Researching online cards

I began my online research by looking around the UK Greeting card website. I wanted to get an idea of what styles they have and what there aims are.

They have many products for different companies all with different style and aims. For example the Thinking of you cards have the slogan 'Great Quality, Great Value' and Hanson White is 'The Home of Humour'. When i create my card collection name I can think of a short message that will represent my theme well. They talk about cards as having a large mix of designs with different aims and the saw this and thought of you moments. They are very open to you sending them card designs and submissions. Due to there being a mix of photography, illustration and type cards it is safe to say that any type of style I try will fir with there company well.

Looking at other card websites such as Hallmark when looking for a card based on music you can buy cards that play little tunes when you open them and there are cards with instruments etc on them however there are no cards like my idea that include lyrics and link to a certain genre of song. When looking specifically for song lyric cards I found that you get put onto sites that personalise the cards for you which can e good but also more expensive and this means you have to plan far ahead.

Looking at gift bags and wrap the more simple the design the better. It is also better to not include words because then it will relate to more occasions. The repeat pattern is what is used for wrapping paper and I will need to create something that works well over and over again and can e used for oth men and women of a verity of ages.

Group Critique, Jan 12th

I had a group critique on responsive work. I decided to use the time to discuss my idea for the UK Greetings.
This is what I talk about;

Main Idea 

Create a collection of cards which is based on Indie Rock music. Make the cards illustrate a song or a band and that keeps the fans guessing and is ambiguous. Include appropraite lyrics within the design.
I made a note of what I need to create.

• 4x single greeting cards (with envelope design)
• 1x Notepad cover
• 1x Boxed notecard set
• 1x Gift bag
• 1x Repeating pattern wrapping paper
• Design sheet

I also showed some initial card cover I had made.

I asked there overall opinions

Feedback

• I should try and explore the more grunge feel make it look rough and ready like that style.
• I could try the collage style.
• Make patterns for the note books inspired by lyrics
• Have it square like a record or cd.
• You could make it so people want to keep them to collect or use as posters.
• It can e difficult to make the cards turn into wrapping paper and stationary. Think about how I can bring it all together and make that work.

Overall I got positive reactions and everyone seemed to like the idea to carry on I can look at the idea of making the cards look more in a style of indie rock bars etc and how I will create the other stationary. I also need to consider that the judges will first look at the images before the reasoning behind the design so I need to make it clear what the idea is. 

Initial Sketches

Now knowing my theme and idea I began to create some initial sketches. I looked at some popular indie rock bands and lyrics that could possibly work for a card. I want my cards to be able to be used for any occasion and have fun and lively illustrations. The idea is the card should be ambiguous and not at first obvious what it is until you work it out. Only fans will understand some of these cards. Next I will have to have a group critique about my ideas so I know wether to further develop my ideas.

Researching music

When researching music I looked at famous artists in the Indie and Rock genre. Next I will look at there most well known songs that I can't turn into a card design. When creating my cards I will look at their album art and music videos to help me with the design. I want my cards to get people guessing what the song and band is by not making it to obvious, this is so it has some hidden meanings for people who are fans of the music. An example is illustrating the bands name or the song in an ambiguous way. This is different to what I have seen in music themed cards and will help my designs stand out.

Evaluating Bookshelf

Evaluation

I started this brief by identifying a problem. This was that there are not any interfaces that support social interaction to do with reading books and what is out there is not as effective as it could be at encouraging reading and iteraction. Looking at creating an interface I wanted to create something free for the audience and use a screen based design that was easy for all ages to use. I started with many ideas however after numerous group discussions decided on creating an app which is like a social media platform. The potentials of this was that individuals would be able to talk to other book lovers and would be encouraged to write reviews plus more book related things. The limitations was that being an app the audience would need to own a smart phone also the app could be free if there was a potential of the app being supported by big book brands such as Waterstones and Foyles. Thinking about style and colours I wanted my app to be a relaxing and calm atmosphere by the use of more neutral colours. However in my group discussions it was made clear that the app needed to have some form of personalisation to category to the large target audience. I also made sure that the writing was readable the the navigation was understandable and easy to use through navigation tests. I carried out research of looking at competitors such as good reads and knowing is a problem by creating surveys. when moving into the production stage I decided that adobe Xd was the correct program to use due to the way you can navigate around and create videos of the app or interface working. Taking all of my research and feedback into consideration I produced the app appropriately showing a working prototype. I also created a small advert to show the apps potential and showing the range of audience. Overall this brief was like nothing I have done before being all digital and screen based. I was able to learn how important user experience is within screen based design and how to use a platform such as adobe Xd to create a prototype. I think my app is successful at making the experience of writing and reading book reviews easier as well as being able to organise reading lists talk to other people and gain knowledge.

https://vimeo.com/198349872

Choosing An idea, Greeting cards

 After deciding that I am going to be creating some blank cards for any occasion I came up with two main ideas. Idea 1 having a theme of cards based of Pets. The second being a Theme of Music. Both subjects relate to large amount of people and is something that people love and are passionate about. They also leave room for many card ideas. After deliberating  decided that I would go down the path of music as I see a lot more animal themed cards already are out there and everybody likes music but not everybody has a pet.

I decided to start by brainstorming some music genres that could be possible. I need to decide wether to include many different genres mixed together in my collection or to focus on a certain type and have the other genres as potential to add to the collection if successful.

Creating an advert/Animation

Once I was finished creating the app I wanted to create a video that was like an advert but also showed how to navigate through the app. I began by creating some small story boards as initial ideas.

By using the adobe program XD I knew that I would be able to film the navigational part of the video using that however I also wanted to film my own parts to show more of the apps personality and make it look more professional. I wanted to show the board range of audience by including young and older book readers. I also wanted to show the app being used on a mobile device.

After watching some other app videos I saw the phone is usually placed on a plain background so all your attention is on watching the screen. Also at the end it sometimes tells the audince that the app is available from the App Store. From these initial ideas I began to film and edit using iMovie.

I picked a upbeat song and colours and put the video together I believe it represents the app well and you can see that the app can be easily navigated.

Watch the video here https://vimeo.com/198349872