Design Principles - What is a Book - Cover Design

Design Principles

What is a book? 
Cover Design 

I wanted my cover to reflect the content within and keep to an visually similar aesthetic to the rest of my context. This meant I wanted a simple and contemporary design that has darker elements that could be sinister. I was inspired by a business card from the PPP module as it was simple and contemporary yet I thought it was intriguingly dark and this drew me to the design wanting to look closer and engage with it. I like the two tone black to create a minimal yet effective contrast, the overall aesthetic is very contemporary and I feel as though I could develop a similar design that would work well with my concept. 

Inspiration

Digital Mock Up

Screen Print Positive

I created this initial mock up design in photoshop and think it works well in taking inspiration fro the above business card and applying it to my content. The simple design is extremely minimal which I feel works well to create an enigmatic design that will make the user want to look closer and interact with the design. I had used the GT pressure for the text as this is consistent with the titles throughout my publication. I have placed this inside a geometiric shape which I feel works well as this is the consistent element through that brings each page together.  I think this design works well but wanted it to have a tactile feel including texture as I have digitally included this within my book. I plan to de-boss the geometric shape and use spot varnish to screen print the outline of the space and text onto my cover as this will create an engaging aesthetic that is tactile and quirky. 

I started by creating me de-bossing stencil, I had never de-bossed before so wanted to experiment with a range of materials, I cut a stencil from acrylic using the laser cutter as I thought acrylic was hardwearing and would be sure to de-boss into most board. Also experimented with greyboard as I was initially unsure if acrylic would cut the board I wanted to de-boss onto. I used the Hydraulic Nipping press to de-boss onto my board based on the advice of print room technicians. I found that the acrylic stencil left the best impression in the mount board as it was clean and precise, it also didn't require a new stencil for each impression like the greyboard did. 

I also discussed how I would execute this two step process with the technicians they told me it would be best to de-boss first then screen print as it would be easier to line up the screen print with the de-bossing than vice versa as it is extremely hard to position the stencil on the screen printed design and not knock it off centre as you insert it into the nipping press. The technicians showed me how to use the hydraulic press and I created a number of impressions in preparation fro screen printing. 

I found it extremely difficult to line up the impression with the screen print as the spot varnish was extremely thin and blocked the screen easily so I had to work really fast which didnt give me sufficient time to line the acetate guide up with the de-bossing. I was also problematic that I was printing onto black stock as the screen print table is also black and the spot varnish template on the acetate didn't show up very well against this so it essential guess work. It was extremely inconsistent and out of 12 de-bossed sheets I only created one usable design however this was still inconsistent with with the amount of spot varnish applied making it dry with too much exes in the top corner. 

I then went back to university to get feedback from my tutor, I explained the temperamental process and showed him the one design that was usable and an alternative that was purely screen printed with no impression. I wanted to use the de-bodding but it wasn't of a high enough quality to be used on my final design. My tutor agreed that it was inconsistent but was a good design and he really liked the use of de-bossing. He then suggested that I de-bossed the geometric shape and only screen printed the text wit hips varnish as this would make it a lot easier to produce consistently.  I thought this was good compromise and wanted to experiment more with it as it thought the de-bossed impression worked really well. I received this feedback on the last day of the semester before the easter break so plan to screen print this alternative on the first day back before the final critique. 

Design Principles - What is a Book - Printing

Design Principles

What is a book? 
Printing

In preparation for printing I cut my large A2 sheets of Somerset stock down to A4 so that I could then manually cut this down to the A5 spreads. I also packaged my indesign fils to include all my links to the illustrations and typefaces as this would ensure they could be accessed from the print room. I had some difficulty in adjusting the size of my document as I inlaid planned to produce it with A4 spreads however due to feedback from other students and research into anthropometric data changed my design to A5 spread.  I consulted the IT technicians to help me scale down the page size however I had to manually resize the text to an appropriate point size as their method of reducing the size made the body copy too small to read easily. 

I encountered a slight problem when printing my final design in preparation for producing my final book. As when I gave James, the print technician my stock he asked me what is what and informed that that it didn't print as well as expected in the past as due to the production method of the paper the ink can sink into the paper making the colour less vibrant. I printed a copy anyway to see the result and didn't feel they were unusable I actually didn't mind the slightly less vibrant colours. 

Somerset Stock

He suggested an alternative stock that he had in the print room and I also printed a copy of my publication on this stock to compare, This printed far better as the colours were bright and eye-catching however the paper was leant more towards cream that off white which I was unsure if it worked as well as the Somerset's stock colour, Another potential issue with this stock was that it was not as high GSM so has the potential to tear during assembly. 

Print Room Alternative Stock

As I had already printed both variations of the publication I decided the best idea was to produce two books each with different stock and then when they are finished in their final form I can analyse the final outcomes and choose the most successful one as my final resolution. I will also ask a range of students which final variation they prefer before choosing my final resolution to the brief. 

Studio Brief 3 - Final Critique

Studio Brief 3 - Collaborative Practise - Leeds Library Exhibition Branding 

Final Critique

We presented out final concept pitch to the programme leader and a range of second year student. I thought our presentation went well as we created a formational presentation that highlighted our collective body of work as we articulated our design decision and we also compiled a comprehensive budget tier system to aid our presentation. 

Overall the feedback we received was mixed as a group they loved the concept and felt it was unique to place the focus on the students as opposed to the work however they were unsure if the concept was strong enough for members of the public. 

They felt the design of the flyer was inconsistent with the rest of the collateral with the use of chevrons

It was suggested that there was too much text on the invitation which makes it off putting and unappealing to read

Most students felt hanging the work at an angle would not work and would be irritating however they lived the concept of vinyl decals around the space at 45 degree angles

They liked the alternative invitation however felt it may be unfeasible to produce due to the accuracy of folding the time consumption and print budget. 

I agree with the feedback given and feel as though it was overall quite positive as they loved our collateral they especially like the continuity between the design (except the flyers) and were particularly impressed by our attention to detail with the budget tiers. I feel the changed they suggested would be easily amenable if our propel was selected as to be produced.

Design Principles - What is a Book - Paper Selection

Design Principles

What is a book? 
Paper Selection

I considered a range of stock choices to print my final outcome on. I wanted a thick luxurious stock that would have a relatively high GSM to create a nice tactile feel that would complement the aesthetic of my design. I initially wanted to use a brilliant white stock however when discussing this with tutors they suggested looking at a more subtle colour such as off white. We also discussed a slightly more off white colour similar to bone as this would again reinforce the concept of my publication through the fractal element of the assembly timing my concept into every aspect of my design. 

I sent off for a range of paper samples from G F Smith which are an industry standard paper merchants founded in 1885. They specialise in high quality stock that would add a really high quality finish to my publication. I ordered a sample of colours however found my favourite to be Ice White. The 135 GSM gave a great texture however if chosen for my final stock choice would consider a slightly higher GSM to ensure the pages don't tear when manufacturing my final design. 

My other alternative was a paper sources from the college library shop, I sampled the Somerset antique white paper. Somerset is another established merchant as they are described as word leading traditional printmaking paper. This stock had a great tactile feel and was 250 GSM so would be robust enough to manufacture my final outcome. The colour was slightly off white which thought would work well in creating a more subtle aesthetic that has a slightly warmer tone to the stark white making it more appealing and friendly. 

I ultimately decided to choose the somerset antique white stock to print my final design on, I felt it was a better choice as it was readily available in the library shop and was vastly cheaper than the G F Smith stock. Its high GSM made it tactile and feel great in the hand this also ensured I could create the final outcome with less chance of the paper tearing. I was surprised that I liked the off white colour of the stock as I always envisioned a stark bright white as I felt this was contemporary however felt the off white added a slight character to the paper that I hope will enhance the design of my publication.

Design Principles - What is a Book - Book Binding: 2nd Mock up

Design Principles

What is a book? 
Book Binding - 2nd Mock up

I created a second mock up developing on from the issues raised from the outcome of my first attempt. I made the mock up on a smaller scale with A5 spreads. I also wanted to develop my outcome adding unique features that would improve the overall aesthetic and quality of the final outcome. 

For this mock up I experimented with incorporating a different coloured spine to my book as I felt a bold colour such as a blood red or foiled spine would make the book stand out when on a book shelf with only its spine visible in order to make it eye-catching and engage the audience. I used a purple spine for this mock up by cutting thin strips of card and bonding them to the outside of the pages. The only problem with this was that the back two pages would have to be glued together to hide the excess purple card meaning I would have to double the amount of pages making it less environmentally friendly to produce and it would involve adhesive which I prefer not to use. 

I experimented with strengthening the signatures of my book my adding a strip of adhesive tape on the inside of the fold as this would allow me to make the thread tighter without the pages tearing however when I folded the signature that tape rippled created a visible unappealing finish that looked unprofessional and lowered the overall quality of the outcome so I decided not to incorporate this within the assembly of my book. 

I then followed the standard procedure explained through the online tutorial to create my second mock up. The only variation being I had to glue the outside pages of the signatures together to hide the excess from the different coloured spine.  I really liked the alternative spine as it make the book thicker and looked really aesthetically pleasing,  I feel it would really engage the use and make the book considerable more visible within a book shelf. 

Although I really liked the aesthetic of the different coloured spine it caused a number of problems with the finish of the rest of the book for example the pages became unaligned and slightly warped which reduced the overall finish of the book. The main problem came from having to glue the signatures together as this restricted the flexibility of the book. Coptic bound books should be able to lie flat such as coffee table books which makes them really easy to interact with and is a unique feature of this style of book binding however the glued pages restricted this meaning it was more difficut to tun the pages than in the first mock up I produced. Also I feel part of the charm of coptic binding is its lack of adhesive due to its history it was being used before glue was invented so I feel as though it takes away from the design to used glue within the assembly. 

I showed both mock ups to a range of students and tutors, they all agreed that the smaller size worked better as it was a lot more practical and easy to engage with. It was more consistent with the anthropometric data I researched which ensured that it would be easy to use.  There was a debate between which mock up I should develop into my final design as most students really liked the alternative spine colour however agreed with me that the glued pages restricts the flow of the book and the imperfections in glueing lowers the overall quality. It was difficult to decide which mock up I should develop into my final design however I ultimately decided to merge the styles using the technique from my first mock up with the size of the second mock up to create a simple but well executed coptic bound book that would use the traditional method and high a highly professional finish. 

Overall me and the students I asked to feedback agreed that this would create the most professional outcome even though was a shame not to incorporate the alternative coloured spine. I had to consider the overall aesthetic and quality of the outcome and felt this would create the most consistent design as I felt the digital design of the publication was simple and strong and didn't want this to be let down my glue marks, inconsistency and a less professional quality with the overall finish of my book. 

Live Brief - Hungry Sandwich Club

OUGD406 - Visiting Professionals - Hungry Sandwich Club 

One Day Brief - North Leeds Cycling Trail 

We were given a talk from visiting professionals 'The Hungry Sandwich Club' it was a really great presentation as they are recent graduates of the course so it was a good insight as to how the course sets you up for life after graduation. They have set up their own design studio at Duke Studios in Leeds and have a quirky niche of predominantly animated illustration that features a really distinctive unique style that sets them apart from other studios. They gave us a presentation about their life after graduating from Leeds College of Art which was really informative, they also gave us some great advice for when we start graduating. They showed us the projects they have been working on so far and I was slightly surprised to see they have worked on arg scale national briefs for well known clients within their first year of setting up their studio. 

They then introduced a one day live brief to us which was to design a map for the 'North Leeds Cycling Trail' as part of the Leeds Independant food festival. I was excited for this brief as it was a chance to take part in a fun one day competition that could lead to more exposure within the industry as the winning designers would be credited alongside their work. We were put into our current collaborative work groups for Studio Brief 3 and were given all day to work on our design. 

We initially had some problems with idea generation so we asked the guys from the Hungry Sandwich Club and they gave us some great idea generation ideas that they use when they are stuck for ideas within their own practise. They told us about crazy eights which involved folding the paper into 8 sections and we each had 5 minutes to sketch 8 ideas. We found this was a great way to gain a range of simple concept quickly which we could then evaluate and see if we thought as a group one idea had the potential to be developed into our final concept. Another Idea generation method we used was word association where we gave ourself a topic and we then had 1 minute to write down as many words we could think of that was associated with the initial topic. This was a great way to expand our thinking and allowed us to consider a range of new topics or ways we approach the design.  We disagreed most of these ideas however we all agreed that one of the crazy out outcomes could work as a resolution to the brief. 

Crazy eights

Crazy eights

Word Association

We had decided the that the concept we were going to develop into our final resolution was a concept derived from the crazy eights activity which had the idea that the train was included within the frame of the bike, we felt this could work well as a relatively abstract approach to the brief. We all produced a range of basic sketched then started to develop this digitally. Hattie did a great job of recreating this initial sketch digitally which we would all then modify and tweak until we felt the design was successful. We played around with hand rendered type to appeal to the independent and artisanal nature of the food festival however later decided as a group that the design worked better with digitally produced type. 

We all developed some simple illustrations of typical foods served by each establishment, We felt this would make our design ore engaging and aesthetically pleasing.  We had a few different styles of illustrations however we decided to go with Megan's abstract style illustrations as we felt this appealed to the quirky nature of the 'indie' feel of the food festival, we therefore thought these illustration would be lost popular with the target audience. We felt Thea's mock ups had the most aesthetically pleasing colour schemes so decided to develop these designs further to create our final resolution.  We noticed that the map was the wrong way round for standard western reading (left to right). So we flipped the bike round to make it more legible. We experimented with bolder colours such as a darker orange however we felt this was too stark so decided to keep to a slightly more conservative colour scheme to not make the page too busy as it already contained text, illustrations and the vector of the bike overplayed with dots to depict the cycling trail. 

Final Resolution

I am happy with the final outcome of our concept, I feel it looks professional, engaging and aesthetically pleasing. I am pleased with the results of this one day brief as we initial found it challenging to work within a group as we all had individual ideas we wanted to push forward however we worked well as a group compromising and working together to develop a strong final resolution to the brief. Although we were not picked to win and feature in the Leeds Independant Food Festival catalogue I am still pleased with our final outcome and think we worked well to create this resolution in such a short space of time.