Initial Designs

I set about sketching out a wireframe for a possible layout, based on the information from the previous year's report, drawing inspiration from documents I'd researched. This is very basic, and just shows the mix of text and photography I would use, including a footer similar to the Annual Report 2010-2011. The text is structured into one column that takes up just over half of the width of the page, which would be uniform throughout. Next to the page title there is room for an icon to help describe the theme, similar to the infographics used by Rosebery which I would like to include in my work. The front cover features room for imagery to make it eye-catching and room for a large title, while there are social media considerations in the bottom right-hand corner.

Without the new copy I wasn't sure how best to continue designing, as it would be difficult to create layouts without knowing the data that I needed. Instead, I moved on to the computer and began designing front covers.

I struggled to find a colour scheme to compliment the logo, and settled on a grey title and serif typography, with some similarities to Surrey County Council's, although straight away I felt it could easily be improved upon. I used some placeholder images that I found on their Worcester Northeast website and chose two images of a mosaic/mural to show the community spirit and make use of the bright colours. It was good to be able to begin designing using the InDesign software which I was looking forward to learning more about and finally see photography and colours in the designs.

I tried a plain white design here with simple text, drawing a little from the NHS Oxfordshire report but without the photography as the only attractive photographs I could find on their website were poor quality and I felt that they looked odd against such a bright logo. I prefer the typography here, with a clean and youthful look about it due to the use of Century Gothic, though as a whole the design is bland and uninspiring.

In my next design I moved back towards a photographic approach but with a more youthful type style. Again the photography I have used are bright and cheerful, and I have also included social media considerations with a Facebook page link and website address in the bottom right hand corner in a design very similar to my sketches.

I also decided to mock up the first interior pages using the text from the previous year's report, and the same images that I had sourced for other designs to replace the newspaper cuttings. I chose blue as the main colour scheme as it was present in the photographs and is reminiscent of the River Severn, one of the most recognisable Worcester landmarks. I think the designs I have created here could work, but they are not far removed from the AOHN's previous effort and I wanted to produce something a little different.