On Tuesday, our Communications crew met over Skype to discuss the final, final pieces of the puzzle for our Launch publication. For our assessment, we would present two documents on our pen drives: one with a rotate-able orientation and one with a desktop friendly orientation. We would also create a set of instructions for both PDFs.
During that meeting, we also discussed the format for the transition pages between artist and overall aesthetic as well as the tonality of the writing.
Victoria’s Notes
And with that, it’s a wrap! We will discuss printing logistics after assessment.
On Friday, the group gathered to present our final layouts. We decided that the group could be flexible about adding another spread as the square layout could keep 5 spreads quite cluttered.
Across from everyone’s respective front pages, there would be a blank page, which would be the back of everyone’s last content page. (Everyone ends on a spread).
Front page:
Spread 1:
Spread 2 (double spread):
Spread 3:
Spread 4:
Ultimately, I decided to eliminate some of my experimental wet linocut prints and just use the two forms of publication: the zine and the experimental clear acrylic book format. During the meeting, we decided that we would do tweaks and send final drafts with final text to Caio to assemble by Sunday night.
Ultimately, we had to make a few revisions in terms of the cover pages, and we standardized fonts:
Victoria’s notes on design specifics Teresa’s notes on final design pieces
In addition to finalizing design processes, we discussed plans for the actual launch event and printing process/updated our progress according to our projected time-table.
Notes for progress according to TimetablePlanning launch event/actual publication
For the immediate timetable, the digital publication seems to be on track, but there are a couple of issues that we must work out to actually print the publication. It is looking like the the best option will be to outsource a printer.
Teresa has been in contact with a couple of printers thus far:
No dice from this company
This exchange seemed to be more promising
Finally, talking to our fellow peers in the Graduate Diploma, they gave us some further people that we could contact.
For the current timeline though, the most immediate course of action is to finish our pages by Sunday so that Caio can finalize layout, and so I can make edits to text. We will confirm all of these changes at our meeting on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, the group met up in order to finalize the design instructions for making final spreads. We decided that each person would have a cover page, and on the back of that page there would be two paragraphs (150 words) with a general bio and a description of larger themes of our works as an artist as well as contact information.
Caio, our art director, developed a master spread for this cover page and subsequent pages using a 12 x 12 grid and standard margins.
Masteror bio page
We also agreed that each person would get one ‘hero’ spread, where an image would span across two facing pages. (Though this would be different for people who had horizontal vs. vertical spreads). Finally, we made decisions regarding columns, tolerance, and captions.
Tuesday Group Discussion Notes by Victoria
With all of the decisions in place, we resolved to meet on Friday at 11 am at Starbucks, as there were bound to be some inconsistencies between us even with these decisions in place.
On Monday, our group assembled with our tentative layouts to talk to Richard about actualizing our publication. As we predicted, we all showed up with vastly different layouts and spreads and fonts, but with works in front of us, the decisions we needed to make to unify the style seemed much more clear.
Victoria was the note-taker during the tutorial
Fonts – In our individual layouts, we all used different fonts. The consensus was that for captions and headers we would use a sans serif font and for larger body text, we would use a serif font. We decided on 10 pt for body text and 8 pt for captions, all left aligned. Teresa had used baskerville as her body font in her original layout spreads, and we as group thought that it looked quite nice. To do captions, she chose a font that paired well. Ricahrd suggested to us a pair of slightly more modern fonts that compared to baskerville.
Our chosen font families
Headers – We decided that we did not want to have headers/footers reiterating the artist name, as in our text, the name of the artist would be used because our text would be from the first person.
Grids – Richard pointed out that a unifying factor for a publication is a grid, and the more complex the grid, the more flexible it is. Considering that we were using a square a 12 x 12 grid seemed like a reasonable option.
Footers – we were debating between having page numbers or purposely allowing the reader to become disorientated by not knowing when to start. However, with the fact of the matter that we had to indicate a sort of beginning with the placement of our group manifesto and a sort of table of contents. (However, we were considering displaying contents not with page numbers but with corresponding colors for cover pages that would act as dividers between artists.)
Paper – Ideally, what we would have would be a series of cover pages in a slightly thicker stock than the content pages to indicate a demarcation between artists/alternative covers in different colors. For now, we will just digitally indicate these cover pages with colored pages, but we will plan to find a printer to see what is possible for the actual launch.
The biggest conclusion that we had after the tutorial was that we needed to make a blank prototype to understand the confines of our layout. And when we made one, we figured out that we would actually be able to shift in a full circle using 90 degree turns between each artist. We could, physically, but it mean that for at least two of us, the pages would have to be read in a slightly counter-intuitive manner–one would have to be read from right to left and another would have to be read from down to up. We were okay with the idea of shifting orientations in that some people would have vertical spreads and some would have horizontal spreads. However, presenting all four orientations created a larger cost in readibility than for aesthetic game.
A rough prototype for our publication
From this prototype, we were able to extract a general master page layout. We concluded that the publication would only shift 90 degrees to right and 90 degrees to the left so that the reader would be switching between horizontal and vertical spreads. However, they would never have to encounter something that would make you read pages from right to left or down to up. We determined whose work was better suited to a horizontal spread, and made a plan to meet the next day at 11 am in order to further discuss a master-grid, transition pages, and fonts.
After our meeting on Friday, I felt a little clearer about what to do with images and text, but it would be important for us all to go ahead and start laying out to find what our initial intuition would be to optimize the way our works would be viewed on the page. Then, we as a group could go back and pick a few layouts and fonts that we liked. to make the pages feel like they fit within a unified publication.
Original ideas for distribution of image and text
We made a deadline for ourselves that we would have some layouts ready for our Monday tutorial using semi-final images and 500 words of placeholder text. This was an important first step because it forced me to finalize the images that I wanted to show in the launch publication.
Ultimately I decided that I wanted to show works from both the Investigate and Realise projects, also they told the same story, but from slightly different perspectives/artistic disciplines. Though my final outcome for Realise was a zine, I would only include images from it rather than the text, but I planned to provide a link for it via a QR code. I also included images from one of my experimental publications that I created in Investigate as well as some of the experimental prints.
Spreads from ‘William Kentridge Prints’
This was just a first pass, though. I was not married to any particular layout style, except for the fact that a grid would help to enhance the graphic novel-eque/ narrative nature of my prints.
Friday, after the Copyshop workshop, out group sat down with Nathan in order to compile our ideas from our mind maps about the shift concept in order to create a group manifesto that we could all individually respond to. In previous discussions in an ADAS workshop, we had posed to answer four big questions in our collaborative manifesto.
Original big questions from Thursday ADAS meeting
Now, we were posed with the task of transforming those questions into an all-encompassing manifesto that would introduce our publication. Collectively, we chose to organize our works in terms of macro and micro shifts to address the overall diversity of our works and how our individual works reflect a shift on our own.
Final Collaborative Manifesto-with edits
From there, we determined that within our own five pages, we would create a 500 word artists statement according to a four paragraph structure.
On Friday, our group got together in order to think more about the physicality of our publication in a session with Richard Nash. In the session, Richard showed us a bunch of different publication options that reflected and complimented diverse personalities of various works.
My notes from the session
Following our discussion on Tuesday, our group had a tentative idea for how we thought the design of the publication could reflect this idea of ‘shift.’ We had decided that we could have a 20 cm x 20 cm physical square publication that could flip like a rolodex, but the reader would have to rotate their their perspective as they went through the publication from artist to artist. Thus, reading the table of contents and shifting to my works would require a 90 degree shift. Ideally, the publication would be able to shift 90 degrees to the right between each of the six artists. We could bind the publciation with a spiral so that one could get lost in the publication without a clear starting point. The physical shift would enhance the tonal/color shift from artist to artist. We also made the decision that we did not want to have page numbers in order to enhance this disorienting effect.
We thought that this could also translate well into a digital version to be read on an iOS device rather than a computer. When downloaded via QR code, the publication would become a PDF on the screen, which could be locked in a fixed orientation. Then, the reader would have to turn their device to adjust their perspective between artists.
Victoria’s notes for publication prototypes and Copyshop materials
We understood that the assembly of this publication could be highly complicated, so we planned for an alternative, more traditional publication, bound with string. The process of printing is made especially complicated by the fact of the strike, considering that the group as whole wants to support the strike, as a result, we will not go into the building. Richard also pointed out that coils can be quite aethetically unappealing/give a very corporate look and suggested a variation on the concertina to evoke a similar change in orinetaion. However, when we researched coiled publications on Pinterest, we found some options that we found to be quite aesthetically appealing/fitting to our concept.
Screenshot of our Pinterest Board
With this in mind, we thought that the square publicaiton could be quite successful, so we worked to create a prototypical double spread for a horizontal orientation of this publication. For now, we decided to design for the square shift, ultimately to produce at least a digital publicaiton, and to research printers in London to see if the coiled, physical solution could be realized by the launch event after assessment.
Double spread in process using Teresa’s Images
After we worked to put together a double spread, we realized that the physicality of working with images was something that we all individually had to play with. We resolved to make a plan for us to individually go home and make some prototypical pages with ideal layouts over the weekend. Monday, we would regroup to make sure they seemed harmonious and to make more solid design decisions.
Teresa also created a time-table for us going forward:
On Tuesday, the Communications specialism had a copyshop workshop with Cato and Ian to start putting our publication together.
We were instructed to bring the works from Investigate and Realise that we wanted to put into the publication. Additionally, we were asked to bring some copies of publications that we liked in terms of layout. The publications I brought were Private Eye, which is a humorous news publication, and Baking with Kafka, which is a collection of cartoons by Tom Gauld. I brought them for very different reasons. I think Gauld’s book, pictured below, has an interesting horizontal format that compliments his specific narrative panel style quite well.
A page from Tom Gauld’s Baking with Kafka
Additionally, the only element on the pages are the comics, as they are the works themselves. They need no explanation of dimensions/materials. Each page’s work has the same wide margins, which make the the works feel quite precious on thick paper. Though the spreads never cross beyond a single page, facing pages within the book tend to have some sort of color harmony or connection between the temperature of the simplified color palettes within the works. Conversely, looking at Private Eye, which is also a comedy publication, the layout has a very different effect. The publication has quite a distinct style/history of cramming as much content as possible onto one page. Visually it is a bit overwhelming from page to page. However, this nature is quite consistent with the perhaps irreverent tone of the publication.
A page from Private Eye February 2020
It was interesting to discuss the wide range of publications that people brought it. In terms of scale and feel, there was a lot of variation. Too, there were many different formats, particularly for art publications advertising a given show. One style that was implemented in publications that were connected to particular shows was a folding set of pages that ultimately transformed into a poster. However, considering that our group has six people and that will each produce at least five pages each. As a result, this folding mechanism is not likely to be compatible with our content.
After we discussed format issues that we liked, we broke up into our project groups to begin to discuss the overarching concept that we would use to unite the works among myself, Teresa, Caio, Yumeng, Victoria, and Pingping. Looking at all the works, we noticed that they were quite disparate, so we created a mind-map in order to find connections.
A snapshot of our works all laid out on the table
In an attempt to find a unifying theme in all of our works, we ultimately decided that we could embrace the disparate nature of all of our works. We discussed that our worsk all hybridize/challenge craft verses digital and that they all deal with some sort of transportation into an alternative perception, but the word that kept coming up in conversation was ‘shift’. On a macroscopic scale, our work presented a shift in very bold, colorful works to more black and white/muted pieces. They also represented a shift in tone. Additionally within each of our works, we encountered a shift in the process or final outcomes, but those all differed from person to person.
Potential themes to unify our publication
As a result, we decided that the theme of Shift allowed us to encompass all of the other possible unifying themes. It was broad, but it also left us all with a clear prompt to respond to. Now, we had to find some sort of publication design format that could serve this theme.
In order to help us in this large task, Cato suggested that we divide ourselves into role to make the process as a whole more digestible. I took on the role of copywriter to make decisions about tone and point of view in each of our 500 word responses to be written in the publication as well as in the collaborative manifesto summarizing the mission of the publication.
Here we are in the final project for the RCA Graduate Diploma. We launched the Launch project today, to give us an idea of how to put together our final works in a group publication. The publication is an exciting challenge for me as I ultimately got into visual communication in order to create works that would live in publications. However, this is also slightly challenging as in Realise, I created a Zine. As a result, there is a little bit of a tension as to what I should publish in Launch: prints or a documentation of my zine. At this point, I will probably have images from both or some sort of link to the online zine. In the final critique Kyung Hwa brought this up as well: how could I display my prints as both images in a book as well as standalone wall images? Here I will confront that tension to a degree.
In the project launch, Clare and Julian gave us several ideas for how we could actualize a showcase of our works in a publication. Considering that I have worked with publications before, I feel comfortable in the creation of zine. However, I think that my group will probably seek a slightly more polished final product. I am working with a group of Comms students who include Caio, Theresa, Victoria, Yumeng, and Pingping. All of our work is quite different, so it was important to look at various publications that combine quite the range of works.
After the presentation, we went over to the South Ken library to take a look at some of the journals that they have there for some spread ideas. As our works are in the field of visual communication, I thought first to look at contemporary magazines for a sleek, polished look.
Images taken from Wired January 2020
I first went to Wired to get a feel for their juxtaposition of text and image. I liked their use of graphic blocks in combination with the text. This is something that I felt suited my graphic, black and white prints quite well as well as large pops of color which are evident in the works of some of the members from my group. Additionally, they use quite varied layout but because of the blocks of color, it still feels like a unified publication.
Spreads from Wired December 2019
However, in another issue of Wired (December 2019) the issue had a much wider variety between spreads and color palettes. I suppose that there was consistency between specific articles within this issue, however, the big contrast from black and white to super-saturated color made them feel, for me, a little less unified as a publication as a whole in this instance. There was a pattern of an unorthodox distribution of text between unequal columns on the different pages that was consistent between different articles, but I found this distracting with too many components.
I also decided to take a look at some more traditional art publications, and I was particularly excited by an illustration publication called 2×2. This publication housed a wide variety of works in quite the range of different templates. However, there was a unified style throughout the publication as there were clear grids using rectangles and a lot of white space with minimal text. Though colors ranged widely through the book, each facing spread seemed to have some sort of color relationship between them. As a result, it felt cohesive. This example seems like a format that we could use to house the diverse body of works that we have in our group.
Spreads from 2×2 2019
Though the actual book format may not be feasible in the amount of time that we have with the given works, these page layouts were immensely helpful in diagramming how we could craft a cohesive story between such different artists.
On Thursday, the Communications Specialism had the final critique for Realise. In the end, I created something slightly different in content and purpose than I had originally intended in my Statement of Intent that I made before Christmas, but ultimately not as different as what I had made in Investigate. I had envisioned a zine that would be much more collaborative/long lived, but what I created was just the story of my brother as I know it for a very specific purpose: to start discussions for building a house for low-functioning people on the spectrum in New Orleans. During the project, the work became much more about the prints themselves than about the publication–I just wanted to work with the medium as a sort of meditative catharsis.
Overall, the cohort seemed to respond well to the zine–though I don’t think they had time to read it all. In the presentation, I discussed the ‘launch’ that would happen in conjunction with autism awareness day in New Orleans. I would get a team of people with me to distribute the zines at a walk in the neighborhood close to the school that is suggesting building the house for these individuals. Thus, the goal of the zine outcome is to start a conversation.
Nathan suggested that it might be interesting/more informative to, in addition to telling the story leading up to the why of this population needing a house, also discuss the what? What are the elements that will be needed in a house for aging individuals with special needs? In my prints, I have subtle clues in the compositions that show the figure: the boy in both images has headphones on because he is very sensitive to sound. Additionally, most of the windows in most of the buildings are covered in shutters. Matthew broke every window we had in our house when he would have meltdowns, so the proposed house would have to have shatter-proof windows. These concrete elements could make the zine more compelling and prove that I have been in communication with the school/parents actually trying to build this house. (However, at this stage, the conversations are still in very early days.)
It was also suggested that the prints themselves could have a second life as just images which celebrate non-neurotypical individuals. This is another component of the illustrations that I wanted to get across, but figuring out where to show them as just images is another issue entirely, a bit outside of the realm of visual communications.
RCA Graduate Diploma 