OUGD505 End of Module Evaluation

OUGD505 overall was tense and cramped as we had a hand in less than 2 weeks before. I found this module to be the most difficult as the timeframe was very narrow and therefore made me extremely stressed and panicked. This module in comparison to the other modules was more difficult as it felt like we had to do certain things rather than other modules where it is slightly more open.

Leeds Public Spaces brief was my least enjoyable brief and was more difficult than I had thought. I appreciate traditional printing methods however, I don't think I'm that good at them. The brief was difficult because I wanted to create something that Marks & Spencer used as an advertisement but at the same time I didn't want it looking the complete same. I wanted to add more to it so it looks more thought out and not just a replica of the original design. So in this, I first decided to use lino to create my Marks & Spencer design. Lino is very time consuming and requires patience as you can easily cut though it by accident.  There were some times where I had cut it in the wrong place and one where the design was too small so I had to start again. After I had cut all the lino I realised the design wouldn't work as I underestimated the A3 size and so it was a mess and I just totally abandoned it and tried screen print instead. The screen print design turned out much better than the lino print. This is because I liked how the pennies were scattered and the whole worn feel to the design due to how it was printed. The only disappointing thing was that I had originally planned for it to be on red stock as that is the colour of the actual sign however, I tried to print onto it but the colours did not show though because the red was too dark. The final design turned out better than I had hoped in the small amount of time I had to revise my traditional print design.

The Product, Range and Distribution brief felt like a personal brief as I have been in a position where I wasn't aware of mental health problems so I didn't think it was a thing. The brief was sort of a brief to raise awareness from using information that I had researched and also how I wish I had been educated about mental health issues. There was quite a lot of issues that are currently happening that should equally be made aware to everyone but it felt right to talk about mental health as I had done 2 separate briefs about mental health. My initial idea was to create something to try and stop mental health stigmatisation and discrimination and after researching more into it, I was shocked but not surprised by the statistics. I too am aware of the stigma around mental health as I've been discriminated by teachers, tutors, family members and even GPs. The thing that I was the most shocked about is that mental health well-being isn't compulsory in school yet physical health is. Thats why I thought the best idea was to educate people whilst they're young as they aren't as stubborn or misunderstanding as adults can be when it comes to learning. The designing aspect of it allowed me to channel the younger me of what I would've liked to see growing up and not knowing what was wrong with me. I wanted the design to look engaging as well as being useful for young people to find helpful and bear it in mind in the future. I also didn't want it to look dull so that they wouldn't want to pick it up or read it so I had tried to make it look minimal but also pleasant. I am happy with the outcome of the design as it shows that mental health is not a terrifying thing if you talk to someone - it's only terrifying if you suppress or keep it to yourself. The mouth design is exciting as the first thing I thought of when I thought of mental health - talking to someone. So it was instinctual to make something of that and make it positive.

OUGD505 - Product, Range and Distribution: Final Outcome

 

The final outcome of the leaflets are designed to appeal to younger audiences by the use of the mouth mechanism to influence the motion of talking. I am hoping because the design is quite exciting, younger people would take more interest in the leaflet and not want to throw it out or ignore it. 

The colours used makes the design more bright and joyful alongside the design of the mind map-style symptom checker.

The whole layout of the design works well as it 

provides enough information about symptoms and ways to help yourself and others. The charity logo 

allows you to use their online resources to get 

further information and help.

The First Aid leaflet is cohesive to the leaflet deign, to show that mental health is a real matter and should be taken seriously.

Overall, the design did turn out as planned. The colours used and the layout make it appear more interesting and eye-catching. The only thing I’m not too keen on is the different type sizes as I wanted the type size a little bigger for younger audiences to read but at the same time, it didn’t work for the inside layout design.

The leaflets will be given in class to young people aged 10-15 years during Mental Health Awareness week. They will be given out at the end of the lat session so they would have extra information when they need it. 

OUGD505 - Product, Range and Distribution: Summary

The 2 fold leaflet is aimed at young people aged 10-15 years old. The content of the leaflet contains information about the common symptoms of mental health problems. The idea is for young people to become aware that it is ok if they experience these symptoms and that mental health problems are 'normal'. The leaflet advises young people to speak to someone (a trusted adult) about it so that they can hopefully confirm or negate how they are feeling and so that the young person isn't being irrational by keeping their thoughts to themselves. The leaflet also features common questions they may want to ask but may be unable to find answers for for whatever reason. The design and mechanism of the mouth is to draw attention and make the design interesting enough to keep and read more about. The tone of voice of the leaflet is subjective because younger people tend to be more selfish and therefore 'I' and 'me' are used so that it's like the young person is reading it from a their point of view rather than the third person. It allows young people the directly question themselves and read what is on the leaflet like the are talking in their head.

Young Minds helps in schools to educate teachers, staff, caretakers and even the pupils. Staff will be asked to attend training so then they can educate pupils in their schools and be prepared if a child comes to them for help and advice about mental health.

The leaflets will be given in class to young people aged 10-15 years during Mental Health Awareness week. They will be given out at the end of the lat session so they would have extra information when they need it. There will be a session everyday for that week to make young people aware of how important mental health wellbeing is and not to judge someone if they do suffer from it. There will be a leaflet for each pupil and those that do not attend at least one day during the week will still be taught and have the sessions summarised to them so that everyone has the opportunity to be aware of mental health wellbeing.

In addition to being distributed in schools, the leaflets can be seen in medical centres, hospitals, youth clubs and other places where young people can easily access the information.

OUGD505 - Product, Range and Distribution: Mock Ups Part 2

After trying out the design, it did appear as it was supposed to and worked. After asking people for some quick feedback of the design, they said that it did work well but the mouth looks slightly odd when it is smiling as it is just a line and white space around it. Therefore I should try it with the colour filled in with the line so it looks more cohesive. The other feedback that I received was that the logo is too close to the words and the slit of the tab so that I should maybe try and put it somewhere else. For the inside area where the mind map is, the head looks weird and it would maybe look better just as a silhouette of a head without hair.

From the feedback, the leaflet was revised so that it would more appear cleaner and less confusing. Having done the mock up, the design does look better with the changes as it is more clear and easy to read.

For the additional information card, to make it cohesive with the leaflet, it was also printed A5 size but I was also aware that First Aid kits comes in different sizes therefore, decided to print it on A6 too.

OUGD505 - Product, Range and Distribution: Design development

Having looked at previous posters, they seem to be bright, bold and use impactful images. The leaflet idea is to encapsulate the elements and also make it more positive rather than negative and scare them away.

All the colours used in the whole design are from the Young Minds logo and webpage so that it shows cohesion of the leaflet and their website.

Front leaflet design (when folded)

The front of the design will simply have an image of the mouth but with the middle part and the rectangular box cut out so the tab (left) will show through so that the teeth, mouth and words will be seen when pulled down. The point size for 'Talk to someone' is 30.

Full front design 

When the leaflet is opened up fully, the middle part is missing as this would be where the mouth design will be stuck over. The information on both left and right include common questions that the young people may be curious or want to know more about. The leaflet is designed in a way so that the information can be read from left to right which in the UK, we normally do. The logo is reintroduced on the right page to show the ending of the information. The questions are in a 24 point size and the answers are 13 point size.

Inner page

When the design is unfolded and the inside is revealed, there will be a A3 size mind map of symptoms people feel and it allows you to question if you have them yourself. It is made to look more uplifting rather than dull as mental health issues don't always have to seem negative. The type size for the heading question is 22 point and the symptoms in grey are in 11.

Additional information card
In the crit, someone made a suggestion about having something to go inside an First Aid box as it should be treated like a real illness. Having taking that on board, the same techniques of the leaflet has been used such as the colour scheme and logo to show cohesion. The information that has been input is how to console/support someone in a vulnerable position. The point size for the heading is 18 and the body of text is 13.

The type sizes are different in the designs as appropriate point sizes had to be considered for the layout of the design.

OUGD505 - Product, Range and Distribution: Development Skeches

The final design will be A5 size as it is pocket sized so it will be easy to travel with and to carry. A5 size would allow information to be big enough to read and be able to have enough information at the same time.  The first initial sketches of the outcome of the design were going to be to be of a leaflet or an information card but looking back on the contents, there wouldn't be enough space to have information on and to make it creative.

The final sketch of the 2 fold/letter fold leaflet allowed more ideas for the content layout. As the inside page is revealed, it would be a mind map-style design where the middle will have the question about if they experienced the 'feelings' and then a thinking bubble for the symptom as it relates to thinking and feelings in your mind. The silhouette head design also reinforces that it is talking about the mind.

OUGD505 - Product, Range and Distribution: Final Crit

Target audience: Young people aged 10-15 years old.

Why: 50% of children develop a lifelong mental health problems before ages 14. 

To create a leaflet/information card for a youngsters would teach them to spot the symptoms and tell someone at the earliest possible time. Like physical illness, mental illness is just as important - catch the problem first to help cope with it in the future rather than it developing into something worse in the future. At any point in their life, they see this symptoms, it would be better to know what it is rathe than it be taboo and have to research on what they're feeling. It also helps encourage conversation in young people and their friends or family where they can talk about their feelings. In an age of technology, it's difficult and become more rare to talk to each other face to face and that is inevitably causing/fuelling the main mental health issues of anxiety and depression. Hopefully one day, the norm would be to speak openly about feelings and accepting others that aren't feeling ok and support them through it and accepting mental health as a real life issue that can affect anyone. By letting children learn about this at a young age, hopefully it will significantly/banish the stigma and discrimination of mental health and be more important/just as equal as physical illness.

Having looked into the charity called 'Young Minds' I want to base the leaflet on that since it makes people aware there is another external place for more information if needed and their name makes it sound like young people suffer from it too - which they do. The colour scheme they use will also be incorporated into the design.

Feedback:

• Talk about how you can help others that know someone who has a mental illness.
• Look at cancer because mental illness can also kill you like cancer does.
• Talk about ways to help/coping methods 
• In primary school, we are taught about the human anatomy but the mind and the psychological anatomy is neglected.
• Make a mouth for every symptom and on the reverse say what the illness is.
• Sessions in school 
• Make a separate card on ways to help someone cope with a mental illness so that it can be put in a First Aid box and treated like a physical illness.
• Use images for each symptom on the design.

The feedback received from the crit was useful such as the idea for having a separate information card about how to help support someone who suffers from mental health as it shows that mental health well-being is just as important a physical health. I had also previously said that when the leaflets are given out there will be a single session about mental health wellbeing as it wouldn't be as relevant to people who do not suffer from mental health issues. However, the idea to have the sessions last a week during Mental Health Week (8-14th May) would be suitable so that people that miss it can still attend the other sessions. Having it on Mental Health week would make people realise that mental health is a very important part of our wellbeing and should be made more aware of.

The feedback about having ways to cope and supporting someone who has a mental illness were going originally going to be part of the leaflet. The comment about using images for each symptom is difficult as that is the problem. The problem is people cannot see mental illness, its something that occurs in our mind that cannot be seen that why people don't believe it is a real problem so there wouldn't be much to design except for showing someone sweating or shaking.

The feedback that was about looking at cancer and mental ill health and how they are the same is a good idea however, the leaflet is not to make the user be scared or ashamed of having a mental health problem, it is about them becoming aware of it and learning how to cope with it. Also, it wouldn't be suitable for younger audiences as it may upset them.

OUGD505 - Product, Range and Distribution: Typeface consideration

The typeface for the leaflet would have to be clear and quite bold so it would be easier to read for younger audiences. As Comic Sans is a typical school typeface due to the fact it is supposedly easier to read, it would be ideal to use a sans serif typeface as it appears cleaner therefore easier to read.

Gill Sans is a classical typeface and is known for being proportionate. The proportions of the typeface makes it appear lively and fuller. Gill Sans is a popular typeface used on many logos and many Penguin Books.

Helvetica Neue which is an alternative version to the original Helvetica typeface has been altered to look more legible and have an improved appearance to make it look more harmonies and consistent. As Helvetica Neue is a supposedly easily legible than the original neutral Helvetica typeface, it may work well as the typeface for younger children to read.

Futura is a geometric style typeface that is made to look modern and elegant. The thing that stuck out the most for this typeface and the reason why it was the most suitable typeface to choose is because of the lowercase 'a'. Young people are taught from an early age to write the 'a' in traditional way other than a fancier way so it may be easier for them to understand and to engage with - making it more legible. This way, it is easier for young people to recognise letters.

OUGD505 - Product, Range and Distribution: Physical Mock Ups

This mock features only the mouth as this was the original design idea in mind but shortly after creating it, I realised it wouldn't work as there is not enough space for the tab to slide own to and would be difficult to produce therefore, I discarded the idea.

On the sketches, it has a design of 3 mouths but I'm not too sure what the purpose was so instead, the design only features one mouth. The mouth goes from a smile, then when pulled down, exposes the teeth so it looks like the motion of talking. The 'Talk to Someone' also comes down at the same time so that it reinforces the message to the audience. 

After seeing the first working mock up, the design started to get more complicated but it turned out well. Instead of having the message on the tab, the message is now hidden and reveals itself when the table is pulled at different mouth points.

The final design would have colour and the way it has turned out is how I had imagined it to be when the user gets hold of the leaflet.

OUGD505 - Product, Range and Distribution: Design Ideas

The two physical ideas that were considered both include mouths as the idea is to get people talking and so shows the motion of talking. It is to encourage people to talks to each other in a world of technology where social media is the way to 'connect' rather than talking. Physically talking can do a lot as it can help people talk about their issues or just things in general which seems to uplift moods. Not being able communicate with others in person as much can affect our mental wellbeing as people we need to do that to no feel isolated or lonely.

Although lip shapes come in all different shapes, colours and sizes, a heart shaped upper lip was purposely drawn to imitate a heart. The heart shape makes the lips look softer and the shape makes it appear loving and more open.

OUGD505 - Product, Range and Distribution: Final Idea

The final idea is to create a pull-type information leaflet as the target audience is for young people aged 10-15 in which the design would have to be engaging and interesting enough for them to keep. The other two ideas may be too childish for people in secondary school. The leaflet will have the symptoms of mental health issues, common questions about mental health and where they can find additional support - stressing that they should just talk to a trusted adult.

The tone of voice on the design will be be more subtle as the information is not to scare children or make them think they have something seriously wrong with them if they do experience the symptoms. The leaflet will try to not use words such as 'mental', issues' or 'problems' as it may put the child off the leaflet as they may refer 'mental' as 'crazy' instead of mind and 'issues' and 'problems' as an extremely negative thing. The whole idea is for the youngster to spot the signs if they feel like they experience them and if they do, to speak to a trusted adult about it who will hopefully explain more or understand how the child is feeling.

The design of the leaflet will be created in a way that it is more fun and not all serious because people always see mental health as a negative thing - which to some extent it is but it's nice to make it more positive as the positivity can make it seem less of a pessimistic subject. That way, people will be more open and inclined to want to talk about it want to learn how to confront it instead of repress it as it is a normal thing that people cannot avoid if they do suffer from it.

OUGD505 - Product, Range and Distribution: Interim Crit

Since the target audience would be for people aged 10-15 year olds, it would be beneficial to create a something engaging enough inform youngsters about mental health and learning the symptoms. This would be distributed to primary and secondary schools. Since mental health well-being isn't compulsory in schools, it would be better to at least have a who school assembly/class assembly in which children can be taught all together about mental health well-being and at the end, will be given an activity to do or leaflet/information card for more information or so that they can acknowledge it.

Idea 1
Create a A1 velcro learning board about mental health well-being for schools which allows children to participate in sticking and understanding how mental health is important is and how to identify how they are feeling.

Idea 2
Create some cards so that children can work together in a group to try rate how important a symptom is and decide if it should be spoken to a close family member about.

Idea 3
Create a pull-out type of leaflet/information card as it would be fun for younger children to play with but also be interested enough to find out hat it is to be about. The design would hopefully make the child want to keep it and show to others as it would look 'cool'. The idea would be to create a mouth as though it is talking when the tab is pulled to show the motion of taking to someone. The leaflet/information card can also be distributed in places such as Scouts, book shops, museums, theme parks, garden centres, a medical practice and other places children like to go to.

Using the information shown at the top, which idea would be the most suitable for the target audience?

Feedback

• The first idea of the velcro learning board can be fun because it allows you to physically interact. The second idea allows you to speak to other people and maybe would help you make friends from that but I like the third idea the most because it is something you can take away and something to reference from in the future. I'm interested about how the talking mouth works too.
• I would say 3rd because the other two ideas may be too childish for teens.
• The 2nd idea is interesting because it actually lets you find and match cards up which can be fun.
• ^ I disagree because some of the students may not contribute to the task and let the others match it up. I say 3rd idea is the best as it gives you something to keep and read.
• I like the last idea because this can be seen in multiple places so it would be more worthwhile to create and be seen.
• Yeah I agree with the comment above. The last idea targets more people and would be more publicly available to pick up.
• I think because the 3rd one is a leaflet, I assume it would have the most information on so I go with that.
• Last one - easy to pick up
• I like the idea of the talking mouth too because I assume that it will attract the right audience.
• 3rd one seems the most 'fun' for young people 

Having read the feedback given, it was clear to see that the third idea was the most popular as it will be more publicly than the other two ideas which makes it easier for everyone to pick up. Also, the third idea is the one that I would've chosen too as it seems like the least childish one but also fun as it is interactive.

OUGD505 - Leeds Public Spaces: Final Feedback

Feedback

• The design looks grainy and worn which gives it an outdated effect which is almost reminiscent. 
• The pennies on the design works well with the heavy typeface design and counteracts that feature.
• The colours are very minimal so nothing clashes. The design looks appealing due to the texture of the print.
• I like how it has the original slogan on - the pennies also so well with the message.
• I like how the pennies tie the design together because the 'penny' reference is everywhere.
• The colours used on the design is uplifting and subtle so it really does look like a celebration.

The feedback received were positive and has made me glad that I used screen print as the second design method as the lino print obviously did not work. The comments about outdated look is what I wanted to show though as it shows Marks & Spencer is old but I wanted to celebrate the massive success it has turned into after the stall at Kirkstall Market. There is also a lot of penny references as that is how the stall originally started out - selling thread, household items, needles and now they sell clothes, food, gifts and skincare so it just shows how successful the brand has turned into.

OUGD505 - Leeds Public Spaces: Final Screen Print

The final screen print design looks as though it has a been slightly worn as the prints are not completely perfect-full colour which makes it seem grundy and dated. The minimal colour scheme makes the design appear subtle and effective as I was keeping in mind that the background would also be another colour.

The design has been printed various different times on different backgrounds to see which one suited it the most and would allow the design to show through. It was disappointing to see that the red that was originally going to be the background colour on the design allow the printed design to show through. However, having read back on the M&S timeline, it explains that they used to advertise on newspapers too. Having tried the newspaper stock, the design did show up fine and it looks better against the creamy colour as it's not too bright but blends in with the yellow.

Overall, the screen print turned out much better than the lino print design although it would've been better to print using lino. The screen print design looks naturally worn due to the way it has been exposed and printed. This also looks more like the original wooden sign due to the effect it gives. The subtle design of the pennies scattered reinforces what Marks & Spencer used to be - a penny bazaar and it just ties the whole design in with the slogan.