designbyaria

4th year Visual Communication Design student at Massey University

[designbyaria]

The Apple of Eva (on Wattpad) https://my.w.tt/SWMWapW1JU Endelwood was a quaint Kingdom, and without the knowledge of the general population who resided there, was a home to three remarkable women, and a man who had the world at his fingertips - if only they could all get along. Eva was the youngest of three sisters, siblings who shared the power of influence, and the naivety of their individual potential. She longed to become a writer, to share inspiring words with other women, to talk about the things that really mattered - the biggest matter of all being the history of their nation. Abel had it all - good looks, a fortune, and a future that was being protected without his knowing. A chance encounter left him inspired - and bruised - and destined him to make a difference. A Kingdom in need of rescuing requires a strong leader to capture the heart of a nation again. History never repeats, right? To embrace opportunities is one thing, but to embrace one another will be the hardest challenge of all.

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Week 12: Finalising outputs

This week was dedicated to production. I spent Wednesday in Lower Hutt picking up paper from Paper Source, as well as picking up silver vinyl from Signs Limited in Petone. 

Thursday was spent learning how to use the vinyl cutter in Fab Lab, and getting all my quotes printed onto the vinyl, and practicing peeling and transferring onto the tape, preparing for the books to come back. 

The books were ready to be picked up from Wakefields around midday, so I was able to spend the afternoon transferring the vinyl onto the quote pages, and sorting out any back up prints I needed to complete. I found the process enjoable as I was able to have some time away from the screen, and have some hands on work as part of my hand in – very satisfying. I was able to finish 2/3 books, and will continue the rest on Friday. 

[designbyaria]

VCD 222.454 Week 11

Second to last class! We got a finalised presentation time and location, as well as a quick check up with our Pastoral + groups. I checked in, and went back to my desk to continue working on the website prototype. At this point, I was super excited about the visual identity of the website, and it all started coming together really well. 

From the plan I had created, I made small journeys to showcase the different features of the website, and ones that I can showcase in my report and presentation. 

Journey ‘map’ in XD

 I also decided to film the journeys so I can remember the prototyping steps, as well as potentially using it within the video I will use to showcase the user journey. 

A pretty repetitive process that I will be aiming to complete over the weekend so I can start working on the final hand-in outputs.

I started establishing a grid and content placement systems, just to make sure everything is cohesive as I finish it off. 

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Week 11: Printing and production

https://www.behance.net/gallery/44796459/RiseThis week, after final edits and proof-readings, I sent ‘The Glory to be Revealed’ off to Wakefields for printing. Because of budget limitations, I needed to compromise with some of my design decisions, especially with the front cover. I had originally intended to have a linen book cloth for a more ‘home-made’ feel, as well as getting the cover typography debossed to give a subtle and classic feel to the book. Instead, I decided on a dark grey buckram with silver foiling to match the design elements on the inside.

Cover confirmed with hardcover binding.

I also got the end pages printed with an image of the rag rug that Grandad made, showing his handiwork, and the projects he involves himself in. It was important that I got the book section sewn so that I could lay the pages as flat as possible when I go to vinyl the pull quotes.

Once that was handed in and ready to go, I began developing the visual identity of The Memoir Project website, now that I had finalised the user-journeys through prototyping and testing. For a while I felt like I had hit a wall, and was feeling quite uninspired.

However, when scolling through Behance for some UX/UI inspiration, I came across this project: https://www.behance.net/gallery/44796459/Rise. I thought it had a perfect combination of simple navigation and elegant design, and would work well with a template design system. Inspired by some the design elements, I finally felt like I had found the visual identity of this project, and it didn’t stray too far from the design and tone of the book – it seemed cohesive enough to seem like a ‘product’ from the website.

I was able to design the journey of the sign up experience to test that these design elements would work with the content, and continued to plan what prototypes I would need to show for presentation, the goal to prove the concept.

Ready to dig into this website and land the plane!

[designbyaria]

Week 10: Meeting with Caroline & Annette

Because of previously arranged events this weekend, I won’t be able to come to class on Friday, so I set up meetings with both Caroline and Annette who have been helping me with the editing process of the book. I plan to have the book ready for printing on Monday.

They both gave me great suggestions and nit-picking details to make the book as good as possible. These just included some type-setting, spelling checks, fixing spaces between numbers, capital letters, and brackets. 

After talking with both of them, I feel confident that I’ve covered everything in terms of editing, and will be sending it off to the printers asap!

To add some more creative, hand-written/drawn elements to the book, I decided to draw out some of the maps of the locations that Grandad has lived. This is a cool way of connecting the readers to Grandad and the life he has lived up until this point, and adds a break from all the writing in the book.

These will also serve as some cool illustrations/visuals for the website design, which I will get started on next week!

[designbyaria]

VCD 222.454 Week 9

This week I had continued to finalise the design of my book, prioritising this over the visual identity of the website and starting the finalise the design of that – I think that will be best saved until next week when the book is getting printed. 

The Pit lecture was super helpful, it had completely escaped my mind that we would eventually have to write a report of our work. Also documentation is a funny thing, I have an assortment of messy photos, notes and sketches, as well as blog posts that I will need to compile somehow for hand in alongside our submission.

In class we have a final ‘crit’ combined with another pastoral + group – it was also great to see how the work of the students I have been working with over the past semester is developing.

For class I had printed out the draft of my book as is, to have others flick through to make sure Grandad’s ‘personality’ is showing through the design. Those who looked at it made comments that it was cohesive, however some more images would make the book pop more with who I think Grandad is – which is very important! I didn’t have much time to talk to Ant, however I plan to have a one on one with him sometime next week to get his thoughts on the book before it is sent off to print.

Before the end of class I also bumped in Annette, and she was able to have a quick flick through my book. Her feedback was pretty positive, which made me confident moving forward with drafting and printing. She made a few good points about the drafting process (see notes above).

This week will be pretty busy for me, but I am excited to be finalising the book and moving on to developing the website further! I have set up meetings with Ant, Annette, and Caroline to double check everything before moving forward. I am also getting multiple family members to check the book before print, including my Aunty and mum. 

Hopefully all aspects are covered and we can land this (half-project) plane!

[designbyaria]

Week 8: Photoshoot with Grandad

This weekend I drove to Palmerston North to visit Grandad and take some pictures of him to include in the book to allow the reader to grasp is identity further – seems a bit dry/bland according to Annette.

Because Grandad is passionate about literature and writing, I thought the writing would suffice in establishing his identity, however I think it is important now to include images and textures related to him and his home. Artefacts are as important as words. Here are some of the favourite photos I took:

Picture of their dog Meg who passed away a few years ago.

Texture of rag rug that Grandad made, the back (work)

Grandad’s favourite books, Spurgeons Sermons.

Grandad’s writing (just notes, but I have images of the writing of the book).

Spread of crossword dictionary that Grandad uses to complete daily crossword.

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VCD 222. 454 Week 7

Today we had a one on one/group chat with Ant – it was great that our group was so small, as we were able to dig deep into everyones project. At this point Ant is well acquainted with my project, and we are on the same page, which is super helpful when I get a bit stuck.

Following on from some of the advice I got from Ant at the super crit, I’ve dug into some research into the algorithms involved in template programs such a s Squarespace. I designed 10 templates, based on design influences from different decades that should correspond with the audience who is publishing through the system.

From this sketch I wanted to develop it further, so digitally rendered with the user journey would look like in terms of the algorithm figuring out what template would work for the user. This is what I came up with:

Questions would be asked to learn more about the ideals and life of the user, each question would correlate to points which would determine the template that they would be suggested. Eg. Grandad was born in 1930′s and had a traditional upbringing, so he would be suggested a traditional design. While Jessie seemed more creative, so that would make her design more modern. 

During class I updated the group on the book, and also the research I have done with the algorithm/template/system for publishing, and they brought up some great tips for moving forward with the website:

Think about AI that can calculate personality traits within the design – something can read key words within documents and create images/designs to suit that.

Look into face recognition software that can find faces in uploaded photos and start creating captions and location identifiers to save time for the user to input all the extra information.

This week I will be doing the following:

Finalising wireframes, and start an HQ prototype, starting to develop visual identity if system and creating logo etc.

Developing book design, and contacting bureaus to find out more info and book in my work to get done on time. 

At this point my priority is on the book, as I want to give printers 2 weeks to get the book done to a high quality. Once I finalise a layout, I will input the final content (mainly words & sermons), and start editing.

[designbyaria]

Week 7: Meeting with Annette

Today I caught up with Annette to update her on my process with the book design. It was really helpful to talk through my concept, and figure out what I have left to do. 

After flicking through the whole book, we came to the realisation that all the text and information was there, but there was nothing personal about Grandad in the book, whether it be photos of Grandad, or anything that described who he is and his personality. 

Here are some of the deeper points she suggested:

Think about Grandad and introduce him through my point of view at the beginning of the book. This way it is clear that this artefact is my interpretation of who he is. 

Make the Steven section more intimate. It is information they rarely share, and should be more private and respectful. 

Include his handwriting! This is such a big part of my idea of him, and would look great as endpapers for the final book. 

Get some quotes/stories/ideas from other family members to include in the book. This will help to support the concept and build his identity further for the readers who don’t know who he is. 

This weekend I plan to go to Palmerston North to see him and talk to him about a couple of things. I will also take the opportunity to photograph things in his home that I identify as part of him eg. the chair he sits in, favourite book, works of art, etc. 

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Week 7: Meeting with Caroline

Yesterday I had a spontaneous meeting with Caroline today, just to catch her up on the work I have done so far, and to hopefully help me out of the rut I am currently in. 

She was super helpful in ironing a few inconsistencies out – each section has a individual layout, and until yesterday, it had no justification. But I think I’m on the right path now. Here are a few pointers she gave me:

Pulling out the verses in the preface is slightly redundant – make them a feature within themselves. 

Create some sort of spiritual framework – something that will coincide with the narrative, and bring the concept together. Eg. Stations of the cross. 

Use more symbols and icons to break up the text.

Pull out key quotes to open up each section.

Get rid of the red!

No need to have full bleed images – use original size to keep it’s state. 

Dark grey instead of black, makes it more moody. 

Used coloured photos – these can bleed into oncoming sections

She also suggested printing out individual pages so I can move things around and rearrange the pages. I decided to give it a go last night and thought that by combining themes from the Stations of the Cross, which means rearranging a few sections. 

On Friday before class, I will meet with Annette to get her opinion on a couple of things. Hopefully then, I will move forward with the book, as well as chipping away at wireframes and further developing the website. 

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VCD 222.454 Week Six

This week was super productive – I met up with Jason on Thursday to collect his Grandma’s things for me to turn into a memoir, most probably through the wireframe process to show how the system would work. The stuff included postcards from Jessie and her family, as well as photos, notes and drawings – something very different from Grandads written content.

Super Crit was on Friday, and I felt like I was in a really good position in terms of work completed, and and idea of where I will end up and what I want to create.

For some reason, it never occurred to me to take a picture of my set-up, however I have glimpses of it in the following images:

For the lecturer choice, I chose Ant, as he knows my project well and would give me some insight into what I need to dig deeper into. Here are some of the comments he gave me about what I had presented, and some advice for moving forward:

The personnas are great and the pages are looking conceptual. 

Pull out more quotes – it’s rich and very evocative.

Think deeper about who the person is: Grandad vs. Jessie. I need to capture the spirit of the person better through the templates – what will enable people to record someone as they remember?

Pick apart the images, what are the details? This will tell someone more. 

Set up a template that allows people to set up a page like this (see The Memoir Project layout).

Represent the person, each one will be different.

During the break I will work further on the book and wireframes, and contact the bookbinders in Petone to know when would be an appropriate time to hand in the book for printing. I will also talk to grandad and see what he thinks of the book at the moment – and also make sure he is able to navigate the website at this point!

[designbyaria]

VCD 222.454 Week Five

This week we had pecha kucha, and I presented in front of Ant and Jason. I had my 8 slides ready to go, and as part of that, I reframed my compass, and updated it with some of the feedback I have received over the past couple of weeks.

The 5 minute presentation in itself went smoothly, and I got some great points back in the small feedback time we were given from the lecturers. 

Some of the feedback included:

During the presentation, the audience needs to see either a service or the future...

But rather than the future, show how it can be encompassed by another user

Get a second case study (see Jason?)

Generally a good start – further develop narrative

Think about the relationship with the audience.

What next?

Find a new project to work alongside as a second case study, and something that will require a different output.

Start working further on wireframes and content of the service.

Get work looking good for Super Crit next week!

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Week 5 Development #2

Today I met with Ant to discuss the service side of the project, and how I can push having the service online as a website. I think it’s important to think big at this point, and bring it in to a more refined final product.

As discussed, a similar service exists overseas, but is yet to appear in the New Zealand market. It will be beneficial to explore memoirs and what they all have in common, and build templates off of that, people can build their artefacts from these templates (with the help of a supervisor/bot?)

To make this service multi-modal will push it into the future, and will enable it to last a long time. Grandads book can act as a case-study, and show how it can be both physical and digital and seamlessly move through generations within his family. Hint at what is to come!

Here is a ‘word vomit’ of Grandads journey, my next step is to simplify it within templates, and explore what an ‘augmented book’ could look like:

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Week 5 Development #1

After the feedback I received last week from students and lecturers, I got right into designing Grandad's book from a conceptual angle, and decided to see what Caroline thought of the direction I am heading in.

Annette suggested that I think of keywords for the book to make it more conceptual, and I came up with the following:

Classical

Monochromatic

Imaginitive

Interpretative

Hopefully from these I can construct a strong concept to align the book design against. Here are some images of the work I have done this far:

Caroline enjoyed the design I had done so far, but had a couple of suggestions;

Make the book less black and white, makes it seem quite sterile – add colour to the greys to make it seem more warm and emotional. 

Show my relationship/interpretation of Grandad through my graphic design, that is my gift to him – embrace the concept and make the design reflect who I see grandad as. 

This can be further developed through typography, and layout – play around with the grid to highlight voice.

Include his handwriting! It is personal and beautiful.

Get in contact with bureau asap to let them know my timeline, and when it would suit them to have the book finalised and ready for print. 

This talk was super helpful and motivational, my next step is to start working on the wireframes/experience of the publication process of the audience. 

[designbyaria]

VCD 222.454 Week Four

This week was super productive in terms of creating – I wanted to start spitting all my ideas out and get feedback from everyone in terms of what direction they see is the most appropriate, before consulting my grandfather.

I was able to speak to HEAPS of people which was fantastic, the crit was good, and speaking about my project really helps refine and contextualise ideas and failings. 

Formative moment set-up for pastoral +

Some feedback I got was positive in the fact that I’ve created a lot and have clear directions in which I should head. People generally liked my play with the transparent paper and the memory layers, and the use of his handwriting in the design. Some improvements include:

Show grandad the work asap to see what he thinks and whether he thinks restructuring it would be beneficial. 

Start working on the website! It seems non-existent as part of the design. 

Check/test text legibility of text in terms of audience.

I then bumped into Kerry-Ann who had noticed my logo development for the Memoir Project, and explained to me that animated it could look like a treasure box opening, and then turn into the letters MP. This sounded awesome and I can’t wait to give it a crack.

I then caught up with Caroline, as I had spoken to her last week, so I wanted to see what she thought of my developments so far. She helped reel me in in terms of designing for a memoir, which will have a wider and older audience – something to consider further. She then showed me a book previously done by a student that was similar in content, and is something I would like to aim towards for quality and beauty for my final outcome. 

As class was finishing, I found Annette, who I briefly ran down my project with and got her advice conceptually on where to go next. This was super helpful, as grounding a firm idea of what I need to be doing now will help boost my ideation process, but also get my website started as well. 

I will be meeting up with Ant and Caroline this week just to make sure I am on the right path, and to tie up a few loose ends that I see in my project this far. Because of this, I will work further on designs for the book, and see what they think before the Super Crit in Week 6.

[designbyaria]

VCD 222.454 Week Three

After Ant’s feedback from class last week, I wanted to start developing the five year plan of the publishing experience – from online to interactive. 

At this point, I have created a five year plan, ranging from the website experience that will continue, then a pop-up where people can get introduced to the interactive experience of publishing. And finally after success, a bureau could eventually be set up. 

Friday’s class

I really enjoyed Tim’s talk today, talking about interactive design, and the used/usable/useful diagram. Also a reminder to design empathetically is always good!

For the tutor meet-up, I joined in with Caroline’s group, and she as well as other students had some really helpful things to help me out of a few issues I’ve been having. Some suggestions include:

How do I design this service so that is is supportive of the elderly?

New Zealand is highly multicultural – important to think of ways to appeal to multiple cultures as opposed to white like my own. 

Artefacts, explore different memoir types and group them.

I need to design a realistic and easy-to-use website that enables the audience to accomplish the task as easily as possible.

Be playful, inviting, and non-threatening.

The content can be contained through imagery and words, and the ordering of a narrative doesn't necessarily have to be consecutive.

This week I will begin to design Grandad’s book, and start developing wireframes for the website – this way I can communicate my end goal for the first showing in week 4.

[designbyaria]

VCD 222.454 Week Two

For preparation for this week’s class, I started laying out all my thoughts into documents so that I could talk to my notes during presentation, and there to remind me what my thoughts are as I progress through the semester. 

This included my notes in the human centred persuasive framework in terms of my project. Also beginning to think of wireframes for the service website, and fleshing out the user journey of working through consulting with a designer through the service and publication process. 

At this point, my compass hasn't been updated, but I will work on it this week as start thinking more about the service and the form it will take. 

I also started playing around with the photos that were included in Grandad’s original memoir, and drawing out the big life movements. Layering them together would represent the development of his identity as the reader makes their way through the book to complete the image of who he was. 

This kind of interaction within the book would be a really cool element to include, as it is adding a ‘modern’ twist to the original book, as well as creating a book as Grandad intends his memoirs to be recorded as. 

This is what the images look like when all layered together.

I appreciated and enjoyed the feedback I received from Ant and the pastoral + group members from the minor presentation we had this week, and look forward to working further on this project – and am very keen to start designing soon!