In order to improve our skills in creating layouts we were asked to attend a layout workshop as part of the Design Production 2 module in which we were set two tasks based around creating design work for fictional exhibition 'Jackson Rising'.
For each of the tasks we were given body copy and images, the format and specific colours; two shades of black (c=0 m=0 y=0 k & c=0 m=0 y=0 k=90) and two shade of white (c=0 m=0 y=0 k=0 & c=0 m=0 y=8 k=0). Using all this information were asked to make our own decisions on the best possible layout design for all this information.
Brief 1: Jackson Rising Flyer Design
Our first task of the workshop was to create a A5 flyer for the fictional event, which would be purely typographic, this task was also timed and therefore it was imperative that we speed up the design process during the task.
The grid we were given to work with during the task.
The emphasis during this task was the hierarchy of the information we were given to work with, how we would evidence this in the layout and how we can use the layout in order to draw the audiences eye to the key information on the flyer.
I personally felt that the most important piece of information to include on the flyer was the title and therefore I gave this prominence, splitting the to the two different sides giving an unusual and eye-catching design. I then used the shape of this negative space to inform the layout of other important information such as the dates and website etc. therefore drawing the attention to this information.
Although I was pleased with the final solution I produced within the workshop, following this I decided to re-work it a little, placing the blurb and the bottom of the design thereby giving the title more prominence and drawing attention to the sponsors at the bottom of the design.
I also created a inverse of this design.
Brief 2: Jackson Rising Concertina Leaflet
Our second task of the workshop was to create a concertina leaflet for the fictional event which showcased the work of the individual designers who were in the exhibition. This task gave us the opportunity to continue with design style we had created in the previous task whilst giving us the opportunity to be more experimental working with both type and image.
Working with the images provided for us was a challenge in itself as we had to take the different sizes and image qualities into consideration.
Again, we were given a grid to work with for this task.
The final outcome which I produced for first task of this module had quite a minimalistic design style to it and therefore this is something I wanted to continue in the design for the concertina booklet in order to give a sense of continuity throughout the promotional material for the exhibition.
As the purpose of the leaflet is to promote a art exhibition in New York I personally felt it would be more appropriate to keep the design of the leaflet as visual as possible, and therefore gave each of the artists featured in the exhibition a double page spread each with a large image of their work and a brief blurb discussing them and there work. To reinforce the continuity within the designs I designed the layout so that images would bleed off of page similarly to the design of the title on the flyer.
Brief 3: Extended Practice
