Laser Cutting Experiment

I did a laser cut experiment as I thought of maybe having a laser cut front cover so that the message on the first page will appear through the front cover. I wanted this as I thought the title 'READ ME' would be represented literally with the readers literally reading the content without opening the book and without them realising it as well. I chose the typeface Bodoni for this experiment asI thought choosing a type with serifs would be better to showcase the negative spaces from the laser cut design. I also experimented with the different styles within the type family to see how each of them look and feel when maybe used as a front cover typeface. I quite like the italic design and the design with smaller leading and quite stretched out. I feel like these two styles have a more impactful feel, interpreting movement and dynamic elements that can be seen in how the letter and sentences are composed and layout in the publication. 

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I used dove grey mount board for this experiment to show a more prominent laser cut design (I'll probably do an experiment for the kind of paper weight I want for my publication for a more accurate decision making for myself). When I laser cutted with mount board, there was the burnt remains on the letters' outline which I forgot about and I didn't really like. I changed the material option on the laser cut to decrease the burnt marks instead which made it slightly better. However, I still didn't like as I don't really want slight burnt marks on the front cover of my publication, as it doesn't make really relate my concept nor may it gave my publication the right impression to it's target readers. 

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Thoughts & Reflection:

I feel like I still need to do a bit more experiment for this technique as I'm still not quite sure if I will use it or not. I also need to consider the after effects of laser cutting e.g. burnt marks and test a few more options to see if I can eliminate this effect altogether because it's not something that I want in my designs. In addition, apart from the front cover, I may also would like to put some laser cut designs within the pages of my publication, creating a more interactive aspect within it, therefore I would also need to experiment with different paper stock as well to see which paper weight is the most appropriate and effective. Overall, I feel like this technique could work really well for my publication because I can do so much with it which can highlight aspects of interactivity e.g. layering, overlay, using negative space etc. however, I just need to do a lot more experiment so I know what and how it can work well with my content and context and how the laser cut design can match with the normal pages of the publication.