Design Newsletter

The final project was to create a deign publication that completely encompassed all that we have learned this semester. The topic was design thinking; the topic we studied most and our goal was to create the best design possible.

For the weeks prior we worked on the assignment in class and used our previous projects to draw on. That is why you will see a lot of the same things I had in my other posts. The colors scheme, and typography were taken when I did the mood board, which prepared me for this. I drew on the blue, grey, color scheme that I think played nicely in the blue-scale colors.

I wanted the grids to be somewhat boxy, so I made them stay to the left and occupy the bottom, most of the words are located in these areas. Then I took the picture and placed it on the right. One of the cool things that I think may be overlooked is I picked a different color for each step and had them correspond to the typography pertaining to that issue. So if you are on page 2 and see a sentence in purple you know that it is about step three. In a larger brochure this could not only be cool but extremely useful.

The type I chose was a font called geosanslight that I found while researching the project. I liked the non-serif of it so I decided it was best. I than contrasted it with the baskerville font that was in the colored boxes. It was serifed so it made the two types stand out more. It also led to some diversity and showed emphasis on those areas.

Design Thinking Workshop/Process Documentation

This particular exercise was a. the first class I attended and b. the first time I saw how design thinking (correctly) really worked. It was much faster than I anticipated but I felt the time restraints were actually useful for keeping you on your feet.

We began by getting the manual and a group of random tools and objects. Things like paper, pencils, scissors and tape were all among the set we were given. 

The idea was to design something for the process of gift-giving, and we sat next to a partner of sorts who we asked questions.

What is your partner trying to achieve through gift giving?
-Empathy
-Connection to their friends
-Appreciation

After more insight into their lives we developed a short sentence that summed up what we were trying to accomplish. My partner Gabby provided the information and I came up with this:

Gabby needs a way to feel connected and appreciated because she does not want them to feel lonely or unappreciated.

We then followed the on-screen directions of a man in a workshop and went through more steps and answered the questions. My first "prototype" was okay, but I did not blame myself because there was not much direction in my thinking. Also many of the ideas were a little more optimistic than they should have been.

Thankfully we were given time to reflect and ask our peers. It was here I revised my idea for the future. 

I then took my best idea, an app, and fixed many poor design flaws. I ended up with an app that allowed your friends to know what you were up to and create social circles on your phone to always be in contact with them. (Think google+)

Even after that we reflected more and revised our ideas. There is not good design only good redesign.

Mood Board

Hands down the most enjoyable project I have completed this semester was the mood board. It is the basic rubric for creating the idea and information behind a design. You pick the colors, textures, and typography to display before you begin working on the actual design. This is so you have a clear idea of what works and holds consistency throughout the design process. 

In the beginning I had to pick a color template that I thought would accurately articulate design thinking. I went through a few different schemes until I picked the one I have here. The blues, greens and subtle purples were much calmer than most colors and with a serious and relaxing topic like design process it fit.

The whole board in general is a very simple and subtle design. It was my idea to easily describe the way the process works and I didn't want to make it very busy. I looked to a bunch of different mood boards online but could not find many to work from. I began taking bits and pieces from the best ones that fit my ideas. I researched the actual design process more than other templates. I wanted to better understand it before I worked up from there.

My first design had much more white space than my second. It also had type that was about 10 sizes up from the final. The grid ended up being two columns back to back. It was then moved into areas for each item. One for the color template, another for the headers, and a third for the typography. I then changed the original titles to put in some colors to show how I would used the color template I selected. The textures stayed the same but I added the boxes to also show where I wanted to final result to go. 

The few details that I changed from the beginning to the end made a considerable difference.

Brochure Post 3

Finally after much research and deliberation I finished.
I needed to see where I wanted to first go so I brainstormed a bit more.

I did a few more sketches to begin:

My re-design took in to account all the criticism and took out the elements that did not work. 
I immediately used the four panel gird in my sketches.

I first returned to the drawing board to better lay out my grid. I removed the solid three panel on both sides and instead put four panels on the back so I could better explain "design-thinking." 


Even at this point I was unsure of how to fix it. I went through trial-and-error until I got a somewhat presentable product. And even then...

Here is my final design:

(will upload when I find non-corrupt file)

A few more tweaks with the pictures were all that was left.
I went with the white because I thought it was better than picking a solid background color. I also changed up the grid in the back and fixed the photos so they were better quality. 

The grid on the back I think worked especially better than before. It removed the three panel grid and allowed for me to show step-by-step the design process. Incredibly meta if I might add.

This design is far from perfect but for some reason this brochure is beyond me. I am not sure why I struggled so much with this one but it really gave me a huge appreciation for the time and energy put into these designs. Kudos to those who do this for a living.



 

Brochure Post 2

Now I stuck to basically the three-panel layout for the entire three brochure schemes. I am not sure why but to me it seemed like the best idea, I also did not even think to change up the grids.

I really liked blue so a majority of my ideas took into account that color.


Disregard the hexagon, it's ridiculous.

Design One:

Design Two:

Design Three:

The feedback was thus: too much color, weird color scheme, blank space, and a solid background color.


And I would say I have to agree, it wasn't until I actually heard people say it that I affirmed my suspicions.If someone picked up this brochure it wouldn't be any revolutionary, or anything that was designed properly. Or something I could claim to be able to sell.

But much like design thinking there is not good design only good re-design.

So I went back to the drawing board.

Brochure Post 1

Arguably the hardest project that I have finished in this class, the brochure took me some time to complete. A majority of the difficulty lie in the beginning design scheme. After taking the class for a month I realized many of my ideas may not be suitable for the brochure. I was hard pressed to figure out how to make it work in the end.

I began by thinking up the best way to design the grid. I sketched out what appeared to be the best idea:

I also needed to explain the design process in the brochure, effectively and well put together.

The first panel would have my title, then a picture, followed by a design quote. The next panel would be predominantly introductory text and the inside would feature the explanation of the design process.

I looked at some online to get a better understanding of where I wanted to go. Many of them were much more complicated than I wanted to be, but designs like these I enjoyed:

 

But it wouldn't be until the final design that I took the four grid structure into my brochure.

And went with that grid initially for my rough draft. I put in a solid background color and put up three different designs for the brochure. 

The hardest part ended up being where to put the text and how I would use it. I wanted to get the message across but was very unsure of the best approach. I needed to explain design thinking in a way that not only made sense but allowed the reader simplicity.

The blue works though, and I ended working that into all three of my first designs. It is a nice color, more calming than others and I didn't want anything too bold in a brochure.

Typography Assignment Final

My final design that I decided to send out was this:

 
I ended up choosing my mother, and my two good friend Pete Lanwes and Chris Lauletti. 

I chose my mother, because she is, well, my mother. And the other two because they enjoy all things minimalist, and would appreciate the design.

Here they are:

I am pleased with the results, and believe in the future this will actually be something I will work on more for my own gain.

 

Typography Assignment (third attempt)

This is my third attempt at the typography assignment. I continually choose a quote that does not fit the rubric, so you may either disregard the previous two posts, or read them as my design method.

This time I chose the quote: "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." by Leonardo Da Vinci. An incredibly insightful line that actually goes quite cleverly with the minimalist movement. A trend that I personally am a huge fan of. I agree with the old motto that unless you can explain something simply you do not fully understand it. In life this applies as well.

So I began sketching some designs out.
In total it became a job of finding out how to make the quote come to life. Of course I took a minimalist approach, it seem appropriate.
I came up with several designs:
I found that this encompassed the quote as simply as I possibly could. Allowing for an emphasis to be placed on the idea and the typography. A frame being the center of the card, with the inside blank.

ReDone Typography Ass.

So turns out I did took the completely wrong idea for the assignment and just picked a random quote I liked. Apparently we needed to choose a quote that related to design thinking. As cool as a bible verse is, it 100% of the time has no context in design.

So I had to take another. I ended up with: You may have notice but I'm not all there myself.

This is a quote by the chesire cat in Alice in Wonderland, I found it about a full scroll wheel down from the frontpage of pinterest. 

Here are my original sketch ideas:

 And here is my first design:

Second:

And third:

 

Typography first round

"And he stood between the living and the dead; and the plague was stayed." Numbers 16:48

I am not a religious person but I this quote is literary gold. It has such a deep impact every time you read it and since I has been one of my favorite quotes since I first read it.

There is a lot of backstory to this line that deals with a majority of the old testament and the story of Moses. There is not enough space here to detail it but Moses and his brother Aaron question whether a priest named Korah has the right to divine rule. They decide to both light sacrificial incense and as a result Korah is swallowed by the ground and god begins killing off thousands of defiant people in a plague.

God tells Moses and Aaron to leave but they refuse attempting to help the people. Directly going against god's will Aaron goes into the middle and begins lighting the incense.

Not only is the line well drafted it also shows the true character of the brothers in one line. It is incredible courage that leads both of them to defy God to try to help people.

Between the living and the dead also applies to today's world to those working in diseased countries around sick people.

There were many concepts that I played around with. And I began sketching them in my pad:

And then finished with these three drafts:

This one I am capturing the idea of life vs. death and the basic concept of light vs. dark. 

this one was more based around the actual events, such as Moses leaving Israel.

And this one is a bit tricky and I hope I can get my point across. The cross is actually a "red cross" like the outreach organization. The D and G are both incense burners to show the "death" of Korah and the "life" of Aaron. The cord is the string of life, alluded to in greek mythology and also an obvious allegory. 

I want to work on these though they are far from perfect. 

Blog Redesign

Documenting a new design on the blog. Done before the last post.

Bag Post #2

In design thinking we use our current method of problem solving and change it. We then look for new paths to a solution. Take the normal problem-oriented strategy and create a new solution-oriented one. When finding a solution becomes the priority, achieving this allows for a different approach. Although both end up accomplishing the same goal, we give them different names.
 
Now, my bag carries around everything I need, and became a vessel for random objects. I collected items that I found along my way and the most important ones I displayed here, the less I just put back into my bag.
 
It contains:
1 planner
1 notebook
1 laptop
1 pair of headphones
1 entry token to a berlin disco
1 lucky 2 euro coin

1 lighter

1 cigarette case
2 black pens

Through time, each object was attached to a memory. Each holding a different emotion in my mind. Relinquishing one would be like removing them from my soul.

I would say I am extremely utilitarian. Every thing in my sack is used on a daily basis. I smoke the cigarettes, use the laptop, listen with my headphones. Besides the trinkets, which are there for “luck” the rest are always being used by me.
 
Design thinking follows a similar route. You must understand your problem, create prototypes and test them. Or as Hasso Platner says: 

Define the problem, bodystorm (ideate), prototype, and test.

Using this I can try several different designs for the photo above. I can change the background, switch the lighting or buy a better camera. All these solutions can be solved by sitting down and thinking about my goal. What am I trying to accomplish? What message am I conveying?

The idea is to be unique and individual. The key to progress is trying new things. David Kelly discusses this idea in his TED talk. He explains “Creative confidence,” a term that shows the lack of creativity in some people. By an early age if creative minds are not fostered they become insecure with their creativity. This ends in them developing practical minds.

All people have the innate sense of creativity and practicality. It is human nature. People are hesitant to focus on creativity because practicality is based in logic. Creativity is not black and white, and by using your ideas you are gambling with success. People turn to practicality because of it's high success/failure rate. An example would be if it were a lottery ticket practicality would win more times then those with creativity. Yet, creativity would have a better reward.

When finding new solutions the best way is design thinking. It is the only way to explore new options that may work.

From now on I will use this method in my every day life. When working on a project, I can look to new ways of doing it. When buying food I can look for new ways of cooking it. When writing papers I can take a new angle. Design thinking can be applied to all aspects of life.

I don't own a purse

Normally removing everything from my bag would result in a pile of useless paper and garbage.

But as interesting as that is, I took out the more important items.

My bag carries around everything I need, and became an important garbage bag over time. I continued collecting items that I found along the way. The most important ones I displayed here, the less I just put back into my bag.

It contains:
1 planner
1 notebook
1 laptop
1 pair of headphones
1 entry token to a berlin disco
1 lucky 2 euro coin
2 black pens

Through time, each object was attached to a memory. Each holding a different emotion in my mind. Relinquishing one would be like removing them from my soul. 

Deep, I know. 
PHILOSOPHICAL


Design thinking follows a similar route. You must understand your problem, create and test it. Or as my good friend Hasso Platner says: Define the problem, bodystorm (ideate), prototype, and test. 

Fascinating, but it does not relate much to my bag. If I was building a new improved design for a bag, then this strategy would be useful. But as I am just showing you bits of it there is much to he desired. 

The greatest thing about design thinking is it allows me to literally do this. To write in a self-referential manner to invoke feelings. It is new and unpolished and that's why I like it.  

My main goal is to be unique.

Individuality is the key to progress. 

David Kelly discussed the idea of creative confidence, that people are not divided by practical minds and creative ones. Yes, David, you are right. The world is not just cut in two, there are grey areas. I would not like to put down this TED because I enjoyed it,

but Dave
Dave
come on Dave

are you really claiming that people believe that it is simple lack of confidence which is holding them back? 
In some cases this is true, but yet,

All people have the innate sense of creativity and practicality as is human nature. People are hesitant to focus on creativity because practicality is based in logic. Creativity is great but its most important flaw is gambling with success. 

Practicality is every blog here.
Creativity is this blog.

Will I get the better grade? Maybe, maybe not. But who decides that? Not me, but you. If you do not deem this creative there will be point loss. 

In closing here are two examples:

Practicality

 Creativity