SPEAKING FROM EXPERIENCE// Publication Evaluation

 The following images are screen shots of the final publication in Indesign. The publication is still waiting to be printed, I will get this done before submission on the 28th.
Overall I think that the publication is a useful tool and guide for a new first year student. It lays out a good number of interesting and inspiring websites to visit that have the potential to improve the students contextual, practical and personal design development.
Visually the publication has a simple design and layout. I needed it this way so that it did not become bogged down with information or imagery that would make the aim unclear. At the same time I think that it is still a visually interesting piece of design because of the interesting use of type as a way-finder and the strong emphasis on the grid. Also the different colours allow the publication to look slightly more interesting, if it was all once colour I can imagine it would become quite dull to look at.
A large amount of research went into producing this work which is important to mention form a contextual viewpoint. The information that the reader can gain is solid and trustworthy which means a lot to the success of this publication.
Issues I have include the decision to make this a printed publication, many people suggested that this should be a website in its own right. I Did give this idea a lot of consideration but I felt that if this was to be published and handed out to students in reality they would be more receptive of the contents, rather than jotting down a web address and forgetting about it later, this publication is hard to loose and stands out amongst the reams of paper that you collect in the first few weeks.

SPEAKING FROM EXPERIENCE// Presintation Boards

SPEAKING FROM EXPERIENCE// Publication Progress 4

 This section details the development of the front cover to this publication.

 I wanted to create something that was based on my sketches earlier, with the open laptop and screen reading best friend, worst enemy. I sketched out this image with the pen tool.

 Here it is with the line point increased.

 With this image I created this crazy shape. Its based on how computers used to crash when they ran out of memory and caused windows to duplicate if you tried to move them about the screen. I changed the colour of this work to cyan so that black text can be visible on top.

 Here I have added the text I originally planned to have appear on the screen. Because of the size of the laptop screen and its relationship with the width of the a4 page I thought it would be better to place this above, in a much larger space.

 The way that Didot interacts with the thin lines of the image is not good here, the thin parts of the text are blotted out. The text will have to be updated to one which is bolder.

 I experimented with this bold Helvetica inspired font called airbus but it sits too heavy.

 In the end I settled for Bebas and Rockwell, two fonts that work nicely here. Also they are the typefaces that are used on the inside of the publication, they should have been my first choice. I also added this overlay, with exclusion effect applied. This means that the text stands out very vividly, unfortunately at the expense of the image.

 To counter this effect I made the final laptop in the sequence more noticeable by changing the stroke to 3p and filling it in white.

 I just tested some other colours to see if they would be suitable.

 Finally I settled on this black outlines image and included a blue background to reduce the contrast with the old white background and the image. I also had to format the design to A4 size because for some reason I was working in a tabloid size before.

SPEAKING FROM EXPERIENCE// Publication Progress 3

 Now that the main body of the publication has been finished I can turn my head to the contents pages. I aimed at having one descriptive page, introducing the reader to the publication and another that serves as a table of contents.

The contents page is very simple, instead of using page numbers I used colour. I feel that this is not a problem because this is such a short publication. The colours here associate with the page colour themes.  

This is a screen of the welcome page. It basically just outlines how the publication works with an identical layout to an individual segment of the website lists.

The publication is not 12 pages long, I just have to sort a cover page, and send this to print.

SPEAKING FROM EXPERIENCE// Publication Progress 2

 Since I have already collected all of the content and prepared it for the publication I assumed the construction of it would be fairly easy...

 My first task was to write all of the website titles in the steps on 45 degree line format. This was fairly easy by time consuming with all of the referencing double checking. I worked this out in illustrator, created outlines and them exported to Indesign.

 Once in indesign the website titles could be coloured and sized appropriately. Here you can see the dimensions I gave to each component; two columns for the image, one for the title and three for the descriptive text. Here, as in the rest of the publication, the website screen has had to be cut up at the edges to keep to strict confinements that will run throughout.

The first dps that I finished (with placeholder text) was the Pinterest page. Here I can see how strongly the Riso stuff impacted on this design style. The green colour has been a match to the green they used, perhaps because it is a solid mix of cyan and yellow. I like the interaction between the image and the body copy, especially how the title seems to link the two together like an arrow to the start of the descriptive text.

After all of the designs had been finished and filled with placeholder text I went about importing the descriptions in from this blog. I wrote them a while back based on information I could gather from the websites own 'about' section as well as my own personal experience of the site. I also added the site URL to the top of the description in Rockwell Bold Italic. The aim was to separate the URL from the text while also retaining the connection.

After a few more pages has been completed I decided to shorten the URL to its minimum size. This massively increases the user friendliness of the URL as well as clearing up clutter in the page with all those glyphs.

SPEAKING FROM EXPERIENCE// Publication progress 1

 This is just a short post about how I prepared my images for the publication.

 First off I took a screenshot of the website in question, here it is Jeff Andrews pinterest page. I scaled the edges so only the page itself was showing.

I then used a layer mask to turn the image into a black and white image while keeping the colour profile in cmyk. In some case I used the desaturate tool instead (shift, ctrl, U).

I then used another layer mask to add colour back to the image, Each page will have its own theme and for the pinterest page that theme will be green. I created the green out of cyan and yellow to avoid any print issues with colour matching later (instead of using the RGB slider).

By just changing the midtone to green I got a nice soft green tint to the image. This will be added to the publication later.

I will have to repeat this process for all 40 website that will be included in the publication. 

SPEAKING FROM EXPERIENCE// Riso Party Inspiration

Earlier I went to the Leeds Catch Up Riso Party run by Jay Cover (Nous Vous), Tom Pratt and Oliver Shaw (Catalogue) and Sophie Thornberry. Two of them being ex students I was a very intersting night to chat and learn from these people. 
I also picked up some free publications from them for some inspiration into my own. Check these out:

 This magazine was created using a Riso printer, it leaves a kind of grainy, dusty finish to the ink. It is very unique to me but the printed product can run off in your hands even after it has dried it would appear. Interestingly this page, which acts as the cover doesn't seem to have a clear grid like the other two.

 Opposed to the cover the next two pages have a strong grid system. I am also interested in the way that colour is reproduced by the Riso printer, I would like to know if the three colours are made up from a mixture of CMYK over two prints or are printed directly from a single drum.

 This is a poster by Nous Vous about interest in collaborative projects. It is interesting to see them use a mixture of illustration and type in such a formulaic way.

 There was also this full colour publication called Bleat that is about creative spaces.

 Its design follows these coloured markers (top left) for each chapter with large heavy titles and much smaller body copy text.

SPEAKING FROM EXPERIENCE// Design Layout

Earlier in college I drew up a preliminary design layout, based on some earlier sketches and with some of the styling of the Riso party stuff it is fairly simple but I think it will convey the information clearly and without any filler or unnecessary waffle. 

 The publication can follow a strict grid layout with the title taking up a large space as a traditional header. The name of the website or person, depending on the subject is drawn up an ascending line, each letter making another step. This links the image to the text like an arrow, It also allows long titles to fit in a tighter space and looks visually interesting.  The page header is in bebas while the site titles are in Franchise bold. They body copy is in Rockwell and is just placeholder text here for effect.
 

SPEAKING FROM EXPERIENCE// Blogs

This will be the last collection in the publication and will detail some good blogs for gathering inspiration an knowledge into the field of graphic design.

AISLEONE:
aisleone.net/
AisleOne is an inspirational resource focused on graphic design, typography, grid systems, minimalism and modernism.

 ANDREN:
andren.tumblr.com/
Andren A.K.A Dark Side of Typography is a blog focusing on Modernist design, “typography, graphic design, sex, drugs, rock’n’roll”.

 DIRTY MOUSE:
dirtymouse.co.uk/
Dirty Mouse is an inspirational design blog, updated several times a week. Dirty Mouse aims to provide designers’ with enough visual food from the worlds of graphic design, web design, illustration, photography, interior and product design in order to get their creative juices flowing.

 GRAIN EDIT:
grainedit.com/
Grain edit is focused on classic design work from the 1950s-1970s and contemporary designers that draw inspiration from that time period. Site includes interviews, articles, designers’ libraries as well as examples of rare design annuals, type specimens, Ephemera, and Posters.

GRAPHIC-PORN:
graphic-porn.com/
Graphic-Porn focuses entirely on graphic design. Mostly of the modernist persuasion with an emphasis on posters and publication covers. Great for stylistic inspiration. 

 LOGODESIGNLOVE:
logodesignlove.com/
Logo Design Love is devoted to the design of logos and brand identities. Launched as a side-project in January 2008, the blog is usually updated once or twice a week with news, features and opinions. 

 OUTLAW DESIGN BLOG:
outlawdesignblog.com/
Outlaw Design Blog features design inspiration, software tutorials and advice articles. Sometimes posts contain new fonts and designers for you to view. New posts are made weekly on a wide range of topics. 

SWISSMISS
swiss-miss.com/
SwissMiss is a blog run by Tina Roth Eisenberg, a Swiss graphic designer based in New York.  Most of the posts made feature other designers work that she thinks is visually interesting, resulting in a very high quality blog. Posts include Graphic Design, interior design and product design.