Design for Print and Web Studio Session

Following on from our design for print and web briefing yesterday, we had a studio workshop with Phil and Lorraine. During this session we were asked to analyse the three ISTD briefs we had chosen. We highlighted the key information in order to get a clearer understanding of what was being asked. We then had a class discussion about the common terminology errors found in the range of briefs. These words generally included vague terms such as 'interesting', 'innovative', 'unique' or terms dependent on people's opinion such as 'magnificent' or 'good design'. It then started to become clear to us how important terminology choices are when writing a brief. If a brief is too vague, it is hard to understand exactly what is required. Similarly, if a brief is too specific, the designer will feel restricted into creating something based on opinion.

Originally, I decided to work on the brief ENVIRONMENT|TYPOGRAPHY|ENVIRONMENT. This was my favourite brief to begin with as it sounded the most creative and involved discovering typography from everyday objects/surroundings.. However, after reading through the brief more thoroughly, I became aware that although the brief sounded fun, there was no evident problem to be solved. Essentially, it seemed brief was asking for this project just for the sake of doing it as opposed to resolving a problem. For this reason I decided to attempt the Mutton Quad brief instead. This seemed like a larger-scale project, with a more justified reason for carrying it out.

We were asked a series of questions about our chosen briefs to think about and write down..

Brief Title: Mutton Quad.

5 Problems you want to solve and why?

• Restaurants cater to a wide audience - how will this solution apply to everyone appropriately?
• The title/ restaurant name 'Mutton Quad' is not an obvious or well-known pun.
• What is the tone of voice?
• The audience is too vague at the moment - maybe it should be made more specific?
• How will designing a typographic restaurant benefit the target audience?

5 Facts about your subject/content?

• Restaurants attract a wide range of people.
• The appearance (interior and exterior) of a restaurant has a large impact on the customers. - Creates the atmosphere.
• Restaurants are used for a variety of occasions - sometimes large scale.
• People generally go to restaurants to eat.
• This is a very competitive industry.

5 Facts about your audience?

• Could be a couple out for a special occasion?
• Could be families?
• People have a broad range of taste.
• Could be vegetarian or require dietary needs.
• People are paying money for a particular experience, not just food.

5 Things you want to communicate?

• Entertaining and amusing design
• Type as image?
• Edible type?
• 'Food for thought' - thoughts while you eat
• Ever-changing type - blackboard ideas?

Things I don't know about this brief?

• What is the tone of voice?
• Does this concept already exist elsewhere?
• What does the pun in the title mean?
• What is the underlying problem being solved in this brief?
• How will the type be presented in a restaurant?
• Who are the primary and secondary audiences?

_________

Mutton Definition:

1. (Cookery) the flesh of sheep, esp of mature sheep, used as food
2. (Clothing & Fashion) mutton dressed as lamb an older woman dressed up to look young
3. (Communication Arts / Printing, Lithography & Bookbinding) Printing another word for em [1] Compare nut [12]
[C13 moton sheep, from Old French, from Medieval Latin multō, of Celtic origin; the term was adopted in printing to distinguish the pronunciation of em quad from en quad]
muttony adj

Quad Definition: 

1. Informal short for:

• a quadrangle.
• a quadruplet (child).
• a quadriceps.
• a quad bike.
• quadraphony.

2. (in telephony) a group of four insulated conductors twisted together, usually forming two circuits.
[abbreviation of quadruplex, a telegraphic device invented by Thomas Edison, by means of which four messages could be sent simultaneously over one wire]
3.a radio aerial in the form of a square or rectangle broken in the middle of one side.
[abbreviation of quadrilateral]
4. Informal a traditional four-wheeled roller skate.
5. Printing a small metal block in various sizes, lower than type height, used in letterpress printing for filling up short lines.
[abbreviation of the late 17th-century printing term quadrat]2. In typography, a quad (originally quadrat[1]) was a metal spacer used in letterpress typesetting. The term was later adopted as the generic name for two common sizes of spaces in typography, regardless of the form of typesetting used. An em quad is a space that is one em wide; as wide as the height of the font. An en quad is a space that is one en wide: half the width of an em quad. wikipedia.org