Category: Real Jobs

Refugee Support Group

Background on the project

RSG is a local charity in Reading supporting refugees. They recently changed their name from RRSG (Reading Refugee Support Group) to just RSG (Refugee Support Group) in order to receive more funding from all over Berkshire, not only Reading. They required a profile-raising social campaign to raise awareness of their new name and to receive more funding from statutory sector organisations.

Restated brief

In writing the reinstated brief, we used meetings to define our client’s needs and target audiences. However, this was our largest hurdle. Our client knew they wanted to bring recognition to the charity’s new name, but didn’t have a brief to give us beyond that. Instead of letting the lack of brief hold us back, we took the initiative to write our own brief. This gave us the advantage of working to our own strengths. We used client research to identify where the charity’s social media was lacking and this informed us of what the client actually needed. We proposed to create six Instagram posts which highlighted each of their generous services. Our client agreed that by shedding light on how successful their services are, we could attract more donations from statutory organisations, thus achieving their goals.

The agreed deliverables were:

  • 6 posts dedicated to each service provided
  • 1 video/animation

Research

Before the ideation process began, we underwent a period of research. This included researching RSG as a charity; their goals, audience, identity, but also researching how other successful non-profit organisations promoted themselves on social media. We looked to charities such as Amnesty International, World Relief and Refugee Action to analyse what the norms were within this sector. We also spent time analysing how RSG represented themselves within their platforms; reading through the contents of their website, Instagram and Facebook. Through this research we discovered that RSG’s social media posts lack cohesiveness due to inconsistent representation of their brand guidelines.

Reading City of Sanctuary

RSG runs a coffee bank scheme where refugees can get a free coffee in a selection of cafes across Reading. We took photos of each café, meeting the owners and talking about their experience partnering with RSG. These photographs were used to create an Instagram carousel, with each slide displaying a photo of the café along with its address. This was an exciting chance to learn more about using photography and Lightroom in combination with InDesign. Furthermore, interacting with the partners of RSG and the work they do provided us with more of a connection to their audience. A difficulty we experienced with this post was placing type upon photos in a legible manner. Often the type became problematic as it began to blend in with parts of the imagery. To resolve this issue, we placed a colour block behind the type to prioritise legibility. Upon client feedback, we also returned to the cafés to replace images of coffee with images of the outside of the cafés, so that the audience would be able to recognise the cafes when in Reading.

Figure 1. Sketches of coffee bank carousel slides.

 

Figures 2 and 3. Original digitised scamps of coffee bank scheme slides.

 

Figures 4 and 5. Original digitised scamps of coffee bank scheme slides.

 

Figures 6 and 7. Original digitised scamps of coffee bank scheme slides.

 

Figure 8. Original digitised scamp of coffee bank scheme slides.

 

Final visuals

Figures 9 and 10. Final slides of coffee bank scheme post

 

Figures 11 and 12. Final slides of coffee bank scheme post.

 

Figures 13 and 14. Final slides of coffee bank scheme post.

 

Figure 15. Final slide of coffee bank scheme post.

 

Settlement scheme

In creating the resettlement scheme post, it was important that we kept in tune with RSG’s brand identity. Therefore we made sure to present people of different cultures, religions, and backgrounds to demonstrate RSG’s diverse audience. Using their specified brand colour palette, our posts felt cohesive with their website and previous social media posts. We originally had planned to have a second slide, which illustrated a refugee family travelling to the U.K. However, our client advised not to use this slide, as much of the information about the resettlement scheme was currently changing and the body copy may not reflect the scheme accurately when it was time to post the slides. She gave feedback that it would be more useful to have a title and illustration which embodied the values of the scheme, and that body copy about the scheme would be more suited to being in the caption of the Instagram post. 

Figure 16. Refined scamps for resettlement scheme post.

 

Figures 17 and 18. Original digitised scamps for resettlement scheme post.

 

Final visual

Figure 19. Final design for resettlement scheme post.

 

Befriending

RSG’s ‘Befriending and English Conversation’ sessions are a service which helps refugees to improve their English skills, confidence level and reduce loneliness. We decided to demonstrate in this post how RSG builds a community and assists refugees of all ages, genders and religions. For this post we chose to create two illustrations as this would give us the freedom to experiment with colours, shapes and layout. When creating the befriending service illustration, we digitally drew a circle of people joining hands together to present how RSG unites refugees together. After feedback from our supervisor, we recognised that our design needed to be more inclusive to all cultures and religions. We adapted the illustration to include some people wearing hijabs and turbans, as well as altering the colour scheme of the illustration to follow the specified brand colour palette. In the second slide of this post, we wanted to represent an English conversation class between a volunteer and a refugee. Originally we executed this concept by illustrating British flags within speech bubbles, however feedback from our client advised us that using the British flag could carry unwanted connotations. Therefore we iterated this illustration to represent English conversation through informal text in speech bubbles.

Figure 20. Refined scamps for Befriending scheme post.

 

Figures 21 and 22. Original digitised scamps for Befriending scheme post.

 

Figures 23 and 24. Iterated digitised scamps for Befriending scheme post.

 

Final visuals

Figures 25 and 26. Original digitised scamps for Befriending scheme post.

 

Advice Support

RSG’s advice support covers many different areas, including advice on asylum and protection, and advice on signposting you to a solicitor. Their website offers a substantial amount of information on this service, and we felt that implementing all of this information into a post would result in something which is overwhelming. We felt it would be more effective to create a post which could highlight this service in a visual way. This post contrasted with the other posts, but through using the same typeface and RSG’S branding colours, the post showed a level of consistency with the others. The idea of drawing an outline of hands connected was effective due to it clearly demonstrating how advice support at RSG works. It gives a helping hand in situations where refugees feel abandoned. When experimenting with this post I tried the hand illustration in black and the background in light beige, but this reduced the overall impact the post had. A inspiration for this post was the RSG logo which includes two hands joining together underneath a simple 4 person pictogram. This similarity with the logo brought us closer to our aim in bringing engagement to what RSG’s identity is.

Figure 32. Refined scamps for the advice support scheme slides.
Figure 33. Original digitised scamp for the advice support scheme slide.

 

Final Visuals

Figure 34. Final design for the advice support post.

 

The Strikers

The Sanctuary strikers are Berkshire’s only refugee football club. When reading about the club and their aim to promote integration by bringing together a combination of refugees and non-refugees, we were inspired to capture how the team encouraged unity. We reached out to our client inquiring whether we could photograph the team playing and both the client and the football team were elated by the idea and agreed. On this photoshoot we were able to talk to the team and ask what the club meant to them. Through these discussions, we realised how important it was to communicate the message of teamwork and show unison. This experience enabled us to practice our skills using the shutter settings to capture action shots. We also took some team photos, showing the diversity of players within the team. After photographing these images came the challenge of selecting the correct images for the post, and editing the images to ensure the text laid on top of the images was legible for readers. A few difficulties we came around were brightening up the image to focus on the strikers playing on the field rather than the grey sky. We accomplished this through using the levels, brightness and curves tool within Photoshop. This post met our clients’ aim of raising awareness of RSG in a striking and engaging way. Once finalising these posts, we realised we had remaining images which further captured the teams ‘spirit of unity’ so we created a reel of the remaining photos which could be posted on an Instagram story alongside the physical post to engage a more modern audience which RSG may not be reaching at the moment.

When using RSG’s brand typeface, Gilroy, we felt it was affecting the message of our designs. This typeface felt formal, serious and academic, whilst we wanted to produce something which was friendly, welcoming and approachable. We presented our client with two posts; one which used RSG’s brand typeface; Gilroy and one which used our choice of typeface; Crayonize. After reviewing this comparison, our client agreed that it was the right decision to make an exception to the brand guidelines, and opt for Crayonize.

Figure 35. Refined scamps for the Strikers slides.

 

Figure 36. Refined scamps for the Strikers slides.

 

Figures 37 and 38. Digitised scamps for the Strikers slides.

 

Figures 39 and 40. Comparing the brand guidelines typeface; Gilroy, and our preferred choice of typeface; Crayonize.

 

Final visuals

Figures 41 and 42. Final designs for the Strikers post slides.

 

Figures 43 and 44. Final designs for the Strikers post slides.

 

Figure 45. Final designs for the Strikers post slides.

 

The Drop in

RSG offers a drop in service three times a week in various locations across Reading. Here refugees can socialise, learn English and ask for advice. It was important to keep in mind when designing these posts that many of RSG’s audience have limited English. We used simple language and large legible typefaces to accommodate those with lower English levels. Having empathy as a designer is a lesson often taught in class, and this project was a true opportunity to practice this. Whilst the client had agreed upon using Crayonize for the headings, instead of their brand typeface Gilroy, we realised that it would be beneficial for RSG’s brand identity and legibility if we used Gilroy for the body text. This was also particularly useful for this post, The Drop-In, because it contained essential information.

Figure 46. Refined scamps for the Drop-In scheme.

 

Figures 47 and 48. Original digitised scamps for the Drop-In scheme.

 

Final visuals

Figures 49 and 50. Final design for the Drop-In scheme slides.

Mockups

Figure 51. Mockups of how our designs will be used on RSG’s instagram.

Link to mockup walkthrough: https://youtu.be/PQigwXNOitg?si=b95rOm4g9UY9IkdK

Reflection

This real job started off with a hurdle, however overcoming that initial hurdle lead to real assets in our design careers. We flourished both within our team and our relationship with RSG. Meeting with the Reading strikers and café owners of RSG’s coffee bank scheme was an honourable experience, generating a personal connection with our audience. This rapport between ourselves and RSG lead to a closer alignment between our designs and their goals. This job has enabled us to push the boundaries of our design skills, branching out into areas outside of our comfort zone such as videography and photography.  When approaching this Real Job, RSG’s penultimate goal was to raise awareness of their new name and receive more funding from statutory sector organisations. Tackling this goal from the perspective of highlighting their services means that statutory organisations will recognise the charitable work they do and thus feel more inclined to donate. Learning how to navigate professional relationships within the circle of design was initially daunting, but ultimately the most valuable part of this journey. We grew in confidence, developed real connections and gained skills that could not have been reached within the classroom.

Written by Tilly Dobson and Amy North

Bethan Miskell Artist Logo and Branding

Overview

Bethan Miskell is an artist who’s planning to open an online shop where she can sell her artwork. She creates pressed flower pieces that aim to celebrate the importance of plants or weeds that may be overlooked or not seen as typically ‘pretty’ but are considered to be ‘hero’ plants that are essential for biodiversity.

Our brief was to create a unique brand and logo for Miskell’s shop that can be used on multiple platforms such as her website and social media, to help promote and represent her business.

 

Deliverables

 The original deliverables were to design a logo and a business card. However, we also suggested the addition of a ‘Thank you for your purchase’ card and a variation of logos such as a primary, secondary and social logo, therefore she would have a logo that fits multiple different formats.

 

Client meeting 

To understand our client better and to introduce ourselves we had organised a meeting to help us learn more about the story behind our client’s artwork and the style/aesthetic she is looking for regarding her brand. We found out from the meeting that she wanted a cleaner and simpler typeface that was geometric in shape, meaning no curvy or script typefaces. Our client used words such as botanical and organic to describe her business and she directed us to a brand called ‘Hiedi Clover’ as an example of the style that she likes.

Our client also kindly sent us a mood board of plants, colours and aesthetics that she would like to be reflected in her branding (see figure 1).

Figure 1. Client’s mood board

Research and ideation 

Our research started by finding existing flower press companies online and viewing how they branded themselves. We found most floral companies in general tended to use serifed fonts and italic typefaces (as seen in Figure 2) therefore, it was hard to find brands that used more geometric fonts as our client had described.

Figure 2. Examples of logos we found during our research

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then sketched a few ideas of designs for the logo and narrowed it down to four different options as seen in Figure 3. Option 3 and 4 seemed too decorative for our client and she stated she wanted a simple clean look; therefore, we focused on creating digital versions of options 1 and 2.

 

Figure 3. Sketches of initial logo designs

After seeing the kind of logos already out there we then looked through a range of fonts and narrowed it down to three typefaces that we felt suited our client’s style the most. We then combined the typefaces with the icon of the fern we created as seen in Figure 4.

Figure 4. Experimenting with different typefaces

We then experimented with different layouts and illustrations (Figures 5, 6 and 7). The feedback from our client was that she preferred the Quasimoda typeface and the bolder designs, and both our client and supervisor reported that some of the illustrations were too light. We realised that for the logos to be seen from far away we had to make the strokes thicker for the illustrations and use a heavier weight for the typefaces.

 

Figure 5. Logo ideations

 

Figure 6. Further logo ideations

 

 

Figure 7. Socials logo ideations

Our client also reported that she preferred the style of our original fern illustration rather than the other symbol designs. This feedback helped us focus on creating bolder and thicker designs.

 

Design development

My partner in this project, Karissa, created another fern illustration which we thought worked better as it was less rigid than the first design but still bold enough to stand out when scaled down. We created two versions of the logo, one with a filled-in illustration (Figure 8) and one with an outlined illustration (Figure 9).

Figure 8. Filled in logos

 

Figure 9. Outlined logos

We originally didn’t have option 2 but when we showed our supervisor our designs, she suggested we add to the illustration in option 1 as there was quite a lot of white space in between the text and the illustration, which might create too much separation between ‘Bethan’ and ‘Miskell’. Therefore, to fill this white space we added a few dots around the fern as this was a design, we had seen before in a few botanical patterns we found during our research. We also provided a third option for the secondary logo to give our client another option to choose from.

Our client’s feedback was that she liked the new designs, but she preferred the filled-in illustration, and that option 3 would be the best option for her secondary logo.

 

Business card

 Once our client had approved our final logo designs, we moved on to developing her business card. My partner and I knew we wanted the business cards to have a botanical feel to match our client’s aesthetic, originally, we were planning to draw a few plants or shrubs to apply to the business card, but our supervisor pointed out that it might be better to include our clients own work so that it better represents her business. Karissa and I suggested this idea to our client, and she liked the idea. In our following meeting, our client kindly gave us one of her pieces which we scanned onto Karissa’s laptop and then we used Photoshop to cut out the pressed flowers so that there was no background, we then applied these cut-outs to the business cards.

 

After looking at a range of different business cards for inspiration we started designing our own. Our original design was very plain and only had her artwork on the card with her logo. It didn’t feel like a business card, so we decided we needed to add a background or another colour to add more depth to the card. We added a light green background (figure 10) and experimented with making some of the flowers pop out of the border (figure 11) we then added abstract shapes to the art (figure 12).

Figure 10. Business card version 1

 

Figure 11. Business card version 2

 

Figure 12. Business card version 3

 

However, feedback from our client was that she didn’t like the abstract patterns, so we didn’t continue to add this element to the other business cards. We also realised that the flowers blended too much into the light green background so we decided to use a darker colour instead (Figures 13 and 14), which made the flowers stand out much more, we also thought this would match our client’s style more as she usually presses her flowers onto black card.

Figure 13. Business card version 4

 

Figure 14. Business card version 5

 

Our supervisor’s feedback was that the text was too close to the edge and that we didn’t need the dashes for the phone number as that is more commonly done in America not England. After making these adjustments we showed our client and she expressed that she liked the layout of Figure 14 the most. Our supervisor then suggested that we should adjust the layout of the back of the business card to match the front to give it a more uniform feel (Figure 15). However, after showing our client the change, she said she would prefer to continue with the first layout.

Figure 15. Business card with new layout

‘Thank you for your purchase’ card

When it came to designing the “Thank you for your purchase’ card we wanted to ensure that we kept a cohesive style between the two cards to make it clear that they are part of the same brand. To achieve this, we continued using our client’s artwork, and the same typeface as well as colour. We used the typeface ‘Montserrat’ for the text as it was the most clear and complimented the brand’s typeface (Figure 16).

Figure 16. Final ‘Thank you for your purchase’ card.

 

Reflection

Overall, I have learnt a lot throughout the process of this real job, especially around time management and the importance of keeping to the schedule. My partner and I met up regularly to work on the project, however, I felt we should have implemented regular meetings with our client as well, as this may have improved communication and potentially sped up the process a bit more. Although we surpassed the initial deadline I’m pleased with the outcome of our final designs and feel they have achieved what the client was looking for. I appreciate the feedback we received from both our client and supervisor throughout the process. I have gained a lot more confidence when it comes to professional communication with clients which is a skill I hope to be able to use and develop further in future jobs.

‘I am, We are…different by design zine’ issue 4

Real Job: Georgina Wade, Lydia Hall and Taria Khan wrote and designed the fourth issue of the Typography and Graphic Communications’ ‘I am, we are… different by design zine’. 

Background:
The ‘I am, we are, different by design’ is a zine created by students from the Department of Typography & Graphic Communication. The zine aims inspire a conversation by showcasing a diverse set of perspectives on design practice from students, alumni and design practitioners. This student-led project advocates for diversity and how to design with an inclusive mindset. We all got involved with the entire process of the zine, from planning and interviewing, to writing and designing. The opportunity to collaborate and learn from a variety of different creative perspectives we an inspiring part of the project to us. Seeing as this would be the fourth issue in the different by design, it made sense to continue the zine being A5. 

Audience:
The zine is particularly aimed at those who have an interest in the creative field and would like to be educated in how to become an inclusive designer. The main audience would be those associated with the Typography and Graphic Communication department, such as fellow students and tutors but also prospective students.   

Figure 1: We planned out the pages to craeate visual rhythm and visual difference.

Research:
The first task was to come up with topics that would suit the next issue of the zine. Coming up with the content proved to be a lengthy process, therefore as a team we brainstormed a variety of different topics we could potentially include within the zine. We created a mind map and came up with a few articles which we were very interested. We wanted to ensure our topic choices were diverse, yet still focused on diversity and inclusion. Initially, we looked at a variety of popular and current topics happening across the world, including the BLM movement or the Russo-Ukraini war. Additionally, we began looking at wider topics such as mental health, focusing on post pandemic mental health and the effects caused by the pandemic. Alongside our diverse range of topics, we wanted to showcase different artists and designers. Whilst also looking at a range of popular and current diversity topics happening across the world, we also wanted to include topics that were personal to us. 

Figure 2: We planned out the pages, and assigned the articles

Interviews:
The first interview stage involved looking for a range of designers which specific interests to our zine topics about diversity and inclusion. As a group, we were each assigned one interview topic each to follow up and research. Since all our interviews featured our interviewees work, it was important to have the ethics approved before conducting our interviews. Our initial contact with our interviewees was conducted over email, enabling us to arrange our interviews online through emails or zoom calls. Our interviewing process allowed us to develop our own professional skills due to the professional nature that comes with conducting interviews. As well as giving us first-hand insight into diversity and inclusion about our chosen topics.  

After collecting all our interview content, we then set about writing up our articles. All our interviewees had provided us with a wealth of information to work with, especially the Sky interview with Aanand and the ‘Design Can’ interview with Sabine. Copy writing the information to fit the zine proved challenging to us to ensure all out topics fit into the zine. By copywriting the information down it enabled us to consider our audience more and how they might engage with the zine’s content. 

Copy Writing:
After one member of the team left, we had three people, we all spent the entire summer and autumn term collecting data for articles. For all the articles we read appropriate books, articles and other online resources to help us understand what we wanted to show to our readers.  

Designing:
We started our design development stages by looking at the previous zines, focusing on the individual styles within each of the zines. This enabled us to get a better understanding of how we might create the potential style and layout of our zine. We eventually decided that each article would have its own personality, which each related to the subject of the article, whilst still also being consistent to the rest of the zine. By ensuring that each article had its own theme, it enabled us to demonstrate a diverse range of article designs throughout the zine. Additionally, this also enabled us to experiment with a range of different design methods, such as designing with an inclusive mindset through colour blindness, as well as culturally through Pakistani truck art and Urdu. 

Typography:
Our choice of main text typeface was Halyard, as it was already being used in the latest issue to help created a sense of branding amongst the ‘Different by Design’ zines. By using existing paragraph styles from the suggested zine layout, it helped create the typography consistent throughout the zine. Each article then had a heading typeface which was related to the content, this allowed each article to have it’s own personality.  

Grid:
Lydia provided the group with a grid layout, that was to be used for all the articles. Since the design of our articles were all different, it was essential that our page layout was consistent. One challenge that we faced was caused by the nature of our topics, it was important that our page layout didn’t appear rigid. Our grid system was an A5 page, that consisted of 6 columns with a 10pt gutter. The left and right margins were set as the default (36pts), with the top and bottom margins set to 39.638pts and baseline grid set at 12pts. By having these column widths, it enabled us to have more flexibility with image size and column width for each of our articles. 

Figure 3: The 6-column grid which underlies all of the pages

Interview sticker: 
To help differentiate the interviews and book reviews from our other articles, we created different coloured stickers at the top right-hand corner of the zine to help the reader find each of the interviews easily. The interview stickers are blue, and the book review stickers are pink.  

Example 1
Below are some of the developed spreads, from the first version to the final product. 

Figure 4: Page development
Figure 5: Page development
Figure 6: Page development

Example 2
Below are some of the developed spreads, from the second version to the final product. 

Figure 7: Page development
Figure 8: Page development
Figure 9: Printed spread of ‘Extra Bold’

Production: 

The specifications of the zine: 

  • A5 portrait booklet 
  • 36pp text prints 4/4 on Edixion 120gsm 
  • 4pp cover prints 4/4 on Edixion 250gsm 
  • Saddle stitched 
  • 1000 copies 

After Rachel and Eric had approved the zine, we created the press ready pdfs and sent them off to print. Geoff, our in-house print technician, was incredibly helpful in this stage of the project and suggested to make a few minor changes, such as changing the photos from RGB to CYMK. We were really excited to receive his email saying that the printed zines had arrived, there’s nothing quite seeing the printed object which we had written and designed!   

Reflection: 

Taria:
We felt like if the zine had some kind of branding which would make it consistent to all the past and future zines. For example, we had troubles with the typeface if we had consistent branding it would limit the errors. 

George:
Being part of this team helped me build on my communication and teamwork skills, enabling me to learn how to become more responsive and learn about methods such as ethics approval, which will be useful for the dissertation module. Having more freedom to choose and explore our own topics of interest for this zine was something I really enjoyed, as this is a unique opportunity on this course therefore it helped me to stay more focused and involved in the project. The challenges I faced were mainly focused on the Russo-Ukrainian poster, as this is something very personal to me therefore, something I really wanted to perfect.  

Lydia:
I really enjoyed being on a wonderful team of designers and collaborating with my peers. With a zine about diversity and inclusion it makes sense to have a team of people with different backgrounds and experiences. This project was different to others in the sense that there wasn’t really a hard deadline, while this was good in some aspects, I did struggle to motivate myself and to move the project forward. I have learnt that creating those deadlines for myself and the rest of the team will help to keep the project going.  

Figure 10: Contents page

Monsters exhibition catalogue

Background

Andrew Mangham and Emma Aston from the Classics department at the University of Reading anranged for an exhibition presented in the Madjeski Gallery at the Reading Museum, showcasing works of painter Paul Reid and sculptor Eleanor Crook. This exhibition looks at the ‘the biological and artistic meaning of diversity and difference, and the vital role that history plays in our understandings of the dynamic working of natural history’.

Restated brief

The brief was to design a catalogue entitled In the Company of Monsters: New Visions, Ancient Myths for the exhibition presented in the Madjeski Gallery at the Reading Museum and to design and send this to print in time for their exhibition by the 25th August 2023 (dated decided on towards the end of the project). The catalogue will showcase feature short essays from experts in ancient history, literature, fine art, and gaming  as well as images of paintings and sculptures by artists, Paul Reid and Eleanor Crook.

deliverables
  • Design of front/spine/back cover
    • Identify images by Paul Reid to create a front cover with presence.
  • Design of front matter including:
      • Title page
      • Table of contents
      • Acknowledgements
      • Foreword
      • Layout of 6 x 1000 word essays including provided
        illustrations
      • Illustrations for decoration and for essays as
        requested/suggested by client
      • Layout of catalogue of artworks on display, exact
        number of artworks and images thereof to be
        provided. Details are: title/date/medium

Design process

Research

In our initial meeting with the client we found that the aim of the catalogue was to create a catalogue that will effectively showcase the the paintings and short essays. The layout should assist the reader in way-finding in the exhibition.We began by looking at Rubens to Sickert: The Study of Drawing,  a previous exhibition book as our client said they would like the catalogue to have a similar design and format. 

Rubens to Sickert: The Study of Drawing Exhibition Catalogue
Rubens to Sickert: The Study of Drawing Cover art
Rubens to Sickert: The Study of Drawing Exhibition Catalogue
Rubens to Sickert: The Study of Drawing Inside page
Rubens to Sickert: The Study of Drawing Exhibition Catalogue
Rubens to Sickert: The Study of Drawing Catalogue pages

Ideation

inside pages

We began by researching what similar catalogue books had done for their page composition. After looking at  ‘Rubens to Sickert: The Study of Drawing’ we kept our book in a square format as well and kept some of the same composition like keeping all text on the left with a wide margin for references. 

Basic catalogue layout
Cover

After meeting with our client we learnt that would like to have the painintg ‘The Cyclops’ by artist Paul Reid who is an artist featured in the catalogue and the exhibition.

The Cyclops, 2021
Digital Painting

We designed two possible cover ideas, proposal 1 following the themes of the inside pages where it used the same typefaces and alignment and proposal two was a little more experimental using a a more gothic typeface to link more with the topic of the catalogue. After the meeting the feedback was:

  • Proposal 1:
    Likes the serif typeface as it gives a professional quality to catalogue
Proposal 1
  • Proposal 2:
    Likes that the original image wasn’t edited and kept to the correct brightness
Proposal 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Overall:
    Wants the cover to match the seriousness of the pages inside the catalogue.

We decided to continue with proposal one as it was the most liked by the client as it still kept elements from the inside of the book and seemed like it was all part of the same catalogue.

Design development

Typography

Meta Pro
Arno Pro

Cover

At this stage, Richard had graduated and left and I worked on continuing with this project. I had continued with proposal one but following feedback, the typography and alignment of the inside pages had changed and so I changed the text on the cover to match the inside pages.

Developed cover

Inside pages – Essay

Following feedback, I worked on  two different page compositions for the essay portion of the catalogue. Layout one still continued with the long text block on the right side of the page with a wide margin and with the facing page image left aligned. This layout  had a lot of white space and made the pages look asymmetrical and a little empty.  Layout two used the margin space for the essay author’s biography which helped to fill the space and had a reduced line length for the body copy. The facing page image was now smaller and aligned with the author name on the following page. This layout had better flow and so I chose to continue working on this design.

Layout one
Layout two

Inside pages – Catalogue images

I received the images towards the end of the project but as I had a basic page layout plan, I placed the imaged according to it. I quickly realised my planned layout wouldn’t work as my layout had squared images. I changed my layout so that bigger images would have their own page and grouped smaller images where I could so that the images weren’t too spread out.  I felt that layout two had better flow to the pages and continued with designing this version.

Layout one
Layout two

Final stages

I received an unexpected and sudden deadline of a week left to complete the catalogue. During this week, I had to work on completing the catalogue images section. This was a little difficult as I didn’t have all the images till halfway through the week but once receiving them I was able to place them into my planned layout. Through this week I also worked on finalised the cover of the catalogue and carried the decisions I made on the cover through to the title page.

Final cover

Final essay pages

Final catalogue pages

Reflection

We regularly communicated with a clients through teams calls once every fortnight and  received relatively quick responses which was helpful during the designing stage as we weren’t waiting on the clients response. However, we had been brought into the project long before we were needed as when we had joined in March, the client didn’t have finalised copy until September and the images for the catalogue images till towards the end of the project.  We received a lot of positive feedback after the catalogue was printed and it was well received.

Locus Lodi Exhibition

Background

The Ure Museum of Greek Archaeology in the University of Reading had held the exhibition Locus Ludi: Anyone can play! from 5th September – 30th November, showcasing the games played in the ancient world and understanding the educational, societal, and integrative role of play in the past, which is important to understand the present and widen the debate on high tech toys and new forms of sociability. The exhibition’s aim was to show everyone that people of all demographics can engage in playing games and this will be showcased through the exhibition of objects related to various games, ranging from childhood to adulthood. The exhibition aimed to teach the audience about the different games played during the Ludic culture and engage in the interactive activities included in the exhibition and send out the message that everyone enjoys engaging in various games, no matter what age. The exhibition was targeted towards everyone of all demographics as the objects on display range from childbirth to adulthood, as well as including objects related to after death.

Restated Brief

The brief was to design the physical materials for the Locus Ludi: Anyone can play! Exhibition. This included display panels, promotional banner, an online exhibition booklet and educational outreach materials, all of which would be displayed during the exhibition, with the booklet being available online. Most of the details of the deliverables were undecided at this point of the brief and was subject to change during the process of this project, however, having visited the exhibition space in person, it was ready to go forward with drafting ideas.

Deliverables

After discussion with the client on what would work best for each of the deliverables, this is what was decided on:

  • Display panels:
    • To be placed in each display space to inform audience of the collections, an overall summary of the exhibition space.
  • 2 promotional banners promoting the exhibition:
    • First one would be a roll up banner, which would be placed in the corridor of the building for promotion.
    • The second one would be at the front entrance of the exhibition room.
  • Information booklet:
    • An interactive PDF file in A4 format.
  • Educational outreach materials:
    • Including information about the games on display

All of the deliverables mentioned above would be submitted to the client in PDF format but was subject to change if needed.

Research

As there was a lack of resources provided during the research stages, there was little research conducted. However, the client had kindly provided us with their house style in terms of typefaces and brand colour, which helped with developing initial ideas for the deliverables. Furthermore, having also paid a visit to the exhibition space to find out the measurements for the display cases, helped with designing the display panels, which would work as supporting materials for the exhibition display items. Research was also limited due to not gaining enough information from the client and poor communication from both sides, leading to months of no work being done from both ends.

display case for where the museum items were to be displayed
display case for where the second half of museum items were to be displayed

Colour palette

Brand colour chosen for the exhibition

To match the museum’s branding, the client had decided on the colour Purpurrot as the brand colour of the exhibition, as it complimented well with the museum’s branding. Both the HEX code (#691B23) and Pantone code (491 C) was provided, which then helped with developing the deliverables and implementing the branding onto them.

Typefaces

Typefaces used for body text, headings and logo

According to the Museum’s house style, Parisine was chosen as the typeface for body text within the family, the regular, italic, bold and bold italic weights were to be used for body and label texts. The bold weight was also to be used for titles and subtitles.

 

 

 

For listings and item numbers on labels, the client had requested that Parisine Clair was to be used and had also provided an example how all of the styles combined would look like when used in designing the panels and banners.

Example of the house style for text copy
The Ure Museum of Greek Archaeology logo

The museum logo was already provided; therefore, it wasn’t needed to create anything new for that, but nonetheless, the client had provided us with the typeface name used in their logo, in case it was needed.

Other important things to consider was that the terms BC and AD when mentioning years were to be used in small caps and that hanging numbers were to be used in body text but lining numbers to be used in object numbers and case numbers. Their house style also indicated that they preferred Italics over quotes for use-mention distinction and use open punctuation for label text.

Design process

Starting off with designing the display panels first, there was three concepts in total. For the first concept, to keep it simple, the brand colour was used for the headings of each section with lines both on top and bottom of the heading. For the text, the house style’s typeface Parisine was applied. Furthermore, images were added on the display panels to support the body copy within them, with added captions to assist readers in understanding the references used throughout, as well as when they walk around in the exhibition space.

For the second concept, the same layout was kept, except for changing the background to black to try and make the display panels fit into the aesthetics of the display items. The third concept reflected more of the brand colour of the museum with a gradient background of dark red fading into black. All three of these concepts were also applied onto the introductory panels that were to be used in the exhibition space.

Concept 1
Concept 2

 

Concept 3
Introductory panel concept 1
Introductory panel concept 2
Introductory panel concept 3

The design for the banner was kept similar to the banner that was on display during the duration of the existing exhibition and therefore the same layout was used. Modifications for the banner were made based on feedback from my supervisor, including a layout idea suggested by my supervisor himself. The main focus of the banner was information about the exhibition itself, so I tried to emphasise that by using different typesizes and weights to create hierarchy between the sets of information on the banner and balance it out with images related to the exhibition.

Version 1
Version 2
Version 3
Version 4
Layout suggestion by supervisor
Banner of the exhibition that was open during the process of this Real Job

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The design suggested by my supervisor focused on using one image to bring impact to the banner. He suggested making the Ure Museum of Greek Archaelogy logo smaller to avoid attention to it. The aim of this layout was to make the title more. As mentioned in one of his feedbacks: “In general the design lacks impact. Partly because nothing is really big, and partly because there isn’t a lot of space. You can achieve this by making more of the good image and dropping the other one. If not and it has to be small, you could try making Locus Ludi bigger – it could be across two lines in caps.”

For the educational outreach materials, nothing much was done for it as the client had requested it to be a typical A4 sheet of paper of game rules and instructions and therefore, I only designed A4 sheets containing the game rules and added illustrations, which were provided and then refined by me, onto the document, using different typesizes, weights and spacing to make it presentable

Duodecim Scripta game rules sheet
Ludus Latrunculorum game rules sheet
Pente Grammai game rules sheet

.

 

Final product

During the final stage, due to poor communication, most of the deliverables were not delivered to the clients on time and as a result, the design ideas for each deliverable did not progress further. However, the client was still willing for me to work on the educational outreach materials and therefore over the next week, progress was made on the materials.

In the mid process of refining the materials, the client had requested to submit the educational outreach materials as it was and after making quick adjustments to the files, thet were all submitted to the client.

Duodecim Scripta Game Rules

Ludus Latrunculorum Game Rules

Pente Grammai Game Rules

Self-reflection

As this was my first real job, it was a challenge to tackle, with communication being one of the biggest challenges during the whole process. However, the support from the Real Jobs tutors and my supervisor helped me with progressing further with this, despite the final results not being what was expected or desired. Having started off this Real Job as a two person job meant that the responsibilities would have essentially been divided between me and my partner, however, by the end of this Real Job, things had changed and it became a one person job, however, I took this as an opportunity to challenge myself and get as much done as possible. Overall, this was an interesting project to work on as it allowed me to look at the behind the scenes of setting up an exhibition and the thoughts and efforts that go into the whole process. All the skills I had developed and learnt during this project are valuable and I hope to implement them in my future works as well.