SB1: Design Development

After doing my initial development sketches, in order to fit the brief criteria I finally started to sketch them digitally in order to make it look more professional and refined. I decided to make it look like an expanding diagram of all the parts of the table design in order to specifically show what they look like and for me to give brief explanations as to what it is and why they are there.

I think doing it in this format will make my proposal easier to understand and visualise as it is done in a format where each component is under each other,  just like how they would be when made physically. In addition, the addition of the zoomed in elements to show details also work really well because it pinpoints aspects that judges should look out in order to have a clear understanding of how the solution will be implemented in real life.

The colour I chose is also in reference to the material I want the solution to be made with in real life - wood. I think doing this just adds a bit more refinement to the proposal, and although it may not be exactly accurate to the material colour and or texture, it gives a better view and aesthetic reference. Furthermore, I also added brief descriptions of what and how the element will be implemented giving justifications to my solution and ideas.

Thoughts & Reflections:

Overall, I think that the proposal element is coming together well and I am showing and answering the brief quite well. However, as I've been doing this brief and have been researching more information about it, I fee like it's going way out of the Graphic Design sphere. Although, it is 'still' design it's more product than graphic, therefore I feel like now I've gone way too deep in this sphere and been answering the RSA brief more so that I've kind of neglected the module brief; that I've become quite lost on how I can bring back the Graphic Design to it. At the same time, I don't wanna back out form this idea as I realistically don't have enough time, plus I actually quite enjoy it. However, perhaps because I have all these visuals, references and research I think I'll be able to think of a way of implementing this to graphic design, although right now I'm not really sure yet what that is. Luckily, though we have our final crit on Friday and I'm thinking of showing this brief to them. Hopefully, I can get some confirmation and guidance on how I can bring back Graphic Design to this brief. Although, I know I probably don't have enough time I'm hoping to really tie this back round.

SB1: Research on Table Mechanisms

As I was sketching my ideas, I thought to further make my idea more plausible, it also needs to have functional and practical research behind it and some references on the bets way it can be made physically so I looked at some mechanisms which I thought would be appropriate in creating it.

Possible Mechanisms

Pull/Slide (for the pull out multipurpose table - I found that the easier way to possibly create this, is by using slidable metal rods screwed on the table which will slide one by one as the table is pulled out. It also include a lock mechanism screwed in order to keep the table still when being used. I did find another when it also includes a pull out table leg to keep it still, however it may be a hassle and a bit dangerous especially with little children around, therefore I think the slide rods are a better option.

Push to Open (for cabinet drawers) - For the cabinet mechanism, I found that push latches are the best, as they can be easily screwed on the side or bottom of the cabinet drawers. In addition, they can also be adjustable depending on the sizes of the cabinet. It's also quite small and hidden so it wont be noticeable.

SB2: Asking Village Books for Possible Zine Distribution

I decided to try and talk to the people that run Village Books in town and ask them if we are able to distribute our free zines in the free section of the shop. Luckily, they said yes if we just pop in and give them a couple to put in their free section. However, I may also email them more formally about it and explain the idea and propose better as I actually came in their just to try and ask however, was pleasantly surprised that they said yes.

SB2: Last Meeting with Collaborators

We had our last meeting with our collaborators in order to discuss the final refinements and production of the publication that we haven't discussed through email. It's also a chance for the to see physical experiments that we made and in order for them to have a more insightful and informed suggestion and opinion on the designs that we did.

For mine and Livvy's publication in particular, I was worried wether she was okay with how I edited her collages as I found myself feeling like I've overly edited them and maybe this was something that she didn't like because she may have felt that her work wasn't show enough. However, she completely disagreed and thought that how I edited her collages reflected the mood that we wanted to created therefore she was satisfied with what I've done which I was really relieved about. She's also shown enthusiasm on the layout of the whole publication and thought they were well composed and would be easy to follow and read. In regards to the paper stock, I told them how I preferred the Cyclus Offset as it was lighter and softer, which they also thought would be good - "zine like paper stock". 

Furthermore, they were also enthusiastic when we told them that we were gonna produce a small batch of the publication and distribute to the uni and possibly outside (Village). Overall, I think that it would be good to distribute it outside especially of uni and it would be great exposure for them and us as well as get other feedback from audiences that aren't necessarily or primary target readers. It would be interesting as if it will be successful or if we should just continue it within university grounds.

Thoughts & reflections:

Overall, the meeting was quite fruitful and we've received good feedback and everyone was really happy with the progress and how everything is turning out. Hopefully, we can finally print it out the small batch and finish them in order to be distributed in the university and outside.

SB2: Publication Development

After the interim crit that we had, me and Jocel discussed and thought hard about how we could improve the unity and cohesive aspect of the front covers of our publications as it was pointed out how they looked too different from each other. We decided to use the same font for the front covers which is (Helvetica Neue Condensed Black) pt 90, we used this typeface as we thought its bold and strong image would be impactful as well as effective especially when presented along with design and other text info. We needed something that would grab a readers attention and immediately let them recognise the magazine cover and the other editions about how they are from the same publication and not different or separate to it. In contrast within the publication we decided to use the custom typeface that we made for the titles and headings. For the body text we used Helvetica Neue pt 9 as the basic style however I decided to use the italic style, the same as from my initial idea as I still thought this added a nice dynamic aspect to the publication. The sub texts on the front are Helvetica Neue Regular pt 12 whilst the Sub headings within is Helvetica Neue Italic pt 9 in all capitals, creating a clear information hierarchy within them. In addition, it also adds clarity and keeps everything nice and neat. In addition, I also changed the colours on the title to be exactly the Yellow Sapphire (or Primrose Yellow- FFC72C/ 019890) colour that represented the lucky stone for a Pisces, not only referring to the sign but also complimenting the overall colour scheme of the publication.

I decided to further test on different paper stocks as suggested during the crit. I decided to experiment on Cyclus Offset 100 gsm and Cairn Straw White 120 gsm.

new front cover

 

jocel's new front cover

Cairn Straw White 

Cyclus Cffset

Although I found that in the Carin Straw White paper stock, the textured and the creamy colour of the stock highlights the collages even better making the more prominent and more attractive on the page, really highlighting the visual aesthetic of the publication. However, I didn't like how the stock was a little bit heavy, therefore we I bounded it it wouldn't close as smoothly as I thought as I'd like the publication to a a real smooth transition between the pages when readers are going through them and sit smoothly when put on display. I was also hoping for a lighter weight to have a softer more intimate and organic feel to the publication, feeding off the timid and close characteristic of a Pisces - I wanted the readers to experience how a Pisces character acts through their own actions when handing the publication.

Therefore, I preferred the Cyclus Offset 100 gsm stock much better and I also liked how it's only slightly off white giving a nice soft tone to the publication. When printed I also liked how the colour turned out very prominent on the pages. Most of all, I particularly liked the feel of the paper stock as it's the perfect mix of smooth and a slight rough texture that you feel at the end of handling it. As well as it's a good weight that it's neither too thick or too thin, perfect for a zine/small publication. It also sits nicely after binding and overall looks and feel easy and nice to hold. Cost and practicality wise, its also half the price of .... (£1.00) as it's only £0.56p per a1 which is cost effective if it was too be mass produced as each publication would only be £3.62 including printing (excluding binding (human) and time costs)

Thoughts & Reflection:

Overall, I think the changes made to the publication were very effective and made it more justified and complete. My developments on several paper stocks also helped me to think of further production such as labour and time costs which would be viable in commercial terms on the mass production of the publication. I am happy with this result and will show this to our other collaborators from Illustration and see what they think. I'm also emailing Livvy about it first though as I wanted her to know the progress of the publication after the crit as it may seem like a drastic change if I show it ti her tomorrow when she's already seen the initial that I sent her. I didn't want to make her feel like she's out of the loop of things.

email to Livvy

SB2: Publication Initial (w/ Print out draft)

After creating the initial front cover designs and getting opinions on which one to take forward (#3) I
started to work on the initial layout of the publication and the content.

I initially started this design with a lacking grid system and choice of type which I progressively started to find really difficult to continue with and overall does not look nice nor does in have much meaning and reference to the content. Therefore I decided to stop this initial idea and start from picking main elements that i'll follow for the publication in  order for it to be cohesive.

Grid System

In order to have a cohesive layout for the publication I created a grid system which will be used throughout. I took a similar approach form the typography grid system and picked the four brightest stars in the constellation as the main points that I follow in the grid system

I used this as the basis on where the collages are laid out on the page, however after doing this, I found it difficult to lay out the text content with the collages. However, from previous modules and research I found Josef Muller-Brockmann's usage of the actual images as the grid for the content to be helpful and therefore chose his style as reference.

I used the collages as the grid for the content to work around it instead to avoid clash and a chaotic design rather than a complimentary balanced between the two elements. Using this style allowed the design to be more dynamic and interesting as not only the readers can focus on readers but also on the collages and make a reference between the content and the illustrations that are with it, making the visual aesthetic effective and successful in evoking the intended responses from the readers in creating a link between the visual and text content. Though I am aware that each pages will have a slightly different grid system as it relies on the collages, the principle is the same for all therefore creating a uniformed and cohesive grid style through the publication.

 example of grid usage and implementation w/ content

Type

For the type I used the custom typeface for the front cover and used Times Italic for the content as I thought it would be best to have both serif to avoid to much clash in styles with san serif fonts. I did try to use Didot, which was the initial reference for the custom typeface however I found that they become a bit illegible with smaller in point size due to the incredibly contrasting verticals and stems and it didn't help when it was Italics either. I decided to use the Italic style as well as I thought it would aid to the dynamic aspect for Pisces and how they are always 'wanting to escape' and have an active mind and thinking. Furthermore, I thought it also balanced with the collage visuals that Olivia created.

Colour 

I decided to keep the blue/yellow palette from the front cover throughout the text and the gradient effect on the heading for each section creating uniformity and consistency throughout the publication, adding the readers to the hierarchy of the information they are reading. In contrast, I applied the idea that me and Olivia talked about  previously with creating a blue to pink/purple them of the collages through the publication in order to further reinforce the deep and elusive characteristics of Pisces. This gradual change in the collage style and colour palette may not be noticeable at first however as readers may flip through it again, they'll recognise the changes. I think this shift in change also reflects the fact that other signs tend to not notice a Pisces quiet character making them more interesting and unique.

Size

We decided to make the publication A5 size as practically it's very easy and manageable especially when thinking of massively producing and making it in batches. It allows for less mistakes whilst being time efficient and cost efficient as well. It's also a very common zine/publication size that readers will be familiar with and would more likely to take with  them as anything bigger would be a bit burdensome to take around probably.

Paper Stock

I decided to experiment on sugar paper stock as I thought it would be a nice and cost effective stock that would compliment the collages and design of the publication. Initially, I liked the rough texture of the stock and its medium thickness. However, upon printing out the publication draft, the colours came out really dull and the design just didn't look right on the stock and was too contrasting in relation to it's content that the readers' would not be able to properly appreciate the context and content behind the publication. They also came out quite pixelated, however I've checked through my document as they were all 300 DPI with 300 Effective PPI as well, maybe it was the printer? I'll explore other paper stocks as well and hopefully get feedback on it from the crit as I'm planning to show it during the crit to get people to actually go through it and see if they can suggest any other appropriate paper stock.

Thoughts & Reflections:

I had a really hard time creating the layout at first however after coming to the conclusion of actually having solid basic elements to it, it became quite easy, however, the only thing is I've started to edit and reuse Olivia's collages, therefore I've asked her if she has continued to work on them and her thoughts on the initial publication, to make sure that we are on the same page and that she is happy with what I'm doing to her work within the publication as well.

asking Livvy for more collages

gathering  feedback from Livvy

Olivia contacted me back and has been working on collages which I was glad as I really needed more and they were collages which I thought would work incredibly well in the publication as they well nice and clean and she used a lot of clean geometric lines which we talked about previously as well. She also created more straightforward collages which included the visual fish signs which I thought were great because as much as we wanted to focus it on the fantasy aspect of Pisces, having that little bit of straightforward visual also helps bind the publication content and visual together in order to create a stronger visual aesthetic for the publication in relation to the zodiac sign it is all about.

Interim Module Brief Crit

For this crit me andJocel decided to present together in order to talk about our collaborative brief for SB2 - 'That's So Astro'. In the presentation we clearly talked them through the process fo the brief and we've created a basic script in order to not miss info out and at the same time in order to present a smooth presentation with smooth transitions between us too. I think this really helped as I think that it helped us get insightful feedback form the peers and Helena who watched and listened to out presentation.

WWW:

• They really liked the typography that we created for both publication issues and were strong on their own rights.
• The idea was good

EBI:

• It's not cohesive enough for the reader's to know that the next issue is from the same publication (maybe use the same font for the title as use the custom font for the headings within the publication instead, perhaps Helvetica? as it's a neutral font?) - *We did say that the layout for the sub headings on the front covers was the same in order to create a subtle uniformity and reference to the publication however maybe this was TOO SUBTLE and we thought that it was only right that we change this as we did agree with the feedback and hearing people's points from an audience perspective our initial front cover layout is not strong enough to create a uniformed presence for the readers. 

• For the Pisces publication, maybe use a contrasting sans serif font for the headings as well as to conform to the new font on the front cover? - *We thought this idea would be viable as it would only make since to keep everything cohesive with the same font, style, point etc. also the fact that they recommended a sans serif type might also be a stronger idea as it can compliment a wide range of styles as the font is non conforming to any characteristics apart from being neutral and balanced. If anything maybe the font will highlight the aesthetic and characteristic of the actual publication itself as it doesn't draw anything away from it. 

• What other additional materials are going to be there - *We've discussed that we are planning to include additional materials such as stickers and posters which readers can use and hang up in order for them to create attachment to the publication or maybe expect for the next one to come out creating a solid readership for the publication as readers are  not only getting information but also physical elements which they can use themselves. 

Thoughts & Reflection:

I thought that the crit went better that I expected and we got some really ncie feedback that we can work on to improve our publication, it also made us realise that some of our decisions before weren't as strong and would no work on actual readers as they made us realise the limitations of restrictions that we've made for ourselves. In terms of production though, Helena has suggested me to use Cyclus paper as opposed to sugar paper as I showed them a draft print out of the publication and I've voiced my opinion on my struggle to find the appropriate paper for it as I initially thought sugar paper would be good however it was too rough and thick and overall felt cheap. I will explore the usage of this stock and it's also a stock I've used similarly in the past module so I've had experience with it as well.