Evaluation

Amelia Browne

Have my initial intentions been realised?I believe that my finished book and infographics reflect my initial intentions, there are however some differences from my initial intentions as I have adapted my ideas throughout the production process in order to improve the final outcome of my work.Firstly, I feel that my final work is similar to the style created in my Moodboard, which contains lots of bright colours, handwriting style text, brush strokes and cartoon style images. Throughout my booklet I have used a variety of bright colours for titles, key information, shapes and boarders, I also used a brush style font for titles and headings, however I decided to use the font ‘American Typewriter’ for the main body of my text, this is because I found that a brush font became too unclear when it was in a smaller size making it harder to read. As a result of this I chose to use a more clear font which still kept the homemade theme which was running through the booklet. I also feel that my finished booklet was fairly similar to what I had planned in my pagination, however my multi page article did not take up as many pages as I had assumed it would. I therefore had two additional pages in my booklet which I needed to fill. On these pages I decided to include another fact file of a recipe and on the other page I included a self made advert for some ‘Lush’ cosmetics. Another difference to my pagination is that I decided to change the topic of my fact file from health benefits to a how to make a vegan burger guide. I thought that this would have greater appeal to the target audience as this was more similar to the type of information that they said they wanted to learn about from my primary research. Although these aspects where different to my initial intentions, the rest of my booklet is exactly the same as what I planned In my pagination.From looking at comparisons between my finished work and my initial planning I believe that although there are some differences between the two there is overall a common similarity, meaning that I have been able to portray my initial intentions in my finished work.

Is my work appropriate for the intended audience?

I created my work with the specific intention to appeal to the audiences needs as stated by them in my primary research, in the hope to produce a product which would entice and inform. From doing this I believe that I have successfully been able to create a product which is appropriate for its intended audience.I decided to produce a booklet for Veganuary’s main target audience of 18-34 year old females however I didn't want to make something which appealed exclusively to them as I wanted to create a product which would get a better reach as its aim was to promote.I chose to use bright colours for my booklet and infographics as as well as keeping in theme with Veganuary's website style I decided to use them because they draw in a more female audience (but not exclusively). The design and choice of words help appeal to the age group of the audience as it looks exciting and an interesting challenge; something which this age group would be looking for. The topic of health is yet another thing which targets this audience as this is typically something which this demographic of people are interested in.When collecting feedback I asked if they saw this booklet on a stand would they pick it up and also if they though that it appealed to the intended target audience the vast majority of the answers to these questions was yes. As a result of this feedback I feel that I have been able to successfully target my intended audience through the choices which I had made.

The ContentMy primary research I undertook helped me to decide on what content I wanted to include, as I wanted to ensure that the audience would find the information I provided interesting and informative. From this research I found that my audience was mostly interested in the vegan diet and things related to this. As a result, I focused my booklet on the vegan diet, including benefits, recipes and restaurants which serve vegan food. Because of this I feel that I have been able to produce a booklet with content which is interesting to the reader as it is about what they want to find out about.I have included a variety of content as this helps to keep the whole booklet interesting and hopefully interest a greater number of people as they are more likely to find an article which they like if there is greater variety of choice. I also have included a couple of more interactive articles such as the brownie recipe and the vegan burger guide as these articles allow you to get hands on with the vegan experience and interact on a greater level than just reading. This creates a more fun persona about veganism helping to increase the likeliness of the readers taking part in Veganuary. Overall I believe my choices in content benefits the booklet as the topics are what the target audience wanted to find out about and the article style and information is varied both of these factors help increase the likeliness of the audience taking part in Veganuary.However, I do feel that the writing of my multi page article could be improved so that it flows better and makes the reading process easier and therefore more enjoyable, this I don’t feel is a massive issue as I believe that the article is still interesting and informative, and doesn't contain any errors.

The StyleThroughout my booklet and my social media infographics I believe that I have kept a consistent style as I have used the same background, fonts and shades of colours throughout. My choice of the colour scheme was influenced by the bright colours on the existing Veganuary website. I wanted to keep a consistent style with their preexisting image, so that it is recognizable as this brand. When looking at feedback, the target audience agreed that the booklet had a consistent style which they found more appealing. The brown paper pages present a more ethical image, reflecting the ideals of vegans and veganism, such as how they aim to save the planet through their particular way of life. This brown paper background also helps the booklet to standout compared to others, which is particularly important when it is, for example, on a shelf as people are more likely to notice it and pick it up. Another important aspect of the booklet style is the brush style font. I chose it because it added more of a ‘home-made’ look to the booklet which gives it more of a personal touch. I feel that this allows the reader to relate to it on a greater level and hopefully persuade them to accept more of the views promoted and therefore be more inclined to take part in Veganuary. A problem with this font selection however, was its lack of clarity when in a smaller print size. The writing became less easy to read, which I felt may prevent the reader from understanding the article as easily. I therefore chose the font style ‘American Typewriter’ which avoided these problems occurring and made the articles visually easier on the eye and to read.Overall, I think it works really well because it encapsulates the Veganuary style and brand and therefore appeals to and engages the appropriate audience. This simplistic style also makes it look more visually interesting, increasing the readers enjoyment, and therefore increasing their likelihood of taking part in Veganuary.

What skills have I used?I have used a variety of different editing skills throughout this process, particularly with editing text. I’ve used both InDesign and Photoshop to do this. For the larger chunks of text I have used InDesign, as this has allowed me to create text boxes which follow on from each other as well as text boxes of different shapes. Both of these things have helped me to create layout where the text works harmoniously with the pictures and background. This creates a smoother layout which I feel the audience will have more enjoyment at reading. I used Photoshop for the smaller pieces of text, such as for titles and for the infographics. This was because I was more familiar with the Photoshop software and felt that I could create more effective typography with different colours and fonts.I also produced my images for the infographics in Photoshop using the Rotoscoping technique where I would use the ‘polygon lasso tool’ to create a shape and then overlay it with a block colour. I felt that this looks very effective when creating a cartoon image and matched my booklet stylistically. Along with these main skills I also used a couple of other tools in Photoshop, such as the ‘quick selection tool’ and the ‘opacity slider’ which I used to create different elements of my booklet. On the whole, I feel that the skills that I have used have all worked together effectively and have looked harmonious within my booklet.

What skills have I developed ?At the beginning of this project I was particularly unfamiliar with working in InDesign. However, by using it through out the process of creating my booklet I have greatly developed my skills within the program. Such as learning how to create text boxes. These skills, although not perfect have greatly benefitted the production of my work in this project. I think that specific tools from this program have aided me in creating articles which flow better with images etc. which is a strength as it makes the booklet more aesthetically pleasing and easier to read. Production of my booklet has also allowed me to improve on pre existing skills in Photoshop. I became more familiar with shortcuts which I could use in the program, therefore speeding up my production work. I also improved on my rotoscoping as I became more able to create more detailed and better looking images. Throughout production I feel that the development of all of my editing skills has improved, particularly InDesign. This has benefitted the production of this booklet and infographics, and will also benefit future work.

What improvements could be made?After looking at my completed work there are a few improvements which I would like to make, these same points have also arisen in feedback from members of the class.I feel that the weakest page of the booklet is the first page of the multi page article, this is because it was the first page I created and I was trying to work out how my intended layout was going to work. I think that the title for this page looks a bit too cramped together, making the page look less aesthetically pleasing and therefore the article uninteresting, this point was also mentioned a couple of times in my feedback. In order to improve this I could decrease the text size of the title and increase the width to make the text look less cramped on the page. I could also increase the amount of space around the text so that it isn’t as close to the edge of the page this empty space would also help to make the page look more aesthetically pleasing. Another area which I believe that could be improved is the Vegan Menu fact file, although I don’t think that there's a great deal of issues with this I think that it could be made to look a little more interesting by reducing the amount of text in blocks as people generally don’t like to read/ look at large blocks of text. This could be done by simply removing a couple of the options and adding a few more pictures to break the text up.

Planning and PreparationIn order to plan and prepare for this project I chose to create a mood board, pagination and some mock drawings of each of the pages. The reason I chose to make a mood board was in order to gain a greater understanding of the style that I wanted to create. This included the colours, fonts, page layout and additional shapes and images. I found this greatly beneficial as I could use this as a reference for my work, ensuring that I kept the style consistent throughout. It was also additionally helpful in deciding what I wanted my initial ideas about my work to look like.I produced a pagination together with some mock drawings so that I could get an idea of exactly what I wanted to include on each page of the booklet. This helped me to visualise the booklet as a whole and plan what I would put on each page, therefore ensuring everything I wanted to include was covered. It was also to ensure I understood what I wanted to create before I began production, thus enabling the production to run more smoothly.The planning and preparation that I undertook really helped inform my production process as it provided me with references of what I wanted to create. This made the whole production process easier and smoother.

Time managementBefore beginning production on my booklet I wrote out a production schedule which I planned to follow to ensure that I would stay on track and would finish on time for the deadline. On the whole I did manage to achieve this. However, I did need to make some adjustments as illness caused me to miss a few days of production. This meant that I fell behind on my schedule and I then had to adjust my planning to ensure I still met my deadline. Although this unforeseen issue arose I felt that I managed to adapt well so that I still met the deadline.When writing my production schedule I was able to approximate the time it would take to produce each separate component of my booklet and infographics. This meant that I used my time more effectively and efficiently, than if I hadn’t done this.

Reviewing work in progressI constantly reviewed my work as I was producing it, this helped me to make improvements and alter what I was producing to a better effect. This was particularly evident with the menu fact file as this was the first of the pages that I first produced and I was still experimenting with the design. This page initially started with a colour background which I decided I didn't like as it looked too childish and unprofessional. As a result of this I decided to change the background to a brown paper style, which I think helped the colour to stand out more and make the text more readable. I then continued this style throughout all of the pages. Another page that reviewing and development is relevant in is the “LUSH” advert page. I initially had all the image and text components on the brown paper background however, I felt that this looked too similar to my article pages. As an advert I felt that it needed to look different. As a result of this review I put all these components on a white background to create the effect of a poster stuck in my booklet instead. This had the effect of the advert standing out as different.From reviewing my work as I was producing it, I was able to make critical changes to the layout and design which greatly benefitted and improved the finished outcome. Reviewing my work was therefore an important part of the production process.

Technical competencies & creative abilities

I think that my technical competencies and creative abilities have greatly benefited the production of my booklet and infographics. My image making skills using the rotoscope technique have enhanced the look of my infographics, as I feel they look much better than the use of a photograph. They are more in keeping with the style that I intended to create. My knowledge of using text tools in Photoshop have also improved the finished appearance of my work. I have been able to easily create headings, titles etc. to the style that I wanted to. This allowed me to create a more polished look throughout the booklet. My creative ability to match colours well has also benefitted my work by allowing me to develop precise colour matches (with a variety of colours) to enable the booklet to have consistent colour and style.However, my lack of experience in design made it harder for me to produce work which was an exact representation of my ideas, but in the end I did manage to overcome this. I was happy that I did manage to create the work that I intended to in the end.

Compared to professional workAlthough my work is fairly different to existing professional work I feel that it doesn't look any worse in quality. There are a few similarities my work has with that of professional work such as the layout choices, text to image ratios and the consistency with the colour schemes. However it is also evident that my work is different to pre existing examples, this is mostly due to the choice in the design of the background of my page as most professional work uses a white background, however I believe that my choice to use a brown paper background enhances my work as it emphasises the message which I am trying to get across I also believe that it looks more aesthetically pleasing and visually interesting than if I had simply used a white background like the majority of similar professional work which I had found.