The Principals of Design - Report Example

EXPLAINATION AND JUSTIFICATION ABOUT COLOUR, TYPE, LAYOUT LOGO AND OTHER ASPECTS IN THE DESIGN PIECES by Student’s Name Code + Name of Course Professor Date Design Justification For any design to be successful enough to achieve the desired objectives, many factors come into play. The design ought to be designed with the audience in mind so that the audience is able to identify with it, view and remember it. The function is also of paramount importance. Different functions call for different designs. Suiting the graphic for the purpose is an opportunity to snatch the attention of the target audience and deposit your message. Adhering to the principals of design will certainly lead to a successful product. The principles include proximity, balance, alignment, contrast, and repetition (Jacci 2009). This essay explains and justifies the choices of color, type, layout, logo and all the other aspects of the design pieces. In designing the brochure, a combination of design principals was put to use. The brochure has taken a mix of formal and informal balance in a very subtle way to create the desired impact. The first page of the brochure has observed the rule of thirds to attract focus on our business easily. The pictures pinned at the first page are a good introduction into the restaurant. They are on the periphery so they command attention, given that the page contains only to two other items; there is no competition for attention. The focal point is therefore locked properly. This also brings out the brochure as a simple piece, which is easier for the audience to read and remember. The contrast in the piece also goes a long way to create impact. The mainly red logo and yellow skirting all combine to produce impressive contrast. The large pictures and the small loge also contribute to contrast. Apart from some pages, there is enough white space in the piece. The recipe book takes advantage of contrast to create impact at first glance. The texts and the typefaces vary in size to produce this contrast. The pictures and clip arts in the leaf also further the contrast. The proximity is also well thought out. The ‘recipe book’ clearly assumes its role as the main topic the followed by ‘Christopher Lawson Epicurean Food Merchant, which assumes the role of the title of the text under it. This proximity clearly brings the message home. The visual balance is also impressive. The balance is average, but the viewers’ eye quickly catches the contents of the image, helping in sending the message home. Simplicity in the graphic is also worth noticing, it smoothens the delivery of the message without obstacles and vagueness. The consistency in the recipe book also makes it impressive. The font usage is consistent giving the piece a professional look. The alignment is not the traditional centered, it is aligned in different ways to bring an interesting dynamic feel (Jacci 2009). It is common knowledge that every organisation has to create and invoke a perceived image in the society. Every design should therefore match with the corporate image of the client. This contributes to the reputation of the client company, e.g. customers should be able to distinguish the products from afar. Christopher Lawson has made sure that the logo stands out and speaks about the restaurant. It is attractive, simple and memorable. However, the logo is not the brand or identity. The logo design, branding and organizational identity all contribute to how the society views the organization (Just Creative 2010). Since this online restaurant business is new, there is no corporate identity and branding to comply with. The task is therefore delivering this new brand and obtaining favourable corporate image. Since the brand is an emotional image, which is perceived, it is psychological. Generally, the audience makes a brand and not the company since it is the ‘personality’, which the consumers have attached to the business (Just Creative 2010). Christopher Lawson is forming a strong foundation for the branding, identity and corporate image as a whole. From the impressive logo to all other document which goes out of the company will reflect the mission and vision of the online restaurant. The brochure and the recipe all stick to the same themes and colors. The website will still adopt the same color themes. This sets a good foundation for branding; the customers will identify the company with these colors, and eventually create a brand. The consistency in use of the items of corporate identity will contribute immensely to the branding. It will show what the company stands for. This is what is going to build and grow the company and ascertain its position in the market making it stand out. Even though this cannot come simply by consistently using the logos, colors, specific fonts, a good slogan and logo, Christopher Lawson uses all the means possible to enable it stand out. The slogan ‘we are devoted to the pleasure of food’ is already catchy and sells the company well. The logo is also very inviting, and it will be used in combination with the other items of the corporate identity to the advantage of the company. The audience is the most important party in the design. This is because the message is generally intended for them to see. Christopher Lawson’s designs use the slightest opportunity to communicate to the target audience because designs were made with the audience in mind. The restaurant targets the young to middle age people who most likely are professionals in workplaces. Owing to that, the color choice is blue, which is a cool color, which radiates trustworthiness, technology, and stability. This king of audience is tech savvy that even explains why they will opt for an online store. Too much color or dull colors would be inappropriate for such an audience (Snell 2008). The images in the brochures target the audience well; they are images of similar age as the target audience. The slogan of the restaurant also sits well with the audience. The young people love pleasure and would love to associated with places which have pleasure. The slogan of Christopher Lawson captures their eye for pleasure therefore attracting them. The website where the online orders will be received has social media incorporated. Thus further underlines identification with the young people though all ages these days use facebook. The general mood of the two pieces is an inviting, kitchen mood. The mood also contributes to inviting a choosy audience like young people. The typefaces are rather simple and not very large like it would have been if the target audience was more advanced age portion of the population. Most likely they will not be tiring to read for the young people. They are sizable enough and consider the fact that their reading ability is high. They will therefore read and follow the document to the end. Fitting the graphics with the purpose and organisation are key to ensuring that the graphics are received well (UoW 2008). The brochure and the recipe book are certainly tailor made to ensure the people who see it are interested to read it, and quickly get the message. They have to encourage more and more people to come do business with us. The purpose of brochure is to provide a first glance on who we are and stimulate action to purchase right then. The brochures are generally for advertisement. The brochures therefore do not contain many details about the restaurant, simple a quick overview so that it does not bore the potential customer for he/she may be stimulated to find out more. The attractive color selection and the catchy slogan create desire for the products of the company. The brochure also contains all the important contacts so that potential customers can locate us and find further information. The purpose of the recipe book is to give the customers and the potential customers the available menu items we have in the Christopher Lawson Food Merchant. It is meant to stimulate interest to enable the reader to place an order. Clearly, the center of attention in the recipe book is the image of the plate. The white space around it makes it stand out clearly as the focus in the recipe book. The image contains one of the favourite menus available, presented in an inviting image. The wording also helps the purpose to come out clearly. Design choice is critical because that is what the targeted audience is going to interact with. However good the product or the design is, or how good the wording is, if it is presented in a poor design, it will not be successful in the market. The choice of using the brochure is inspired by advantage which brochures offer in advertisement: it invokes emotion and prompts quick action. The recipe book is more or less similar to the brochure and produces a similar effect. The color choices are red, green yellow and blue, which combine and bring an assortment of varied colour meanings, producing multiple psychological effects on the customers. The red color makes it noticeable, green and blue elicit coolness, trust, and freshness. Yellow ices the designs with an edible feel. The layout of the designs is meant to cause the impact and the contrast so that the point of focus in the designs clearly comes out. In the layout photos and texts have combined well without the obstruction effect. There is sufficient white space remaining so that the viewers’ eyes have a place to rest. Both the brochure and the recipe book will be printed in glossy paper so that the graphics quality and the picture are emphasized. Such qualities are paramount since in eating, the eyes also participate; a person would want to eat something which looks appetizing. Budgetary concerns affect advertising of any kind. Use of glossy paper will be double the budget on using ordinary paper or newsprint paper. However, it is important to consider the returns for investment. Even though using lower quality printing papers and will save on costs, it will not establish a good brand in the market. Potential customers want to be associated with business which are promising and look well resourced. Especially for our target market, it is important to build a strong brand. A full color print out is certainly desirable for it will communicate the message more effectively and contribute to a favorable brand appeal. Two-colour spot is not desirable for this kind of business although it is a good cost cutting measure. We therefore settle for full colour glossy paper. The final step is reaching the designs to the targeted audience. There several ways the flyers can be distributed, but all methods fall into ether targeted or mass distribution (Taradel, 2008). Christopher Lawson fliers will be distributed using a blend of the above methods. The flyers will be deposited in local colleges, universities and schools. Shopping malls and places where many people converge will not be left out. The local vicinity will be more important so that we are able to reach the customers when they place their orders. This will cultivate acceptance and provide the push for growth and development in the future. In the university, I can also get the students who would want to do vocational jobs. I would give them a job to distribute the brochures at a small fee. This will easily spread the flyers very fast, and to the targeted audience. As they do so, the time I would have spent spreading the flyers are spent in doing other things to further the success of the business. Commercial centers and workplaces will also be amongst the avenues to distribute the flyers. Having considered the purpose for brochures, the target audience and the principals of design, the designs will be viewed and the objectives met. It is notable that every decision about a design any aspect has far reaching implications and only informed choices should be made. The principals of designing, client needs the target audience and the purpose of the designs should inspire the designs in businesses. The Budget and distribution alternatives of the design should also be brought to the equation for they matter a lot. After producing designs, the business should dig to find out how strengthen the brand in the market since brand is whole complex subject, though critical for business success. Reference List Jacci, B 2009, Principles of Graphic Design Basics Classes, [Online] Available at: https://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GZEU_enKE495KE496&q=Characteristics+of+a+good+graphic+design [Accessed 31 January 2013]. Just Creative 2010, Branding Identity and logo design explained, [Online] Available at: http://www.justcreative.com/2010/04/06/branding-identity-logo-design explained [Accessed 31 January 2013]. Snell, S 2008, 21 ways your audience affects your design, [Online] Available at: http://vandelaydesign.com/blog/design/audience-affects-design/ [Accessed 31 January 2012]. Taradel 2008, 3 great ways to destribute your fliers. [Online] Available at: http://www.taradel.com/resourcecenter/flyer-printing/ways-to-distribute-your-flyers/ [Accessed 31 January 2013]. UoW 2008, Web Design and Development. [Online] Available at: http://www.washington.edu/accessit/webdesign/student/unit4/module1/guidelines_for_web_graphics.htm [Accessed 31 January 2013]. Read More