project 04 :: international reggae poster contest synopsis

This was such a fun & different project! Though the turnaround was quite quick, I enjoyed the opportunity to research and learn about a kind of music I previously knew absolutely nothing about.

I watched some documentaries about reggae music on YouTube, listened to lots of reggae music, and did research on various famous reggae artists. I was most intrigued to learn about the political and social commentary carried in the music - particularly in "roots reggae." I was also fascinated to learn that Rastafari is a religion formed in Jamaica in the 1930s, and there are strong ties between reggae and the Rastafari religion.

After many sketches and somewhat failed attempts at illustrating my first poster iteration, I decided to take a second look at what exactly I was trying to communicate through my poster and found much more success after that. I am pleased with how my poster turned out; I think it speaks to the "beat" and the "heart" behind the music. I cannot post the image here until the winners of the contest have been announced, so stay tuned.

project 02b :: final layout & synopsis

After several more class meetings and a few more meetings with our clients, we decided on the section order, page size, typeface, grid system, general page layout (how body text/captions/photos should be treated to create uniformity throughout), and a title!

Following is my final solution for the section I was responsible for:

Overall, I am pleased with the decisions we made as a class about the design of the layout. I like the incorporation of the religious symbol, in the same color as the bar on the section title page spread. I also like the size of the images, and specifically in my section how I was able to maintain a consistent visual line with the bottom of the images. 

This project was frustrating at times because there were so many of us attempting to make formal and organizational decisions that would have been much simpler had one person made the choice from the start. However, it was great experience working on a collaborative design project for specific clients. I got firsthand experience with how communication works between clients and designers. It is so crucial for the designer to ask the right questions to uncover the intent of the client, and to explain the process to the client in a way that makes sense and helps the client see what the designer sees. I also appreciate the insight I got into all the considerations a designer must take into account when designing a book. From start to finish, we thought about intent of the book, the content, the price of printing (with different variations of paper quality, cover quality, binding, and page size) in relation to the budget we were working with, the formal elements of the page design, and the visual and ideological rhythm of the spreads within each section and throughout the book as a whole. All that in addition to making sure the content is accurate and legible!

I am proud to have played a part in creating the design for this collaborative project, and am excited to see the final book when it is printed and published!

project 03 :: project synopsis

My final animated piece can be found here ::
https://indd.adobe.com/view/c24b6151-afcf-4c04-9d8b-a0c69c16876e

I thoroughly enjoyed working through the concepts of this project. It was interesting to look at the ideologies of an art movement from years ago, examine at the ways they have influenced modern design, and then think about how I could bring the ideals of the movement into a contemporary context.

I am pleased with my final product – I think the idea of an "animated book" is compelling and effectively brings the ideas of Futurism into a contemporary context. Though the process of laying out the text and animating it took lots of time, it really helped me appreciate the writing itself and the mindset of the Futurist.

Some of my favorite layouts from the publication ::

If I were to go back and rework any aspects of the project, I would try to refine the animation. I was somewhat limited by the animation capabilities in InDesign, in terms of speed and positioning of the movements. I would also love for it to be possible to make the book even more interactive, where the viewer has more control over when the animations occur and when. Finally, there could be more color or texture incorporated into the piece. 

Overall, I was stretched out of my comfort zone in both thinking about a style of design that I have never worked with before, and in working completely digitally – no paper required! But, I enjoyed the challenge and have a much greater appreciation for how design got to where it is today, and the technologies we have at our fingertips.

project 03 :: critique reflection

It was helpful getting to discuss our projects with the class – we got great advice and helpful critique. My biggest takeaway was the discussion about color in Futurist art. I am unsure about what colors or textures to include in my publication... from the examples of Futurist publications I have seen in my research, the paper is tan and the only color of ink used (other than black) is red.

However, I have to remember that the Futurist artists were limited by the technology of the time. When looking at Futurist paintings and other artwork, there were lots of colors used! I need to think about color in terms of this broader application. Color could add another element entirely to my piece, whether it be to add emphasis or indicate areas of interactivity.

A final phrase I took from critique that could serve as a good way to continue thinking about unity and continuity throughout my project is to create not "consistent conformity" but "consistent chaos."

project 03 :: initial typography layouts

Examples of my initial typographic treatment:

project 03 :: project statement

Since publications were extremely popular among the works produced by Futurists, I will create the "Destruction of Syntax–Imagination without Strings–Words-in-Freedom" manifesto by Marinetti into a publication featuring the classic Futurist look of words-in-freedom.

However, to bring the ideals of Futurism into a contemporary context, I will make this a digital, interactive publication. From my research I gathered that the Futurists champion speed, movement, and technology. But the technology they were so excited about included the telegraph and the newspaper – now we have e-books, smart phones, and the Internet! They would get so excited! Back then they wanted to defy the norms of printing and traditional layouts – that's how they got "words-in-freedom" – but they were constrained by the printing technologies of the day. Now, I can take their ideas even further by not even using a traditional paper book.

Using InDesign to create an animated, interactive words-in-freedom publication that will be distributed on the Internet, I will highlight the Futurist ideals of speed, movement, technology and expressive type in a contemporary context. 

project 03 :: further research

Some more helpful websites about publications from Italian Futurism :: 

http://guity-novin.blogspot.com/2011/08/chapter-44-italian-futurist-visual.html

http://www.designhistory.org/Avant_Garde_pages/Futurism.html

http://www.theartstory.org/movement-futurism.htm

More images of Italian Futurism publications ::

Interesting snippet from this page that has inspired my current ideas ::

If Futurism was about rejecting the "traditional past of book design" while championing technology, speed, and motion, how can I continue that idea by using the technology available to me now?

My idea: an e-book. I'm going to look into presenting the manifesto in an interactive e-book complete with some animations, sounds, and words-in-freedom.

How-to websites ::

http://blogs.adobe.com/captivate/2013/08/a-step-by-step-guide-to-create-an-interactive-ebook.html

http://www.blogtyrant.com/make-ebook/

project 03 :: futurism research

Some iconic pieces of futurist artwork ::

Umberto Boccioni, Unique Forms of Community in Space, 1913

Umberto Boccioni, Elasticity (Eliasticitá), 1912, oil on canvas, 100x100cm 

Giacomo Balla, Dinamisno di un Cane al Guinzaglio (Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash), 1912

Umberto Boccioni, sketch of The City Rises, 1910

Giacomo Balla, Abstract Speed + Sound, 1913-1914

Examples of Futurist typography/words-in-freedom ::

Examples of contemporary interpretations of words-in-freedom ::

Screenshot from Google search that exemplifies "movement" of the movement ::

Fonts used at the time of Futurism :: 

https://www.behance.net/gallery/8711009/-Fonts-used-at-the-time-of-Futurism

• Futura 

• Kabel

• Thunderbird

• Bauhaus

• Bank Gothic

• Goudy

• Didot

• Bernhard

• Hobo

• Souvenir

• Rodchenko

• Eagle

• Trade

• Franklin Gothic

• Perpetua

• City

Other concepts to keep in mind ::

• speed
• technology
• nationalism
• all kinds of mediums
• "the perceived world is in constant movement"
• colors :: red, yellow, green, blue
• "artistic work without an aggressive element cannot be considered art"
• language without syntax to convey emotion; expressive typography 

Helpful links ::

About/Background Info

https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/text/brief-guide-futurism

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futurism

Words-In-Freedom 

http://exhibitions.guggenheim.org/futurism/words_in_freedom/#0

http://www.mhpbooks.com/words-in-freedom/

Interesting reads 

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/how-futurist-art-inspired-the-design-of-a-bmw-160900416/?no-ist

project 03 :: manifestos galore

To choose an "ism" as the basis for my project, I looked over the manifestos.

Dada is fascinating to me, and in reading the first few sentences of the manifesto, I thought it would be quite a fun challenge to work with that text. However, due to the sheer length of the manifesto and absolute absurdity of the words (intentionally so, of course) I decided to take a look at other options.

While reading "Destruction of Syntax–Imagination without strings–Words-in-Freedom" by F.T. Marinetti from The Futurist Sensibility, I was captivated by how so many of the ideas Marinetti expresses are applicable in contemporary society:

"The earth has shrunk by speed..."
I think this is even more so the case today.

"Today he is aware of the whole world..."
We can know what is happening around the world with the click of a button... and we can "be" somewhere via technologies like Skype, FaceTime, live streaming video, or Google Maps. And Marinetti was talking about newspapers, locomotives, and the telegraph! What would he think if he were alive today, in the era of the Internet and smartphones?!

"He little needs to know what his ancestors did, but he must assiduously discover what his contemporaries are doing all over the world..." 
How much more today have we forsaken tradition and history to be consumed with ourselves and the present?
_ _ _ _ _

Apart from these ideas about speed and technology, I was struck by these principles:
– letting typography SHOW what you MEAN
– "I oppose the decorative, precious aesthetic of Mallarmé and his search for the rare word, that one indispensable, elegant, suggestive, exquisite adjective. I do not want to suggest an idea or a sensation with passéist airs and graces. Instead I want to grasp them brutally and hurl them in the reader's face."
– words in freedom

_ _ _ _ _

As I move forward with my research of futurism, I'll be thinking about how I can incorporate speed, movement, technology, and words-in-freedom in my design to show the intrinsic nature of futurism and how it has influenced typography and graphic design.

project 03 :: reading response

The selection from Pioneers of Modern Typography by Herbert Spencer was a fascinating read that walked through the Futurism, Suprematism, Dadaism, De Stijl, and Bauhaus movements and acknowledged their roots in Cubism. I appreciated how the author pointed out the culture of printing in the years before these movements emerged. In the 1870s until the 1910s, printing was primarily for artistic and elite purposes with elaborate ornamentation. With these new movements, printing was reclaimed as a means of conveying ideas and information that was less removed from the realities of contemporary society.

I also found it interesting to see how much of our modern graphic design principles and tendencies, such as asymmetry, contrast, color as a design element, and sans-serif typefaces, were developed in the period of time when these movements emerged.

It was cool to be able to see how the movements inspired and spurred one another on, whether because the principles were adopted or because they were changed to match a different agenda. There are lots of formal and conceptual similarities and differences. For example, Dadaist and Futurist work looks very similar, but the Dada movement came out of disillusionment with war and a revolt "against the establishment," so to speak. The Futurists also wanted to break with the past, but they were much more nationalistic. While Dadaists saw war and all the ideas that led to it absurd, Futurists championed speed and technology and saw war as cleansing. I find these two movements most fascinating; I'll probably choose between the two as I move forward in my research.

Project 02a :: Final book layout proposal & synopsis

It is exciting to be working on a project that so many people are collaborating on. 

As one of the designers, the conceptual development of the page layout I created began with listening to the vision of our client (The Comparison Project and Drake Community Press) and looking at the content they provided. We learned that our client wants to see text and image integrated and treated with equal importance, rather than photos slapped in to illustrate the text. We also knew that they wanted a large format book. So, I used the height and width of the images to find the ratio I used to define my page format, which turned out to be 9"x11.25". I spent a lot of time working on the grid system – figuring out columns, margins, leading, and such. I wanted the text and images to have breathing room, but I also didn't want to have a whole lot of white space. I ended up keeping the text in 2 columns with ample leading, and allowed the images to push through the boundaries of the grid. 

As we begin to develop the book as a whole, I think incorporating color into the headings or other design elements would be a good way to keep each of the 15 sections unique while unifying the book overall. We could pull one color from the photographs from each of the 15 sections for the unique distinguishing aspect, but apply the color to the same places/text/design elements in each section for more cohesion. The 15 colors should also work well together as a palette – be "of the same mind" in terms of tint/shade/vibrancy.