Rabia Humayun Dissertation - Indus Valley School of Art

Transcription

‘Is there a difference between ‘Good’ and
‘Effective’ design through analysis of Urdu Weekly
Magazines?
By
Rabia Humayun
Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture
2012
i
‘Is there a difference between ‘Good’ and ‘Effective’ design through analysis of
Urdu Weekly Magazines?
By
Rabia Humayun
This Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
BACHELOR IN DESIGN, from Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture.
Internal Advisors
:
Mahrosh Ali
Arshad Farooqui
DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATION DESIGN
INDUS VALLEY SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE
KARACHI PAKISTAN
2012
ii
TABLE OF CONTENT
Title page
Title page
Abstract
Contents
i.
ii.
ii.
Introduction
Literature Review
1-8
9-24
o
o
o
o
Diet Ram’s Principle Series
The Influence of Culture on Print Graphic Design
Culture Oriented Product Design
Dissertation: In-depth Analysis of Local
Magazines In Pakistan
9-15
16-17
17-18
19-24
Research Methodology
Analysis And Discussion
Conclusion
25-29
30-42
43-46
Bibliography
Appendices
o Interview 1- Muzamil Ruheel
o Interview 2- Tanaz Minwala
o Interview 3- Mohammad Obaid
o Interview 4- Family
o Interview 5- Aslam Adil
o Interview 6- Sara Nagi
o Focus Group
47-48
49-78
49-52
53-60
61-67
68-69
70-73
74-76
77-78
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ABSTRACT
This particular dissertation strives to figure out if there is any difference between
good design and effective design, or are they the same entities? The debate between good
and effective is an old one and a detailed one. Therefore to contain this debate, and give it a
direction, the case study of Urdu Weekly Magazines has been adopted. The phenomena of
Urdu Weekly Magazines are as old as Pakistan itself. Every other year many new weekly
magazines join the over crowded print industry but only four prominent ones were
thoroughly analyzed for this dissertation. These are the Urdu Magazines that one will easily
find outside the bookshops or any newsstands in Karachi and will find it rolled up with their
newspapers. Thus analysis of Urdu Weekly Magazine will help one solve the main debate of
difference between good and effective.
The secondary research analysis articles, dissertations, research papers on topics that
helped solve the central debate. The primary research is completely qualitative one. And it
strives to understand how design is viewed and practiced in publishing houses and by print
specific designers. It also aims to decipher, the role of culture, visual exposure and education
plays in making a design good or effective or both.
The progress of this research went as expected with slight but manageable problems
arising once in a while. The analysis and result of that research and the over all conclusions
however were not as expected but outright surprising. But it can be safely declared that the
topic was absolutely worth delving into as it helped this designer view design in a completely
different realm.
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INTRODUCTION
The debate between “Good’ and ‘Effective’ design is not a short, concise one
since design is a vast field within itself and encompasses many different principles,
elements, pillars, mediums and applications. Also there are many opinions whether
‘good’ and ‘effective’ are two different entities or simply part of each other. A design
could be aesthetically appealing, follows all the principles, and still fails to fulfill its
function. Or can it be that a design, which is aesthetically chaotic and fails to meet
any preset design theories, is able to fulfill its function.
To simplify the debate a simple web definition of ‘good design’ is that good
design was ‘traditionally sought to maximize function with form and strived to
produce a high quality goods…’1 The notion that form should follow function is a
principle favored by many fields of design such as architectural design, engineering
design, product design etc. Further in to the dissertation the definition and criteria of
‘Good’ design will be explored in detail. ‘Effective’ has somewhat the same
definition, according to the Oxford dictionary it means ‘producing a desired result’2.
Therefore by definition the two; the ‘good and ‘effective’ are not completely
different. They both strive to fulfill a function. However what this dissertation will
strive to find out is if there is a difference between the ‘good’ and the ‘effective’ when
applied to the field of Graphic Design.
As previously mentioned that the debate between the ‘good’ design and
‘effective’ design is not a concise one, however to make it concise and productive
1
WEB DEFINATION, 'Good Design' www.google.com (accessed 27th November 2011).
Little Oxford English Dictionary, published in United States, Oxford Press Inc. New York, in 2002,
page no. 221.
2
1
one, Urdu Weekly Magazines are being adopted as a case study. This case study will
not only give a direction to the debate but also see it unfold in a localized forum.
Furthermore it allows one to see how design is approached, executed in publication
houses in Karachi.
Urdu Weekly Magazines are a very big part of the Pakistani print media and
the culture of Pakistanis. They are important, firstly, because some of these weekly
magazines are as old as the country itself. The magazine known as ‘Akhbar-e-Jehan’
has been in print for past 453 years, also weekly magazines allow publications to
appeal to a segment of population that might not reads newspapers. As
aforementioned, Urdu Weekly Magazines are part of the population’s culture because
these magazines publish public interest articles, current news, and images relevant to
the lives of Pakistani people. The magazine publishes articles on people from the past
and present who have contributed to the country. It repeatedly mentions the words
and actions of the forefathers of Pakistan in hopes of aspiring its readers. Fables,
narratives, dramatic stories and translations make up a large part of these magazines.
Along with sections such as religion, supernatural events, politics, cinema, sports
astronomy, dream interpretations and wedding announcements. Urdu poetry,
humorous anecdotes and section on children can also be found. And like any other
magazine in the world it takes reader’s opinion, suggestions and complaints via emails and post.
Apart from the written content, Urdu weekly magazine are also very important
from the perspective of design. One could easily divide its design in terms of
typography, imagery, and use of color, layout and composition.
3
AKHBAR-E-JEHAN, mast head,
http://akhbar-e-jehan.com/Nov2011/28%2D11%2D2011/
(Accessed: 27th November 2011).
2
Urdu weekly magazines are tabloid sized and the Urdu typography used for
the body text can be recognized as ‘Nastaleeq’ (as confirmed in interview of Muzamil
Ruheel4). The magazine’s sections are divided through borders, and these borders
consist of icons and photographs that personify the theme of forth coming section. For
example if the forth-coming section is on cinema, than the border will contain the
images and icons of camera, show reel as seen in figure 1.
Figure 1 Akhbar-e-Jehan, 31st Oct-6th Nov 2011, page: 64.
The same is the case with typography. The typography of heading of an article
repeatedly embodies or visually personifies the theme of the accompanied article or
story. For example, if the article is regarding power and strength than the effects on
the type will personify that theme as shown in figure 2. One could tell by looking at
these headings or titles that these effects are the common software processor effects
4
Muzamil Ruheel interviewed on 3rd November 2011, [interview conducted in person, recorded and
transcribed, line 31-34].
3
rather than some meticulously drawn creation.
Figure 2 Akhbar-e-Jehan, 23rd-29th April 2012, page: 18.
The subheadings are devoid of effects and dramatization, however the
orientation is inconsistent meaning the subheadings are not always set on a horizontal
path but they can also be set on a curve or on a diagonal, just to suit the need of the
article. A perfect example is figure 3.
Figure 3 Midweek Magazine, 30th Nov-6th Dec 2011, page: 8.
Another aspect of design, which is intriguing, is the imagery utilized.
Illustrations, photographs, icons, ornamentation and other pictorial elements
accompany almost every piece of written content. As in all magazines the purpose of
these is to describe the written information accompanying it, provide reader with
4
visual proof or to dramatize the information further. They also help provide an
element of glamour to the magazine. However there is no consistency in the style of
pictorial elements utilized and applied. The illustrations range from the simple shapes
and forms with flat color to photo realistic ones. A range of illustrations styles utilized
in one issue is shown below in figure 4a-4c.
Figure 4 a Sunday Magazine, 20th may 2012, page: 22.
Figure 4 b Sunday Magazine, 20th May 2012, page: 14.
Figure 4 c Sunday Magazine, 20th May 2012, page: 10.
5
The icons and ornamentation does not follow a certain, they range from
western symbols and motifs to traditional ones. The contrast is shown in figure 5a
through 5b. The use of pictorial content, their inconsistencies in style are all areas that
are explored further into the dissertation.
Figure 5 a Midweek Magazine, 8th Dec 2011, page: 12.
Figure 5 b Akhbar-e-Jehan, 31st Oct - 6th Nov 2011,page: 51.
When analyzing design of magazines, one has to realize that its composition,
layout and structure effects reader’s understanding about what can be found where,
also controls the readers eye movement and has the ability to direct reader’s attention.
The layout of the magazines has been consistent along the time. Also one magazine
layouts is very much similar to their competitors, a good example of similar layouts
even though the magazines belong to different publication houses would be ‘Weekly
6
Family Magazine’ and ‘Akhbar-e-Jehan’. The covers of Akhbar-e-Jehan and Weekly
Family Magazine have the name of the magazine on the top right corner of the front
page, whereas ‘Midweek Magazine’ and ‘Sunday Magazine’ has their name in the topcenter of the cover. Akhbar-e-Jehan and Weekly Family Magazine and Sunday
Magazine covers usually carry a posed photograph of a female model, an actress or a
female public figure is set centralized on the page. Midweek however has a picture
from its central news feature. The titles and a pull-quote from the articles within the
magazine are loosely framed around the centralized figure. The orientation of these
titles and pull quotes are at times inconsistent, even inside the magazine. They change
from horizontal to vertical and even diagonal depending upon the space in the page
and/or the theme of their information.
Inside the magazine, the hierarchy between the articles, their heading,
subheading and pull quotes are coherent. Even the alignment of the column
containing the body text, their width and leading between the lines is clean thus
ensuring readability. The structure of the magazine and how it contributes to the over
all design will be discussed in depth later on in the research paper.
The advertisements published in these magazines are laid out in an
inconsistent orientation that is their orientation changes abruptly from horizontal to
vertical and vice-versa and horizontal advertisements reads both top-to-bottom and
bottom-to –top. Even this issue is discussed further in to the dissertation.
Taking inconsideration the description of the magazines’ design, treatment of
type and choice of imagery and overall inconsistency it would be safe to say that they
do not adhere to many principle and pillars of design that are considered vital part of
‘Good’ design. However does this signify that lack of ‘Good’ design means the
magazine is not fulfilling its purpose or proving to be effective? Thus four widely
7
popular Urdu weekly magazines (weeklies) Akhbar-e-Jehan, Family Magazine,
Midweek Magazine and Sunday Magazine will be analyzed to help solve the debate,
‘is there a difference between good design and effective design’.
8
LITERATURE REVIEW
Dieter Ram is a German Industrial Designer and a closely associated with the
company Braun and belongs to the Functionalist school of Industrial Design5. He
defined his approach to design in ten simple principles more commonly known as
Dieter Ram’s principle of Good Design.6 An online community known as ‘Inksie’7
published a ten part series of essays by practicing designers; illustrators, writers,
thinkers and critics based on Dieters Ram’s ten principles of Good Design. Each
essay explores principles such as innovation, usability, aesthetics, understandability,
objectivity and honesty. These authors relate their respective topics to their own fields
or work, to design movement and design trends.
As this dissertation strives to discover if there is a difference between ‘good’
design and ‘effective’ design, it is imperative to analyze articles written regarding
‘good’ design by ones peers. This review will also strive to view the data and its
analyses in reference to the case study of Urdu Weekly Magazines.
‘Good Design is Useful8’ is one of Ram’s principles explored by Joshua
Brewer in this web series. Brewer is a San Francisco based designer and was director
of user experience at Social Cast9 and currently designs for twitter.10
5
DIETER RAM, ‘Dieter Rams, Industrial Designer, Design Museum
http://designmuseum.org/design/dieter-rams
(Web page accessed 28th November 2011).
6
DIETER RAM, ‘Dieter Rams, Industrial Designer, Design Museum
7
INKSIE JOURNAL of Design and Culture, Rams’ principles series, (posted: 3rd March 2010)
http://inksie.com/journal/principles-series-intro/
(Accessed 28th November 2011).
8
Joshua Brewer, ‘Good Design is Useful’ Inksie Journal of Design and Culture
(Posted 6th May 2010)
http://inksie.com/journal/rams-02/(Accessed: 28th November 2011).
9
Joshua Brewer ‘Good Design is Useful’ Inksie Journal of Design and Culture
10
Joshua Brewer, http://jbrewer.tumblr.com/ (Accessed: 7th May 2012)
http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=6108135&authType=name&authToken=prQG&locale=en_
US&pvs=pp&pohelp=&trk=ndir_viewmore (Accessed: 7th May 2012).
9
The author starts off immediately about Usability and how it differs in
relevance and meaning from person to person. However he says that a product’s
‘form, functionality and aesthetic appeal’11 come together to garner a ‘psychological
and emotional response’12 from the user.
This statement by the author holds true for many products, as a user might
become dependent and attached to a product if it fulfills their needs or helps them
perform their tasks quickly and easily. However dependency of a user on a product
cannot be completely attributed to the quality of product’s design. The users
attachment could also be a result of unavailability or inaccessibly of alternate product
or competitor product.
Brewer further states that these psychological and emotional responses are
brought upon by ‘careful consideration’13 that goes in to increasing usability of a
product. He argues that designers work to remove anything that could ‘hinder’14 the
user from ‘accomplishing their goals.’15 Accomplishing goals refers to the
functionality of the product. Therefore suggesting that any extra features that might
prevent a user from using the product easily and quickly should be removed from the
design.
Other authors and their essays of this web series support Brewer’s ideas.
Firstly by Olivier Reichenstein who wrote on Rams principle ‘Good Design is as little
11
Joshua Brewer ‘Good Design is Useful’ paragraph 1, Inksie Journal of Design and Culture
http://inksie.com/journal/rams-02/ (Accessed: 28th November 2011).
12
13
14
15
10
design as possible.’16 He smartly and briefly states in his essay how one should find
‘as few solutions for as many problems as possible’17
Secondly, it is supported by Matias Corea in his essay on Ram’s ‘Good
Design makes a product Understandable’18. Corea who himself is the chief designer at
Behance.com, argues that ‘distractions’19 in a design makes it longer for a user to
‘understand how to interact with the product.’20 He reasons that ‘ornamentations’21 do
not improve a design and therefore every element in the design must be there to fulfill
a ‘function.’22
Corea makes a valid argument when He states all elements in a design should
serve a purpose and ornamentation, which when placed is usually for beautification or
dramatization purposes and no other concrete reason should be avoided. His argument
may seem relevant to those who follow a modernist approach to design as he himself
states so.23 However those designers who adhere to a different school of thought or
relates to a different art movement such as ‘Art Nouveau’24 or ‘the Arts and Crafts
16
Olivier Reichenstein ‘Good Design is as little Design as possible’ Inksie Journal of Design and
Culture (Posted 3rd June 2010)
17
Olivier Reichenstein ‘Good Design is as little Design as possible’ Paragraph 1
Inksie Journal of Design and Culture (posted 3rd June 2010)
18
Matias Corea ‘Good Design makes a product Understandable’
Inksie Journal of Design and Culture (posted 13th May 2010)
19
Matias Corea ‘Good Design makes a product Understandable’ Paragraph 4
20
21
Inksie Journal (posted 13th May 2010)
22
23
24
Philip B Meggs, History of Graphic Design, chapter 11, Art Nouveau; Art Nouveau,
11
Movement’25 might disagree with the author about the use of ornamentation and
decorative elements.
Another author, who contributes to this clean-cut and to the point approach to
design, is Alexandra Lange.26 A journalists, historian and a teacher, she contributes to
this deliberation by giving reference of ‘Museum of Modern Art exhibition’27 of the
1940s and 1950s.28 And how ‘visual clutter’29 was removed and ‘parts absolutely
necessary to perform a task’30 were left behind. The fact that Lange makes an allusion
to a notable institution as the Museum of Modern Art and its exhibitions strengthens
her argument and use of words such as ‘smoothing out’31 and ‘visual clutter’32 also
helps readers better understand her argument.
All these authors have argued in their own way about how good design is one,
which is simple, to the point and places utmost priority to function rather than
ornamentation and other distractions. In light of all these reasons the design of this
dissertations case study ‘Urdu Weekly Magazines’ stands on the other polar opposite
(John Wiley Sons , Inc, Hoboken, New Jersey) pg 194.
25
Philip B Meggs, History of Graphic Design, chapter 10: The Arts & Craft Movement and its
Heritage, The Kelmscott press, (John Wiley Sons , Inc, Hoboken, New Jersey) Page:172.
26
Alexandra Lange, ‘Good Design is Aesthetics’
Inksie Journal of Design and Culture (Posted 10th May 2010)
http://inksie.com/journal/rams-03/ (Accessed 28th November 2011).
27
Alexandra Lange, ‘Good Design is Aesthetics’ Paragraph 2
28
29
30
31
32
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side as ornamentations are plenty and distractions in form of bold, dramatic
typography and illustrations are common.
Joshua Brewer, an author previously discussed, mentions in his essay, ‘Good
Design is Useful’ that a good design reduces ‘chance of failure’33 and ‘increases a
sense of accomplishment’34 within the user. Brewer’s argument appears weak, as he
gives no examples to support his argument. Furthermore one could challenge Mr.
Brewer’s opinion regarding good design reduces chances of failure by presenting a
scenario where numerous large road side signage are placed closed by with directions
written in bold and large typography. These signs may reduce the chances of a
pedestrian or a driver from getting lost but that would not mean that these many
signage and the choice of type is an example of good design or even sensible decision
making. Furthermore the author mentions that a product with good design should
provide a sense of accomplishment to the user, but this too is a vague stance since
there is no way a user’s sense of accomplishment can be measured or calculated.
Mr. Brewer further mentions in his essay that a good design turns ‘mundane’35 tasks
in to one that provide ‘momentary pleasure.’36 He gives example of ‘Heinz’37 ketchup
bottle shape to further explain his point.
This notion not only applies to ‘Heinz’ packaging design but also holds true
for a book, a magazine, a poster or product packaging.
33
Joshua Brewer ‘Good Design is Useful’ paragraph 2,
http://inksie.com/journal/rams-02/ (accessed: 28th November 2011).
34
35
36
37
13
No discussion on design would be complete without exploring the topic of
aesthetics. Alexandra Lange’s essay has previously been discussed in regards to
reducing excess and cluttering. She also writes about how color contrast, layouts,
hierarchy and divisions contribute to a good design. She discusses all these points by
making the very web page of her essay her case study. She comments on the ‘greyon-grey scheme’38 ‘boxy layout’39 and how the text can be clearly ‘identified and
separated’40 and how they work together ‘aesthetically’41
The authors use of the web page as a case study is a quick and clever way to
illustrate her idea and this solidifies her argument about how hierarchy, layout and
color contrast work together to make not only an aesthetically pleasing design but also
a good design.
Lange further states that presence of all these elements does not ensure a good
design; because all these elements will ‘look terrible’42 if the design space is
bombarded with too many things and cluttering takes place. The concept of cluttering
has already been discussed in this review.
Lange’s reasoning on how color contrast, layouts, hierarchy and divisions can
work in favor of the design or against a design should be applied to Urdu Weekly
Magazines Case Study to further analyze the magazines aesthetics and design.
38
39
40
41
42
14
Another area of Lange’s essay that should be utilized to analyze the case study
is how ‘aesthetics are subjective but inevitable’43 This makes clear that aesthetics are
always subjected to viewers opinion and the opinions are often influenced by the
viewer’s upbringing, culture, education, visual exposure etc. However pleasing
aesthetic relevant to the target market have to be present since aesthetics as Lange
puts it, are ‘inevitable’ for good design.
There are few parts of this web series that have not been made a part of this
review. However parts and details which have been deliberated upon can all be
applied to case study and also to the main debate of this dissertation, which is, ‘Is
there a difference between good and effective design.’
An important aspect of design, which was left unexplored in the Dieter Ram
principles of good design ten part series, was culture. It is important to analyze
culture’s role in design because the main argument of this dissertation, ‘is there a
difference between good design and effective design, with analysis of Urdu Weekly
Magazines’ could be universal, however a better understanding of how culture
contributes to design might help see this argument from a new perspective and help
answer it at a more deeper level.
Therefore a relevant section of a research paper titled, ‘The Influence of
Graphic Design; as Investigation / Research of Beijing 2008 & London 2012 Olympic
Games Graphic Design’ was chosen and analyzed to examine the role culture plays in
design.
Kang Sun, In his research examines different explanations of cultural identity
and than puts forward his own understanding, that ‘core of cultural identity is the
ideas, beliefs, norms, and rules that direct, confirm, modify and influence individuals
43
15
and their groups.’44 Furthermore, ‘individuals are shaped and formed by their cultural
identities and share the system of symbols, meanings, beliefs, and values with their
groups.45
If it is to be believed that culture is important part of design than with this
explanation in mind, the cultural identity of audience and their shared beliefs and
values and symbols should be taken in to consideration while designing a product in
order to make it appealing and relatable to its audience. Furthermore, Urdu Weekly
Magazines should be analyzed to understand if cultural identity and set of values and
visual symbols of its readers have been researched and applied and if it is relatable to
its readers.
Another important aspect to Mr. Sun’s dissertation is his discussion regarding
visual communication. He quotes A.Berger that communication takes place through
‘symbolic means, by words and signs and symbols of all kinds.’46 Sun (through
Berger) goes on to state that people’s emotion, feelings, ideas, and notion are
reflected, represented, changed and developed through visual and symbolic
expression.47 Therefore, if a use of culturally valued symbols and motifs can be far
more influential and have an impact on viewer’s mind.
44
Kang Sun, ‘The Influence of Culture on Print Graphic Design, An investigation/ Research of Beijing
2008 & London 2012 Olympic Games Graphic Design’ UNITEC New Zealand (2007): 22.
http://unitec.researchbank.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10652/1262/fulltext.pdf?sequence=1 [date accessed:
23rd November 2011]
45
23rd November 2011]
46
23rd November 2011].
47
16
The author further discusses ideas of P.M Lester about visual communication.
He states that goal is to ‘produce powerful pictures so that people will remember their
content.’48 Durability in audience’s mind, one can say is the goal of anyone producing
visual content. However the author should have discussed the positive factors that
makes viewer remember a visual content.
When the goal of visual communication is compare to the Urdu weekly
Magazine than it should be noted that its over-all appearance, the tabloid size, the
consistent style of the cover, the setting of type and graphics and the ornamentation
altogether forms a very recognizable visual for a large section of the population.
Therefore, it makes one question; does this mean that Urdu weekly Magazines fulfill
the goals of Visual Communication thus making it effective design? Because as Sun
writes in his research, ‘an efficient work at visual communication gives an audience a
powerful impact and an everlasting impression.’49
The research conducted by Kang Sun was vital in understanding the role of
culture identity and visual communication. However to further understand this aspect,
another research titled, ‘Culture oriented product design ‘ is being analyzed. The
research paper touches upon necessity of producing culture oriented product design.
The authors (credits Lee) states that in the field of design, ‘ major topics in
cultural design and still only limited to identifying aesthetics stereotypes such as
national color or shape.’50
48
49
50
Moalosi, Popovic and Hudson, ‘Culture Oriented Product Design’, IASDR, (2007): 2.
http://www.sd.polyu.edu.hk/iasdr/proceeding/papers/culture-orientated%20product%20design.pdf
[Accessed: 23rd November 2011].
17
They also discuss how globalization affects cultural design. The author argues
that ‘ globalization strives for cultural compatibility and destroys its diversity in the
process by denying or ignoring cultural identity.’ 51
In the world where cultural identity is being diminished by globalization, It
can be said that Urdu Weekly Magazines is not completely immune to effects of
globalization, however its cultural identity is some what maintained by not only the
language used, and the subject matter but also in the calligraphy like type and
ornamentation and at times by the choice of icons and imagery. However calligraphy
and ornamentation can be categorized as aesthetic stereotypes.
The research also points out that Globalization might lead to ‘standardization
of products’52 and an opposing movement is taking place that ‘promotes local
identity.’53 This entire argument of globalization leading to standardization provokes
one to think if universally applauded design theories, principles and executions are
not a form of standardized design, therefore good design itself has become
standardize design? And returning to our main argument at hand, if there is a
difference between good design and effective design, does this suggest that good
design is standardized design and effective design is the one that speaks culturally?
Thus far articles analyzed were regarding good design and how culture
influences design. Now literature regarding the case study of this dissertation will be
analyzed.
51
52
53
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A dissertation titled ‘In Depth Analysis of Local Magazines in Pakistan, Based
on Editorial Design’ by Maria Khan was selected and analyzed with aim of exploring
the analysis already executed about the case study.
The dissertation as the title suggests looks upon various Pakistani Magazines
including Akhbar-e-Jehan and Family Magazine, magazines initially presented in the
introduction.
The author Maria Khan begins with analyzing ‘Elements of Editorial Design’
under this section Khan discusses typography and its technicalities like kerning,
leading and point size.54 All technicalities Miss Khan writes about are very important
and prove helpful in defining what is expected from an editorial design. She writes
about kerning and how it affects readability55 but her argument is only limited to the
English alphabet. She does not take into account that two of the magazines she will be
discussing in her research are in Urdu. ‘Some characters of the font scream to be
kerned for e.g. any letterset next to a cap W, T, V or Y.’56
However the author states that readability is ‘affected by the font selection, the
point size, spacing, tracking, line length and leading.’57 One has to agree with Khan
that regardless of the language of the text these mentioned features do affect the
readability of text. She also goes on to discuss ‘hierarchy’58 and quotes from the
‘Typographic Workbook’ that it ‘defines the order of importance that the elements of
54
Maria Khan, ‘In Depth Analysis of Local Magazines in Pakistan, Based on Editorial Design’,
Dissertation Dept. of Communication Design IVSAA (2003): 4-5.
55
Dissertation Dept. of Communication Design IVSAA (2003): 5.
56
57
58
19
page are given, based on their placement, size and total boldness. Type hierarchy
determines what the readers attention is drawn to first;’59
Khan also describes elements such as headlines, sub headlines, headers, and
footers, pull quote and folio numbers. Regarding the headers and footers she writes
that they are usually ‘quiet’60 and are placed on ‘top’61and ‘bottom’62 of the page.
As for pull quotes she again quotes ‘the typographic workbook’ that they are
‘small quotes’63 that are ‘enlarged and separated’64 Apart from this she explains that
there is ‘no correct ways to design pull quotes except that no more than two should be
used on the page’65 This statement is a generalized one since choice of color, font,
point size, shape and placement can also add to or take away from the pull quote
strength.66 Furthermore Headlines and Subheadings are also elements of editorial
design thus Khan writes, that headlines are ‘usually set in larger and bolder fonts than
subheads’67 What the author has written can not be argued with however a few
examples of model heading and subheading combination from other sources would
have made her point clearer.
Khan concludes the elements section by stating that if a designer keeps all
these in mind while designing, the layout will be ‘very legible, readable and of course
59
Maria Khan, (typographic workbook) ‘In Depth Analysis of Local Magazines in Pakistan, Based on
Editorial Design’, Dissertation Dept. of Communication Design IVSAA (2003): 6.
60
61
62
63
Maria Khan,(typographic workbook) ‘In Depth Analysis of Local Magazines in Pakistan, Based on
64
65
66
Jacci Howard Bear, ‘How to Use Pull Quotes,’ About.com, (posted: Not Known)
http://desktoppub.about.com/cs/pagelayout/ht/pull_quotes.htm?rd=1 (accessed: May 26th 2012)
67
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good to look at’68 Elements are important while designing however target market,
theme, style of the magazine are not mentioned at all by the author. Khan wrote
‘…and of course good to look at’69 Does this suggest that usage of editorial elements
leads to a good-looking design only and not an effective one? This analysis of
editorial elements will help one judge the case study of Urdu Weekly Magazines and
contribute to the argument is there is a difference between good design and effective
design.
Khan’s dissertation also analysis the magazine ‘Akhbar-e-Jehan’ and it can be
said her approach to analysis is very unprofessional since her analysis is based up on
only one issue which she explores page by page, ‘ I have the latest issues in my
hand...’70
She writes that the text is ‘splattered all over’71 and that ‘text is not very clear
because of leading of kerning’72 but also writes that ‘readability and legibility they
look reasonable’73 This not only highlights how Khan contradicts her own statements
but also highlights her use of vague, colloquial language.
The author writes that headline are ‘too heavily designed’74 and than goes on
to describe it further. Her statement would have been more solid of she had
researched the reason behind such treatment of type. After reading Khan’s
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
21
dissertation one could not help but feel that she is just describing what she sees rather
than analyzing.
Khan lightly touches upon illustrations and observes that ‘illustration style is
completely different from what we have seen before’75 Khan does not mention
whether illustration style is inconsistent through the magazine or not. Another
observation made was of ‘rectangle box’76 and the ‘gradients’77. Again Khan only
observes and does not explore the reason behind usage of these boxes. About usage of
color she describes it to be wide and varied, ‘there are no limitations with color on the
single page’78. Similar observations about varying illustration style, presence of
rectangular boxes and usage of color were made by this author (Rabia Humayun) in
the introduction of her dissertation.
Khan also focuses on the ‘grid’79 of Akhbar-e-Jehan, she explains it’s a ‘six
column grid’ 80 and observes that it is maintained ‘throughout’81.
There are many aspects to Khan’s analysis of Akhbar-e-Jehan that are
problematic. Her repeated use of ‘I’ ‘I felt’82 ‘I think’83 makes one feel as if it is not
an academic paper but a personal essay. Author touches upon many issues but only
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
22
describes them, they are not supported by any reason and it is apparent that no
primary research has been undertaken.
Khan also analysis Family Magazine and declares it ‘popular amongst B and
lower B class’ population84 and suggests that ‘in terms of both design and
readability’85 Family Magazine is better than Akhbar-e-Jehan. Furthermore in the
analysis she credits them with better use of color, as there is ‘limitation of colors’86
and the four colors used are ‘complimentary’87 to each other. Khan fails to clarify that
this use of color theory is consistent through out or just on that one page because at
other place she writes ‘too many color and things happening...’88 This confusion is
caused because the author is analyzing the magazine one page at a time and not as a
whole entity.
She observes that here too, rectangle boxes are, ‘either screened or given a
gradient to stand out more’89.
Regarding treatment of text on the cover only, Khan explains that headlines
are ‘all in different colors’90 but due to similar point size there is no ‘hierarchy’91.
Hierarchy will be further explored further in Dissertation. She further elaborates on
body text and that it is not ‘heavy’92 as it is broken by ‘images’93. She also mentions
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
23
how the ‘five column grid’94is maintained throughout. Structure and grid are further
explored in the analysis part of this dissertation.
Khan writing seems biased at times, especially when she writes, ‘maybe for
ordinary man it works, but as a designer…’95 and also, ‘they seem quite useless to
me…’96
Khan’s exploration of two of the prominent Urdu Weekly Magazine
regardless of how weak it might be is necessary to include for main deliberation that
is, ‘is there a difference between Good Design and Effective Design with through
analysis of Urdu Weekly Magazines.’
The articles or academic journals analyzed thus far are product of someone
else’s research and their analysis has helped one move closer to disentangling the
main query. Essays on Diet Ram’s principle of good design allows one to see what
good design is perceived as on a professional scale and in international arena. The
research papers The Influence of Culture on Print Graphic Design and Culture
Oriented Product Design have explained how culture contributes to design. Whereas
Maria khan’s dissertation showcases what has been written and thought about the case
study of this dissertation which investigates if there is a difference between good
design and effective design, with thorough analysis of Urdu Weekly Magazines.
93
94
95
96
24
RESEARCH METHODOLGY
Research methodology refers to examining of methods employed to research a
specific topic. And the topic of this dissertation is ‘ is there a difference between good
design and effective design. With analysis of Urdu Weekly Magazines.’ As this
dissertation topic is heavily concerned with areas Graphic Design such as typography,
illustration, photography and editorial design therefore; both secondary and primary
research was conducted with these areas in mind.
The first set of articles chosen to analyze was a ten-part essay on Diet Ram’s
Principle of Good Design97. Not only because it’s penned by professional designers
such as Joshua Brewer, who currently works as a principle designer at twitter,98 and
Olivier Reichenstein99 a practicing architect. Also because it discusses what makes a
design, ‘good.’ Factors such as innovation, usability, detail, understanding, and
aesthetics are discussed in this ten part series.
The other two articles analyzed were ‘culture oriented product design’100 a
dissertation undertaken by a group of students from School of design, Queensland
university of Technology. And other one is titled, ‘The Influence of Culture on Print
Graphic Design101 by ‘Kang Sun. Both these papers assess how culture influence
graphic design. Furthermore it talks about how symbols can contribute to a design and
97
(Accessed 28th November 2011
98
Joshua Brewer, http://jbrewer.tumblr.com/ (posted: (Accessed: 7th May 2012)
http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=6108135&authType=name&authToken=prQG&locale=en_
US&pvs=pp&pohelp=&trk=ndir_viewmore (Accessed: 7th May 2012)
99
Olivier Reichenstein, http://www.linkedin.com/in/informationarchitect (accessed: 7th May 2012)
100
Moalosi, Popovic and Hudson, ‘Culture Oriented Product Design’, IASDR, (2007).
101
Kang Sun, ‘The Influence of Culture on Print Graphic Design, An investigation/ Research of
Beijing 2008 & London 2012 Olympic Games Graphic Design’ UNITEC New Zealand (2007).
25
make it impactful, whereas the second research paper mentions the relation between
aesthetics and culture.
Useful as these set of articles were, there were some limitations because the
dissertation’s debate between good design and effective design is viewed in a very
local arena. And these Diet Ram articles talks about over all design and not just in
editorial form. Thus all the information had to be channeled to fit the main debate at
hand. And the other two articles do explore cultural design, however they do it in a
paradigm far removed from this country and culture of its people.
Therefore a dissertation titled, ‘in-depth analysis of local magazines in
Pakistan’ by Maria Khan, of Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture 2003 was
analyzed. Khan covers some areas that this dissertation does. However Khan’s
research proved less useful than expected. Even though she claims to do an in-depth
analysis what she has done is given a page-to-page description of what she is seeing.
Apart from that one could not help but sense biasedness in her writing. This issue has
been discussed in detail in the secondary research section.
Apart from the secondary research, primary research was also undertaken and
several interviews were conducted.
Firstly of Mr. Mohammad Obaid, who holds the position of a deputy art
director at Akhbar-e-Jehan. The face-to-face interview was conducted in order to
understand the designer’s thought process while executing the design, and what are
their main concerns. Moreover what do they aspire to achieve through it. The
interviewer strived to find out the reasons behind their choice of imagery, graphics,
colors and type, and also how much importance do they allocate to their target market
while designing.
26
Similarly an email interview was conducted with Art Director of Family
Magazine. A magazine that carries striking resemblance to Akhbar-e-Jehan. The
questions asked were similar to the ones asked to Akhbar-e-Jehan employee and
revolved around their design choices. And even though the interview was conducted
over email and is not detailed it is still useful to the topic of this dissertation.
Another face-to-face interview with Aslam Adil, art director of Sunday and
Mid-week magazine was conducted. Again questions regarding their design choices
and editorial understanding were asked. The over all interview proved to be useful
however the interviewer felt that Mr. Adil could not answer his questions properly
because of the presence of his editor Mr. Ghulam Mouiuddin. Mouiuddin at times
answered the questions when Adil failed to understand them. This brings us to the
other problem faced during he interview, where due to generation gap or education
difference but the interviewee was unable to understand some of the questions and
terminologies. Furthermore Mr. Adil was asked questions regarding the design in his
magazine however he kept answering how he personally prefers design instead of
how it’s executed in the magazine. It should also be noted that this was the second
time Mr. Adil’s interview was conducted since the audio of the first interview was in
a cellular device that was stolen at gunpoint.
The three interviews thus far, helps one understand the case study of this
dissertation better and helps one decipher whether their design be considered, good,
effective or neither.
Another interview that was conducted was of Mr. Muzamil Ruheel. Who has
studied fine arts and taught Urdu Typography in Karachi University and formerly at
Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture. Ruheel also has expansive experience in
the field of Editorial design. As he himself has been a teacher of Urdu Typography, he
27
was asked questions regarding treatment of type and type setting. His interview
proved to be very useful since Ruheel spoke freely and eloquently, however it was the
first interview the interviewer conducted and in retrospect the questions asked could
be more relevant to the topic.
Apart from this, an interview of Tanaz Minwala was conducted. Minwala was
chosen for this interview because of her experience in the field of graphic and
editorial design. Ms. Minwala is the creative director at Creative Unit and specializes
in print design. And with her team has worked on editorial design of “spider’ ‘Herald’
and ‘aurora’ magazines. It is because of her expansive career and the knowledge on
design that she was interviewed and made part of this dissertation.(further details of
her career in included in the appendices). She like Ruheel spoke brilliantly however
repeatedly while speaking Minwala venture in to areas unrelated to the field of
graphic design.
Imagery be it in form of photographs, illustrations, icons, pictograms make an
important part of design. Even in the Urdu Weekly Magazines many styles of
illustration and icons can be found and there is also a switch between photographic
content and illustrated content as mentioned in the introduction but also Khan’s
research. In order to further understand the usage of imagery in design, Sara Nagi, an
illustrator currently working for Santara Magazine was interviewed via email. Nagi
willingness to help and share her expertise was apparent in her answers, which were
expansive and easy to understand.
As the dissertation aimed to figure out effectiveness of design and uses Urdu
Weekly magazines as a case study than it seemed vital to research the audience or
readers point of view as well. Whether the design decisions made actually fulfilled
their purpose or did they fail. A focus group of four women, ages varying from 22 to
28
45 were chosen at random. The interviewer did not think it was necessary to take
women who surely read the magazines since the group was provided with numerous
magazines there only and given ample time to go through them. Even though the
focus group proved productive, it was difficult at times to make the group understand
the questions since they were unaware of many design jargons. Problem in
understanding design jargons is the sole reason why mass surveys were not conducted
to find out the audiences opinion.
There is a stark difference in the secondary and primary research conducted.
Secondary being more Internet based is more westernized and hardly touches upon
designing issues that one might face in this city. However the primary research is
conducted among the practicing designers who are well aware of the local approach
or local style of designing. Thus the primary research fulfills the area of culture and
locality left uncovered by the secondary research. Together they contribute to the
main topic, that is, ‘Is there a difference between ‘Good’ and ‘Effective’ design
through analysis of Urdu Weekly Magazines?’
29
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
As mentioned before the debate between ‘good’ design and ‘effective’ design
is not a concise one. However in this dissertation the argument have been contained
by relating it to the case study of ‘Urdu Weekly Magazines’. Therefore by
determining if the design of these magazines will be classified as good, effective or
neither one will be answer if there is a difference between good design and effective
design.
In order to determine ‘good’ design, a ten-part essay on Diet Ram’s principle
of good design102 was chosen and analyzed. This series of essays explores principles
such as usability103, aesthetics104 and understandability105. It is imperative to analyze
this essay series written by artist and designers, who are active in their respective
fields.
Firstly it was discussed that good design is easy to use, that its ‘form,
functionality and aesthetic appeal’106 all garner a positive reaction from users. The
essay focuses on usability, thus the author wrote about built in hindrances, which
limits the use of design and makes it difficult for the user to fully use the product. The
Brewer suggested, that any extra features should be removed from the design, in order
to for the user to easily and quickly use the product107. The author was supported by
102
103
Joshua Brewer ‘Good Design is Useful’, Inksie Journal of Design and Culture
http://inksie.com/journal/rams-02/ (Accessed: 28th November 2011)
104
Alexandra Lange, ‘Good Design is Aesthetics’
105
106
107 Joshua Brewer ‘Good Design is Useful’ paragraph 1, Inksie Journal of Design and Culture
30
others contributors like Oliver Richardson,108 Matias Corea109 and Alexandra
Lange110.
Richardson argues that good design is as ‘little design as possible’111 and
Corea adds that built in ‘distractions’112 should not keep a user from understanding
the product. By this he refers to the use of ‘ornaments’113, which are there for
beautification purposes. Even Lange writes that ‘visual clutters’114 should be
removed. In the result of focus group conducted to find out the viewer’s opinion on
the Weekly Magazine, one in four participant complained that ornamentation in the
magazine was “useless”115 whereas the others reasoned that ornamentation makes the
page looks “nicer”116
Even the designers of ‘Family Magazine’ adhere to Corea and Lange design
sensibility, as in their interview; they have said that ornamentation makes it
‘difficult’117 for a reader to ‘read.’118 Even Mr. Adil of Mid-Week Magazine and
108
109
110
Alexandra Lange, ‘Good Design is Aesthetics’ Inksie Journal of Design and Culture
http://inksie.com/journal/rams-03/ (Accessed 28th November 2011)
111
112
113
http://inksie.com/journal/rams-04/(Accessed: 28th November 2011)
114
115
Focus Group conducted on 12th June 2012. [Conducted in person, recorded and transcribed,
paragraph: 4].
116 Focus Group conducted on 12th June 2012. [Conducted in person, recorded and transcribed,
paragraph: 4].
117
Family Magazine interviewed 23rd January 2012. [Conducted via email, paragraph: 7].
118
Family Magazine interviewed 23rd January 2012. [Conducted via email, paragraph: 7].
31
Sunday Magazine personally believe that design should be ‘simple with minimum
color’119. These arguments might seem relevant to people who adhere to more
modernist sense of design120, but one could also present the argument that even
ornamentation serves a purpose.
Case in point, Mr. Mohammad Obaid, Deputy Art Director of Akhbar-e-Jehan
Magazine, explains that ornamentation such as flowers, flourishes, swirls, ethnic
motifs and stars are used around a heading or a title to make it ‘stand out’121. He
means ornamentation around a certain heading or title helps ensure hierarchy and
helps separate one content from the other. Or as Khan writes that hierarchy is the
‘order of importance that the elements are given, based on their placement, size and
tonal boldness…determines what the reader attention is drawn to first’122. Therefore
the professional way to maintain hierarchy is with the choice of font, its weight and
point size.
Therefore ornamentation might not be considered useful or even considered
part of ‘good’ design but it if used sensibly it can be used to aid and direct a reader.
An example of sensible use of ornamentation is when Obaid shares that political
section of their Magazine is devoid of ornamentation and kept ‘plain’123, because its
readership or target audience is more ‘sober’124. Emery Walker125, a key contributor
to the Kelmscott Press and the Private Press Movement, said that, ‘the ornament what
119
Aslam Adil interviewed 29th May 2012. [Interview was conducted in person, recorded and
transcribed, line: 11].
120 Matias Corea ‘Good Design makes a product Understandable’ Paragraph 5
121
Interview of Mr. Mohammad Obaid, Deputy Art Director of Akhbar-e-Jehan, Transcript line: 106.
122
123
Mohammad Obaid interviewed 5th January 2012. [Interview was conducted in person, recorded and
124
125
Emery Walker, Kelmscott Press & Private Press Movement, (posted: not known)
http://www.artsandcraftsmuseum.org.uk/Default.aspx?page=2285 (accessed: 7th May 2012)
32
ever it is, picture or pattern work should form part of the page…’126 In light of these
words and the reasoning behind Obaid’s use of ornamentation, one could say that
even though the reason for using ornamentation is valid, the relation of ornamentation
with each other could be more thought off and could be executed more professionally.
Thus use of ornamentation in Akhbar-e-Jehan will not qualify as good design since
good design would have thought of taken the whole page in to consideration rather
than just attracting the reader to the heading, it could easily be classified as effective
design since it does help create hierarchy.
Going back to the essays on Diet Ram ten principle of good design, it was
discussed how a good design reduces ‘chances of failure’127 for the user, and presents
a sense of accomplishment.’128
A sense of accomplishment cannot be measured and description of what an
accomplishment really is differs from person to person. Secondly sharing excess of
information might reduce chances of failure but that does not automatically means its
good design. Like the use of ornamentation to create hierarchy rather than through
type setting as discussed previously.
In Urdu Weekly Magazines such as Akhbar-e-Jehan, Sunday Magazine and
Midweek Magazine, Photoshop effects such as ‘emboss129’ and ‘drop shadow’130 are
applied to Urdu headings. Again this is for the sake of maintaining hierarchy,
‘headings are made colorful, and emboss effect are give…to make it more
126
Philip B Meggs, History of Graphic Design, chapter 10: The Arts & Craft Movement and its
Heritage, The Kelmscott press, 72.
127
http://inksie.com/journal/rams-02/ (accessed: 28th November 2011)
128
Joshua Brewer ‘Good Design is Useful’ paragraph 2.
http://inksie.com/journal/rams-02/ .(accessed: 28th November 2011)
129
130
33
distinguishable.’131 This action of applying effect does succeed in attracting reader’s
attention and maintaining hierarchy, as seen in the result of the focus group, where
wholly agreed that outlines and effects makes the eye automatically fall on the
heading132. However it completely damages the integrity of Urdu typography and
hierarchy can be maintained in more subtle ways. Here one should refer to the
interview of Mr. Ruheel, who emphasized that ‘software cannot create forms’133 this
further shows that software are only a tool and nothing more, maintaining readability
and aesthetics are up to designer’s sensibility and skill.
The secondary research essays also touched upon the importance of aesthetics.
Authoress Lange, who previously discussed the idea of reducing ‘visual cluttering’134
now discusses, how the use of correct color contrast and creating divisions through
the use of graphics can help improve aesthetics, which is part of good design. Lange
further reasons that if the same elements are were bombarded without critical
thinking, the same elements will work against the design.135
Under the light of Lange’s reasoning, one can easily decipher examples of
good critical thinking in all four magazines. For example, the body text is placed is
pastel colored boxes, which Khan mentions in her dissertation as well136 in order to
help reader distinguish one article from another137, the colored boxes also help a
131
transcribed, line: 254-256].
paragraph: 12].
133
transcribed, line 40].
134
Alexandra Lange, ‘Good Design is Aesthetics’ Paragraph 2.
135
Alexandra Lange, ‘Good Design is Aesthetics’ Paragraph 2.
136
137 Family Magazine interviewed 23rd January 2012. [Conducted via email, paragraph: 5].
34
reader to continue reading the same article with out getting confused when shifting
pages. Moreover color choice is dictated by the ‘subject’138 thus if the subject is
‘serious, comedy and than design accordingly’139 All this and the elimination of
ornamentation (from political section) considering the subject matter as previously
mentioned, shows critical thinking has been undertaken regarding design. Ruheel in
his interview further supports this notion, as he articulates that ‘design sensibility’140
is present even if they do not appeal to people like him. He further supports this
statement by discussing an image that accompanies an article in the magazine. He
claims that designer of these magazines knows that ‘I have to put an image of a dollar
(bill) and this I have to put this, I have to put that...’141. However one could argue that
placing the right image is not everything, placement of that picture, color, size, and
composition all have to be taken in to account as well. An example of similar decision
making came forward during the focus group, when showed pages of religious section
of a weekly magazine, a participant commented how the use of “arches”142 (a
prominent feature of Islamic Architecture143) around the article worked with the
theme144.
There are even more examples of good critical thinking that aids reader’s
experience. As mentioned in the introduction, the orientation of the advertisements is
138
139
140
141
paragraph: 11].
143 Rabah Saud, ‘The Arch that Never Sleeps, paragraph 2,
Islamic Arts & Architecture (posted: 22nd March 2011)
http://islamic-arts.org/2011/islamic_arches/ (accessed: 12th June 2012).
paragraph: 11].
35
inconsistent. The horizontal adverts sometimes read top-to-bottom and vice versa.
Obaid reasons that ‘top part’145 of any advertisement ‘should not be on the binding
side’146 as this ‘does not look good’147. This decision was undertaken in order to avoid
accidental binding or cropping of the advertisement’s information, and thus shows the
extent of critical thinking behind their design.
Consistency in structure and maintaining a grid also shows thorough critical
process on the designer’s part. Minwala stressed upon maintaining the structure of the
Magazine in her interview. She stressed that for a magazine, ‘requirement is
structure.’148 There have to be definite ‘columns’149 ‘type selection’150 ‘headline type,
its positioning’151 ‘section headings.’152 Also pages have to be moved ‘without
changing readers habit’153 meaning a reader should easily move on to reading on the
next page without getting confused or disoriented. This is achieved through good
magazine structure. Urdu Weekly Magazine achieves structure through use of colored
boxes in background, loud section borders and loud typography, all of which have
been discussed. Again the result of the focus group should be brought forwarded,
145
146
147
148
Tanaz Minwala Interviewed on 22nd December 2011. [Interview conducted in person, recorded and
149
150
151
152
153
36
when asked whether it was easy or difficult to navigate through the given magazines,
the participants responded that it is easy since they were very “systematic”154
All these decisions might not lead to a ‘good’ design but all these decisions
make the design effective enough to aid a reader’s experience.
It was previously mentioned in this dissertation how ‘globalization’ might
lead to ‘standardization of products’ and a point was raised whether the design
theories, principle, applauded executions, which are taught and glorified are not in a
way standardizing design and if good design itself has become a standardized design
itself? On a similar issue Minwala spoke how the design concepts, ideas or examples
showed be borrowed, “borrow it but with intelligence.”155 That is to adapt an idea to
ones ‘culture’156 and make it more relatable to its audience. Minwala further
contributes how “effective”157 design is able to ‘communicate to the masses’158 and
not just one strata of the society159. She further goes on to talk about designing for
people of Karachi, Pakistan, reasoning that our masses are ‘uneducated’160. Diet Rams
article’s also mentions that ‘aesthetics are subjective’161. Meaning that aesthetics are
open to opinion and that ones aesthetics sense or opinion are influenced by their
upbringing, culture, education, visual exposure etc. Therefore aesthetics preference of
ones target audience has to be taken under consideration when designing and when
154
paragraph: 13].
155
Tanaz Minwala interviewed on 22nd December 2011, [interview conducted in person, recorded and
156
157
158
159
160
161
37
judging the visuals of a designed product. Since what might be garish to one set of
people can be pleasing to other.
Ruheel interview is also of great relevance here since, he said that chaotic,
over powering designs, or as describes them ‘mix plate’ 162and ‘fruit chaat’163 works
because it is what the ‘population’164 prefers.
Considering both what Ms. Lange had written and what Ms. Minwala and Mr. Ruheel
had said it is safe to say ‘good’ design means good aesthetics, whereas ‘effective’
design means adapting the aesthetics and designing with consideration of the target
audience needs and preference. Even Adil spoke how culture of target market has to
be taken in to consideration since every culture has very strong preference, he
elaborated this point by highlighting the difference of taste between Punjab and
Sindh, “in Punjab designing is something else, over here designing is preferred to be
sober...”165
Urdu Weekly Magazines did not officially declared any target market,
however Obaid of Akhbar-e-Jehan did inform the interviewer that they usually target
the women.166 It appears that Obaid’s loosely based target market strategies does in
fact work since in the focus groups not only the over all response was positive but the
participants spoke heartily about how the cover page is “impressive”167 because of the
162
163
164
165Aslam Adil interviewed 29th May 2012. [Interview was conducted in person, recorded and
166
paragraph: 3-4].
38
images used and the “cloths”168 worn by the model there. Therefore considering that
the education of the masses, target audience which largely compromises of women
readers, the findings of focus, and the graphic elements used in Urdu Weekly
Magazines, it is safe to say that the aesthetics of Urdu Weekly Magazine’s aim to
make a visual impact on their target audience.
The goal of visual communication169 in the review of Sun’s paper on The
Influence of Culture on Print Graphic Design is described as to ‘produce powerful
pictures so that people will remember their content’170. It was than questioned if the
consistent visual style of Urdu Weekly Magazine’s with its tabloid size, bold use of
type and imagery and compositions fulfill this goal of durability in audience’s mind.
This is a question which can not answered until the audience itself is questioned. Thus
in the focus group the participants were asked if they will be able to recognize cover
of any of the weekly magazine from a distance or in a hurry. Three out of four
participants confirmed that they would be able to recognize the covers171 because of
the ‘glamorous image of the woman’172 on the cover. One might consider this to be a
weak method to ensure durability in audience’s mind however it works. And again it
is a well thought of maneuver since in his interview when asked the reason behind
repeatedly using woman on the cover, Obaid replied, “even women prefer (woman on
168
paragraph: 3-4].
169 Kang Sun, ‘The Influence of Culture on Print Graphic Design, An investigation/ Research of
Beijing 2008 & London 2012 Olympic Games Graphic Design’ UNITEC New Zealand (2007): 34.
170
Kang Sun, ‘The Influence of Culture on Print Graphic Design, An investigation/ Research of
Beijing 2008 & London 2012 Olympic Games Graphic Design’ UNITEC New Zealand (2007): 34.
paragraph: 3].
paragraph: 3].
39
cover) since it has a dress and everything”173 This tactic works as proven by the result
of focus group.
Thus far, aesthetics, usability, consideration of target audience has been
examined in order to see if there is a difference between good design and effective
design.
It was mentioned in the introduction that the magazine switches between
different style of illustration and also switches between photographic content and
illustrated content. One might say that this inconsistency keeps a magazine to solidify
its visual style or an identity, however Obaid believes this constant switching keeps
the magazine from getting ‘stale’174 and to prevent the reader from getting bored.
Nagi also contributed that say that for fiction content, ‘illustrations175’ are a better
option since they can communicate to ‘the reader the wildest of ideas.’176 She further
goes on to say that illustration style should be justified by the story or written
content177. And like Mr. Obaid believes that sticking to one style of illustration will
make the magazine ‘monotonous.’178 And will cause reader to lose ‘interest.’179 She
rationalizes her ideas further by adding, that a magazine is not a book, it has ‘different
sections, different concepts, and also different mind set readers’180 Even during the
focus group it was discovered that the constant switching between photographs and
illustration, and also switching between different styles of illustration made the
173
174
175
Sara Nagi interviewed 9th February 2012. [Conducted via Email, paragraph 2].
176
177
178
179
180
Sara Nagi interviewed 9th February 2012. [Conducted via Email, paragraph 6.]
40
magazine more “interesting”181 Considering the reasoning of Obaid and Nagi one has
to agree that experimenting with different styles of illustration will prevent reader
from losing interest and keep the magazine from becoming wearisome.
Even with the use of extravagant stylization, the readability of the body text
is maintained through out the magazine. Obaid explained it is maintained through the
use of a “six-column grid”182 with text size of “10 points”183 and with the use of pale
colored backgrounds that help differentiates between articles and by setting obvious
hierarchy that has been discussed before. The Family magazine however ensures
readability through minimum use of ornamentation184 and through simple185 clean-cut
design approach. These techniques of maintaining readability works since in the focus
group, majority claimed that they had no difficulty186 in reading the body text with
just one complaining about the amount of text placed187 on the page.
Through out the analysis chapter design ideas and choices were brought
forward and argued. They were questioned in the light of elements of design and also
in light of target market, and their culture and preference. The designers of Urdu
Weekly Magazines repeatedly rationalized their decisions, which were repeatedly
compared to the literary findings and words of designers with respectable design
education and careers. All resulting in rather surprising revelations regarding this
181
paragraph: 10].
182 Mohammad Obaid interviewed 5th January 2012. [Interview was conducted in person, recorded and
183 Mohammad Obaid interviewed 5th January 2012. [Interview was conducted in person, recorded and
paragraph: 9].
paragraph: 5].
41
dissertations topic, which is, is there a difference between good design and effective
design, with thorough analysis of Urdu Weekly Magazines.
42
CONCLUSION
As this dissertation draws to a close one must remember that the
research aims to decipher, if there is a difference between good design and
effective design by figuring out if the design of Urdu Weekly Magazines is
good, effective, or neither.
In light of the result of the research put forward many interesting and
unexpected results. Come forward critical thinking behind every design choice
makes the difference between good design and effective design. If critical
thinking has been under taken. And every design decision can be justified
through proper reasoning. Then design can be classified as effective.
Regardless of the final execution, if it fails to look appealing and sophisticated
or not. Therefore there is a difference good design and effective design.
Critical thinking or justification has been presented through out the
Analysis section of this paper. Example maintaining structure within a
magazine, Minwala spoke about the importance of maintaining a structure,188
and how a structure aids a readers experience and prevents him from getting
disoriented.189 The same goals are achieved by Urdu Weekly Magazines in a
less approved manner.
188
189 Tanaz Minwala Interviewed on 22nd December 2011. [Interview conducted in person, recorded and
43
Hierarchy is maintained not by intricate setting of type and its
verification but by applying effects190 on headings, use of bright colors and by
use of ornamentation around them. This can be considered a quick and easy
way to achieve hierarchy but it does work as seen in the result of the focus
group.191 Structure is also helped by the colored boxes placed behind text to
distinguish articles from on another192. It is also helped by the use of borders
placed in the beginning of every section. Even the participants of the focus
group agreed that there is a system to the magazine193.
Apart from the structure, critical thinking is obvious in the decision of
using different styles of illustrations to maintain a reader’s interest194. And this
comes through even in the choice of imagery presented with the featured
article195that enhances its theme.
All these decisions together achieve their intended purpose. As shown
by the reaction of the focus group thus making design of Urdu Weekly
Magazines effective.
190
paragraph: 12].
paragraph: 13].
paragraph: 3].
paragraph: 11].
44
The most significant example of critical thought process is consideration
of target market. Minwala spoke how effective design196 is one, which speaks
to the masses not the one, which just looks good but alienates people197.
Designers of Urdu Weekly Magazine are on record discussing, how
their design decisions are influenced by culture198 and considering the taste of
their audience. Even Ruheel supports this notion by adding that the
population199 prefers chaotic designs, which can be found in these magazines.
Even in focus group the participants200 were completely acceptable of the
design executions, even thought it would bother some.
And if design decisions in magazine pleases its audience and
communicates with them than it is effective, if not good. Since design is
suppose to communicate.
The task of writing this dissertation first appeared to be daunting but
soon it turned in to an exploration expedition, which took me to unexplored
areas of graphic design. Due to this dissertation I was not only able to see how
design is approached in the city and how far removed it was from design
education. But it also gave me a newfound appreciation of local design, which
196
197 Tanaz Minwala interviewed on 22nd December 2011, [interview conducted in person, recorded and
198 Aslam Adil interviewed 29th May 2012. [Interview was conducted in person, recorded and
199 Muzamil Ruheel interviewed on 3rd November 2011, [interview conducted in person, recorded and
paragraph: 4].
45
I once assumed to be outdated and embarrassing. Learning new things and
insightful things at every stage of research have made this entire endeavor
worthwhile.
46
BIBLOGRAPHY
Akhbar-e-Jehan, website mast head,
http://akhbar-e-jehan.com/Nov2011/28%2D11%2D2011/
(Accessed: 27th November 2011).
Dieter Ram, ‘Dieter Rams, Industrial Designer’, Design Museum
Emery Walker, Kelmscott Press & Private Press Movement,’
http://www.artsandcraftsmuseum.org.uk/Default.aspx?page=2285 (accessed: 7th May
2012).
Inksie Journal of Design and Culture, Rams’ principles series,
(Posted: 3rd March 2010)
(Accessed 28th November 2011).
o Alexandra Lange, ‘Good Design is Aesthetics’
o Joshua Brewer ‘Good Design is Useful’ Inksie Journal of Design and Culture
o Matias Corea ‘Good Design makes a product Understandable’
o Olivier Reichenstein ‘Good Design is as little Design as possible’ Inksie
Journal of Design and Culture (Posted 3rd June 2010)
Jacci Howard Bear, ‘How to Use Pull Quotes,’ About.com, (posted: Not Known)
http://desktoppub.about.com/cs/pagelayout/ht/pull_quotes.htm?rd=1 (accessed: May
26th 2012).
Joshua Brewer, http://jbrewer.tumblr.com/ (Accessed: 7th May 2012)
http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=6108135&authType=name&authToken=pr
QG&locale=en_US&pvs=pp&pohelp=&trk=ndir_viewmore (Accessed: 7th May
2012).
1
Kang Sun, ‘The Influence of Culture on Print Graphic Design, An investigation/
Research of Beijing 2008 & London 2012 Olympic Games Graphic Design’ UNITEC
New Zealand (2007): 22.
http://unitec.researchbank.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10652/1262/fulltext.pdf?sequence=
1 [date accessed: 23rd November 2011].
47
Little Oxford English Dictionary, published in United States, Oxford Press Inc. New
York, in 2002, page no. 221.
Maria Khan, ‘In Depth Analysis of Local Magazines in Pakistan, Based on Editorial
Design’, Dissertation Dept. of Communication Design IVSAA (2003).
http://www.sd.polyu.edu.hk/iasdr/proceeding/papers/cultureorientated%20product%20design.pdf [Accessed: 23rd November 2011].
Olivier Reichenstein, http://www.linkedin.com/in/informationarchitect (accessed: 7th
May 2012).
Philip B Meggs, History of Graphic Design, chapter 11, Art Nouveau; Art Nouveau
(John Wiley Sons, Inc, Hoboken, New Jersey) page: 194.
Philip B Meggs, History of Graphic Design, chapter 10: The Arts & Craft Movement
and its Heritage, The Kelmscott press, (John Wiley Sons, Inc, Hoboken, New Jersey).
Rabah Saud, ‘The Arch that Never Sleeps, paragraph 2,
Islamic Arts & Architecture (posted: 22nd March 2011)
http://islamic-arts.org/2011/islamic_arches/ (accessed: 12th June 2012).
Web Definition, Google, 'Good Design'
www.google.com (accessed 27th November 2011).
48

Rabia Humayun Dissertation - Indus Valley School of Art

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