OUGD505 - Studio Brief 02 - Evaluation

Studio Brief 01:

Studio Brief 02:

My interest in the issue of missing persons was sparked by my research into Syrian Graffiti from the V&A's Disobedient Objects exhibition as I found the project really inspiring because it commemorates those lost in the Syrian revolution as martyrs, not just a statistic on the news. Further research into the topic lead me to subjects such as missing persons from the violent drug wars of Columbia and Mexico. This research exposed me to a variety of missing people posters from around the world and I identified that the basic skeleton of the poster was the same on an international scale.

My decision to focus on the Missing People charity was influenced by feedback sessions because I had identified that missing people in the UK need an increased awareness of the support systems. The more I researched and developed the concept, the more I realised the sensitivity and complexity of the issue. This made it a challenge to target a specific audience and adapt the language to suit

Experimenting with the tab concept allowed me to create a contemporary solution for a research based project. Traditional printing is a passion of mine so I am pleased I managed to imbed this into both of the studio briefs and demonstrates my skills and time management.

Towards the end of the project I felt rushed and therefore my blogging and design boards suffered. I would have liked to have taken the poster into a digital, interactive platform that removes the layer depending on where the audience touches.

OUGD505 - Studio Brief 02 - Final Mockup / Chosen Outcome

Used a mix of both stocks to see how they deal with being bound and perforated. 

Bound the layers together using pritt stick. 

OUGD505 - Studio Brief 02 - Poster Binding and Perforation

Marked 6.5 cm at the top of each poster so that I knew where to apply the glue. I used PVA glue and a piece of mount board to apply a thin layer.

The PVA glue was far too runny which crinkled the paper so I resorted to pritt stick as it is better suited to paper stock.

In order to perforate the posters accurately, I aim to do them individually before binding them together.

Perforating instead of cutting allows the poster to hold its structure and makes it easier to remove accurately.

OUGD505 - Studio Brief 02 - Tickets and Range

The GoMP report states that a lot of missing people turn to public transport systems to travel anonymously. Distributing the campaign through public transport tickets will increase the chances of a missing person seeing the support system.

Samaritans - RAIL SUICIDE PREVENTION PROGRAMME

The campaign aims to prevent suicide at train stations. Printing the campaign on the ticket means that everyone travelling is aware that there is a support system. The campaign doesn't specify suicide but encourages individuals to talk about their problems which appeals to a broad audience.


Scanned one of my own tickets and removed the current information using the clone stamp tool:

Imbedded the poster composition into the ticket to increase range and distribution of the visual identity of the campaign and make it familiar. I took advantage of the magnetic strip on the ticket by cropping the lexis 'missing' to communicate disappearance. 

Due to the limited amount of space, I kept the content short and concise - Hierarchy:

• Started with a fact in order to shock and draw in the audiences attention
• Short overview of what Missing People offer
• Highlighted the fact the helpline is free, confidential and 24/7 in order to encourage people to get in contact. A key finding from GoMP is that campaigns tackling missing persons should enforce confidentiality. 

Due to the limited amount of space, I kept the content short and concise.

Hierarchy:

• Started with a fact in order to shock and draw in the audiences attention
• Short overview of what Missing People offer
• Highlighted the fact the helpline is free, confidential and 24/7 in order to encourage people to get in contact. A key finding from GoMP is that campaigns tackling missing persons should enforce confidentiality. 

This can be transferred further than I intended:

Water Safety - Shows how the design can be directly applied:

OUGD505 - Studio Brief 02 - Final Composition + Screen Printing

Stock

Chose two stocks to take forward into screen printing so that I can make a definitive decision for the final composition.

• 125gsm cartridge paper
• White card 

I chose to experiment with the white card because it is a heavy stock which means it will remain rigid once some of the tabs are removed from the poster. The white stock aims to create high contrast with the black type, creating more impact. 

Layer 1:

After my initial experiments with just using the lexis 'missing', I looked at other definitions and adjectives to describe someone who is not present in order to further engage and show the emotions and actions of someone going missing.

Decided on:

• absent
• departed
• lost
• astray

The feedback for this poster was positive because it made you want to read it and find out more. The variety of word lengths also adds to the aesthetics.

For the copy, I settled for Helvetica Regular instead of bold because I am confident it will expose well for screen print. This also creates more contrast against the bold adjectives. Feedback from a peer

Bitmapping

In preparation for screen print, I bit mapped the faded type so that I could capture the different gradients. Exposing an image with a lot of tonal variations doesn't work due to the fact that the exposure unit isn't powerful enough to burn soft tones into the screen so when the emulsion is washed off, the tonal areas wash off also. By bitmapping the composition essentially replaces the block colour with tiny dots, the lighter the shade, the further apart the dots are.

The tabs will be printed on the back of every poster:

Prepared my screen and took advantage of the large screens so that I could fit all of my posters onto one large screen. Due to the number of posters I had to sacrifice the red colour stencil and replace it with bold.

Registering the pages to create consistency which will be crucial when printing the back of the posters as each layer will need to line up.

Back:

• Pleased with quality and clarity of the print, especially the small type as I was conscious that the narrow stroke width would be lost through exposure. 

• The bitmapping was a success as the tonal variations are clear

• Screen printing the reverse of the posters was challenging due to the fact it was placed in the corner of the screen. This meant ink bled through the right side of the screen. Unfortunately this is evident on every poster which doesn't demonstrate a professional awareness.

The fact that the posters are slightly marked by ink and printing mistakes limits the professionalism of the outcomes. However, through feedback I managed to gain some really positive views as they thought it was app

The fact that the poster is disposable appropriates the rustic look.

OUGD505 - Studio Brief 02 - Poster Development

After my initial experiments with just using the lexis 'missing', I looked at other definitions and adjectives to describe someone who is not present in order to further engage and show the emotions and actions of someone going missing. 

OUGD505 - Studio Brief 02 - Billboard

Imbed the campaign into large billboards and signage in order to distribute the campaign to a wider audience. My research into Samaritans' 'We listen' campaign uses first person typography so that the poster is talking directly to the audience. 

I was tempted to draw quotes from GoMP report as they are speaking from first hand experience.

Eg- “Oh no, am I doin’ the right thing here?” You start thinking you’re having doubts and everything starts coming into your head like, “what you’re doing’?, money, the car?"

However the campaign aims to be enforce confidentiality therefore seeing quotes breaches this so I used a fact to inform the audience of the scale of the problem. 

The composition was inspired by my initial poster designs as the large amount of white space makes the fact and logo seem lost and awkward.

The use of a fact aims to inform the audience of the scale of the problem. 

Kept within the current Missing People brand guidelines using Helvetica and the fusia pink:

In context:

The posters can be transferred onto bus stops, billboards and electronic signage to gain a wider distribution.

The emptiness of the composition was influenced by Samaritan's 'We Listen..' campaign:

OUGD505 - Studio Brief 02 - Poster Tags

Audience participation will engage and excite.

Dentist:

Ballet Classes - Physically removing a tooth from the composition 

Example of how this technique can be adapted to urban advertisement

The tabs refer to the tutu of a ballerina.

Children's hairdresser

The action of removing a tab reveals another layer which intrigues the audience to find out more.

The concept of taking an element away from the poster means it is 'not present or included when expected or supposed to be' (Oxford Dictionary) in other words; missing. 

On the reverse of the tag, I intend to inform the bearer about what Missing People can offer.  The legitimacy of their approach was backed up by a variety of sources from articles online as well as throughout 'Geographies of Missing Persons'. The fact that they're the only UK charity to support the issue should also be highlighted. 

Divided the composition into 6 sections:

Left a 6.5mm space from the top so that the indicative content remains and the tabs are the same size. 

The tab can be utilised to provide the bearer with further information about Missing People as GoMP states that on 12% of the interviewees were aware of the charity and what they do.

First concept:

In order for the information not to feel too cramped in the narrow structure of the tab, I aim to be concise to provide the bearer with immediate information. The tone of voice is formal due to the fact that it is a serious topic and I referred to Missing People's website in order for the information to be accurate and reflect the companies aims and objectives. 

Included what the company do and what they don't do as an assurance for those contemplating getting in touch. 

Increased the size of key content such as the contact details to create a hierarchy between the information. 

Centred the type due to the narrow structure of the tab which create balance. 

Not only does this concept communicate what the charity do, it also aims to encourage people on the run to get in contact due to the 'What we won't do' section.

Test Print:

Feedback:

Agree that it should be short and concise

Think of ways that people can find out more or get in touch with the charity. As Missing People are completely funded by donations, I could use a QR code which, when scanned, links them directly to the donations page.

'You are not alone' sounds a bit creepy.

QR Code

QR codes are essentially barcodes that cameras on mobile phones can scan and link to another feature. This would be an immediate way for the bearer to find more information, rather than typing in a web address. The aesthetic qualities of the QR code also make it more attractive compared to typing out a web address. The structure of the QR code also saves room which is beneficial for the narrow tabs I am working with.

As Missing People are an independent charity they are funded entirely by donations. Perhaps the QR code can be used to link the user to the donations page.

Instead of linking them to the donations page, it would be more ethical if the link directed them to the support page of the site. This was influenced by Samaritan's campaign as the company logo was tiny compared to the issue communicate. Instead of indulging Missing People, I intend to offer their services.

Concept 2

Decided against centring the type because the inconsistent rag makes it hard to read. Justifying the type to the left creates a uniform layout. Instead of increasing the type size for the titles, I changed them to bold which provided more room to enlarge the phone number.

Concept 3

Stated the impact of someone going missing can have on the families and friends in order to appeal not just to missing people but the ones left behind.

Highlighted the fact that their helpline is free, confidential and available 24/7 at the start of the composition and also repeated it at the end in order to highlight the support system available.

The compositions are text heavy therefore I added a cropped section of the stencil as a visual break from the copy.

When I put them together I realised there was no gutter:

To overcome this I decreased the type down from 12pt to 10pt and narrowed the column to create a gutter between the text:

Test printed it to check composition and size of QR code - Decided on the smaller size because it provides more of a gutter between each strip which will make it easier to perforate the columns accurately.

Final outcome: