OUGD404 - What is a book?

My final book

I made a simplistic quote book that is a light, easy read as well as being visually colourful and eye-catching. I decided to bind my book using a staple bound method, due to in  the pervious module I used this method and I felt the quality of it was extremely poor so i wanted to prove that I can improve and develop my skills further. I feel that the quality of this book is a lot better. Such as the alignment of the pages and the cut of the bleed, as well as the general pagination. I also created two books. I decided to do this to ensure that each book was exactly the same due to in everyday life, you rarely produce just one publication.
The location of my book could vary from coffee shops, national book shops to retail outlets such as Paper chase or urban outfitters as it is simplistic and colourful similar to Urban Outfitters stock and the target audience being someone who is interested in quotes or simple light and easy reads.

I wanted my front cover to be eye catching and engaging by using bright colours and white text to stand out against the background as well as calming and effective in wanting someone to pick it up. This is the first question I asked in the crit "Would you want to pick up and read this book, if so why?" All answers said yes with similar reasons such as the vivid nature of the front cover. So this worked effectively. I also chose the title of this book using words such as "Life Changing" in order to want people to pick it up and read it to see if it does, indeed change their life. I used Futura as the typeface as it was also used throughout the book to ensure a little bit of consistency as well as the main reason being it looked modern and was easily legible. 

I left a page in the inside of the cover, as I found during research that most publications do this to ensure that it isn't all crammed in to make it easier for the reader to follow and to allow room for the text on the first page to breathe. I therefore called my first official layout the contents page, page number 2, thus showing my understanding of folio numbers something specified on the brief. On each page I used a simple grid at the bottom to ensure each folio number was aligned in the exact same place on each page. I also used a contents page as I feel that they are effective in giving the reader an initial structure of the book before actually reading the content making it instantly more legible. It also allows the reader to find the information quickly. I used a candy floss background as I felt it gave the book a mysterious and sweet feel to give the reader the idea that this book is going to be a light and easy read however wanting them to read on, again using Futura as the typeface for reasons stated previously. I used the colour pink for the type to fit in effectively with the background.

My first layout of a quote by Marilyn Monroe used an image of her slightly modified to create a sketched appearance using feminine colours such as a baby pink background and white and dark pink text to link back to Marilyn who was commonly associated with her girly and feminine personality. I added a scripted font for her name to give it a personal feel as if shed signed the quote herself. The second layout on 4 I aligned the text neatly making it easier to read and highlighting the most important part of the quote "Keep Smiling". I also used a minimal colour scheme as I felt this worked well next to the baby pink background on page 3. I added a design of red lips and a beauty spot, features which are symbolic of Marilyn Monroe again adding a scripted font to give the feel of her signing it herself.

The 3rd layout uses a photograph of Marilyn taken from the internet and I added cream boxes around a dark red text to give it a tape feel, just adding a different effect to the other layouts.

On page 4 I used plain typography however i added boxes and used different typefaces to make it visually appealing and representative of Albert Einstein, who was commonly know as a smart and complex individual. The resolution on this image made it appear pixelated something that if I had more time to re do, I would fix this in order for it to appear a better quality and more consistent. 

Page 7 & 8 uses the same image of Albert Einstein however edited differently to fit into the backgrounds. I used darker colours and a background of a galaxy so the reader associates Albert with science something he was deeply intelligent about. On page 7 I used a left sided justification to suit the use of a quote by using a typewriter style font. On page 8 I put the image of Albert into a circle to create the sense of a moon, again hopefully making the reader associate him with science giving him more credibility. Again this page was pixelated something I would change if I had more time.

 On page 9 I used a simple black and white image to link back to the period that Audrey Hepburn was alive in. I feel that page 10 is one of my best layouts as I feel that I have effectively used centred typesetting and the pink colour choice to represent Audrey well. 

 On pages 10,11 and 12 I used Futura condensed to ensure they were all consistent however I slightly modified the colours in both the text and backgrounds. I also added a line above and below the text on page 12 to structure the quote.

On pages 13 and 14 used the colours yellow green and lack to represent Bob with connotations of peace. 

On page I used a different typeface to create a contrast in the pages and I designed a pop art style image of Bob to create a sense of playfulness. 

I used colours such as yellow and blue to create a sense of peace and harmony, ideologies commonly associated with Mother Theresa. I feel that the yellow and blue were bold and complimentary to each other. I feel these two pages worked the best together as they were very fluid and spaced out.

 I used a completely different typeface for Gandhis page as I wanted the black and white text to contrast with the colourful image on page 18. 

For pages 19 and 20 I created a double page spread, linking the type up with the other page to prove I have aligned the whole book effectively and neatly together.

Finally I used the box around the blurb again to create a consistancy with the back and front pages.

OUGD404 - Final Critique - What is a book?

Final Crit

Today we had Studio Brief 02 final crit. We placed our final books on the table and wrote down three questions we would like people to answer. This was the feedback I received. I found this feedback extremely useful in my evaluation.

OUGD404 - Studio Brief 02 - What is a Book?

Terminology

Paragraph

A paragraph is a self-contained unit of a discourse in writing dealing with a particular point or idea. A paragraph consists of one or more sentences. Though not required by the syntax of any language, paragraphs are usually an expected part of formal writing, used to organise longer prose.

Here is an example of me using paragraphs when creating my publication for this brief. I used it on the black cover/blurb which simply explains what my book is about.

Images

An image is to describe or portray in language especially in a vivid manner. Here is an example of me using images in my publication. In this case, an image of Albert Einstein modified to fit the colours in the background image of a Galaxy.

Pagination

In printing terms is a method of computerised page makeup in which copy graphic elements are manipulated with the aid of video display terminal or simply the act of pages.

Below is an example of pagination in my book. These two pages go together due to the link in topic, such as the image being Mother Theresa who said the quote on the left. They both have similar colour schemes such as blue and yellow.

Rules and Boxes

I think that using boxes in design work helps draw attention and magnify the the information inside them as well as looking visually appealing. I decided to use boxes on both the front cover and the back cover to magnify what the book was about and I felt that this was the most important part of information the reader needed. 

                   Back                                                  Front

Imposition

Printing. the arrangement of page plates in proper order on a press for printing a signature.

Grid

In graphic design, a grid s a structure usually two dimensional made up of a series of intersecting straight (vertical, horizontal, and angular) or curved guide lines used to structure content. The grid serves as an armature on which a designer can organise graphic elements (images, glyphs, paragraphs) in a rational, easy to absorb manner. A grid can be used to organise graphic elements in relation to a page, in relation to other graphic elements on the page, or relation to other parts of the same graphic element or shape.

Columns 

Editorially speaking a column is an article giving opinions or perspectives but generally it is a page of text that is vertically divided. 

Above is an example of me using a column in my contents page.

Sub-heads

A subhead is a title or a heading of a subdivision, as a chapter, essay, or newspaper article. Again I used a subheading in my contents page.

Drop caps

With a drop cap, the initial sits within the margins and runs several lines deep into the paragraph, indenting some normal-sized text in these lines.

Folio Numbers 

A folio is a page number; the page number often includes running footers or headers. I used folio numbers at the bottom of each page in my book. Either to the left of the page or the right of the page using a simple box/grid system to ensure they were all in the same place on each page.

Gutters
The inside margins or blank space between two facing pages is the gutter. The gutter space is that extra space allowance used to accommodate the binding in books and magazines. The amount of gutter needed varies depending on the binding method.

In saddled-stitched publications the amount of gutter, as well as the outside margins are adjusted to allow for creep. Gutter is sometimes used 

to refer to the alley or space between columns of text in a page layout.

Headlines
A heading at the top of an article or page in a newspaper or magazine.

Margins

A margin is the part of a page or sheet outside the main body of printed or written matter.

Caption

A title, short explanation, or description accompanying an illustration or a photograph. I didn't use any captions due to simply stating who the quote was by I felt was necessary enough for the reader to make a link between who the photograph was of, without the use of a caption.

Measures     

The measurement of a line’s length (including lines that do not contain characters - like a partial line) that is designated in picas.      

As my publication was particularly simplistic it didn't use all of the terminology above, however most of.