Communication Design Practice

Communication Design

Communication design presents visual information for communication purposes.

Question: Take a look at the music posters below. What information is being presented? What Visuals are being used to present the information?

Key Features

Design Examples
Communication Needs (What the client wants)
Conventions and Knowledge (What you need to know how to do)
Methods
Final Presentations

Purpose

Like all three of the design fields, communication design has a specific purpose.

Question: Have a look at the list below, can you match some possible purposes for the picture.

To advertise: Advertising may involve marketing or selling a product or event.
To depict: Depiction may involve representing or portraying a product or company.
To guide: Guiding may involve advising, assisting or providing directions.
To identify: Identifying may involve the identification or establishing what something looks like.
To inform: Informing may involve providing facts or information.
To promote: Promotion may involve encouraging the target audience to participate.
To teach: Teaching may involve instructing or demonstrating information

Practical Task

Communication Design: A3 PROMOTIONAL POSTER DESIGN - Animal Enclosure Opening Event

The Melbourne Zoo has created more magical wildlife moments for you to explore with the new opening of the ‘Animals’ enclosure. The cutting-edge design and innovative concepts used for this animal enclosure allows you, the viewer, to delve further into the ‘Animals’ world than ever before. The 'Animal' enclosure opening event will take place on the first weekend in April. Melbourne Zoo invites the general public to this exciting event.

TASK:

As a graphic deisgner, you are going to design an A3 promotional poster for the animal enclosure opening event; it should appeal to your target audience.

CONSTRAINTS:

Typography should be a dominant design feature of your promotional poster design.
The text below should be included on the ticket:
Melbourne Zoo 'Animal' enclosure opening event.
www.zoo.org.au/melbourne/
You must include the date and time: April 1st 2023. Enclosure Opening 2pm.
Location - 'Animal' front entrance. Melbourne Zoo, Elliott Ave, Parkville VIC 3052.

Steps to Complete the task

Complete a generation of ideas page that explores a number of options, include annotations.
Complete a development of concepts page that explore the use of elements and principlesa nd media and materials.
A page that explores type and type conventions for your design.
Present a final A3 Promotional Poster.

Rubric

2020 Communication Design Rubric

Step 1: Complete a generation of ideas page that explores a number of options, including annotations. This page can include visual research to help guide your concepts.

Look at examples of Promotional Poster Designs for inspiration. What are all the key elements displayed on a Promotional Poster. Make a list and ensure you include it your generation of ideas page.

The emphasis of this part of your folio should be on quick, unrefined sketches (you do not have to produce perfect, instrumentally drawn technical drawings) that represent your ideas in a visual way. Your thoughts should be annotated at the time of generation, revealing thought processes and decision making. At this stage of the design process you will be assessed on the quality of your ideas and not your ability to accurately draw two- and three-dimensionally. It is not appropriate to copy, trace or scan imagery (these processes can be used during the development and refinement stages) during the generation of ideas as this stage is about developing original ideas.

Generation of ideas Example

Click on the PDF below to view in a larger format.

Copy of visualisation pages example.pdf

Generation of ideas Annotations:

will discuss potential methods
will mention specific design elements and/or principles
need to relate to the needs of the brief
describe your idea
discuss how your idea relates to the brief and the target audience
will mention how you will take the idea forward.

Step 2: Complete a development of concepts page that uses the elements and principles and explores various media and materials.

1. reference to and use of the design elements and principles.
2. incorporate different media, materials and methods. (watercolour for the background, Adobe Illustrator, photography etc.).

Development of Concepts

After working quickly and mostly on a small scale the designer then spends more time developing selected concepts. This stage of the design process involves critical design thinking and decision making as concepts are selected that suit the target audience and relate directly to the design brief.

When you are developing concepts, you will identify your preferred ideas and then develop these further by applying a range of media and materials and using a variety of methods. You will need to look at the aesthetics and functions of the design elements and principles and the ways that they can assist you in developing concepts.

DEVELOPMENT OF CONCEPTS EXAMPLE

Click on the PDF below to view in a larger format.

Copy of development.pdf

Development of Concepts Annotations

Step 3: Typography

A page that explored type and type conventions for your design

There are many anatomy terms applicable to letterforms. As a student it will not be necessary for you to know them all, but some are essential to assist you in designing or choosing your typefaces. There are a few key terms for you to consider.

Fonts
A font is the one size, weight and width of a typeface; for example, Arial Narrow 11pt is a font.

Typefaces
Typeface is often confused with font. But they are not the same. A font is a particular member of the typeface family; for example, roman, bold or italic. Typeface is the overall style or visual appearance; for example, Helvetica or Times New Roman. Typefaces can be divided into two main categories: serif and sans serif.

Serif and sans serif typefaces
Serifs are the small tick-like lines at the end of character strokes. Every letter in a serif typeface includes serifs. The serifs assist the eye to read the text. A sans serif typeface doesn’t have serifs and is typically used in headings and titles.

Kerning and Tracking
Kerning and tracking are two terms that are easily confused because they both refer to the adjustment of space between type and type-related characters.

Kerning

The process of adjusting the spacing between individual letter forms

Tracking

Refers to letter spacing. It is the amount of space between a group of letters that can then affect the density of a block of text. Letter spacing can be confused with kerning.

Leading

Leading refers to the vertical space between lines of type. The term 'leading' originated from hand typesetting with metal blocks where typesetters would insert 'slugs' or strips of lead of varying thickness between lines. Leading is quoted in 'points'. Corresponding with text size, points are 1/72nd of an inch. 'Auto' leading is the default of publishing programs and is about 120% of the type size used. Lines close together are called 'tight' leading. Lines with wider spacing is called 'loose' leading.

Leading is the name given to the space between lines. Designers adjust leading according to the purpose, size and location of type in a document

Type GlossaryTypography Deconstructed

Task

Using the Adobe Illustrator create a A3 Typography Page. Explore at least 2 Typefaces for your Promotional Poster. Please ensure you use kerning, tracking and leading. Ensure you use a typeface the identifies with your target audience & client. Your annotations should discuss what you did and why you chose those typefaces.

Consider the following:

Serif typefaces
— These are easier to read off-screen and therefore are used commonly in print (books, magazines and newspapers). Serif fonts can be useful for conveying warmth, personal, traditional and conservative emotions.
Sans serif typefaces
— These are easy to read on-screen and are commonly used in headlines for newspapers and magazines, and in website text. Sans serif typefaces can be useful for conveying something technical, cool, clean, youthful and modern.
Script typefaces
— Designed to look like handwriting, they are useful for display texts but can be difficult to read in large amounts (such as text for an article in a magazine). Script fonts can be useful to suggest something personal, artistic and old-fashioned.

Student Examples

typography.pdf

Copy of type conventions.pdf

Step 4: Final Promotional Poster Design

Present a Poster design using the Creative Cloud (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign).

The dimensions of the poster are: Standard A3 Size (297mm x 420mm)

Please make sure you take SCREEN shots as you develop your final design.

Print your final design off on the Epson Printer using hi gloss or matt paper.

Report abuse