Due to the broad range of images, I found it challenging to create a concept that gave my publication a purpose and engaged a target audience. Reflecting on my work over the summer, I feel that I overworked the limited brief in preparation for returning to uni. This was a set back because once the entire brief was presented to me, my primary concepts weren't entirely appropriate for a commercial publication. To overcome this I presented my findings to a crit group, highlighting specific themes and concerns that I noticed once collating all of my images. I found these early crits and feedback sessions put my project back on track as I began to consider what would give my findings a commercial role. In the future I will make sure I am clear on what the brief is asking for, making sure I consider all variables before exploring one concept.
My research into publication design was broad, offering a lot of inspiration for potential production techniques such as the size and binding methods. However, I found it challenging to find the most appropriate as it took me a long time to make a definitive decision on what I wanted my publication to communicate. In the future, I aim to focus more on researching into context as early as possible because my research into Bristol's culture, dialect and existing publications gave my publication more direction. I took a lot of influences from Bristol's diverse culture and forward thinking attitude which helped to inform the production of my publication, if I had done this earlier I could have focused more on the content of the publication. This knowledge helped to inform my production methods in order to reflect Bristol cities ethics and culture. Type consideration provided my solution with a juxtaposition of old and new style type for the title and body copy. This was effective decision making based on the themes and concerns I identified from my primary research.
My practical exploration has improved as I created a range of mockups which was useful for making informed design decisions based on printed media, rather than from screen. Physically manipulating the pages, sketching and note making is something that I will take forward into the next briefs as it allows me to problem solve effectively. I found the InDesign workshops really useful for preparing documents for commercial printing as I wasn't aware of these processes and as a result it allowed me to print my publication to a high standard. These skills are key for graphic design and I can transfer them into commercial printing, not just for publications. Some of the Illustrator and Photoshop skills that I have adopted will transfer really well into preparing documents for screen printing, as I now know how to separate CMYK colours and spot colours. Being introduced to spot colours was useful because it made me think about printing costs in the real world, I aim to consider using spot colours in order to make printing prices cheaper in the future.
My ability to problem solve practical issues such as printing my cover onto the greyboard encouraged me to try manual techniques and processes such as typesetting and debossing which are skills I can transfer into future projects. My understanding of print media and its limitations have given me confidence to approach professional and personal briefs which I look forward to.
My practical exploration has improved as I created a range of mockups which was useful for making informed design decisions based on printed media, rather than from screen. Physically manipulating the pages, sketching and note making is something that I will take forward into the next briefs as it allows me to problem solve effectively. I found the InDesign workshops really useful for preparing documents for commercial printing as I wasn't aware of these processes and as a result it allowed me to print my publication to a high standard. These skills are key for graphic design and I can transfer them into commercial printing, not just for publications. Some of the Illustrator and Photoshop skills that I have adopted will transfer really well into preparing documents for screen printing, as I now know how to separate CMYK colours and spot colours. Being introduced to spot colours was useful because it made me think about printing costs in the real world, I aim to consider using spot colours in order to make printing prices cheaper in the future.
My ability to problem solve practical issues such as printing my cover onto the greyboard encouraged me to try manual techniques and processes such as typesetting and debossing which are skills I can transfer into future projects. My understanding of print media and its limitations have given me confidence to approach professional and personal briefs which I look forward to.
My final printed and bound publication was a success, however due to the pressure of the final print I managed to trim my pages unevenly so the creep is not consistent. Considering I have proved these skills in previous mockups, this was a frustrating and demotivating experience, however I can learn from these mistakes and move on. On reflection, I would have liked to have produced a newspaper format publication because of its tangible qualities and influence from all the free newspapers available around Bristol - Cheaper to produce and offered around Bristol for free
In the future, I aim to set my blog posts up so that they are easier to refer back to as I struggled to remember what specific research or content was in each blog post. This is reflected in my blog and outcome as it made organising and developing my content much harder than it needed to be. I didn't manage to professionally photograph my final outcome which doesn't do my publication justice on my blog/design boards, however I intend to follow this up in order to add it to my portfolio.
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