E-Brochure Evaluation

When evaluating my e-brochure I wanted to be fairly harsh as hoped that my illustrations looked more polished. I feel that this is due to working from sketchbook first then moving over to digital work but this could have been solved by spending a couple hours getting used to the InDesign program however for what I have achieved for this project I am pleased with the final look. While creating my e-brochure I kept the 4 main design principles in mind because they are important to follow as a basic set of rules, as you can see when my e-brochure is viewed, I have tried to be consistent with my own images throughout showing the brightness and extravagant side of the Victorian period.

Illustration Development

My Illustrations

I decided to make hard copies of my illustrations to go with my own personal style, I started by collecting images which related to certain topics of Victorian Entertainment. Things like magazine cuttings as well as found images on the internet has been used to create these backgrounds for which my illustrations are going to be put on-top of. As you can see in the image below I created 4 collages to reflect each event which is going to be at the British Library event.

Once I had created these backgrounds in my sketchbook, they were photographed and put into Photoshop. This is so that I can edit them ready to be placed into my e-Brochure. When editing my images I fiddled with different layers, opacity as well as the brightness and contrast. I like to use a mix of both digital and hand made work, I feel that this works well with my e-brochure because it makes it feel more authentic.

E-Brochure Design

So that my e-brochure is effective at advertising for the British Library I need to ensure that the final product looks professional and consistent. Within InDesign there are ways to ensure this is followed through. For example; I am able to set up a master page which means anything on that page is repeated throughout the brochure. This feature has allowed me to keep the same background colours and layout on every page as well as this I have included page numbers on the bottom right of the page, again this was to help give a professional look to my final piece.

As well as the final design of my e-brochure, I needed to set up a text style, which is similar to CSS styles. I needed to decide on the font, colour, size and weighting of all text which will be featured within. Each page has similar information on but I needed to set up a way so that the audience can clearly see the layout of the text. The text for the main body has to be different to the Title or Sub-title, this is because my audiences need to be able to differentiate the hierarchy of the document.

Colour Development

Adobe Colour Schemes - 'Victorian'

Once the basic research for my e-brochure had been completed I then went onto the experimentation of colours to use. Websites such as adobe colour CC were a massive help to me, this is because I was able to explore themes that had already been made for some inspiration. I wanted to steer away from bright colours and try to stick to an analogus colour scheme. This is so that the pages are easily read but also nice to look at. By using this website I am able to pick and choose to create my own colour scheme. I want to go for light pastel colours which all flow nicely together to enable me to get the most out of my e-brochure. 

The image on the right is me showing the stages I went through to customise my own colour scheme. This can then be saved and entered into photoshop ready for the editing of my illustrations, titles and text. The image below shows the colours I have decided to use throughout my brochure, 5 colours is enough to keep the page busy and full however due to the intensity of all of them it is not too bright for my audiences not to enjoy looking at. My illustrations will be prepared with this colour scheme in mind.

Final Colour Scheme

Victorian Entertainments- There Will be Fun

I first started my research for the Exhibition at the British Library website, this allowed me to discover what the target age is and what the aims for the exhibition is. As this exhibition focuses on the entertainment in the Victorian age it appeals to people of all ages. Most of the material featured within the exhibition has never been displayed before, this paired with bright eccentric colours used for their displays means that the age range can be very broad, due to facts and design to draw in an audience. There are also separate classes hosted by the British Library in the Learning Centre for things such as victorian illustrations which appeal to an older audience.

Screenshot from British Library 

I then decided to define the separate forms of entertainment which are being displayed though this exhibition. To enable it to entertain the masses the exhibition has been split into 5 different areas, each with their own characters as the main focus, with live performances every Saturday. Within the exhibition it looks into the different forms of popular entertainment from the Victorian times, things such as; music hall performances, decadent 'freak' shows, trick photography and close up magic. For each of these areas there will be artifacts displayed throughout, things such as old tickets and posters. By the involvement of this information it will allow the audience to emotionally respond and make connections from now compared to Victorian entertainment.