500 words.

Aims – To create an object, space or system that is an experience for a young child using design.

– To make the design educational as well as enjoyable for the child.

– To make sure the design will appeal to parents buying the experience for their children as well as the children themselves.

Production Plan :

Part 1 – 1 board of exhibition response and analysis – dissect the effect it might have on the user.

Part 2 – 1 board  of research – defining the user and the circumstances for intention, not the intervention itself – Identify and investigate a potential user, and how you want them to feel about themselves.

Part 3 – 1 board for development, and a second for the design solution, plus a written statement of 500 words (Design, development and solution).

Contingency Planning: My plan is that if my design doesn’t work I will either go back to my initial ideas and choose another however I will be constantly be reviewing my work with different stages of research to make sure the design I wish to pursue will work.

Research Methods:

Internet Sources – Research of existing products, collages and any other simple research.

Library Books/Nursery – Looking at existing children’s books and toys. Other necessary research .

The General Public and Peers – For surveys and opinions.

Learning Outcomes:

Specialist –

• Understanding of the needs and requirements of professional practice specialisms.
• Ability to articulate in various modes the implications of critical theories for design practices and visual culture in general.
• Effective visual communication through the medium of graphic design specialism.
• Critical research and analytical skills relevant to contemporary practice.

Generic –

• Independent study
• Critical thinking and analysis
• Learning through reflection
• Ability to abstract meaning from information
• Ability to work with complex material, analyze problems and identify appropriate solutions

How my work will be tested – I will be carrying out a survey to find out which of my designs will be most appropriate with peers and the general public.

Reflection – Look back on the learning outcomes and make sure it fits with them and everything is included.

Reaching my proposal.

I believe I have reached my proposals aim. I feel that my design works very well in creating an experience for children.

To reach my aims I carried out surveys to ensure that my idea will work and create a unique and exciting experience for young children. I carried out research on existing designs that were out there to ensure it would be suitable for children as well as an educational aspect to create the experience that I had planned in my proposal. I learnt how to reflect on my ideas and improve them to achieve the best design it could be developing them throughout using different typefaces including condensed and uncondensed typefaces criticizing my work throughout. I managed to identify the most appropriate solutions after analyzing the problem that I faced for example considering using letters with descenders etc. I feel like my final fits with my learning outcomes and would work well with the education of children as well as enjoyment.

PDFs.

 

Evaluation.

I believe I have reached my proposals aim. I feel that my design works very well in creating an experience for children.

To reach my aims I carried out surveys to ensure that my idea will work and create a unique and exciting experience for young children. I carried out research on existing designs that were out there to ensure it would be suitable for children as well as an educational aspect to create the experience that I had planned in my proposal. I learnt how to reflect on my ideas and improve them to achieve the best design it could be developing them throughout using different typefaces including condensed and uncondensed typefaces criticizing my work throughout. I managed to identify the most appropriate solutions after analyzing the problem that I faced for example considering using letters with descenders etc. I feel like my final fits with my learning outcomes and would work well with the education of children as well as enjoyment.

My finished Activity Pack – puzzle and colouring book sheets I feel fits the brief and very eye catching to the audience. I think that the imagery I have created is suitable for children and works well in an educational aspect, I feel like the imagery will attract children and the unique idea of scratch and sniff to help learn will attract parents to buy this for their children. I feel the imagery created and colours used are very simple and are all there for a reason which makes them work they are attracting the correct target audience I am aiming at. I think the fonts used work very well and are appropriate for children and also work well in the layout. The colour scheme used I think works well consistently as the colours used signify the fruits for example the red apple and the red letters help with being able to match the signifier to the signified. I feel it is obvious what I am trying to signify which is good for my target audience. I think my concept of scratch and sniff is very unique and will be a new way of learning as senses are what we engage most with.

If I could change anything about this piece I would have played around with the imagery some more to make the characters three dimensional maybe looking further into senses and trying out different textiles for feel as well as scent. After looking at the piece overall I feel like although It could be improved it does fit the brief well.

 

Colouring Book Step By Step.

I began with my colouring book using my choice of font ‘Futura Medium Condensed’. I got rid of the fill and  gave it a black outline 3pt. Most often used in children’s colouring books.

I then for each fruit used turned them into outlines used in colouring books to enable the child to colour them in. Below are the steps on how I created this.

Firstly I selected all layers and flattened the image using the flatten artwork tool to make all of the image one layer.

I then filled the imagery white with a black outline of which I then had to increase the point size to make it stand out on the page like existing colouring book pages I have seen.

Then I had to figure out a way of placing it on the page making the letters still legible for educational reasons to not confuse the child.

I then added the fruits on the letters to make them as one. Then including the words coloured to create an attraction to the page and also visually explaining to the child that the blank letters need to be coloured in. I colour picked from the initial fruit so there it relates to the fruit I am using and is also consistent throughout my design work. I repeated this process throughout for my other double page spread below.

Development/Step by Step.

I used Century Gothicas a typeface and found the layout of the lettering did not work when using my guides. The letters couldn’t be in the same point size as the typeface isn’t condensed. I realised this typeface did not work so I needed to look for a condensed typeface that is legible and suitable for children.

I tried out Gloucester MT Extra Condensed, Helvetica Condensed and Futura Medium Condensed. Withe Gloucester and Helvetica I found some letters were too mature for my age group, the difference of the two types of a etc. So I decided that the most suitable would be Futura Medium Condensed.

I found this typeface also worked well with lower and uppercase in the same point size. It made arranging and aligning my typography much easier using my guides.

Here is the puzzle final outcome.

Scratch and Sniff.

For my puzzle pieces I have decided to use scratch and sniff as well as the educational aspect of my design to create a memorable experience for children I am looking into how scratch and sniff works if my design was produced.

Below is the logo I created for my design with it on the back of the puzzle pieces.

Scratch and sniff coatings usually includes an image related to the fragrance it carries. For example, ascratch and sniff sticker might feature a picture of a banana. When you scratch it, you can smell a banana as if you had just peeled one! Scratch and sniff stickers first became really popular in the late 1970s. This is the concept I will be using as an experience for children.

Typefaces.

I have decided to look and explore using different typefaces to see what I think will be most suitable for my activity pack (puzzle pieces and colouring book).

When looking at existing puzzles of my age group of 3years+ I found most commonly they have used a Comic Sans or a Century Gothic, I have found they are very legible fonts. I am going to look at what would be most suitable for my piece.

Here are the examples i saw.

Comic Sans MS

Century gothic

I have decided on using Century Gothic as it is suitable and more pleasing to the eye. In my research I found that this would be suitable because when selecting a typeface for a children’s text I should look for a friendly design with simple, generous letter shapes which I think Century Gothic does.

From this I decided that i want to use a lower case as well as an upper case to show the difference in letters to help children learn I will need to take into consideration fitting both letters in and letters with a descender.

Step by Step.

Here is a step by step of creating my fruit characters for my puzzle piece. I will be explaining what I did and why I did it.

 

First I found an image of an apple which I then vectored on illustrator using the open tool to create a vectored effect which would be simple for children. I colour picked the colours from the apple to keep the eye co-ordination easier with the recognition to the colours. I then gave the fruit eyes arms and legs to give it personality making the piece more enjoyable for children.

I repeated this process throughout with my other fruits as you will see below.

From this I am now going to push forward and look at different typefaces that are legible and work well with young children.

Developing Ideas/Testing.

I decided to test out my puzzle game by ask parents their opinions. I created a rather simple version of the game and asked parents of young children how they would feel the game would work with children. Here is the example concept that I gave them.

The feedback I got was that I should not use two of the same letter, choose a different type of fruit. They thought the scratch and sniff idea was great and the simplicity of the puzzle was good for my age range. They said that maybe creating fruit people could be a good way to keep their attention making the puzzle more enjoyable.

From this I am going to rethink the carrot Idea and make the fruit into characters to keep the enjoyment factor in my puzzle.

Educational Aspects.

I have decided to go down an educational route for my design for the experience for children as well as the scratch and sniff. With choosing fruit in my initial ideas it made me think of your ‘5 a day’. I thought I would look into this to refine and develop my ideas to create an enjoyable yet educational outcome.

I found this interesting info graphic that showed fruit and veg that you can eat that will contribute to your 5 a day which includes different well known slogans parents use to persuade their children to eat fruit and veg. For example. carrots make you see in the dark – it attracts children to enjoy the food and makes it an enjoyable experience which most people remember well from when they were a child which I got from my research from peoples experiences.

I am going to look into using similar slogans for the back of my puzzle pieces for interaction with adult and child.

For my colouring book I am going to look at creating an interesting alphabet, I have found colouring book sheets with animals relating to the letter, I liked this idea and thought I could relate different fruit, vegetables and healthy things to letters.