The ISTD Flatland brief has been an ongoing affair for some time. I have actually done the brief twice now, once last module and again for the FMP. Vickie and I worked as a collaboration on both occasions, but the first time round we ended up hating our outcome and thought it lacked concept. So we started from scratch generating all new concepts and design directions, with new outcomes, formats and typographic choices. This was a great idea as it gave us some perspective on how much we had improved since the last module and made us feel very good indeed.
We re-directed our focus towards the concept, and developed the idea of ‘not fitting-in’ which mirrors the journey of the protagonist in the novella, ‘Square’ who fights to break out of his 2D world (Flatland) and into the 3D world (Spaceland). This was to dictate the free movement of elements around the formats we used. Both Vickie and I enjoyed working outside of the grid, using elemental design to create dynamic form and layout taking inspiration from Postmodernist design and the work of Joel Evey. Working without a grid was very useful to break from the idea that the grid is a fixed path that should not be strayed from. The poster evidenced this the most with elements shifting off the page only to re-appear elsewhere; while the chapbooks and the book covers were more orderly and function based.
I was not overly happy with the stock we used, it had a nice tone to it, but lacked texture and ended up being a bit flat, conceptually fitting… but aesthetically did not feel right. We decided not to re-print due to lack of funds as well as the pressure of the ISTD deadline approaching. We should have left ourselves more time for testing paper stocks, rather than designing on screen for so long. I have learned this lesson and have worked in a better way, proofing as I design since then.
Vickie and I work well in a collaboration, although at time we are both a little soft on decision making. When something is worked we generally did not push the boundaries as far as we could have in order to discover something new and innovative. However again I must say that this was due to the pressure of deadlines and working on multiple projects. If I were to do the brief yet again I would certainly expect to see all manner of interesting designs.
We were working on this project at the same time as working on the Fine Art yearbook and our individual Book Fair briefs, I also had an identity brief on the go, so was juggling all sorts day to day making it hard to dedicate any lengthy periods of time to it. Another lesson was learned here; be ambitious, but not over ambitious! I have learned my limits for now.
All in all I am happy with the project and especially with one of the product shots that is my splash page. I like to utilise my abilities with photoshop where possible, and with the concept of freedom, it seemed fitting to make something visually interesting.
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