D&AD Times: Development

Based on earlier developments I've explored the use of imagery within the timeline as I felt the initial ideas could be pushed further, exploring the use of the timeline line. Exploring the traditional use of the timeline would have created a consistent theme across each poster however this was a limited design which I felt lacked impact (see figures 1-2). Therefore I looked at using the timeline in a less traditional manner, moving the line and having it the focus of the poster, however the copy is difficult to read on the image (see figures 2-4). Additional experimentation changing the layout to create a more modern aesthetic was also explored, however these lack conceptual backing (see figures 5).

Upon reflection of these ideas I decided to rethink the use of the timeline and focus more on the 'know your times' element of the copy provided, deciding to focus on questioning if the audience knows their times. The main approach taken with this was to feature the dates of key events to see if the audience could identify them, maybe using imagery as a clue (see figure 6). However the use of imagery wasn't working therefore a more typographical approach was taken. Inspired by crossword clues each poster features a word associated with the event as well as the date to focus more on testing the audience (see figures 7-17). This 'test' also creates a talking point for the campaign as people discuss what the events are and then consequently the events themselves. Furthermore the test plays on the idea that the target audience like to be in the know so are most likely to recognise each event. In addition the use of times new roman didn't allow the previous designs to stand out therefor a more modern and interesting typeface (PSFournier Std) has been used. Throughout the design process the different colours given to sections of the news on The Times website have been used as well as traditional black and white to represent the news paper (see figures 8-11). I've also explored colours relating to the events themselves such as purples for the queens coronation (crown jewels) and flag colours for South African and America (see figures 8,9,11,13,14). In relation to the dates themselves I have look at using the date the article was published by the times as this relates to the 'know your times' aspect of the brief but have also used the accurate dates as this related closer to the events themselves. In addition making the year more prominent to help the test was explored (see figures 15-16) however I felt this limited the impact of the type which benefits form the simplicity of the design. I plan to gain feedback on which is most appropriate as well as which colours to use as all have conceptual backing but I'm not 100% of which works best.

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