New slides and continuing narrative

Yesterday and today i worked on continuing my narrative further, by discussing the beer and food options available. I added motions and adjusted directions for each of the components to create a successful visual flow throughout the parallax. I want the different elements to move about the page to emphasise the eccentric and dynamic nature of Goldings.

New slide- Godzilla and flames

Today i started work on my next slide, which i decided to make Godzilla roaring flames. The flames are hand drawn and the Godzilla image, found on the internet. I then tweaked the colour balance and saturation levels on Photoshop. I made the flame into a Photoshop button, so when you hover the mouse over it, the narrative unfolds more and gives the viewer more information. 

Even though i feel this is an effective component to my parallax design, it needs to be tweaked more. Throughout the overall layout and composition i need to alter and perfect my imagery, as well as adding more colour and eccentric elements/imagery. I need to consider how i want to speak to my audience, and how Golding's would want to be portrayed to the general public.

Feedback and further refinements

Today In class i showed my stage in the process to my tutors. I was told that my 'hidden' effect was a technique i should keep on my parallax website. However the buttons and image afterwards don't reflect the bars vibe, as the colours are dull and dark which contradicts 'Goldings' vibrant and dynamic aesthetic. I also discussed my narrative, and concluded that the most effective idea was telling the story of how 'Goldings' came about/the history of the place. I was advised to make the compositions more expressive and eccentric by adding more hand drawn illustrations and potentially random elements such as Godzilla or B Grade/Dive bar style imagery.

I further refined my concept by adding the Creature from the Black Lagoon, hand drawn waves and flags which run over top of the quote "based on American Dive bars". Further information is then added. I also edited the "hidden" element by adding skiis and enlarging the other images, to eliminate negative space. Through doing this i am amping up the eccentricity and dynamic nature of 'Goldings' effectively. To keep progressing, i will need to keep editing my slides, tell the narrative in an interesting way throughout the parallax and keep contrasting hand drawn and found relevant imagery.

Introduction to Muse and Narrative ideas

Today in class we had two in-depth tutorials on Adobe Muse to begin our parallax websites. We focused on basic skills such as how to set up the page, place images, photoshop files and how to create a photoshop button. We then moved on to the more complicated parallax scrolling and how to create various effects.

In between tutorials we were able to discuss our narrative ideas and practise the techniques we learnt from the tutorial. I decided i want to focus on Goldings Free Dive as the subject of my website, as it has more character than the other locations in my brochure. I couldn't decide whether to make my narrative about Dive Bars in America and how that influenced the look and feel of Goldings, or to tell the story of how Goldings came about.

I began creating my parallax using the various tools i learnt in class today. Although i am pleased with the technical results, my narrative is not strong enough and needs to be refined further. As it is the weakest component to my design.

Final

My final is now finished and ready to handin. I am pleased with my results asides from a few type issues. 

digi output bureau and critique

I researched digi output bureaus and came to the conclusion that The Big Picture would be the best bet. They told me to format my brochure in a single page pdf with a 3-5mm bleed. I created the bleed on Indesign, and when my final brochure is complete i will make into a pdf.

We had a critique, and i realised that i needed to alter a number of things on my brochure, including type and utilising grid. These elements will result in a better composition overall for my booklet.

Critique and mock up booklet

Today in class we had a critique of our mock up brochure. I found this critique extremely productive, and i feel like I'm in a steady direction of what I'm doing. It was interesting as well seeing what everyone else had done. To get a good idea of the stage we're at.

Developments

I have been experimenting with dropping my compositions into a grid, and following the typography set of rules, to create successful spreads. However, i feel like i may need to revisit the type and neaten it up a bit better. Besides from that though, I'm happy with the results.

Workshop extra page

Today in class we thought about the extra pages in our booklet, We talked with our peers about how we could effectively utilise these pages, to create visual flow for our spreads. I considered a photography based last spread, but then realised if i focused on that too much it might create too much of a contrast between the balance of illustration and photography, and full on photography.

Critique and Type

Today in class, we had a critique on our spread compositions. I found the advice from my peers extremely helpful and productive. This allowed me to carry on with my assignment with much more confidence than before and a strong sense of direction.

Learning about type also helped a lot in developing my spreads. I also began working on my 3 features further. making their aesthetic more cohesive with the look I've chosen.

Mock-ups

This week, i re-looked at the brief and my workbook to further understand what was required. I played with different mediums and researched more artist models to draw from. From doing this i believe i am creating much better compositions and mockups than before.

Grids and composition

Today we focused on grids as an essential tool to structure our compositions. We began this exercise by ruling grids on magazine compositions. This will be a very important technique to ensure my designs are neat and controlled.

Visual language, style and aesthetic

Today in class we looked at artist inspirations and examples to draw from in creating successful compositions. We mainly focused on the moods and feelings the design inspirations portrayed and how how we can effectively translate that into our own design.

We also had a critique, where i got a good idea of where i'm at.

Visual cues, inspiration and patters

Over the week, i found some inspiration for the aesthetic of my brochure. This consisted mostly of Mexican and southern american designers. The colours, line and textures were all interesting and visually effective.

I struggled with the visual cues and pattern exercise at first, but when i created mood boards it made it a lot easier to come up with ideas. Also drawing from my artist inspiration and design books. What i learnt from this, was to gather as much information, visual examples as possible before i jump right into a process like this.

I also made some quick compositions on photoshop, incorporating pattern and inspiration from design book layouts.

Compositions

Last night, i photocopied, cut and pasted different composition ideas. I created about 15 pieces, and selected 2 i thought were the best. In class today we had a critique which i found extremely helpful in developing these ideas further. I also played with patterns relating to my locations and how i can create emotive responses through colour.

Visual Resources

Throughout last week, i spent a lot of time collecting visual resources for my project. This involved sourcing secondary research and primary research. The secondary research i gathered were reviews online and menus from the locations. I began my primary research by visiting my locations and documenting the vibe/feelings/emotions i gathered from the place. This helped me differentiate the locations to begin further research. I visited the bars the next day, around lunch time(when they are most quiet) to take photos. I also wrote up a questionnaire which i asked the manager of each place to fill out. Along with a few pictures, all this visual research proved to be very useful to me in gathering a further understanding of my locations. The class critique helped me realise which visual imagery i collected was strong, or unnecessary.

Brainstorming and critique

This week i read through the brief to understand the project. I began brainstorming and researching possible ideas for my brochure, selecting the strongest ones to refine further. 

Today we had a critique, to help us decide on the strongest set for the brochure. The set my group selected for me was my idea of 'Tucked away bars'. I learnt a lot from this critique and am going to carry on the advice i was given.