Category: Principles of Visual Design

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Multicolumn Magazine Design

For this task, I looked through the photos on my phone and decided I was going to make this page themed about my kitten Pixel. I had the most photos of him so I decided that this would make a consistent page. I chose blue as the theme for the shapes on the page as the bandana that is on his collar in one photo is this shade of blue so it ties the images in.

I chose to do a 3 column grid for this as it looks most aesthetically pleasing and it allows for dynamic sizing of images. The title I chose to make off-centered and to the left as I felt that this made it match with the body text and make it more consistent. I also decided that I would only have a title on one side and not the other page as I think it adds some interest to the pages and also increases the white space.

To add more colour along with the boxes going behind the images on both pages, I made the title of the page the same shade of blue. As well I increased the size of the first word of each “segment” of text, bolded it and made it blue to add another pop of colour and make the white background less plain.

Below are some of the sketches I made first of possible layouts for the pages. I used these as a reference when creating my design and this made it easier and faster to create. I like my sketches as they have some good possible layouts on them and it took playing with the images to finally decide which one I wanted to use. I do really like the four-column design that I drew but I think this would work best at A3 size, not the A4 that I worked at.

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Bauhaus Influences

This is my favourite of the images that I took around campus which I felt had a Bauhaus influence. A lot of Bauhaus architecture seems to have angular lines and modern aesthetics.

These are two of the photos I took of Bauhaus influenced things around the Campus. These were my two favourites as I really like the composition of both of the photos with the contrast of the plain sky and I also feel like the buildings with their rows of windows look very Bauhaus influenced.

Below are some sketches I made whilst walking around the campus of other Bauhaus influenced architecture including buildings and a bench.

Below is a bauhaus influenced design I created in class using the XD programme. I went for simple shapes and overlapping vectors as I saw this a lot in the pieces I saw whilst looking up the style. I also went for sans serif text on the piece as this seems to be part of the Bauhaus style as well.

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Principles of Visual Design in the Library

For this task I decided to go to level 7 of the library as this is where the fine art books are and I wanted to look for a book on Bauhaus as this is what the lesson I previously attended was about. Once I took the elevator to the 7th floor I was greeted with the large wall sign below.

The design is relatively simple, using only the information needed and sticking within a limited colour scheme. The use of the yellow for the floor numbers makes them stand out and shows the sections clearly, in contrast the reversal of this colour scheme for the overarching header of the floor number creates a nice contrast and separation of the “title” of the sign from the informational text below.

There is a small map of the floor on the sign, along with a key to tell the important elements apart. The use of a key creates a more simplified design and allows for the design to draw the eye downwards with the list of places. The unique colours for the elements of the map add a bit more colour to the sign without sacrificing the overall colour scheme.

The other image above is of a sign on the end of one of the stacks. The use of white space makes this sign aesthetically pleasing, simple and easy to understand. The stacks are clearly numbered and the line down the middle splits the 2 sides of the stack in half. The use of the line down the middle to show separation means that there is no need for the use of arrows or any such device as the line adds a visual element that separates the information. The colour scheme from the wall sign is carried onto this for continuity.

Above are two images of some bauhaus work from a book I found in the library. These are 2 of the more interesting pages I found within the book. The use of overlapping shapes and flat objects makes them effective designs. The book was in black and white so I can’t speak on the colour but the different contrasting shades are interesting and draw the eye to the designs as it is very bold. Much of the text is a sans serif font and and is placed in balance with the shapes or often in the confines of them. There is also good use of white space so the images don’t feel overcrowded.

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Personal Brand

I started this task by making a short list within my sketchbook of my ideas. I then took this list and started sketching some simple ideas. As I was creating this at home I was limited to using phone apps for creating the actual brand icon and final images so I tried to keep this in mind and to keep it simple. Below is a scan of my sketchbook and my ideas:

I ended up choosing the bottom idea of a sketchbook with my name on it as I like art and sketching and I think that this sums me up quite well as a personal brand. I used this stock vector image from a free image website as again I was limited to what I could create on the apps on my phone. (https://pixabay.com/vectors/sketchbook-book-notes-calendar-156775/)

I took this image into the app PicsArt and used the colour dropping and selection tools to change the colour of the band on the sketchbook to a purple shade. I then chose a font and tried to position the text onto the sketchbook. I think that this would have looked better if there were more options to configure the text but I think this does look good.

I made a darker and lighter version of the design because I couldn’t choose which I liked best and thought they both could have good uses.