TED Re-Formatted

Project Brief

In this project, we are introduced to the principles of layout and editorial design. I must select a TED Talk video and also a format to create a printed publication. Using the TED Talk transcript of the video and my format, I will need to research and analyse what my format is and create and use imagery alongside my publication. However, the imagery used can't be from the video or the speaker. All formats have limitations or possibilities which I must challenge and find out alongside the choice of type and why the type used within my publication is important in communicating the ideas of the TED Talk.

Deliverables: 

- An edition of 5 of my printed and bound publications. 
- Research evidence of the theoretical and practical considerations of your project. 
- Also showing your analysis of these sources and how they have developed your ideas.

My Chosen Ted Talk

Tim Urban - Inside The Mind of a Master Procrastinator

This is one of if not the favourite TED Talk of mine. What I enjoy about this talk is the fact that not only is it presented simplisticly yet Tim Urban's personality and humour really sells the talk and makes it so much more interesting to watch. As well as him working completely with the visuals on screen instead of them just being there for the sake of having visuals. He doesn't need to use all these statistics and scientific facts on screen, he simply uses humour and cartoon-ish visuals and his own experiences to talk about Procrastination. Finally, what I truly love about this talk aside from the humour, is the fact that it is very relatable compared to any other talks I've watched. That feeling of connection makes it much easier to understand the talk and be engaged with it.

5 Key Points From The TED Talk

- Work Flow 
- Rational Decision Maker
- Instant Gratification Monkey 
-  Panic Monster
- Life Calendar

Chosen Format

The format I have chosen is an A5 Booklet. The reason for this is because with booklets, there is a sense of freedom in terms of the content, layout method and quantity used. Also I like how the A5 size is nice and compact yet it's not too small but not too large. I also thought about what would look best if I was trying to publicate based off a TED Talk and although a DL Leaflet or Magazine came into mind, A5 would be the most suitable.

Five Examples of How The Format is Used

Here are five examples of A5 Booklet designs applied with different layouts including portrait and landscape as well as how the imagery and text is used for the booklets.

Examples of Design Based on Procrastination

 Here are a few interesting design works based on the theme of procrastination which I found quite inspiring and helpful when approaching design ideas for my TED Talk.

I love the sense of interaction in this design. It's like a confusing maze to represent the mind of a procrastinator, getting lost and giving up yet it's represented in a playful way.

I love the simplistic design of the front cover and I think it's actually interesting about the line breaks added throughout the text. The reason in my opinion is that it slows down the reading of the text, almost making the reader procrastinate and break up the flow of reading.

The main thing I took from this is the use of illustrations which are cartoonish and wacky but gain viewer attention and actually work with how Tim Urban also presented his TED Talk using illustrations.

Flat Plan

A flat plan is used for print publications, mainly magazines to plan out the contents of each page in the publication. This includes imagery used and layout, where text would go, what kind of information etc. It's basically a blue print of the publication.

 My Basic Flat Plan

 

Early Cover Designs

This design I created was inspired by the breaking up of text. I wanted it to be slightly unalligned in order to show the message of it being unfinished but will be finished later perhaps. The smiley was used as an illustration like Tim Urban used in his TED Talk.

For the next design, I took the initial design and began to distort the text in order to convey the effect of being somewhat in a state of confusion which goes together with the illustration.

Finally, after the distortion of text, I began to break up the text in order to give the effect that things are almost finished but somewhat but not completed to the final stage that they should be, thus conveying how procrastination can be.

Initial A5 Booklet Design and Contents

 This is the initial A5 booklet I created for the brief for a tutorial session and after recieving criticism, I realised it was too corporative and like an information booklet instead of conveying what procrastination is like the front cover did that's why I decided to re work on the booklet again, this time taking into consideration to add more personality into it.

Minamilistic Design

 Researched into minamilstic designs and these are some of my favourite designs that I came across, it just goes to show that sometimes the design doesn't have to be over complicated or packed full of text, colours etc and instead all it takes is effectively finding the relationship between text and imagery and using it in a way that gets the message straight to the point.

Minimal Booklet Design Examples

After checking out the minamilstic designs, I researched into how this principle could be used in booklets and learned the main things when working with minimal designs and that is to effectively use white space to your advantage, use grid layouts to create a sleek and professional look and finally find the balance between the use of imagery and type.

A5 Booklet Re-Designed