In order to improve the design, there were suggestions to avoid the use of Comic Sans not because of the history behind the font, but because it might be not understood. It is quite ambiguous and it might not properly show what is my position in this conflict. If the purpose of the publication is to poke fun at the concept of originality, maybe that's not the best way. Research into kitsch, cute and gaudy design, which tends to be more critical, led me to remember one designer, Ian Stevenson, who makes a great use of design for critical thinkers using typeface that is kind of restless and witty. Then, researching into typefaces, handwritten and with irregularities that conveyed inquietude. These are some pictures of the ones considered.
The text for the titles in the two sections of the book (the preface and the glossary) were placed like that following the Vignelli Canon.
Also, the photographs seemed to be dragging more attention than the shop signs instead. At first, the intention was to make the reader feel like being in the place with full bleed images, but what this actually did is to make the audience to contemplate the photographs. They are not supposed to be enjoyed, but critisised and analysed. Presenting the photographs on a white background, like in a museum, should make this happen despite how reluctant I was at the beginning.
The concept was also slightly changed. At the beginning, it was about how originality was a corrupted word and how everything gets repetitive in a certain place. During the crits, someone pointed out that the images looked exotic to them, but to me they look boring and tedious. Then a new question arises: is actually a lack of originality a sign of identity? This new question was more friendly and less snob, but keeping the critical thinking and an openness for interpretation. The preface was changed as well as the whole tone of voice throughout the book.
Peers suggested to leave the images full bleed, that they were nice to see. This made me realise that the images were actually taking the audience away from the main content, which was the shop signs. Also, in order to avoid distractions, instead of the boxes and to completely avoid unconscious reading (despite the text is upside down it can be equally read) a glossary at the end would help solving this problem.
The addition of the glossary made the design to increase the number of pages (by 4 at least, in order to keep a number of pages multiple of 4). This resulted in other changes:
- The increase of signatures from 2 to 3. Previously there were 2 signatures of 4 sheets per signature. 5 sheets in one signature and 4 in the other would be an unbalance. So the number of signatures was increased to 3 with 3 sheets per signature.
- This change allows to keep the 2 images using two pages and an addition of extra content as a break between all those photographs. Looking at photograph after photograph can be repetitive and the attention can go away. In order to keep it, some full bleed coloured pages with quotes about how the concept of originality isn't quite so obvious will be added in the pages between signatures. The colours used were the same Pantone used for the beginning and the end of the book as well as the digital design of the cover.
After reading many quotes, the ones identified for being the best fit for the book were by Chuck Palahniuk and Marie Antoniette. Just the quotes and names seemed quite empty. To add more playfulness and to keep with the aesthetic of the typefaces, the design could have hand drawn portraits with this thoughtless type of drawing. After trying it, the design looks more complete and consistent. A consistency that was re-inforced by limiting the use of colours identifying with the pantone book the stock that was going to use for the book.
These are the chosen colours are the ones matching the materials, and as it's previously explained, they have been applied on the InDesign project. They are Panton 122 U, 214 U and 341 U. They were identified using uncoated samples as the book is going to be printed on uncoated stock and the endpapers are also uncoated.
The title was usable for this new concept, as not only points out the juxtaposition, but the debate open for the two positions represented by colours: "is it good to be unoriginal? or graphic designers are necessary?", one correcting and crossing the other one.
This book could be perfectly produced commercially. There is machinery design to stitchbind books as there are many examples of commercial books carrying this method. The content of the book has been digitally printed and the cover follows a basic procedure. Screenprinting is a process that can be repeated as many times as needed.
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