OUGD504 - Brief 01 - Production Considerations

STUDIO BRIEF 1 – “The Design Process” Folded Leaflet

• Stock choices? I chose to use a lightweight semi-matte stock to print on (found in the print resource at Blenheim walk). This stock doesn’t look or feel cheap as such, but because of its low gsm, it does tend to feel rather flimsy and the ink may crack over time. Printing on this stock cost me £1 per sheet, because it is of a fairly high quality and feels premium. Printing multiple leaflets on this stock would admittedly get expensive. Ideally, if my design were to be printed on a mass scale, I would look to use a cheaper stock, or alternatively seek a printing facility that would offer me a reasonable price based on the quantity of prints. Bulk printing usually reduces the cost, solving this issue. For submission, I will consider printing on bulkier stocks to help prevent the leaflet degrading over time/handling.

• Folding styles? I used a very basic folding method which I felt was not too ‘boring’ but also not overly complicated. The front panel of the leaflet includes three cut away shapes that reveal content on an underlying panel, which I cut manually. In the context of mass production, this folding method would not pose much of an issue, and dye cutting would probably be suitable to cut the shapes out on a mass scale.

• Budget? I wanted to keep costs to a minimum throughout this brief; I feel I did that through my design decisions. In the industry, leaflets are usually designed and produced on mass scales, which generally keeps costs low. Key stock/printing decisions are made to maintain low costs.

• Printing techniques? I chose to user the laser-jet in the digital print resource to print my leaflet. Mainly for ease and efficiency. I didn’t see the need to print the leaflet using screen printing, for a few reasons. Screen printing can be quite a tedious process, usually better suited for more illustrative work. I really enjoy and value screen printing as a technique, I just didn’t see the need to use it for this project.

• Time-scale? This was a very fast paced one week brief, and I did struggle initially with time management. After I had a concept I was fine. I generated a more or less finalised design within the time-scale of a week, but continued to make adjustments and tweaks for a further week following the final crit. In industry, deadlines must be stuck to, that is just a part of maintaining a professional standard as a designer. I managed to stick to the deadline, just about. I printed a final version of the leaflet after about two weeks of undertaking the brief, however I am considering reprint for the purpose of submission.

• Scale, size, dimensions? I printed on A3, so that the leaflet looks and feels substantial in size. I did mock-ups on A4, but when folded and condensed down it felt too small. I think A3 was an appropriate size to use for this brief

• CMYK or Spot Finishes? - I chose to design two leaflets, one which is completely monochrome and the other with spot colour. The monochrome design was a success, and would be very cheap to produce on a mass scale, because it would use only black ink. However, the purely monochrome design has the potential to be a bit dull, so I injected some orange in places (spot colour) Again this design would be relatively cost efficient if printed on a large scale due to limited range of ink that would be required

Considerations:

How you produced the outcome in the college and how it  might be produced in a commercial situation? I printed the final design using the digital print resource at Blenheim Walk. This was the most efficient and accessible printing option for me. In a commercial situation, the packaged InDesign file would be sent off to a print company along with specific instructions to the scale, stock and so on. 
Your role as a designer? My role as the designer is to provide the necessary information in regards to how I want the design to be printed on a large scale. I would include in the packaged document the requirements. I want it printed on A3 stock at 80 gsm. The document is monochrome with one spot colour, so that wouldn't difficult to communicate. 
Your relationship to printers, other designers, illustrators, developers?
How you communicate your production requirements? Through the 'package document' facility of InDesign, this is where I would communicate my requirements for the printers