OUGD504 - Studio Brief 01 - Research Presentation Feedback

Feedback gained from this research presentation was generally positive, suggesting that the subject matter was interesting and surprising that one small, rural town in the county of Hertfordshire could have so much history. Although many city guidebooks already exist, the subject matter is not necessarily an obvious choice since it is not a major, well-known city. As a result, this makes the guidebook more original and so may appeal to more people.

However, it was considered that the target audience needed refining. The initial target audience for this guidebook had not been homed into a specific age range, however it would have been targeted more towards the older generations of people, of being both tourists and locals, who may have a particular interest in the heritage and history of the town. Based on feedback, it was suggested that the content of the guidebook would be more appealing to those of middle-age, which is considered to be from aged 45 to 65, according to the Oxford Dictionary definition. This specific age range may have more of an interest in the different forms and ideas of urban planning methods, as well as the smaller, more rural towns situated within Britain.

One initial design consideration mentioned within the presentation was to attempt to produce a more contemporary guidebook, which would appeal to the less obvious younger generations of people. Looking at the Wallpaper* and LOST iN city guidebooks as examples and reference material, these both have fairly minimalistic designs. Feedback suggested to try and not make the proposed guidebook too minimal in response to this, but to more carefully consider it's practicality for it's specific target audience.

The town in which the guidebook is going to be produced on originally belonged to a Quaker community, which as a result meant there was a ban on selling alcohol on public premises within the town until 1958 when a referendum lifted the ban. This piece of information was of particular interest to some, something that could be worked with as a theme within the guidebook. The town also has many connections to the Arts and Crafts Movement, for instance through architecture and even methods of teaching. This could also be used as a theme within the guidebook in terms of layout and design; how can this be seen throughout the town, how did it affect the town's development, and how it can now influence future design decisions specific to this project?