Exploring Ireland- an interactive pamphlet
To start off this project, I needed to decide what I wanted to make my interactive pamphlet about. I came up with a bunch of different topics that I was interested in but ultimately decided to go with Ireland.
I visited Ireland about two years and it was an amazing experience for me. I think having an interactive pamphlet to have before I went on my trip would have been super cool so I was invested in this project the moment I started on it. After deciding on Ireland, it was time to brainstorm different AR experiences I could incorporate into my pamphlet. Thankfully, Ireland is full of many diverse, incredible experiences that I could work with so it wasn’t difficult. There are so many interesting travel destinations, places to eat, and historic moments to talk about.
After I came up with different AR experience ideas, I started to lay out the framework for my pamphlet. I created a sketch outlining my plan. The first page is to the left and the back page is to the right. I started with a cover page that showed that it was Ireland. I then wanted to dedicate pages to the capitol Dublin and it’s food, castles, the Cliffs of Moher, the National Museum of Ireland and then Glasnevin Cemetery. I then came up with a list of potential AR ideas for each page.
After finishing the sketches, I transferred them over to InDesign and started to make my ideas solid. I did research on castles, Dublin food, the Cliffs of Moher tourism, the museum and the Glasnevin cemetery. I found pictures that I took that matched up with each page and put them on each section. I filled each section with information about the topic as well. As soon as I got the bulk of data onto the page, I decided to start editing the design aspect. I came up with a style guide based on the colors that I love from Ireland. I also found some fonts that I thought worked really well together and matched the aesthetic of Ireland.
After coming up with a style guide, I started to apply it to my pamphlet on InDesign. I changed the fonts into the ones that I chose. I also started adding watercolor designs and other things Ireland was notable for (4 leaf clovers, the flag). Things really started to come together as I added aspects of the style guides and other design features.
After finishing the bulk of the design and content, I started to work on the QR codes. I had all the websites and PDF content I needed to make QR codes, I just needed to find a converter. I used QR Code Generator because I liked the aesthetic look out of all the different codes available.
I added a website to the generator and then chose the look of the code after it was created. I made it green to match the style guide. I then labeled the code and downloaded it to my computer so I could apply it to my pamphlet in InDesign.
I was able to create 6 different QR codes for my pamphlet with the appropriate information and content. After finishing the codes and labeling them according to their content, I put them into my pamphlet.
I made sure to test each QR code on my phone to make sure it linked to the correct content. After testing each QR code, I went through my document and made sure that it was free of errors.
I double checked to make sure everything was perfect aesthetically wise and then exported it as a PDF. It is now ready to submit and share with my classmates! I had a ton of fun creating this pamphlet and learning how to make QR codes. I have learned so much from this class; it helped me become 10x more confident in my digital authoring and design skills!
