Rationale

For this brief I chose Swimming beaches around the Wellington Region. The three bays I chose were Oriental Bay, Lyall Bay and Scorching bay. I chose these three beaches as they all had their differences varying from locations, scenery, vibes and the atmosphere.

Emotive qualities I wanted to portray in my brochure were relaxed, chilled and pleasant. I tried to show these qualities through the use of the watercolor, illustrations and images. I felt the watercolor was the best representation of water and beaches and showed a sense of relaxation and a pleasant. I initially was using the watercolor theme and pattern but I needed to do something that made the three spreads differ, this is when I started looking further into my destinations and picked out the differences and then tried to show these through illustrations (the sell, surf board and sandcastle) I wanted to use images that showed the water with a bit of the surrounding so you could get a feel for the place. I found it quite hard to pick different colors from individual destinations as they all looked blue with brownish sand, but the more I started to visit my destinations, the more colors I could start to pick out, Oriental Bay I picked out more of a dark blue as the city in the distance looked to be a dark blue, I chose a turquoise blue for Lyall bay because of the color of the water and Green for scorching bay because of the secluded nature scene. An important concept that I learnt through this project was to keep referring back to inspiration, when I got stuck for ideas I constantly found myself refreshed with new ideas after looking at pinterest and designspiration. I will definitely continue to use these sights as future reference when designing. Visual research and color swatches was something I also found very useful for choosing colors and pointing out textures and patterns.

Week Five

Monday 24th March session 1

Today we showed our 12 page mock up brochures to the class, and walked around giving feedback where it was needed. We then had one on one with the tutors so they were able to see our progress and where about's we were in the project. It was good to hear wear our brochures were lacking and what to improve on or even what to keep in mind, it gave me something to go away and work on. It was cool to see all the different spread approaches it was good for inspirational purposes also. For independent study i went away and took in the given feedback and started to apply it too my designs.

Tuesday 25th March, session 2

Today we had a critique with one of the other vcd classes, this was very helpful as we were able to see new inspiration! i enjoyed this
For independent study i started to put more effort into the cover page, introduction page, spare page and end page. for the final critique on monday.

Week Four

Monday 17th March, session 1

Today in class we got into groups of 5 and critiqued each others work by writing down positive and negative aspects on separate pieces of paper and then handed the feedback back to that person at the end of they had spoken. We then as a group chose one persons work to present to the class, then that one persons work from each group was critiqued as a class. Although the class discussion wasn't directly aimed at my work , it was all pretty relevant feedback such as layout, use of negative space, colour and imagery. We learnt about type today and appropriate layouts for text. We then got into pairs and did a cut and paste activity where we had to create our own spreads consisting of a heading, sub heading, body copy and imagery that were all given to us on a sheet
For independent study i just continued with developing my ideas, and started to look at fonts and text.

Tuesday 18th March, session 2

Today we discussed the rule of type again and got given a piece of paper with a list of all the type principles and we had to choose four that we thought were most important. We then discussed and negotiated the top four as a class, we then critiqued each others work keeping in the mind the rules of type. We then got into groups of 3 where we had to come up with a 3rd stamp in a set. We had to come up with the 3rd stamp going by what the first and second stamp looked like. This was an exercise to help us all understand, that all spreads in the final brochure need to look as though they are from the same family but differ slightly. We then discussed in our groups of 3 ideas for the spare page in our brochure, I brainstormed a few ideas, and came up with two that i would've used, where to get ice cream, and cautions in the water.
For independent study, i just continued to develop my concepts and started to introduce new design principles spoken about in class. I also did a bit of type research for future reference.

Layout inspiration 

These show good use of negative space and visual flow and breaking the image over the center line. 

Week Three

Monday 10th March, session 1

Today we had to bring in different design books, in which we then discussed in groups the design principles we could pick out from the designs.  We also had a critique where we all laid out our work and gave back as much feedback as possible. When critiquing work we had to keep in mind the use of negative space, imagery, colour and patterns.
For independent study i just continued to create mock ups as i am still a little unsure as to what i want to move forward with, none of them are all that appropriate for my destinations. This is where i will look into further inspiration which relates more to my three locations. (The beach- calm, relaxing free, loose, peaceful, summer- adjectives to keep in mind when designing also)

Tuesday 11th March, session 2

Today we learnt about grids and how they are so necessary when it comes to placement of image and text. Grids help the content to be placed consistently throughout the brochure or books/magazines for that matter. We had to participate in a class activity involving grids to help us gain understanding on how they work and how many columns/grids had been used. We also had a very small critique.
For independent study i decided on a idea and constructed 3 spreads all consisting of the same idea- creating a sequence. I then printed these and stuck them in my book ready for presentation on monday morning.

Week Two

Monday 3rd March, session 1

Today we got into small groups of 4 and looked and discussed each others research/visual research we had gathered over the past week at our chosen destinations. Today i just presented pictures that i had taken at each of my individual destinations. We also learnt about the fundamental design principles such as composition, fonts and colour.
For independent study i went away and researched further into my destinations mainly history for background information to help with future design. I also briefly started looking into colour schemes and made a trip down to the Resene paint shop and picked up some colour pallets to use as a colour reference for my upcoming designs. I played with illustrative drawings that also could have been used through the brochure to communicate a theme or feeling. I made a mock up spread as a potential idea to present to the class.

Tuesday 4th March, session 2

Today in the initial powerpoint presentation Tim and Tom talked about patterns and how they are vital in design as they help to communicate an emotive feeling. We then played around with hand drawn patterns in our workbooks that represented a specific adjective.
For independent study i just continued to experiment with different initial mock ups. I also started to incorporate colour, textures and patterns into my designs. When working on my mock ups my main focus was colour and trying to come up with new ideas before focussing on composition and layout (working wit imagery) For my mock ups i looked at inspiration so i could then pull out successful aspects and interpret them into my designs.

Week One

Session one - Monday 24th February 

Today was the introduction to Visual Communication Design. We were given the brief which consisted of a 12 page brochure. The Brief  and requirements were thoroughly discussed. We then separated into small groups and discussed possible sets of recreational destinations/activities within the wellington region. The three locations had to work as a set, with each destination/activity having a distinct point of difference between the three. My top three ideas were swimming spots, cinemas and museums. For independent study we had to go away and brainstorm some further sets of 3 and match adjectives to the destinations/activity to be communicated through future designs.

Session two - Tuesday 25th February 

Today we got into groups and discussed our top 3 ideas and adjectives for each individual destination. Also discussing which overall set would work best together and discussing the point of differences between the three destinations within a set. We then finalized our ideas with the class, Tim and Tom. We Briefly started to research our chosen destinations in class, before we had our introduction to blogger. My chosen idea was swimming spots in Wellington. My three different locations i have chosen are Oriental Bay, Lyall Bay and Scorching Bay. They all differ from locations, surroundings, vibes, water conditions and out of water activities. For independent study we had to go away and research our three locations consisting of visual research as well as information on the beach. We were also told to take note of the popularity of the place/how busy? and what kind of people they attracted. Age etc? I took a few photos in which i may or may not use for future development. 

    Oriental Bay 

     Lyall Bay

     Scorching Bay