PPP: January 2012

Tuesday, 31 January 2012

Design Principles Type and Grid Evaluation.

There was a lot to take in with this section of the module, I found it helpful to make notes as I could refer back to them later when we had to complete our tasks. It was interesting looking at how the grids related to the layouts in the newspapers and magazines and how rigidly some stuck to them. When it came to me drawing out my own grid from a current publication I found it quite difficult, but as I started to notice a pattern it fitted together easier. I really enjoyed redesigning the layouts on paper and I was surprised how creative it could get. Although, as I moved to InDesign it was harder to recreate the measurements I had drawn and translate them onto the screen. Another aspect we looked at was measuring type, I found it interesting how the terms used today are the same as what was used years ago. The paper device we made to help us was useful too, especially when I had practised it a few times.

Design Principles Frame and Format Evaluation.

In this section of Design Principles I enjoyed exploring the college and taking photos as I discovered areas I'd never been to before. I was given the letter A as a focus and at the beginning it was quite easy as I just found current letter A's that had been printed around the place. I soon realised though that this wasn't the area I wanted to focus on as it was quite uncreative so I began looking for objects that created the shape of an A. This was a lot more challenging but also more rewarding when I found a successful composition. I had a selection of photo's that I liked from exploring in and out of the college but I picked two to develop further for my hot dog book. I am happy with the outcome of my book as it took a lot of experimentation and time. Even though I feel it is maybe more Illustration based and an area I could have improved it would be to maybe do some type experiments to add to it. Another aspect of this section was the photography workshop which was helpful as I learnt how to use the manual settings and with a bit more practice feel comfortable using it in the future.

Design Principles Colour Evaluation.

I found the introduction to colour theory a really fun way to get started. The rainbow effect we created on the tables was quite impressive and it made a good effect when all the tones made a smooth transition into the next colour. Pantone was something I'd never really heard of before so it was useful to find out and look into further. Identifying what pantone colour our objects were was difficult because as soon as you thought you'd found a correct match you'd place the object up to another and it would fit better. Ittens seven contrasts was a theory I had never heard of before and although the PowerPoint on it was helpful the constant stream of contrasting colour gave me a headache, which I suppose shows the power colour can have. I made some of my own representations of these on PhotoShop which were fun to do and I think it made me understand it better as there was a lot to think about. We then moved onto more practical experimentations with colour, the paper task was quite repetitive but it was a big help to see the theories first hand and see the results through my photographs.

Design Principles Type Evaluation.

For me looking in type in such a detailed way was really beneficial as it was something that I have been really interested in but have never looked into in this much depth before. Learning about how to distinguish type from each other using the correct terminology will be very helpful in the future, for example I can now name the different sections of a letter and also the style that a font is from gothic to script. Creating a typeface was also something that had appealed to me before and through these workshops I have learnt ways of going around it that I wouldn't have considered before. Like taking an already in use typeface and manipulating it with another to create a new design. The hierarchy of type task was a challenge but also quite insightful as before I never noticed the amount of unnecessary type in some publications.