Improving the CD concept

 Improving the CD concept

After creating the initial CD concept for my publication, I wanted to improve and develop it further as I feel like its definitely a potential direction I want to go in. The main issue with the initial concept was that it included all 5 rules, symbols and images, etc which created quite a busy and overwhelming user experience. To improve on this, I thought it might be better for the publication to consist of 5 separate discs that can contain the images, type and symbols corresponding to each rule. This would make the 5 rules more obvious to the audience, rather than trying to cram them all into one disc. 

The content I included on the first development was the 'lose yourself' rule, translated into German, the coordinates of Berghain, the symbol, a manipulated image and a block of text educating the audience on the cultural history of Berlin techno. I really like the placement of the symbol, as it has a dominant presence in the designs visual hierarchy, which is crucial as it needs to reference the poster series. I definitely prefer how this outcome feels less busy and more focused on one separate rule; I think not having too much text is important as the concept of the project is all about encouraging the audience to visit these locations and contextualise the info more. I think the use of type could be improved, as the typesetting for the initial design isn't properly curved to the shape of the disc; I could make see what the type looks like straight? As well as this, I'm unsure whether using Futura works, as maybe I could try creating my own custom typeface; the concept behind Futura is down to its influence on German design, especially its use in Kraftwerks Autobahn. I might ask to get some peer feedback on this, as using a custom typeface might overcomplicate the design further.

I also created an outcome for the 'love' rule, using the symbol I created earlier today. I quite like the idea of using 5 different colours for each of the 5 discs, as it would distinguish them better and make the user experience sort of clearer. Again, I applied the same rules as the previous design, and it ended up turning out fairly well; the main limitation again being the type setting. In light of this, I'm going to get some peer feedback and continue to develop this idea further as I feel like its the most refined and conceptually strong in terms of format and practical considerations. Akin to this, I also need to think about things like paper stock, and how the discs will be packaged; I'm leaning towards towards the idea of packaging them in a CD case, which could give me an opportunity to create an interesting visual language with a case. As well as this, I feel like I need to include some sort of map, as the audience needs to be able to locate the corresponding posters for each rule/ symbol; maybe this could be part of the CD case?