Rational

My topic was to explore the popular markets the Wellington capital has to offer. I wanted to give tourist and locals an idea of the different types of market that was in the Wellington region and the different experiences that they can get from them. The markets I picked were Cuba night market, Jervois Quay underground market and Johnsonville fruit and vegetable market.  I used imagery and pattern to represent the atmosphere of the three markets and what they primary sell. My primary shape was the triangle which represents markets as a general idea because of it’s triangular shape similar to the market flags. The basic circles were to represent spotlights and lanterns in the night market, elegance and cups and soaps that they sold in the underground market, and fruits in the fruit and vegetable market.  Text is placed closely to each other to create more white space so the composition was not too overwhelming and clustered since the main image had lots of detail. As a emotive response, I tried to focus on colour: using more vibrant colours to represent liveliness and more lighter colours for a calmer feel. Throughout this process I have learnt a lot about typography, grids and white space to help improve my design composition in the future.

Paper Experiments

I decided to try and print my final brochure on different types of paper to see how the colours would turn out depending on gloss, matte or regular copy paper. I first printed out on regular copy paper and I realise it was a bit too thin for my liking and I didn't like how the colour sat on the paper as it wasn't as vibrant as I had expected. I went to Big Image Print for my second test and I decided to go for a 170gsm gloss paper, however the gloss paper had a yellow tint to it which affected some of the colours making them less bright like the regular copy paper. For my final test, I decided to try print on  a 160gsm matte paper which I found to be the best because it brought out the colours best. The background also seem to be the whitest which was the look I was going for. For my final I will be printing on160gsm matte paper.

Developing Brochure

After class critique and one on one talk with my tutor, I was given some good feed backs on what I could change in my design to improve it. One of the things I had to do was incorporate more patterns to my design to show the feeling of the markets and what the market sold. My night market was a bit too confusing with the photo being chopped too much and I was given feedback to use more brighter colours to convey the lively atmosphere of the night market. I created a further more mockup of the night market spread and picked the best one to develop further. At the end I decided to follow the pattern that I used in the underground market and fruit and vegetable market spread, to put patterns around the triangle so it appears less harsh and also keeping the constant theme. I also tried to use different colours (trying different shades), finding ones that convey the liveliness of the market and then overlaying these colours on my original photo that is clipped in the triangle.

For Underground market spread, I did a few touch ups, removing some extra shapes (bottom right triangle) to simplify my design and to ensure it doesn't look too random and out of place. I also fix my text such as the title: removing the big W that could potentially make it more confusing and harder to read. I decided to just go with a simple title + type but changing the colour to brown (dominant colour) to match it with the area. 

As for my fruit and vegetable market spread, I also needed to incorporate some more patterns that relates to the area. I decided to follow the underground market and night market and add pattern to the triangle instead of have the patterns distributed on top of the main image. I figured my previous mockup was a bit cluttered and the image felt random so I decided to simplify it. 

For my other spreads, I continue to play around with the text: moving them closer to each other to create more white space, changing the text layout, cropping images until I felt the composition was right. I tried to keep every spread consistent through the use of colours and shapes. For my cover I tried to keep the shapes but using images: tent representing the triangle and the flower embroidery as the circle. 

Typography

During the lectorial session, we discuss about fonts, white space, and how many characters we should have in our body paragraphs. Also a brief explanation on why we should avoid rag, windows, orphans and forced justification. For my brochure I decided to keep it to a simple sans serif font: Helvetica and Arial as sans serif are easier to read compare to serif type. We also talked about white space and where it is good to have it in our design to create a good flow, and to avoid having trapped white space to make it feel more free and less cluttered. This help me to create a better composition where my image leads on to my text without the white space being trapped in between.
As for our independent home work, we had to create 3 sets of complete type layout with the help of grids to position our text. This exercise help me choose a way I would like to present my text on my design.

Pattern Research

I began to research more patterns online that I could reciprocate onto my design. I noticed that in the night market there were lots of cultural patterns, a large amount being asian patterns. On one specific pattern that I wanted to focus was the lanterns that hung around the night market. I figured the lanterns in the area shows that the market is quite cultural based. I decided to reciprocate the lines of the lantern and also the round shape.

For the underground market, I noticed that it was quite feminine. There were a lot of floral patterns on the market flags and knick-knacks including: candle cups, clothing, jewellery and etc. Along with the floral patterns, I also noticed that the market has sort of a vintage theme, giving brown being the dominant colour. It gave a soft feeling and I wanted to incorporate the flowery patterns along with a soft brown to convey this atmosphere.

Lastly for the fruit and vegetable market, I wanted to focus on the patterns of the fruit and vegetable being sold. I wanted to use leave veins and the pattern of the fruits when cut in half. The area was quite busy and I tried using overlay circles to convey the stacking of fruits. (circles relating to oranges, apples and tomatoes.

I decided on two shapes to focus on: using triangles and circles constantly throughout my design. Triangles representing the market flags, down arrows (underground market) and circles representing fruits, lanterns and the shape of jewellery and cups sold at the underground market.

Applying Grid Method

I tried making my brochure layout using the grids on indesign to organise my images and text to create a nicely structured composition. This grid helps guide the readers eyes around the page and to also prevent the layout from being too busy and random.

Grids

For today's class discussion we learnt about grids and how to make good design composition using these grids. As an exercise, we were given a magazine spread/brochure design and we had to trace the grids on a blank photocopy paper laying on top. Afterwards we are able to examine the grids use to see the pattern and how it made the design successful. These grids are useful because they help make a design successful and easy to read even though it is cluttered with pictures and text. We were also given some grid sheets to help us get started to place our layout according to the grids. 

Independent Research - Typefaces & Layout

As independent research for this week, I went online to find some typefaces that I think may suit my design. I went on dafont.com and looked at a variety of sans serif and serif fonts and selected the few that I liked. I try to find the fonts similar to the ones that the markets used for their packaging and signs. They are usually quite simple so it is easy to recognise and doesn't overwhelm the customers.

As for my other independent research, I went to look at magazine spreads from the library and online to generate some ideas that I might approach for my own. I wanted to find ones with similar shapes to mine: circle representing paper plates, apples, oranges, lanterns. Triangles: market flags, tents, arrows for the car park. Rectangle/Square: boxes, carts. Lines: grill, car park lines, cloth patterns. Using these magazine spreads as inspiration, it will help me to create a better composition. I designed thumbnails of possible designs. 

Visual Language, Aesthetics and Style

Today's lesson we were separated into groups for our A4 trials critique. We shared our thoughts on our work and gave feedback relating to the meaning that we got from each other's work. From my group they suggested that I could use more colour and patterns. We then had a lecture and discussed about the visual language, aesthetics and style within images/designs that I could use as a guide to create a more deep meaning and successful image. Back in class we went into groups again to participate in an activity where we given design books, and then had to extract the adjectives that the images and artist tried to convey through their different design techniques. This group session was super helpful as I was able to generate further ideas to convey the atmosphere of my site. 

A5 Trials

I researched some further artist models and images that I can inspire me on my A5 mockups. I began planning it down on paper, incorporating techniques that had influenced me through the artist models and then creating the three A5 trials on photoshop. Using the colour combinations and patterns/rubbings I had did for research earlier as a starting point. This activity helped me to understand what style I feel most comfortable and works best for my final later on.

Icon,Index and Symbol

Today we had a lecture on Icon, Index and Symbol and later on in class we were given an activity to create 3 collages relating to our chosen areas embodying icon, index and symbol. This activity help me to create compositions using the the information that I have collected last week, also helping me to start developing my ideas to get a better understanding of my sites. With my collages I decided to focus on the patterns and rubbings that I had done at my site by reciprocating them on photoshop, while also conveying the atmosphere: with the Friday Night Market being lively, Saturday underground market as formal and the Sunday Fruits & Vegetable market as busy/informal. I used artist models that I have found that used similar patterns and shapes to my area.

Sunday Fruits & Vegetable Market

I went to my last site to observe the Sunday Fruits & Vegetable market based in Johnsonville School. I noticed that this market was much more busier and informal compare to the Underground market. There were lots of vegetables on the floor that had fell out off the table and everything was not too organised. I found that the majority of people who came to the Fruits & Vegetable markets were parents and grandparents. I noted down the mood, did some texture rubs and took some photos at different angles that captured primary colours the atmosphere that surrounded the area.