Collection 100: Dinosaurs

Relevant Pages

Research
Initial primary qualitative and quantitative research
Initial secondary qualitative and quantitative research
Dinosaurs in arts and crafts
Dinosaurs in books and films

Design
Dinosaur card development
Book workshop
Moving image workshop
Collection 100: Final piece

Initial Presentation of Research

Subject matter: Dinosaurs

Methods for categories/organising research: 1. Alphabetical - Dinosaur names 2. Categories - Diet - (herbivore, carnivore, omnivore) 3. Timescale - When dinosaurs were discovered 4. Continuum - Size - Smallest to largest 5. Continuum - A little to a lot - How much people like dinosaurs

Feedback by: Chris

Appropriate themes of research within subject matter: Religion, Size of dinosaurs

Methods to gather appropriate: Mostly secondary on Internet, primary opinions

General feedback on presentation: Informative, a lot of research that is easy to break down

Additional research required- Primary: Visit a museum

-Secondary: Watch films about dinosaurs (Primeval) and compare with what historians say.

Action to be taken: Keep up the good research.

Feedback by: Max

Appropriate themes of research within subject matter: Dinosaurs in religion, different dinosaurs and their characteristics, art etc, whether they were real or not

Methods to gather appropriate: Threads, surveys, internet

General feedback on presentation: Clear, well ordered, informative

Additional research required- Primary: Surveys

-Secondary: Watch Jurassic Park and Walking with Dinosaurs

Action to be taken: Watch films, find fossils

Feedback by: Ben

Appropriate themes of research within subject matter: Religion with dinosaurs, illustrators who draw dinosaurs

Methods to gather appropriate: Opinions

General feedback on presentation: Informative

Additional research required- Primary: Go and photograph dinosaur bones at a museum, sketch them if you can't photograph

Feedback by: Kirsty H

Appropriate themes of research within subject matter: Dinosaurs in religion, creationists, illustrators/crafts

General feedback on presentation: Very clear

Additional research required- Primary: Watch dinosaur films

-Secondary: Look at archeology, fossils etc

Action to be taken: Watch some dinosaur programmes, like Jurassic Park, Prime Evil, Walking with Dinosaurs, and Disney Dinosaurs

Feedback by: Steph

Appropriate themes of research within subject matter: Types of dinosaurs, religion, existence, illustrators

Methods to gather appropriate: primary opinions, secondary Internet

Additional research required- Primary: Ask people knowledge of dinosaurs, go to a museum

-Secondary: Find out about exhibits, look at fossils

Action to be taken: Possible theme - dinosaurs in the media

End of Week One
My evaluation
This week I have presented my research to other students, and thought about where this project could go.  After thinking about how I can categorise all the information I have collected, I would really like to use this as a theme for the project.
To continue to develop this project, I think I need to learn a lot more about dinosaurs, as the initial primary and secondary qualitative and quantitative research I collected was about dinosaurs in religion. I don't think I feel strongly enough about this subject to create a 'Collection 100' product, and also, from the research I gathered, most people did actually believe in dinosaurs, and those who didn't had firm religious beliefs that I do not intend to challenge.
What I did gather from my research, however, was that most people didn't know a lot about dinosaurs, with many people only being able to name Tyrannosaurus. Even though a lot of people I asked were my age, a few responses were that people weren't interested in dinosaurs as they thought they were scary. I think it would be a good idea to create a product which would appeal to girls, as I think most of the dinosaur books existing are aimed exclusively at boys.


End of Week Two
My evaluation
I have spent this week experimenting with different design ideas before coming across an idea which I think will relate to the initial primary quantitative research I collected. I really enjoyed the moving image workshop, but I don't know how relevant it would be to create a video, when the focus point I have decided on is how facts and figures about the dinosaurs can be categorised. Now that I have an idea, my next step is just to get on with drawing the 100 dinosaurs, as well as continuing to learn about dinosaurs.

Week Three Progress Crit
Issues Raised:
- Will 100 of the same idea keep the readers interest, especially as the product is aimed at children? It could be a good idea to include different activities on the cards, for example each set of 10 could contain a different activity, such as colouring in the dinosaurs.
- The cards need to be interesting and easily understandable. Include the pronunciation of each of the dinosaurs names and what the name means.
- When you know what you are doing with the cards you can think about packaging, and whether they should be placed in a book.

Action to be taken:

At the moment, I think the most important action is to continue to create the cards, ensuring there is interesting information about the dinosaurs as well as facts and figures. When all 100 cards are created, then I need to think about packaging, and how the cards would be distributed. I think it could be a good idea to include quizzes to test what the reader is learning as an activity to keep the readers interest. I also need to plan more activities like this.

Week Four Progress Crit

 Issues Raised:
- Revisit brief, check you are answering all aspects of it, especially - is it product and packaging, promotion or advertising?
- Make sure you know and it is clear who your audience is, what the product is, why you are creating it etc.
- Make sure there is a consistency in the grid.
- Need to give instructions on what you are supposed to do with it - is it a colouring in book?
- Decide on context - the facts seem like they would be difficult to understand for children, yet the font and colouring in style isn't relevant for teenagers. Make sure format, font, and information is suitable.
- Introduction, explain the topic.
- Need a key to explain what the symbols mean.
- Make sure that there will be a visual consistency between product and packaging
- Is it now a book or cards as planned?

Action to be taken:
After the crit I decided that my target audience would be children, so I need to make the product more understandable and suitable for children. Also, I think I will include colouring pencils along with instructions and an introduction to the topic so that it is obvious that this is a colouring in activity. I think I will create a book instead of individual cards now, as I do not have designs for the back of the cards, and also considering price - I would have to print all 100 on to card instead of paper.

Week Five Progress Crit

 Feedback from students:

- This is awesome! The illustrations and idea is really good and visually engaging. Only thing we can think is its not too clear how it will be packaged and what size. Will be better once printed. Just not clear who the target audience is.
- Who is it aimed at - children or teens?
- Is there a purpose for the lack of colour?

Action to be taken:

After these comments and questions from other students, I decided I really needed to choose which format the book will take when it is printed. I will do this by printing out mock-ups and choosing a style I like. I need to concentrate on packaging that is visually consistent with the book, as I haven't spend much time on this yet, despite this being an important consideration in the brief. I believe the lack of colour will be understood better when I create an introduction/instructions page as suggested in last weeks crit. I will continue to experiment with font and layout, as my target audience is still not clear. I would still like to be able to include all the information about each Dinosaur as I think this is an important part of the book.

Rationale

For the Collection 100 Brief my theme is dinosaurs.  I have created a children’s colouring book with 100 dinosaur colouring in sheets, containing facts and information, as well as an introduction to dinosaurs and other activities. I have categorised the dinosaurs into alphabetical order. The target audience is both girls and boys, around 7 to 8 years old.

Final Evaluation

I have evaluated my Collection 100 Brief in the end of module self evaluation.

Front Cover

Introductory Pages

Back Cover

100 Dinosaur Cards

Photographs of Final Book

Secret Leeds

Week 1

Brief: Create three design direction boards showing research based on our rationale.
1. Problem 2. Evidence 3. We Intend To...

Rationale
Group Members - Claudia, Chloe, Liv, Ryan, Sadie & Simon
Problem - What surprises can you find in Leeds?
Evidence - Our collective of photography and group statement evidences this
We Intend To - Discover, explore and record the surprises of Leeds

Week One Progress Crit

We presented our three design direction boards to the rest of the groups. Our ideas were generally well liked, as it is a strange but interesting idea, which not many people will know about. Yet, it has been done before in London, so we know the idea definitely works. With our secret Leeds tea party we will be adding our own twists. The advice we were given was to make sure we had a strong identity which would show throughout all of our signage, and to make sure that all designs stood out.

Final Design Direction Boards
For our final presentation, we re-created the design direction boards with more relevant information now that we understood our problem better, and also because some aspects had changed slightly.

Problem

Evidence

What We Did

Week 2 - Final Pieces

Final Map

Computer Screen Shot

Actual Folded Map

Final Poster

Computer Screen Shot

Tea Tray

Photographs of our tea tray we made for our presentation. We created a tray liner as well as belly bands for napkins and a blanket, to go with our map and poster.

Photograph of material in surroundings
We took photographs of the final pieces in the Cool Beans coffee shop.

Feedback from Tutor

It seems like a good idea, which was well presented, but still does not completely make sense. It would be better if as a group you decided where the poster would be placed to gain publicity. The map would work better with more information about the picnic, and to only include the relevant areas. The products should be photographed in context, and if an actually tea party could be held this would really make this a live brief. It would be good to gather the reactions of those attending the picnic. 

Self Evaluation

What problem did you identify?

We identified that in Leeds there are lots of events aimed at students but hardly anything for residents such as families and couples. This can be seen on our problem design direction board, which is filled with flyer's and pages from guide books all aimed at students. Another aspect of the problem is that there aren't many lesser known places in Leeds, as people tend to stick to going to the places and events that are well known and heavily publicised.

What evidence did you find to support your decisions?
For the problem design direction board, we gathered the guide books and flyers we had collected from the tourist information office, freshers fayres and around college. Nearly all of this was advertising places that were already known, as well as mostly being directed at young students. Our evidence to support our decision that there are not many lesser known places in Leeds came from our idea to create a Face book group called 'Secret Leeds'. We invited residents of Leeds to join, and asked them all to tell us of any hidden places they knew, yet with about 20 people joining, we only got three replies. We took this to be evidence that people just do not know about secret places in Leeds. This evidence proves that their is an audience and a gap in the market for our idea.

What methods did you use to gather your evidence and what forms did it take?

To gather evidence we used a few different methods of research. We created the Face book group to find out about lesser known places in Leeds. We questioned our classmates about their favourite and lesser known places in Leeds. We also did Internet research, looking at Leeds city guides and the existing Secret Leeds website.

What methods of research did you find useful and why?

I found questioning people useful as this is how we came to find out about St Georges field. This type of research is primary meaning that it is more relevant to us, as we have completed it for a specific need.

How did these inform your response to the problem?

It was through another group member questioning someone that they found out about St Georges field which became the basis for the idea for our brief.

What research could you have carried out that would have proved more useful?

Primary quantitative research would have been useful. Maybe a questionnaire, or some proof that St George's field is quiet, e.g. counting how many people came through in 1 hour at lunch time.

5 things that I have learnt about the design process:

I have learnt that making mistakes does not mean the end of a project but to keep going and learn from them. This leads on to my next point that making mistakes and the wrong decisions is actually useful, as you almost always end up with a better idea. I have learnt that its important to be able to back yourself up with research so you know there is definitely a market for what you are trying to create. I have learnt how it is useful to have both primary and secondary research to aid development. I have learnt not to go along with the first idea I have, even if I think it would be successful. When working in a group, people are sure to have different opinions over different designs so this meant that we didn't go with the first idea, but developed it until we were all satisfied.

5 things I would do differently next time:

I think I have done more primary research than on any other brief yet I still think I could have done more now I know how useful and important it is. I think hearing opinions from my target audience would have been useful. We did do both primary and secondary qualitative research but I think much more could have been done. Next time I think it would be useful to plan what research I would do and why, and if working as a group, to try to make sure all members contributed equally.

Group Evaluation
This is the evaluation we filled in together, having to define our roles and rate each group member.

End of Module Self Evaluation

1. What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?

Through my induction and also through my own experimentation, I have learnt to use Illustrator. Before, I did not understand how Illustrator could be a useful tool and instead always hand drew my images or used Photo shop. I think I have effectively applied my new skills, as they were used not only in the Illustrator brief, but both of the No News is Good News briefs which I created after my Illustrator inductions. Through the group work I also learnt more about Photo shop through my peers.

I have now developed typography skills through this module. In my previous education I had not been taught about typography, so I have found this fascinating as well as extremely useful and have tried to apply what I have learnt about typography in all my briefs. I learnt about the rules of letter forms, but found it quite difficult to apply these when creating my own typeface by hand, and as a result, some letters were out of proportion.

Through this module I have developed visual communication skills. At first I found this difficult, such as with the visual thinking brief, where there is a good idea behind my work but it is not obvious to the viewer. But I believe I have improved these skills, especially after my research for What is Graphic Design, and I think this can be shown through my Alphabet Soup typeface, which I believe is understandable by itself.

2. What approaches to/methods of research have you developed and how have they informed your design development process?

I have used the Internet, books from the college library as well as relevant existing examples of Graphic Design that I have collected for research. They have informed my design process by showing me what works well, but also in some cases bad examples show me what not to do, such as colours which don't work together. As well as this, research is useful for me to know my competition, so I don't create something which is identical to something which has already been made. Research has been the starting point for each brief, especially important for the mail shot brief, as I had never created a mail shot before, or experimented with unique foldings, so research helped me to understand what a mail shot is and how useful it can be.
I haven't done much primary research, but to improve in further modules I think this important.

3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?

I am quite critical of my own work and so find it difficult to identify strengths. One strength that stands out in my work is that I am always continuing to develop it after receiving feedback. I regularly discussed my work with tutors to ensure improvements could be made.

Another strength is that I believe I have always created work that is relevant for the target audience. I have always listed considerations such as target audience before planning a piece, and I believe this is how I have capitalised on making my work relevant.
4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these more fully?

Although I am creating many design ideas at the start by hand, I tend to stick with one idea from the start, and not attempt to create the others.

Colour is something which I felt I didn't understand well previously, so a lot of the colour I have used seems to be quite irrelevant, more to make a piece look attractive than having a purpose.

I don't think I have focused on presentation as much as I should have, I would address this weakness by using relevant stock and being more careful with folds and cutting in future.


5. Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?

Next time I will try different ideas instead of just rushing in with my first idea. Making mock ups of an idea and developing it may lead me to a better quality piece of design.

I will think about stock, experimenting with different stock which may make my pieces stand out, such as the use of stickers. I will try unusual sizes and shapes as well instead of choosing the safe option so that my pieces are unique.

I will evaluate my work as I go instead of just reflecting at the end of a brief, as I feel evaluating has been a really useful process with I never previously used. This reflection will hopefully help me to stop making mistakes and realise what is working well.

Now that I am beginning to understand colour, I will be more careful about picking colours with relevance, rather than just choosing colours I think look good. I think this will help to share my message through visual communication.

I will spend more time considering layout. Some of my designs didn't work too well because of their layout. I will try both horizontal and vertical orientation, and consider how folds can effect a layout. By doing this I can choose a layout which makes the most sense and therefore make my work easier to understand and so more effective.

6. How would you grade yourself on the following areas
(5= excellent 4=very good 3=good 2=average 1=poor)
Attendance = 4
Punctuality = 5
Motivation = 3
Commitment = 4
Quantity of work produced = 3
Quality of work produced = 3
Contribution to the group = 3

Illustrator Induction

For this brief I have created 26 variations of one letter form on Illustrator based on what I learnt in the Illustrator inductions.

Final Piece: A1

This is the screen image of my final 26 letterforms which I printed horizontally on to A1 tracing paper.

Evaluation

I am generally pleased with my final piece, considering that before the inductions I didn't understand how to use Illustrator. Through what I have learnt from the tutor as well as experimentation with the different tools on Illustrator, I have created a set of varied letterforms. What I have learnt from this brief I have been able to transfer to my other briefs, and so I feel a lot more confident creating things on the computer now instead of just always hand drawing things. To improve this piece, I think I would consider colour better, as apart from on the letterforms where I have experimented with opacity, I have used colour just to make the piece look attractive and ordered, rather than using it to bring out certain parts of the letterforms. 

No News Is Good News: Part 2 - Mail Shots

For this brief I am creating a mail shot regarding the subject of my poster designs from 'No News Is Good News' brief part 1 - poster designs.

Week One Progress Crit

- Don't need to include all aspects of the three poster design on mail shot - keep it simple, only use what is necessary
- Maybe include other celebrity gossip weddings / stories
- Entice readers to visit the website with promises of exclusive photographs, etc
- Make the reader feel special, like they are V.I.P's or invited by a celebrity into their world
- On the middle page spread, include the website address, as where it is placed on the back cover doesn't grab attention, where the middle page does
- On the middle page, experiment with layout of type, try having a different opinion on each side so they are opposing
- The front cover doesn't invite readers in -  needs to be more attention grabbing

Final Crit
Evaluation 1: Francesca & Frankie
What is being communicated and how?  
The marriage between Russell Brand and Katy Perry - Celebrity gossip website
How well does this answer the brief?  
- Appropriate mailing list - Subject matter/sending a message - Correct size
Who is the audience and how well does the resolution communicate its message/content to them? 
- Gossip lovers/ Celebrity followers  - Mainly female (typeface and use of colour appeals more to females) - use of image - recognising faces draws you in
What are the strengths of the resolution? 
-Outside is appealing - Way it opens out - Colour scheme, colours work well together
How could it be improved?
-More in the centre of the envelope/layout could be experimented with
- Maybe use colours that could be more fitting to the subject
General Comments...
-Simple / effective, tells the message - Outside visually appealing, want to open it - Strong use of red

Evaluation 2: Matt & Emily

What is being communicated and how? 

Advert for celebrity gossip site (blog almost)
How well does this answer the brief?
- Set audience - consistent colour - Simple/to the point -intruiging/entertaining -mutual perspective -open/inviting
Who is the audience and how well does the resolution communicate its message/content to them?
Followers of celebrities, magazine readers, groupies/fans, opinionated people
What are the strengths of the resolution?
-Eye catching colour - relevant type - inventive folding design - images make it look upbeat/gossip like

How could it be improved?
- Use a brighter yellow colour - Try a different stock
General Comments...
Good piece of work, overall very intriguing

My Evaluation
I agree with the comments made in the evaluations by other students. I am happy with the fold, and how the envelope opens out to be the actual piece. This would save money if this was a real mail shot as only one a4 piece needs to be used. The comments about the use of colour also came across in part one of this brief, so I feel as if I should have considered colour better. I chose to use red to symbolise love, and gold to symbolise the luxury of the wedding of Katy Perry and Russell Brand, and then white as I felt that this colour would go well with red and gold. I could have used colours that related more to India, or just brighter colours to make the piece really stand out. I altered the layout of the text in the centre of the mail shot because it did not fit in with the fold, however, the layout I used for the final piece also doesn't work too well. If I had the time and money to recreate these mail shots, I would have tried lots more experimentation with the layout of text, as my piece proves that things that work on screen may not work when they are printed and folded.


Final Mailshot

Mailing List

No News Is Good News: Part 1-Posters

Evaluation
Response from other students
We displayed our work in a crit, and then recieved anoynmous feedback, which allowed the person viewing our work to be totally honest. I think this research was useful as it showed me which parts of my posters I thought woud be obvious weren't actually understood by the person evaluating my work, for example in the second image, where a sentence is spelt out with images. This allows me to make changes to designs, so I can make them simpler and more understandable. At the same time, this type of crit meant that I couldn't explain my reasons behind design decisions.

Evaluation 1 
Which statement/fact/question is being communcaited to you? Two famous people from different countries have married in India
Is this being communicated in a clear and focused way? Unsure
What could be developed further? More connotations to India and marriage
Have the posters been kept "simple and to the point?" Unsure
Is a statement, fact or question being posed? Image only poster is too fussy so is not clear, there are seperate images, space between parts of images need to be smaller
Has the restriction of two colours plus stock been met? Yes
Are the two colours plus stock appropriate to the solution? Unsure
Why are the two colours plus stock appropriate/inappropriate? Links to the countries could have been made in relation to colour. Or even what Katy is famous for wearing - candy etc
Do the posters work as a set or series? No
Why do they work/don't work as part of a set or series and could this be developed further? Image only just looks like it was done last minute, a nicer layout would be better. Images in image and text are too different to images used in image only.
Is it clearly evident which poster is type, image and type and image? Unclear. Image and type poster looks too much in the style of only images.
Are the posters"memorable, immediate high impact and clear"? I really like the simplicity of the text only poster, use this device throughout and you would have to consistancy needed.
Do you feel the brief has been fulfilled to its full potential? No
Further feedback? Try to use images with no detail, just block, it would suit the style used within text only

Evaluation 2
Which statement/fact/question is being communcaited to you? The marriage of Russell Brand and Katy Perry - dates and places of the event (Celebrity Gossip)
Is this being communicated in a clear and focused way? Yes
What could be developed further? I feel the posters could carry on as a story e.g. the wedding and events of the marriage's state. Also some more cut-out deisngs in different shapes/colours.
Have the posters been kept "simple and to the point?" Yes
Is a statement, fact or question being posed? Fact. The date is October 23rd which has already happened. The fact that the date is stated twice and in a large print on the 3rd poster portrays this well and informs.
Has the restriction of two colours plus stock been met? Yes
Are the two colours plus stock appropriate to the solution? No
Why are the two colours plus stock appropriate/inappropriate? Russell Brand and Katy Perry are big, interesting and over the top characters, therefore more colour and brighter colours would have been appropriate to their personalities
Do the posters work as a set or series? Yes
Why do they work/don't work as part of a set or series and could this be developed further? It could definately be developed further, you could make endless cut out designs to this subject. They work as a set, all simple, same style, the font is used throughout and the un-even cut out images fit in with the colour scheme
Is it clearly evident which poster is type, image and type and image? The image poster is clearly the middle one and this is visually successful. I feel the type and image could have had more type on it as they are too similar to the cut out images, maybe the use of a different more simple font like the style of the images in the middle poster.
Are the posters"memorable, immediate high impact and clear"? The image only and text only are very clear, bold and communicate the article well. However the text and image could have worked better with either one of the images from image only or a font similar to them. I like how the names of the celebrities stand out compared to the dates and facts on the type only poster.
Do you feel the brief has been fulfilled to its full potential? Yes
Further feedback? It has been successful and visually communicates the article well, althought including another typeface (simple and clean) would have made it even more effective and clear.

My Response
After speaking to a tutor about my three posters, I realised that I had concentrated too much on ensuring that each piece worked as an individual to focus on other aspects, and therefore my pieces don't work as a set. Different issues rose after the feedback, such as realising that the image only poster wasn't understandable, and so may work better with type, as if it was a puzzle. By changing the layout of the image only poster, I could make it easier to read. The image and type poster didn't contain much type, and I had focused too much on making the image look visually attractive when I could have used this as an oppurtunity to communicate more information or pose a question about the article. The image and type poster could have contained much more detail, to show the extravagance of the wedding. The posters could have contained a different colour scheme, that focused more on the theme of Indian wedding rather than traditional red and gold. The posters may actually work better landscape, this is something I need to experiment with.

Developed Final Pieces
Taking on board the feedback I recieved from my evaluation, I made some changes to my final posters.