Evaluation

In this assignment I had to create my own project which should be focused around my specific interests and specialism. To start this project, I started planning and it was recommended that we focus on personal interests and begin planning by finding out what drives us, our influences, our inspirations, interests and passions. This is the initial step that will help us find out, what we intend to produce. I decided to do a project along the line of poverty because from my planning “money” was one of my strongest aspects and it is something that I have despite if it asking someone to borrow it or not. But say I had a lack of income, I would be no better than the poor people, classifying me as being in poverty. So the aim of this project is to create a booklet that would give an insight about poverty within in UK so that people also know that it aint only in 3^rd war countries.

I found this project interesting and intriguing as it broaden my knowledge about poverty in the UK and gave me a better insight within this subject.

Whilst creating the booklet, I wasn’t 100% sure about layout and using “InDesign” as it wasn’t a program I wasn’t familiar with. At the same time, I had another module which was redesigning a magazine and in a sense this tied in with my own project because they are similar in the way of layout, organising pages and presenting them in a way to enhance and capture the reader’s attention.   So by using what I learnt from that assignment, I used it to my advantage as it would have given me a better understanding with layout.

Within the booklet, I stated that the content should be simple but impacted with information, effective with images and fact & figures that will draw attention to audience. To help me achieve this, I researched and looked at a range of books such as “Design Elements – A Graphic Style Manual”, “Layout Essentials – 100 Design Principles for Using Grids” and “Basic Design Layout.”

I also manipulated a range of images to intensify a more visual effect upon the audience. Throughout the booklet, I felt that I achieved this outcome. Some of the images were straight-forward whereas others are more intense via emotions.

Throughout the process of the booklet, I would say that by using the program, it was more about exploring with the elements and working to trail and error to get the best outcome for each page. Furthermore, at the end of project, I can say that I have a better understanding with layout and using “InDesign”.

Less is indeed more.

When it came to printing the booklet, I choose to go with “Staple Binding” because it was the most efficient cost and presentation wise. I didn’t use spiral or comb binding because even though it was the cheapest solution, I felt it look unprofessional, cheap and unattractive. Perfect binding cost too much and wasn’t within my budget.

Final Design

The link below shows how the booklet. I used a website called “www.axmag.com” to upload my work.

http://data.axmag.com/data/201204/U44074_F85939/index.html

The link below shows the PDF version. (the pages are saved as spread to make it easier for you to know the layout of the booklet.)

Poverty UK

The images below shows the final pages of the booklet. I have saved the pages as spread as it would make it easier for you to know the layout of the booklet.

Manipulated Images

The images below show the images I manipulated.

 

Designing other pages 10

Book Inspiration (click the link to view the books used).

From the books used for the structure and layout, it helped me come up with a few ideas for the layout of pages within the booklet.

The slideshow below shows a couple of the pages.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I choose to portray theses page like this because it presents a sense of authority and focuses attention, less is indeed more. The space allows the viewer to concentrate and also enables the reader an opportunity to linger over every aspect of the images and information.

The spare page will also direct the focus of an image being featured and the viewers can take in the main attraction without being distracted.  In addition,  I took in account the scale of the image as the images being surrounded by white space draws the view in more than the images that are grouped together or with or forms of media.

Image Pages Book Inspiration

The images below shows the books that inspired me with the layout, style & structure of some of the pages within  the booklet.

Designing other pages 9

Content Page Research    —- click the link to view it

For the content page, I wanted it to have a visual effect but also simple and clear and nothing to strong that it overwhelms; something fresh, simple & slick.

The screenshot above show my first initial idea when I started creating the booklet. I kept with this layout until I finished creating all the pages. The reason I did this was because I didn’t want to waste time but also I wanted to make sure the content all fitted in together and the flow of the booklet made sense. I didn’t want to have any irrelevant information for the sake of it taking up pages or just being in there if it had no relevance to the subject matter.

The screenshot above shows the final version for the content page. I experimented with different images and layout and choose to go with this one. The overall layout of the layout is packed and not intense. The images itself, speak for itself because by just looking at the image you can imagine how you would feel, if you was in that position. For the text stating the features within the booklet, I decided to give it space and space it out, as in the previous design, it looked too cramped and close to together. Also I liked how ( | ) separated the text and the numbers. It gave it a slick and neat look towards the page. The space allowed the view to concentrate.

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For the “child poverty” page, I went straight for an intense page that was packed within information. I think that this subject matter had addressed as it would be a concerned to any parents if their own child was in poverty. People have a greater concern to subject matter such as poverty when they see & realise that a child is involved.

The screenshot below shows the page layout and structure of this.

On the right page, I had a large image of children playing together but behind there smile, there worrying etc. By having the image at the start, I wanted to capture the reader attention and let them be aware about this subject matter and that it isn’t only ethnic people who are living in poverty.  This is seen by the screenshot above.

The screenshot above shows that I took a more serious angle for the main content of the matter. I used my manipulated images upon this page as I wanted to enhance the seriousness of child poverty. Used a drop cap at the beginning of this page to create a visual style.

This page was the only page that seem more packed compared to other pages within the booklet. Visually, I think it gave across the message. Although, there was a lot information on the page, I changed the style of the text for the key facts within the paragraphs. So, by doing this, if the reader is just glancing at the page, the important information and key facts are shouting out, right in front of them.

Designing other pages 8

To start this page off, I thought by having a fact that  has been stated within the newspaper, it would draws the readers attention before they read more details about the topic. The different type font and colour definitely achieved this. The screenshot below shows this.

Also, I used an image of the writer who wrote the content relating to the topic. Although the image didn’t work with the concept, I didn’t feel it was right that an image him, portrayed poverty as he was just a writer and nothing to do with the cause poverty in the UK.

I then got rid of the image and focus of the quotes that writers and reports stated about water poverty and presented it on the page. The screenshot below shows this.

I felt that the page looked unbalanced; the text of the right column was lengthy compared to the text on the left column. I then tried it via versa and realised this way couldn’t work because it would flow with the content and nothing would make sense.

I then changed the leading back to “12” for the text to see how much of a difference it would make. The screenshot below shows this.

As you can see from the screenshot, it wasn’t a good idea at all. It was weak and not interesting to view; just looked liked the text was cramped together. Never the less, I moved on and not rid of some of the quotes and continued using the contents relating to the subject matter.

The screenshot below shows this.

So after experimenting with the content, the positioning of the layout, I then focused on the image as I felt I need something on the page to make it look lively. I used another one of my manipulated images of a water drop and embedded a £50 note inside it. I like the idea of doing this but overlooking the page, I didn’t feel that it fully worked as it just looked plain by it standing on its own.  I then duplicated the image and placed it next to one another but the result of this, it made the page seem too busy. So instead, I got rid of the image, and drew a sketched images of a tap and placed it within that position. I found by doing this, it made the page more interesting but also gave the page a bit of energy as the water flowing from the tap, flowed in the direction of the text.

 

 

Designing other pages 7

In the screenshot above, I firstly went along the line of same text and format style as the previous pages.  For this page, I was experimenting with the positioning of the images as I wanted people to be aware of it. Some people don’t have the luxury goods in which some of us do. The image shows a kid running to play with a ball outside by himself instead of being around family or kids his own age.  The problem that occurred was that the image was being too strong and subjugate the text. I tried different positions to find the best outcome. The screenshot below shows one of them.

This screenshot shows me experimenting with the positioning. I have centered the image and text wrapped it but comparing it all to the other experiments, I hasn’t done any difference at all.

But on the other hand, whilst experimenting, I felt that this idea of have the image within the shape worked well. It gave the page a focus point but also a different style compared to the rest but keeping it slick and simply at the same time. The use of the shape narrowed down everything within the image to the main focus of the child, the football & the type of environment he was in.

Designing other pages 6

From the earlier experimenting with the graphs, I decided to make it into its own section.

The screenshot above shows an idea of me combining the graphs with the content. I liked the way that the page remain simple, clear and not impacted as before. There was enough space for the page to breathe and everything didn’t seemed cluttered at all.

Throughout, this whole process in creating the booklet, I looked at a range of different books to help me with ideas and layouts. The image below shows an image from a book in which I got an layout idea.

This book is called “Design Elements-A graphic style manual“.

Following a layout from this page, the screenshot below shows the result from it.

I liked this idea a lot because it worked well with the image format. The only concern I had from this layout structure was the amount of space floating at the top. So experimenting around with the structure, I came up with the layout which you can see in the screenshot below.

The screenshot above shows the new layout structure. I liked the overall look of this page. It wasn’t packed or cluttered. Nothing overpowering other elements; everything works hand in hand with each other.I didn’t make this page the main introduction as I thought that the structure format wasn’t the style to portray it as the main title. It looked more of an occurring feature following on from the section.

The screenshot above shows the introduction page for this topic. Here, I started of with 2 columns for the text. For the left page, I didn’t think it worked out well with the elements on the right page. On the left page, I had the graphs which tied in with the information reflected upon the left page. The graph was placed within the margin columns but I felt that it wasn’t  big enough for the reader and in addition, there was too much space not being used.

The screenshot above shows that I changed the origination of the positioning of the graph to landscape as by doing this, it have greater space for the graph to be big and  more visible to the reader. The down side of doing this, was that, it wasn’t user-friendly because the reader would have to rotate the angle of the book to landscape to view the page.

As I found that by changing the format layout of the page wasn’t the best idea, I went back to the portrait position and changed the context relating to the graph, to fit 1 column and then centered the page. The screenshot above shows this. The page looked neat and formal.

I then started experimenting a bit more. The screenshot shows that I have added in more information relating to the topic in a 3 column format. Reflecting upon this, I didn’t feel pleased or interested to view the page. The only thing that caught my attention, was the graph. The intense chuck of text just made the page dull and less intriguing to read and find information out.

This image shows the page where the other graphs are being displayed. I choose to have theses graphics on two pages instead of text because I wanted the reader to look at the graph and understand it. It is self explanatory and the content before this page would briefly describe amount what theses graphs are portraying.

Designing other pages 5

In the next set of pages, I wanted it to have a simple layout but creative in the sense that I wanted people to sit back and focus on them as theses pages are something that can affect every single one of us, at any time.

In this screenshot, I decided to show it across a spread. By doing this,  I found that it allowed the viewer more time to reflect upon the elements before moving on. The image on the left page is of children working in school but the focus of the images was the reactions from their faces. People can’t tell if people are in poverty or not but in a caption underneath the images there is a statement reflecting upon it. Being in poverty is a threat to a child education because it affects there ability to learn as they are worrying about other mater within their life.

In the next page, I followed near enough the same style as the previous page but instead I used a pen tool to create the shape of a house and import and image within it. As you can see from the screenshot above, it didn’t really work. It enhanced the page by having a focus point, to relate to the content but it was overwhelming it. So, I kept on experimenting and at the end I just went along with simplicity. The screenshot below shows this.

In the screenshot, it shows that I created the shape of the house by using the pen tool and stroke tool. I felt that this idea worked well, as it informed the reader. To enhance the page, on the right page, I had images of people living in poor conditions which people don’t see in reality. It is poor and horrific and nobody should or would want to live in theses sorts of conditions but some people have no choice.

In this screenshot, it shows that I have text wrapped an image. The reason for this was because in society, police are always targeting ethnic people and stop and searching them; it’s unfair. So have text wrap, I wanted to emphasize that the ethnic minorities always feels trapped within society. In addition, the page looks more of an article than a booklet stating information.

In the screenshot above, it shows that I went back tot he same format style as the other pages. The page didn’t look busy and it had a smooth flow from page to page.

The next page was relating to heath and I though that his was an important topic that I needed to make array upon. The screenshot above shows, that I text wrapped the content around the image and fully justified the text. I choose to work with the image of the baby because it gave an emotional effect across to the viewer; especially as the baby was on a scale. An unhealthy baby is unlikely to survive. Although this was meant to be a strong topic, I felt that the text was making the page unappealing to read, as it seemed to long.

So instead, I placed the text in a 3 column layout and changed the positioning of the image. The screenshot below shows this.

In the screenshot above, it shows that I have decided to go with a 2 column layout because it has a larger content areas but also it forces m e to use minimum elements upon the page; making me be aware and choose the right elements. I also had  a small statement on the side but looking at the page, it looked like it was clashing upon the text.

The screenshot above shows the final layout for this page. The page was effective, clear, simple and gave across the message to the reader. To enhance and capture the attention of the reader, I divided the image into sections. By doing this,, it makes the reader more intrigued to see what the image is showing. Also, you could say that it reflects upon the contents by it stating that poor the health, the less chance people live. A baby life just started, why let it end!