Developments

Cushla and I both feel confident enough in our over all concept and style that we have started to focus on refining and developments.

This is the latest version of the website with improvements based on interim 2 feedback. 

From here we are going to focus on creating focal points and differences in hierarchy to draw the viewers attention to various points on the page so they are engaged with the page. We will also play with the scale of the logo and countdown and start adapting it to a mobile view. 

Poster 

The main thing to work on with this poster is making a more dynamic layout by playing with the scale of the speech bubble and cropping into it. At the moment the scale and layout are very passive and flat and we want to create a poster that's visually more engaging. We will also add more diversity into the image.

Flyer 

For the flyer we will work more on the layout such as making the list on the above page more like a list and make it pop more. For the casting on page, we want to separate the individual person's contacts out by perhaps adding in rules or symbols just to clarify.  

Object

Now that we have clarified our concept we have started considering how this could be applied to other media forms. We have use the example of bottle holders as a way of conversation starters. This is another way , just like the live chat on our website, to further build on our concept of Spinning Yarns. We wanted something extra that could help facilitate conversation. 

To improve this, we are going to include the original logo to make it more relevant to the whole concept and try out more conversation starters.  

Website mock up for interim 2

In preparation for interim presentation on Monday we decided to have a full mock up of our website ready on invison for presenting. We had a wire frame and site map and a general thumbnail ready and i was just up to me to mock it up.
This was the initial idea we had. The concept was a alternative we had created from the doors concept we had abandoned.

A immediate concern we noticed was the fact that the writing was very hard to read due to textured background. Then i proposed the idea of having the background fade once the user clicked on the windows.

However, Cushla pointed out how this made the navigation of the page very complicated and could get confusing and i agreed. This page was later abandoned because we felt it was a bit redundant when combined with the rest and contained information that was repeated later in the individual pages. 

We then started proposing possible homepage idea which i tried out before we settled on the final. Once we had settled on a style it was a lot easier to just carry the style into the design of the other pages. Below are some of the early version.

Action plan revisited

Based on the action plan we had created on Thursday, we went away and made mocks up of what we had decided.  On Monday our feedback from the lecturers made us realize that we were heading in the wrong direction with our choice of style as it was not related to our concept. We agreed because we were both getting lost and confused as to the direction we were heading in and the feedback made us realize what was wrong. Case in point, the following unfinished website mock up where it just wasn't working with our idea.

ACTION PLAN

Since last lesson we have developed on our 'spin some yarns' concept. We took into account the feedback we were given in the interim presentation and have tried to make it more about communication than 'knitting' and make the reference to residential apartments more clear. We are still working on our visual solution, but we have chosen our direction and are both on the same page about where we are heading.

We have now started thinking about how the journey of our transmedia narrative is going to work, how and when people will interact with each different media form, and what role they will need to play. We have decided that the poster will most likely be something that people see before the event, the website will be something they go to after that, but still before the event, and the brochure is something that will be used during and after the event.

We started planning out the content that we are going to need on each of our different forms of media, now that we have decided the purpose they serve. We then moved onto grouping this information, wire-framing and drawing up thumbnails of the website and brochure to work out how they will look and flow and make sure we are on the same page.

We have also decided to split the workload between us so that Anna is working primarily on the website, while I am working primarily on the brochure. We will communicate and share our progress throughout this process, making sure its a collaborative work, but this makes the workload more achievable for us. To make sure our work remains cohesive we have organised things sure as colour palettes, imagery, style and tone that will make our work consistent.

Researching websites and breaking them down

As part of the home work we were given on Monday we had to break down two existing websites into wire-frames as well as site maps.
This site map and wire frame was from the 350.org website.



We found that the 350 website was very cluttered and not easily followed. The bombardment of information was too much and actually made the website very hard to read as we didn't know where to look or start. There was not hierarchy of information. There was a lot of repeated information that was unnecessary. The aesthetic of the website was also very boring as the visuals were all just plain images of people.

NZ opera website

We found that this website was a lot better as the information was set out really easy to navigate. the aesthetic followed the latest show and created a cohesive look.

Favourite website- Panera website.

Purpose :

                Education of artificial ingredients within foods.

Goal:

                To raise awareness about the harmful outcomes of these ingredients.

Unique aesthetics:

                 miniature model combined to photographs to create a immersive experience on

                 the website.

Does the look and feel complement each other:

                 yes.

We have also been continuing to look at existing design and collecting some inspiration on our shared pinterest board: https://nz.pinterest.com/annawu127/neighbours-day-inspo/ 

Researching Existing Transmedia Campaigns

Wellington on a Plate

The 2016 Wellington on a Plate advertising campaign went for an eccentric and wacky style, carrying the typeface, bright bold colours, simple photography style and crazy food throughout their media forms. This was specific enough that it was recognisable, but just broad enough that the style could be adapted and applied to suit different media. The posters were used to attract immediate interest in the event, whereas the website gave more specific information about what was happening. Other things such as coasters and table stands were to reinforce the excitement already built up. 

'Stop before you start' 

The 'stop before you start' smoke free campaign was targeted towards young people who were at risk of starting to smoke, therefore they used a grunge style and humorous kiwi manner to relate to them. The grunge style and muted colours are easily recognisable throughout their transmedia campaign, as well as the 'mascot' - the unattractive cigarette. The posters are used to make an immediate impact on people and make one clear message, whereas the website gives more in-depth information, stories, and help that the user can navigate in their own time once their interest has already been captured.  

 

Interim One (We made it to the table of success)

These three posters were the ones we presented in class for interim. The second spin some yarns poster was chosen as one of the ones that was singled out because the clever and engaging relationship between the words and visuals.This surprised us, as we did not think this was our strongest idea or visual solution to begin with. In this poster, we are playing on the saying 'spin some yarns' and a 'close knit neighborhood'. We are targeting apartment dwellers who might not have much time to interact with their neighbors, so we are making our event a night-time apartment crawl. We are exploring an urban style, to appeal and relate to our audience who are younger and live in the city.

We had a group critique in our table groups and the feedback we got was that the idea of a residential apartment block was lost, so we need to make that connection clearer visually. We also have opportunity to play with text hierarchy. There is also a threat when using yarn as a key visual tool, as it inherently has connotations of being targeted at old ladies and of knitting, when that is not our intention. We need to think about how we can twist and grow the idea of yarn and 'close knit' communities in a way that is directed at younger people and apartment dwellers. We also need to think about what day of the week the event is on, and think about other ways yarn can be used. We need to think outside the box!!

Initial Mood boards and Reverse Briefs

Today in class we first presented to the group our best four sketches. From the feedback given, we decided that the best design is the beer together concept.

Some feedback from the lectures was that this design had the most potential to develop. How could we relate the idea of an apartment plan or an apartment event more?
We were than given a random word and saying. Our word was Butterfly and the saying was "theres no such thing as a free lunch.". This exercise was really useful as it made us think outside the box and explore ideas that relate to an apartment crawl more. The word Butterfly inspired Cushla and I to start thinking about ideas around a social butterfly which lead to ideas around isolation and showing this through visual imagery of cocoons.

Reverse Briefs 

The second part of the lesson was about reverse briefs. The point being unpacking the brief so that our understanding of it is clear. The reserve briefs also lets us unpack the intended audience and start to think about potential visual that we could work with.

Mood boards 

These two mood boards/ artist models were what Cushla and I took to class today to start thinking about the different styles that we might go with. 

Anna's mood board 

Cushla's mood board

Here is an animation we were inspired by. We liked the creative way of showing the need for a community of people. 

Understanding the Brief, Client and Audience

In class we decided on the Neighbours Day topic and made some thumbnail sketches of posters that would appeal to the different Simpsons characters.

Then we met up outside of class and did brainstorms about what kind of neighbourhoods there are, who would benefit most from this, which type of people need neighbours day the most, what kind of disasters could occur and what would need to be done to prepare for them. 

We decided that a potential audience could be people living in apartment buildings, who are usually younger and/or isolated from the people that live around them, but that would benefit a lot from knowing the people in their building. 

We chose the Simpson character Barney, as he lives in an apartment building himself, and did 20 thumbnail sketches together of different concepts that we think would appeal to him/people like him. The four that we thought were the strongest we redrew at a larger scale so that we could present next them lesson. 

 We are also creating individual mood-boards that we will share with each other and compare next lesson.