Diploma Document- Publication Design by athira gopal

diploma project Publication Design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

Sponsor : Krab Media & Marketing Pvt. Ltd. Bengaluru

Volume : 1 of 1 student : ATHIRA GOPAL programme : Post-Graduate Diploma Programme

guide : TARUN DEEP GIRDHeR

2014 COMMUNICATION DESIGN (gRAPHIC DESIGN)

National Institute of Design Ahmedabad Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

The Evaluation Jury recommends ATHIRA GOPAL for the Diploma of the National Institute of Design

IN COMMUNICATION DESIGN FACULTY ( GRAPHIC DESIGN)

herewith, for the project titled "PUBLICATION DESIGN ON NILGIRI MOUNTAIN RAILWAYS" on fulfilling the further requirements by

Chairman Members :

*Subsequent remarks regarding fulfilling the requirements :

Registrar(Academics) Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

DIPLOMA PROJECT PUBLICATION DESIGN ATHIRA GOPAL

2011 BATCH PGDPD GRAPHIC DESIGN NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF DESIGN

Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

Copyright ÂŠ2014 Student Document Publication meant for private circulation only No part of this document will be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronically including photocopying, xerography and videography recording without written permission from the publisher, Athira Gopal and National Institute of Design. Designed by Athira Gopal Processed at National Institute of Design Paldi, Ahmedabad-380007 www.nid.edu Printed digitally in Ahmedabad, India

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

ORIGINALITY STATEMENT I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and it contains no full or substantial copy of previously published material, or it does not even contain substantial proportions of material which have been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma of any other educational institution, except where due acknowledgement is made in this diploma project. Moreover I also declare that none of the concepts are borrowed or copied without due acknowledgement. I further declare that the intellectual content of this Diploma Project is the product of my own work, except to the extent that assistance from others in the projectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s design and conception or in style, presentation and linguistic expression is acknowledged. This diploma project (or part of it) was not and will not be submitted as assessed work in any other academic course. Student Name in Full: Signature: Date: COPYRIGHT STATEMENT I hereby grant the National Institute of Design the right to archive and to make available my diploma project/ thesis/dissertation in whole or in part in the Instituteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Knowledge Management Centre in all forms of media, now or hereafter known, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act. I have either used no substantial portions of copyright material in my document or I have obtained permission to use copyright material. Student Name in Full: Signature: Date: 8

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I am glad to express my heartiest gratitude to all the people who helped me in the completion of this project, without them the endeavour would be impossible. I take this opportunity to thank Krab Media, Bengaluru for giving me the opportunity to work for them. I generously thank my project guide Mr. Tarun Deep Girdhar for his help and advice at each stage of the project. I thank Dr. Tridha Gajjar, co-ordinator of Graphic Design, whose comments and feedback sensitized my design direction in the diploma project. I also like to thank the faculties of Graphic design, Mr. Rupesh Vyas, Mr. Anil Sinha and Mr. Immanuel Suresh for their tremendous support. My heartiest thanks to the team at Krab Media and the staffs of NID Print Labs, without their support this project and documentation could not been possible. I thank Bharat Bhai in printing

lab for the timely help and guidance. I express my thanks to the wonderful people whom I interact with, for their contribution to this project. I am highly thankful to my amma, brother, sister and my lovely little family for being a great source of inspiration and been there at each step of my journey. A warm thanks to my friends and classmates, who were the driving force and encouragement at the times when I feel low and need support. A special thanks to Kapil and Jishnu for helping me throughout the project. Thanks to Kavitha, Parijatha, Bhumika for their support. I thank NID whose years of experience have been a reservoir of knowledge for me. Once again, I thank you all for making it a wonderful learning experience.

Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

Based on the recommendations made in the India Report, the Government of India with the assistance of the Ford Foundation and the Sarabhai family established the National Institute of Industrial Design, as it was originally called as an autonomous all-India body in September 1961 at Ahmadabad. Gautam Sarabhai and his sister Gira were played a major role in the establishment and early years of NID. Gautam Sarabhai sidestepped the accepted wisdom and conventional method of education . He revived the philosophy of the Bauhaus design movement which was learning by doing. This unique curriculum and revolutionary educational philosophy remain part of NID to the present day. Today the National Institute of Design is internationally acclaimed as one of the finest educational and research institutions for Industrial, Communication, Textile and IT Integrated (Experiential) Design. It is an autonomous institution under the aegis of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India and is recognized

by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Government of India as a Scientific and Industrial Research Organization. National Institute of Design conducts full-time design education programmes, both at graduate level (four year course) and at the post graduate level (two and a half year course) disciplines parted in two section industrial design and visual communication design. the design disciplines including Photography Design ,Product Design, Furniture and Interior Design, Ceramics and Glass Design, Toy and Game Design, Textile Design, Apparel Design and Merchandising, Graphic Design, Exhibition Design and Film and Video Communication, Animation Design, Lifestyle Accessory Design, New Media Design. NIDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s has three campuses. Main campus is situated in Paldi, Ahmadabad, Gujarat, PG campus is in Gandhinagar and R&D campus is in Bangalore, in Karnataka. NID is aiming at expansion, all over the country in near future.

Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

DIPLOMA PROJECT What is Diploma Project? The end of the students’ academic tenure at the National Institute of Design is marked by the culmination of a substantial investigation in the field of design on a topic closely allied to their discipline of study. It is through the diploma project and subsequent documentation of the same that this investigation takes place. This is the final academic project for the student. A jury comprising of faculty members evaluates the student’s performance in the diploma project, after which,

students are awarded NID’s professional education programme diploma. The diploma project is an opportunity for students to demonstrate their expertise as independent practitioners of design. However, this project must be done with academic rigour incorporating systematic inquiry and informed design decisions. The phrase ‘systematic inquiry’ implies the presence of structure and method by which the student must carry out his/her project.

Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

TARUNDEEP GIRDHER PROJECT GUIDE

Tarun is a Sr. Faculty, Graphic Design, at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India. Since the last 14 years, he has been teaching typography, publication design, illustration and printing technology at National Institute of Design, besides mentoring senior level design students on their projects. His professional work includes some renowned visual identity designs for Right to Information, National Book Trust and Uttar Pradesh State Organic Certification Agency; and several publications on disability, Disaster Risk Reduction and gender. In his free time, he loves to draw sunflowers and chai cups in the books that are hand bound by himself.

Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

CONTENTS

SYNOPSIS PROJECT PROPOSAL INTRODUCTION CLIENT PROFILE CLIENT BRIEF TIME SCHEDULE SECTION 1 OBJECTIVE SCENARIO BUILDING DESIGN PROCESS METHODOLOGY SECTION 2 ANALYSIS DESIGN DEVELOPMENT SECTION 3 PRODUCTION & PRINT CONSOLIDATION PROCESS CHART REFLECTION REFERENCES

1 3 5 7 9 10

13 15 17 38 44

47 49 50

117 119 123 128 132

135

Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

SYNOPSIS NILGIRI QUEEN Nilgiri Mountain Railway is truly a marvel of engineering skill and it was conceived long before ghat road to Ootacamund (Ooty and now officially known as Udagamandalam). It is only of its kind in India that runs on the rack and pinion system. It is the steepest of them all to the Victorian Hill station of Ootacamund, in the Nilgiri hills from the vernacular Nilgiri, which is a part of the sprawling Western Ghats range of mountains. The Nilgiri Mountain Railway has been inscribed as world heritage site by UNESCO in their 29th World Heritage Committee meeting held in Durban, South Africa in 2005. This project â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Nilgiri Queen-A journey through timeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; is a coffee table book designed as a tribute to the Nilgiri mountain railway that has completed a 100 years of service to the nation. It is a project initiated by the design studio, Krab Media, Bangalore for the love of this engineering marvel. There are not much book documented on the beauty and history of the Nilgiri mountain railway journey. This book is a pictorial journey from Ooty to Mettupalayam. It provides information on what to look for and what are the specialties of each station from Ooty to Mettupalayam. It is a small initiative to promote the mountain railway and an effort to make people aware about the Nilgiri Mountain Railway and the need to treasure it. Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

PROJECT PROPOSAL

Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

INTRODUCTION A marvel of engineering skill - the Nilgiri Mountain Railways has been in news for a long time, ever since the union government proposed to dismantle the scenic railway in 1968 owing to “uneconomic working”. It was included in the list of branch lines to be closed and in time proposals to dismantle this line have come up, but public protest has kept it going. It is also a matter of concern that most of our countrymen are blissfully unaware of the existence of the Nilgiri Mountain Railways. This document contains a brief research and study done on the Nilgiri Mountain Railways, trips and photo documentation of the Nilgiri Mountain Railways and the process undergone while designing the ‘Nilgiri Queen - A journey through time’.

Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

DIINESH KUMBLE

RAVIRAJ

ROMILA KUMBLE

SREEKANTH

NAGESH

Founder/Director

Creative Head

Co- founder/Director

Client Manager

Admin Manager

RITHUL

VAIBHAV

AKHIL

SHILESH

Creative Designer

KUSHAL Creative Designer

VISION

JYOTTSANNA

KEERTHI

MANJUNATH

Content Writer

Web Developer

Administrator

www.krabmedia.com

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

VINAYAK Assistant

“

To marry the passion and exper tise in photography & art with design and marketing capabilities to develop a range of products and services that help promote an idea, concept or a cause

”

CLIENT PROFILE

Krab is a team of young professionals brimming with ideas who are ready to fulfil your vision with experience & creative thinking. Krab was established in early 2009 by Diinesh Kumble and his wife, Chris Romila Kumble, with a Mission to create the right ecosystem, where wisdom is derived from nature, where creativity never ebbs, which provides freedom from conventional thinking and where quality is never lax. Some successful works of Krab are:

• Publishing bestselling books in the Sports

• The Incredible 150 - with over 150 mobile

•

app designs (UI/UX) and development on Windows 8 platform for Microsoft and other clients. • Undertaking prestigious assignments for the Government, large corporations on multiple subjects ranging from biodiversity to heritage.

•

genre like SACHIN - Genius Unplugged by Suresh Menon and Wide Angle by Anil Kumble. Creating many Nature & Wildlife inspired merchandise adhering to unparalleled designing methods with superior quality production. Publishing for the first time in India - pocket books on Kabini & Bandipur National Parks in Karnataka. Launch of www.photovault.in partnering with Microsoft, which is an online treasure-trove of photographs with a difference. Launching the Dream Safari Coffee-table Book on African Wildlife - a first by an Indian photographer and author.

Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

CLIENT BRIEF Project: Publication of a coffee table book on the Nilgiri Mountain Railway, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, titled “Nilgiri Queen”.

Creative ownership: During the course of your project you will have the right to use the project in your portfolio and attribute yourself as the designer of the publication.

Duration: 4 months Designation: Graphic Designer Scope of work: • Concept development • Typography and Illustration • Design Layout • Cover design • Publication Supervision Non Project Work: While the focus of your time here you might also be working on other studio client based projects either independent or in a team. Work Structure: Krab media will be managing the project providing brief and reviewing the work every day. On a fortnight you will present your work in a team meeting where everyone can provide inputs.

Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

TIME SCHEDULE

Duration (Four Months) Phase 1: Research and data collection Understanding Krab Media and their coffee table book publications, research on existing coffee table books, types of coffee table books, understanding the target audience of coffee table books, Books on railways, Data collection on Nilgiri mountain railway for copywriting, research on articles related to Nilgiri mountain railways, understanding the Nilgiri mountain railway system, visit to Nilgiri to collect data from the people related to the Nilgiri railways.

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

Phase 2: Conceptualization Deciding on the format, size of the book, typography and typeface selection, deciding on the grid, deciding on the illustration style, cover page design, paper selection and deciding on printing process.

Phase 3: Print and Publication Printing, binding and publishing.

Phase 4: Documentation

PROPOSED METHODOLOGY AND TIME PLAN APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUGUST

Phase:1 Phase:2 Phase:3 Phase:4 Research and data collection

Conceptualization

Print and Publication

Documentation

Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

SECTION 1

OBJECTIVE SCENARIO BUILDING DESIGN PROCESS METHODOLOGY

15 17 38 44

Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT At the end of the students academic tenure at the National Institute of design every student is expected to do a live project associated to their discipline with a design studio or firm. The project is taken mostly according to the students area of interest, as my area of interest was publication design, I started looking for the publication design firms. It is from my search on publication design firms in India I found Krab media, Bangalore. They have done so many publications and when I consulted them, they offered me the publication project on Nilgiri Mountain Railways, where I had to make a coffee table book on Nilgiri mountain railways. Since being a travel person I really liked this project. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m always excited about knowing new places and the special features about the place. Over all it hap-

pened to be a dream project for me having both publication & travel. This was my first experience to work in a fully fledged publication design project which had such short timelines and budget constraints. This was an opportunity to explore different styles of a coffee table book designing. This project offered me ample opportunities to be a part of structuring the content, planning the layout design, expressing the vintage nature & simplicity through minimalistic typography and the adrenaline rush of working on short deadlines. The whole design process gave me so much to learn about publication design, how itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s done in a design studio the whole process of designing the entire book - deciding on the layout, grid, type selection, hand lettering and choosing the design elements.

Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

SCENARIO BUILDING

For the scenario building, it was necessary to understand publication design and the project. So studies on publication design was made to understand and to organize the whole process, for this books related to publication design as well as online sources were referred and had a discussion with the publication head at Krab Media to understand the publication process they follow. Notes were made according to which the entire project was sorted out in four phases.

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

UNDERSTANDING TARGET AUDEINCES

Target audience Before designing the coffee table book on Nilgiri Mountain Railways, it was necessary to understand the target audience for whom and why this book is being made. The target audience are mostly the collectors of coffee table books, the Railway government, the officials and the tourists who wish to know about the Nilgiri mountain railway.

google images

Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

google images

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

UNDERSTANDING COFFEE TABLE BOOKS

WHAT ARE COFFEE TABLE BOOKS?

WHAT MAKES COFFEE TABLE BOOKS DIFFERENT FROM OTHER BOOKS?

A coffee table book is an oversized, usually hard-covered book whose place is for display on a table intended for use in an area in which one would entertain guests and from which it can act to inspire conversation. The subject matter is predominantly non-fiction and pictorial or a photo-book. Pages consist mainly of photographs and illustrations, accompanied by captions and small blocks of text, as opposed to long prose. Since they are aimed at anyone who might pick the book up for a light read, the analysis inside is often more basic and with less jargon than other books on the subject. Because of this, the term “coffee table book” can be used pejoratively to indicate a superficial approach to the subject.

A book designed to be looked at rather than read, while most of the books are designed to be read. The coffee table books are mostly expensive and it is designed for long term survival, to be part of the decorative element of a coffee table.

The purpose of most coffee table books is to display interesting or aesthetically pleasing visuals, often in the form of photographs. The subject may be historical in nature, such as a book featuring hundreds of illustrations from the 1939 World’s Fair in New York City or about a place or culture such as “Gardens of Delight”; a look at Indian gardens over time published by Roli books. They may also showcase artistic photography or large prints of painters such as a collection of Picasso’s paintings. Architecture is also a popular subject for coffee table books.

coffee-table book

In the field of mathematics, a coffee table book is usually a notebook containing a number of mathematical problems and theorems contributed by community meeting in a particular place or connected by a common scientific interest. One of the most famous coffee table books was the Scottish Book created by mathematicians working on the University of Lvov.

noun plural noun: coffee-table books

a large, expensive, lavishly illustrated book, intended especially for casual reading.

Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

HISTORY OF COFFEE TABLE BOOKS

David R. Brower is credited with inventing the “modern coffee table book”. While serving as executive director of the Sierra Club, he had the idea for a series of books that combined nature photography and writings on nature,

which he put it in a page size, big enough to carry a given image’s dynamic. The eye must be required to move about within the boundaries of the image, not encompass it all in one glance. The first such book, “This is the American Earth”, with photographs by Ansel Adams and others and text by Nancy Newhall, was published in 1960. The series became known as the “Exhibit Format” series, with 20 titles eventually published. In Britain, however, the term has been used (in the current sense) at least since the 19th century, and was still in current usage in the mid-1950s, contemporary with Brower’s 1960 publication. It may be that Brower thus merely introduced the term to the United States. The concept of a book intended essentially for the display over perusal was mentioned much earlier by Michel de Montaigne in his essay Upon Some Verses of Virgil, first published in 1580. They have also found uses in propaganda, such as a book on the life

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

of East German leader Walter Ulbricht and another on Albanian leader Enver Hoxha.

David Brower and coffee table books David R. Brower is credited with inventing the “modern coffee table book”. While serving as

executive director of the Sierra Club, he had the idea for a series of books that combined nature photography and writings on nature, which he put it in a page size, big enough to carry a given image’s dynamic. The eye must be required to move about within the boundaries of the image, not encompass it all in one glance. The first such book, “This is the American Earth”, with photographs by Ansel Adams and others and text by Nancy Newhall, was published in 1960. The series became known as the “Exhibit Format” series, with 20 titles eventually published.

Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

In Britain, however, the term has been used (in the current sense) at least since the 19th century, and was still in current usage in the mid-1950s, contemporary with Browerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 1960 publication. It may be that Brower thus merely introduced the term to the United States. The concept of a book intended essentially for the display over perusal was mentioned much earlier by Michel de Montaigne in his essay Upon Some Verses of Virgil, first published in 1580. They have also found uses in propaganda, such as a book on the life of East German leader Walter Ulbricht and another on Albanian leader Enver Hoxha. Brower and coffee table books Under Browerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leadership, the club launched the Exhibit Format series, coffee table books featuring photographs by Ansel Adams, Eliot Porter, and other artists, along with texts by Henry David Thoreau, Wallace

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

Stegner, and other American nature writers. The books generated much publicity for the club, garnered many awards, and helped bring Brower into the national spotlight. They were large, heavy books, measuring over ten inches wide by over a foot long. As the name of the series suggests, each book

Although David Brower experimented with other kinds of images, including motion pictures, he believed that the coffee table book offered the most powerful medium. A coffee table book lasts for a long time; it is kept and referred to. This is particularly true of the exhibit-format books.

was designed to simulate the experience of a photography exhibit. During these years, Brower spent much of his time planning, designing, and editing books. He became more and more convinced that the coffee table book was the most effective way to promote the cause of wilderness preservation. The environmental coffee table book emerged as part of a campaign to persuade Congress to enact the Wilderness Bill, legislation that would guarantee the permanence of the nation’s wild places.

According to Brower, the books would appeal to “leaders in industry and government” and would “reach the most urbane people of all”, people who had the power to shape national policy. He wanted the books to become subjects of public debate, generating discussions among “the contemporary press, plus the letter-writing public, the law-passing legislators, and the law-administering managers who are determining right now the irrevocable fate of our land.” He believed that the exceptional design and reproduction quality of the photographs would capture the imagination of influential Americans, people looking for something other than the standard fare of nature imagery appearing on television or in magazines.

Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

Coffee table books are mostly made with the thought keeping in mind that itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s for long term storage, which will be referred in future too. it is the only part in the publication design where you get the chance to experiment with the size the shape.

Designing Coffee table books While taking the magazine design and the news paper designs coffee table book designing has much freedom than the other though three of them requires effort but to certain level the magazine layout and the news paper layout are always fixed while the coffee table the layout has to be decided according to the subject and the theme the designer had decided to. While considering the life span the news papers have the smaller life span then the magazine and the coffee table books are been considered for long term saving, so the paper the bnding all are done considering that fact. even the design too as the design choices change and the look 26

and feel of the publication keep on changed to survive and to be noticed is yet another factor that is to be considered while designing a coffee table book , while a magazine only need to survive once the reader purchases and reads. the design should be made in such a way that the design should help the readers but not get in their ways. Considering a coffee table book the external appearance is most crucial factor in its ability to gain the attention of potential purchasers scanning the ever more crowded shelves of the contemporary book shops. coffee table book are of many type that has images , that has more importance to text and some that has images only and no text like a photographers work display.

Future of coffee table book Coffee table books are always made in consideration keeping in mind itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s for long term usage. Most of the peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s relationship with books be-

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

gins when they are very young, with the comforting childhood. Books play an important part in our life we turn those pages for information, relief, inspiration to entertainment, In an increasingly disposable world, books represent permanence and continuity. The tactile quality of book is a joy that should not be underestimated. it is what will ensure their longevity. A future without books is unthinkable, and highly unlikely.

CASE STUDY Case study involves referring books for the layout and design. Books available at Knowledge Management Centre at National Institute of Design and Issuu.com were reference. Krab Media had a variety of coffee table books collection which was also referred.

Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

THE ELEMENTS OF PHOTOGRAPHY Angela Faris Belt This book provides a wealth of information and guidance to help all photographers to improve skills, learn new techniques, and expand ways of seeing. Excellent practical exercises allow one to use the knowledge gained to build a solid portfolio. More than 300 stunning, full-color images including portfolios from over 40 prestigious artists provide visual inspiration and a gorgeous collection of artwork to add to any photography enthusiastâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bookshelf.

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

COVER & LAYOUT DESIGN: Joanne Blank PAPERBACK: 384 pages PUBLISHER: Focal Press; 1 edition (19 January 2008) LANGUAGE: English PRODUCT DIMENSIONS: 7.48”x9.40”x0.82” FORMAT: Landscape CONTENT TREATMENT: Content of the book is mostly based on photography Text Alingment: justified FRONT COVER: Blown up image with TITLE: Horizontal and serif font is used. SUBTITLE: Oblique and bold, and san serif font is used IMAGE TREATMENT: Since its a photogrpahy based book the images are given importance .There are both colour and black and white images PAGE NUMBERING: The page numbering is in roman numbers, placed inside to the page bottom GRID: 2 column grid with wide gutters, gutterspacing differs in some pages

Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

The Twilight of Steam: Great Photography from the Last Days of Steam Locomotives in America By Brian Solomon â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Twilight of Steam,â&#x20AC;? acclaimed rail author and photographer Brian Solomon gathers some of the greatest black-and-white photography from well-known rail photographers who were plying their trade trackside in the years when steam was fading from the rail scene.

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

COVER DESIGN: Kent Jenson LAYOUT DESIGN: Chris Fayers HARDCOVER: 192 pages PUBLISHER: Voyageur Press (15 June 2014) LANGUAGE: English PRODUCT DIMENSIONS: 10.11”x12.28”x0.9” FORMAT: Landscape CONTENT TREATMENT: The big volume (10x12 inches, 192 p a g e s ) is a black-and-white photographer’s dream. Solomon introduces each chapter (arranged geographically) with recollections of the photographers themselves. Captions for each image are clear and precise, with a full index of photo thumbnails and more details on how, when and why the exposure was made. Text Alingment: Left aligned FRONT COVER: Blown up image TITLE: Horizontal, central aligned and serif font is used, placed at bottom. . SUBTITLE: Bold and serif font. IMAGE TREATMENT: All photographs are in black and white. PAGE NUMBERING: The page numbering is done at the outside of page in serif fonts GRID: 3 column grid Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

LIVING BUDDHISM: By Andrew Powell Buddhist ideals of Enlightenment and the practice of meditation have caught the imagination of many in the Western world. For this book, author Andrew Powell and photographer Graham Harrison have travelled throughout the Far East visiting Buddhist communities in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Burma, India, Nepal, Tibet, China and Japan. They interviewed some of the religionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading figures, including the Dalai Lama at his home in the foothills of the Himalayas.

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

LAYOUT DESIGN: Susan Mann COVER DESIGN: Harry Green PAPERBACK: 200 pages PUBLISHER: University of California Press (November 2, 1995) PRODUCT DIMENSIONS: 11.1”x 8.4”x 0.6” FORMAT: portrait CONTENT TREATMENT: The book’s powerful photographs immerse us in the landscapes of the East, revealing the touching details and the daily lives of both monks and laity. The text explores the major Buddhist traditions of Theravada, Tibetan Tantric Buddhism, and Zen, showing how they are withstanding the pressures and rapid changes of the late twentieth century. Together the author and photographer present a unique and beautiful portrait of one of the world’s great spiritual and artistic traditions. Text Alingment: Justified FRONT COVER: Blown up image TITLE: Horizontal, right aligned and combination of Oblique and serif font used. SUBTITLE: Bold and serif font. IMAGE TREATMENT: All photographs are in colour PAGE NUMBERING: The page numbering is done at the outside of page in serif fonts GRID: 3 column grid Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

NELSON MANDELA : a life in photographs By David Elliot Cohen Almost 20 years ago, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela brutally imprisoned in South Africa for his struggle against apartheid was finally released. This beautiful illustrated volume commemorates that event and Mandelaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s inspiring life and work. Nelson Mandela contains many images that have rarely, if ever, been seen, as well as the more iconic photos that have lingered in peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s minds. The book is rich in illustrations and elegantly designed, and contains brief essays and key Mandela speeches. 34

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

COVER & LAYOUT DESIGN: Peter Truskier and David Elliot Cohen HARDCOVER: 224 pages PUBLISHER: University of California Press (November 2, 1995) PRODUCT DIMENSIONS: 11”x 9.2”x1” FORMAT: portrait CONTENT TREATMENT: Oversize photo biography, includes six great historic speeches of South African leader’s, with a detailed overview of the apartheid struggle as well as an essay on Mandela’s personal role in the country’s history. Text Alingment: Highly readable, Left aligned FRONT COVER: Blown up image TITLE: Horizontal, Left aligned and san serif font used. SUBTITLE: Bold and serif font. IMAGE TREATMENT: Features more than 100 beautifully reproduced photos, many of them in color, and in spacious double-page spreads. PAGE NUMBERING: The page numbering is done at the outside of page in serif fonts GRID: Single column grid

Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

NILGIRI MOUNTAIN RAILWAY

The Nilgiri Mountain Railway is a 46 Km long and runs on 1000 mm gauge railway. It connects Mettupalayam to Ooty. The first section of the Nilgiri Railway up to Coonoor was completed in 1899 by the Nilgiri Railway Company and was extended to Ooty in 1903. This Nilgiri rail system is unique as it is the steepest one in Asia. In combination with this gradient there are many curves. To overcome this incline the Nilgiri Railway uses a unique `rack and pinion’ rail system. In this system, between the two conventional rails, there are two rack bars, out of step with each other, on which the pinions of the locos and coaches ‘climb’ in a similar manner as a person climbing a ladder using his feet alternately. It is interesting to note that the engine pushes the train from behind when ascending the hills and is in front while going downhill so that the train does not run amuck. The main incline between Mettupalayam to Coonoor is a continuous gradient where the rack system is used. After Coonoor until Ooty the gradient is relatively eased. Presently all traffic on

the rack section is ably handled by the eight X class locomotives built by SLM of Switzerland. These locomotives have four cylinders instead of the conventional two. The main cylinders of the locomotive use high-pressure steam and drive the wheels of the loco while the smaller cylinders using low-pressure steam drive the rack system of the Nilgiri Railway system. Another interesting thing associated with the Nilgiri Railway is that the youngest X class loco is over 50 years old and the oldest is 80 years old.

der and thus using compressed air in retarding the progress of the engine. The former are used for shunting whilst the latter for descending steep gradients. One of the hand brakes acts on the tyres of the wheels in the ordinary manner and the second acts on grooved surfaces of the pinion axle but can be used in those places where the rack is laid. Even after hundred years, the brake system on Nilgiri locomotives is as intricate and cumbersome as it was in 1886.

Main Features:

The train journey from Chennai to Metupalayam then took just over 17 hours and cost Rs 20 first class and another 20 rupees to cover the remaining 33 miles up the steep mountain road to Coonoor and Ootacamund by the ‘Nilgiri carrying Company’s Mail and Express Tonga Service’ while heavy baggage had to be sent bullock cart. The only alternative was to hire a pony and arrange for luggage to be taken up by individual baggage carriers using the shorter but even steeper old road to Coonoor.

The main feature of this line is the unique rack system and the equally unique and complicated locomotives. To quote from Sir Guilford L. Molesworth’s report of 1886: “The locomotive used for working on the About System has two distinct functions: first, that of traction by adhesion as in an ordinary loco and second, that of traction by pinions acting upon the rack bars. The brakes are four in number-two hand brakes action by friction and two acting by preventing the free escape of air from cylin-

Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

DESIGN PROCESS

Once the project started I was told to meet the content writer Jaya for the content structuring. Before meeting her there was no clear idea about how the content is being written and structured. To get clarity and to know about the elements used in the content some questions were noted down for the first meeting with Jaya From the initial meetings and discussions it was understood that the project plan started on 2005 and the content was not structured yet. There were data collected by Krab. These data were 38

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

shared with me and to the content writer to form the content structure. All the data collected from printed materials, online and photographs were given to us for our reference. Though these data were not enough, we had also referred some old news about the Nilgiri mountain railway available online as well as printed. We sorted out the possible ways for structuring the content. We decided to put the chapters according to the journey downhill from Ooty to Mettupalayam. There wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t enough data available from Ooty

to Coonoor and also the photographs taken by Harish were from Coonoor to Mettupalayam. For collecting the data we had to make a visit to Ooty and travel in the train to understand the feel.

• Literature review: Literature review to collect

The decided methodology to collect information during the field visit was:

• Documenting and sketching.

• Interview: To take interviews of the station master, the loco shed workers, the engine driver, break man, and the passengers and or NMR enthusiastic.

articles and books on NMR.

• Experiencing the journey in person itself

from Ooty to Coonoor. After the meeting I had to understand the publication structure of Krab media as well as about the Nilgiri Mountain railway system and its history.

After listing out the methodology a meeting was set with the director for approval. After the meeting the field visit was planned along with the content writer Jaya. A field trip to Ooty was set for the further research and to take photographs Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

FIELD VISIT NILGIRI MOUNTAIN RAILWAY

As per the discussion and sorting out the ways for data collection the field trip to Nilgiri was planned for the designer and the content writer. The photographs from Ooty to Mettupalayam were clicked using a Canon EOS 40D, and also tried to do some illustration but could not do since I found it difficult to click picture as well as to sketch. So I decided to click pictures I wanted to illustrate. In Ooty, we met the Station master and interviewed as many people related to Nilgiri mountain railways. They were friendly and proud about Nilgiri mountain railway and openly spoke to us regarding 40

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

the railway. We travelled from Ooty to Coonoor in the toy train. From Ooty till Coonoor it is carried by a diesel engine. On reaching Coonoor, we had problems collecting information as there were strict rules as the workers were not allowed to let go any information about Nilgiri Mountain railway. We talked with the station master who made us meet Mr. Natrajan, a diehard fan of Nilgiri mountain railway, who had been trying since now for the steam engines and the Runneymede station to be brought back. Also there was a book stall in the station that was selling amazing books but there were very less books on Nilgiri mountain railway.

Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

LITERATURE REVIEW

Since the content was not ready by the time I took this project, I got the chance to do research work for the NMR. The data which was available in the magazines and books were referred, new articles about NMR were

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

collected and online site of UNESCO as well all peoples blog giving their experience and opinions on the journey were collected. Movies and documentries on Nilgiri mountain railways were watched too for reference.

OLD LAYOUT AND DESIGN

The Krab Media had started this Project in 2005 from then they had sorted the content for the book as well as the layout and designs. In the older version the chapters were differentiated under names like estates, bridges, tunnels and people. But what

we learnt from the field visit to Nilgiri Mountain and interviewing the people was that the importance is to be given towards saving the Nilgiri mountain railway from being shut and to increase its tourist value by promoting it.

Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

METHODOLOGY

After the collection of informationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and data there were too much of unsorted data. It was required to be sorted out so me and the content writer went through these data and decided the different ways it can be arranged to make a good publication. The Unsorted data were Field study report, Photographs, Literature study, Interviews, Sketching The collected informationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s were used to design layout, design elements and the treatment, how the look and feel of the book will be.

The names under which the files has to be put for the design process was noted down.

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

The photos from the field trip was checked and the nice clicks were selected.

Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

SECTION 2

ANALYSIS DESIGN DEVELOPMENT

49 50

Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

ANALYSIS & SYNTHESIS

From the information’s collected and further researches, it was time to decide on the design treatment, the final product specifications and the content treatment. Since the Nilgiri mountain railway was related to the British times, the vintage style was selected. The look and feel of the book will have a vintage touch with photographs in black and white and vintage forms and shapes of design elements that can be added and the font style also needed to be selected that supported this style. The size of the book was decided to be 8.6”X10.2”. and the illustration style was line drawings like travel sketches without using colours and the number of pages was fixed to 96, hard bound and the paper chosen was Natural evolution white. Krab does their printing done from Pragati Offset, Hyderabad so it was decided to get the quotation from them regarding the printing.

Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

DESIGN DEVELOPMENT

By this stage sorting out of data were made. The initial explorations and the decisions for the designing and layout of the book such as the book format, size, grid, type selection, layout and illustration style, cover page design and the design elements were made. These decisions were taken by keeping the vintage feel in mind.

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

DECIDING ON FORMAT

Initially the most important part is to decide the size of the book. Coffee table books of different format were given to the staff at Krab media to check the way they hold the book. The book will be having text to be read and it shouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be that big so that it will be difficult to hold. Most of the photographs were landscape, cropping them will ruin the feel. So the format was decided as landscape.

Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

DECIDING ON THE SIZE OF THE BOOK Coffee table books give the huge possiblity of experimenting with sizes. there are variety of size of coffee table books available in the market . the size of this coffee table book was decided after analysing a lot of coffee table books. coffee table books available in the Knowledge management center was utilized for this.

Wonders of the World Francesco Boccia Bind: Hardcover

Dimension: 43.18 x 35.56 cm 178 pages this book size was very huge and there was use of a lot of paper and it was too big for a 96 paged book.

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

some of the book sizes refered with its layout to check the layout style in different size books.

Eyewear Moss Lipow Bind: Hardcover

Dimension: 24 x 24 cm 360 pages This book had a 360 pages and the size seemed too small for 96 pages , but for the 360 pages the size of the book was perfect. and the layout

Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

British Prints from the Machine Age: Rhythms of Modern Life 1914-1939 Clifford S. Ackley & Stephen Coppel Bind: Hardcover

Dimension: 24.00 x 21.50 cm 224 pages Like the Eyewear book this size too seemed very small for the photographs as well as the book with 96 pages. so it was not considered

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

Fair World: A History of Worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Fairs and Expositions, from London to Shanghai, 1851-2010 Clifford S. Ackley & Stephen Coppel Bind: Hardcover

Dimension: 31.5 x 27 cm 282 pages This size was not considered since it also was huge for the 96 page book. If it was for the content oriented book it would have been more suitable.

Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

Silent Splendour: Palaces of the Deccan - 14th - 19th Centuries Helen (Ed) Philon Bind: Hardcover

Dimension: 25.4 x 31.8 cm 224 pages This book size was one considered since first was thought about portrait style book but since there were landscape photogrphs and this size was found not doing justice to it so was not considered 56

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

Nashik Kumbh Mela: A Spiritual Sojourn Govind Swarup Bind: Hardcover

Dimension: 34.3 x 23.5 cm 152 pages

This book size and format was considered and since there were only 96 pages and had landscape photographs decided to keep it a little smaller than this size, may be reducing a 1 cm . Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

FINAL BOOK SIZE

26 cm

22 cm This size was chosen 22x26 cm, since I dint want to use the exact A4 size and not bigger than that it shouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be looking too much rectangular so this size was chosen.

Book Dimension: 22 x 26 cm Number of pages : 96

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

IMPOSITION The book is of 96 pages on a 145 gsm natural evolution white paper. By imposing a spread of 52 cm (that is 26+26) X 22 cm plus a 1 cm bleed on the length and breadth of each spread, leaving a margin of 2cm on the left and right side of the spread of the sheet of 70X100cm, we are getting 8 spreads on one sheet =16 pages in a sheet. Thus 6 sheets of 8 spreads give 96 pages.

52 cm

2cm

22 cm

70 cm

A sheet measuring 70X100cm can take 16 pages of a book 100 cm

Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

}

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

48 spreads = 96 pages

TYPE SELECTION Type selection for the body text The book was on the history and importance of the Nilgiri mountain railway. Since it involves history and is in a vintage mode it was decided to take a serif font. And different fonts used in book publication were studied and noted down and then it was shortlisted to Anglecia Pro Dis-

play, Mrs Eaves, Baskerville and Goudy Old Style. Fonts were put into a page format of the book in different font size and printouts were taken to be checked and compared.

Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

Exercises done to check how these fonts look in a book layout

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

Selected font for body text

The Goudy old style was selected, since it is a classic old-style serif typeface. It is suitable for both text and display applications. The readability and graceful style supports the required old style look for the book.

Baskerville font was also for the text to be given n italics and for numbering. since its Italics style was mor legible than the goudy old styles italics and it aslo supported the old style look required for the book.

Goudy Old Style

Baskerville

Rail journeys have always ignited the imagination of travel writers across cultures and ages. In India, rail journeys can be particularly memorable offering the scope for limitless stories. There is a sense of drama as the train snakes through the tracks and the land and the fleeting stations seem like one endless stream of variety. As far as the NMR journey is concerned, the sense of drama is heightened as the train approaches Mettupalayam towards the end of its descent and gains speed.

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

Type selection for the title text Selecting font for the title text for the chapter was another task. A calligraphic font was required that goes along with Goudy old style so that it gives a good feel. For this many fonts were checked and after long search the font Baroque Script was selected.

Boulevard

Commercial Script

Ooty

Mettupalayam

Ketti

Runneymede

Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

Freehand521

Edwardian Script ITC

Ooty

Mettupalayam

Ketti

Runneymede

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

Chopin Script

Baroque Script

Ooty Mettupalayam Ketti Runneymede

Barouque Script looked really nice, but the K and R of the type looked very similar. So further search was made to find an apt font but could not find an apt font. then it was thought to do some hand lettering.

K R Even if changing the two letters K and R wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t do justice to the visual appearance of the title. So decided to hand letter the first letters of the chapter titles. The open elective calligraphy knowledge came in help at this stage. The first letters of the titles were sorted out and these letters were written on small strips of paper in different possible styles.

Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

The Letters O and H were taken as common among the selected alphabets Since O and H has similar characteristics they are taken as common from the selected alphabets. Because it is easy to try different style on these two letters instead of trying different styles in the whole alphabets.

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

Selected style

The above ones were the selected styles . These styles were applied to the other alphabets and were digitalized in the title. Only the first letter was hand written and the rest was Baroque Script.

Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

Final Title Font

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

GRID A 6 column grid was set with a 12pt baseline. Since it was 6 column it gave more flexiblity in putting the contents and pictures by maintaining enough breating space without any clutter.

Margin Column Baseline Gutter

: 20mm, Top/bottom/inside/out side :6 : increment every 12pt : 2.5mm

Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

DESIGN ELEMENTS The British sign boards, the shapes that were seen in the platform as well as movements that were seen in the station were taken as reference for the design elements. The design elements were required for the text box border, captions, content page, chapter numbers, titleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s underlines and for the paragraph ending. As a theme was already decided as vintage, researches on the formâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and shapes of vintage era were taken.

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

Explorations made for the design elements

Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

The bullets for the captions were designed from the waving movement of the flag in the hand of the station master. The darker bullet node shows the position of the photograph being mentioned in the caption.

Bullet for the bottom photograph

Bullet for the left photograph

Bullet for the right photograph

Bullet for the top photograph

Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

The shape for the chapter numbering is inspired from the vintage name board shape. This shape was found in most of the London sign boards.

The pattern for the title underline, the text box border and the paragraph ending pattern is derived from the signage holder in the Ooty railway station

Title Underline

Text box Border

Paragraph Ending

Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

ILLUSTRATIONS

Liz Steel is a Sydney based architect specialising in media projects, who is also an obsessive sketcher. Since she discovered watercolour in a field kit in 2006, she has never stopped painting her life in her sketchbook.

For the illustrations in the book, I checked different types of illustration styles. The final illustration style for Nilgiri Queen was inspired form Liz Steels live sketches.

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

Exercises done to study liz Steels style of illustration

Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

Since it was difficult to do sketching and take photographs at the same time, I took Photographs of the places and scenes that I had to sketch. So the illustrations were done after the field visit. The illustrations were hand drawn scaned and then digitalized, after a point of time it seemed to be time consuming , so thought of directly sketching using Photoshop.

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

Illustrations made direct digitally

Toda and Badaga Tribal people and Hut

Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

Illustrations of stations

Ketti Station

Wellington

Mettupalayam

Lovedale

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

Runneymede

Udagamandalam

LAYOUT DESIGN After the case studies, many coffee table books were referred for understanding the different layout styles. And the different layout styles were sketched down for further understanding.

Athira Gopal | PGDPD Graphic Design | National Institute of Design

Diploma Project | Publication design on Nilgiri Mountain Railways

EXERCISES LAYOUT AND DESIGN The referred layouts were digitally oriented on both landscape and portrait format to check the look and feel of the pages.