Information box research and net:

I have chosen to research an information box that I had. 

The box contained many free samples of things, as well as leaflets and other items, for this reason I know if I created a box of this size, I would be able to fit any items that I desired in there.

I have unfolded the box to see how the net of it works, it is rather intricate, as the flaps all fold into separate holes to form a solid structure, which isn't weak, and can hold lots of times and paper stock. 

 The reverse of the box shows where I could print, if I were going to use this on screen and then print onto such a thing.

And as you can see, the final folded up box looks very neat and sturdy.
This will be a good effort as a way of displaying all the information I have to hand out, free, to customers who buy a Christian T shirt from River island.

T shirt design feedback

I have chosen to take these designs to receive feedback, from this process, I can eliminate the weaker designs and keep the designs which I gather the greatest response to.

After mocking up 6 variations of oversized t shirts, I asked my friends which one they'd most like to buy and why, the verdict came back that the lower two were the favourites.

The left inverted illustration was people's favourites as the print was dark and made use of blacks, which are in fashion and trendy at the moment, part of the same reason why the t shirt on the right did.

I feel these two have been chosen as the favourites due to the fact that they don't necessarily represent Christianity or religion, which isn't something I was particularly going for when I was designing the T shirts, but if those two were to sell the best, at least the customer would also receive the information pack on religion and christianity, which would be very informative, and they would have a t shirt they liked. 

Research into information packs:

I have chosen to research into information packs, as this is the type of thing I would like to create in conjunction to my t shirts designs. The information pack will contain printed materials which introduce the customer to the brands, and also exhibit the range of other t shirts which are available as part of that particular range.
The pack will include information written by YMCA and Christian Aid, explaining what they do and putting into words of how Christianity is becoming less popular amongst the youth in the UK.
I intend not to baffle the customer with religious information, as they could find it overwhelming and possibly even boring, so I intend to keep it straight to the point, education and exciting.

Mind the gap
I found a project on Behance (https://www.behance.net/gallery/Mind-the-Gap/4066155) which is aimed at young students (my target market) which contains cool quirky little objects in an inviting and trendy way.
"Self initiated project. Information pack designed for students between the age of 16-22 to inform them about the choice of a Gap Year. The pack is shaped as a small suitcase with various elements inside"

This piece makes use of various paper stocks and beautifully printed typography. It is clear how it is simple, readable and rather mature, but not formal, these are aims that should be considered when creating a product marketed at teenagers.

7 Seasons

Another information pack found on Behance (https://www.behance.net/gallery/7-Seasons/13579177) This one

"An educational self-locking interactive information pack designed for audiences at the Melbourne Museum. Content features information about the seasonal calendar of the Wurundjeri tribe of the Upper Yarra Valley."

I can tell from the content of this information pack that it is based at a younger audience, or that the designer hasn't done her research very well and it is aimed at the wrong target market, the typefaces, illustrations and colours used.

The content of this information pack is very engaging though and isn't overwhelming with typed information, which I imagine is always a plus side when trying to give away free information to teenagers. 

Different types of t shirt research:

I have chosen to research different t-shirt styles which are popular and trendy at the moment, to get the best advantage when designing my own t shirt range.

V neck

V neck T shirts can be seen as popular in the teenage market, but they generally don't contain much design work on the face of the shirt,  for this reason I don't feel it would be in my best interests to create a design which made use of a V neck t shirt as the basis of what i'd be designing and potentially printing on.

Oversized

Over sized t shirts are very popular at the moment, and are about to become very trendy in high street stores. They have gained their popularity from hip hop artists such as A$AP Rocky and Kanye West making them trendy.

They tend to make use of large graphics on the front, and they get their characteristics from flowing down longer than a t shirt would, almost to mid thigh length.

I feel due their current popularity, an oversized t shirt could be a good thing to design, and if they were to be printed and sold, they could be successful. 

Scoop cut

Scoop cuts and V neck t shirts are very similar in the sense that they make use of block colour and rarely display large graphic images.
In this instance they can make use of simple patterns or small logos on the chest.
V neck 

V neck T shirts are something that many men make use of to show their physique, they generally aren't something which holds a large amount of graphic, as they tend to be plain and make use of just one solid colour.

I don't specifically think V neck t-shirts would be the ones which I would use to represent the charity, as they are not known for containing large graphic images and are not particularly trendy to teenagers.

Polo

Polo shirts tend not to have much graphics on the from of the garment, and usually are found with a small logo located on the left hand side of the chest.
The collar and the buttons found on a polo shirt make it slightly more formal than ones without, and sometimes they are used to represent sports such as tennis, golf or polo.

In aspect to me designing my t shirts, I don't think a polo shirt would be entirely appropriate, depending on the print/design I would be intending to put on it. I could create a small logo to go on the chest, but I don't feel polo shirts reflect the message I'm trying to convey.
Pocket t

Pocket t shirts are stylish and in trend at the moment, and make use of a small and sometimes very detailed pattern where the pocket of the t shirt is (sometimes in a different material to the cotton based shirt).

I love the use of the small pattern in a pocket shirt, and feel when designing the mock ups for my shirts, I could consider pocket t's and put a very detailed picture in there which could contrast against a black background.

Pocket t shirts are also very trendy at the moment, so I feel in a larger sense, they could sell well and represent something that teenagers would spend their money on.

Conclusion
From this research into various types of T shirts, I have concluded that creating a pocket t shirt and also an oversized one would be the way to go and the best two garments to design. I feel these two types would potentially sell the most to a teenage target market, and that would be the reason why I would create them.

From this research I will find the best religious imagery that would work on my T-shirt designs and create mock up ideas to what my final t shirts would look like.

The Grid System

http://www.thegridsystem.org/
The grid system is a website which informs people who want to know about grids.

"The grid system is an aid, not a guarantee. It permits a number of possible uses and each designer can look for a solution appropriate to his personal style. But one must learn how to use the grid; it is an art that requires practice. ” Josef Müller-Brockmann

It claims to be 'The ultimate resource in grid systems'.

Even just seeing the website before and after it's grid form in very useful, it has shown me what can be achieved using grids, and how complicated a grid can look, which then creates a simple looking site.

Inspiring magazine layouts:

http://inspirationhut.net/inspiration/30-more-stunning-magazine-and-publication-layout-inspiration/

"Here I have compiled 30 more magazine and publication layouts that I feel are good enough to inspire even the best of you! I think that as designers we always reach out for inspiration the second we receive a new brief, and personally I find that I search for layout inspiration much longer than what I would for lets say, typography or even web-design. So hopefully, I will shorten your search for layouts so you can crack on. If you need some more fuel after this delightful bunch, check out this post."

These magazine layouts are beautiful and creative, but they don't massively benefit me, not after all of the magazine deconstruction that I have already done. 

Christian Artwork:

From finding t shirts which make use of religious images, I have decided to delve deeper into religious artwork and take this book out of the library to investigate.

The British museum's book of Christian Art, written by Rowena Loverance, has some fascinating and beautiful images of art work which relates to Christianity.

This image found in the British museum's book, portrays Jesus on the cross, being crucified  and persecuted with other people.

The tone of the image is rather dismal, making use of sandy tones with blue tints. I feel this piece would contrast very well on black, and a lot of attention would be drawn to the detail of this water colour painting.

 This piece named 'The atomic apocalypse, made using the medium of Papier-mâché, reflects the day of the dead in a satirical way.

An artist named José Guadalupe Posada first mocked skeletons by introducing each to the concept of contemporary dressing. 

This piece uses dark shades of blue and black, which set a mise-en-scene mood where the leader skeleton stood atop of the earth looks down on the rest of the civilians.

This Illustration known as the 'seven deadly sins', Gluttony, created by Peter Bruegel in Antwerp 1558.

If examined closely, the illustration represents gluttony, the characters in the artwork are eating, many mouths are being filled, and a lot of food is being stolen and consumed.

There are many faces in this piece of work, many of them scary and baffling, the detail gone into this work using very fine pens is exceptional.

This oil painting ia entitled 'The decent of the holy spirit' by Francesco de Mura, an Italian and was created in the mid 18th century.

The creation makes use of beautiful soft bright colours, shades of yellow and pastel tones created from oil paint. It has a beautiful. joyous, uplifting tone to it, with the center piece of the painting being a dove, which represents peace. 

This print known as 'Empty hand', a colour woodblock print, was created by a Japanese artist in 1947.

The piece is described as a "transitional piece with the subdued richness of colour", has a very dark and dull tone to it, the hand conveys a lot of the message where as the colours are purely to full up the background's negative space.

Defining concepts

As a way of defining concept, Simon Harrison tutored us about the Ampersand Hotel in South Kensington as it was a very well, thoroughly executed concept and theme.

The Ampersand Hotel's website sums up how they do things:
http://www.ampersandhotel.com/

We learnt that the concept behind the Ampersand hotel came out through the use of an ampersand, which obviously meant 'and', and how everything in the residence made use of an ampersand, or the word 'and'.

They describe their tea room experience as:

"BUBBLES & CREAM Enjoy Afternoon Tea with Champagne in The Drawing Rooms." 

Having the ampersand in the middle of the two words to stick with the concept.

I felt this was a very good example of a concept and it expressed the definition to me, visually, very well.

I learnt that coca-cola was in fact a concept, and the use of the red bottle had become something so well known that the image of it was part of the concept.

Following on from concepts, I have found a design agency called 'i am associates' (http://www.i-amonline.com), the site specialises in 'Brand experience':

"We are 'i-am'. We create innovative and profitable customer experiences through our expertise in brand consultancy, interior design and employee engagement. We create customer experiences that build advocacy and business profitability."

Their website is very professional, and I find it very interesting to see the work they have completed for well known clients.

Layout Design Final crit Feedback:

In preparation for the final crit, I printed off an almost completed double page spread which involved Christ the Redemeer, a black background and a lot of lorem ipsum body text.

 I asked certain questions to prove an answer which I could build my design from, I asked:

1.The final spread will be in B&W, do you think this/the black background works?

2.Aerial is my current font, any recommendations of 'Christian'/nature fonts to use?

3.Should I stick with this style/trend in my final design?

The questions I asked I feel cover all the elements of this page, the Black background, the B&W imagery, the font, the layout and the style of the piece. 

 Feedback:

1. Like the white text on top of the black background, give a serious tone, it works. 
2. Aerial is simple and functional, works well for large bodies of text
3. Style is serious and informative, would benefit from colours and more white space. Large bodies of text are overwhelming.

1. White on black is nice. Colour elsewhere, in the photos. Too monochrome atm.
2. Font works. Contemporary and clear.
3. More black space and switch up the layout..

1. More minimal for maximum effect.
2. Times new roman reflects christianity, old fashioned.
3. Grid system could be changed. 4 columns per page.

1. White and black gives it a formal tone.
2. Traditional font which represents Christianity would work.
3. Colour somewhere else. Text is overwhelming.

1. The black is too dark, surely choose white. Doesn't fit the topic.
2. Play around with spacing and margins.

1. Text stands out, make the images stay good quality.
2. Try a roman font.
3. Requires subtle changes such as text placement, image composition.

1. The black will need consistent balance with white images.
2. Feeling of non-bias and learning.
3. Black and white links good + evil, contrasting opinions, it works with Christianity.

Conclusion

From the criticismal feedback I have received, I have discovered that the audience feel my Black and white layout works well, aslong as I keep a theme of using bright white images, or even using colour images in the publication.

I have been informed by some that the Aerial font works, it suggests non bias and learning where others claim a Roman font would represent the cause better, something I could experiment with.

The layout must be changed from 2 columns to 4 per A4 size as this will break up the large body of text.

I feel I have benefitted from this final crit, and the questions that I asked have given me the knowledge to create a series of double page spreads which work effectively as a set, and explain the cause to a respectable level.

My choice of font has been questioned, but that is something I can further experiment with in an attempt to make the product as fit for purpose as it most possibly can be.

Page Layout - Contrasting colours - Black & White

Personally, I love the contrast of black and white when used in design, I have found various pages in magazines which use that specific contrast to create mood and effect for that specific article.

This article found in Vice magazine clearly is one which is trying to convey a very emotional story. They have used a black background and white typeface to set a mood and a tone to the article,
I feel that this has been executed very well and the use of desaturated imagery gives off a very powerful and emotive feeling.
The pages in this book appeal to me very much, and immediately when I turned the page to this double spread the design work hit me, and emotively jumped out to me.

The large photograph found on the left hand side of the publication fades out to where the type is, in a gradient type mode. The effect that this has on the layout looks very professional and creative, something which largely appeals to me.

Mighty Boosh book
The mighty boosh book contains some very creative pages, filled with colourful artwork, in this instance I have chosen the 3 double page spreads which make use of a black background and white text.

This double page spread entitled 'A Hitchhiker's tale' uses two A4 pages which work injunction with each other, one page containing a large image of the character, and the other containing the body copy font of the story.
The image works against the black background due to the fact that the character is a silhouette with a bright white light behind the figure, similar to how the spread from vice was B&W.
This spread works well, but I feel due to the image being retained to one page, and the text on the other, that can look rather basic and unprofessional.

 The part two from this story features another double page spread which has a black background and an image on one A4 and body copy on the other.
In this instance, the image has a lot of vibrant colour involved with it, which still adds a powerful effect to the page.
I feel so far, the double spread from Vice works better than this story.

This other double page spread from the Might boosh book contains a black background and an image that spreads across one A4 page and the other 1/3rd of the page, which lies next to a song and it's lyrics.
This image has much more of a presence and contains a lot more colour than the previous ones.
The image fades in a gradient which leaves room for the blocked black background.

Conclusion
From this short exercise into researching Black backgrounds on page layouts, I have learnt that black and white pictures with a high contrast work very well against black backgrounds, and white type works very well against black backdrop.
I have found out that an image spanning across the double page and fading out into a gradient can look very nice, and I shall try and execute these in my own designs.

Page Layout -Timeline- Carhartt catalogue

In relation to the magazine layout I have just evaluated, I am now going to scrutinise the layout of pages found in this Carhartt handout.

This book is different to the magazine in many ways, mainly due to the fact it isn't trying to inform or educate, it's trying to sell products and encourage the audience to develop interest in the company. 

Also, this publication is only A4 rather than A3 like the magazine.

The front cover of this page makes use of a large photograph of a model wearing one of Carhartt's coat's.

The composition of the photograph has meant that there was a large piece of unused space above the model, this is where Carhartt have chosen to write the title of this publication.

They have written the fact that it is the 'Fall/Winter 2013' Catalogue where the model is, in white so it is actual rather hard to see.

Out of the entire catalogue, there were only two pages I found relevant to this exercise. 

This page makes use of a time line which includes image and text.

The page broken down into layman's terms shows the distribution of text to image and how the time line breaks up the page. 

The pages makes use of a lot of blank white, negative space, around the time line, and the time line uses both text and image to convey the information Carhartt are trying to communicate.

I feel this time line is done rather well as the images they have used break up the page and draw attention away from the text, which, alone, would be very boring and monotonous to read.

This double page spread exhibits the range of jeans Carhartt have for sale.

The page has no header and hardly any text, although the photograph spreads across both pages in a stylish and trendy way. 

This is a breakdown of the already simple double page spread.

The blue indicated where the photographs are, and in this instance, they have been cut away from their negative space.

The information found in this Carhartt book really isn't very helpful at all. The prices of the garments are not included, which leaves you baffled and confused.

Conclusion

The way Carhartt have done this timeline is very effective, but I personally would have filled more of the negative space.

The way Carhartt have made the photograph of the four pairs of jeans stretch over both pages in the spread looks very appealing and stylish, I would like to use large images in my own layouts, I feel the can add an artistic edge to a publication.

Page Layout - Shortlist magazine

I have chosen to investigate page layout to aid me when designing my own A3 page layouts.

I have looked into Shortlist magazine which is a free handout. I have chosen Shortlist because it is a free publication which I imagine is rather popular, but with it being free, it contains many full page advertisements, which I didn't want to include in this sampling.

Shortlist is a publication which covers films and other popular topics, for this reason I perceived that the magazine would contain text and image which my layout will replicate. I felt I needed an insight into how text and image could be used injunction with each other. 

1. This page titled 'The chosen few' is a page containing text and image on an A3 spread.
It contains image and then text in a column style, which travels in a vertical direction.

I have created a small grid on Photoshop with the images represented in blue, the type symbolised by black and the header located where the red square is.
The header/title is located in the top left corner of the page (usually where titles are found), and the blue images boxes cover the top  horizontal half of the page, where the type's space comes directly beneath it.
I feel this specific piece of page layout is very individual and unique. It is a good way to annotating images, as a description of an image usually comes underneath the picture, in this instance it has
This type of layout is very beneficial for advertising many products at once, and giving each product their own amount of designated space, where there is no hierarchy located on this page, it has even distribution.
The page makes use of a dark black border around the margins of the page, in which the text is located, this appeals to me a lot as I feel it shows the constraint of the page in a stylish and professional way.

2. This page in the magazine is title 'Style & Vision'. 

The page explains the fashionable eyewear that is available.

It makes use of many images, and small pieces of information which explain the prices of the glasses.

The header on this page is located in the bottom left of the layout, which is rather unusual for a piece of information which you must read. 
Instantly, the amount of image on this page hits the audience and sends their eyes all over the publication, looking for text to justify the images.
The images are again laid out in columns which descend down the page.
There is a small amount of type located next to the images, which explains the prices of the eyewear that the models in the photos are wearing. 

3.This page is different to the other pages I have exhibited due to the fact it contains a ranging sized sample of images which are sparsely located.

There is also a lot of type located on this A3 spread, as these pages review films.

This layout breakdown shows the size of images in contrast to the amount of body copy text.
There is a large image which instantly hits you when you open the double page spread.
The amount of body copy text conveys to the audience that these pages are ones which you would have to put time and effort in to read, and it is not a set of pages you could browse.
Each piece of body copy has a header and a title, located in red, and the images are sparsely located over the spread. The square images work in conjunction with the text, where as there is a character that has been cut out and the negative space removed, the text works around this image in a tight square style mode.

4. This double page spread in the magazine uses a large amount of text, small images and many large headers, executed in a gothic typography. 

It is evident that these pages in the magazine will require time to but put in for the user to read all off the body copy text. 

The distribution of text, image and header on this page is very even, the distribution is fair, as text has more of a precedence over image, and headers/titles are just needed as a brief insight into what the text covers.
Again, certain images have been cutout which sends the layout of the text off balance and pulls it away from the normal theme of square text boxes.
It feels in this magazine that the pages are getting more information, and are more creatively designed to include text and image.

5.These pages makes use of a very large image which takes up an entire A4 side of the spread.

The pages are reviewing a new games console, and the image size almost represents the actual size of the handheld games console. (Maybe that's what the magazine creators were attempting?).

The images, found in blue take up a massive amount of space in this double page layout. 

In comparison to the giant picture, the body copy font on this page isn't very much, this shows to me that the creators of the games console are trying to advertise the aesthetics of the console rather than justifying it with type. 

Conclusion

I feel from this exercise, I have learnt a lot about magazine layout an have been inspire by certain spreads in the book to take some ideas forward in my own creation.

I have identified what I feel is good and bad page layout and how it can be more or less successful than others. I have witness how page layout can be used to inform or to display an image or product, such as the pages with the film reviews, in comparison to the page advertising the games console.

I like the use of images which have been removed from their negative space, I feel I will execute that idea.

Borders can be used in double page spreads to show the constraints of the page and to set a margin on to the spread.