Wander Austin
UT Austin | Fall 2024 | Images in Communication DES 321 (21270) | City Guide | City Calendar
When I first moved to Austin, I was overwhelmed by the number of places to explore and activities to experience. With its outdoor attractions, music venues, art galleries, and cultural landmarks, the city offers endless possibilities, making it hard to know where to start. For this project, I created a condensed guide to some of the places and activities in Austin that I’ve come to know and love.
tools used: InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, Adobe Stock, ruler, box cutter
instructor: Carley Law
timeline: 5 weeks
First Steps: Ideation
Identify locations & Source Photos
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Barton Springs Pool
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Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge (Austin Bat Bridge)
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Texas Capital Building
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UT Tower
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South Congress Avenue
Define a visual system
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Tab System
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Color coded pages
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Ideograms & Pictograms
The Color Scheme was intentionally chosen with Austin’s skies in mind, keeping it fun and drawing inspiration from the city’s nickname, the 'City of the Violet Crown.'
Color Palette
Ideograms
Creating icons will allow the reader to quickly identify the type of location or destination.
Tab system
Allows the reader to move between different categories of the city: outdoor, shopping and attractions. Placing file-like tabs at the top of the city guide maximized the space available for content
Content
I made many layout thumbnails giving me options for when I moved over to a digital design, however one thing I overlooked was the number of pages needed to create a for a booklet. A booklet is made up of folded paper, each piece of paper makes 2 spreads that create 4 pages needed to be filled. My page content would have be divisible by four 4.
One of the most important pages for me was the map. It serves as a legend, highlighting all the places the guide takes the viewer through. Using the ideograms
Maps
Personality
To tie all my spreads together I wanted to make a small graphic that will be integrated into the locations. I began working on pictograms and illustrations designed inspired by the photo I selected for the page.
Final Guide Design
Later in the semester, I was tasked with designing a calendar, with the format and style left open-ended. I chose to create a bookmark-style calendar that would pair with my Austin City Guide, aiming to create something clear, informative, and easy to use.
tools used: Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, and Stock as well as a sketch book, ruler, box cutter, PVA glue, book press and 100lb cardstock
instructor: Carley Law
timeline: 3.5 weeks
What am I making?
Let's start from the beginning. Before any research and exploring solutions, I started off with the “What”. What is a calendar? What does a calendar look like? What parts make up a calendar?
My first step was to sketch as many calendars as I could, in as many formats as I could think of dissecting the basic elements of a calendar. After creating quick thumbnail sketches, I then sorted them into what I believe I was most achievable and intuitive designs for the user. With some feedback from peers, I realized that the strongest ideas were often the simplest ones.
My initial plan was to create a perpetual, monthly flip book calendar. The flipbook would consist of two separate sections, the actual numbered calendar and a month card. I would have to make 12 different monthly cards, and 28 different calendars: 7 variants of 31 days, 7 of 30 days, 7 of 28, and 7 for leap years with 29 days in February.
Testing: Round 1
While testing out my calendar, it became clear that it was too complex for users. As a solution, I considered creating 7 calendars with 31 days, making the design dry-erase friendly. The only challenge with this approach was creating a large enough canvas to write on while still maintaining a reasonable size for the model. I thought about eliminating the idea of a perpetual calendar, but it felt too simplistic. Still, I found myself really attached to the concept of the monthly title cards
My final solution was to eliminate separate the calendar and create a stacked bookmark booklet. With the tight spacing of a bookmark, I saw this as an opportunity to challenge my design skills. Additionally, this format allowed me to create a more distinct and unique product. The only thing left was a theme.
Brief: Who, What, Where and When?
who is this for: I want my target audience to be mostly newcomers to the city, but this is can be an opportunity give Austinites a monthly reminder of events coming up each month
what am I creating: a monthly bookmark 2025 calendar listing major events happening in the Austin area
where: Austin, TX
when: major events happening within the 2025 year
From Paper to Screen
Since this product is meant to complement my city guide, I wanted to keep as many elements consistent as possible between the two, while also expanding on aspects like my color palette. My original colors were drawn from the outdoors and the city’s setting skies.
Cityscape Building Abstract Simple shape and modern style art Vector design - Austin city © [ananaline] / Adobe Stock
Testing: Round 2
Second testing for my new bookmark calendar revealed several printing issues I would need to address before my final round of printing.
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The two final pinks were not high enough contrast from one another.
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solution: go back and change out the final pink color with a higher contrast.
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I had tested on matte paper which was not the best choice for a bookmark.
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solution: print on a cardstock with a glossy finish.
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When file I had created was distorted and when printed came out pixelated.
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solution: go back into the original file and make sure all graphics are kept in their original formats.
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Data collection
Researching major places and events in Austin.
By condensing my list from my Austin city guide I was able to provide a small list of events, but I did most my research by asking peers and online resources.
Putting it all together
Paper to screen and back
My final steps were combining my research and bookmark template and printing. To ensure clarity in the design, I created a system of listing the event and their corresponding dates from top to bottom in a left aligned layout. I printed the design, carefully cut out each bookmark, and then stacked, pressed and glued them together to form the booklet.