OUGD504 Studio Brief 01 - Final Layout Design

Final Layout Design:
From the feedback that I received I produced a layout where the handwriting had either a full page or a double page spread. I also tried to vary the scale and placement to look as natural and interesting/engaging as possible. The numbers below the handwriting correspond to the information about who wrote them at the back of the publication. This is the interactive element as the reader will flick back and forth to find who did what.

During one of the feedback sessions it was suggested that I should do the last handwriting in the book, and it should also be a phrase to say goodbye. This adds a personal element and ends the publication on a slightly humorous note. I felt that it helped give life to the publication as if all of these handwritings were personified and were speaking to the reader. I felt this would help it to be more engaging and create a friendly inviting mood.

Overall I received very positive feedback on the layout, the lack of structure helps it to feel more personal and natural. The information at the back of the book is organised clearly, so that it is easy to read and follow. With this feedback I knew that I would be ready to start test printing my publication.

OUGD504 Studio Brief 01- Introduction for the publication

Introduction for the publication:
For the introduction of my publication I am going to keep it quite brief to allow people to take in the content in their own personal way as handwriting is a personal thing, I want people to think about the things that could potentially impact how we write but not give too much information away. 

'From a young age we are all taught to write in the same way, but handwriting still differs from person to person. It differs from masculine to feminine, age to occupation, personalities to disabilities and so on.

One thing is clear, that even through our writing, we are all different.'

I then worked on how I would align the type:

Align left:

I like how the eye naturally reads from left to right, it also mimics where you would start writing on a page - relating to the content. However I don't like the ends of the line as it produces a distracting shape.

Justified left:

I like this alignment because the eye naturally reads left to right, so it is very clear and easy to read. The justification helps it to feel more ordered and again improves readability as your eye isn't drawn down by anything distracting the eye when the bottom line length is longer.

Align centre:

I like the overall shape the a central alignment produces, it also works well for short chunks of text like this.

Justified centre:

With the justified alignment it feels quite spaced out and I don't think a central alignment works very well with one word or a few words on a line as the eye has to try and find where the writing begins again.

Align right:

This is harder to read and I would have no real purpose for aligning the type to right as it goes against the rules of writing.

Justified right:

When the text is justified to the right it really doesn't work, the kerning between words are ridiculous, either too close together or too far apart.

After testing out the different alignments it is clear that I am going to align the text to left as it relates to the content. I am also going to justify it as I like how all of the text is in line and it doesn't leave a ragged right edge, which I think helps improve readability in this instance.

Placement of text on the page:

Feedback:
The feedback I received generally favoured placement in the middle of the page, due to amount of white space and the fact that it is only a small amount of text. It grabs your attention immediately in the middle of the page, it doesn't seem shy as it does in the corners. In the middle it directly introduces you to the publication, your eyes immediately find it on the page.

OUGD504 Studio Brief 01 - Layout Design (Digital)

Layout Design (Digital):
From the feedback I have received it was clear that I will be working with an A5 portrait format due to it directly relating to the content. I am going to mock up some of the proposed layouts for the content. I do not want to use a grid for my images because I don't want to give much order to the design, I want it to be free and as if someone has just come and wrote in the book. A grid would make it look to rigid and less expressive which would go against what I am trying to achieve which is showing how handwriting is individual and unique.

Feedback:
After showing these mock up layout to my peers it was preferred if the handwriting had it's own space on the page - so one handwriting per page or one across a double spread. This was also something I had identified when looking at Craig Oldham's Handwritten Letter Project. Allowing the handwriting it's own space draws more attention to it and allows the eye to analyse it more. When there are two or more on a page it's almost like they are fighting for attention or the eye just casually brushes over them. 

It has also been suggested that I play around with scale as this could help support the handwriting, whether it was done nervously or big/bold. It will also help to provide more interest on the page drawing in the eye.

The double page spread works really well to grab attention and make use of the space. White space is utilised well as it was felt that if there was anything else on the page it would draw attention away from the handwriting. The blankness of the page adds to the feel of realness, as if it has just been written in.

It was suggested to have the information of the person on the same page as the handwriting but I personally think this will draw away from the handwriting as it will impose on the page. As well I feel it takes away an interactive element where the reader has to find out who did the handwriting - it takes away the element of surprise.

OUGD504 Studio Brief 01 - Layout Design

Layout Design:

To begin with I drew out some initial ideas of how I would lay out my content, this will help me to better visualise. I want the handwriting to be the main focus on the page, I do not want anything to draw attention away from that, therefore I am going to be working purely with the handwriting content I have gathered. I want to produce a publication where the content is the main focus of interest and the design does not impede on this too much. 

I started with how I could potentially lay it out within an A5 portrait format.

I then looked at how the layout would work in the square format.

Feedback:
The A5 format and layout was preferred over the square due to less ordered look of the design. Handwriting hasn't got hard structured edges and the square format seemed to contain it so that it was ordered which didn't reflect what I wanted it to portray. It was also felt that square format can feel quite clumsy to hold and wouldn't be seen on a shelf as clearly. Overall the A5 portrait reflected how a standard page would look if you were writing, therefore it was felt that this would relate more to the content. Image placement looks interesting, particularly over a double page, but I need to mock it up digitally to get a better feel for it.

OUGD504 Studio Brief 01 - Indesign Workshop

Indesign Workshop:
From the indesign workshop that I had I gained some really useful knowledge on how to appropriately set up my document for print. This will really help making the process quicker and easier when I am finally ready to print. I have also learnt how to place images in indesign so that they have the correct resolution. This will make sure that my images are to the highest quality. Lastly I now understand how to do colour separations although I do not need this process it is very useful to know.

OUGD504 Studio Brief 01 - Grid Systems

Grid Systems:

Grids have been around a very long time, they help to organise text and image, a plan to help deal with the placing of elements on successive pages. Mathematical grids have been around since 1692 as the French type designer Philippe Grandjean constructed letterforms using grids. Type and spacing material used to be produced in fixed sizes before digital, typography was a modular system.

Josef Muller-Brockmann developed the grid system the most. 
'The reduction of the number of visual elements used and their incorporation in a grid system creates a sense of compact planning, intelligibility and clarity and suggests orderliness of design. The orderliness adds credibility to the information and induces confidence.  The grid determines the constant dimension of space. There is virtually no limit to the number of grid divisions. It may be said in general that every piece of work must be studied very carefully so as to arrive at the specific grid network corresponding to its requirements.'

Grids are determined by what we put into them (content) and what we require  them to deliver (functionality), and only when we have defined the content and functionality, can we hope to arrive at the appropriate grid.

A grid is fundamentally about spatial relationships. Every spatial relationship needs to be considered.

As the grid has become a template that allow anyone to lay out text and image, it then establishes this idea of a rigid structure that anything can be poured into, instead of a living breathing structure.

For books it is recommended that there is no more that 18 words per line, or 7 words for newspapers and magazines.

The white areas that frame the printed portion of the page are called the margins. At the top is the head, at the bottom is the foot. The outer edge is the fore edge and the side next to the spine or fold is the back edge. The combined back edges of a double-page spread are called the gutter (also used for the veritcal space between two columns.

Jan Tschichold discovered the rules of proportions - the ratio of text area to page size is 2:3. 

The golden ration has proportions of 34:21, people through the ages have found this the most pleasing. It is a natural form that parallels in nature - the way a snail's shell grows. It fosters organic and natural looking compositions that are aesthetically pleasing to the eye.

RESOURCE:

BOOK

- Graphic Design: A Users Manual - Adrian Shaughnessy

- Production for Graphic Designers 4th Edition - Alan Pipes

OUGD504 Studio Brief 01 - Type

Type:
For my publication I ideally want to choose a traditional, classic typeface. I think this will be appropriate as it relates to the content being a traditional form of type. The old style of type will hopefully juxtapose against the handwritten to provide a nice contrast. Therefore I am drawn more towards serif style typefaces, this will be appropriate for large chunks of text as it will be easier to read. However I will also make sure that I do try to consider a sans-serif typeface to see how that works.

GARAMOND:

Garamond is an old, serif, traditional typeface and is used extensively in print as a book font. It is considered one of the most legible typefaces for print and a true classical serif font. The x-height (height of lower-case letters) is low, especially at larger sizes, making the capitals large relative to the lower case, while the top serifs on the ascenders of letters like 'd' have a downward slope and rise subtly above the cap height.

TIMES NEW ROMAN:

Times New Roman is a serif typeface which is used very commonly in book and general printing. It is a narrow as it was first used in newspapers. The design is slightly condensed, with short ascenders and descenders and a high x-height (tall lower-case letters), all effects that save space and increase clarity.

BASKERVILLE

Baskerville is a serif type classified as a transitional typeface, intended as a refinement of what are now called old-style typefaces of the period. Increased the contrast between thick and thin strokes, making the serifs sharper and more tapered, and a shifted axis of rounded letters to a more vertical position. The curved strokes are more circular in shape, and the characters became more regular. These changes created a greater consistency in size and form. Baskerville's typefaces remain very popular in book design.

COCHIN:

Cochin is a Transitional serif typeface. The font has a small x-height with long ascenders. It is very similar to Baskerville but letterforms don't seem to elongate as much. In numbers there seems to be greater differences in stroke width.

GILL SANS:

Gill Sans is a sans-serif typeface it takes inspiration from the calligrapher and lettering artist Edward Johnston. The proportions of Gill Sans stem from monumental Roman capitals in the upper case, and traditional "old-style" serif letters in the lower. Open strokes and a slightly higher contrast in strokes in comparison to other sans-serif typefaces.

The type that I feel is most appropriate for the publication is Cochin, due to it's traditional look being similar of Baskerville's, but it having a stronger stroke width and a less elongated look. It will be clearer and more legible than a sans-serif typeface, which would make reading easier. This will be useful as I will be creating a page of contributes which will be listing all of the information, therefore this needs to be as clear as possible. 

Size:

I am going to go with a type size of 9pt due to the small nature of the publication. This size will still be legible and wont distract away from the content. It will also work well when listing all of the information to be able to fit everything in.