OUGD504 Studio Brief 1 | Evaluation

OUGD504 Studio Brief 1 Evaluation.

On the whole I am happy with how Studio Brief 1 went. I started the brief by researching different types of folds and methods for actually making the leaflet; this contained more research than usual due to the amount of possible ways to make one. In past briefs, such as the poster one at Level 4, there were a number of poster types, but nowhere near the amount of variation as a leaflet. This quantity of research definitely helped me get through the brief and taught me that even when you think you have all the research and information you need, keep getting more. I realised that in the past I gather all my research at the start of my deign process and then move on and don't do any further research after that point. But in this brief I did ongoing research throughout the project and this proved to be very useful; so much so that I realised this is what I should have been doing all along and is definitely what I will do in future briefs.

In regard to my final outcome, I do like it but there are certain elements that, looking back, I would change or plan differently. The plan for my leaflet was for it to be A6 size. This however, wasn’t possible due to the length of my leaflet when it was fully folded out; the university printers can only print double sided on a maximum of A2, where my leaflet needed to be printed on A1. To avoid not having a double sided leaflet I compromised and scaled down my leaflet slightly so it would fit on a A2 sheet, meaning my leaflet is now a tiny bit smaller than A6. In the real world I would not encounter this problem at this scale, but as we are limited to university resources it was unfortunately the case for this project. 

One other thing I would change is my body copy type setting choice. I used Helvetica Neue Light, which on screen looks great and works very well, but even after a few test prints I thought it was ok, but looking back now they weren’t and it still isn’t. When it came to my final print I realised the kerning was too tight, resulting in the type looking messy and untidy, when it should have been spaced out further. Although it doesn’t affect the legibility, it does affect the aesthetic, so if I were to do this project again I would widen the kerning. 

Overall I think this brief has helped me learn a few things that I can use to progress through Level 5 and future briefs; such as thoroughly experimenting with type settings in order to achieve the perfect body copy, research techniques and also working with more colours than just my usual black and white go to.