OUGD505: Publication Progress Crit

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For this crit, we were asked to bring in our mockups and developments for our 16 page publications. As I was still deciding on the order of content, I had not yet finished designing my full 16 page document. For this crit, I brought the pages I had done so far, along with a few of my development ideas.

During this crit, we presented our publication ideas one at a time in small groups. This was beneficial as it gave us the chance to explain our thought processes, avoiding confusion for the rest of the group. As opposed to previous anonymous crits, where our work has been left to speak for itself, this was a good opportunity to ask each other questions.

The second task of the crit was to individually feedback to the rest of our group using the sheets provided, as well as any personal questions we needed advice on.

My 3 questions:
1. Is the layout clear and easy to understand?
2. At the moment, I have only considered using two colours - red and black - do you think this will work effectively, or should I include more colour?
3. Is this concept useful?

My feedback was both useful and constructive:

Strengths

• The layout is clear and consistent, through the placement of headers and content. There is a strong theme of circular shapes through the type and aesthetics which works successfully and is understandable. 
• I think these two colours would work successfully and consider off-white stock to nice tones.
• The concept is interesting and unique. You've demonstrated how braille is beneficial to both blind/non-blind people. 
• Two colours would work well... try others as well as red.
• The concept can lead to quite an exciting interactive book.
• The layout is simple, clear and easy to follow. I would perhaps stick with two colours as you don't really need to add any more. Unless the colour has a purpose, then I would just leave it at two.
• The Concept is useful and can be applied to a wider range of information.

Areas for improvement

• Possibly look into photography or vector-based imagery to make the pages stand out. This may be done through your idea to emboss.
• Develop your layouts further by possibly arranging the next in different ways and the design of the front cover.
• Illustrations (simple) might break up white space - keep flat, don't emboss.
• Consider pages and embossing... if a page backs an embossed page, can it be used?
• Produce more mockups and see how it feels physically.

Considerations

• Consider certain parts of embossing as doing it maybe a task. Also experiment with stocks as some of the embossing might fade away after time and wont be legible. 
• A sleeve with an embossed pattern would be appropriate for your work. Possibly a bright red or gloss black to make it stand out. Also a small title title to explain what the book is about for people who don't know the context of it. 
• Look at other books about braille.
• Consider including what/where it is used/helpful. - Facts that people may not know for example bumped floor at traffic lights.
• How each braille will be embossed - you need to allow time to experiment.
• What will the packaging look like? How will it work/interact in relation to the book?

I was really pleased with my feedback. Considering I wasn't very organised for this crit, it helped me to get a clearer sense of how I wanted to produce my publication.