Assignment 1: Creative Book Design- Tutor Feedback and Reflection
Exercise 1: Influential books
The first exercise asked what is book design and encouraged you to think about the power of books as well as the history of book design. You were asked to create a comparative list of globally important books and a personal list in your learning log. Visual research is rich and full of considered and thoughtful associations — Animal Farm/Lord of the Flies/The Bell Jar/Gulag Archipelago — Really interesting and persuasive reflection. Consider contemporary book Jacket designs for these books.
I will definitely look contemporary designs for these books. The contrast between the older and more modern cover would be interesting to research and reflect upon.
Exercise 2: The future of the book
You were asked to creatively respond to the future of the book in a series of short statements, quotations, images (collage) or ideas. You eloquently argued a case for the future of books, sighting digital synopsises as an entry point to different genres — consider the implications of data collection by advertisers? The collage, aesthetic is excellent and I agree that additional compositions would be beneficial. (Video Meet)
Considering those implications would be interesting to consider and create more designs. That task has sparked some ideas for some personal work regarding elements such ad data collection/history etc. I need to begin to create multiple versions, or ‘play’ more when designing to compare outcomes etc.
Research task: Artists’ books and fanzines
You were asked to document visual examples of these types of books you found interesting in your learning log. Excellent response to this task with clear comprehension of the subject matter. Explore the Risograph process. (See below) and Teal Trigg’s book on Fanzines. You may also be interested in the Situationist movement.
I was aware of the Situationist movement and it’s ideologies, but not the art associated with it. Despite not agreeing with the ideas/ideals of Guy Debord, his art and films look very interesting. I particularly enjoy ‘The Naked City’ composition and colours, I will be looking into his films! I am very interested in the Risograph process and any physical methods of working. I will definitely be looking into this.
Exercise 3: Alternative publications
Using your research into artists’ books and fanzines, you were asked to think about their physical or design qualities and apply some of these approaches to your own designs. Influenced by Carson, Kobel and Ashworth you experimented with typography—the typeset text or keywords alongside handwritten content. The contrast can add meaning particularly when communicating. Explore the work of Gee Vaucher. (Below) https://www.creativereview.co.uk/introspective-gee-vaucher-crass-trump/
Upon looking at this article I realised I has seen this image before. Vaucher’s earlier collage work is a style that interests me particularly, including her work with the band Crass.
Exercise 4: Generating ideas
You were given a saying as a starting point to generate visual ideas and responses. Generating ideas is always difficult when staring at a blank white page — the important thing is to be less precious about visualising them and not getting too concerned whether the idea is good or bad.
Not disregarding ideas is something I need to develop. My planning/ideas and creating initial visuals for that is something I need to become more ‘loose’ with.
Exercise 5: Research & development
You were asked to review, research, develop and visualise your ideas so far. ‘Oldest Trick in the Book’ — Solid research into 1991 Books and Werkman — Screen print media imagery used to illustrate Cain and Abel. Consider the duality of split personalities in negative and positive form, e.g. the title typography. (meeting)
Considering creating a duality within the typography sounds interesting. Something as simple as having the type in a different style or in black/white was a good idea. Including the narrative or context of the work within my designs is something I look forward to improving on.
Exercise 6: Folding and mocking up your book
This exercise asked you to think about how to produce your publication and make a mock-up. Successful response — Very good documentation.
Exercise 7: Visualising, editing and critiquing
You were asked to think about how your designs would work within the context of the book. — Thoughtful and informative critical self-analysis.
Assignment One: ‘Your zine’
Assignment one asked you to creatively draw on what you have learnt so far by producing a 16-page ‘zine that reflects something about you and your interest to books. You demonstrate an excellent working methodology throughout the exercises and into the assignment underpinned by thorough research — Jay Jopling/Sam Taylor. Digitisation of media — Distorted face through scanning is right on point and you might find the work of Romek Marber (Penguin Crime 1960’s) interesting, in as much as he experimented with distorting imagery through analogue means. Consider bleeding imagery off the page.
Romek Marbers covers and work is very impressive, especially considering the time period he produced it in. The ‘Boiled Alive’ cover is particularly impressive.
Designing some of my work to bleed off the page would have been an affective element to include for my zine, especially with the mainly black high contrast designs.
