More layouts on an idea of how the augmented design will look. Either using the designs of the 'i' or making the website spring up where the audience can get more of a look of what the website is offering them. It would include images and the right information to not make it look too overcrowded and busy but so the audience knows exactly what Idle Man is about.

This is the first quick brainstorm I initially started with. The 'I' in Idle really stood out to me and incorporating a male figure with a capital 'I' I thought could work well. At first using a capital 'I' I found it was a little difficult to make it look like a male, so then I switched to a lowercase 'i' which was a lot more flexible.

At first I thought we could incorporate the websites different styled shoes into the 'i' but still make it look like a male figure. The sketches went a lot better than trying to mock it up so I need to make more of a realistic mock up and scan it in to edit it further on Illustrator.

More sketches trying to make minor changes to the lowercase 'i' that represents what the website is selling. This difficult as I wanted to make the least changes as possible so it still looks like and 'i'. We took a step back and tried to fit the styles into different categories without trying to look like a stereotype (see survey results post) and my partner came up with three different styles; formal, smart-casual and casual.

First sketches of potential layouts for a bus stop sign or magazine ad. I wanted to see what would work best and would have the most impact on the page, the smaller scaled 'i' in the centre of the page is the strongest layout as the negative space works to my advantage focusing the attention on whats going on in the middle of the page.

More layout sketches for a different idea my partner had. The idea was to fill the page with many lowercase 'I's' and in the centre will be an 'i' that stands out more, this is to portray to the audience to stand out from the crowd, get your clothes from the best place. More experimentation and development needs to happen first before I take it further. The sketches really helped me get a better understanding of what will work and what wouldn't.

Researching into Idle Man's competition gave me a good insight as to what males view if they were to go online shopping. As you can see from the examples from above I found that the websites are very clean and simple; easy to navigate. The models used look very stylish yet casual giving off a very relaxed atmosphere. The pages also mainly use black and white with the pictures and banners full of colour which gives off more of a friendly enticing atmosphere and making it more exciting. Doing further research into what males think of their own style and clothes will help get more of an idea on how to approach to visual look of the project.

A concept I came up with was Be that. Idle Man. The idea came after I googled the definition for Idle and Man, Man is pretty straight forward but Idle had different definitions:

For this seminar we have to use a recent blog post and re-write it in first person. This is to give it more of an authoritative tone of voice and address the reader in a more formal clear way. I've found this quite useful as it describes what I have done in a more clear way.

After realising the design was flat and boring, it was then converted back to the original without the image trace effect. Importing it into Photoshop enabled me to play around with the hue/saturation, this gave it a bold vibrant look whilst also giving the design some depth and definition. What I mainly wanted to focus on was creating something that people can perceive in different ways, this makes the design more conceptual leaving you a bit puzzled and curious as to what is actually happening or what it is trying to communicate.

Treat the design as an independent entity:

"the design is effective because..."

"the inclusion of the red informs..."

Describe - Say what you see

Analysing - Deeper conceptual meaning, effectiveness and message.

Evaluation - Understanding effectiveness, discussing good and bad, strengths and weaknesses. Does it answer the brief or client? What is it you've tried to communicate? Is it communicated effectively?

Contextualising - 

Theorising - 

Narrating - Describing but writing with a narrative tone of voice to represent a different period of time.

These are examples taken from the website of The Idle Man. The homepage has a consistent minimal theme and layout making it easier for the users to navigate around. The use of type and imagery work to the companies advantage as it looks well designed and gives off a professional atmosphere suggesting that they are trust worthy company to shop for clothes with. As the website consists of selling other brands its almost like a male version of Asos, again this could be the reason the website has such a minimal theme as it has various styles and brands of clothing that are much different to each other so keeping it at a neutral theme works well.

These are the brands that the company feature on their website. Each brand are already well established brands that people will recognise and in comparison to other brands on Asos that have a high price range, most of these brands range within the £30-60 mark making it more affordable and approachable. As the company has a large audience due to its diversity in brands it will be a challenge to design something that will hit each audience in a personal way to influence and inspire them to shop on the website. However the brands would be beneficial to highlight when trying to appeal to different stereotypes.

The aim of the company is to get themselves in the minds and wallets of young males between 18-25. Our job is to help initiate that. They believe that young males who are trying to establish themselves with the world at their feet need a little guidance in what to wear. I need to get into the mind of young male and find out as much as possible about their shopping experiences and if branding has any effect on something they purchase.

Me and my partner selected the Idle Man brief, even if it took some persuading! I did not feel as though this brief would bring out the best in my skills or is something I'd enjoy, however I trusted my partners instincts and went right ahead drowning in the sorrows of being out my comfort zone. Reading through the project pack I discovered there are plenty of opportunities to experiment with as the brief seemed pretty flexible and open to explore new territories. 

Katie Chandler

ABConcerns: The Issues Alphabet

This design stood out to me as I thought the concept and whole look of the design was different yet still informative. Its a nice concept which would appeal better to a younger target audience as the illustration style is simple and friendly even though the issues its addressing is quite serious and ugly. However it is a nice way to illustrate and communicate a message without being too in your face. 

Thomas Choi

Below are a few examples of Thomas Choi's project about North and South Korea. The design is executed in a clean and effective way that it works well to communicate the divide and separation of the two countries. Throughout the book there is a consistent theme of two colours representing the two countries which works well to communicate the contrast between the two countries, you could even say the use of red for North-Korea has bad connotations giving the feeling of danger and suffering, whilst South-Korea is an electric blue which suggests success and health. The concept behind the torn pages is one of the strongest points about the design, the use of imagery of Korean peoples faces addresses the audience on a more personal level. It also suggests that the Korean's peoples lives have been so drastically changed that they are not the same person anymore after being torn away from their families. The clean minimal layout also contributes to the whole look of the booklet, making it easier to read and understand.

Laurent Elie Badessi

AMERICAN DREAM, this is not a dream - 2014

Almost like a propaganda series these posters spark controversy and wonder. The black & white vs the colour portraits could represent past and present as thats a common technique to use to achieve this effect. As you analyse the portraits more you can see they are blindfolded with the american flag; but what for? It could suggest the relationship between authority and freedom. The designer spoke about the blindfolds and how in war they are used to force the captured enemy to conform which instantly makes them blind and vulnerable, they become submissive conditioned by the system that they believe (or believed in). Overall it sends out an important message and hopefully makes the audience question their beliefs.