite early on

- The larger briefs were spread out across a few moths so that they could be chipped at over the course of the module alongside other modules

- For smaller briefs setting a time limit and structuring the days for each part of the design process meant equal time was spent on each aspect.

Planning through the months:

- Planning was much looser in December and January as this was mainly spent researching for 505 however weekends were spent working on Responsive

- February / March was spent juggling design work for both 505 and 503. To do this 503 was mainly done on Wednesdays and weekends whilst 505 was done on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays. 

- On Wednesdays met with my collaboration to work on Studio Brief 2 allowing us a week between meetings to make progress on things and catch up. 

- March was much more structured as this was more geared towards the Responsive Submission. Documenting all workshop slots in the last few weeks was central in helping work out what and when things were going to be done.

- The last week and half before the deadline was set aside for the production of the two larger briefs, this just about allowed space for mistakes and problems in the process, allowing them to be rectified.

OUGD503 - Studio Brief 2 - Hasbro Board Game (Large Collaborative) - Meet 7 and Laura's Final Sticker Designs

9 / 3 / 18

Meeting on Refining the Game Pieces

These are the designs that Laura came back with for each of the fruit. The pips have been purposefully enlarged to make the numbers for each half clear, whilst the colour schemes are from the agreed swatches from the original fruit.

Points that were discussed:

We discussed the use of a black dashed line on each of the fruit pieces and whether this should be changed to be more in keeping with the rest of the fruit. 

I suggested maybe having a line similar to the one she used in earlier watermelon designs, which was a darker pink that was not in the colour palette but still in keeping with the rest of the design. From this the dashed lines were changed to slightly darker shades of the colours within the design so that they would stand out against the rest of the design.

Another point that I brought up was the pips on the oranges which had been outlined in black. This was done to make the white pips stand out on the light background however the line looked too obvious. It was discussed that maybe the pips could be made the same colour as the light background rather than white so that it was not as harsh against the rest of the design and that the outline of the pips should be made using one of the darker oranges so that everything was still within the colour palette and a little subtler, whilst still clear.

Laura's Final Fruit Sticker designs

These were the final fruit designs for the three types of fruit for the game pieces.

The colour scheme looks really fresh and vibrant creating a playful and fun aesthetic. The different shaped and coloured pips make the game more grown up than conventional dominoes because there's an added degree of working out what numbers you have. 

The pipped! tiles

For the pipped! tiles the logotype would be used. To reflect the layout of the instructions the logotype was positions horizontally so that it was parallel to the piece edge. 

White was used originally as this contrasted against the colour scheme and was bright fitting well with the colourful aesthetic of the pieces. 

However using the white on the Orange and Kiwi pieces blended in with the background more.

It was considered that perhaps the same colours used for the dashed lines on each piece could be used as these were not in the original colour scheme so would stand out against the other colours.

The text on each fruit was legible however did not stand out perhaps as much as was wanted. 

Using black would contrast strongly against the other colours and reflect the use of black within the instruction booklet. Blacks consistency in standing out across all three designs meant that this was chosen for the final pipped! tile designs.

   

OUGD503 - Studio Brief 2 - Hasbro Board Game (Large Collaboration) - Production of Final Design

Production

Lasercut Pieces

Dominoes are originally made from quite thick plastic so I wanted to retain that tactility within the game. Acrylic was used to create the game pieces as this came in a range of bright colours and finishes. The printed stickers would then be applied to these pieces to create the tiles for the game. It was considered that three colours of acrylic could be used too reflect the three fruit within the game. The most prominent colours for each fruit would be used so pink for watermelon, green for kiwi and orange for orange.

However the colours that were available, although colourful were too similar to colours used within the design. 

Instead it was considered that using white acrylic would allow the designs to stand out whilst still being bright and emphasising the use of colour. There is only a slight border of the acrylic around the stickers anyway, so the colour of the acrylic doesn't need to be overly colourful. The acrylic was cut to be slightly bigger than the sticker size to allow a border around the design and make it easier to apply the sticker to the acrylic. The corners of the pieces were rounded slightly so that they weren't sharp to handle. 

Printing Laura's Stickers and my Tag Designs 

After getting advice from the print technician it was decided that the designs would be digitally printed onto white vinyl. This would allow the game piece designs to be accurately represented and create a professional finish to the design. If screen printing had been used the results would have been imperfect, varied and difficult to produce for each of the designs. After being printed they were then cut down on the vinyl cutter. To do this another layer had to be added to the file and a shape had to be drawn around each of the stickers which is where the design would be cut. The outline followed the shape of each of the pieces so that when cut there was not border to the stickers, as there would be a slight border of acrylic.    

Screenprinted Bag

To create the netted design on the drawstring bags fabric screenprinting was used. The process of fabric screen printing was found to be slightly different to paper screen printing. Rather than registering the paper to the screen, in fabric screenprinting the screens are moved around to register to the fabric. This means that the screen is never flooded for the next design,  as flooding the design will ruin the next piece of fabric as the screen is moved to register ontop of the fabric. 

Masking tape was used to roughly register each of the layers. 

One screen was used to create the netted effect, which was then moved across each time to create a smaller netted effect. 

To create the design, neon orange, green and pink were used to reflect the colours used in the rest of the design and represent each of the three fruit. Using the neon colours creates a bright and visually striking packaging design that would stand out on the shelf. The packaging aims to recreate a netted bag effect so the design was printed onto both sides of the bag for an all round effect. This meant all three colours had to be printed twice so it took 6 prints to create the designs. 

After the bags had been printed they all had to be heat pressed to seal the designs and make them more durable.

OUGD503 - Studio Brief 1 - Noughts and Crosses (4 Days) - Refinement

Refinement of ideas 

Coin idea 

It was decided that using the same coin on both the front and back of the book would best represent the initial quote best.

From research it was found that the typeface used on coins was an original hand carved lettering however Times New Roman is very similar in style to the typeface.  Using Times New Roman for the design it was considered would reinforce the concept with the quote and make a visual link between the typography and the imagery.

Using italics for 'crosses' emphasises their importance reflecting crosses within the book. It was also found within the book all references to Noughts were always written completely in lowercase whereas Crosses always had a capital letter at the beginning. 

Placing the text on the back cover meant having to shape the blurb around the penny on the back cover. It was found that the text on the back cover wasn't going to fit unless the design was moved down slightly. Placing the reviews on the back cover would mean having to place them in the bottom right corner, however the bar code would interfere with this so had to be moved over to allow more room for the reviews. When orientating the text to the left this meant that the end of the blurb would have to be moved to the right of the coin where there was enough space, which made the flow of blurb look odd. 

Orientating the text to the right means that the blurb is able to flow around the coin much better.

The right orientation of the blurb means that the reviews were also made to be right orientated, both for consistency and to help the text fit within the space.

Within the title using a mixture of bold and regular weights creates a contrast and emphasises 'crosses' as more important.

Orientating the front cover typography to the right in the same way as the back cover creates consistency across the whole design. Reducing the size of  'noughts' also creates more contrast between the two words. 

Rather than setting the title type all in capital letters it was decided to use parts of the title variation that reflects how the words are written within the book, with noughts in lowercase and crosses all in capitals. Setting the two words on two levels creates a separation between noughts and crosses which is also explored within the book through prejudice and segregation. The coin on the spine means that the title had to be adapted to contrast with the image behind.

Removing the coin on the spine makes the title much easier to read. 

To create further contrast it was considered that noughts could be set in white, however this is not as legible on the grey background.

Bubble Design 

For the bubble design it was considered that the typography would have to be quite light to fit in with the delicacy of the bubbles. It was also considered that things are more likely to rise if they are lighter and more likely to fall if heavier. From this it was thought that Crosses could be set in a light typeface and Noughts in a heavier one to suggest how they will never rise. 

It was considered that the key information within the design such as the title and blurb could be placed within the bubbles.

One of my own pre-existing images of the sky was used for the new cover, which was edited to further enhance the blue within the image. 

It was found that when text was placed within a bubble the gradient areas interfered with the text and made some of it bolder. To avoid this the text had to be adapted so there was a larger margin around the text within the bubble.

Using black and white for the typography within the design reflected the issues of race within the book however in a subtle and delicate way. The blurb text was tried in both black and white however one stood out too much in comparison to the rest of the design, whilst the other was not as legible. 

Placing the title typography so that the two lines of text are separated by the cloud line reflects the seperation between noughts and crosses. Flipping the image horizontally meant there was less cloud on the back cover allowing more room for blue sky making the text to stand out more. 

Removing the bubble from behind the blurb allowed the blurb to stand out much more. The positioning of the bubble however is odd and the shape of the blurb now does not have to reflect that of a bubble.

Removing all the bubble from the back cover loses the link with the front cover and the overall concept, however allows plenty of room for the text.

Varying the orientation of the different elements within the blurb reflects the wispy shape of the clouds within the image. 

Overlapping text over some of the bubbles creates a sense of depth within the design, this is emphasised further through the use of small and large bubbles which create the impression that they are floating away.

Altering the blurb further makes the shape of the text look less deliberate and more organic. Making the reviewers white rather than black highlights the actual review more. 

 Water in Oil Idea 

Within the design it was decided that the typography would have to reflect some elements of the shapes within the image. To reflect noughts it was considered that the typeface could have rounded finials to soften the forms of the letters a simulate the water droplets within the image. For the crosses it was decided that the finials on the typeface would be much sharper to reflect the angular nature of a cross. 

It was considered that typographic elements within the design could be clumped together in a similar way to how the water droplets have in the image. The mix in line length of information would also reflect how there are small and large droplets. This effect could be emphasised in the title, also separating the two halves of the title would also suggest how noughts and crosses actively stay away from one another and don't mix. It was found that the typeface for the cover would have to be much lighter than the one above because it looked quite bold especially being white on black. Quicksand Book had rounded finials despite being so thin, combining the weight and shapes wanted within the typeface.

Having a lighter typeface and a bolder one creates contrast within the design and allows the crosses to be emphasised more suggesting importance. The typography in this design was centred on reflecting the water droplets within the image rather than making a distinction between the noughts and crosses. However the crosses bolder typeface, Quicksand Bold, looked quite childish because the rounded finials were more obvious. Elements such as the authors name and the '&' were set in the opposite typeface to what the title words were set in to create contrast and to make all the elements stand out. The placement of the text on the back is quite loose to reflect the organic quality of the image, also the text had to be positioned so that the white text was on the black background so it was legible. Using the same typefaces as the cover allowed emphasis to be place on the reviews, however the light typeface for blurb may not be as legible.

Aligning the text centrally and making the text shape more rounded, it was thought would reflect the shape of the water droplets in the background. Using a more regular weight rather than a light type for the blurb meant it stood out much more.

When adding the spine text it was found that some elements of the title conflicted with the imagery behind making it hard for parts of the title to be read as well as others. The title on the spine carries over the design from the cover to create consistency.  

The type for 'Crosses' was changed to Semplicita Pro Medium, which had more angular finials to better reflect the features of a cross. This was also changed for the reviews to match, however the increased size, which had aimed to make them stand out more, overlapped with the imagery too much. Adding a black bar down the spine meant the title could stand out more.

Changing the blurb back to the lighter typeface reflected the title type and created greater contrast within the design. Adapting the shape of the blurb so the elements fit in a fluid shape between the bubbles better reflected the essence of the image behind. However the top section of the blurb was too square and clunky against the margin.

This was changed by varying the indents of the text to create varied ends on both sides of the text block. Varying the typefaces within the reviews also makes the actual comments stand out much more.

Moving the 'Not Suitable for Younger Readers' up above the barcode allows it to be more legible and stand out. The 'Malorie Blackman' typeface was changed to Semplicita Pro Medium to match one of the typefaces used on the rest of the design.