OUGD601 // Dissertation // What is Publication Design notes

'Print Matters'
publications surround us wherever we are, whatever we do.

newsagents - magazines/newspapers in multiple languages - battle for visual supremacy

bookstores - every topic compete for attention

mail - find everything from catalogs to corporate literature

"In todays society, communication is all important and the power of print has never been stronger"

designing for print isn't easy
consumers bombared with so much printed matter it merges into one and no one can win the competition for attention.

new magazine (types) hit the shelves - soon will be competing with a dozen more of the same as they catch on and are replicated. Id a newspaper changes format, the rest will follow.

coming up with a new concept isn't enough anymore, it will just be replicated and become the same as the rest.

publication designers must work harder then ever to captivate and connect with readers - aesthetic and emotionally.

many types and categories - appeal to different audiences - consumer to corporate to trade.

people see magazines / newspapers / books as the only published material. But there are also the likes of annual reports, product catalogs, newsletters, journals.

" Just as important as they type of publication being created is its target audience"

publications etc has aspirational element to them:
- vogue - not afford the clothes but can buy into the lifestyle via the magazine.
- subscribing to specialist magazines enables us to connect with like-minded people.
- books create a powerful response, transport to another time / space through power of words.

"Part of the appeal of a publication is what it feels like to hold"

Designers are limited due to the size, shape and cost. Wide scope for creativity even with constraints.

Six Appeal:
Format, grids, typography, colour, cover / masthead, use of imagery.

" A good design should never over ride the content and vice versa; rather the two should work together to support and bring out the best in each other"

Power of Print - A Brief History
15th century - fewer than 50,000 volumes of writing existed.

written word was hand inscribed on vellum - reserved for the wealthy.

Vellum more durable but expensive and time consuming to produce. 200 page book - 4-5 months to create.

Art of paper making introduced to Europe from China first known paper mill in Europe 1282. Fabriano, Italy.
Paper was quick and inexpensive to make. In 14th Century, millions of sheets of paper a year were produced.

Late 1300's - books created from wood carvings containing image and text appeared. Process was long as had to create new wood blocks each time.

Movable type & Gutenberg press (1468). Created thousands of durable, reusable letters. Rapid printing of written material. Information explosion in Renaissance Europe.

Printing presses opening all over Europe due to movable type. Publishing became an industry in its own right.

It was possible for information to be stored and shared. Languages were standardised and publications were made for masses.

Broadside - popular early publication -
A single sheet of paper printed on one side - used to spread religious information.
Later used to spread regional information - precursor to newspaper

Broadsides handed out, fixed to walls and lamposts - provided public with precise views of everyday life.

Industrial revolution created major development, 19th century - mechanisation of printing process.

"An economy once started based on manual labour now became dominated by industry and the manufacture of machinery"

1820 - first product catalogue and poetry journals being produced. This created better wages and standard of living.

Early 19th Century :
- photography had arrived
- brought new dimension to the printed page
- publications with photography to illustrate was part of everyday life.

Print in the digital age
Surrounded by more publications than ever before but not long ago thought of printed publications was numbered.

Common belief that digital age would surrpress print into realms of nostalgia.

"If anything the print medium has become even stronger as a result of the digital revolution"

online publications - cheaper, faster, easier to produce.
- Looking at a screen isn't comparable to touch and feel of a book / magazine. Experiential level has no competition.

Images not as sharp on screen as printed. No variation of depth through paper stocks.

"Printed publications have an authenticity to them that surpasses their digital counterparts"

Anyone can publish information online, printed publications regarded as much more reliable source of information.

Technological advances may change this in future but for now the power of print is still strong.

Design Considerations
The content of publication should determine to overall design, feel and type of publication it will be, not the other way round. Content is king.

Readability vs Legibility
individual letter may be legible but when grouped it could disappear.

legibility -
- context is key
- how publication will be read
- by who
- what conditions to be read under.
CRUCIAL TO SUCCESS OF DESIGN

Readability -
- role of type
- what function it has
- only to be read?
- illustrative element?

"Challenging readers to leave their comfort zone when reading a publication is central to the readability / legibility debate, but the appropriateness of stylistic or trend-led design and whether it is acceptable lies in the hand of the reader"

The publication life span
publication life span - affect way its designed
magazine with month shelf life - follow latest trends, book with years of shelf life has to stand the test of time.

Book design demands high standard of craftsmanship in designer. All about permanence -  no room for error.

Magazines exist in forefront of pop culture. Not just a integral part of visual culture but a reflection of our time.

Magazine design that lasts a year or two before looks out of date - pushing the boundaries of design.

The Digital Revolution
technology has been biggest change in the last 20 years, this has helped rather than hindered.

advent of home computer and the internet have enabled more people to create their own publications

Many designers now self-publish as means of raising their profits:-
- now easy because the process has been computerised
- before would have to lay everything out manually and strip content by hand - time consuming.

Death of print world within 21st century as advances would make a paperless society - making the publication obsolete.

Technology not failed us - provided us with a diverse range of tools which to produce ever more flexible and cost effective creative solutions.

evolution of WWW means predictions of death of print:
- people thought web would be a way to transfer information between companies etc. But not that e asy to transfer pages onto a screen.
- Web is an unknown medium and comes with own set of constraints.

Whereas print industry is known quantity and it works.

Desinging a book / magazine / brochure / annual report in print allows designers to translate a message through the us of different paper stock, typography and imagery to create a tactile and expressive product.

Improved technology means designer have complete control over the content -
 - the ability to integrate text and image, quotesm charts etc is up to them through the click of a mouse.

Technology means experimenting with colour, image and text is easy and can be undone with no manual process involved.
- easier to create a design to engage the audience.

Internet provides -
- info at fingertips, ability to transfer files digitally but has made the world a smaller place.

Disadvantages -
- can download content from other side of world, drop into the document, lay out the work, package and email back to the client without even seeing them face to face.

Digital photography -
- easier to capture and store images - saving time and money
- no more expensive film and paying for development
- use and reused over and over again

Publication design -
- indesign better than quark
- integrated approach as shares interface with photoshop and illustrator
- interchange object and images between these programs - quicker work flow.

"Our twenty first century digital world is a wonderful thing, but technology is not infallible. Things can go wrong, so it is imperative for designers to back up regularly."

Buying & Selling
Magazine -
- positioned same way in every store - to fit more in
- only magazine masthead visible on shelf - rely solely on masthead to sell product
- standard size (a4) - practicalities - fit into shelves
- larger sizes fit sideways on shelves - masthead hidden, only spine on show - type comes into play to sell product

Books -
- online spine on show in stores
- limited space to design
- logo  and title of book displayed - clear and easy to read to attract readers
- strong publisher logo - brand awareness - more on shelf
- strong type / bold colours used on spine - impressive and eye catching

Environmental Issues
Printing= dirty process
- now recycled papers and environmentally friendly printing techniques. - designers / clients need educating on these processes.

Print is UKs 5th largest manufacturing industry but is placed n same environmental risk category as mining oil and nuclear industries.

paper -
- chlorine bleached papers still common
- prevalence of non recycling or non sustainable forestry pulp is high.

Beacon Press -
- first british print company to establish green policy
- vegetable based inks, alcohol free printing process and 100% green electricity
- recycles 95% of hazardous, press cleaning solutions
- CD recycling

misconceptions - environmental print lower quality - expensive.

colour saturation improved - little visible difference between eco and non eco

mohawk fine papers - leading environmental paper merchant

"By specifying certified paper containing a high level of post consumer waste, made with renewable energy designers, printers and their clients have the power to generate a new market that the rest of the world will have to follow - and then we can really start to make a difference".

OUGD601 // Dissertation // Podcast notes

Future of E-books - wired.co.uk - 24th November - Nate Lanxon

Sell unlimited copies for nothing, consumer demand for the e-books, concept was interesting when first released but was a disappointment.

could be used outside because of e-ink, readable outdoors, lots of books could be accessed and read because of this.

battery life would mean they could last for weeks. Never short of books to read. Always ones there to suit a mood / genre

single use device - much like mp3 player. tablet more favoured because it was trend - materialistic.

£100 for e-reader compared to £500 tablet - e-reader perfect for those who just want to read, nothing else.

E- ink - tiny balls of pixels - screen built up of different greys and blacks - only uses to power to change these pixels to the new screen and new images.

have to buy a device to read a ebook, why not just go buy the printed book.

compare to renting a library book

to use the e-readers need internet which means having it set up like a phone contract

kindle is number seller of e-readers

ebooks - 8.5% book sales

buy used books instead of new, so why do you need a kindle. You cant sell books on e-reader - no resell value.

e-books cost the same as hardback, but why when they are just a digital copy which costs nothing to reproduce. This is because they are still a product and still have to make money from it in some way. This leads to publishers loosing sales.

commercial side to be viable - contracts? - platform support make all e-books be used across different platforms.

Demand for e-books is greater now. There is still a long way to go before they take over print. Prefer reading from a book rather than a device. E-reader have no environmental issues compared to print and can be used in all environments. The portability of a e-reader is a advantage, along with being able to hold more than one book at one time, this is why consumer demand is so high.
Digital copies of a book out run a hardback copy, but paperback still exceeds digital, having the upper hand on all sales. Devices need more development to make them overtake the tangible nature of the printed book.

OUGD601 // Dissertation // Practical // Website

From the digital mock up I created, I could use this to code and create the actual website. Having the fils there to look at for the design aspect and layout of the website, made the coding of the website so much easier to do.

Home page

The home page main content is a slideshow which presents images of my own work. This home page acts as the anchor page which all the links on the left hand side will go from. 

The slideshow on the homepage is automatic and runs through itself on its own, the images within the slideshow are random, so that when the user is looking at my website it is more varied and doesnt show images of the same project one after each other. 

Projects Pages

The project page is accessed from the home page, when clicking on the projects link, it reveals the project titles, which when you click on will open each project page as shown below. 

Each project page is set up the same way, the main content area has a slideshow of images for the project with a brief description of the project below it. The slideshow can be scrolled through manually or left to automatically scroll through the images. These pages take full advantage of the content area for the images and show them at a large scale so it is easy to see the products created for each project. 

Iconic Cities 

Life with Energy

Imprint

90 Years of BBC Radio

This is Fedrigoni

About Page

The about page is all about myself and my own practice. This page shows the four column grid put into practice as each section is in its own column. The first column is about me and talks generally about myself and how I came about graphic design and the stage I am at now within graphic design as a career. The Design Practice column talks about my own practice and informs the reader on the type of design work I do. The third column is about experience and awards I have done and received throughout the time of me working within graphic design. 

Contact Page

The contact page again uses the four column grid this page shows my contact details which includes address, phone number and email address. Along with these details there are links to various pages which my work is shown on and other social media websites available. The third column displays the copyright for the website and my work. 

These four pages make up the design of my website. These simple designed pages showcase my work and myself in the best possible way and create a easy to navigate around website making it easy for the user to get around and see my work. 

OUGD601 // Dissertation // Practical // Digital Mock Up

After drawing out some initial designs for each of the pages of the website, I have created a digital mock up for each of the pages. This gives a better representation of how the website will look.

As you can see from these designs, the website works across a four column grid, on the home and project pages, this is taken full advantage of by using the slideshow to fill the content area, on the about and contact pages the four columns are clear to see and all hold information relevant to that page. 

By using the four column grid, it creates a simple website, but one that is easy to navigate around and also read and see all the content clearly. It also makes it easier for me to translate this across to the print format of the publication that will make up the practical element. 

OUGD601 // Dissertation // Practical // Idea & Product

After working on my dissertation, my attention has turned to the practical element of the brief. This side of the dissertation has taken me alot longer to think of an idea, as i want to create a product that investigates the question and subject area of my dissertation as well as the written element of it does, I didnt want to just reproduce my dissertation in a graphic design style.

After much thought and development of the idea I have my final idea which I am pretty happy with and looking forward to start. The practical element is going to be a publication. The publication is going to put into practice the idea of a bespoke design and production as within the written element this evidences that this is the way printed publishing will turn.

The content of the publication will be a website. The subject area is if print is relevant in the digital age, so comparing print and digital design is the essence of this. We see designers and writers talking about making print into digital, but the idea of turning digital into print is never looked at. So I will code and produce a website, which I will then take the code of this and lay it out into a printed document. The layout of each page within the publication will replicate the pages of the website, but the coding for this page will be laid out as it would appear on the website itself.

For the website, I am going to produce one which is for myself, this will include information on me as a designer, a online portfolio of my work and contact details. These pages will make up the content of the publication, which once done, I could hand to someone to code and it would produce my website.

Elements within the publication such as typeface will take representation of a digital nature and how the coding of a website aesthetically looks. This will carry through the page numbering etc. The format of the publication is going to be A2. I have choose to use a large format as the tactility of a publication is the essence of it, making it large format, physically means the user is interacting with it. The publication will also be screen printed as this is essential to portray the idea of print vs digital. The stock of the publication will be GFSmith stock, the stock colours are that of my branding, orange, grey and off white, these will be used is various weights to represent the importance of pages of the websites.

I think this idea portrays the idea of my dissertation and explores the subject area in a interesting way. Producing the publication is going to be interesting and fun as it involves me working across print and digital, but brings them both together to produce the final product.

COP // Dissertation // Academic Conventions

Introduction
Should introduce what dissertation will be. Introduce A, B, C by looking at X, Y, Z with a result of 1, 2, 3.

Academic conventions are like an institutional framework for your work.
They structure and standardise.
They aspire to academic honesty.

Should be able to:
demonstrate critical knowledge of practice
apply theory to practice
analyse relevant research

Each academic discipline has its own specialist vocabulary which you will be expected to learn and use in your own writing.

Substance must be based on solid evidence and logical analysis and present a concise accurate argument.

Academic writing can allow you to present your argument and analysis accurately and concisely.

Aim for precision. Don't use unnecessary words or waffle. Get straight to the point. Make every work count. Don't imply uncertainty - 'could be this' 'may be this' potentially it could be'. Avoid repeating the same words. Avoid over-long sentences, aim for a mix of long and short sentences for variation and rhythm.

AVOID ABBREVIATIONS AND CONTRACTIONS

AVOID SLANG WORDS AND PHRASES

AVOID CONVERSATIONAL TERMS

AVOID VAGUE TERMS

Structure
Preliminaries - title / acknowledgements / contents / list of illustrations

Introduction - statement of problem

Main body - review of literature / developed arguement / results of investigation

Conclusion - summary of conclusion / overall conclusion of dissertation

Extras - bibliography / appendices

Havard Referencing
Author (date) Title Place Publisher

MILES, R. (2013) Why Referencing, Leeds: LCA Publishing

^^^^ follow this ^^^^

Quotes:

'Quote' (surname, year, page)

'I have no idea how to reference' (Miles, 2013:7)

Bibliography
- alphabetised
- separated into different sections
- list of images / illustrations - referenced.

COP // Dissertation // Methodology & Critical Analysis

Need to clearly evidence why you selected methods of gathering information and selecting evidence and why they are the most appropriate for your study.

This will make you appear to be in control and aware of research project.

A systematic way of sifting through information to get to the point.

Put in introduction.

What is organising principle and approach

Theories - these can help you decide upon the methods you use. Alternatively the material you find may suggest the appropriate theories.

Choose one theory that relates to the material you are looking at

1.Methods 2. Theories 3. Application

1. make decisions about how to collect and order information
2. choose a relevant theoretical stand point
3. apply these to your study
4. Explicitly outline this in the introduction. Address suggested failing in the conclusion.

Critical Analysis
Critical take on the research - evidence and logic

Evidence
What is the evidence for what you are saying.
Could you find more evidence to support your conclusions

Evidence
Reason
Logic
Argument

Triangulation - putting alternative theories against a point of another

VISUAL ANALYSIS - have within essay.