3x Poster Design Crit

At the end of the day, we had a crit on the posters that we created for 'Cellphone Symphony'. However, I was only able to create two rough designs out of the three as I ran out of time, however I do have an idea of how I will develop these ideas as well as create my third idea. I think in the future I will need to manage my time properly in order to not fall behind and get proper crits.

From the crit I listed the three most important questions and obstructions that I will answer and initiate in my designs.

Top 3 Questions

1) What was the rule used to dictate the position and manipulation of the letterforms?

• The rule that I used was basing the design on the number of strokes in takes to write down the number and the position of the number 0-9 on the iPhone keyboard. 

2) What made you select those specific numbers/ letter? How will the text work within the design?

• I used the letters as they are based on what letters are found on the place when the number keyboard is replaced with the letter keyboard on a phone. I'm still not sure how the text will work on the design but I will treat the design as a separate design so that it will give me more freedom and will not restrict me from just writing the info and placing it on a space on the page. 

3)Why have you cut out the images?

• The designs were cut out based on how many strokes in takes to write the number down e.g. 2 = 2 stokes so cutting the paper twice and ending up with 3 pieces of paper.

Top 3 Obstructions

1) Use different typeface for every word

2) Try build background texture from the images

3) Use colour only.

• I will use this suggested obstruction in my designs and evaluated them on whether they will work or not so that I can then decide if I want to make it as a significant aspect of the design or something that maybe I can alter in order to fit my design better.

Cellphone Symphony

• creating a poster for "Cellphone Symphony" - Golan Levin
• creating random list of phone numbers to use for visual imagery for the poster.
• Devise a system to turn the numbers to visual form - can use digital and or manual processes to manipulate and implement the system. 

For this exercise we got into groups of eight and created visual responses on how we could create design for 'Cellphone Symphony' using our phones. In our group we decided to split the information up and wrote the information in different apps in our phones in order to get a variation of ways text can look and be produced.

Some of us used apps like Snapchat to use san serif type that's quite clean while some of use wrote down the info. on notes to have a more rough hand writing style, this made our design more varied and interesting as the mix of actual fonts and handwriting created a nice contrast and looked really playful.

We also experimented with using video, by capturing our phones getting notifications as it created a series of phones lighting up in different order which was quite interesting because it was all in random and the info that pop up was actually information for the event.

In addition, we also tried stacking the phones together giving it more depth and interesting shapes coming out from the picture of the stacked image. If it was taken further, maybe the shape created would've been used as a grid for further information. Also we put the design on a bit of context by holding our phones in the picture to show the importance of bring your phone to the event, it also puts emphasis on the phones and people will easily get the context of the poster through the image.

Overall, I think this exercise let us experiment and use different techniques in a relatively short amount of time and helped us start thinking about ideas for our own poster designs.

Start of Design Process OUGD405

• more ideas generate and process
• approach conceptual and practical way of working
• deliver findings in a way that engages and surprises.

Edward De Bono - design seeks value and designs for the future. 

Lateral Thinking - if you do not know the usual approach to a problem, you can more easily come up with a fresh approach. - suspend your thinking.

Provocative Operation - its hard to make objective decisions with subjective believes. 

two parts to working out ideas 

• generating publications 
• movement- how you take the publication and make it into an idea

PO 

• escape- pick something we take for granted and 'drop' it.

e.g. watchdogs that bark

po- watchdogs that don't bark

movement: watchdogs trained to press button triggering alarm and alarming authorities.

• reversal - take a normal relationship and reverse it

• distortion - you make a change in the normal sequence or change a normal relationship.

• exaggeration - exaggeration any one aspect of an initial statement making it somewhat unreasonable. Avoid exaggerating to zero. 

e.g. calls for only 2 mins 

movement - utilise time 

• wishful thinking - make  statement in the form "Wouldn't it be nice if-" Should be more than just a desire. 
• PO - pencil writes by itself.

• random word - thinker chooses the word at random or out of a dictionary and relates it to the area they are thing about.
• provides a new entry point. 
• linking the random word to the subject at hand.

• DECONSTRUCTION- Ellen Lupton 
• book - french concurrence of the letter (visible language) 
• Katherine McCoy -
• Post structuralism - more options and more wide (multiplicity) - its very critical; but in graphic design it has a more positive meaning e.g. Wolfgang Weingart - started to change the rules of modernism (post modernism) started the New Swiss Style typography.

Book Covers Final Crit

On, Friday we had our final crit for our book cover studio brief. In the final crit I got some really useful feedback form my peers which I could take on board in order to develop and make changes to my final designs.

What I did well:

• "Your rationale is clear and concise"
• "each of your justifications for each book cover you have extensive detail"
• context behind image/design is not very obvious
• clear set of covers and visual language.

What I could do better:

• Consistent typeface/ e.g. point size for each book
• Add elements of colour
• The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas seems the weakest.

From the feedback that i got form the crit, I've gathered opinion and ideas from my peers which I could use in order to improve my work further. From the crit I've received positive feedback regarding the research that I found which enabled me to create innovative designs for each book covers and avoiding cliche's that I found form researching existing book covers. I think that I also did a good job and making sure that the book covers works as a set as people told me and it may be because my use of typography and colour. Regarding my use of typography and colour, I think I need to improve in these areas. I agree with people telling me to add colour to my designs, as I realised that they may look to safe and boring when compared to other competing books. I think that adding a specific colour which relates to the concept and ideas behind the book will work well as it has a direct link to the book and something that can  e seen as a motif from the set as well. In addition, I also think that I need to change the point sizes of my covers and make sure that they re all the same and uniformed so that they work better as a set. Also, I'm going to change some details such as making sure designs are centred properly (as pointed out form people that the '2B R 0 2B' cover is not centred properly). 

Initial Idea: Book Cover Set 3

The following designs were all created digitally using the the font 'Futura' in order to give it the books a more modern look to help it attract to a younger an contemporary readership, as well as give the books an alternative mood in comparison to their serious and dark tones.

The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas

This design revolves around the idea of the Omelas citizen's 'turning a blind eye' on the reality of their city.The citizen chose to ignore the child in order to keep their happiness and wealth which can only be obtained if the child is  kept in the cellar. On the other hand, it can also represent the people which choose to leave the city, as they may have felt guilt due to the truth revealed to them, although leaving can also be another away of turning ta blind eye not the child by not saving the child. The usage of the colours yellow and black creates a juxtaposition on the cover as yellow can represent the joy people felt thought it could also mean cowardice. The Marker grid was referenced in this design as it is a grid layout which takes into account the hierarchy of information on the book, and also makes the design an important aspect as it is the first thing the readers will see on the book shelf.

The Lottery

This design was inspired by a quote in the story, which basically explains why the tradition are done by the villagers in the village; "Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon." The design depicts a dead corn with grey corn kernels which can represent the stones that are used in the stoning ritual by the villagers. I think this is an effective visual representation of the quote as well as the story, as the dead corn can also represent the person chosen to die in the stoning ritual. Although, it may not fully grab the audiences attention and may mislead them from what the story is all about. Again, the marker grid was references and changed in order to fit the aesthetic of the book design, giving importance to the image as it is centred in the page. 

2B R 02B

This design represents the idea that people in an 'immortal' society are interchangeable as someone has to die in order for someone to be born. Also, it can represent the mural the painter drew in the story of a 'perfect' garden with faceless bodies. Overlying the heads can easily represent the 'interchangeable' lives and may also intrigue the readers as too what it means relating it to the story. IN addition, the back cover also contains illustrations which include hints for the content in the story, e.g. the death of three people. Using the colour red can illustrate the power and danger the government poses to the people, though they claim to be doing 'good' by advertising assisted suicides for future generations to "live on a happy, roomy, clean and rich planet".

Initial Idea: Book Cover Set 2

For my second set of covers I decided to use the designs from my Microsoft Word exercise.

The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas

I used the 'silhouette' of the child from the story in order to give focus on the fact that in the story the child doesn't have an identity. The child was not properly introduced or described as the narrator themselves don't even know a lot about the child, the child's gender and age is very vague and we are only provided with what their clothes are like. The child is also ignored by most of the citizens in the city and though some leave due to their guilt they don't even try and save the child from their misery.

The Lottery

For this story I decided to use the lottery ticket design in order to create a straightforward book cover the reader can instantly get, and also linking the back cover with a design illustrating the 'stoning scene' in a more conceptual way while making the circle onto the map of where the story's plot was based on (North Bennington, USA).

2B R 0 2B

For my third book I simply used the number 2 as a motif for the design which represents the title, and the fact that the government is trying to create a 'perfect' world (2 is divisor in order to make a 'perfect number'). I also decided to make the design look very controlled and tight to show the power the government holds against the people, where they are controlling the population. In addition, the subtle gap at the end of the design can hint at the deaths in the story and may make the readers think of its meaning when they view the book. Linking the front cover to the back cover with the wraparound black bank at the top of the layout makes the layout look fluid and with the three white vertical lines also hinting at the three deaths. The black and white colour scheme also fits the genre and mood of the tory at it's quite dark and thrilling. The minimal aspect of the design can also attract to a contemporary audience as it's quite different to the previous book covers which can make it stand out from others. 

Idea for Development of Book Covers from Interim Crit

After thinking over my choices from the interim crit that we did, I decided to go with the Visual Poetry based book cover designs, I think that using visual poetry will allow me to create designs which can relate to the stories concepts and themes more and visual poetry can be used in order to interpret conceptual ideas effectively. I also thought that my ideas fir the visual poetry set covers were strong enough to be developed and are flexible in terms of using different type and symbols on the keyboard which are relevant to my books. I also thought that the ideas behind those designs were strong enough to be able to justify the ideas behind the book and are quite innovative compared to existing cover designs for each of the books.

Initial Idea: Book Cover Set 1

The first sets of books I created were based on the Marker grid that is used in the Penguin books. The use of the Marker grid helps form a clear hierarchy of information on the page, making it very clear and easy for the readers. 

The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas

For this story I created a collaged design of my photocopied work and excel work in order to create a design depicting a person's eye being blindfolded. I focused on the idea of the citizens in the city ignoring the fact that the child locked in the cellar is the reason why they are wealthy and happy. The citizens themselves chose their own happiness and chose to turn a blind eye from the truth. My usage of black and white was influenced by the mood of the story and how the people put themselves and the child in the dark of what is really happening in the city. 

The Lottery

For The Lottery I recreated the scene of the stoning that happens at the end of the story where Tessie is in the middle of the crowd being stoned by the people of the town but instead of using a person in the middle I used a stone to also reference the stones used by the people. I recreated this using my photocopied designs. Having the design wrap around the book makes it look really uniformed and 'complete'. The relation between the front and back of the cover may help with keeping people interested as it may make them interact with the book while trying to look at the full design from front to back. Again, the use of black and white also links to the mood and genre of the book (horror, thriller). 

2B R 0 2B

For this story, I tried showing the telephone clique in a different way by using the graphic notations that I made for Ave Maria which was the soundtrack of the film adaptation of the story. I also though the graphic notations could also represent old telephone cables and infinitely interchangeable life through the the loops created. 

I quite like this set of cover as I thought that the collages that I've created gave the cover a nice depth which instantly give the cover another element and layer to it, rather than having it flat on the page. Out of the three I liked the cover for 'The Lottery' as I thought it grasped the theme and idea of the story well through the uses of colour, and materials which made it look quite handmade. 

Book Covers Interim Crit

This morning, we had an interim crit for our book covers and gathered feedback on which ideas we should go with.

Coming into the crit I think I got some good feedback which I can evaluate on and think about when developing one of my ideas further:

• Maybe I can think about using numbers more/ or a series of something
• Think about developing my excel drawings which could work well as book covers - using the grid cells form the excel files and putting numbers in it as background.
• Maybe incorporate some of the graphic notations - think of its layouts and use of symbols and link it back to the book.
• I was suggested on using smiley faces and symbols in order to portray misery.
• I can maybe use the different approaches and designs for each book with a layout or a band on the top for the title and author to make the covers more consistent.
• Research about different lottery tickets (The Lottery)
• Infinity symbol (2br02b)
• Maybe have it all black and white. (links to choice- only choosing from Yes or No) 
• The Urbanomic Catalogue

From the crit, I quite like the ideas with the Visual Poetry design as I was suggested a range of ideas I can interpret misery and scapegoatism with the symbols, letter and numbers that I used, or also using different ideas from other set book covers which fits the books the best, developing them to fit more to the idea and story of the book I wasn't really sure with the excel drawings that got positive reactions for, as I initially thought they didn't really fit the aesthetic of the books themselves, being quite old classics, but I may try it out and see. I also think that because most of my ideas are conceptual and focused on a particular idea within the book, I can now have a clearer idea of different perspectives I can take the idea into and create developed designs with it. I think I just need to do more developments of the book designs I'm going to pick for my final outcome now and try to create a book cover fitting to the book's message and attract the readers attention with it.

Existing Book Covers for my Book Selections

 While searching existing book covers fro the three books that  I chose, I've seen a similar theme between all of them.

• They are all very straight forward and uses objects and important scenes written in the book in order to covey a clear message to the readers what kind of book they are about to read.
• I also think they effectively convey the genre of the books through their use of typography, which relates to the periods and era's that they books were written in.

• The focus on the female and a stone background depicts an important part of the story which may intrigue the readers to read the book.
• The sue of contrasting colours to give importance to the title of the and author is effective.
• There is a clear hierarchy on which information is the most to least important and having the information spread out vertically with the author's name being the biggest will automatically make the readers read down to the title of the book; and having the design on the centre effectively ties all the information together for the readers to understand and get a gist of what it's about without looking at the blurb at the back.

• These two use the same title however with very different feel.
• The first one being very illustrative and 'hand-made', from the drawing and the type of font used. 
• The Penguin cover on the other hand looks very modern and uses more stable and 'modern' typeface. You can also notice  it doesn't conform to the Marker grid that is frequently used for Penguin books, making it look very different compared to the rest of the Penguin books and stand out.
• However, both book covers played out the designs almost covering the entire page, making it look quite 'tied' together.

• The use of serif type effectively reference the period the story was written, and gives the book a 'classic' vibe. 
• It is quite unbalanced, with the title very big compared to the picture and name of the author. I think this cover may not be as effective layout wise, as the title kind of overshadows everything else on the page. 

• These are not book covers, but rather film poster for the film adaptation the book, however it still adapts a similar way to how book covers are set out. 
• They have a clear structure of hierarchy between the importance of information provided which can guide the audience through reading the posters.
• It also uses illustrations which are quite object based and are important aspects of the book, which can attract the audience and give them a clear idea of what it's about just by through the objects. 

Author Research

Ursula K. Le Guin and Kurt Vonnegut share similarities in how they write their short stories. Both writers write sci-fi and fantasy stories which often references things that are wrong in society. Le Guin often uses the environment, gender, sexuality and religion as subjects and themes in her short stories and similarly, Vonnegut also uses concepts such as socialism in his work, often including the government and people of power in his work.

On the other hand, Shirley Jackson was famous for writing horror stories, American gothic and was seen as a pro-feminist in the twentieth century. I think her stories often reflected from her own life. Such as how most protagonists in her stories would speak confidently and with wit, which was how she presented herself to society, however those character traits were just alter egos of the female protagonists in her stories to hide the fact that they are vulnerable and helpless, and Jackson herself was helpless as she suffered from anxiety and from her mother's and her husband's abuse towards her.

Although, the three writers don't really have the same style of writing or genre, all three books that I picked form the authors, I think all relate to the same theme and relay similar message. Theme's relating to society and how people often restricted of their own freedom and how people are easily persuaded by rules and standards set by society.

Quick Peer Crit

I quickly showed some of my designs to a peer to get their opinion on it and was told that maybe it was too conceptual and that it may not be able too convey the idea of the book just by looking at the cover. I do agree with this a bit, and this may mean that maybe I can try out designs which are more object based and scenes and objects which are in the story itself to may be communicate a better book which relates to the story more directly.

However, as some of my ideas are based on concepts that occur in the books, however even though it may be conceptual I still think that it can relay the message and the underlying meaning of the book overall to the audience, rather than a specific scene or event in the plot. I also think that maybe the 'conceptual' designs will intrigue the audience further into reading the book.

The Marber Grid

The Marber grid was made and design by Polish Graphic Designer Romek Marber in 1961, after he was commissioned by the art director of Penguin Books Germano Facetti to create the covers for Simeon Potter's books 'Language in the Modern World' and 'Our Language.' Three years prior, creative art director of Penguin, Abraim Grames tried to persuade the owners of Penguin to introduce pictorial and illustration on the book covers, and the Marber grid definitely does just this as it dedicates over 2/3 of the page to illustrations which can be put on the cover in order to attract a reader's attention. The barber grid allowed for a very simple but effective book cover layout that is suitable for Penguin and also allowed for designs to be included on it's covers and it has also allowed the Penguin books to be very recognisable and known to what it is now today for it's covers as the grid makes sure that every aspect of information is included in the cover, as well as also establishing a clear hierarchy in which helps the readers process the information from most important to least.

Using Marber Grid to make book covers (Crit)

After, making our book cover designs we then had a critical and looked at three people's work. Looking at three people's work I noticed that people used a wide range of colour in their work variations in order to create different aesthetic and mood for each colour which can help create the identity of the book. I also saw someone create one big design which can cover both front and back back which I thought was clever and something I might try out for my own book covers.


For my book cover' people have mostly commented on:

• incorporating a bold colour e.g red on the black and white to create intensity on the book cover.
• using the grid a bit more adventurously
• I need to work on the sizing of the text to make the cover look balanced.
• If they didn't know anything about the book they thought the book genre was thriller or mystery (I think I did alright at portraying the mood of the book as it is a thriller book)

I think for further development I'll have to think about incorporating different bright or pop colours which I can use in order to show attention to a particular part of the cover which can be an important thing in the book, which can intrigue the audience, and I think maybe doing this consistently across three book can be really effective as they can be seen clearly as a series. 

Using the Marber Grid to make book covers

Today we design some book covers for the three books using the designs that we made during the Christmas holidays according to the Marker Grid, which is used particularly on the Penguin books. We had to create different variations of the books, where the three had to be link together as a set, in any way e.g. using on single colour for each.

Collaging and Photocopying

For the last exercise I decided to do some collaging and photocopy.

The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas

For this book, I decided to centre it around the child and portraying a very rough sketch with different part missing or replaced in order to represent the child's lost identity in the world, and not being seen and known in the city as they are  being hidden in the cellar.

The Lottery

For the second book, I decided to visualise the tradition that the people do in the town where they circle around the chosen person that gets stoned. I think this effectively shows what the book can be about without giving too much away but at the same time also intrigues the audience.

2B R 0 2B

For the third book, I wanted to rerepsent the plot, where the population is being regulated, hence the portraits of people  in the collage, with the three photos having three small dots indicating ones the will die in the story. 

For this exercise I feel like I kind of just used my ideas from the pervious exercises as I was running out of ideas. I don't really think my ideas for these designs are very good, particularly the third one as I think if I was a reader I wouldn't really get the book from the cover and may mislead me from what the book is about as they design is very illustrative and looks a bit 'preppy' and 'teenage-y' which is not the book is about.

Photographing Objects based on 3 books

For this exercise I found objects which relates to the essence of the books that I chose. For photographing the objects I tended to  four on the negative space and white space on the background and kept the objects on one side of the page. I did this as I was thinking  where the title would go on the cover in relation to the cover layout as I thought it would balance the page out if done this way.

The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas

For this is book I picked 'chain' as the object of focus in order to express how the child in being restricted from their freedom, as a chain can reference being locked up and controlled. 

The Lottery

For the second book, I picked stones to signify the stoning tradition that the people on the town did in order to have good fortune for the year ahead. I used stones as I thought it would interest the audience enough when they see the book cover without giving away the content of the story too much, as the reader may be intrigued as to what the stones can signigy, what they're used for, who uses them, when and why they are part of the story.

2B R 0 2B

For the third book, I decided to use a telephone. I used the telephone as it is an essential part of the story, where it's also part of the title as the title is the number people call in order to have assisted suicides. Similar to the second book I used the stones to intrigue the audience and they may also piece it together with the title of the book. 

I think by focusing on the white space in the photographs can give my book cover wide range of way in with I can manipulate the composition of the different features that needs to be in eluded in a book cover. It can also help me establish a hierarchy with my book cover and where certain information will be most suitably placed.

Using Illustrator to create designs related to music

I created five designs based on music which relates to three  of my books.

The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas

This first design was influenced by BTS' song from their album 'A Supplementary Story: You Never Walk Alone', which also links back to the short story The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas the band was partly inspired by the short story in reading their album. The song is also about journey and companionship, including lyrics such as, "This is the path I chose and even if one the is a fate I made up,: which can reference back to the people who leaves the city of Omelas. The graphic notations (circles getting bigger and jumbled up) show this part of the song, focusing on the base in the bridge increasing as it reaches the drop of the song to the chorus, which the 'flow' lines expressing the lyrics of the song.

The second graphic notation design was inspired by the song 'Spring Day' where Omelas was referenced as a hotel. The song is also missing about someone, "It's all winter here even in August", which can reference back to the story of the child missing and calling out for their mother. I focused the graphic notations on the different notes the singers sing and the way they join and break up syllables of words, which shows the different structures of the song and the different roles shared as the song is sang by seven people.

The Lottery

The third design I created was from the song 'Woody Wood Pecker' by Kay Kyser, which was released on the same day as the short story was released - June 27, 1948. For this graphic notation I decided to use the different instruments used in the song , as it used quite a few in different way, some very consistency and some only for certain parts of the song; as well as the note changes.

2B R 0 2B

The  fourth design I created was based on the song, 'Stranger on the Shore' by Acker Bilk, which was the number song in the Billboard 100 during 1962 when the short was published. It is a clarinet piece and does note include any vocals therefore, I opt to express the songs aesthetic. It is a very fairy-tale like, sophisticated and happy song as it was wrote dedicated to Bilk's daughter. Therefore, I tired expressing a very playful design, with the ascending pattern and the shaped gradually getting  bigger to get a feeling of 'floating' and bubbliness to it.

The fifth design I made was  for the song 'Ave Maria' by Franz Shubert. This song was used as a soundtrack for the film adaptation of the short story '2B R 0 2B' by Marco Checa Garcia in 2016, also named '2B R 0 2B'. I noticed the song was very repetitive and orderly therefore I focused on how long the notes where sustained and changed during the song and the key changes that was made. I also used a continuous line method as I thought I could express the songs fluidity effectively this way. 

Research on Graphic (Notations) Scores

Graphic scores are a way of interpreting music differently than traditional music scoring by using shapes, lines, colour, words etc. This is a more abstract way of expressing music and sometimes have guides in order for the player to know how to play them, but often the players are also left to interpret the graphic scores themselves and decide how they'll play according to the scores that they say, creating interest sounds.

Examples of graphic scores:

Picnic by McQueen - this graphic score was created in relation to the instruments played for a music piece, therefore indicating which player plays which part of the composition.

Cardew with their 193 page long graphic score 'Treatise'. 

Ideas I have for my own graphic scores designs may be:

• representing each instruments played
• representing different voices/ singers
• different notes sang
• different colours to represent each singer, instrument
• symbols or shapes for each instrument?
• the volume of sound - how loud or quiet they are? --? louder, bigger or darker shades of shapes?
• including phrases or random stream of consciousness while listening to the song.