Before a design project of any form is accomplished, there has to be first and foremost a problem and this is not something unusual because every design work or project has to make available a solution useful to address a problem. Design is a term that has many applications which we can say is so because it is very relevant in many of our everyday activities. To design a birthday flyer, for instance, these are some of the things a designer may first think of:
1) Who is the flyer for (male or female, age etc)
2) Visual literacy of the client or the birthday celebrant among other considerations.
The reason why there must be preceding thinking prior to production is that every successful design work is built on the process. There has been a significant increase in the number of people who call themselves Graphic Designers just because there are a lot of applications for mobile devices and pcs that they can use to design. Even with the emergence of AI tools, it has increased the numbers but there exists a very wide gap between professional Graphic Designers and those self-taught designers who might have not learnt the real theories of communication with design.
Just with the earlier mentioned instance of a birthday flyer design, some amateur designer will just start off immediately after briefing to design the flyer. Anyway, it might turn out to be well but every professional Graphic Designer or communicator makes use of the process called the Design Process. What are some considerations for a flyer design?
To design a flyer for instance, a designer will take into consideration the visual literacy of the client or audience, typography, layout, color, and color scheme etc.
Visual literacy refers to how a person sees any visual information like text, images among other graphical information, and is able to read meaning into what the eyes have seen whether accurately or inaccurately in comparison to what the sender has purposed.
Typography covers the study and use of texts to communicate information effectively. Texts come in different structures, form etc which help to encode a message to a receiver. Every type has its own font sizes and other variations making each kind suitable for a particular purpose but the moment a typeface is used inappropriately, it affects effective communication. If a Type like Italic or Decorative is used to design a textbook for primary pupils, know for sure that it is an absolute failure on the side of the designer due to lack of adequate knowledge of Typefaces and their applicable functions and uses.
Layout can be described as the bone or the structure of any design work as it puts together differing elements in a proper arrangement to achieve harmony and visual tranquility.
An example of a flyer without proper planning.
Let's do the analysis based on specific design elements for in-depth understanding and relation with what the flaws are in the design.
Font: This flyer alone has four(4) different typefaces and this is a practice not advised for a good design at all. This act does not create cohesion and it also disrupts the focus of viewers.
Color: The use of color was not properly done when this work is clearly reviewed because the colors seem not to be associating with one another.
Hierarchy: One secret to a great design like a flyer is a hierarchy in the arrangement of the elements visible in the design. Designers always have a spot in a design work that they want a viewer's attention to be drawn to and this is achieved through hierarchical placement of texts, illustrations, or any other form of graphical components.
Layout: The layout of the flyer shown above too was not well structured making the elements not take clear positions in the work.
CREATING AN ARTWORK USING DESIGN KNOWLEDGE
Once again design has its main target or aim of solving a problem no matter what form it takes as against an artwork that might be useful but not necessarily be objective in solving a problem. A challenge was given to create artwork as designers to create awareness about a particular taboo for a groundbreaking documentary. Now, every one of the designers was mandated to research a taboo thoroughly and come out with a detailed insight into the taboo he or she is working on. This is only the PHASE I of the project. After this PHASE, a report about the whole project was created by everyone which included research about the specific taboo under consideration, and the designer's documentation of the design process he or she used which clearly stated the whole process of producing the artwork.
This shows the details of the approach by one designer
Remember the final artwork was meant to be used for a ground-breaking documentary on the taboo that has been worked on.
REPORT
Taboos are prohibited acts that enforce a particular kind of norm of behavior in a particular location of people. In Ghana, there are many taboos and some of them include: not going fishing or farming on some set days and these taboos have been kept for many years now. Anyone who contradicts in action can have some repercussions that are inflicted by the spiritual forces behind the establishment of the taboos. I have gathered some information on a major taboo in the Volta Region which is ADULTERY to work on. The people adhere to the taboo like the one mentioned here with fear because they believe that any disobedience can incur great harm to the culprit or the guilty.
TABOO IN FOCUS: ADULTERY IN THE VOLTA REGION
Inquiries were made and upon interrogation with people who are inhabitants of the town, it came out clear that the forefathers of the land worshipped many gods with different influential powers. The worship of those gods demanded strict adherence to taboos and one of them is "NO ADULTERY". Any woman who sleeps with another man apart from her traditionally married husband commits adultery and can go mad or be inflicted with sicknesses or mental abnormalities and sometimes even death.
DESIGN STRATEGY AND PLANNING
Audience: Youth (18+), adults both married and unmarried.
Communication elements: Graphical representations with texts, colors of traditional association with the idea.
Design influence: Futurism
IDEA DEVELOPMENT
This sketch was done in the process of putting together the collated information into one piece for the artwork. It was done to give a structure and a frame upon which the main work can be raised with ease.
FINAL WORK
The final work shows first a man and a woman together and they are assumed to be a husband and a wife who are traditionally married according to the customs. Suddenly, by using the influence of Futurism that depicted movements in its artworks by creating multiple copies of a figure in motion, the woman started moving away from her husband but toward another man. As the woman got to this man, she was shown in red signifying the danger in which she has landed herself and it was not long before she is seen to be in a grave. She being in a grave is a symbol that anyone who goes contrary to the taboo is bound to receive a punishment. Some texts were added in a properly thought-through manner since the work was to be used for a documentary and knowing that documentaries should have a story to tell and as well answer some questions that might be in the minds of the viewers or audience, some texts needed to be added.
Final artwork
It has been a wonderful time going through all these to emphasize the fact that every successful design work has to be approached the right way so as to make everything a success.
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