After Design Practice 3 i though my rationale would be 'Research driven publications with a focus on typography, layout and its relationship with photography,' However coming into FMP and writing my initial briefs I didnt feel the need to involve photography. My rationale changed to 'Research driven publications focusing on typography and its relationship with layout.' This focus has stayed the same throughout the FMP. Every brief i have completed has had a reflection on my rationale. However not every brief has been as successful as i hoped.
The concept behind Wood/Metal/Plastic brief is good, in my opinion. The idea that students should get a pack to open and pull out posters and booklets. Booklets that can be folded in different ways and connect in different ways for students to engage with sounds like a great idea. However although the typefaces i designed for the brief, the posters and packaging im happy with, the booklets didn't work out as i initially planned. The stock i used tears after folding and the poster space bled into the negative space where the text it. Along with this the joints to connect pages to different pages doesn't work very effectively. However after contacting different printers i was able to receive advice on stocks which can be seen on my blog.
Not all my briefs were a disappointment, in fact theres a few which i think were very successful. My boxing posters turned out very well and directly connect to my rationale. As I began the designs for the posters i thought they had to be readable to work. Having made them i realised that they work very well as decoration. They are very aesthetically and although they are very readable they still complete the brief. Aimed at boxing fans and to be a reflection on specific boxers fighting records these posters work well as memorabilia .
Another successful brief is the Wood Joint brief. Aimed at school students to educate them on different wood joints, on how to construct them and what they are used for. The packaging is an actual comb joint box and the content cleverly carries on the them of wood. Having designed a typeface for this brief based on the lineal shapes that can be seen from wood joints. It clearly connotes wood and aesthetically looks coherent to the packaging. On the down side the typeface isn't very legible which is something i had to address. Rather than changing the typeface which is successful in the way it relates to the content of the brief i simply introduced subheadings to reinforce the typeface.
As far as skills go this final project has enabled me to further develop my skills in using layout and typography effectively in communicating message. I feel i've become ever better at making things look good, but more importantly im increasingly better at making sure my work effectively communicates to a specific audience. What i've learnt over this year is the importance of research, up until the end of the second year i would guess what is appropriate, and i would design out of my head in the hope it would be original. Now when i begin a brief i research into my audience to see what design works for them. I also research into designers that work in similar ways to myself so i can feed off their ideas, take elements of their inspirational work and develop it into something that works for me and my audience. I believe its this kind of working that creates successful design. It's these skills and logical thinking that i will be taking with me from this degree.
