Design Ideas

After the tutorial it was suggested that I should try and specify as much as possible and make my ideas much more concise. To do this I first made sure that I had stuck with the idea of aiming the design at tourists. I will definitely not change this now. 

Secondly I thought about all the kinds of places that tourists will go when travelling to east Asian countries where manta ray killings are the biggest problem. 

Below you can see where I thought about each stage of the journey and what opportunities there are for print along that stage. Some of the stages are similar (such as the airport after landing) so they have the same kinds of opportunities for placement but could still be taken advantage of in a different way (For example a design that only makes sense after having gone through the process of travelling to the arrival airport). 

After this I went through each of the stages of the journey and drew out a rough idea of the kind of thing I mean. This helps to clarify the positioning and the ideas that I've had. Each drawing is numbered and below the images is a small description of the idea and a quick evaluation. Click the images to view them full size. 

Train:

1. Everyone needs a train ticket so it could be a potential item to design as it will almost definitely be seen. The front of a ticket is generally a bit crowded with official information but there is nothing to stop me redesigning that too. If I wanted to stick to the original kind of design then I could use the space on the back of the ticket but this is likely to be seen.

Overall this idea doesn't allow for brilliant design opportunities but the product is a necessity as opposed to print design like posters or fliers. 

2. There are various placements of posters around train stations such as the ones shown in the drawing. These are underground specific posters, but they are very large and the passengers face them directly while waiting for a train so they get quite a lot of attention. The large format of the posters makes them more eye catching and could prove to be a useful medium. Other posters are used around train stations on flat walls but these are more likely to be walked straight past because there isn't usually a reason to wait. This could be a really good medium to design for but it is still just a poster and can easily blend into the rest. 

3. Another use of posters inside train stations is up and down the escalators where there are individual poster spots. This idea would be quite generic and nothing special but a poster can always make good promotion if done well. 

4. Again another use of posters but this time inside the train. People usually have to sit around for a while so posters are more likely to be examined than some which are walked past. 

5. Trains often have designs across the side of the carriages. These are usually company names and logos but could be designed for a campaign or for information. This would make a really eye catching design which would very likely be noticed both by passers by and the people actually getting the train. This could be a really effective idea. 

Car:

6. A billboard is a relatively normal method of printing promotion and advertising but it is large and they are usually relatively secluded in terms of other design. They are usually noticed by drivers so an effective billboard could work really well. The designs would have to be placed on routes to airports in this example.

7. Road signs can also be taken advantage of because people use road signs to get around so they are a focal point. There isn't much room for designing around a road sign without being too dangerous or just defeating the point of having a road sign so the design could turn out to be uninteresting and ineffective. 

Bus:

8. Buses have similar kinds of posters to trains so the idea is really the same. People are generally on a bus for a while so they have time to look around and observe the information on the posters. 

9. The idea for a bus ticket is similar to that of a train ticket also; everyone needs one and will probably look at it but it could prove to be pretty boring. 

10. Buses often have designs across the entire side of the bus or across the 'banner' type poster. This allows a large surface area to work with. On top of that, the bus is mobile so it will travel around a lot and more people will see the design. Buses generally don't have really extreme designs so a really eye catching one could prove to be effective. 

Airport:

11. Boarding passes have the same kind of uses as the tickets earlier but they have a larger space to work with. Boarding passes and plane tickets are also much more important for the journey because commercial air travel has probably the strictest protocol of any kind of transport. People constantly make sure they have their tickets on them and check them a lot so the design on a ticket could work well. It also rips across the perforation which means it can work in two parts and make a much more interesting design. 

12. Planes are often seen out on the runway when walking though an airport because airports have a considerable amount of windows compared to a lot of buildings. This is probably so that people can look at the planes. Designing for the side of an aeroplane could work really well. 

13. Again, airports have a lot of opportunity for poster placement. In the example above, the posters are adjacent to the conveyor belts that go down the long corridors. Posters are still pretty generic but useful and can work effectively. This idea did spur number 16 though. 

14. The baggage trolleys that are used to take luggage easily around the airport always have a bit of advertising on them which I could take advantage of. Not the best placed advertising but its there and people must notice it. 

15. Shops sell all kinds of items with packaging on them like cups or sandwich packets which could be printed on to but that isn't really anything new. 

16. Another possibility for printing could be on the conveyor belts around airports. This is quite a strange place to print so it would get some attention and is more interesting than posters. It also allows for a moving design which can work to reveal some things before others I have seen some examples of this before so I know that it is possible. 

17. Similar to 16, the baggage collection point has a rotary conveyor belt which can be designed for. Its interesting and quite different.

Flight:

18. Most people will have a look through the in flight magazines on flights so these could be potentially designed for. I could design a cover story and article inside which persuades and informs about the situation. This is quite a basic idea but if done well it could ell in conjunction with other products in the range. 

19. Something could be designed for the in-flight safety cards but I pretty much did exactly that for a brief last year so I don't want to go there again. 

20. The meals on flights have a lot of packaging which means they have a lot of space for print design. Everyone will at least look at their meal so it should work effectively. Also the message to be communicated is about eating so it makes a really relevant format to work with. This could be a really good idea for designing if done properly. 

21. The carts used to bring everything up and down the plane usually have either a big white space or a design on the side so this could be used for a design for the brief. It hits at almost exactly eye level when sitting down so it is quite a good place to design for. 

22. The products on that are sold will also have packaging and print designs so they could potentially be designed for. The only problem is that they aren't very interesting products. 

Accommodation:

23 & 24: Fliers and brochures are usually put together on a table or surface somewhere when a customer arrives at the accommodation. They usually explain some things about the local area and what there is to do while staying so it could make a good format to tell people what not to do. 

25. Some accommodation comes with a welcome pack which has a few items and a note or some fliers which could be another good place to put the message. It is effectively the same as 23 and 24 but might be more noticeable and personal. 

26. All accommodation with have some kind of key or key card, both of which can be printed on and designed for. People always carry these around but the designs would have to be quite small. 

Harbour towns:

27. Manta rays caught near harbour towns will probably be sold at the towns in restaurants if they have a mid-high level of tourism so they would make a good place to show the print design. Posters at restaurants could either promote the information about rays or could show that that restaurant does not support the trade. 

28. Harbour towns usually have quite long views out to sea and often have a lot of ships and boats coming and going. Ocean Liners are really big ships used to carry cargo and can often be seen around a lot of islands. The fact that they are so big means that they can be seen from a long way away, so designing for the hull of one of these ships could be really effective. All tourists in the harbour town would be able to see the design making it effective. 

I think that some of these ideas have a lot more potential than others but it has definitely helped to narrow down my thoughts and get some kind of basis for designing.