Running Head: Group Action Plan - Group 1, 6-7pm

Group Action Plan

Melissa Jn.baptiste-hippolyte 100605028

Serena Eccleston 100622240

Nadia Kashif 100334146

Jennifer Short 100167788

Alyssa Martin 100590140

University of Ontario Institute of Technology

AEDT 2130U Graphic Design, Digital Technologies and Learning

Professor: Alan Jones

October 18, 2017

Group Action Plan 1

Context/background:

The client, The College of Early Childhood Educators have requested the creation of an

app to help alleviate some of the difficulties with curriculum activities that kindergarten

educators experience in the classroom. The app, will be called Kinder Konnect, is designed as a

support for the growing number of educators in the kindergarten classrooms in Ontario.

The kindergarten classrooms in Ontario are based on the play based model where

students learn through play. Educators are then challenged to set up the classroom as the third

teacher where students are given open ended activities that are developmentally appropriate and

reflect the belief that four and five year olds are competent learners. The learning environment

comprises not only of the physical space but a technological environment that initiates

conversation and learning in the kindergarten four frames.

Many educators have found it difficult to find activities and task that surrounds the

childrens interest as well as promotes learning in the four frames. Kinder Konnect will help

bridge the gap by successfully connecting educator all over Ontario giving them a voice to share

their ideas with each other. The Design team will first seek to create an icon for the app that

reflects the design goals.

Design Goals:

Before creating the icon for this app the design goals need to be considered. Our goal is

to make sure that the Kinder Konnect app icon looks good against different backgrounds and can

be easily recognized on the homescreen.

According to the ideas projected by the College of Early Childhood Educators Kinder Konnect

should reflect the following ideals:

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Increased Productivity,

Backward-Compatibility,

Flexibility

Low cost

User friendly

Well defined interface

High performance

These ideals are also support by Irimia & Gottschling (2016)

Design Problems

Our design had many rough drafts in an effort to create the perfect icon that would not

represent our educational app but also create a pleasant emotional experience for the viewers.

Another design problem that we faced was deciding on the right colour choice as colour is an

important element of design. It was challenging to keeping our design simple and not

incorporating too many design elements as that may off-set balance and harmony.

The time limitation was another obstacle. It was somewhat challenging using different

software to create a icon. Finally we created our icon using Adobe Illustrator CS4. Another

challenge we faced was ensuring that our app is compatible with iOS application and Android.

The icon must look good against different backgrounds and must be easily recognizable and

distinguishable among other icons. We tried our best to maintain a balance between scalability

novelty which is a part of recognisability.

Challenges

The challenges faced in designing the app icon include scalability, recognisability,

consistency, uniqueness, colour, and space. Being able to identify the icon easily among the
Group Action Plan 3

plethora of other app icons is a key goal of icon design. The shapes, forms and colours need to

resonate with the user on an emotional and functional level so that is stands out and is easy to

identify.

Scalability will be a vital to attain as the app will be displayed on a variety of devices,

operating systems, and at multiple sizes so it is important that the design maintains its uniqueness

and legibility. An icon with too much detail often times is unable to scale properly and as the

icon decreases in size, much of the detail is lost.

The icon will be competing against a sea of other icons for the users attention. Upon

researching child educational app icons, a common theme was discovered including bright

primary colours and the letters ABC are used frequently along with apple, graduation caps, and

book iconography.

Another challenge is the use of colour. Determining what colours to use is an important because

selecting the best colours to use will aid in attacking the target audience.

Unlike some other elements of design, colour has possibilities for multifaceted

interpretation instead of one particular way (Singh, Srivastava, 2011). The perception and

application of colour is strongly influenced by one's innate physiological and psychological

predisposition, personal experiences, age, gender, personality, income, ethnographic and

demographic factors that makes its application effective within the domain of marking all the

more cumbersome and challenging (Singh, Srivastava, 2011). The colours chosen for the app

icon are blue, green and white to convey the colour emotions of dependability, growth and

balance.
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Space is precious when designing icons with each icon grasping for audience attention.

Designing an attention grabbing icon that clearly conveys what the icon represents in a set

number of pixels is a daunting task.

Design Elements:

The design elements included in the icon include colour and shape. Colour is a crucial

part of our logo. Since we are designing a brand for a technology based educational app, we need

to have colours that represent learning and growth. In branding, blue is one of the most preferred

colours. It represents communication and reliability. Blue is commonly used in many popular

social media apps such as Twitter and Facebook.

Lastly, the colour green is incorporated. Green represents many different subjects, but for

our specific icon, it represents growth, peace and health. We want the icon to represent a growth

and opportunity. The yellow colour symbolizes optimism, clarity and warmth. White, which is

the absence of colour, represent the pages of a book, the pages of knowledge from which to

grow. The gradient of the blue background and the leaves add depth to the overall image.

Contrast is created by adding different sizes of leaves and mixing two primary colours (blue and

yellow) to make a secondary colour (green).

Shape is a major part of our icon. We want to represent growth and change but also

stability and foundation. The book represents a foundation of knowledge, and the sprouting

plants represent growth and change within the base foundation.

Design Principles

The principles of design include balance, emphasis, movement, pattern, repetition,

proportion, rhythm, variety, and unity. Balance is achieved through the asymmetrical use of the

large and small leaf with the stem curving towards the small leaf on the right before turning back
Group Action Plan 5

for a short distance to the large leaf on the left. Symmetrical balance is achieved through the use

of the open book at the base. Emphasis is placed on the leaves that are used to symbolize growth,

the growth of knowledge through the pages of the book.

Movement begins at bright white of the book, up the curve of the stem and then flow

along to the tips of each leaf. Repetition, pattern and rhythm are achieved through the

symmetrical design of the book and the large and small leafs, though different sizes, are

identical. Unity is created with a strong base and the asymmetrical balance and size, large and

small, of the leaves. The icon contains a variety of shapes, bright colours, symmetrical and

asymmetrical balance, to achieve a pleasing and flowing design to grab the viewers attention

and guide the eye through the design.

In this instance the icon has a drop shadow to make our image stand out from the white

background of the document.

The app icon is a set of Portable Network Graphics (PNG) files in various sizes, from the

smallest size like 29 x 29px all the way to 1024 x 1024px. This design is compatible with iOS

application and Android.

To create the icon, Adobe Illustrator CS4 is utilized for its vector formatting capability

which allows for unlimited scalability of the design.

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Final icon design

Key Learning:

Individuals will learn skills required to reconstruct that artifact

Exploring different software to create an app

Individuals will utilizing technology to document their learning process

Individuals will learn the purposes and use of the interface

Individuals will learn the purposes of graphics design

Individuals will learn and discovered ideas and have a deeper understanding of resources

Using drawing and development tools to enhance the presentation of the artifacts

Individuals will be able to foster learning in a collaborative design process

Individuals will learn to manipulate multiple graphic design tools, for example Adobe

Illustrator CS4

Visual design allows individual will be able to exercise creative thought, color theory and

visual presentation skills.

Individual will develop skills in designing and constructing 2D and 3D forms

Group Action Plan 7

Meeting Dates/Time /Place

Wednesday Oct 11, 2017 / 8:00 pm / Google Hangouts

Friday, Oct 13, 2017 / 9:00 pm / Google Hangouts

Monday Oct 16, 2017/ 9:00 pm / Google Hangouts

Tuesday, Oct 17,2017 / 8:00 pm /Google Hangouts

Wednesday, Oct 18, 2017/8:00 pm / Google hangouts

Meeting Agenda:

Designing App logo

Division of labour (who will do what)
Group action plan
Action Plan Submission Instructions:

Division of labour (who will do what)

Melissa: Context/background, Design Goal, created hangout, Group meeting Agenda

Jennifer: Created final icon design, design challenges, edited design principles and design
elements

Alyssa: designed first icon, Design Elements

Serena: key learning, creating the tree in the hand, assist with the Design Principles, assist with
design goals and design problems

Nadia: Group Project Posting, Design Principles, Design Problems, created the Google Doc,
group coordination, assisted in editing.
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REFERENCES

Biggio, M. N., Vzquez, S., & Garca, S. (2015). From representation to construction: A study

of graphic skills in students newly admitted to architecture and design courses.

Australasian Journal of Engineering Education,20(1). doi:10.7158/d13-

013.2015.20.1

Design Artifact's, Design Principles, Problems, Goals and Importance | Oriental Journal of

Computer Science and Technology. Retrieved, from:

http://www.computerscijournal.org/vol5no1/design-artifacts-design-principles-

problems-goals-and-importance/

Design Elements and Principles - Tips and Inspiration By Canva. (2017). Design School.

Retrieved from: https://designschool.canva.com/design-elements-principles/

Flarup, M. How To Design Better App Icons. Applypixels.com. Retrieved from

https://applypixels.com/how-to-design-better-app-icons/

Galicz, J. (2013). Form and Function: Elements of Design. Iml.jou.ufl.edu. Retrieved from

http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/s13/galicz-j/elementsofdesign.html

Gross, R. ( 27, October 2015) Color Meaning and Symbolism: How To Use The Power of

Color in Your Branding Design School. from

https://designschool.canva.com/blog/color-meanings-symbolism /
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Irimia R, & Gottschling M (2016) Taxonomic revision of Rochefortia Sw. (Ehretiaceae,

Boraginales). Biodiversity Data Journal 4: e7720.

https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.4.e7720. (n.d.). doi:10.3897/bdj.4.e7720.figure2f .

Retrieved from:

ttps://www1.in.tum.de/lehrstuhl_1/files/teaching/ws0607/Software%20Engineering

%20I/L07_DesignGoalsSubsystemDecomposition.pdf

Singh, N., Srivastava, S.K. (2011, May 1). Impact of Colors on the Psychology of Marking A

Comprehensive Overview. Retrieved from

http://journals.sagepub.com.uproxy.library.dc-

uoit.ca/doi/abs/10.1177/0258042X1103600206