Researching Method

As I am creating a material poster which includes stitching I thought it would be a good idea to look more into techniques since I have not embroidered before and have only limited skill with material. I am using this task to be able to learn something new. I have been watching videos and reading articles on the simple stitching methods and learning more about what can be possible within my design.

Designing for emotions

I want my booklet to be in a style which shows that it is okay for men to have emotions. I had a discussion with a group about this and shared my feelings of creating a more feminine publication. They said that they understand my reasoning but as a male he would be less likely to pick up and read the booklet if it looked feminine. This brought forward the idea of having the cover very stereotypically masculine but the inside contradicting this by being more relaxed, calming and feeling more feminine. This relates the the fact that men feel they have to be masculine but not show there true feelings and emotions.

Looking at the way I can portray this through design is looking at type layout. I find that arranging type with more white space makes it feel more calming and relaxed. I also think picking lighter colours and more hand drawn images feels more relaxing and friendly. Thinking about masculine type you stereotypically this of bold and blocky letters that look strong and is probably in uppercase. Although my cover and insides will be in different styles I still want them to be linked in some way so they are not too different.

I am aiming for my booklet to be around 24 pages.

I looked into the differences of Masculine design and more friendly design and found it was very different in type and colour.

Collecting Statistics

Now I have a clearer idea of what I want to create I want to start collecting information I want to use within my publication. Statistics are important to include to show the facts of the increase in suicide and to make people more aware that it is a issue.

I looked at the information given in reports on websites such as Samaritans and government websites and took the information I thought would be most important.

• Men in the lowest social class, living in the most deprived areas, are up to 10 times more at risk of suicide than those in the higher social class, living in the most affluent areas.
• In 2012 4590 males lost their lives to suicide in 2013 the number increased to 4858
• Around 17% of people say they have had thought of suicide at some point in their lives
• The highest suicide rate in England in 2014 was in the Northeast at 13.2 deaths per 100,000 population. London is the lowest at 7.8 per 100,000.
• In 2014 76% of suicides registered were males.
• Men ages 45-59 had the highest suicide rate in 2014 for the second year in a row. Men age 30-44 had the second highest rate.

Areas to discuss 

• Man Hood - Talking about young adults in the stage of life when they overcome stress and changes
• Mid life - Talking about mid life crisis and stress on life
• Stereotypes - Talking about stereotypes that males face
• Media - How social media and tv can effect self esteem
• Depression and mental health- Addressing mental health
• Help- List people who can help
•  Stories - People who have lost someone to suicide how they felt.
• What can we do? - what can society do to help.

Up Yer Sleeve _ 3

 I began sketching some of the summer objects that I identified and creating some initial sketches of what my album cover could look like. I like the idea of using the summer objects as line drawings. I want to use bright colours to maybe create a pattern. I may use a sand or sea texture. Next I will begin to develop my ideas.

Up Yer Sleeve _ 2

I began looking at the lyrics of the song and listening to the song for inspiration. The song is cheesy and talks about fun and sunshine. It reminds me of the British views of holidays when people go away to be able to drink and get a suntan. I decided to make a mindmap of objects that remind me of a summer holiday and items I saw in the music video. I could incorporate some of these objects into the design.

Looking back at the Summer Fashion of the 80s there was a lot of pattern and bright colours. I want to look at maybe using pattern on my album.

Up Yer Sleeve _ 1

Cameron Wolfe from Level 6 Graphic Design is organising a cross course print exhibition showing the art of record sleeve design. Secret 7 was not on this year so he is doing a similar style for if we email him we will send us a track that we will design for and we have to make the cover not give away the song. I decided to take part because designing a album cover for a set song last time was really fun and creative. I emailed Cameron, the theme of the artists is people who have died in the last few years. I was given the song- Club Tropicana by Wham.

This is the album cover that the song already has. Wham is a British pop duo made up of George Micheal and Andrew Ridgeley. Club Tropicana is a satire song made due to the demand for cheap package holidays. The song was released in July 1983.

Looking at the album cover it is tropical and reminds everyone of a tropical getaway however I don't feel that is fully represents the fun of the song. I will brainstorm some ideas of how to make a more fun and holiday themed album cover.

Minor set back 505

My idea was to create a booklet filled with anonymous stories of people who have lost someone to suicide. This was so that it encourages people that it is okay to talk and share there stories as well as it being advice and reassurance for others.

There is a website called the Alliance Of Hope which is for suicide survivors. The website hold forums for people to talk to others about their loss. I contacted the Websites Administrator Ronnie to ask weather I could use her website as a forum to ask people questions. After a while of discussion she said that they need to look more into there policy and in the future it was a possibility but not for now.

I also contacted Samaritans asking if I could be put in touch with people who would be willing to talk to me, however they said due to confidentiality that it was not possible.

Mind replied and said that if I needed that information I would need to contact my local branch however that were unsure if they could help.

After these initial set backs I have decided to rework my idea to have different information and only a small amount of stories in that I can collect from people I personally know as I think that the idea of having peoples stories is important to helping the cause.