the final assignment

my oh my...

it's been quite a semester. I'm glad it's coming to an end but I really enjoyed working on some of these projects.

The final manual pages I expect are going to be somewhat hard. But I think I've said that about all of them.

Oh! should this information be too cumbersome for one page, can we make it two?

I'm hoping I can get inspired and do it quickly so I can focus on revising all my work for the final portfolio.

Until then...

For my final portfolio

I know I don't need to be writing this post but I thought I should do it now or forget about it later.

The portfolio is coming up... and as much as I really don't want to think about all the work that's going to be involved with it, I'm focusing on it now rather than later when I don't have enough time to focus on it.

We're supposed to have at least 4 items in the final portfolio and I'm thinking I may go with 6 or 7 items.

I'm going to put all three of my final tiles on one page, with the rationale on the back of the board. I think the tiles are some of my best work (considering I just redid them after a glitch with pantherfile) so I feel that putting just one in the portfolio will not be able to do it justice. Three tiles, with three different letters all going toward the same feeling will allow me to show diversity in my work and show off the different things I have the ability to do.

I also want to put in the flier design I worked on. After a massive revision, I think it's evoking the feeling that the brief wanted. I changed the layout to landscape, flipped the photo and moved the text around. This way it creates a circle in the form of the dancer's body, to the title, to the dates, to the paragraph and back to the picture. I enjoy this layout immensely more than the others.

I next want to put in the form. I enjoyed working on the form and I feel that it evokes the kind of person I am: very straightforward, simple and to the point which is exactly what I wanted this form to do. I didn't want any kind of frilly stuff added to it because it would give a patient the feeling that the document was not going to stay in a file for only the doctor's and/or insurance company's eyes. I'm leaving this form the way that it was when I handed it in and putting it into the portfolio.

I DO NOT want to put the literary reading layout in there. I've hated this design due to the mass amount of text and being constricted to only one page that I've never been able to find the happy middle needed for the design. Too much frustration has gone into this design for me to want to continue looking at it and I believe my portfolio will be just as strong without it.

Next will be the brochure. Again, after much revision (about three versions) I'm FINALLY happy with the work I've created. I may do some more changes to the layout but I'm very happy with what I've managed to produce. I'll put the two sides flat against the board and then have the folded brochure in a pouch on the board, much like what I'll be doing when handing it in.

I may be adding the manual page into the portfolio but I haven't come to that decision yet. I haven't gotten to work on it and make an attempt to be happy with it so I'll leave it out at this time.

That's all...

Design Brief 4

A brochure...

oy.

So if pictures can't go over the edges, that means we can't cut the picture off a bit-- having it look artsy with a little bit of it missing? AKA- cropping the picture is a no no, right?

What is the repetition we're going to have to do? Are we talking bullet points within a header and sub-head?

In the first paragraph it says the brochure can't be smaller than 8.5X11 then in the procedure it says '8.5X11 (or smaller)' Is this to allow for margins or is this brochure not to be trimmed?

Since this brochure has the ability to possibly be used, should we include out name and 'designed by for English 439' on the brochure somewhere?

OK... I think that's it.

what I changed

I didn't change much...

On one, I simply moved the text around and closed up the leading so it wouldn't be as though there was this huge weight on her shoulders as she's dancing. I also attempted to make the text larger for the title so it would stand out more and the reader would be able to see it from far away

The next one was, at first, my favorite because I (cheated the class) and used Irish Jig shoes instead of ballet or jazz shoes so the context is a little off. At first I had the large block of text as a diamond pattern between the two sets of feet, but realized that it took away from the photo, so I moved the items around so they created clear lines from the pointed toe to the text at the corner. I then created a block of text and moved it to the bottom- sort of a throw away paragraph so they don't have to read it should they not want to.

Finally, I moved the girl in my photo over to the right further and added a black box to fill in the space made on the page. I then was able to make the title text larger so it stood out more and I was able to justify the texts so they created a flow much like what the girls' body was doing.

design brief 3

I used to Irish dance so I have a familiarity with how to design a flier for a dance show or competition but I've never actually put one together.

I've also never used Photoshop so this will be an interesting endeavor for me. Mainly because I've never had Photoshop, the extent of my flier making skills were limited to what I could do in Word.

I guess I'm a little freaked out by the amount of information that needs to be on this page. I was even overwhelmed with the layout design and found myself re-doing the project multiple times... and I don't think my stress level could take it!

Anyway... that's all that I have to complain about... I know that eventually something great will come out of me, but until then, I'll just have to fret over the work I attempt.

form vs reading

I made up the Confidential Patient Intake Form and actually asked for the opinion of my mother, who is a Registered Nurse. I wanted to make it as clear and concise as possible for patients and loved ones of patients alike so they would be able to fill it out quickly and as calmly as possible.

There's no obvious contrast other than the title of the page which, in boldface, states what the document is and who it's for. The capitalized words/phrases, I don't feel, are contrasting but in theory they are.

I tried to keep a balance in the form by making everything evenly spaced and giving the patient enough line-space to write on. The boxes I put in make it harder to find a balance, because the boxes aren't evenly placed in one line to the other, but the boxes help in efficiency.

I attempted to make everything proportional but I'm not positive if I've succeeded. The entire document reaches from the left margin to the right margin in one way or another, usually by way of line or box.

I repeat the use of the box- for the better use of the patient. I also used lines after the prompt for the information on the patient- this allows them to write in the correct information in the correct area. Since the document is very simple and color would be slightly inappropriate, I thought it best that the design be completely straightforward and efficient.

I feel that this design has harmony. I wanted it to be very easy to fill out and easy to work with in that if a distressed patient or loved one of a patient were to be asked to fill out the form, they could easily be able to fill it out, even in a frantic attitude. The form is easy to read, simple to understand and gives enough room for the information to be put in.

The document has movement in that it's all placed against the left margin (except for the Date) and allows the patient to read from left to right, rather than jumping all over the page.

I don't know if this document has unity, and it definitely doesn't exactly scream for attention, but I didn't feel that was the point. If something has unity, I assume everything works together, and your eye is able to move fluently from one piece of information to the other, and I feel that's what this form does, in its most basic way. It's not meant to be a flashy or warm/inviting form, because it's not meant to be something that other people (aside from an insurance company/the employees of the hospital) will be looking at.

Readings for Oct 6

Visual hierarchy is important to any reader. If you're making something that requires concentration and is formal, one must have an easy to read hierarchy of what needs to be filled out.

With a form like the patient intake form, it should be readily available for anyone to fill out. Some people come into a hospital and are stressed out or distraught and this form needs to be incredibly easy to read and figure out. I've been to hospitals where I had to fill out pages and pages of paperwork and it wasn't always easy to read if I was checking the right box (especially when giving blood. I ALWAYS check at least one wrong box).

This form should also be quick to finish so the paperwork turnaround can be quick so the patient's loved one can get back to them.


I'm a huge fan of "fill in the blank" kind of forms because they leave no room for error. If you clearly have No [ ], Yes[ ], I don't know [ ], you clearly know which box you should be checking for "I don't know." The 4Cs are now in my vocabulary as four main foci for making this form. If I'm clear and concise, the patient won't have any problem answering these prompts, but clever may be harder as there is no room for error in a written form. Co-Operative is useable when giving the patient plenty of white space so they a.) have plenty of space to write their symptoms etc and 2) don't write in the wrong spot.


With this form, I feel that it's very important that I left-justify the beginning of a new topic. This allows the patient to understand better what they're meant to write in the blanks.

I don't think it's very necessary to use color, other than a possible gray bar at the top and bottom to put the unnecessary information in which states where the hospital is and/or the name of the form.

Note: I found it ironic that they recommend you don't use serif fonts (number 4, 10 election design guidelines) but the entire Web page is in Serif... probably Times New Roman...


Contrast, Balance, Proportion, Rhythm, Harmony, Movement, Unity. These terms remind me so much of music. One has to have a balance of sounds so the song will be clear to the listener, the song must also have movement and contrast from what was previously done, so the listener won't get bored. These also all make so much sense in terms of making a successful layout since you need to have every aspect of these terms in order to allow a person to use the design to it's greatest ability.