The Brief

The week, we were tasked to choose an article, and create a double page spread showing the first two pages of the article. We then had to create a web page design for the article, if it was to be viewed on an iPad.

Research

 

 

 

Before even choosing an article, I began researching layouts which I believed to be successful. I collected these and looked at what aspects of each layout I liked. I then took the one which I preferred overall and analysed it. I also had a look at some iPad layouts. I found that I was mostly drawn to spreads which are very image heavy. I thought that was a really good way of catching peoples attention. I also liked when the pull quotes and heading are a different font from the body text, as it creates a nice contrast within the layout.

Initial Ideas

At this point I still wasn’t sure what article I wasn’t sure what article I was going to choose, but I started to create some thumbnails of potential layouts. I was more drawn to the layout which had an image on the entire left hand page and all of the text on the left hand side. I felt that the large image would catch the readers attention but the body text would balance out the weight of the layout.

Development

I was at this point I decided which article I was going to design a spread for. I went for the design and sustainability article, as a design student, its something I’m very interested in and constantly need to think about.

Even though I was pretty sure I knew what layout I wanted to go with, I thought I should experiment with a few more. I created a few mock ups of my favourite layouts to see what looked the most visually impactful in reality and not just in theory. After doing this, both me and the few course mates I asked agreed that the layout I was originally going to go with is the most successful.

 

Final Design

I made a few adjustments to the design I liked best to finalise it. It was minor things such as moving the name of the author, and changing the textbox of the pull quote to black and the font to white. I felt these really small improvements lead to the spread being an overall success and looking quite professional.

final design-2nu3no7

When it came to the iPad screen, I wanted to keep it quite similar to the spread, however because it was going from two pages to one, I had to condense it. I took the graphic and placed it as a banner then only had two columns for the  body text and one for the pull quote. I believe this stopped it getting too cluttered and kept it condensed.

ipad pdfff-1gb16ao

People are constantly being influenced by signs and social cues around them, sometimes without even realising it. We were tasked to play with the familiar formats of them and create something a bit more interesting.

Initial Research

We started by looking at existing signs, what each shape and colour meant. We thought this could be interesting to change up, to confuse people. For example, if people see a red, circular sign, their initial reaction is to stop, or not enter, but what if it said to go that way. We then began experimenting with different signs to see what caught more peoples attention, but most people were inclined to just ignore the signs and walk on past. This is probably due to the fact that people are so used to seeing signs every day, so we decided not to do a standard sign and instead create something more physical.

Initial ideas

We initially started playing about with interactive ideas, such as the floor is lava, or people following things, as we found the natural want for humans to follow things and revert back to a childhood state quite interesting,  however this has been done before and we wanted to create an idea which was a bit more original. We did like the playful nature of those ideas and wanted to incorporate humour or a playfulness into our final design. We then began to look at the signs which already exist and are around us daily, signs that no one even thinks twice about and tried to think up ways to make them more noticeable. We then began experimenting with this and creating 3d figures which related to the signs.

Development

Before going ahead with our idea, we thought it was best to test it. We created a model of what we thought the final product could be then placed it in the corridor. We then observed people walking past it to see their reaction and collected data accordingly. From doing this, the data suggested we should make the figures bigger and create something to make it a bit more obvious as to what the purpose of them was, as some people didn’t quite get it. We also decided we should paint them to make them look a bit nicer and fit in with the environment.

Final Design

To try and get rid of the confusion, we created signs, which linked to the figure. The signs were based on standard signage, which is already in use, but missing the figure. The 3D figures we made were all in some way defying the sign, or causing the problem, as if they had escaped from the sign and were rebelling. We then created different figures out of cardboard, we spray painted them white, to fit in with the building, but then outlined them in black so they wouldn’t completely blend in and still be somewhat noticeable. We then placed them about a corridor in the building and watched peoples responses

Conclusion

To conclude, I believe our project was an overall successful in capturing the attention of people. We aimed to get people more aware of their surroundings, and these signs definitely did that. People had a very good response and found them quite amusing. Their positioning around the corridor also caused people to follow an unusual path, trying to see all of them, as opposed to walking in a straight line.

Why I Chose This Song

For this project we were given a list of songs and required to pick one to create an album cover which accurately reflected the specific genre. Usually when I’m designing, I like my design to be quite polished and structured, so for this project, I wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone and learn to be a bit more free and expressive with my design. For this reason,  chose New Rose by The Damned, as the punk nature of this song allowed me to do this.

Inspiration

I really liked the beliefs of the punk movement. The sense of rebellion and not caring what people think has the potential to create a lot of really interesting designs. I enjoyed looking into Jamie Reid. I took a lot of inspiration from his lettering and bold unapologetic nature of his work. I also took the inspiration for the colour scheme from some posters of old punk events that I found.

Initial Ideas

To start the design process, I began sketching out some ideas. I decided I wanted to include a skull. to reflect the punk style, a rose, as a nod to the song title and lettering which reflected the style of Jamie Reid’s work. I experimented with different layouts to see what was most effective. I also wanted to create a really bold and intense background which would reflect the style of punks, so I did a lot of experimenting with acrylics to get a really effective background.

Development

From the initial ideas, I chose my favourite aspects and created them. After doing this I did a bit of experimenting with different  layouts and alignments to see which would be the most successful. I found I liked the skull and rose in opposite corners, but preferred the lettering to be at different angles so thought id take those aspects into the final design. I also thought I should change the skull as it wasn’t as bold and impactful as id like it to be.

Final Design

After compiling all of my favourite aspects of my development, my album cover ended up looking like this. It meets everything I was trying to achieve and I believe it is successful.

 

I found this module to be very beneficial to me. I don’t usually take the time out to just sit and draw as much as I should, but by doing this module I have learned the importance of that. Its also pushed the boundaries of what’s considered a drawing and made the word a lot more open to interpretation.

Blind Drawings

I really enjoyed the blind drawing activity. By doing this it helped take away some of the stresses of doing a portrait. Whenever I’ve done portraits in the past, I’ve found it a really tedious activity. I always wanted to get everything right, but by doing this I learned to be a lot more expressive with it and that it doesn’t need to be a really high quality realistic image. It also taught me that you don’t need to spend ages to get an idea down on paper, and a really simple quick drawing is all you need to get your ideas across. I also really liked the concept of layering different drawings, both of the same person and different. It allowed for some really interesting lines and forms and created a nice depth in the images.

Interview/Quick Portrait

This was a really good way of getting to know your subject. Questioning someone while they’re drawing you is quite an odd concept, but it worked. with someone asking you questions while you were drawing them, it distracted you from the pressures of drawing a portrait and lead to it being quite an enjoyable experience.

Circuit Drawings

By adding the circuit to the drawing, it added another dimension and element of interest to the drawing. I had very a very basic knowledge of circuits and this project helped deepen my knowledge and understanding of it. At first, we were given conductive ink to draw a circuit within a portrait, however, there was too much resistance in the ink and didn’t allow for the energy to pass through easily enough. Due to this I was forced to use wires instead. I wanted the lights to work well in the portrait and not look out of place, so decided to make them earphones. I pierced the paper to allow for the led’s to show and allow for the circuit to be hidden to prevent anything being taken away from the image.

Visual Personality Profiles/Layered Portrait/Interview

This task required me to interview my subject on her likes and dislikes. I thought this made the portrait a lot more personal. My portrait skills aren’t great so I wanted to create quite a graphicy drawing. I drew the basic outline of the subjects face so she was still recognisable but avoided drawing the facial features. I then coloured her face red as its her favourite colour. Autumn was her favourite season and Halloween her favourite event, so I wanted to include these things in a portrait. I went with an autumn colour scheme and included autumn trees. I also added a bat for a spooky element and owls and a dog as she likes them animals.

Observation Drawing and Mapping

I actually found the daily drawing quite enjoyable. It caused me to take time out of my day to sit and draw, which I don’t normally do. I completed 5 different drawings which depicted one aspect of that day. I didn’t want to just do realistic drawings, but instead create something a bit different. I enjoyed experimenting with different colours and mediums. I really liked using bold colours as I found it to be more visually impactful. I also really liked the simple shapes and forms and didn’t want to overcomplicate the drawings by adding extra detail.

When it came to the mapping, I found it quite difficult to draw a literal map depicting my movements, so I took a different approach for most of the drawings. I had a bit of fun with it, creating a pirate map, going from home to work. I also liked the idea of a pictorial map, where I drew images which represented each thing I done that day. This was almost like a pictorial diary and it was nice to look back on and remember what I done that day.

Pictorial CV

For my pictorial cv, I decided to base it on a mountain. I started with my earliest achievements at the bottom and as you move up the mountain you get to see my most recent achievements before getting to the peek which is my biggest goal, and when ill peek in life. I drew images within the mountain which were representative of the things which I have done in my life. I also put some employability skills which I have learned over the years within the clouds to show that I haven’t just done these things for the fun of it, but in fact done them to better myself as a person and make myself more desirable to employers. I thought it was quite a fun concept and its symbolic which enhances its success and meaning.

Character

I wanted to create a character which was quite fun and silly, so I went with a monster. I cut a square out of his stomach and replaced it with a bit of tracing paper so that the light would diffract. it was also able to be disassembled and flattened.

Story Board

I wanted to create a story which could include the Arduino within it. I created a story in which there is a monster who feels left out because his light wont go on, but all the other monsters lights are on. Within my Arduino design, I programmed it so that the light would turn on when a button is pressed, so that in my story, the monster could find his light, press it, and the light would go on. This created a parallel between the story and the physical character which I thought worked quite well.

 

Arduino

This was the first time id ever used Arduino. It took me a while to get used to but I believe the knowledge I have gained will greatly improve the quality of my models. I struggled a lot with the coding, and needed a lot of help to get it done, however I quickly grasped wiring up the circuit.

 

Sketchbook Tour

linked below is a video showing you all of the pages in my sketchbook.

https://vimeo.com/user25008678/review/298857129/547cc991c5

 

 

Our Aim

Navigation is something which is essential to our daily lives. Everyone travels and everyone has places to be, but what happens when you don’t have a set destination and are just going on a walk. The majority of people with dogs will take them on the same walk every day, we wanted to change this.

Initial Ideas

We started off by looking at older methods of navigation such as a sextant. We were initially going to create a simple hand held device based on a sextant which would point the user in the correct direction, but then decided to make it a dog accessory instead. We started looking at a harness which the dog could wear which would have an arrow on it to show the direction the user should go, but after consideration we decided to explore the possibility of a collar instead as some dogs don’t like harnesses so the collar would make it accessible to a wider audience.

Development

The first idea was to have a collar which had arrows on it that would light up to show the direction in which the user should go. We thought this would be a good way of navigating, but wanted to make the design sleeker. We simplified the arrows to a light bar. We believed this was a better looking design.

Final Model

I created a CAD model on rhino. this shows what  the final product would look like. The four light bars would light up to show which way you would go, far left would be go left, middle left would be stay left, and so on. The colour of the lights is customisable and the collar itself also comes in a range of colours in order to make it desirable to the most potential users. It fastens at the back with a simple clip and is suitable to wear no matter which activity the dog is performing.

The App

We decided to create an app which went along with the product to make it easier to use. The app would be relatively simple and easy to use so that its accessible to everyone.

The app would have multiple features to ensure the best experience for the user. There is the main feature which is the route calculator. For this you put in the distance you want to travel, things you may want to pass or avoid and then the app will calculate a route for you which you haven’t previously walked. It does also allow for the user to choose the location.

You are able to go back on and look over the journeys you’ve been on. While you’re out on the walk you are also able to go on and see where you are, while you’re on this feature it’ll pop up with other users round about you and dog friendly establishments near you.

The Site

For my space, I wanted to get people who are living in close proximity more connected. As someone who lives in student accommodation, I have found that its sometimes difficult to connect with people living in your building as everyone’s always busy doing their own thing. I wanted to change this. There is a patch of grass just outside my flat which I thought would be the perfect site to bring people together.

Initial Idea

I wanted to create a way of bringing all of the flats together, and I thought an interactive notice board would’ve been a good idea. I was going to have small buildings, representing each flat round the board. If someone was having a flat party or wanted people over they could go down and entre their flat in the board and the building which represented their flat would light up, but I wasn’t sure how many people would use this or how effective it would be.

Developing the Idea

I believed the interactive board would have a positive response but wasn’t sure how effective it would have been at connecting people, so I started thinking about my experiences and the times in my life where I’ve felt most connected to strangers. I thought back to my Duke of Edinburgh experience where I was with a variety of people with all different likes and interests that I didn’t previously know and we all sat together at night round a fire and had great conversations and laughs. Campfires have a way of bringing people together so I wanted to incorporate this into my design so created a fire pit, but still keep the interactive board.

 

Developing the Elements of my Design

Initially I was just going to have the interactive board as a notice board where different flats could leave messages for each other but then I had the idea that it could also be used for films and music. I also thought the addition of a camera would be interesting as there could be different fires round all the student accommodations and you could FaceTime the other buildings.

 

I wanted to create a firepit which people could sit in and talk. The firepit would be dug into the ground so that it would be protected by the wind, there would also be a ledge round the outside of the circle to allow for people to sit around. I also think there should be a roof on it to prevent the pit filling up with water. I developed the roof so it was at an angle to allow for water to run off and the triangles had gaps between them to allow for ventilation.

 

Final Model

This is my final model, as you can see the fire pit takes up most of the area. I wanted to make it quite large to ensure a large number of people could gather round it. The screen is also quite large so that everyone can see it. I think this would be a really good way of bringing people together and would work well to eliminate loneliness and connect people.

 Team Activity

Before starting the journey of designing a product inspired by Richard Sapper’s Tizio Lamp, I participated in a group project in which we created a model of it out of basic materials such as cardboard and foam board. From this experience I learned the advantage of working with others and how vital their input is to lead to the success of a product. I also learned the value of sketching things out and planning before you jump right in and start making as things can get quite chaotic without proper planning. It was also valuable to learn the properties of the materials we would be using for this product before we started designing. There is a surprising number of ways in which cardboard can be manipulated which I wasn’t aware of before this project.

 

Initial Sketches

I really liked how the way in which the lamp moved and felt that movement could be useful in other products. I decided on creating a table. There are a lot of people these days who are attracted to the minimalist lifestyle and are dramatically downsizing the space in which they’re living so I wanted to create a table which was useful to that lifestyle. Initially it was just going to be a table which could be folded down and easily sored away, but then I came up with the idea of it being multi functional. I still wanted to keep the idea of it being easily stored, but also be able to become a coffee table. I also explored the potential of wheels to allow for ease of movement and surface detail which would allow it to further reflect the aesthetics of the Tizio lamp.

 

Model

Initially I was going to have my table top connected to the legs but after creating the model quickly discovered that wasn’t possible for the movement which I wanted to achieve. I then made the table top and the legs separate components. The legs sit at an x and the table sits on top. the two sides allow for it to be moved easier and makes it more tidy as a coffee table.

 

To convert the table, the top is first removed,

the legs are then pushed down so they sit flat on the ground

and then the table top is flipped over and placed on top. it can then either be used as a coffee table or stored away neatly.

Final Drawings

The sizes of the table I got from comparing the sizes of similar products. I wanted the table top to be reasonably large so it could be used for a multitude of things. The table, when at its highest height, would be the ideal height for a dining table, so people can pull up chairs and eat at it, but can also put it in front of a couch and use it as a coffee table when at its lowest. The legs of the table would be made from painted polycarbonate, the same material which the Tizio lamp is made from. the table top would be a stained hardwood such as oak. this would make the table more visually interesting and will less likely get scuffed when there’s a multitude of items being put on it. I believe there is still a lot of room for development in this product, and its far from meeting its full potential. I could introduce chairs or make it more compact, the opportunities are endless.