Project 3 Brochure, version 1

I have the majority of the text placed, sized and spaced, but I haven't started to line anything up or touch the actual design of it yet... so in that respect it's hardly worth looking at yet! I won't put the entire thing up, since a few pages just have notes to myself (such as the mailing information page and the contents page, which I haven't done yet) but I'll put the body of it that has the actual required text:

Again, this looks NOTHING like the final version will. It's basically just the untouched text at this point. But since that was the tedious part, I'm hoping it'll start to go a little more quickly after this!

Project 3 Grids Reading

Just a few thoughts on the reading about grid systems from Andrew Haslam's book...
This reminded me a great deal of a book that we got for Type 1 last year, which I think is simply called "Grid Systems." The reading was informative and instructional without being dull, and it provided a range of suggested grids for different types of application. I was drawn to Honnecourt's traditional 9x9 grid because of the historical nature of Garamond, and also because I like the way it looks and feels on a page. I enjoyed seeing the different methods shown for constructing grids on a page, and I actually fully carried out Honnecourt's method before I knew that Adobe InDesign could do a 9x9 grid for me automatically! It was kind of fun to go through each step and watch the page dimensions form a proportional grid. I was confused by the section on modernist grids--or, in particular, the "table of modular scales" and the "single interval sequence"... I didn't think the explanation for what I was looking at was at all clear and I wouldn't have known how to use them if I needed to. I know the Fibonacci sequence, but I couldn't see the connection. All in all though, I got what I needed to out of the reading and I think it was beneficial to starting out Project 3.

Project 3 Research and Poster Mock-up

I decided on Adobe's Garamond Premier Pro because I wanted to focus on the history and progress of a revived early typeface, and also simply because I like how it looks! I started off by looking at examples of early documents printed in original Garamond:

Noticing that they are primarily in Latin, I decided that my example text and body copy leading sections should be in generated Lorem Ipsum text--acknowledging the typeface's historical roots while making it clear that the text is not meant to be read and understood by a viewer. I also want to reference the justified text settings, hierarchy, and the small captions located next to the text in the margins. These images are the basis of my booklet design plan.
I also looked up information about Garamond Premier Pro and the original designer, Claude Garamond, to use in the booklet's essay:
--http://store1.adobe.com/cfusion/store/html/index.cfm?store=OLS-US&event=displayFontPackage&code=1737
--http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garamond
--http://typophile.com/node/12481

On to the poster...
I really wish I would have had more time to spend on playing around with the poster over the weekend, but it was a very busy couple of days so this is unfortunately a bit of a last-minute effort. I haven't decided on colors yet, although I know I want to use a tan or cream-colored paper for the brochure and poster so that will play into my color choice. I want to keep the colors muted, because for the brochure I am trying to emphasize the history and classic qualities of Garamond... and then for the poster I want to refer back to its history while also giving a nod to its many contemporary uses! The plan is for the "Garamond" along the right side to go from being sketchy and hand-drawn, to resembling the original metal-cut letters, and finally to the crisp and clean typeface of today. I think it needs some work. It just doesn't grab me at all right now... This week when I have some more time to spend on it I'll probably end up refining or completely changing it. Anyway, here's the quick current version:

We'll see where this goes!

Thoughts on Critique and Project 2 Synopsis

I felt like I was already in a pretty good spot, progress-wise, for the final critique, but it helped to build on everything that our small-group and one-on-one critiques had been working towards up to that point. I appreciated all the comments that people voiced and wrote on the box (particularly ones involving small spacing issues I hadn't noticed), and the input about lining the inside of the box with paper instead of attempting to make the transfers was very helpful and ended up saving me a lot of time and headaches in the long run! I also left the crit trying to think of ways to unobtrusively move the viewer's eye around the box so that the text could be read in basically the correct order. I ended up painting on small "rust spots" as guides, which blend in with the box itself but also help to lead the reader from panel to panel--but in all honesty, I don't mind if people arbitrarily pick and spot and start reading in any order, and I doubt that Dadaists would have minded, either. I think they would have approved of the chaotic and somewhat confusing layout and enjoyed the fact that the manifesto can essentially be read in any way the reader chooses to.

Synopsis:
     I am well aware that many of my classmates will disagree with me on this, but I have to say that this is easily one of my favorite projects--if not THE favorite--that I've done for a design class here. It incorporated history, which is a huge interest of mine, and allowed me to work with physical things rather than just on-screen and on paper (there's a reason my studio concentration is in sculpture). I got off to a slower start than I would have preferred, only had my "Aha!" moment after working at it for two weeks, and shed rather more stressed-out tears than I would like to admit over the course of completing the piece, but I am very proud of the finished result and am glad I chose to do what I did!
     As I said, I started the project with plenty of enthusiasm but not a lot of direction--I thought of using everything from a book to a toilet, and my early attempts to mimic the Dada style just did not seem cohesive or accurate enough to me. Even after I had decided on the toolbox and inside cards, I still could not quite grasp the design style and struggled with making the cards look satisfyingly Dada. I finally had a sort of epiphany with less than two weeks to go on the project, and after that I made a lot of progress very quickly.
     I tried to base the movement of the design around the flow of the text, emphasizing what I interpreted as the emphatic words and phrases with big, bold typefaces and then structuring the rest of the text around that. I wanted to give the appearance of an underlying grid that had been broken and flipped and turned but was still present below some of the chaotic movement. I also tried to keep it fairly readable--some of the Dadaist example designs were just a little too chaotic for what I deemed reasonable for the assignment. As I said before, though, I am truly not very concerned with whether or not a viewer reads the manifesto in the written order... the writing itself is--for lack of a better word--random enough that switching around the paragraphs or sentences does not disrupt a reader's understanding at all. I did try to capture the way that the text builds in intensity towards the end, and I think the final section on the interior bottom of the box shows that the best.
     I am very happy with my choice of materials and the way that the transfers turned out on the different surfaces. If I had more time, I would have transferred the type onto the lining paper as well, but time constraints made it much easier on me to simply print those out. I would also try to age the paper a little more, with some stains and fading. The wood, too, seems to be just a little bit too new, which could also be something I fix in the future. The exterior of the box, though, turned out perfectly. This is one of those projects that I would certainly continue to refine in the future to push it just a little farther, but I think it is a strong piece overall and I am very, very happy with it!

Finished Dada Box

These photos were meant to be spread out across a couple of posts, but my computer has been having issues with my camera so I had to wait and upload them all at once in Carnegie. So, some of these are work-in-progress pictures, but most of them are of the finished product.

 Above: the plywood "cards" (for lack of a better word) that go inside the box.

 The backs of the cards, which help to keep them in order and also feature dada-esque imagery.

 I love this picture. And I was amazed at how much detail transferred over!

 Look at the detail! All the gradients and little lines and everything came out just about perfectly!

 I'm so happy with how the transfers look on the metal, too. They came out looking naturally aged and worn and I think it looks great.

 There are a few smeared areas, but I was as careful as possible and largely avoided any serious mishaps.

 Here's my system for leading the reader around the outside of the box... I painted on little "rust" marks. I wanted them to blend in and not immediately catch the eye, but still look intentional and directional so that the reader can follow the text as it was written.

 The little hanging tag, which has the title, author, and then the first sentence of the manifesto on the back.

 Here's the finished box!

 The inside turned out nicely as well. There were just a few issues with fitting the paper in some areas, but with some trimming and careful maneuvering it turned out all right in the end.

 I tried to "age" the text a little bit and make it look worn down. I think I will try and find a way to stain the paper a little and make it look older, because it still doesn't quite seem to fit with the outside of the box. For now, though, I think it looks fine.

 Wood cards inside the box.

This is how I'll have them displayed. They're meant to be read left to right, top to bottom, but the letters on the back are there to help!

Sorry there were so many pictures! I'm just really pleased with how it turned out and very proud of the work I put into it. There are a few small things I plan to tweak in the future, purely for my own satisfaction, but I'm still really, really happy with it right now.