Out of all the briefs, bar BOTB, I believe this is the least strong. The subject matter itself was very interesting to me, but as the brief went on and I lost all interest in infographics, I started panicking and not caring which is not a good combination especially on a final major project which is meant to be a carefully planned and thought through affair. Although with the unfortunate but not unwelcome recent realisation of what it is and what I want to do with my ambitions, I am glad I did this brief.
It was intended to be an illustration brief coupled with type, layout and editorial infographics. Already it is evident that I set myself a monumentous task, as usual I took a cliffside road rather than the comfortable bike trail by the river in terms of how I approached this brief.
I spent far too much time researching, cross referencing due to my fact-finding/anal tendencies which cost me dearly in the end. I also could not decide early enough on what subjects would best suit the audience costing me valuable scoops of time and designing sporadic and for the sake of it. I think that a major issue in all my work in college is that I seek the acceptance of my peers and those above my station when it comes to creating things, so I get bogged down in detail and trying to produce anything that I think would please the afore mentioned audience. With this in mind, I once again faffed around trying to find or discover a style that would give my work the edge I wanted. Alas it was to no avail, I fell back on vector illustrations and a colour palette I took from my favourite Youtube channel (Crash Course World History). I am not displeased with the cover illustrations, as I received very positive feedback, but on a personal note, it always feels like a bit of a cop out when I know I am capable of producing something very akin to my internal visual blueprint.
The spreads of information were the hardest part for me, as I am not good at all with layout or the formalities of type. I did alot of research, but felt like I wasnt really getting anywhere, until I just suddenly clicked. I cant remember what happened, it sounds unprofessional but I just woke up early literally just did some bits of layout and put some shapes together that I thought looked great and suited the brief. Although this again, was a latecomer to the finishing line, that I felt I should have developed more, not just for myself but for my portfolio's sake. Although I think that I am capable of creating spreads and layout out information correctly and presenting it in a unique way, I dont think I would excel in the field specifically.
Indeed a learning curve all round for this brief, but I did learn that I like reading about science, but I think there are better and more intuitive ways to do this than designing for a newspaper whose media is often skewed and biased at best. There are far better mediums out there doing a better job than the Times. I do think that the strongest element of this brief was the colour and the cover illustrations. Once again proving that I may just be a Jack of All Trades, as opposed to a Master of One.
