Study task 2: Prospectus task

Context of Practice- Constructive Criticism of LCA Prospectus

After taking notes and having discussed with my group the positives and negatives of the LCA 2013/2014 Prospectus we were further asked to identify the 5 of the most important unsuccessful/successful traits and features of the Prospectus and provide a rationale for these judgments. As you can see from my note taking I did no write a vast amount, however from what was discussed I remember the 5 most important points I felt where most important.

Embossed cover

One of the features within the Prospectus that we found successful was the embossed typography on the front cover, although we found that typography didn’t seem aesthically pleasing due to the ‘central alignment’ being visually imbalanced. We found that the embossed finish to the typography left an interesting texture for the audience/potential student to be aquatinted with as they pick the prospectus up.

Images within the Prospectus seem to ‘artsy’

One of the features within the Prospectus that our group felt was unsuccessful was the use and composition of the photographs, which displayed images of students work, depicted ‘student life around LCA’ and represented the culture of the college. Although we could understand the approach the photographer had taken (by trying to compose these images in an interesting manner) we found that it was difficult to digest the true atmosphere of the college (still life) and see the final pieces of students work. As this is the Prospectus for coming year we felt that this was disadvantageous for the college as the new potential student wouldn’t able to see contemporary work that students have produced within the college are over the past year, thus not able to see the institutions true greatness. 

 Ease of use

Another feature that we collectively identified as a group and found unsuccessful within the new 2013/14 Prospectus was that it was fairly difficulty to use in terms of ‘finding the areas that we wanted when we wanted’. Although the prospectus was full of useful information we found that the user ergonomics were fairly low due to the fact that the different courses within the prospectus didn’t have a sense of organization or colour coordination. Due too there not being a sense of coordination to the information we found it difficult to locate ourselves to the BA (hons) Graphic Design section.

Layout of text copy within prospectus

We felt that the typography within the prospectus had relevant and useful information within it, the volume of text was also sufficient, there wasn’t necessarily too much text it was just composed in a compact manner, increasing the density thus seem like far too much text for the page. The text could have possibly been composed in a more breathable manner, with a visual quality that enabled the user to digest the information in a balanced perspective.

Layout of page almost like a PowerPoint

The final feature of the prospectus we collectively decided seemed unsuccessful was the first page as you open the prospectus, the actually structures of the page seemed to be similar to a PowerPoint presentation. The page has been broken down into three boxed sectors, which seem to lack any creative flare or thought. The actual text within these boxes are describe the institution to be ‘state of the art’, demonstrating the quality of becoming a professional practitioner within design however the structure/grid system of the page does not seem to reflect this image that the College are trying to connote.