Design Brief

This assignment was to create an 8 page, 6 step "how to" booklet. The topic of my choosing was "How To Celebrate Your Birthday" - as my birthday approached during the semester, I thought it could be a fun topic considering I have heard many of my friends having the same events happen on their birthdays and I figured some people would relate to this satirical piece. 

The 6 steps to celebrate your birthday include 1. Wake Up, 2. Ponder, 3. Eat cake, 4. Cheers, 5. Dance, 6. Cry.

When creating this piece's style, I decided to take inspiration from some Neo-Brutalist work I researched on Pinterest. In the examples I referenced, they were largely image based with pastel colors to accompany the images with large bold text. Purple, yellow, and blue were just chosen on a whim, but the images were thoroughly thought through as I scoured stock images on Unsplash to find ones that fit the system I created perfectly. Blue pages have an image in the center with surrounding text and no subhead, yellow pages have a cropped image with layered text and subhead, and purple pages have an entire image with background and layered text and subhead. I created this system to help the viewer stay interested through the piece while also creating a sense of continuity and activity. The step-by-step booklet was meant to tell a story - one about the ups and downs of someone's big day - and to finish off with a closing scene, something that many people face on such an overwhelming day, a good cry.