Design Research Methodology - Proposal

3/04/19 - 24/04/19 (Week 1 - 4)
Azmina Fathima Haris
Design Research Methodology
Proposal

LECTURES

Lecture 1: Briefing
Week 1 (3/04/19)

We started our class with an introduction to the module and Ms. Jinchi also explained to us what were expected to do this semester, and what we should do for next week. We were asked to chose an area of interest within design, preferably related to our interested field as this could potentially become our final year project.



Lecture 2: Research Proposal
Week 2 (10/04/19)



Lecture 3: Information literacy class + Tutorial
Week 3 (17/04/19) 

This week we did not have a lecture in class, instead we continued working on our proposal and then attended the Information Literacy session held at the library.

INSTRUCTIONS



Proposal (Week 1 - 4 )

For our proposal, we have to pick an area of interest, where we should do further research on to find a research problem and then derive a research question. We also have to provide a rationale for the aforementioned area of interest of about 200-300 words along with research evidence.

My initial idea was to work with book cover design and colour psychology based on genres and age groups - I felt like colour had a lot of potential in terms of research and I have always been interested in book cover design. Ms. Jinchi suggested that I should look into book design as a whole, not just colours but also how the typography, illustrations and even the insides of the book vary with genre and how some designs work while others don't.

Draft proposal (Week 1)

A book cover is a protective covering used to bind the pages of a book, comprised of a front cover; its sole purpose being to sell the book to the readers, and a back cover, featuring a description of the book. 

A good front cover should be captivating and give the prospective buyer a glimpse into the book’s content without the aid of a description. It should be an accurate visual representation of what the book is about, but also the genre, the tone it conveys and more importantly, its target audience. 

But book covers are more than just packaging and could define how successful the particular publishing will be all on its own. Often underestimated and overlooked is the role book covers play in marketing books. Studies related to marketing show that people make up their minds within 90 seconds of their initial interactions with either people or products. And about 62‐90 percent of the assessment is based on colors alone (Singh, 2006). Colour is one of the more important variables at play here in determining a successful book cover and how it will be perceived by the reader. People associate colour with temperature, smell and even taste (Hallock, 2003); these associations lead to perceptions regarding the book which in turn, tend to vary by gender and age. 

The reason why a book is picked off a shelf could be merely due to the fact that the reader finds the cover appealing - but a visually pleasing book cover that fails to communicate the contents of the book and also give the reader an insight at the first glimpse, is one that does not serve its purpose at all. My proposal would be to investigate how effective a book is at communicating its concept but also at marketing to the targeted audience, considering colour psychology.

Final proposal submission 
(Week 4)



FEEDBACK 

Week 1: When I consulted with Ms. Jinchi, she suggested that I should look into other aspects of book cover design - the typography, illustrations, layout, etc - and how they vary with genre and age by reading more journal articles. After this, she said I could pick a niche that suits me

Week 2: After creating a draft proposal and showing it to Ms. Jinchi, she said I should do a bit more research to include in my problem statement, and said that I should look into journals more and not ones published in magazines or blogs.

Week 3: I was told to refine my proposal a bit further, especially the citations. Ms. Jinchi suggested I include examples for mentioned ambiguous book covers to make my point clearer. She also made my minor changes to in the problem statement but was otherwise fine.