Where I'm currently at - Studio Brief 1

For this Project I have decided to research further into the gestalt principles. Highlighting on similarity, continuation, proximity, closure, symmetry, figure and ground. The booklet will follow a set of rules and principles its self. One being the van de graaf canon to create perfect harmony between pages. Second will be a variety of modernist principles set by vignelli within the vignelli canon. These elements will consist of using helvetica bold for titles with the say point size as the text or double so in this case 12 or 24. Helvetica is used to inform quickly and efficiently. The texts its self with be aligned left to right this is the best for readability as its the way our eye reads texts
Page harmony throughout with gestalt principles showing book covers .


Things to consider in this booklet.

The type face used and why - Helvetica and georgia - taken from vignelli and muuf
The typesetting used and why - Taken from modernism and vignelli
The Layout - Van de Graaf canon
Images used - Used relevant images with old theory to create a good balance. maybe look for a spefic place to find all work .
Stock used - haven't decided
Binding used - haven't decided
Colours used - haven't decided maybe all in black and white

 

Brainstorms - Student Brief 1

The Secret Law of Page Harmony - Studio Brief 1 - Research/Ideas

This is a variety of systems created by a variety of individuals which all ended with the same result. It began with van de graaf and his creation of the van de graaf canon which is a series of lines used to create a perfect text box ever time. This system is best when used in a 2:3 ratio book. 

Villard de Wonnecourt’s devised a system known as Villard’s Figure to divide a straight line into logical and harmonious parts consisting of thirds, fourths, fifths and so on, infinitely. This meant bigger text boxes of still perfect ratio could be created. 

Raúl Rosarivo’s Gutenberg Canon realised that van de graafs canon was within a 9 by 9 square guide. This system could be applied to a larger amount of sizes however still worked best with 2:3 ratio's. 

Bringing us the the final system Tschichold’s Secret Canon is the one who realised that over these years all of the systems have resulted in the same thing, Instead of him taking this a disadvantaged as he just rediscovered he made it a advange using it with his secret canon. 

These grid systems are used throughout books to create a clear harmony throughout pages it is a key discipline within book publication, as our next project will revolve around publications I thought I could used this in conjunction with my gestalt principles and how these principles can be applied to book covers. I will over lay each of these grids showing the types through the ages and finish on a finalised version 

Gestalt Principles - Studio Brief 1- Ideas

1. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. 
   
3. 
   
4. 
   
5. Similarity
6. Continuation
7. Closure
8. Proximity
9. Figure/Ground
10. Symmetry and order

Similarity 

When objects look similar people often see elements as part of a pattern or group. The different elements can be shape, colour, size, texture or value. Similarity creates a larger sense of coherence through commonality in design. Elements can be emphasised when a pattern of similarity is broken, this is called anomaly. 

Continuation

This is the principle of drawing the eye along a path, line or curve. It can be used to direct the eye towards the next element within the composition. Creating good form and flow. An important element of good design. 

Closure

This is when objects are incomplete or the interior space of an element is not fully closed, our eyes fill in the missing information. This is used within stencilled art work but is also associated with logo forms.

Proximity 

This Principle uses close arrangements of elements to create group associations between objects. similar individual elements will tend to be perceived as a whole when placed closely together instead of separate elements. 

Figure and ground 

Figure and ground is using white space to create a sense of depth it can give illusion to something happening within the background of an image. 

Symmetry 

Put simply, this principle says that a composition should not provide a sense of disorder or imbalance, as otherwise the viewer will waste time trying to locate the missing element, or fix the problem, rather than focusing on the message or instruction.

I started to mock up some versions of this idea as a layout. 

Final mock ups of gestalt principles

Publication layout - Studio Brief 1 - Research

I love the different colours used within this publication throughout. Its manages to used different coloured stock throughout but somehow keeping it consistent and interesting. The diagonal cut through the colours breaks them up well. The images are set out well with lots of whitespace. 

Ways which 

- a foldable leaflet 

- a small booklet  

- foldable poster 

Form Storming - Studio Brief 1 - Research

Form Storming.

A series of methods used to help generate a high volume of ideas in order to create something original and relevant. I found this information in Graphic Design The New Basics by Ellen lepton and Jennifer Cole Phillips. There are four exercises One hundred iterations, Form storming templates, Dailies and Alter-ego.

The idea of One hundred iterations is to generate multiple iterations of one subject. Digging deeper into the subject at hand to exhaust the obvious solutions and lead to fresher ideas.

Form Storming templates is to find relevant subjects and projects. They can be used as inspiring vessels to capture, collect and curate visual and verbal ideas related to projects. A grid can be used to help distribute and arrange subject matter. This approach seems similar to researching etc.

Dailies the ongoing generative exercise encourages design thinking through a daily creative act. The rigour and momentum of creating a design a day helps build key discipline and time management skills.

Alterego is the idea of putting yourself into the mindset of a fictitious persona that amplifies, undermines or rediscovers an element of yourself then to design through this persona to create something outside the box, pushing boundrys.

Way finding - Evaluation - OUGD405

This was a complicated project for me. When trying to come up with an idea for this I really wanted to have the research behind me. This research helped me to consider materials with more importance. In my final resolution materials played a huge role, I decided to use bamboo plywood this was to create a sustainable way finding system throughout the centre. This is to appeal to the target audience whilst attracting a larger audience as this gives The Core brand a good reputation for good ethics. It also fitted into the interior well which from inspection had a large amount of wooden sections as spoke about previously adding onto the sheik feel. I used Helvetica throughout alongside simple icons however this was something I didn't pay a huge amount of attention to, I got these aspects of the wayfinding out of the way quickly this has worked in my favor and also not in my favor. It means I have not had alot to talk about when coming to type and icons but its also meant I could get thinking about more than just the type and icons as Helevtica is a perfectly suitable typeface not alot of time was necessary on the topic. This also works for the pictograms as The Core itself is not a huge shopping mall, so only a very basic pictogram range was needed such as toilet, fire exit, arrows etc. In additon to this my system was much more maeterials and typography based little icons where used as I they did not feel necessary. My final resolution is made to revolve around fitting what The Corse needs, this stems from The Core being a fairly newer shopping centre which is still expanding research showed that only very recently, creams, mooboo and others opened. They have stores out to be rented also. So what they needed was a very adaptable system to make things much more simpler when a new store moves in or something changes. My way finding allows through moveable signage, a simply to take add new stores and signs which can be applied to all types of walls. 

     What I really found to be a problem with this project was creating the mock-ups, due to my lack of Photoshop skills. I struggled to create the free standing bamboo boards. Using the bamboo complicated this further when compared to if I had used colours. This was because I couldn’t find a reliable wooden texture however I worked with what I could find.  Applying the signs to images was difficult when trying to get perspective correct, Another issue I faced was my photographs had come out very dark this was very frustrating because I was using my actually camera for these but my phone was taking next photographs however they was much smaller. To get around this I just had to edit my SLR photos on Photoshop. 

     What I noticed between this brief and my second brief when in comparison was, For this project I did much more research where my second brief lacked research but was very strong when it came to idea generation compared to this brief which did not have a huge selection of main ideas. This is something I will keep my eye on next module by keeping it slightly more even throughout. However I do believe some projects require more research than others also because of the amount of research I did, It allowed me to come a informed decision much faster. Whereas with studio brief 2 I did not have this but I had enough ideas to create a informed decision from feedback.  One big regret for this project would be I did not create a map, Looking back over my research into the core I can see there was near to no map. This could of been a nice extra to go along with the way finding. It could also of been used as an alternative to showing spaces within the building that could be rented instead of having signs everywhere. 

     One thing I would worry about for this concept is production of the pieces I am sure they can be made but I am also aware that this could be complicated and expensive, The signs would have to be formed around a mould and a mould of that size could be expensive, bamboo itself is also a expensive material but arguably worth it but aesthetically and ethically. One other issue is I do not actually know how sustainable this would be. I know the materials used would be which is a step in the righ directions but I do not know enough about manufacturing to say the whole process will be sustainable. Another issue could be safety of the free-standing sign in case children where pulling on them, to prevent this they are designed to be much larger at the base, but this would still be a concern. Because I didn’t have enough time and also it would be rather difficult to do, the size of the free standing signs is not 100% correct, It was guessed ideally it would be sampled properly to find the correct size. 

Final Resolution Wayfinding - OUGD 405

Development of my wayfinding system consisted of having to use a wooden texture which then was beveled to create a slight 3d effect. The typeface would be stencilled on in white paint in Helvtica bold. Creating these mock ups was particular hard task due to my lack of Photoshop skills. The layout of the typeface was left aligned below the number however reconsidering this the very bottom shop names would be quite low down for a taller person to see, they may be better raised above the numbers. Figure 1 shows how the boards would stand figure 3 shows how they can be adapated to work in diffrent locations around the centre. They are large boards which shoppers can get up close to, having them as a physical thing which shoppers can bump into helps to create an environment they are interacting with more. (see figure 2) The lift and stairs was replaced with a bamboo panel that uses Helevtica bold this is an improvment as they was using a very thin font with poor legibility. Again this was stencilled onto the board.  As customers then walk into the lift area they can see a large elevated number similar to the freestanding boards along with floor information . Befor they used a bright light board which was over crowded, the bright LEDs made white type affected readability also. Figure 5 is an example of how the smaller boxes would work. These would be applied throughout have one outside stores, escalators, toilets etc. due to there adaptable shape they could be applyed almost anywhere within the building. I do not have specific colour used for this wayfinding system apart from white, But the materials which will be used is a bamboo plywood called plybooStrand (see figure 6) PlybooStrand uses strand technology to turn 100% rapidly renewable bamboo into a beautiful yet exceptionally durable green building material. It can be cut and sanded using conventional woodworking equipment. It can be glued and fastened with the same materials used on wood. The bamboo is cut and laminated into solid boards or sheets. The wood is approximately as hard or harder than red oak. Its the fastest growing “tree” on earth, but is actually a grass with wood characteristics. It grows in shoots up to 90 feet tall, but just a few inches in diameter. . Regeneration occurs from the existing root structure which helps prevent soil erosion this makes it sustainable source. The Bamboo tree grows in China.