my learning journal

After developing my previous editorial, I have come up with new layouts for the editorial experimenting more with type and placing of the images. Playing around with the white space, typography and the placing of the typography. I have tried many different variations of the layouts to show development and variation of what I can show.

Doing development of ideas is a vital part of a graphic designers practice, it is important that a graphic designer keeps developing their initial design to create a more polished and finished idea. As a graphic designer you can not show a client the first idea you come up with, you have to show development, different variations to show that you can adapt and develop, if a client wants more development and variation, a graphic designer needs to abide to that and create more ideation and further development to make the client happy.

 

Editorial design is a field that combines the abilities for creative typography, smart layouts and clever placing.

Editorial design encompasses one of the largest employers of graphic designers. The amount of media that is created between the fields of book design, newspaper, publication, magazine design and their online counterparts demands the attention of many different designers with varied specialties.

The amount of content included in the publication of things like books and magazines have strict guidelines and rules for the use of typography and layout within the volumes  and periodicals produced. The success of these depends on clear communication and consist of story telling, both of which demand rigorous applications of grid layout and the establishment of visual hierarchies in order to keep readers entertained.

http://www.designyourway.net

http://www.designhistory.com

For this project I was given the brief to create an app that doesn’t already exist but if it does, how can we improve upon it, but I chose to create my completely new app which is called ‘Peiby’, an app designed for experienced and new sharpei owners.

The experience I have experienced through out this project has been very positive as I have learnt so many new skills which will help me in my current and future practice. I have learnt how to use a new programme to create this app, Adobe XD, I have also expanded my knowledge and my practice even further as I know even more graphic design knowledge and technology.

From this project, I have learnt how to use Adobe XD, how to layout imagery and text in Adobe XD, learning how to use wire-frames, and to create a video showcasing the fully working app to the present to clients, and deign ideation, development and using previously used Adobe programmes from previous given projects. Learning and experimenting with new Adobe programmes such as a XD will broaden my knowledge  for future projects to make an app, it has expanded my knowledge and working practice considerably as I have more knowledge and experience to use programmers for future projects.

Peiby app presentstion click here to see presentation.

Doing these presentations will help me in the future, as I will have to present my ideas to future clients and companies which is good practice as I will have a certain time limit to present and discuss what the project is about. This will help me further with my confidence to discuss about future ideas and projects.

This is what my ‘Peiby’ app looks like so far. I will having a tutorial with Theo to see what I could improve and develop.

This my app as a whole, showing each different aspects of the app.

I had a tutorial with Theo to discuss the progress of my app, he was pleased with how my app was looking and coming along but he noted upon a few things that could be developed and refined even further, as he pointed out these specific aspects, I could see straight away what he was talking about which I found very useful in developing and refining my app even further.

As I said Theo pointed out a few things such as that there was too many design aesthetics going on, specifically within the discount page, as the lines of the imagery were different weights, so Theo suggested to use photography as I have in other parts of the app to bring the design aesthetic together and to make it look more refined and cohesive.

Another thing that was mentioned was about the local Sharpei meet up chat, he commented on the fact how would you know who you are meeting with, which I didn’t really consider, so to solve this problem I suggested having an Owners Profile which has a profile picture and a brief description about yourself.

The brand scanner, he suggested to use an actual scanner to show the full effect of what the app can do.

I transferred all my hand drawn ideas to Illustrator using vector designs. I experimented with colour ways and lines.

For the main page icons, I created two different variations of the icons using different colour ways, looking at them side by side, I personally prefer the blue and white colour way as it is more refined and calming in aesthetics. I experimented with vectors and opacity to create these outcomes.

For the discounts page, I decided to use various colours for the imagery to give contrast, I drew these using Illustrator using vectors, shading and highlighting.

 

I will be creating discount codes for my app as I thought of how can this app make money, so I thought about creating and making discount codes.

I researched into different brands of dog food, harnesses/leads, toys and skin/body brands. I researched into each brand looking at specific aspects of the brand such as design layout, typefaces and created some developmental ideas.

From looking at different brands, I took specific aspects through to the design process to make sure the discounts related and linked to the specific brands.

These designs will be transferred through to Illustrator where I will design in it digitally.

As a graphic designer, I needed to respects the laws of copyright of various brands, so from this, I had to come up with an alternative route to avoid the copyright laws, so to avoid this, I used colour ways, typography and imagery similar to various brands to create these discount, and as a graphic designer I needed to do this for the sake of my practice.

 

 

 

For the image logo, I decided to use my own imagery as I own a sharpei, so this will enable me to use first hand photography which is seen to be much better as there will be no issue with copyright.

I have used an app layout technique to showcase a rough idea of what my app is going to look like when it is laid out, and it also shows the links. It is a rough guide on what the app will look like but it may change as I go on designing it.

The colour theory of this app will either be a variety of blues, whites and oranges or just a variety of blues and what white. I will have to see what these colours will look like before I can make a decision.

From this after speaking with, he suggested having a settings page and an owner page, so I’ve added an updated version of the app layout to show the development.

Reflecting on this, it is important to show the layout in context, so the client can see how the app would work and the wire frames link to each other. It is always important to show your ideas in context, so the client can see how this would be laid out.

I wanted to create and design my own icons for my app as I wanted to make sure it fit to the apps aesthetic and colour theory I have in mind.

Profile Icon

So I created a few profile icons, using various ideas, I firstly created a simple block silhouette of a human profile but looking at it, I didn’t feel like it related to the Sharpei app as it doesn’t relate to the breed of dog.

Another idea I came up with is a side profile of the Sharpei using simple linear lines from first hand photography but again looking at the profile it needs to be developed even further to the sense of a profile, possibly using the face of the Sharpei as the profile icon. Developing from my ideas, I decided to use my first hand photography and use the face of the Sharpei as the profile icon and create Illustrations from it using Illustrator.

Health Group Chat

A few designs I have drawn out, I feel like it doesn’t showcase what the icon is meant to be. The first two designs have a human profile with speech bubbles showing that there is a conversation going on but still doesn’t show what the icon is. So I decided to combine the speech bubble and the red cross to showcase what the icon is in a simplistic and effective way.

Brand Scanner

I thought about having a bag of dog food and the food brand as an idea as it shows what you are scanning but I feel like the users will not be able to see what the imagery will be and get confused by it, so from this I thought of using a barcode as it will be easier to identify what that icon is for.

Discount – Toys

Firstly, I started off with a typographic icon but I feel it wouldn’t catch the eye of the users and wouldn’t make it interesting and playful to use, so from this I started too develop and use dog toys into the mix to make it look more inviting and personalized.

Discount – Harness/lead

Again using obvious imagery, I created design ideas for the icon using a collar and harness, as it is easily recognizable to the user.

Discount – Skin/Body

I thought about using pill bottles and shampoo bottles as it is common for Sharpei’s to have medication, but I didn’t want a pill bottle to be the main icon as it giving the impression that it is only for pills, so steering away from that I decided to use a medicated Shampoo bottle.

These will be transferred to Illustrator to create simple illustrations.

As a graphic designer, deciding whether or not to create hand drawn ideas or to use imagery for the in app icons, as a graphic designer it is important to weigh out the options of using hand drawn or photography. For a graphic designer it is important to decide whether or not it works or not and from that make a decision from that point on.