'No News Is Good News' group and self evaluation

PART 2 - I got feedback for my posters anonymously. Feedback questionnaire and answers are below. All the criteria for this crit had been taken directly from the brief ' NO NEWS IS GOOD NEWS', message and interpretation - part two.

What statement/fact/question is being communicated to you? - this might not be what was intended.

• Over the top health and safety.

• Health and safety gone mad in this country.

Is this being communicated in a clear and focused way? YES

What could be developed further?

• Making the image larger so it is even more noticeable, or a pure white back ground, as the black background is lost in areas due to the shiny surface on the paper.

• I understand what the posters are trying to communicate. Maybe they could be clearer in imagery. The image poster says 'sick' to me instead of 'don't breathe'.

Have the posters been kept 'simple and to the point?' YES

Is a statement, fact or question being posed? - how do you know this?

• Fact/statement basically saying that you cannot do anything without it being a health and safety issue.

• Statement. The posters are giving you an order and taking the mick out of health and safety.

Has the restriction of two colours been met? NO

Are the two colours plus stock appropriated to the solution? YES

Why are the two colours plus stock appropriate/inappropriate? - if inappropriate offer possible solutions.

• The colours are entirely appropriate. Yellow is associate with warning and instructional sign, however the colour criteria has not been met due to the use of a tint.

• It could look quite effective on a white background, which would make the design stand out even more, but the contrast of yellow and black is highly effective.

• They show warning and are saying this could happen.

• The yellow stands out well against the black, but I'm not sure if red may have worked as well?

Do the posters work as a set or series? YES

Why do they work/ don't work as part of a set or series and could this be developed further?

• Consistent design throughout the three.

• Same typeface, illustration and text used.

• It would be recognisable as a poster from the set.

Is it clearly evident which poster is type, image, and type and image? YES

Are the posters 'memorable, immediate, high impact and clear?' - give as much feedback as possible.

• These posters are memorable as they are quite humorous in a dry, satirical way.

• As a set they have immediate impact, however if I saw the image based poster on its own, it might not be so clear as to what is being communicated.

• The designs are very clear through the use of simple sans serif text and a simple symbol through line drawing.

• I think the colours play a big part in the posters being so memorable.

• The illustration is unique as well so would be remembered.

• Could be more high impact if capitals were used.

Do you feel the brief has been fulfilled to its full potential? YES

Further feedback...

• Apart from the minor issue of the number of colours used, the brief had been fulfilled to its full potential. It clearly communicates the strange wonders of today's health and safety in a to-the-point comical way.

• I think they would have more impact without the gradients and therefore will fit within the brief of three colours including stock.
• Also with the imagery being used on the text poster it misses the brief.
• Overall I think it is high impact and could work well with a few changes.

Personally I think I may have neglected the finer details of the brief because I did use gradients, creating more colours and a box on the text poster. Although I did make alterations and my final submission meets all the requirements now. Strengths of the posters are the colours used create the right feeling and the satirical style of the tag line.

PART 3

What? Ridiculous health and safety rules and regulations, strong instructing tag line

Why? Picking fun at health and safety. Informing others that health and safety is ridiculous these days and they are worrying too much.

How? Fold out re-sealable envelope with flyers slotted inside developed from posters.

Who? Health and safety head quarters, government, high risk work places, unions for workers.

Inform/instruct/persuade/promote? Inform

Format? Re-useable envelope, three posters with info sheets and written explanation of what I am informing.

Colour/stock? Yellow and black, tracing paper.

Half way through this brief there was a group crit with 4 people giving me feed back on my work so far; here is the feedback:

'I like the 'Don't speak, don't breathe, don't move' experiment as it is very playful and communicates the idea of stupid signs well. I also like the clear, layered look'.

'I like the layering idea. More experimentation of envelope design will help you find a more unique envelope design'.

'Using more of a fun idea, your putting across that it's a joke. Using a wheel which your turn to reveal funny signs 'don't speak don't breathe' could work well'.

'Tracing paper might get broken in the post, maybe look into something stronger'.

Action to be taken to resolve issues:

• Strength of tracing paper on envelope when posted.

• Is tracing paper relative to the subject.

• Keep the envelope design in link with the subject of health and safety.

• Make sure the symbol is clear what it is telling the audience.

Evaluation of final envelope and contents:

I think overall the whole envelope design looks good and works well. I think it looks sleek and interesting. I have put a lot of effort into making sure the print quality and paper quality is to the highest of standards. Also I tried to make sure there was a happy medium between imagery and text information to keep the audience happy and interested.

Things to improve I would say are the don't breathe symbol. On a majority people understood what the symbol was representing, but a few were confused and thought it could be a man with a beard or someone being sick. If I had more time I would develop the symbol further so it was more clear. I found it quite hard to design the logo because it has to be simple yet self explanatory. I would also experiment with different papers to see what I could achieve without the paper being semi-transparent.

On a whole I am proud of my result. I think it is a quirky idea and works well as comical yet serious. Trying to keep something simple and to the point limits the outcomes, but I find makes them more direct and effective.