Within the
project, I have not reinvented a new identity for the acid house movement, I
have used existing iconography to make new connections with artistic methods
which has not been created before. This is with relationship between the classic hand
stamp and the authentic iconography connected together within a book cover
design.
Reflecting on my previous book mock ups, I believe it was extremely beneficial and crucial to the outcome of my final book that that this bookbinding experimentation process was undertaken. My final mock up book allowed me to journey through the exact step by step process of my final book using exact measurements and page numbers in order to identify and solve any issues and problems found. One of the main problems in particular was the size of the spine in relation to the thickness of the pages. As can be seen below, there is a significant difference to the size and professional outcome of the mock up compared to the final publication. Solving this problem would not have been possible if it were not identified before the final bookbinding process was undertaken. The way in which this issue was addressed was by firstly reducing the thickness of the thread used to stitch the pages; and also clamping the folded pages tight in a vice for three separate and consecutive nights. Due to this, the thickness of the folded pages was reduced from 3cm to 2cm.
Some difficulties faced were that there was not selection of florissant buckram or book cloth available at the university or online. Therefore, I had to purchase various other florissant fabrics and trial them out to see which one stuck to the greybeard best. The most appropriate fabric did not take to the glue well however, it did still manage to cover the book effectively. This problem can be seen with a few slight pockets of air in the cover of the final book cover. One other problem with the final design is that not enough length was left around the edges of the book making the edges not as neat as would have been desired.
If I were to print the book cover again, I would possibly leave out the type on the cover of the book as I feel that the smiley face alone has more impact to the viewer. By implementing this design decision, I could have adopted more on Massimo Vignellis theory on ambiguity and created a subtle and intriguing cover design which entices the viewer to pick up and read. The spine of the book was also difficult to print onto using the stamp due to its uneven surface, this resulted in a print which was not as neat as expected. However, I still felt that the print abides to the concept of the book cover and matches the D.I.Y warehouse theme which is intended to be represented. I also wanted to see if I could produce a design using purely 'Helvetica', this would make the pages clean, legible and concise whilst also abiding with Vignellis 7 recommended typefaces. However, the typeface had to be altered due to the laser cutter software only having the typeface 'Ariel', this resulted in having to change the 'Helvetica' typeface throughout the whole inside layout to 'Ariel'. This is not a huge issue however, as a designer, 'Helvetica' would have been the desired option. His principles on the use and importance of white space was also a crucial component to consider when designing my minimalist page layout.
One last observation is that the material used to wrap the book attracts dirt quite easily. In the weeks coming up to the submission the book has gained some small marks and dirt spots which effect how nice the aesthetics of the book cover look to the viewer. If the book were to be printed again, this material would have to be debated in order to find a more appropriate solution which keeps the book durable for long periods of time.
Reflecting on my previous book mock ups, I believe it was extremely beneficial and crucial to the outcome of my final book that that this bookbinding experimentation process was undertaken. My final mock up book allowed me to journey through the exact step by step process of my final book using exact measurements and page numbers in order to identify and solve any issues and problems found. One of the main problems in particular was the size of the spine in relation to the thickness of the pages. As can be seen below, there is a significant difference to the size and professional outcome of the mock up compared to the final publication. Solving this problem would not have been possible if it were not identified before the final bookbinding process was undertaken. The way in which this issue was addressed was by firstly reducing the thickness of the thread used to stitch the pages; and also clamping the folded pages tight in a vice for three separate and consecutive nights. Due to this, the thickness of the folded pages was reduced from 3cm to 2cm.
Some difficulties faced were that there was not selection of florissant buckram or book cloth available at the university or online. Therefore, I had to purchase various other florissant fabrics and trial them out to see which one stuck to the greybeard best. The most appropriate fabric did not take to the glue well however, it did still manage to cover the book effectively. This problem can be seen with a few slight pockets of air in the cover of the final book cover. One other problem with the final design is that not enough length was left around the edges of the book making the edges not as neat as would have been desired.
If I were to print the book cover again, I would possibly leave out the type on the cover of the book as I feel that the smiley face alone has more impact to the viewer. By implementing this design decision, I could have adopted more on Massimo Vignellis theory on ambiguity and created a subtle and intriguing cover design which entices the viewer to pick up and read. The spine of the book was also difficult to print onto using the stamp due to its uneven surface, this resulted in a print which was not as neat as expected. However, I still felt that the print abides to the concept of the book cover and matches the D.I.Y warehouse theme which is intended to be represented. I also wanted to see if I could produce a design using purely 'Helvetica', this would make the pages clean, legible and concise whilst also abiding with Vignellis 7 recommended typefaces. However, the typeface had to be altered due to the laser cutter software only having the typeface 'Ariel', this resulted in having to change the 'Helvetica' typeface throughout the whole inside layout to 'Ariel'. This is not a huge issue however, as a designer, 'Helvetica' would have been the desired option. His principles on the use and importance of white space was also a crucial component to consider when designing my minimalist page layout.
One last observation is that the material used to wrap the book attracts dirt quite easily. In the weeks coming up to the submission the book has gained some small marks and dirt spots which effect how nice the aesthetics of the book cover look to the viewer. If the book were to be printed again, this material would have to be debated in order to find a more appropriate solution which keeps the book durable for long periods of time.
No comments:
Post a Comment