OUGD503: ID Card

We want to keep quite a few features of this passport the same as an official one so the link between the two isn't lost.  Obviously we don't want to replicate it exactly as this involves legal obstacles, however, we aim to keep certain aspects the same, such as including an ID card to identify the individual customer.  The reference to the official passport document pushes the link between both booklets, which can give

Looking at existing ID pages on passports from various countries around the world as well as our own, we noted down the key points of information that exist on every passport.  These included the individual's name, gender, date of birth, city of residence, date of issue and date of expiry.  The latter aren't that relevant for the Airbnb passport, but we thought including the date of sign up as an Airbnb customer was another element to verify the person's relationship with the company.

Considering separate stock we were able to visualise the layout of the ID page so it included all the necessary information, including the unique bélo made by the customer when signing up.

We set up another document to match the size of the passport to be printed on different stock and inserted in at the front as a separate leaf.  We agreed that this would be best for the ID card, and keeping it separate from the rest of the spreads will make it easier to print a different card for each AirBnB customer.

We were able to sit together to work on the design for this page, and we all had an input on the decisions behind one laptop.  This proved to be an efficient design process as we were able to finish the design quickly due to agreeing on most decisions and using three people's ideas to create an outcome we were all satisfied with.

There were several versions we created before finalising the design to look professional and special in comparison to the illustrated inside pages. We developed the initial visuals and chose to use the rausch colour to confirm the association with the brand.  We decided it would be best to just use this colour on the ID card page, along with white and grey as neutral colours for the text.

We modelled the example on Mo, including his signature and photo.  The centralised, symmetrical layout fits with the aesthetic of the whole booklet.  Illustrations follow the same format with page numbers and the AirBnB logo at either side at the horizontal centre. We decided not to use Circular for all the text, changing the personal details of the individual to Menlo.

We chose AirBnB's hero colour Rausch as the main hue for the card, the same as the cover.  To add something more visually exciting to the ID page we aimed to produce a pattern for the background that was similar to the detailed backgrounds of the official passports, which I expect they use to avoid fraudulent copies being made.  Keeping our design as authentic as we could, we worked with the belo and opted for a repeat pattern of it at a small size and alternately rotated so there is minimal white space between the symbols.

We added a gradient to the pattern to create variety and avoid using just one tint of the same colour on this page. The gradient works best having the darker tone at the bottom fading to light at the top as it rises from airbnb logo in the centre and darker tones work better in the open space at bottom of page. It keeps an overall balance and allows text at the top to be readable against the patterned background.

The pattern looked slightly odd around the edges where the belos were cut off so we added a thicker stroke to separate the pattern from the white border.  The border is the same throughout the whole booklet at 10mm on every side, and as we wanted to have the border on the illustrated spreads we used it on the ID card so it was consistent throughout the whole booklet. Circular references are used surrounding the AirBnB logo and smaller ones on the illustrated pages.  This fits well with the AirBnB brand guidelines. 

In the end we decided that leaving a circular space for the individual to stick in their own Belo sticker from the back of the passport was a better solution as it allows the customer to engage with their Airbnb document.

The low opacity white boxes show the pattern through but allow text to be visible and legible against the pattern.  The same opacity was used in the circle on the right side to indicate that there is something missing - this is where the user will place their individual Belo sticker. 

We chose the photo to be black and white as we thought it would be better to keep the colour to ones representative of AirBnBs brand. The photo should show the customer smiling rather than straight faced to instil friendly connotations and reflect the human and approaching tone of the AirBnB.

We also included 'member since' so that customers can remember when they joined and makes the document more official and trustworthy; shows how long the individual has been part of the Airbnb community.  This gives each customer more incentive to want to share their Airbnb passports with fellow travellers and hosts when they meet.

We also looked into how we could bind the publication.  For the ID card to be on a separate stock and with different print finishes, we would need to insert the card afterwards therefore binding would be an issue.  A possibility for this would be to stitch in the added card while stitching the rest of the passport together, if we chose to sew the final product.

The existing British passport is stitched together, with the inside pages stitched separately from the cover which seems to be added afterwards.