A Constructive criticism of the LCA prospectus
I am constructively criticising the design of the new LCA prospectus that would be given out at the open days for the year of 2012-2013
The overall aesthetic of the front page is boring and poorly executed due to the alignment not being concise. Some of the letters in particular the ‘W’ is not completely straight and throws off the visual element of the front page. Also due to the poor alignment of the book once printed, the institutions logo which was suppose to be in the centre is positioned at the far right. The front cover states “ We are state of the art” which is a play on words, however the design of the prospectus doesn't back up the statement and could possibly be mistaken for a business or ICT degree prospectus due to it giving of a formal and non art based driven tone.
The typography within the book is not concise or well considered as there is a series of 2-3 different typefaces that don’t work well together on one page and set into different sizes. This makes the prospectus look untidy and not visually engaging, as the format of the text is set into mounds of small paragraphs either placed to fill negative space or surrounded by unattractive text boxes.
If I was designing the prospectus I would take careful time and consideration when it comes to aligning and creating of the document as when the book was put together it was completely out of place.
The initial purpose and meaning of the prospectus is to attract art students to study at LCA and project a creative vibe due to it being a specialist institution. However the content within the prospectus doesn't provide clarity for its target audience. The book is in the style of a power point presentation due to its use of outlined text boxes and the format of the writing. Some of the text is not helpful information to the potential students and doesn't shine a bright light on what the course has to offer e.g course content, how much it would cost to study at the institution, student / tutor comments, the success rate and awards won.
The potential target audience for the prospectus is for students, parents or teachers who all have an interest in art or an art degree. However the way the book has been executed it speaks a different tone. The book projects a formal and serious tone due to the typography and layout, there is nothing that is visually engaging or innovative that makes it stand out amongst other university prospectuses. The images also within the book are either cropped to small, have bad lighting or angles or simply are not relevant at all.
The colour scheme of the prospectus is dull and doesn't work cohesively to engage it’s audience. Due the material they have used to print the book onto which looks like soft card and then tried to do a foil/gloss finish the colour red is not prominent nor shiny and has elements of the background coming through it , thus making it less effective. A consideration for the marketing team would to put more time into research materials or colours that would work well together to engage it’s audience
Compared to last year’s prospectus that was designer by designers of the graphic design course it shows a huge difference in its creativity. The prospectuses last year personally attracted me to the university and I still have one as I liked the design so much. I like how they created 3 different designs to cater to different peoples taste and the use of textures and cut outs really stood out. I also collated all the information I needed to know about my course and the institution from that prospectus.
The prospectus is one of the most important ways of advertising a university and to attract students to pick it up and take a further interest. So hopefully the marketing team can consider my constructive criticism and make good use of it for next year’s design.
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