Studio Brief 01 - Initial mockup

In order to get a rough idea of how the publication will look like before printing on the proposed stock, a test print was done.

Again, there was another change in the title's layout and font, this time the intended effect is to centre the reader's eyes onto the large white space that is the topic of the publication. The cut off text still tells "white space" whilst still being ambiguous and exaggerates that whole idea. By choosing to italicize the font it adds a slight dynamism to the otherwise static layout of the publication.

Despite the choice to print the publication in B5, the publication is still to tall for the intended reading experience. The height of the book does not reflect the amount of content as well as the tone of voice. Despite the rather formal language used within, the publication should be a light read that the reader can flick through without having to engross his/her time into it. A smaller, more compact form factor would better represent this.

One publication that does this is NEST. Being slightly shorter than B5, the proportions of NEST aptly reflect the kind of reading intended for the publication and the amount of content within. 

Following how NEST uses a custom dimension for its reading experience, the top and bottom of the publication were trimmed to create a more compact form factor. The resulting effect is a size that fits better in the hand, allowing for a more casual reading experience. 

The width was also trimmed just to keep the dimensions relatively proportionate.

Despite the alterations done to the publication in effort to create a more casual reading experience, the general consensus was the opposite. People favoured the original dimensions due to the context of the publication. Because of the amount of pictures displayed, the taller profile better shows off the detail and the scale of the pictures. 

Studio Brief 02 - DEAR and WERK magazine

Whilst researching the design studios that interested me in OUGD402, DEAR magazine caught my attention for having a similar direction as WERK magazine in terms of unorthodox physical construction. 

The centre piece and arguably the highlight of the publication is the front cover. It is a two page die cut cover that reads "Dear is a zine that collects, archives and immortalises in print all things fun and unique from casual conversations to visual essays that aim to assault your senses…"

 The issue explores the theme Lost and Found, presenting a series of stories by Singapore photographers and illustrators that range from John Clang’s re-appropriation of the Singapore Airlines ‘Singapore Girl’ marketing campaign, trading on nostalgia while challenging the campaign with handwritten scrawls across the images (‘No, we don’t go to jail for chewing gum’), to a series of photographs by Ang Song Nian of the improvised living spaces of the average Singaporean. 

According to Mag Culture the magazine's construction is made of "lightweight but bulky matte paper that holds the colour and detail of the imagery well. It’s very flickable and the pages sit flat thanks to the open binding; this allows the stark text openers to each story to sit right in the centre of the page". 

WERK magazine is a publication formed by Theseus Chan which absolutely goes against the trends and norms. The magazine is the first of its kind from my observation, and takes a definite post modernist approach when forming the content and page construction.With each issue being different, it adds to the overall appeal and allows for each issue to have a characteristic of its own.

In terms of the brief, the die cut aspect could be incorporated into the masthead design or some of the pages within the sections. This technique would be more suitable for Raf Simons own brand rather than the minimal or elegance of his time at Jil Sander and Dior. The die cut pages seen in WERK can be done within each section of Raf's collections for copy. This allows more photography to be placed on the spreads. The folded technique used in No.22 could be an idea to relate the collection's design or construction to the publication's design. 

Studio Brief 01 - Evaluation

The feedback received during this brief played the most important role in shaping the final cover design, more so than any other brief thus far. Since Secret 7" is a live brief, the opinion of the public is a definite deciding factor on whether a design is successful or not. Gaining feedback on what idea, design and composition works during the process of the brief helps get an idea of what would to appeal to the general public.

Therefore despite not pursuing the idea of creating a character based on the characters of Studio Films, the feedback given on the main two ideas suggests that the concept would have been too implicit to reflect Dream 3. People favour the more reserved designs of the photo manipulations as compared to the colourful abstract expressionist designs. And because the character idea would have followed a similar colour scheme, it may have been less successful than once thought. This shows that within the nature of this competition, the more explicit the idea/mood/atmosphere that is reflected in the design, the more successful it is in appealing to the songs audience.

After reviewing the feedback and criticisms, another aspect which is important for this brief and any other is the ability to effectively communicate ideas through design. The fact that people thought of different songs whilst looking at the designs meant I did not effectively reflect the song. This is important in the context of Secret 7" as the public do not know what record they will be buying. It would be unfavourable to suggest a song such as Tame Impala's The Less I Know The Better when the design is meant for Dream 3. 

As a result the final design of the cover sleeve is one that is appropriate and fitting to represent Dream 3’s mood and Max Richter’s aims of the song. The dark tones within the image are reflective of not only the atmosphere created by the song, but of the night which connotes dreaming and the act of sleeping. The surrealistic landscape created by mirroring the landscape and the inverted colour scheme represent the unrealistic nature of dreams.

Studio Brief 01 - Final designs

In order to progress with the success of the photo manipulation idea and to develop the designs further, I narrowed down the popular designs after reviewing the feedback.

Although there were mentions to experiment with colour to develop these compositions, there is a danger to make the record to look like one of Tame Impala instead of reflecting the mood of Dream 3.  Instead the following compositions play with the inverted visuals and muted colour palettes.

In effort to make the sunset more aligned to the mood of Dream 3, a balck and white approach was taken with this image. 

Inverted 01

Inverted 02

There was a feedback suggestion to mix both inverted and non inverted images together and the results are successful. Both compositions relate to that feeling of being in a void that is suggested when listening to the song, with the uninterrupted horizon that spans a vast expanse allowing for the viewers mind to wander. Between the two images Inverted 02 is more effective due to its colour scheme that easily draws the views eyes from top to bottom of the cover without much interruption. Furthermore the inverted rocks match the pale blue/white clouds which makes the difference between the two blend better. 

There was the idea to combine the different skylines together. However this did not yield the best results as the two landscapes don't merge as well together. 

Taking that idea of combing the two skylines together, this image is a combination of two inverted landscapes. The idea was to replace the original skyline with one that was more textured to create a more engaging image.

Inverted 03

Inverted 04

Following on from the desired effect of Inverted 02 the same was done on these images. Inverted 04 is the more successful as the colour schemes work better together and look more natural as compared to Inverted 03.

Therefore based on the feedback received on both ideas, these are the 4 shortlisted designs that did not make the final cut.

 

These two inverted designs were successful visually however it did not entirely reflect the mood and atmosphere of the song. Mixing both the inverted image and the brightness of the natural sky, it creates a visually successful composition by engaging the viewer through its surreal landscape. However Dream 3's slow, deep tones don't reflect the "positive" and "airy" visual of the cloudy skyline. 

These compositions were not chosen because of the feedback given on the idea. The designs were not as well received as compared to the photo manipulations. The abstract ideas surrounding the designs ultimately became too abstract for people to grasp on first glances. And because this is a live brief, public opinion matters if the designs stand a chance of being chosen. 

Therfore the winning choice for Max Richters Dream 3 is.  

The choice for this as the submission is due to the image's effectiveness of conveying the mood and atmosphere of the song while suggesting the element of dreaming through the obvious surreal colour scheme that does not occur in real life. It would have been favourable to choose a landscape that has brighter depictions however because the intention of the song is to help send people to sleep like a lullaby, a darker more subdued colour scheme is better in representing that. Furthermore, the simple composition of the landscape also reflects the simplicity of the song's flow.

Studio Brief 01 - Photo Manipulation and feedback

The aim of these compositions are to create surreal dreamscapes that suggest that these landscapes can only envisioned in ones dreams. Initially the idea was to create unique landscapes through the process of pasting different selection to form a collage of sorts. However my proficiency in Photoshop is not up to par with what I wanted to create hence I switched to a more manipulative option. Despite the lack in skill though the resulting manipulations created some surprising results.

The choice of a greyscale and monotone blue colour scheme throughout these manipulations are meant to represent another idea of how the song can be shown. The monotone variations relate to the emotional and sombre tones of the song. Blue was chosen because of its connotation to sadness which the song may evoke towards a listener. The following 4 compositions are reflections of the original image to create surreal landscapes and patterns. The reflections done on the Grand canyon produced some surreal results with one resembling the two halves of the brain.

From the research done on Studio Ghibli landscape animations, I noticed that the texture of the clouds played a large part in creating that dream like feel to the scene. Therefore in this picture, the focus of the manipulation was to create designs based on these clouds. The colour as well was manipulated to add to the surrealism. So far the experimentation's have been concentrated on creating intricate patterns to draw the viewer. 

These are still based on the same image as before, however the compositions are taken from a less hectic area of the reflections. In some ways, this approach may be better suited for the song as the song itself is not complicated. The simplicity of these compositions also relate to the serenity of the song. 

The manipulation of photos did not apply to all landscapes however. In these two images, it was more successful to reflect the explicit mood of the song instead of creating surreal landscapes. 

The less hectic designs also suited the seascapes which have both aspects of cloud texture and landscape. What also adds to the suitability is the pastel colour palette which leans more towards the idea of day dreaming rather than sleep dreaming. 

  

To combine both aspects of a less hectic design and surrealism, the images were inverted. The resulting effect is a landscape depiction that reflects the dark, moody atmosphere of the song as well as the simplistic melody. The white highlights caused by the rocks unintentionally act as a point of focus and draws the viewers attention.

The feedback of on these designs were much more well received than that of the Abstract Expressionist ideas. People were drawn towards the effectiveness of reflecting the landscapes. However there were different responses to what they thought the landscapes represented. Some suggested Clearest Blue while some Tame Impala's The Less I Know The Better. The reason for this are the unintentional psychedelic designs of the reflected landscapes, especially the canyon, as well as the vivid colours. Amongst all of the landscapes, the seascapes were the most well received, with comments stating that it represents the calm and serenity of the song. Furthermore the inverted effect was effective in communicating the idea of dreaming. To take the manipulations further, people suggested to maybe layer different images on top each other and to experiment with the colour. Overall this idea has worked more successfully than the abstract expressionist idea. People are able to draw the similarities between the songs atmosphere and the compositions of the manipulations.