Double Page Spread – Design Process

I tried a variation of different layouts and images to see which would best suit the ideologies of my chosen subculture, also paying close attention to the resolution of the images, so when I come to print, they won’t come out pixelated or fuzzy.

I started by trying the rule of thirds approach, with an image spread over the two pages. Although eye catching with the contrast in colours, I don’t feel the image screams vespa or Lambretta, or even mods in general. I tried to add repetition in the form of two circular shapes, one showing the Lambretta logo, and the other with an image of Mary Quant, signifying the style of the 60s that mods would relate to.

I tried the same design but with a different image. I found it challenging to source a high resolution image from the internet that represented the ideologies of my subculture.

My final design I think works well and feels very balanced. The image i’ve used on the right page is an icon of the youth subculture as it has a physical resemblance to the signified. I also used the Lambretta logo bleeding off the left of the page. I did this so add some sort of depth, as if the design is live and flowing through the magazine. I also liked the use of hairlines throughout the design, and how the heading and introductory paragraph are centre aligned at the beginning of the page. This shows a clear segregation from the body text, but keeps balance with the weight of the image on the right hand side of the page.

Further Development of Front Cover

After finishing my first front cover design, I looked at it and picked it apart using pmi, identifying what worked well in the design and what I could do to improve it.

Overall I was quite happy with the design, however I thought it looked quite flat and the signifiers might not portray the subculture in the right light. With this in mind, I had a think about what being a mod was all about. I identified that moral panic between mods and rockers was something that was quite prominent in mod subculture.  I went back to the drawing board and looked at how I could get the sense of panic in the design, whilst retaining the signifiers arranged in a different way.

I took the black daisy out as I think this flat shape makes the design look 2 dimensional and lacking depth. To add depth, I sourced an image of an article from the 60’s showing medias portrayal of both the mods and rockers to the public. I felt this gave that busy, hectic, panic feeling to the reader, whilst still relating to the brief and the style of Creative Review.

I also extruded the Lambretta logo at a 45 degree angle, bleeding off the page and adding depth to the design. I wanted to make the bikes look like they were coming out of the extruded Lambretta logo, showing almost like a transporter effect from past to present, signifying a revival amongst mods.

 

 

 

Test Print

I printed my designs onto low quality a4 paper to see how the design looks after printing, with emphasis on the quality of the images and how the type sits on the page.

Generally I liked the overall outcome of both the front cover and the double page spread. I was slightly worried about the image of the article behind the bikes and the Lambretta logo being pixelated and would show the important elements of the article. However, after printing and looking at the result, I feel everything is in order, and even though the body text of the article isn’t readable, it gives it a dated and worn look. The contrast in colours from black and white to red white and blue shows a revival from past to present.

Shannon & Weaver

The model is specially designed to develop effective communication between receiver and sender. They found factors that would effect the communication process called “Noise”.

The model deals with various concepts like information source, transmitter, Noise, channel, message, receiver, channel, information destination, encode and decode.

Sender – Where the message originates/ the information source.

Encoder – The transmitter which converts the message into signals.

Note – The sender’s messages converted into signals lie waves or binary data which is compactable to transmit the message through cables or satellites. For example: In telephone the voice is converted into wave signals and it transmits through cables.

Decoder – the reception place of the signal which converts signals into message. A reverse process of encode.

Note – The receiver converts those binary data or waves into message which is comfortable and understandable for receiver. Otherwise receiver can’t receive the exact message and it will affect the effective communication between sender and receiver.

Note – Based on the decoded message the receiver their feed back to sender. If the message distracted by noise it will affect the communication flow between sender and receiver.

Noise – The messages are transferred from encoder to decoder through channel. During this process the messages may distracted or affected by physical noise like horn sounds, thunder and crowd noise or encoded signals may distract in the channel during the transmission process which affect the communication flow or the receiver may not receive the correct message.

 

Practical Example

Thomson made call to his assistant “come here I want to see you”.  During his call, noise appeared (transmission error) and his assistant received “I want” only. Again Assistant asked Thomson (feedback) “what do you want Thomson”.

Sender       :   Thomson

Encoder     :   Telephone (Thomson)

Channel     :   Cable

Noise          :   Distraction in voice

Reception  :   Telephone (Assistant)

Receiver     :   Assistant.

Due to transmission error or noise, Assistant can’t able to understand Thomson’s messages.

*The noise which affect the communication flow between them.

Types Of Illustration

When considering what type of illustration I should go for on the front cover, I looked at different types of illustration that fall into two categories:

Digital – using design software such as Adobe illustrator or Quark express.

Non-Digital – This can be anything from collage, drawing, painting, and any other mediums of non digital design.

Its important to note that i’m not constrained to choosing one or the other, I can draw an image and then scan it into the computer and open it with illustrator, making sure there is strong contrast between black and white to get the desired anchor point after using image trace in illustrator.

Digital

The design below shows a fully digital design, with a greyscale photograph beneath a layer of hand silhouettes coloured white. As a whole I like the image, it has strong contrast and the idea intrigues the eye of the audience

Non-Digital

Here is an example of non-digital design. The artist has used a variation different brush strokes to create a simple but effective illustration of a seductive woman looking over her shoulder. Although effective, this hand drawn illustration is a bit out of my comfort zone, so i’m reluctant to try this.

A Mix of Both Digital & Non-Digital

I really like the image below. It integrates elements of digital and non digital design, which almost feels like old to new and gives a modern twist to a dated feeling image.

Research Presentation & Thumbnail Sketches

We were set the task of presenting our research in a Pecha Kucha style presentation. This was useful as in a formal practice, presenting ideas to a client under time constraints is pretty normal. It also encouraged me to learn the content of the research and cement the cultural context.

Also presenting our thumbnail sketches of the chosen subcultures signifying practices, encouraged the group to give feedback, which was invaluable as the next stage was to design.

The Pecha Kucha should be 10 slides long and 20 seconds per slide. For the final it will be 20 slides and 20 seconds.

I also found it interesting to look at other peoples research and how they have gone about conducting and presenting it. I was able to identify good and bad points in each presentation which would help me when it comes to the final presentation. Some of them are as follows:

• Speak clearly and slowly
• Rehearse
• Have notes infront of you
• Make sure every slide is timed

 

Further Development of Thumbnail Sketches

After my initial thumbnail sketches, I decided to develop them further to hopefully have a better outcome. I started by looking at the subcultures signifying practices and identified how I could arrange them in a way that would be visually appealing to the target audience.

After finishing the sketches, I went back to look at what connotations of each signifier, and what type of signifier they are in terms of symbol, icon, and indexical signs and why.

Design Process – Indesign

I first looked at the dimensions of the margins around the edge, noticing the white space giving the design a clean modern feel. This is important for me to understand the dimensions in order to replicate it accurately in my design.

The column width of the body text is important, as I earlier noticed the 4 grid layout used throughout the magazine. The column width is exactly 50mm, with a 2.5mm gap until a small stroked line divides the next column, 2.5mm between.

 

When implementing this into a digital design, I kept the same dimensions used for the front cover, and then changed the margins and columns to the measurement shown in the above images.

I moved a guide down to the bottom of the page, and then moved it 6mm vertically at 90 degrees, to show the baseline of the running foot of the document.

 

After getting my main structure in place, it was quite easy to then proportionally insert a framed box in which my image will sit. I want to use the rule of thirds that can be seen throughout the magazine, bleeding over the two pages.

The grid also gave me good structure to insert text which I outsourced from an article on the internet. Copying a big bulk text from the internet into a text box made it overflow, and in order to be able to change the style of the whole text, i used the little red box to draw a new text box. This meant that any changes I do to the point size or line spacing will effect that column too.

 

ADDING DROP CAPS

I added a drop caps to give more emphasis to the article, drawing the audience in and inviting them to begin reading the article.

 

 

Design Process – Extrude & Bevel Front Cover Illustration

I thought my design looked very flat and needed depth. I wanted to find a way to create some sort of shadow in to imply shadow. To do this I made a very simple illustration of 3 circles coloured red white and blue, and reducing them in scale. This then gave me the desired Lambretta logo, however it looked very flat, and a lot like the images I had researched online. To give it a more modern and contemporary feel, I used the extrude & bevel tool in illustrators effects window.