I spent the whole of today printing out what I had and asking for feedback because even though I do like how the two designs look now, there are some small things that are really bugging me. What I'm doing here is writing down my thoughts and the feedback I had gathered, and the ways I responded to them.
Dr Seuss - You are You
Re-Designing
When I went back to university I asked for some feedback from my classmates and lecturers as I was still feeling a bit iffy with how the lettering looks, and they mentioned that it was probably because it was very structured and the words aren't "free" and quirky like Dr. Seuss' style. This gave me the idea of going back to the original design where the type overlaps the stripes, so all I needed to do really is zoom right in and rearrange the few things.
That's exactly what I did next; I kept my notes beside me that I wrote from my feedback and went back onto Illustrator to change the overall composition. One of the positive feedback I got from this new design was that people found it much easier to read and that it flowed really nicely, and that was one of the main things that I was trying to achieve.
The first part of this process just included putting my design to the side and then copying and pasting my old hat design, then deleting the hat outline and concentrating on redrawing the stripes. What I was going to do originally was just to make the stripes bigger but then I realised that it would mean that there would be less stripes which wasn't good as I wanted to display the number of stripes the Cat's hat has.
After the basic structure was done I could now move on to tinkering with the type. This took quite a while! I kept changing my mind because I wanted to aim for it to be as readable as possible, so throughout this process I kept asking my classmate sitting next to me: "Can you read this?" I had to take into account the size of each of the words so that the ones that are the "main" ones overpower the others to ensure flow.
The other thing I had to think about were the stripes, but after a while I didn't want all of the words to be structured as I wanted to produce a somewhat wacky and quirky design to reflect Dr. Seuss' design.
I next had to go over some of the words to make sure they were parallel to the stripes to add some sort of order to this quirky design.
This is what I had so far. I wasn't too sure about it because there were quite a few gaps so I first concentrated on "truer" by making it more dominant, and then changed around the first sentence slightly before adjusting all of the others at the top as I was satisfied with the bottom section.
Okay so it looks like I'm done! This was a relatively quick process as I had the basic layout in mind. I printed it out and then showed it to my classmates for feedback.
Further feedback
Flows really well! Easy-to-read
Red & white stripes without hat - looks a bit like "Where's Wally?"
Maybe include a little icon of the hat somewhere around Dr. Seuss' name? Maybe even include it within the bowl of Dr. Seuss?
Prefer the original sketch - more original, personal
The words (at the top especially) are too close to the border. Need to shift them inwards slightly
Maybe have no white lines in middle of some of the words?
Reflective Learning - My Next Step
This end result is much better than before, although I still kind of prefer the hat version because of the way the words are formed around each other. However, I have to respond to the feedback given and the fact that people were unable to read it properly, so this is a much better option.
I would say that I definitely found this process a lot easier than before and it could be due to two reasons; one, that I'm now used to working on Illustrator, and two, that it was simply a matter of rearranging. I have come to realise that I didn't really enjoy myself as much while I was constructing this design digitally...
I think it might also be because I am fed up of looking at this design and I just want it done and dusted so that I don't have to keep coming back to it. This could be due to my inexperience with digital lettering (even though I have had a lot of practice) in that it's still quite difficult for me to do.
After I had a talk with illustrator Carlos Garde-Martin, I want to try drawing this quote again by hand and just scan and then colour in Photoshop as my traditional line-work is much stronger than my digital illustrations. I also prefer the sketch - something that was picked up on by one of my lecturers - so if I have the time after producing more designs then I would definitely go back to it.
I've concluded that I shall leave this design for now but keep these little pieces of advice in mind. This is because I am worried that I'll be focusing too much on this quote only to not use it in the end. I guess what I have learnt about this situation is to never to sit too long on just one kind of composition but to always respond to feedback and come to terms with the fact that I do have to repeatedly change the design even if I prefer the original. What I should do is focus more on finalising the sketch and trying to make as accurate thumbnails as possible so that the actual designing process would be a lot easier.
Nelson Mandela - It Always Seems Impossible Until It's Done
Feedback Given
I noticed a small problem on the scan; when I scanned it in my handwriting appears to be slightly faded, so I had a little talk with my lecturers and they pointed out that I should try out different pen thicknesses to see which one would work best.
Dr Seuss - You are You
Re-Designing
When I went back to university I asked for some feedback from my classmates and lecturers as I was still feeling a bit iffy with how the lettering looks, and they mentioned that it was probably because it was very structured and the words aren't "free" and quirky like Dr. Seuss' style. This gave me the idea of going back to the original design where the type overlaps the stripes, so all I needed to do really is zoom right in and rearrange the few things.
That's exactly what I did next; I kept my notes beside me that I wrote from my feedback and went back onto Illustrator to change the overall composition. One of the positive feedback I got from this new design was that people found it much easier to read and that it flowed really nicely, and that was one of the main things that I was trying to achieve.
The first part of this process just included putting my design to the side and then copying and pasting my old hat design, then deleting the hat outline and concentrating on redrawing the stripes. What I was going to do originally was just to make the stripes bigger but then I realised that it would mean that there would be less stripes which wasn't good as I wanted to display the number of stripes the Cat's hat has.
After the basic structure was done I could now move on to tinkering with the type. This took quite a while! I kept changing my mind because I wanted to aim for it to be as readable as possible, so throughout this process I kept asking my classmate sitting next to me: "Can you read this?" I had to take into account the size of each of the words so that the ones that are the "main" ones overpower the others to ensure flow.
The other thing I had to think about were the stripes, but after a while I didn't want all of the words to be structured as I wanted to produce a somewhat wacky and quirky design to reflect Dr. Seuss' design.
I next had to go over some of the words to make sure they were parallel to the stripes to add some sort of order to this quirky design.
This is what I had so far. I wasn't too sure about it because there were quite a few gaps so I first concentrated on "truer" by making it more dominant, and then changed around the first sentence slightly before adjusting all of the others at the top as I was satisfied with the bottom section.
Okay so it looks like I'm done! This was a relatively quick process as I had the basic layout in mind. I printed it out and then showed it to my classmates for feedback.
Further feedback
Flows really well! Easy-to-read
Red & white stripes without hat - looks a bit like "Where's Wally?"
Maybe include a little icon of the hat somewhere around Dr. Seuss' name? Maybe even include it within the bowl of Dr. Seuss?
Prefer the original sketch - more original, personal
The words (at the top especially) are too close to the border. Need to shift them inwards slightly
Maybe have no white lines in middle of some of the words?
Reflective Learning - My Next Step
This end result is much better than before, although I still kind of prefer the hat version because of the way the words are formed around each other. However, I have to respond to the feedback given and the fact that people were unable to read it properly, so this is a much better option.
I would say that I definitely found this process a lot easier than before and it could be due to two reasons; one, that I'm now used to working on Illustrator, and two, that it was simply a matter of rearranging. I have come to realise that I didn't really enjoy myself as much while I was constructing this design digitally...
I think it might also be because I am fed up of looking at this design and I just want it done and dusted so that I don't have to keep coming back to it. This could be due to my inexperience with digital lettering (even though I have had a lot of practice) in that it's still quite difficult for me to do.
After I had a talk with illustrator Carlos Garde-Martin, I want to try drawing this quote again by hand and just scan and then colour in Photoshop as my traditional line-work is much stronger than my digital illustrations. I also prefer the sketch - something that was picked up on by one of my lecturers - so if I have the time after producing more designs then I would definitely go back to it.
I've concluded that I shall leave this design for now but keep these little pieces of advice in mind. This is because I am worried that I'll be focusing too much on this quote only to not use it in the end. I guess what I have learnt about this situation is to never to sit too long on just one kind of composition but to always respond to feedback and come to terms with the fact that I do have to repeatedly change the design even if I prefer the original. What I should do is focus more on finalising the sketch and trying to make as accurate thumbnails as possible so that the actual designing process would be a lot easier.
Nelson Mandela - It Always Seems Impossible Until It's Done
Feedback Given
I noticed a small problem on the scan; when I scanned it in my handwriting appears to be slightly faded, so I had a little talk with my lecturers and they pointed out that I should try out different pen thicknesses to see which one would work best.
My Response
I therefore photocopied this numerous times in order to carry out my experimentation, and then I showed this to a few of my classmates.
They chose 01 as the best thickness so the writing because it's still clear but makes the handwriting a little stronger. What I might do is print this out with the original text blocked out so that I could just concentrate on doing it right with a thicker pen. For now, this was my result once it was scanned in on Photoshop:
Other Feedback
Other Feedback
To create an "end" to the banner right at the bottom - without the end it could produce connotations of the hands being chained down
Maybe even move his name so that it's on a plaque - create a frame? - would look more like his artwork
Reflective Thinking - My Thoughts
There is not much I can say with this one compared to the last apart from the fact that I enjoyed this process a lot more than working digitally on the computer. I'm not too sure whether it's because of the fact that I was working with materials that I was more experienced in (ink and biro) or whether it's because it was more illustrative, but either way I've done something that both my classmates and lecturers are pleased with and, somewhat importantly, I'm happy with.
What makes the overall process a lot easier was that I had access to the photocopier at the university so if I wanted to experiment I could just hop over to the photocopier and make several copies to work on without ruining the original.
Overall Reflective Thinking
I have mentioned all of my thoughts above and before on the previous blog posts but what I think I should do now is move on from these designs, keeping all of the advice given to me in mind so that when it comes to picking some I would know immediately what I need to do if one of these designs were chosen. This will allow me to have more time to concentrate on future designs and would get me used to the fact that I shouldn't stay attached to any design as I never know just how many times I have to change it according to my audience and feedback.
Learning Outcomes:
[3] Developed written and oral skills of critical self-evaluation in relation to their design practice.
[5] Developed skills of independent study, resource utilisation, problem-solving and decision-taking.
[6] Developed skills of critical thinking, analysis and evaluation.
[7] Developed their ability to learn through reflection on practice and experience.
[9] Developed their ability to work with complex material, analyse problems and identify appropriate solutions.
[9] Developed their ability to work with complex material, analyse problems and identify appropriate solutions.
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