OUGD404: Design Principles - Mop-up & Submission

As this was the final session of the Design Principles module, we began by re-cappping the fundamental principles which we had learnt over the past five weeks and noting down important information referring to the module deadline.

During the first half of the session we were asked to present our findings based on the terms we had been given to the whole class in order to refresh our memory.

What is DPS and what does it do?

• Separates the information within the design
• How you open the DPS can be part of the design
• Useful in terms of organisation
• Used in magazines

Grids, Columns and Gutters

• Gutter - Space between columns
• Grids - Used to organise information on a page; creates a balanced design

Sub-headings, paragraphs, pagination, captions, ligatures

• Pagination -Separating the information; dissecting the page; navigation 
• Sub-heading - Enables the reader to find information quickly and how in-depth the information is
• Paragraph - Consists on one or more sentence; first like is commonly indented
• Caption - Usually placed underneath an image; should draw the reader in or give information
• Ligature - Used to make type look more attractive on the page; to represent sounds or words; aesthetic decision        

What is a point, pixel and pica?

• Pica - Three types of pica (French, USA and Computer); unit of measurement;12 points per pica
• Pixel - Each pixel is made up of three dots; smallest addressable element in a display design
• Point - Unit of measurement; used to measure type; Represents the height of the type itself

Drop-cap, folio numbers, box and rulers

• Drop-cap - Used in old-fashioned books; Often largely illustrated; Large capital in which the rest of the paragraph sits next to
• Folio Number - Usually on the front side of the leaf
• Box - Square format layout; Can be used for anything, text and images
• Rulers - Physical ruler, used in sketching etc; Measurement rulers used in Software used to see where the guides will be set on the page

RESEARCH

• Greeking
• Folio Numbers
• Ligatures
• Measures
• Rules and boxes

The second half of the session however, focussed on receiving the feedback, which would enable us to progress over Easter and ultimately produce our final outcome for 'What Is A Book?'

As Phil stated we would be able to present any piece of design - produced by ourselves - which demonstrates the principles he and had taught us in the sessions and I am yet to finish the ten double page spreads for the 'What Is A Book?' brief I decided instead to show the DPS I had produced for the InDesign Brief.

Feedback:

• I really like the use of the hexagons. But here I think you need to try and make the text flow better throughout them. I see it's for giraffes only from the images, could you use a title too. Maybe be use the hexagons sparingly and have them compliment the body copy.
• Like the use of the hexagons, although I think it makes the body copy a lot less readable. It effects the leading and it's hard to navigate where to read. I also Cannot identify a solid heading. Possibly too much white space. Background could be improved by being an off-white colour (pale brown / beige as a suggestion)
• I love the use of the giraffe pattern, possibly add a title that states what you are looking at. Good balance of text and image. Relevant colour scheme.
• Really creative use of shapes.
• Really detailed. Like the use of the shapes to represent the giraffe pattern. I am confused as to whether the middle section is advantages or disadvantages. Really Lovely.
• Great use of pattern. Make the advantages and disadvantages visibly different?
• There is a button in Indesign which gets rid of hyphenation which could be helpful. Could have different heading / colour to separate advantages / disadvantages. Cool idea to use shapes.

Taking this feedback into consideration, I revisited my DPS, adding a title to the top left / bottom right hand corner and altering the colour scheme in order to give more clarity as to which are the advantages and which are the disadvantages. I found this half of the session particularly useful as I received several pieces of constructive feedback about the layout decisions I made. As well as improving this particular design, I will also be able to use this feedback to inform the layout decisions I make for the 'What Is A Book' brief to ensure the design is legible and readable.