OUGD504 - Brief 3 - Initial Development

OUGD504: Brief 3: Type In Context

Initial Development

Based on feedback from a range of students and my collated research I decided to develop this concept further. I liked the large format images and left the photography were of a high quality that would make the publication engaging and would appeal to the target audience. Having analysed a range of books from village book shop I found a high proportion of these books filled the majority of the space with image which supported my decision to use these high impact landscapes. Creating a small boarder helped to balance the image within the spread and the introduction of subtle typography and page numbers started to shape the publication. Below highlight a small sample of the landscaped chosen for the content and demonstrates the continuity between the spreads. 

From this I then wanted to address the concerns highlighted in the feedback session of how the overlaying text would remain legible across the breath of the images used, coming to the realisation that this would not be effective (especially on the black and white image) I started problem solving coming up with ulterior methods to incorporate the body copy into my publication. I ultimately came up with introducing half pages between the images to house the text. I felt this was an innovative solution that was creative and will appeal to the target audience and allow the text to remain uniform and legible throughout my publication. 

Creating a quick mock up allowed me to easily visualise this concept and see how effective this would be able to apply the large photography and creatively implementing the text in a creative format that will appeal to my target audience. 

When asking tutors for feedback on this mock up they directed towards this publication for the end of year show. It used a similar half page format to allow the juxtaposition of text and image to balance well and highlight the image without being too ladened with text. This example worked well and highlighted how I could produce a successful resolution however due to the high volume of pages in the examples it caused a significant difference in the thickness which  didn't feel as that appealing when interacting the publication, If I adopt the method I will consider stock choices carefully and choose a thinner stock for the half pages to reduce the amount of bulk added to the overall publication.

When evaluating the success of this design I realised that it would create a nonlinear structure that would be potentially confusing to the audience. I realised that I would have large landscaped pictures of sights around australia such as city scapes and brach scenes however the text on the page would be talking about a specific letterform that has no relation to the imagery. This would crete a confusing structure that does not cohesively flow as a whole and would potentially make it feel like two completely separate publications blended into one. Although this design creates an uber strong aesthetic that is visually really strong and would definitely appeal to the target audience the concept behind the publication is flawed thus weakening the overall resolution. 

In light of these flaws I will develop another design that was popular with students in the initial feedback and develop a stronger concept for the publication to match the aesthetic ensuring a successful resolution to the brief.