OUGD504 - Brief 1 - Visual Development: Foil Testing

OUGD504: Brief 1: My Design Process

Visual development: Foil Testing

When considering my colour palette I wanted to keep it fairly minimal with a 2 colour palette plus stock, I looked back through my research to analyse if certain colours worked well in making a leaflet stand out but the more I looked at them I found them to look corporate and a bit flat, Considering my Target audience of creatives I wanted to make my leaflet stand out to them and felt block colour wasn't as engaging. I then considered the use of foil from looking at the next magazine, The leeds college of art student magazine with a target audience of young creatives. I felt this worked well on the cover as it added an extra dimension and texture making cover stand out and personally more engaging. 

From this I decided to experiment with foil for my leaflet. I started by creating a sample design and experimenting with different colour foils to see if any stood out and could be developed into my finally resolution. I found the foiling process to be temperamental however the university does not have the facilities to commercial foil so this is just a representation of what a finished resolution would look like of professionally printed. The universities foiling process consisted of printing laser jet ink onto the stock, placing the foil on top of the desired area and using a heat press to bind the foil to the ink for 11 seconds at 160 degrees Celsius   I liked the use of foiling as it gave a tactical finish that was engaging. It caught the light, so would be perfect for use of the cover to grab the attention of the user, it would also make them want to pick it up and physically interact with it which is so important with leaflets as a form of communication. I experimented with a range of colours, Gold, Blue, Silver and Copper. I then asked a sample from my target audience which colour they found the most engaging and would like to see me use on a mock up, they told me that they felt copper was the most appropriate choice as it was subtle, sleek and tasteful. 

Gold Foil

Blue Foil

Silver Foil

Copper Foil

Based on the feedback from my target audience I created my first mock up in preparation for the interim critique. I foiled the cover to be viewed through the cut out created as I felt this would be a strong opening statement making a bold impression to its audience. I also foiled the inside diamonds as it created a nice aesthetic when the leaflet was stood upright as all the foiling could be seen together. As well as my target audience choosing copper foil they also suggested trailing a slate colour for the text as this would complement the copper detailing, I created my first mock up which was very rough due to time constraints before the critique where I will present this initial mock up for feedback.