D&AD Times: Initial Ideas

Based on idea generation I've explored a few of the key ideas identified:

Know Your times:

Inspired by the Times tag line I've explored key events within the Times and Sunday Times history to test the audience to see if they 'know their times'. Initially key dates and corresponding images where to be featured within a poster campaign, however this felt limited and lacked an engaging concept (see figures 1-3). Therefore the idea of looking at a timeline was incorporated within the designs to highlight the key events in the papers history such as the change in name, first war correspondent and introduction of digital subscription (see figures 4-5). Due to the visual nature of the timeline I've explored different ways of continuing the line across multiple posters to create consistency throughout the campaign (see figures 6-8). Furthermore this idea could be implemented online through the use of animation which could be featured as sponsored posts on Instagram. In relation to the time, initially I looked at following the line down so the different posters could be placed together lining up the lines (see figure 6). Although this idea was visual engaging it would be difficult to feature each poster together within traditional advertising platforms. Therefore a liner timeline (see figures 7) was explored so each poster could be places next to each other, allowing the continuous line to be seen throughout each poster. In relation to the colours looked at, the colours used within the print newspaper and online have been used to identify the section the key date relates to, such as navy blue for key news and green for world news (see figures 8-11). However this creates a disjointed appearance to the posters when places next to each other. Therefore traditional black and white has been incorporated to represent traditional newsprint (see figure 12). Furthermore this allows the posters to stand out more as they look uniform when placed together. In relation to the typefaces used Times New Roman has been used throughout the experiment in order to maintain the existing brand identity within the new campaign.

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 Showcase each Section:

In addition show casing each section covered within the newspaper was also explored as I personally didn’t realise there was so many individual sections within the Times. This focus allows the campaign to showcase all thats on offer, showing that theres something for everyone. However the implementation of this idea has been difficult to showcase each section in an interesting manner (see figures 13-16). Initially I’ve looked at showcasing each section based on the layout of a newspaper however as only the name of each section has been used this layout influence isn’t clear within the designs. The use of the simple names on the colours that represent each section has limited impact (see figures 13-16). Therefore more information needs to be included or another avenue explored and the current designs don’t encourage reader to subscribe. 

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Puzzels: 

Crosswords and sudoku puzzles are synonymous with printed newspapers but many don't know the multiple other puzzles offered by the Times and Sunday Times within their digital subscriptions. Therefore less well known puzzles have been used to create a poster campaign, that could be animated and used within a social media campaign. The use of playing on the meaning of 'know your times' asks the audience if they know these puzzles are offered by the times but also asks if they can solve the brain teasers themselves. Although these responses don't focus on the news aspect of the newspaper, they focus on the idea that the audience can better themselves using the Time and Sunday Times. Throughout these experiments the layout of the puzzles have been explored to help inform the layout of each poster (see figures 17-27). Furthermore orange is the colour given the puzzle section both online and within the printed paper, allowing those who may have completed the printed puzzles to recognise the aesthetic associated with the printed puzzles. Throughout these experiments the format of the online content has been used, placing the Times logo in the top left corner further add to the recognisable aesthetic created in order to create outcomes that effectively represent the existing brand. Throughout these ideas different layouts have been explored, looking at how much information surrounding the puzzles should be included (see figures 20-23). Limited information has been looked at in order to test the audience more, however some may not recognise the basic representation of the puzzle therefore more information was included in order to not exclude those who may not have seen the puzzles before (see figures 24-27). 

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