Open publication - Free publishing
Final Crit
Here is my final design for context into practise. It was mentioned that I have to re-do my content as not enough of it is my own words. The whole of pages 6-7 are my own words and I am sure that we were aloud to use other peoples words. If we weren't I would have done it! I find it hard to take this in as the publication has already been sent to the newspaper club to be printed. I almost wish that this had been made more clear as its put me into a VERY tight situation. If I don't change the content I will obviously get marked badly as I am not changing something that a tutor says I need to change.
Overall my feed back from my publication was very good!
1) What is the publication trying to communicate?
Simply explains semiotics. Definition of the theory, history, pictograms and argues the points discussed.
Strengths
- Simple
- Chronological order
- Clear visuals and explantations for these
- Use of diagrams are visually helpful
Improvements
- Expand some of the theories and explanations but keep in the same simple form.
- More references to content and where it is sourced
2) How is the format of the publication relevant to the content?
Strenghts
- Short publication so format is perfect. Design style will suit the paper when printed.
Improvements
- Some pages are just type. Not a problem but could be more visually intertesting in some places.
- No page numbers
- Add your own pictograms (For chapters maybe)
3) Comment on the practical, conceptual and/ or symbolic consideration of colour
Strengths
- Green & Red- Famous for stop & go which links well which links with semeiotics.
- White & black links with modern day signage.
Improvements
- Why blue on black? Could use more blue throughout?
- Blue is a common link to signage.
4) Who is the target audience?
- Graphic design students.
Assuming the role of audience, what is your reaction to the publication?
- Very visual, good for graphic design students.
- Good layout.
- Easy to understand.
- Put into simple terms.
5) Do you think this is the intended response? Explain you answer.
- Yes, for visual people, either way its a specific topic and solves an in depth article visually
- Graphic Designers will appreciate the good design.
6) What context(s) would the publication be appropriate for? Explain you answer
- I could see it as part of a set. Could see this being given to schools to educate children on graphic design from a young age. (6th form students)
7) Would it be appropriate for this publications to be viewed worldwide? Explain your answer.
- Not unless the viewers speak English.
- However the iconic designers work well when communicating
- The nature and purpose of pictograms is to support language, so there is potential to push this further.
Overall I am pleased with the feedback given and some very good points have been brought up. This publication would work very well at not educating the mass but only the ones interested in Graphic Design. For example 6th form students or first year students at university or college. This would work well as a set too, I could imagine it being called 'a brief look into...' and then the topic. I would be a one month thing that people and schools could subscribe to as a way of educating themselves. Intended to break up dificult subjects and making them easier to understand! So I am going to go back to why semiotics is in a paper as during the crit this was what Joe had a problem with. She was right to bring it up because it didn't make sense. If we would of had this crit above earlier that problem would have been solved and I think my design could have changed slightly. Ah, page numbers. Silly error that I made, why are there no page number? It's not that obvious however it is quite annoying! The back was blank so I decided to put blue on it...again why? Thats something I need to stop doing as of now, you can't just add a colour to make something look good you have to communicate something. Luckily the final paper hasn't got the blue on the back. Again I am very pleased with the outcome of my design and the feedback I have been given. This brief has been by far the hardest brief this year, its been stressful and half the time I have been freaking out as I could find any decent ideas! I have learned a lot though about Semiotics and thats the point of the course! For the first time this year I'm not too bothered on the grade I get for a module because I have learned so much about a difficult subject, about page layout design, about illustrator and the pen tool and the best part about all of this? I didn't use photoshop once and thats got to count for something! That has been my number one thing NOT to do during a brief and I achieved it so it feel good. This brief has definantly got my ready for my second year at Leeds College of Art, and I am excited to what gets thrown at me.
