What skills do you think you have developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?
I have continued to improve my design, and production skills throughout this module, however I do feel that I am not totally satisfied with the way I have managed myself during this module. The most important things I have learnt from this module has been the application of theoretical ideas in my design, actually fabricating a final product in a refined way. I have also improved the way I photograph and document finished work, which is still not perfect but an improvement on previous modules.
What approaches to methods of design production have you developed and how have they informed your design development process?
On this module the first step of design production came from a contextual and theoretical understanding of my subject. In fact I became very involved in the subject, so much so that I lost vast amount of time to researching the subject, reading on for far too long into tangents that I never needed to research in the first place. This impacted on the way I produced the final product, as I had a great general knowledge on the UK and US space industries, however comparatively little time to complete the work I wanted to produce. Even during design focused sessions I would find myself watching an hour long documentary on youtube about the development of Saturn 5 for example, a big waste of time, but very interesting. As a result of researching a good number of visual identity manuals I really did understand exactly what I needed to make a successful one myself, this was another example of how the prolonged research sessions probably sped up the design process a great deal, eliminating any worries I had about starting the large publication.
What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?
The main thing I have enjoyed about this particular module has been the ability to choose a subject I am really interested in and really produce some work that means something to me. I have also greatly enjoyed researching the new subject expanding my knowledge. At the same time I have avoided going down route 1 and just making a publication about space, rather I have contextualised my interest in space exploration into a working redesign. I think my strengths in this subject have been in realising a good concept and making it work.
What Weaknesses can you Identify in your work?
My weakness in this module was a lack of discipline when it came to getting carried away with research, spending too long reading and watching videos about space, even when I was suppose to be designing. This really cut into my design time and my ability to follow the set session structure where I found myself very behind. I think I managed to rectify a few of these problems by powering through at the end but at the same time I could have always done more If I had focused on the task at hand and followed my schedule. Both in the designs themselves and the response and evaluation of them.
Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?
- Follow my plan to the letter. I had a really detailed schedule that took me a full day to draw up, documenting exactly what I was suppose to do and when. I found it very difficult to stick too, even though it was designed to be possible. I just need to develop the discipline to work through a studio day, come home and continue instead of just logging out as soon as I leave college.
- I would have liked to have started the publication over Easter instead of when we got back. The most important thing that I need to improve is time management and the ability to say no to things that will take my eye off the ball.
- Blog studio sessions and the discussions we have had in them. Basically I would like to bring my laptop to these sessions in the future and blog about them then and there so the notes I make aren't lost and the ideas I generate in these sessions are not lost with them.
- I would like to expand my knowledge of other designers and bring their work into design practice more. I can gather a lot of other examples of work and ideas that are floating around out there from a range of sources and interests of mine however I find it hard to find many designers that I can talk about in any great detail. I think this will improve the way I think about the design industry in general and give me a more contextual grounding in design itself.
Tuesday, 21 May 2013
Monday, 20 May 2013
WHAT IS GOOD// Final Photos of Identity Guide and Public Info Booklet with Evaluations
The UKSA Visual Identity Manual.
This is the centrepiece of this module for me, it is the combination of a whole lot of research and critical understanding of a subject that I found it hard to wrap my head around. Although I found it fairly smooth to design in the end I feel this was directly down to the good amount of research I completed before I started. From having a very basic knowledge of the space industry, and virtually no knowledge of the UK space industry I can now talk about it quite fluently and I think this manual is a testament to that. I am also really happy with the visual intelligence of the logo itself, it subtly nods towards the professional slickness of the NASA worm logo, without being a copy and the text sits within two circles which represent a basic principle of physics in space; the way smaller bodies with a lower mass orbit larger bodies. Firstly this represents a planet or sun with an orbiting body, [ Earth and the Moon] [The sun and Earth] [Jupiter and titian] it doesnt really matter. The second thing that the logo represents is how the UKSA is a governing body, that helps and matures smaller organisations and startups, it is the large group in the middle supporting the new idea, or the entrepreneurial startup.
The content of the manual explores the rules of the identity re-brand, the application of typefaces and their fonts and finishes with a wide range of examples of the identity applied to a range of contexts. This means that the manual could be used by anyone; from an employee smashing out a small office poster to a design studio building the new website, anyone could read this manual and get a feel or solid instruction in how the identity works in real life. It explores a more mature and a more inspiring version of the UKSA than what is currently out there and I really do believe that if the organisation used this identity it would be viewed as less of a government project and as more of a proper, scientific organisation, which is what it deserves. The aim of this project was to rebrand the UKSA so that the public would view it in a better light, for the reasons stated above I believe the project has been successful.
The Booklets as a Set
When I designed the second booklet it was obvious that I had to follow the rules I had just made in the visual identity manual. This was a great opportunity to use the rules and apply them to a real world product to see how they work out. This also produced a booklet that works with the manual as a set, and it explores a move that I think the UKSA should take; a serious redesign, with an empasis on informing the public about the advantages of space exploration. With public suport, there would be less backlash against government funding of the space program and hopeful more applications will get through so we can see real innovation.
The Public Information Booklet: Why We Explore.
The purpose of Why We Explore is twofold. Firstly it was designed to prove that the rules in the visual identity manual work in a real life context. Secondly it was to explore if it is possible for the UKSA to get more of the public on side when it comes to spending money on space exploration. The publication remains short because it is designed to be distributed into a busy public domain, where people don't have to much time to read a long winded document, at the same time it is full of facts and figures explaining why we should invest more in space exploration and how health it is for our economy and our future. Key features are presented in easy to read graphs whilst reading the body copy will take longer but be more convincing. I considered stitching the pages for binding but settled for the simple stable binding on the spine because I thought that that was how the booklet would appear in public, it is a quick read, throw away item, that would be cheap for the UKSA to produce so I thought that this would be more suitable. Again I was pleased to have done all the research for this document in advance, and I think it reconfirms that I have really gained an understanding into my subject, I have even written I bit about the SKYLON project in the back as en example of an inspirational role of the UKSA and the future of space travel. I included this story because it demonstrates a really exciting prospect of the future of space travel, the first spaceplane that operates like something out of star trek. I the booklets have been generally successful in fulfilling their purpose. If I had more time it would have been great to generate a range of them.
This is the centrepiece of this module for me, it is the combination of a whole lot of research and critical understanding of a subject that I found it hard to wrap my head around. Although I found it fairly smooth to design in the end I feel this was directly down to the good amount of research I completed before I started. From having a very basic knowledge of the space industry, and virtually no knowledge of the UK space industry I can now talk about it quite fluently and I think this manual is a testament to that. I am also really happy with the visual intelligence of the logo itself, it subtly nods towards the professional slickness of the NASA worm logo, without being a copy and the text sits within two circles which represent a basic principle of physics in space; the way smaller bodies with a lower mass orbit larger bodies. Firstly this represents a planet or sun with an orbiting body, [ Earth and the Moon] [The sun and Earth] [Jupiter and titian] it doesnt really matter. The second thing that the logo represents is how the UKSA is a governing body, that helps and matures smaller organisations and startups, it is the large group in the middle supporting the new idea, or the entrepreneurial startup.
The content of the manual explores the rules of the identity re-brand, the application of typefaces and their fonts and finishes with a wide range of examples of the identity applied to a range of contexts. This means that the manual could be used by anyone; from an employee smashing out a small office poster to a design studio building the new website, anyone could read this manual and get a feel or solid instruction in how the identity works in real life. It explores a more mature and a more inspiring version of the UKSA than what is currently out there and I really do believe that if the organisation used this identity it would be viewed as less of a government project and as more of a proper, scientific organisation, which is what it deserves. The aim of this project was to rebrand the UKSA so that the public would view it in a better light, for the reasons stated above I believe the project has been successful.
The Booklets as a Set
When I designed the second booklet it was obvious that I had to follow the rules I had just made in the visual identity manual. This was a great opportunity to use the rules and apply them to a real world product to see how they work out. This also produced a booklet that works with the manual as a set, and it explores a move that I think the UKSA should take; a serious redesign, with an empasis on informing the public about the advantages of space exploration. With public suport, there would be less backlash against government funding of the space program and hopeful more applications will get through so we can see real innovation.
The Public Information Booklet: Why We Explore.
The purpose of Why We Explore is twofold. Firstly it was designed to prove that the rules in the visual identity manual work in a real life context. Secondly it was to explore if it is possible for the UKSA to get more of the public on side when it comes to spending money on space exploration. The publication remains short because it is designed to be distributed into a busy public domain, where people don't have to much time to read a long winded document, at the same time it is full of facts and figures explaining why we should invest more in space exploration and how health it is for our economy and our future. Key features are presented in easy to read graphs whilst reading the body copy will take longer but be more convincing. I considered stitching the pages for binding but settled for the simple stable binding on the spine because I thought that that was how the booklet would appear in public, it is a quick read, throw away item, that would be cheap for the UKSA to produce so I thought that this would be more suitable. Again I was pleased to have done all the research for this document in advance, and I think it reconfirms that I have really gained an understanding into my subject, I have even written I bit about the SKYLON project in the back as en example of an inspirational role of the UKSA and the future of space travel. I included this story because it demonstrates a really exciting prospect of the future of space travel, the first spaceplane that operates like something out of star trek. I the booklets have been generally successful in fulfilling their purpose. If I had more time it would have been great to generate a range of them.
WHAT IS GOOD// Final Photos of Research Book and Evaluation
The research book is a document that details the things that I found most interesting and relevant to my project at the start of the project. Obviously the content and the research changed over time but this is a general overview of what I had been looking at and what got me interested in the first place. My 'what is good?' was space exploration so this booklet explores the fundamentals of space exploration in Europe and the UK and goes on to look at exciting new developments finishing with my plan for the publications and some examples of other work. The cover is very simple and follows a design aesthetic that I have been developing to label any project related support work that I produce, to see what I mean by this have a look at my responsive manual. Its a good way to mark up non-design research and analysis work, whilst separating it from the actual design practice segment so the two dont get confused. I printed the research book on a thick cartridge sock which gave a very unusual textured finish on the laser printer, then stitch binded the spine, creating a booklet. The booklet is fairly comprehensive also and covers a wide range of interesting topics. I did actually use the information written here in my briefs and I understand that at some times this book is quite dry in its tone, but it covers a lot of topics in a very small space, hugely informative for the understanding and production of the design end of this brief. The booklet also features large photos on each dps which are related to the text opposite, this uniform design layout works at making the book readable, but it also works as a great picture book with some really interesting content.
THE WALL// Final Poster Image and Evaluation
The Wall
The wall was an interesting and very short brief for me as I turned this around in one afternoon and morning. I was fairly surprised that it was so well received because of this, saying that it was great that people liked it. Personally its charm has mostly worn off on me how, I do like the concept and the final product, but I dont really know what to think of it now. In a way I feel that although it looks cool the first time you see it I wish I had spent a bit more time developing the idea so that it works like that every time you look at it. I know that if I had given this a bit more consideration it could have been better. Also to get all the text and shapes to work like that was very technically challenging, really really hard to understand and design, I wish that this was more evident in the design because it looks like I've just stuck coloured card down behind the front sheet rather than designing the maze that is actually back there. One thing I really do like is the stencil version of Edmondsans that I had to create to make sure counters weren't punched out by the lasercutter, it looks pretty space age, perhaps something I could have used in the UKSA brief.
WHAT IS GOOD?// Binding UKSA Identity Manual
In the morning I have printed and organised the UKSA Brand Identity Manual. The manual was printed on bulky newsprint because this produces a nice, semi-coated feel if its put through the laser-printer. I am slightly disappointed by the printers reproduction of the black colours however the blue identity colour is pretty spot on. Another advantage of using the laser printer is that it produces superior duplex prints over the digital room due to it being automated, and the text is much finer and does not bleed at all, even on this fibrous stock.
In this image I have securely clamped down the loose pages and have started drilling 11 holes down the spine in preparation for a japanese bind. The danger here is that if a single page shifts it will basically be ruined and I will have to print it again, which is not really an option given the time contraints. It is remarkably easy for the book to shift at this larger size which is why I went a bit crazy with the clamps. This image also shows how I have trimmed a bout an inch off the spine side of the book. the other three sides will be trimmed after the pages have been bound.
I japanese bound the book using the waxy black thread, I chose this because it is much stronger than the white and will be hidden by a cover anyway. I am binding this book with the same technique I used for the Fedrigoni book in the responsive brief however I have managed to make a much stronger bind here, which I guess shows I've got better at binding since then. This type of bind is suitable for the weight and size of this book, I almost perfect bound however this book is too skinny and tall for this to have been truly necessary. The japanese bind is stronger but has left me with quite a wide area for the binding alone, plus a bit extra so the content is not lost in the binding area. I took a bit of a gamble here that the area used for binding was not to thin that the book would fall apart but not too thick that the binding area would be much to wide and eat up the content on the inside fold. I managed to get this just about right with carful planning and a bit of luck.
I have used a small amount of double sided sticky tape to secure the binding cover in place and applied a good amount of pva to the spine to secure the binding. This should make the spine very durable. I then stretched the binding cover material over the spine and around the other side. The material I have used here is designed to cover card to create hardback book covers, I've sort of used it as binding tape for this book and I think its has been pretty effective visually and structurally. It took me a while to measure everything up and cut the material to the right size before applying it but I managed to get it spot on, which is lucky as trimming afterwards would have been impossible.
Rather than use the big book cutter that is apparently getting rather inaccurate I decided to trim the other sides of the book with a big craft knife and ruler. This was nerve-racking to say the least but the end result is a much cleaner and even cut. One thing that would have been impossible on the big cutter would be getting the weight of the blue boarder lines the exact same width on all four sides, as well as making sure that they are completely straight. With the craft knife a ruler this aspect has been much more accurate.
Im really pleased with how good the book looks now. If you compare it to the test book I put together to test the size and layout its a huge improvement, any quality that the laser printer subtracted from the overal look and feel is reimbursed by the quality of the paper and the binding. What I am also very happy about is that I managed to find an off-cut of the exact material that I wanted to cover the binding; its great because it matches the 60% K colour which is one of the visual identity colours outlined within the book itself.
Saturday, 18 May 2013
Friday, 17 May 2013
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