Brief 05 _ BAGD Yearbook Submission Boards

SPACES

Brief 05: Yearbook. Collab w/ Sam Lane & Sebastian Needler

Abbas Mushtaq:

Extended Practice Submission 22/05/14

Context

Every year, along with an End of Year Show, the graphic design course at Leeds College of Art produces a yearbook, designed by the graduating year themselves.

It is a great opportunity to showcase the courses ability, make great contacts and have a physical portfolio piece circulated and printed in the hundreds.

Brief

Produce and artwork a complete yearbook, with consideration of print process and budget. Produce an innovative, and effective yearbook ready to be printed and bound professionally in time for the End of Year Show.

Target Audience / Tone of Voice

The target audience for the Yearbook is existing art and design students, those associated art and design who will see the yearbook at the End of Year Show, and also prospective students.

Deliverables

Visual Development and Process Logs

The age group, from our research equates to around 18-35

Mock-Ups and proposals of finished book Consideration of application in terms of end of year show, wayfinding and as a promotional tool for the Graphic Design End of Year Show

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Reference

Augmented Reality

Our main motivation to work on this brief was to produce a yearbook that was radically different from the past, risk-taking and had an innovative concept behind it.

We wanted to add an element of fun and interactivity to the yearbook, and at extenstion, the end of year show. This is something we felt was lacking in the past perhaps.

We looked into augmented reality, and it’s process.

Knowing a little about how augmented reality works allowed us to design with those limitations in mind.

Brief 05: Yearbook. Collab w/ Sam Lane & Sebastian Needler

Abbas Mushtaq:

Extended Practice Submission 22/05/14

Exhibition Space

Physical Space

The yearbook should also sell the course as a positive and exciting environment, the studio is a huge luxury our course enjoys and we wanted to communicate this.

Not necessarily in a gimmicky way though, but for the idea of a shared environment we work in everyday to inform the concept.

We wanted to create a concept for a yearbook that applied just as well to an End of Year show physically, as it did in print.

We looked into exhibition spaces that were strong typographically, and created a strong relationship between print and phyical space. Both complementing and improving the experience of each other.

We looked into, and referenced space in a physical and conceptual manner. Of particular note are the distances supposed to differentiate personal space, to shared space for example. These distances could form a strong logical system for spaces in the end of year show.

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Focused Research

Considered Design

We understood the yearbook needed to showcase peoples work, more so than the layout itself. We researched into leading, and classic practitioners of considered and legible design. Particular attention was paid to Swiss Style design practitioners such as Karl Gerstner, and Alan Fletcher.

Brief 05: Yearbook. Collab w/ Sam Lane & Sebastian Needler

Abbas Mushtaq:

Extended Practice Submission 22/05/14

Grids

Process & Interaction

As we are dealing with a large budget, and a yearbook which will garner alot of attention and circulation, we looked into print processes. In particular spot varnish and embossing techniques, we picked these techniques as they’re subtle and have a tactile quality, more so than a visual one.

Tokyo Design Conference 1960 spreads, were a huge inspiration. They have a strong grid, while still being flexible enough to show images at varying sizes and formats. Looking into grids such as this which were flexible enough to allow peoples work of all shapes and sizes was essential.

Spot colours, in particular oranges were researched into in order to find the correct swatch

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Visual Development 01

Idea Generation

As you can see from the sketches above, idea generation really helped and informed the final layout.

Rough scaps of layouts and also consideration of the end of year show

Brief 05: Yearbook. Collab w/ Sam Lane & Sebastian Needler

Abbas Mushtaq:

Extended Practice Submission 22/05/14

System Application

Physical Space

The yearbook should also sell the course as a positive and exciting environment, the studio is a huge luxury our course enjoys and we wanted to communicate this.

Not necessarily in a gimmicky way though, but for the idea of a shared environment we work in everyday to inform the concept.

The two sketches above demonstrate how our initial rough concept was also being considered for the actual end of year show. A lot of our initial ideas revolved around communicating space though circles, and overlapping rings, and also in a physical manner in terms of distance.

Overlapping circles works perfectly for balloons, which also being transparent, overlapp and combine colours.

Just as our circles in print would.

Physical distances can create strong mathematical logics for a persons individual space.

We looked into, and referenced space in a physical and conceptual manner. Of particular note are the distances supposed to differentiate personal space, to shared space for example. These distances could form a strong logical system for spaces in the end of year show.

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Visual Development 02

Initial visuals

We felt the initial visual development looked too clumsy, with type sizes too large, and loud. Our initial motivations were to take a risk, and design in a reduced, almost meditative manner and we felt the initial visuals didn’t create this aura.

Brief 05: Yearbook. Collab w/ Sam Lane & Sebastian Needler

Abbas Mushtaq:

Extended Practice Submission 22/05/14

Coptic?

Finalised Cover

The bottom row of images begins to really take shape towards what would become the final design, insteas of a cut-off orange cover, we implemented a wrap around orange poster, also acting as dust jacket of sorts.

Initially, we wanted to experiment with a coptic bound book, which has never been done before on the graphic design course. The exposed spine, allows the book to lay perfectly flat. You don’t have to wrestle with it and it lends itself well to viewing design work where good vision is key.

Coptic wasn’t available in the budget and printing facilities we had on hand, a learning curve was figuring out a middle ground to design in between us and the printer.

Taking the poster off reveals, a white on black embossed perfect bound book.

Inner Layout

The inner layout is also beginning to take shape by this point, as the intention was from the start - the indivudals work is key. We didn’t want to design in an egotistical manner, instead to put focus on the great work by everyone on the course.

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Brand Guidelines

Brief 05: Yearbook. Collab w/ Sam Lane & Sebastian Needler

Abbas Mushtaq:

Headers

Type Scaling

Colour

DIN BOLD DIN LIGHT

Extended Practice Submission 22/05/14

120pt 48pt

Sub-Headers

DIN MEDIUM 16 / 7pt Copy

DIN Light

7pt Design Decisions

We chose to work with DIN as our primary, and sole typeface across the identity as it’s core strengths are legibility, and communication. Our primary concern with the yearbook to communicate in a clinical, and considered way and DIN fulfills this.

Helvetica, would have been the obvious choice as far as legibility and communication goes, but as a design course we gelt it was too generic a choice, and we didn’t want to reflect lack of individuality for the courses yearbook, and final showcase.

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Concept

Brief 05: Yearbook. Collab w/ Sam Lane & Sebastian Needler

Abbas Mushtaq:

Extended Practice Submission 22/05/14

Collaborative Space

Virtual Space Our Yearbook is built around the concept of spaces, from our research into the term ‘spaces’ in a physical, and conceptual manner - we felt it suited a yearbook and end of year show perfectly.

The studio is a vital part of the course, and a luxury we enjoy. The studio is a ‘shared space’, both in a physical and metaphorical way. The yearbook, and end of year show will showcase and use the variety of different spaces as a branding and wayfinding system.

Brand Identity

The client said they want a product which warrants repeated viewing, and we feel we’ve achived this through the fast-moving references through the film.

The viewer journeys through time, from The Prodigy and the mid-90’s, to Adele winning an Oscar recently and in the present - celebrating XL’s 25th Birthday.

Augmented Reality

Another form of ‘Space’ is Virtual Space, an digital experience of space based on reality. Our initial motivations to implement augmented reality works perfectly with the concept of virtual space.

After 3 years of hard work, a double page spread is perhaps not enough space for an individual to showcase just how much variety they have. Print also does not simply play videos - augmented reality does.

In an increasingly digital graphic design practice, showcasing video and digital work is key - augmented reality allows this by simply hovering your smartphone or tablet over a spread.

At no monetary, or physical cost in terms of layout.

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Final Solution 02

Focus on What Is Important

The layout is designed to take advantage of vision being in the centre of the page, which is where the students work is placed.

The outer margins house the type, which is at a pt size allowing the type to almost fade away from distance, and allow the work to be fully in focus.

Wide outer margins, allow comfortable thumb space, and no obstruction of images.

Brief 05: Yearbook. Collab w/ Sam Lane & Sebastian Needler

Abbas Mushtaq:

Extended Practice Submission 22/05/14

Key System

Augmented Reality

Another form of space is virtual space, our initial motivations to implement augmented reality works perfectly with the concept.

Special pages

A subtle key system, again pushing the concept of spaces through iconography, allows the viewer to quickly see exactly which brief is a collab, and which brief is an augmented reality trigger, with the ‘virtual space’ icon.

We make use a fifth spot colour plate, to highlight and have a bit of flair in the book on special pages. These pages break up the flow of the book, and extend the language of the book through quotes, lists, guides, photographs etc.

The orange spot colour, combined with knocked out white stock, also creates the feeling of a white spot colour.

After 3 years of hard work, a double page spread is perhaps not enough space for an inviidual to showcase just how much variety they have. Print also does not simply play videos - augmented reality does.

In an increasingly digital graphic design practice, showcasing video and digital work is key - augmented reality allows this by simply hovering your smartphone or tablet over a spread.

At no monetary, or physical cost in terms of layout.

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Final Solution 03 – Wraparound Poster

Brief 05: Yearbook. Collab w/ Sam Lane & Sebastian Needler

Wraparound Poster

The wraparound poster not only serves as a cover/ dustjacket for the book, but it also works as promotional tool for the show, and a reminder of the show.

The book works just as well, and has been carefully designed to not lose any information without the wraparound poster, and has a different stripped back quality to it without the wraparound.

Again, pushing the end of year show as an event, more so than a courses work within a college show.

With white embossed spot-varnish type on a thick black 300gsm outer cover.

Abbas Mushtaq:

Extended Practice Submission 22/05/14

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Application – End of Year Show

Anamorphic Typography

Brief 05: Yearbook. Collab w/ Sam Lane & Sebastian Needler

Anamorphic typography in a spatial environment extends the concept of augmented reality and a virtual plane, with the effect of jumping out from the surface.

This would be applied through vinyl, or paint.

Abbas Mushtaq:

Extended Practice Submission 22/05/14

Augmented Reality

We wanted to make each designer on the course feel important. Bridging the gap between print, and physical. Every designers name is vinyl transferred onto the show space, with numbers relating to the numbered space within the show.

This allows viewers to quickly navigate to a specific designers space, and find their way around easily. Just as it does in the book, with page numbers in regards to a certain designer,

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Application 02 - End of Year Show (Continued)

Wayfinding

Iconography for spaces lends itself well to application on surface, and can easily be applied spatially around the end of year show, in chosen areas

Brief 05: Yearbook. Collab w/ Sam Lane & Sebastian Needler

Abbas Mushtaq:

Extended Practice Submission 22/05/14

Materials

Material also play a vital part in extending the concept of the yearbook, in terms of creating the right ambience and also communicating the graphic language of symbols and overlapping circles through unexpected, but relevant objects such as matt black balloons, for examples.

Iconography

The spaces iconography lends itself perfectly to shared spaces, literally, in the end of year show as the above mock-up shows.

This further reinforces the concept of the show and makes the end of year show feel more like an event.

Rather than a courses work, within a larger show for an art college.

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