In Unit 31, I was required to create a newsletter based around a social action; in this case, the social action in question was the 2015 election. The newsletter was to have the title ‘Have your say!’ and show some aspect of the election that would be of use to the undecided voter. My own letter showcased the five most likely prospects: Labour, Liberal Democrats, Conservatives, UKIP and Green Party. In my newsletter I gave each party half a page in which I shared their intentions but also listed their most significant drawbacks.
I believe my work is of a good quality and meets professional standards. The work was time-consuming, often conflicted with other pieces of work and I had run into some setbacks, but I am satisfied with the result.
The design I chose–a white stripe running diagonally through a dark-blue background–was intense to give a rather patriotic impression; blue is a colour I associate strongly with Britain while the white stripe is representative of every country in the United Kingdom (I believe red is very English and Welsh specific). I also believe the scheme to be striking, with a dark background being ‘stricken’ with an eye-catching contrast.
I think my own design differs greatly from others as the tendency of most designers seems to be leaving the white background and using softer colours that, I find, are easily ignored. I will say that, in hindsight, I might have tried to find background colours that contrast more with the text had I known how difficult it would have been to read.
Damon Mealor 