i thought it important to establish a concept for my info pack and so i considered what information i wanted to include and to whom and why it should exist.
my concept is based around the practical usability of the guide in a real time setting. i want the user to be able to refer to the pack while embarking on a print process or while in the production stages of a project. because of this the pack has to be durable and reuseable and protected from the elements of print. i thought that it would be appropriate to aim my pack at creative sutdents (mainly graphic design students) from about 2nd year onwards because they are more likely to have a basic undertsnaind already so the guide will be useful to them for reminders, tips, and quick refernce.
i thought about how to organise my pack in terms of content because i think its important that the right information is offered. because it is a hands on guide i want the info to be easily understaood and accessible at a moments notice. for this reason terminology will be basic and information will be concise but still informaive.
i decided to section the information by the 6 categories discussed in the sessions - format, colour, stock, production, process, finishing. this is the most appropriate way or organising the informsation because it follows the cronological order or printing and so real time use will be more successful.
i decided to make a mock p of the basic way i wanted the guide to look.
the brown paper i think is a nice aesthetic quality relative to print and production and gives it that useable durable look. the logo was hand drawn quicky more for composition purposes but it is still a consideration.
the guide is a basic ring binder folder format so the user can take individual pages out if necessary for further reference. the size is important because of mobility and ease of carrying while printing. along with the pages that contain the content for the guide i want to include 'contact/reference' cards of each section so the user would be able to gain quick knowlege without habving to leaf through pages.
i got some good feedback from the crit and so decided to go on to consider a few aesthetic qualities and then move on to organising and writing my content and designing any visual aspects.
having researched a few fonts i decided on my headin and body copy
chunk five is an appropriate block serif font for the heading text of my guide. is weighting is appropriate because it is legible and readable even at small point sizes and i think its aesthetic quality relates to print well. the serif aspect is still formal, which is good for headings as it indicates importance, but the block aspect gives it a 'constructiony' feel which is good because its a hands on guide.
oldsans black was my final choice for body copy. i think a sans serif font is better for body because its always more readable at smaller point sizes and in larger text quantities. the curves and standard weighting of the font is easy on the eye in long periods and is clear in terms of recognising individual gylphs.
i considered a number of colour combinations based on complemetary colours and working colour schemes for an emotive response but none seemed approriate. after some experimentation i considered simply using the rgbcmyk scheme because its so appropriate to print and is a good way of giving the user a real life example and context of colour, in particular the colour modes which are discussed in the guide. because there are 6 colours (excluding black but black is the absence of colour) the sectioning works perfectly. i decided to allocate colours based on the tonal shift of the hues in terms of the colour spectrum.
format
colour
stock
production
process
finishing
(not exact hues - an example)
i then went on to design vectors that i thought illustarted the 6 sections simply and recogniably so that the user can use colour and image coordination to access parts of the guide more efficiently.
i also did a vector design for each topic in the book so the user has a visual aid in recognising and understanding the different aspects of print that are included within the guide.
i then went on to consider a logo for my guide. i wanted it to encompass the hands on ethos of the guide and also portray my interest in hand rewndered graphics. i drew a number of different potential logos with which i asked various peers which was their favourite, having given a brief explanation of the brief and my concept. i then did a few digital mock ups to test a few different ideas but most people were pretty keen on one design so i went on to finalise that.
having established the visual aspect of my guide i then went on to write the text that would accompany each vector. i started by deciding the topics i wanted to include in each section and how i should deliver an explanation to give the user the best understanding. i wrote what i wanted in each section and considered how it could be organised then proceeded to write the content. this was basic at first because i hadnt established a final layout for the pages and so would have to rework some text to fit the pages.
having established my content i then moved on to organising the layout and composition of the guide in in design. my preliminary layouts were recieved well in the crit but i thought it was important to progress from that.
i decided that because each topic would be accompanied by an image that i should do a two page split for each topic and a heading page for the start of a new section. this would enable me to do any number of pages and not have to worry about misorganisation or mis printing.
having organised my content and layout i then went on to begin the production process. i first went on to make the binder. i considered the sizing and cut out individual covers and spine from thick cardstock. the cover wascut out of mountboard and the binder was removed from another binder.
having cut the cover i used standard book binding techniques to bind the cover together. i then put a black vinyl cover over the insider to cover any mistakes and miscuts and such. using a hole punch (yellow handled tool below) i made the appropriate holes in the spine and placed the ring binder over them. then, using a rivet gun, i fastened the binder to the spine with gold rivets. i attached the frint back and spine mountboard cover after attaching the ring binder to the inner spine.
i then went on to print and organise the pages. because i decided to plastic laminate my pages (to ensure durability and protection from wear and stain in the print room, i printed my pages in digital print with james. this required page imposition for front and back printing. i printed onto off grey textured stock from the library which gave the pages a nice matte finish. i decided not to use gloss because the lamination would add a sheen and with both the pages might not be that legible.
having printed the pages i then went to the library to laminate them. this was a simple process of laying the individual pages into laminate sheets and feeding them through the heater to seal.
because each page is individual i had to cut them all out by hand because the guillotine was not very effective with laminate and would not cut straight endges and often bent the sheet in the process.
i then did the same process for the reference cards in digital print with james and then laminated in the library. a mistake i made at this stage was not considering imposition when printing the cards. being that they are two sided, and have a small tab protruding from the top, i should have reversed the position of the tab for the back side so that when placed next to each other the reverse side tab married up. i didnt do this and so ended up having to cut the tabs off the backs of the cards and re attaching, unsing adhesive, them once the sided were attached.
when all the pages were laminated and cut out i then used a curved corner die cutter to round the edges of the pages to give a more professional finish and because the vorners of the laminate were quite sharp otherwise and also hindered ease of page turning.
having done this it was then a case of attaching all the different components which was simple because of the binder. i put al the pages in and closed the convers and then realised my second major mistake of the project - that i had not considered page creep when the guide was closed. because all pages were hole punched and the ring binder is circular; when closed all pages are pushed to the furthest point of the ring and so purtruded past the cover edges. i very silly mistake as i equated the measurements based on an open book not closed.
i decided that the best way to rectify the mistake was to fashion a reverse cover that would sit within the two existing covers and wrap around the pages to enclose them. although a bit odd looking and obviously not the original design the ed product worked out better than i expected.
the final aspect was to produce the cover aesthetics. i decide to maintain the use of black vinyl because i think it contrasts nicely with the matte blue grey of the cover mountboard. i used the laser cutter to cut the logo and relevant other cuts from the vinyl.
i then had to remove each aspect of the vinyl and stick it down by hand which was difficult because once its on you cant take it off and so the end lay was abit askew but looked ok still.
PROJECT EVALUATION.
i really enjoyed this project and felt like i gained a lot from it. the research aspect enabled me to re visit printing processes that i knew about and try out new ones that i hadnt done before. processes like spot varnish and foiling are great fun and produce fantastic aestheitc qualities when done well. i also learned a lot about different techniques and preparation methods invoved in design for print which is very usefu for future projects as i have practiced the process and now know better how to do so. the production side of the project was a fantastic learning curve too. considering the information i had found out and learned about and then relating it to others in a tone and content appropriate way tested my ability to pick out key info and my understanding of an audience and their potential needs. because i enjoy hands on design and because my project was based around the real time and hands on use of my guide i wanted this to be reflected in the production process and end product. while not perfect in a lot of places, and obviously mechanically produced, i think the product reflects my hands on ethos as i made the entire thing by hand (minus printing and lamination). while there are a number of mistakes (such as page creep and mis alignment and sticker placement) i think the guide is quite successful. furthermore i have now experienced those mistakes and am more prepared for the next project i do because i know where ive gone wrong.
my final outcome is successful but could have definitely been contructed better. this is not to say i rushed it but more due to a lack of experience i was 'learning on the job'. next time i will take more care and consideration when preparing my work for production and really concentrate on every aspect so that the ease of final production is increased.
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