Campus Signage: Part Deux

Signage is an important structural part our cultural communication network around the world. Signs mean to conveys in ways and at times human beings physically cannot. In this way, I appreciate our campus signage project. After seeing--what appeared and felt like--the great lengths my colleagues went to to produce beautiful and thoughtful redesigns, my minimalist approach felt much more like a layman's approach. So I set out to see what I could do to enhance the quality of my own redesign in a visually striking way.

Back to the Drawing Board

Original Redesign

With my first revision rework, I selected the same picture that I used for my revision and began playing with some of the poster options Canva offered. In the spirit of not wanting to do too much, and keeping in mind the constructive criticism I received in class) I stuck with as little detail as possible. Although I forgot to include the email address,  I think I captured all the other elements the original flyer was striving for, and overall, I have a more dynamic looking and feeling flyer, which I can appreciate. I still felt that it could be doing more. So on to the next revision rework.

Take Two

Before I set about the revision of the revision, I looked for several comic-style graphics I could play around with. The second one I found I liked because the captions within it were doing something that I could have only hoped to do through text on the flyer.  I like asymmetry and geometric shapes and two or three-tone color combinations, so this next poster preset I selected I felt worked. This revision is pleasing to the eye, and straight to the point, again fitting my less is more motif.  

And the Winner is…

 For the final revision rework, I actually went back to the original flyer and considered what they were trying to accomplish through their choices. The two graphics were actually working together to create a story line. And then it hit me. This is actually what we are doing in this class. This is the only one of the three reworks where I used a collage style layout. I cropped the comic into three individual boxes and put them in order to tell the story. I could, of course, play with this even more, but this final rework is the first time I felt like I had a real hold on what I was supposed to be doing with this project.

How do Creative Constraints Curtail the Artistic Technical Process? a.k.a. When Thinking outside the Box Goes Wrong

This is, at first glance, is an easy question to answer. First my response would be that an artistic technical process is an oxymoron. Artistry is not needed in a space where all presets are configured before a writer even puts the first word on the page. Popular writing concepts like the tabula rasa—the blank page is indicative of an impending adventure do not belong in the same space as the rigidity of technical writing where content is far more valuable than personal voice. The two where once oil and water to me. It would seem that the idea of wandering naively through a technical landscape allowing a story to unfold and finding your voice in that discovery is a perfect predicament for a writer. However, this can actually become a pitfall.

  

What does one have to be mindful of when constructing prose for the purpose of artistry and how might these processes burden an artistic technical endeavor? The answer lies in the relationship between form and content. Creative constraint is to imagine the processing possibilities that are available in the face of perceived barriers. The truth is the technical writing landscape does not always allow the writer the space to wander. Often time technical writing already has a predetermined path, and the writer’s job is to express that path textually. A writer looking for creative constraint while writing technically may find an irreconcilable duality.

Campus Signage Project: The Paradox of Thinking it Can Be Better and Actually Making it Better (a.k.a. The Struggle)

Selected flyer for Digital Signal Project

Above is the flyer I selected for my campus signage project revision. I started by identifying what story I felt it was telling, followed by what I felt was problematic about the story/flyer, and lastly taking my best stab at how to make the flyer more aesthetically pleasing and technically effective.

Main Issues:

Tone: the comic strip infers a more comical delivery, and I question the intent of that. Is this a serious issue or a laughing matter? The textbook speaks openly of the complimentary nature of content and context, and I feel the message is in danger of not being taken seriously because of the presentation choices made.

Font: the font is so big in certain areas that it stretches beyond the margins and is cut off. Also, there are too many font styles in the flyer overall (three by my count).

Focus of message: Seems a bit two-fold here. The flyer is simultaneously working to promote the event and the club. It should only focus on one. Marketing the meeting as an event, since all the graphics and most of the messaging is already geared in that direction.

Style: Although the original flyer does not seem overloaded with content (actually, there are some negative space issues that could be addresses), how to best convey a sense of what the Philosophy Club of NIU offers as an organization through how it treats one of its presentation topics is a main goal.

Just as a side note, this flyer also has NO NIU branding whatsoever. That had to change.

Changes Made:

Layout: I switched the layout from portrait to landscape to allow more room to space the message on the page. I also feel that landscape provides more of an opportunity to create a focal point (from left to right) that the eye zoom in on. I added the graphic captions on either side of the picture itself as a sort of secondary border to reinforce the center of the page as the focal point. Sharp thick and thin black lines work to create page sections without overburdening the page. The goal is to give each element of the flyer its own space. Sleek and clean with a general “less is more” feeling is what I am ultimately going for.

Font: I choose two fonts styles, one that would serve the purpose of conveying tine through the caption, and a bold but minimalist approach to for the font choice for the general messaging within the flyer.

Graphics: I chose a different picture than the two comic strips on the original to convey a comparable message without intermingling humor. Also the initial caption messaging worked to delineate personal privacy from professional/workplace privacy. I went with a picture that I felt did the same by presenting a simple desk with a computer on it. Although the character in the comic is wearing professional clothing, which insinuates he is at work, he could very well be in a home or more informal setting. The point is to have viewers see digital privacy as a threatened right regardless of where they are.

Caption: The original caption read: “Would you ignore your privacy here? So why ignore it here?” The caption actually works well with the graphics chosen in the original flyer, but did not translate as well which the change of graphic. I kept the question style caption to retain the feeling of philosophy, which is the nature of questioning information. Some of the content at the bottom of the original flyer says that all majors are invited, so my question choices reflect an open-ended question that anyone reading the flyer could identify with (that is the point anyway). Also also love the play on words in the graphic, "Data mine." The double entendre of possession and the explosive threat of compromised digital privacy plays well to the overall tone of the subject matter.I wanted to do something similar with the overarching caption, and the play on privacy and piracy.

Content: Again going for minimalism, I included event information in short, labelled, almost bullet-like lines that are easily accessible.