Week 1

Today I wanted to get out to and explore some of the places I had brainstormed.

I walked along the waterfront and the first idea that I came across was the padlocks on the bridge.
I think these are a really beautiful symbol of people's love and commitment to one another.

This location was windy today, you could smell the salt in the air and taste it on your tongue, but the view was beautiful looking off the bridge. It is a very busy bridge - but it was the middle of the day - which meant it was quite noisy. The metal was cool to touch and there was a lot of rust. It felt charming but the time/weather would make all the difference as to whether it was a pleasant experience.

I then came across the duel bikes.

These - along with the paddle boats - are generally only out and available for hire on the weekends. Again as the location was very close to the last, there was the definite smell/taste of salt in the air and it was extremely windy. In such a busy area, the bikes are a size that could be awkward to manoeuvre and the noise of many people doesn't exactly allow for a quiet, romantic ride.

My last stop for the day was the Lighthouse Cinema in Petone.

This was a complete different atmosphere to the previous 2. It was darker, quiet, soft (cushions, plush upholstery, warm red soft textures on the walls), it didn't have a strong scent to it although it can be known to smell like popcorn. It definitely felt more comfortable and more romantic than along the waterfront earlier today. 

Week 1

This afternoon I went to the library to get some inspiration for the brochure and found a book called Basic Brochures. It had lots of really cool brochure design inside! I've made a note of the things I liked about each one.

I also saw this really cool idea on Snapchat:

Week 1

Tuesday 24/2, session 2

Today we got into small groups and shared with each other our best/favourite activity set. We all discussed further ideas for each activity set and then we had to choose the best one to present to the rest of the class. In our group Carina had the idea of an ice-cream hunt which we all agreed was really unique and interesting so we chose it. When Fay and Matt came round to discuss our chosen set they seemed confused by it and we discovered that there was a cultural clash/language barrier affecting Carina's perception of ice cream. She is from Germany and for them ice-cream and gelato are one in the same which is why her points of difference included, gelato and frozen yoghurt but not what we kiwis would technically consider ice-cream - the milk based goodness that TipTop are known so well for. It was interesting then trying to re-work her concept to get 3 different points that worked together successfully. This seemed to be the recurring problem with most peoples chosen set. The 3 points weren't working together to their best ability.
We then went to a lecture that discussed "documenting the design process" which I found kind of confusing but the print out we received breaks it down nicely.
I discussed my idea of the Couples Guide to Romantic Spots in Wellington with Fay and was pleased that she seemed supportive of the concept - even if I wasn't quite there yet in terms of my 3 points. We discussed the potential of having the guide as a day planner - having a morning, afternoon and evening activity. But what I mainly got out of our conversation was to think first about romantic things to do and then link them back to Wellington. So for independent research I have been talking to friends, family and bouncing around ideas of romantic things to do - and then relate them back to Wellington.

These were my initial 6 ideas but when talking to Fay we ruled out The White House Restaurant as it is no longer an operating restaurant. She also seemed opposed to the Carter observatory - but I still think this should float around in my brainstorm as I think star-gazing is generally considered pretty romantic.

This is my brainstorm in it's early stages - starting to try to think of adjectives/emotive connections as well as what makes each activity special/romantic.

Week 1

Monday 23/2, session 1

Today we were introduced to the brief; which discussed the importance of understanding the different stages of the design process and the meaning that is formed through the associations we place on shape, line quality, colour, and image. Our objective is to design a brochure that promotes a set of 3 thematically linked recreational destinations or activities in the greater Wellington region. In groups we began brainstorming possible activity sets and were instructed to continue brainstorming our ideas for our independent study.
So this evening I thought about my favourite things to do and things that I think are fun in Wellington and completed the tables we were given.
The top ideas I have come up with thus far are:
Concert/Music events
Op-shopping
Coastal Destinations
Couples Guide to Romantic Spots (my fav)