Date Layout Experiments - The Gallery Calendar - Self-led Brief

I then began experimenting with the date layouts, based on my initial sketches. The first experiments show the dates placed in boxed - this works well to allow the owner to have plenty of space to write plans. I also thought about how colour could be introduced and highlighted the weekends with boxes of colour. The boxes seemed to work a lot better than one block colour as the days all seemed to merge into one. Thickening the lines of the grid also seemed to work a lot better. The dates were also tried without the grid, these seemed to create a nice effect - allowing more white space into the design making it feel less crowded.

I also experimented with placing the month and gallery name in different places. I found that when it was placed horizontal it allowed more room in the design and created quite a modern and stylised effect.

For these designs I also introduced a 'Galleries to See' section to create some interaction with the owner. However, in later designs I decided that the main image needed to be larger - and consequently this section was lost and the dates were made a lot smaller.

I also experimented with placing the number month large in a simple space within the design. This didn't work well, it seemed to clash with the illustration rather than compliment it. Although this could have looked bold and striking, the composition didn't quite work and didn't seem considered or contemporary.

I then experimented with adding a block of colour behind the illustrations, this seemed to work a lot better and 'finished' the design well. It creates a high level of contrast and allows the eyes to be drawn to the illustration as a focal point. I also think it worked better as longer than square, it makes better use of the space and feels more unique.

The dates were made a lot smaller in order to compensate for the large design. This means it will be difficult to write plans against each date, however, this kind of artistic calendar would typically used for reference rather than writing plans.

I experimented with having the dates lined underneath the illustration, which worked well to give a symmetrical feel to the design. However, this meant there was less space for the other details about the gallery and the piece. Plus it meant the numbers had to be smaller, which is not ideal when doing the screenprinting process.

I then experimented with the placement of the month, thinking about how it would fit best within the space. It seemed to work quite well diagonally, making the best use of the space and allowing room for extra details such as the maker of the piece and the date it was made. I decided to make the month a different colour to make use of the 2 colour print and to ensure that the most important piece of information stands out on the piece.

I also thought about how more of the second colour could be used, and decided to place a strip of it behind the names of the days. This worked well to split up the design better into sections, but it seemed to have the best balance when it was only placed over the weekend - helping to split up the week for the user.

I also moved the month to the bottom right hand corner of the design, splitting up the information better and allowing more space for the gallery/artifact details. I then placed the gallery name in the blue colour instead of the month, meaning their is a further hierarchy of information on the page.