ediary high res

ALL THINGS FIRST Carlos El-ters 2527666

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Design Signs and Symbols

Assessment 2: Small Square Book (40%) Design Signs and Symbols Subject Code: DSAS001 Turor: Penelope Lee

ALL THINGS FIRST Carlos El-ters 2527666

Tutorial 1 2

Imprint

Allen Lane Published by the Penguin Group Penguin Books Australia Ltd 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 2124, Australia Penguin Books Ltd 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England Penguin Putnam Inc. 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA Penguin Books Canada Limited 10 Alcorn Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4V 3B2 First published by Warner Books 2013 This edition published by Penguin Books Australia Ltd 2013 13579108642 Copyright Š Klodia Fatouleh 2013 The moral right of the author has been asserted All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book. eDiary design by Carlos El-ters ISBN 0 670 04039 8 www.penguin.com.au

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Table of Contents

3 IMPRINT 5 RESEARCH 9 CONCEPT 13 PROCESS 21 COMMUNICATION 28 SYNTHESIS

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Research: Binding Techniques

Thermal Tape Binding

Spiral, Plastic Comb and Wire-O Binding

Perfect Binding

Saddle Stitched/Side Stitched Binding

Creates a book by placing a strip, with one side adhesive, onto the spine and over the cover. Then the book is inserted spine side into a machine to heat the adhesive and add pressure to seal the edges. Its usually used for notebooks, notepads, office documents, manuals. It has a sturdy spine, very similar to perfect binding.

Punched holes by the spine with a plastic or wire coil or comb looping through all the pages. It’s used for notebooks, office presentations, planners, sketchbooks.

A good aspect about it is that their is the ability to lay spreads flat; ability to fold back the book without damaging the pages. On the other hand, it looks cheap.

Pages are glued on the spine, which needs to have a rough surface so the glue can stick easily, into a cover that wraps around the back, spine and front. Common uses include paper back novels, magazines, catalogs . A good aspect about it is the spine and pages to be flexible; easily mass produced and easy to DIY. But is does not allow for hardcover, so it’s more susceptible to wear and tear.

Spreads folded and staples are applied on the spine from the cover to the center spread to hold everything in place. Commonly used in notebooks, programs, office presentations. its very cheap; staples are the only materials needed. On the other hand, it may make the product look cheap, depending on the design.

Side Sewn Binding

Case Binding

Copic Binding

Saddle Sewn

Pages are divided into signatures then sewn together and adhered into a hard casing, traditionally cloth covered cardboard. Commonly used for textbooks, hardcover books, bibles. The hardcover creates a rigid product and protects the sheets inside better. Its very tme consuming to DIY; much more expensive than perfect binding.

Using signatures, these binding method has an exposed spine and threading that creates braids along the spine. It’s great because it allows the book to lay almost flat, and its easy to DIY. There’s a lot of kits to get people started such as online tutorials and books.

Collated pages are folded in half and sewn in the mid- Loose pages and the cover (wrap or loose) are held todle through the cover to hold everything in place. Easy gether by sewing through all the pages from cover to to do, but needs patience. Resources are online from cover, a certain distance from the spine. many websites and videos on Youtube.

http://emilyduong.com/blog/a-visual-reference-bookbinding

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Research: Book Structures

Caterpillar Stitch This is Ana Cordeiro’s Notions book. It’s a sculptural one-of a kind book, with wooden covers and waxed and printed three-dimensional pages. It’s also a great example of one of the more exotic exposed sewing structures around. The three lines of stitching are running perpendicular to the spine. The over-the-top decorative aspect of the caterpillar makes it a favorite of the sewers of the world. Here’s a detail of the spine (left). There’s a functional part that holds the sections of the book together, and then there’s the purely decorative part running over the front and back covers, which becomes part of the overall design of the book.

The rest of the surrounding photographs are an inspiration to create a concertina book, which I’ve never done before, or knew how to do. As seen above, a concertina has been made with a twist. They have combined various book covers and added pages to each of the spines. This is a very different, yet unique approach to take when doing a book. This would keep the reader engaged the entire time and would pose more of an art piece, than a book. I could just see how interactive it would be also for children, if there were some kind of game. The photographs on the right are collapsible books, in which they open up. I like they way they look but would be hard to see the internal pages. On the other hand, the above book is placed upright, making it easy to read.

http://www.hollanders.com/index.php/workshop-caterpillar-stitch.html http://bookclasp.com/moreclasps.htm

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Research: Minimalism

Dubai-based graphic designer Ali Jabbar made these stunning minimalist illustrations of famous people. It really is impressive how recognizable the people are while only a few shapes are used to create the image.

Ali Jabbar celebrates the signatures with “Simple Public Figures,” a set of minimalist vectors that reveal the simplified side of famous folks.

It is clearly evident that the top left image is of Marylyn Monroe and the one directly beneath it of Barack Obama. What makes them very distinctive is Marylyn’s yellow hair, which has been seen in various pop art painting, especially Any Warhol, and the red lipstick and small mole on her cheek. On the other hand, Obama is known for the shape of his head, being round, What I like about Nomo Bar is he works with black and and the creases around his mouth. Very minimal, yet white all the time, and he relies on negative space to ‘create forms that allow elements to float.’ Here (above recognizable. right-hand corner), Bar uses one of Charlie Chaplin’s A similar approach can be seen in Noma Bar’s Minimal- most famous on-screen moments to define his face, ist Vector Portraits of Cultural Icons on the top right though there are few actual lines. Inspired by Chaplin’s and bottom of the page. The large green image is of Al- shoe-eating scene in The Gold Rush, Bar turns a shoebert Einstein which Bar considers this a perfect exam- lace sum spaghetti strand into Chaplin’s eye and nose; ple of combining two icons, which results in something the shoe works double duty as both moustache and that is ‘almost like a logo.’ Einstein’s famously unkempt mouth.

hair and the atomic symbol, with the molecules as eyes, My favourite would be the hammer and sickles get rearfor this famous face. ranged into Joseph Stalin’s nose and mouth, just below Another one is of Woody Allen, seen below in the right the previous illustration. These two icons can be taken hand corner. Bar’s use of London architectural land- out of context, but remain in context in that they posmarks for the legend’s already iconic face is a unique sess such associative power that the viewer will know and effective touch. Nicknamed the gherkin, for its who this feature face is, bolsters the effectiveness of resemblance to a pickle, this noticeable Norman Fos- Bar’s approach to illustration.

ter building replaces Allen’s nose, and the Tate Modern forms an eyebrow over one of the skyline’s newest Great examples for inspiration and use of constrained visual language in all works. Its amazing to see how structural icons, the London Eye. minimal these illustrators are, yet the people are still recognisable.

http://www.cmybacon.com/2010/08/minimalist-portraits-by-ali-jabbar/ http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2011/07/28/noma-bar-guesswho/

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Research: Constrained Photography

We often hear the phrase ‘less is more’, and this couldn’t be more apt than when appreciating minimalism.

When executed well, minimalist photography can be an extremely simple but dramatic way to capture images.

In relation to this brief, this phrase is relevant to constrained visual language.

In a similar way to the use of colour in minimalist photography, the effectiveness of line within a shot can be vital in adding to the image when subject matter is limited. Like a lot of minimalist art, some minimalist shots are based purely on texture and colour (right), yet they grab our attention even without any distinct subject matter. For this, you need not only an engaging surface, 1) When understanding how to achieve minimalism, but also the means to capture it in an interesting way. the rule is to keep it simple. I learnt that we should try to pick a striking and engaging subject that will catch 3) Consider whether there is any direction to the texthe eye. The subject has to be the strongest element of ture and whether that line can be used effectively in a the shot, even though it may not take up the majority compositional sense. Try to use light to enhance the of the frame. Its good to consider what’s going into the texture, to bring out the contrast and look to capture shot, but also what should be left out. The space around the image so the viewer could almost feel what they are a subject will accentuate its prominence, so look to seeing. zoom in or crop out any distractions. Another point made is to focus in on the subject, and if possible, select 4) A good place to start might be within geometric a depth of field that will make the subject stand out, this shapes found within architecture, which often include a will draw the eye into the shot and enhance impact. whole wall of re-occurring pattern that can be exploited as a minimalist photo.

2) Try to use the available light to bring out the colours within the scene. Many shots work based around a Excellent points made about minimalist photography single colour, including both the subject and the back- and all points are taken into consideration when develground, but this can be difficult to find, so keep an eye oping my concept of photography further. out for either colours that compliment each other, or a combination of contrasting colours.

http://photography.tutsplus.com/articles/a-10-step-guide-to-superb-minimalist-photography--photo-4487

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Concept: Mind-Map

The above is a mind-map conducted in the first lesson, which I found very helpful, because it made me think of various concepts. It was a struggle to start as I didn’t have any ideas, but as soon as I had one down, another one emerged etc. I realized at the end of mind mapping, half my ideas consisted of a story that had a happy start and a sad ending. I think this is too clichÊ and would have been done before. A concept that captured my attention was the changing in seasons. I thought of doing a series of photographs with each one comprising of each season. But, as the seasons are over 12 months, I don’t have the time to do so, therefore I would possibly go to a specific location and take a series of photographs every two hours, showing how the day changings.

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Concept Board: Four Seasons

Ideas: -Concertina book - Each side revealing two seasons - Using photography - Possible use of die cuts, revealing whats on the other side Concerns: - Time restriction - Four seasons = over 12 months Solution: - Changes in one day, in one location - Photography: morning, afternoon, evening - Photograph every 1-2 hours of sky changing - Use panorama shots - Summer - Spring

- Autumn - Winter

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Concept: Narrative and Sequence

In class, we were analyzing and exploring the structure of narrative sequence through discussion and class exercises as seen on this page. We learnt about the Aristotelian Dramatic Arc and what are the three main elements to creating a structured story.

I’ve never heard about this arc before but found it very interesting and helpful. It basically says theirs a start to every story which leads to come action and tension, then towards the middle, theirs confusion. As we reach the end of the story theirs going to be an unveiling of a plot, resolution of confusion, and the end. It’s very simple, yet effective and is seen in all books, movies, shows etc. A perfect example would be the movie Titanic. It starts off very happy and exciting but towards the middle, they hit an iceberg and ends with death and the sinking of the ship.

The first image of sketched faces was done as a series to create a different face time after tine. This was very fun and I never created the same face more than once.

The second image (right) had the same idea, but this time started off with a pen. The pen kept on changing from something straight and ‘bulky’ to something that has more flexibility and abstracted. And the last image at the top was done using squares to create a sequence using the Aristotelian Dramatic Arc. It was hard to start off, but once I had one square down, another one emerged etc. The idea of this sequence was the square started off small and enlarged then further simplified.

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Concept: Storyboard Sketches

Taking the idea of the Aristotelian Dramatic Arc, it was applied again in the storyboard on the left. This storyboard expresses the idea of a father and his girl.

It starts off with the father sitting down next to a ball when his child comes along and scares him from behind. He then gives her the ball and they start off walking together, not long after, she start running away and he then get real angry. This was an exciting approach to apply the arc theory but the issue with my idea was no middle was seen, and the ending could have been done better. Something to consider when developing another idea further.

The two-sketched images above were done as whole then broken down into individual ones. I had this idea if I sketch an image then break it down to square boxes (separate pages), and then I would have a series of pages from an entire image created. This idea shows create continuity from page to page, but looking at it now, how can a person see what the whole image is.

Unless, this could be some kind of book where you flip the pages, then it comes apart into a whole page to see the original image. An interesting yet challenging idea to do.

I thought of this idea from my last semester’s book when we did a Zine. On a large page, I did some sketches, then cut it into separate pages, creating the zine. It worked because it was based on line, but in this case, its based on an image, which makes it even more difficult to see what it, is at the end.

This class lesson was very helpful is developing various ideas into how a story can be done and what techniques are their to use. I am very pleased that i did all this in one class sitting.

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Process: Studio Workshop

We were in the studio labs for this week’s class when we had a workshop on creating a small square book. It was interesting to do, as it required precision and time to create each book. We used the skills of score, fold, and crease and also leant some binding techniques.

These images are showing the process of creating a concertina because I’ve always wanted to know how to create it. I cannot believe how simple is was to create because all it was we had to do, is stick a folded page on top of another and so on, which at the end, we would open it up and view it like a concertina. I decided to use the colours of red and yellow to show the two sides of the concertina, rather than showing one colour. This also showed me the mistakes where I didn’t align the pages correctly because the opposite colour can be seen through.

If i were to create this by hand for my final piece, I have to make sure I’m using the right paper quality as well as the right tools to create the folds. I found that when folding the paper, I used a ruler to do the crease than doing it by hand. This not only created a seamless line, but no dents were evident. Also in terms of gluing, I put a paper in between the pages when sticking them on, because I didn’t want the glue to go through.

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Process: Design Development

Taking the initial idea from the mind-map conducted on the previous pages, I found a series of photographs taken by myself throughout the recent weeks. This panorama photograph was taken in Tasmania, Hobart, during a work trip a few weeks ago. This scenery reminded me of spring and autumn, hence the idea of the four seasons, relating it back to the concept.

This photograph was taken at Cabarita beach near Five Dock and Burwood, Sydney. It was taken while the sun was setting and reminded me of the heat during summer. I’m starting to see this concept starting to work with a range of images expressing the seasons, rather than taking photographs during the seasons themself, which their is no time for.

This panorama was taken at the same location but at a later time when the sun was near complete down. It reminds me of the coldness in winter as the entire colours seam to be neutral and blue. It can be seen how this concept is starting to work through imagery and the idea of using a panorama is a great way to capture the entire scene. But, if I decided to proceed with this concept, it would definitely be great to use a concertina book rather than a normal one. One side of the concertina could have an image, and the other side can have another. I might need to take one more photograph to make them equal, having two images on each side.

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Process: Design Development

I took another approach to this concept of four seasons.

I collected a series of photographs taken during the trip to Hobart, and another trip taken a few weeks before to Young, near Canberra. Instead of the idea of using a concertina book, I wanted to try and experiment with a normal book, where we turn the pages, revealing another photograph after the previous one. Instead of using just panorama photographs I wanted to use a series of photographs of similar scenes, and use just one panorama in between, combining the two.

The concept of four seasons is still used within these photographs and was the only concept I was thinking about when arranging these together. Instead of putting the seasons in chronological order such as: spring, summer, autumn and winter, I wanted to mix it up a little. The photographs started of with the season of autumn, as everything has fallen off the trees, then moves into winter, where their is a mist in the scenery, then goes into summer then spring.

My idea of the four seasons is still intact, but can be seen through a series of photographs, rather than using a set of panorama shots of a location changing over the course of the day. In order the reader to know which seasons is which, I might have to put a black page with some wording saying which one it is.

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Process: Design Development

I went back to the idea of using panorama photographs and added an extra two images to balance them out. I also put them into Adobe Illustrator and image traced them as silhouettes. This changed the photograph to something interesting and more flat then the original.

When doing so, I thought of another concept of instead of using just imagery of four seasons, I would add a silhouette of a person in each page. This would play as a game, much like the book ‘Where’s Wally’, but using a silhouette. I would change the opacity of the silhouette into something that is hard to see, but makes it interesting and engaging for the reader to play along and try to find it.

class interim and I showed Penelope, my tutor, this concept. The image on the bottom left of this page is a drawing she made. She liked the idea but recommended making it as a concertina book, as I thought before, but this time using square die-cuts in a few pages. When we open the cut, it’s supposed to reveal something on the back that would be unexpected to the reader. A very interesting yet complicated idea. Her reaction, as well as the class, made me question my idea because I was expecting to have more of a positive reaction. Not to say that both of our ideas are well thought of, but needs to be well executed to be successful. I have no doubts that I cannot achieve this, but I’m starting to realize it’s becoming something that is nice to look at, than someI’m starting to have many doubts about this concept thing that is constrained and tells a story using the theall together. I’m not sure why, but I feel it is not strong ory of the Aristotelian Dramatic Arc. I need to think enough and I’ve changed it many times. It was time for about this more before proceeding further.

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Process: Design Development

I took some time thinking about my previous concept of the four seasons and decided not to go with it any more for the reasons discussed previously. I thought of a new concept, which evolved a story based on my life, shown through imagery. Here are the photos I chose which best depict me and show some emotion in each one. I wanted each photograph to be something in which I remember tremendously and also impacted my life someway since the day I was little. Therefore, each image is at a stage in my life, practically my ‘first’. My first everything, which is what the central focus is for this concept.

I feel strongly about this concept and believe it would make people question themselves and the people around them, as to what there first thing was. I believe this would be a normal book than being a concertina.

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Process: Design Development

I had to think of a way in order for me to constrain the photographs as much as possible. I straight away through of putting it Adobe Illustrator and making them as silhouettes, then editing them in Adobe Photoshop. This was done in accordance to the brief as leaving the original photograph was not constrained enough. By doing it this way, all details were deleted and the main elements were left. I really like the way this turned out and would really turn out perfect when printed, as they have become a vector image.

I believe some images needs to be further re-fined, to take away some detail, and others to be edited slightly. Its great to be able to see and still recognise what each image is. I thought in doing so, it would eliminate everything and I won’t be able to distinguish it from the original. Surprisingly, it didn’t do that.

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Process: Design Development

2002

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2013

This is a timeline based on the photographs chose.

I put them in chronological order from when I was small to now. I think in doing so, it gives be a basis as to where to place the photographs when creating my book. This concept of showing photographs from when it all started from now is very personal and depicts every first moment in my life.

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Process: Design Development

Here is how I laid out my book in Adobe illustrator. At first, I created the format of 145mm x 145mm in relation to the brief outline, and went from there. I started off with a sentence of each moment in my life, with many ‘firsts’, and added the photograph of relevance next to it.

Therefore when turning the page, the reader is viewing the sentence, then when turning over, the photograph is revealed. I like the way the entire book looks as it shows great unity and continuity throughout each page.

I showed this to my tutor Penelope, and she liked the concept. The feedback received was it needed colour, and that ‘my life was not black and white’. I think what she’s saying is true and it does need some colour rather than playing it safe and leaving it black and white. I felt scared to reveal the photographs because once colour is added, the entire photograph changes. I’m going to take what she said into consideration, and develop them in colour.

The following is what each page says in relevance to the photograph in chronological order: -The beginning -Attending first wedding -First Holy Communion -First swimming carnival -Year six formal -Graduation -Farewell diner to Lebanon: first plane ride -First Queensland vacation -First family vacation to Canberra -First passing in family -First job -First crush -First waterpark attendance -Becoming a qualified clown -Day-out on third job -First time clubbing -First intoxication -Mature, independency, and determined 20

Communication: Design Refinement

As mentioned previously, Penelope wanted me to take my concept further and develop it with colour, so I did.

Instead of adding a spot colour in each page, which has no relevance at all, I wanted the colour to be from the original photograph taken. As seen above in the photograph with me in a red tie, I screen-shot the four stages in creating each image.

Firstly, I placed the photograph on the page, and then put the silhouette version on top. I then used the rubber tool in Adobe Illustrator to erase and reveal the bottom layer, in which it was original photograph. At the end, I decided to colour in my tie because it was the central focus of the image, in my opinion.

I had this idea where I didn’t want to reveal my entire body in each page, instead, I wanted to start off by revealing a small amount of colour, then it progresses and gets larger, resulting with an entire photograph revealed, as see on the left. I wanted this to be juxtaposed with my life: I started off small, and then grew. Also by showing more colour towards the ends, it highlights the current stages of my life, hence the old past photographs which I slightly remember.

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Communication: Design Refinement

I took the same concept from the previous page, and did it to all my photographs. What helped me arrange these photographs was the timeline done previously and by adding the years. Therefore, I knew which photo was first to the most recent one. If I didn’t do this, I would have been lost and not know which photo goes first nor edit.

An element that I wanted to remain black and white towards the end was my face. In all the photos, one can see the face is of no colour until the last few pages. I think in doing so, it makes the reader feel the urge as to who is this person being the black and white colours.

This is why I wanted to reveal it at the end because it creates excitement and is part of the arc theory, discussed previously, which is more like a resolution to the story.

A challenging photograph to do was the image of a clown in the top left hand corner. This photograph is

full of colour and was difficult to chose which colours or sections to show more than the others. I thought of the possibility of this photograph being towards the end of the book, as it is a recent photograph, and therefore the face can be seen. Also, I wanted some colour in the background to shine through as by leaving it black and white, it created a hardedge silouhete and looked flat. I’m pleased with the outcome.

As there are many people in each photograph, it was suggested by Penelope to colour in myself in order to distinguish myself from the other people. I think this looks so much better and makes it easy for the reader to follow. It can be seen clearly in the above photograph as to which one is me. I tried finding photographs of just myself without other people, but didn’t find any. This is due to the fact that every moment shared in my life, was shared with my friends and family, and not myself.

I believe at the end of the day, theirs no point of having a good memory, when you cannot share it with someone else.

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Communication: Design Refinement

I continued to do the same process as seen on the previous pages. As I progressed into eliminating the black and white to reveal the colour underneath, it became more and more easy to do so. I found it really difficult to do at first, because every detail counts, but the more I did it, the better I became. I’m starting to realize the effect of the rubber, and how it’s leaving an outline once rubbed out. A perfect example would be the above photograph with my family and I. My body is rubbed out slightly but there is a hardedge on the outline, and looks like an oval shape. This can also be seen in the bottom left photograph. I need to figure out some way to blend them in, rather than leaving an outline.

I believe most of these photographs need to be re-fined and constrained further, by eliminating some of the detailed background. I really like the way the photograph on the top left is. The black appears to be flat, and the background is very plain and simple. Also, the photograph on the right needs to be worked on even more.

The white section on the right, could be deleted and more simplified. Small details like this can play a big difference in the appearance of the overall image when complete. I believe if I take these two changes into consideration, I would have a perfect outcome.

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Communication: Design Refinement

Here is the final outcome of my book. All photographs were placed in chronological order in conjunction with the sentence and year of relevance. I am pleased with the order they are in, and how the concept of colour is carried out throughout the book. I’m glad I started off with minimal colour, and progressed into a full coloured image. Also, the idea of not showing my face towards the end, worked out well.

On the other hand, there was a great deal of difficulty when adjusting the photographs on each page, especially due to the fact they are square, and most of my photographs are rectangle in a portrait manner. I had to widen them to fit the page, but when printed, they looked really bad and made me look obese. I have to find another way for them to fit perfectly without adjusting the photograph.

This was shown to my peers and tutor for feedback. Everything I received was very helpful in re-fining them further. A good note that was said about the placement of my years, were instead of them being placed in the middle of the page, underneath each sentence, I should move them to the corner of the page, just like a real book. Therefore, instead of turning through page numbers, the reader would be turning through the years of my life. This is such a great point made, and I would definitely develop it further to see what it would look like.

Penelope loved the way my entire layout looked like, but a suggestion made was instead of the photograph being a dark and flat black, I should change them into a grey colour, so it creates the illusion of it being in the distance, and the colour changing through would be the main focus. I totally agree because the black is coming through very strongly at the moment and is interfering with the colours. I am going to develop it further into something that is more flat and grey, just like she said to see what it would look like. Also, I should start by adding the first four pages of the book, such as the blank page, dedication etc, but so far, I am very happy with the outcome.

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Communication: Design Refinement

I took everything Penelope said into consideration and developed all my photographs further. Surprisingly, I love the way each photo looks now in grey, then the black and white versions seen before. They look more flat and the colour shown shines through with all the concentration being on just the colour. I decided to stick with the concept of the colour progressing from a little section to an entire page, as seen in the photograph (left). What I particularly like about these versions, is everything is blended in and there is no outline. I did this by changing the brush and the hardness of it to soft. This was all done with both Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. It was a hassle to keep moving the photographs into each program, but the outcome was worth the time and patience. I believe the photographs are more constrained than what they were, and the only detail shown, is through the colour. I am really pleased with the outcome of how they turned out. This would look great when printed on matt paper.

What I also did with these photographs is I cropped the in Photoshop. As discussed previously, I was having a problem with the photograph not fitting within the restriction of the square, which resulted with me stretching the photograph, and its entire balance was lost. By cropping it now, I used the option of a square and therefore it fits perfectly on the page. I was scared at first about cropping, but I managed to keep the central focus of each photograph, and eliminate everything that is not relevant. This looks so much better.

The only photograph I had trouble in cropping was the top left. Because it’s a rectangle photograph, cropping it resulted with half of the people being eliminated. I therefore left it the way it is, and will figured out how to place it on the page later on. But, most likely, I have to stretch it down than across, hopefully it shouldn’t be a problem. This was the only photograph I had trouble in terms of cropping.

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Communication: Design Refinement

Cropping was not an issue with these photographs at all, in fact, they turned out better than the original. I really like how the colours have been blended, and cannot believe what a difference it makes. The only photograph that I wanted to leave with no colour was the first one in the book, as seen here (right).

The reason being it was where it all started with my brother and I, and through since it’s from a long time ago, it would only make sense to leave it blank.

When re-fining these photographs further, I made sure to adjust the level of detail in each one. From the black and white versions seen before, it was hard to distinguish the level of detail to the face, and was hard to see who was who. In doing this kind of effect, I made sure to adjust it to the right level, leaving it still constrained, but to the extent of revealing the facial features only, such as the mouth, nose, and eyes, which were hard to see before.

Another tricky aspect that I found challenging was the amount of colour to reveal and which sections, practically the clown photo of myself (right). Because this was such a colorful photo, I only showed the elements and eliminated all background colours, leaving the focus on me rather than the background. I also didn’t reveal my entire face, just a part of it, because this wasn’t the last photograph. A photograph which was towards the end was the last on seen on the right. This photograph shows a great deal of movement and emotion and would be silly to not show it. I tried as much as I can to blend it to the background as possible, but was hard to do, just like the one to the left of it. These were the only two photographs I struggled with in terms of blending.

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Communication: Final Book

This is my final book. I Re-arranged some of my photographs in the right order, and made some spelling adjustments to the sentences. I also added the half title, blank page, title page, and dedication pages for the front of the book. I decided to use a black background with white typography rather than use the classic white background because the rest of my pages, are of that nature. If I were to change the first few pages, my book would loose its balance and unity. I’m glad I went with this concept of coloring in small amounts than my entire body throughout the pages. In doing so, this creates excitement to the reader, wanting to find out what this person (me), looks like. Therefore, they have to read all the way through to the end, to reveal the final identity.

A small detail like this plays a huge difference in the overall concept of the book.

It was difficult choosing the name of the book and kept on changing my mind, over and over again. At the end, I entitled it ‘all things first’, in relation to mine and people’s ‘first’ everything. I think this is relevant to the book and is catchy.

At first, I thought by cropping my images, they would change dramatically and result with me adjusting them again. They turned out to be perfect and didn’t need me to change anything to them. There was only one photograph that needed adjusting, as mentioned previously, which was the family photo, and turned out to be fine.

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It is hard to believe that the first assessment is already over, and there are only a few more weeks to the end of the semester. This final assignment entitled ‘Small Square Book’, really allowed for some creative freedom and initiative. I absolutely loved this assignment because I felt it was so relevant to Visual Communication and would be helpful for the future, if a client needs me to design or make them a book. What I found most interesting about this project was learning so many new skills that I hadn’t used before, especially the different ways of binding a book. The main key issues again I learnt from this assignment, extended from every other one, especial the previous assessment when we had to design a book cover. I felt that this and the refinement stage are what really pushed my work to the best possible outcome. Their were some issues that arose close the to deadline, which enabled me to submit it on time. When it came to the design layout of the eDiary, I went in panic mode, and kept re-designing a page more than five times. Also, it made me step outside my comfort zone and didn’t allow me to design each page traditionally like I always do, rather than a book. In doing so, I lost all my time management skills and was behind dramatically.

What worked best for me in DSAS is the feedback I received from my tutor Penelope, where she extends and pushes my designs to their potential and also engaging with our pees. The peer analysis are so useful to my designs, because by having a whole new set of creative eyes telling me their opinion, I can go back and refine my ideas.

Looking back at the beginning of the assignment, the research seemed fairly manageable and quite interesting getting to go out and find so many different book examples and annotate them based on the research and lectures we had done. It really allowed me to get a grip of the brief and the understanding of the content in the course. To do this to the best of my ability, I found that going to the library and raiding their col-

lections as well as by going to Dymocks, really allowed me to and look at different kind of book structures, and apply the ideas to my own concept.

Working on InDesign and Illustrator, I was really able to explore my potential book layouts and image trace my photographs into the silhouettes that I had an intention of doing. Finally, I chose one concept to continue refining from black and white, to colour. Colour for me was a little bit difficult, because when doing something in black and white, like I did, I played it safe. But, until Penelope saw my concept, she pushed me to experiment with colour and step outside my comfort zone. On the other hand, I really enjoyed this process evolving and continually refining the design.

My favourite part of this assessment was really the creation of the book and experimenting with the imagery and use of book structures. The biggest struggle is quite ironic, because it was also my favourite part by choosing the right photographs throughout my life, was a massive challenge. It was difficult to get exactly the vision I had in my head. It took quite a lot of time to experiment, but as mentioned, I loved the process because I was learning a long the way. Another struggle would probably just be the refining stage and making sure everything is perfect because there are so many tiny elements to the book, and messing something up can throw the entire page off track and loose the design unity and the use of constrained visual lan-

Overall, I am really happy with the final outcome of my book. I’ve really enjoyed the second assessment in DSAS, and I’m excited for the next assessment. This assessment really made me step outside my comfort zone, more than what I thought than any other, it was difficult to do, but managed to pull through. Especially when using photography as a medium, it cannot get any hard than to constrain it according to the brief. I believe I have done a great job at meeting the criteria of this assignment, and very satisfied with my end product.

Synthesis: Reflection

Overall, I loved Signs and Symbols and it has taught me, from the first project, so many new skills which I know I will be able to take and use to influence both my other subjects in the future and my career, as well as the assessments to come. But, all of this wouldn’t be possible if I didn’t have such a great tutor and mentor, Penelope.

guage. One aspect about my concept that I feel could let me down in relation to my grade would be the right demographic for this book. Who is the buyer? What is so interesting about my book that people want to buy? Why would someone buy a book about me? I wish these questions arose earlier in the project but I feel anyone can be the buyer of this book, and would question a lot of people as to what their first was or to their friends etc. It also can pose as an inspiration for young kids, and give them an imagination as to what the world has to offer and how quick we grow.

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