The Design principles module comprises of two briefs one to create a leaflet exploring the grids, colour, type, layout and composition, the second a publication on a chosen topic comprising of ten double page spreads. The module promotes the exploration of the process of publication design. Colour theory as a theme lends itself to a range of different outcomes. The application of colour in graphic design can be an feature of design that can be really limited and badly considered. Due to this largely open brief there was a real opportunity to try and should my own personal interests and ambitions within the field of publication design.
The first brief I decided to look into the theme of colour in art and how this could go about informing graphic design work. Within the art works the selection of colour and appreciation of space and tone is often much more considered and that graphics could learn a lot from this artistic process.
Informed by the study tasks on typesetting, grids, ground and figure, white space, colour and form, I tried to use all my new found design skills and implement them as best I could into this publication. Type as a tool for communicating is an area of design I feel I have improved greatly upon in this project, not only the application of appropriate typefaces but why they are important and what the different typefaces communicate. The range of typefaces and compositions of the first brief demonstrates how far my knowledge of typography has improved.
This first brief really raised my awareness of grids and why they are important, previously in my designs the grid would be more of a guide line but I now much more accurately position my images and text within this, the clarity this gives the designs may seen like nothing but makes reading from page to page much easier.
I tried to take these design principles with into the second brief. Photography is a real passion of mine and this brief presented me with the opportunity to use some of my own photos as the content of this book. Using my photographs from Barcelona I began to comprise an initial publication, I wanted to really improve upon this the designs felt interesting and the photos engaging but I felt I should push my designs further to try and best represent the content and create something of use.
In terms of publication design in the creative industry the area of interest for me looks at this combination of art, architecture and graphics. Exhibition publication design is another area I am really interested in.
Within my research I looked at many examples of beautiful leaflet design I collected from Barcelona, identifying design that feels typical of Barcelona was key for this project and using examples of primary resources helped inform my design decisions. Additionally looking into the book Spanish Art and Architecture looking back at some 20th century design typical of Spain was crucial in finding aspects of iconic design that is distinctive of Spain. My research in this project is an area I was really pleased with, finding a large range of different resources with very different approaches helped me understand how subtle and minimal design can be just as engaging. The designs for the Joan Miro’s 40th anniversary is a great example of this. Subtlety in my designs became an integral theme in this design, the use of a serif type for example gave the designs a more elegant feel.
A major revelation for me in this second brief was using the square grid system reflecting the grid of the city of Barcelona this gave the designs unique feel and allowed me to have much more space to work with.
As well as this grid system I tired to make my designs feel typically Spanish, using the red and yellow pages in the publication reflected the Catalan flag the region Barcelona is situated. This is continued into the thread of the binding again using red and yellow. These design elements are subtle but for those who notice are really engaging. Another design feature I’m proud of in this design is the illustrations by the page numbers this again adds to the personal feel to the book design.
Overall the finish of the book is an aspect that needed a lot of consideration printing on in A3 on matt paper in the print room in college showed the texture of the photography and the type size was much more appropriate to read. This project has really improved my knowledge of layout design, what works well, how the pages flow, thinking about consistency in each of the pages. Publication design is an area of graphic design I would like to try and work towards and this module has really helped my understand how a publication is put together.
Printing out my publication many times throughout the design process helped chose paper sizes, typefaces and colour. I decided to print my publication out in a higher quality because of this.
Some other improvements I could make in my designs for this project would be experimenting more with paper stock especially for the first publication the standard white stock could have been improved upon. Type consistency is another thing I thought I had done correctly but it wasn’t until I had printed my final design I noticed this.
Within both these briefs my ambitions were to make publications with some purpose that can be used and interacted with, the first brief the design quality is something that emphasised this usability, and for me personally something to refer back to when picking colour. The second brief as I created a guide to the whole idea is to create something that can be used, picking images that best represented the buildings and including, a map, opening times and links to the websites would make my designs much more interactive and useful. All in all this brief is has been very enjoyable looking into the publication design process.
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