Presenting my research (OUGD403)

We were told to present our research in a way that was relevant to the brief. So I decided to present mine inside an origami heart.

I used the grid i'd created based on the mock up heart I made and then added the information. Because I didn't want it to be too big I kept the information at a minimum and made sure I put in the most important stuff as for the presentation I will use my blog to back up this. Above shows the initial layout and I started in red to show the colour of a typical heart symbol.

I did a mock print and the first problem I came across was that I had spelled world wrong and the title text needed more space in between.

Also when you opened up the heart all the writing was upside down so I had to flip all of that upside down and edit the title.

This image shows how it looked with the writing the right way up this time which is much better as I wanted it to be ready to read as soon as it was opened. I also fixed the title.

I then printed it in colour but as I folded it the ink created cracks where it was just falling off. I knew this was the wrong form of printing for this but I didn't have access to any other type so I needed to change something else instead.

Instead I turned it black so it was using the black and white printer instead, this looked really effective as the lack of colour made it look factual and less of a joke and the ink stayed on when it was folded. I added a colour heart image as a sticker holding the front together to add a splash of color so it looks more appealing to want to open and it gives it more context.

And finally this is what it looks like inside, I really like the white on black text as it really stands out and grabs you and also I personally struggle to read black on white and this negative version is much easier. All thats left is to present it in my crit and see what other people think of it.

Colour theory (OUGD403)

We were asked to bring in 5 blue objects and to wear something blue so we could learn about colour theory in a hands on way.

We started by organising the objects from light to dark in a line.

Next we were told that all colours have a red or blue base colour that decides wether they are warm or cold looking. We had to divide the objects into warm and cold (or bathroom colours and lounge colours as we did it).

Next we made a ring to show the dark to light scale again and also swapped groups to change any objects in the ring we thought were in the wrong place. This was really interesting for showing how you categorise things just as blue or red but in reality they are all completely different colours.

Next we went outside and with all the colours we had to arrange them in an order of warmth and cold again so that they blended together as well as we could get them to.

We then got to use pantone cases to try and find exactly what pantone colour each object was, this was really good as having the physical spectrum in front of us was helpful in spotting the subtle differences between each shade of blue.

We then swapped groups again so see if we thought they had got any pantone codes wrong, we found some were right and some wrong but it was hard to tell and we took photos as it made the colours more flat and easier to distinguish between. 

I thought this lesson was really interesting as we found out that every colour you see is in the pantone collection and has a unique code which can be used to match print to web colour. Also it was good to see such a range of what I would previously consider as one colour.

Vector type-Finished capitals (OUGD403)

I have currently limited myself to a typeface made up of uppercase letters, I may play around with variations to further it though but for now I have completed my base typeface. 

To recap my typeface is an adaptation of Helvetica based on the word stylish and the idea of the word style within other cultures particularly African, tribal and cult horror. 

This is my final typeface, I am really pleased with the overall look. I think with the added strokes like, extra crossbars ect. are really effective in creating the cultural style look I was going for. I wanted to make the typeface look really geometric and also slightly like symbols you'd see on tribal style design. 

On the left you can see my original letter C, I thought that when placed with the other letters it looked weird as I hadn't measured it to the same angle and the extra stroke was too thin looking. So I used a reflection of the same angle I used for the extra diagonal stroke in the D and placed it as part of the C. I think this now looks a lot more successful as it works with the other letters much better and as it doesn't split the C in half you can define the letter better.

Going on from the letters I had done last time this is my letter J. I basically wanted it to be the same style as the I that id done so it was really simple. This was also my reasoning for only doing one version of this letter.

Next on the left is the original letter K from Helvetica and on the right is my version. I made a really simple change to do this I just altered the top diagonal so it came from the bottom of the vertical stem of the letter. This simple change completely changes the feel of this letter, it creates this huge white space in the middle of the letter and brings a simple and geometric look.

This is my letter L, I based it on the idea of using two crossbars on the A that creates this doubled up look but just applied it to the vertical stroke.

I made this M by splitting the regular Helvetica letter in two then adjusting the angles making them more obtuse. I then put the halves back together but so they crossed over which completely changes the look of the letter. I really love this letter as the crossover create so many triangle shapes within the letter which mimics the look of African pattern.

Here are two ideas for my letter N, I did the first design by adding the diagonal but I thought that id done too many letters in this style and it was looking to overdone and simple. So I changed it by adding a horizontal line through the middle instead which I thought worked really well because it mimics the crossbars in the A which was my starting point for the rest of the alphabet. 

This is my letter O. I started out with the idea of doing a lowercase letter o with three full stop type dots underneath but when furthering this idea it looked odd being the only small letter in the whole alphabet. So instead I took the uppercase O and added a rotated full stop in the middle to make it more pattern orientated. 

This is based on the letter P I previously hand drew from my grid. I also based it on my other letters that used diagonals I wanted to make sure my diagonals all used common angles so they fitted well together and to a grid.

I made the letter Q on the left by simply extending the small diagonal already present in the letter Q but I thought it was a little too simple. So for the letter on the right I took the idea of making a gap that I had applied to my letter P to this. I think this is much more effective as the diagonal becomes part of the outer shape and it all goes back to the basic geometric forms you see in African art. 

Creating my letter R was really simple as I wanted my letters to have some sort of connected look so you could tell they were all part of the same typeface so It was just a matter of extending part of the letter P.

Creating my S was one of the most challenging letters because there are a lot of curves involved and I wanted to make it more geometric. Someone in my crit had pointed out that if I made the lines too straight it could look like a backwards z or even a nazi symbol so I really wanted to avoid that. The first design was made by just straightening part of the letter and keeping some curves but it just didn't seem to look right at all. Instead I decided to shorten the lower part and adding in a stroke following the same angle I had used letter D which worked much better as I could keep most of the curves and still add a geometric quality.

The letter T was another really easy one as I just added an extra arm stroke like the style of the A again. I made sure the gap between both arms was the same size as the thickness of one arm so it didn't just look like a random measurement I wanted to create a balance for every letter. 

I wanted the U and V to follow the same principles and just completely close off the open counters completely and make closed counters instead. I really like this simple symbol looking style they have.

I wanted my W to basically be an upside down version of the M. I tried just simply flipping it but I then realised the angles of the W were different so I simply changed them and made them less vertical. 

I was unsure about the X because it was already a really angular and geometric letter without changing it at all. I first tried closing it off like the U and V but it didn't look like an X anymore it looked like a camping symbol. Instead I added a stroke through the middle similar to the letter N. It looks like a mix between an x and a * symbol but I really like this design compared to the first.

Once again I was unsure about the Y and tried closing it off but it looked like a wine glass. So instead I added diagonals coming downwards, it kind of looks like an x with a stem but I like that they look similar as it makes it a more complete alphabet.

Once again I had decided how I wanted the Z to look from the start by creating a hand drawn version from my grid but I still did some variations to see if it could be improved. But overall the design on the right which was my original is the most effective.

I created this image to see how the typeface would look like in a working sentence. I think the overall look is really effective and definitely portrays the tribal look I was going for as you can imagine it being used to brand products to show their cultural origin or must like my inspiration from American horror story you can see it being used for a horror films branding also. I added a photo background to show how the geometric look can interact well with a more textural and organic background. Overall i'm really happy with the final typeface and would like to possibly play with creating an alternative typeface possibly going back to some of the other ideas I had when hand drawing ideas about gaps in the letters.

Presenting my research (OUGD403) Message and delivary

As part of this brief we need to present all our research in a way that portrays the same context as the articles topic. I instantly went to Google and typed in dead heart looking for some kind of inspiration. 

This is one of the images that came up, they are little badges designed to look like dead hearts but personally I think they look like origami hearts. This made me think I could try putting my research onto an origami heart possibly? This would really test my layout skills as the dimensions of things and the format would be quite strange but id like the challenge.

I started by making an origami heart from paper and marking off all the folding lines. I then measured all the lines in order to make a digital version as you can see above. I played around with showing where some of the text and image could go, you could also place text and information on the other side and it would be much more free. 

I then printed the digital version to make sure all the dimensions were right and to see how the placement of the test text worked.

When opening it up it seemed the way id placed the text wasn't the best. If I did it as a diamond shape with text going from top to bottom this would be much more effective, I will also need to consider the way the photo will sit or if I should get rid of the photo idea and maybe create an infographic that works upside-down.

Presentation (study task three) message and delivery (OUGD403)

In the intermediate crit we were told the other group liked our layout and would want to read it if they saw it in a magazine. But the title spanning two pages would cause problems when it was stapled together and the right alignment looked strange and might look better in a more traditional format like left aligned or justified.

To fix this I made all the text boxes justified so it was much more like a traditional newspaper layout and changed the quote to left aligned. I also split the title in two so when put together it would still be legible. I think it looks a lot better like this so im glad we had the crit as it was really helpful.

Dead heart transplant-message and delivery research (OUGD403)

After looking through the newspapers I decided the most interesting story in my eyes was about a doctor who had done a world first by reviving dead hearts and transplanting them into people. 

This image above shows the chosen article from The Daily mail. The paper had only dedicated half a page to the story which I thought was a shame as it was the most positive article in the whole thing. But anyway, they have used half of the space for the title and the photo, this could be improved by giving the title more space as 3 words per line of text disrupts the flow of reading. The paper has used 5 columns this allows for a lot of text within a small amount of space.  The article could be improved quite a bit simply by just giving it some more space, I think its important news and deserves more attention. If it was laid out in a classy and clean looking way people may be more tempted to read it.

(http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/technology-science/technology/new-dead-heart-transplant-method-4500318)

Above is the first link I found was to the Mirrors online coverage of the story. There is a good video on there showing two of the patients looking very happy and healthy. The first thing I found out was it was three patients that have been given the revived hearts, the first Michelle Gribilas, 57 was the first successful patient. The second Damen, 43 and the third patient is still in intensive care thats why you only see two in the video.

This quote from the artivcle tells you the heart problems they both suffered with and how long ago they both had the procedures . 

Jan, who suffered from congenital heart failure, had the procedure two weeks ago at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney, Australia. He said: “I feel amazing. I’m looking forward to getting back out into the real world.

“I never thought I’d feel so privileged to wear the St Vincent’s pyjamas.”The dad-of-three added: “Without the donor I might not be here. It’s a wild thing to get your head around.”Patient Michelle, who also suffered congenital heart failure, could not walk 100m before her operation two months ago. She said: “I was very sick before. I’m a different person. I feel like I’m 40 years old. I’m very lucky.”

This image is of a machine used to help revive the dead hearts. The heart was bought back to life by being filled with blood again and the use of electricity then put in the machine where it was injected with a preservation solution that was developed by the Victor Chang cardiac research institute. Its belived 30 percent more lives will be saved using this method. 

The preservation solution...

• Reduces the amount of damage to the heart
• Makes the heart more resilient to transplantation
• Reduces the number of heart muscle cells that die
• Improves heart function when it is restarted
• Limits damage from a lack of oxygen
• The preservation solution took 12 years to perfect

I found this information out by searching the Victor Chang Institute where they have their own news section. (http://www.victorchang.edu.au/home/news-events/news/news-detail/?news_name=world-first-heart-transplant) 

The article in the Mirror also told us that since the first heart transplant in 1967 they had been using hearts from brain dead patients that were kept beating the whole time. St. Vincents (the hospital where the transplant happened) have been doing research into how long the heart can be sustained after it stops beating and that in these recent surgeries they used hearts that had been dead up to 30 minutes.

Surgeon Emily Granger said: “All of a sudden the heart that was blue begins to turn pink. It’s almost as though someone says, ‘Oh hello, I’m awake now’. It gives a little wriggle and it starts beating.”

The article tells us the portable machines made by the chang institute were called 'heart in a box' they submerged the hearts in the preservation solution and connected them to a circuit that made them beat again.  

Prof Peter MacDonald said: “Based on the performance of the heart on the machine we can tell if it will work if we transplant it." &

“This breakthrough represents a major inroad to reducing a shortage of organs.”

In two of the cases doctors had flown with the hearts in the boxes from the place the people had died to the hospital. It has been shown other organs can be transplanted after death before but this is a first for a heart. 

Surgeon Kumud Dhital, who performed the transplants, said he “kicked the air” when the first surgery was successful.

I think just after reading the way it was talked about in this article the focus in on the surgeons who performed the transplant but it would be more interesting to include more about the research facility as the real breakthrough is the preservation solution. I think the term 'heart in a box' is really quite sweet, it seems like a perfectly portable gift in a box and is something worth including in articles.

This next article I looked at was online by the BBC news. It made it much more clear that the transplant was made in a hospital in Sydney, Australia. I know it will definitely be in a lot of international news because of this. The article started pretty much the same as the last stating all the basic facts. 

It then went on to talk about the similar process of liver warming/preservation. Although this information is relevant and interesting I think it kind of takes the focus of the main part of the article and makes it look like a less impressive achievement than it could of done.

One thing I have noticed about looking at online articles is that they put minimum effort into the layout of the articles and it looks although they haven't bothered using a grid at all. I think they could improve this really simply even if they were to just add a two column grid system in just to shorten the lines a little.

I now wanted to look how international papers had approached the topic, firstly by looking at where the story was closer to home in Australia by looking at paper The Australian.

The article started with a video by Australian sky news. This video told me that they had been working on this project for four years the result of these recent successful patients after all that time is a huge breath of fresh air for them. A part of the article quotes the 57 year old woman who had the surgery saying she 'feels like 40' again. 

Above you see two really interesting images from the article. Including a photo of one of the doctors flying with the heart he has just revived. This is something I personally wanted to see so I think its good they've included it. 

I then came across an article on the Hindustan Times website. This paper is an Indian national paper. The article didn't include any information I had'nt seen already and had a lack of images but it proves the story is internationally important as its reaching all different countries and sparking interest. 

http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/international/2014/10/25/exp-medical-breakthrough.cnn.html

The link above is to CNN news online. It shows a video about 4 minutes long talking about the topic and also talking with one of the doctors from St.Vincent hospital. Once again proving its importance as its not just newspapers but also national news channels reporting the story. This makes me think if its big enough in America to make national news why could I only find a half a page article on it in 1/3 of the papers I bought here. Is it because in Britain gossip, shock and fear is what drives people to buy news? There was such a distinct lack of positive news and I think that really needs to change, we need some motivation to drive us rather than just being scared of everything. 

Although I didn't see the Independent write a physical version of this article I have to say this online approach to it is my favourite so far in terms of layout. Firstly the image is stunning, you see this organ that looks completely out of place and you feel its out of its environment and it gives an uncomfortable feeling but it looks so beautiful, the lack of blood stops it from being gory and instead it looks strangely peaceful. Unlike the other articles they only use this image rather than many in a row. This keeps it really simple and the one photo seems even more effective. The text is really simple and in one thin column, although it looks aesthetically appealing I still think they should take further inspiration from the newspapers layout and recent elegant rebrand and consider using more of the new fonts and more than one column. 

Another layout I thought was quite effective was by The Verge (a technology based news source in New York). They once again had chosen to use one photo to increase its effectiveness. They used a quote within the large body of text at the bottom showing they were partly using a two column grid system and its a shame they couldn't of taken this further by splitting up the rest of the text into two also, but the part they did is really effective and just makes the layout that little bit more interesting than the others.