Studio Brief 2 - Design Research 1

Starting ideas
Design an app to help 18-24 yr olds choose a political party to vote for

• design could potentially be styled like a board or card game. This way it shows how politics is almost like a game to see which party can win.
• Politics can be seen as a race to power, during the campaign months before an election
• Politics is about Power, Responsibility, Decision making, Vision, Influence, Authority, Representing and  Leadership to name a few.

Words that come to mind
Responsibility - link in a chain

Power - rule over others

Decision Making - defining best possible solution among other ideas

Vision - plan/sight/target/focus/future

Influence - impact/inspiring/benefiting 

Authority - police/deciding/rules/do's and don'ts

Representing - presenting core ideas/ pride/informing others

Leadership - a figure for others to follow/ setting examples/ control

Political websites design

Labour

• The cover for the Labour manifesto uses the colours of the party to communicate to the potential audience. 
• The simplistic design approach allows for an easier representation of the manifesto's aims.
• limitation of colour keeps the design minimalistic.
• separating the text in bold and regular weights allows for hierarchy of importance. For example, 'For the many' has been made in bold as it is the more important part of the title.
• The use of sans serif font and the reasonable kerning suggests the manifesto is communicating modern policy and the idea of future development.

• Establishing a foreword for the manifesto gives the audience a brief understanding of the type of party that Labour is.
• Again, the use of bold body text shows that the manifesto has structure and hierarchy in terms of what they want the viewer to see first.

Conservative

• In the same way that Labour has used red for their cover, the Conservative party has used their iconic blue for the cover of their manifesto also. This shows their core intentions through means of colour.
• Again, a simplistic design for the cover has allowed the Conservative party manifesto to display a sense of prestige and sophistication.
• This cover also uses a hierarchy to show how 'Forward, together' is the main plan of the party.
• this is then explained underneath by saying it is for a 'stronger Britain and a prosperous future.'
• The use of white serif font also separates the Conservatives from other parties as it shows formality for the party.

Liberal democrats

• To start off the Liberal Democrats' manifesto, the cover shows clearly in heavy bold text, the party's foreword 'Change Britain's Future'.
• The use of black and yellow allows for the text and logo to stand out to the viewer. This way the viewer can remember the quick and prominent text.
• This cover is different in the way that it uses the colour of the party, however it also manages not to overuse it to the extent in which others do, with full bleed backgrounds.
• The title Change Britain's Future is repeated throughout the manifesto at the start of each section regarding promises the party says it will make.
• This way the idea of changing Britain's future is suggested through the policies of the party.

Green party

• The cover for Green party's manifesto shows how they plan to make Britain "confident and caring" for its citizens.
• The use of colour in this manifesto is reflective of the ideas of the party. This includes the focus on maintaining the environment and rights for everyone. Colours such as light green and white show growth, nature and purity for the cover. 
• The choice of a serif font for the cover allows for the text to stand out as the main component of the design.

After seeing different examples of the manifestos designed by the different political parties, it was clear that in order to understand the styles of political design, a different approach would need to be looked at. This seemed to be a necessary opportunity to look at the ways in which the audience would respond to the parties. In particular, the designs created by opposing parties' campaigns, as well as the  material used on demonstrations.

In a similar manner to the Labour manifesto, the demonstration leaflets for Student Broad Left show exactly what the march is representing. In this case, "Students for Jeremy Corbyn" is the main focus point of the design followed by the aim of the march and the date in which it will be held. The use of a background image of the demonstrators also allows the viewer to quickly see what policies the party represents, including rights for everyone and matters relating to climate change, as well as Trident.

On the other side of the leaflet, you can find the the official speakers of the event and what they will be discussing. This further attracts the attention of the audience in a brief and quick manner.

This poster by The student assembly against austerity outlines some of the aims of their demonstration in clear red text. A poster of this nature is likely to be aimed at people who will stop to read the content, as its approach doesn't clearly state the aims of the campaign in a quick manner.

These leaflets by the same campaign show a layout that is more informative to the viewer. Through the style similar to a magazine or a newspaper, the campaign can target its audience in the same way that political newspapers can.

These leaflets by NUS and USU has created designs that can simply and quickly target their audience through imagery of a demonstration, met with dark pinks and purples. This has allowed for a hierarchy of text in white, beginning with the demand for viewers to "join the national demo", followed by "fund our colleges, stop rising fees" and the date of the event. A brief design like this allows for links to be added to the bottom, so the audience can find further information on the event.