Assignment 6a : Design Analysis

Pair Presentation

Reflections :
After presenting to the class, a fellow classmate and the tutor both reflected the idea that they did not feel that my example of a bad poster, was in fact an appropriate choice.

In my presentation, i had focused on how cluttered the poster was, with the lack of negative space, and its overwhelming use of block shapes and fonts. I then concluded that this was an ineffective, and thus a bad poster.

However, I had failed to realise what my classmate and tutor had recognised, that the poster was designed with the aim of achieving a gritty, old-movies feel, in which bold colours and various shapes framing text and images were often used.

The crucial lesson here is, that there is more to a design than just fulfilling the design principles in theory. Not satisfying the principles does not necessarily result in a bad design, just as fulfilling them does not guarantee a good design. Desired feel of the poster would have to be considered, while using the design principles as guidelines.

Assignment 6B (Individual Presentation)

The last slide is a dummy website I created, in place of the original website, and in accordance with the proposed improvements I listed. I used Photoshop to put the website together, and took images taken from the university itself.

Reflections:
Both assignments 6a and 6b really benefitted me a lot, especially in terms of technical terms which would be rather useful in explaining design. Terms like unity, asymmetrical/symmetrical balance, dominance teach about the theoretical tactics for design.

Now, i no longer have to use layman terms and give vague descriptions of why a particular design appeals to me. That's why theory is useful, it provides one with technical terms to explain why one design would be more effective and visually-pleasing as compared to another, and also, it provides basic guidelines to follow in design.

Of course, as reflected from the comments received about assignment 6a, there are always exceptions.