OUGD504 - Design For Print (36) - Binding The Reference Book

I took a trip to Vernon Street, and learnt how to perfect bind my book using scrim:

Clamping the book, giving it an edge to bind:

Applying PVA glue:

Applying scrim:

The overal result:

I cut off the excess next:

I then used a large guillotine to cut the book:

Unfortunately the book was too thick to cut on the guillotine, so I cut the rest by hand:

OUGD504 - Design For Print & Web (2) - Rewritten Brief

Below is my brief rewritten. 

OUGD504 - Design For Print (25) - Images of Spot Varnish Printed Work

OUGD504 - Design for Web (9) / Print (9) - Feedback From Peers & Tutors

Over the previous passed two days, I received feedback from both my peers and tutors. 

As a reminder, below is a short explanation for each of my projects. 

Design For Print: 2 publications, one of them explains a variety of different print processes, the other will be full of prints as a form of reference. The audience will be university students. The explanation book will be cheap and cheap enough for students to buy. The reference book will be much more expensive, and would probably be distributed as one to each university, and kept safe. 

The book will also have an emphasis on common mistakes with print, which will be shown in the reference book. 

Design for Web: A Punk vinyl archive, aimed mainly at 40 + Males / Females interested in Punk. It would act as a way of reminiscing, but also will allow users to send in their images to add to a timeline. The website will mimic the unconventional, rebellious and DIY style that Punk has, but also maintain highly functional navigation. 

                                                                                                                                                 

Interim Crit

Design for Print

I have also decided to answer the questions asked, and plan how I intend to react. 

- Make a selection of the processes you intend to use, will it be as many as possible, or would you prefer to make a more refined selection?

Initially, I planned to experiment with as many processes as possible, but after understanding much more about screen printing, I think I will focus just on that. I have already produced lots of prints, so I have made a good start. I often feel I give myself way too much work, so it would work much more in my favour to focus on screen printing, in order to get a much more refined end product. 

The processes / inks I intend to focus on are:

- Simple 1 colour printing on a variety of stock. 

- 2 Colour / 3 Colour Printing. 

- Neon screen printing (silk screen)

- Printing with white (silk screen)

- Spot varnishing (silk screen)

- Metallic ink (silk screen)

- Foiling - a variety of colours (fabric screen)

- Flocking - a variety of colours(fabric screen) 

- Glow in the dark ink

- Thermo - reactive ink

- More inks I can find out about - I intend to send a questionnaire to print specialists to find out what else I could look into. 

- Possibly try the prints on different backgrounds, experiment with stocks. 

I have already done this, but I intend to focus on 4 main stocks. 

- Instead of repeating mistakes in each section, it would be best to have a 'mistakes' section. 

I think this is a fantastic idea. Many of the mistakes can be the same, such as not using enough ink. This will also mean that referencing the mistakes to the reference book will be much easier. 

- How will you print page numbers onto the book of prints? 

This has been an issue for me, as I obviously can't print digital numbers onto each of the screen prints. The quickest and easiest result would be to use letraset transfer printing.

One issue I have with this could be that letraset is it VERY limited in terms of the typefaces they produce, as you can see below: 

Continuity between the digital book and the reference book is key. However, if I use a body copy which is similar to one of the 6 above fonts, the numbers will not stand out. I am glad this has been considered before I start designing. 

- You should experiment with different types of binding. Canadian Binding? Japanese Binding? Gauze Strip?

This question is to do with the reference book, which I will bind myself. The digital book will be sent off to be printed and perfectly bound. I intend to research ways in which I could bind the prints, but will only truly know the appropriate method once I know how thick the book will be. I intend to produce a post on different binding methods in the near future. 

- With your Prints, don't throw any away which you choose to not use. 

I understand this, and producing as many prints as possible will help me produce a much more refined collection.

- Ensure you take lots of photos of both the prints you have produced and the process of printing them. 

One issue I have had with this is not having a camera which can take good photos. However, I have recently received my SLR camera from home, which is perfect. I need to buy an SD card for it, which will be done as soon as possible. 

One I have done so, I will be able to take much better photos of the design process. 

                                                                                                                                                 

Peer Feedback (With Lorraine & Peers)

I decided it would be best to receive more feedback on Design for Web, since I received lots the day before for Design for Print. 

Design for Web

Below is a image of my feedback sheet. I admit it has very little on it, but I wrote more information down. 

What defines Punk (Aesthetically)? 

This is something which is hard to summarise. It's not just the image of vinyl's, but an entire subculture. I intend to look more into images in relation to Punk, videos, Photography, and also album artwork. 

I need to look more into imagery / pattern, not just solid colours. This could include newsprint (I don't want to produce the cliche ransom - note style typography), and also half - tone imagery. 

Language? 

One thing I did not consider was a 'Punk' tone of voice. I think I need to look more into this, finding out if I want to be comical, formal, informal or maybe even confrontational and rude with my tone of voice. 

Name of Website?

Once again, something I should consider carefully. I think once I can understand the tone of voice, this will be made much easier. 

Who is your main audience?

I answered this well I think. I explained that it would mainly be a website for 40 - 60 year olds, as I aim for the website to be nostalgic. Normally age brackets shouldn't be used to focus audiences, but here it seems appropriate. 

OUGD504 - Design for Web (2) - Website Initial Ideas

Initial Ideas


Below are my initial ideas for applying my Summer Brief research to my 'Design for Web' Brief. 

I started by looking at possible ideas for each of my summer brief research topics: 

The topic I chose to look into further is Punk music, and in particular, Punk Vinyls. I aim to produce a website which acts as an archive for Punk Vinyls. I feel this would be easy to work with, as my father owns a huge collection of Punk Vinyls.

This can be seen here on my summer brief post. 

I have decided the best audience to aim my weskit at would be men roughly the same age as my father; 40's - 60's. I feel this age bracket would appreciate the archive the most, as it could as a form of reference for either finding and buying vinyls or just to reminice. 

Answering Questions

For this session, we have been asked to answer 5 questions to do with our ideas for 'Design For Web':

What it your subject matter?

Punk Music - Specifically UK Punk late 70's / early 80's. This is due to my father having such a large collection, and likes to boast he has every Punk Vinyl he has ever wanted between 1978 and 1982. 

What are you trying to communicate?

- How a Punk related website can be functional and informative. (Existing websites in relation to Punk seem dated and not very functional - see Below)

- A vast collection of Punk Vinyls are not easily accessible via the internet, and neither is information about them. 

Who will be/could be your audience or 'end-user'?

- 'Punk Historians' - Either Middle Age Males / Females who have lost their collection of Punk in recent years or 16 + Males or Females with an interest in older music than their time. No specific social class. 

What will be the most appropriate/effective form of content?

- Mainly image based - A timeline of vinyls with their information about the band / record. 

What is the function and purpose?

- To build up an archive of Punk Vinyl information. I aim to inform and educate, as well as help users to find names of old EP's they intend to buy (not from my website, but to find online). 

We also had to think about the sector/industry we would be designing for:

- Music Industry

Questions To Ask Myself

- Have I got an audience? - If i'm aiming my website at mainly middle age adults, can the older set of my audience (mid to late 50's) use my website well? - I could possibly design an app to match the website, but I need to find out how many people in their late 50's use smartphones. 

- How will I separate my website from others that do a similar job? - I intend to make the website much more up to date, and easy to use. I also would like the website to both reflect the DIY side of Punk, but also be professional and highly functional. 

I will also analyse existing websites in order to separate myself. From initial research, I feel many websites are far too 'forum like'.