Design Context: OUGD401 - Critical Analysis: Studio Brief 1

Today we were introduced to design principles. I made some notes during the session as a reference and to make sure that I understand what design principles consists of:

Aims:

Introduce and explore fundamental principles of visual literacy, colour theory, typography, layout and format.

Explore principles of communication through type and/or image in relation to graphic design practices.

Encourage individual approaches to the exploration and application of fundamental design principles to specified problems.

Visual literacy and language

Organisation is key
Bring visual tool kit
Regularly blog work
Bring camera to every session
There will be key things to hand in at the end

Required reading - Look at list online and buy Design Basics: Colour

Studio Brief 1: What is literacy?

Presentation notes - Visual Literacy: The Language of Graphic Design

Visual literacy:

The ability to construct meaning from visual images and type
Interpreting images of the present, past and a range of cultures
Producing images that effectively communicate a message

Visual communication...

A process of sending and receiving
Sharing the understanding of signs, symbols, gestures and objects
Affected by audience, context, media and method of distribution

All that is necessary for any language to exist is an agreement amongst a group of people that one thing will stand for another.

One example from the presentation:

+ Lacks context

+ x Means plus because there is a multiply sign next to it. This gives the symbol context.

Semiotics

Sign

Symbol

Signifier

Apple

Symbolises an apple

Sign for Apple Mac

Signifies quality and creativity

Key elements: Visual language in graphic design

Frame
Format
Figure/Form
Ground
Composition
Visual dynamics
Type
Image
Colour
Layout
Legibility
Readability

We were then set two tasks to complete.

The first one is to find 4 images which we have already found, 2 of which we like and 2 of which we hate, giving reasons why.

LIKE

Fabien Barral designed this business card for a photographer. I love how he has successfully used type alone to create such an impressive card. It is minimal and most certainly effective. The colours work really well together and the overall composition of the card works really well.

Fabien Barral design

I have seen a lot of work using the same concept as this one. However I feel as though this one has been designed much more professionally than any I have seen before. I think the font clearly signifies each part of the world in a crisp, sharp way. The off white on the grey wall also works really well and it creates a very modern image along with the sofa below it.

Wall sticker

HATE

I feel that this is a very controversial choice for my hate category as many people really like this logo. I feel however that it has been poorly designed. I find that it isn't easily recognisable as being designed for the Olympic games. The typeface is very poor as almost childlike and the shapes in which the numbers are made up of just seem pointless as they have no relevance to the message it is trying to portray. I feel as though the designer has tried too much to make something appear too abstract and different and because of this they have managed to create something which is a lot weaker than it should be.

Olympic logo

I came across this on the internet when I typed in 'bad graphics' and feel that this is a prime example of how not to design. The colours are garish, there are too many fonts being used and the layout is awful. This website would definitely not successfully sell any of their products.

Bad graphics

We then had to identify 5 fonts with fundamentally different characteristics.

1. This font is quite informal, not very sophisticated, has a bubbled effect to it and a noticable white space within each letter to define a shadow.

2. This font is simplistic, clear and quite professional looking.

3. This serif font is bold, quite over the top and decorative to an extent.

4. This font very much reminds me of a poor style of handwriting. It has a rough edge to it and I can't imagine it would be well suited to many designs.